Buganvilia Thorns is a drag entertainer from Los Angeles, California, with a career as an entertainer, make-up artist and costume maker spanning over 9-years. Born on April 8, 1988, Buganvilia and their family traveled to the United States from Guatemala, in search of a better life. Growing up in the United States, Buganvilia’s parents instilled in them the importance of an education to succeed in this country and in life. Buganvilia is a graduate from La Puente High School and holds 2 Associate degrees from Mt. San Antonio College in Language Arts & Communications and Arts & Humanities. In 2016, Buganvilia graduated from the University of California, Irvine as a Regent Scholar and received a double bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and Chican@/Latin@ Studies (with Department Honors). Buganvilia was presented with one of the highest honors from the Chican@/Latin@ Department Excellence Awards for the 2015-2016 Academic year, “UCI Abriendo Caminos/Charting Pathways Award for Dedicated Commitment to Chicano-Latino Undergraduate Student Civic Engagement and Diversity.” 

     Buganvilia began working in their community from a young age. As a young volunteer at the age of 14, Buganvilia would volunteer their time at the Pomona Public Library, helping other children with their reading skills during the summer reading program and assisting the librarians with daily tasks. Once in college, Buganvilia began their work as a civil rights activist, becoming involved in immigrant, LGBTQ+ and Native American/Indigenous Rights. Having served as President for I.D.E.A.S (Improving Dreams, Equality, Access and Success), the Native American Inter-Tribal Student Alliance, and treasurer of LAMBDA (LGBTQ+ organization), Buganvilia worked towards the visibility and advancements of their communities. While at UC Irvine, Buganvilia continued their work with the immigrant community, working as a mentor for first-year and first-generation undocumented students. From 2012 to 2016 Buganvilia served as an intern for the youth prevention program, Sabores, with Bienestar Human Services in Pomona.  After college, Buganvilia was accepted into the UCLA DREAM Summer Fellowship and completed their labor internship at SEIU-UHW in Commerce, CA. Buganvilia continued their work in their community while serving as a community canvasser for the 2016 local Los Angeles campaigns with the L.A. Federation of Labor, worked as Linkage to Care Navigator with Bienestar Human Services from 2017-2018 and currently serves as a Prevention and Services Navigator with the Transgender Health Program at St. John’s Well Child and Family Center. 

     While continuing to work in their community and bring forth many years of experience as an organizer and activist, Buganvilia is also reflective of a difficult past. Having struggled for many years in poverty with their family, Buganvilia also faced homelessness as young member of the LGBTQ+ community and is a survivor of conversion therapy performed by the Assemblies of God (Pentecostal Christian Church). While having served as Miss L.A. Pride 2017 and Empress 48 & 49 with the Imperial Court of Los Angeles and Hollywood, Buganvilia continues to advocate for HIV/AIDS, the Transgender and Immigrant communities.