Over the years I have met many, many trans people, some pass through with out leaving any tracks and others have made a lasting impression on me, this is the story of three of those people that changed my soul.
The first was why I became an activist. I was a newbie, I was just exploring this gender journey and attending a peer support group.
She walked into the support group. Her face all battered, an eye swollen shut, her nose you could see was broken. She sat down and began telling her story. She was a carpenter on a job in Bridgeport and working in a room in by herself in a building that was being renovated. Two other employees walked in with short pieces of 2x4 and proceeded to beat the crap out of her. Other employees found her laying semiconscious, as they were wheeling her out in a stretcher the police officer said that he couldn’t arrest them because he did see it (What a bunch of BS), she raised her voice and was arrested for disturbing the peace! (They eventually found the two guy in Ohio and were brought back for trial.)
The second had the most beautiful voice that I have heard and played the piano.
She was volunteering at CT TransAdvocacy Coalition with me and she told me her story; her father was an evangelical minister who believe “Spare the rod, spoil the child” and when he found her crossdressed he beat her and threw her out on the street. Where she made her living off of and when a cop found out she was trans he beat the crap out of her and broke her teeth. She fled Virginia and made her way north, the YWCA in Bridgeport took her in, she moved to the YWCA in Hartford where I met her. They gave her, her smile back, she got a GED, she got a job! The last I heard she was back in Virginia with relatives who took her lovingly in.
The third I never met, but she made a lasing impression on my soul.
The third one ran away from home when she came out. A pimp found her sleeping at the bus station in Bridgeport and took her in. Got her hooked on drugs and put her out working on the street.
I was interning for a LGBTQ family and youth service agency when I was asked to attend a Court Support Services Division meeting where I heard her story. They were looking for an agency to place her with, she had just aged out of DCF.
She was busted almost immediately when she was out on the street and turned in the pimp, who put a contract out on her. Court Support Services Division said she was too small of a fish for witness protection and they were looking for foster parent and a shelter for her to stay.
For a naive lily white girl from the suburbs these stories opened my eyes and changed my life.
The first was why I became an activist. I was a newbie, I was just exploring this gender journey and attending a peer support group.
She walked into the support group. Her face all battered, an eye swollen shut, her nose you could see was broken. She sat down and began telling her story. She was a carpenter on a job in Bridgeport and working in a room in by herself in a building that was being renovated. Two other employees walked in with short pieces of 2x4 and proceeded to beat the crap out of her. Other employees found her laying semiconscious, as they were wheeling her out in a stretcher the police officer said that he couldn’t arrest them because he did see it (What a bunch of BS), she raised her voice and was arrested for disturbing the peace! (They eventually found the two guy in Ohio and were brought back for trial.)
The second had the most beautiful voice that I have heard and played the piano.
She was volunteering at CT TransAdvocacy Coalition with me and she told me her story; her father was an evangelical minister who believe “Spare the rod, spoil the child” and when he found her crossdressed he beat her and threw her out on the street. Where she made her living off of and when a cop found out she was trans he beat the crap out of her and broke her teeth. She fled Virginia and made her way north, the YWCA in Bridgeport took her in, she moved to the YWCA in Hartford where I met her. They gave her, her smile back, she got a GED, she got a job! The last I heard she was back in Virginia with relatives who took her lovingly in.
The third I never met, but she made a lasing impression on my soul.
The third one ran away from home when she came out. A pimp found her sleeping at the bus station in Bridgeport and took her in. Got her hooked on drugs and put her out working on the street.
I was interning for a LGBTQ family and youth service agency when I was asked to attend a Court Support Services Division meeting where I heard her story. They were looking for an agency to place her with, she had just aged out of DCF.
She was busted almost immediately when she was out on the street and turned in the pimp, who put a contract out on her. Court Support Services Division said she was too small of a fish for witness protection and they were looking for foster parent and a shelter for her to stay.
For a naive lily white girl from the suburbs these stories opened my eyes and changed my life.
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| Mr. Knapp passed away a couple of weeks ago, |
It is a great organization that goes around the state talking about LGBTQ+ issues to schools, non-profits, prisons, just about any body who wants to listen,
I used to do it but life got into the way but it still is a great organization, look them up. It is a great way to support the community and in this day of age it is definitely needed.
Check them out!
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