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Adela Vazquez is one of five California immigrants profiled on i5, an online interactive documentary. She arrived in America from Cuba in 1980 as a male, but she long before then she had begun to create the the woman she has become since. Today, Adela works in HIV prevention and has embraced being an American, a Californian and a San Franciscan. Her story is long and often harrowing, but it is ultimately one of triumph. Here, ErosZine enjoys a casual conversation with Adela about gender, style and freedom. ErosZine: Tell me what your regular week is like for you. Adela Vasquez: I just got a job after long year-and-a-half without one. I'm working as a Transgender Health Specialist at Glide Church. Before that I've done it all to survive without working. I have lots of friends that keep me busy. I also work from home on my PC. But I do find time to cook, which I enjoy. I decorated my whole apartment while I was unemployed. I'm a very capable transgendered woman-a feminist and one of the girls. Soldiers can also be glamorous!  EZ: Your story sounds pretty traumatic...leaving your home country. Do you think you would have left Cuba if you were "normal?" Many people choose to flee Cuba for less dire reasons.AV: My gender choice has nothing to do with me leaving Cuba, but my sexuality has everything to do with it. I left looking for freedom, which I have found somehow. I'll explain: I'm a free person, free of family ties, free of rules and free of manmade norms. They only confine us to a small parts of the immense word the we can all enjoy. Cuba was the place I was born and I love it, but I also love San Francisco. I love the fact that here I can be the woman as I am without explaining myself. I might add that when I hit my 40's, something told me it was the age for no more explaining [laughter]. I enjoy that a lot! EZ: From your story, it sounds like your mother wanted you to be somewhere where you would be free to be yourself. Is that right? Is this place? Do you feel free here? AV: I'm living my dream. I've had many dreams that have come true in my lifetime. I'm blessed in many ways and being here is one of them. I felt free at Burning Man and I'm free when I walk down the street with my head held high, with people walking by saying "Hey." I felt way free before Bush was president. EZ: There are plenty of people in America who still have a big problem with people who are different from themselves, but San Francisco is a very free city. Have you encountered any people who weren't very accepting? How have you dealt with them? AV: This is true not only for myself, but I'm sure that you as a woman have felt it before. People in the cities are more friendly, less so in small town, middle-America. Even then, I can tell you with pride I have no problems. I think it has to do with the way I live my life and the rules I put on myself when I walk out of my apartment. I don't look at people's faces for approval or permission to be who I am. I don't look at guys in between the legs to see if they are "big or small." I only care about that when I'm in bed with one of them. I always have a kind word for my sisters and a smile for all the rest.  There have of course been one or two times when people have gotten out of hand. One time I was on the bus and this guy was making fun of a tranny. After a few minutes he saw me and started to go on. He was a young black man. I looked him right in the eye and told him how shameful it was that a person of his color was discriminating, after all that he and his elders had been through. The rest of the people in the bus started to go on at him too, and you know I got my ass out at the next bus stop, even though it wasn't my stop! [laughter]EZ: How did you end up working with the HIV prevention people? AV: Well I was Miss Gay Latina 1992, and one of my duties was to put on my show in places where people were dying of AIDS. I never saw anyone trangesdered there, and I knew that we needed to be present, since it is our concern as well. We aren't just showgirls, prostitutes, beauty queens or Barbies. So I was trying to discover myself in becoming an activist. It isn't a money maker, but it's a great profession that empowers me in every cell of my persona. EZ: SF also has a very supportive sex workers/sex positive community. Do you feel supported by your community?  AV: I love the community in San Francisco. Along with the great weather and the wonderful buildings and history, it is what makes this city the greatest in the US. No offense to you guys out there [laughter], but I'm a west coast lover, a Californian at heart. After 21 years, how can I not be?EZ: Up until 1995, when you started living as a woman, were you dressing occasionally? AV: The first time I did it was in my grandmother's bedroom. I think I was, like, five or six years old. In fact, I don't think I ever saw myself as a guy, even though I had several girlfriends in the past. It was my way to show love and, well, hey, sister can jump too! [laughter] No, I'm not a lesbian. I haven't slept with girls in many, many years. But I love my girls and I think the interaction between trannies and biological women is the perfect combo. Having been a guy and then becoming a girl means accepting everything about that gender. We need to learn it somewhere and women are the perfect teachers.. At least for me they were. Now that I'm getting to be a mature lady, I can't get enough of sisterhood! Guys, eat your hearts out! EZ: You mention that the person "Adela" existed many, many years ago. When did you completely feel like your current self? AV: I haven't really changed all that much. I have not surgically altered my body. My tits are natural and so are my ass and nose. Like I told you before, I'm blessed. Adela is a the woman that I became after a long walk on the wild side. EZ: Do you believe your transition was life-long? Is it still ongoing? AV: Well hopefully we all will transition some. It'd be a bitch to stay the same. As for gender, well, we all have different needs or reasons to become women or men-or neither. But yes, I'm looking forward to growing older and discovering what it's like to be in control of the parts of my brain I'm just starting to see. EZ: Remote parts of parks and fashion shows with tied-up shirts sounds so daring and experimental...and oddly familiar. Do you feel like you share a similar history with people who grew up in the US? What do you think has happened to your friends you grew up with and shared those adventures with?  AV: You know, I don't think I have to do that. You'd be surprised how we all have similar experiences. Mine were a result of being in an oppressed environment, but really, we all have similar tales. I remember when I came out and started to meet young queens. We'd all had the same things happen or used the same makeup and such. So if anyone wants to learn, meet a tranny and listen!EZ: What does freedom mean to you? AV: Getting up in the morning, getting all pretty and walking about life knowing that this bitch is it and that no one can tell me what to do. Knowing that doing good is respect to one's self. Knowing that giving is better then getting (and I'm talking about life). Knowing that youth is as good as old. Knowing that my best friend doesn't owe me anything. Knowing that one day I will be gone and my foot steps are going to be left for other trannies to learn from. And knowing that a guy won't complete my life, he only complements my very nice sexual life. EZ: Tell me some of your beauty secrets. AV: Love yourself and others. Beauty comes from inside. And as for sexy, well, that is in every one of us find!
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