Pete Muller Photography

American Experiences: Transitions

American society remains largely uncomfortable with the concept of transgender identity. In many cases, the transgender community receives reluctant inclusion from the broader Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual movement. Appropriate, sensitive language that accurately describes the community remains undefined outside progressive, activist circles. Broad swaths of society do not even know what words to use to discuss this burning issue.

In Washington DC, large numbers of African American transgender women struggle with the terms of their identity and its societal implications. Some have turned to prostitution as a means of supporting themselves and rely on drugs as a way of maintaining psychological equilibrium.

Their lives are difficult and dangerous with high levels of HIV, violence and incarceration. They are accosted and verbally abused by many in the community. At 61st Street and Eastern Avenue, where some of these images were made, gun-toting teens often drive by the girls and fire rounds over their heads as a method of intimidation.

Elise, 43, prepares for a night on "the stroll" in Washington, DC. Elise transitioned at a young age and turned to drugs and prostitution more than twenty years ago. She considers herself one of the original "gone girls," a term that refers to transgender prostitutes that abuse crack-cocaine and other drugs. It is not unusual for Elise to remain awake for four straight days while she "tricks" and smokes crack.
  
Elise heads towards 5th and K Streets, NW where she works most nights.
  
Sunday, 22, outside the Transgender Health Empowerment Center in Washington, DC. Sunday is part of a new generation of "gone girls."
     
  
Pam and Debbie were well-known transgender sex workers in Washington, DC for more than twenty years. Today, both have moved away from the lifestyle and maintain lawful employment. Both women frequent prostitution "strolls" to provide counseling and support for sex workers.
  
Elise waits for customers at 5th and K Streets in northwest Washington, DC.
  
A transgender sex worker at the corner of 5th and K Streets.
     
  
"There was a time when the sound of unlocking car doors was the only thing that made me feel wanted," says Pam, a former transgender sex worker. Many transgender sex workers claim to enjoy their trade because as it makes them feel affirmed in their new identity.
  
Miss Monet Dupree performs in front of a largely gay, male crowd at a DC nightclub. Many of Monet's fellow performers are male drag queens, not transgender women. Monet grew up in a small town in Virginia. She rarely goes back for fear of ridicule.
  
Tiffany lies across the hood of a car at the corner of 61st and Eastern Avenue in Northeast Washington, DC. She holds down a job during the week but still tricks on the weekends. "The money is just too good," she says. Tiffany works constantly through the night, in and out of passing cars. The 61st Street stroll is the most dangerous in DC, with regular drive-by shootings, robberies and assaults.
     
  
Sunday waits outside an apartment building near the corner of 5th and K Streets in Washington. The building's management is in constant conflict with transgender sex workers who use drugs and perform sexual acts on the property.
  
Pam, right, helps Elise prepare for a night on the "stroll." At 42 and 43 respectively, Pam and Debbie are part of an older generation of transgender sex workers. "A lot of the girls who were around when we were young have died of drug overdoses, AIDS, all kinds of things," Pam explains. Pam has since left the sex industry but provides support to Elise, who continues to trick and use drugs.
  
     
  
Tiffany on her way to a customer's car at the corner of 61st Street and Eastern Ave.