Marvin Zindler 1921-2007

Like many Houstonians all over the planet and people who lived there once upon a time, I was saddened to hear about the death Sunday of one of our iconic personalities in Marvin Zindler.

I had the pleasure of watching him on KTRK-TV from the time he first joined the station in 1973. Marvin was there only a few months when he took on the legendary bordello in LaGrange, TX called 'The Chicken Ranch' and got it shut down.

While Marvin's style was flashy, with his natty suits, trademark blue glasses, silver toupee and multiple plastic surgeries, he got results. He created the consumer fraud division in the Harris County Sheriff's Department prior to joining KTRK-TV at the urging of long-time anchor Dave Ward. He pioneered consumer advocacy reporting. Restaurants in Houston brag about getting Marvin's Clean Kitchen Award. They know that if they make Marvin's Friday Rat and Roach Report their business will suffer.

While Marvin was the son of a wealthy local clothing store owner, he'd experienced prejudice first hand while accompanying his Adrican-American nurse who raised him around town. He was forced to sit in the same 'colored' areas as she was and that experience led him to fight discrimination wherever he found it. He constanly reminded us 'it's hell to be poor' and was a lifetime member of the NAACP.

For 33 years Marvin not only fought 'slime in the ice machine,' he fought real life slime in terms of shady businessmen, uncaring bureaucrats, getting crime ridden areas and neighborhood eyesores cleaned up and fighting for people wronged by the judicial system. Just uttering the words in Houston "I'll call Marvin" was enough sometimes to make these folks quake in their boots.

Through Marvin's Angels he helped people get needed medical treatment as well. There were many times he made forays not only in the Houston area but various places around the world to bring children and others who needed medical treatment to Houston to get it at Texas Medical Center hospitals free of charge.

Marvin had a heart as big as Texas, and loved his job. Even to his death, he was helping people. From his hospital bed he interviewed his doctor about the pancreatic cancer that took his life at age 85.

A one of a kind person has been called home. It's going to be sad the next time I go home, tune it to Channel 13 and not see him or hear his trademark sign off, Marrrrrrrrvin Zindler, Eyeeeeeeeewitness News.

You are definitely going to be missed.

The GOP Hates Science

Sung to the tune of 'She Blinded Me With Science’ by Thomas Dolby’














It's ignorance in motion
The science hating GOP
They’re causing a commotion
Hating peeps that are GLBT
But the GOP hates science
"The GOP hates science!"
Because they failed biology

Stem cell research won’t occur
‘Cause the GOP hates science-science!"

"Science!"

Kissing up to the fundies
"The GOP hates science-science!"

"Science!"
"Science!"

Mmm - but it's ignorance in motion
The science hating GOP
They’re causing a commotion
Hating peeps that are GLBT
The GOP hates science
"The GOP hates science!"
Because they also failed geometry

Global warming’s a myth you see
"The GOP hates science - science!"
"Science!"
Mmm Mmm, Mmm Mmm- Rig voting booth machinery
"The GOP hates science - science!"
"Science!"

It's ignorance in motion
Fox News constantly lies to me
They’re causing a commotion
Messed with our nation’s harmony
The GOP hates science
"The GOP hates science!"
Hate SRS technology

"Good heavens Miss Sakamoto - you're a transsexual!"

Hey -I don't believe it!
They’re on CNN!
Talking that 'intelligent design' BS again!
All the anti-gay research
And junk science books
Based on Biblical contortions

But- It's ignorance in motion
The science hating GOP
They’re causing a commotion
Hating peeps that are GLBT
Oh - but the GOP hates science
"The GOP hates Science!"
The GOP hates -

25 Things I Miss About Houston

I'm approaching six years of living in Kentucky. Moving here was the first time I'd lived more than 50 miles away from the Gulf of Mexico or in a city not on I-10. Even though Louisville and Kentucky has its charms and things I like about it, there are a lot of things I miss about home besides my family.

Fortunately one of the things I missed, Blue Bell ice cream is now sold up here and I have happily gotten reaquainted with it.

So without further ado, the twenty-five things I miss about Houston.

1A-The drive to New Orleans
Before Katrina, New Orleans was THE getaway spot for many Houstonians. It was only a five hour drive or one hour plane ride away. I lived on the West Bank in Marrero for two years as a toddler and my godsister still lives there so it was doubly special to me. I loved driving that scenic stretch of I-10 that cuts through the Atchafalaya Swamp between Lafayette and Baton Rouge.


1-Major league sports
Astros baseball, Texans football, Rockets and Comets basketball. I can drive to Cincinnati, Chicago or St Louis to see the 'Stros, Indianapolis or Chicago to see the Rockets or Comets and Indy to see the Texans. (I refuse to drive to Nashville to go see them while Bud Adams still owns the Tennessee Traitors) While it's fun to cheer my home teams to victory in hostile arenas it's not the same seeing my teams in their road uniforms. While Bats games are enjoyable and the price is right, there's a huge difference between a Triple A game and a MLB one.


2-TSU and the Ocean of Soul Marching Band
Grew up watching a lot of TSU games in the Astrodome. Spent a lot of time on TSU's campus for various reasons. Listening to the high stepping Ocean of Soul as they did musical battle with the other outstanding bands in the SWAC such as Grambling, Jackson State, Southern and Prairie View was the bomb as well.

3-Texas high school football
Arguably the best in the country. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights there's high quality games going on at stadium complexes all over the area from Class 2A to Class 5A. Houston area teams are usually in the mix for state championships. TV stations in the area have 30 minute shows devoted just to covering it and there's a syndicated show that covers Texas high school football on a weekly basis. One of the sure signs that fall was coming for me is when the latest issue of Dave Campbell's Texas Football hits the stands.

4-Frenchy's chicken
The Scott Street legend located between the TSU and UH campuses that's grown to five locations. Had many nights I rolled by Frenchy's at 3 AM to grab a three piece and those creole seasoned Frenchy fries or chow down on one of their po boys.

5-Katz's deli
Katz's is an Austin institution that opened up a store in Montrose. I went to the Austin location after the 1999 lobby day and fell in love with their sandwiches and the caramel cheesecake. I did the happy dance when they opened up their Houston location in 2000.

6-The nighttime pride parade
Because Houston can get rather toasty in late June, the pride parade became a nighttime event. Attendance and popularity skyrocketed as a result.

7-Hermann Park
The Houston equvalent to Central Park in NYC. The Zoo, the Burke Baker Planetarium, the statue of Houston's namesake Sam Houston, Miller Outdoor Theater and Hippie Hill, the reflecting pool and a mini railroad train that circles a portion of it are all there on its 445 acres. The Museum District and Montrose are nearby, Rice University borders it on the west and the Texas Medical Center to the south.

8-Montrose
Houston's eclectic gayborhood that also has St Thomas University, La Colombe d'Or hotel, the Chinese consulate, the Menil Collection and various bed and breakfast places in the area along with some of my fave restaraunts and shops.


9-The Galleria
So many childhood and transition memories there. It's one of my fave malls because of the ice rink, the high end designer shops and its international fame. Did a lot of walking, shopping, eating and window shopping there. My high school prom was at one of the hotels there. I also miss the Harwin Drive discount shopping strip as well.

10-Galveston and fresh seafood
It represented the beach in my youth and my transition in adulthood. My gender clinic is located there. Whether I got my seafood in Galveston, one of the restaurants like Gaido's, Pappas or at one of the local mom and pop seafood joints, it was plentiful and the bomb.


11-The amenities of large city living
It aggravates me when I have to drive to Cincy or Indianapolis to see my favorite acts or have to wait for traveling plays, movies or shows to come here after they do limited engagements in larger cities elsewhere.

12-Marrrrrrrrrvin Zindler, Eyyyyyyeewitness news
Rent the Best Little Whorehouse In Texas. Melvin P. Thorpe is modeled on Marvin Zindler, KTRK-TV's longtime pioneering crusading consumer affairs reporter who unfortunately died Sunday. Marvin's had more plastic surgery than many of the girls who dance at Rick's. The Friday Rat and Roach report of restaurants that failed city health inspections is punctuated by his 'sliiiiiiiiiiime in the ice machine' line.



13-Mattress Mack's Gallery Furniture commercials
Another Houston institution. Mattress Mack ends his commericals by jumping up and down, holding a dollar bill and reciting his tagline 'Gallery Furniture will save you money.'

14-The Ensemble Theater and Black culture
Houston's award winning Black theater company. Houston is also the epicenter of Black history and culture in Texas. If there was a African-American trailblazer in Texas, nine times out of ten they had a Houston address.

15-The downtown Houston skyline
No matter what angle I looked at it, whether it was from the stands at Minute Maid park, from IAH, my south side 'hood or the southwest side, I got to watch our world famous modernistic skyline grow as the city did.

16-Texas barbecue
Whether it was chowing down at Harlon's, Drexler's, Pappas, a street vendor in the parking lot of a nightclub or a neighborhood hole in the wall, it's all good no matter what 'hood I was eating it in.

17-UH
Eat 'em up, eat 'em up, rah rah rah! I miss walking around campus, checking out Cougar basketball, football and baseball games and reliving some memories from the time I was there.

18-Houston Splash
The Black gay pride weekend that includes a beach party in Galveston and events in Houston that usually happens the first weekend in May.

19-Majic 102
Houston's first R&B FM station that started broadcasting in 1977. Over my teen and young adult years our radios eventually were tuned to it. It's now owned by Cathy Hughes' Radio One.


20-Astroworld
Houston's amusement park that was opened by Judge Roy Hofheinz in 1968 and later bought by Six Flags. I was horrified to find out Six Flags not only closed it, but tore it down in early 2006. Another place that has fond memories for me.

21-Shipley's Donuts
Krispy Kreme only opened its first Houston location in 2000 and still got their butts kicked by Shipley's. It's a local doughnut chain that also offers stuffed kolaches and fresh coffee. Some of the locations, especially in the 'hood are 24 hour ones.

22-Charlie's Restaurant
When I wasn't feeling Denny's or was crossdressed, I used to roll up in this gay owned gay friendly 24 hour Montrose hangout, enjoy the food and the eclectic crowd that gathered there to boot.

23-Niko Niko's
A Greek place in Montrose that also serves dynamite seafood and burgers.

24-Driving to Austin and Dallas
The state capital was only a two hour drive away and I enjoyed rolling up state highway 71 and seeing the bluebonnets blooming along the highway. Most of my Texas relatives live in Dallas and we used make that four hour drive up I-45 nearly every summer to see them.

