Gila River Indian Community

I injured my ankle yesterday, so in the last 3 days I have only walked 11.39 miles, missing my 10,000 steps goal for the first time yesterday.  I'm afraid I am going to have to take it easy for the next few days and let my ankle heal before I pick up my pace again.

The progress on the mapped route to Washington D.C. takes us as far as the Gila River Indian Community.  The reservation was established by an act of Congress and has a number of interesting sights to see. 

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, a four- story pueblo built by the Hohokam Indians in the 13th century. Along Interstate 10 at the Casa Blanca interchange is the Gila River Indian Center, they sell the finest selection of Southwest Indian arts and crafts including pottery, basketry, jewelry, carvings and paintings. The center also contains an excellent museum and restaurant/coffee shop. Gila Heritage Park features self-guided tours of traditional Indian homes from the Pima, Maricopa, Papago and Apache tribes. The annual Tribal fair "Mul-Chu-Tha," with it's parade, Indian dances, All-Indian Rodeo, arts and crafts, and food sales held in February in Sacaton.The events are very popular with tourists and residents. (Pinal County)

Chandler, AZ

In the last 2 days I walked 8.88 miles.  That's not very much for me, but at least I have still made my minimum 10,000 steps a day goal.  On the mapped route to Washington D.C., that brings us to Chandler, AZ.  Here's a list of the points of interest in Chandler, a quiet suburb of Phoenix.  Here is an interesting history of Chandler.

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AZ Central is running a story about a "Chandler transgender man and the American Civil Liberties Union have filed a lawsuit against Dignity Health, a large health provider, alleging discrimination based on sex because the company denied him coverage as an employee for transition-related health care."

The City of Chandler's Diversity Office's mission statement says:
To promote mutual respect and inclusion in Chandler. We work toward the elimination of prejudice and discrimination among all citizens within our community.  We celebrate our mix of ages and genders,  persons with disabilities and diversity of racial, cultural, religious, socio-economic, sexual orientation or other personal identifying markers.  No mention is made of gender orientations....but, perhaps that would fit under "other personal identifying markers."

There is a mention online of transgender counseling that is available in Chandler. 

Phoenix and Tempe

In the last 2 days, Saturday and Sunday, I walked 9.62 miles.  On the mapped route to Washington D.C., that takes us to Baseline Rd. at the corner of S. Kyrene Rd.  Here's a Google Maps view of where we are in Phoenix CLICK HERE. 

I passed by Tempe, so here's a list of things to do in Tempe

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Apparently, Tempe has mixed reactions toward transgender folks.  Some people are very negative and discriminatory toward transgender people.  Here's a story by ABC 15:

Briana Sandy, 55, said that she wanted to watch the Belmont Stakes on Saturday at Tempe Tavern near Apache Boulevard and McClintock Drive.  

As she tried to order a drink, a female bartender told Sandy, “We don’t serve your kind here,” Sandy said.

A man then asked Sandy to leave.

"I walked out and I went, ‘I just actually experienced genuine discrimination on a level no human should experience,’” Sandy said.

Sandy said that she had not been drinking before going into the bar and wanted to order a Coke.

But, in a follow-up AZ Central story, the bar owner issued an apology to her.  (This followed an internet firestorm.)  But, still, you have to give him credit for the reversal of his employees' actions.

A Tempe bar issued a public apology on Monday to a transgender woman whose claims of discrimination by workers ignited an online firestorm.  In an afternoon press conference at Tempe Tavern, bar manager Rob Tasso said Briana Sandy, 55, should not have been asked to leave on Saturday. He called the incident a misunderstanding.  "I would love to apologize if you felt you were slighted in any way," Tasso said. "We welcome all kinds of people in this business. We have many gay customers, we have transgender performers. In no way did we ever mean to discriminate against you."

In the religious communities in Tempe, there are also varied reactions to trans people. There was a story in Outward about one transgender women in Tempe who was told she was not "woman enough" to pray in the women's section of a local mosque.

But, a few years ago, three Tempe churches got together to came together to hold a special service Sunday to support the Valley's lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual community.

Officially, the City of Tempe has a non-discrimination policy toward transgender people. 

The City of Tempe is committed to a work environment in which all individuals are treated with respect and dignity.  Each individual has the right to work in a workplace environment that promotes equal employment opportunities and prohibits discriminatory practices, including sexual harassment or any other form of harassment proscribed by law.

