TransAmerica2020
Donation protected
Hi!
I'm Stacy. I'm 47, an avid cyclist, and I'm a transwoman.
Thus far in life, I've overcome a gauntlet of medical issues. From spinal meningitis, to 23 years of seizures, to gallstone necrotizing pancreatitis that has made me a lifetime diabetic only having 1/3 of my pancreas remaining. Despite all the issues, I overcame to be the person I am today.
As a transwoman I'm tired of being bullied & harassed. It got so bad with one person, I had to petition the court for a protection order. Sadly, the protection order meant nothing to the Auburn, WA Police Department. Seven calls to 911 to have the order enforced. Seven times they dismissed me. On one call, the officer couldn't hide his body language that clearly said, "You're just a dude in a dress, I'm not wasting my time with this." as he rudely left while I was still talking to him.
Reaching my breaking point on the seventh call, I bared my scar from brain surgery curing 23 years of seizures. I advised them they were not judges, I've already exposed my medical history to a judge. I shouldn't have to expose it to you too. Then, and only then did they enforce the order as the lead officer labeled me as 'Medical' on her radio, and other officers removed the woman.
My issues don't end there... As of last June, my employment of 11+ years ended - and not on good terms. They celebrated my success for years (as can be seen with this link since my legacy lives on on their website). Then when they made major mistakes involving me being trans, I drew attention to them. More mistakes were made, eventually my complaints were heard all the way up to the Executive HR Officer, the VP of HR, and the Ethics Director. I wouldn't accept their cover-up answers and repeatedly entrapped them - I made the VP of HR invoke his right to remain silent when I put him against the 'Ethics Tip of the Week' - "Truth fears no questions" and I made the Ethic Director only able to say "Understood" repeatedly as I laid out undeniable facts.
Ultimately, they found themselves in too deep and wrongfully terminated me. I've since reached out to several attorneys and know I have a case, but because of the mammoth size of the organization I worked for, no attorney will take the case. So I'm not giving up.
In my time there since that story above; I put being transgender on the map. I remember my first meetings with the PRIDE Employee Resource Group. I sat through two meetings without a mention of the T in the LBGTQ umbrella. I asked if I was included, the leadership at the time apologized and explained they had never had a T in the group, so it was often overlooked. With that I went to work.
There are now resources of information of what transgender is, a terminology glossary, and I organized a committee to research outside organizations such as the Rainbow Center in Tacoma, and the Q Center (where I now call home) in the Portland area to build a database of resources. The resources compiled gave people in all four states we served options of where to turn if struggling themselves or just wanted more information.
For years I've lived their cause, and just because of the falling out we had, I'm not rejecting their cause. I'm going to continue to live it and show them they're not too big to learn and be accountable as I take being trans on the road.
To educate abroad I've launched TransAmerica 2020. As seen in the story on my former employers website, I love cycling. It's been a bucket list item for years to cycle across America. I once told my daughter that I wanted to cycle America and she quipped back, "Alright Forrest, are you taking Jenny I or Jenny II?" My fleet has grown some since then as I just added Jenny IV.
For TransAmerica 2020, all four Jennys are going across America to educate. As I roll through little towns I'll be wearing a GoPro to blog the tour publicly online. As I go, I'm going to share my history of seizures, and how I didn't bare shame then. Why should I bare shame now treating my Gender Dysphoria?
When you get down to it, every transperson is 'receiving medical treatment' from a medical provider. As a person that has worked in medical insurance for over a decade, I know that's part of a medical record and technically protected by HIPAA and other healthcare privacy laws because it's medical. It's called 'Transgender Medicine' for a reason and the next time you see a transperson, remember this tour and what you learned.
And that is my vision for fulfilling my bucket list item next year and cycling across America. I'm in the very early stages of planning trying to get this campaign off the ground. I hope I will gain your support as I take to the road in 2020.
All proceeds above tour expenses will go to the National Center for Transgender Equality in Washington DC. Being next year is an election year, I want to put trans on the map again and educate.
Thank you for your support!
Stacy
http://www.transamerica2020.us
[email redacted]
#transamerica2020
I'm Stacy. I'm 47, an avid cyclist, and I'm a transwoman.
