The DNC Is Ready To Embrace Us

Guest column by Monica F. Helms

I recently spent three informative and productive days in Las Vegas with the hierarchy of the Democratic National Committee. Kathy Padilla from Philadelphia, PA was also there. I’m happy she came because she is a very knowledgeable person in the political arena. We were visible, we were vocal and we were active.

The structure of the weekend was such that on the first day, Thursday, they had the “Women’s Leadership Summit Agenda,” then an Issues Briefing with Q & A after lunch. During the Issues Briefing, two people had a presentation on the issues facing the DNC and the country. They used a Power Point slide that listed the various areas of the population the DNC include. On the list I saw the words “sexual orientation,” but I didn’t see “gender identity and gender expression.”

When they asked for questions, I got up and stated the DNC needs to start including those words, because “sexual orientation” doesn’t cover transgender people. If they don’t use them, they will be leaving out 3 million Transgender Americans. Kathy also got up and asked if all the vendors at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver had non-discrimination in their EEO policies that covered all GLBT people. Apparently, one didn’t.

On Friday, we had what was called “Constituency Sessions,” where the various constituency groups held all-day workshops that pertained to their specific issues. Besides the LGBT group, there was one for the Asian and Pacific Island Americans, African Americans and Hispanic Americans (which is how it was listed in the manual.) Some people checked out different workshops in different groups to get a feel of what the various groups were talking about, while others, like myself, stayed with one group all day.

I found the discussions interesting. The six different workshops/panel discussions in the LGBT Constituency Sessions were broken up into different subjects, with people on the panel who have had experience in that subject matter. Kathy was on the “Diversity in 2008 and Beyond” panel, which talked about diversity in the LGBT community. In that session, a very frank and heated discussion broke out on the issue of racism that is so prevalent in the LGBT community today.

On one panel, a lesbian from the Gill Action group presented us with various polls with American people that have been taken on LGBT subjects. Not surprising, most of the issues excluded anything having to do with transgender people. However, even when she was making generic statements, she used only “gay and lesbian.” I held up my hands and formed a “T” with my index fingers. She asked me if I had a question and I said, “No. I’m making a ‘T’ with my fingers so you won’t forget it.” From then on, she started saying, “gay, lesbian and transgender,” still leaving out the bisexuals.

Dennis Kucinich was there. I came up to him and thanked him for including transgender people all along. He told me it was the right thing to do and gave me a big hug. Another time, Gov. Howard Dean stopped in the room where the LGBT panels took place and gave a little speech. After that, he asked for any questions and I asked, “In 2004, transgender people were left out of the Platform. Will we be included in it this time?” He said a quick and strong, “Yes.” He then followed it by saying that he didn’t have complete control of that and reminded us that he was the only candidate that included transgender people in 2004 and couldn’t understand why others have a difficult time even saying the word. I’m hoping he has a little control over the Platform language in 2008 to ensure we are there. Of course, one of us needs to be ON the Platform Committee.

What I have also found out during that weekend was that all of the candidates support including us in federal legislation that has language for “sexual orientation.” The candidates should have updated their websites to have fully inclusive language. If anyone has a problem with their websites, they should contact the web masters of those sites and bring it up with them. Keep in mind, the one issue where we are not included and where we shouldn’t make a fuss about is Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Yes, it affects us, but the language doesn’t include us, so we just support the repeal of this law.

You have to keep in mind that the people who attended the summit were the heart and soul of the DNC. These were District Coordinators, National Caucus Chairs, DNC Officers, State Chairs, State Diversity Officers and many ground troops that will run the DNC’s “50 State Strategy.” These people are the ones who will have control over the Platform language. They will help and train others to work with the party and get the people out to vote. The DNC wants to focus on one state at a time, one county at a time and one neighborhood at a time, all done by thousands of people at the same time.

These were also the people who set the goals for their state to ensure that the 2008 Delegates look like the face of America. This includes us. Some of the people there are the ones running the various state and local Stonewall Democrats chapters. One person from the Colorado Stonewall Democrats stated that they are working with the Convention Planning Committee to set up “family restrooms,” so women with small children or anyone else who wants privacy can use them. They thought of us.

One thing that bothered me was when they discussed the way each Republican candidates make a case for themselves and what we needed to do to focus on making a case against them. When they put up Rudy Giuliani, they showed a picture of him wearing a dress and makeup. Many people in the audience laughed, but I was angry. Before I could say something, a gay man got up and said that he was a member of the LGBT Caucus and the picture highly offended him. He pointed out that by using that picture it says that people can make fun of the transgender community. I shook his hand. They got the message and apologized for using the picture, saying they would not do it again.

I walked away from that weekend completely convinced that the DNC heard Kathy and I. Everywhere I went (except in the general population,) I wore my “2004 Transgender Delegate” button and one that said, “Trans and Proud.” I now know in my heart and soul that WE WILL NOT BE LEFT OUT THIS TIME. I’m sure several people won’t even believe it if they saw the language in the Platform, but it is true.

So, now what? If any transgender person wants to get involved in getting the “T” out to vote, contact me at mfhelms@earthlink.net. I have a plan on what we need to do in regards to the DNC this time. We need to drive home one simple message. “One Percent.”

Why “One Percent?” Over the last 5 years there have been various independent surveys/studies/researches done that when combined, we get a picture that one percent of the American population falls under the transgender umbrella. We don’t need to get into details on whether some no longer identify as being transgender or never were. For the sake of politics, if anyone has crossed the gender lines, even temporarily, they are in that One Percent. Hell, non-trans people are confused enough as it is, so let’s not make it worse for them.

We can easily use this “One Percent” to our advantage by constantly reminding the DNC on how many elections that took place in the past where a Democrat lost by less than one percent. In 2000, Al Gore lost by 537 votes in Florida. That comes to .003% of the population of Florida, according to the 2000 Census. If Al Gore carried just one more percent of the population in Florida, he would have won by over 158,000 votes. In 2004, John Kerry lost Ohio by 136,000 votes, which is slightly over one percent of the population in Ohio, but he lost Iowa by only .4% and New Mexico by .3%. We are no longer a voting block they can afford to ignore.

If any of you get asked about the hard numbers and where the One Percent comes from, a friend of mine, Jessica Xavier, told me to say something to the affect, “The intensity of the social stigma of transgenderism and things like violence, discrimination, harassment and multiple barriers to access of health care, drives most of us into secrecy, out of a need to survive an intolerant culture.”

I realize that not all Transgender Americans are registered to vote, or even old enough to vote. I also know that some transgender people vote Republican. (Yes, it’s true.) Many are registered Independent. When Transgender Americans talk to the DNC, they don’t need to get into those details. “One Percent” is all the DNC needs to know.

What I personally would like to see is an increase in registered Democrats in the transgender community and to see an increase in transgender people volunteering with the DNC at a local level. I would also hope to live long enough to see an openly transgender person speak from the podium at the Democratic National Convention and to see an openly transgender person elected to Congress. This is truly the MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION in our lifetimes. It is time for the Democratic Party to fully recognize us a part of their party, on all levels. They appear to be doing that. Now, it’s time for us to help Democrats on all levels of government to win in 2008.


Monica F. Helms is one of the founders and president of TAVA, the Transgender American Veterans Association

Happy Birthday Houston!

Happy 171st birthday to Houston!

My hometown was founded on August 30, 1836 by New York real estate entrepreneurs John K. and Augustus Allen. They bought 6,642 acres of land on and near the banks of Buffalo Bayou and named the city for Sam Houston, the hero of the April 21, 1836 Battle of San Jacinto that led to Texas independence from Mexico.

The city was incorporated on July 5, 1837 and was the first capital of the Republic of Texas. It's also the county seat of Harris County and has 2.1 million residents inhabiting its 601.7 square miles of territory. It's also the largest city in Texas, not Dallas. Don't get it twisted.

It also has a fascinating history. African-Americans have been involved in the growth and life of the city since its early days. Houston desegregated without the major violence that occurred elsewhere. And I'll spare you (this time) of the long list of Houstonians that have made their marks on the world.

So happy birthday, H-town. You don't look bad for a 171 year old. ;)

Cookie LaCook RIP

I was saddened to hear that legendary Houston drag performer and emcee Cookie LaCook, AKA 'The Mouth of the South', passed away on July 27.

The Louisiana born Cookie moved to Houston and became an icon in the Houston SGL community. She was a former 1987 Miss Gay Texas USofA at Large who was always happy to do a benefit show, host an event, visit the sick or attend a funeral for someone whose loved ones had disowned them. She even hosted a Juneteenth event in Dallas. And she always loved her f*****g great audiences.

I got to chat with her numerous times over the years whenever I visited Studio 13/Rascals or happened to occasionally bump into her when I was downtown. The one conversation I had with Cookie that's the most memorable one happened at a short lived GLBT club called Uptown/Downtown in the early 90s. She introduced me to her favorite drink, the amaretto sour while we had a long free ranging conversation over a wide range of subjects. (y'all know how much I love intelligent conversation). After that night anytime I showed up at Rascals and she spotted me in the crowd I was incorporated into her monologue as 'Soul Sister Number 1'.

As someone noted on the Houston Splash website, a f*****g great audience has a f*****g great host. Cookie was all that and three bags of chips. Best of all, she was a first class human being as well.

It's gonna be strange next May if I'm lucky enough to attend Houston Splash and not see Cookie's regal presence keeping things moving and making us laugh.

Rest in peace, Cookie. You've earned it.

Katrina Plus 2

Today is the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's devastating landfall in New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Never forget the people who died.


Never forget Bush's indifference to the suffering of fellow Americans.

Never forget the people who simply want to return home but can't.

Never forget the neglect and suffering our Republican controlled government allowed to happen (and continues to allow to happen) to our people in the aftermath of this disaster.

Keep fighting to make sure that the people responsible for this travesty are held accountable for it.

Love Ya Transbrothas

Black Brotha, I love ya, I will never - try to hurt ya
I want ya, to know that, I'm here for you - forever true
Black Brotha, strong brotha, there is no - one above ya
I want ya, to know that, I'm here for you - forever true

Like Angie Stone, I love my brothas. Transbrothas, that is. ;)

What transsistah wouldn't love these smart, handsome, sexy chocolate transmen?

Transmen haven't gotten the media coverage that transwomen have gotten over the last fifty years but that's starting to change. Transbrothas have gotten even less, but that hasn't stopped them from increasingly stepping out of the shadows and rightfully stepping up to leadership roles in our community.

Whether its Rev. Joshua Holiday kicking knowledge on faith issues, Kylar Broadus doing it on the board of the National Black Justice Coalition, Zion Johnson's history making turn as the first African-American leader of FTMInternational, the transbrothers are large and in charge.

The transbrothers also have their role models and trailblazing heroes as well. I had the pleasure of meeting the late Alexander John Goodrum at a 1999 Creating Change in Oakland. Yosenio Lewis I worked with during my time on NTAC's board. I never had the opportunity to meet the late Marcelle Cook-Daniels. Imani Henry is a performance artist and activist in the New York area. I had the pleasure of meeting Louis Mitchell at TSTB.

Just as there are stealth transsistahs out there doing thangs to uplift the race, there are stealth transbrothas who are also making a difference in our communities as well.

You go boys. Your transsisters will be definitely be cheering you on as y'all step up your game and contribute your talents to help us build our community.

The Twin Has Left The Building

I was perusing Christine Daniels Woman In Progress blog the other day. She has a segment in which she takes some of the questions and comments she receives from readers and answers them.

One of the questions asked by a reader was how she felt about Mike (her name prior to transition). That got my brain churning about the subject as well.

She doesn't miss Mike and I don't miss 'The Twin' (what I call my 'imitation of a male life' phase) either.

The Twin was a smart, nice but painfully shy person up until the point I transitioned in 1993. The Twin had very few close male friends but lots of female friends back in the day. I had two special women during my school years that wanted to be more than that. One I'm still in contact with and we've known each other since junior high, the other I met when I started high school. I had several when I worked at CAL that wanted to be more than friends there as well and I think about them from time to time.

I was spending so much time trying to suppress Monica that it didn't leave myself any time and energy to just focus on doing what I needed to do to make my dreams happen, much less figure out what I wanted to do. I also discovered that the harder I fought to suppress the urge to be her, the stonger that desire to be her became.

I was so painfully shy that early in my time at JJ in the fall of 1977, my father found out about a dance being held at my high school when the sponsors of it called the station and asked him to DJ it. I wasn't planning on going and adamantly told him that. He was going to force me to attend it until my mother intervened.

The other thing that was holding me back romantically was that I had more than a clue by the time high school rolled around that I was dealing with transgender issues. I just hadn't accepted the truth yet and was fighting it, even though I was crossdressing four times a week, adding makeup to my routine, painting red, pink or clear nail polish on my toes and when my class schedule didn't have PE on it would sometimes wear panties and panty hose to school under my jeans just to keep Monica placated. I almost did drag during my senior year for homecoming week and wish I had.

