USA Women Ballers Are Beijing Bound

When the Olympics kick off in Beijing next summer, the three time defending Olympic champion US women ballers will be marching into the stadium.

Team USA completed their business trip in Valdivia, Chile by beating down the Cubans 101-71 in the finals of the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship for Women to take the gold medal. More importanly they clinched the FIBA Americas Zone automatic Olympic berth.

The number one team in FIBA's world basketball rankings started their run to the title on September 26 in shaky fashion. In their Group B opener the Cubans actually led our girls 34-33 at halftime and were up 58-55 at the end of the third quarter thanks to center Yakelyn Plutin-Pizon's game-high 23 points.

With the Chilean crowd at Antonio Azuermendy Arena loudly cheering for the Cubans the entire game, Sue Bird led the final Team USA charge to victory over Fidel's Belles with five minutes left in the game. She dished out 9 assists to fuel the three point shooting barrage from Tina Thompson, Katie Smith and Diana Taurasi to cap a 30 point fourth quarter surge that helped them escape with an 85-79 win.

Candace Parker led Team USA with 21 points, Diana Taurasi chipped in 16 on 4 for 7 three point shooting, Tina Thompson (my girl) and Katie Smith both finished the game with 13 points.

Team USA showed no love to the Jamaicans during their September 27 Group B game. Seimone Augustus was one of five Team USA players in double figures as she led all scorers with 19 points in the 115-47 victory. Tina Thompson scored 18 points, Diana Taurasi chipped in 12 with Sue Bird and Kara Lawson scoring 11 each. Every Team USA player scored as Coach Anne Donovan rested the starters. Ms. Deux's favorite player Cappie Poindexter got significant minutes in this one. She contributed 6 points in her 20 minutes of action as Team USA moved to 2-0 in Group B preliminary round play.

On September 28 it was No Canada as Team USA sprinted off to a 38-18 first quarter lead, held our neighbors to only six points in the second quarter and took a 59-24 halftime lead. The commanding 85-37 win secured their spot in the semifinal round as they finished Group B play with a 3-0 record.

11 of the 12 Team USA players contributed buckets as everybody got playing time. Tina Thompson led all scorers with 14 points with Delisha Milton-Jones and Candace Parker chipping in 12 apiece.

In the Semifinal round on September 29 Team USA took on Argentina, who finished second in Group A behind the Brazilians. The Argentinians were probably saying 'no mas' on their way to the locker room as Team USA's stifling defense and torrid shooting propelled them to a 58-15 halftime lead.

This time it was Rebekkah Brunson doing the damage as she took only 18 minutes to score 20 points on 7 of 9 shooting and grab 6 rebounds. Cappie Poindexter chipped in 5 points along with the 3 steals and 7 assists she dished out as all Team USA players scored for the second time in this tournament. Candace Parker, Seimone Augustus and Katie Smith were also in double figures with 17, 15 and 11 points. Delisha Milton-Jones chipped in 6 assists to go with her 8 points and 5 rebounds in her 17 minutes of work as the 104-53 spanking vaulted them into the championship game.


In the final that was played today, one of Team USA's missions in addition to winning the game was shutting down eventual tournament MVP Yakelyn Plutin-Pizon. She lit up the Brazilians for 28 points enroute to the Cubans 69-67 semifinal win that propelled them into the FIBA Americas Tournament for Women Gold medal game and a rematch with Team USA.

Team USA made sure there wasn't going to be a repeat of their opening round nail biter. They held Plutin-Pizon to 11 points on 4 for 11 shooting as they raced to a 29-13 lead at the end of the first quarter and expanded it to a 49-30 margin at the break. Tina Thompson led all scorers with 18 points and grabbed six rebounds. Diana Taurasi had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Kara Lawson was 4 for 7 from three point range as she finished with 14 points. Candace Parker contributed 12 points and Katie Smith scored 15 in the Gold medal game.

In the bronze medal game the Brazilians shook off a slow start and cruised to a 71-41 win over Argentina. Team Canada finshed fifth by beating the host Chileans 86-68.

Team USA's future is so bright we'll need shades. Candace Parker, Seimone Augustus, Diana Taurasi, Rebekkah Brunson and Cappie Poindexter made significant contributions along with the vets.

Team USA also looks forward to the return of center Lisa Leslie, who's still getting in playing shape after missing the 2007 WNBA season to have a baby. While our players stay sharp (and hopefully injury free) during the 2008 WNBA season, the silver medallist Cubans, the Brazilians and the Argentinians get one final chance to qualify for Beijing next summer at the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Looking forward to next summer's Olympic Games basketball tournaments already.

I Am She

An MKR poem

I am she
Was never he
May not agree
But here I be

Whoopee
I'm a divorcee
From masculinity
I'm so happy

Femininity
Is my cup of tea
But society
Questions my sanity

Fortunately
I'm not a devotee
Of your whacked ideology
And let my femme spirit free

Take a look and see
The curvy femme body
Matching the femme personality
Residing in me

Born a he
Theoretically
Ain't easy being T
But I love myself unconditonally

I am she
Was never he
I say it with glee
For eternity

The New Barney Theme Song

(Sung to the tune of the Theme From Barney)
Dedicated to the transphobic congressman from Massachusetts

I love you, you love me
But I don't if you are T
With a wink and a nudge to my friends at HRC
Took transpeeps out of ENDA, yes sirree.

Wait Your Turn?

Frankly, I have never yet engaged in a direct action movement that was 'well-timed' according to the timetable of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation.

For years now I have heard the words "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant "Never".

Rev Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
'Letter From Birmingham City Jail', April 16, 1963.

Ever since I begun fighting in 1998 in conjunction with other transgender people around the country to expand the work of Dr. King, I have heard a late 20th-early 21st century variation of that paragraph uttered from the lips of numerous gay and lesbian people when it comes to transgender civil rights.

Wait your turn.

Wait my turn? Wait my turn for what?

Did you gay and lesbian people 'wait you turn' when you pushed for inclusion in civil rights legislation in the 70's?

Did you gay and lesbian people 'wait your turn' when you demanded that funding for HIV/AIDS research and finding a cure for it get higher priority in the 80's?

Did you 'wait your turn' when you demanded that your rights be acknowledged and respected in the 90's?

Did you gay and lesbian people 'wait your turn' in 2003 when you disastrously pushed for marriage equality one year before a critical presidential election?


How dare you part your lips to even say that to us. We transgender people are the ones who had the cojones to stand up to police harassment in San Francisco in 1966 and during the Stonewall Rebellion in 1969 while you gay and lesbian peeps were cowering in your closets. It is transgender blood that is being shed and transgender peeps who are discriminated against, denigrated, and disrespected by our foes and even by you, our so-called allies.

You have repeatedly cut us out of civil rights legislation on every level of government with the soothing words of 'we'll come back for you'. That has been proven over the years to be an odious lie as we wait for you in many jurisdictions across the United States to fulfill your broken promises.

Yesterday, led by your point gay Rep. Barney Frank, you once again cut us out of a bill that frankly, we need more than you do. You uttered the lie that 'we'll come back for you' and help you pass the 'GENDA bill' while pulling HR 2015 that was inclusive and replacing it with a gay and lesbian only one in addition to GENDA.

We transpeople know that you will bury that GENDA bill in a subcommittee, never call hearings on it and let it die a painful death while you selfishly fast-track your gay and lesbian only ENDA bill to the House floor for passage.

The sad part is that President Bush isn't going to sign it, so why start a civil war in the GLB community over this issue?

If there's anything that the misguided pastors of the Hi Impact Leadership Coalition have been proven right on is that your GLB civil rights movement is not like ours. Your GLB movement is selfish, morally bankrupt, exclusive and has been so since 1971, while the Civil Rights Movement led by Dr. King was a morally strong and inclusive one. You have more in common with the Dixiecrats than with civil rights warriors such as Rep. John Lewis (D-GA).

You say the country is not ready for transgender inclusion in civil rights law. Just today Oprah Winfrey did a show on transgender people and is doing another one on October 12. Transgender people are getting more positive coverage every day. Surveys prove over and over again that the public is more enlightened on the transgender issue than the Barney Franks of the GLB movement who are still drinking the hate-on-transpeople Kool-aid of Janice Raymond and Jim Fouratt.

As a transperson who also happens to be a proud African-American, the 'wait your turn' to me and transpeople who share my ethnic heritage sounds eerily similar to what Supreme Court Justice Roger B. Taney wrote in the Dred Scott Decision majority opinion 150 years ago: That I have no rights that you are bound to respect.

Wait your turn.

Rep. Frank and all you gay and lesbian conservaqueers who share his myopic self-centered views, how long must I and other transgender people wait for their constitutional rights in your infinite wisdom? It's sickening that transpeople in other countries around the world such as Spain and Great Britain are gaining and have more rights that those of us who live in the so-called cradle of democracy.

Will little six year old Jazz, the transkid profiled in Barbara Walters 20/20 story on transgender people have to wait until she's 21 to get constitutional protection?

How about Rochelle Evans in Fort Worth? Will she have to wait until she's 45 to get a law that protects her civil rights?

How long will transgender prom queen Crystal Vera have to wait? How long will Jake, the 16 year old transman profiled on today's Oprah show have to wait?

Rep. Frank and Speaker Pelosi, do you have the balls to tell the parents of these transkids that they must 'wait their turn' for their constitutional rights?

How long will transpeople who've been fighting this pitched battle with you for a decade over ENDA and simple inclusion in the GLB community since the 1970's have to wait? Can you walk into a TAVA meeting and tell our transgender veterans who honorably served our country, fought to protect, extend and defend people's civil rights and freedoms abroad that they have to 'wait their turn' to have the same freedoms extended to them at home?

Can you look all the parents and family members of deceased transpeople such as Rita Hester, Tyra Hunter, Gwen Araujo, Brandon Teena, Deborah Forte, and hundreds of others in the eye and tell them that transpeople have to 'wait their turn 'to have their civil rights codified into law?

So if you couldn't 'wait your turn', then why would you dare ask us, the shock troops of the GLBT movement to do something that you yourselves are unwilling to acquiesce to?

Fight The Power

TransGriot Note: Whenever I get in a militant mood (which this ENDA bullcrap has me in right now), I pull out my Isley Brothers CD along with Public Enemy's 'Can't Truss It', Cameo's 'Talking out the Side of Your Neck' and other political themed songs. I've been playing this one most of the day.


Time is truly wastin'
There's no guarantee
Smile is in the makin'
You gotta fight the powers that be
Got so many forces
Stayin' on the scene
Givin' up all around me
Faces full a' pain

I try to play my music
They say my music's too loud
I tried talkin' about it
I got the big run around
And when I rolled with the punches
I got knocked on the ground
By all this bullshit going down

Time is truly wastin'
There's no guarantee, yeah
Smile's in the makin'
We gotta fight the powers that be
I don't understand it
People wanna see, yeah
Those that got the answers
Red tape in the way
I could take to it easy
That's just half the fun, naw naw
Seeking my satisfaction
Keeps me on the run

I try to play my music
They say my music's too loud
I tried talkin' about it
I got the big run around
And when I rolled with the punches
I got knocked on the ground
By all this bullshit going down

Time is truly wastin'
There's no guarantee, yeah yeah
Smile is in the makin'
We gotta fight the powers that be
Fight it baby, yeah

Ooh, yeah, If you do it I can - fight the power
C'mon, Fight it, fight the power
Fight it, fight the yeah baby, yeah baby
Fight it, c'mon, fight the power
Fight it, fight it, fight the power
Fight, fight, fight the power
Stand up and fight it, fight the power
Stand up, Stand up Fight the power
Fight, fight, fight

fight fight the fight power
I believe, I believe flight the power

I'm Not Surprised: GLB Version

One of the things that I've been worried about since my DC lobby trip was a scenario in which they kept transpeople in hate crimes and let it pass, but transpeople got stripped out of the more critically important HR 2015, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

Well, that scenario just happened. HR 2015 as of this morning is no longer being moved. It was replaced with two separate ENDA bills filed Thursday by the transgender community's old nemesis, the Purple Dinosaur AKA Rep Barney Frank (D-MA).
One bill is gay and lesbian only, the other has the 'gender identity' language.

The resident transphobe on Capitol Hill has PERMANENTLY earned the wrath and vitriol he's gonna get from transpeople.

Barney has been the point gay on keeping us out of ENDA. He has basically provided the religious right with their talking points over the last decade to use against transpeople by bringing up the shower issue and calling Riki Wilchins 'Read My Lips' book a transgender handbook. (which is laughable)

Of course the 'sell the trannies out' gay and lesbian voices are in full throat with their 'wait your turn' spin. What they won't tell you is that we've done canvass after canvass of congresscritters over the last decade that indicate that transgender inclusion won't sink ENDA.

And they know that as well. The Mattachine wing of the gay rights movement has reared its ugly trans-hating head.