25-The Unity Banquet
One of the major events of the Houston transgender community. One of my first community award nominations was for the Dee McKellar in 2001 for what else, the most outspoken person in the community. Lost that one to Kat Rose. ;)

The Transgender Talented Tenth

When W.E.B DuBois first envisioned the Talented Tenth in his book The Souls of Black Folk it wasn't intended to be interpreted as being exclusionary or elitist. But that's the connotation that has been placed on the concept by many peeps in the African-American community.

DuBois concept was that the Talented Tenth would be given the mission to uplift the race and help it thrive through a combination of economic and political empowerment with a strong moral center as its core.

I believe that The Talented Tenth concept is one that is sorely needed at this juncture in the African-American transcommunity.

Too many of us have been focused on the party, the quick money and obsessively finding a 'husband' to validate our femininity. Not enough thought or time has been spent on community building, addressing the negative image we've been saddled with, where we fit in with our biowomen sistahs or how we evolve into becoming the Phenomenal Transwomen we were born to be.

That needs to end ASAP because as African-Americans, we African-American transpeeps, like the rest of our people are also judged by the WORST segments of our community, not the best.

I cringe when I hear the word 'elitism' being bandied about. It's been beaten to death in the white transgender community. I'm tired of seeing somebody branded as 'elitist' just because they busted their ass to go to school and get that paper. Should we be chomping Hater Tots and playa hatin' our transsistahs because they are college educated, have high self-esteem, are spiritually grounded, have a good job, wear fly clothes, own a house or have a nice car? Hell, naw.

If we desire the same things we should congratulate them, ask them what they did to get it, then replicate the hard work they put in to get theirs.

The main ones throwing that shade are the drag and street trans elements of our community. They heap scorn on people trying to get 'ejumacated' and legitimately paid. Some of the anti-intellectual strain in the African-American transcommunity is disproportionately concentrated in the drag and street transcommunity as well. While I understand why some of them harbor those resentments toward their more successful sisters, I'm not giving them a pass either. Some of them need to check themselves and start doing what it takes to come up to the next level as productive citizens doing their part to uplift the entire race.

At the same time, we have to make sure that our constructive criticism doesn't degenerate into a negative back and forth no-win dissfest. I have to point out that there are numerous drag artists and female illusionists who are highly educated, involved in the community, are proud of their African heritage and conduct themselves with impeccable decorum and class. The reality is there are others who don't and grouse about what peeps aren't doing for them.

But in order to accomplish our mission as members of the Transgender Talented Tenth those of us who have been blessed with the talents must stay focused. We must be on guard against developing selfish attitudes or arrogantly thinking that we are 'better' than our less fortunate transsistahs.

At the same time the blessed person has to remember that if it's requested, we have an obligation to at least try to lift a transsistah up and act as their mentor while doing so. If they rebuff you or don't want to do the self-examination and necessary work to improve their lives, then you have the right to move on and focus on your own life. You also have the option of continuing to search for the transsistah who is not only willing to listen to you, but sincerely desires to replicate your success in her own life.

So does the Transgender Talented Tenth exist? Yes they do. The peeps that it encompasses are not too dissimilar from the vision of DuBois. I consider the Transgender Talented Tenth to be made up of the educated transpeeps in our midst, the ones who are in leadership positions, be it with an organization or a grassroots activist level, business people, artists, the thinking visionaries and those who by living their lives help break down barriers and foster understanding between our community and the world at large. It's also rooted in the old saying to whom much is given, much is required.

We all want to be judged by the best we can produce and I believe like my ancestors that education holds the key to uplifting our people. African-Americans and the world MUST realize that there ARE transpeeps who are intelligent, care about the community as a whole and can do more than just entertain. We can run your businesses, your city, your county, your state and the country as well.

It is the Transgender Talented Tenth who will be the shock troops leading the charge toward slaying the demons of ignorance and misinformation. We have already started the process of demolishing the negative image of African-American transwomen that has built up over the years.

We are the peeps that through our daily interactions with our fellow African-Americans and others will break down those misconceptions. We will be the ones laying the groundwork for uplifting all transpeeps to our rightful place at the African-American family table and the American family table as well.

Don't Disrespect Me

An MKR Poem

Don't disrespect me
Because you won't see
My evolving femininity
That overrides my transsexuality

Won't let your fear
Label me as queer
I'm a woman, my dear
Hope that's crystal clear

I'm Black and proud
Opinionated and loud
Ain't just a pretty face in a crowd
Praise be to God

My inner diva is finally free
So respect my gender identity
And my humanity
From sea to shining sea

I AM A Role Model

Many of us remember the famous 1984 Nike commercial in which Charles Barkley stated that 'he wasn't a role model'. It saddens me when I hear stories about transwomen who decline opportunities to act as mentors for young tranpeople.

Well, just as Charles clarified it later in the commercial by stating that parents and teachers are role models, that's true. But role models also extend to ministers, neighbors, people who have qualities that you admire and people who have demonstrated a commitment to being the best they can be while helping others.

One of the things I constantly talk about is the period in the early 80's when I was trying to transition. I sought out a mentor only to be rebuffed, ignored or dissed. The other problem was that in Montrose the girls I observed were either doing the drag thang, the drug thang or working the streets, and I wanted better for my life since I was in school at the time. The other sistahs who transitioned at the time were living stealth lives. That left a gaping positivity gap as AIDS devastated Houston. I swore to myself that if I ever got in the position to mentor someone, they would have my help if they asked. I created the Transistahs-Transbrothers discussion list in 2004 as part of my mentoring efforts.

It's funny, but one of the things I discovered is that mentoring is a two way street. Just as I became a role model for some transpeople, some dear friends have also become role models for me as well. There are various qualities my role models have such as their political savvy, sense of style, intelligence, emphasis on getting and keeping the financial house in order, outspokenness, deep faith in God, determination, willingness to move in search of a better life, musical talents, relentless pursuit of dreams, and surviving challenging life circumstances and thriving.

Those are qualities that I can look up to and incorporate into my own daily life in order to make me a better person.

I AM a role model. It's not like I eagerly sought out that position, it just evolved over time. My big mouth was the one on a 100,000 watt FM radio station talking about transgender and other issues. Since I was one of the few Black trans folks lobbying on Capitol Hill, I became the de facto representative of the African-American transgender community when I did that. I am thought of as a role model and diligently try to conduct myself in that manner, so now I must live up to it.

I must be on point in terms of my personal behavior, sense of style, and integrity. I not only represent myself, I represent all of you. I must be well read and well versed on many subjects because our enemies, the general public and other transpeople discount our intelligence. Some of them think that all we want to do is party, screw, and expose ourselves on shemalewhaever.com. We're far more complex than that simplistic box they try to put us in.

Keep sleeping on me, a Phenomenal Transwoman. A proud card carrying member of the Transgender Talented Tenth. I and every other transsistah and transbrotha is a living embodiment of the power of what is possible in our community, and I relish the challenge of making positive thangs happen.

Hope you do, too.

Goodbye, Tammy Faye

Back in 2003 I attended my first Derby party as a Louisville resident. This particular derby happened on May 3, the day before my birthday so I got the tickets as an early birthday present from friends.

The Derby Benefit is a fundraising event for the Fairness Campaign, the local GLBT org here. It's a star-studded affair just like all the other Derby parties that take place in Louisville during Derby Week. It draws its share of national celebs as well straight and gay. You also have gay-friendly celebs popping in to give shout-outs to their GLBT fanbase as well.

In addition to the fun of getting glammed up for my first Derby party, I received a double dose of pleasure when I discovered that The Lady Chablis was there in attendance along with Tammy Faye. Anna Nicole Smith was walking in just as me and my friends were leaving around 10 PM. I got the Lady Chablis to autograph my copy of her book Hiding My Candy and after chatting with Chablis for a few minutes, started talking moments later to Tammy Faye.

Aftwr remarking how she wished she was my height (a sentiment also shared by the 5'3" Lady Chablis) we talked about our faith. She said something to me that she later shared with the assembled partygoers when she went up to the mic to speak.

"God loves you, too. Never let anyone tell you that He doesn't."

I thought about that when I heard the news Sunday that Tammy Faye lost this round battling an unrelenting foe in cancer. She's beat it back twice but this time it was not to be.

Tammy Faye came across to me as a warm, funny and caring person. She's more Christian than many peeps who claim they are. She talks the talk and walks the walk. She's a class act that's definitely gonna be missed.

Think, Think! It Ain't Illegal Yet!

We used to chant this line during Parliament-Funkadelic concerts back in the day. I use it as my signature line on e-mails that I send.

Little did I suspect that the intellectual laziness of some Americans would become so pronounced over the years that there would be a need to actually remind people to do just that.

As the eldest child of a retired educator and a media personality I abhor ignorance. I also abhor disinformation in all forms whether it's inadvertent or deliberate. I have watched in horror over the last 20 years as reason and logic seems to have vacated national policy making, general discourse and politics. In its place we now have a dysfunctional Alice in Wonderland culture.

Or should Orwellian culture be more like it?

How do you explain a man who erased a trillion dollar deficit, helped create a booming economy during the 90's, was respected and admired all over the world and presided over a decade at peace being impeached for lying about oral sex, but a guy who has us bogged down in a Vietnam-style war in Iraq, lied to get us there, outed a CIA operative to get back at her husband and thumbs his nose at the Constitution with aggravatingly annoying regularity isn't?

I don't get it.

Something else that defies logic is how in Hades demonizing gay people came to be called 'Christian' and why African-American ministers who once spoke truth to power now sit in the amen corner with the same white fundamentalist ministers who opposed our civil rights just 40 years ago.

I'm also distressed about some people celebrating ignorance in our culture. Let me 'keep it real' for you peeps. One of the defining values of African-American culture is our pursuit of excellence and education. We were so laser-beam focused on it after emancipation from slavery in 1865 that African-Americans went from a 10% literacy rate mainly concentrated among free Northern Blacks in 1850 to almost 80% by 1880.

But you have some people in our culture who ignorantly equate education and intelligence with 'acting white'. I remember one encounter with a girl in my old neighborhood. She remarked that in her opinion my Queen's English speech pattern was 'speaking white.' I replied to her that 'yo baby' and speaking ebonically, while that's fine when I'm talking trash with my friends in the 'hood wouldn't get me a job in white-dominated corporate America.

It's not just a Black thang either. I've noted the Culture of Ignorance is taking hold with our white brothers and sisters as well, especially those who profess to be fundamentalist Christians. Fundies are using the 'God said it, I believe it, that settles it' bumper sticker line to rationalize their Luddite-like rejection of science. They're homeschooling their kids because the public schools aren't teaching their younglings their 'christian values' of hate and intolerance.

I'm a Christian, but I refuse to turn off my brain when I enter the church sanctuary.