It's also ironic that in my graduation photo I was wearing face powder. The shine from my face was so overpowering to the point where my photographer Juanita Williams pulled her powder compact out of her purse and applied some of it to my face.

The internal tug of war during my teen years over who would control this body was dragging my grades down as well. I had a 3.8 when I left junior high but had slipped to a 3.0 by the time my senior year hit. I still managed to graduate with honors despite that.

Despite all my drama, the low self-esteem days and futile attempts to build a Berlin Wall around my heart, The Twin was still getting attention from biosistahs. That was true at UH and after I left college and started working for CAL.

The time at CAL was a mixed bag as well. I loved my job and the travel perks but it was torture as well. Here was a situation in which I worked at a place on a daily basis surrounded by beautiful, smart, college-educated professional sistahs and Latinas (yes, The Twin got attention from Latinas as well) and all I could think about was how jealous I was because I WASN'T them. Don't even get me started on the beautiful women, female co-workers and celebrities from all over the world that transited my gates during the 14 years I spent at IAH.

When I lost my virginity at 26 I was upset afterwards because I was jealous of the sistah I was intimately pleasing at the time. I was also coming to the realization during the 80's that I didn't want to drag a biosistah into my situation.

But don't think they didn't give it their best shots. ;) Just as the Berlin Wall had ingenious people engineer sucessful escapes past it, I had various women during the 80's and early 90's who attempted to breach the wall around my heart and managed to capture it for a little while as well.

Up until the time I finally had enough, had my two year relationship from Hades end and made the moves to transition, I felt guilt over my perception that I was taking a nice Black 'man' out of circulation. But I eventually realized that if I wasn't comfortable in that role, it wasn't fair to have whatever sistah who was romantically interested in having The Twin as her hubby deal with something she wasn't going to be prepared for either. But one thing I did confess to the women that were interested in me during the 2000 reunion and after I transitioned at CAL was that I should have let them decide whether The Twin was worth their time.

I'm now a happy (about 98% of the time), healthy, contributing member of society ready to do her part and contribute her talents to uplift the race.

The Twin wasn't all bad. I have some wonderful memories growing up. I traveled, found myself in some interesting situations and did a lot of fun things when I wasn't depressed. I hope that the biowomen that did get the opportunity to meet, love and go out with The Twin enjoyed those times. I hope they found The Twin to be an honest, loving, kind, straight-shooter of a person. Those are qualities that I broght with me when I transitioned. I also hope that they considered The Twin to be a gentleman and a loyal friend in a world that doesn't have very many of those.

So do I want to go back to being in The Twin's shoes? Nope, I love the three inch pumps and stylish clothes I'm strutting my stuff in just fine. In fact, if it were possible for me to go back in time I would have transitioned in high school or my early college years.

As I told my family and friends and reiterated a few years ago, The Twin has left the building and ain't coming back.

The Body's The Easy Part

I remember how I felt when I first started taking hormones. There was a peaceful, calming feeling that started to wash over me when my body began its long delayed feminine development phase.

I started checking myself out on a full length mirror and practically got giddy with excitement as I saw curves starting to form on my hips. I remember how tender my nipples were when they started expanding and the breasts started budding and filling out. I was happy when my skin started smoothing out, clearing up and the body hair growth started slowing down. I remember when my hair finally got long enough to where I actually could do my first perm on it.

The initial body morphing, however was the easy part of the transition. Being a woman is more than just having the body. Femininity is more spiritual and mental. It's also an ongoing process. I'm thirteen years down the road and I'm still learning and evolving in terms of being on this journey called womanhood.

One of the mistakes I see some transwomen make is trying to rush the process. It took your mothers, aunts and sisters a decade just to go through the process of having their bodies morph into their adult feminine forms. While they are adjusting to that, they are being socialized into the feminine gender role by all the female members of their families and with the encouragement of society at large.

We transwomen go down a different path. We make that journey in many cases under trying circumstances. We don't have a decade to get comfortable with our bodies, we have to do it on the fly. Our families resist us in terms of trying to force us into a gender role that's incongruent for us. Society fights us tooth and nail since its tendency is to fear what it doesn't understand.

And yet through all of that, to paraphrase Maya Angelou, and still we rise.

Somehow, despite all of that, we manage to get through the trial by fire and become the women that we were born to be. Sometimes I get a little upset about the drama I've gone through (and STILL go through), the insults, the snide remarks and daily slights just to be me. I feel cheated sometimes when I pass by a little girl, a woman with kids in tow or a sistah I'm casting an admiring look at because she's working an outfit. I wonder how different my childhood would have been if I'd been born in the correct body from Day One.

When I talk to my sistah friends, I get brought back to reality. I've been told by them numerous times that I'm the blessed one. One of my sistah friends told me that she'd rather be me because she wouldn't be dealing with cramps and Aunt Flo once a month.

The grass is always greener on the other side of the street, I guess ;)

So Far So Good

I flipped the TV on ESPN last night to watch the FIBA Americas Championship Tournament. I wanted to see how well the number one ranked Team USA was doing in its ongoing mission to return the Olympic gold medal in basketball back to the birthplace of the sport.

The FIBA Americas Tournament started in Las Vegas on August 22 with the top ten teams in the FIBA Americas Zone competing for spots in the Olympics. In addition to Team USA, the defending 2004 Athens Olympic champion Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela and the US Virgin Islands are also there. The tournament will run through September 2.

The winner and runner-up qualify for the Beijing Games next summer. Third through fifth place get a last chance shot to qualify for Beijing in a July 2008 World Olympic Qualifying Tournament FIBA tournament that will be conducted before the opening of the Games August 8.

Well, so far so good for Team USA. They went 4-0 in Group B play by beating down the Brazilians 113-76. That Brazilian team has Leandro Barbosa of the Phoenix Suns, (this tournament's leading scorer averaging 27 points per game) Carmelo Anthony's Denver Nuggets teammate Nene Hilario, and Marcus De Souza of the New Orleans Hornets on it. Kobe Bryant put the defensive clamps on Barbosa and held him to 4 points on 1 for 7 shooting.

They have cruised so far in this tournament. They beat Uruguay 112-69, the US Virgin Islands 123-59 and Canada 113-63. Coach K has Team USA playing suffocating defense, hitting threes, cleaning the glass and playing solid fundamental basketball.

The hitting threes part is especially critical in FIBA play since the three point line is two feet shorter than the 23 foot NBA line. The lack of consistent three point shooting is why we've gotten our butts whipped in international play on the men's side since 2000. It's a major reason why three point gunners extraordinaire Michael Redd and Mike Miller are on the squad.

They start off the quarterfinal round by playing the Nolan Richardson coached Mexican team tomorrow.

Black First-Transgender Second

There's a lot of things over the last thirteen years that have changed about me.

I went from long hair just past my shoulders to the short style I currently wear. I have a wig collection that rivals Kim Fields' Living Single character Regine Hunter. I've gone from wearing predominately red toned lipsticks to neutral colors and plums. I'm more outgoing and happy as a person. My body now matches my gender identity.

But the one common thread through all those various changes is a fundamental one:

I'm still Black.

When you're a transgender person of color it's the one time when being an ethnic minority is an advantage. I say that because people tend to focus on your skin color first before all the other issues that make you the unique individual that you are come into play.

I make no bones about the fact that I am a proud African-American and I'm not going to apologize for that. Neither am I going to allow some sadly misguided elements of the African-American community to stupidly assert that because I'm transgender I'm not a 'real' African-American. The only thing that changed was my body configuration. That doesn't disqualify me or any other African-American transpeeps from our rightful place at the African-American family table.

I've had to call out some of the ignorant peeps here for sarcastically referring to me as 'Monica Black' because my monthly newspaper column in THE LETTER deals with GLBT issues from an African-American perspective like my blog does.

I love ESSENCE, EBONY and Jet magazines and read them faithfully. I love everything about my people's history, our culture and never tire of learning more about it. I love the flavor we live our lives with. I love the sprituality threads that run through our culture.

It's just that for me to truly be the best person I could be and do my part to uplift the race I had to deal with the gender issues once and for all. I submit that the only thing tougher than being a Black woman or a Black man in American society is being emotionally a Black woman or a Black man in a mismatched body.

I'm evolving into my role as an African-American woman with a transgender history. I'm ecstatically happy and proud of that. I thank God for finally infusing me with the courage and faith to step out and make those necessary adjustments in my life.

I've been blessed with the writing skills and the talent to translate my life experiences into flowing prose. I'm working toward publishing some of the novels I've been working on. I want to continue to evolve into a positive role model for the transkids that are sorting out this issue and let them know that your dreams don't have to die because you transition.

But just because I transitioned doesn't mean I escaped the BS that Black people face in this country. I still grew up in the 'hood. All I did was swap one set of gender related issues for another one. I still get followed in upscale department stores. My intelligence is still discounted. I still get called the n-word by the ignorant folks in addition to having the b-word included in the epithets they spew at me. Being transgender adds another layer of drama to the mix as well.

The one thing that would make my life and other African-American transpeople's lives infinitely better is to be unconditionally loved and accepted by our own people. We get enough Hateraid from 'errbody' else and we don't need added drama from our own peeps as well. We've got a lot of work to do just to get to the point in which unconditional love and acceptance automatically happens, but it's something that I pray will happen in my lifetime.

As we work together as a communty to make that a reality, please bear in mind that I STILL am and always will be Black first, transgender second and proud to be both.

Foxxjazell-Rapping Towards Success

"If people are ready for white rappers, then they are ready for me,"

22 year old Keva Jackson, AKA Foxxjazell is determined to prove that people are ready for a transgender rapper. She's part of an emerging GLBT hip-hop scene that has been around since the late 80s, but has only recently appeared on the radar screens of the larger GLBT community thanks to Alex Hinton's 2005 Pick Up The Mic documentary that was broadcast on LOGO last October.




The Birmingham, AL born mocha skinned beauty dreamed of stardom from an early age, but was advised by her hardworking parents to choose a more 'logical' career such as nursing or teaching. After graduating from high school at 17 with honors, she bought a one way bus ticket and headed west with less than $20 in her purse.

After arriving in Hollywood the 5'10" Foxxjazell modeled for a while. She became disenchanted with it and set her sights on achieving her life long dream.

Foxxjazell also has her sights set on a much higher goal as well. She wants to become a role model for other people struggling with the transgender issue. She also desires to be a voice for the transgender community.

She told LA Daily News reporter Phillip Zonkel in a February 2007 interview that the decision to be open about her transgender status wasn't an easy one.

"In the beginning, people didn't know what to make of me when I sang at nightclubs," she says. "You're more accepted if you stay in your box, a drag queen who lipsynchs.

"I'm not a drag performer. I rap with my own music."

Foxxjazell's style of blended dance music with hip-hop is increasingly getting her attention. She was recently interviewed on the Tyra Banks Show and has built a following in California. Since the thug-life genre of hip-hop is crashing and burning right now the time may be right for her and other GLBT rappers to push to fill that hip-hop void.

"I want to go mainstream," Foxxjazell says. "I have something strong to say that everyone can relate to - 'Be Yourself.' "

The Original Black Panthers

When people of my generation hear the words 'Black Panthers', images of Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, and Angela Davis come to mind along with brothers and sisters wearing Afros, black leather jackets and black berets.

But there was another group of Black Panthers back in the day that wore army fatigues. They were the men of the 761st Tank Battalion, one of the three all Black tank units (the 758th, and the 784th were the others) formed at Camp Claiborne, LA on April 1, 1942. Many generals, including Third Army commander George S. Patton were opposed to the idea of having African-American troops in tank units.

In addition to battling the racism of the Army, the men of the 761st had to confront Jim Crow segregation since many of the posts they trained at were in the Deep South. One young second ilieutenant ended up facing a court martial because of an incident that began over his refusal of a white bus driver's demand that he sit in the back of a bus.

It escalated into an ugly interaction with military police that led to a trial. Second Lt. Jackie Robinson was acquitted of the charges and honorably discharged in 1944. Just three years later he would integrate major league baseball.

It was a struggle just to get the 761st into battle. But after ferocious pressure was applied on the Army by First Lady (and AKA) Eleanor Roosevelt, prominent Black leaders, the Black press and increasing losses in frontline tank units the 761st was deployed to the European theater.

After doing nearly a year of final intensive training at Fort Hood, TX and being rated superior by Second Army commander Lt. Gen Ben Lear, they landed on Omaha Beach in France on October 10, 1944 in high spirits.

Ironically the reason they were in Europe was because Patton, who was initially opposed to having Black troops in tank units requested that the best available separate tank unit be sent to him. In a pre-battle speech to the 761st on November 2, 1944 at St. Nicholas, France he said,

“Men, you’re the first Negro tankers to ever fight in the American Army. I would never have asked for you if you weren’t good. I have nothing but the best in my Army. I don’t care what color you are.... Everyone has their eyes on you and is expecting great things from you. Most of all, your race is looking forward to you. Don’t let them down, and damn you, don’t let me down!”

