Saturday, December 31, 2016

TransGriot 2016 NFL Picks- Week 17

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This is the last week of the 2016 NFL season, and since there was no Thursday night game, I'm taking the extra days to think long and hard about these final picks of the season for the sixteen games that will happen on New Year's Day.

Short of a disaster, I'm probably going to accomplish my goal of winning back to back NFL prognostication titles.        

Speaking of champions, my fave NFL squad despite losing JJ Watt and still having quarterback issues on offense, persevered to win their fourth AFC South Division title in six years after beating the Cincinnati Bengals (again) 12-10 thanks to former Texan kicker Randy Bullock missing a game winning field goal.

And thank you to the Jacksonville Jaguars for beating the crap out of the Tennessee Traitors 38-17 so that my Texans could have the opportunity to clinch at home.   Now they have the opportunity to do something they have never done in franchise history when they go to Nashville to play the Traitors tomorrow:  Go 6-0 in the division .  

I''m also looking to something I've never done in all my years of NFL prognostication and go through an entire season without a losing week.

Last week Mike and I tied once again  I correctly picked ,the Saints-Bucs game and he got the Bills-Dolphins one right  

So let's get this last week of picks done and see if I can do it.  16 games, teams I'm picking in bold print and home teams in CAPS.    Mike's picks can be viewed via this link.

NFL Week 16 Results                                   2016 NFL Season Results
TransGriot 10-6                                             TransGriot    160-78-2
Mike          10-6                                             Mike             152-87-2
Eli              --                                                  Eli

New Year's Day Early Games
Texans over TITANS
Ravens over BENGALS
Panthers over BUCCANEERS
STEELERS over Browns
Cowboys over EAGLES
Bills over JETS
VIKINGS over Bears
COLTS over Jaguars
Patriots over DOLPHINS

New Year's Day Afternoon Games
Chiefs over CHARGERS
Cardinals over RAMS
Raiders over BRONCOS
Giants over WASHINGTON
Seahawks over 49ERS
FALCONS over Saints

New Year's Day Night Game
Packers over LIONS

The 2016 Shut Up Fool Of The Year is...

Well, needed to get this post out before yours truly and all you loyal TransGriot readers head out the door to hit those New Year's Eve parties to usher in a not so eagerly anticipated arrival of 2017.

Before I announce who this year's winner of the TransGriot Shut Up Fool of the Year award is, and you TransGriot readers have probably guessed who this person is, let me remind everyone who the past winners of this award were.

The inaugural winner of the Shut Up Fool of the Year Award in 2009 was then RNC chair Michael Steele   He was followed by Sarah Palin in 2010, Herman Cain snagged the honor over some stiff competition in 2011 followed by runaway 2012 winner Mitt Romney.

In 2013 the junior senator from Alberta, Ted Cruz made a late run to snag the 2013 Shut Up Fool of The Year honors.

In 2014 the Shut Up Fool of the Year award stayed in Texas with Rep Louie Gohmert getting it over some stiff competition

And in 2015, it was Donald Trump in a landslide.


I've never had a repeat winner of the TransGriot Shut Up Fool Of Year award,  but there's always a first time for everything.   And that was despite stiff competition from Ben Carson, Rudy Giuliani, Chris Christie, Omarosa Manigault, Katrina Pierson, Jeffrey Lord, Joe Scarborough, Jeanine Pirro, the NC GOP, Texas Lt Gov Dan Patrick and Kellyanne Conway making a late run for SUF of the Year glory..  

The 2016 Shut Up Fool of the Year is for the second straight year, Donald Trump.


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Sucks that I and other reality based Americans are going to have the disgusting spectacle of him on our TV and other events for the next four year as the POTUS.

Congrats on becoming the first ever repeat winner of this illustrious award, and oh yeah, Shut Up Fool 


Ronda Rousey Gets Knocked The F---- Out Again

Ronda Rousey, right, and Amanda Nunes face off for photographers during an event for UFC 207, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016, in Las Vegas. Rousey is scheduled to fight Nunes in a mixed martial arts women's bantamweight championship bout Saturday in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
You TransGriot readers know I'm not a fan of WMMA transphobe Ronda Rousey, and gleefully did the happy dance when Holly Holm knocked her the f**k out with 'The Kick Heard Round The World' during UFC 193 in Melbourne, Australia.  

When she crashed to the canvas after that kick, it was not only her first loss after 12 straight wins, but her air of invincibility also crashed with it.

Last night Rousey got in the octagon after a layoff of over a year since that November 2015 fight.   She was taking on current bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes of Brazil in a controversial  UFC 207 main event bout in Las Vegas that would be a crossroads fight for her.

It was controversial because back in October, Julianna Pena, pissed off because as the number #3 ranked UFC bantamweight fight with an 8-2 record and 4-0 in UFC competition, felt she got bypassed for the title shot against Nunes she believed she'd earned.

Pena sounded off about her unhappiness with being bypassed.
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Never in the history have I ever heard of somebody have a no-controversy brutal knockout, then quit the sport, and then comeback and get a title shot right away. The girl is mentally weak and Amanda Nunes is going to f--king knock her out and expose her ass. She's literally the worst fighter on the roster, and I can't stomach the fact that I'm not getting the title shot.
-Julianna Pena, October 12, 2016

Amanda Nunes lands punches while Ronda Rousey is against the cage during UFC 207
Rousey getting paid $3 million for this bout while the champ Nunes got $100,000 probably added to Pena's pissivity about being bypassed at well.

