Digital Transgender Archive
Susan Stryker interviews Felicia Elizondo, known as Felicia Flames, who was a sex worker, drag queen, and trans woman living in San Francisco's Tenderloin district. In this section, Elizondo describes her transition as a patient of Dr. Harry Benjamin, including the medical and social aspects of the experience. During this time in the early 1970s, Elizondo left sex work and got a job as a telephone operator, transitioning on the job. At work, she felt generally accepted by her co-workers, but the experience was still isolating, patronizing, and difficult. Stryker also talks to Elizondo about the history of her evolving self-identification as the available categories changed, and about clubs, bars, and other hangouts where she formerly spent time. Finally, the camera records older photographs of Elizondo and companions. Portions of this interview were used for Stryker and Victor Silverman's documentary Screaming Queens.
Item Actions
- View At
- https://glbt.i8.dgicloud.com/node/25634
- Citation
- Cite
- Identifier
- 6395w7530
- Collection
-
Oral Histories with People of Color
- Institution
-
GLBT Historical Society
- Creator(s)
-
Stryker, Susan
- Contributor(s)
-
Elizondo, Felicia
- Date Created
-
2001
- Dates Covered
-
1969 to 1975
- Genre
-
Oral Histories
- Subject(s)
-
Chukker Club
Felicia Elizondo
Harry Benjamin
Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association
Screaming Queens
Tenderloin
- Places
-
California
>
San Francisco County
>
San Francisco
Illinois > Cook County > City of Chicago > Chicago
California > Santa Clara County > San Jose
Baja California > Tijuana
- Topic(s)
-
Allies
Breast augmentation
Castration
Chosen name
Drag queens
Gender-affirming surgery
Health care for LGBTQ+ people
HIV/AIDS
Hormones
LGBTQ+ communities
LGBTQ+ people in the military
LGBTQ+ sex workers
MtFs
Pre-operative
Stealth (Transgender)
Transgender community
Vietnam War, 1961-1975
- Resource Type
-
Moving image
- Digital Format
-
Duration: 30:19
- Language
-
English
- Rights
-
In copyright
Contact the GLBT Historical Society Archivist for more information about reproduction and permission requests and our Take-Down Policy.
For more information on copyright, please read our policies