I think we need to make a serious push toward getting transpersons elected to Congress. In the interim, somebody needs to run against Barney Frank in the primary next year to send him (and any other transphobic legislator) a personal message that we've had it with being cut out of civil rights bills.

Political Good News-Bad News

Today is a day of mixed emotions for me. This morning the Senate passed by a 60-39 margin (John McCain R-AZ abstained) Sen. Ted Kennedy's (D-MA) Hate Crimes amendment to HR 1585 that covers transgender people like myself.

You'll recall the trip I made to DC last May in order to lobby in favor of HR 1592 (the Hate Crimes Bill) and HR 2015, the Employment Non Discrimination Act or ENDA. And that's a nice segue into the bad news part of this post.

During the night a Washington Blade story broke the news that there may be a move underway to cut transgender people out of HR 2015. That news has incensed myself and other transgender activists who have seen this scenario replayed over and over during the last decade.

Some gay and lesbian activists make the claim that GLBT civil rights legislation such as ENDA won't pass with transpeople in it. They cut us out of it, claim they'll come back and help us pass a transgender-only bill after they get 'their' rights and then leave us hanging out to dry.

Not this time. We're beyond sick and tired of this crap. We're the ones dying, we're the ones being discriminated against and we're being arrogantly told by some elements of the gay and lesbian community that 'it's not your turn' to get rights?

What kind of Bush Bizarro World logic is that? Without the 'gender identity' language in this bill it doesn't cover YOU.

ENDA's currently being debated in the House Committee on Education and Labor's Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions. We transpeople need your help. We have initiated a a phone and letter writing campaign in order to keep transpeople in this bill.

Call, write, e-mail, fax - don't wait, contact them now!

Further information on how to reach House members is available at www.house.gov.

Committee on Education and Labor
2181 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-3725


If you call or write, please emphasize these points.

*Transgender people are the most discriminated against minority in the workplace today, with estimates of over 70% of transgender people having actually experienced workplace discrimination.

*Without transgender inclusion, gay and lesbian people will continue to face legal discrimination in the workplace because of their lack of congruence with societal norms of gender presentation and behavior.

If you have personal discrimination stories to tell, I encourage you to do so. That tends to be powerful testimony. It might make the difference in turning a hardline NO vote to a YES one, or if they're worried about political retribution, give them cover to abstain.


Who to direct the call or letter to:

Members of the Committee on Education and Labor.

Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Members in Bold

Pertinent Staff Members:

Jody Calemine, Labor Policy Deputy Director
Jeffrey Hancuff, Staff Assistant, Labor

Democrats

All Phone numbers are in the (202) area code

* George Miller, Chairman (CA-07) 225-2095 Rm 2205

* Dale E. Kildee (MI-05) 225-3611 Rm 2107

* Donald M. Payne (NJ-10) 225-3436 Rm 2209

*Robert E. Andrews (NJ-01) 225-6501 Rm 2439 (Subcommittee chair)

* Robert C. Scott (VA-03) 225-8351 Rm 1201

* Lynn C. Woolsey (CA-06) 225-5161 Rm 2263

* Rubén Hinojosa (TX-15) 225-2531 Rm 2463

* Carolyn McCarthy (NY-04) 225-5516 Rm 106

* John F. Tierney (MA-06) 225-8020 Rm 2238

* Dennis J. Kucinich (OH-10) 225-5871 Rm 2445

* David Wu (OR-01) 225-0855 Rm 2338

* Rush D. Holt (NJ-12) 225-5801 Rm 1019

* Susan A. Davis (CA-53) 225-2040 Rm 1526

* Danny K. Davis (IL-07) 225-5006 Rm 2159

* Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-07) 225-2435 Rm 1440

* Timothy H. Bishop (NY-01) 225-3826 Rm 225

* Linda T. Sánchez (CA-39) 225-6676 Rm 1222

* John Sarbanes (MD-03) 225-4016 Rm 426

* Joe Sestak (PA-07) 225-2011 Rm 1022

* Dave Loebsack (IA-02) 225-6576 Rm 1513

* Mazie Hirono (HI-02) 225-4906 Rm 1229

* Jason Altmire (PA-04) 225-2565 Rm 1419

* John Yarmuth (KY-03) 225-5401 Rm 319

* Phil Hare (IL-17) 225-5905 Rm 1118

* Yvette Clarke (NY-11) 225-6231 Rm 1029

* Joe Courtney (CT-02) 225-2076 Rm 215

* Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01) 225-5456 Rm 1508

Republicans

* Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, Ranking Member (CA-25)225-1956 Rm 2351

* Thomas E. Petri (WI-06) 225-2476 Rm 2462

* Peter Hoekstra (MI-02) 225-4401 Rm 2234

* Michael N. Castle (DE-At Large)225-4165 Rm 1233

* Mark E. Souder (IN-03) 225-4436 Rm 2231

* Vernon J. Ehlers (MI-03) 225-3831 Rm 2182

* Judy Biggert (IL-13) 225-3515 Rm 1034

* Todd Russell Platts (PA-19) 225-5836 Rm 1032

* Ric Keller (FL-8) 225-2176 Rm 419

* Joe Wilson (SC-02) 225-2452 Rm 212

* John Kline (MN-02) 225-2271 Rm 1429 Subcommittee Ranking Member)

* Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05)225-2006 Rm 1708

* Kenny Marchant (TX-24) 225-6605 Rm 1037

* Tom Price (GA-06) 225-4501 Rm 424

* Luis G. Fortuño (PR) 225-2615 Rm 126

* Charles W. Boustany, Jr. (LA-07) 225-2031 Rm 1117

* Virginia Foxx (NC-05) 225-2071 Rm 430

* John R. "Randy" Kuhl, Jr. (NY-29) 225-3161 Rm 1505

* Rob Bishop (UT-01) 225-0453 Rm 124

* David Davis (TN-01) 225-6356 Rm 514

* Timothy Walberg (MI-07)225-6276 Rm 325

* Dean Heller (NV-02) 225-6155 Rm 1023

Important Members of Congress Who Need To Be Contacted:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) 225-4965 Rm 235

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) 225-4131 Rm 1705

Barney Frank (D-MA) 225-5931 Rm 2252

Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) 225-2906 Rm 2446

Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) 225-3315 Rm 2135

Dirty Sexy Money Has A Twist

When Dirty Sexy Money debuts tonight at 10/9 Central time on ABC, in addition to Blair Underwood having a recurring role in this series as Simon Elder, it will have a recurring transgender character like Ugly Betty.

The difference will be that unlike Rebecca Romijn's Alexis Meade, the transgender character will be played by a transwoman.

Miss Continental 2001-2002 Candis Cayne will play Carmelita, the transgender girlfriend of US Senator Patrick Darling IV played by Billy Baldwin.

This is not the first role for the Maui-born Manhattan based actress who transitioned in 1996. She was on an episode of CSI: New York and is currently filming a reality series for the LOGO Channel.

She gave some tidbits about her role in an interview with NY's Homo Xtra. here's a portion of that interview. (Thanks to Justin Van De Kamp's Televisionista blog for posting it.)




How did you get involved in the upcoming ABC drama series, Dirty Sexy Money?

Patricia Field was the costume designer for the pilot and actually recommended me for the role! I play Billy Baldwin's character's mistress, and every time you see her she's either in her bedroom or in a hotel room- wearing Louboutin. I thought I was maybe going to be in it for a couple episodes, but the writers must be getting a good response, because they've put me in four more episodes so far and keep writing new scenes for my character. It's a dream for me.

Were you intimidated by Billy?

Totally. But when I met him at the table read, he was like, "Candis! Give me a hug!" He was so relaxed and not awkward. He later asked a lot about my relationship with Marco, because his character is sort of in the same situation. A lot of people have weird notions that I'm gay or that people who date me are gay, but he got it and was really into it. Well, not into it, but...




Is it true that your voice was digitally lowered for the pilot episode in post-production?

Yes, but if they want to lower my voice for shock value, fine. They asked me to lower my voice, but I couldn't bring myself to do something that was completely unnatural for me. It's really important for me as a trans actress to be in situations that I'm comfortable with, because there's a lot of weird stuff thrown at trans actresses that we'd never do. So you have to pick your battles, because there are trannies with lower voices, but no tranny would ever stand to pee, for example. As soon as that happened in Transamerica, the movie lost me. With my role in CSI: NY earlier this year, they had a lot of stuff like that written in-like going into a men's room-and I said, "I won't do that because I would never do it in real life." That part was originally written for a drag queen, but I auditioned and I snatched. I snatched!

Isn't Dirty Sexy Money the first time that a trans actress has played a recurring trans character on television?

I think so! The first recurring trans character was on Ugly Betty, but Rebecca Romijn's a woman—which is better than a man playing it! I'm just happy the media is really starting to embrace us, and I'm happy to be working again. After I started transitioning, I stopped working for nearly 10 years. I couldn't go out for the drag roles because I was too womanly, and I couldn't go out for the woman roles because there's a gay guy in every single goddamn casting who'd be like, "She's a man!" It's always the gays spooking you. But now I think it's the year of the tranny. It's finally my year!

It's great that we FINALLY have a transgender actress playing a transwoman in a prime time role. Hopefully it will result in more realistic portrayals of transgender people and more roles for transgender actors of all ethnic backgrounds.

Now if my own people would get beyond treating Black transwomen as a running gag (see the Season 3 Wayans Brothers Return of the Temptones episode featuring Jazzmun for an example of what I'm talking about) I'll be a very happy camper.

Break a leg, Candis.

2007 Women's FIBA Americas Championship

Since 1996, the US women ballers have been an unstoppable juggernaut on the international scene. During that period Team USA garnered three Olympic gold medals (1996, 2000, 2004) and two FIBA world championships (1998 and 2002). Their sustained excellence has been welcomed by US basketball fans in light of the men's program high profile failures on the international level.

But after getting upset in the FIBA women's championship semifinals 75-68 by the Russians last year in Brazil and having their 50 game international win streak snapped, Team USA is in an unfamiliar position going into this FIBA Americas Championship For Women that starts today in Valdivia, Chile and runs through September 30.

Win or run the risk of not making it to the Beijing Olympic Games next year.

Due to being either the World or Olympic Champion and getting the automatic berth as the host Olympic country in 1984 and 1996, Team USA didn't have to qualify for the 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 Games. In the two previous Qualifying Tournaments Team USA participated in (1976,1980) they compiled a 10-1 record and captured gold both times.

Only the winner of this tournament gets the automatic bid to Beijing for the FIBA Americas Zone. Second through fourth place get one last shot to qualify for Beijing in a FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament that will be held June 9-15 at an undetermined site.

Those FIBA Americas teams will have to fight it out with nine other national teams from around the globe who did not claim gold in the other FIBA zones. Those teams will have to battle two from Africa (silver and bronze medalists), two from Asia (silver and bronze medalists), four from Europe (second through fourth place finishers) and one from Oceania (silver medalist), to claim the final five Olympic slots.

Team USA would rather handle their business now and not wait until June 2008 to qualify. The team that will attempt to bring home the FIBA Americas championship consists of Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx), Sue Bird (Seattle Storm), Rebekkah Brunson (Sacramento Monarchs), Swin Cash (Detroit Shock), Kara Lawson (Sacramento Monarchs), DeLisha Milton-Jones (Washington Mystics), Courtney Paris (University of Oklahoma), Candace Parker (University of Tennessee), Cappie Pondexter (Phoenix Mercury), Katie Smith (Detroit Shock), Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury) and Tina Thompson (Houston Comets). Additionally, Candice Wiggins was addded as an alternate and will travel to Chile to train with the squad prior to the FIBA Americas Championship.

Team USA will be coached by the Seattle Storm's Anne Donovan. Her assistants are Mike Thibault (Connecticut Sun) and collegiate head coaches Gail Goestenkors of the University of Texas and Temple University's Dawn Staley.

Despite the loss in last year's semis, Team USA is still ranked number 1 in the FIBA world rankings and is in Group B with Cuba, Canada and Jamaica. Group A has the always tough Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and the hosts from Chile.

Team USA's opening game in Group B play will be against the Cubans.

Rachel's Right

Miss USA Rachel Smith has incensed some people by inadvertanly dissing current CBS anchor Katie Couric.

During a recent Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network event last week in New York, when Smith was asked about her future career aspirations she expressed her desire to get into journalism. FYI for your Rachel bashers, she interned last summer in Chicago at Harpo Productions and graduated magne cum laude from Belmont College with a degree in journalism.

She's quoted by the New York Daily News as saying, "I always wanted to be a reporter — maybe some TV. Who knows? Some serious news — but some modeling, too. I just don't want to end up like Katie Couric. I want people to take me seriously."

In response, Couric's rep later told the Daily News: "If she continues to offer such profound insight, she will not have to worry about anyone taking her seriously."

For the folks who are attacking Rachel, if they took a monent to actually think about what the sistah's saying, she's right. Katie Couric is one of the reasons I gave up watching CBS News. I watched her the first week after she took over as news anchor and was sadly disappointed about the direction that the newscast took with her in the anchor chair.