The cash Rousey got paid along with the media attention the challenger was getting probably pissed off Amanda Nunes as well.

Pena looks like Jeane Dixon now, because it only took the now 14-4 Brazilian champ 48 seconds of the first round and serving up a steady diet of punches to Rousey's face to send her to her second straight loss via TKO and easily defend her title.
Amanda Nunes, Ronda Rousey
Nunes retains her UFC world bantamweight championship belt, and the loss starts the questions all over again with people who cover the UFC and WMMA about Rousey, her coaches, her approach to this fight and whether she was mentally ready to come back into the Octagon.

Hey,, karma is a you know what.

Congrats to the champ Amanda Nunes for successfully defending her title and giving me an opportunity to do another schadenfreude laden happy dance

Friday, December 30, 2016

Shut Up Fool Awards- Last SUF Award Of 2016 Edition

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In a little less than 36 hours we will be headed into a new year with a lot of mixed emotions.   This one has been 52 weeks of ups and downs, emotional highs and crashing lows.

And in every one of those 52 weeks we've had peeps showing us how stupid, idiotic or clueless they are.

Since this is the last week and last Friday of 2016, it's time to call out this week's crop of fools.

Honorable mention number one is every fool calling out Serena Williams for getting engaged to a white man.   She's more down for our peeps than some of you peeps calling her out.

Honorable mention number two is Donald Trump for just pick an outrage this week.

Honorable mention number three is the Year 2016 for taking so many of our legends away from us and since November 8 being a slow motion nightmare

Honorable mention number four is Kellyanne Conway for just lying every time her lips move.

Honorable mention number six is Don King and every other kneegrow visiting Trump Tower to coon it up for him.

You get this award on top of it.

Honorable mention number six is the Boy Scouts, for barring a trans masculine kid from joining.   That's why I'll be spending money every year on Girl Scout cookies because they are enlightened about letting trans kids join their ranks.

That reminds me, when it the next Girl Scout cookie drive starting?

Honorable mention number seven is Bristol Palin.    The spawn of Sarah opened her pretty lout and let some ugly comments  aimed at all the A list celebs who refuse to perform at Der Trumpenfuhrer's upcoming (yuck) inauguration.

Maybe he should have thought about that before he dissed Hollywood, the music biz and everyone who doesn't look like you.   Have several seats you chillbilly and enjoy that Kid Rock concert

Image result for carl paladinoThis week's last Shut Up Fool for 2016 is Carl Paladino.   Last week he aimed racist and transphobic invectives against President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, and this week after a firestorm of criticism he weakly tried  to justify it by claiming he only meant to send that racist crap to his friends while claiming 'he's not racist'

Yeah right fool, your pointed hood is showing..   Have a whole section of seats at Ralph Wilson Stadium and STFU

The Buffalo Board of Education voted 6-2 last night to give him 24 hours to resign his seat.   Wish y'all could have told his racist azz, 'You're fired' and kicked him to the curb..

But I will tell him this.  Carl Paladino, shut up racist and ignorant  fool.

Happy Birthday Tona!

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It;'s December 30, and that means my thirtysomething sis Tona Brown is celebrating another birthday.

Tona as you may or may not know has been a trans trailblazer in her own right as a classically trained singer and violinist based in the DMV area.  ,She's founder of the AIDA Strings, and is the first out transperson to perform for a sitting US President (2011) and first out Black transperson at Carnegie Hall in June 2014.

I was blessed to spend quality time with Tona back in January when I went to Chicago for #CC16 and when I visited Washington DC a few months later in August for the joint NABJ-NAHJ Convention.

During the DC visit I finally got the chance to do the Conversations With Tona Brown interview I've been promising her for two years, but could never make the timing work with our busy schedules until that moment..

Yeah, she deserves a TransGriot birthday shout out and much more, so taking the time to wish her a very happy blessings filled birthday and Happy New Year.  

May 2017 bring even more success for this amazing woman and looking forward to the next time we're in the same area code.

Guess Who Won Most Admired Man and Woman In America For 2016?

President Obama Signs 21st Century Cures Act
Take that Trumpettes!   President Barack Obama won over Il Douche in the Gallup Poll's Most Admired Man In America Poll for 2016.

It's the 9th time that President Obama has won that poll, which this year was conducted December 7-11 with a sample size of 1028 people with a +/- range of 4%  and it wasn't close.

22% of the polls respondents named him over just 15% for second place Trump.  Rounding out the Top Five for the men were Pope Francis (4%), Bernie Sanders  (2%) and Rev. Billy Graham (1%).

In the Most Admired Woman In America poll, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton topped the poll for the 15th straight time and 21st time overall.  12% of the poll's respondents chose her with current FLOTUS Michelle Obama finishing second at 8%.

Guess the Hillary haters are going to claim this poll was 'rigged', too

The rest of the Top Five had German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Oprah Winfrey tying with 3%,  Ellen DeGeneres, Malala Yousafzai, Queen Elizabeth II and Condoleezza Rice getting 2% and Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sarah Palin (?) getting 1%

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Still Evolving To Be That Quality Black Woman

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When I say 'quality Black woman', I wanted to be the type of woman that even if you knew or discovered after meeting me I was a transwoman, you wouldn't care, you'd see me as an asset and not a liability on the balance sheet of femininity and you'd want me in your life as a friend. 

