Felicia Elizondo | |
|---|---|
 Felicia "Flames" Elizondo speaks at a Transform California launch event. | |
| Born | (1946-07-23)July 23, 1946[1][2] San Angelo, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | May 15, 2021(2021-05-15) (aged 74) San Francisco,California, U.S. |
| Known for | LGBTQ activism |
| Website | feliciaflames |
Felicia Elizondo (July 23, 1946 – May 15, 2021) was an Americantransgender woman with a long history of activism on behalf of theLGBT community. She was a regular at Gene Compton's Cafeteria in San Francisco during the time of theCompton's Cafeteria riot, a historic LGBT community uprising.[3]
Assigned male at birth in San Angelo, Texas, Elizondo struggled withbullying,molestation, andgender identity issues.[2][3][4] Her father, asheepherder, died when she was three years old.[2] From the age of five, she knew that she was "different".[2] At age 14, she moved toSan Jose, California, with a gay man, and began to spend time in theTenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco in her teens.[5]
At age 18, Elizondo joined theU.S. Navy and volunteered to serve in theVietnam War, thinking she would either get killed or come to terms with her gender identity: "If the military doesn't make me a man, nothing will."[4][5] After serving in Vietnam for six months, she confessed that she was gay. She was interrogated by theFBI, anddishonorably discharged in 1965.[2][4] She later successfully petitioned to have her discharge changed to honorable.[2]
In the 1960s, Elizondo was a patron of Gene Compton's Cafeteria in San Francisco, where theCompton's Cafeteria riot, an LGBT community uprising, occurred in 1966, three years before theStonewall riots inNew York City.[3] She was featured inScreaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria, a 2005 documentary co-directed and produced bySusan Stryker and Victor Silverman.[3][6]
Elizondotransitioned to female in 1974, while working as a long-distance operator.[2][5] She worked at a number of other jobs, including receptionist, clerk, and nurse's aid.[2][5] She was also asex worker for a time.[2][7] She performed as adrag queen for charity, and atgay clubs under the name Felicia Flames.[4][8]
Elizondo was diagnosed asHIV positive in 1987.[2][5] She worked for non-profit organizations, includingP.A.W.S.,Shanti Project, and theSan Francisco AIDS Foundation, that seek to improvequality of life for people living with serious illnesses.[8] She contributed panels to theAIDS Memorial Quilt, and helped raise funds for non-profits includingProject Open Hand and theSan Francisco LGBT Community Center.[3] As aLatina, she worked with other transgenderwomen of color to combat racism in the community.[9]
Elizondo moved to San Francisco permanently in 1991.[2] In 2014, she worked with San Francisco supervisorJane Kim to get the 100 block of Turk Street renamed to Vicki Mar Lane in honor of her late friend, drag performerVicki Marlane.[10][11] In 2016, she again worked with Kim to rename the 100 block of Taylor Street to Gene Compton's Cafeteria Way.[12] Elizondo appeared at a number of events in 2016 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Compton's Cafeteria riot.[13]
Elizondo served as the lifetime achievementgrand marshal in the 2015San Francisco Pride Parade.[3][8]
Elizondo died on May 15, 2021, in San Francisco, at 74 years old.[14]