CBS, the network home of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite, and once was the gold standard in terms of broadcast journalism surrendered to the right wing. The network that once had the cojones to call out Joseph McCarthy during the height of the red-baiting McCarthy era, have its news anchor call Vietnam 'unwinnable' caved and fired Dan Rather when the right-wingers screamed about a 60 Minutes report that dared to ask the question that many of us had on our minds long before the 2004 election.

Where was George W. Bush during the last 18 months of his National Guard service?

I noticed that once again, most of Rachel's critics are white and are comparing her to the recent Miss Teen South Carolina who botched her question. Rachel ain't her.

In our community, Black girls are taught from birth that beauty fades. It's drilled into Black girls to rely more on their brains than a beautiful exterior and a pretty face to carry you through life.

For those who choose to model or enter beauty pageants, they are used as springboards for other careers. There's a former Miss America you may have heard of named Vanessa Williams who's conquered Hollywood, the music business and television. 1977 Miss Universe Janelle Commissiong runs a successful business in Trinidad. Before B. Smith took the culinary world by storm she was an Ebony Fashion Fair model. I doubt that anyone considers Tyra Banks a joke these days either.

Beauty queens aren't taken seriously? Just ask a former Miss Black Tennessee who's now running a media empire worth billions. What's her name again?

Things I DIDN'T Expect About Transistion

When you start a gender transition, there are some things you have a basic knowledge about or some assumptions that you go into it with.

You expect to lose a few friends and relatives along the way. You know that your body is finally going to morph in the feminine direction with the accompanying gender characteristics. You're aware that you're going to lose some of your male strength level and your breast size will be the roughly the same cup size as the biowomen in your immediate family. Your emotions will get scrambled in the early stages as your mind and body get adapted to the hormones. You anticipate that there will be some awkward moments, some humorous ones, hurt feelings, joy and pain as you get adjusted to living on the other side of the gender fence.

But there are some things about a gender transition that catch you off guard because you didn't expect it.

For me, there were a few.

One of the things I didn't expect was an increase in the frequency of my bathroom visits. The spironolactone that I take as a testosterone blocker is also a diuretic. Translation: It makes me go to the bathroom more often.

I was stunned at how fast my breast development occurred once I started on hormones. I had breast buds and nipple expansion growth within days of taking my first hormones.

I discovered the reason for it when I did followup blood work a month into my transition and it was compared to my baseline numbers. I had a low testosterone count. The testosterone level is measured on a 0-900 scale by your endocrinologist. Biomale testosterone level is usually on the upper end of that scale in the 700-900 range. Biowomen also have small amounts of testosterone in the 50-100 range that basically govern a woman's sex drive.

Mine was at 400 when I started in 1994 and its around 120 now. Slightly higher than what a biowoman would have in her body yet significantly less than what a biomale has in his system. I didn't expect to hear from my endo that my risk for prostate cancer would dwindle to almost zero.

However, my risk for breast cancer has doubled.

Another medical surprise was revealed to me during a subsequent check up as well. My blood pressure and stress level dropped dramatically despite being in a high stress airline job. That one's easy to explain. I wasn't living a double life anymore. I was finally becoming on the outside the person I was on the inside and was damned happy about it.

I discovered by accident that my reflexes and hearing improved. One day I knocked a half full cup of Kool-Aid off the edge of my dining table in my apartment and without thinking quickly snatched it in mid-air. Saved me from cleaning the spill out of my carpet. My guess is this might be a biological thang because mothers have heightened sensory awareness in order to protect their children from approaching danger.


I didn't expect to gain the ability to have multiple orgasms or realize just how good they feel. ;) That was a wonderful surprise. Another interesting discovery was that some biowomen desire to have intimate relationships with pre-op transwomen. I found it ironic that I got hit on my more women after I started transition that I did before as The Twin. I wasn't in gay clubs either when these propositions happened.

Oh well, you never know what people like when you get them behind closed doors.

One of the other surprises was also in a social setting. It's one I chafe at and it took me awhile to get over. Being interrupted when in a converation with a man, having to explain myself and having my intelligence questioned or dismissed. It was a frequent occurrence in business situations as well.

I sarcastically lamented one day to my sistafriends that I lost ten points on my IQ when I transtioned as far as men are concerned. My sistafriends replied that I got it wrong. I didn't lose points, I GAINED twenty points when I transitioned.

I also discovered that some African-Americans have a long way to go in terms of being 'ejumacated' on transgender issues. Despite long time exposure to trans issues thanks to articles in Ebony and Jet, drag shows, balls and pageants and famous crossdressers in our midst such as Flip Wilson (Geraldine Jones), RuPaul, and Tyler Perry's Madea, I quickly found that some of our peeps are WORSE than white fundamentalists. I felt that my brothas and sistahs, given our own civil rights struggles would be more tolerant of transgender people.

Despite those surprises, I adapted and now happily thrive in my life as a Phenomenal Transwoman.

Why Did I Get Married?

I'm a movie junkie, and this is one I'm definitely looking forward to seeing when it hits my local multiplex on its projected release date of October 12.

Tyler Perry returns in front of a camera for the first time since Madea's Family Reunion, but you won't see Tyler's pistol packing alter ego in this story adapted for the big screen from the hit play of the same name.

Why Did I Get Married? stars an ensemble cast that in addition to Perry, includes Janet Jackson, Malik Yoba, Jill Scott, Sharon Leal, Tasha Smith, Michael Jai White, Denise Boutte and Lamann Rucker.

Hmm. That's worth the price of admission and a large buttered popcorn alone. ;)

Why Did I Get Married? is the story about how difficult it is to maintain a solid loving relationship in modern times. It revolves around a group of eight married college friends who have gathered for their annual reunion in the snow-capped mountains of Colorado.


They discover that infidelity has creeped into one couple's marriage. It triggers a series of events over the reunion weekend in which secrets are revealed and they question how valid and solid their own marriages are. Both the husbands and wives also take hard looks at their own lives during this weekend as well.



This looks like another Tyler Perry hit. The trailers are already on The Net and I'll definitely be sitting in the front row next month happily munching my popcorn.

Why Don't You Do More Transgender Posts?

Every now and then while I'm out and about in Da Ville I run into peeps who when they find out I'm the TransGriot, rave about my column or the blog.

One of the questions I got asked recently was why I don't have more content on transgender issues.

While transsexuality is a subject that I could literally find tons of angles to discuss, being a transperson is only one aspect of all the things that make up me. There are transgender bloggers, but not many of them focus on the issues of being TWB (transgender while Black).

As you TransGriot readers have discovered, I had (and still have) a relatively interesting life prior to transition that I've barely scratched the surface of. I have interests beyond just talking about being trans. I have sistafriends I hang out with, talk to on a regular basis and help sort out their drama. I'm keeping abreast of the news. I'm reading various books and listening to my massive CD collection. I'm also working 40 plus hours a week while squeezing time in to work on my novels.

I deeply appreciate the fact that many of you enjoy your time on TransGriot and keep coming back. As any writer will tell you, we love it when the work and sometimes late hours we put into compiling interesting and quality blog content is acknowledged by the comments you leave on the various posts. (hint, hint)

But as one of the few African-American peeps who talk about transgender issues, some of the stuff I relay to you is personal. My own family is struggling with a lot of the issues as well, so I have to balance what I can personally talk about versus a desire to not have too many details of their lives exposed to millions of people. I chose to do that in the name of educating peeps on transgender issues, they didn't.

Then there's simply writer's block. There are days or nights I sit in front of this computer and have a wonderful idea for a post, then I start typing, don't like the first, second or third draft and set it aside for a few hours. Sometimes I just hold the idea for a later time. Sometimes I end up just sitting there staring at the computer screen until I give up, shut it down and do something else for a while.

Rest assured, there will always be transgender content in this blog. It isn't called TransGriot for nothing. But the 'griot' in the blog name also means that I'm living up to the West African griot tradition of kicking knowledge to you on a wide variety of subjects as well.

Black Radio Days

A post on the Mes Deaux Cents blog was the inspiration for this one. She talked about her love of radio and working in the business. It's generated a lot of comments from people like myself who fondly remember the pioneering deejays in their hometowns and got me thinking once again about that part of my childhood.

Radio, especially Black radio has a special place not only for me but in the hearts of our people. As someone who grew up around radio stations, cut a promo commercial for my dad's AM drive time show when I was in the first grade and another one years later, I saw that love firsthand.

Black radio entertained us, informed us, raised money, helped us get organized and gave us a voice. It's rightfully credited by no less than Dr. King and others with being the engine that powered the 50's and 60's Civil Rights Movement.

Because the deejay has an exalted place in our community. they were considered leaders and opinion makers. The movie Talk To Me, in which Don Cheadle depicted the life of legendary jock Ralph Waldo 'Petey' Greene who was on Washington DC's WOL-AM during the 60's and 70's, illustrates the ability of Black deejays to shape community public opinions. It was a power that J. Edgar Hoover and others were so afraid of they actually monitored many Black deejays from the late 60's through the mid 70's.

It's no accident that when the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was passed, the first victims of the rush to buy stations in many markets were Black ones. They were part of small radio station networks or had individual owners. When the Clear Channels with their megabucks started calling, they cashed out. If it weren't for Cathy Hughes and Radio One Inc, Black radio as we know it wouldn't exist.

The history of Black Radio is thankfully preserved on the Indiana University campus in its Archives of African-American Music & Culture. There is a section of it that covers Black radio that has not only my dad's memorabilia, but a collection of the late Jack Gibson's Mello Yello magazines and other legendary deejays as well. I'm planning on taking a trip up the road to the IU-Bloomington campus soon and checking out all that radio history.

But it was interesting having a ringside seat for all of that. I got to meet various peeps ranging from politicians to music business people. I got to see some really cool concerts, collect a vast array of promo tee-shirts and have a cutting edge record collection. One of the first concerts I was allowed to attend by myself was a Parliament-Funkadelic one in which Bootsy was part of the tour. I also kept up with the news and happenings in the business by reading my dad's Mello Yello's when he was done with them.

There was one summer I got to tag along for a Jackson 5 concert and actually meet the Jacksons. I have an autographed picture from that encounter of me and Michael Jackson that won me much cash in junior high and high school. ;)

During my sophomore year there was a KYOK Night at the Ice Capades at the Summit in which my brother and I were added to an ice skating race with KYOK's deejays. I spent a lot of weekends on the Galleria's ice rink and in the process learned how to ice skate quite well. I won, but my main concern during the whole thing was not only beating my brother, but not falling in front of 17,000 people because I would have definitely heard about it at school the next morning.

Thanks to Cathy Hughes and others, the traditions and proud history of Black radio have been preserved for the 21st Century. It's cool to know that the kids now growing up will get the same joys out of flipping on their radio and listening to broadcast content that reflects their culture as we did.

It's also comforting to know that Black radio will still be around to help us mobilize our people to fight for justice, as was proven by Thursday's events in Jena, LA as well.

Jena 6 Protest

I am so proud of our people this morning. I caught parts of the Jena 6 protest yesterday on CNN and took time to fire off comments to the CNN website.

As I saw our people gather in Jena, assemble in front of the LaSalle Parish Courthouse, visit Jena High School and watched 'the Revs' and others speak I found myself wishing I could have been part of this history making event. We had a bus full of people that left from Louisville to go there, but I had to work last night.

It was beautiful to see 50,000 people peacefully assembling to march for justice. The best part of it was seeing all the young people that were involved. It brought tears to my eyes.

This is an opportunity for parents to have a teachable moment for their kids about our history in this country and the civil rights movement.



We must constantly remind our kids (and some whites as well) that 400 years of racism did not magically disappear in the 60's and 70's. The Forces of Intolerance are always at work and there are Jena's everywhere along with the attitudes that created them.

My hope and prayer is that our young people's involvement in social justice issues doesn't stop with this case. I hope that our youth and the participants realized that our fight for justice as African-Americans is an ongoing battle and that they must do their part to continue 'Fighting the Power' to the best of their abilities until Dr. King's dream is an unalterable reality.

Transparent

I just finished reading Transparent by Cris Beam. It's an interesting nonfiction book about several Los Angeles Latina and African-American transkids covering a period from 1998 to 2005.

One of the people featured in the book, Foxxjazell was familiar to me. I just wrote a blog post last month on her increasing popularity in California's rap scene as a transgender rapper. It was interesting to read her background story.

Some of it was sad, some triumphant. Some of their stories hit home and triggered some emotional memories concerning some things I was dealing with in my own childhood.

Cris Beam also weaves transgender history, science, and knowledge throughout the book. If you want to get some insight on some of the issues we deal with and how they affect these transkids, you may want to pick this book up and add it to your collection.

I'm Not Surprised

During the time I was working for Continental Airlines, Houston hosted the 1992 GOP convention. Many of those delegates went through IAH to get to the convention and return to their homes scattered across the country. I met some of the GOP leadership like now Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), other George HW Bush cabinet peeps, and convention delegates from various states as I worked flights during this period.

