Tamara Ching is an American
trans woman
A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...
and
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...
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 ...
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 ...
.
Also known as the "God Mother of Polk
treet,
she is an advocate for trans,
HIV, and
sex work
Sex work is "the exchange of sexual services, performances, or products for material compensation. It includes activities of direct physical contact between buyers and sellers as well as indirect sexual stimulation". Sex work only refers to volun ...
-related causes.
Early life and education
Ching was born in 1949 and grew up in the
Tenderloin district in
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 ...
,
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 ...
. She is
multi-racial and has German, Hawaiian, and Chinese ancestry.
Throughout her teen years, she became a sex worker as a way of survival.
Ching was empowered to address the contemporary issues related to her experience as a sex worker. Suffering with diabetes and
hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection period, people often have mild or no symptoms. Early symptoms can include ...
, she continues to do work within the transgender and sex worker community since the 1960s and strives to create a space for young trans people.
Activism
* Transgender and commercial sex work advocacy.
* Endorsed Proposition K during the
November 2008 San Francisco general election, which did not pass.
Honors and awards
* Honored in a
Clarion Alley mural portraying trans women activists in the
Mission District of San Francisco, California. Created in 2012 by Tanya Wischerath.
* Best Community Service by and Individual award,
Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club
* Visibility Award and Volunteer of the Year, GAPA Community HIV Prevention Project
* Lifetime Achievement Commendation,
CA State Senate
* Most Empowering Transgender Individual in San Francisco, Team SF
Interviews
* ''Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria.'' A documentary by Susan Stryker.
Published work
* Ching, Tamara. "Stranger in Paradise: Tamara Ching's Journey to the Gender Divide." ''A. Magazine'' 3.1 (1993): 85-86
Personal life
Ching lives in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, where she has lived since 1992.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ching, Tamara
1949 births
Living people
Date of birth missing (living people)
American people of Chinese descent
Transgender rights activists
LGBTQ people from California
American transgender women
American LGBTQ people of Asian descent
American people of German descent
Activists from San Francisco
Transgender history in the United States