Photo: Denver Post
We've all no doubt heard that being a humble auto mechanic is a "real man's job." Evidently, we ought to change our vocabulary because the world is changing fast. Gender norms are out, and everyone doing whatever they please with their lives is the way of the future.
In America, anyone with a dream and the skills can run a successful repair shop, even those who've been unfairly marginalized for the longest time. Welcome to Good Judy Garage, one of the very first openly gender queer-operated mechanic's shops in the state of Colorado.
Not a single ounce of her mechanical prowess was lost when CC Haug decided to identify as a woman and begin hormone therapy. It's a notion she's all too keen to prove to customers and the community alike.
"I identify as queer. I'm actually going to start hormone therapy at the beginning of January." Said Haug, "One of the reasons I didn't do that earlier in life is because, to me, mechanical stuff, cars, all of that stuff is such a big passion. If I start my transition, what am I going to do for work? What's gonna happen?"
As it turns out, the answer was not to change much of anything at all. CC still changes oil, balances tires, and tunes engines with a smile and an emphatic passion that transcends any notion of gender roles. Thus, the name for Good Judy Garage, an homage to Judy Garland. One of the very first openly LGBT inclusive allies in Hollywood.
CC's partner Faith runs the day-to-day desk operations for the burgeoning new business. The couple plan to maintain a competitive edge in the local market by offering competitive prices for hourly labor and waving additional charges if work goes beyond the agreed time period.
These kinds of bargains are ones other shops could have easily offered. But when you live a life as fraught with challenges as an openly transgender person can endure, you learn that helping others is the best way to bridge cultural divides.
Best of luck to Faith, CC, and every aspiring petrolhead who's ever been told something about their character excluded them from the passion. The time is yours now, people. The time has come to try to live your life and be happy in the same way that CC did. The joke's on you, naysayers. She succeeded.
Not a single ounce of her mechanical prowess was lost when CC Haug decided to identify as a woman and begin hormone therapy. It's a notion she's all too keen to prove to customers and the community alike.
"I identify as queer. I'm actually going to start hormone therapy at the beginning of January." Said Haug, "One of the reasons I didn't do that earlier in life is because, to me, mechanical stuff, cars, all of that stuff is such a big passion. If I start my transition, what am I going to do for work? What's gonna happen?"
As it turns out, the answer was not to change much of anything at all. CC still changes oil, balances tires, and tunes engines with a smile and an emphatic passion that transcends any notion of gender roles. Thus, the name for Good Judy Garage, an homage to Judy Garland. One of the very first openly LGBT inclusive allies in Hollywood.
CC's partner Faith runs the day-to-day desk operations for the burgeoning new business. The couple plan to maintain a competitive edge in the local market by offering competitive prices for hourly labor and waving additional charges if work goes beyond the agreed time period.
These kinds of bargains are ones other shops could have easily offered. But when you live a life as fraught with challenges as an openly transgender person can endure, you learn that helping others is the best way to bridge cultural divides.
Best of luck to Faith, CC, and every aspiring petrolhead who's ever been told something about their character excluded them from the passion. The time is yours now, people. The time has come to try to live your life and be happy in the same way that CC did. The joke's on you, naysayers. She succeeded.
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