I Am the Queen

A Celebration of Chicago's Puerto Rican Transgender Community

In Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood, the Vida/Sida Cacica Pageant brings together members of the Puerto Rican community to celebrate its transgender participants.

I AM THE QUEEN follows Bianca, Julissa and Jolizza as they prepare for the pageant under the guidance of Ginger Valdez, an experienced transgender from the neighborhood. These trans women share stories of their transition, their relatives' varying reactions, and how they find support from within the community.

Family dynamics, cultural heritage, and personal identity all play a part in how the contestants face the daily struggle that comes from being true to themselves.

Official Selection at the Chicago Latino Film Festival

"The story of these girls is so completely compelling that you will want to sit through to the very end to cheer them on. " - Roger Walker-Dack, Queeritiques.com

"...If you are a transgender youth or you are a parent of a transgender youth, there is no better movie currently that takes you into a world that you are living in right now." - Ali Naro, Movies Over The Rainbow