Abstract

Ruby Corado is a Latina trans activist and national spokesperson on issues of violence against transgender people. She arrived in the DC area at the age of 16, a refugee from political violence in El Salvador. She has coordinated local support groups for drag queens and trans women as well as the national Latina Transgender Leadership Summit and advocated with the Metropolitan Police Department and other Washington, DC, agencies for better treatment of trans people. In 2003, she gained national attention speaking out against violence after the murder of her friend, Bella Evangelista. With all of her public speaking and organizing, however, the activism that means the most to Ruby is the personal support she provides to those who are “really marginalized,” even within the trans community, those who are homeless, sex workers, addicts, or HIV positive, who she calls her “daughters.” I interviewed Ruby in Washington, DC, in three sessions, on October 6, 18, and 25, 2004, as part of a larger project collecting oral histories of activists who work at the intersections of race, class, sexuality, disability, and nation.