Cristy Valeur

Cristy Valeur, a Delta College student, meets with a reporter from The Saginaw News on Feb. 25, 2014, to share her story about life as a transgender woman and the discrimination she has faced in her life.

(Mark Tower | MLive.com)

Editor's Note: This story contains strong language that some readers may find offensive.

FRANKENLUST TOWNSHIP, MI — Cristy Valeur shifted nervously in her seat inside a conference room on Delta College's campus as she described the events leading up to one of the most traumatic events of her life.

"I don't tell this story very often," she said.

But she said the pain is worth reliving to illustrate why legal protections are needed for those who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender — like those currently being considered by Saginaw City Council.

Valeur, a student at Delta College, is a transgender woman.

She said she came out to herself as a female at a very young age.

"I was 6 years old when my second sister was born," Valeur said. "

I remember my mother telling me why I couldn't be a mommy when I grew up.

And it broke my heart. I remember crying myself to sleep."

But she said the first time she came out publicly was in high school, as bisexual.

"I have been perceived as every letter in LGBT at some point in time or another," Valeur said. "I find myself having a unique perspective on the community because of that."

She now lives in Bay City and is studying social work and psychology at Delta College. Valeur

grew up in various communities in Lapeer County and lived in Essexville for a period before moving to Mississippi.

The 33-year-old paused to take a few long, deep breaths before launching into the sequence of events leading to her departure from Mississippi in 2006.

The story began with Valeur giving a friend's cousin a ride from one Mississippi town to another.

She explained that, after experiencing several close calls behind the steering wheel — "I obviously wasn't driving well enough to get us home safely," she said — she handed the keys over to her passenger. The cousin, Valeur said, repeatedly had been "sexually aggressive" toward her in the past.

As she handed over the keys, she said, part of her knew "exactly what was going to happen."

"He started being grabby and whatnot," Valeur said.

She said she doesn't remember much about the actual assault, though some details still stick with her.

"I remember what station the radio was on," Valeur said. "

I don't remember what song was playing. I just remember seeing the equalizer going up and down."

Valeur said she didn't tell anyone what happened until the next morning, when she called the local police department to report the rape.

"So I went to file a police report and the police came out," Valeur said. "And at

first they were all very nice and very sympathetic and understanding."

She said things took a turn once the officers realized she was a transgender woman.

"That changed the moment they found out I was trans," Valeur said. "All of a sudden I was no longer a girl that got raped by a guy. I was a guy that could have stood up for himself."

No charges were filed against the man. Valeur explained that the police investigation stalled after a failed attempt by her to identify him to officers.

"I identified the wrong person as him," she said. "H

e actually wasn't even in the book. I identified the same person repeatedly, but it was the wrong person."

A week later, Valeur said, the man she had accused found out she had filed a police report.

"When I went to the police, he came down and threatened to kill me," she said.

That was her last day in Mississippi. She headed north and moved in with her sister back in Michigan.

About a month after the incident that spurred her departure from Mississippi, Valeur attempted suicide

. She said the rape still has repercussions in her personal, professional and social life.

Valeur said that

was not the only time she has faced discrimination because of her gender identity.

It also led to her quitting her job at a casino in Mississippi, she said, due to an ultimatum presented by her boss.

"I had literally been told that they had hired a guy to do the job and I was either going to have to be the person they had hired or I was going to be let go," Valeur said. "I threw my gaming badge at them and told them, 'I win,' and I walked out. I felt very empowered at the time."

Harassment at a more personal level came when people in the neighborhood where she lived in Mississippi found out she was transgender, she said.

"There was a lot of people yelling at me, calling me 'fag,'" Valeur said. "They keyed my car. That sucked."

She said there are plenty of other examples she could give, some closer to her current home. But Valeur said she believes her experiences in Mississippi do enough to illustrate the problem.

"Because it happens everywhere," she said. "

The reason I don't want to talk about some of the discrimination that happened here is because it will still affect me here.

I don't want to rock the boat here. I don't want to destroy other people's worlds. I don't want to be hurt again and make myself a target. That's the big one. I don't want to make myself a target again."

Valeur said she wants to speak in support of ordinances like the one being pursued in Saginaw. She said it would be a good first step to ensure others will not need to face discrimination like she has.

"I wanted to put a rational voice out there," she said. "As well as an emotional one.

Especially since I'm trans. We don't get represented very often."

One of the arguments posed by the opponents of ordinances like the one being considered in Saginaw is that there is no evidence that discrimination against LGBT individuals exists. Valeur said she begs to differ.

"Just because you don't see discrimination happening or don't know about it doesn't mean it's not going on," she said. "It's embarrassing that we keep it a secret, but it's for our own protection. There is a huge fear factor out there."

The ordinance originally pursued, and eventually defeated, by Bay County leaders would have protected against discrimination of LGBT individuals in county employment and other county business practices. Bay County later approved a policy that provides protects against discrimination in county employment.

Valeur said those measures do not go as far enough, though she is happy to see the public discussion.

"It doesn't really fix the larger issues," she said. "It's still a necessary beginning."

Valeur said she is optimistic to see the city of Saginaw joining the discussion as well in its consideration of a citywide ban on LGBT discrimination.

"It's a slippery slope, and that's a good thing," she said.

Mark Tower covers local government for MLive/The Saginaw News. Contact him at 989-284-4807, by email at mtower@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.