Many young trans people in the U.S. seek out stories from trans elders—those who survived under much harsher conditions and lived to tell their stories. In Chicago, one of those is Lisa Isadora Cruz.
Born and raised in the projects in Puerto Rico, Cruz came to the mainland U.S. after years of struggling under anti-trans laws and public sentiments. Now in her late 60s, she’s had a lifetime of serving the LGBTQ+ community through roles connecting people with physical and financial resources and being a model for having a full life with HIV, which she has been living with since the ‘80s.
Cruz arrived in New York at the beginning of the ‘70s, soon after the Stonewall Riots took place, and she was glad to be in a place with more rights than her home. While in New York, she began her 50-plus year journey as a performer.
Known in performances as Ginger Valdez, Cruz said she initially participated in female impersonation drag before transitioning fully during her time. She was part of a company of dancers with her friends and was also involved in the famous New York ballroom scene, which is where she said she became close friends and worked with the legendary House of Xtravaganza.
Cruz performed on and off throughout her young adult days and was supported by her father. She said oftentimes in immigrant households, the father is the least supportive of a young trans woman—in her case, he helped sign off on her early performances since she was still a minor.
She performed in New York City for many years and eventually became interested in moving to Chicago after hosting a preliminary Miss Continental show at the Baton Lounge. Cruz said she realized she was “sick and tired of New York” and was ready for a change.
In 1991, she moved to Chicago. However, during her early days in the city, she had experiences with drugs, prostitution and even incarceration.
“I am not ashamed of telling my story,” Cruz said. “I was incarcerated for the retail theft case that I had in DuPage County … And when I got out of it, I said, ‘You know what? I think I deserve better. I need to stop doing this.’”
She got back on her feet through the Minority Outreach Intervention Project, which at the time was looking to hire trans women of color to do outreach within their community. The group was interested in Cruz’s background as a performer and interviewed her for the position. Cruz became their first trans woman outreach worker.
“I always believed out of the LGBTQIA+ community of the world, the T is the most marginalized, the most underserved, even by our own community,” she said. “So I said, ‘Let me turn this for the better.’”
Cruz went on to become a bilingual HIV counselor for the American Red Cross and did case management for substance abusers at high risk of HIV on the South Side. She said she later went on to manage cases, care coordination and even become a counselor with the Chicago and Illinois Departments of Public Health.
A few years ago, the CDC began TWIST, a group dedicated to increasing the quality of life for trans women of color living with HIV. Cruz worked with the project for five years while working at the Puerto Rican Cultural Center—the Trans Chicago center within it now bears her name. She’s now worked at Chicago House for over a year helping people access care and services.
Just some of the accolades she’s received over the years include induction into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame, a Congressional Commendation Award, the Rosa Parks Equality Award from We Dream in Color and a lifetime achievement award from two decades working at the PRCC.
“I didn’t finish my high school,” she said. “My mother threw me out of the house when she found me dressed up as a woman at the age of 14. I started taking hormones on the black market … and [in] Puerto Rico in those days, I was illegal. I went through hell.”
She said young people today should think about and be grateful for the access they have to resources and try to come from a place of kindness when educating people close to them on trans issues. For trans women of color, she wants to see more women taking advantage of assistance for jobs, housing or more instead of turning to prostitution.
Cruz said she hopes the new generation can focus less on physical attributes or their attitudes, and instead focus on becoming a part of something bigger and helping fight for the community.
With Trump coming to power in his second term, Cruz said she knows things will change. She hopes changes won’t be as drastic as people fear, but said people need to be “on guard.”
“So what can I say? What can I do?” she asked. “I’m going to keep doing my work, and whatever I can do to assist, I’ll be a part of it.”
Now in her late 60s, people have told Cruz how she’s been a role model for them as a trans woman with HIV. In her job, she enjoys helping people as a mentor — some people even refer to her as being a mother. She said she’s excited about her ability to help others and guide them through her own experiences.
“I had a difficult time, but I’m a survivor,” she said. “I’m not complaining. There are things I regret, things I don’t regret, but I’m still alive even with my HIV status. I get my medication, I’m undetectable. I’m still alive and I’m 67, and I started when I was 14. So I believe I made it.”
