Free Republic

The 24-year-old Boston trolley driver who allegedly was texting his girlfriend when he slammed into another trolley last week was hired as a minority because of his transgender status, according to a state transportation official. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority spokesman Joe Pesaturo told ABC News that there was "nothing unusual" in the hiring of Alden Quinn, and that he was picked out of a hiring lottery in 2004.

The Boston-area transit authority trolley driver who allegedly slammed into another train while text-messaging his girlfriend Friday was hired as a minority because of his transgendered "female-to-male" status and had three speeding tickets on his driving record in recent years, ABC News has learned. Emergency personnel work outside the Government Center MBTA station in Boston, in this May 8, 2009... Emergency personnel work outside the Government Center MBTA station in Boston, in this May 8, 2009 file photo. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority general manager Dan Grabauskas says the collision occurred at 7:18 p.m. One trolley was stopped between Park and...