St. Soraya Santiago Solla
Soraya Santiago Solla (December 6, 1947 – September 22, 2020) was a pioneer of the transgender community in Puerto Rico as well as the first person in Puerto Rico to change the gender designation on their birth certificate following gender confirmation surgery.
A native of Puerto Rico, Santiago had gender confirmation surgery in 1975 at the age of 28 while living in New York City. Upon returning to Puerto Rico in 1976, she successfully petitioned to change the gender listed on her birth certificate.
Her memoir, Hecha a mano : disforia de género (Hand Made: Gender Dysphoria), was published in 2014.[2] During the same year, Santiago was featured in the documentary, Mala Mala, which was nominated for awards by GLAAD and the Tribeca Film Institute and won numerous others.
Artist Note
For Soraya’s halo, I chose to include the Maga Flower (Thespesia grandiflora), Puerto Rico’s national flower, in honor of her role as a trailblazer for the Puerto Rican queer community.