TransGriot, January 8, 2009   'Becoming A Quality Black Woman'

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During that December 18 Christmas party I attended with my high school classmates, I had several of my cis feminine classmates pull me aside and tell me they were proud of me.   It made me tear up for a moment because one of the persons I talked to that night has known me since junior high school.

It's not just my classmates.  I've had messages during the Christmas holidays from cis and trans women wishing me Happy Holidays with heartfelt variations of the same theme..

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It got me thinking about that 2009 post and the subsequent one in 2013 I wrote about the subject as New Year's Day draws closer and I take stock of my evolutionary growth in 2016.

Evolution is definitely the operative word here  April 4 will mark 23 years that I began to live my truth, and it has been an amazing journey at times with the occasional pothole here and there.

When I started my journey in 1994, there weren't many nationally or internationally know out Black trans women.   I knew part of what was required of me was to be a possibility model.  I knew that wherever I went, be it IAH's Terminal C, a conference or a college campus, the race and my chocolate segment of the trans community would enter with me.  

With the assortment of talents I have, I eventually became a leader in this community.  

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But while recognizing I was going to become whether I wanted it or not a role model, I never lost sight of of that personal goal of being a quality Black woman.  I knew that it was mandatory that I must excel in whatever I chose to do because I had additional scrutiny on me.  

Neither did I forget the promise I made to myself, many of my cis feminine CAL co-workers, and other cis Black women I had conversations with in that period that this transition was not a game or joke to me.  

I don't think about myself that way, but it amuses me at times when I'm called a trans pioneer or trans elder.  But when you transition in 1994, and have been involved in  activism on behalf of a community since 1998, that happens.

I'm proud to note there are many different versions of beautiful Black trans women out there around the country and increasingly the world.   I'm proud to call many of them my friends.  I'm even more proud of the fact that my Black trans feminine elders tell me they are just as proud of me that I am of them who transitioned in much tougher circumstances than I did.

Image may contain: 1 personAnd I never forget the far too many Black trans women we have lost during my over two decades in this community.  They unfortunately will never have the opportunity to know what it's like to be my age because they were violently taken away from us.

Many of my Black trans sisters are as my fellow writer Denny Upkins would say are #BlackFolksBeingAwesome.  

We are New York Times best selling authors, athletes, entrepreneurs, college professors, award winning actors, teachers, students and award winning community leaders.

We strut fashion runways around the world.  We are your wives, lovers, sisters, aunts, and mothers raising kids   And yes, increasingly some of my future quality Black women are trans kids or trans teens like Trinity Neal  who are being raised by some amazing parents .

We are simply not only being the best people we can be, but also doing our part to uplift our community despite being reviled and hated on by ignorant sectors of the Black community..

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I'm glad to have done, and will continue to do to the best of my ability my part to not only point out the fact that Black trans women exist, but we have a proud legacy of leadership and solid contributions to the communities we intersect and inhabit.

At the same time, I'm still continuing that evolutionary journey to be that quality Black woman who loves seeing the person staring back at her in the mirror when she wakes up in the morning.

It that inspires some of you, be you cis or trans women to do the same, then that's all good as well.

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

May The Force Be With You Always, Carrie!

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Like many of you TransGriot readers, I was shocked to hear that Carrie Fisher had suffered a heart attack while in the final phases of a flight to LAX.a few days ago and died today at age 60.

I am a huge Star Wars fan, and loved her as Princess and now General Leia Organa, but also enjoyed the other roles she was in during her career.

She was not just an actor.  Fisher was multitalented as an author, screenwriter, and producer who was also brutally honest and candida about her own life and other issues of importance.

One of my faves is from the Blues Brothers movie, when she played the M16 toting left at the altar fiancee of Jake Blues and ambushes him and Elwood as they are trying to stealthily escape through a utility tunnel at the Palace Hotel Ballroom packed with blues fans, police, and the Good Ol Boys Band.



Episode VIII is coming out sometime in 2017,  and it's going to be sad to see her in it knowing she is no longer in the same plane of existence with us.

May The Force Be With You Always, Carrie!   You'll definitely be missed by you family and your legions of fans around the world.

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TransGriot Update:   Sadly, to make this story even more tragic, a little over 24 hours later, Carrie's mother Debbie Reynolds passed away due to a stroke at age 84..

Monday, December 26, 2016

Houston Trans History- Rachelle Annette 'Toni' Mayes

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'If you think I can be harassed until I leave town, you're wrong.  I love Houston and I will stay."
-Toni Mayes to Houston City Council,, October 1972, 


Houston has a long, proud history of trans folks who have no problem standing up against anti- trans bigotry, harassment and oppression   It is a proud part of our Houston trans history that has continued into this century.   It's something I have learned as I began my own transition just how deep and far back Houston trans history goes, and how i'm just past of the latest generation of trans people who speak truth to power while fighting for their humanity and their human rights.

One of my trans elders I've been thinking about a lot recently is Rachelle Annette 'Toni'  Mayes, who also was known as Anne Mayes. Thanks to JD Doyle, I now know what happened with Anne Mayes, and I'm going to share her story with you so I have it down for the current and future generations of trans Houstonians.

Toni was born on December 13, 1947 and grew up here in Houston.   From her earliest memories she  knew she was a girl..   Her parents however disagreed, and she talked about in one interview how she was punished by her mother for wearing her younger sister's panties.

She ran away from home at age 14 to California with a cousin, but when she started living with two gay men there, the cousin called her parents, who brought her back to Houston

Her family after the California trip was determined to in their words 'make a real man out of her', and her mother even signed papers in an attempt to enlist her in the Navy even though she was just 15 at the time. .