The day after it ended, I had a Seattle flight I was working. I was killing time until a short air traffic control delay was lifted before I could board the plane. In the lobby there was a group of teenaged kids who had just attended the convention. They had their GOP t-shirts on and were energized about working for George HW Bush's reeelection. Three girls approached the podium and engaged me in a discussion about joining their party and voting for Bush senior.

After politely listening to them for a few moments I replied, "No thanks, I'm voting for Clinton."

"But why?" one of the eager young white females replied.

"Your party has engaged in practices and behaviors over the years that have led me to conclude that people who look like me aren't wanted. Until your party gets serious about competing for my people's votes and doing the things necessary to get those votes beyond symbolic measures, I'll continue to be a Democrat."

I'm recounting this conversation because of the news that GOP frontrunners John McCain, Rudy Guiliani, and Mitt Romney all declined invitations to the All American Presidential Forum to be held on September 27 at Morgan State University for the GOP candidates. A similar forum was held on June 28th for the Democrats and all eight contenders showed up at Howard University for it.

I'm not surprised that Guiliani isn't gonna show up. He's 'scurred' about the questions that will pop up about his contentious relationship in NYC with the African-American community and the Abner Louima and Amadou Diallo NYPD incidents that happened under his tenure.

McCain has 'F' grades on his NAACP Civil Rights report cards and Romney is probably afraid he'll get hit with questions about the Mormon Church's negative beliefs about African-Americans. Only one of the GOP candidates, Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) even bothered to show up for the presidential forum during the recent NAACP convention in Detroit.

The journalists who will be asking the questions for the five confirmed Republican presidential candidates showing up in Baltimore as I write this are Ray Suarez of The NewsHour, columnist Cynthia Tucker of The Atlanta Journal Constitution and NPR's Juan Williams. Tavis will once again be moderator for the event which will air on PBS starting at 9 PM EDT.

I read Tavis' comments on the snub and he's not a happy camper.

"The word frontrunner has taken a whole new meaning for me," said Smiley in an interview with Lee Bailey. "I didn't know it meant being out front and running from people of color."

"The frontrunners, specifically Mr. Romney, Mr. McCain and Mr. Guiliani, have said to us they will not be on stage at Morgan State University on September 27th. All the Democrats showed up in June, but the front running Republicans have said they will not be there. They have also told Univision that they will not be there for the Hispanic debate. So, collectively, what the Republican frontrunners have told both black and brown Americans is that we don't appreciate you, don't value your issues and you're not a priority to us."

"You can't go through an entire primary process and refuse to talk to black and brown voters," he continued. "It's unconscionable, it's untenable, it's unthinkable and no one should be elected president in 2008, in the most multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-racial America ever and, in the process, ignore and ditch those voters. If you're not going to talk to all of America then you don't deserve to be president of all of America."

That's been the GOP game plan since Nixon concocted the 'Southern Strategy'. Like Tavis, I'm sick of Black conservatives spouting that bullshit 'you need to get off the Democrat plantation line'. You Black conservative clowns continue to apologize and make excuses for your GOP massas. These GOP peeps say they want to compete for our votes, but don't have the cojones to show up at our conventions, our events or give interviews to our media peeps to address our issues.

You black conservatives have shown the African-American community repeatedly over the years where your loyalties lie.

In 2004 the negro Ken Blackwell led the charge to suppress our people's votes in Ohio (he doesn't deserve to be called Black). Ward Connerly is the point negro in trying to get affirmative action programs killed. Don't even get me started on Uncle Thomas, the 'honorary white man' as conservative commentators call him on the Supreme Court.

And all you Black conservative bloggers and GOP butt-kissing preachers have been deafingly silent about how your vaunted GOP showed the world how much they cared about New Orleans and its African-American residents, but can flap your gums ad nauseum when it comes to same-sex marriage and hatin' on GLBT people.

And you want to know why reality based African-Americans vote at a 90% clip for Democratic candidates?

Thanks to the naked racism that's spewing out of your base over the immigration issue, you're driving Latinos away from your party as well at a record clip. 'Bout time they woke up to the true nature of the Republican Party.

Can't wait for September 27 to get here. I'm gonna make sure I have plenty of popcorn on hand to munch on for what promises to be an entertaining evening.

NAACP And The Jena 6 Case

TransGriot Note: For those of you who question whether the NAACP is relevant, this is an e-mail blast I received yesterday about the Jena 6 case.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


It's an American outrage that demonstrates the continuing shame of racism in our country.


Six black teenagers in a small Louisiana town are facing some of the most overly aggressive prosecution we've seen - all over a schoolyard fight with white students. The group has come to be known in the media as the Jena 6, in reference to the small town where a series of racial incidents escalated after three nooses were hung from a tree at a local high school.


Click here to add your name to the Justice for Jena petition now!


The events led to the arrest of the young men - all being charged with serious criminal offenses that could lead to decades in jail. But, the white students involved were not initially prosecuted; they received a three-day in school suspension for hanging the nooses.


In a trial that lasted only two days, an all-white jury convicted Mychal Bell, the first of the group to be tried. The public defender presented no rebuttal or witnesses, and the jury deliberated for less than two hours.


On Friday, the Louisiana Court of Appeals took an important step towards justice for the Jena 6. They tossed out Bell's conviction for aggravated battery, stating that he should not have been tried and convicted as an adult. But, Mychal Bell remains in jail awaiting a new trial. The legal fight is far from over for him and his co-defendants.


Donate to the NAACP Justice for Jena Fund.


How the NAACP is Advocating For Justice

The NAACP is mobilized to secure justice and equity for these young men.

* The NAACP, in conjunction with the American Civil Liberties Union, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Southern University Law Center, has provided some additional legal support and resources to the defendants' attorneys and remains committed to the defense of the remaining young men.

* We presented a petition of over 62,000 signatures (gathered on the NAACP website; signatures now exceed 92,000) to the Governor of Louisiana on Sept. 17 as a symbol of the thousands of citizens concerned with the unequal treatment of the defendants and the pubic acknowledgement that the hanging of the three nooses is a serious hate crime offense.

* We have demanded that the Attorney General's office investigate the prosecution and monitor the trials.

* We organized activities, including a rally and town hall, in Jena on Sept. 20 in the spirit of justice and equality. The town hall will focus on racial disparities in the education and criminal justice systems.

* We are actively monitoring the situation and remain committed to the defense of the six young men to ensure proper treatment by the court system and protection of their rights under the law.

If you can't come to Jena, you can participate in our efforts via the NAACP website by signing the Justice for Jena petition, donating to the cause, or by viewing our live webcast of the rally and town hall meeting on Sept. 20. Forward this email to your family and friends and ask them to sign the petition.
We cannot afford to be silent when so much is at stake.


Sincerely,

Dennis Courtland Hayes
Interim President & CEO
NAACP

First Brotha In Space

Today is the 26th anniversary of the launch of the first brotha in space. And no, it wasn't Guy Bluford. His launch into space on the NASA STS-8 mission didn't occur until August 30, 1983.

That honor goes to Cuban cosmonaut Colonel Arnaldo Tamayo-Mendez. On September 18, 1980 he was launched into space as part of the Soyuz 38 mission from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Cuban Air Force pilot was selected on March 1, 1978 as part of the Intercosmos program the Russian (then Soviet) space program was conducting to allow fellow Eastern Bloc nations to take part in space exploration.

After docking with the Salyut 6 space station, Tamayo and his Russian counterpart Yuri Romanenko remained on board to conduct experiments into what causes a form of motion sickness in some space travelers called SAS or space adaptation sickness.

After 120 orbits of the earth covering a total of 7 days, 20 hours and 43 minutes, Tamayo and Romamenko executed a risky night landing. They returned safely to earth 180 kilometers from the city of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on September 26, 1980.

The Guantanamo born (January 29, 1942) Tamayo-Mendez was not only the first person of African descent into space, he was also the first Hispanic and the first person from a Western Hemisphere nation other than the United States to fly a space mission.

After his cosmonaut career he was promoted to brigadier general in the Cuban Air Force and settled into married life with his wife and two sons.

In The Spirit

Over the weekend I was checking out the seminar topics that were presented during the just concluded Southern Comfort Conference when this one caught my eye.

Fractal Femininity (Masculinity); Changing Gender a Better Way; from the Inside Out that was taught by Dr. John O'Dea. I chuckled to myself as I read that.

One of the things that African-American transpeeps have known for years is that transition is an inside-out process. Anybody can acquire the body if you have enough cash to do so. But since we only earn .70 for every dollar a white person earns, we by necessity had to focus on the internal process first.

I'm a voracious reader, and one of the first things I did after I started transition was subscribe to Essence magazine. It has a wonderful column called In The Spirit by Susan L. Taylor that focuses on many of the spiritual, emotional and other issues that African-American women deal with in their daily lives. She also published a book by the same name that deals with the spiritual side of womanhood.

By listening to the advice that was given to me by my sistafriends, doing tons of reading, having Dr. Cole tell me the same thing and simple observation, I learned that femininity is internal and between your ears, not the genitalia configuration between your legs.

It's a lesson that was reinforced by observing the way some white transpeople approach transition. I noted there was way too much emphasis on SRS and and not enough time focused on dealing with the emotional aspects of femininity. One of the reasons that WPATH calls for the one year Real Life Test is to give you time to get the mind and your new body configuration in sync and get comfortable with it. It's also getting you prepared for dealing with the reality of living as a woman in a male-dominated society.

Too many times I saw peeps blitz through the process, then get upset or wonder why they were still not accepted as women even though they had gotten surgery. It's because while they may have the bodies, the thoughts and actions are still consistent with the masculine behavior patterns they grew up with and didn't address before hopping that flight to Thailand or wherever they had the snip-and-tuck done.

One of the keys is a basic one. Loving yourself. You have to not only feel comfortable in your own skin, but look in the mirror and love the reflection staring back at you. Sometimes that's a tough job with all the negativity that can get hurled at us on a regular basis, but if you have enough self love, you can deal with almost anything the world throws at you.

You also have to believe in a higher power. Be it God, Allah, Jah, Yahweh or whatever you call the higher power, you must acknowledge that there are forces at work that are greater than yourself. You must come to the realization that you are a child of God that is created in His image and that as a transperson, you are part of the divine plan as well despite what fundie 'christians' have to say.

Finally, dealing with the spiritual side of womanhood is an ongoing process. The paths we take toward that spiritual growth and enlightenment are varied. But in the end the goal is still the same. You want to continue evolving to be a better person than when you started your journey.

How 'Bout Those Texans?

Yeah, yeah I know we've only just completed the first two weekends of the 2007 NFL season, but my Texans are 2-0 for the first time in franchise history after beating KC 20-3 and Carolina 34-21 yesterday.

I'll get a better idea of just how good my Texans really are when they play Indianapolis in Reliant next week.

I was already enjoying this season before it started when they beat the Cowchips in the annual Governor's Cup preseason game. Will this be the year my team finally makes it to the NFL playoffs? Have they finally put the pieces together and built an NFL team that will not only consistently win, but be in the mix in postseason play?

We longsuffering Houston fans can only hope that our patience has finally been rewarded. We hope that this is the beginning of sustained success and we'll get to not only see our team in postseason play, but back on nationally televised games as well. Only time will tell if this Texans team has the right stuff to do that.

It would also be a nice story for the hometown boy (Gary Kubiak) and one of the African-American GM's in the NFL (Rick Smith) to have their hard work rewarded with a long playoff run.

I Miss Black Friday Night Lights

One of the things I miss about home as I mentioned in a previous post is high school football, Texas-style.

There's nothing like it anywhere else in the country. The book, movie and NBC TV show Friday Night Lights was based on the legendary Odessa Permian Panthers. I enjoyed watching them get beat down by Jack Yates 37-0 in the 1985 Class 5A championship game at Texas Stadium even though we lost to JY in the 1985 Region III-5A final 21-15 in the Dome that year.

Region III, as southeast Texas is referred to in UIL parlance (University Interscholastic League, the governing body for Texas high school athletic and academic competitions), is the Houston-Galveston-Golden Triangle area. It contains some of the best players in the Lone Star State. If you think I'm just bragging, check the birthplaces of many NFL Hall of Famers, current NCAA Division One ballplayers or current NFL players. Most of them have southeast Texas addresses.

Just in HISD alone at the time I was in high school, Mike Singletary was playing at Worthing High, Dexter Manley at Jack Yates and Darrell Green patrolled the secondary for my alma mater Jesse Jones. There was some kid by the name of Thurman Thomas who played for a brand new high school in Fort Bend county called Willowridge.

Wonder what happened to him?

I'm taking this trip down memory lane because they played the Madison-Yates game last night. Watching those highlights on Chron.com triggered a lot of fond memories. It was a must attend game. In the 1999 one a Madison Marlins quarterback by the name of Vince Young tore up the JY Lions.

