California is the place to be, the governor's invitated the lgbt so we packed up our stuff and moved so eagerly! California has had its own unique challenges. We found there aren't many truck stops through the bigger cities in the northern part of the state. Which is where we shower, do laundry and use the septic facilities. Unlike Oregon and Washington, the roadside rest areas don't include RV dumpsites and water facilities in the Northern half of the state, that we've seen thus far. There are less shower facilities however, the laundry mats here commonly have free dryers, which is nice to save that change. More cities here have criminalized living in campers and outlaw stopping for longer than two hours in their limits. There have been sweeps of entire streets where campers were residing near public places. We've had to flee from several areas since being here due to the police and city ordinances not allowing us to stay. With this treatment it has made residing anywhere long enough to begin filing for services very difficult.
I wrote a letter to the governor's office stating that the lgbt were given an invitation to come here, they also should take into consideration that many LGBT and especially transgender folks are unemployed. With that in mind, even impoverished lgbt should have a space provided for them to be safe as well, even on the street, instead of being targeted by the police for being here. I have yet to hear a response and was contemplating writing in again. We've had to swap insurance now from one county to another which has now caused Katherine to be completely off her medicines twice and had us paying out of pocket for two and three days of medicine at a time. I've been able to file again for disability and have filled out the second round of paperwork. Finally, in the last week we were able to get insurance and medications straightened out, thankfully. Slowly we are progressing. We've found low income housing here for families and plan to apply once income is stable for us. I am beginning a stay at home position soon, more details as that unfolds. These are the ways we are progressing and I hope you're able to see progress in your situations as well. It's important to me to keep a schedule, a to do list and goals. I set small, obtainable goals to start and I even have other dreams that are much larger I aspire to achieve but ultimately, I'm only able to do small steps to get there. Northern California is filled with breath taking views. We've been to Lands End, Berkeley, Oakland, San Jose, San Francisco, San Leandro, San Mateo, plus the others filled in between. We've yet to drive over the Golden Gate bridge due to the requirement of a toll tag. However, the view from the I-80 bridge is amazing! The bridge itself is astonishing! I thought Portland had a lot of bridges, which they do, but not on the scale of the bridges spanning the entire bay at San Francisco to Oakland, from Redwood City to Hayward. It's a creepy feeling to know you're driving over water with sharks in it. The sunsets here are magnificent, gorgeous hues of purple, pink, orange and yellow blended together in a grand mosaic against a perfectly sky blue background. The weather here is probably the biggest benefit. We have to slide into a hoodie after the sun goes down but generally, during the day it's been comfortable for just a long sleeve shirt. Some days even a tee shirt is tolerable. We're thankful we made it out of Oregon before the snow storm visited. Since moving to the Bay Area we've encountered many new strangers. Some kind, some not so kind. Many people proudly affirming their solidarity with the lgbt and specifically transgender community, countless others strictly enforcing their views and beliefs of it being an "immoral and sinful lifestyle", one even telling me "It's something I don't believe in and don't agree with". This is astonishing to me as a transgender individual, for a person to say they don't believe in transgender is to say they don't believe in science. Almost like our current administration defunding scientific research programs across the nation. Science backs up the transgender experience. Many articles, youtube videos and medical research papers to say that their is a scientific explanation for people who identify as transgender. Recent research no longer suggests it's a mental disorder or delusion, which is unfortunately the stigma being transgender carries. Although, a large portion of transgender folks also suffer from perceived mental illness, it's often stemmed from abuses they've faced for being seen as "different", and a background of being misgendered their entire lives. I've seen in so many lives of my fellow trans identified people being harassed, assaulted, victimized, abused, emotionally neglected, consistently misgendered, and invalidated in their experiences of identity. This makes a huge impact on emotional and mental health. Continuing to devastate a transgender person in these ways are acts of violence. I can't express how concerned Katherine and I are about the current administration and affairs in our country. In response, we are reaching out more than ever. Katherine has ramped up her volunteer hours with the Lifeline. She's been having a higher call volume and much higher incidence of difficult calls. Some folks are afraid, some people are revolting, some are over joyed. We are supporting humanity. We are being there for folks and you should too. In our country today, we have a president that has been found to report lies, promote bigotry, hire CEOs and CEO affiliates with no pertinent qualifications for the positions they are now holding. This, to me, is also scary. That's why I urge everyone to turn to your communities. Show your support to your neighbors, show kindness to strangers and just be there for one another. There's already plenty of people making the world an ugly, scary, sad place. Let's do our part to progress ourselves and lift up our fellow humans. For instance a new acquaintance of mine is wanting to start visiting elderly people in local nursing homes. This is a wonderful idea! I've volunteered many hours and even was presented a nice certificate of appreciation for my time given. It was a sweet gesture of the establishment to have such a treat for the folks that give time away from their own lives to give to others. Once, I read an article about a hairdresser that gives free haircuts once a week to homeless individuals in their town. There's even a dry cleaners I saw with a sign that read "free cleaning of interview clothes for homeless". There are even Facebook and other social media groups devoted to outreach, sharing and donations, as well as free exchanges and give away groups. Whatever you can do, do it. Please show your solidarity with humanity.
7 Comments
Alan Dickerson
2/13/2017 01:07:49 pm
I just read through your blog, and enjoyed it. Though, I'm sorry about all the negative things that have happened to you. I live in Vancouver, WA. as you probably know across from Portland. I grew up as a kid in Concord, CA, east Bay area. Near where you've been. I look forward to reading more!
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James Blake
2/13/2017 01:27:54 pm
Wow, very neat and we've been to Concord and have an acquaintance there. Thank you for reading and interacting here :) it means a lot to us!
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Alan Dickerson
2/13/2017 01:46:55 pm
You're very welcome! I'll be happy to keep up with you!
James Blake
2/22/2017 07:59:36 pm
Thanks Patricia, I'm glad to hear from you. Sorry to hear about your spouse's symptoms. Its no easy battle living with it. I wish you both well. You're welcome and it's therapeutic for me to write. Please do come back!
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Taylor Martin
3/7/2017 11:48:45 pm
Hey, my boyfriend and I met you tonight in the Tj Maxx parking lot tonight. Just wanted to say it was nice meeting you and we will be praying for you. Hope to see you again :)
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James Blake
3/8/2017 12:13:56 am
It's so kind of you to reach out to us. Thanks for checking out the blog. We are promoting our blog all over the place, so you are likely to run into us again! Lol. Good luck to you both as well!
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Authors:James and Katherine are a transgender couple raising two kids. They were southerners when coming to understand themselves as trans. Ultimately it lead to a nearly three year road trip to find home. Now they are re-housed and still focused on outreach in the transgender community! Archives
October 2020
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