But that trip to California also convinced her that she wasn't gay and something else was going on with her.   She eventually joined the Navy in 1964,  While she was as she said in an interview 'embarrassed' to be showering with 75 guys',  Mayes' time in the Navy led to her falling for a girl in Iowa, and she jumped ship in Florida to be with her.

She was arrested by the FBI for going AWOL and taken to a military jail in Illinois.  During the investigation, she was given a questionnaire that asked the question if she had ever had gay sex. While she hadn't, she saw this question as her ticket out of the Navy, so she answered the question affirmatively and got dishonorably discharged for homosexuality, as our military was doing at the time..  .
She returned to the girl in Iowa, married her and conceived a daughter with her in 1966, but her marriage broke up soon afterward and her ex-spouse retained custody of their daughter.   Mayes got married again to another woman, but that marriage also broke up in large part to her gender identity issues.

Mayes returned to Houston, started working as a television repair person, and then through a newspaper article learned that transsexuals existed.   The now 25 year old Mayes now had a name for the issue she was dealing with.  She was now aware of thanks to that article it was possible for her to become the woman she wanted to be.

Mayes was also fortunate that at that time, the nation's second full service gender identity clinic was getting started in the Houston area at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston   She now had the place to go to help her become her true self, and the gender transition for her started on December 11, 1971.

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Like many cities at that time, Houston had an anti-crossdressing law that had been on the books. Section 28-42.4 prohibited people from wearing the clothes of the opposite sex.  Because the ordinance was vague and Council was worried about it being struck down in the courts because of that vague language, the Houston City Council in June 1972 strengthened the ordinance with this language:

 'It shall be unlawful for any person to appear on any public street, sidewalk, alley or public thoroughfare dressed with the design intent to disguise his or her true sex as that of the opposite sex'

That 1904 ordinance clashed with one of the HBIGDA/transition protocols of the time that required someone on the path for gender confirmation surgery to dress and live as their target gender for at least a year prior to doing so.

HPD, run at the time by the reviled police chief Herman Short, gleefully enforced Section 28-42.4 not only against the Houston trans community and drag queens, but also the Houston lesbian community.

While Mayes was happy that she'd begun her transition, she also found herself being frequently targeted by HPD vice squad officers.  She was arrested eight times in 1972 by HPD for violations of the anti-crossdressing ordinance.  As you probably guessed, when Mayes was arrested on that crossdressing charge, she was taken to the men's side of the Houston city jail.  

Four of those charges were dropped because they happened before the Houston City Council revised the ordinance on June 2, but there were some that stuck that she and her attorney appealed.  There were two arrests that happened literally as she stepped onto the sidewalk outside the city municipal court building moments after she'd had those previous charges dismissed.

Tired of being harassed by HPD vice officers, she filed a federal lawsuit on December 20, 1972 seeking $200,000 in damages against HPD Chief Herman Short and five HPD officers.   Mayes in addition to seeking to have the Houston crossdressing ordinance declared unconstitutional, was also seeking an injunction against further arrests  

Interestingly enough the harassing arrests of her by HPD ceased after that federal suit was filed.

The federal lawsuit seeking to declare the Houston crossdressing ordinance unconstitutional eventually went all the way to the SCOTUS, who unfortunately rejected it without comment in April 1974.   That law stayed in the Houston Code of Ordinances until Phyllis Frye got it repealed in August 1980

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While the court cases were percolating at the local and federal level, Toni's transition continued to move forward.   She eventually became on January 23, 1974 the fourth person to have gender confirmation surgery done via the UTMB gender program, and on March 11, 1974 her name change petition to Rachelle Annette Mayes was granted by a state district judge

An April 1978 Houston Post article that I had clipped and saved when my teen self was coming to grips with the fact I was transgender updated us about Toni's life in the intervening years.

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After an attempt to ironically join the Houston Police Department was rebuffed, she'd ended up as a successful sales rep for a local company.  She was taking courses toward a business administration degree at the University of Houston, and from time to time would lecture college classes at UH and other local colleges in the Houston - Galveston area about gender identity issues.

But as far as trans activism, she'd felt she'd more than paid her dues and was just ready to live her life.

I sadly discovered thanks to JD's research that Rachelle Annette Mayes died on November 6, 2007, just a few weeks short of her 60th birthday.

I wish I'd had a chance to meet and talk to her before that happened.  I would have loved to have had a chance to tell her thank you for being willing to fight to make it easier for the trans people in the Houston area and beyond that came behind her like me.

Rest in power and peace, Anne.   You earned it.  Something else you've earned is also having your story preserved and told forever to every trans person and trans kid who lives in the Houston area and beyond.

Sunday, December 25, 2016

Scandinavian Electronics Store's Trans Themed Holiday Commercial

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While this holiday season has been a roller coaster of emotions for the trans community, had to drop some news about this heartwarming trans themed commercial that comes from Denmark and the Scandinavian electronics store Elgiganten.

Elgiganten was founded in Sweden in 1994, and has stores in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.

This heartwarming trans themed commercial is entitled 'Let The Gifts Talk' , and features an early transitioning trans teen in the midst of the family holiday celebration clearly struggling to fit in.

Dad walks over to give her a holiday gift, and after she opens it you could see the joy light up on her face after opening the gift that spoke volumes, even though not one word is said during this entire ad.

Here's the commercial fo you to peruse.



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Merry Christmas Family

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Merry Christmas TransGriot Readers!

