Tamara Ching


Tamara Ching is an American trans woman and San Francisco Bay Area transgender activist. Also known as the "God Mother of Polk ", she is an advocate for trans, HIV, and sex work-related causes.

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

Ching lives in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, where she has lived since 1992.