The Diversity policy (Policies and Procedures: Section 410) at the City of Tempe prohibits discrimination of an individual on the basis of  race, color, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, familial status, age, or disability.  Transgendered individuals are included in the gender identity protected group.

The City of Phoenix approved a trans-inclusive non-discrimination law in 2013.  But, there are still those who aren't happy about it, such as state Rep. John Kavanagh (R) who introduced a bill to make it illegal for trans persons (trans women, in particular I would think) to use the "wrong" bathroom.  There was plenty of support in the state legislature in 2013 for banning trans people from using bathrooms that matched their gender identity.  By June of 2013, the "bathroom bill" had been "flushed" pretty much.

But, many Arizona lawmakers and state officials aren't done with the fight over bathrooms and transgender people.  "Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has filed suit against the federal government over President Barack Obama's directive asking public schools to allow students to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity."  (AZ Central)

Phoenix Baby!

In the last 3 days I walked 15.57 miles around San Diego, mostly around my usual neighborhoods and the park.  On the mapped route to Washington D.C., that brings me into the heart of Phoenix and then across the Salt River!

Today, the high in Phoenix was 112 degrees.  So, I'm glad I am doing my actual walking in San Diego, where it was only 82...but, that's in the shade close to the airport where the bay is.  Inland, it's a bit warmer.  So, I have been doing most of my walking after the sun goes down.

Phoenix...wow.  I've walked the distance it takes to get to Phoenix!  Here are some things to do while you're in Phoenix.  You can visit the Musical Instrument Museum, the Desert Botanical Garden, and the Heard Museum.  Or, if you want a challenge, you could hike up Camelback Mountain (but, maybe not in the Summer).  You could take in a baseball game at Chase Field.  Or, take a hike at South Mountain Park.  For the kids, the Children's Museum of Phoenix may be a good option.  For a cool, indoor activity, the Phoenix Art Museum.  Phoenix has a nice zoo for a family activity.  Papago Park (the home of the zoo and the botanical garden) is a nice place for a picnic.  Take off in the early morning on a cool balloon ride!  The Arizona Science Center is popular with kids of all ages.

The Phoenix Visitor's Center can guide you into many more things to see and experience in Phoenix.  The Phoenix Visitor's Center .

Agua Fria

I walked a slow 5.05 miles today.  I've walked 317.88 miles in the last 59 days...and my feet are feeling it.  But, onward we go!  On the mapped route to Washington D.C. from San Diego....that brings us across the Aqua Fria River.

"The Agua Fria River is a 120-mile long intermittent stream that flows generally south from 20 miles east-northeast of Prescott in the U.S. state of Arizona. Prescott draws much of its municipal water supply from the upper Agua Fria drainage." Wikipedia 

The Audubon Society comments on their hopes for the upper Agua Fria River wildlife preserve 

 

Here's a nice site that talks about the Agua Fria and its petroglyphs and other sights to explore along this river that appears and disappears above and below ground, as some rivers do, like the Gila, in Arizona.

Forty miles North of Central Phoenix is the Agua Fria National Monument. The area is located on a high mesa semi-desert grassland, cut by the canyon of the Agua Fria River and other ribbons of valuable riparian forest, contributing to an outstanding biological resource. The diversity of vegetative communities, topographic features, and a dormant volcano decorates the landscape with a big rocky, basaltic plateau. The Agua Fria river canyon cuts through this plateau exposing precambrian rock along the canyon walls. Elevations range from 2,150 feet above sea level along the Agua Fria Canyon to about 4,600 feet in the northern hills. This expansive mosaic of semi-desert area, cut by ribbons of valuable riparian forest, offers one of the most significant systems of prehistoric sites in the American Southwest. In addition to the rich record of human history, the monument contains outstanding biological resources.

 

The area is the home to coyotes, bobcats, antelope, mule deer, javelina, a variety of small mammals and songbirds. Eagles and other raptors may also be seen. Native fish such as the longfin dace, the Gila mountain sucker, the Gila chub, and the speckled dace, exist in the Agua Fria River and its tributaries. U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management

Goodyear

Nothing special to report today in San Diego, but I did crank out 4.41 miles tonight.  On the map to Washington D.C., that puts me just about at the Goodyear ballpark and Goodyear airport.

