Yesterday, the news came out that Victoria Cruz peacefully passed away. 'Queen Victoria,' as she's become known, was an LGBTQ+ rights and anti-violence activist, and also, in her younger years, was a domestic violence counselor. Victoria was born in Puerto Rico and was assigned male at birth. She explained that from a young age, she knew she was a girl. Eventually, following the Second World War, Victoria moved along with her family to Brooklyn, New York.

Victoria was involved with the Stonewall Riots and the LGBTQ+ rights movement. She was a Brooklyn College alum, and in an interview about her life with the school in 2019, she explained,

"When lesbians were caught by the police, the cops used to pull on their bra straps and snap them against their backs. They called this ‘Robin Hooks’ because of the metal hooks on the bras that would leave marks on their backs after what the cops did...And if the clubs were raided and you were transgender, you had to carry with you at least three articles of clothing that pertained to the gender you were assigned at birth.”

This was the landscape that led to Stonewall. She further explained, "We got boisterous. Shoes started flying. Bottles started flying. People started throwing bricks and rocks. Some folks began setting cars and garbage cans on fire. The cops started chasing a group around the corner, chasing them in a circle, so that at one point, it looked like the group was actually chasing the cops!”

In addition to her LGBTQ+ activism, Victoria was also awarded the Crime Victims Board Award by then-Attorney General Eric Holder for her work with the New York City Anti-Violence Project.

From Stonewall to Riis Beach, Victoria used her voice for good and was a beloved member of the community who will be deeply missed.

Photo 1: Vanity Fair

Photo 2: The Advocate