SRS Is Not A Requirement To Be A 'Successful' Transsexual

One of the things we need to do more often in this community is to spotlight and hold up our role models. We need our kids struggling with gender issues to see the diverse rainbow of transpeeps out there who are surviving and thriving out there in the cold, cruel world while being proud of who they are as transpeople.

There are two lists put together by Karen Serenity and Dr. Lynn Conway's TS Successes that do this quite well, and I applaud them for that.

However, there are two major problems with those lists.

Problem number one is the severe lack of melanin in them, and the second problem is that they focus almost exclusively on post-op transwomen.

I've said this before and will continue to drive this point home until I'm put in a nice casket and buried six feet under my beloved Texas soil that the cold hard truth is our transitions are not like yours.

We don't as people of color start out making a lot of money to begin with, so it takes us much longer if we do decide to get surgery to do so even if we start the transitions at a younger age.

There are also some peeps who can't get SRS for medical reasons as well or simply don't want to.

So riddle me this Karen Serenity and Dr. Conway. What happens when you create a list of successful transwomen that excludes people that either haven't publicly declared they've had SRS, have declared they don't want it or feel it isn't anybody's business to know what genitalia is in their panties?

It ends up as overwhelmingly white, middle-upper middle class and devoid of melanin.

If you are only including declared post-op transpeople on your lists, and the people who do go on to get surgery are overwhelmingly white and middle-upper middle class, what does the resulting list look like to a person of color?

Well, this POC is about to tell you.

One of the issues I had to deal with as a teenage transkid in the 70's was not seeing positive role models that reflected my ethnic heritage. It was one of the issues we've repeatedly discussed on my TSTB list of African descended transwomen.

I've noted that African descended transwomen growing up in the 80's and 90's had that same question and concern as well.

I've also made the point as well, along with many gender specialists that gender is not whether you have a penis or vagina between your legs, it's between your ears.

Transwoman, and especially you two ladies should know that better than anybody.

But one of the things that I have consistently seen from the WWBT crowd and transwomen who transition before 1990 is that they are still stuck in that same genitalia=gender paradigm, then label anyone who hasn't spent 20K for a neocoochie as 'not female'.

Congrats, you're no better than the radfems and the Religious Reich in that regard.

But then again, in order to get SRS back in the day, since many of the pioneering SRS gender surgeons were stuck in that rigid gender binary, they did make pre-1990's transwomen jump through multiple hoops and do crap that we post-1990 transwomen don't have to do.

But we all still have to swallow estrogen and deal with the same issues of negotiating society in a feminine body, and whether you have a neoclit or neocoochie as you deal with those issues doesn't change that one millimeter.

In Dr. Conway's case, she has a double standard in place in terms of her Successful Transmen page. As many of us in the community know, the bottom surgery for transmen is not even close to what transwomen have in terms of aesthetics and functionality, but yet she doesn't apply the same gender=genitalia standard to them that she applies to transwomen.


May I remind you ladies that being a success in life isn't based on your genitalia. There are also transwomen who have achieved wonderful things for this community who haven't necessarily spent time on a surgery table either.

I guess if the first transwomen elected to Congress or the first transgender mayor elected in a major city wasn't a post-op, you would decline to put her on your page.

While you have every right as the creators of those lists to determine the parameters as to who does and doesn't get included on the lists you spend your precious time compiling, I also have the same right, especially since people use them as resources to point out you're also doing those transwomen like Spain's Carla Antonelli for example, a disservice by ignoring their accomplishments.

You're also doing a disservice to people that need to see a wide palette of trans role models a disservice as well.

Susan Stanton Is New Lake Worth, FL City Manager

If you've been wondering what's up with Susan A. Stanton, she's doing quite well thank you after being selected on a 4-1 vote back on April 7 to become the new city manager for Lake Worth, FL.

As most of you who followed her story know, she was dismissed after 17 years as the Largo, FL city manager when she announced her plans to transition.

She was a finalist for two other city manager jobs in Tempe, AZ and Sarasota, FL before successfully getting this one.

She started her new job on Monday and is getting paid $150,000 to manage the city of Lake Worth, FL. Here's hoping that Ms. Stanton has a long, successful and less drama filled tenure there.

Artist Ernie Barnes Dies

If you were a devoted fan of Good Times back in the day, you know that Jimmie Walker's James Evans, Jr. character was an artist. That character and the show introduced the rest of the world to the artwork of Ernie Barnes.

'The Sugar Shack' dance scene appeared on Marvin Gaye's 1976 I Want You album and the closing credits of Good Times. It also inspired a generation of artists. Collectors of his work range from Ethel Kennedy, various professional sport team owners to Sylvester Stallone, Eddie Murphy, the late Sammy Davis, Jr., Kanye West, and from Seton Hall University to the California African American Museum.

The 70 year old Barnes died Monday night at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from complications from a rare blood disorder, said his longtime personal assistant Luz Rodriguez. Barnes is survived by his wife Bernie; brother James of Durham; sons Michael and Sean; and daughters Deidre, Erin and Paige.

His signature style uses elongation and distortion to convey a sense of power, fluidity, grace and intensity, addition to featuring people with closed eyes because as he put it, 'we are blind to people's humanity.'

Barnes was born in Durham, NC on July 15, 1938. His love of art began when he would accompany his mother to her job at a prominent local attorney's Frank Fuller, Jr's home in which she oversaw the staff. The attorney had a large collection of art books that young Ernie was allowed to peruse which fueled his passion for art.

In junior high Ernie was an overweight and introverted kid taunted by bullies, and spent that time sketching in a notebook. A sympathetic teacher who recognized his artistic talent put him on a weightlifting program. It allowed Ernie to excel in football and track in high school to the point in which Ernie was the state shotput champion in his senior year

He received over 25 scholarships, but no thanks to Jim Crow segregation couldn't attend Duke University or the University of North Carolina. He attended HBCU North Carolina College (now North Carolina Central University) on a football scholarship and majored in art.

He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in 1959, but that was problematic once they discovered he was Black. The Redskins racist owner George Preston Marshall refused to integrate his team until 1962, and they traded Barnes to the then NFL world champion Baltimore Colts. After playing for the Colts for a season he moved to the rival American Football League in 1960 and played for the New York Titans, the San Diego Chargers in 1961-1962 and the Denver Broncos in 1963-1964.

He still pursued his love of art while playing and painted his first piece called 'The Bench' which sold for $25,000 at a Denver show. A painting of his caught the attention of Barron Hilton, who commissioned him for a piece and encouraged him to successfully apply to become the official artist for the AFL. His artwork began appearing on the game day magazine programs across the AFL.

That led in 1965 to New York Jets owner Sonny Werblin noticing his work, and after having three art critics appraise it Werblin commissioned him to do thirty paintings. It led to a critically acclaimed 1966 art show at Grand Central Art Galleries in Manhattan that jump started his art career and led to his retirement from pro football.

In 1984 Barnes was named the 'Official Artist of the Games' and commissioned by the Los Angeles Olympic Committee to create five paintings to commemorate the LA Games. He was also commissioned by the NBA to create 'A Dream Unfolds' for the league's 50th anniversary, 'Fastbreak' for LA Lakers owner Jerry Buss, and the owners of the New Orleans Saints, Oakland Raiders and Boston Patriots football teams.


Former Baltimore Colts teammate and Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson commissioned Barnes to create 'Victory In Overtime', which is now on permanent display at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

There are ongoing plans for a traveling exhibit of Ernie Barnes art entitled 'Liberating Humanity From Within' which will be coming soon to an art gallery near you.

"Ernie Barnes is one of the premier figurative artists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries," said Paul Von Blum, a senior lecturer in African American studies, communication studies and art history at UCLA.

"His richly detailed paintings and drawings chronicling the lives of people have made a profound contribution to the contemporary history of American art."

Von Blum said the works that Barnes produced over 40 years "elevated him to the top rank of African American artists in the United States" and "solidified his stature in the grand tradition of visual art, a reputation that will serve as a model for younger artists for generations to come."

I agree. He will be missed.


H/T Black On Campus Blog

The President's Assessment Of His 100 Days

Here's President Obama's assessment of the first 100 days of his presidency. He spoke at a town hall meeting this morning.



Isn't it cool to have the 'A' students running the country again?

Obama Administration-Day 100

One of the truisms of presidential politics is that if you want to project how someone will govern once they are elected to the presidency, you watch closely how they run their campaigns.

President Obama ran a disciplined, historic campaign for the ages in becoming the first African-American president, and today marks the 100th day of the Obama Administration.

"I feel surprisingly comfortable in the job," he said two weeks after his inauguration.

Kinda obvious isn't it? He's zipping along with a robust 64% approval rating and an even higher one in various countries around the world. For the first time in five years more Americans think our country is moving on the right track than the wrong one.

He's busting stereotypes, has a wife as the FLOTUS who is doing the same as a fashion forward icon.

The president is also rapidly implementing the things he promised to do during his campaign while being opposed by the GOP at every turn.

*Restore our international good name? Check
*Eliminate the stem cell research ban? Check
*Americans and the world deliriously happy we have a president who knows how to spell and pronounce correctly 'nuclear'? Check

"The challenges are big, but one thing that I'm absolutely convinced about is that you want to be president when you've got big problems. If things are going too smoothly, then this is just another nice home office."

He's had some challenges in this first 100 days and has tackled an ambitious domestic and international agenda with gusto. He's had some stumbles, but he's also positioning himself to be the transformational president that we desperately needed at the critical juncture in our nation's history.

A Ladylike Guide To Dressing For The Derby

TransGriot Note: It's Derby Week here in Da Ville. That means parties, galas, parades and the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby horse races on Friday and Saturday.

My fashion diva roommate and longtime Kentuckian Dawn Wilson explains this bit of Kentucky tradition for those of us not from these parts.

Guest post by Dawn Wilson

Is image everything? To many African American transgender women it means everything. Image defines you and your character. Going out is never just about going out and having a good time, it’s about going out and impressing people.

As the celebrities who come here will tell you, the Kentucky Derby and the activities that surround it is the place that one can do that, and it seems as though the list of those who come gets longer every year.

I've had the pleasure of attending more than 15 different parties and assorted Derby gatherings over the last few years, and have been graciously extended invitations for a few this year.

Recently my girlfriends at the LFC fencing club invited me to go Derby dress shopping with them last weekend in preparation for the Derby Week activities. No we didn't have any mint juleps, but a good time was had by all.

If you're one of the lucky people going to the Kentucky Derby this year or even if you just want to dress properly for the occasion when you watch this year's 135th running of the race at home, tradition states that certain rules must be followed.

What are those rules? Fear not, I'm about to tell you. Just follow them and you'll put your best fashion foot forward for Derby Day and fit in like a native.

Choose your hat (ladies only, of course). Hats go with the Derby like the frosting on a birthday cake. It should be large-brimmed, feminine and frilly (think 18th-century France), and worn low on the brow tilted slightly to one side.

The rest of your outfit is designed to complement your hat.

Now the dress. This will support the crowning glory of the outfit – the hat.

Now there is an art to picking and wearing a dress. Maybe that is why many WBT women often prefer wrapping themselves in shapeless jeans and blouses. It’s easy, it’s simple and comfortable, and doesn't require much effort.

But how about being womanly, attractive, and appealing? Why is everybody forgetting about being romantic, gentle, bright and inspiring, or outstanding and memorable?

Beauty and attractiveness are always in fashion. That is the fashion law, especially doing Derby. If you follow those rules to the letter, you won't be ticketed by the Derby fashion police.

60!

Say hello to Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

"Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans."

Specter was greeted by a loud, sustained round of applause by dozens of constituents outside his Washington office shortly after the news broke.

"I don't have to say anything to them," a smiling Specter said. "They've said it to me."

The five term senator announced today that he is switching parties, thus guaranteeing that once sore loser Norm Coleman get the legal smackdown again and Sen Al Franken finally gets to take the senate seat he earned almost 100 days ago on behalf of the people of Minnesota, the Democrats will have the ability to shut down filibusters in the Senate.

First elected in 1980, he was once of the few GOP moderates left in the northeast United States. It's now a conservative, increasing ideological party that has shrunk to basically being strong only in the Deep South. Specter joins the 200,000 Pennsylvania Republican moderates fleeing the increasingly batturd crazy GOP.

President Obama's reaction was the same as many Dems. According to Politico.com the president reached Specter, one of only three Republicans to support his stimulus package, on the phone at 10:32 AM EDT and told him "you have my full support." He added that we are "thrilled to have you."

Specter however sounded a cautionary note that just because he's now a Democrat doesn't mean that he won't be as independent as he was on the GOP side.

“I will not be an automatic 60th vote,” Specter said. “I would illustrate that with my position on employee choice, also known as card check. I think it’s a bad deal and I’m opposed to it. I will not vote to impose cloture. If the Democratic Party asks too much, I will not vote with them."

Welcome to the party Sen. Specter. As long as you're with me 80-90% of the time, I'll forgive the times you vote your conscience and aren't.

Call CBC Congressmembers On Hate Crimes!

I received an e-mail from the National Black Justice Coalition this morning and it's a classic good news-bad news situation concerning hate crimes legislation.

As many of you may already know, Representative John Conyers (D-MI) introduced H.R. 1913, the comprehensive hate crimes legislation in the House.

According to the NBJC, the following Congressional Black Caucus members have co-sponsored it.

Sanford Bishop (GA)
Corrine Brown (FL)
William Lacy Clay (MO)
James Clyburn (SC)
Elijah Cummings (MD)
Alcee Hastings (FL)
Sheila Jackson Lee (TX)
Barbara Lee (CA)
John Lewis (GA)
Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC)
Diane Watson (CA)

These are the Congressional Black Caucus members according to the NBJC who SUPPORT the bill, but have not committed to co-sponsoring H.R. 1913 yet.

Gwen Moore (WI)
Mel Watt (NC)
Yvette Clarke (NY)
Maxine Waters (CA)
Kendrick Meek (FL)
Andre Carson (IN)
Marcia Fudge (OH)
Keith Ellison (MN)
GK Butterfield (NC)
Gregory Meek (NY)
Charlie Rangel (NY)
Edolphus Towns (NY)
Artur Davis (AL)
Senator Roland Burris (IL)

The bad news is that the right-wing Forces Of Intolerance and their Uncle Tom lackey ministers in the Hi Impact Leadership Coalition are already hard at work in their opposition to the bill. They are flooding their representatives with letters and calls opposing hate crimes legislation and outright lies about the bill's effects.

If you are represented by a CBC congressmembers, if they are sponsoring it, call them to thank them for their support. If they're on the missing list please take a few moments to call your congressmembers to help drown out the voices of intolerance and ask that they consider co-sponsoring H.R. 1913.

This is our chance to secure federal protections for the LGBT community from vicious attacks and hate. But we've got to flood our legislators' inboxes and phone lines to make sure they hear our message loud and clear. There are some who are using this as litmus test to gauge how much political capital they can spend on ENDA, which will have much more determined right-wing opposition when it's introduced later this year.

Please take action now, then urge everyone you know to get in touch with their representatives.

No civil rights legislation passes without the CBC being on board. The Congressional Black Caucus isn't called the 'Conscience of the Congress' for nothing. Remind the members of that proud legacy when you ask them for their support.

TransGriot Note; Received an e-mail communication from NBJC's H. Alexander Robinson about the e-mail that went out. The folks that are listed under the co-sponsors actually SUPPORT the bill, but aren't co-sponsors of it yet. Post has been corrected to reflect the new information.

1-20-13

If you happen to see this bumper sticker on a car, you know it belongs to a Republican.

We are rapidly approaching 100 days since the January inauguration of President Obama. His term is a hit so far with the 69 million of us who voted for him and people around the world who celebrated his election.

As far as I'm concerned November 4 will forever be for me VC Day. (Victory over Conservatism day)

It's a hit with everybody except the 59 million peeps who voted for McPalin.

Baa, I'm mean waah. But then again both terms are apropos.

People, you lost, here's the proof and we didn't have to steal the election to beat you. It was a 365 to 173 electoral college blowout. So you peeps keep on hatin' while we keep cleaning up the toxic waste left over from the Bush misadministration.

Keep letting the batturd wing of your party speak for you. You're turning off moderates left, right and center with your racist and devoid of logic rhetoric. All we have to do is something you peeps never could get a handle on, govern the country.

Your white sheets are showing because the intelligent brother with the cute kids and the smart, beautiful wife is slaying stereotypes at every turn.

The prez is repairing our standing in the world as he promised during last year's campaign and cleaning up the economic mess Junior left him. He's making the majority of Americans who voted for him very happy after living in your wannabee theocratic dictatorship for the last eight years.

So keep on hatin' President Obama. He's done far more in the last 99 days than your boy did in eight years.

If he keeps it up, 1-20-13 will dawn with his November 2012 reelection to the office and President Obama prepping for his second inauguration.

Fighting Back Against Media Smears Of Transgender People

We have work to do in terms of getting respectful media coverage for Lateisha Green. The sooner she starts getting it the better chance Teish has of receiving justice.

Remember, potential jurors are being influenced by this drumbeat of disrespectful negative coverage.

