Quinn Villagomez

“I was like, What? I read everything, and I couldn’t believe it. I was in a moment of, like, wait a minute. What’s going on? Who me?  Of all people?”

Quinn Villagomez, a trans Latine woman, is a broadcast journalist, host, and MC. She co-hosts RARE on KFAI Radio’s Fresh Fruit, the longest-running LGBTQ radio program in the nation. Quinn graduated from Brown College in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, in 2003 with a degree in radio broadcasting. She is on the board of directors at the Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition, and hosts concerts, fashion shows, and other events in the Twin Cities.

As a trans woman of color, Quinn writes from her heart when submitting a grant application. “I write what’s on my mind, and sometimes that is not how a grant should be written. When I don’t get funding, I feel like it’s because I’m trans or I’m a woman of color or I’m less than, that my passion for community art is not real.” 

Learning about the Waterers grant, Quinn was in disbelief. “I’ve never been gifted anything like this before. It was so surreal. I kept thinking, wait a minute, is this real? And then I cried. I truly cried. I’m super amazingly over the moon.”

Quinn knows from experience that trans and trans-BIPOC individuals are not often given opportunities to do community work. “We have to work, show up, speak ten times harder. We have to show our work to prove that we are worthy, that we are powerful, that we exist, and that we can do great things. All of the ‘no’s’  that I’ve been told make me think, okay, I will do this. I’m going to create art and events that bring all the things that are important to me to the forefront. I practice by showing up and giving.”

Learn more about Quinn’s work here.