what's going on YouTube it's your boy
Aiden here and in this video I'm going
to talk about something I've actually
never really talked about
[Music]
before I wanted to take a minute
and get a little intimate with you guys
I want to share my story of
discrimination I know some of you might
be wondering how could a white cisp
passing guy face discrimination and
Point Blank at the end of the day it's
because no matter what sometimes our
outside physical appearance may look
like um at the end of the day sometimes
it's actually our core
identities that will make us be a target
of discrimination then rather
our outside projected identities okay so
my story starts a little bit backwards
so we have to rewind to about 2006 2007
when I dropped out of Community College
to pursue my passion for baking now I
wanted to in eventually become a cake
decorator but it didn't start out that
way it started out just on the line
baking um for Bakery style and
restaurant style at a um I graduated
second in my class when I dropped out of
Community College and went to trade
school I graduated second in my class
and then I continued I got a great
internship at one of the top um
internships you could get which was at
like a four to five star hotel in Garden
City I worked there for about 2 years
before I transferred to some smaller
bakeries around um my area in Long
Island then I moved to Florida and I got
an amazing job for about 3 years at a
top ranked uh cake decorating facility
um um in Southwest Florida and then I
returned back to New York worked in New
York as the main cake decorator at an
establishment for about another year and
a half until I moved to Oregon and I
moved to Oregon in
2014 so where does this story begin this
story really begins when I moved to
Oregon so Jan Lee has an mssw and some
other amazing qualities and amazing
abilities um and so she got a salary
paying job when we moved from New York
York to Oregon I was a cake decorator
and I knew that hey they've got to have
bakeries in Oregon and I'm sure I could
get a job I feel pretty confident in my
skill and I also knew that if I couldn't
get a job right away I could even try to
open up maybe my own bakery or my own
cake decorating studio so I moved here I
had some trouble finding a job but then
I got a really great opportunity from
this cupcake place in the downtown area
of where I'm living so I went in for the
interview and I pretty much got the job
like on the spot I had my portfolio with
me I had my um my past recommendations
my writeups all the all the great you
know amazing things you bring with you
to any kind of trying to get a job so I
got this jop I was super super excited
crazy week Monday goes by Tuesday goes
by it's just all like this is what you
do this is what you do this is what you
do just like every other place Wednesday
came and um we were just you know
talking and talking spending hours and
hours and hours together I was working
side by side with the two owners at this
uh particular cupcake place they were
sharing just a lot of intimate stories
with me and I found myself sharing a lot
of like intimate stories with them and
building like a real connection with
these two people so it's Wednesday of
the first week and Valentine's Day was
in 2 days and it was we were staying
late on Wednesday and they were
explaining to me a little bit about
their beliefs and their beliefs were
more on the religious spectrum of their
belief beliefs I'm a transgender male I
know that there's a lot of religions out
there who don't like um me just for
being transgender just for that identity
pure alone what I was getting from them
though was that their religion was
really open and it was very different to
say the least I'd never heard of it um
so much to the point that I can't even
fully remember exactly what their
religious belie like what they called
themselves what they identified as the
name but it was some type of like
dimensional
um
Universal out of the earth um into the
galaxies uh belief system before telling
you all this they gave me their card
right like they well it wasn't a card
they like wrote down their website
because apparently they had a website
that's how in enthralled they were in
their religion so I was like oh okay
they seem like nervous about telling me
about this they feel like they kept
giving off the vibe that maybe I would
think they were really weird or like
crazy or something right and I'm
thinking like you know I'm like believe
me I don't know what you're going to
tell me but I'm sure I'll be okay with
it so they hand over their website and
um they just wanted me to know that like
if we're going to work together this was
something that I should know because
they're just so heavily in involved that
they want people to know and honestly I
can relate to that I'm a transgender
activist I speak around the world and I
like people to know that I'm transgender
it's not something I necessarily like to
keep hidden and I like to be a voice one
of a many voices for the transgender
Community especially education and stuff
so I was like hey you guys are being
really awesome you're letting me into
your lives I'm going to write down my
website so I wrote down my website which
is my clothing company 0.5cc so I wrot
down my website and I hand it to them
and I go here you know I read the bio I
want you to know a little something
about me here I am like you know I'm
getting to know them they're getting to
know me this could be a really awesome
and amazing work relationship I'm
developing here so Thursday came and now
this is prep for Valentine's Day so
there's really not a lot of time to talk
but half of the morning went by at like
an obnoxiously weird like
silence so by you know 10 or 11:00 I was
like you know I want to break the
silence and kind of talk about the
websites we had exchanged last night I
went ahead and was like Hey I just want
you to know that I saw your website and
you know I I have my like you know I
don't consider myself religious but um
you know I've never heard of it but you
know I just want you to know that like I
know and I respect it and you know I
don't have I don't have any issues and
so I was kind of like waiting for them
to give me mine right like oh same thing
they were going to say the same thing to
me right like that's what I was
expecting and you know now that they
didn't say that but they just were like
yeah we saw your website and you just we
just want you to know like we we know
about your lifestyle you know um they
weren't like saying anything negative
they didn't like overly emphasize that
they're like super supportive of me but
just that they they saw the day goes by
it's crazy Friday comes not even a
moment to even have like a breath or
like a bite to eat to take a break or
something we're just go go go go go
