SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico: Soraya Santiago, the first person from Puerto Rico to undergo gender reassignment surgery and a longtime icon for the U.S. territorys LGBTQ community, has died. She was 73.
Santiago died of cancer early Tuesday at her home in the north coastal city of Carolina, activist Pedro Julio Serrano told The Associated Press.
Many mourned the news, including the mayor of Puerto Ricos capital and activists on the U.S. mainland.
Soraya was a pioneer, our teacher, our beacon of light, trans activist Ivana Fred said in a statement. She opened the door for all us trans people and left us a legacy of unwavering spirit that is unmatched.
Santiago had often hung out at New York’s Stonewall Inn and was in the city though not the bar when police raided it in 1969, unleashing a rebellion that led to the LGBTQ…