A $27 million dollar monument to ignorance just opened in Petersburg, KY called the Creation Museum. For $19.95 you can watch a high tech show explaining their 'intelligent design' concoction (a renaming of creation science) that the Earth is 6000 years old and that dinosaurs and man lived and worked side by side.

Hey, sounds like the Flintstones minus Fred, Wilma, Betty, Barney, Bamm-Bamm and Pebbles. Yabba dabba don't waste your time and money. I can get more laughs out of watching the Flintstones while saving some gas. If you really want to see a good museum in that area drive a few more miles up I-75 to Cincinnati and check out the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

Okay, let me go back to talking about politics. It's time for our country to be run by the 'A' students again instead of the 'C' one who looks and acts like a 'D' one. I don't know about you, but one of the first things I look for in a president is not whether I can have a beer with them, but if they are smart enough and have enough broad based knowledge to handle the job. If they aren't I want them to be honest enough to recognize that they don't and get peeps who are to help him (or her) make those tough decisions in the areas where their knowledge is lacking.

But there I go again thinking logically.

Hurry up and get here November 4, 2008. There's a National Merit Scholar in the race and a Harvard Law grad who'd make an excellent president that I can't wait to vote for.

Intellectual laziness is dangerous in a democracy. It's the grease that provides the slippery descent to a dictatorship. So think people. Challenge the statements and ludicrous assertions that people make. Trust your intuition. Don't accept everything as the gospel truth that the media tells you. Filter it with logic and reason.

That also goes for what Reverend So-and-So tells you as well and be prepared to call out the TransGriot if I slip up. My voracious reading habits are a source of pride for me. I'm blessed with an intellectual curiosity that constantly thirsts to be satisfied with knowledge. It has me asking the who, what, when, where and why questions on a regular basis. My most admired people include intellectuals like Dr. Cornel West, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson and Dr. Julianne Malveaux. I try to back up my posts with links for you to check out my comments but even I miss from time to time.

We all benefit from the free exchange of information and knowledge. It helps our country and democracy grow stronger. Reason and logic helps you do your patriotic duty as an American citizen and cast an informed vote.

So just do it. Think! Do it before it becomes illegal to do so.

Crystal Vera's Quest For The Crown

High school senior Crystal Vera created a lot of buzz when she ran for prom queen. Now the trans girl is ready to tackle the future.



By Michelle Garcia
An Advocate.com exclusive posted June 26, 2007

At 19, Crystal Vera has already made history. This May the high school senior at Roosevelt School of the Arts in Fresno, Calif., became the nation's first transgender prom queen.

Her moment of glory attracted massive attention: MTV and Bravo wanted interviews, Fresno's gay pride parade named her as grand marshal (she rode in the parade in her tiara, sash, and sparkly blue gown), and the blogosphere buzzed with news of her win. For the LGBT community, Vera's win was a remarkable statement—and one Vera initially had reservations about making.

“My friends would constantly ask me to run for queen,” she says via phone. “But I just wanted my prom to be fun and my senior year to be relaxed. I didn’t want to be stressed-out. I knew that this would take a lot of work.”

Eventually those friends wore her down. One day Vera walked into the school cafeteria to find a mob of supporters urging her to put her hat in the ring.

“I was so touched by how my classmates accepted me, and that they respected me so much that they would want me to be prom queen,” she remembers. So Vera’s campaign began. She handed out rainbow flyers and chatted up her classmates, the high school equivalent to shaking hands and kissing babies. The Roosevelt School of the Arts, where Vera (still known to some teachers and classmates as Johnny) excelled as a student, cheerleader, and dancer, is a progressive magnet program for fine arts with a student body of 500 students. But before Vera's run for queen, no one knew just how progressive the program was.

In the end, the transgender teenager beat the other contenders, whom she described as equally popular and well-liked as she, by a 5-to-1 margin.

After the prom the whirlwind continued. "The following Monday when I walked into each of my classes, my peers would all get up and clap for me,” she says. “When I went to lunch, the whole cafeteria—I will never forget this—everybody was clapping. It’s just so wonderful to know that times are changing. People are changing. Things like this bring us hope as individuals that things will be better off for us.”

In September, Vera will study fashion design at the California College of the Arts, something she's dreamed about doing since she was 14 years old. Whatever challenges she may face, she'll always be able to draw strength from the memory of her prom.

“A year from now, if I’m going through a hard time," she says, "it will be good to look back and remember that not all people are cruel and rude."

Constable May Walker

I remember when May Walker became the first Black female officer in the Houston Police Department. It was back in 1975 and HPD still had a negative shoot first and ask questions later reputation in our community.

As May patrolled our neighborhoods and became a well known and comforting presence as a African-American officer in the Houston Police Department, she quickly earned a nickname among myself and the kids in our South Park neighborhood. We called her Christie Love, after the short lived ABC-TV show about ironically, the first female African-American officer to join a big city police force. The other irony was that the late Teresa Graves, who played Christie Love was from Houston as well.

For 24 years as a HPD officer May not only won over people in our community, she fought the entrenched racism and good-ole-boy culture within HPD as well. She opened doors that African-American youth in my neighborhood and beyond would follow. The current multi-ethnic professional force that Houston enjoys is largely because of her efforts. She also earned the respect and admiration of her law enforement peers.

But she was just getting started in terms of making more history. In November 2004 she ran for Harris County Precinct 7 Constable and won with 82% of the vote. When she was sworn in on January 2, 2005 she became the first female constable in Harris County history.

In addition to Constable Walker's long and distinguished law enforcement career, she's an author and is active in a long list of organizations in the Houston area.

Congratulations to Constable Walker and may 'Christie Love' continue to blaze trails for my generation and others to follow.

African-American/People of Color Transperson Research

Stephen "Arch" Erich, Ph.D., LCSW and Josephine Tittsworth, MSW, LBSW are conducting research on issues related to African-American, Hispanic, and others of color transgenders in relation to their Life, Satisfaction and Self Esteem.

We are collecting this information in order to examine Life Satisfaction issues related to the individual's personal life style and also the person's relation to family issues. We are also wanting to see if there is any correlation between Life Satisfaction and Self Esteem. I hope you will participate in the furthering of educating society on issues related to the transgender.

Stephen "Arch" Erich, Ph.D., LCSW has researched gay adoption extensively in the past and has been within the past four years researching issues important to the transgender community. He is the Director of the Social Work Program at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.

Josephine Tittsworth, MSW, LBSW is an activist and researcher within the transgender community. She is the Research Chair for NTAC and has served on the board of directors of many transgender organizations. She is a post-op transsexual. She is currently a doctorial candidate at the University of Houston.

They request that if you wish to participate that you email Arch at erich@uhcl.edu to request the survey questionnaire. If you have any questions you can also call him at (281)283-3388

Please participate and help further the knowledge base on transgender issues.

J. P. Tittsworth, MSW, LBSW, AA; NTAC Board of Directors, Research Chair; GCSW-SA Senator; SGA Social Work Senator

Irreplaceable

Sung to the tune of 'Irreplacable' by Beyonce

To the left, To the left
To the left, To the left
To the left, To the left
My politics are a little to the left
I love my country just as much
My civil rights you please don’t touch
Keep talking that right-wing mess, that's fine
Your prez can’t walk and talk at the same time
Y’all ruined the USA my bad
Took too long to realize that we’ve been had

Right-wing talk shows yappin’ telling me
How we're all such fools - Talking about
How we'll never vote out peeps like you
You got me twisted

You must not know about me
You must not know about me
I'll have a new congressman/senator any minute
Be better when your opponent wins it- baby

You must not know about me
You must not know about me
I'll have a better America by tomorrow
So don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable

So go ahead and get gone
Call that lobbyist and see if they’re home
Oops, I bet ya thought that I didn't know
What did you think I was putting you out for?
Cause you was untrue
Not doing the job I elected you to do
Baby drop them office keys and hurry up before your limo leaves
Right wing talk shows yappin’ telling me
How we're all such fools - Talking about
How we'll never vote out peeps like you
You got me twisted

You must not know about me
You must not know about me
I'll have a new congressman/senator any minute
Be better when your opponent wins it-baby

You must not know about me
You must not know about me
I'll have a better America by tomorrow
So don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable

So since you can't help everyone
I’m voting you out of Washington
Because I’m nothing at all to you
I’ll shed tears of happiness, boo
I’m not a mindless sheep
Cause the truth of the matter is
Replacing you is so easy

To the left, To the left
To the left, To the left

To the left, To the left
My politics are a little to the left

To the left
To the left

Don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable

You must not know about me
You must not know about me
I'll have a new congressman/senator any minute
Be better when your opponent wins it - baby

You must not know about me
You must not know about me
I'll have a better America by tomorrow
Don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable

You must not know about me
You must not know about me
I'll have a new congressman/senator any minute
Be better when your opponent wins it - baby

You must not know about me
You must not know about me
I'll have a better America by tomorrow
Don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable

Beauty Shop Confessions

One of the things that I was apprehensive about after I started transition in 1994 was finding a beauty shop to hook up my hair. I had the task of not only finding a beautician that would be open minded enough to understand what we transwomen have to deal with, but also have a flexible enough schedule to deal with my airline work schedule. I was also concerned about whether or not I would fit in with her current clientele.

I didn't have to go very far. Ironicially it was the one my ex-girlfriend went to. Sadat Busari's shop at the time was right next door in the strip shopping center to my old apartment complex on Bissonnet. I started going to A Cut Above and was a faithful customer of hers until the time I moved to Da Ville in September 2001.

One of the things about African-American male culture is that the barbershop was the center of the universe. It's where guys talked politics, listened as other guys discussed women, bragged about their sporting prowess, sports knowledge and relationships. The seniors gathered at a table in the back and played dominos while waiting for their turn in the barber chair.

I grew up with a female barber. One thing about my hometown is that I had a lot of strong women in my life and Miss Charlene was one of them. She'd been cutting my hair at her Sunnyside area shop on Scott Street since I was 6 years old. She chewed my behind if my grandfather Leo reported to her that my grades slipped. She was the one that taught me how to play dominos and I used to partner with to play against and beat the old heads. I had been accurately pontificating on a wide variety of subjects since I was 10 and my thoughts were respected by the young and old denizens of that shop.

Some of my apprehension was generated because I wondered what the atmosphere was like in a beauty shop and whether I'd fit in. My mom, aunt and sisters always went to my grandmother Lou Ella's house to get their hair hooked up on Saturdays and I was the person who frequently ended up driving them over there once I got my driver's license.

I discovered that it's not too dissimilar to what I'd experienced in my old barbershop. While we didn't play dominos in A Cut Above, I was right in my element when we discussed politics, books we'd read and talked about relationships. It was also a lot of fun for me because I was in discovery mode (and still am) when it came to life as an African-American woman and I reveled in being there.

