July 7, 2012 – Mexico, Mexico City - Samantha celebrates her 80th birthday with close friends in Mexico City. Samantha Flores is an 80-year-old transgender woman from Veracruz, Mexico. She is a prominent social activist for LGBTQI rights and is the founder of the non-profit organization “Laetus Vitae”, a day shelter for elderly gay people in Mexico City. Senior citizens in general are many times prone to neglect and abandonment by their families, leaving them all but invisible. Their plight can be even worse if they are homosexual. Photo credit: Bénédicte Desrus