Earline Budd was born on August 14, 1958 in Washington, DC, where she grew up in a very religious family. Assigned male at birth, Earline felt increasingly disconnected with religion as she found herself feeling more feminine and realizing that her sexuality was different. She started wearing her sisters’ clothes and playing female characters in school plays, as well as sneaking out at night to clubs, much to her parents’ dismay. In high school, she began having sexual experiences with male students in high school. Every time her father would learn about her wearing women’s clothing or being romantically involved with a man, he would beat her. 

In her teens, Earline became a regular at the Kalorama Rose Skating Rink, where she had a circle of other trans women friends. One day, the skating rink director Charles Hawkins publicly kicked her out of the rink. Distraught, she went to the Human Rights Campaign, who represented her in a court case against Hawkins. They won, and Hawkins had to issue Earline an apology and $400. 

Eventually, Earline was caught trying to shoplift women’s clothes. Her father refused to take her back, so she was sent to Maple Glen, and then Cedar Knoll, two correctional facilities that tried to change her into a straight man. When a social worker eventually sent her home, her father assaulted her with a hammer, so she started to live on the streets at age 17.

Seeking shelter, Earline walked into a Gay Lesbian Activist Alliance (GLAA) meeting and met Frank Kameny, whom she eventually grew close to and viewed as a father figure. Through GLAA, Earline started performing, taking the stage name Earlina Sanchez. In her 20s, Earline started seeing the AIDS epidemic unfold in her community. Many people in her close circle were sex workers, and they were passing away from AIDS-related complications. Earline joined the Inner City AIDS Network (ICAN), funded by the DC Department of Health, to become an HIV peer specialist. She did outreach at clubs, giving out condoms, and helped fundraise money to get people access to treatment. 

Earline was also incarcerated at several points in her adult life for prostitution. During a mandatory health screening in jail, she learned that she had tested positive for HIV. Eventually, Earline moved to a halfway house. She started working several jobs and had money to tend to her appearance, doing her eyelashes and hair and buying clothes. The house staff threatened to send her back to federal prison if she did not start presenting as male. Dee Curry, who ran Earline’s support group the HIV Community Coalition (HCC), helped Earline contact the Office of Human Rights to file an official complaint. Upon learning about this, the halfway house compromised with her and agreed to let her wear smaller earrings, put her hair in a bun, and wear unisex clothing. 

Earline eventually moved out of the halfway house and started renting a room. She began working as the transgender coordinator at the HCC. She also did funeral arrangements for a trans woman who had died, and started becoming known for the spectacular job she did. In her father’s final years, Earline reconnected with him and later handled his arrangements. She has since done over 400 funerals, helping people find peace in their final place of rest.