And they didn't. From the moment they were committed to combat on November 7, 1944, the Black Panthers would prove they had formidable claws. They joined Patton's army rapidly racing across France and repeatedly tore up the veteran German and Waffen SS troops they faced in the 13th SS Panzer Division and other elite German units..

Over the next 183 days they valiantly fought in France, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Germany, and Austria. They played key roles in the Battle of the Bulge, blew a hole though the Siegfried Line that led to the breakout and rapid advance of Patton's 4th Armored Division across Germany, liberated the Buchenwald and Dachau death camps, and met up with a Soviet unit made up of Ukranian troops in Austria at the River Steyr.

In addition to receiving high praise from the War Department a total of almost 400 battle awards were bestowed upon the men of the 761st. Their excellence, along with the Tuskegee Airmen and the heroic exploits of other African-American soldiers led to President Truman desegregating the armed forces in 1947.

Unfortunately racism once again reared its ugly head It took decades for the soldiers of the 761st Tank Battalion to receive the decorations they earned. A recommendation for a Presidential Unit Citation was submitted in 1945 but wasn't awarded until President Jimmy Carter did so in 1978. 761st Platoon Sergeant Ruben Rivers was one of 7 African-American soldiers (6 posthumously) who were awarded Medals of Honor by President Bill Clinton in 1997 after examining their war records.

Much respect and a deep debt of gratitude is owed to the original Black Panthers. They lived up to their motto 'Come Out Fighting'.

My Day At The Clinton Presidential Center

As a history junkie I've always loved presidential libraries. The Carter Center is on my must see list next time I drive down to the ATL. Next time I go back home I'm thinking about making the run up to Aggieland and checking out the George HW Bush one on the Texas A&M campus.

My grandmother Tama took me and my brother during the summer of 1977 on a bus trip with her church group to see the LBJ Ranch in Stonewall, TX and the LBJ Presidential Library 30 miles to the east in Austin on the University of Texas campus. It was an all day excursion that I enjoyed, especially when the shuttle took us over a hill that gave us an awe inspiring view of the Texas Hill Country. I remember saying to my grandmother at the time, "No wonder LBJ loved this place."

I was even happier when we arrived at the library and I got a chance to check out the memorabilia from the LBJ presidency, take pictures on the museum grounds and see the nearby state capitol dome before we boarded the bus for the two hour run back to Houston.

In November 2006 I drove the 800 plus miles from Da Ville to Dallas so that I could attend my cousin William's November 11 wedding. My route took me through Little Rock and past the Clinton Presidential Center all lit up in its nighttime splendor and I resolved to check it out on the way back.

On the return trip as soon as I crossed the Arkansas-Texas border I stopped at the welcome center just outside of Texarkana. You pick up a red 'William J. Clinton Passport' that you get stamped at the various places you visit on the presidential tour. Three of the locations, his birthplace in Hope, the boyhood and teen home in Hot Springs and the museum in Little Rock were on or close to I-30. Fayetteville, (or as we called it when I was at UH in the old Southwest Conference days 'Fayettenam') was in the upper northwest corner of the state close to the Missouri line and not on the agenda.

Twenty five miles later I was exiting I-30 and heading toward downtown Hope, President Clinton's birthplace. There's an old Missouri Pacific railroad station that has been renovated into a museum. It has some memorabilia from the time he grew up there, the '92 and '96 presidential campaigns and his time as governor of Arkansas. It even has pictures of a concert that Elvis Presley did in Hope before he made it big and a large collection of railroad memorabilia.

After you see a short film on their favorite son's life, you start a self guided driving tour that takes you past his birth home on South Hervey Street, Brookwood Elementary school on South Spruce Street that he attended in 1952-1953, the home he lived in on East 13th Street until his family moved to Hot Springs in 1953 and the Rosehill Cemetery where his mother is buried. I spent an hour and a half taking pictures, spending time at the various tour stops and meandering through Hope before I pointed the car back in the direction of I-30 and headed toward Little Rock. I burned so much time in Hope that in order to get to the museum before it closed at 5 PM I reluctantly had to bypass Hot Springs.

I hit Little Rock around 1:15 PM and after jumping off Exit 140 parked on the large parklike site of the Clinton Presidential Center. It's a three story building right next to the Arkansas River that looks like a futuristic unfinished bridge, a play on the 'Bridge to the 21st Century' theme of his presidency. On the site is a renovated railroad station that serves as the repository for his presidential papers. The gift shop is a free shuttle trolley ride just up President Clinton Avenue in downtown Little Rock.

I noticed when I parked the car there was a convoy of TV trucks in the lot and parked close to the building along with two black limos. I found out why about thirty minutes later. The museum was packed with tour groups. Many of us there that day were still in post-2006 election euphoria. I gave a shout out to a group of my mom and sister's sorors who were touring that day along with other groups of African-Americans.

I spent most of my visit happily perusing the various interactive exhibits, the memorabilia and reflecting on just how jacked up this Bush presidency was compared to the Clinton one. I was on the third floor looking at a temporary exhibit of cowboy movie posters and a hand drawn picture of the 'High Noon' gunfight scene by a young Bill Clinton when a young woman excitedly shouted, "He's here!"
"Who's here?" I asked.
"The president is here!"

That news traveled through the museum with lightning speed and triggered a rush of museum patrons to the lower levels of the building. It was the reason the TV trucks were there. I discovered after I quickly ambled from the third floor of the building to standing outside the Great Hall and talking to one of the museum employees that Salon.com was having a luncheon event that day (November 13) in which Brother Bill was speaking. I stood outside along with the other museum patrons hoping that we'd get a chance to see him and shake his hand when he was done, but the Secret Service had other ideas.

After hopping the trolley and grabbing some souvenirs at the gift shop I headed back to Louisville. The next time I'm in the area I'm definitely stopping by there again. The museum was definitely worth the $7 I paid to get in and was a positive, uplifting way to spend a day. Many of the conversations I had with folks from all over the country that day expressed our common desire and resolve to bring that type of forward thinking leadership back to the White House and our country.

I can only hope and pray that next year the rest of the country is hungry for that type of leadership as well.

God Has A Sense of Humor

God has a sense of humor.

When I say that, I'm talking about the observation I made that while my prayers were being answered on God's time to become the woman I needed to be, I was being put in all these interesting ironic situations during the time I was struggling with the gender issue.

Some of those situations weren't so humorous or funny at the time they occured, but with the accumulation of wisdom and as the years go by I've learned to laugh at them.
It seems like during that time period in the late 70's and 80's the more I fought the gender issue during my 'imitation of a male life phase', the more I got hit with a situation where I was confronted with it.

One of my favorite cousins I grew up with is transgender. It was a fact that was kept away from me by my parents (that I'm still a little upset about). What they didn't know is that I found out anyway that something was up.

I got confronted during my junior year in a health class by a female sophomore student who'd gone to Johnston Jr. High with my cuz. When Dena asked me in class if John was my cousin and I acknowledged that he was, she called him the 'f' word that rhymes with maggot. I ripped her a new anus for dissing my cousin.

A few weeks later I dozed off in my chemistry class because I wasn't feeling well and I awoke just in time to avert an impromptu makeover about to be conducted by Brenda Hayes and Virginia Tucker. They and many of my female classmates had noted my long eyelashes and fairly androgynous features of my face. Many have told me since that they felt I was on the wrong team as well.

I kept running into transwomen when I was hitting the various clubs I was partying at in H-town during the 80's. There was one night that me and two friends were at Georgi-O's in 1984 and I was talking to a UH classmate working the door entrance. Two beautiful transsistahs walked in while I was standing there and showed their ID's to my friend to verify they were of legal drinking age. I noticed both ID's had 'M' in the gender code areas. Later that evening one of my friends decides to hit on one of the girls and disses me in the process, so I didn't bother telling him what I learned at the door. I was calmly eating my breakfast at Denny's with his cousin when he discovered her secret during his attempted romantic interlude at the nearby Mitchell Inn with her.

I had girls constantly remarking that talking to me was like talking to their homegirls. A few even slipped up during those phone conversations and used, "Girl, let me...."

Even distance from Houston couldn't keep me from bumping into transwomen. I spent July 1988 doing corporate training in Denver when I worked for CAL. Three days after I arrived I was in the hotel restaurant about to grab some breakfast before heading to class when I observed a guy and a transsistah walk into the restaurant holding hands.

I kept running into them at my various jobs. When I was working at the Dome, during a high school football doubleheader in 1981 I had three sistah drag queens strut by the concession stand I managed with a crowd of kids behind them. I noticed that two of them were on hormones. Just after they passed me and wandered toward the Dome's West exit one of those kids snatched the wig off one of the girls heads.

The business next door to the check cashing place I briefly worked at employed a transsistah for a while. I had a DJ party gig in which two drop dead gorgeous transsistahs came in the venue to enjoy the ambiance and house music me and my DJ partner Eric were throwing down. I had various flights over the years where I ran into various female illusionists, peeps on their way to compete in pageants, do out of town gigs or just traveling.

It took me a while, but I finally got the message. ;)

Queen of Nations Pageant

On July 27 eight contestants ranging in age from 19 to 26 years old representing Angola, India, East Africa, Japan, Panama, The United Kingdom, Mauritius, and two from the Philippines competed in the first annual Tranny Queen Of the World 'Queen of Nations' pageant held at London's Bloomsbury Theatre.



The contestants in the inaugural pageant were either current or former pageant titleholders, 1st-5th alternates, runner-ups, or prestigious award winners in pageants in their towns, regions or country in the preceding two years.

The pageant has some lofty goals. This pageant is not as the TQW organizers put it a 'one day glitz and glamour event'. The winner wil spend her reign doing a lot of charity work. The Queen of Nations organizers are planning to hold charity fund raising events for underprivileged t-girls in countries who unfortunately face discrimination and prejudice every day.

The TQW organizers also wish to start a development program in conjunction with other charity organizations that helps t-girls quit prostitution and escorting.

In addition to those goals as listed in their mission statement, the Queen of Nations pageant wishes to campaign against the negative views of transgender women as sex objects, and give beautiful, talented young transwomen a platform to express themselves as beautiful, intelligent, and creative individuals. Another goal is to celebrate the beauty, femininity and creativity of transgender women.

The TQW pageant organizers want this pageant to become a platform for transgender voices to be heard. They desire to promote acceptance, appreciation and respect for who we are. TQW also wishes for transwomen to be seen as positive examples for women all around the world and encourage transkids to be their true selves.

The TQW organizers are already at work searching for contestants and planning the 2008 pageant.

The winner of the inaugural 2007 Miss Queen of Nations title was Amanda De Leon, one of the two contestants representing the Philippines. Her thoughts are shared by transwomen all over the world when she stated, "I dream of a time and place where women like me would be accepted, respected and treated with fairness by the rest of humanity."

Let's hope that day comes sooner rather than later.

Ugandan GLBT People 'Let Us Live In Peace"

Press Release by Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG)
Thursday, 16 August 2007

In a landmark case, we, Ugandan lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people assembled at the High Court of Uganda two months ago to reinforce our right to privacy, dignity, and property. There were no charges against us. We had done nothing wrong.

It is the government who had to answer for illegal behaviour of its agents by discriminating against homosexual and transgender people. Government officials raided the home of Victor Juliet Mukasa, an LGBT Human Rights Defender, in 2005, and illegally arresting a guest they found in her home. They forced their way into Victor's home, stole many work documents, dragged her guest to Kireka police post, and forced the guest to strip naked in order to prove that she was a woman. The guest and Victor Juliet Mukasa were treated in a degrading and inhumane way. Many of us, as the Ugandan LGBTI community, have suffered similar injustice. We are here today to proclaim that these human rights violations are completely unacceptable. We have had enough of the abuse, neglect, and violence.

No person should be deprived of their constitutional rights; and homosexuals and transgender people are no exception. All people are equal under the law.

Therefore, we step into the public today to give a face to the many who are discriminated against every day in our country. Some of us have brought our faces before you for you to know us. But many of us come before you today with masks to represent the fact that you see homosexuals and transgender people every day without realising that it is what we are. We do not harm anyone. We are your doctor, your
teacher, your best friend, your sister, maybe even your father or son.

As Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), the umbrella organisation for Ugandan lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex organisations, there are two urgent issues we would like you to consider.

HIV/AIDS is a concern for all of us in this country. And yet many people ignorantly turn a blind eye as we die of HIV/AIDS because we as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people do not have proper access to protection, care, and treatment. We cannot continue to ignore the people in this country who are most at risk because of unfair discrimination and stigma. To successfully stop HIV/AIDS, we must treat every person with the dignity and attention they deserve. No one can justify taking away a person's right to live, when protection and treatment should be readily available to all.

