Spilling the Tea
"By day, I work in community engagement;
by night, I paint the town red."
Kiki Lopez is a proud immigrant transwoman living with HIV. She is a Program Manager for the Stop the Hate Program and the California Reducing Disparities Project at San Francisco Community Health Center.
She passionately advocates for people living with HIV, immigrant communities, and transgender folks, especially queer and trans Asian and Pacific Islanders.
Outside of work, she is a drag star performing in the Castro, SoMa, and the East Bay. She serves as a board member and PAC Chair for the GLBTQIA+ Asian and Pacific Alliance (GAPA). She is also one of the matriarchs of the Mabuhay Bitches, an all-Filipino drag troupe.
She was crowned Miss GLBTQIA+ Asian and Pacific Alliance (GAPA) 2023 and was recognized and honored by the city and county of San Francisco, through the Center of Immigrant Protection, for her contributions to the transgender immigrant community in 2024.
This year she was awarded by the Transgender March Organization as San Francisco's Transgender Artist of the year. She is also the current reigning Imperial Crowned Princess of the Imperial Council of San Francisco.
She received the Emerging Leader Award at the 2025 Filipino American History Month Celebration, presented by the office of Mayor Daniel Lurie, Filipino American History Host Committee and Filipino American Arts at City Hall.
She was also recognized by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for her effort and initiative, leading the first-ever SoMa Pilipinas Pride. And finally, she was one of the proud nominees for this year's SF Pride Community Grand Marshal.
Representation matters, both in the spotlight and on the ground.
Take a look at these features, highlighting Kiki’s dedication to her craft as a performer and her ongoing commitment to uplifting the LGBTQ+ community.
Words on the Work
Protecting Organizations Like San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Communities They Serve
By Lambda Legal
Hear from Mx. Kiki Krunch, a trans woman of color who received life-saving services from SFAF
One of the first things the Trump administration did upon taking office was sign an Executive Order gutting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and programs and erasing transgender people from legal recognition. Lambda Legal took swift action in response, filing not one, but two lawsuits against Trump’s harmful anti-LGBTQ+ agenda.
San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF) v. Trump is one of our lawsuits that directly hits back at Trump’s attempts to defund organizations that provide life-saving services to LGBTQ+ people and everyone living with HIV, communities which are often pushed to the margins.
San Francisco AIDS Foundation, the named plaintiff in our case, has been an essential resource for its local community for more than 40 years. Through sexual health and substance abuse services, advocacy, and community partnerships, the organization is committed to building a future where health justice is achieved for all people living with or at risk for HIV and where HIV status does not dictate or determine one’s quality of life and right to thrive.
To highlight the organization’s vital work, we sat down with Mx. Kiki Krunch, a trans woman of color from the Philippines who lives with HIV. Thanks to SFAF, she not only obtained health services that changed her life but also found community support and eventually a career at the San Francisco Community Health Center (SFCHC), another plaintiff organization in our case. Our conversation exemplifies the deep impact that organizations like SFAF have on the people they serve.
A trans immigrant living with HIV finds hope and sanctuary in San Francisco
Leaving the Philippines for a chance to live as her authentic self, Kiki shares the risks she took in establishing a new life here in the Bay Area, and the support she found along the way.
“I was in survival mode,” shared Kiki Lopez, as she recounts her first days in San Francisco about two years ago.
“At one point, I was struggling financially – literally so broke that I couldn’t afford food or a prepaid loan. As a result, I turned to sex work temporarily since I did not have many drag gigs yet and was just beginning to establish myself in the drag community. Additionally, I sought assistance from Project Open Hand for groceries. My malnourishment was evident from my physical appearance,” she added.