Major! Page #8

and he committed suicide

at that house in Menlo Park.

He hung himself in

the garage, and unfortunately

Major came home and found him.

And then I met Beck,

and he just caressed my heart

and took all my pain away.

I don't know

if I would have made these

last 10 years without him,

you know?

I think Major is the only person

I have been so deeply

in love with.

And it was kind of

a slow build-up.

There was a big age gap,

and I thought oh lord Major!

I got to know Beck,

and there really was

a beautiful love there.

Major had really good game,

I think, like she really let me

initiate a lot, like I knew

she was really interested in me,

but she also never really

called me, and over time I would

just call her every night

and I ve

or seen her everyday

probably for almost 8 years.

I think s

of sensing

her own hotness in the world.

And so she used to come

to my apartment and she would

try to do this walk for me

that she felt was so sexy.

And she was on dialysis,

her balance was off

so she d literally be bumping

into walls as she did

this sexy walk coming to me.

And it was just so endearing.

Major really was the one

to break up with me.

I really want to have a family

and I think eventually

she was like you're not happy

and I think you should go out

and find someone who's younger

and live your life

and get to do the things

I've already gotten to do.

So I eventually moved out

and everyone told me

that we would need

more space from each other,

we would need some sort

of break, but we just

never got that. I don't think

we ever really needed it.

And we just love each other

so deeply and want to talk

to each other all the time,

and we just are huge emotional

and material support

for each other.

We're like two lesbians,

we share a dog, he has her

a week, I have her a week...

I hope that she'll live

a long time

and I think about having a home

where she will also be there

and having a partner

and a family that will

see her a

I just kind of feel like

we're a package deal

and I think it's a pretty

good package you know.

Nobody knew that we existed.

And they really didn't give

a damn how we were treated.

So we had to humanize

ourselves to people to let

service providers and

governmental entities know

that we're not just

these glamour dolls

or these mentally

confused people

or these white academicians

who coincidentally contracted

HIV or just happened

to become homeless.

That we were suffering.

And just as they demonstrated

a sense of urgency about

white gay men, they needed

to get up and demonstrate

that same sense of urgency

about transgender people.

Whether you understood

who we we

We'll get to that in the 2000 s.

You don't need to understand us.

You need to respond.

And, my work with Major

was about saying to people,

now here's how

you're going to do it.

You're going to put us on

your community planning groups

and you're going

to listen to us!

You are going to share power

next to these freaks of nature

that you're

not comfortable with.

You're just going to have

to be unc

Major was in charge of

the transgender drop-in center

and she was a health educator.

And of course, Major was

known and loved by everyone.

And if there was any problem,

particularly with

any of the women in

the trans community,

she was their go-to person,

it was Mama,

Miss Major, you know.

I met Major in the Tenderloin

doing street outreach

for HIV positive,

mostly homeless folks.

We often noticed that

a lot of the people

who could benefit

from services were not coming.

They were in the street

and they were not necessarily

comfortable coming

into an agency.

So we decided we should,

we should go out.

About three times a week

we would park a van someplace

and set up chairs

on the sidewalk

and hand out condoms

and bleach and syringes,

and offer HIV testing.

So we kind of made it up

as we went, there was

very little direction,

it was mostly from the funders

and the City, they were

it was mostly don't do that.

This doesn't fit in the program

or the contract

or the funding stream.

And what I really love

about Major is that that just

doesn't matter at all.

You just do something that

needs to b

people either get it

or they don't

and funding comes

or it doesn't.

These street clinics,

they didn't really start

until Major arrived.

And she would always be late.

And people would sometimes

stop and talk to us.

But it didn't start

happening until

some really big vehicle came.

She would pull in and open

her window and start cursing

that there wasn't any parking

and that we weren't in

the right place and you know,

she'd let us have it

from the very beginning.

And that's when clinic

would start, that's when

the girls would come

and then we'd be on our way.

It's an indictment

when you're with Major,

if you really know Major

and what she's done.

It makes you ask yourself

now what am I doing?

What am I doing again?

Do I just want to be pretty?

Do I just want to conform?

What would I do if I really

used my life as

an instrument of social change?

She deserves to be recognized

for what she does

in our community.

And it's just not

here in San Francisco

that she advocates.

She's up, at her age

that woman moves around

like a 22 year old girl.

When she really should be

sitting down.

I've seen her sick and tired,

legs hurting, legs swollen.

Her eyes hurting where

she can barely see.

But she gets up

and she's there.

She's spe

and I'm

girl why are you there?

Aren't you sick?

Yes I am

This is our lives,

we live this each and every day,

and imagine having

to leave your house and worry

every day if you're going

to get back home because

of someone else's bullshit.

We have to stop it,

we can stop it,

you must stop it.

Because I would love

for the dust to settle,

and all the transgender girls

and guys in this world

stand up and go

I'm still f***ing here!

It was really challenging

these last couple of years

because she's had

insurmountable health issues

where it appeared

that the end may be

near for her.

We had known each other for

probably at least

18 years if not more.

I found out that she needed

a kidney, you know,

with all the issues

that she had.

And of course I offered.

Major s a very,

very dear friend of mine.

I lost my left eye to cancer,

and Miss Major lost her

right eye, so we used

to joke about walking up

and down the street,

so she would be my left eye

and I would be her right eye.

But you know,

we have to keep on going,

we have to keep on going.

And Major instilled

that in me, never give up,

no matter what,

never give up.

Whoo, I wanna see

80, 90, and 100.

Now once I get there,

I'm good to go.

Willard Scott's gonna go,

and Miss Major is 100 today!

Yes! I can go now.

One trans woman

on Willard Scott's mouth.

You know what I mean?

I still feel 35.

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