I discovered that some sistahs could be just as raunchy as the guys were sometimes when it came to discussing sex. One of the customers used to give us details about how she worked her boyfriend over the night before. I was amused to find out later her boyfriend worked for CAL like I did. Since some of the customers knew my T-woman status, I ended up breaking down their relationship problems and giving them advice based on the knowledge gained from living on the other side of the gender fence and knowing how the male thought processes work.

If it was just me and Sadat in the shop, sometimes we trade details on our lives. I learned about her childhood growing up in the Biafra region of Nigeria, dealing with being a wife, mother and business owner and being part of the Nigerian community in Houston. She heard me talk about my family, some of my airport exploits, my desire to see less bickering between African-Americans and our Nigerian cousins and my latest, sometimes humorous discoveries I made about navigating a gender change.

And yeah, Sadat hooked up my hair in the process to the point where I was always getting compliments on it.

I Love* You

Give me your unconditional love
the kind of love I deserve
the kind I want to return

That's the chorus of the Donna Summer song Unconditional Love. It's one of the things that next to respecting our constitutional rights, a desire to be loved by someone and having loyal friends in our lives that have our backs no matter what is one of the things at the top of our request list when it comes to our families.

Unconditional love. Sounds like a simple, straightforward, logical concept, right?

Not when you have a gender identity issues and you come out to your family about it.

It's irritating to see family members that are chronically unemployed, go to prison or have drug problems get more support than a transgender person who's clean and sober, successful in their careers and never seen the inside of a jail.

If there's anything that a transperson needs most, it's the support of their family when they're trying to negotiate the drama of dealing with a gender identity issue. If you're reading this and you're the lucky transperson that has the unconditional love and support of your family, congratulations. I ain't mad at ya.

Just remember to say prayers of thanks to God every night from now until the time you pass away for the situation you find yourself in. Some of your fellow transpeeps aren't so lucky. If they aren't rejected out of hand, then the situation that is just as bad is the support and love with conditions attached to it.

You may have parents who continue to call you by the wrong pronoun or the old male name despite the fact you've been transitioned for a decade or more. You find out about family reunions AFTER they've taken place or too late for you to rearrange the work schedule to attend. You may have situations where you're sent an invite to a wedding, but a few days before the event your relatives call you up and request that you don't wear a dress or heels to the event or insultingly ask you if it's possible for you to 'dress like a man'.

The ones that are really irritating are the relatives that say they support you, but start imposing their religious beliefs on you or are bold enough to tell you to your face that you'll never be a woman in their eyes.

If that sounds like you, stop it. Unconditional love means just what it says.
We need the validation of having our blood relatives acknowledge the person we've evolved into now, not the kid they remember ten to twenty years ago.

We transpeeps need that connection, that feeling of belonging, that desire to be recognized as a valued respected member of the family in our new gender role. It's something we need to help fortify our self-esteem. It's comforting to know that as we go out and deal with the slings and arrows hurled at us from a not too sympathetic and sometimes hostile world, our families love us unconditionally.

We transpeeps need to believe that come hell or high water our families be they our nuclear or extended ones, have our backs and are not finding excuses to place knives in our backs.

Confessions of an Ex-Fundamentalist

I'm Micah Christian and I'm a recovering fundamentalist.

It started in my youth when my parents began attending Humongous Baptist Church. As they got more involved in church events and were 'born again' they pulled me out of the public schools and enrolled me in the HBC Christian Academy. I used to love science classes, but not after I was taught something called 'creation science' or whatever they call it now.

I was also disturbed about the outright hatred that our senior pastor displays toward gay people. How can you reconcile preaching love for your fellow man while you're spending thousands of dollars of the church's money in supporting a mean-spirited anti-gay constitutional amendment and making their lives miserable?

I also questioned why we spent so much money on an ex-gay ministry that doesn't work. The people that go through it go right back to gay life. It's also interesting some of the stories my gay friends tell me about being approached in gay clubs or elsewhere by some HBC deacons for sex. They also told me about the transgender escort that the associate pastor sees on a regular basis, but every time a television camera is turned toward his face he's condemning GLBT people.

I hate attending church with a basketball arena sized crowd. I was happy at our old church that I was baptized in and I miss it. Unlike HBC, where the minister doesn't even know my name, Reverend Jordan knew me, my parents and my grandparents.

I also hate having Republican politics force fed to me under the cloak of religion and being told that liberals are evil. How can you honestly say that people who push for social justice for all, safe food standards, 40 hour workweek with safe conditions and are trying to make universal health care a reality are unpatriotic and evil?

And why are we at HBC commanded to do whatever it takes to get GLBT people fired from their places of employment? All they are trying to do is make a living like we are. Don't they have that right? What makes us so superior that we take it upon ourselves to cause pain and suffering to fellow human beings when we aren't perfect ourselves? We violate the Ten Commandments more that the people that our pastors condemn from the pulpit every Sunday.

After seeing all that over the years, I finally got tired of Humongous Baptist Church and started attending a new one. It's an open and affirming environment. My minister challenges us to think, study our Bible and be better people, not browbeat others with the word of God or manipulate scripture to justify bigotry and hatred.

It's taken a while, but I finally feel good and at peace about being a Christian.

Austin Reflections

Guest column by Fredrikka Maxwell

There’s a bridge across busy Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas. It crosses the Colorado River and is the home for the largest bat colony in the world and is a tourist attraction in the Texas capital.

And there’s a plaque on that bridge, still shiny and new, naming it for Ann Richards (1933-2006) the lady governor of Texas from 1991-1995 who was in essence a bridge builder advocating for equality of the races, women’s rights and rights of GLBT people

I was in Texas on the July 4th weekend giving a seminar at the Dignity USA convention in Austin. And as I explored the bustling downtown area and watched the variety of people young and old, black and white and brown going to and fro, I discovered the plaque on the bridge and realized that this is what it was really all about.

Building bridges.

And that was what I was doing in Austin that weekend. Building a bridge from the transgender community in the largest Roman Catholic GLBT group in the country to the group at large--a group that called itself a trans-inclusive group since the mid 1990s but had had nothing trans in its convention line up --which horrified me. It turned out that the transperson they had on the committee putting on the convention had to leave the committee for personal reasons. And, since conventions can take on a life of their own, it basically snowballed and I really believe that the trans aspect went out of sight and out of mind.

So I suggested that perhaps we could squeeze a trans workshop into the convention and I even prepared an outline. The convention chair and the Dignity list moderator both realized I knew my subject. And having been reared Catholic and so had a background for understanding the church didn’t hurt at all. In fact, that probably sealed the deal. So they invited me to give the workshop that we hoped would educate the general run of dignity convention-goers and help them grasp the issues inherent in being trans-inclusive.

It turned out that it was not a large gathering. Maybe 225 to 250 individuals all told gathered at the Hyatt Regency downtown. About a dozen showed up. But they were prominent people in the Dignity community and they were interested and I could see people taking notes and folks asked good questions. It felt very affirming.

I’ve read some figures from NCTE that there are maybe between 750,000 and 3,000,000 trans people in the US. That’s a liberal estimate and may not be exact. So many of us are in the closet, so many of us are stealth, living a life with a secret we pray never gets out. It is hard to know exactly how many of us are out there and that’s especially true for the minority population. It's hard to rally the numbers that will translate to the votes that we desperately need to get Congress to pass the laws that we need.

And so we need all the allies we can find. That was also true in the Dignity community. And some of them were in the gay, lesbian, and bisexual communities.

But many of them don’t always understand us and our issues. And we may not always understand theirs. It was--and is-- therefore important to strive to find common ground. And to find common ground you have to educate folks in your issues and you have to let them know that some of their issues overlap and are right there with ours.

For instance, anti-hate crime legislation is a trans issue. It is also a gay and lesbian issue as well. I personally don’t know if Barry Winchell was REALLY gay or not and frankly it doesn’t matter if he was or not. The thing is it has to be OK to be who you are, whether you’re gay or straight, bi or trans, whatever. But somebody thought it did matter and killed him as a result. He’d probably still be walking around today if that hadn’t happened. So would Nokia Baker. Trust me, anti-hate crime legislation is a must.

Health care is also a gay and lesbian issue. Since it’s also tied to marriage equality getting it for oneself and one’s partner is a challenge. Especially if the person’s employer doesn’t offer domestic partnership benefits.

And sometimes hospitals will not allow a gay person at the bedside of the beloved because of policies that dictate only “family” may visit and only “family” may make healthcare decisions for the patient--and if you’re gay and you can’t get married, then you could be out of luck because only married people are respected as “family”

Although it’s possible to draft legal paper such as durable powers of attorney for health care, and legal paper to declare yourself next of kin so that you can visit the patient that might get around that. But it’s not automatic as it is for straight married couples That makes it a real burdensome issue for gays and lesbians.

And also a trans issue. We know, for instance, that many insurance companies do not cover what we need in the way of health care. many do not cover Gender Reassignment Surgery, and some don’t cover hormones, and some don’t cover facial feminization surgery, the procedures that make the face more feminine for male to female trans people for instance. Health care is for sure both a trans issues and a gay and lesbian issue.

And it’s understanding issues like that that will go a long way towards strengthening the GLBT alliance, allowing us to find common ground and understanding of our sometimes joint issues.

So I was glad to be a bridge builder. Thank you, Ann Richards, for reminding me.

Advice To A Young African-American Transwoman

TransGriot note: This morning one of the peeps on the TSTB list asked this question.

I want to know from others what makes you complete or would leave your life fufilled? Should it be something more than a relationship, career or status? Whatever it is how do you go about getting there?

I hope for people it's something more/deeper than just SRS. Because I've seen my fair share of unhappy, bitter post ops

This was my response:

Are those bitter post ops you meet WHITE ones? White transsexuals go through a different transition path than we do. They are coming from a situation where the world revolved around them as white males. Many of them bitterly lament losing that WMP status.

I've been transitioned for over a decade. My life is far happier and better AFTER transition than it was BEFORE transition.

It's not about money, power or fame. It's about living life honestly, openly, being comfortable in your own skin, being happy and being the best person you can be. It's about trusting the feminine intuition and gifts you've been given and getting in tune spiritually with them. It's about discovering who you are and what type of woman you want to be.


In a nutshell, you're about to repeat your teen years all over again, but this time you're preparing to be the woman you know you are inside and should have been from birth.

You may want to get a subscription to Essence to help you get in tune with your genetic sisters and the sistah inside you. Another suggestion would be to find a genetic sistah as a loyal friend who will honestly assess where you are, have your back and break down the mysteries of womanhood to you from the perspective of someone who was raised from birth to fulfill that role.