Secondly, as Sexual Minorities Uganda, we would like to publicly acknowledge the police for their leadership in reinforcing justice in this country by speaking out against hate crimes and discrimination of human beings because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Leaders in the police force have recently made great steps toward upholding the law in a just and fair manner, providing equal protection for all people against harm. Likewise, we also urge LDUs to help to end the persecution of minorities, particularly lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, and intersex people, by acting in an upright and lawful manner in the course of their duties, respecting and protecting the dignity of all human beings.

Finally, to our communities, our schools, places of work, our families, we would like to end by passing on the wisdom of so many of our parents, who have known us and seen that we are born this way and are still their beloved children. Don't lay a hand on us, we are the homosexual and transgender children of God. God created us as this way as LGBTI, all we ask is Let Us Live In Peace.

My name is Larry. I am an LGBTI Human Rights Defender from Kenya.

Across East Africa, we are many who were born like this. We are lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, and intersex Africans who come from villages that are very far, who come from trading centers, and some who even come from large cities like Kampala, Dar Es Salaam, and Nairobi.

But our traditions of loving each other come from very far back in our African history, before the colonialists ever entered our land. Many of our ancestors in our tribes across East Africa were the way we are. They were born like this. We were accepted in our communities before the colonialists came, and we come before you today to ask you for that same acceptance that was part of our African culture before
we were destroyed by laws from the West. Because of the prejudice brought by the West, we have been threatened, intimidated, and harassed.

I stand today from Kenya in solidarity with the LGBTI people in East Africa to proclaim that these human rights violations are completely unacceptable. We have had way much enough of the abuse, neglect, and violence. In fact, our leaders have recognized this and made our East African countries signatories of international agreements to end such discrimination.

There is need for liberation in East Africa as a whole. Just as if people were starving in Kenya, but had plenty to eat here, we would still fight against poverty in our region.

This can be seen as in the LGBTI court case where Victor's guest who is a Kenyan was treated in a degrading and inhumane way and is standing in solidarity to hold the Ugandan government officials accountable in court for violations of our rights.

It is a very clear case. Government agents violated the rights of Victor Juliet Mukasa and her guest in the following ways:

* First, illegal search of the home of Victor Juliet Mukasa without a search warrant and unauthorized seizure of items from the house amounting to trespass and theft
* Secondly, illegal arrest of the guest found in the home at the time of the raid
* And then, there was also inhuman and degrading treatment of Victor and the guest amounting to sexual harassment and indecent assault

The basic rights enshrined in the Constitution of Uganda protect all persons, regardless of sexual orientation:

These Constitutional Rights include:

* Article 23 is about protection of personal liberty
o (1) No person shall be deprived of personal liberty . . .
* Article 24 talks about respect for human dignity and protection
from inhuman treatment
o It states that no person shall be subjected to any form of torture,
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
* Article 27 talks about the right to privacy of person, home and
other property
o (1) states that No person shall be subjected to-
+ (a) unlawful search of the person, home or other property of that
person;
+ (b) Unlawful entry by others of the premises of that person.
Property.
o (2) No person shall be subjected to interference with the privacy
of that person's home, correspondence, communication or other
property.

There have been two hearings of the case; we are waiting for the next hearing soon, where the government is to prove beyond reasonable doubt that they did not violate these rights. We hope the judgment will be free from any prejudice and that justice will prevail. I am a tax payer, I am your doctor, I am your brother, and I am your mother. Does this make me a lesser being? Why would we choose to go through such pain and suffering if we had a choice? LGBTI rights are not special rights, but are fundamental Human Rights for heavens sake,

CAN'T you Let Us Live in Peace?

The Summer of My (Sports) Discontent

This has been a tough summer for this Houston sports fan.

My 'Stros are languishing in fourth place and trailing the Brewers, Cubs and Cardinals. My Comets never recovered from the 0-10 hole they put themselves in to start the 2007 WNBA season and missed the playoffs for only the second time in franchise history. They finish the season against the LA Sparks tonight. Rice made it to the College World Series again but got eliminated. My high school alma mater Jones is coming off an 0-10 2006 football season and the Rockets once again made a quick exit out of the NBA playoffs.


There hasn't been a lot for me to cheer about on the sports home front. I've gotten spoiled over the last decade with WNBA championship runs, the Astros making runs to the postseason and eventually the World Series in 2005, my Falcons winning the 4A boys state title in basketball and making deep playoff runs on the girls side. Even the Dynamo got into the act by moving to H-town from San Jose and promptly winning the MLS championship last year in Dallas.

Oh well, at least the Texans are starting to show some improvement, the Dynamo are on track to make the MLS playoffs and my Coogs are the defending C-USA football champs.

But it hasn't been all bad this summer. U of L made the CWS which was great and caused a lot of excitement here in Da Ville. They are the defending Big East champs in football and have a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate in Brian Brohm. UK fans are actually looking forward to an SEC season that doesn't involve playing home games at Rupp Arena. While I root for Kentucky teams since I live here and stay mostly neutral in the war between UK and U of L fans, my sports loyalties however, are in the Lone Star State.

But a fact of life is that sports teams have rises and falls for a variety of reasons. Bad drafting decisions, key players leaving due to free agency, perennial powerhouses breaking up thanks to salary cap trouble, players retiring, et cetera. Looks like my favorite teams are about to go into rebuilding mode for a while.

But I'm not gonna abandon them either. My teams will be back and better than ever. With a little luck I may even get to add some more Houston sports championship t-shirts to my collection.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T My Womanhood

TransGriot Note: From a May 2004 TransGriot Column
Copyright 2004, THE LETTER

Aretha Franklin sang about, and I expect it.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

I'm glad that there are other transsistas that feel the same way that I do and are willing to speak out about the disrespectful attitudes that we encounter while operating in the world around us.

Here's some advice to the 'gentlemen' that try to rap to us. If you wish to get to know me or any transwoman, just treat us as you would any other sista that you meet for the first time. Unzipping your pants and asking "How big is your d**k is a real turnoff. It's one of the things that annoys me on the occasions that I do go out to GLBT clubs.

Another thing that upsets me is to have some guy walk up me, grab his crotch and ask, "How much?" If you did that with a genetic sista, she'd slap you, and my reaction to that insulting query won't be as nice either. Just because some of my T-sistas may partake in paid extracurricular sexual activity doens't mean that you can assume I'm sitting in a GLBT club for the same reason. Nor can you speculate what genitalia I may or may not possess between my legs because I happen to be in a gay patronized establishment. The fact that I spent my formative years in a male body doesn't give anyone the right to disrespect me. You may not like me, but you will respect me as a human being. I expect nothing less.

I grew up in a male body, but I'm not a man. I am a woman. I'm deliriously happy to finally be able to say that. The way that I look at life, love and interact with people on this planet is filtered through a feminine perspective. I like going out on dates, getting flowers, and hanging out with brothers as much as my genetic sisters. I can talk about what happened this week on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS just as easily as I discuss politics, sports or various other topics that pique my interest.

I went through a lot of drama to make my external appearance match the way I've felt internally since childhood. I did not travel down this pothole filled road to become someone's sex toy. I'm finally comfortable with my body and I'm ready to take my place in this society as an African-American woman. I want to contribute my talents to uplift my people while being cognizant and proud of the fact that I am transgendered.

Diana Ross said it best in an October 1989 Essence magazine interview. 'I never considered it a disadvantage to be a Black woman. I never wanted to be anything else. We have brains. We are beautiful. We can do anything we set our minds to.'

Well, I set my mind on becoming the beautiful Black woman that I am today. I didn't have the advantage of being taught from birth what genetic women learned about femininity from their mothers or grandmothers. My femininity has been acquired by observing my mother, gradmothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, and various women that I
admire. I also have the examples of myriad transgendered and non-transgendered ladies to inspire me to greater heights.

All that I and my transgendered sisters are doing is striving to become the best women that we can be. If we happen to turn some of you on in the process, then that's all good, too.

Brazil To Provide Free SRS Operations

photos-surgery, Brazilian transwoman Roberta Close







Brazil to provide free sex-change operations

Court rules the surgery is a constitutional right for residents

Updated: 4:47 p.m. ET
Aug 17, 2007
From MSNBC.com

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Brazil's public health system will begin providing free sex-change operations in compliance with a court order, the Health Ministry said Friday.

Ministry spokesman Edmilson Oliveira da Silva said the government would not appeal Wednesday's ruling by a panel of federal judges giving the government 30 days to offer the procedure or face fines of $5,000 a day.

"The health minister was prompted by the judges' decision," Silva said. "But we already had a technical group studying the procedure with the idea of including it among the procedures that are covered."

Federal prosecutors from Rio Grande do Sul state had argued that sexual reassignment surgery is covered under a constitutional clause guaranteeing medical care as a basic right.

On Wednesday the 4th Regional Federal Court agreed, saying in its ruling that "from the biomedical perspective, transsexuality can be described as a sexual identity disturbance where individuals need to change their sexual designation or face serious consequences in their lives, including intense suffering, mutilation and suicide."

The Health Ministry said it would be up to local health officials to decide who qualifies for the surgery and what priority it will be given compared with other operations within the public health system.

Patients must be at least 21 years old and diagnosed as transsexuals with no other personality disorders and must undergo psychological evaluation for at least two years, the ministry said.

Gay activists applauded the decision.

"Transsexuals represent about 0.001 percent of the Brazilian population, but for this minority, sexual reassignment surgery is a question of life and death," said Luiz Mott, founder of the Bahia Gay Group. "It is unjust and cruel to argue that the health system should concern itself with other priorities."

So far the measure has not prompted any opposition.

Brazil's public health system offers free care to all Brazilians, including a variety of surgeries and free AIDS medication. But long lines and poorly equipped facilities mean that those who can afford it usually choose to pay for private hospitals and clinics.

The health ministry said that since 2000, about 250 sexual reassignment surgeries considered experimental have been performed at three university hospitals.

Brazil is generally more tolerant of homosexuality than other Latin American countries, with transvestites featured prominently in celebrations like carnival, but discrimination still exists.

(c) 2007 The Associated Press.

The Trouble With Harry

By Dr. Sylvia Rhue
August 9, 2007

Bishop Harry Jackson, of the High Impact Leadership Coalition, is back in the news with attacks on Barack Obama, calling him a "dangerous man" and a "junior or infant Christian."

Barack Obama appeared on LOGO and HRC's presidential debate Thursday August 9. All of the candidates were asked about marriage equality for LGBT people. Although he is for full civil union rights, Obama feels he cannot open the door of equality all the way with full marriage rights for LGBT people. But even his moderate stance gets a
berating from Bishop Jackson.

When speaking to a group of Black ministers at a forum in Tennessee, Barack stated:

"I specifically pointed out that if there's any pastor here who can point out a marriage that has been broken up as a consequence of seeing two men or two women holding hands, then we—you should tell me, because I haven't seen any evidence of it…And there are some folks who, coming out of the church, have, you know, elevated one line in Romans above the Sermon on the Mount."

Jackson's response: "He's dead wrong concerning what the scriptures say, and more importantly, he's dead wrong in terms of the Scriptures, and in terms of reading culture. The culture has gone in a different direction, and the devaluation of marriage is a major problem, and I believe that he's a very dangerous man because he sounds reasonable, he sounds engaging, but he's misinformed." Jackson goes on to call Obama a "junior or infant Christian."

He states that "I think what most African-Americans buy is that there should be justice for all, in terms of the outworking of civil law. What they do not buy is that we should not rename sin as something righteous and holy."

Bishop Jackson is dead wrong. It is Jackson who has an infantile understanding of human sexuality and a wrong headed theology regarding Christ's message of inclusion. Jackson does not understand, or refuses to understand the concept of sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is morally neutral.

One of the definitions of the word "sin" is "to miss the mark". Jackson misses the mark of the Love ethic for his gay and lesbian neighbors, which is central to Christian theology. When Bishop Jackson came to NBJC's Black Church Summit this past Spring, he had the opportunity to look LGBT people in the eye and hear their stories of love, commitment, devotion, honor and duty. He nodded his head acting as if he understood. He acted as if he had learned something. Unfortunately, from his behavior and statements since that day, it was all just an act.

We should defer to an authentic Biblical scholar, Rev. Peter Gomes the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard University, who writes: "No credible case against homosexuality or homosexuals can be made from the Bible unless one chooses to read scripture in a way that simply sustains the existing prejudice against homosexuality and homosexuals. The combination of ignorance and prejudice under the
guise of morality makes the religious community, and its abuse of scripture in this regard, itself morally culpable."

If Bishop Jackson ever thought he might be a drum major for justice, he has missed he mark.

Dr. Sylvia Rhue is Director of NBJC Religious Affairs. She can be reached directly at shrue@nbjc.org

The Death Of Venus

Images from Dee Chhin's The Death of Venus

Philly Transgender Mural Stays

Dee Chhin can breathe a litle easier. It took the Philadelphia Board of Licenses and Inspection Review just eight minutes to unanimously decide that her mural The Death of Venus gets to stay where she painted it six years ago.