First order of business is for you peeps in the Syracuse, NY area to call the local stations and RESPECTFULLY request that the stations follow the AP Stylebook Guidelines for reporting on transgender people. If you're not in the Syracuse area, you can do so as well, but local peeps do have more weight in this instance.

Remind them this is what the AP Stylebook states about covering transgender people:

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.

You can also e-mail GLAAD to report media smears as well.

The e-mail address to do so is incident@glaad.org and when you do so, make sure you include the following:

*Your name and email address
*The city and state you reside in
*Your phone number (optional)
*Date of the incident
*Detailed description of the incident (please include weblinks if possible)

The GLAAD Media Reference Guide is online as well and can be downloaded as a PDF.

Cosmo's Tripping About Sports Loving Women

I began chuckling when I read a commentary about a recent Cosmo article that echoed one I wrote in 2004 about the transgender community.

In that column I skewered members of the transgender community who would echo that same tired meme of 'feminine women aren't sports fans'.

It mirrored a December issue of Cosmo in which the so called male guru tried to say that a woman who likes watching sports would be single the rest of her life.

Yo Cosmo, join the rest of us in the 21st Century. There are women who like watching sports and not just because their boyfriends or husbands are playing on the team. One of my exes before I transitioned used to win drinks in clubs from guys because they foolishly underestimated the depth of her sports trivia knowledge.

I used to have a CAL coworker named Lucy Schroeder who was a rabid sports fan. We spent break times and dead time on flights we worked together talking about various sports, the Comets and her beloved Dallas Cowboys.

In the interest of full journalistic disclosure, for the record, I can't stand the Irving, oops Arlington Cowchips.

When I read this BS I also thought about UK superfan Ashley Judd. She's got floor seats at Rupp Arena to watch her beloved Wildcats.

She's such a devoted University of Kentucky sports fan that when the hockey team made a promotional poster to raise money for the program, it included a picture of her in a UK hockey jersey. When Ashley isn't making a movie and it's college basketball season, you can bet she's watching her beloved Wildcats playing ball and screaming at the SEC refs at the top of her lungs whenever they make a boneheaded call.


And like many Texas women, Eva Longoria Parker not only loves football, she was a basketball fan before she met and married some point guard for the San Antonio Spurs.

Holly Robinson Peete not only is a huge NFL football fan, she wrote a book about it to help women understand and enjoy the game. Peeps who teach the courses to supposedly help women understand the game quickly discover that women football fans are far more savvy about it than they are given credit for being and ask some sophisticated questions far in excess of their male counterparts.

Don't even get me started about the legions of women who watch NASCAR events, collegiate sports on both the men's and women's sides, NBA and WNBA basketball, are baseball fans, et cetera.

Some of them not only are fashionably attired sometimes when they do attend these games, some even happen to be married.

But don't hate if some of these women know more about sports trivia or in game strategy than some of you red blooded males do.

Dwight DeLee Trial To Start June 11

Now that Allen Andrade is rotting in jail for the rest of his life, it's now time for the transgender community's attention to focus on the other alleged murderer facing hate crimes charges for killing a transwoman.

"The decision to prosecute Lateisha's murder as a hate crime sends a clear message that targeting transgender people for violence will not be tolerated," TLDEF executive director Michael Silverman said. "Lateisha’s senseless death demonstrates the increased risk of violence transgender people face, but we are hopeful that justice will be done, and that the outcome will help prevent future violence against transgender people."

20 year old Dwight DeLee of Syracuse pleaded not guilty in Onondaga County Court to charges of second-degree murder and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon in the November 14, 2008 shooting death of Lateisha Green at a house party.

Her untimely death occurred just as the worldwide transgender community was beginning to gather together for our annual Remembering Our Dead commemorations.

22 year old Lateisha was transitioning at the time of her death.

Note to Syracuse, NY media peeps: y'all really need to read the AP Stylebook, GLAAD Media Reference Guide and the NCAVP guidelines for reporting on transgender people.

So far the local Syracuse media is failing miserably in terms of respectful coverage of Lateisha. They are consistently using her old name and there's rampant usage of incorrect pronouns.

DeLee is being held at the County Justice Center jail with no bail, and the DeLee family is already trying to sow the seeds for the 'trans panic' defense and garner sympathy for him.

Never mind the fact that Green's family not only lost a child to this senseless murder, her brother Mark Cannon was shot in the same incident as well.

Roxanne Green, stated at the time the decision was made to prosecute this case as a hate crime. "I am grateful that Teish's death will not be in vain, and that it will be prosecuted as a hate crime, which it was."

"It took a long time for Teish to live her life openly and proudly. When she finally stood up and began living as who she was, she was taken away from me. I can't understand how anyone can hate someone so much because of who they are, and I hope that no other mother has to mourn a child killed because of who she was. I hope that justice will be done."

If DeLee is convicted, he faces 25 years to life in prison, and like Allen Andrade, has a prior criminal history as well.

The New York City based Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund is assisting Green's family, and hopefully these reprehensible tactics will massively fail in a much larger college town like Syracuse, NY just as it did in Greeley, CO.

We're Not The Only Peeps Holding Transgender Conferences

One of the things I talk about here on TransGriot are the various transgender conferences we have here in the States such as Southern Comfort,, the IFGE Conference and Colorado Gold Rush and what transpired at them for the folks that couldn't attend.

They have been invaluable in helping transpeople in the United States get organized as a national level community over the last 20 years. We get to spend a few days gathered in a locale sharing information, getting connected, forming friendships and networking with other activists.

The experiences I had at SCC and IFGE conferences in 1999 and 2000 were so critical to my development as a national activist I saw the need to have the same type of event available for people of color. I helped organize a group of African American transpeople to form our own conference called Transsistahs-Transbrothas in 2005-2006.

I'm happy to see that our transbrothers and transsisters in other parts of the world are doing the same thing in order to coordinate their efforts, and get organized on a national, regional and sometimes international scale.

Whether it's events like the 2007 Pan African one in Johannesburg, SA or the growth of Gender DynamiX as a strong voice for transpeople in South Africa and the African continent, gatherings such as the European Transgender Council event in Berlin last year, the education efforts by STRAP in the Philippines or the upcoming national conference sponsored by Agender that will be held Queen's Birthday weekend May 29-31 in New Zealand's capital of Wellington, these events are valuable for building community, networking, strategic planning, and educating allies and supporters about our lives.

With report after report by various international organizations detailing just mow marginalized we are and how much work we have to do to change that, these conferences are vital pieces of the organizational puzzle.

They are so important to transgender community organizing efforts that serious thought needs to go into making these events affordable. There are people who would love to be there for them, but finances won't allow them to participate. It's something I've griped about that's a problem for the large transgender conferences here in the States and I hope that mistake isn't being replicated elsewhere.

Our enemies who make up the Forces of Intolerance are networking, plotting, planning and coordinating their efforts as we do the same. We must ensure the message gets out no matter what part of the planet we inhabit that transpeople are human beings, too.

One day I hope I'll get the opportunity to deliver that message in person at your various local conferences around the world.

Renee Won!

Congratulations to my podcast partner Renee at Womanist Musings! She was a double winner in the 2009 Canadian F-word Blog Awards.

See, Renee. Told ya your hard work would be recognized. ;)

She won in the Best Political Blog and Best Feminist Blog: Oh Canada! Categories. To me it's even cooler because it's recognition from her countrypeeps.

If I had a Timmy's nearby I'd grab a few doughnuts, some coffee and toast you with it.

But alas, the closest one to me is three hours drive time in Columbus, OH so I'll have to hit my local Krispy Kreme instead.

Congrats, sis. It's just the first batch of many awards headed your way for your quality writing on Womanist Musings and it only took you a year to start getting them.

Transgeneration

Transgeneration is a 2005 documentary by filmmaker Jeremy Simmons that spent a year following the lives of transgender students Gabbi, Raci, Lucas and TJ. It was interesting to watch them define who they are and take control of their gender identity and their lives, and was a little bittersweet for me personally.

It was so popular they were reunited at in April 2006 for the GLAAD Media Awards in which thi film was nominated for Best Documentary
















I need to add this documentary to my own personal DVD collection.

If You Watch Fox News, You're Uninformed

If you're watching Fox News, congratulations, you are part of the most uninformed people in the country.

Those of you who read this blog and other multiple news sources are doing your part to ensure that democracy works correctly by being informed citizens.

As a matter of fact, it's the only way that democracy can work. But unfortunately, the Founding Fathers didn't conceive of a network whose sole raison d'etre is to disseminate lies and propaganda setting up shop on US soil.

But don't take my word for it. Emmy award winning documentarian Alexandra Pelosi (the daughter of the Speaker of the House) recently filmed a documentary for HBO that documents just how off base, ignorant and detached from reality the Fox sheeple are called Right America: Feeling Wronged.





Fox News likes to portray itself as "fair and balanced". Excuse me for a moment while I double over in laughter.

They whine about not being taken seriously as a major network, but how can you when they've never won any serious journalism awards, relentlessly pimp the Republican agenda and make no bones about the fact they are doing it?

I can only stand them for about ten seconds until I hit the remote and go look for a real news source such as the BBC.

Geno Auriemma To Coach USA Women's B-Ball Team

The Drive For Five starts September 23, 2010 in the Czech Republic.

The five I'm talking about is the quest for a fifth straight Olympic gold medal for the FIBA World Number One ranked Team USA women ballers.

While the final roster for the 2010 FIBA Worlds is yet to be determined, we already know who'll be coaching our lady hoopsters.

Earlier this month it was announced that UConn's Geno Auriemma will lead the USA Women's senior national team at the 2010 FIBA Women's World Basketball championships in the Czech Republic September 23-October 3 and the upcoming London Olympics in 2012.

"I don’t know if I can adequately describe my feelings and my emotions when I was asked to do this and how I felt ever since," said Auriemma. "It’s an opportunity that if you’re very fortunate comes once in your life and I never thought I would ever have this opportunity. It’s just overwhelming, the emotions that run through you. What an incredible honor it is to be selected."

"There is no better coach in America than Geno Auriemma and we are delighted to be able to have a coach of his caliber lead our women’s national team program through the 2012 Olympic Games," said USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo. "The USA Basketball women’s national team has achieved tremendous success over the years and as winners of the last four Olympic gold medals, the expectations remain very high. Geno’s success at UConn, both his win-loss record and the development of his players, speaks for itself and makes him a perfect choice to take hold of the reins."

The USA has already qualified for the 2010 FIBA Worlds due to their gold medal winning performance last summer in Beijing. The winner gets the automatic bid to the London Games which will take place July 27-August 12.

While Team USA has recently dominated international play posting a 63-1 record in the last 12 years, their success has been mixed at the FIBA world championship level. While Team USA is one of four nations to win the FIBA women's championship and is the most successful with 7 titles, the last one for the USA women came in 2002. The Australians took the 2006 gold and have every intention of keeping it away from their bitter rivals.

Should Team USA's women ballers not finish with the gold medal in 2010, it would have two additional chances to qualify for the Olympics at the 2011 FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament with the dates and site TBD or the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament with the dates and site TBD.

But I think they would rather take care of business next year and have the luxury of time in choosing the twelve women who will attempt to continue the current US dominance of women's international basketball.

Pam Grier

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

I loved me some Pam Grier back in the day and still do. I grew up in an era when Blaxploitation era films were flooding the movie theaters after a long melanin free absence of people of color from the silver screen.

I own Coffy and a few other Pam Grier films such as Jackie Brown, and loved her in the L Word.

Pamela Suzette Grier was born in Winston-Salem, NC and was a military brat who traveled around the world with her parents. She eventually ended up in Denver and graduated from East High during her teen years after living in England and Germany. The 5'8" Pam competed in a few beauty pageants to earn money for her college tuition.

She moved to Los Angeles and was discovered while working as a switchboard operator at American International Pictures.

She was called the 'Queen of American International Pictures' as Foxy Brown, Coffy, Sheba Baby, Scream Blacula, Scream and The Big Dollhouse racked up big box office numbers and made her a household name. She was one of the sistahs back in the day that boys and the men of the 70's drooled over (and probably still do).

She's a cousin of NFL Hall of Famer Rosey Grier and once dated Hall of Fame baller and historian Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and comedian Richard Pryor.

The cool thing about many of Pam's films back in the day was that many of her characters were good girls who were wronged, and ended up kicking ass and taking names while fighting for justice.

When the Blaxploitation film genre wound down, Pam's career went on hiatus for a while until the late 80s. She started getting supporting film roles and making guest television role appearances on shows such as The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

One memorable one for me was when she played a transwoman in the 1996 movie Escape From LA before getting the Jackie Brown role the next year that put her back on the Hollywood 'A' list. She was also a cast member in the highly acclaimed cable series Linc's and of course, you L Word fans recognize her as Kit Porter and from her recurring role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Pam has had her share of hard knocks as well. While filming one picture in the Philippines she contracted a rare tropical disease that left her bald and temporarily blind for a month.

She had a more serious health crisis in 1988 when she was diagnosed with cancer and was given 18 months to live, but she beat it.

As you can see this tough sister is still surviving and thriving today. Although this talented actress has yet to win any of the numerous awards she's been nominated for, she's number one in many of her fans hearts.
.

Washington Governor Gregoire Signs TG Hate Crime Protection

While the rest of the community was celebrating the news of Allen Andrade's conviction for the murder of Angie Zapata, there was good news coming out of Olympia for the Washington transgender community as Governor Chris Gregoire (D) signed Senate Bill 5952 into law on April 22.

The new law opens the door for attacks against transgender people in her state to be prosecuted as a hate crime. It goes into effect 3 months after the Sunday, April 26 adjournment of the 2009 legislative session.

Under current Washington law, it’s a felony to threaten, damage the property of,
or physically injure a person because of ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, disability or sexual orientation.

The sexual orientation definition in the law just covered gay, straight or bisexual people. The bill signed by Gov. Gregoire Wednesday adds “gender expression or identity” to the definition, making the law apply to attacks on transgender people.

Congratulations to all the peeps in Washington state who made that happen.

You Respect A Cisperson's Right To Choose Their Name, Why Not A Transperson?

Why do cisgender people feel they have the right to disrespect transgender people by refusing to use or acknowledge the names we have chosen for ourselves?

Would you disrespect Cherilyn Sarkisian that way despite the fact she's gone by the name of Cher for several decades now? Cassius Clay changed his to Muhammad Ali, and only a right winger who hates on him will do so today.

Prince for a few years changed his to an unpronounceable symbol, and yet people didn't refer to him as Prince Rogers Nelson, they called him The Artist.

You don't call Sting by his given name of Gordon Sumner or bring up Ice Cube's birth name of O'Shea Jackson. If you want an interview with Tina Turner better not call her by her birth name of Anna Mae Bullock, much less write "Tina Turner" in quotation marks as some media peeps have done with the names of transgender people.

A new name carries a lot of weight for a transgender person. It not only signifies to the world our desired gender identity, in many cases much thought went into the process of us selecting our new names.

Yes, we realize that sometimes it's a major adjustment when you've known someone as Alexander, for example and now have to get used to Alexis standing in front of you in feminine attire and living her everyday life as the woman she was born to be.

We're not going to get mad at you for the occasional stumble in that situation. But when you know the deal, and insist on calling a transwoman by her old name just to be mean, catty, or flex your cisgender privilege then it's on like Donkey Kong.

It's not only perceived as a major insult by that transperson, it says to us you don't care about or respect us as people. It could also put us in serious danger of being the victim of a hate attack. If one of our haters is in earshot who didn't know our business before you did that hears you, you've just outed us to the world as a transperson.

If he's transphobic, you have just set the wheels in motion for a possible hate crime if that person decides to take some of his life frustrations out on the transperson you just outed.

So show some respect and use the new name. You'll not only be showing us support by doing so, it's greatly appreciated by the transperson in question as well.

Gwendolyn Lindsay-Jackson, Angie Is Not An 'It'

One of the things I was pissed off about during the TruTV coverage of the just concluded Andrade trial besides watching the defense try to execute the tired 'trans panic' defense and hearing her old name called every few seconds occurred last Friday.

I was watching Banfield and Ford as legal analyst Gwendolyn Lindsay-Jackson was being asked some questions by Ashleigh Banfield as to how she'd defend Allen Andrade. She got into pronoun trouble speaking about Angie and slipped up and called Angie 'it.'

You know some of my people have issues with transgender people as I have posted about numerous times on this blog. But sistah, it's time for you to get your Trans 101 on.

Gwen, while your body and feminine gender mapped brain matched, you are comfortable in your skin and don't have to think about being female, for some of us it didn't. Angie was one of those people. She isn't a 'man' and was living her life trying to make her body match the way she felt inside.

It is not appropriate at any time to refer to a transgender person as 'it'. It infuriates me even more that she's the one who did it because she's one of the few legal commentators who share my ethnic heritage on TV.

But she lost a lot of cool points with me in terms of the way she handled her commentary on this issue. I hope that Ms. Lindsay-Jackson isn't one of the transphobes in my community, but just simply needs some 'ejumacation' on our issues.

NCAVP Notes To Journalists

TransGriot Note: This will come in handy for the next transgender murder trial in New York state when Lateisha Green's accused killer Dwight DeLee is prosecuted.


