Trans activist Queen Victoria Ortega is calling for more trans representation

Queen Victoria Elizabeth Josephine Maria de Ortega y Dos Santos, also known as Victoria Ortega or just Queen Victoria, is a longtime Trans Latina activist who believes in leadership through service. Thanks to her work with organizations and conversations with different groups, she has helped the trans community have a voice in society.

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Queen Victoria is a confident Latina who says that she is not meant to fit in. She embraces her own way of standing out by standing up for the often overlooked Trans community and fighting for equality in society and even at home. As patron and advisor to many charitable organizations, she continues to ensure that tangible and transformative change is happening. 

In a recent interview with LATV’s The Q Agenda, Victoria talked about trans representation in the media and pointed out the importance of appearing not only in front of the camera but also behind it.

“The power of our stories are unstoppable. It’s not the first time our stories have been told in the media. They have been told and portrayed by cis people for decades. Now, we get the real stuff. You are getting the story straight from the source, the real people, taking up the mic, the pen, writing our stories and getting to say them. That is why I’m hopeful. Trans people are involved from writing to production to being able to portray ourselves in our stories. It’s changing the game,” she said.

And she added: “Trans people take pain and turn it into purpose, we turn adversity into strength. I do see that there are still opportunities for growth, because there needs to be investments by networks, because we have the capability and intelligence to cape in political subjects. We deserve to be in mainstream America, we are mainstream America.”

Photo Credit: Instagram

Her life should be looked at as an example of how to pave the way for others in the LGBTQ community, and Queen Victoria has always been an inspiration for other activists in the trans community. Proud of her L.A. Chicana roots, she’s a Boyle Heights native and represents it to this day. Although the neighborhood she was raised in made it difficult for her to be a trans woman, she learned to stand up for her beliefs with the support of her parents, who are also activists.

Community activism has been in her blood from a young age. If you ask anyone in Boyle Heights, she has been known to lead The Royal Court, an non-profit organization where she leverages her intersectionality to advise and guide organizations and systems. As patron and advisor to many charitable organizations, she continues to ensure that tangible and transformative change is happening. She has been aspiring to “create change through building community, artistic expression, and economic empowerment” for almost 15 years. 

The Connie Norman Empowerment Center opened its doors in September 2021 and Queen Victoria was there to kick it off with a bang. “I’m focused on empowerment, meaning building the capacity of the Trans community to draw down funds, to be able to be sustainable and to share knowledge,” she told LATV’s The Q Agenda, a few months after the inauguration. 

Queen Victoria currently serves as the National President of FLUX, a Division of AHF, a network of trans leaders dedicated to raising the profile of trans and gender non-conforming communities. She has also been a member of such bodies as the Los Angeles County Prevention Planning Council, the Los Angeles County Commission on HIV Health Services, the Transgender Service Provider Network, and The California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities – Boyle Heights. 

She is now also working as a producer in a film for the first time. The movie is called Trans Mexico and follows the stories of empowered, entrepreneur trans women in Mexico. “I wanted it to be a true representation of what our community deserves. It is not new for us to lead the way. We started Stonewall, we started movements, we are in the front when there is political turmoil, we are not afraid, fear is not in our vocabulary. We are hopeful,” she stated.

Victoria’s hope for the future is for people to include trans people in real conversations and noteworthy business endeavours, and believes that will happen only when people see the human side of their stories.

“We have all felt rejection. When it comes to the color of our skin, our religion, our accent, or if we have documentation or not. And to be seen is really shifting. You need to know you are really worthy,” she concluded.