- Jojo.
- Yes?
- [Interviewer] Who are you holding?
- My baby girl Lily, I
found her at two months
when she was homeless too,
abandoned in the streets.
Almost dying on me.
I wanted a dog, God gave her to me,
and it was my responsibility
to take care of somebody
and there was a baby.
She was really going through a lot.
She was almost dying on me
when I found her in two months.
- [Interviewer] Wow.
- So I couldn't give up on her.
I said, you know what, make
sure this little one survives
since I want something for me
to keep me pushing and motivated.
Huh mom.
- [Interviewer] So,
we're here in Hollywood.
You're homeless.
- Yes, I've been homeless
for quite a while already.
- [Interviewer] What's quite a while?
- More than five years.
- [Interviewer] Five years
you've been out here?
- Yes.
I've been homeless since
I was about 17 1/2.
- [Interviewer] What happened?
- I decided to live my own life,
went to college up there and
wanted to do some research,
to transition to become a woman.
I'm a transgendered color Hispanic, 25.
Just wanted to do some
new things for myself
and I decided to change my sex.
My parents didn't condone
it, they're homophobic.
Supposedly they said
they're, what you say,
accepting of it, but they're not.
Their face tells it
all, their expressions.
The way they treat me, the way love me,
or how they show their affection.
It's just, my mom, she's okay with it now,
but my dad is not.
He's really really not approving of it,
me being trans.
- [Interviewer] So they kicked you out?
- Yeah, I got in a fight with my dad,
and he got in an argument with my mom.
It decided me to get all my
stuff, pack up and leave,
because she told me to get the hell out.
Because she doesn't want me
to put the family to shame.
But, she didn't kindaly kicked me out.
I left on my own, since I
was like already gonna be 18.
I kind of figured since I'm
not getting family support,
but I do get some family
support by my sisters,
my younger siblings.
I've just been going through a lot
with my family and acceptance.
- [Interviewer] How'd that make you feel?
- It made me feel less than myself,
because not only that I decided to
graduate early out of high school,
and I thought I was ready.
I just started to move on with my life.
Now, me being homeless,
I'm looking back like okay,
my mom coulda gave me good support.
She didn't have to do me wrong,
or my dad didn't have to be scandalous
and abuse me, beat me up, gay bash me,
treat me like a dog.
There's a lot of things my dad did to me
when I was younger.
- [Interviewer] I'm so sorry.
- I don't appreciate the
things that he did to me.
I don't like the things that he did to me.
I dislike it, but even
though, he's still my dad.
I still have love for him,
but I just hope that he can see
the things that he did to me.
But now it's too late
for him to be my dad,
be a parent and tell me what to do.
Add that on to I'm out here homeless,
and I have lupus.
- [Interviewer] Oh my gosh.
- Everything's hitting me, but it's okay.
I know I'm strong though, I'm very strong.
I just got diagnosed
with lupus of last year,
actually two years ago,
at the beginning of 2017,
because of an abusive
relationship that I had
before my current relationship.
Let's see what have been going on with me.
A lot of things been going on with me.
- [Interviewer] So, all of the sudden
you're out on the streets.
- Well, yeah, I choose not to be.
I'm trying to get myself a place, a job.
I got hired from all these
nice little big businesses,
but once they find out I'm trans,
they, either they fire me
or they look at my background again
and use that an excuse to fire me.
I try, literally, I've been trying
and trying to get myself out.
I've been going to the LGBT center,
doing their resources.
I've been going to Schrader.
I've been going to all these programs.
I've been in and out the
programs for 60, 90 days,
and nothing, it's just I feel like
me being homeless is
just putting me more down
because I can't do nothing for myself,
because not only because I'm trans.
That's not an excuse,
but it's other people in the world
that don't give me a
chance to express myself
or to give me that credibility to move on
of the life that we're in.
- [Interviewer] From my experience,
working with homeless people all over,
homelessness is horrible,
but people that identify LGBTQ, trans,
are doubly persecuted.
- Yes, well yeah, because
they look at 'em as a label.
I'm tired of being looked at as a label.