A Note To Journalists From NCAVP:

NCAVP applauds the attention that some of these incidents are receiving in the local and national press and encourages continued coverage. Many news outlets have made a sincere effort to portray victims fairly, but we are saddened by some of the mis-characterization of transgender people by some news sources. NCAVP member organizations work with victims everyday who are struggling to heal from trauma in the face being blamed for the violence they experience at the hands of someone else. We encourage journalists to use language that is both un-biased, accurate, and based on the individual's self-described identity, in covering incidents related to anti-LGBT violence.

NCAVP recommends the following when reporting about transgender people-

Avoid referring to transgender people as "really a (man or woman)." The term "transgender woman" is an appropriate term to use for someone who identifies as a woman but was assigned the male gender at birth and the term "transgender man" is appropriate to use for someone who identifies as a man but was assigned the female gender at birth.

Avoid sensationalizing the very difficult and personal decision that many transgender people are faced with about how or when to disclose personal information about their genitals to a potential sexual partner. Examples of sensationalizing language include: "sexual secret," "shocking secret," "duped," "fooled," "shocking discovery," to name a few.

Avoid justifying "the trans panic defense" in news articles (i.e. avoid statements such as "his uncontrollable rage stemming from the discovery that she was really a man"). Much like "gay panic," which many defendants of anti-gay violence have used (violence resulting from a man being hit on by another man, for example), such statements sound very victim-blaming and imply that the violence was excusable or understandable.

Avoid victim-blaming phrasing, such as: "Police believe that the man may have been attacked because he is gay." Instead, pair the action with the actor: "Police believe the suspect may have attacked the victim out of anti-gay bias."

And lastly, it is considered best practice to refer to someone as the gender they identify (or identified with when alive) rather than their legal gender or the gender they were assigned at birth.

For questions relating to these tips, contact info@ncavp.org or 212.714.1184.

Shut Up Fool! Awards-NFL Draft Edition

The 2009 NFL Draft is tomorrow, and we'll finally find out who not only becomes the Number One overall pick, but where the rest of the college football studs will (or won't) end up.

Just a heads up, Renee and I have another edition of our blogtalkradio show coming up tomorrow with Crystal Ann Gray and Ethan St. Pierre. We'll be talking about the just concluded Andrade trial. So please join us at 8 PM EDT for what should be an interesting show.

We'll also be making an announcement about two exciting upcoming guests for our radio podcast.

Now, let's find out who earned our Number One pick as the fool of the week.


This week's fool is Perez Hilton. Perez bit off more than he could chew during this year's Miss USA pageant when he asks Miss California Carrie Prejean a question on same-gender marriage and got the smackdown by her on national TV.

Hello, she's from San Diego. A CONSERVATIVE part of Ca-lee-forn-ia.

So what does he do? Insults her, then arrogantly asserts that he's Perez Hilton, he's not a rep of the gay or Latino communities and speaks for himself, and he can be offensive.

Yeah right, you are still gay and Latino, race still matters in America and you insulting a white female is not going to be tolerated. I already had major problems with him for his ad nauseum penchant for insulting cisgender women with the 'trannies' or 'drag queen' epithet.

Hell, I'm surprised that hasn't come out of his mouth to diss Carrie Prejean with.

But what he has done is made her a right wing star and created another PR disaster for the GL community.

Perez Hilton, shut up fool!

CAVP and NCAVP Reponse To Andrade Verdict

Colorado Anti-Violence Program & National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs Responds to Verdict

Allen Ray Andrade Found Guilty of First Degree Murder and Bias Motivated Crime


Greeley, CO - April 22, 2009

The verdict today brings us mixed emotions. We are reminded that we have lost yet another young member of our community to hate. The fact that Angie's killer was found guilty of first degree murder and a bias motivated crime shows that this murder was taken seriously. This verdict sends the message that violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people is unacceptable. We applaud the Weld County District Attorney for making Colorado a leader in showing that violence against the LGBTQ community will not be tolerated.

We must not leave today thinking that this is an isolated incident or that our work is done. In 2008 alone, there were at least 19 reported anti-LGBTQ murders in the United States. We remember Lawrence King, Duanna Johnson, Latiesha Green, Sanesha Stewart and Simmie Williams Jr.

Since the time of Angie's murder, we at the Colorado Anti-Violence Program and many others have witnessed the mourning of the Zapata family, the Greeley community, the transgender community and the greater lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer and ally communities. We have also witnessed incredible perseverance, strength and love unite people as they began to organize to raise awareness and educate others to prevent this from happening again.

Fear, misunderstanding or hatred of LGBTQ people does not justify violence. It takes incredible courage to be who we are in a world that makes us invisible, forces us to hide, and condones violence against us. Angie was not only a loving daughter, sister, aunt and friend but a beautiful young woman courageous enough to be herself.

Throughout this trial we've heard many myths about transgender people including attempts to blame Angie for her own murder. We witnessed the defense continually focus on the behavior of the murder victim, rather than on the violent actions of her killer. The fact is that transgender people are faced with a Catch 22. Being out about one's transgender status often means experiencing a tremendous amount of violence, the blame for which is often placed on the individual for being out. However, not speaking about ones transgender identity often means being stereotyped as deceptive and yet again, blamed for the violence that one experiences.

Implicit throughout this trial was the dangerous assumption that outing oneself as transgender guarantees safety. On the contrary, in some instances, outing can increase the risk of violence. Many transgender people struggle to know when and how to talk about their bodies and gender. This can be extremely difficult and scary to decide when and with whom to have this conversation. CAVP and NCAVP stand by the truth that the right to live free from violence is not conditional. It is a right granted to all of us regardless of whether or not we identify with the gender we were assigned at birth.

Ultimately, this is a human rights issue. Transgender people, like all people, have a right to self-determination, safety and respect. We call on our lawmakers to pass legislation that funds restorative and transformative justice, victim's rights and accountability programs for offenders as well as community-based prevention initiatives and public education that works to counter the stereotypes and misinformation at the root of hate violence. We call on the people of Colorado and the rest of the country to stand up, speak out, and organize to create safer communities where we are all free to live our lives without the fear of violence.

Reaction To Andrade Trial

Zapata Family Statement

read by Angie's brother Gonzalo Zapata

“Angie was my sister.

“She was a member of our family. We loved her very much, and we will miss her every day. Every day and every night our mom has to deal with great pain of ... one of her babies being buried. Every day our siblings and I reach for the phone and realize we’ll never hear her voice. There’s no answer anymore.

“A part of our family is missing, stolen from us. Angie was 18, her life was just beginning. She was brave, she had guts, she had courage, and she was beautiful, fun and loving. She was our little sister.

“Through the last week, we’ve watched as our sister Angie was lied about in court, angrily as the defense presented an image of my sister that wasn’t true. Their strategy of tearing down my sister to make a monster look better will not work.

“It is clear: Angie was our sister, an aunt and a daughter. Life was sometimes difficult for her, and we learned along with her to understand she was born a girl with a body that was wrong for her.

“Above all else, she was honest. It took such courage to be who she was. She was strong, there was no reason to believe my sister was anything but strong and honest with everyone.

“This week, we are deeply saddened as we witnessed graphic details about the last few minutes of my sister’s life. A big brother is supposed to protect his little sister. It breaks my heart to think there was nothing I could do.

“My sisters, Monica and Ashley, when they saw what this monster had done, they wanted to hold her, to comfort her and make her feel better. It was hard to realize nothing could have been done.

“He stole something so precious from us.

“Only a monster can look at a beautiful 18-year-old and beat her to death. This monster not only hit my sister, but continued to beat her head in over and over and over until her head was crushed in. He left her there to die.

“He’ll (never) understand how angry we are at him and how much he has hurt us. This past week and half, we’ve seen attorneys working their hardest to seek justice for my sister. ...

“We are grateful Colorado has tough laws that make it clear that attacking people because of anti-gender bias will be taken seriously. It will be prosecuted aggressively ... in Weld County.

“In memory of Angie, we call on Colorado’s leaders to pass a federal hate crime law to protect everyone.

“Justice was achieved. A message was sent loud and clear that crimes targeting LGBT will not be tolerated in Colorado ...

“Remember her as we do, as a beautiful, wonderful, precious teenager. She would want us to remember the happy times in her life. And make the world a better place.

“We will always love you Angie and we will always miss you, mija.

“Thank you!”



GLAAD

New York, NY, April 22, 2009 – The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today responded to the verdict in the murder case of Angie Zapata. Angie was a transgender woman who was brutally murdered in 2008. Today the Colorado jury found Allen Andrade guilty on four counts including first-degree murder and hate crime charges.

"Today's verdict was about justice for Angie Zapata, although no verdict will ever be able to heal the tragic loss experienced by Angie's family," said Neil G. Giuliano, President of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).

"The past few months have offered Greeley residents, as well as people throughout Colorado and across the nation, an opportunity to better understand transgender lives and the horrifying reality of anti-transgender violence. Media coverage of this case has played a vital role in broadening that understanding, and it has helped more people understand the importance of a fully inclusive hate crime law like Colorado's."

Radio Podcast This Weekend

This weekend's latest episode of the Womanist Musings show will feature Crystal Ann Gray and Ethan St. Pierre. We'll be talking about the just concluded Andrade trial.

So tune in live at 8 PM EDT to have me and Renee 'tell you something good' and infotain you at the same time.

As always with our blogtalkradio podcast, if you can't listen live, you can always listen later at your leisure.

For those of you who can listen live, you can join in the conversation at (347)326-9452 or join our chat room. From time to time we will ask our guests a question that comes straight from you peeps in the chat room.

So join us this Saturday April 25, from 8-9 PM EDT.

Yes Perez, You ARE A Representative Of The Gay Community

I'm not a representative of the gay community, in the same way that being Cuban, I'm not representative of the Latino community.

I just speak for myself. And I'm Perez Hilton, Rick Sanchez. I can be offensive. I don't have to be politically correct. I can call her the B-word.

Perez Hilton, April 2009

One of the major errors of the GLBT community is they continue to forget that once you declare that you're gay or transition, you are a minority and the old 'rugged individualist' rules no longer apply to you.

As a matter of fact, in the Houston GLBT community we used to have signs posted in many GLBT clubs that stated:

What I do reflects on you
What you do reflects on me
What WE do reflects on the ENTIRE gay community.

It's something we already know in the African-American community, but it reminded people of the fact that whether you like it or not, the parent society will look at you as a representative of the marginalized community and your behavior better be on point lest you paint the entire community in a negative light.

One the continued problems of this movement and a reason it continues to have PR problems is the consistent failure to realize that you ARE a minority and the rules you USED to operate under are different.

You have to be cognizant of the fact that every GLBT person is a potential ambassador to the community. It's even more important to remember that point when the media spotlight is on you. When the unblinking eye of a camera is on or a tape recorder is running for a print interview, at that moment you are a representative of the GLBT community.

And as a former employee of GLAAD Hilton should know that better than anyone.

Yeah, what Carrie Prejean said was jacked up on many levels. I was even more pissed off about the 'in my country' comment that got lost in this dustup over her opinion on same gender marriage.

You had a perfect poster child for bigotry right here, but Perez Hilton fracked it up by arrogantly going too far with his criticism of Ms. Prejean.

Calling her a 'dumb bitch' was out of line. You do not have the right as testosterone based lifeform, be you gay, straight or trans to call any woman the b-word. Hilton then compounded the mistake by arrogantly stating on an international network the next day that you have the right to be offensive. I sincerely doubt you'd feel the same way if someone called you the derogatory terms for a Latino or the f-word.

That was Grade A stupid.

You also forgot the element of race that's always bubbling under the surface in American life. A Latino publicly calling a White woman the b-word ain't gonna fly.

Perez Hilton played right into the meme of the 'selfish gay male' because he grossly overreacted instead of blasting her for the comment without being offensive, then backing off and letting her get justifiably whacked in the court of public opinion.

But because he didn't, Prejean now has a plausible argument she can peddle to the Faux watching sheeple that the 'mean gay blogger' cost me the pageant, and Hilton's reprehensible antics have now turned Carrie Prejean into an aggrieved poster child for the Reichers to use as a baton to beat the community with instead of the inarticulate bigot she really is.

Gee thanks Perez, way to go.

The bottom line is that your actions, positively or negatively, DO have an effect on the entire gay community, even if you don't think so.

Guilty!

In case you have not heard Allen Andrade was found guilty of all counts including 1st degree murder and hate crime. He also was found guilty of auto theft, identity theft, and starting riots in the jail. The 1st degree murder has a mandatory life sentence with no parole and the others will give him another 60 years. Total is life +60. This case set president with the hate crime conviction on the murder of a transgender person. It was justice served, however we reached this point because of the taking of a precious life.


Crystal Ann Gray
Volunteer Transgender Advocate
LGBT Center of Colorado


TransGriot Note: Thanks to Crystal Ann Gray for her hard work over the last few days putting together these trial recaps.

Black Transpeople's Burden

"It is a burden of Black people that we have to do more than talk."
Rep. Barbara Jordan (D-TX) 1992

My fellow Houstonian uttered those words over a decade and a half ago, but they ring true for every person of African descent. For the last two centuries we've had the burden of having to do more than just pay lip service to the ideas of freedom and equality for all.

We've had to sometimes put our lives on the line for it in addition to march, shed blood, write about, orate, agitate and litigate as well.

As a transperson of African descent I don't have the luxury of disengaging from the battle for transgender civil rights because I'm 'stressed' over the tidal waves of bad news that come at regular intervals as some people do.

I'm helping to fight a two-front war not only for overall societal respect, but also to garner that same respect in my African-American family as well.


Since my skin color didn't change and as far as I'm concerned my Black Card is still in good standing, I also have to fight the same issues that my African descended cisgender sisters and brothers labor against in terms of police brutality, unequal justice, racism, sexism, and all of the other ills and isms that plague our community.

So no, I can't focus too long on the happy-happy joy-joy aspects of transition, not when Black transwomen are disproportionately targets along with our Latina transsisters for anti-transgender violence.

My transition along with those of my African descended transbrothers and transsisters is a reality based one. If talking about real life issues upsets some people's delicate sensibilities to the point they can't handle reading the truth on this blog about transgender life being harsh and unfair sometimes, then that's too bad.

I also look at many issues through an African flavored prism. That means my take isn't going to always line up neatly with the predominately WP flavored groupthink.

As the late poet Gwendolyn Brooks said, 'Truth tellers are not always palatable. There's a preference for candy bars."

We have people that hate us enough they want us to die. Ignoring that fact or drowning it in melted white chocolate won't make it go away.

As Black transpersons we are always in combat mode. When we step away from the civil rights battlefield for R and R, we have to keep our rifles loaded, boots shined, combat fatigues by our bedside ready to put on and be ready to step back into combat at a moment's notice.

That's just life as a minority for you folks new to that status, and it's the burden we Black transpeople share with our African descended cisgender brothers and sisters as well.

Colorado Anti Violence Program Press Release

TransGriot Note: The press release from the Colorado Anti-Violence Project

Zapata Family and CAVP will make statements

Greeley, CO - April 22, 2009

The prosecution and defense teams have rested their cases in the trial of Allen Ray Andrade, who is accused of killing Angie Zapata in her Greeley apartment last July. Closing arguments are expected Wednesday morning and the case will likely go to the jury around noon.

The family of Angie Zapata will not comment about the verdict immediately after it is returned but will make a statement shortly thereafter. The Colorado Anti-Violence Program will respond to the verdict immediately following the family's statement approximately one-half hour after the verdict is announced in the lobby outside of Courtroom 11 where the trial has occurred.

"This is an emotionally difficult time for the family," said Kelly Costello, director of advocacy for the Colorado Anti-Violence Program. "For that reason, the family has requested their privacy be respected immediately after the verdict. They ask that the media please be present for their statement and recognize that that will be their only statement for the day."

About Colorado Anti-Violence Program

The Colorado Anti-Violence Program has been dedicated to eliminating violence within and against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities in Colorado, and providing the highest quality services to survivors since 1986. CAVP provides direct services including crisis intervention, information, and referrals for LGBTQ victims of violence 24 hours a day.

The CAVP also provides technical assistance, training, and education for community organizations, law enforcement, and mainstream service providers on violence issues affecting the LGBTQ community. The most common types of violence they respond to are hate crimes and partner abuse, as well as cases that involve random violence, sexual assault, and HIV-motivated violence.

LGBTQ victims of crimes or those who have witnessed a crime are encouraged to call our 24 hour free and confidential hotline at 303-852-5094 or 1-888-557-4441 or visit our website at http://www.coavp.org/.

Andrade Trial-Tuesday Update

TransGriot Note: Crystal Ann Gray is doing trial updates for the LGBT Center of Colorado and I'm thrilled to post her commentary here on the blog. You'll get a chance to hear her and Ethan St Pierre's commentary this Saturday about the trial in Renee and I's next episode of our Womanist Musings podcast.

Tuesday, April 21

Not much has really happened of significance this morning. The rest of the jailhouse tapes were played. I almost fell asleep while they were playing.