start early and late go so Friday's over
it's just like exhausted day see you
later by okay want to go home and enjoy
the weekend I come back to work on
Monday now this is the beginning of my
second week I was like a rainy Oregon
day in the middle of February and I
knock on the door which was weird to
begin with because every day they had
the door open for me and then I was to
lock it behind me cuz they would get
there a little early leave it open and
then I would lock it behind me before we
open for the day so I'm knocking on the
door and like I'm peeking in and no
one's coming out and then I see one
owner come out look at me kind of
awkwardly and then go back to grab the
other owner and so then the other owner
actually comes out to the front door he
like opens up the front door but doesn't
like let me in per se it's just kind of
like unlock open and peek your head out
and be like hey hey good morning what's
up and I kind of knew like already that
something's off right they're not like
letting me in I feel this like this like
you know don't come closer to me type of
thing I said hey like what's up and
they're like you didn't get my email and
that's like I knew right away I already
had the thought and then once they said
that I was like okay I'm fired like who
else starts what employer start like
doesn't let you in and then says you
didn't get my email I was like no I did
not get your email um what's up and
they're like we really sorry but we had
to let you go I was annoyed and mad so
I'm like okay so I'm like walking in the
rain walking to the bus stop all very
dramatic I'm thinking to myself like
what did I do wrong like like what's
going on like you know oh my gosh like
am I not a good cake decorator like oh
well maybe I just don't know how to do
cupcakes or this or that like you know
really questioning my skill and so I
open on my phone waiting for the bus and
I click on my email and it says you're
Aiden we have to let you go you did not
meet the requirements stated in our
employee handbook the very good um
American student that I was taught to be
I emailed back and I said thank you for
the opportunities um I'm sorry that
didn't work out and something along the
lines of like can you let me know what I
did more in more detail like what I did
wrong so that I can use it to better
further my career so I don't use it in
my next job and literally it was just a
copy and paste you did not meet the
requirement St in the employee hook and
I did not get brought in to say hey
you're coming in late or hey you're we
don't like how you do this or hey you
know like there was no no like hey it's
your first week this is how we do things
you should know that I'm calling up like
um all my old jobs and calling up the uh
you know Melissa who I work for on Long
Island like oh Melissa you know what am
I doing wrong and she's like I don't
know like you were great here like you
totally turn the shop around and then
I'm calling up Karen from Florida I'm
like Karen what am I doing wrong like
what's the matter like I suck and she's
like no are you kidding you do not suck
believe me like come back to Florida
I'll take you back so my wife TR Le
turns to me and she's like he and like I
really feel like the only reason you got
fired is because you told them that
you're a transgender I turned to jayen
and I was just like I I can't believe
that like I just I can't believe that
that's why I would get fired I just
can't you know it doesn't seem it
doesn't seem like they would fire me for
that after talks with other trans people
and other LGB people and non-trans and
LGB people in that first 3 weeks of
being fired everyone pretty much told me
like I think you're fired cuz you're
transgender I really couldn't believe
this but but then eventually after being
told so many times I like I was like you
know what I don't suck at cake
decorating I'm not a bad Baker and I'm a
hard worker and I also know that I take
criticism pretty well I mean nobody
likes to tell be told that they're not
doing something good but I like to think
that I listen and then I try my best to
make attempts to change my actions to
further the business or whatever I'm at
right I never got called in I never like
you know I don't even remember messing
up necessarily a batch of anything so
there was no real reasons why I got
fired except for the fact that when I
came in that Thursday morning there was
this awkward silence after I had told
them that I was
transgender and that's why I agreed to
work with freedom for all Americans on
fighting for the rights of people who
are discriminated against purely because
of their lifestyle this can happen and
does happen every single day across the
USA this is an embedded feeling that
Americans and people around the world
have about the fear of transgender
people and it has to be ended today I
was so lucky that I had the support of
my wife jeny Lee the support of my old
co-workers my old bosses I was lucky
enough to go to the local College they
were hosting an event and I met some
other transgender people who then helped
me find a job and I don't know what I
would have done without them because I I
was not finding I couldn't find a job I
could not find them and I was actively
going out looking showing up putting in
resumes calling going on Craigslist
going on job hunt all these things
trying to find a job this is why we have
such a problem and this is why we have
people who are living such squandered
lives and like not to their fullest
potential like how can someone live to
their fullest potential if we can't even
provide them with a job to pay their
bills you know these are more
opportunities to remind people that
discrimination happens in every level
and we need to start from both ends so
that we can meet in the middle and
Destroy and just blow it up I hope you
guys enjoyed this video this stuff has
got to stop we've got to make a change
and that's what I'm dedicating my life
to and so you know I encourage you guys
all to share your stories below check
out freedom for all Americans please uh
put the information in the description
box below we want to hear from you you
know leave a comment below or go
straight to um ffaa and see you know how
you can interact how you can do your
part but otherwise you know share with
the community right here on this channel
comment below let me know have you been
discriminated against if so when how
were you fired for your job I mean I
want to know um these are all this is
information that I think the world needs
to hear and my story is being shared and
I want you to share your story because
we all deserve to be heard and uh thank
you all for your time and your attention
and I will catch you in the next video
peace
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