Thus far in life, I've overcome a gauntlet of medical issues. From spinal meningitis, to 23 years of seizures, to gallstone necrotizing pancreatitis that has made me a lifetime diabetic only having 1/3 of my pancreas remaining. Despite all the issues, I overcame to be the person I am today.
As a transwoman I'm tired of being bullied & harassed. It got so bad with one person, I had to petition the court for a protection order. Sadly, the protection order meant nothing to the Auburn, WA Police Department. Seven calls to 911 to have the order enforced. Seven times they dismissed me. On one call, the officer couldn't hide his body language that clearly said, "You're just a dude in a dress, I'm not wasting my time with this." as he rudely left while I was still talking to him.
Reaching my breaking point on the seventh call, I bared my scar from brain surgery curing 23 years of seizures. I advised them they were not judges, I've already exposed my medical history to a judge. I shouldn't have to expose it to you too. Then, and only then did they enforce the order as the lead officer labeled me as 'Medical' on her radio, and other officers removed the woman.
My issues don't end there... As of last June, my employment of 11+ years ended - and not on good terms. They celebrated my success for years (as can be seen with this link since my legacy lives on on their website). Then when they made major mistakes involving me being trans, I drew attention to them. More mistakes were made, eventually my complaints were heard all the way up to the Executive HR Officer, the VP of HR, and the Ethics Director. I wouldn't accept their cover-up answers and repeatedly entrapped them - I made the VP of HR invoke his right to remain silent when I put him against the 'Ethics Tip of the Week' - "Truth fears no questions" and I made the Ethic Director only able to say "Understood" repeatedly as I laid out undeniable facts.
Ultimately, they found themselves in too deep and wrongfully terminated me. I've since reached out to several attorneys and know I have a case, but because of the mammoth size of the organization I worked for, no attorney will take the case. So I'm not giving up.
In my time there since that story above; I put being transgender on the map. I remember my first meetings with the PRIDE Employee Resource Group. I sat through two meetings without a mention of the T in the LBGTQ umbrella. I asked if I was included, the leadership at the time apologized and explained they had never had a T in the group, so it was often overlooked. With that I went to work.
There are now resources of information of what transgender is, a terminology glossary, and I organized a committee to research outside organizations such as the Rainbow Center in Tacoma, and the Q Center (where I now call home) in the Portland area to build a database of resources. The resources compiled gave people in all four states we served options of where to turn if struggling themselves or just wanted more information.
For years I've lived their cause, and just because of the falling out we had, I'm not rejecting their cause. I'm going to continue to live it and show them they're not too big to learn and be accountable as I take being trans on the road.
To educate abroad I've launched TransAmerica 2020. As seen in the story on my former employers website, I love cycling. It's been a bucket list item for years to cycle across America. I once told my daughter that I wanted to cycle America and she quipped back, "Alright Forrest, are you taking Jenny I or Jenny II?" My fleet has grown some since then as I just added Jenny IV.
For TransAmerica 2020, all four Jennys are going across America to educate. As I roll through little towns I'll be wearing a GoPro to blog the tour publicly online. As I go, I'm going to share my history of seizures, and how I didn't bare shame then. Why should I bare shame now treating my Gender Dysphoria?
When you get down to it, every transperson is 'receiving medical treatment' from a medical provider. As a person that has worked in medical insurance for over a decade, I know that's part of a medical record and technically protected by HIPAA and other healthcare privacy laws because it's medical. It's called 'Transgender Medicine' for a reason and the next time you see a transperson, remember this tour and what you learned.
And that is my vision for fulfilling my bucket list item next year and cycling across America. I'm in the very early stages of planning trying to get this campaign off the ground. I hope I will gain your support as I take to the road in 2020.
All proceeds above tour expenses will go to the National Center for Transgender Equality in Washington DC. Being next year is an election year, I want to put trans on the map again and educate.
Thank you for your support!
Stacy
http://www.transamerica2020.us
[email redacted]
#transamerica2020
Organizer
Stacy Kohl
Organizer
Vancouver, WA
