Kianni Jones, a 26-year-old trans woman of color, shares her story about her experiences as a rideshare driver in a short video created and edited by Liz Ellis Mayes and Lucy Augustine. After coming out as trans, Kianni struggled to keep a steady job due to transphobia. “Managers discussed to me that I had complaints in going into the female restroom from other customers,” she says.
Once Kianni began working as a rideshare driver, she was able to earn enough to take her from below the poverty line to joining the middle class. However, she still faces challenges, such as passengers who misgender and harass her, and she sometimes feels unsafe. “You have to deal with the usual uneasiness, the fact that you’re transgender and you don’t know exactly how you’re going to perceived by the person that’s entering into your vehicle, and you don’t know how they’re going to act based off of what they see,” she explains.
Now, Kianni has enrolled in school so she can ultimately follow her dream of opening her own spa. “This is just a stepping stone like any other job,” she says. “To have stability, to live a good life.”
Watch Kianni share her story below:
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