"I'm just happy it's over," said Chhin. "Finally, I can focus on something else that's not so controversial."

"I'm shocked. This has been six years in the fighting. I am just amazed," said Michael Sher, a Center City real estate broker who commissioned the emigre Cambodian transwoman and aspiring artist to paint the mural in 2001 to dissuade graffitists from tagging the building's wall. He also funded the legal fight to keep it there.

The controversy started when officials at nearby Peirce College, whose campus is across the street, learned that the mural did not have a permit and complained to the Historical Commission.

The commission then cited Sher because the 1850 brick townhouse that the mural is painted on is in the Rittenhouse-Fitler Residential Historic District. That designation meant that owners can't alter building exteriors without obtaining Historical Commission approval.

The mural was granted interim approval due to the complexities of Philadelphia's permit laws. It allowed the mural to remain undisturbed for four years before Sher had to apply for an extension. During that time the mural became a popular and promoted stop on Philly's murals tour.

When those four years passed the Philadelphia Historical Commission in January voted twice to remove the mural, setting the stage for the August 14 hearing.

City officials stated that it would be up to the Historical Commission to decide whether they wished to appeal the ruling to Philadelphia Common Pleas Court.

Ralph, Stay Out In 2008

The news that Ralph Nader is considering another futile run for the presidency next year brought back all those angry feelings that I still harbor for him because of the 2000 election.

If you want to piss off a Green Party member, tell them that Ralph cost Al Gore the election. So I'm not only gonna say it, I'm gonna crunch the numbers and back it up.

Ralph Nader cost Al Gore the 2000 election.



So Naderites, before we get started, spare me whatever spin you've come up with to salve your guilty consciences. Your Nader votes made it possible for the worst president in my lifetime to take office. (I was a teenager during the Nixon years) The blood of 3000 plus dead soldiers is on YOUR hands. The conservative Supreme Court majority we have is YOUR fault.

And it's all because you and Ralphie boy lacked the vision (and failed to listen to us Texans) to see what a disaster a Bush presidency would (and has turned out to be) for our country.

Before we start, here's the basics. In the 2000 election Gore received 266 electoral votes, Bush 271. 270 is the magic electoral vote number to win office. Gore actually received 267, but one DC elector didn't cast their vote in protest over the Florida travesty. I'm going to presume that Nader votes are progressive ones that I'll add to Gore's totals and Buchanan ones are conservative that I'll add to Bush's.

Let's start with the two states that the 2000 election hinged on, New Hampshire and Florida.

Ralph pulled enough votes from Gore in New Hampshire to swing the state in Bush's direction along with 4 critical electoral votes.

Gore 266,348
Bush 273,549
Nader 22,195
Buchanan 2,615

Now assuming Ralph (and Pat) aren't in, lets take their votes and add them to the respective candidates totals. (Nader votes=progressive ones, Buchanan votes =conservative ones) I reject the Naderite assertion that without him in the 2000 race those voters would have stayed home. That's bull feces and y'all know it. The 2000 election was critical to our country's future and everyone knew it.

Gore 266,341 + 22,198 = 288,556
Bush 273,559 + 2,615 = 276,174



No Nader, and Gore not only takes New Hampshire but the presidency as well. New Hampshire's 4 electoral votes puts him over the top and makes Jeb and Katharine's thuggery in Florida irrelevant.

Gore 267 + 4 = 271
Bush 271 - 4 = 267


Moving on to Florida. Remember the Supremes stopped the recount. At that time the vote totals were:

Gore 2,912,293
Bush 2,912,790
Nader 97,495
Buchanan 17,484

Check out the new totals with Nader votes going to Gore and Buchanan ones to Bush.

Gore 2,912,293 + 97,495 = 3,009,741
Bush 2,912,790 + 17,484 = 2,930,274

Gore not only wins Florida, it's not even close enough for them to steal it. That adds 25 more electoral votes to the Gore column and your new electoral vote total is:

Gore 267 + 4 + 25 = 296
Bush 271 - 4 - 25 = 242

That means we have no Supreme Court intervention, no Iraq War, an erasing of our national debt by 2009, a 6-3 PROGRESSIVE majority on the Supreme Court with a Latino/a judge sitting on the bench...

Shall I continue listing what Ralph and y'all screwed up besides a Gore presidency?

Naah, think I'll drop some more political science on y'all. Y'all desperately need a refresher course in it.

In that 2000 election there were six states, Iowa, Oregon, Wisconsin, Washington, Minnesota and New Mexico worth a total 55 electoral votes that Gore narrowly won.

Nader polled 29,374 votes in Iowa, and Gore only beat Bush by 1144 votes there. In Oregon, the 77,357 votes he received there had Gore trailing most of the night until a late surge gave him a 6715 vote win. In Wisconsin, the 94,070 votes he received made it so close Gore only won by 5708 votes there.

Washington was a nail biter most of the night thanks to the 103,002 Nader votes cast there. Gore eventually pulled it out and won by 78,825 votes. In Minnesota, the 126,696 votes Nader garnered there also made that state uncomfortably close but Gore won that state by 59,607 votes.

In New Mexico the 21,251 votes Nader got almost cost Gore the state. Gore won by a razor thin 566 votes.

So what you Naderites say? Here's the problem. Because of Ralph, in the closing weeks of the 2000 campaign, instead of using that precious time to attack Bush in Missouri and Ohio and going home to Tennessee to mend fences he was forced to defend what should have been friendly turf.

Gore lost Missouri by 78,786 votes, Tennessee by 80,209 votes and Ohio by 165,019 votes. No Republican gets elected without having Ohio in their electoral vote column and that's where Gore needed to be, not in the Pacific northwest and the Midwest. He could have also spent time in West Virginia, which he lost by 40,978 votes.

The only thing I can take solace in is the fact that the 'there's no difference between Republicans and Democrats' line has been exposed for the lie it is. The last 7 years have proved there's a major difference when Democrats run thangs as opposed to when Republicans do.

There's one other thing you Naderites need to chew on. If you want progressive policies for our country, you definitely aren't going to get them by helping to elect CONSERVATIVE politicians.

Ralph, stay home in 2008. You've done enough damage to our country.

Wanna Pass? Build A Sistah Circle

I believe that one of the ways to be the best sistah you can be is spending lots of quality interaction time with peeps who have lived that gender role since birth.

In order to successfully transition to womanhood, I think it's critical to build up a network of supportive friends who are not only biowomen, but transwomen as well called a sistah circle.

The first order of business in building that sistah circle is finding the biowomen members of it. They should be people who are so secure in their own femininity that they aren't tripping about your transwoman status. They need to be intellectually curious, spritual and will 'keep it real' for you in terms of their experiences growing up. They will also check you when you start whining about how lucky they are to be born female.

Bear in mind that this is a two way relationship. You have to 'keep it real' for the biowomen as well in terms of sharing some of the painful parts of your background, the intimate details of your life and answering whatever questions the biowoman has about the medical aspects of transition that you feel comfortable discussing.

The transwoman aspect of your sistah circle is important as well. Sometimes there are just issues that no matter how understanding, smart and down your biowoman friend is, they require another transwoman to break it down for you so that you can understand it. But don't just automatically assume that your biowoman friend may not understand your transgender related problem. She may surprise you.

If you're blessed to find those types of friends, you're on your way.

As you continue your transition journey you'll want to add to your evolving sistah circle biowomen who are married, unmarried, single, divorced, younger, older, straight, gay, in or out of relationships, mothers or have a combination of these characteristics. You'll want the same kind of breakdown for the transwomen that are part of your sistah circle as well.

So why am I talking about sistah circles? Because women have similar networks of intimate interlocking friendships that not only help them sort out the mysteries of womanhood and life in general, but help them get through the challenges of being a woman in a man's world.

My sistahfriends have been invaluable to me in terms of my growth and understanding of the spiritual nature of femininity. They have not only helped me put together my femme presentation, they have checked me when I haven't been on point with it as I need to be. They also smack me back into reality when I start whining about the bull I have to deal with because I wasn't born female.

I bring to the table as a sistah circle member not only my analytical abilities about relationships, willingness to learn everything I can about being female and the desire to have the friendship last a lifetime, I'm also a powerful ally in helping them decipher the mysteries of male behavior.

By building sistah circle friendships, you also help the transgender community. You demystify us in their eyes and help 'ejumacate' them about our lives. Your biowomen friends can potentially be our best allies when disinformation about transpeeps comes up in their daily interactions with other non-transgender persons. They can enlighten peeps about what the real deal is when it comes to transgender peeps because they know one personally.

It also never hurts to have a loyal person in your corner, period.

So go ahead. introduce yourself to that biowoman or transwoman whose outfit you like, who carries herself like the Queen of Sheba or has a magnetic personality you admire.

You have nothing to lose and may gain a friend for life

Transpeeps and the Po-Po's Still Have Drama

There's been a long history in the United States of tension between the police and the transgender community. In fact, the August 1966 Compton's Cafeteria Riot in San Francisco and the June 28, 1969 Stonewall Riots that are considered the start of the United States GLBT civil rights movement have a similar root cause:

GLBT people finally getting fed up with being harassed by police.

So it didn't suprise me when Amnesty International released on September 22, 2005 the first in a series of reports that documented what we in the transgender community have known, talked about and experienced for years. Despite the major gains we've made over the last 40 years in having our civil rights recognized and respected, the problem of police harassment still persists.

Called Stonewalled: Police Abuse and Misconduct against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people in the United States, the Amnesty International report revealed that transgender people experienced some of the most egregious cases of police brutality.

AI heard reports of transgender individuals being subjected by police to discriminatory profiling as sex workers; “policing” of transgender individuals bathroom use; sexual, verbal and physical abuse; inappropriate and illegal searches to determine a transgender individual’s “true” sex; and a failure to protect transgender individuals from abuse while in detention.

A subsequent report was released in March 2006 called Stonewalled: Police Abuse and Misconduct Against Lesbian, Gay and Transgender People in the U.S. that documents serious patterns of police abuse, including incidents amounting to torture and ill-treatment. It also points out that GLBT persons of color are particularly vulnerable to this abuse and it is compounded by the systemic racism and homophobia prevalent in many US police forces. GLBT peeps are also singled out for selective enforcement of "morals regulations," bars and social gatherings regulations, demonstrations and "quality of life" ordinaces.

How serious is the problem? In San Antonio, one of the four cities profiled in the September 2005 report, veteran police officer Dave Gutierrez was convicted and sentenced on January 19 to 24 years and four months in prison for raping and assaulting then 21 year old transwoman Starlight Bernal during a June 10, 2005 traffic stop.


It's also come to light that the investigation into transwoman Nizah Morris' death in Philadelphia is pointing disturbing fingers at the police. The recent classification of transwoman Erica Keel's death as an accident has exacerbated tensions between the Philadelphia police department and the transgender community to the point that it became an issue in the Philadelphia mayor's race.

The negativity affects us in multiple ways. The police failing to act, or being openly (or covertly) hostile to transgender people affects their attitudes toward solving crimes committed against us.

That lack of action emboldens people who wish to bring harm to us. They assume that the police, their ministers, society and the justice system are on their side and they'll get away with committing the crime against us. Previous cases in which people were prosecuted for committing murders against transgender people that received little or ridiculously low sentences feed into that perception. The 'trans panic' defenses that attorneys use to get their clients off also don't help along with the reluctance of prosecuters to use hate crimes statutes if they happen to have one in their jurisdiction that covers us. That has the unfortunate effect of encouraging crimes to be committed against us, not deterring it.

The drama between us and the police means that many transpeople are reluctant to report crimes when they occur because of the fear you'll get even more harrasment from the officer that's supposed to help you. If you think I'm kidding, ask JoLea Lamot's family what happened on November 24, 1998 when her mother Nancy called 911 on JoLea's behalf because they feared she'd accidentally overdosed on some medication.

The late Marvin Zindler used to say on his reports back home that 'it's hell to be poor'. It's also hell to be transgender. One message that needs to be made loud and clear is that we transpeople are taxpaying citizens as well. We don't need the po-po's adding to the drama we already get just for living our lives.

Serving and protecting the public also includes us as well.

Stephanie and Ukea-Rest In Peace

Five years ago today at the same Southeast DC intersection where transsistah Tyra Hunter was involved in the fateful auto accident that took her life, two transsistahs named Stephanie Thomas and Ukea Davis were brutally murdered.

19 year old Stephanie and 18 year old Ukea met at a SMYAL (Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League) meeting and became best friends. They were inseparable to the point where they helped each other transition and lived in an apartment together.

And unfortunately, they died together as well.