There was testimony by several witnesses on the content of the cell phone material as far as phone calls and number of text messages. There were no actual text messages that they could retrieve. Since about 1055am there has been a witness from the Greeley PD (detective) who has been testifying about his involvement in the case. Also, they played the police interview with Andrade at the Thornton, Colorado PD. After that DVD it was time for lunch. The prosecution is to finish up today.


Afternoon Session

This afternoon testimony continued with the detective on the stand. The detective just testified about what was already known. The prosecution rested their case and the defense started theirs. Before the defense started they tried to get the first degree charge and hate crime charge thrown out. The prosecution defended themselves and told the judge that there was enough reasonable doubt for the charge to stand. THE JUDGE AGREED!!

The defense motion to get rid of the 1st degree murder charge and hate crime charge was denied. The defense then started with their witnesses which amounted to nothing. At one point there was a witness on the stand and she testified that her and Angie went to a club (trying to show she would pick up straight men). On cross examine by the prosecution they asked if the nights that her and Angie went there was LGBT night. She said yes and the prosecution asked no more questions. I heard a big sigh coming from the defense table after that.

Anyway, the jury comes back tomorrow for closing arguments which are to be done by noon. Then the jury will get food delivered for lunch and will start deliberation.

Meanwhile, the judge and the 2 sides are working on a 30 page instruction sheet for the jury. I will be back there at 8am and will keep you updated throughout the day as much as possible.


Crystal Ann Gray
Volunteer Transgender Advocate
LGBT Center of Colorado

How's Your T-Dar?

One of the issues that goes hand in hand with how well we are blending in with society is the concept similar to our gay and lesbian cousins of 'gaydar'.

We call it T-dar, and it's our alleged ability to pick out a transperson as they're out and about in the world based on our insider knowledge to transgender issues and other myriad characteristics.

There was one day several years ago I was visiting a transgender friend in New York and she challenged me to a test of my T-dar abilities by screening one of the Maury Povich 'Can You Tell' shows he does during sweeps month.



I got nine out of ten. I also didn't tell my friend I was 90% percent because many of those transwomen on that particular show I'd seen in various places on the Net, or were transgender porn world celebs like Allanah Starr.

Just like 'gaydar', it's an inexact science. Sometimes you're dead on target in terms of picking out transpeeps, and other times you are so far off base it can lead to some very embarrassing moments.

It can also lead to moments that can put you in danger, whether you are a cisgender or transgender woman.

A few years ago in Louisville we had an incident in which a six foot tall broad shouldered white woman with a short haircut was accosted by several inebriated white males, peppered with accusatory derogatory insults of either being a transwoman or a lesbian and nearly attacked before a bystander came to her rescue.

The ironic thing was that she was attending the Southern Baptist Theological seminary at the time, a place and a religious denomination which has pimped anti-GLBT hatred for right wing political reasons.

T-dar basically speaks to the point that I've noted over and over again that we are a blend of characteristics from mommy and daddy. I know 5'4" girls that wear double digit shoe sizes and men who have faces and hand sizes in what would be considered the feminine range.

We all have something about us that is assumed to be part of the other gender, and cultural obsessing over it needs to cease and desist.

Dear Haters

Dear Haters,
You have many names, but you nattering nabobs of negativity gorging yourself on Hateraid and Hater Tots know who you are.

I occasionally monitor your blogs to see what you're up to and get a good laugh out of it. When I read your lame attacks I consider myself in good company.

I remind myself that throughout world history there were people blessed with visionary foresight and thinking who were similarly denigrated for simply wishing to do the right thing and expand civil rights coverage for their people while educating others about the mutual intersectionality of the issues involved.

While I'm not claiming to be in the class of a W.E.B. DuBois, a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr or an Audre Lorde, I'm on this Earth at this particular time and blessed with specific talents. I believe I need to give it my best efforts to help accomplish the task of integrating transgender people in society's mainstream while you peeps on the wrong side of the moral arc of history keep wandering in the swamp of privilege fueled ignorance.

I'm not going to be sidetracked by your snide comments, your faith-based ignorance, racism, and mind boggling stupidity just because it makes you feel more like a man or a woman to do so.

I don't have time, nor will I waste precious positive energy jousting with you. I have a blog to build, people to educate on transgender issues, a community to uplift and positive people to interface with who do wish to learn and grow as human beings.


Have a blessed day,
The TransGriot

Erie, PA Cop Joking About Murdered Man

If you wonder why the African-American and other minority communities have the negative attitudes about the po-po's we do, peep this video of an Erie, PA cop making jokey-jokes about a just-murdered man and mocking the man's grieving mother.

"We're looking at it like, 'One less drug dealer to deal with,'" the Erie, PA, police officer says. "Cool." The murder victim, described as a loving father, had no history of drug violations, according to news reports.

The NAACP isn't laughing.

There are too many police offices who have attitudes like this toward the communities they are patrolling. Those attitudes can have deadly consequences for the people living in those neighborhoods and lead to outrages like the New Year's Day shooting of unarmed Oscar Grant by transit police in Oakland; the police shooting of Robert Tolan on his front lawn in Bellaire, Texas; and the questionable death of high school football player Billie Joe Johnson, killed in what was described as a "routine traffic stop" in Lucedale, Mississippi.

Bigots with badges exacerbate the problems of racial profiling, the high rate of unsolved murders in African American communities, police brutality and other forms of unequal justice for African Americans and Latinos.

There are two bills that have been filed to provide long-needed regulation of harsh and careless police actions throughout the United States called the End Racial Profiling Act and the Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act. The NAACP is asking that you e-mail your congressperson and ask them to co-sponsor these acts.

The NAACP is also asking people to e-mail Erie, PA mayor Joe Sinnott and ask him to order an immediate independent investigation into the practices and policies of the Erie police department and to establish an independent civilian review board to investigate citizen complaints.

Andrade Trial-Monday Recap

TransGriot Note: Much love and deep appreciation to Crystal Ann Gray for these updates. She's observing the trial for the LGBT Center of Colorado.

Monday, April 20

Hello everyone from Greeley, Colorado.
The trial started this morning with testimony of a forensic investigator. The jury got to see more pics of Angie's battered body. He testified that the injuries were from blunt trauma and that it was a homicide.

He also testified that Angie had many fractured skull pieces on her right side along with bruising by the eyelid and eye. She also had bruising and bleeding just between the lid and the eyeball. The rest of the testimony concerned establishing the trail of receipts of the stolen debit card and also this morning was the court tape recording in which Angie was in court for her traffic citation and we heard the call JUSTIN ZAPATA on that recording. Just before lunch Angie (the former girlfriend of Andrade) was on the stand and is expected to go back on after lunch. THIS IS SOMETHING TO WATCH!!!

She is very nervous and I have already caught her in some lies. She still has feelings for Andrade and I believe that they will be playing the jail recordings between him and her. This will be an interesting afternoon. Also, the Judge on lunch break will be reviewing transcripts from the web page Mocospace that the prosecution has obtained from that site. These are from Angie. The defense is trying to say that they are hearsay and should not be admissible. We will soon find out. Court starts at 130pm. Inform you all later.


Afternoon Update

This afternoon did prove to be interesting. Before I get to that I did forget to mention that the alleged murder weapon (the missing fire extinguisher) was brought into evidence. It was found alongside the highway two months after the murder occurred. The Mocospace text from Angie's site was not allowed into evidence.

However, another ex-girlfriend of Andrade was on the stand. Her name is Felicia. She was also on recorded tapes from conversations with Andrade from jail. There are three interesting points to her testimony and tapes so far. First, she testified that Andrade when angry snaps. This would be bad except the way she said it sounded to me like it was rehearsed. After all, he spent two weeks with her after killing Angie and was the girlfriend he gave two of Angie's purses to.

Second, in the taped conversation she mentions that Andrade was on the Mocospace in the BI-SEXUAL area. Also, she asked Andrade if she had to be tested for anything (referring to STD's) and he replied that nothing ever got that far. He had claimed to have had oral sex with Angie.The agent with the Crime Lab who did DNA testing on some evidence came up with (what I believe) is a significant finding. The police sent to the lab a pink vibrator and it had a significant amount of DNA on it that belonged to Andrade. To give you some information the Agent testified that the only way to get that much DNA on the vibrator was by semen, vaginal secretions, or through anal penetration. The defense tried to say that maybe sweat on the hands could produce that much, but the Agent said very highly unlikely.

Trial starts tomorrow at 830 am with Felicia on the stand and more jailhouse tapes to listen to. The prosecution is supposed to rest their case tomorrow. Possibly in the morning.

Crystal Ann Gray
Volunteer Transgender Advocate
LGBT Center of Colorado

Andrade Trial - Crystal's Snowed In

TransGriot Note: Much love and deep appreciation to Crystal Ann Gray for these updates. She's observing the trial for the LGBT Center of Colorado.

Friday, April 17

Hello! I am at home and not at the courthouse due to a snowstorm. I am watching the case at home and it appeared to me today that the judge cleared the courtroom. The reason is that video and pictures that were taken from the crime scene and autopsy were private.

As I watch this on TV I saw a poll where 70% believed that the agree with the hate crime additional charge. Most people leaving comments at the CNN.com/crime (also where you can find live streaming video of the trial) said that it is her fault if she did not tell him. However, the prosecutor says she is able to show that he knew 36hrs before he killed her. So those that believe he did not know about her transgender status may have to eat their words.

CNN also did an on street interview with people on the street and asked them about the tolerance of transgender people in the US. Most said one of two things. Either that it depended where you live or that there is not enough tolerance by the general population toward transgender people. This is the latest and I will keep you all informed if there is any more interesting news.

Crystal Ann Gray
Volunteer Transgender Advocate
LGBT Center of Colorado

Still Missing 'Lufer'

April 20 has a lot of negativity associated with it in terms of being Adolf Hitler's birthday and the anniversary date of the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, CO. The 10th anniversary of that event is being marked today.

But it's also the birthday of one of my favorite singers in Luther Vandross, who was born in New York on this date in 1951.

He's been gone from us since July 1, 2005, but for those of us who bought his albums, got our groove on or conceived our children by candlelight with his voice in the background, got married with someone trying to sing one of his songs or attended his sold out concerts, we definitely love and miss him.







'Lufer' was a once in a generation kind of singer, and this legend was taken away from us far too soon.

Tami's Podcast Now Archived

Thanks to Tami of What Tami Said for the kind invitation to participate in yesterday's podcast along with Renee of Womanist Musings and AJ Plaid of The Cruel Secretary.

This was one of those free ranging discussions that could have gone on all afternoon and all night. We only had an hour an a half to try to tackle the complex subject of Black femininity, and tackle it we did.

The podcast is now up along with links to various posts from all of our blogs that talk about the subject.

So if you didn't get to hear the live show yesterday, check it out at your leisure.

Just Because You're Younger Doesn't Mean I Can't Learn Something From You

One lesson I was taught by my parents growing up was even though I possessed off the charts intelligence, in order to keep me from developing the arrogance that can sometimes accompany that level of intelligence, I was told and have observed that there's always someone on the planet who is smarter than you.

I like surrounding myself in my circle of friends with people of not only diverse backgrounds that I can have intelligent, thought provoking conversations with, but of different ages who can teach me something as well.

Sometimes those people are younger than me.

Just because I've lived longer on Planet Earth doesn't necessarily mean I'm automatically more intelligent than a twenty or thirtysomething. I have a life experience advantage on them, but if I sit down and have a conversation with a young brother or sister who has some profound insightful knowledge to impart to me, I'm in shut up and listen mode.

We must remember that the twenty and thirtysomethings grew up being immersed in information and are far more tech savvy than those of us whose first computer was a Radio Shack TRS-80.

I take time to listen to the younglings. They may have a fresh way of looking at a problem or have come up with new tactics to achieve an old goal.

If you're too busy dismissing their idea simply because the person proposing it doesn't have more birthdays under their belt, then you run the risk of driving them away and you and the cause you're championing never having the benefit of their wisdom again.

One of my goals has always been that I want to continue to grow and evolve as a person throughout my lifespan. Sometimes the people that will help you achieve that goal happen to be part of Generations X, Y and Z and not the Pepsi or Greatest Generation.

When they wish to speak to me, they'll have my undivided attention.

Why Black Transgender Role Models Are Important

Wyatt T. Walker wrote in a December 1967 Negro Digest article, "Rob a people of their sense of history and you take away hope."

So when I stated that I wish I'd had pioneering transgender role models to look up to of African descent growing up like white transwomen have with Christine Jorgensen, April Ashley, and Phyllis Frye, I was speaking not only from a personal frame of reference, but from a historical one as well.

Yes, those people and many others have wonderful qualities that anyone can admire and emulate. But they also have in common the fact they are white.

That hasn't changed even though there are three African-American transgender people who have Trinity Awards on their mantels. That hasn't changed even though there are countless examples of transgender people of color stepping up, being intimately involved in shaping the history of this community and blazing trails such as the Alexander John Goodrums and Roberta Angela Dees of the world.

I'm lamenting the history that either hasn't or is just beginning to be told.

The point is that a young Euro-American transkid always has people representing them that affirm, reflect and share their cultural heritage. They log into computers for information on transgender issues, and the websites and the history they tell about the community disproportionately reflects them.

Go to the library or search for books on transgender issues, and there's a plethora of books, be they fiction or non-fiction, written from their point of view. They even see themselves reflected in the few movies and TV shows that have been done with transgender characters in them.

Now if you're a person of color, it's a different world.

Black transwomen have been whitewashed out of the transgender community narrative despite playing major roles in crafting it. We're rarely interviewed by the MSM, have books written by us, about us, or for us, asked to speak at colleges on transgender issues, or reflected in the predominately white middle-upper middle class leadership ranks of the community.

Don't even get me started talking about the images of African descended transwomen.

So when people consider me a role model or tell me they're honored to talk to me, I realize the seriousness of it. It's something I wish I'd had growing up, and it's the same lament shared by current day transwomen now in their twenties and thirties.

It's important in any marginalized community, especially as a transperson of color to have role models that share your ethnic heritage. They give you a concrete example of the fact that you aren't alone for starters. Their existence lets you know they are proud to be who they are, a roadmap to living your own proud life and the strength to persevere against adversity.

It also lets you know that you have a valued history that we have an obligation to defend and build up to greater heights. It also gives you the sense that you are another runner in the relay race of life and it's your turn to pick up the baton and carry it forward.

That has what's been denied us through intentional and unintentional whitewashing of transgender history, our community being disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS and taking the brunt of the hate violence directed at transgender people.

It has also served as Wyatt Walker's quote states, taken away our hope.

It's a negative pattern that needs to be reversed, and it starts with us. We have to claim and fiercely defend our history, trumpet our accomplishments, and document what's happening for current and future generations to read as well.

I want future generations of cisgender people inside and outside my African descended community to know not only what Alexander John Goodrum, Roberta Angela Dee, Dionne Stallworth, Kylar Broadus, Dawn Wilson, Dr. Marisa Richmond, Lorrainne Sade Baskerville, some transgender blogger who's the 2006 IFGE Trinity Award winner and many others accomplished in their time here on Earth to build this community, it's important for future generations of transkids to know this as well.

What Tami Said Podcast Appearance Today

Renee and I along with AJ Plaid from the The Cruel Secretary will be discussing the subject of Black femininity on The Best of What Tami Said podcast at 4 PM EDT today.

So if you wish to hear an informative and entertaining chat or participate in the chat room, you can either call in your questions at (646)716-4672 or surf over to the show page.

On the next installment of our Womanist Musings show that takes place on April 25 at 8 PM EDT, Renee and I will be talking to IFGE's Ethan St. Pierre and Crystal Ann Gray from the GLBT Center of Colorado about the ongoing trial of Allen Andrade, the accused killer of Angie Zapata. You can call us at (347) 326-9452 or join our chat room this weekend to ask questions of our guests or comment.

As with all blogtalkradio shows, if you can't listen live, you can always listen to it at your leisure by clicking on the link to the show website.

Zoe Saldana's Playing Uhura!

I'm an unabashed Trekkie and fan of anything Star Trek related.

Since the word got out that Star Trek was about to get a reimagined makeover by director JJ Abrams, one of the questions crossing the minds of Black Trekkies was who was going to play Nichelle Nichols' classic role of Lt. Nyota Uhura?

It's not an insignificant question. Nichelle Nichols' role in the original series had historic significance to the point that when she considered quitting after the first season, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. himself urged her not to.

The appearance of this smart, sexy sistah on our nation's 60's era TV screens inspired a Chicago girl named Dr. Mae Jemison to become an astronaut and later make history as the first African-American woman launched into space. It also inspired a New York girl named Caryn Johnson AKA Whoopi Goldberg to become an actress and eventually play a character on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Even Nichols herself worked for NASA not only recruiting African-Americans for the space program, but inspiring kids in my era to consider math and science careers as an ambassador for NASA's space program.

The person with the pressure of stepping into Nichelle's boots for this reimagined movie is Zoe Saldana. I'm a fan of hers from several movies over the years from Drumline to Pirates of the Caribbean.

When Zoe talked about her meeting with Nichelle Nichols, she is well aware of the fact that for African descended people, Lt. Uhura is more than just a movie role.

