Lorena Borjas was the queen of queens. No one had more prestige and authority among the community of Latina trans women in the Queens neighborhood of New York. Borjas seemed to be everywhere: on the streets, handing out condoms to sex workers; in the courts, accompanying trans women at risk of deportation; or in hospitals, helping people living with HIV. For the queens of Queens, a world without Lorena was unthinkable. And when they lost her, they asked themselves: what will we do without her? Our series podcast, Central, has a new production: Las Reinas de Queens, the story of a group of trans women from Queens, New York, all Latin American immigrants. Across ten episodes, we follow their fight for the right to exist and thrive in the face of raids, violence, and exclusion. But we also join them at drag shows and beauty contests where they compete against each other to become the new queens of Queens. The first two episodes are available now on the Central feed. A new episode drops every Thursday. Find the English transcript of “Saint, Mother, Queen” here. Or check out the Spanish transcript here. This podcast is the property of Radio Ambulante Studios. Any copy, distribution, or adaptation is expressly prohibited without prior authorization. ♥ We live in difficult times. We are a non-profit media, and our permanence depends on listeners like you. If you value our work, join Deambulantes, our membership. Help us elevate Latino voices and tell the story of our communities. Your contribution is directly invested in our journalistic work and makes all the difference. ► Subscribe to our newsletter. It’s our favorite place to stay in touch with our community. Get an email every Tuesday with the newest Radio Ambulante episode and one every Friday with 5 recommendations from our team. ► We have good news: our partners at Jiveworld have launched a new app to learn and practice English by listening to real stories from fantastic podcasts that have inspired us, such as This American Life and Radiolab. Plus, Radio Ambulante listeners get a 50% discount on their subscription! Just go here.