At 11:30 PM on August 12, 2002 the girls told friends they were headed to a nearby gas station to pick up cigarettes. No one's certain whether they actually accomplished their stated mission and were in the process of returning or had even left. At around 3 AM the girls were sitting in Thomas' Camry at a stop sign at 50th and C Streets. Suddenly a car rolled up next to them and sprayed them with semi automatic gunfire.

According to an eyewitness, another car approached the intersection after the shooting and the driver got out to ascertain what had happened. Ukea Davis was already dead and the driver nudged Stephanie to see if by some miracle she was alive.
She acknowledged she was by moaning as he touched her shoulder.

But unfortunately the good Samaritan was forced to flee when the shooters came back to finish their grisly work. The shooter got out of the car and peppered the mortally wounded teens with more gunfire. By the time rescue workers reached the bloodsoaked car Stephanie was also dead. She and Ukea had taken ten rounds each.

Even in a city with a high murder rate such as Washington DC, the execution style killings of two transgender teenagers rocked the city and the DC transgender community. Their joint funeral was packed. The people who spoke at the vigil held for them included then mayor Anthony Williams and DC congressional Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton.

As of this writing the perpetrators in the murders of Stephanie Thomas and Ukea Davis still haven't been brought to justice. To make things worse just four days after the vigil marking the one year anniversary of the killings Washington underwent a series of transgender murders. In the span of eight days two transwomen were killed and another survived a shooting near the US capitol building.

The sad part about the Thomas-Davis killing was the brutality of it. While I'm happy that in the short time they had on the planet they got to transition, sometimes it shocks me just how visceral the hatred is toward transgender people. It saddens me to think about the fact that Stephanie and Ukea didn't get a chance to unleash whatever potential their lives held for them. It angers me to think that someone hated or felt so threatened by Stephanie and Ukea just openly living their lives that they picked up a gun and killed them.

Rest in peace, ladies.

Bishop Harry Jackson's Claims Divisive and Untrue

Jackson's Claims Divisive and Untrue

July 1, 2007
by: Rev. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson
Sylvia Rhue, Ph.D.

Bishop Harry Jackson of the High Impact Leadership Coalition and pastor of Hope Christian Church in Maryland is leading the misguided attempt to scare Black ministers into backing his efforts to derail the much needed Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act also known as the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. In doing so he is distorting the facts about a law which would provide local law enforcement with addition tools to stem the tide of intentional acts of violence and murder.

Contrary to Bishop Jackson's assertions, this bill will not "muzzle clergy", and it is not "anti-Christian". This bill should be passed because it is fair, overdue and much needed. The House passed a version last May and the Senate should pass it as well.

Bishop Jackson's claims are based on bias that is divisive, destructive and untrue. Hate crimes laws punish violent acts, not beliefs or thoughts, not even violent thoughts. The proposed federal statute does not punish, nor prohibit in any way, free expression of one's religious beliefs.

Pastors will remain free to condemn, demean, defame and dehumanize their gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered congregants and neighbors as they feel called by their religious beliefs. This bill will not change the First Amendment and we would not support any law that undermined this precious freedom.

On the other hand, we work with clergy who respect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, and honor the many gifts they have brought to the Church, especially to the Black Church. We believe this is the American way—we value the separation of church and state. We also believe it is the authentic way of Christ.

We also suggest that Bishop Jackson take a course in basic human sexuality since so much of his resistance to equal rights for LGBT people lies in his stated assumption that homosexuality is a "choice", while being black is not. Sexual orientation is not a choice. It is a innate, God-gifted, morally neutral state of being.

We hope and pray that Bishop Jackson will focus some attention on Christ's message of inclusion as we did when we invited him to speak to our members during our recently held Black Church Summit at Mother Bethel AME Church in Philadelphia. From that experience alone the good Bishop should have known that we would never support a law that would silence him in his own pulpit.

Rev. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson
Sylvia Rhue, Ph.D.

The writers are respectively the Chair and Director of the National Black Justice Coalition's Religious Advisory Committee.

Where My Sistahs And Brothas At?

I tuned in to watch the Larry King Live show on transgender peeps earlier this evening on CNN hoping to see if the transgender community would pick up on a recurring omission they make when they put these shows together.

Sadly, they didn't.

So what is the glaring omission you ask? I have no complaint about the content of the show. It was tastefully done and informative as Larry King shows usually are. But there was one thing missing. As usual, there was NO African-American transperson as part of the panel.

Yeah, the white transgender community will point to the Latina that was part of tonight's panel and state quizzically, "What was wrong with it? There was a person of color on the panel."

No, my Caucasian sisters and brothers, there was a LATINA on the panel. There were three white people on that panel. There were three transwomen and a transman on that panel.

There were NO African-Americans on that panel.

The reason I'm griping about it is because once again, just as last night's HRC sponsored GLBT Democratic presidential candidate forum ignored the concerns of African-American, Latino/a's GLBT peeps and the transgender community, the white transgender community repeatedly and conveniently forgets us when these media opportunities arise.

News flash: There are intelligent African-American transpeople who can easily speak for ours and the entire transgender community and look fly while doing it. We need that face time, too. We need to have my people (and yours) see African-American transpeople in a setting other than a pageant stage, an adult website or a smoky GLBT club.

Once again in a nationally televised setting, I didn't see someone representing me or my community. The transkids that share my heritage didn't see someone on that stage tonight that represents them.

That's what I'm upset about

The Most Important Man in Black America

Tavis Smiley frequently says (and I agree with him on that point) that Dr. Martin Luther King is the greatest American we ever produced.

The most important man in contemporary Black history next to Carter G. Woodson or Dr. Martin Luther King I would argue is John H. Johnson.

John H. Johnson is the Arkansas born man from humble beginnings. His father died in a sawmill accident in 1926. His mother Gertrude saved her money in order to move herself and John to Chicago. Upon their arrival in Chcago in 1933 he was enrolled at all-Black DuSable High and was exposed for the first time to middle class African-Americans. Some of his DuBale classmates were Redd Foxx, Nat King Cole and entrepreneur William Abernathy. He studied hard during the day and devoured self-improvement books at night.

In 1942 he took a $500 loan against his mother's furniture and started Johnson Publishing Company. He launched Negro Digest which was the forerunner to Ebony. By June 1942 the circulation of his magazine was up to 50,000 copies and doubled to 100,000 copies in October 1943 when First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt penned one of his regular guest columns called "If I Were A Negro."

JPC (now run by his daughter Linda Johnson Rice) grew to become the largest black-owned publishing company in the world. The iconic Ebony magazine he founded in 1945 is the nation's number one African-American oriented magazine with a circulation of 1.7 million and a monthly readership of 11 million. Jet Magazine, the newsweekly magazine he founded in 1951 also became a staple in African-American homes. JPC not only publishes books, it produces the Ebony Fashion Fair traveling fashion show and owns Fashion Fair Cosmetics as well.

Ebony became the African-American version of Life magazine. Without the existence of Ebony, the words of an Atlanta born preacher by the name of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wouldn't have been exposed to millions of people. The early civil rights marches and events would have gone uncovered.

In the 80's a Chicago DJ by the name of Tom Joyner was hired to host the Ebony-Jet Showcase TV show. That exposure led to Tom Joyner's radio show becoming a syndicated property that's heard by 11 million people daily courtesy of Cathy Hughes' Radio One.

His wife Eunice Johnson started executive producing the Ebony Fashion Fair shows in 1963. The show is celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2008. The shows proved that not only do African-American women have a unique sense of style and flair, we look good strutting down runways wearing those couture outfits as well. Those traveling shows not only have raised $57 million for local charities, they jump started the acting careers of former Ebony Fashion Fair models Richard Roundtree, Judy Pace and Diahann Carroll.

Before Pat Cleveland became an internationally known supermodel, she strutted her stuff at Ebony Fashion Fair fashion shows during the 60's. Fashion Fair model alumni Janet Langhart Cohen, Sue Simmons and B. Smith used their time there as springboards to greater success in other fields. The Ebony Fashion Fair shows also give Black fashion designers such as Tracy Reese and others a chance to showcase their talents as well.

The best selling Fashion Fair cosmetics line is the largest cosmetics company that caters to women of color. Over time it eventually forced white-oriented makeup lines to broaden their products and make shades compatible with our skin tones.

So as you can see, the influence of John H. Johnson and his company have had far reaching ripple effects on not only our culture, but profound effects on our country over the last 60 plus years as well.

Nichelle Nichols

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

photos-Nichelle Nichols in 2004, as Lt Uhura, the EBONY magazine cover, Dr. Mae Jemison, Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan, the christening of the Space Shuttle Enterprise

Nichelle Nichols in addition to being a trailblazing actress has been an inspiration for people of my generation and subsequent ones to not only follow their dreams, but reach for the stars.

She was born in Robbins, IL as Grace Nichols on December 28, 1932, just outside Chicago. She toured the Unites States, Canada and Europe with the Lionel Hampton and Duke Ellington bands. She appeared in a Chicago production of Carmen Jones before she moved west and had her fateful meeting with Gene Roddenberry. Before casting her as Lt. Nyota Upenda Uhura on Star Trek, she'd worked as a guest actress on Roddenberry's first television series The Lieutenant.

As we Trekkies all know, it was Star Trek that made her a historical icon, launched her life into a new direction and sharpened her interest in space exploration.

But she almost quit the show. Frustrated during the first season over what she perceived as playing just a glorified telephone operator, she was ready to hang up the Starfleet uniform until she ran into Dr. Martin Luther King at a civil rights rally. Dr. King was a huge Star Trek fan and urged her not to quit. He pointed out to her that she was the first African-American actress who was on a network TV show playing a non-stereotypical role.

According to Nichols, he told her "Don't you know you have the first non-stereotypical role in television? For the first time the world will see us as we should be seen -- people of quality in the future. You created a role with dignity and beauty and grace and intelligence. You're not just a role model for our children, but for people who don't look like us to see us for the first time as equals."

She stayed and later made television history with the first interracial kiss on TV with costar William Shatner. She costarred in the six subsequent Star Trek movies and eventually her character was promoted to Commander.

Once Star Trek ended, she worked for NASA in the 70's and early 80's as part of a program to not only encourage African-American youth to consider math and science careers but recruit women and minority astronauts for NASA. She recruited Dr. Sally K. Ride, US Air Force Col. Guion Bluford (the first African-American in space), Dr. Judith Resnik and Dr. Ron McNair, who flew missions before both were killed in the 1986 Challenger disaster. The essay contest I won in 8th grade in which I earned a trip to NASA was part of that program.

And like other issues that Dr. King was prescient on, he was on target in terms of Nichols being a role model to African-American children and others. She was the inspiration for another Chicago girl who grew up to become the first African-American woman in space, Dr. Mae C. Jemison. She also inspired a New York City girl by the name of Caryn Elaine Johnson to shoot for an entertainment career after seeing her on Star Trek. Caryn Elaine Johnson would not only accomplish that goal, but would have a recurring role herself on Star Trek-The Next Generation as Guinan.

Nichols is considered part of the NASA family. She flew aboard NASA's C-141 Astronomy Observatory on its eight hour high altitude mission to analyze the atmospheres of Mars and Saturn. She was present along with her Star Trek castmates when the first space shuttle Enterprise was christened and was a guest of the Jet Propulsion Lab when Viking 1 soft landed on Mars on July 17, 1976. She has written two science-fiction novels about a tough black woman in space, Saturn's Child and its sequel, Saturna's Quest and is working on a third. She has since the mid 80's sat on the Board of Governors for the National Space Society.

So if you haven't had the pleasure of meeting her like I did back in the mid 70's, check out this multi-talented and passionate ambassador for space exploration.

Live long and prosper, Nichelle.

The Only 'F' I Ever Want

Back when I was in school the 'F' was something to avoid and be ashamed of. It was a source of negativity and a graphic representation of failure. I wanted to avoid seeing it on any report card I handed to my parents, any test that I took or any paper I wrote.

Since transition however, the 'F' has taken on a new connotation for me and other transwomen. It represents validation and official acceptance of our lives.

The gender marker code on our official documents is another war that we must fight just to validate our personhood. Back in 2000 I was determined to vote in that upcoming presidential election under my new name and have my voter registration reflect it. You don't know how happy I felt when I left the Harris County courthouse an hour later with a brand new voter registration card with my new name and an 'F' in the gender code box. I felt eight feet tall when I handed my new voter registration card to the precinct judge during early voting and affixed my signature to the line on the computer printout of registered voters that had Monica on it.

Gender codes reflecting our reality are vitally important to us. In a society in which we have to present identification every day for mundane things, it's a source of embarrassment, shame and anger when we are required to produce an ID that has a femme name on it but a big fat 'M' in the gender code box. A gender code that you know deep down is based on your genitalia's configuration at birth.

My old Texas driver's license had some gender memories attached to it. Back in 1978, when HISD was still offering driver's ed I took it in summer school, which was being hosted by Jones. For the road driving portion of it we were put in groups of four. I ended up in a car with three other women. One was my Thomas Jr. High homeroom classmate Rita Roy who now attended Lamar. The second sistah was a girl named Yvonne Sibley who attended Sterling and the third was a sista named Berlye Magee that went to Yates.