"I was able to sit down with her, and she told me the whole story of how Uhura came to be and where they were going with her character. It all fell into place the moment she walked into the door and auditioned for the part. She named the character herself ... and she felt as an artist, she was going to make the part big."

It's going to be interesting to wrap my mind around seeing her in this role but I'm curious to see how she's going to pull it off.

Nichelle Nichols agrees with me as well. She stated in a recent interview, "I'd love to wait and see what she brings to it so that I can understand, get to see who and what Uhura was like. "I would like to see what Nyota Uhura had that qualified her to go on that first five-year mission where no man or woman had gone before."

Hopefully they gave Nichelle a cameo role in the new Star Trek film, which hits your local multiplex on May 8.

Tell The Truth, Janeane!

The sheet wearing batturd wing of the GOP is furiously trying to deny it, but the world knows the truth about the sparsely attended so called 'grassroots' tea party rallies promoted by Faux News in a suburb near you.

Janeane Garofalo tells it like it T-I-S is, and the Reichers ain't liking it.

Janeane just vocalized what many of us noted. These non-events reminded me of the 'Two minute hate from the novel '1984'. In my local one I saw the usual anti civil rights cast of characters and that told me all I needed to know about these events.

As 'errbody' who watched the teabaggers frothing at the mouth hatred of Obama, we noted not only the lack of melanin at these rallies, but noted through your various commentaries to various news sources that what was motivating you wasn't good old fashioned American values, but racism.




Oh yeah, forgot you Fox News watching peeps consider hatred and wearing pointed hoods a good old fashioned American value.

I'm surprised the Confederate flag didn't come out of the closet based on the tired 'state's rights' rhetoric I heard ad nauseum.

Yo teabaggers, you lost on November 4, and the beauty of the situation is that we didn't have to rig the election or call on the Supreme Court to beat the crap out of you. So until 2012, why don't you turn off Faux News and Rush Limbaugh and pick up a few history books?

Better get with the fact the 'A' students are running the country now and doing a much better job in the last 80 plus days than your non reading fool did in 8 years.

Andrade Trial-Opening Impressions

The eyes of the transgender community in Colorado and elsewhere are focused on a Greeley, CO courtroom for the next two weeks. The groundbreaking trial of Allen Andrade, accused killer of Angie Zapata started Tuesday.

This trial is notable for the fact it's the first time an accused killer is facing additional hate crime charges for killing a transperson.

After weeding through 300 potential jurors during the jury selection phase, the 14 person jury made up of 10 males and 4 females was empaneled, and the opening remarks from the prosecution and the defense happened Thursday.



Autumn Sandeen of Pam's House Blend is in Greeley for the trial and will be covering it from a transgender perspective that is sorely needed.

I was watching Banfield & Ford: Courtside coverage of the trial Friday. I was pissed about Gwendolyn Lindsey-Jackson, the sistah defense attorney they had as a guest calling Angie 'it' during one segment of the show, but Ashleigh Banfield did express her disgust over the use of the trans panic defense and at one point called Andrade a 'moron'.

That still didn't lower my pissivity over the 'it' remark from someone who shares my ethnic background and needs to get her Trans 101 on.

But back to the trail's opening phase. As I and others have long since predicted, the defense's game plan was to play the trans panic defense.

“This case is not about judgment of a lifestyle,” defense attorney Brad Martin told the jury. “It’s not about whether Justin Zapata’s lifestyle was right or wrong. It’s about a deception and a reaction to that deception. ... Justin’s Moco Space profile was that of a female, not of a transgender, and it certainly wasn’t that of a man.”

However, a bomb got dropped by the prosecution that puts a nice chink in the Andrade's contention that he didn't know Angie was transgender.

Deputy District Attorney Brandi Lynn Nieto told the jury that Andrade knew for 36 hours Angie was biologically male. He even attended a court hearing for a traffic ticket where clerks called for the case against “Justin Zapata.”

“You’ll hear a call to his girlfriend that demonstrates his hatred for homosexuals,” Nieto said. “It will give you a window into the defendant’s mind. It will show his bigotry, his prejudice and his bias against homosexuals.”

Nieto showed the jury transcripts of those calls, including one that said it was not like he was shooting a teacher in cold blood or a straight, law-abiding citizen.

“He makes it clear there is a difference between killing someone who’s homosexual and someone who’s not,” Nieto said. “He knew for some time she was transgender, and he brutally killed her because of it.”

They began calling witnesses Thursday afternoon. The nine witnesses that have testified so far include the first officers and paramedic on the scene, neighbors who saw Zapata the night before her murder, and the officers who arrested Andrade two weeks later.

Yesterday's proceedings were interrupted by a major snowstorm that hit the Denver metro area that only dumped rain in the Greeley area. Areas west of I-25 were whacked by up to 3 feet of snow. Denver (south of Greeley) was clobbered by nine inches of snow.

Stay tuned. Just like spring weather in the Rockies, the ride is gonna get bumpier once the defense gets their chance to state their case.

Tell It WOC Speak April Carnival Up

The third installment of the 'Tell It WOC Speak' blog carnival is up, and thanks again to Renee for all of her hard work putting this together on the dedicated site for it to showcase the work of WOC bloggers.

The apropos theme this month is Voices Have Power.

It's past time as women of color bloggers to realize that we need to use our individual and collective voices to speak truth to power and stand up to injustice and intolerance.

Take some time to surf over to the site and check out some wonderful writers. Yeah, you know I made sure I submitted some posts, too. I think it's important enough for me to do so, and it introduces my writing to people that may not have discovered my blog.

If you want to be a part of the May 15 WOC Speak Carnival get cracking now and submit those posts for the next installment.

Real Texans Aren't Nekulturny

As you longtime TransGriot readers know I'm exceedingly proud of my Houston and Texas roots and wax poetic sometimes about growing up in a Lone Star State that followed its progressive political roots.

Unfortunately the batturd wing of the Republican Party decided to use Texas as a laboratory for field testing the themes and policies they would later use to capture control of the state and later the country. After 15 years of disastrous GOP control of the state in the wake of Ann Richards successful 1991-1995 term as governor, the yahoos are running the asylum and did unto Texas what they did to the nation.

George W. Bush's disastrous mispresidency didn't help the image of Texans as far as the county and the world is concerned. Every time some politician says something stuck on stupid, you can count on three things: they're Republican, they're from Texas or both.

So of course I'm going to comment on the idiocy spouted by Governor Goodhair. It also speaks volumes as to probably why until 2002 Texans never elected an Aggie as the governor.

“Texas is a unique place. When we came into the union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that,” Perry said. “My hope is that America and Washington in particular pays attention. We’ve got a great union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, who knows what may come of that.”

First of all, Perry failed his Texas history class in junior high and at Texas A&M. Texas was an independent republic from 1836 until it joined the Union. The oft cited 1845 treaty that facilitated Texas' admission into the Union stated that Texas had the right to split into four additional states, not the right to secede.

In 1991 a Texas legislator filed a bill to do precisely that, but it went nowhere, just as it did when John Nance Garner proposed it.

Perry also misquoted Sam Houston, a former president of the Republic of Texas who became our seventh governor.

He borrowed a Sam Houston quote that stated, “Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may!”

The reality for you conservailliterates is that Sam Houston bitterly opposed Texas’ 1861 secession from the Union, and was removed from office when he refused to sign a loyalty oath to the Confederacy.

As for the question of secession, the Civil War settled that. Also note that the only peeps pimping this racist 'state's rights' secession bullshit are devoid of melanin. In addition to that 75% of the state in a poll released today said a resounding 'Hell No' to the prospect of secession.

My former state senator, Rodney Ellis, called out Governor Goodhair by saying, "that by not rejecting the possibility of secession out of hand, Perry "is taking a step down a very dangerous and divisive path encouraged by the fringe of Texas politics."

The Texas House Democrats as well sponsored a resolution condemning the governor's remarks as well.

For the rest of you folks in the other 49 states that are hollering 'do it' and 'good riddance', let me school y'all on something. If Texas were an independent nation, it would be the eighth largest economy on the planet. Not something you want to lose if you're trying to pull the USA out of a recession.

The national Republican party is probably behind the scenes cursing Rick Perry out for even suggesting it because all of their presidential election scenarios begin and end with Texas in their electoral college calculations.

I'd like to also point out that while we unfortunately have the stereotypical Ugly Texan yahoos, many Texans have made substantial contributions to the United States on many fronts.

You have military leaders such as Admiral Chester Nimitz, General and later president Dwight D. Eisenhower who hail from my birth state. Political statesmen and stateswomen such as Mickey Leland, Barbara Jordan, Governor Ann Richards, President Lyndon Johnson, Sam Rayburn and Sen. Ralph Yarborough, the only Southern senator to vote for all civil rights bills from 1957-1970.

We have writers such as Molly Ivins, Larry McMurtry and J. Frank Dobie. Distinguished CBS News anchors Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather are from my hometown and Bill Moyers is a Texan as well.

I won't even begin to list the legions of Texans from Sandy Duncan and Renee Zellweger, Oscar winner Jamie Foxx, Tony winner Phylicia Rashad, Grammy winner Beyonce Knowles-Carter and Erykah Badu who have populated the stage, screen and music worlds.

If it weren't for Texan football players, Oklahoma wouldn't even be an elite football program. It would take another post for me to list the Texans populating the professional sports ranks and Halls of Fame in various sports as well.

Those of us who are proud progressive Texans in the Billie Carr-Barbara Jordan-Ann Richards-Ralph Yarborough tradition are sick and tired of these yahoos purporting to represent 'real Texans' and us getting the negative backlash for their idiocy.

Real Texans aren't nekulturny jerks like the fools who were on display last Wednesday. Real Texans care about all their fellow human beings, not a partisan slice of it.

Shut Up Fool! Awards-Post Taxing Edition

It's two days after April 15th, and the fallout from the right wing hate on Obama fest is still reverberating throughout the media and the blogosphere.

Here in Da Ville we're gearing up for Thunder Over Louisville, the massive fireworks show that kicks off the two week long Kentucky Derby Festival that's a prelude to the Kentucky Oaks and Derby horse races.

Speaking of horses, let's see what fool made himself or herself look like a horse's posterior and earned this week's Shut Up Fool! Award.

There were plenty of candidates thanks to the teabagging parties, but the fool who distinguished himself is my former governor Rick Perry.

Governor Goodhair played to the batshit wing of the party and mentioned the s-word in two separate interviews. Okay, didn't Texas try the secession route in 1861 when it joined the Confederacy and it was a miserable failure?

There's a reason why we didn't let Aggies near the governor's chair, and after this term an Aggie probably won't get within sniffing distance of the chair again for a while after you're mercifully gone from the governor's mansion.

We'll also have to conduct an exorcism after the way you and George W have desecrated the place since 1994.

Rick Perry, shut up fool!

Blake Lively Feels Like A Transwoman?

Gossip Girl's Blake Lively recently did a photo shoot for the May issue of Allure magazine which will be hitting the stands on April 21.

During the interview for the upcoming magazine cover Lively confessed 'she feels “like a tranny a lot of the time.”

The 21 year old star then expounded on her remarks by saying “I don’t know, I’m…large? They put me in six-inch heels, and I tower over every man. I’ve got this long hair and lots of clothes and makeup on. I just feel really big a lot of the time, and I’m surrounded by a lot of tiny people. I feel like a man sometimes.”

Blake, I'm 6'2" and proud of it. Some of those shorter women you tower over would love to have the beauty and 5'10" height you were blessed with.

If you really want to know what being a transwoman is Hollywood is like, call up Calpernia Addams, Alexandra Billings, Aleshia Brevard, Jazzmun and Candis Cayne sometime. I'll bet those women could give you a PhD level 'ejumacation' on the subject. I'd also be willing to bet that Candis and the other Hollywood transwomen would remind you they aren't getting calls to do photo spreads like you are for fashion magazines or their pictures plastered all over the place either.

And let's face it, even with your declaration notwithstanding, not many people question what genitalia you pack in your panties like they do transwomen even after decades of transition.

But at the same time, just as I want people to take me and other transpeeps at face value when we articulate our feelings, I'm extending the same courtesy to Blake Lively. I'm not walking in her pumps, so I respectfully take her word for it that was her emotional state at the time she said those comments.

But next time, please refrain from using the word 'tranny'. While I feel you in terms of the emotions you expressed, the T-word coming from the lips of a cisgender woman is still a little problematic.

What Happens Across The Diaspora IS My Business

One of the interesting things about Black people across the African Diaspora, whether we live in the States, Canada, various Caribbean nations, Brazil and Great Britain is the kinship some of us feel with each other and our connection to the Mother Continent.

We in the Western Hemisphere have this shared history as descendants of the survivors of the heinous Middle Passage even though we reside in different parts of the world.

Because of that shared history, just as Euro-Americans look back to their various homelands with pride and are concerned about what happens there, the same logic applies to the children of the African Diaspora.

As an African descended resident of the United States, it is my business what goes on with African descendants in various countries.

Just as African descended people around the world took pride in the election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States, I had the same level of pride in seeing Michaelle Jean become the Governor General of Canada, Baroness Valerie Amos become the Leader of the House of Lords, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf assume the presidency of Liberia and Portia Simpson briefly becoming the first female prime minister of Jamaica.

I marveled at Usain Bolt in the Beijing Games blazing across the finish line with the same pride 2 million Jamaicans had for him. I root for the Calgary Flames because of Jarome Iginla and celebrated along with my F1 loving roommate when Great Britain's Leonard Hamilton became the first African descended driver to win the world driving title.

So don't tell me as an American of African descent that I can't comment on or get actively involved in trying to come with solutions to the problems that are occurring in Haiti for example or various nations across the diaspora.

If megachurch minister Bishop Noel Jones can fly his ass to Jamaica, address the Jamaican Parliament and implore them to 'resist US activist pressure' and keep the colonial era anti-gay laws in place that are a root cause of the homophobia-fueled violence there, then I have just as much right to take the opposite position and help overturn those laws.

Just as Canadian Blacks helped with our civil rights battles in the US and we played a role in helping our South African cousins throw off the yoke of apartheid in the 80's, we have the same obligation to help our Canadian our Brazilian cousins if they request it with their struggles. When GLBT people's civil rights are disrespected and abused in various African countries that's my problem as well as a African descended transwoman.

We are all accountable to each other and linked by a shared history of struggle and triumphant achievement. So yes, it is my business what happens across the Diaspora, and it's time all African descended people adopt that expansive mindset.

Tax Day

Today is the day that many Americans anticipate with fear and loathing, Tax Day.

April 15th is the deadline to file tax returns. I'm due a refund and have had my paperwork and W-2 together since early February, but I usually hold off until late March or early April to file it so I get the refund around my birthday.

I'm getting a little something-something back from the Feds, so I'm not complaining.

But what I am chuckling about is the GOP haters in their desperate zeal to stir up fear, hatred and loathing of our wildly successful so far president have set up anti-tax propaganda rallies all over the country today.

These are alleged to be 'grassroots' events, but are backed by corporate sponsors, Faux News and the Repugnican party.

I checked the ones scheduled for Houston, and all of them with the exception of the downtown event at Jones Plaza, all of them are taking place in predominately white suburbs. I have no doubts that the pattern is replicating itself elsewhere in the country as well along with the glaring lack of melanin of the event participants.

Nobody likes paying taxes, but everybody wants interstate highways with no potholes, their mail to come on time and other federal government services to function on demand, smoothly and efficiently. They can't do that without cash, and as the saying goes, no new taxes equals no new services.

So just fire up TurboTax, e-file it, call it a day and enjoy the entertaining show from the GOP sheeple hatin' on the prez.



They have yet to catch on to the fact (unless they were watching Rachel Maddow LHAO) that the 'teabagging' phrase they are using to refer to their movement refers to a sexual practice.


TransGriot Note: HT to Womanist Musings for the Rachel Maddow Show video link and post.

You Lost Again Norm, Get Over It!

A Minnesota court confirmed Monday that Democrat Al Franken won the most votes in his 2008 Senate race against sore loser Republican Norm Coleman.

Coleman has 10 days to appeal to the state Supreme Court, and has already announced he'll do so. Once the petition is filed, it could further delay the seating of Minnesota's second senator for weeks.

"It's time that Minnesota like every other state have two senators," a jovial Franken said outside his Minneapolis townhouse with his wife Franni at his side. "I would call on Senator Coleman to allow me to get to work for the people of Minnesota as soon as possible."

After a statewide recount and seven-week trial, Franken now stands 312 votes ahead after gaining addition votes from the election challenge than Coleman, who brought the legal action.

Okay, so when is the corporate media gonna start screaming 'sore loser' at Norm Coleman like they did at President Al Gore, who actually won the 2000 election?

It's almost 100 days after Al Franken won the senate race, and it will be so cool when he finally takes his place on the senate floor.

Upcoming Appearance on ' Best Of What Tami Said' Podcast

Sunday April 19 Renee and I along with AJ Plaid The Cruel Secretary have been invited to be on 'The Best of What Tami Said' blogtalkradio show at 4 PM EDT.