Merry Christmas to all my family, cis, trans  blood and chosen family.  As I like to remind everyone, you family expands,not contracts after a transition.  Your life also gets better once you are able to live in your truth.

And yes, I'm in a wonderful mood because my Texans beat th Bengals last night to capture another AFC South title and an NFL  playoff spot

While the end of 2016 is sucking royally, on balance it was an amazing year for me, I got to spend quality time with some of the peeps I love and care about, go back to Louisville for a week, and be honored with awards from GLAAD, the Houston GLBT Caucus and Harvard's Phillip Brooks House Association.

I got to go to the White House and spend quality time with Laverne Cox, Janet Mock, Jazz Jennings and Angelica Ross just for starters   I also got to meet new people and some amazing trans kids    

So yeah I'm counting my 2016 blessings, and hope 2017 leads to even more

As to what I'm going to do today.  looks like it's going to be a quiet one.   Dee Dee is house sitting for a friend, so I have the place to myself until New Year's Day.   I probably call a few friends and check on them to see how their holidays are going.

So unless there is some breaking news somewhere or some thought pops up that is commanding me to put it on electronic paper, I'm planning on taking the day off writing wise.

See y'all on the other side of Christmas Day!

Saturday, December 24, 2016

Happy Hanukkah 2016

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Today is the first night of Hanukkah, which will run until January 1.   I wanted to take the time to wish all my Jewish friends a very happy one.

It's been a while since Hanukkah and Christmas occurred at roughly the same time, and after the emotional rollercoaster year we've all had that is ending on a down note, nice that these two major religious holidays are happening now.

I'm also thinking about at this time my friends the Chen family, who welcomed a new child into their family December 13 and she will be experiencing her very first Festival of Lights under the watchful eye of her two big brothers.

So once again Happy Hanukkah!    May the lights of this season brighten all of your lives and extend into the coming year.



Friday, December 23, 2016

Shut Up Fool Awards - Not So Happy Holidays Edition

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Christmas comes in 48 hours, Hanukkah starts tomorrow and were less than 30 days from having the classy Obama administration replaced by the nekulturny Trump one.

Bah humbug.

I need to vent, so let;s get to this week's Shut Up Fool Awards to determine what fools deserve to have lumps of coal in their Christmas stockings .

Honorable mention number one is Donald Trump.  Just pick an outrage.

Honorable mention number two is Kellyanne Conway for being the lying you know what she's always been in this campaign, and has no parlayed that into a White House job.  Ugh.

Honorable mention number three is the Bernie Bros for peddling that tired 'Bernie Would Have Won' lie and being as facts averse as their Tea Klux Klan counterparts

Honorable mention number four is everyone who said nothing as a man was hauled off a Delta flight for speaking Arabic to his mother.

Honorable mention number five is the management of the  Radio City Music Hall Rockettes, who is forcing them to perform against their will at the upcoming inauguration of a man who is a sexist pig and thinks 'grabbing women by the p***y is appropriate behavior.

Honorable mention number six is Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, for pushing SB 6, the Transgender Oppression Act.

Honorable mention number seven is everyone who said nothing as a woman made racist comments aimed at two Latinx women at Jefferson Mall in Louisville.

Honorable mention number eight is Carl Paladino, who lets some racist and transmisogynist comments aimed at the President and First Lady fly and gets justifiably called out  for it by Gov Cuomo and a long list of New York peeps.

This week's shut up fool loser is a joint ward for the North Carolina GOP, Gov-elect Roy Cooper  and the Charlotte City Council.

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The Charlotte City Council gets called out for allowing themselves to be hoodwinked and bamboozled into throwing the human rights of trans citizens of Charlotte under the bus and repealing their  non discrimination ordinances in a surprise meeting earlier this week as part of a 'deal' in which the NOGOP controlled legislature would repeal  the unjust HB2  once they killed their NDO.

They were stupid enough to trust a NCGOP that suppresses voters, brags about it, dragged out the governor's election for over a month, and has no problem lying through their teeth.

And y'all trusted them to keep their word on repealing HB2?   Even Stevie Wonder could see that this was a trap.

Bah humbug and shut up fools

Upcoming 2017 Rainbow On Ice At Discovery Green

Rainbow on the ICE Hosted by Mayor Turner's LGBTQ Advisory Board
One of the things that i love to do is ice skate, and since I moved back home I haven't had the chance to hit the ice rink at either the Galleria or Discovery Green.

Yes people, it does get cold enough down here to have an outdoor ice rink, although it does lead to the interesting sight at times of people skating in shorts because out roller coaster temps around here.

Rainbow on Ice returns to ICE at Discovery Green on January 20 from 7-10 PM and will be sponsored by the Mayor's LGBT Advisory Board.

 Crawford Nation will be there as the entertainment, and it is shaping up to be the ultimate dance party.



Hope you peeps who live in the Houston area come check it out

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Looking Forward To Seeing 'Hidden Figures'

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As a native Houstonian who also grew up as a space junkie, loved it when we got to do a field trip to NASA stating in our junior high school years.    There was also the one I earned with my writing skills in ninth grade for a joint NASA-HISD contest that got me a nonstandard tour of the Johnson Space Center and a chance to meet the first group of African-American shuttle astronauts that included Dr. Mae Jemison,  Dr Ron McNair and Charles Bolden.

Even as well versed in Black history as I have been, I was unaware of the stories of Katherine Goble Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, who were African-American women working in NASA's Langley, VA computation facility..