Yep, the same Vince Young who now quarterbacks the Tennessee Traitors. (nope, I'm NEVER gonna let it go that Bud Adams moved my beloved Oilers to Nashville)

My dad was the play-by-play announcer not only for Texas Southern University games but HISD games when the station had the broadcast contract for them. As a result I got to see a lot of those big rivalry games such as Kashmere-Booker T. Washington, Houston Ross Sterling-Madison, Wheatley-Yates, Smiley-Forest Brook, and Yates versus 'errbody'. And since nearly all the majority Black schools in the area were performing in the same high-stepping style as TSU's famous 'Ocean of Soul' marching band, there were some great halftime marching band battles as well.

In fact, those high school band rivalries were so fierce that in 1978-79, thanks to the efforts of the late Artice 'C-Boy' Vaughn there was a contest initiated called 'The Battle of the Bands' to determine Houston's best. In 1979 it got moved from Delmar Stadium to Rice Stadium where it drew almost 30,000 fans just to watch the best high school bands in the area strut their stuff. The biggest shock to the crowd that night was Pasadena's J. Frank Dobie High taking the Superband Division of this predominately Black band competition.

In HISD we all hated JY, or "Burger King High" as we called them during my time at JJ. Burger King's uniforms in the 70's were in the same gold and red colors as Yates. They were not only our bitter rival, Yates is one of the original African-American schools in HISD along with Phillis Wheatley, Booker T. Washington, Kashmere and Evan E. Worthing.

Yates alumns and students never let us peeps who went to schools like Jones, Madison, and Sterling that started out as predominately white schools (but became majority Black thanks to white flight) forget that fact. They also rubbed it in our faces that many history making and prominent Houstonians such as Barbara Jordan, Mickey Leland and Debbie Allen once walked their campuses. We used to fight back at JJ by playing and singing the tune to the Burger King 'Have It Your Way' commercials and pointing to our academic prowess.

Jack Yates also won games with such nauseating regularity it became a big deal to the other Black schools to knock them off. We beat 'Burger King' during my sophomore year but lost a heartbreaker to Wheatley the next week that denied us a trip to the Dome for the opening round of the state playoffs.

There was also the historical and cultural angle of playing Yates. The Yates-Wheatley game back during the PVIL days (the Prairie View Interscholastic League, the African-American counterpart to the UIL during segregation) was played on Thanksgiving Day to sellout crowds at Jeppesen (now Robertson) Stadium on the UH campus. It was a major event in the Houston Black community. Anytime they played high school doubleheaders in the Astrodome Yates would be one of the featured teams.

My old school is in a slump right now since our all state running back Remus Nembhard moved on to the college ranks and JJ is in rebuilding mode. I also have to deal with the indignity of watching Ross Sterling, the school my neighborhood is zoned to become resurgent in football again at the same time. I'm getting teased about it by my family members who are Sterling alumni.

I'm also marveling at the new high school football landscape in the Houston area. Fort Bend ISD has grown from just Dulles High to enough high schools for their own ten team 5A district. I see new schools opening in the 'burbs every year because suburban districs such as Klein, Cy-Fair, Katy and Alief have experienced the same hypergrowth as FBISD. Even HISD has two new ones in Westside and Cesar Chavez. While some things have changed with Katy, Lamar and North Shore becoming powerhouse programs or once powerful 5A programs moving down to 4A, some have remained the same such as LaMarque's continued dominance of the 4A ranks.

While I remain a fan of Texas high school football in general and loving football is part of my DNA as a Texan, I just have mad love for the flavor of a Black high school football game. Oh how I'd love to be back sitting in the aluminum bleachers on a clear and cool fall night at Barnett Stadium (or any stadium complex in the Houston area) enjoying a high quality high school game again complete with high stepping bands.

Go Falcons!

Southern Comfort 2007

I'm a little bummed that I had to miss Southern Comfort this year mainly because of my work schedule. It's one of my favorite transgender events to attend since it's held in the ATL.

This year's version started on September 10 and is running through the 16th. The bulk of the convention will be transpiring today, Friday and Saturday with the start of the seminar tracks and the upcoming formal dinner on Saturday.

Southern Comfort, now in its 17th year, is the largest transgender event in the US. It's where we get together to transact our community business, have fun, get reacquainted with old friends, meet new ones, and learn a little something while were there. From humble beginnings it quickly became a must attend event during the 90's. It's even been featured in a documentary by the same name.

I first started attending SCC in 1999 and returned in 2000 for an NTAC board meeting we'd scheduled during the event. I skipped a few years letting my finances recover from my move to Louisville before I attended another one in 2004. The 2004 event was the first one I attended at the midtown Atlanta hotel they moved to after SCC outgrew the neighboring Buckhead area hotels that hosted it.

The 2000 Southern Comfort was the most memorable one for me. It was the year that SCC not only set their attendance record, but we had a record 26 African-American and Latino transpeeps attend SCC as well.

That attendance sadly has been the high water mark in terms of an African-American presence at SCC. One of the things that has been embarrassingly obvious to the SCC planners is that while they realize that they are sitting in the Black GLBT mecca, (a fact I and Dawn Wilson pointed out when we were participating in numerous SCC planning meetings over the years) the event has been shunned by the local community.

One of the major problems that contributed to the attendance gap at SCC is one that's common for many national transgender conferences. They are geared towards a middle to upper middle class clientele, in locations with little to no access to public transportation and hotels that aren't cheap or in suburban locations.

Even though SCC offers scholarships and 'sweat equity' programs to help defray costs, it's still in a hotel that's not cheap and the conference registration is separate from the hotel charges. The financial barrier helps to promote in the African-American community a perception that 'we're not wanted', and the end result is a convention that's 99% white.

Despite that feeling from time to time of being the Lone Sistah, I sometimes took advantage of being in the ATL and just got away from the hotel to see Atlanta's sights and attractions. I strolled through Piedmont Park after the 2004 SCC barbecue. Me and several other African-American attendees bounced to a nearby restaurant and had fun getting to know each other,

Since SCC is a Who's Who of people in the transgender universe, I've had the pleasure of meeting a lot of those well-known peeps as I was becoming one of them myself. In 2004 I had a wonderful conversation with Calpernia Addams. I had the pleasure of dancing with Jamison Green at the 2000 formal dinner and finally meeting TAVA founder Monica Helms. I got to meet and hang out with Dawn at the 1999 event. It's also fun to interact with the hotel staffs and guests as we're chillin' in the lobby or at the bars.

SCC is important on many levels. It's a event that transpeople plan and execute with military precision. It sends the message to the rest of the world that we aren't as invisible as some of you wish we would be, we aren't going away, and we aren't the ogres that your pastors tell you we are. It's a time and place where many transpeople first come out because it's an event where they feel safe, begin to build those support networks and gather the information that is crucial to a successful transition. It's one of the reasons why I came up with the idea of doing a similar conference for African-American transgender people that we made happen in 2005 and 2006. As a matter of fact, the job fair that SCC is promoting this year came from us coming up with the idea for our 2005 TSTBC conference.

And most importantly, SCC helps to instill pride in who we are as transgender people.

Transwoman Calls For Greater Tolerance Of Gender Diversity In Singapore

Trans woman calls for greater tolerance of gender diversity in Singapore
11th September 2007 16.50
by Gemma Pritchard
from Pink News, UK

A transsexual woman from Singapore has embarked on a mission to help turn around the "culture of shame" surrounding transsexuals in Singapore.

Unlike many other transsexuals in Asia who prefer to live privately because of the social stigma of sex change, British-educated Leona Lo has chosen to live a normal life, but in public.

Leona, a 32-year-old communications specialist who heads her own public relations company, told Agence France-Presse (AFP):

"Somewhere out there, not just in Singapore but throughout Asia, there are lots of young people who are suffering the way I suffered years ago."

These days, she draws on her experiences of gender identity crisis, rejection and discrimination to challenge social mores on behalf of the so-called silent community.

"It's this entire culture of shame that gets under your skin. It's not something that you can isolate and demolish because it is so much a part of our culture," she says.

While a few transsexuals are gaining prominence in Asia, notably China's Jin Xing, most continue to live in silence.

In May,a 32-year-old South Korean transsexual entertainer (Harisu), whose sex alteration led the country to change its family registry laws, married
her rapper boyfriend.

Parinya "Nong Toom" Charoenphol' s rags-to-riches story was made into a movie, Beautiful Boxer.

Former Chinese People's Liberation Army colonel and now woman Jin Xing is a prize-winning dancer and choreographer.

Discrimination is the biggest challenge faced by transsexuals, Leona says, recalling repeated rejection by prospective employers in Singapore despite her academic credentials.

"Singapore may be a cosmopolitan city, but many things are still swept under the carpet,"

No reliable figures on the number of transsexual men and women in Singapore, or the region, are available, mainly because those who feel they have been born in the wrong body prefer to endure their situation in silence rather than embarrass their families, Leona told AFP.

"It's because a lot of transsexual women face discrimination at work and experience failure of relationships that a lot end up in suicide, depression. They end up on the streets as prostitutes," she says.

This is why she has taken time away from her thriving public relations consultancy promoting beauty products to wage her campaign.

After much persuasion, one local university allowed her to speak to an audience of students but she is finding to find a way share her thoughts with the corporate world.

On September 14 she is to launch her autobiography, From Leonard to Leona: A Singapore Transsexual's Journey to Womanhood.

From Singapore, Leona plans to travel across Asia to bring her message for greater tolerance of gender diversity.

Leona says the association of transsexuals with prostitution in Singapore harks back to the 1960s when there was a flourishing culture of drag queens, including some transsexuals, on Singapore's Bugis Street.

As Singapore transformed rapidly into a modern Asian business centre, the government cracked down on Bugis Street. Transsexuals were lumped together with homosexuals, transvestites and prostitutes.

It was in this environment that Leona grew up.

"I did not think I was gay. I just felt that I was a woman trapped in a man's body," says Leona, who has a younger sister.

At age 15, Leonard discovered a book about transsexualism, which sowed the seeds of her eventual decision to undergo a sex-change operation in 1997.

"I discovered that book in the library and I said 'Oh my God! There are actually people like me!" she reminisces.

"That changed my life and I discovered that I could go for the sex change operation."

As an able-bodied man at the time, Leona entered Singapore's compulsory two-year military service at around 19.

Pressures of being forced to be "macho" during the training led to a nervous breakdown and drove her to attempt suicide by drug overdose, she says.

In 1996 Leona went to study in Britain, where a more tolerant university environment allowed her to cross-dress for a year as part of her preparation for sex-change surgery.

In 1997, she checked in to a Bangkok surgery for the operation.

"I was afraid. I could go in and I could die. But I knew at that point that I was going to change my life forever," she recalls.

"I had carried that burden within me for so long and I couldn't live anymore without doing it."

Leona endured a lot of pain during the procedure, which took 14 days, but the feeling of having a new identity was "wonderful, euphoric!" she told AFP.

She warns other transsexuals who might be considering sex change surgery that getting a new identity "is not a magic wand" and they will have to live under a culture of shame and discrimination.

Family support is crucial. Her mother was the first person she told after the operation, and her father had already learned to accept her for who she is. "By that time, they had already decided that they would rather have me as a woman than lose me as a child," she says.

She hopes now to become a wife and mother.

"I look forward to a fulfilling relationship with a loving man, getting married and adopting three children.

"I've also reached a critical juncture where I'm more self-assured and finally able to lay to rest the painful aspects of my past and move confidently as a woman."

Chill With The Anti-Texas Hateraid

One of the things I'm getting a little tired of as a proud native Texan and native Houstonian is the increasing level of anti-Texas hateraid.

Whether it's peeps chomping liberal portions of Hater Tots because of Beyonce's continued success, multitalented Jamie Foxx grabbing an Oscar and making noise in the music business, or Texans having prominent roles in sports, business and government, the hate is getting to noticeable levels.

I suspect that much of the root cause of it stems from the idiot we have in the White House. But news flash for y'all, George W. Bush was born in New Haven, CT. He is a Connecticut Yankee who resides at a pseudo ranch he bought just before the 2000 campaign started in a pitiful attempt to emulate LBJ. (He's not as smart as LBJ) The only Texans who claim his butt these days are right wing radical neo-cons and so-called Bible-thumping 'christians'.

That anti-Texas hate has even materialized in the transgender community. Last year I was about to do an appearance on Ethan's Internet radio show when the previous guest started bashing Texans. I had to spend a few minutes pointing out that much of the history of the 20th century in the United States and the world has Texans as major players in it or has Texas connections. The Roe v. Wade case has Texas roots, and so does the Lawrence v. Texas one that toppled sodomy laws in this country.

That pattern is especially true in the transgender community. Some of the early leaders like Phyllis Frye, Sarah DePalma, and Jane Ellen Fairfax were Texans. That continued into the new millennium with myself, the late Brenda Thomas and Vanessa Edwards Foster stepping up to leadership roles in various capacities. There are as of this writing five Texans including myself that have won IFGE Trinity Awards, and my win in 2006 capped a streak of three years in a row that a Texan had won it. (And for you folks from Dallas, all those wins have been by peeps residing in or from Houston.) Kat Rose, one of the transgender community's historians, writers and creative legal minds hails from the Lone Star State as well.

