TRANScend Massachusetts is a documentary photography and narrative exhibition created to bring visibility to the real-life stories of Latinx transgender and gender-diverse individuals residing in Western Massachusetts. It encompasses a physical photographic exhibit and an online extended photography and narrative exhibition.
This exhibition is a unique portrait that captures the lives of these individuals while shedding light on their lived experiences, challenges, and triumphs in Massachusetts and beyond.
The exhibition highlights the diversity within the Latinx trans and gender-diverse population, while each person’s photographs tell a unique story. Please enjoy this collection of candid and powerful portraits, showcasing the individuals strength, beauty, and authenticity.
Photographs are accompanied by quotes and personal narratives that help us learn the truth about this community’s experiences, struggles, and aspirations.
Through this exhibition, we aim to challenge the prevailing stereotypes and misconceptions surrounding transgender and gender-diverse individuals. We also aim to contribute to a broader dialogue on gender identity and foster understanding, empathy, and compassion for this community in Massachusetts, the United States, and internationally.
Current physical exhibition – November 13, 2024 – December 20, 2024
the exhibition
Dr. Eunice Avilés Faría is a pioneering human rights advocate, visionary educator, and policy influencer informed by 18+ years of clinical practice with a wide variety of cisgender, transgender, gender diverse, and queer individuals across the lifespan from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. As a certified sex therapist with the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, & Therapists (AASECT), Dr. Avilés brings a wealth of knowledge to her specialized practice.
With a Doctorate in Psychology, Dr. Avilés is renowned for her expertise in gender identity, sex therapy, and the impact of minority stressors on the mental health of LGBTQI+ individuals. Her focus extends to addressing the psychological effects of racial, ethnic, and disability-related discrimination. Drawing on her training in cognitive behavioral therapy from the Albert Ellis Institute, she expertly navigates issues of depression, anxiety, and gambling disorders through tailored interventions.
A dedicated humanities scholar, Dr. Avilés is committed to amplifying the voices of individuals who are marginalized. She uses her platform to share these experiences through insightful publications, evocative photography, and compelling narratives.
Dr. Avilés’s advocacy has taken her to prominent media platforms, where she sheds light on gender identity and the repercussions of societal violence and discrimination. Her impactful work includes a notable interview with the LGBTQ Policy Journal at Harvard Kennedy School, contributions to Amnesty International, and significant influence in shaping healthcare policies for the transgender community. Her report, presented at Public Hearings by the Bar Association in Puerto Rico, has been instrumental in urging policy changes to ensure access to gender-affirming treatments, highlighting human rights violations, and advocating for essential healthcare access.
Recognized for her leadership, Dr. Avilés was a featured speaker at Amnesty International Puerto Rico’s 2015/2016 Annual Report on global human rights and was an expert for Telemundo 47’s award-winning series “Orgullo LGBTQ: 52 años de lucha y evolución.” She was also featured by Telemundo 47 during “Puerto Rican Heritage Month,” where they presented the segment, “The example of Dr. Eunice Avilés Faría,” underscoring her significant impact on the LGBTQ community. Dr. Avilés was honored to receive the 2023 Denise Phillips Community Outreach and Multicultural Wellness Award from the National Council on Problem Gambling, recognizing her outstanding public awareness efforts in communities that have been marginalized, among other reasons, due to racial and ethnic discrimination.
Dr. Eunice Avilés Faría, Creator
Transhealth is an independent and comprehensive healthcare center that supports and empowers trans and gender-diverse individuals and families.
Throughout our history as a community, trans and gender-diverse people have looked to each other for healing, support, and affirmation. Transhealth honors that by serving as a source of hope and showing what good gender-affirming healthcare looks like.
As a trans and gender-diverse led organization rooted in Western Massachusetts, we are expanding the healthcare possibilities for our community. Through expert care, community support, education, and advocacy, we work to secure a healthy, affirming future for all of us.
Transhealth
Her life’s work is to communicate, so she studied Communication at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. It was at this campus that her passion for photography began. With two master’s degrees obtained in Spain (Liberal Arts and Photography), she understands that returning to the basics, to the emotions and details, is how she becomes inspired.
Her work has been showcased in collective and solo exhibitions across Europe, the United States, and Puerto Rico, where she has shared spaces with renowned international artists. Angelica is also the author of two photography books: “367 Days: Back and Forward” (2011) and “OCHO/2011-2019” (2020).
Through her photography and audiovisual narratives, Angelica passionately advocates for human rights, believing in the power of art to shape conversations around vital social issues. Through documentary photography, she amplifies the voices of the transgender and gender-diverse community, from which she is continuously learning about the importance of compassion and courage.
Angélica Allen, Photographer
Originally from Carolina, Puerto Rico, Juan Luis studied Communications at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. For 22 years, Juan Luis was a photojournalist for “El Nuevo Día,” the newspaper with the largest circulation in Puerto Rico. His role as a staff photographer for the newspaper allowed him to document events in Europe, Africa, the United States, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. He has received over 30 awards from the Association of Photojournalists of Puerto Rico and is a seven-time award winner of the Overseas Press Club of America.
Juan Luis has dedicated his career to creating quality multimedia storytelling through photography, videography, and text that accurately informs, entertains, and engages the audience. Additionally, he has assisted multiple photographers in the curation process of their solo and collective exhibitions. His compassion for others has led him to work on humanitarian documentary projects, where his photographs have helped raise awareness and drive social change.
Juan Luis is now a freelance photographer, videographer, and creator of multimedia audiovisual content for companies, foundations, and businesses in Puerto Rico and the United States.