Ordinarily your mother or other female relatives would ideally do that, but at the moment she ain't inclined to pass those lessons on to you. You have to have that knowledge in order to grow.

Don't fall into the rhetorical trap or let anyone tell you that because you don't have a uterus and a vagina and can't give birth to a child you aren't a woman. Women are made, not born. There are genetic women who possess a uterus and vagina and CAN'T give birth. Do they think of themselves as anything less than a woman?

No they don't. Neither should you.

Once you achieve that and it's an ongoing process, frack errbody else and their unsolicited opinions about whether being transgender is 'wrong' or whatever other word they use to cover up their disapproval of our lives.

Remember, being a woman, especially a Black woman is serious business. That's the way our biosisters see it and that's why many of them are real hard on us when we first transition. They want to know that you aren't trivializing their existence and they know when someone isn't serious about it.

As they see it, you are joining the ranks of the mothers of civilization. The standard bearers for our race. And you got to have a little flava as you navigate through this process.

While this is an ongoing, serious process, evolving into a Black woman, enjoy the ride. Laugh at the mistakes you make along the way. Take time to enjoy the things you like to do. Cry if you feel the need to. You are no longer bound by masculinity's rules.

You are a Phenomenal Transwoman. Enjoy the journey.

The Color Line IS A Transgender Community Problem Too

At the dawn of the 20th century, W.E.B. DuBois made his famous prediction that 'The problem of the 20th century will be the problem of the color line.

Seven years into the twenty-first century, not only was DuBois on target, but the twenty-first century has an American color line exacerbated by conservative policies and rhetoric that's worse than the one in DuBois day. While I don't face the prospect of being lynched because I dared to vote or forcefully speak up for myself in the presence of a white person, the two centuries of racist negativity still lives.

I have often said that the GLBT community is a microcosm of society at large. It is illogical to think that we GLBT peeps are free of the ills of the parent society. Since we are a subset of a racist society, we're infected with the same sickness as well. Every now and then I get reminders of the racist past that permeates our present.

During the recent lobby day I participated in two months ago AC and I were taking some peeps back to a DC METRO station past The Mall. We'd had a debrief in our hotel room in Silver Spring about the day's lobbying effort. I'm the lone African-American in this vehicle and we took Georgia Avenue enroute to the METRO station. We got stopped at a traffic light on the Howard University campus. While waiting for the light to change I noted just to my right a DC police officer executing a patdown search on an African-American male. I made a comment to AC about it and one of the peeps we were chauffeuring chimed in, "They must be searching for the crack cocaine he was selling."

I turned my head and shot that person a lethally nasty look before saying, "Most of the peeps selling and using crack share your ethnic background."

It isn't the first time I've been confronted with racism inside the transgender community. I've been called the n-word multiple times on various transgender oriented discussion lists simply because people disagreed with me. When a group of us started putting together the first Transsistahs-Transbrothas conference in 2005 we were motivated to make it happen after a person made the comment that 'it will make it easier for them to service their tricks' along with other racist tripe in their posting.

When the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition was founded in 1999 by a group that included transpeople of color, some people in the white transgender community savagely dissed it. Never mind the fact that some of the NTAC founders exposed the duplicitous relationship HRC and GenderPac. Some of them hated the idea that transpeople of color had the temerity to not only form an organization, but step up to the plate and provide leadership for the transgender community.

The racism in the transgeder community has created a situation in which African-American transpeople feel the same disconnect they feel in the parent society. We don't feel respected or valued. When we do try to offer our input, expertise or suggestions, they are dismissed or vilified, then we find the white community after trying it their way and failing eventually doing what we suggested years before.

It aggravates many of us in the African-American transgender community to no end. It has led me to the conclusion that in order to get our voices into the mix and make rapid progress toward gaining our civil rights, we may have to do what our parents and grandparents did.

Do it our damned selves.

We have issues in our community that only we are qualified to deal with. It is African-American transpeeps who will have to take on the sellout Black church folks and call them on their hypocrisy. We will have to do the 'ejumacation' on transgender issues in the African-American community. We will have to do the things within our own transgeder community that build self esteem and pride. We will have to forcefully demand that we get our rightful seat at the African-American family table.

To accomplish that, we may have to form our own organizations if we are ever going to make any headway toward dealing with the problems that affect the African-American transgender community. We realistically can't count on help from people who are 'scurred' of us or get jealous of whatever progress we make and seek to retard it.

We must embrace our proud history. We are a people that have accomplished great and wonderful things when we pull together, brainstorm, roll up our sleeves and just do it.

It time for us to prove to the world that we can do it again.

Janelle Commissiong

On this date 30 years ago I was in front of the TV one hot summer night watching the Miss Universe Pageant. Little did I know that I was watching history being made by a girl from Trinidad.

During this 26th Miss Universe pageant being held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, then 24 year old Janelle Commissiong became the first woman of African descent to break through and win the Miss Universe crown. Even though she was from Trinidad, we African-Americans were just as proud of her as the Trinis, who issued three postage stamps in her honor and gave her the Trinity Cross, Trinidad's highesr honor in celebration of her victory. Janelle ended up gracing the cover of Jet magazine and we felt connected to her not only because of our shared Arfican ancestry but because she spent ten years living in New York before she returned home in 1976.

When her reign was over she moved on with her life. She got married to Brian Bowen, the founder of Bowen Marine, a successful Trinidad based boat building business. When he was killed in a November 1989 accident she took over running the business. Bowen Marine sells them not only across the Caribbean, but in the US and Europe as well. She started a cosmetics line in 1997 and has gotten married a second time to publishing executive Alwin Chow. She is stepmother to a 13 year old daughter named Sasha.

It took another twenty-one years before another Trini, statuesque Wendy Fitzwilliam won Miss Universe and became the third Black woman to win the crown. Janelle Commissiong Bowen Chow has not only become more beautiful over time, but has reinforced the old saying that true beauty is inside, not outside.

A Taste of Studio 13

TransGriot Note: Studio 13 was a legendary club back home that catered to the Black gay community for two decades. It's where I honed my presentation into the Phenomenal Transwoman I am today and had fun doing it. I met some wonderful people like Cookie LaCook, Tommie Ross, Tiffany Brooks and Lawanda Jackson just to name a few.

I'm writing a novel set in 1980's gay Houston called Miss Thang that chronicles one of the transgender characters in my writing universe named Brittany Ross. I also include her friends Markita Johnson and Erica (Ebony Halston) Rideaux along for the ride as well. Enjoy

Erica was in a celebratory mood as she and Markita Johnson arrived at Studio 13 dressed to impress. She received her spring semester grades in the mail a few days ago and was delighted to discover that she’d earned two A’s and three B’s in her classes. She’d aced four of her finals, and earned a B on the math final she was worried about thanks to Brittany’s tutoring.

Her successful orchiectomy helped speed up her feminization process. The estrogen she was taking no longer had to fight testosterone that used to be produced in her recently removed testicles. The other upside was that when she tucked Miss Penis she no longer had unsightly balls getting in the way. Erica hated the fact that it was still there but that would be eradicated soon enough.

June was shaping up to be a great month for her. She had the condo to herself for another three days. Allen was on a business trip and wouldn’t be back until Monday, so she invited Markita to spend the weekend with her. She’d met her three weeks ago as Markita was watching Talent Night in boy mode. She struck up a conversation with her and discovered that they had similar backgrounds and interests.

Miss Markita had a similar caramel brown skin tone, but was much taller than Erica at five-ten. She was headed to Texas Southern University in the fall and wasn’t a 365 girl yet. She'd already acquired hormones and was starting to take them despite the fact that she was still living with her parents. Their friendship had rapidly progressed to the point where Markita was now Erica's drag daughter and kept some of her femme clothes in Erica’s closet.

They entered the converted two-story house that served as party central for Houston’s Black gay population. She turned to her left and stood for a few moments at the edge of the steps leading down to the sunken dance floor and surveyed the club. It was only ten forty-five and it was packed. People were already standing in the narrow corridor that led to the DJ booth and Tony Powell was hard at work inside keeping the party going. The dance floor was mobbed with people swaying to the hypnotic dance music throbbing from the speakers.

As Erica inspected the rest of the first floor she noted that the stairs were packed with people traipsing back and forth between the two levels. As she spied the closed curtains for the stage she wondered if it was a show night. Cookie LaCook's regal full figured presence walking past her with cassette tapes and records in her hands confirmed that it was.

Her cheerful mood was tempered by the knowledge that she’d come to a decision that would disappoint Allen. She wasn’t going to compete in the Miss Studio 13 pageant. She was ready to retire her Ebony Halston drag persona for good and she dreaded telling him when he arrived back in town.

But for now, fun was on the agenda. She focused her attention on the back bar where three drag queens were basking in the attention being showered on them by their admirers. She recognized Carla standing with her back to them conversing with a mutual friend and made a mental note to talk to her later in the evening. She noticed Markita had managed to get a barstool seat on the front side of the bar and was quietly observing what was going on around her. A tall light-skinned guy approached Markita and asked her to dance. She politely declined the invitation but told the gentleman to check with her later on a more suitable song.

Ebony turned her attention toward the entry door just in time to see an old friend of hers wave and quickly scurry in her direction.
“Hey Miss Ebony”
“Hey Donnie, what’s up?”
“Nothing gurl,” he said as he hugged her. “You sure are looking scrumptious tonight.”
“Thank you, baby.”
“Who’s your fishy friend I saw you walk in with?”
“That’s my sista Markita,” Erica said as she led him over to where Markita was sitting to facilitate the introductions.
“Donnie, meet Markita. Markita, Donnie.”
“Nice to meet you,” replied Markita.
“Likewise.” he said as Markita returned her gaze to the dancing throng.
“Hold my seat, Ebony,” she said as she rose up from the barstool. “I’m going to see what’s happening upstairs for a little while.”
“Okay,” she said as Markita turned on her heel and headed toward the stairwell.
“Is that your new drag daughter you were telling me about?” Donnie asked as he watched her gracefully walk up the stairs
“Yes.”
“You produce some beautiful children, gurl. We’re gonna have to get together one day and make a baby.”
“Yeah right. You know I have a man.”
“Umm hmm. I’ve been reading the tea leaves. The children say that you’re in need of some hot chocolate in your life.”
“Well, my White man is the right man for me.”
“Whatever, Miss Fish Basket. I’m gonna get me a cocktail. Would you like one?”
“Yes, I would Miss Donnie. A strawberry daiquiri, please.”
“Coming right up,” he said. The front bar where they were sitting was too crowded, so Donnie turned and headed for the back bar.