We Texans helped found GenderPac, It's Time America, ICTLEP (the International Center for Transgender Law and Employment Policy) and NTAC just for starters. One of the first early national transgender events was the Boulton and Park Society's Texas 'T' Party that was held in San Antonio before Southern Comfort grew to be the must attend mega convention it is today. One of the nation's best gender clinics is in Galveston and has been around since the 70's.

Texans Christie Lee Littleton and Michael Kantaras were involved in legal cases that affected our people. Fort Worth resident Rochelle Evans' fight to transition on her high school campus garnered nationwide attention earlier this year and has made other transkids aware along with Crystal Vera that they can follow in their pumps.

So the bottom line is that The Lone Star State, with three of the top ten cities in population in the US size wise inside its borders (Houston, Dallas and San Antonio) and being the second largest state in size and population, will continue to play a major role in shaping events in the transgender community and beyond for the foreseeable future.

My Memories of September 11, 2001

As many of you know, today is the sixth anniversary of the terror attacks on the World Trade Center Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington DC.

Like people who remember what they were doing in my parents generation when they heard about JFK and Dr. King being assassinated, or people like myself who remember what they were doing when the Challenger exploded after liftoff in 1986, that moment in time is frozen in everyone's memories.

I was back home in Houston preparing to fly to Louisville the next day for interviews I had set up. But that morning I couldn't sleep. I kept tossing an turning to the point I finally gave up and got out of bed about 6:30 AM CDT. I flipped on the TV to Good Morning America and used it as the backdrop for checking my e-mail and typing a few chapters of my first novel I was working on.

I was alerted to the first inklings of the tragedy to unfold when Charles Gibson broke with the story of a fire being reported at the World Trade Center. That piqued my curiosity enough to make me walk into my living room, angle the TV where I could see it and go back to my bedroom to resume what I was doing on the computer.

I called my homegirl Carol Lee who lives in Yonkers to find out what she'd heard and as the story kept unfolding I gave up trying to rework that chapter in Capital Gains.

I was watching the live feed when the second plane crashed into the other tower. I knew from my airline industry time that it was a commercial bird by recognizing the profile of a 767 and that it was no accident. There are no-fly zones around mega skyscrapers like the World Trade Center set up to specifically avoid repeats of planes colliding with buildings like a plane did in 1945 with the Empire State Building.

Well, I was on the phone wih Carol for the next several hours as the rest of that terrible morning unfolded before hanging up. I thought about my last vacation visit to New York in May 2000 and how my wish to go up to the observation deck on the 110th floor would go unfulfilled. I was planning to do that during my trip but weather wouldn't permit it. The first two days I hung out with Carol it was rainy and cloudy before the skies cleared to have brilliant sunshine that Saturday. I was also waiting for a piece of my luggage to get delivered to her place that didn't arrive with me as well. I decided to blow off the trip to the WTC until my next visit.

I haven't been near the NY area since.

After confirming that the other peeps I knew in the area were safe, I thought about those previous trips to New York. No matter what part of town you were in, the imposing view of the Towers let you know you're in New York.

It's weird now when I watch movies that are set in New York and see the Towers in those shots. It's just as weird NOT seeing the Towers in the New York skyline.

God bless all the people who lost their lives in those heinous attacks, their families who are still struggling without them in their lives, and the folks who are suffering medically because they selflessly went to help their fellow human beings in a time of need.

Ebony Magazine's Top 25 Black TV Shows of All Time

In the October 2007 issue of Ebony there's an interesting article by Bryan Monroe that attempts to choose the Top 25 Black TV Shows of all time.

The Ebony editors looked at over 100 shows over 60 years of television. Some of the shows that didn't make it were Room 222, The Mod Squad, Julia, That's My Mama and Being Bobby Brown. Readers also weighed in on www.ebonyjet.com

And now, the envelope please:


1-The Cosby Show
2-A Different World
3-Living Single
4-The Jeffersons
5-In Living Color

6-The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
7-Sanford and Son
8-Martin
9-Good Times
10-Soul Train


11-Girlfriends
12-Soul Food
13-The Bernie Mac Show
14-227
15-Showtime At The Apollo

16-What's Happening
17-The Steve Harvey Show
18-Grey's Anatomy
19-Amen
20-New York Undercover


21-Fame
22-Roc
23-The Flip Wilson Show
24-The Jamie Foxx Show
25-Diff'rent Strokes and Family Matters (tie)


Top 3 Black Talk Shows or Daytime Shows
1-The Oprah Winfrey Show
2-The Arsenio Hall Show
3-Judge Mathis



Top 3 Black Animated Shows
1-Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
2-The Jackson 5ive
3-The Boondocks



The only beefs I have with the list is that Julia should have been on it, The Flip Wilson Show should have been ranked much higher than number 23, and I think Martin should have been ranked much lover than number 8. I don't think it's the same quality level as A Different World, The Cosby Show, Living Single or The Jeffersons.

But then again, I'm just now finding out about this poll.

Gotta renew my subscription to Ebony ;)

He’s My Daughter

By ELIZABETH TAI
September 9, 2007
from The Star(Malaysia)

photos-transwoman Sarika, a Malaysian transwoman entering a non-profit organization in Kuala Lumpur

Appalled by how transsexuals are generally mistreated by society and even their families, the third winner of FreedomFilmFest07 hopes to change mindsets by showing how a mother’s love and acceptance can make all the difference.

IT was an assignment that seemed straightforward enough: do a video clip on transsexuals in Malaysia for a news website. But after meeting and interviewing transsexuals and learning about their lives, Indrani Kopal, 28, could not get them out of her mind.

The Cambridge International Dictionary of English defines a transsexual as a person who feels that they should have been born the opposite sex, and therefore behaves and dresses like a member of that sex, or a person who has had a medical operation to change their sex.

In real life, that’s much harder to do. The transsexuals Indrani met told her stories of how they were harassed and abused by strangers when they walked down the street. Some were turned out by their loved ones. As a result, many became sex workers because they could not fend for themselves as no one was willing to employ them. And this led to the arrests by the police.

Indrani quickly realised that her short video clip for Malaysiakini was not enough. She kept in touch with the many transsexuals she had come to know and looked for the chance to tell their stories in a bigger and more profound way.

She first thought of highlighting the injustices faced by transsexuals, because “in the Asian region, our country is the worst for transsexuals to live in,” but that angle did not feel right nor new to Indrani.

Then, she got to know Sarika Samalakrishnan, 23, a university graduate who works in a human resource department of a company.

After hearing numerous tales of how transsexuals were turned away by their families, she was astounded to find out that Sarika’s family accepted her for who she was.

“Her mum went to the extend of buying her clothes and cosmetics! I was amazed, and thought, ‘Wow, that’s a cool mother!’ And I thought, why not document it?” said Indrani.

Indrani knew that she had found the perfect angle for her documentary.

And when the FreedomFilmFest judges received her documentary proposal, they thought the same and Indrani became one of three winners who were awarded a RM5,000 grant.

Her documentary is called She’s My Son. It wasn’t easy to juggle her busy work as a video journalist and find time to film and direct her project as well.

But nothing prepared her for the crisis that hit the production. Three weeks after pre-production in April, one of Sarika’s sisters feared that the documentary would make Sarika’s “issue” public and thus harm the chances of their younger sister getting married.

Sarika had to withdraw from the documentary.

“It was a moment of complete panic for me,” said Indrani, shuddering at the memory.

For two weeks, Indrani frantically searched for a new talent. Then Sarika introduced her to Suganya, 30.

“I wasn’t so sure about her at first. Then, at a party held by transsexuals, Suganya came to me and said, ‘Don’t worry, you will love my mother.’ And when I met Suganya’s mother Samsed, I realised that she was godsend. Everything I had in my mind, she just laid it out. She was expressive, confident, and cooperative,” said Indrani.

The relationship between Suganya and Samsed, 49, was just beautiful, she added.

When Suganya went through a sex change operation recently, the whole family celebrated it.

“It was a huge ceremony for them and they invited their relatives to the party,” said Indrani.

One thing you will not find in her documentary is religious debate because Indrani feels that the focus should be on families instead.

“The root of the problem is the family. If the family respects a transgendered child, then they will educate society (into accepting transsexuals). Why do you want to blame the authorities when you can educate the family? And who can educate the family? The media.”

The real star of the documentary, she said, is Samsed.

“I want people to know that there are mothers who accept their transsexual children,” she explained. “When I was young, I didn’t give them any attention. I thought they were normal, but I wasn’t aware of what was happening to them in society.”

Society needs to realise that transsexuals have the right to live, to have shelter, to earn money and have an education, she added.

“Even if only one person changes after the documentary, I think I’ve completed my objective,” she said.

Battlestar Galactica With Soul

TransGriot Note: Battlestar Galactica is one of my favorite shows. As a writing exercise, one day I took this scene from the miniseries, imagined that Baltar and Number Six were Black and started writing.


We're at the phat crib of Dr. Darius Baltar, scientific genius and playa-playa. He's got a honey dip in his bedroom and Number 36-24-36 is quietly watching him.

"Trick, get up," said 36-24-36.
"Who the frack are you?"
"Get the frack up out of his bed before you find out who I am."
"Darius, you gonna let her talk to me like that?"
"Sorry babe, she’s got it going on," said Darius. “I did tell you before we got busy I was seeing somebody.”
"So it’s like that, huh?”
“Yep Terri, it is.”
“My girlfriend Aisha warned me to leave your tired ass alone,” Terri said as she put her clothes on.
"Whatever tramp, get out." said 36-24-36 as Darius puts on his robe.
After Terri finished putting on her clothes, she rolled her eyes at Darius before storming out of the bedroom and slamming the door on her way out.

“Baby, I'm sorry...," he said with a contrite expression on his face.
"Spare me, Darius. I came here because I need to tell your dog ass something."
"And what's that?"
"I'm a Cylon."
"You're fracking kidding me, right?"
"No, I'm not. Didn't you notice anything unusual about me?"
"Naw baby, you’re fine as hell. But now that I think about it, there was that night I thought I saw red lights when we were doing the wild thang at the Caprica City Hilton."

He stepped back to take another good look at 36-24-36's shapely honey brown figure and hazel eyes.
“Dayum! Y'all sure have come a long way, baby. Last time I peeped Cylons y'all looked like walking chrome toasters."
"That's not all I have to tell you.”
“What? You have a sister?”
“I have many sisters. But that’s not important right now. Remember when I asked you for that little favor to look around the Colonial Fleet’s defense mainframe computers?"
"Yeah. Your point?"
"The point is that I played your pussy whipped punk azz. I needed you to help me complete my mission.”
"What mission?"
"We needed to find out what was up with the Colonial Fleet. Thanks to you I got the information I needed and sent it to the brothers and sistahs back on Cylon."
"YOU DID WHAT?" said Darius.
"I said I sent that information on the mainframe back to Cylon. Every fracking file."
"Girl, you know what they'll do to a brotha if they find out?"
"No, what?"

"They'll fry my black azz for treason."
“That’s your problem, not mine,” said 36-24-36. “What are you doing?"
"I need to call my lawyer," Darius said as he picked up his phone.
"That won't be necessary."
"What do you mean, that won't be necessary?"
"You heard me, that won’t be necessary,” said 36-24-36. “In a few hours there won't be anybody left on this planet to charge you with anything."
"What are you talking about?"
"The children humanity kicked to the curb are coming home,” said 36-24-36. “Today."

Can't Y'all Read Your Own Stylebooks?

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see the recent explosion in positive coverage of transpeople by the media. I've done a few interviews and been quoted in a few articles myself.

What I have a problem with when I read or watch stories on transgender people is the continual butchering of pronouns. It has the effect when I'm reading or watching the story video of fingernails squeakily dragging across a chalkboard.

The Associated Press puts out what's called the AP Stylebook. It is considered the journalistic Bible and is updated on a regular basis. I own a copy of it that sits in a prominent place next to my computer. In addition to grammar rules, how to write properly formatted AP stories and other tidbits we writers need to know, it contains the guidelines for language and terminology use when reporting on various groups. Guidelines for reporting on GLBT peeps were adopted and added to the AP Style book for the first time in 2001. It was expanded in the 2006 edition.


From the 2006 AP Stylebook:

transgender: Use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth.

If that preference is not expressed, use the pronoun consistent with the way the individuals live publicly.

The New York Times and Washington Post also have stylebooks as well that contain guidelines on covering GLBT peeps. The Washington Post one as of the 2006 edition doesn't have a paragraph in it covering transgender people. In the New York Times one, last published in 2005, it has this to say about transgender people:

transgender; is an overall term for people whose current identity differs from their sex at birth, whether or not they have changed their biological characteristics. Cite a person's transgender status only when it is pertinent and its pertinence is clear to the reader. Unless a former name is newsworthy or pertinent, use the name and pronouns (he, his, she, her, hers) preferred by the transgender person. If no preference is known, use the pronouns consistent with the way the subject lives publicly.

