CityPaper.com – By Laura Laing
Baltimore’s Transgendered Population Navigates A World That Only Sees Biological Male And Female
The sign on the bathroom door read ABSOLUTELY NO MEN IN THE WOMEN’S RESTROOM. Cydn? Kimbrough couldn’t believe her eyes. Wanting to believe the best, she carefully peeled away the Scotch tape from the corners and brought the sign to the front desk at Health Education Resource Organization Inc. (HERO). The receptionist told her what she didn’t want to hear: The warning was probably meant for transwomen using the women’s bathroom.
“I thought, Does that mean me?” Kimbrough says a year later. She’s sipping hot tea at City Caf?, dressed in a T-shirt and jeans. Her round, dark face is flawless, her hair perfectly coiffed.
Since August 2005, she had been working at HERO as the coordinator of the AIDS service organization’s transgender program. Her job was to encourage African-American transwomen–some of whom were sex workers–to take advantage of the center’s services. And she was successful. Her clients felt safe divulging personal information to Kimbrough, who could understand where they were coming from.