Interview of Nico Fuentes

Nico Fuentes is a member leader in a current unionization campaign at the Pleasure Chest, a sex toy shop. Beginning with an account of growing up in a Mexican family in West Texas and Oklahoma, she goes on to describe her move to New York City to become involved with fashion. Eventually she found work in sex toy retail, where she came out as trans, politicized informed by Black Feminism, and eventually helped start the union drive at the Pleasure Chest in collaboration with the Retail, Warehouse, and Department Store Union (RWDSU). Nico reflects on how racist mistreatment spurred the campaign, and the role of queer and trans identities in retail.