Transgender Man Begins Walk Across America

Mikal Chall is just an ordinary transgender man from Michigan, but he has a big quest: equality. Putting one foot in front of the other and towing his handcrafted trailer behind him, he left San Francisco on April 23 on his journey across the "land of the free" to Washington, D.C.

The first transgender man to hoof it across the U.S., he believes, he hopes to arrive in the nation's capital by Election Day.

Chall also hopes to raise more awareness about inequalities in America with his 2nd Class Citizen Project, which includes the walk and presenting Congress with a petition at the end of his journey. He plans to also produce a film interviewing people he meets about inequality in America.

He also has a secondary goal, at 314 pounds he said he hopes to lose weight.

Twinkle of an idea

The idea to cross the country by foot came to Chall one night two years ago after being frustrated that he couldn't marry his fiancee, Terra Truelove, in the state of Michigan, and at the time his father, who is gay, couldn't marry his partner of eight years in Maryland.

Maryland recently became the eighth state to legalize same-sex marriage although the nuptials haven't yet started and voters may face a referendum in the fall.

He looked around at the people in his life who were restricted in their lives either because they were afraid to come out and lose their jobs or homes in the small town the couple live in or their relationships couldn't be legally recognized. War veterans are living on the streets, as are children and mothers, and more, he said. The inequalities pile up.

The couple lives in Traverse City, Michigan. The town passed an anti-discrimination law, but the state limited marriage to between a man and a woman. The state considers Chall to be female because he hasn't had surgery.

Power of one

Frustrated with a plethora of inequalities from employment to marriage, Chall, 37, blurted out to Truelove on a late night drive home, "I want to walk across the country for equality and try to make a difference," he said.

"It's just equality. It shouldn't be a different kind. It should just be equality," said Chall, who identifies as straight, believing there shouldn't be a hierarchy or any differences.

Planning the trip has been a challenge during the past two years. The couple has only raised $800 toward what they estimate will be an $8,000 trip. The money has come from their local community and family and friends, the couple said. Chall has also received mix responses from individuals and organizations that he's reached out to who are skeptical about his project.

He arrived in the Bay Area via train last weekend and spent a couple nights in San Francisco before heading out Monday morning.

"It's definitely an uphill battle," Chall said, but he isn't deterred. His spirits are high. He looks forward to walking with his family and friends who plan to join him when he passes through their towns. He has also received some in-kind donations of food and water, emergency medical connections, an iPhone, a used laptop, and train ticket to San Francisco, the couple said.

"I'm on the verge of being so completely proud that I want to burst and so completely sad I want to burst," said Truelove, who is scared about what might happen to Chall during his trip.

Truelove, 29, a straight woman, is a counselor at a crisis center in the couple's hometown. She wasn't able to join Chall on the journey.

Chall isn't afraid of people, he's more afraid of animals, he said. He looks forward to meeting the people he comes across during his 2,815-mile journey across the U.S. along Highway 50, learning more about Americans and their thoughts about inequality, and more about himself, he said.

"I'm hoping to have gained a better understanding of the different walks of life and the different depths of being a second-class citizen," said Chall, who is a social work student.

"I would really like this documentary to hit home that the LGBT community they are your neighbors, they are your brothers, your sisters," said Chall, about small town perceptions of queer people that are garnered mostly from media. "They are not just celebrities and they just don't go bar hopping. They have successful relationships and they are living their lives as second-class citizens in the U.S. where that shouldn't happen."

The bottom line for Chall is that, "nobody should be a second-class citizen in the U.S. If people are still second-class citizens in the U.S. then what separates us from the Third World countries?"