It was bad enough I was in a car with three gorgeous sistahs. I had a crush on Rita back in fifth grade and she'd become even more beautiful since we left Thomas. It was another aggravating reminder that I was on the wrong side of the gender fence.

The Real ID Act, passed in the wake of 9-11 is an aggravation for all transgender people. One of the other things I lobbied for back in May in addition to passage of hate crimes was the repeal of Title II of the Real ID Act. It makes it harder for us to change the gender marker on our identity documents. Those markers should reflect who we are in 2007, not what our genitalia was thirty to forty plus years ago.

The wrong gender marker also opens us up to discrimination. You don't have to be a MIT grad to figure out what's going on if a person standing in front of you in a female body hands you an ID with an 'M' in the gender marker portion of it.

If you think I'm exaggerating about this, check out this August 2 Dallas Voice story about transwoman Jodi Pleasant, who was denied entry into a Bossier City, LA casino because the gender marker didn't match her presentation.

We transpeeps are also having problems with the Social Security Administration. Your Social Security number is permanent and you aren't allowed to change it but you can change the name. What the SSA has been doing since 2002 is sending employer's letters if a SSN doesn't match with the name in the SSA database. That has the effect of outing transpeople to their employers. If those employers are transphobic, then that letter has the effect of potentially costing them their jobs.

Transpeople shouldn't have to jump through hoops to change gender codes on any identity documents. Neither should we be required to produce letters proving that we've had SRS. Not everyone will be able to have SRS for fiscal or medical reasons. For transmen their surgeries aren't even close to being satisfactory for them and they often forgo them. Simple proof that the person has been living in their new gender for an extended period of time should be enough to do that.

We need to strike a compromise that balances the needs of society to accurately ID a person and balance it with the desire of transpeople to have that ID accurately reflect their new reality.

Tyra Hunter Anniversary

Today is the twelfth anniversary of the death of transsistah Tyra Hunter.

The major differences in her death is that it didn't happen at the hands of a violent transphobe wielding a knife or gun. Her death was preventable. The disgusting part of it is that the transphobes in this case were a doctor and a Washington DC firefighter.

Tyra Hunter had been transitioned since she was 14 years old. On the morning of August 7, 1995 the popular 24 year old hairdresser was on her way to work as a passenger in a car. That vehicle ended up being involved in an accident at the corner of 50th and C streets in Southeast DC.

Tyra and the driver had been pulled from the smoking ruins of the vehicle by onlookers and were lying on the ground when fire department personnel arrived at the scene. The neighborhood began gathering to watch as a male firefighter began treating Tyra for her injuries. That is, until he cut open her pants leg and noted she had male genitalia.

At that point, according to eyewitnesses, the firefighter, later identified as Adrian Williams stood up and backed away from Tyra. She was semi-conscious, complaining about pain and gasping for breath as he was quoted as saying by one witness, "This bitch ain't no girl...It's a nigger, he got a dick."

Williams began joking with the other fire department personnel at the scene as the bystanders pleaded with them to resume working to save Tyra's life. One bystander is quoted as saying, "It don’t make any difference, he’s [sic] a person, he’s a human being."

The firefighters on the scene didn't share that assessment. They were more concerned with honing their comedic skills than doing their duty. Another witness at the scene heard one of the firefighters say, "look, it's got a cock and balls." While the firefighters stood around doing their not ready for prime time act, Tyra's treatment was discontinued for 5 to 7 critical minutes while bystanders pleaded for them to resume treatment. Finally an EMS supervisor arrived and resumed treating Tyra. She was rushed to DC General Hospital where she arrived at 4:10 PM.

But the nightmare was just beginning for Tyra. The DC General Hospital ER staff compounded the insulting neglect of the fire fighters. A doctor refused to treat her and she died of blunt force trauma at 5:20 PM in the now closed hospital's emergency room.

The case alarmed and enraged not only African-American transpeople nationally, but the entire transgender and local African-American community. Over 2,000 people attended her August 12 funeral.

Tyra's mother Margie Hunter, who ironically works as a nurse, filed a $10 million civil lawsuit in February 1996 in DC Superior Court against the District of Columbia, the firefighter and a DC General Hospital physician. The allegations contained in the suit alleged that the D.C. Fire Department personnel called to the scene of a car accident involving Tyra made derogatory comments about Tyra's personal appearance and withdrew emergency medical treatment. Mrs. Hunter also charged that Tyra died as a result of medical negligence while, or after being treated at D.C. General Hospital.

On December 11, 1998 a jury awarded Margie Hunter $2.9 million in damages. The jury determined that DC Fire Department employees violated the 1977 DC Human Rights Law, and that Tyra Hunter's death was caused by medical malpractice at DC General. Experts testified during the trial that had Tyra received proper medical care at either stage of treatment, she had an 86% chance of surviving the accident.

The city further angered DC transgender residents by immediately appealing the decision. The case was later settled for $1.75 million. DC transpeople were further enraged when they discovered that not only were none of the firefighters at the scene disciplined, but Adrian Williams had subsequently received a promotion.

In Washington DC the Tyra Hunter Drop-In Center is named for her and the sensitivity training that DC fire department personnel attend is named in her honor as well.

We must never forget what happened to Tyra on this day. We must also diligently work to ensure that what she suffered at the hands of emergency personnel is not replicated in our locales. The message must be made crystal clear to our first responders that when they swear to serve and protect, that means ALL citizens.

Sick of Hearing the Term "Race Card'

Did you get your race card?
Hell no, I didn't get my race card
Did you get your race card?
Hell no, I didn’t get my race card!
Everything ain't black and white.
Did you get your race card?
Homeboy, when you get your race card
Did you get your race card?
White boy, what is a race card?

Indeed, what the hell is a 'race card'? It's a right-wing creation for starters that I absolutely despise.

I'm sick of people, usually of European extraction throwing out that conservaline 'you're just playing the race card' any time a serious discussion is taking place that gets to the root cause of negative race relations in the United States.

The color line.

It wouldn't be necessary to 'play the race card' as you peeps so derisively put it if you Euro-descended Americans ancestors hadn't set up a system that demonizes non- whites, maximizes benefits to your ethnic group, stacks the deck to maintain that advantage, marks the biggest face cards in the American cultural card deck for themselves and passes them on to their children.

As far as racial face cards go the 'white card' trumps all. I'm tired of having my ancestors 200 plus years of pain and suffering during slavery and our very real experiences with 100 years of Jim Crow racism dismissed, trivialized and disrespectfully compared to a card game.

There are two Americas, a white one and a Black one which are separate, unequal and more hostile to each other thanks to GOP misrule. One of the reasons it's hard for us to talk to each other on many subjects is because we don't see things the same way.

And if we can't at least come to a decision on mutually agreed ground rules for the conversation, the end result is that it devolves into a disorganized mess once the words 'race card' are injected into the discussion.

Using the words 'race card' is for the intellectually lazy. If you can't make your arguments without using reason and logic to buttress your viewpoint, then don't get into a discussion that's turbocharged with race to begin with.

Sooner or later this country is going to have to come to terms with what your ancestors did to mine. Until we get that apology for slavery by whoever's occupying the White House, we African-Americans are going to continue to have bitter feelings toward whites in this country. It makes slavery for us impossible to 'get over'. Until whites come clean on what happened, you're going to be defensive about the subject of race.

In the end, to solve the vexing problem of race relations in the US, we're going to have to deal with it like we've dealt with other problems in this country. We've got to tackle it head on. Both sides need to honestly verbalize their feelings instead of tap dancing around the subject. Only then will we come up with solutions that everybody can be happy with.

And if y'all stop using that BS 'race card' line, it would make me and other African-Americans extremely happy.

When You Say POC, Y'all Ignore Me

photos-Lorrainne Sade Baskerville, the late Alexander John Goodrum


I got another reminder of why I'm starting to loathe the term POC (person of color) a few days ago. When POC gets used, the folks who are intending to be inclusive inadvertantly (or deliberately) forget the African-American part of that supposed inclusive term.

I was on a transgender activist list a few days ago when the fallout over the Advocate's lack of transgender nominees for their 40 Heroes of the GLBT Movement poll blew up. A few peeps immediately started putting together a short list of transgender heroes that met the Advocate's criteria.

Only one problem. There was not one African-American transperson on it. It took the 2006 winner of the IFGE Trinity Award to point out that glaring omission.

I'm getting more than a little fed up about the whitewashing, either unintentional or deliberate, of the African-American contribution to the transgender community's history. It's gotten so bad in the white transgender community that when I posted the initial names list of African-American transpeople I came up with it was greeted with "who are they?"

You mean, you don't know who Alexander John Goodrum, Lorrainne Sade Baskerville, or Kylar Broadus are?

You don't know (or don't wanna know) who my peeps are and their contributions to our history, but expect me to know and revere yours as heroes. Excuse me?

There haven't been as many African-Americans involved in the transgender rights fight as I would like, but the ones who have stepped out there have become major players. We've been involved in every major event and GLBT organization since the Stonewall Rebellion and our contributions need to be acknowledged and celebrated just like everyone elses. We are more than just martrys for transgender hate-crime violence or afterthoughts. We are in many cases the frontline troops or the peeps coming up with the out of the box strategies to advance the cause that you resist.

It was Dawn Wilson who stood tall for the entire community against bigotry in Louisville when the Forces of Intolerance came after our comprehensive GLBT rights Fairness law in December 2004. She uttered the definitive quote that was soundbited on the local news for the next several days.

"Bigotry cloaked in religion is bigotry none the less, and should never be allowed to stand."

Miss Major was at Stonewall (and the Attica Prison riot in 1971.) African-American transpeople helped found GenderPac and NTAC. In some cases we have been creators and innovators, as in the drag balls in Chicago and Harlem for example that have morphed into the ballroom community.

So if you're wondering why you've heard increasing calls from some African-Amerocan transgender people to put more emphasis on forming and supporting our own community, this is just one example of why we're increasingly working to make that happen.

Stealth vs. Out

photos-Halle Berry and Lonette McKee from the miniseries Queen, Ellen Craft, the ladies of the MBU pageant system, Iman

Besides telling family and friends that you are beginning the process of gender transition, the next biggest decision in a transperson's life is whether to do is openly or as we call it in the transgender community 'stealth mode'.

Basically stealth mode is a 21st century twist on what our ancestors used to do back in the bad old days of slavery and Jim Crow racism: Passing.

There are some African-American peeps who back in the day took advantage of their vanilla creme complexions and 'good hair' and basically faded into white society for various reasons. For example, some of Sally Hemings' children that she bore for Thomas Jefferson did so.

There's the fascinating story of Ellen Craft, the daughter of a white slave master and his slave mistress who executed a daring escape from bondage by passing for white. She and her husband, who posed as her slave, traveled for four days by train, boat and carriage from Macon, GA to Philadelphia. During one part of the journey Ellen even passed as a white man. There are other cases of Black people passing for white for employment or other reasons as late as the 50's and 60's.

From the early days of gender transition to about the mid-80's people were advised by the HBIGDA/WPATH orthodoxy at the time to blend into society and never let anyone know your transgender status. But by the time the 90's rolled around that paradigm was giving way to the 'out and proud' model of the gay and lesbian community.

By the time I transitioned in the mid 1990s transwomen had a choice. If they possessed naturally feminine features that didn't require extensive surgery, some went the stealth route while others of us went down the out and proud path.

For African-American transwomen, who tend to transition earlier and avoid the ravages of extended testosterone exposure on our bodies, our experiences are different from our white counterparts.

Because we transition earlier, the estrogen we take has less testosterone to fight and helps feminize us to the point where we are almost indistinguishable from our genetic sisters. Even if that African-American transwoman is tall like I am, the fact that we have many biosisters that are 5'10" or taller with various body builds helps us blend into society more effortlessly. I can't tell you how many times over the years I've been asked if I was a fashion model or a WNBA ballplayer.

The fact that we don't have at present a large organized community like our white counterparts and face more negativity if we openly transition, we gravitate more toward the stealth path.

But in the fifty plus years since Christine Jorgensen's very public transition, we African-American transpeople have come to painfully realize that having a history to pass down and role models are important elements of the process as well. Our images have been negatively distorted by too many transwomen taking the escort and female illusionist path in the mistaken belief it's the only way they can make money as a transperson. We have African American transwomen succeeding in various fields such as IT, teaching, modeling and various other fields just to name a few that I'm aware of. The problem is that because these people are stealth transwomen the WORLD, our people and our fellow transpeeps don't kmow that.

It's one major reason why one of the things we are doing in terms of taking our image back is having more of us boldly proclaim that we are not only proud African-Americans but transgender as well. You will see more of us organizing and getting involved in fighting for transgender issues as well.

