Fifty-seven years ago, Victoria Cruz witnessed history unfold at the Stonewall Uprising. A friend of Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, with whom she worked to shelter LGBTQ+ young people, the transgender Latina activist dedicated the rest of her life to helping others from marginalized communities.
For nearly two decades, Cruz served at the New York City Anti-Violence Project, specializing in counseling survivors of domestic abuse. She was a survivor herself. In 1996, Cruz was sexually assaulted at her workplace, a traumatic event that led her to the AVP, which provided her with support and help in filing charges against her abusers, resulting in two arrests.
In 2012, she received the National Crime Victim Service Award for her work with the organization, becoming the first out trans woman of color honored by the Department of Justice. She also appeared in the 2017 documentary The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson to discuss the mysterious conditions surrounding her late friend’s 1992 death.
The beloved trans icon, who passed in June at age 79, deeply understood the importance of community. “There’s power in numbers,” Cruz told The Advocate in 2019. “If we unite and keep united, we can make the future different, and what we want it to be.” @antiviolence
