Alessa Flores

Alessa Méndez Flores (20 May 1988 – 13 October 2016) was a Mexican human rights activist, known for her advocacy for transgender people and sex workers in Mexico City. Flores hosted a YouTube channel and was a member of several human rights organisations up to her murder in 2016.

Activism Flores was born and raised in Frontera, Tabasco, before moving to live with her grandfather in Tamaulipas. After struggling to find work and having limited support from her family, Flores started sex working, eventually moving to Mexico City in 2012, where she first became involved with human rights organisations and collectives.

While in Mexico City, Flores started a YouTube channel titled "Memorias de una puta" , in which she posted videos debunking myths and assumptions about transgender people and sex workers. She stated that "sex work isn't bad, but it shouldn't be the only option either". She was also a member of the Movimiento Diversidad Progresista . They subsequently filed a lawsuit for physical and moral damages, which was later heard at the Supreme Court of Mexico in 2020.

On 15 November 2015, Flores took part in Mexico City's newly declared Día de la Población Trans , which she had campaigned for for several years. That same month, she posted a video reading the names of murdered transgender women in Mexico, and expressed her hope that she would not be killed because she wanted to "do things with [her] life". Flores' mother, Cecilia Flores, alleged that Mexican authorities were "ignoring" her requests for information about the investigation into her daughter's death.

On 13 November 2016, on the second Día de la Población Trans, activists and sex workers marched in Mexico City demanding justice for Flores and Ledezma, as well as other transgender people killed in Mexico.

As of 2020, Flores' murder remains unsolved.