Computers do that task now, but before they were developed to handle that task human beings crunched the numbers.

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Johnson  (who is still here with us at age 98), Vaughan and Jackson were part of the group of women mathematicians called computers who cross checked the math the male engineers were doing that would get John Glenn into orbit around the Earth.

The movie is based on the book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly, and stars Taraji P Henson as Katherine Goble Johnson, Octavia Spencer as Dorothy Vaughan and Janelle Monae as Mary Winston Jackson.

Math prodigy Katherine is plucked from the computing room and assigned to the Space Task Force team that will calculate the launch coordinates and trajectory of the Atlas rocket that will launch Glenn into space.  

Of course, this being 1961 Virginia, she is met with a double whammy of gender and racist indifference,  One engineer played by Jim Parsons named Paul Stafford stands out in not giving her a warm welcome to the male dominated unit.  Because of the segregation of the day, the nearest bathroom for her to use is in a distant building on the NASA Langley campus  

Vaughan does the work of a supervisor, being in charge of several dozen computers, but doesn't get the title or the money that comes with it. is treated with condescension by her boss played by Kirsten Dunst, and is repeatedly denied promotion.

Jackson has a more understanding Polish born boss, but she too runs into Jim Crow segregation when she is denied the opportunity to take the graduate level physics courses she needs to qualify for the engineering opening she wants and has to sue to do so..

Houston, naturally is one of the cities in which this movie is opening in limited release, with it opening in the rest of the country on January 13.   I hope you'll go see this movie.

TransGriot 2016 NFL Picks- Week 16

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Only two weeks to go until we close out this year's TransGriot NFL prognostication contest,and I'm in a great position with a multiple game lead with just two weeks to go..  

Just as long as I have no bad weeks (and haven't so far) , I get to repeat as the NFL prognostication champion.   Even a tie for weekly honors is all good, as Week 15 was for moi and Mr. Watts last week.  

Was was also a good thing was the Texans finally waking up and benching Brock Osweiler and putting Tom Savage in the game as Osweiler threw back to back interceptions  that helped the Jaguars build a 20 12 lead before he led the Texans to a 21-20 comeback win to keep them on top of the AFC South..

Have 16 more games with the bulk of them being played on Christmas Eve, which falls on a Saturday this year.  Only two will be contested on Christmas Day.  We'll also see the last Monday Nigh Game of the year happen between the Lions and the Cowchips.

As usual, my picks will be in bold print, with the home team in CAPS. Mike's picks can be viewed here.

NFL Week 15 Results                                       2016 NFL Season Results    
TransGriot   12-4                                               TransGriot  150-72-2
Mike            12-4                                               Mike           142-81-2  
Eli                 ---                                                 Eli                --


Thursday Night Game
Giants over EAGLES

Christmas Eve Early Games
BILLS over Dolphins
Falcons over PANTHERS
Washington over BEARS
Chargers over BROWNS
PACKERS over Vikings
Titans over JAGUARS
PATRIOTS over Jets

Christmas Eve Afternoon Games

RAIDERS over Colts
RAMS over 49ERS
SAINTS over Buccaneers
Seahawks over CARDINALS

Christmas Eve Night Game 
TEXANS over Bengals

Christmas Afternoon Games

STEELERS over Ravens

Christmas Night Game
CHIEFS over Broncos

Monday Night Games
COWBOYS over Lions

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Plus Size Trans Model Shay Neary Lands A Major Contract!

Shay Neary transgender plus-size model
As Ive pointed out, trans feminine models have a long and proud history in the fashion world.

The long stylish line of trans models goes back to the 60's starting with April Ashley, and over the last few years we've had trans masculine and trans feminine models get attention, major contracts, ad campaigns and strut catwalks and slay photo shoots around the world.

A plus-size transgender model just made history by landing a major fashion campaign
Now we can add a plus size trans model to that stylish line of trans models in 28 year old Shay Neary.

While she's new to the modeling game, she recently made history by becoming the first out plus size trans model to land a major fashion campaign.   Heidi Kan, the founder of the plus size line Coverstory, was actually looking for a plus size trans model to feature in their first collection,

"When Hari Nef was signed by IMG and Caitlyn Jenner graced the cover of Vanity Fair, I knew it was time to promote and feature plus size trans models." said Kan.  

But Kan had no luck finding a plus sized trans model until she met Neary, who had recently been signed by Transmodels.   Kan found her just in time for the release of Coverstory's second collection, and is happy she did so.  Neary is modeling everything in the Coverstory collection from wrap caftans to silk blouses.

Neary transitioned 11 years ago and wants to show the world the complexity and variety of trans feminine bodies.
 
Shay Neary plus-size transgender model Coverstory campaign
'We all have to be seen.  Not just some of us, not just ones who fit the transgender bill," she told Mic. "Not just the streamlined passable woman, or the plastic Kim (Kardashian) wannabe.  We all have value and integrity  We deserve to be seen in mainstream media...Our lives have purpose."

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She not only wants to be working as much as plus size model superstars Ashley Graham and Tess Holliday, she  also wants to push fashion designers to do a better job designing clothes for plus size women.  

She told Revelist that she also wants to be a role model for our trans kids

"I'd love to be a representation for trans youth.   Teach trans kids that they only need to be themselves to succeed.in life.  Confidence and passion will take them the rest of the way.  That being trans doesn't hold them back from being anything they want."

Congrats Shay, and hopefully we'll see you ripping a runway in the near future.