GLAAD even has a downloadable Media Reference Guide, now in its 7th edition that has a transgender glossary of terms and how to cover us.

But it seems like it's pulling teeth just to get peeps to implement these stylebook rules. The gay media at one point were the worst offenders about using incorrect pronouns to report on our lives with one egregious example of it being the notorious article Boston's Bay Windows ran in the wake of the November 1998 death of Rita Hester.

The anger over Rita's mischaracterization in the Bay Windows and Boston Globe articles eventually became the spark that started the Transgender Day of Remembrance vigils that now happen around the world.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen reports in which the person is obviously living their life as a female and they are referred to throughout the story with an old male name, called a 'transsexual male', or the male pronoun is used to describe them.

One of the things that irritated me about the coverage of transgender prom queen Crystal Vera a few months ago was the constant use of her old name when it was blatantly obvious there was a girl standing in front of those cameras.

In this recent story detailing the problems high school freshman and transwoman Vladimir Moran Miller has had with the Springfield. MO Public Schools over dress code, the incorrect pronouns just jumped out at me. And oh, did anyone think to ask the question whether this person has a femme name? It's obvious she's living as female, so that would be one of the first questions I'd ask.

But then again I'm a transperson. When it comes to some peeps in this country they are still in education mode when it comes to us, so we need to ensure that the story is as accurate as possible.

Is it gonna kill media peeps to ask just a few more questions in order to get a more accurate story when it comes to transpeople?

Miss Continental 2008

For some people, Labor Day means a last chance to relax, chill out, chow down on some barbecue and enjoy the last days of summer. It means seeing the Jerry Lewis telethon on TV. But for peeps involved in the pageant community, Labor Day means it's time to roll into Chicago for the Miss Continental Pageant. It's one I've always wanted to attend for years, and this year's pageant was held September 2 and 3 in Chicago's Park West Theatre.

The winner was Necole Luv Dupree. The 2007-2008 first alternate was Armani, with Alexis Gabrielle Sherrington as second alternate. Necole has a long list of pageant titles to her credit and was first alternate in last year's Miss Continental Pageant.

The Miss Continental Pageant is considered the creme de la creme of the transgender pageant world. It got its start in 1980, when Jim Flint, the owner of Chicago's Baton Show Lounge organized a pageant for female illusionists who couldn't compete in the Miss Gay USofA or Miss Gay America systems because they banned the use of female hormones, silicone injections below the neck or breast implants. Ironically, its first winner, Chilli Pepper was a classic drag artist, but over time transwomen came to dominate this system.

Unlike the mainstream Miss Universe or Miss America systems, it didn't take sistahs long to make their marks in this pageant world. In 1982 Tiffany Arieagus became the first African-American winner of the Miss Continental title. In fact, Necole is the ninth sistah to win the Miss Continental pageant and the third in a row since 2005-06. Other African-American winners have been Lakeisha Lucky, Cezanne, Paris Frantz, Tasha Long, Tommie Ross, Domanique Shappelle, and last year's winner Victoria LePaige, the first Chicago native to win the title.

Twenty-seven years later, the pageant has grown into a system that conducts preliminary contests across the United States, in Canada (Toronto) and Puerto Rico (San Juan). The Miss Continental title is considered a crowning achievement for anyone who's in the pageant world. Some legendary names have won this title that include my fellow Texan Erica Andrews, fellow Houstonian Tommie Ross and Domanique Shappelle.

So all hail the new queen of the Miss Continental world for 2007-08, Necole Love Dupree.

New Century, Same Old Bull***t

The more things chamge, the old saying goes, the more things remain the same.

It seems like every year, especially in ones when Republicans are in power, we African-Americans get a wake up call as to just how entrenched racism is in American society, how far we STILL have to go to overcome it, and just how racist and jacked-up our legal system is, especially in the Deep South.

I've been keeping tabs on an unfolding story in Jena, Louisiana. It's a town of 2,971 residents northeast of Alexandria in the central part of the state. It's the parish seat of LaSalle Parish (parishes are what counties are called in Louisiana)and Jena's population breakdown is 85% white, 12% Black

Believe it or not, this travesty of justice started because of a shade tree. In the summer of 2006 an African-American student named Kenneth Purvis asked school administrators for permission to sit under the 'white tree' in the front of the Jena High School campus. It had been 'tradition' and the unspoken rule that this particular shade tree was reserved for only white students to sit under during breaks and at lunch. The school's vice principal told Purvis there was nothing stopping them from doing it, so the next day several Black students sat under the tree.

The day after the Black kids sat under the 'white tree',three ropes in school colors were hanging from the tree tied with hangman's nooses. The three white students responsible for the stunt were facing expulsion, but the school board overruled the principal. Most whites in Jena dismissed it as a 'youthful prank'.

That 'youthful prank' as they put it has long, bitter memories for African-Americans. It triggered a series of events that escalated racial tensions in the town to the boiling point.

Incensed about the three day in-school suspension given to the noose hangers, several African-American students, including a few star players on the Jena High football team staged a sit-in under the 'white tree'.

The principal reacted to the sit-in by bringing in 28th Judicial District DA Reed Walters and ten police officers to a school assembly which was a throwback to the bad old Jim Crow days-blacks on one side of the auditorium, whites on the other. Walters is described as turning to the Black students during this assembly and reportedly telling them to "keep their mouths shut about the boys hanging their nooses up. If he hears anything else about it, he can make their lives go away with the stroke of his pen."

Police officers patrolled the Jena High School campus for a week and kept the simmering racial tensions at bay for a while. But on November 30 the school's main building was burned to the ground in an arson fire.

That fire blew the lid off the racial tensions seething below the surface.

On December 1 African-American football player Robert Bailey was invited to a dance at a hall considered to be 'white'. When he arrived he was sucker punched in the face, knocked to the ground and attacked by several white youth. Only one of Bailey's attackers was arrested. That person was given probation and asked to apologize to Bailey.

The next day a 22 year old white man and two of his friends pulled a loaded shotgun on Bailey and his two friends while they were at a local gas station. The black youths wrestled the gun away from the white male to prevent him from using it and took off.

Incredibly, Bailey was arrested and charged with theft of a firearm and disturbing the peace. The whites who instigated the event were not prosecuted.

Then on December 4 the fateful fight jumped off. When white student Justin Barker began taunting Robert Bailey about getting beat up that weekend, it jumped off a fight that sent Barker to the hospital. Barker was later seen socalizing a few hours later. Barker was later arrested for carrying a gun to school.

Robert Bailey, Theo Shaw, Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis, Mychal Bell, and a still unidentified minor were arrested, charged with attempted second degree manslaughter (a felony) and conspiracy to commit murder. Those charges carry a potential sentence of up to 80 years in prison. The sixth faces undisclosed juvenile charges.

They were also expelled from school. The Jena 6 as they have come to be called, have been in jail for months awaiting trial because of the outrageously high bails that were set that ranged from $70,000-$138,000.

$70,000-$138,000 bail for a schoolyard fight.

Mychal Bell, the first of the Jena 6 to go to trial, was convicted by an all-white jury in a court run by a white judge on the testimony of 16 white people. His public defender called no witnesses to testify on his behalf. He's set to be sentenced on September 20 and is facing 22 years in prison.

“There’s been obvious racial discrimination in this case,” said Joe Cook, executive director of the Louisiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

“It appears that the black students were singled out and targeted in this case for some unusually harsh treatment.”

The case is getting international attention and is just now being picked up by the US media, although Jet and Ebony magazines (as usual) were ahead of the US media curve.

I wonder if they're going to come down on DA Reed Walters and disbar him for abuse of power like they did to the North Carolina DA in the Duke Lacrosse case. Unlike the Duke kids, these kids lives and reputations are being ruined because they dared to stand up and defend themselves against bigotry and racist attacks.


It's interesting to note that the conservatives who were loudly defending the Duke players and railing about the miscarriage of justice in that case have been silent on this one. Where are the money-grubbing ministers of the Lo Impact Misleadership Coalition? Can't stop hatin' on gay peeps long enough to join Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Jesse and the rest of Black America in fighting for the freedom of the Jena 6?

Last month Rev. Al Sharpton told a press conference in the town that the case of the Jena 6 “speaks to a South we thought we left in the last century”.

All this drama because some white folks in Jena are pissed because some 'uppity nigras' dared to sit under a damned tree.

Lynnell Stephani Long

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

Lynnell Stephani Long is a trailblazer in her own right. I first became aware of her during the summer of 1999 when I was part of the activist team putting together NTAC. She was 'ejumacating' us on intersex issues. I traded e-mail with her for a while before we lost contact with each other.

She's a voice for a community that many African-Americans aren't aware exists, the intersex one.

According to ISNA, the Intersex Society of North America, about one in every 1500 children is born with genitalia ambiguous enough to call in a sex differentiation specialist.

Lynnell was one of those kids. She was born in Chicago on June 11, 1963 with ambiguous genitalia. After being surgically altered by doctors she was raised male most of her life. She went through major drama in her life until she saw ISNA's Cheryl Chase on TV in 1997 and discovered she was intersex. She eventually met Cheryl Chase at a 1999 GenderPac Lobby Day (how did I miss meeting both of them?) and began working with the organization by telling her story about growing up Black and intersex.

As any transperson can tell you, being outside the norms in the Black community can be a pain in the ass, and being an intersex child wasn't easy for her. As she wrote in a 2003 BLACKlines article,

"Growing up in an all-Black community and going to an all-Black high school was rough as hell. While a lot of the other boys walked around nude, proud of the size of their penis, I tried my best to hide. Hiding didn’t stop the questions though. Questions like, “Why is your penis so small? Why do you have breasts? What are you, a boy or a girl?”

She also states that African-Americans need to educate themselves on intersex issues. "There isn’t any one thing an organization like ISNA can do to help the Black community, except make sure information is available. I strongly believe people of color need to educate themselves."

"We need to step outside myths and stereotypes. If a child is born with a small penis, that child may be Intersex. If a girl is born with an enlarged clitoris, chances are she is Intersex. There is nothing to be ashamed about. There is no reason to hide the child or try to get that child fixed unless the child needs medical treatment."

She does her part to educate us by writing columns for various magazines, her website, appearing twice on the Montel Williams Show, doing performance art, and telling her story. She's a member of ISNA's Speakers Bureau and has spoken in the Chicago area and across the United States and Canada on ending intersex genital mutilation.

Lynnell's doing her part to let us know that intersex issues aren't just a 'white thang'.

A Slice of African-American Transgender History

An exhibit entitled Carryin' On concluded yesterday at the Warhol Musuem in Pittsburgh, PA that I wish I'd known about sooner.

I was perusing Frank Leon Roberts' blog (don't know as of yet if we're related) and it mentioned a photo exhibit of GLBT themed work from Warhol, African photographer Samuel Fosso and Charles 'Teenie' Harris.

Andy Warhol in 1975 created a series of paintings, prints and collage studies titled Ladies and Gentlemen utilizing a number of New York City drag queens. Warhol sent assistants to the Gilded Grape, a bar on West 45th Street often frequented by Black and Hispanic transpeople to recruit models for the series.

Charles 'Teenie' Harris (1909-1998) was a photographer for the highly influential Pittsburgh Courier, one of the largest African-American newspapers at the time. This particular series of Harris’ work showcased in the just concluded exhibit celebrates Black GLBT life in Pittsburgh’s Hill District from the 1930’s through 1950’s.

During Harris' 40-year career with the Pittsburgh Courier he produced an estimated collection of 80,000 images. He earned the nickname 'One Shot Harris' based on his legendary reputation he gained for his ability to snap the picture and leave, requiring just one take to capture the essence of his subject. This archive represents the largest single collection of photographic images of any Black community in the US. This series along with the entire Harris collection is part of the Carnegie Museum of Arts collection

Scholar Frank Leon Roberts is carrying on the tradition with his photos of the ballroom community that he posts on his blog. If you saw Paris Is Burning and wondered if the community still exists, the answer after perusing his blog is an emphatic yes.

I was aware that the ball houses have spread up and down the East coast, into the Midwest and LA has chapters, but I was shocked to discover after I moved here that Louisville has ball houses. I was dismayed to find out after I moved from my beloved hometown that an active ballroom community has sprung up there and in Dallas.

Chicago had their own legendary Finnie's Ball that started in 1935. It was an eagerly anticipated event on Chicago's South Side that took place until the 80's. The balls were even covered by the Chicago Defender, Jet and Ebony (until 1953) magazines.

The just concluded exhibit helps drive home two points that I've been making for several years now. The African-American GLBT community just didn't spring up out of thin air. We've always been part of the African-American family and we have a history. The ballroom community that Frank documents sprang from the elaborate drag balls that were conducted during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920's.

The other point is that we're here, we've always been part of the African-American family and aren't going away.

We're Going To Beijing!