We'll be discussing how black femininity is defined, how it is marginalized, stereotypes, appearance and sexuality.

This show should be an interesting one, and if you wish to join Tami and us in the live conversation, please call (646) 716-4672.

As always with Blogtalkradio podcasts, you can listen to them at your leisure by going directly to the show page.

Looking forward to a fun conversation and hearing from some of you loyal TransGriot readers.

Alberta Transgender Rights Tipping Point?

The abolitionist Frederick Douglass once stated in 1892, "Find out what people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them."

It looks as though the Conservative dominated provincial government is learning that they've gone past the level of injustice that Alberta's transgender community will tolerate.

Sometimes the 'I've had it' tipping point can be something small. Other times it's something so blatantly egregious you just can't stomach it anymore. You decide to fight and it leads to not only an end to the problem that led you to mobilize to fight the injustice in the first place, but empowers people through your example to fight for greater civil rights protections.

While some Albertans decry their rep within Canada as 'Little Texas' (and I feel their pain being a progressive from Texas) there are times when the idiots in my birth state and the province of Alberta go out of their way to justify and live up to every stereotype assigned to them.

The recent delisting of SRS funding from Alberta's provincial health plans has galvanized the Albertan and Canadian transgender community and their allies into coordinated action to reverse this odious ruling.

Could it be that we south of the border peeps are witnessing the dawn of a 'mad as hell' moment in Wild Rose Country that will lead to the Canadian transgender community organizing on a national level and getting more visibly active to codify, protect and expand their civil rights coverage?

That's up to our Canadian cousins to analyze the conditions in their homeland and decide if such an option is feasible and warranted, but I support whatever decision they make once this current battle is concluded.

Oreo Barbie

Last year Mattel hit a marketing home run when they created an AKA Barbie doll in honor of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority's centennial celebration.

I'm a Barbie fan and own a few of my own, and in this 50th anniversary year I thought I'd mention a Barbie design that didn't go over so well with a segment of the public.

Usually the Mattel folks are pretty savvy and on target when it comes to creating various Barbies, but on this one they missed badly. Somebody either wasn't paying attention or they didn't have any African-Americans in the R&D department to tell them how problematic having a Black Oreo doll would be.

In 1994 as part of a store cross promotion with Nabisco, they created a white Oreo cookie Barbie that was sold in grocery stores. The doll flew off the shelves and in 1997 they decided to produce a Black version of it.

While I understand what Mattel and Nabisco were trying to do in cross promote the world's most famous doll, the Oreo cookie line and creating as diverse a lineup of dolls for it as possible, Oreo has another connotation in the Black community beyond just being a slammin' cookie.

Calling someone an 'Oreo' is fighting words. It means that you are calling them Black on the outside and white on the inside. Translation, you call a Black person an Oreo, you are accusing them of being a sellout or an Uncle Tom to the race.

It's an image that is so ingrained in the African-American community's mind Michael Steele tried to seize on it by claiming that progressive Blacks threw Oreo cookies at him handed out by Democrats during a 2002 Baltimore debate appearance for the Maryland governor's race, a claim which has largely been debunked.

Predictably the doll sold so poorly it was recalled. It's ironically a highly sought after doll by Barbie collectors.

By the way, has anyone sent one to Condoleezza yet?

Andrade Trial Begins

In a few hours the opening arguments in the murder trial of Allen Ray Andrade, the accused killer of Angie Zapata, will begin in the Weld County Courthouse in Greeley, CO. The trial is expected to last two weeks, and there's already been pretrial fireworks.

Weld District court Judge Marcelo Kopcow, who will be hearing the case, issued a 31 page ruling on March 11 that that defendant statements made after 39 minutes of questioning will be disallowed after Andrade told Greeley detective Greg Tharp ‘I’m done. Yeah, I’m not talking right now’ [that] "... is a clear statement of the defendant’s request to remain silent and cut off further questioning.."

Also disallowed is evidence possibly increasing the severity of sentencing due to Andrade's alleged gang membership. As part of that gang culture, all sexual activities considered non-heterosexual are punishable by beatdown, expulsion and even death, which would make killing Zapata seem more of an imperative to Andrade.

All is not lost for the prosecutors, the Zapata family, interested observers in the transgender community, our allies and people around the world seeking justice for Angie's July 17 murder.

What will be allowed into evidence at the trial is:

» Statements to police of Andrade admitting to stealing Zapata’s car.
» Recorded phone calls Andrade made from jail to his girlfriend.
» Evidence from a friend saying Zapata looked convincingly like a woman.
» Evidence and photos from Andrade’s cell phone (though some pictures are out). The cell phone notes 670 separate communications between Andrade and Zapata between July 1-16, 2008.

The Colorado transgender community along with the Zapata family will be monitoring the trial, and here's hoping that justice will be done.

Why The Media Silence On HR 676, The Universal Single Payer Health Care Bill?

'The time has arrived to help millions of Americans living without a full measure of opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health...and [to have] protection...against the economic effects of sickness.' President Harry S. Truman September 19, 1945

The United States is the only industrialized nation without a universal single payer health care system. It's not for lack of trying. President Harry Truman tried to get one passed for us starting in 1945 but the W-M-D Bill to establish the system was thwarted by the dynamic duo of Republican Party resistance and the AMA screaming 'socialized medicine'.

In 1993 President Bill Clinton tried to pass universal single payer health care with then First Lady Hillary Clinton being the point person on the plan. 'Hillarycare' was drowned in $100 million of special interest money, lies, lobbyists, the usual refrains of 'socialized medicine' and the 'Harry and Louise' negative attack ad among others.

The takeover of Congress in the 1994 midterm elections by the GOP, the perennial Party of NO when it comes to universal single payer health plans also killed any further attempts by the Clinton administration at implementing it.



The soon to be nasty and heated debate concerning what direction the Obama Administration reforms of our broken health care system will take will make the 1993 one look like a church picnic. Out of all the plans under discussion, there's one option our corporate media won't talk about.

Universal comprehensive single payer health care.

So if the media won't kick knowledge about it, it's up to us bloggers to do so. I also found it interesting that 'Harry and Louise are back and singing a different tune in these 2008 ads, just like the millions of Americans who were hoodwinked and bamboozled into opposing 'Hillarycare'.



Since I believe that health care is a right, not a pay for out of pocket privilege, what I'm seeking to do is 'ejumacate' you about the once in a lifetime chance we have to get a health care system passed that benefits us, not large corporations.

Class is now in session. Time to talk about HR 676.

HR 676 is the United States National Health Insurance Act. It would expand and improve Medicare to cover all individuals residing in the United States.

If HR 676 is passed and signed by President Obama everybody would receive high quality and affordable health care services. People would receive all medically necessary services by the physicians of their choice, with no restrictions on what providers they could visit. If HR 676 is implemented, the United States National Health Insurance Act would cover primary care, dental, mental health, prescription drugs, and long term care.

In other words, the same high quality, low cost health care that other nations such as Canada, Great Britain, France and others around the world enjoy that's a major reason why their life expectancy rates are rising as opposed to ours would finally come to US shores.

'Our current national health care system is simple. Don't get sick.' Anonymous.

If you've seen the Michael Moore movie 'Sicko', you've already gotten a glimpse of what it's really like for the countries that use single payer health care plans.

Citizens in countries with universal health care pay small fees for medications we pay hundreds of dollars for. It's the reason US peeps who live near the Canadian or Mexican borders get their medications over there.

They get to see their regular doctors and never pay doctor bills. Doctors still get paid six figure salaries for practicing medicine despite working for the government, and you have luxuries such as house calls for doctors, therapists, et cetera.

Of course, the large HMO's and drug companies are against it and are already gearing up to spend truckloads of cash on PR firms and lobbyists to demonize and stop this bill from passing. They favor one that keeps the same tired Nixonian era HMO based system in place with its high costs, obscene drug prices, deductibles and high profits for them.


We also have a coalition of doctors, nurses and health care workers who are pushing for a comprehensive single payer universal health system to be created here in the United States as well. Physicians For a National Health Program is doing the myth busting work in order to get this passed so we'll no longer have 18,000 people a year die because of our jacked up system.

Contrary to the fiction that universal health care opponents and the GOP like to pimp, we don't have the best health care system in the world. We're 37th in the World Health Organization rankings when it comes to health care (France was number one).

The United States also fared poorly in a 2007 study by the Commonwealth Fund that compared our health care system to eight industrialized nations.

There are increasing numbers of cities such as Austin, TX and Louisville along with various organizations who have passed resolutions supporting and endorsing HR 676 along with various citizens groups. It's time once again to make our voices heard to our congressmen like we did on November 4 last year so it can happen.

It's time for the United States to stop the medical madness and join the rest of the world in providing quality health care to all its citizens.

Lighting A Candle For Angie

Angie Zapata was an 18 year old transwoman who was brutally killed in her Greeley, CO apartment in July 2008.

The trial of her alleged killer Allen Andrade will be starting on Tuesday, and like all peeps who wish to see justice done in this case I will not only be covering the case, Renee and I will be talking about it on our upcoming April 25 podcast.




In the interim, please give the Zapata family as much love and prayerful support as you can over the next two weeks. The Colorado transgender community is also gearing up to ensure that justice is done and give the Zapata family the support as they need in this difficult time.

You can also check out angiezapata.com or GLAAD's webpage as well. Now that the federal hate crimes bill has been filed, you can call your local congressmember or senator and urge them to pass it as well.

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency

As a writer I love shows that are well written and have great acting. I stumbled across just such another show on HBO with the The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency.

The six episode show and the pilot movie is based on the series of ten novels by author Alexander McCall Smith and is shot entirely on location in Botswana. The HBO show stars Grammy award winner Jill Scott in the lead role as Precious Ramotswe and Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose as Grace Makutsi, her awkward but very efficient secretary.

As the owner of the only woman owned detective agency in Botswana's capital of Gaborone, Precious has realized the achievement of her dream. She's kept busy solving various cases while also dealing with the problems and foibles of her clients lives as well.

It's also shined a spotlight on one of the more successful nations in sub-Saharan Africa. Botswana has been politically stable since independence in 1966, well run, prosperous and managed to avoid the drama that has plagued other emerging African democracies. The show has given us a chance to see the beautiful countryside and the wonderful nation as well.

It's enjoyable television, and I'm planning to catch up on the episodes I missed.

Villager's April 2009 Black Blog Rankings

The 2009 NCAA college basketball champions on both the men's and women's sides have been crowned, the 2009 major league baseball season has started, I'm a few weeks shy of another birthday, and the Afrosphere is ready to peruse the latest edition of the Villager's Black Blog Rankings.

This month the BBR's ranked 1629 blogs, which is an increase of 8 blogs over the last ranking period. The runaway Number One BBR ranked blog is still Pam's House Blend.

For the rest of the blogs ranked 2 to 25 and beyond you can click on the rankings link to discover who they are.

As for TransGriot, in last month's rankings I was as of the March 8 compilation date sitting at Number 46 with a Technorati ranking of 150.

So how did I do this month? As of the April 12 compilation date, TransGriot was Number 43 with a Technorati ranking of 150.

My Technorati ranking is making as much upward progress as my 401k lately. I've had the same ranking for the last three BBR's, but inched up three more spots in the BBR's.

Go figure.

I'm also running out of time in terms of getting up to my goal of the BBR Top 25 and a 200 Technorati ranking by my birthday.

But all I can do is suck it up, go back to writing the same insightful, informative and entertaining commentary I've always do and have faith that the rankings and Technorati rating catch up with the quality of the writing.

Transwomen Rap!

These Black transwomen have the skillz to pay the bills. Introducing Foxxjazell and Pam Jones from the 310 and Katey Red from the 504.



That's Los Angeles and New Orleans for you peeps who don't know the area codes for those cities.

Angel Taking Wings To The ATL

Angel McCoughtry may have been the best player on the second best team in the nation behind the unbeaten UConn Huskies, but she's number one in the hearts of the Atlanta Dream.

Despite my still simmering pissivity over the madness that led to my beloved Houston Comets not playing this summer, I took a few moments Thursday to check out the 2009 WNBA Draft. The Atlanta Dream after a 4-30 expansion season used their number one overall pick in the 2009 WNBA draft to take Angel. She averaged 23.1 points this season for the Lady Cardinals and is Louisville’s career scoring leader among women and men ballers at Da Ville..

“I feel on top of the world right now,” said McCoughtry,

“I’m on cloud nine. After I get off cloud nine, it’s time to work and get things started for Atlanta.

I enjoyed watching Angel play for the Cards. Best of luck with the Atlanta Dream.

70th Anniversary of Marian Anderson's Easter Concert To Be Celebrated Today

Marian Anderson had grown up from a poverty stricken childhood in south Philadelphia to become the most celebrated opera singer of her times. She had sung for the kings and queens of Europe. She'd sung in major concert halls across Europe, New York and Philadelphia.

But she couldn't sing in her own nation's capital because of her skin color.

When her manager tried to book her for a concert in Washington's Constitution Hall, the largest venue in DC at the time, the Daughters of the American Revolution, who owned it, said no because they refused to allow African Americans to perform there. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt subsequently resigned her DAR membership in protest of the organization's diss of Marian Anderson. An attempt to move the concert to a local Washington high school was thwarted by the local school board.

So the First Lady, then Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, and a coalition of Black and White leaders mobilized to set up a concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that took place on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939.

She sang, 'My Country, 'Tis of Thee' in front of an 75,000 person integrated crowd that included Supreme Court justices and senators. It was a seminal event that came to symbolize the hope and ideal of racial equality in America.

Another free concert will be held at the Lincoln Memorial will be held later today to honor the 70th anniversary of that seminal civil rights event.

The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and the National Park Service are jointly sponsoring it as part of the series of events celebrating the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth and the approaching 100th day of President Obama's historic first term in office. It will incorporate some of the songs Marian Anderson sung 70 years ago and feature modern day opera singer Denyce Graves singing classical songs as well.

The Chicago Children's Choir, the women's a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock and the U.S. Marine Band are also scheduled to perform.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell will read excerpts from Lincoln's second inaugural address during the anniversary concert, and at the conclusion of the event 200 people will be sworn in as US citizens.

Yes, we've come a long way as a country on racial issues in 70 years, but the journey is still not complete. But events like this serve to remind of where we were, how far we've come and ensure we don't go back to that antiquated way of thinking ever again.

Never Let Anyone Tell You God Doesn't Love You

Happy Easter everybody! I thought this would be an excellent time to drop a post about spirituality since this is a significantly special day for Christians around the world.

Back during the 2003 Derby I attended a star studded GLBT party. I had the pleasure of not only meeting the Lady Chablis and getting my personal copy of her autobiographical book Hiding My Candy autographed, I also had the pleasure of meeting the late Tammy Faye Bakker as well.

I had a wonderful conversation with the petite dynamo that turned to religion after she spent a few moments marveling at my 6'2" height.

We talked about the increasing negativity of the fundamentalist strains of many world religions, and their ratcheting up the faith based hatred of transgender people. She told me and later repeated it in her short speech to the assembled GLBT masses in the Olmsted that afternoon, "Never let anyone tell you God doesn't love you."

Tammy Faye was absolutely right. Whether you call the higher power God, Allah or Yahweh, know that God loves us just as equally as any cisgender person. If they say otherwise, they are violating a commandment.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Tammy Faye has a cogent point in that too many times we allowed the Religious Right to use the Bible as a baton to beat us down with spiritually. We have also failed to push back and forcefully call out the Religious Right's lies about transgender people as well.

But as former ESSENCE editor Susan L. Taylor once wrote, "We are not powerless spectators of life. We are co-creators with God. and all around us are the gifts, the clay, that we can use to shape our world."

For too long we have allowed the Forces of Intolerance to shape our world with their faith-based hatred because we were dispirited. We transgender people are children of God and spiritual people as well.

God loves us too. We transgender people need to name it and proclaim it to all who will listen. We also need to chuck the faith based shame and guilt and believe it with all our hearts as well.

We need to resolve on this Easter Sunday that we will henceforth tap into that spiritual power, stand tall, and begin to boldly use the clay and gifts all around us to do the world shaping to our benefit for a change.

Rape Is Not A Joke

Thanks to Faith and Jo Jo I was made aware of the existence of another transwoman rapper, but I wish it was under more positive circumstances.

Los Angeles based rapper Pam Jones was reportedly kidnapped at gunpoint by several men, assaulted and raped. ALL Hip Hop's knuckle dragging readers showed their asses in the comment thread to the story with posted comments dripping with transphobia and tasteless jokes. The same tired transphobic ignorance was on display at several other hip hop sites as well.

According to Pam's MySpace page she's recovering and doing okay, so send her well wishes and some love.

But the one thing that is infuriating me right now is the breathtaking level of ignorance and lack of common decency that was demonstrated by the comments on these various hip hop websites. Rape is rape, and it is not a fracking joke or something to be turned into a comedy routine. It is a violent crime that happens every two minutes in the United States and people have died from sexual assaults.



Are you that dense in the hip hop community that you're making jokey-jokes about a person getting sexually assaulted? Do you people actually think that someone would do that for publicity? Are you so sexually insecure about an attractive, talented transwoman living her life you see it as an affront to your tenuous masculinity or femininity and you smugly sit at your computer screens and type 'she asked for it'?

