Ms. Colombia entertained crowds at public events such as parades and in spaces such as Coney Island, Riis Beach and the Queens Pride Parade with her colorful outfits, dyed beard, and pets such as her poodle Cariño and parrot Rosita as well as with humor.

[3] In 1988, soon after finishing her master's degree in Law from York University, Ms. Colombia was diagnosed with HIV and was told by a doctor that she had one year left to live.

Her nickname originated from her "offering free legal services to fellow Colombian immigrants" in airports in her spare time.

[2][7] Ms. Colombia was gender non-conforming and wore dresses and skirts and maintained a beard which was often dyed bright colors.

[7][9] There is an informal, publicly maintained memorial dedicated to Ms. Colombia at Bay 1 of Jacob Riis Park on a chainlink fence.

[12] Ms. Colombia made jokes and laughed even in the face of hostility and homophobia from crowds, but she was mostly loved and applauded.

[7] New York City politician Daniel Dromm described a story in which Ms. Colombia suggestively ate a banana to make the crowd laugh before a parade.

Rosita frequently could be found riding on Ms. Colombia's head or shoulder or on Cariño the poodle's back.