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Paige's Open Letter To Charlotte City Council

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Was not happy to hear that yesterday the Charlotte City Council, after resisting a so-called 'deal' in September to  repeal their NDO in exchange for the Republican controlled North Carolina legislature subsequently repealing the unjust HB2, the Charlotte City Council on a surprise 10-0 vote threw the Charlotte trans community under the bus and repealed the trans protective NDO as part of a 'deal' brokered by Roy Cooper that allegedly will result in the repeal of the unjust HB2.

Of course I'm pissed about it along with trans folks in Charlotte and North Carolina who don't trust the NC GOP to follow through on their end of it.   But what has them even more incensed is that they weren't consulted, and are livid that the Charlotte City Council would take this step without consulting them.

Local trans leader Paige Dula composed an open letter to the Charlotte City Council that expresses the feeling of trans folks in the Queen City, and I'm posting it as a guest op-ed because the voices of the local trans community needed to be signal boosted.

And now, here's Paige Dula's open letter..

***

As a member of the local LGBTQ community I must say I was totally taken aback by the sudden repeal of Charlotte's NDO on the condition of the NCGA lifting HB2. I have been personally contacted by a couple of you privately and I appreciate you reaching out as you have. But I have to ask why didn't you reach out to our community sooner to discuss this course of action? We worked together very hard over several years to make the NDO happen. So many people in the local LGBT community have a LOT of skin in that game. It's not safe or easy to be out as a transgender woman but I and a few others did so the past couple years to put a face to why the protections are important. We sacrificed our personal safety and privacy for the betterment of our whole LGBT community. In one meeting you rendered that as worthless. I understand the state and Charlotte in particular is really taking on the chin financially in the wake of HB2 and the boycotts. But why give in NOW? Why when you said you wouldn't in September?
I've been assured that in the future Charlotte will pass another NDO, once Roy Cooper is in office. The problem is the NCGA still has a Republican super majority that will just be able to do a repeat of HB2. That is, unless Charlotte passes an NDO the NCGA finds palatable. That would entail stripping transgender protections in the public accommodations area. That would be unacceptable as that is the area where transgender people experience the most harassment and discrimination.
The other option would be to hope the redistricting and subsequent re-election of the NCGA next year results in there no longer being a republican super majority and a fully inclusive NDO could go in and stand unchallenged at least as long as we have a Democratic governor. In that case we have at minimum a year before a new ordinance can go in. And let me tell you that at least for the Trans community the incidences of harassment have done nothing but increase thanks to HB2 and the Trump campaign. Bigots feel emboldened now and we need protection now more than ever. Next year transgender people are likely to lose a ton of protections that Obama put in place for us: Affordable Care Act requiring medical treatment for Trans patients... GONE, Title IX protections for Trans students... GONE, DOJ case against HB2... GONE, transgender people serving openly in the military... GONE.
So pardon me if I don't have a lot of trust that you all are doing what is best for me, my community, Charlotte, and NC. What good is a government who doesn't stand beside the least of their constituents? We fought hard to make sure you were elected because we were assured you had our backs. All I see now is your back turned against us.

Andrea's Running For Minneapolis City Council!

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I posted earlier this month about Phillipe Cunningham running for the Minneapolis City Council, and now there's more wonderful trans themed political news coming out of the Twin Cities.

My tennis loving homegirl Andrea Jenkins has announced that she will be running for the soon to be vacated 8th Ward seat on the Minneapolis City Council currently held by Elizabeth Glidden, who recently announced she's not running for reelection.

"I am prepared and ready to bring positive change toward a more equitable Minneapolis," Jenkins said in a statement. "I look forward to working with the residents of the 8th Ward, and beyond, in creating the policies and programs necessary to bring sustainable improvement for everyone in our economy, housing, and services."

Jenkins worked as a policy aide for Glidden, and spent 12 years working for two different council members.   She is well known to the residents of the south central Minneapolis ward for helping to spur redevelopment in the 38th Street and Chicago  Ave area.

She is currently with the University of Minnesota as the curator for their Transgender Oral History Project, which is collecting stories from trans people in the Minneapolis area and upper  Midwest.

If she's elected she would not only become the first transperson elected to the Minneapolis City Council, she would also become the first out Black trans feminine candidate to be elected to a city council in  city of over 250,000 people.

You know I'm hoping she makes that history.

Rep Geraldine Roman Named To 100 Global Thinkers List

Image result for geraldine roman
Was happy to hear that Philippine Rep. Geraldine Roman was recently named to Foreign Policy Magazine's 100 Global Thinkers List.

Some of the people named to this year's list were Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and US Attorney General Loretta Lynch

It's amazing that in a year in which some politicians were trying to use demonization of trans women as a way to get elected to higher office, get reelected, as Trojan horses to pass unjust legislation or detract from their failed governance, it was heartening to trans people around the globe to see Roman get elected to office and openly be a girl like us.

As Congressmember Roman said, 'Gender only becomes an issue when you try to keep it a secret'. Since her election to represent her district in Bataan, she has been advocating for infrastructure improvements, healthcare and for a national anti-discrimination bill that has been rejected for ten years.

Congratulations to Rep. Roman for this honor.

Monday, December 19, 2016

Still Not My President

All I have to say about the Electoral College vote today is this.

I'm going to give Trump the same respect as president as he gave president Obama for eight years...

NONE   #NotMyPOTUS  

Show me your birth certificate



Sunday, December 18, 2016

Amiyah Scott's Making History On The FOX Show 'Star'

Looks like we won't have to wait until February to see a scripted network drama show with a Black transfeminine character in it played by a Black trans feminine actor .

