The Transformation explores the changes Ricardo (Sara in The Salt Mines) undergoes after discovering that she is HIV positive and decides not to die on the streets a homeless, transsexual sex worker. In order to move out of street life, Sara/Ricardo accepts help from a group of born-again Christians who, in exchange, demand a complete transformation from female to male and from queer to straight. Ricardo moves to Dallas and tries fervently to transform inside and out, converting to Christianity and marrying a woman from the church. Together they try to start a new life away from his past. When the church organizes a trip to New York to "rescue" other transvestite street walkers, they invite Ricardo to preach his example. In New York, Ricardo encounters his old friends Gigi and Giovanna, both of whom refuse to come back with him to Dallas for redemption. They regard Ricardo's new life as a desperate exercise in survival. With the onset of AIDS-related illness, Ricardo reexamines his life, realizing that if he were to do it again, she would want to live as a woman.