Would you nekulturny Negroes feel the same way if it was a member of your family who'd been raped? Probably not.

The only joke here is hip hop has declined from something our people could be proud of back in the 70's and 80's to an embarrassment for the African descended family.

You self appointed moralists are ranting about how transpeople are an embarrassment to you. I think it's the other way around in terms of odious associations.

Vote For Renee!

The voting for the Canadian F-Blogs Awards has started and my broadcast partner Renee's Womanist Musings blog has received six nominations for one of the awards.

She's in the running for the Best Canadian Feminist Blog Category, and the first elimination round started today and will run through the 14th. I'll make it easy on you and provide the link to the ballot.

I think it's great that she's finally beginning to get some recognition for the quality, tell it like it T-I-S is writing she puts together at Womanist Musings.

We bloggers have many reasons for starting our blogs, and we don't consciously start them seeking to grab up every award in sight. But when you're nominated for them because you do the hard work, and the peeps that create these awards and your readers like what you do enough to nominate you for them, it's nice to get the affirmation.

So show her some love and give her a little support.

Good News For Transgender Jews

Unlike Christianity and Islam, who have fundamentalist elements growing more hostile every day to transgender people, there's good news for transgender Jews, be they part of the Reform or Conservative movements.

In 2007 the Union For Reform Judaism in a groundbreaking move to recognize the experiences of transgender Jews, published several prayers for sanctifying the sex-change process.

The 500-page Kulanu: A Program for Implementing Gay and Lesbian Inclusion includes services for same-sex commitment and marriage ceremonies as well as advice for the inclusion of GBLT individuals in the community. A website called Transtorah.org was recently launched that is designed to serve as a resource for the Jewish community on transgender issues.

"I believe that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GBLT) Jews in our midst - our children, our relatives, and our friend - are in great need, as are we all of spiritual support," said Union of Reform Judaism President Rabbi Eric Yoffie in the manual's Statement of Purpose.

"In the ten years since the first edition of Kulanu was published there has been great progress in the way the Jewish community in general and the Reform synagogue community in particular has welcomed GLBT Jews," says the Union of Reform Judaism website. "This edition of Kulanu will continue to pave the way towards total inclusion of GLBT individuals and families in Reform Jewish Life."

While it may be news to Gentiles, the issues of transgender Jews were first addressed back in 1978. The Central Conference of American Rabbis deemed it permissible for one who had undergone a sex-change operation to be married according to Jewish tradition. In 1990, the CCAR allowed such individuals to be converted. In 2003 the union retroactively applied its policy on Jewish gays and lesbians to the transgender and bisexual communities.

Rabbi Elliot Kukla is a transperson who authored the blessings for transitioning genders. He was on the other side of the gender fence when he was ordained in 2006 by the Reform movement’s New York seminary.

He originally wrote the blessings for a friend who wanted to mark each time he received testosterone therapy and believes they are appropriate for multiple moments in the sex-change process, including “moments of medical transitions.”

On the Conservative Judaism side, there's been movement as well to consider transgender Jews place in the faith.

Rabbi Mayer Rabinowitz, an associate professor of Talmud at JTS, authored a rabbinic opinion, or teshuvah on transgender people that in 2003 was passed by the movement’s top lawmaking body.

Rabinowitz argued that Jewish law, or Halacha, should consider people who undergo sexual reassignment surgery in terms of their new gender.

Rabinowitz’s teshuvah states,

“Those who claim that we can not change God’s creation are closing their eyes to conversion, and to transplants as well as many other medical procedures which in fact do change God’s creation. Halakhah has always been macroscopic and not microscopic. Therefore, external organs determine the sexual status of a person.”

Rabbi Leonard Sharzer, who once was a plastic surgeon who performed SRS surgeries, is a senior fellow in bioethics at the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies at New York's Jewish Theological Seminary. He has written a teshuvah that built upon Rabinowitz's earlier one, but has yet to be submitted to the law committee.

Sharzer proposes that an individual claiming a transgender identity be considered the gender that person claims for himself or herself, regardless of whether or not he or she has undergone surgery.

As of yet, Ultra Orthodox people don't recognize the concept of transgender Jews. Avi Shafran, the director of Agudath Israel of America, said in a recent interview that under Jewish law, "and that’s all that should matter to an Orthodox Jew, if the physiology is clearly male or female, then they are considered that."

The recent transition of Joy Ladin at New York's Yeshiva University and other transgender Jews such as Israeli singer Aderet kind of throws a wrench in that line of thought.

Rabbi Kukla writes in the introduction to the Kulanu, which means 'all of us' in Hebrew, “The midrash, classical Jewish exegesis, adds that the adam harishon, the first human being formed in God’s likeness, was an androgynos, an intersex person,” “Hence our tradition teaches that all bodies and genders are created in God’s image whether we identify as men, women, intersex, or something else.”

It is something that all religious folks having issues with transgender people would do well to remember.

The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela

This is an award winning movie by Icelandic director Olaf De Fleur Johannesson released last October about a transpinay named Raquela. She dreams of escaping Cebu City to experience romance and life in Paris. It's racked up awards at various film festivals around the globe and here's the trailer for it.

1,500 Posts

Another day, another milestone here at TransGriot. You're looking at post number 1,500 since I started composing posts on this blog on January 1, 2006.

After a gradual buildup over 2006 into a regular posting cycle as I tried to figure out where I wanted to take the blog, its evolved, grown by leaps and bounds and the posts have been coming fast and furiously since then. It's been a joy to see the improvement in my writing and just the look of this blog since that date.

It's allowed me to chronicle history from my humble point of view at the time. In addition to covering a wide range of subjects, the best part is TransGriot will be a record of my thoughts as the historic election of Barack Obama to the presidency was taking shape. It's also chronicling transgender history as it takes shape as well.

I've also talked about life as a transgender person from the point of view of a POC, and hope I've given you a feel for it through an African-American prism. I also hope at the same time I've done my job in edutaining you as I talk about the issues we deal with.

There's plenty more writing to come, and it's time to get busy and start working toward milestone post number 2000!

Installing IntenseDebate

Because of the negativity that has recently intruded my cyberhome, I decided to go ahead and install the IntenseDebate commenting system in order to better manage the comments.

I thank my regular commenting family for coming in for the last several years and creating some stimulating debate on the various topics I post here. But there are fools who basically want to turn discussions into WWE wrestling matches, especially since I tackle topics that don't neatly fit with their worldview, and I'm tired of it.

My increasing profile and attention across the Net will only ensure that those troll infestations will increase, not decrease, so I've taken this step to ensure this blog remains a space in which intelligent discourse will continue to reign.

To comment on TransGriot from this point, you'll either have to use your OpenID or register with IntenseDebate before it allows you to post a comment. It also has some cool features as well as the ability to rate a commenter.

I've had the chance to observe it on other blogs I regularly comment on and I think you'll enjoy the enhanced experience as well. I also apologize for any inconvenience the switch may cause in order for us to continue to have substantive conversations here.

Shut Up Fool! Awards-Good Friday Edition

Today is Good Friday, so like all Christians I'm taking a moment to pause during this Holy Week and enter prayerful contemplation about the events leading up to Easter Sunday.

Renee and I have another edition of our Blogtalkradio show coming at you tomorrow at a new time, 8 PM EDT. It'll feature the women of Thistle Farms.

Speaking of prayerful contemplation, it's time to pray for and pity the fools that were nominated for this week's Shut Up Fool! Award.

While there were once again a plethora of candidates such as Rush Limbaugh, the WWBT's Joke Jennifer and Liz, Faux News as a group nomination along with the GOP, the winner just outdid them all.

Glenn Beck gets it this week. I never liked him, even before his failed stint on CNN, and why the hell did they even hire him in the first place?

I also never liked his behind for calling Hurricane Katrina survivors in New Orleans "scumbags". Since he moved to Faux News, he like all conservatives since January 20, 2009 have just gone off the deep end.



Beck: "I was wrong. Our government is not marching down the road towards communism or socialism... they're marching us to a brand of non-violent fascism... towards 1984."

Glenn, your comrades in the Republican Party over the last eight years had us so uncomfortably in bed with fascism the United States under Dummya met all 14 characteristics of a fascist state.

1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism. (CHECK)
2. Disdain for the importance of human rights. (CHECK)
3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause. (CHECK)
4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism. (CHECK)
5. Rampant sexism. (CHECK)
6. A controlled mass media. (CHECK)
7. Obsession with national security. (CHECK)
8. Religion and ruling elite tied together. (CHECK)
9. Power of corporations protected. (CHECK)
10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated. (CHECK)
11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts. (CHECK)
12. Obsession with crime and punishment. (CHECK)
13. Rampant cronyism and corruption. (CHECK)
14. Fraudulent elections. (CHECK)

Glenn Beck, shut up fool!

Washington Adding Transgender People To Hate Crimes Law

Transgender people residing in the state of Washington got some great news from their legislature Wednesday.

The Washington House approved Senate Bill 5952 on a 68-30 vote, with six Republicans joining the majority in adding the words 'gender identity or expression' to the state's hate-crime law. It was approved by the Washington Senate a month ago.

It now heads to the desk of Gov. Chris Gregoire (D), who is expected to sign it into law. The change would take effect three months after the end of the 2009 legislative session, which is scheduled to adjourn April 26.

Washington's hate crime law makes it a felony to threaten, damage the property of, or physically injure someone because of ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, disability or sexual orientation.

The definition of sexual orientation in the bill only covered people who were gay, straight or bisexual people. Adding 'gender identity or expression' to that definition makes the law apply to transgender people.

Lawmakers who supported the change said broadening hate-crime protections was a matter of fairness and justice. Rep. Chris Hurst, D-Enumclaw, a former police officer, said the state has a duty to defend people who are targeted solely because of who they are.

“If we do not defend the rights of those individuals, we defend the rights of no one.”

Republican opponents trotted out their usual argument against the principle of the hate-crime law itself, saying it seems unfair to dole out tougher punishments for crimes committed against certain types of victims.

“We’re not protecting people equally,” said Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama. “We aren’t protecting the cowboy that walks into a location where he is the one that stands out, or when a woman walks into a facility where she is the one that stands out.”

But Rep. Marko Liias, D-Mukilteo, pointed out that women are indeed protected under hate-crime laws if they’re attacked or threatened because of their gender. Liias also noted that stronger punishments already extend beyond the hate-crime statute, covering crimes against children or police officers, for instance.

By not giving hate-crime protections to transgender people, “We’ve said, ‘You’re just too different,’” Liias said.

Thanks to Washington state for becoming another in the long list of jurisdictions that recognizes the humanity of its transgender citizens.

TransGriot Speak 101

In the interest of making your blogging experience a fresh, pleasant and informative one here at TransGriot, every now and then I'll slip in a few terms that you probably won't see elsewhere.

I'm going to break them down for you in this post.

When I want to insult Republicans or conservatives, I'll use either 'Republi' or 'conserva' in front of the word I want to insult them with.

example: conservalogic, conservaidiot, Republidolt, Republifool

I will sometimes use the Russian word 'nekulturny in my posts. Nekulturny means 'uncultured' in Russian.

When I'm slamming the Religious Right, I'll sometimes used the term 'faith-based' to properly attribute their stupidity and Hateraid to them

example: faith-based hatred

Sometimes I'll even come up with acronyms to whack my opponents with like those latte-drinking haters the WWBT's. WWBT stands for White Women Born Transsexual. They're the transgender community's version of the rad fems. Just as nasty, reeking with privilege, clueless, and just as deserving of any lack of civility.

Note to the WWBT's, the rad fems still hate you and don't want you either, irregardless of how much you spent on that neocoochie.

That's a nice segue into my next terms, neocoochie or neovagina. I will sometimes call the post sex realignment surgery (SRS) genitalia by those names. Neoclit is the genital organ of a pre-op/non-op transwoman.

I don't like the term 'passing', because when I hear it, my thoughts go immediately to our history and light-skinned Blacks who had the features and opportunity to do so passing for white. I also don't like the connotation of deception. I use the word 'blending' as a stand in for a transperson who looks their gender best and is easily fitting in with society in their desired gender role.

There are probably some others I've coined, and as I do, I'll define them for you in future TransGriot Speak 101 posts.

Rush Gets Smacked On His Own Show

I can only take Faux News, Rush and all the other Republifascists in small doses, so I don't listen to or watch their shows. But there are days that I wish I had, and one of those was Tuesday.

A caller got through and excoriated the so called leader of the Republican Party/conservative movement. Here's the enjoyable takedown and a transcript courtesy of Media Matters.



Thanks Charles for exposing the real Rush Limbaugh. With talent on loan from Satan, he's a draft dodging bully who can dish out the criticism, but he can't take it. He's also been shown to be the foolish idiot he really is.

The Isis Surgery Show

Y'all knew as soon as the Tyra show with little sis Isis was up on YouTube I'd post it to the blog. I haven't seen it either so I'll be watching the video along with you.

Shoot, where's my popcorn?









Isis, if you're reading this, congratulations on the engagement.

Somali Pirates Snatch US Flagged Ship

I wrote last month about the menace of Somali based pirates attacking shipping off the Horn of Africa. In addition to it becoming a lucrative multimillion dollar endeavor for the Somali buccaneers, piracy is becoming an increasing problem in the waters off the Nigerian coast and Niger River delta region as well.

The pirates have become even more brazen. A pirate group based in Nigeria attacked the Equatorial Guinea presidential palace in its island capital of Malabo in February but was driven off by security forces.

The Somali pirates have attacked 66 ships since January and are holding another 14 for ransom. Despite some recent successes earlier this year by the multinational naval task force in beating back some recent pirate attacks, after a lull they spiked up again in addition to changing tactics and hitting ships further out to sea.

For the first time since the Barbary Pirates attacked a US ship off the coast of Libya in 1804, a US flagged vessel was attacked and successfully seized by African based pirates. This was also the first American vessel to be seized in this current wave of pirate attacks off Somalia.

The US flagged ship Maersk Alabama was transporting food aid destined for Somalia, Uganda and Kenya to the port of Mombasa when it was captured by pirates 200 miles southeast of Eyl off the Somali coast.

But that historical footnote was short lived. The ship had already been disabled before the pirates boarded and the second in command's father teaches an anti piracy course at the Merchant Marine Academy.

Hours later the 20 man crew of the Maersk Alabama bumrushed and overwhelmed the four heavily armed pirates, retook the ship and captured one while the others took captain Richard Phillips hostage and fled in a lifeboat.

The USS Bainbridge has arrived on the scene to assist with efforts to return the captain safely.

But it speaks to the fact that the piracy problem is getting out of hand to the point where long term solutions to deal with it will have to be implemented.

Blogtalkradio Show This Weekend

This weekend's edition of Womanist Musings will feature Renee and I talking to the women of Thistle Farms.

It's a community of women who have survived lives of abuse, sex work and violence, and we'll be talking to them about how their lives are progressing and moving on.

You can also check out their blog The Voices Of Thistle Farms in addition to the website link.


The show has moved to a new time, 8 PM EDT and as always we'd love to hear from you. If you can't tune in live, the show will be archived so that you can listen to it at your convenience.

If you'd like to suggest a guest or a topic, you can leave them in the comment thread for this post.

Congratulations Renee!

Putting a quality blog together is hard work. It involves long hours just researching info, composing multiple drafts and sometimes multiple edits to get them polished to your satisfaction before you post your thoughts to the world.

So I was happy to hear that my podcast partner was nominated for a 2009 Canadian F-Word Blog Award in the Best Feminist Blog Oh!Canada! English category.

She's been writing thought provoking and quality posts at Womanist Musings for almost a year now, and it's nice to see her Top 25 BBR blog (number 13 last month) finally get the recognition it deserves in her home country as well.

Nominations were accepted starting on April 1st and the last day for them is today.

The First voting/elimination round: April 11-12
Final Vote: April 18-19
Winners announced April 25th

I hope she has better luck than I did with the 2008 Weblog Awards. Congrats for the nomination, Renee and hope it's just the first of many more to come.

Not Feeling The Term 'Passing'

The term 'passing' in the transgender community means you are consistently at your gender best. You're at the point in your migration to your desired gender role that you are comfortable in your skin and relatively proficient in performing your desired gender to the point where you are moving around in the world like any cisgender individual.

But as a person of African descent, passing means something different and brings a different visual to mind.

When we hear the word 'passing', we think of African descended people who had a combination of characteristics- be it light enough skin, straight hair and the physical features for example to 'pass for white'. They cut ties with the Black community and used them to avoid the crushing negativity that Black people operated under mostly for their own personal gain.

I and increasingly some of our African descended cisgender allies don't like the term 'passing' being used to describe transpeople who are basically living their lives.

The problematic imagery with slavery and Jim Crow segregation was one of the factors that caused a shift to the term 'stealth'. It describes a transperson who has the looks and ability to perform gender to the point they are indistinguishable from a cisgender person and also cut all ties to the transgender community for various reasons to ensure that they aren't read as such.