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The Goodyear ballpark is home to the Cincinnati Reds who train there during the Spring training season.  Cincinnati is in Ohio, for those of you who are not familiar with US geography.

One of Ohio's most conservative lawmakers, Rep. John Becker, R-Union Township, is "floating a proposal that he says would protect Ohioans from sexual predators posing as transgender people to gain access to women's bathrooms, possibly by requiring transgender people to use unisex or single-stall bathrooms."  Of course the problem with this is it is brazenly discriminatory against someone like me.  What if there is no unisex or single-stall bathroom available?  What then?   Does the court order that I have saying that I am female mean nothing to them?  Apparently, it does not.  I doubt that it will pass.

There was another transgender story out of Cincinnati about a transgender female employee of the city library, and "Cincinnati's public library Tuesday stood by its previous decision not to cover an employee's transgender transition surgery, citing costs."  There are many states, companies, and insurance companies that still consider transition medical costs as "cosmetic" or "optional."  Therefore, they cite the costs and cannot justify the expense, even though the percentage of employees requiring transition is extremely low, especially when you compare those costs to those of employees requiring other expensive medical treatments that are considered "necessary," such as treatment for accidents, medical operations, long-term chronic illness treatments, or critical illness treatment.

Ohio is also one of the states, along with 9 other states, who are "suing the federal government over rules requiring public schools to allow transgender students to use restrooms conforming to their gender identity."

Ohio was also the home of the transgender teen, Leelah Alcorn (November 15, 1997 – December 28, 2014) who was an American transgender girl whose suicide attracted international attention. Alcorn had posted a suicide note to her Tumblr blog, writing about societal standards affecting transgender people and expressing the hope that her death would create a dialogue about discrimination, abuse and lack of support for transgender people.

Assigned male at birth and given the name Joshua Ryan Alcorn, she was raised in a conservative Christian household in Ohio. At age 14, she came out as transgender to her parents, Carla and Doug Alcorn, who refused to accept her female gender identity. When she was 16, they denied her request to undergo transition treatment, instead sending her to Christian-based conversion therapy with the intention of convincing her to reject her gender identity and accept her gender as assigned at birth. After she revealed her attraction toward males to her classmates, her parents removed her from school and revoked her access to social media. In her suicide note, Alcorn cited loneliness and alienation as key reasons for her decision to end her life and blamed her parents for causing these feelings. She committed suicide by walking out in front of oncoming traffic on the Interstate 71 highway.

Alcorn arranged for her suicide note to be posted online several hours after her death, and it soon attracted international attention across mainstream and social media. LGBT rights activists called attention to the incident as evidence of the problems faced by transgender youth, while vigils were held in her memory in the United States and United Kingdom. Petitions were formed calling for the establishment of "Leelah's Law", a ban on conversion therapy in the U.S., which received a supportive response from U.S. President Barack Obama. Within a year, the city of Cincinnati had criminalised conversion therapy. Alcorn's parents were criticized for misgendering Leelah in comments that they made to the media, while LGBT rights activist Dan Savage blamed them for their child's death and social media users subjected them to online harassment. They defended their refusal to accept their child's identity and their use of conversion therapy by reference to their Christian beliefs.  Wikipedia

Liberty

In the last 2 days I have walked a total of 8.99 miles. 

On the mapped route from San Diego to Washington D.C., that brings us to Liberty, AZ.  Liberty is a small unincorporated community in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is located about 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of Phoenix and about 6 miles (10 kilometers) southeast of Buckeye. Wikipedia

Liberty has a pioneer cemetary that was established in the 1800s.
Here's a YouTube video about the cemetary.

Outskirts of Phoenix

In the last 2 days I walked a total of 10.03 miles around San Diego.  On the mapped route between San Diego and Washington D.C., that brings me to the outskirts of Phoenix.

While I walked around San Diego I enjoyed a few sights, like Mission Valley, seen here from two vantage points.  Mission Valley is known for its many hotels, some along hotel circle; as well as 2 shopping centers, Westfield Mission Valley Mall and Fashion Valley Mall. Both malls have a number of restaurants near or in them.  Both have good store choices.  Fashion Valley Mall has many more upscale designer stores.  But, I do like Mission Valley Mall, particularly the AMC Mission Valley theaters, which we prefer over the theater at Fashion Valley mall.