Homeless

I volunteered on Monday. I did this thing called the homeless connect that happens twice a year in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Essentially what happens is that they reserve a large area like a conference hall with lots of different rooms and what not. Then they advertise at the local homeless shelters. At this event the homeless or low income people come in and get free services. They get haircuts, dental care, bus passes, library cards, etc. The problem if you are homeless some of these places are scattered through out the city and it is quit the process if you don't have a car to get around. The organizers bring everything under one roof. I worked in the legal department. There are many different areas, family law, housing, civil stuff. I worked in criminal expungments. It was interesting because many people because they have some ding on their record, like 5th degree possession, or some petty theft can't get into housing programs or rehab programs. They would come see us and we would talk about what they did, pull their records and then they would wait to speak with a lawyer. We handled lots of people. It was go, go, go and by the end of it all I was exhausted. One of the more interesting cases was a transgendered person. She was on parole from New Jersey on something small like trespass (which many homeless people do to stay warm) and alluding the police, i.e. haulin ass from the po-po. She was in Minnesota getting treatments for her transgendered state and also, rehab for alcohol. I asked her under what name that I should pull the records. She gave me an unambiguous male name. She then proceeded to tell me that when she tried to transfer her parole she went in to speak with her Minnesota parole officer. He immediately said that he would take the case. That he didn't know anything about transgender, that he was retiring in 2 years and didn't want to mess with it. This lady either has to go back to New Jersey and quite treatments or be on the run from parole. Transgender people face a lot in their daily lives. There is a certain type of discrimination that takes place because of their race. There is another type because of their gender. I walked with my friend GK through the streets of Prague. His real name is Gurkanwalt Singh. He is a great guy and now you know why he goes by GK. But he is a Seik that grew up in Singapore. He has a beard that he grow and hair that he tucks up under his covered head. It is part of his religion not to cut his hair. However, he looks a lot different than most people. If you get to know him you will know that he is one the nicest people around. But he looks intimidating with the beard. As I walked with him around Prague, I noticed that people glanced over me and gave him funny looks. I'm sure that he was used to it after years of having it done to him. This woman that for all intents and purposes is still a man. Race is one thing that sticks out and is obvious, gender is another. Within the races there are obvious distinctions between man and woman. When the line between man and woman is physically blurred it's a more difficult question. Think of the way that homosexuals are treated. Then think if that was a more difficult distinction that if you had some medical issues with your sex. This poor woman got looks then looks of disgust on a daily basis. She could not get her parole transferred because of who she was, or was not. She turned to alcohol to cope with the daily struggles of life. I don't know what's going to happen in her life but I hope that she catches a break.