La Victoria Castro
(She/Ella)
• Pro Makeup Artist
• International Transgender & Human Rights Advocate
I am Victoria Castro (She/Ella), a transgender asylee immigrant woman originally from Ahuachapán, El Salvador, and I arrived in the U.S. in January 2017 seeking asylum, with over 15 years of experience in trans and migrant activism. I love makeup which is why I trained as a Makeup Artist starting in 2018 and my work has also encompassed facilitating workshops on HIV prevention and education, advocating for the decriminalization of sex work, co-organizing campaigns to end the detention of trans individuals, and engaging with politicians at both the local and national levels to promote the rights of trans and migrant communities. In recognition of my work, More recently, in 2026, I was honored by Tracie Jada O’Brien of Transgender Day of Empowerment with a “Special Recognition Award” for my commitment to the trans community; awarded the Saturn’s Wish Legacy Award presented by Saturn’s Wish Festival in 2025 and the 2025 Slut Power Award, granted by the Colectivo Intercultural TRANSgrediendo in New York.
I am currently the Executive Director of T4T Empowerment: Desde un Corazón Trans, an organization I founded to empower trans and migrant communities through leadership development, trans ecosystem building, community advocacy, and TRANSformative storytelling.
I am also pursuing an Associate Degree in Filmmaker & Media Production at San Diego City College.
I am also a passionate gardener. Outside of my organizing work, I love caring for my cat babies, Watermelon and Minerva, and turning my home into a lush jungle. 🌿🐈✨
Documentary:
La Perla Victoria; Desde un Corazón Trans Synopsis
La Perla Victoria: Desde un Corazón Trans is based on an intimate, trauma-informed, and community-rooted documentary approach. The film is guided by Victoria Castro’s own voice and presence, allowing her to narrate her story on her own terms, without anyone speaking for her. Rather than sensationalizing violence or suffering, the documentary focuses on dignity, autonomy, and emotional truth, creating space for complexity, contradiction, and transformation.
Visually and narratively, the film moves between memory and the present, between crossed borders, the ghosts of the past, and the slow process of healing. Through observational moments, personal reflections, and carefully contextualized archival and environmental footage, the film chronicles Victoria’s journey as a trans woman who survived transphobic violence, the criminalization of sex work, domestic abuse, and the particularly dehumanizing conditions faced by trans women in U.S. immigration detention centers. These systems are shown not as abstractions, but as forces that shape the body, the psyche, and relationships.
At its core, the documentary is an act of trans self-representation and trans-affirming care. It highlights Victoria’s resilience, her T4T relationship with her husband AJ, her reunion with her family, and her ever-evolving relationship with her own trans identity. By centering love, survival, and self-knowledge, alongside grief and loss, La Perla Victoria resists narratives that reduce trans migrants to mere victims. Instead, it offers a portrait of trans life that is tender, political, and profoundly human, rooted in the belief that telling our stories is itself a form of liberation.
Want to organize a screening in your community? Contact me.
By requesting access to the documentary, hosts will receive access to the full film, along with an event guide and a conversation guide designed to support meaningful community dialogue and help build networks of care and support. Please fill out the contact form, and we’ll get in touch soon.
