Don't Hate, Emulate

Last night I was in attendance at the 2016 F.A.C.E Awards because I was nominated in two categories that I didn't win.   Hey, it happens.  I don't get very award I'm nominated for and I'm good with spreading the awards recognition and love around.

 I still had a great time hanging out with my H-town crew and supporting the people who did win awards last night.

But there was a hater in the South Beach house last night who made a shady comment to Dee Dee that it  'must be nice to have friends in high places'.   It's a comment that I have had directed at me from time to time in my nearly two decades of activism..

Hater, party of one, your table is ready.

Dee Dee has been doing the work about as long as I have in this community, and was in the HERO trenches with me and the team of liberal progressive Houstonians who endured long hours of faux faith based abuse back in 2014 to get it passed.   She went to Austin to help kill those bad anti-TBLGQ bills in the 2015 Texas legislative session.  

Dee Dee has also been passing out toys during the Christmas holidays in 3rd and 5th Wards for over a decade

Where was her hater?    Personally, I'm happy to see Dee Dee get recognized for doing the work she does in our community, and didn't appreciate the shady comment aimed at her.

Haters come with the territory of being our activist selves.  While they can be a nuisance at times, they also motivate me and other activists to stay and slay our activism A games.  

Haters motivate me to be the best person I can be, because success at what you do is your best response to their madness.   Puts a smile on my face knowing my haters are sitting in the corner, pouting or ranting on the Net as I slay panels, getting awards or I'm being cheered and thanked by people as I enter various venues.

I'm also chatting with the H-town, Texas, national and international peeps inside and outside the trans community to do my part in building those connections I'll need to help solve trans community problems later.   I've been doing since 1998 the education to help advance understanding about our trans lives at college and universities here in the Houston area and across the nation

Translation:  I've been doing the work.

Being a good leader also means at times I'm also in a supporting role when needed.  I don't need to be in the spotlight every nanosecond or scoop up every award I'm nominated for.  That's not what I'm in the activist life for.  It's all about advancing the human rights of this community.  It's a nice bonus when you get that recognition, but doing the community's human rights work should always come first,

Yeah, it sure is nice to have 'friends in high places' as you put it.  You earn them by doing nearly 20 years of advocacy and human rights work for various communities while simultaneously treating the people you come in contact with while doing this work with dignity and respect.

It's also about making a better world for the trans kids who are coming behind us.

And I'm not going to apologize for having those so-called 'friends in high places' since I put in a lot of time and effort to cultivate those connections

So don't hate, emulate. .