Gypsies & Travellers...Do you know of any ? Or are you one?

[Anatta]

Kia Ora,

There seems to be trans-people from all ethnicities/backgrounds, however no member to date has identified as a "true" Rroma[Roma in English] Gypsy or Traveller...

http://www.kent.gov.uk/community_and_living/gypsies_and_travellers/history_of_gypsies.aspx   

As a child growing up in the UK, during the summer months many families in the area where I lived used to go "hop picking" [Hopping as we used to all it], when I think back it's possible some of the other Hoppers were Gypsies, but back then we all used to mix and enjoy ourselves...

I used to enjoy going to the big Gypsy fairs that were held on "Blackheath" ...

No doubt many of us older members have [in our Hippy days] lived a pseudo Gypsy lifestyle, I know I did for a while ...

But what I'm talking about here are true born & breed Gypsy/ Travellers...

I'm not expecting many replies...But you never know, I might be pleasantly surprised ...

Metta Zenda

[Princess of Hearts]

Have you been to a gypsy wedding?    One of my sister's friend's older sister works at a rather posh hotel.   Last year they hosted a gypsy wedding reception and the guests trashed the place.   Fire extinguishers were put through windows, paintings were torn off the walls, the carpet was completely torn up and the toilets were smashed.   Apparently this is the norm, the bride's father encourages all this so that he can show everyone that not only can he afford to pay for a lavish wedding, but that he can also cheerfully afford to hand over £20,000 ($35-40,000)for the damages.

[Princess of Hearts]

My mother says that gypsies used to knock on doors in the 70s and 80s.  The women sold clothes pegs and the men had a tool that sharpened blades.  I know of a Canadian gypsy at another forum, he isn't a very nice person.

[Anatta]

Kia Ora Princess,

Sadly it would seem in the UK today Gypsies do get a bad rap... Because of their traveller lifestyle they have always been persecution and discriminated against...A while back in the UK [I think up till the late 1940s early 50s and no doubt many other countries had similar notices] when people advertised rooms to let, some of the notices would read "No Irish - No Jews-No Blacks- No Gypsies"...Sad really I guess some trans-people are also experiencing similar prejudices...

Metta Zenda

[tekla]

There is a small population, mostly in the South East like the Carolinas.  They tend to be very much under the radar because they can be, they really don't stand out against the rest of the mix here in the US.

[Joelene9]

  The Gypsies are from an Indic tribe who call themselves the Roma.  The Travellers are from Scot-Irish clans.  Most from those tribes in the U.S. have blended in the American Experience.  Others do scams and live in closed communities.  We usually got a warning from the police by a group called the "Hendersons".  These are Travellers that come in, do the old roof oil coating scam to resell money pit RVs, and leave as quickly as they come.  We haven't heard from this group in a while. 
  The Traveller group in Carolina is a closed community with a good outside lawyer they call "The Fixer".  They have their own school and their own council.  They live in mansions with an RV parked behind each.  No outsiders except the lawyer, the family trees have loopy branches and the girls are wed young.  The same as the Fundamentalist Mormons.  This Traveller group was highlighted quite a while back on one of those glossy TV news magazines.  A woman from that group tried to sue Disneyworld on a phony rape charge in one of Disney's hotels.  That case was going so well, that her jealous relative turned her in.  He was jealous because the amount in the lawsuit was much more than any of his scams and she was a female!  These are macho groups, the women get very little in return for their part in the scams. 
  Joelene

[nogoodnik]

My friend is part Roma but none of his relatives live the "gypsy lifestyle". They came over here after WWII as far as I know. My friend doesn't even really know much of his family history, which he regrets. The older relatives never learnt much English and by the time he was old enough to want to ask questions anyone who could answer them had died. His father doesn't seem to care much about his ancestry and probably doesn't know much either.

[SandraJane]

Traveller's aren't the people you want to cross paths with! Tekla mentioned the families out of South Carolina, criminals. Be careful around this crowd, they play by different rules. Have crossed paths.

[Jen61]

Where I grew up, they will come every year, and put a fair. They will do palm reading and tarot. Mothers were advised against living kids alone as the gypsies would steal the kids. They were scammers and thiefs. I see them in Paris everywhere. I usually keep on eye on them and avoid them. 
Sorry but I have nothing good to say about them.

Jen61

[Keaira]

I find it very odd that a thread would pop up here, of all places, about Gypsies. But, I'm not entirely surprised either.
However, I do have Romanian Gypsie in my heretage. My Grandfather was one. He had lived in East Germany until the wall came down. I dont remember much about him, but he had dark skin, was balding and smoked cigars. And I know he loved me dearly as he did my cousins.

[Anatta]

Kia Ora,

I should point out this thread was not started with the intention of belittling people who identify as Gypsies.. It was not about how bad and untrustworthy some people think Gypsies are...

I started the thread with a genuine desire to meet trans-people with a Gypsy/Roma background and to also see how they are being treated by their communities...

But sadly it would seem that some of the more negative comments are uncannily similar to what I was accustom to hearing when growing up in the UK...I would often hear people saying similar things about Jewish people  and other minority groups[ My father was Jamaican-similar things were said about Afro Caribbean people]...

Remember folks, Roma people suffered greatly during the second world war... And even long after the war, in some parts of the world they are still treated like second class citizens...Some Eastern European countries were up until quite recently [Romania comes to mind] still sterilizing Roma women without their consent...

Please don't tar all Gypsies/Roma with the same brush...There are by far more 'non' Roma people who are far worse and have committed far worse crimes[many against the Roma People]...

Bearing in mind, when it comes to 'hearsay' and 'stereotyping'  trans-people suffer from the same type of  malicious gossip...

So please spare a thought for any Roma trans-people who would also like to 'feel' welcome here...   

Metta Zenda