Just as Erica prepared to sit down six foot two inches of bad attitude and not-so-feminine looks walked up and deliberately bumped her. He stood less than two inches from her in an attempt to intimidate her.
“What do you want, Satan?” said Erica in a condescending tone.
“That’s Satin, bitch.”
“And I’ll always be a better looking one than you.”
“Don’t make me read you in here.”
“I thought you were devoid of the ability to read since you’re a tenth grade dropout.” Erica said as the club patrons watching the dissfest chuckled.
“You think you all that since you’re going to college.”
“I am compared to you. But like the UNCF says, a mind is a terrible thing to waste. What’s your excuse?”
“You better find an excuse to leave Donnie alone. That’s my trade.”
Bitch please. I got a man, thought Erica. I don’t want him. “Well Satan, he didn’t get that memo.”
“You call me out of my name one more time I’m gonna kick your ass.”
“Better queens than you have tried and failed.” Erica said as she rolled her eyes at him. “Don’t mess with me.”
“You better try harder to leave him alone before I cut you, bitch,” Satin barked as he stomped off toward the dressing room.
“You better go find some mouthwash for that stinky breath.” Erica said as she turned and focused her attention on the muscular chocolate-brown bartender busily mixing drinks. Donnie tapped her on the shoulder and handed her the daiquiri just as she let out a frustrated breath.
“What’s wrong Miss Ebony?”
“Nothing Donnie. Just have a few things on my mind.” she said as she took a sip of her drink.
“Like what?”
“How my boyfriend’s gonna take the news that I’m not entering the Miss Studio 13 pageant.”
“You’re not? Why?”
“Donnie, it’s not because I don’t think I can win it, I know I can.”
“But?”
“I’m just ready to move on to the next phase of my life. I wanna live my life as a twenty-four seven Black woman.”
“I hear you gurl.” Donnie said as she turned her head and spotted Markita talking to the light skinned guys who’d asked her to dance earlier. Erica observed him buying a drink for her, then resumed pondering her own personal issues.
“Donnie, I need to ask you something.”
“What is it?”
“What’s going on with you and Satin?’
“Absolutely nothing. I don’t want that ugly man.”
“That’s not what he’s telling the children. He’s says that you belong to him.”
“Oh really? Let me serve this sissy and put a stop to his delusions of grandeur. No wonder I haven’t been able to take any trade home to Casa De Donnie.”
He finished his drink, placed the glass on the bar and headed off at warp speed to the dressing room area of the club.

A few minutes later a half made up Satin came storming out of the dressing room with an agitated expression on his face. He rapidly turned his head right and left trying to locate Erica and once his eyes locked in on her quickly moved in her direction to confront her.
“You a hard headed bitch aren’t you?’
“Que?” Erica answered in Spanish.
“You trying to be funny? I ain’t laughin.’ “
“But we’re laughing at you, Satan.” she said as Markita and Donnie arrived at her side. “You better run back to the dressing room and finish slapping some more paint on that ugly mug.”
Enraged, Satin tried to grab Erica but only succeeded in grasping Erica’s shiny black straight shoulder length hair and pulling her off her comfortable bar stool seat.
“It’s all mine, bitch. Unlike yours,” she said as she jerked Satin’s wig off his head and threw it onto the dance floor. Satin mistakenly released his grip on her hair and tried to swing at her. She ducked the incoming right hook, landed a knee into his midsection and proceeded to give him a black belt karate flavored ass kicking.

Satin crawled away from Erica after the quickie beatdown and attempted to retrieve his wig. The dance floor patrons played keep away with it for a few moments before one of them threw it onto the steps descending from the stage.
“Okay, Miss Cleopatra Jones. Remind me to stay on your good side,” Markita said with a chuckle.
“Hey, I warned him to leave me alone.”
“Better watch your back, gurl. You know he’s gonna be looking to get you now.”
“I’m not worried about that stupid sissy, Donnie. If he tries me again he’s gonna get the same industrial strength butt kicking he got tonight.”
“All right, Wonder Woman. Want another cocktail?”
“Yeah. All this drama is making me thirsty.”

You Can Call Bush Crazy

sung to the tune of 'You Can Call Me Crazy' by Guy

When Bill was runnin' thangs
America was all right
Bush steals two elections
It got worse overnight
From Cheney, to Rove and that sistahgurl
This administration makes me wanna hurl

They lie, deceive and do it very well
It's embarrassing our president
Can't read, speak, or spell
Y'all know Bush isn't wrapped too tight
Please impeach his azz
And get him out our life

You know that it's true
You can call Bush crazy

You you you
You you you
You can call Bush crazy

You you you
You you you


You know he's boozing it up
May even be coked out
Ask Angela Merkel y'all
If you have any doubts

Dislike for Bush is strong
More bad news every night
Don't care what Faux News says
Y'all know that Bush ain't right

You know that it's true
You can call Bush crazy


You you you
You you you
You can call Bush crazy

You you you
You know that it's true
You can call Bush crazy

You can call Bush crazy (x3)

You can call Bush crazy (x3)

You know that it's true
You can call Bush crazy

You can call Bush crazy (x3)

You know that it's true
You can call Bush crazy

You can call Bush crazy (x3)

You you you
You you you
You you you
You you you
You know that it's true
You can call Bush crazy
(rapid fade to end)

They Don't Want No Sissy Church

An MKR Poem

Faith brought us through the Middle Passage
Helped us survive slavery
It emboldened us to take out Jim Crow
And build community

Our ministers led us all those years
Had dreams like Dr. King
They ran for public office
And still dried our salty tears

But now they're on cable TV
Leaving some peeps in the lurch
Shufflin' for the GOP
'Cause they don't want no sissy church

Thought y'all were called by God
To take care of all your flock
When it comes to your GLBT children
It's them you demonize and mock

Adulterer, drug dealer or hooker
If you're straight then that's okay
If you're gay and wanna get married
You wanna ride with the KKK

The sermons in front of arena-sized crowds
Chock full of hate and bile
Dividing our community
Making white fundamentalists smile


You flap your gums on Faux News
Repeating the 'gay agenda' lie
But y'all were strangely silent
When Katrina caused our peeps to die


You're a fool for the GOP
Groveling for every faith-based cent
Not caring what you do to Black gay peeps
For that you'll have to repent

You Christopimps disgust me
You designer suit wearing sellout jerks
God and history will determine
Who the sissies are in the Black church

Monica's All-Time Favorite Black Cinema List

I am a movie junkie. One of my simple pleasures is to roll over to my favorite multiplex, buy myself a large tub of buttered popcorn, sit in the middle of the third of fourth row from the screen and happily munch away while checking out a movie. I attend five to six a year at my local multiplex in addition to my ever growing DVD movie collection.

I love Black cinema. I grew up in a time when I had Black oriented movies pop up briefly during the 70's 'Blaxplotiation' era, then watched them disappear until Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It hit the screens in 1986.

Because of that experience, I have a deep appreciation and desire for seeing my cultural experience and stories realistically portrayed on the silver screen and actors who reflect my ethnic heritage. African-American oriented movies have priority for my movie going dollars and being added to my DVD movie collection. When those movies debut I try to see them on either the first or second weekend of their release.

So TransGriot readers, this is my personal Top 25 favorite Black films of all time and ten that made my Honorable Mention list. I'm going to revisit this topic during the 2008 Oscars and see if my thoughts have changed. Feedback is welcomed as well.

Here's the list (2007 version)

1-Any Oscar Micheaux filmed movie. Without Oscar, there is no Black film industry.

1A-Carmen Jones


2-Imitation Of Life

3-The Color Purple

4-She's Gotta Have it

5-Malcolm X

6-Cooley High

7-Love and Basketball

8-Purple Rain

9-Cleopatra Jones

10-Coffy

11-Cotton Come To Harlem

12-Soul Food

13-Waiting To Exhale

14-Madea's Family Reunion

15-Brown Sugar

16-The Best Man

17-School Daze

18-Hollywood Shuffle

19-Shaft

20-Shaft (2000)

21-The Wiz

22-The Wood

23-Barbershop

24-Friday

25-Dreamgirls


Honorable mention


1-Boomerang

2-Set It Off

3-New Jack City

4-Love Jones

5-Harlem Nights

6-House Party

7-Deliver Us From Eva

8-Beauty Shop

9-Drumline

10-Jason's Lyric

11-Super Fly

12-Sweet Sweetback's Bad Ass Song

13-The Brothers

14-Hav Plenty

15-Foxy Brown

Driving Towards History

Great Britain's Lewis Hamilton is making a lot of history in his rookie season as a Formula One race car driver.

He is the first Black driver in the 61 year history of Formula One racing. He's the first to ever win the pole at a Grand Prix event (the Canadian Grand Prix) and he's the first to ever win a Formula One race. He's the first rookie to lead in the Formula One driving championship point standings at any time in the season, thanks to finishing no worse than third in the first eight races of the 2007 F1 season.

In addition to his third place finish in his first race, the Australian Grand Prix and a third place finish in the French Grand Prix, he's finished second four times. Hamilton captured the United States Grand Prix in Indianapolis on June 17 in addition to his milestone Canadian Grand Prix victory at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villenueve on June 10.

There's a point system that determines the F1 driving champion. The top eight finishers earn points (10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) in descending order from 10 points for the winner to one point for the eight place finisher. Hamilton currently leads the driver standings with 64 points, 14 points ahead of two time defending Formula One champion Fernando Alonso and 17 points in front of Felipe Massa with nine races remaining. The F1 season concludes with the Brazilian Grand Prix on October 21.

The 22 year old Hamilton is attempting to become the first Englishman since Damon Hill accomplished the feat in 1994 to win the British Grand Prix. He took a major step toward making that happen by capturing the pole position for tomorrow's British Grand Prix to the delight of his fellow Britons. They will be at Silverstone in force to cheer him on.

While auto racing is not high on my list as one of my favorite sports, I have to admit that ever since my roomie Dawn (who's a huge F1 fan) brought the historic nature of Hamilton's quest to my attention I've been getting more familiar with the intricacies of F1 racing.

I'll definitely be watching the British Grand Prix tomorrow to see if Lewis Hamilton can continue his race towards history.

Venus Won!

On July 6, 1957 legendary tennis pioneer Althea Gibson became the first African-American athlete to win Wimbledon.

50 years to the day of Gibson's triumph, Venus Williams, one of the women now building on her legacy, won her fourth Wimbledon title and her first Grand Slam event title in two years by beating Marion Bartoli of France in straight sets 6-4, 6-1.

She made a little history as well. Since Wimbledon went to the computer raking system in 1975, Venus became the lowest ranked seed (number 23) to win the title. Her world tennis ranking has fallen to number 31 due to the wrist injury she was recovering from.

She also joined Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf as players who have won Wimbledon at least four times since the tournament began admitting professional players in 1968.