'Stealth' is problematic as well. I believe it reinforces the 'we're being deceptive' meme all too prevalent in cisgender society about transpeople.

So if you see me talk about those issues on TransGriot, I'll be using the term 'blend', because that's exactly what we're doing. We're blending into society. We're making an active choice toward becoming the men and women we were destined to be despite the body we started off with.


TransGriot Note: The woman in the photo is Anita Hemmings, the first African-American graduate of Vassar College in 1897, 40 years BEFORE it began to admit qualified African-American students.

April Edition of Tell It WOC Speak Coming Soon

It's almost that time again. The April edition of the Tell It WOC Speak Blog Carnival is rapidly approaching. The blog carnival will be posted on April 15 so submit those posts in to Renee by April 12 if you wish to participate.

It's a great way to introduce people to your writing who may not have previously surfed by your blog previously.

The two previous ones had some dynamite writers and thinkers posting, so why wouldn't you want to be part of the cool blog kids?

I discovered some great blogs as a result of the previous editions of Tell It WOC Speak and hope the participation in this carnival grows.

The posts can be about any topic you desire to talk about by any woman of color. They can be previously written posts or brand new material, it's your call. Of course I'm going to be contributing a few posts to it, and I'd like to see some new writers join in.

So let's get busy, send those posts in and be a part of the only blog carnival dedicated to showcasing the work of WOC bloggers.

Just Because A Brother Dates A Transwoman Doesn't Make Him Gay

One of the tired memes I hear which gets repeated far too often is if a cisgender male dates a transwoman, he's automatically slapped with the 'gay' label.

I saw that crap repeat itself after the recent Tyra show in which Isis was proposed to by her boyfriend Desmond. The homophobic/transphobic negativity instantaneously erupted in the comment threads.

Sounds like some peeps were jealous.

The bottom line is that when we transition, one of the Prime Directives of our WPATH real life tests is that we blend in with society. Being a transperson also doesn't stop our sex drives or the fact that we gotta have it too.

Transwomen need love just like any other person walking Planet Earth. If you haters haven't gotten the memo by now, the stereotype of transwomen looking like NFL linebackers in dresses has long since been thoroughly discredited.

There have been some stunning looking transwomen over the last half century emerge from their cocoons to become beautiful butterflies. If they're hetero oriented in their sexual orientation, they like going out on dates, revel in being in the company of men, getting candy, flowers, chocolate and enjoy getting intimate with them just like any other estrogen based lifeform.

Since the male species that's hetero oriented checks out the beauty first as a prelude to chasing the booty, these transwomen, like any beautiful woman do get attention from the male species. Sometimes it doesn't matter whether we've had the surgery or not when they meet us. If we turn them on, they want to get to know us, and like us enough to want to get intimate with us, then nothing's gonna stop it.

The people that take the time to step to us, aren't 'scurred' of the drama and get to know a transwoman beyond the stereotypes discover we have varied personalities just like our cisgender sisters. We transwomen also realize how much crap you have to deal with just to date us and it's deeply appreciated.

But that doesn't mean just because we have a tough time finding men not 'scurred' to date transwomen you get a free pass to disrespect us. We're also looking for quality men just like our cisgender sisters and not scrubs.

Just because a cisgender guy dates one of us doesn't make him gay. Anybody who holds on to that antiquated thinking needs to go back and retake Sexuality 101. A gay male is attracted to another gay male. Generally they aren't interested for the most part in having relationships with transwomen, but after almost thirty years of observing the TLBG community I've seen some interesting couplings.

You also never know what a person likes to do in the bedroom once the door is closed, and it's nobody's business if that person likes a transwoman who just happens to have a neoclit in her panties. Love is funny that way.

If two people find that type of deep committed love and want to stay together for the rest of their lives, then what's wrong with that?

It's hard enough for a transwoman, be she straight or lesbian to find love. Are we supposed to let plumbing issues get in the way if we have found our soul mate and he doesn't care about it? I think not.

2009 NCAA Women's Championship Game

I'll have to DVR it, but tonight's NCAA women's title game in St; Louis is an all Big East affair between the surprising (to the rest of y'all) 34-4 Louisville Lady Cardinals and the unbeaten 38-0 UConn Huskies.

This is the third meeting between the two teams. They met in the regular season and the Big East women's tournament title game and the Lady Cards have been on the short end of both of them.

But as I know painfully well from my college days, just because you have a dominant team doesn't mean that you can't be beaten or you can't have a bad night. It's also hard to beat a team three consecutive times in the same season.

Talk about what a historic upset that would be. Here's a UConn team that beat them badly twice by 28 and 39 points, is playing for perfection for the third time, their seventh NCAA title and is chock full of high school All-Americans versus a Louisville team with none.

If you check my 2009 women's NCAA bracket, I have UConn picked to win the title and actually had the Cards losing to Oklahoma Sunday.

The Lady Cards have a chance to elevate this program to an elite level and shocking the world like a loquacious boxer from the West End once did over 40 years ago.

And here's hoping they do. Go Lady Cards!

Lateisha Green Murder To Be Prosecuted As A Hate Crime

The Andrade trial in Greeley, CO is about to kick off next week and here's hoping that the trial results in closure and justice for Angie Zapata's family.

In New York the alleged murderer of Lateisha Green will be facing hate crime charges as well. She was shot and killed outside a house party in Syracuse on November 14, 2008 with the media reporting that Dwight R. DeLee, 20, allegedly shot her because he thought she was gay.

On Friday, April 3rd, the grand jury investigating her murder indicted Dwight DeLee on hate crimes charges in connection with her death. This is the first murder classified as a hate crime in Onondaga County.

When the trial starts, I'll keep you updated on it. I hope it not only results in closure for Lateisha Green's family, but it finally sends the message that hunting season on transgender people is over and won't be tolerated.

Matthew Henson-Pole Brother

Today is the 100th anniversary of Matthew Henson becoming the first man to reach the North Pole.

Born in Charles County, MD on August 6, 1866, he became a cabin boy on a steamship after his parents died during his youth. He became a skilled navigator and seaman while self educating himself during those around the world voyages for the next several years.

He met Admiral Robert Peary in November 1887, who promptly hired him for an expedition to Nicaragua to survey a possible canal route. Impressed by his seamanship, he recruited Henson as a colleague and together they undertook many voyages together to the Arctic. Henson was admired by the Inuit people for his hunting and sled-driving skills, as well as his ability to fluently speak their language and fathered his only child with an Inuit woman.

On his and Peary's eight attempt to reach the Pole, on April 6, 1909, Henson arrived along with four Inuits at Camp Jesup, 89°47', 45 minutes ahead of Peary, concluding by dead reckoning that he had reached the Pole. Henson greeted Peary, "I think I'm the first man to sit on top of the world."

Henson later recalled that this angered Peary. "Oh, he got hopping mad … No, he didn't say anything, but I could tell," wrote Henson. Henson wrote that Peary "fastened the flag to a staff and planted it firmly on top of his igloo."

Peary was heated because he'd been ill, was exhausted and could no longer continue on foot. He sent Henson ahead to scout, and he was supposed to stop just short of the pole so that Peary could arrive later on sled and claim the historic first. They overshot their target by a few miles, but it was clear by Henson's footprints that he'd arrived at the Pole.

In the wake of that expedition, Henson and Peary's once warm relationship turned as frosty as the terrain.

Henson in 1912 wrote a book called Negro Explorer at the North Pole which chronicled that trip, since history was being whitewashed and Admiral Peary was being lauded as the first man to reach the Pole.

Henson did eventually get his props for his historic achievement. In 1944 Congress awarded him a copy of the same medal they gave Peary, and he was honored by Presidents Truman and Eisenhower before his death on March 9, 1955.

On April 6, 1988, in the presence of his Inuit and American relatives, Matthew Henson was reinterred at Arlington National Cemetery next to Admiral Robert Peary. The United States Navy in 1996 commissioned the Oceanographic Survey ship USNS Matthew Henson in his honor.

Interestingly, one of those relatives is actress Taraji P. Henson

On November 28, 2000 The National Geographic Society posthumously awarded Henson the Hubbard Medal, which is given for distinction in exploration, discovery, and research. Admiral Peary had been given the award in 1906 but race relations being what they were at the time, snubbed him.

So on this historic anniversary, it's time to pause and reconnect with another one of our outstanding African-Americans on this historic anniversary.

Clean Up Feminism, Then We'll Talk

TransGriot Note: This is a post I've written for Global Comment.

In the days since I wrote a post about finally claiming the womanist label and the warm welcome I've received since, I've had some of my white transsisters express movement envy and surprise that we transwomen of color would be embraced by our cisgender sisters of color.

Some of them have read about the principles of womanism, see the night and day comparisons and contrasts between it and feminism and asked if they can join the womanist ranks.

The answer I've heard from other womanists is no, and not for exclusionary reasons.

Womanism started because of profound disagreements between Black and white feminists over the shabby treatment of Black women inside and outside the feminist movement, the unacknowledged class privilege, and alarm over the transphobia being expressed by radical feminists.

There's also no love lost between some radical feminists and womanists as well on a wide variety of issues besides their hatred of transpeople.

While I emphatize with my white transsisters, womanism evolved because feminism became so narrowly defined, was blind to the ways that it ignored race and reinforced privilege, and became so toxically hostile to anyone who pointed out the obvious shortcomings that people left or disassociated themselves from it.

Just as you have conversations with various groups that we WOC aren't privy to that fall under the 'family business' label, there are conversations that womanists need to have as we explore the role of transwomen within the movement that fall under the same header.

The point I'm making is that you already have multiple social justice movements geared toward white people. Womanism is a FUBU production that we treasure and need to cultivate due to the constant infusion of fresh ideas that continue to fuel its growth and stimulate discussion on various topics.

Read the rest of the post at Global Comment.

Musing About Avon Wilson's Blended Life

One of the things that I've lamented in terms of being a transwoman of African descent is that unlike my white sisters, I don't have marquee transwomen to point to such as the Christine Jorgenson's, April Ashley's and Coccinelle's of the world.

We know from Teenie Harris' Pittsburgh Courier photos of the Pittsburgh TBLG/SGL community, the coverage of Finnie's ball in Chicago and the New York balls that we existed during that time period, so why didn't a Black transwoman emerge with the same kind of star power?

In October 1966 transsistah Avon Wilson was revealed by a New York Daily News gossip columnist as being the first client of the Johns Hopkins Gender Clinic in Baltimore.

"a stunning girl who admits that she was once male less than one year ago had her sex change surgery done at, of all places Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore."

I always wondered since I discovered that tidbit of information what happened to her.

Recently I received a tip that shed some more clues toward what happened to Avon Wilson. Johnson Publishing Company cut a deal with Google to digitize Ebony and Jet magazine back issues for easy web searching. One of the commenters on a Racialicious thread discussing Tami's post on whether Ebony/Jet magazines should be saved left a link to that, and after clicking on that link just for grins I Googled Avon Wilson's name to see what would pop up.

In addition to some other African-American transgender stuff I'll share with you in later posts, the July 13, 1967 issue of JET popped up as well. This interesting note pops up after you scroll down to page 58 of that issue with the late Yvonne Brathwaite Burke on the cover.

A former New York City dancer who appeared under the name of Avon Wilson underwent special treatment at the Gender Identity Clinic at Johns Hopkins Hospital and married a man in Baltimore, MD. A hospital official disclosed that Wilson had undergone treatment at the clinic whose pioneering also includes 'sex changing' techniques. The former dancer became the bride of Warren Combs, a musician.

So far that's the extent of what I know happened to the first African-American to undergo SRS at the now closed Johns Hopkins Gender Clinic. (no thanks to right wing Catholic transphobe Dr. Paul McHugh, the Vatican advisor on transgender issues)

But it still leaves a lot of unanswered questions for me. The obvious one is if she's still alive. Was her marriage a happy one? Did she stay married or did the transsexual history play a role in breaking them up? What were her thoughts and feelings as she lived out her life as a married transwoman?

It would have been nice to know the answers to those questions and had a role model that shared my heritage to follow.

In the Black Community, Our Allies Deserve More Than A Cookie

I'm keenly aware of the fact that womanists have long supported and embraced transwomen, and it's one of many reasons I've embraced and claimed the label for myself as well.

One of the things I'm gratified to see lately is more of my cisgender sisters who may or may not claim the womanist label stepping out there on their own blogs to talk about transgender issues and how we fit into the sisterhood.

And when they do I encourage and applaud them for doing so.

I recently left this comment on Twanna A. Hines' funkybrownchick blog on a post she'd written about transgender children.

I definitely don't pretend I'm an expert on the topic, though I'm always open to learn more.

And that's all we ask for Twanna. I'm willing along with other transpeople to openly talk about our lives and provide that 'ejumacation' if my cisgender brothers and sisters will open their hearts and minds and listen..

The point is we transpeople have always been a part of the AA community, and we didn't forfeit our Blackness when we transitioned.

All we want is to be able to contribute our talents to uplift the race and peacefully live our own lives free from harassment .

I don't think that's too much to ask.

While I agree with my H-town sistah Jo Jo in theory on the valid points she made in this post while talking about the 'no cookies' policy, I think when it comes to transgender people, it's different.

We're so used to having to slog it almost alone and getting slimed in the process, even by our allies. When we finally do run across someone who takes being an ally seriously, complete with the willingness to educate themselves on the issues, first we're shocked, then we treat them as the precious jewel they are.

If we get to call them 'friend' it's even more of a blessing.

In the African-American community, we need to get up to speed on transgender issues. There's too much faith-based ignorance and misinformation floating around about transgender people of African descent despite the fact we've been part of the community since before we took the involuntary boat rides to the Americas.

All you have to do is peruse the comment threads on stories about transgender people to see that.

Our cisgender female allies who do talk up these issues are looked at with crossed eyes, or if they state for the record they have transgender girlfriends have their femininity questioned.

With coordinated information sharing and action from us and our cisgender sisters, we can help break down that wall of ignorance, have those informed conversations and begin to get the resistant element of the Black community to see that we're proud Black people, too.

For those of you who take up that challenge, not only do you deserve a cookie, you've earned a standing ovation and our deepest thanks as well.

Once the applause fades from that standing o, then we go back to diligently working to create a better community for all of us.

Michaelle!

Thought I'd show some love today to the fly sister residing at Rideau Hall, Canada's Governor General Michaelle Jean.

She's got it going on as well, and it's going to be interesting to see what transpires when she comes to Washington for a visit later this year. In the meantime, while we're waiting for the details and the dates of the visit, check out the photos.

Western Kentucky Pride Association Events

The Western Kentucky Pride Association will be hosting a variety of special events as part of this year's "Pride in 09" celebrations.

Among these will be a Luau Pool Party on May 16th, the 2nd Mr & Miss Stonewall Pageant on June 6th, and last but not least the 6th Annual Stonewall Picnic on June 27th.

The Western Kentucky Pride Association is a seven year old not for profit non-discriminational social organization, based in Hopkinsville, Kentucky and the Western Kentucky region, which is dedicated to promoting a positive image for the local Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Transgendered community. Membership is open to all who share similar values.

For more details on the upcoming events or the organization we encourage you to visit the official website at http://westkypride.tripod.com

Your support and or participation in these events will be greatly appreciated.

If you need more information, wish to help support the WKPA efforts or are interested in setting up a Vendor or Information booth then please contact Kenneth (Andy) McIntosh at (270) 886-0010 or by e-mail at kycowboy41@aol.com.

Advertising opportunities and sponsorship packages are available through the official website.


For any further information or questions, contact
Kenneth (Andy) McIntosh, WKPA President
http://westkypride.tripod.com
kycowboy41@aol.com
270-886-0010

The Obama's Excellent European Trip

It's so cool to see my president go away on a foreign trip and I don't have to cringe like I did over the previous eight years in horrified embarrassment because of his breathtaking stupidity or nekulturny behavior.

It's been an absolute joy to watch President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama represent us well while on the first European trip of his presidency for the G-20 London summit and the NATO meeting in Strasbourg, France.

It's also been gratifying to see the love showered down on both of them from other world leaders and the world press while the conservahaters sip on their GOP red Kool aid and rant. I know German Chancellor Angela Merkel is happy that Junior's back in Texas. She won't be getting any more unwanted massages from him.

It galls you even more when Queen Elizabeth II is so enamored with the First Lady that she hugs her first.

He's heading to Turkey before coming back to this side of The Pond

And riddle me this conservaidiots, when did Bushie boy during his misadministration not only give a speech in which the English language wasn't mangled, but took questions from the audience like President Obama did in Strasbourg?



And we're not even 100 days into his presidency yet.

Hate on conservatives. Can't help it if you poor babies are bitter because the world loves our current president and First Lady and hated yours.

Dr. John Hope Franklin 1915-2009

I was saddened to find out that 94 year old Dr. John Hope Franklin, one of my favorite historians, passed away on March 25 due to congestive heart failure.

I own one of his books and loved listening to him speak on various issues.

You also have to think about the things that this man as a historian saw unfolding across the sweep of his own life as he kept us informed and educated about our history.

Another one of our academic icons has moved on to his well earned rest, and while he'll be missed, he left a legacy of work behind that will never be forgotten.