Team USA won the FIBA Americas Tournament today by mauling Argentina in the gold medal game 118-81. As the champions of the FIBA Americas Zone they have qualified for the Olympics next year. The silver medallist Argentine team also qualified and for a team that was missing the San Antonio Spurs Manu Ginobili they exceeded expectations.

The only upset Team USA suffered was Argentina's (and future Houston Rocket) Luis Scola winning the Molten Tournament MVP trophy. The Puerto Ricans beat the Brazilians in a 111-107 thriller to take the bronze medal.

Team USA got off to a fast start and never looked back. They were up 35-14 after the first quarter and 59-37 at the half. Lebron James finshed with 31 points, Dwight Howard with 20, Carmelo Anthony with 16 and Tayshaun Prince contributed 13 off the bench.

Team USA went unbeaten in this tournament to take the gold medal. They served notice to the rest of the world that USA men's basketball is back. They looked like the number one ranked team in the FIBA world rankings.

The scary part for the rest of the world is that we didn't have ALL of our best players on the floor either. Dwyane Wade was watching from the stands. Kevin Garnett wasn't there. Shaq...you get the drift.

I hope the unselfish team ball, torrid shooting and suffocating defense Team USA displayed in Las Vegas doesn't stay there and we see a replay next summer in Beijing.

The Williams Sisters Are Dominating The US Open

The Williams sisters are still administering tennis beatdowns to the 2007 US Open women's field. They are on track to meet each other in the semifinals. (what genius set up this draw?)

Venus has been on a roll since the US Open started on August 27. She took out Kira Nagy 6-2, 6-1 in the first round, sent Ioana Raluca Olaru packing with a 6-4, 6-2 butt kicking, quickly eliminated Alona Bondarenko in the third round 6-1, 6-2 and polished off the No. 5 world ranked Ana Ivanovic in a Sunday afternoon matchup at Arthur Ashe Stadium 6-4, 6-2.

Baby sis has had to work a little harder, but she's been just as impressive. In her first round match Serena beat Angelique Kerber 6-3, 7-5, took out Maria Elena Camerin 7-5, 6-2, had to work to beat Vera Zvonareva 6-4,7-6 (7-4) and defeated 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-4.

The sistas are looking dominant, kicking butt and taking names. Hopefully one of them will be taking home the US Open championship trophy later this week.

Kickin' Knowledge-Transsexualism 101

I've been writing this TransGriot blog for almost three years and it just occured to me that I haven't written a post breaking down the basics of what transsexuality is (or isn't).

So ring the bell, school is about to be in session.

There will be a pop quiz after I'm done ;)

In order to understand what a transperson goes through, I'll have to get four basic concepts across to you loyal TransGriot readers. Those concepts are: gender assignment, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation.

To get this party started, I'm going to ask you TransGriot readers four questions.

1-What was the gender/sex you were assigned at birth?

2-Do you personally recognize yourself as a male or a female?

3-Do you express yourself in a predominately masculine or feminine gender role?

4-Do you find men or women sexually attractive?

The answer you gave to the first question is your gender assignment.

The answer you gave to the second question is your gender identity.

The answer you gave to the third question is your gender expression.

The answer you gave to the fourth question is your sexual orientation.

Gender assignment relates to the day you were born. The doctor took one look between your legs to see if you had the hole or the pole. You are declared male or female and checking M or F boxes on forms based on that cursory examination, your birthdate and other criteria to establish what becomes your legal identity.

Gender identity is simply your internal sense of which gender team you belong to, the boys or the girls. It starts developing as early as 2 to 3 years of age.

Gender expression is how we present ourselves to the world. It's how we use the culturally defined characteristics of male or female based on clothing, speech patterns, body decorations and body language. Sometimes male or female peeps will blend characteristics from the opposite gender androgynously.

Sexual orientation is simply whether you are gay, straight or bi.

One major point I want to get across is that your sexual orientation and your gender identity are two separate and distinct issues. I know some transwomen who are still attracted to women, some transmen who still like guys and vice versa. There are even some who like both or some who could give a rat's anus about sex period. (but that's a discussion I'll save for another post)

Gender identity is assumed to be consistent with our birth gender/sex assignment. In other words, if you're born with a penis, society expects you to develop a male gender identity. If you're born with a vagina, society expects you to develop a female gender identity.

However, there are some of us that don't fit that assumption. Some peeps born with male genitalia grow up developing a female gender identity. Conversely, there are peeps with female genitalia who grow up developing a male gender identity. There are also peeps with ambiguous genitalia called intersexed people. (and that deserves another separate stand alone post as well.)

That mismatch is what medical professionals calls "transsexualism". The peeps with this medically diagnosed issue are called transsexuals.

TRANSSEXUAL FEMALES
(male-to-female transsexuals, transsexual girls/women, transwomen)

born with a male body
assigned as male at birth
have a female gender identity

TRANSSEXUAL MALES
(female-to-male transsexuals, transsexual boys/men, transman)

born with a female body
assigned as female at birth
have a male gender identity

While no one knows the exact cause of transsexualism, current medical knowledge, the weight of scientific research and accumulated evidence leans towards a biological cause with many contributing factors.

One theory is that during a crucial stage of fetal development, the brain undergoes a hormone wash that masculinizes or feminizes the brain. If there's an abundance of testosterone you end up with a male brain. If there's minimal testosterone you develop a female brain.

Autopsies performed on deceased transwomen over the last decade have increasingly verified that their brains are equivalent in size to genetic female brains. The reverse is true for transmen.

Transsexuals have a deep and overwhelming desire to reject the gender to which they were assigned at birth. They wish to live their lives as members of their perceived gender identity, express it and be socially recognized as how they perceive themselves.

Gender transition is the journey we undertake to make that happen. The process can start at an early age or when people are older.

It includes taking on a name associated with the opposite gender, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to develop secondary sex characteristics, surgical procedures to further feminize or masculinize one's body and legally changing one's documents to reflect their gender identity on their identification papers, and dressing and presenting oneself in the manner associated with the opposite gender.


Some urban legends about transsexuality are:

*A transwoman is a male homosexual who wants to be a woman and a transman is a lesbian who wants to be a man.

A gay male has a masculine gender identity and a lesbian has a feminine gender identity. Gay males are attracted to other gay males and lesbians are attracted to other lesbians.

I repeat, gender identity and sexual orientation are two different issues. Don't get it twisted.

*A transwoman is a cross dresser.

While we both wear feminine clothing, we do it for different reasons. Crossdressers enjoy or maintain their masculinity and dress for fetishistic or other reasons. A transwoman rejects masculinity and is wearing feminine clothing to match her gender identity.

*A transsexual is just someone who has undergone sex reassgnment surgery.

Contrary to popular beliefs, transsexuals are not just people who have already had SRS. Some transsexuals for medical or financial reasons are unable to have surgery. A transmen's surgical options aren't as satisfying to them, are expensive and they often forgo them. SRS is just one option available to a transperson who wishes to have their physical body match their gender identity.

Class is dismissed. ;)

Carole Simpson

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


“Everyone has something to contribute in the newsroom, but not if they have no place at the table, or no place at the rim."

"To have a real democracy we need a multitude of voices. If the news historically and currently is exclusively held by a select group of people, the discussion is exclusive. If the news does not reflect the nation’s diversity in on-air staff, in story selection, in management, in employment, we are doomed.”

Carole Simpson, in remarks to newsroom executives at an RTNDF luncheon

I'm a person who craves news and information. You'll find this news junkie the majority of the time when I'm not reading the newspaper or on the Net watching C-SPAN, CNN, ABC, the BBC and my local news.


One of the major reasons I used to watch ABC World News Sunday was to see Emmy Award winner and ABC's Washington senior correspondent Carole Simpson use her distinctive voice to deliver it.

The University of Michigan journalism graduate started her broadcast career as a reporter and weekend anchor at WMAQ-TV in her hometown of Chicago. Before joining NBC News in 1974, she was a journalism instructor at Northwestern University's Medill School. She also spent two years as a journalism instructor and director of the information bureau at Tuskegee University.

At NBC News she covered the US Congress and then vice president George HW Bush before joining ABC News in 1982. She accompanied him on his foreign and domestic trips and covered Bush during the 1988 presidential campaign. In 1990 she anchored the ABC live coverage of Nelson Mandela's release from his 27 year imprisonment. She's also done live coverage of major breaking stories such as the Persian Gulf War, the Tiananmen Square massacre, the fall of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, and the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings. She was moderator for the second 1992 Presidential debate in Richmond, VA.

From 1988-2004 she was the anchor for ABC World News Tonight-Sunday, and her reports also appeared on '20/20'. 'Good Morning America', 'Nightline' and other ABC programs. She was also a substitute anchor for the late Peter Jennings on World News Tonight.

In addition to the Emmy, Simpson garnered numerous journalism awards including a 1992 Journalist of the Year one from the National Association of Black Journalists. She has also established numerous college scholarships for women and minorities pursuing careers in broadcast journalism at her alma mater. The RTNDF named its scholarship in her honor. She retired from ABC News just last year.

Not long after she stepped down from her anchor position Simpson embarked on what she says "may potentially be the most important job of my career." She was named a News Ambassador by ABC and given the task of speaking to high school students across the country.

She engages students in discussions about the value of reading, listening and watching the news, the role of a free press in a democratic society, and the importance of becoming an informed citizen in an America facing serious challenges at home and abroad.

She has her work cut out for her in this assignment. But if anyone can pull it off, I have no doubts that Carole Simpson will get her message across to at least some of the kids she talks to. She may even inspire a few of them to follow in her legendary journalistic footsteps.

One person who did follow in her footsteps is her daughter, Dr. Mallika Marshall. She's a practicing physician who is also the medical correspondent for CBS affiliate WBZ-TV in Boston. She appears every Saturday on the CBS 'Early Show,'

One of the other things I love about Carole is that she's never been shy to speak truth to power or to speak her mind. It's one of her values that I diligently work on incorporating in my column and on this blog.

If I get to even half of the level of excellence that Carole Simpson achieved over her career, I'd consider it an honor.

Syimone, Syimone, Syimone....

TransGriot Note- This was going to be my September 2007 newspaper column. The column wasn't printed due to threats of legal action.

-------------------------------------------------------
To Syimone (And Every Black Female Illusionist Who Thinks Like Her)
“I’m not offended by Shirley Q. Liquor because my sexuality is more important to my sense of who I am that my skin color is, and I don’t see the so called Black community out there in the streets protesting for my right to love and fuck and marry who I want.”

That was a quote from Syimone, one of The Connection’s female impersonators. It was originally printed in a June Rolling Stone article about Chuck’s jacked-up minstrel show persona and was recently reprinted in the July 18 issue of the LEO. (the Louisville Eccentric Observer, a local alternative newspaper.)

While we African-Americans aren’t monolithic in thought and she has a constitutional right to her opinion, this comment is just begging for me to expound on it.

News flash for you, Syimone. Race overrides everything in the USA. The color line and the attitudes that accompany it predate the founding of our country by 150 years. So check that birth certificate of yours. It definitely doesn’t have a box to check for gay or straight on it.

There are also African-Americans working for the marriage equality you yearn for. Check out the website of an organization called the National Black Justice Coalition at http://www.nbjcoalition.org/

One of the things I’ve observed and disliked about the African-American illusionist community over the last twenty-five years is some of its members egocentric selfishness combined with Clarence Thomasesque hatred of their ethnic background.

Syimone, since you’re so quick to denigrate the African-American community about what they haven’t done for you, I’d like to ask what you have done FOR the African-American community?

That’s what I thought.

But let’s examine your comment that your sexuality is more important than your ethnic background. Since that’s what you claim (and I think it’s bull feces), where were you when the Fairness laws were under attack in 2004? Didn’t see you at Metro City Hall that night confronting the Reichers. Have you lobbied our legislators in Frankfort or Washington DC for the marriage equality you say is so important to you?

This hatred of your Blackness is not the only issue about you and some of your female illusionist sisters that irritates me and the African-American transpeeps who ARE doing thangs in the community. We get annoyed when we see y’all sit on your silicone-enhanced asses and constantly complain about what peeps aren’t doing for you, but y’all won’t step out of your show world cocoons to be informed or give a damn about issues that matter to the ENTIRE African-American community gay and straight.

So as the old saying goes, if you ain’t part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.

Syimone, I vehemently disagree with your misguided statement that your sexuality overrides your ethnicity. You may believe that fairy tale, but in the real world our dealings with white-dominated orgs such as HRC and GLAAD make a mockery of that. If sexuality overrides ethnicity, then why are there over twenty Black pride events scattered all over our country and around the world?

You chose Chuck over your people and you look like a Condoleezza Rice clone in the process. If you said that because you’re angry at the African-American community or were misquoted, then please contact me and I’ll give you the chance in a future TransGriot column to explain yourself.

But Syimone, if this is the prevailing sentiment of you and your female illusionist sisters, then y’all are as clueless as Chuck and it’s past time for all of y’all to check the alarm clock and wake up.