The one thing that would have made this 50th anniversary win better is if Serena could have joined her big sis in the final. She fell in the quarterfinals to the current number one world ranked player and tournament number one seed Justine Henin 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.


In this decade, Wimbledon has been the personal playground of the Williams sisters. With the exception of the 2004 tournament, in which Maria Sharapova beat Serena 6-1, 6-4 and 2006 in which Amelie Mauresimo beat Justine Henin, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, either Serena or Venus has been the last one standing at Centre Court holding the Wimbledon championship trophy, ironically called the Venus Rosewater Dish.

I couldn't think of a more fitting way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Althea Gibson's breakthrough win at Wimbledon by seeing Venus hopefully return to championship form.

Watching tennis tournaments will definitely be more fun for me now that my girls are starting to return to their winning form. They just need to stay healthy, avoid the nagging injuries and they could once again dominate like they did at the beginning of the decade. I'd love to see one or both of the Williams sisters eventually win a Grand Slam before they retire.

Today, Althea Gibson is smiling. You go Venus. See you at the US Open.

Elizabeth Kizito

Another installment in my ongoing series of articles on transgender and non-transgender women who have qualities that I admire.

I was introduced to her cookies a year before I actually met Elizabeth Kizito in 2001. She lived two doors down from our old house and one of the things I hated about our move to the new one is that every Christmas we used to get a cookie basket from her. We used to fight over who would get to devour the snickerdoodles.

Elizabeth Namusoke Kizito-Bartlett parlayed her father's cookie recipe and business acumen learned as a little girl in Uganda and turned it into a legendary Louisville institution.

She's known as 'The Cookie Lady' in Louisville and you'll see her delectable treats in stores all over Louisville. You can also get them at her shop on Bardstown Road which also has African arts and crafts for sale. She sells her treats at various Louisville events, several local Louisville outlets and at Louisville Bats games by using a skill she learned back in Uganda. She will walk through the crowd balancing a basket on her head filled to the rim with her cookies.

At 17 she was sent by her father, who owned a bakery business in her homeland to attend school. She moved to Louisville in 1978 and worked as a waitress at a local restaurant. She baked cookies for her co-workers and after the restaurant closed down, she decided to try to make a living baking her cookies.

Without the benefit of savings or a bank loan she started Kizito's Cookies in 1987 and worked hard to build it up. She had no store or collateral when she started and needed a co-signer just to get a six month lease on a bakery. Only after much hard work and five years of building the business did she finally gain the ability to get a bank loan to expand her business.

Her work resulted in her being named Women's Business Owner of the Year by Louisville's chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners. She has been approached by numerous investors about franchising her business. In addition to the 10 types of cookies and seven types of muffins she bakes, she has brownies and biscotti for sale as well.

See y'all later. I'm gonna head out the door and grab a few of her cookies to eat with my Blue Bell homemade vanilla ice cream.

Happy 4th?

Yesterday was the 4th of July. My attitude towards it sometimes mirrors the line in the 'Tuskegee Airmen' movie.

'How do I feel about my country? And how does my country feel about me?'

I've been pissed on one level or another about the pseudo-Texan Idiot-In-Thief since 1995, the various outrages of his misadministration, et cetera. Combine that with having to go to work as the house was barbecuing and it was not setting up to be a nice evening for me.

The post I have on Wednesday and Thursday nights is a construction site out in Fairdale just south of Louisville International Airport. A lot of those homes have been torn down to make room for airport expansion but you still have scattered holdouts here and there. Outside of the occasional KY Air National Guard airplane
passing over the area and the 12 midnight and 3 AM UPS arrival and departure flight banks it's pretty quiet.

To stave off boredom I'm armed with much of my CD collection and I keep a notepad for those times when I get an inspired writing idea for a novel, poem, short story blog post or need to work on a TransGriot column in between patrol rounds.

I'm writing a poem on the notepad close to sunset when I notice a flash. I look up in that direction and in the distance somebody is setting off fireworks. They are joined by more and more colorful ones across the neighborhood and the surrounding area.

I had the 'Whitney's Greatest Hits' CD in the car and it has her version of the 'Star Spangled Banner' she sung at the 1991 Super Bowl in Tampa. I pulled it out, advanced it to that track and pressed play.

I must have repeated it about 5 times while watching the fireworks burst all around the neighborhood before an advancing thunderstorm and Mother Nature's more awesome version of firewoks shut down all the fun.

I'm not a 'my country right or wrong love it or leave it' bumper sticker patriot. I believe our country CAN do better than it has over the last six years and have made a few lobby trips to Capitol Hill on my own dime over the last decade to prove it.

As one of my fellow Texans Barbara Jordan once stated, 'I believe in an America as good as its promise'.

Last night reminded me that no matter how disgusted or down I get about the current state of affairs, I have to continue believing it. I must continue fighting to make that kind of America happen. I'm comforted by the fact there are far more people in this country who share Barbara Jordan's vision of America than Ann Coulter's.

Hopefully yesterday inspired more of you to do the same and fight for a better America as well.

Randi Rhodes Is NOT Michael Savage

One of the things that annoys me about the transgender community is the conclusion jump.

It's a tendency to take a snippet of information and come up with a pessimistic scenario severely out of whack with the available evidence or presume that the jumped conclusion is true even though the weight of evidence doesn't support it.

We have that going on right now in the wake of Randi Rhodes' on-air comments slamming Ann Coulter.

…Y’know, one of my very, very gay women friends wrote me an email and said Honey, let me just explain something to you. When transsexual, when…when they’re going through the…the…the transgender op…they infuse the man with the female hormones, and they go wack-a-doodle on you. And, ah, Ann [Coulter] is obviously getting the hormones…big doses. That’s why she’s so bizarre right now.

Okay, I’m telling you, it was amazing to me to get that information.

This comment has one blogger comparing her to Michael Savage and another calling her a transphobe.

Hold up.

I agree that liberal/progressives have the potential to make negative statements about us and sometimes do. They have the potential to be transphobes. I have the knife wounds in my back from dealings and lobbying efforts with so-called allies over the last decade to prove it. Some of our progressive allies have done things that are just as nasty and neglectful of our community as anything the Reichers could throw at us.

While I don't like Randi's comment (but love her show), and have decried the tendency of genetic females and other peeps (straight and gay) to call women they don't like trannies, I like Ann Coulter even less and I've said nastier things about her in private conversation. Frankly, I think that we should smack Coulter around more frequently than we do now and feed her own words back to her.

But I think it's going a bit too far and it's a tad irresponsible when you assert that Randi Rhodes is a transphobe equivalent to Michael Savage and the evidence doesn't support it.

Michael Savage has a long history of making derogatory and racist comments on a wide range of people, including these winners about transgender peeps;

"The wages of sin are death. You're gonna cut off your willy, you're gonna wear women clothes, you're gonna hook, you're gonna wind up dead under a freeway, Johnson."

"You're never gonna make me respect the freak. I don't want to respect the freak. The freak ought to be glad they're allowed to walk around without begging for something."

One difference is that Michael Savage supports a political philosophy in which many of its adherents echo those statements. Some of them are in positions of power that enable them to carry out those wishes verbalized by him and convert them to public policy.

The other difference is that Randi is educable on transgender issues and Savage isn't.

BernNadette Stanis

Another installment in my ongoing series of articles on transgender and non-transgender women who have qualities that I admire.

Back in 1974 a spin off show from Maude debuted on CBS called Good Times. The iconic show chronicled the trials, travails and sometimes comic pitfalls of the Evans family, who were trying to earn their piece of the American Dream while dealing with the reality of living in the Cabrini-Green projects of Chicago.

This was the first television show show to focus on an African-American lower income family. One of the things that made it entertaining to watch for many teenaged boys of my generation besides Jimmie Walker was BernNadette Stanis, who played Thelma Evans.

She was the Brooklyn born sistah that African-American boys of my generation drooled over. In my case I wanted to BE her, but that's a story for another time. ;)

We got to see for the first time on American television a young, smart, proud, strong-willed, beautiful and sexy sister who had dreams bigger than the environment she lived in. She was a good girl, which only enhanced the enjoyment that the fellas got when they saw her in her tastefully sexy clothes she got to wear as Thelma or showed off her graceful dance moves honed as a Julliard graduate.

The former Miss Black New York was our first sex symbol. She showed mainstream America that the stereotypes of folks that lived in the ghetto were wrong. There were beautiful peeps there in body, mind and spirit who had hopes, dreams, aspirations, integrity and class. We had the pleasure of seeing her on the small screen for seven seasons until Good Times went off the air in 1979.

BernNadette has done guest spots on various TV shows, most recently on Girlfriends in an episode when she played Maya's cousin. She was set up on a date with William, who blathered on and on in her presence about his teenage crush on Thelma.

She eventually got married and became the mother of two daughters. She is a writer and producer, and has acted in some stage plays, most notably one called Whatever Happened to Black Love that she also produced with her husband Kevin Fontana. She also had a role in He Say...She Say But What Does God Say? She's written a book on relationships called Situations 101 that she is currently promoting.

And yes fellas, BernNadette's still as beautiful, smart and sexy as she was in 1974.

Barry Bonds-Why All The Hateraid?

On the night of April 9, 1974 I was an 11 year old watching with hopeful anticipation NBC's live telecasr of the LA Dodgers-Atlanta Braves game. I was hoping I'd get to see Hank Aaron break Babe Ruth's home run record before I had to go to bed.

I really didn't need to worry about that because this was one night my parents weren't enforcing my 10 PM CST bedtime. I was watching history in the making so I was going to be allowed to stay up until it happened.

At 8:07 PM CST in the fourth inning, Al Downing threw the fastball that ended up being blasted by Aaron 385 feet over the fence at the old Atlanta Fulton County Stadium for the record breaking homer. After watching all the ensuing hoopla, celebrations and speeches I ended up crawling into bed right on schedule.

Hammerin' Hank eventually pushed that record to 755 before he retired at the end of the 1976 season as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers. At the time, there was debate on whether the new record would be broken. I knew that it would probably happen someday. I wasn't like the folks in Babe Ruth's era who thought that no one would break his record of 714 homers. I doubt that they even considered the possibility that it would be broken by an African-American.

Enter Barry Bonds. Son of a major league ballplayer and godson of legendary home run king Willie Mays. Would seem to be the perfect story for baseball history.

But since Bonds has had a tempestuous relationship with sportswriters over his career, he has been reviled and criticized by them for what seems like ages. And since many of those sportswriters are of a lighter pigmentation, the negative rhetoric coming from their mouths about him borders on racist Pavlovian foaming at the mouth.

He has the opposite reputation with his fellow major league ballplayers.