When the Lee Daniels produced FOX Empire spinoff show Star debuted December 14 with an audience of 6.71 million viewers watching it, our sis Amiyah Scott was making her small screen debut playing Cotton Brown, the trans daughter of Queen Latifah's character Carlotta Brown .



Amiyah made a little TV history as well when the show debuted..She became the first out trans person to play a trans major character in a scripted television drama series that is scheduled to have 13 episodes in Season 1.

Lee Daniels' close friend Queen Latifah plays Carlotta,
Queen Latifah's character Carlotta sings in the church choir and runs a beauty shop in the Atlanta based show.  She is the godmother to Star and Simone, and serves as a surrogate mother to the rising girl singing group that the show is focusing on.

Even though Carlotta had her own brush with stardom, she is not that supportive of the musical stardom dreams.of her goddaughters.   Carlotta is also struggling as a devout churchgoer with accepting her daughter's transition

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Amiyah's character Cotton is a receptionist at her mom's shop who moonlights as a stripper and helps the girl group formed by Star, Simone and Alexandra kickstart their careers.

There's also Miss Bruce, a recurring gender fluid in the series played by Miss Lawrence, who is an employee in Carlotta's salon.  In real life Miss Lawrence is a celebrity hair stylist who owns a salon in Atlanta's Buckhead area with celebrity clients such as Ciara  Jennifer Holiday and Serena Williams

Going to have to watch the show now that I know I have a reason to do so.

And congrats to Amiyah for making television history

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Why I'm Still Pissed At The Bernie Or Busters & Third Party Voters


Yep, still pissed off over the results of the 2016 election and specifically at two groups, the Bernie or Busters and third party voters.   Your talking points, excuses, and spin are getting more annoying and aggravating by the day as you realize too late just how badly you screwed this country up over your white privileged fee fees.

One of the excuses I'm so tired of Bernie or Busters regurgitating is the 'Hillary was a terrible candidate' lie.   
Yeah, she was so terrible she got 3 million more votes nationally than Trumplethinskin.
Image result for Bernie or Busters
The bottom line is you are responsible for greasing the skids for the election of Donald Trump

No, it's not about those who chose not to vote, who were suppressed from doing so or whatever other excuse that you are trying to float out there to make yourself feel better about greasing the skids for the Trump presidency.

I'm tired of people (and predominately far left white people) trying to riverdance away from the fact they let lies about Hillary Clinton cloud their electoral judgment and enabled his election.
I'm also tired of them ignoring the fact that white supremacist racism also played a role in his election along with a heaping helping of sexism and misogyny.
Petition creator debates with Electoral College member on 'Fox & Friends'
But then again, the Bernie or Busters are probably ignoring it because they engaged in those tactics themselves in the Democratic primary and gave Trump a road map to follow to attack her in his campaign.
It's about those folks who knew that Hillary Clinton was the only thing standing between us and a Trump presidency with the SCOTUS and everything else at stake, and you STILL voted third party with the dubious 'I'm voting my principles' excuse.
So I hope those vanillacentric privilege flavored 'principles' keep you comforted when the latest Trump/GOP/conservative movement outrage happens.   It is marginalized and non-white Americans who are going to suffer and have our human rights attacked first because of your 'principles'.
I have nothing but contempt for you, especially if you voted third party in a swing state knowing the potential consequences of that vote simply to salve your ego.  Your boy Sanders got his azz whipped in the Democratic primary by Hillary Clinton because he ran a campaign that didn't connect with non-white voters
Image result for VP Al Gore
I'm even more pissed off about the results because I lived through this bad movie before in 2000 when you far lefties didn't think Vice President Al Gore was ideologically pure enough for you.

Y'all went gaga for Ralph Nader, who didn't have a prayer of winning, and we ended up with George W. Bush as a result.   Now we have someone headed to the White House that's worse than Dubya.

And to comment on something else that I've heard in liberal-progressive world post election is the 'Hillary didn't excite me' comment.  Why should you have to be 'excited about a candidate' in order to vote for them? That's another bull feces laden excuse.

Black voters have had long lists of Democratic candidates at all levels of government who didn't excite them, but unlike you Green Tea Party peeps, we think and act strategically because we are quite aware that the Republican Party has been hostile to us for the last 40 years.

We would rather have 
someone in office we can persuade to see our policy point of view at least 80% of the time than a Republican who will ignore us 100% of the time and act as a legislative oppressor.

That person in this cycle that a majority of the Black community collectively we saw as persuadable was Hillary Clinton.   


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Because we didn't want the Trumpenfuhrer to succeed President Obama, this election was deeply personal for to me and many African Americans.   That was also the case for the Latinx and Muslim community   It was also deeply personal for those of us in Trans America, because our humanity and human rights were on the ballot.   Whoever won this election would basically determine how our lives and human rights would play out over the next four years.

But you fauxgressives proved once and for all that the only thing that matters is your feelings, and not the liberal progressive causes you profess to support.

You peeps knew the stakes of this election and how important it was.  Republicans weren't enamored of Trump either, but on November 8 they got in formation and pulled the lever for him because they understand something that far too many people on the left ignorantly don't.

If you don't get your candidates elected, you can't push your policy agenda. Neither can you get liberal progressive policies from a conservative government.  

Unfortunately, that lesson is going to made crystal clear over the next four years because of your fauxgressive lack of political vision..