Isa Noyola (born July 22, 1978) is an American

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

(or translatina)

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

, national leader in the

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

immigrant rights Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short-t ...

movement, and deputy director at the Transgender Law Center. In 2015, she organized the first national

trans Trans- is a Latin prefix meaning "across", "beyond", or "on the other side of". Used alone, trans may refer to: Sociology * Trans, a sociological term which may refer to: ** Transgender, people who identify themselves with a gender that di ...

anti-violence protest. This protest was an event that brought together over 100 activists, mostly trans women of color, to address the epidemic of violence trans communities face, especially as race and gender

intersectionality Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how groups' and individuals' social and political identities result in unique combinations of discrimination and privilege. Examples of these intersecting and overlapping factor ...

relates to immigration and incarceration as they deal with

transphobic Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender or transsexual people, or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not conform to social ...

systems.

Early life

Noyola was born in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, to father Celestino Noyola and mother Anita Noyola (née Del Carmen Gonzales). She grew up in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Her roots and family come from

Comitán Comitán (; formally: Comitán de Domínguez, for Belisario DomínguezComitán de D ...

Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...

and

San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí, officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí, is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 59 municipalities and is named after its capital city, San Luis Potosí. It ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Noyola has stated that she began to identify as a feminist after she was shamed as a child for pretending to be

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

. She was born and raised in the

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

faith, where her parents were pastors and ran a church in the San Francisco Bay area for over 25 years. Noyola has described herself as a

latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...

two-spirit ''Two-spirit'' (also known as ''two spirit'' or occasionally ''twospirited'', or abbreviated as ''2S'' or ''2E'', especially in Canada) is a umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people who fulfill a trad ...

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

, "jota", "muxerista", and cultural organizer.

Career

Transgender Law Center

Noyola is currently the Deputy Director of Programs at the

Transgender Law Center The Transgender Law Center (TLC) is the largest American transgender-led civil rights organization in the United States. They were originally California's first "fully staffed, state-wide transgender legal organization" and were initially a fisca ...

which is a nonprofit organization working to remedy discrimination against transgender people. She also works on bringing the community issues directly to the systems that oppress the translatina community such as U.S.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE; ) is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from transnational crime and ille ...

, and educating politicians who often know very little about

people. She advocates for transgender women being released from

ICE Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...

detention centers and works extensively with the goal to end deportations.

#Not1More

Noyola works with the #Not1More organization to build collaboration to change unjust immigration laws.

Other activities

She is on the advisory board for the El/La (Para Translatinas), FAMILIA:Trans Queer Liberation Movement, and Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project. On May 28, 2015, Noloya along with about 70 other LGBTQ immigrants and allies formed a human chain blocking the entrance to the Santa Ana Police Department, protesting for an end to the detention and

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...

undocumented immigrant Undocumented may refer to: * ''Undocumented'' (2010 film), a horror thriller * ''Undocumented'' (2016 film), a drama short film *'' The Undocumented'', a documentary film by Marco Williams See also * Undocumented feature, in software releases * ...

s, particularly those who are part of the LGBTQ community. They were calling on the City of

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana (Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, California, United States. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census. As ...

to terminate its contract with Immigration Customs Enforcement which imprisons trans and queer people in abusive conditions in the Santa Ana City Jail. The police declared the protest an unlawful assembly resulting in 5 arrests including Noyola.

El/La (Para TransLatinas)

Noyola founded and works as a national advocate with

El/La Para TransLatinas El/La Para TransLatinas is a non-profit organization that provides legal, fiscal, educational, health, and other services to transgender Latinas. The organization was founded in San Francisco, California, in 2006.Ruíz, Alexandra Rodríguez de, and ...

, an organization for

Latinas Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spanish or Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino, regardless of race. According to th ...

(

Latina) that works to build collective vision and action to promote survival and improve TransLatinas quality of life in the

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Bay Area. In Noyola's time with El/La her

intersectional Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how groups' and individuals' social and political identities result in unique combinations of discrimination and privilege. Examples of these intersecting and overlapping factor ...

approach has been central to El/La's success. In 2013 the

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...

leadership Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...

organization won a $200,000 grant from the

San Francisco Human Rights Commission The San Francisco Human Rights Commission (HRC) is a charter commission of the City and County of San Francisco that works to increase equality, eradicate discrimination, and to protect human rights for all people. The HRC enforces City Ordinanc ...

for violence-prevention work. Noyola says it marked the first time that trans Latinas received funding to develop community leaders in this way.

References

External links

Isa Noyola
at

#NOT1MORE

El/La (Para TransLatinas)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noyola, Isa American LGBTQ rights activists Transgender rights activists American people of Mexican descent 1978 births LGBTQ people from Texas LGBTQ Hispanic and Latino American people Living people Transfeminists Non-binary activists Transgender history in the United States