He's been accused of taking steroids, but his critics conveniently gloss over the fact that he's never failed a drug test. All they have are circumstantial accusations of use. Before I judge Barry Bonds, I want more than circumstantial evidence so that I can make a reasoned and thoughtfully logical decision on whether he did or didn't and then react accordingly. Until that evidence comes forth from the 'He Cheated' crowd, I'm going to continue to enjoy watching him blast home runs into McCovey Cove or out of whatever major league ballpark he happens to be playing in.

I've gotten to the point that I'm sick of the monotonous Barry bashing, the calls for stripping him of the record, the calls for Major League baseball Commissioner Bud Selig not to be there the night (or day) he hits home run 756, the inflated, biased opinions of (white) sportswriters that he's cheated, blah blah blah.

I'm a little angry and disappointed that after all the hate mail and death threats that Hank Aaron received in the run up to his breaking Babe Ruth's record 37 years ago, that he of all people would have empathy for Bonds' plight. It's gleefully being reported that Aaron says that he won't be in whatever major league stadium Barry breaks his record in, even if it's in Atlanta.

So why are y'all and much of the general public chomping on generous portions of Hater Tots when it comes to Barry Bonds? He hit homer number 751 last night in Cincinnati and is only five homers shy from breaking the record.

The bottom line is I don't hear any hue and cry from those same white sports writers and many white baseball fans to strip Mark McGwire of his 1998 single season season home run record of 70 homers (which Barry broke when he hit 73 dingers in 2001). He was evasive in front of Congress back in 2005 when called to testify on the issue along with Jose Canseco and Rafael Palmeiro.

It's known McGwire used andro, which was LEGAL at the time but later banned. Palmeiro tested positive a few months AFTER stating he'd never used them during that March 2005 hearing.

Where's all your outrage about that? Where's your outrage at Major League Baseball and Commissioner Selig for allowing it to happen in the first place?

Barry Bonds is one of the greatest players of all time and it may be a few decades before you see another like him. Seven time NL MVP. Voted once again as a starter on the All-Star Team. 22 years in the majors.

You Barry bashers need to come clean on the fact that some of you are conveniently dumping all your frustrations on his doorstep for what's happened in baseball concerning the steroid issue and it's being aided and abetted by some peeps who have personal axes to grind with him.

The 'Hate on Barry' mantra isn't endearing to many African-American baseball fans like myself. In a time when major league baseball is frantically searching for ways to bring African-Americans back to the ballparks and get them interested in the game again, you're trashing an African-American superstar who's on the cusp of breaking a historic record.

I don't want to hear another negative word uttered from a sportswriter or a non African-American baseball fan about Barry Bonds. It's obvious when it comes to him y'all are about as 'fair and balanced' as Faux News on the subject.

TransGriot 'R' Rated? What The @*$#?

I read a post on Pam's House Blend this morning about a Blog Rating tool that gives a blog a rating similar to the movie classification system.

For some reason her blog was rated NC-17 and according to Matt Comer's post at InterstateQ.com Pam's wasn't the only GLBT blog that got slapped with 'NC-17 or 'R' ratings. Jasmyne Cannick's received an 'NC-17. My friend Jackie's THINGS According To Me received an 'R' rating, and AC's The Polar Bear Speaks picked up an NC-17 rating.

Just for fun I plugged in the TransGriot URL to see what rating my humble blog would come up with. This is what it spit back at me in response;



This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:
gay (8x) lesbian (5x) death (4x) pain (2x) gays (1x)

It tripped me out when it was noted that racist websites such as Stormfront and many anti-GLBT websites got 'G' or 'PG' ratings along with anti-trans Exodus affiliate Reality Resources.

Hmm. Gotta promote that right-wing 'family value' of hatred, eh?

So my inquiring mind wants to know. What rating would other transgender-oriented blogs/websites get according to this 'tool'?

Transadvocate NC-17
Woman In Progress PG
Trans Media Watch PG
Trans Political NC-17
The View From (Ab)Normal Heights NC-17
TransNation NC-17
Stilettos and Sneakers NC-17
The Transsexual Revolution G
IFGE 'R'

Letter To My African-American Transgender Elders

Dear African-American Transelders,

I hope and pray your golden years find you in excellent health, a secure life situation, and satisfied with the way your lives turned out.

But there's a question I've been dying to ask those of you who walked before me.

Why didn't y'all work harder to build an African-American transgender community for mine and the generations to come?

Yeah, I realize that y'all had a lot of thangs on your plate back in the day. Fighting Jim Crow segregation, getting our voting rights, the Civil Rights Movement, dealing with HIV/AIDS and trying to make a living making 70 cents for every dollar a white person earns. That does have a much higher priority than what I'm talking about.

Don't get me wrong, I'm eternally grateful for your contributions and sacrifices that helped make my life as a late 20th-early 21st century African-American better. I'm well aware that in addition to the other challenges you African-American transgender elders faced, I am cognizant of the fact that our community is somewhat conservative on gender issues and pursuing that may have opened you up to violent attacks and even death. I'm also aware of the fact that the HBIGDA/WPATH orthodoxy at the time you transitioned was to fade away and never let anyone know you're transgender.

But damn, I feel cheated.

By going stealth, I feel that my history as an African-American transperson has been hidden from me. I know HIV/AIDS took some of you away from us, but why didn't y'all do a better job of passing that history down to my generation? Where were y'all when I needed multiple transgender role models that share my cultural background to look up to back in the 70's? Why weren't more of you visionary enough like Justina Williams for example to build organizations on a local and eventually national scale that passed that knowledge down and build a networked national community at the same time? I know y'all had the skills to do so. You proved it time and time again during the Civil Rights era.

Why did some of y'all hate us younger transpeeps so much that when we humbly asked you for the information as to the how to's of Transition 101 and longed to be mentored by you the response was stony silence, derisive laughter or derogatory self-esteem deflating comments?

My generation and others are paying for that lack of vision right now. Because you didn't think long term and pursue this in a more politically favorable environment we are now faced with the task of trying to build community and unite separate factions of dispirited peeps in a hostile conservative political environment. Our churches have been infected by a doctrine of hatred for GLBT peeps. It comes from the same white fundamentalist preachers that opposed y'all in your youth and distracts our churches from fulfilling their historic mission of seeking justice for ALL African-Americans.

But you know what? I and my generation can't wallow in what SHOULD have been done decades ago. We are faced with the daunting task of doing it now.

The transkids who are being born right now or who are are transitioning in elementary and middle school will need those resources to lean on. Shouldn't our kids have access to the same or equal resources similar to what our transbrothers and transsisters of European heritage have today that were painstakingly built up over the last twenty years? Shouldn't those resources also be geared toward their culture?

I'm not writing this letter to cast blame or start an inter generational war. That's not my intent. I'm approaching you in the spirit of Kingian love and respect for you as my elders. I wanted to convey to you the sense of loss and pain I and many African-American transpeople of my generation feel because we grew up feeling isolated and alone.

I am in the position now of being looked at as a leader and mentor to twenty something transkids. I don't want another African-American transkid on my watch to ever feel that kind of pain again and want to leave behind a world better than what I encountered. I and the current African-American transgender leadership need your help to achieve that modest goal. I would like to gain insight on what happened from your vantage point. We want and need to get your side of the story. We want to embrace the history you have to share with us so that we can pass it on. We've lost too much of our precious history already and our young people need to know about what you accomplished so that they can aspire to do something extraordinary with their lives.

Finally, we wish to lean on your hard won knowledge, be mentored by you in the time that God has granted you to remain with us on Planet Earth, learn from the mistakes as you see them through your generational prism and diligently work to ensure that we don't repeat them.

Respectfully yours,
Monica Roberts
The TransGriot

July 2007 TransGriot Column

Why “Gender Identity’ Is Necessary In ENDA
Copyright 2007, THE LETTER

Any day now Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) will be introducing his version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. We can only pray, wait and see if it mirrors the language of the recently passed HR 1592, the Hate Crimes Bill that is now as of my deadline sitting in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

But one thing I repeatedly heard in several offices I visited during the recent National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) Lobby Days May 15-17 disturbed me. Several staffers informed me that Senator Kennedy’s bill DOESN’T mirror HR 1592 by including the words ‘gender identity’ and the definition for it as set forth in Section 3.6 of the House bill. I hope by the time that this column is read that that it tuned out to be just a rumor and the bill does mirror the one that passed the House May 3.

But what if that information IS true?

There are some gay and lesbian people that would be ecstatic if that happened. Some of them have expressed the attitude that the term doesn’t belong in ‘their’ ENDA bill. That’s a fundamentally short sighted, selfish and myopic viewpoint.

It’s not the revulsion in Christobigot brains about who your bedroom partners are that causes the virulent reaction to GLBT peeps (although it is a factor in some of the discrimination experienced by gay and lesbian people), it’s the transgressing of the binary gender system.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen or read about the negative reactions of straight peeps to lesbians who exhibit behavior that’s considered ‘masculine’ or the gay male that exhibits ‘feminine’ characteristics. We transgender people know all too well that transgressing gender binaries sometimes results in death or severe injury.

A few years ago there was an incident in downtown Louisville in which a six-foot tall broad-shouldered straight woman with short hair was verbally abused and nearly attacked by a group of bigoted men who assumed she was a lesbian or a transwoman. The irony is that the woman was a student at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, which has long pushed intolerance of GLBT people as part of its ministry.

In the Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins Supreme Court case, despite glowing reviews of her major role in securing a $25 million dollar government contract, Ann Hopkins was denied a partnership in the firm in 1982 because she was considered ‘too macho.’

She was even advised at one point in order to improve her chances to make partner she should ‘walk more femininely, talk more femininely, dress more femininely, wear make-up, have her hair styled, and wear jewelry.’ She sued in 1984 and in a landmark care proved gender-based stereotypes played a substantial, motivating role in her employer's refusal to admit her to the partnership. When the Supreme Court ruled in her favor on May 1,1989 Ms. Hopkins was admitted to the denied partnership. She retired from Price Waterhouse in 2002.

Those are just two examples that point out why an ENDA that doesn’t include ‘gender or perceived gender’ language is a flawed bill. It would only cover 10% of gay and lesbian people. One of the lessons we African-Americans have learned from our centuries long struggle with the Forces of Intolerance is that when you draft civil rights legislation you design it as broadly as possible to cover the most people. You also don’t leave the bigot caucus any loopholes or wiggle room to come up with more creative ways to discriminate against you.

An ENDA that includes gender identity would not only cover all segments of the GLBT community, but also include straight people who don’t quite conform to the rigid gender binaries like the Ann Hopkinses of the world.

And that's a win for every American, be they gay, straight or transgender.