Name Tamara Ching | ||
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Tamara Ching is an Asian-American transwoman and San Francisco Bay Area transgender activist. Also known as the "God Mother of Polk [Street]", she is an advocate for trans, HIV, and sex work-related causes.
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Early life and education
Ching was born in 1949 and grew up in the Tenderloin district in San Francisco, California. She is multi-racial and has German, Hawaiian, and Chinese ancestry. Throughout her teen years, she became a sex worker as a way of survival. Ching was empowered to address the contemporary issues related to her experience as a sex worker. Suffering with diabetes and hepatitis C, she continues to do work within the Transgender and sex worker community since the 1960s and strives to create a space for young trans people.
Activism
Honors and awards
Interviews
Published work
Personal life
Tamara Ching lives in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, where she has lived since 1992.