Every time I'm looking down on myself,
it's either like okay,
what am I doing wrong
to get myself where I need to go?
I feel like people just look at me
and they just judge me because I'm trans,
or because they think they
can get away with something,
or manipulate a situation,
or treat someone a wrong way
because they are who they are.
They're coming up barely to
an acceptance of themselves.
I came out as trans when I was about
young, I was 16 1/2 going on 17.
From right there, my life
just started changing,
just all around.
Not only that I've been
beaten up because I'm trans.
I've been gay bashed because I was trans.
I've been raped because I was trans.
My ex-boyfriend kidnapped
me for a couple minute.
He made someone kidnapped
me for a couple minute too.
I've done sex work because of him,
and my mind is all
fucked up because of him.
- [Interviewer] I'm so sorry.
- But now, I look at it
as like it wasn't me.
It was him that was doing a lot of things.
It was him that was, did not know
how to treat a woman right
because lack of ability of his pride.
- [Interviewer] Talk about
homelessness in Los Angeles.
- Ooh, there's a lot of
homelessness going around.
There's young adults.
It was like right now, like
me going back and forth,
me being homeless.
I look, everybody, their always like,
oh, do you always have something to eat?
I look at the next person like,
somebody's working and they
won't help out the homeless
because either you smell,
or either you look like you're on drugs,
or you're doing something you're not
supposed to be doing
productive with your life,
or I'm not gonna give you the money
because I know what
you're gonna do with it.
You're gonna go get some drugs with it.
No, that's not always a time like that.
Sometime people second
think and think wrong,
and they don't always
give the other person
an opportunity to prove themself wrong,
not only to prove yourself wrong,
but to get yourself out of that situation
of being homeless.
But sometimes, being homeless is not fun.
- [Interviewer] Is anybody helping you?
- (sighing) Okay, I've tried my mom.
She has not helped out at all.
My dad, he's kicked me
out for just living there
and me being me.
My aunt don't appreciate me
because she's a Christian,
and they don't believe
any homophobic, trans.
They don't know what trans people
in Lancaster and Palmdo is,
so they look at me like,
okay, you're a freak.
Get out of here.
You're the devil or something like.
No, I'm not.
I'm just a normal human being.
I'm a human, like you're human.
You're a person--
- So, I don't think
that's Christian, all right,
because true Christianity,
they're gonna love you
just the way you are.
- Right, they should, but like I said,
my aunt, people don't see what's going on.
Other than that, me being homeless,
I've tried getting a job.
I tried to doing a lot
of things, actually.
I volunteered.
I'm actually doing community service
just to get a job.
- That's smart.
- And it sucks
because doing all the free hours
and not getting paid is like,
damn, I'm doing all this effort,
but I see what I'm doing it for.
It's like, okay--
- It gives you purpose.
- Yeah, it's given me a
purpose and motivation.
Okay, you're homeless,
how to get yourself out of this situation
regardless of what you do up in a,
or if you get a little income,
get yourself GR, whatever you can do
to get yourself out of situation.
I've been trying to find solutions.
Problems, it's like one
thing after another,
it kicks me back a notch,
like four back steps.
Then I'll go up, step, ahead of steps,
ahead of time, and then it's like,
damn, they don't give me a chance.
Me being homeless, I'm just tired of it
because people are just giving
the homeless people a bad name
because either you're a junkie,
you're a raper, child
molester, trans, gay.
Either you're just a weirdo,
or don't have no purpose,
a deadbeat, a lowlife,
and I'm just tired of
hearing those nasty words.
People look at me wrong all the time,
and you know what?
Like I say, dust my shoulders off,
keep my head up high,
and aim for the prize.
- [Interviewer] Yep.
If you had three wishes,
what would they be?
- My three wishes.
Um, that's hard.
I haven't even asked myself that,
but I know one is to cure my lupus.
- [Interviewer] Good wish.
- Two.
Give back to other people,
as well as I want to give back.
Three.
I just want to make my family happy.
- [Interviewer] Well, thank you very much
for talking to me.
- You're welcome.
(mellow music)