The Stealth vs. Out debate can evoke intense and passionate emotions on both sides when transpeeps discuss it. I was reminded of that thanks to a discussion thread we've had going in Transistahs-Transbrothas since Thursday about the issue.

Both paths have their pros and cons. If you go stealth, the benefits are that you blend in with society. Stealth transpeople are in positions to hear what people really think about transpeople that they won't say in front of us. Those who continue to stay in contact with the transgender community are then able to pass that information back to the out activists. They can also do education on the inside as well. The cons are isolation from your fellow transpeeps and the necessity of constant vigilance to ensure your transsecret doesn't get out.

Out peeps don't have that problem. The people they interact with may or may not know and they don't worry about it. We out transwomen concentrate on living our lives. One of the cons of out status is that it does open you up to more discrimination, drama and the possibility of being targeted for a hate crime.

The stealth vs. out debate will continue to be an ongoing discussion in the transgender community into the forseeable future, even with the Internet and the erosion of the right to privary as factors.

The most important point to make concerning the issue is this: We're all on the same team with the same goals. We have the ongoing mission of getting African-American peeps to embrace their transgender brothers and sisters, 'ejumacating' them along the way, and getting them to recognize that helping transpeeps get full citizenship rights helps expand civil rights coverage for all of us.

755!

Barry Bonds has finally tied Hank Aaron's home run record.

In the second inning of the Giants 12-inning 3-2 loss to the San Diego Padres, Bonds smacked a Clay Hensley fastball into the left field stands and off an advertising sign at Petco Park for a no doubt about it opposite field home run. He'll sit out today's game in San Diego so that Bonds can break the record in San Francisco. The Giants will have a seven game homestand at AT&T Park starting Monday versus the Washington Nationals and Pittsburgh Pirates.

How you feel about about this milestone achievement depends on your ethnicity and I've commented on it in a previous post.

MLB commissioner Bud Selig released this statement concerning the milestone homer.

"Congratulations to Barry Bonds as he ties Major League Baseball's home run record. No matter what anybody thinks of the controversy surrounding this event, Mr. Bonds' achievement is noteworthy and remarkable.

"As I said previously, out of respect for the tradition of the game, the magnitude of the record and the fact that all citizens in this country are innocent until proven guilty, either I or a representative of my office will attend the next few games and make every attempt to observe the breaking of the all-time home run record."

Too bad Hank Aaron and Barry's critics aren't giving him that presumption of innocent until proven guilty.

Fracked Up

An MKR Poem



photo-actress Kandyse McClure as Battlestar Galactica's Lt. Anastasia Dualla-Adama














Fracked up
Jacked up
Makes me wanna act up
To keep me from blowing up

'Bout how you hate me
Berate me
Constantly denigrate me
My African-American family

There's other transpeeps like me
Out and proud as can be
From sea to shining sea
Sharing your DNA history

Praying to be free
To match mind and body
With our gender identity
That's our reality

Want to live our lives
Without the shuck and jive
Not struggle to survive
Ready and eager to thrive

Sick of your jealousy
Your faith-based hypocrisy
Taking out your anger on me
About our jacked up society

Just because I changed gender
Doesn't make me a pretender
I'm a phenomenal contender
My Blackness I refuse to surrender

Don't care if you think
It's fracked up
Jacked up
Or I just need to shut up

Because you think I should be
In my birth body
Deny my true identity
To make your insecure azz happy

Keep chomping on the Hater Tots
Ashamed of being transgender I'm not
No more tears, anguish and strife
Cause I'm honestly living a life

That's not fracked up

Miz Bones Makes No Bones About Her Schtick

By Betty Baye
Louisville Courier-Journal
August 2, 2007

Just when I thought the insulting of black women couldn't get any worse (think Don Imus, think Eddie Murphy), a recent issue of The Louisville Eccentric Observer brought news of Shirley Q. Liquor. The headlines said, "The Most Dangerous Comedian in America. Why in the world is a gay white man putting on blackface and performing as a boozing welfare mother who drives a Cadillac?"

Why indeed?

Shirley Q. is poor. She drinks malt liquor (hence her last name), has 19 "chirrun" with colorful names and talks "ignunt" about most anything that pops into her head.

Shirley Q. is the black-faced (yes, a minstrel) creation of a white, gay man named Chuck Knipp, who seems to leave no stereotype behind.

David Holthouse's Rolling Stone article, reprinted in LEO, said that Knipp "has emerged from the dive bars and semi-underground gay clubs in the South, and he has rapidly developed a second-tier celebrity cachet." Wealthy whites book Knipp for private parties, prompting him to tell LEO, "I can see that my being there as Shirley makes them feel it's acceptable to openly mock black people in a way they otherwise would not, and that does cause me to have second thoughts. If what I'm doing is truly hurtful, then I need to stop."

But he won't. His minstrel act pays, so Knipp soldiers on as Shirley Q., despite the protestors who dog his appearances.

Knipp has offered various rationalizations for his monstrous Mammy creation. He's compared himself to Dave Chappelle making fun of white people and to Eddie Murphy's Rasputia, the fat, black, over-sexed character in the movie "Norbit."

Knipp also has insisted Shirley Q. is a response to a higher calling. "I think God's plan for me is to get right in the middle of all the tension (between whites and blacks) and just make them laugh."

In response to my e-mail, he offered a different explanation, but he wanted me to know, too, that "most African Americans who have seen my show laugh heartily; they see Shirley Q. Liquor as a representative of the dirty laundry and 'down home ignunce' that embarrasses so many people of color."

He added that most African Americans have taken up Dr. King's challenges to excel "as individuals of excellence and character," but others have chosen "to revel in perpetual victimhood … and rather than deal with their own cultural choices, i.e., hip hop, neckboning and clowning, some in the Black community still find it easier to play the underfunded card to justify the more embarrassing aspects of black culture."

Knipp believes he's performing a public service. But for which part of the public? The Klan?

And to think, many of the same people who have contempt for fat, poor, black women have equal distain for fat, white, gay drag queens.

But everybody needs somebody to look down on, I guess.

Monica Roberts, a member of the Louisville Fairness Campaign's advisory committee, appealed to the owners of a local establishment that caters to gays to reconsider an invitation for Knipp to perform.


Roberts, an African American, described Knipp's act as a minstrel show using "blackface images" that, even in the 21st Century, "carry much pain, anger and historical baggage." Not only that: Inviting Knipp to perform in our city gives cause, according to Roberts, "for African-American GLBT people in Louisville to seriously question our place in this community if our concerns, as your supposed allies, are going to be cavalierly brushed aside."

Carla Wallace, also of the Fairness Campaign, often has made the point that there are "interconnections between racism, sexism and homophobia."

What these sustained hateful assaults on poor, black women in music, film, "comedy acts," and sometimes even on the floor of Congress, suggest is that the women's lib movement has left many poor, black women behind. Otherwise we should hear a greater outcry.

It seems that Knipp's southern upbringing has trumped any extra compassion or sensitivity one might have expected, or at least hoped for, from someone who surely knows how badly stereotypes can wound, or even provoke some people to violence. But what goes around comes around, and maybe one day the joke will be on Knipp.


Betty Winston Baye is a Courier-Journal editorial writer and columnist. Her column appears Thursdays. Her email address is bbaye@courier-journal.com

2007 Black Weblog Awards Nominations Are Open

The nominations are now open for the 2007 Black Weblog Awards. I believe and I'm told that this is a quality blog and I've put a lot of time and effort into making TransGriot entertaining as well as informative.

Awards give those comments credibility. But since I can't submit my own blog for consideration, that task falls to you dear TransGriot reader. (Hint, hint)

From now until August 15 you'll have the opportunity to nominate TransGriot for awards covering several categories. This year there will be TWO winners per category. The winners will be announced September 5.

Black Weblog Awards Categories I believe TransGriot fits in.

3. Best Blog Post or Blog Post Series
This category is for a single post in a blog or a series of posts in a blog about a particular topic. Posts can be fiction or non-fiction, but post series must be linked by a common and identifiable theme with the ability to skip forward or backwards through the series (for judging purposes).

The May Genetic Women and Transwomen post series fits that category.

6. Best Culture Blog
This category is for blogs which talk about Black culture in a multifaceted and dynamic way.

15. Best LGBT Blog
This category is for blogs that relate to or are about the LGBT community. No pornography, please (for judging purposes).

18. Best Niche Blog
This category is for blogs of topics not included in the present Black Weblog Awards categories. (Hey, we can’t catch ‘em all!)

19. Best Personal Blog
This category is for blogs which feature the opinions of the author. Blogs do not have to adhere to a specific theme.

22. Best Political/News Blog
This category is for blogs which are about politics or current newsworthy topics.


27. Best Writing in a Blog
This category is for blogs which have exceptional writing. This category is judged not on a single post basis, but on the overall posts of the blog.

28. Black Blogger Achievement Award
This category is for bloggers that have been blogging visibly since January 1, 2003. This award can only be won once (sorry George and Lynne…we still love ya).

29. Blog of the Year
This category is pretty self-explanatory; the blog of the year has it all: great writing, frequent posts, active comments, and a strong reader base.

30. Blog to Watch
This category highlights the best “undiscovered” blog in the blogosphere; keep your eye on this one! This is for that great blog that not everyone knows about…but should!

The Black Weblog Awards have been around since 2005. It's rapidly becoming a coveted prize for those of us in the African-American blogosphere. I'd love to have TransGriot considered for one (or more) of those awards this year since I didn't find out about them in time last year to get TransGriot nominated.

So may the best blog and blogger win.

August 2007 TransGriot Column

Universal Health Care-What’s In It For The GLBT Community?
Copyright 2007, THE LETTER

While only 7 months into his administration, President Harry S Truman proposed implementing universal health care. The ideas Truman set forth in a November 19, 1945 speech came to Congress in the form of a Social Security expansion bill. It was co-sponsored by Senators Robert Wagner (D-NY) and James Murray (D-MT) along with Representative John Dingell (D-MI) and became known as the W-M-D bill.

Predictably, the American Medical Association launched an energetic attack against the W-M-D bill that capitalized on American fears of Communism by calling it "socialized medicine". In a foreshadowing of 50’s McCarthy-era rhetoric, critics labeled Truman White House staffers ‘followers of the Moscow party line.’
President Truman gamely continued efforts to implement the W-M-D bill until the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 forced him to abandon them.

In the latest attempt to implement Universal Health Care, Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) has introduced HR 676, which would create a single payer health care system in the US. It would cover all necessary medical care for US citizens and include prescription drugs, primary and preventative care, emergency services, dental and vision care, chiropractic and long term care, mental health, home health care, hospital, surgical, outpatient services, physical therapy, substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation.

HR 676 would also end deductibles and co-payments and economists predict that 95% of Americans would see a reduction in their health care costs

HR 676 is currently in committee and has 75 cosponsors. (Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) is one of them). The Louisville Metro Council, Boyle County, the city of Morehead, KY and the KY House of Representatives have passed resolutions along with other municipalities across the US supporting the bill. HR 676 also has support from labor and other organizations such as the Jefferson County (KY) Teachers Assn., the American Library Association, the (national) NAACP, and the National Education Association.

It even has some corporate support. US based corporations are tired of competing with a handicap in the global marketplace. It’s one of the factors affecting the survival of US automakers. For example, if you buy a GM auto, $1200 of the price you pay for the vehicle is to cover the cost of the worker’s health insurance that built it. Toyota doesn’t have to factor health care costs into their auto pricing.

So what’s in it for transgender peeps and the GLBT community? My initial reading of the bill leads me to logically conclude that the medication and other care we require should be covered. AIDS medication would be available and acquired at much lower costs. Because GID is a medical condition listed in the DSM-IV, a transperson could get their hormones, medical exams, counseling, surgery and checkups covered at reasonable rates as is done in Canada, Great Britain and several other countries with universal health care plans. The Reichers and health care companies will fight tooth and nail to ensure that we aren’t.

We GLBT peeps are inevitably gonna get older. Wouldn’t it be nice to pay a flat fee for the medications and care that you require instead of the grossly inflated prices we pay now? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to HAVE medical coverage that’s not tied to whether or not you’re employed? The 46 million people that are currently uninsured definitely think so.

If you want more information, check out www.PNHP.org the website of the Physicians for a National Health Program, www.kyhealthcare.org or call (502) 899-3861 or (502)636-1551.

It's not gonna be easy. You will see obscene amounts of money spent, negativity and disinformation spread about Universal Health Care that makes what the GOP, the health insurance and pharmaceutical companies did to kill the Clinton plan in 1993 seem like a church picnic by comparison.

But it will probably happen in the next five years. Universal health care is not only a human rights issue, but also one with broad-based support that the GLBT community should get behind. It’s a bridge-building opportunity that gives us a chance to work with labor, business, government and other interested parties. We need to get off our behinds, educate ourselves about universal health care and fight for our issues in the implementation of it.