TransGriot 2017 NFL Picks - Week 13

In addition to me having a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend hanging out with one of my Houston area homegirls for dinner,  I also had a great NFL week 12 to pick up another game on him and get a step closer to my threepeat.

Now the 2017 NFL season moves into December and the homestretch of games that will determine division titles, seedings and home field advantage in the AFC and NFC playoffs.

Thanks to my owner's racist lack of vision, the only thing the Texans are playing for is draft position in the 2018 NFL draft in Dallas.  The one thing that makes this NFL mediocrity better to deal with it that the Arlington Cowchips are also sucking badly.

Yep, the only teams I dislike more than the Cowchips are the Tennessee Traitors and the New England Cheatriots .

Now that my Two Minute NFL Hate is over, let's get to my NFL Week 13 picks..    Mike's picks can be perused here.  Mine will be in bold print with the home team in CAPS.

So let's get busy.

Week 12 Results                                                               NFL Season Record 
TransGriot   12-4                                                               TransGriot  114-62
Mike            11-5                                                               Mike           109-67

Thursday Night Game
Washington over COWBOYS

Sunday Early Games 
TITANS over Texans
Patriots over BILLS
Chiefs over JETS
DOLPHINS over Broncos
BEARS over 49ers
Lions over RAVENS
Buccaneers over PACKERS
JAGUARS over Colts
Vikings vs Falcons

Sunday Afternoon Games
CHARGERS over Browns
Rams over CARDINALS
RAIDERS over Giants
SAINTS over Panthers

Sunday Night Game
Eagles over SEAHAWKS

Monday Night Game
Steelers over BENGALS

Trans United Fund Deserves Your Support

#GivingTuesday may have already passed, but you don't need a specific day to donate to one of the organizations who has taken on the mission of building trans political power and getting trans people elected to public office.   people

So how about giving some of those hard earned dollars to an organization that is building trans political power and doing so in a spectacular way like Trans United Fund?

They have a proven track record in terms of not only getting our people elected like Minneapolis councilmembers elect Andrea Jenkins and Phillipe Cunningham, but provided the critical support that got Danica Roem through her contested Democratic primary and during her successful race to topple the self proclaimed 'Homophobe in Chief' Bob Marshall from his VA House of Delegates seat.

While Trans United Fund's focus is on trans candidates, they did provide the critical support to help three trans supportive school board candidates in Palatine, IL beat back a heavily funded right wing attempt to gain control of the D211 school board and win their races.

With the 2018 election cycle fast approaching,  Trans United Fund needs to replenish their funds so that they can be in a stronger position to help the trans candidates who request their endorsement.

Trans United Fund is seeking to raise a total of $10K  $5,000 for Trans United Fund and another $5000 for the Breakthrough Fund  PAC that helped power Andrea, Phillipe and Danica to their historic election wins.

Will you consider donating and helping Trans United Fund reach or exceed that goal?  $20, $10 and $5 donations add up.   If you can give more, that's fine, too.   But bear in mind trans fam and allies, that if we want to see more trans representation in our city councils, community courts, judicial benches, state legislatures or Congress, running a winning campaign takes money.

In 2018 we already have some trans persons who have declared they are running for public office. If they ask for the Trans United Fund endorsement, TUF wants to have the resources available o help them win.

So please consider making an investment in TransUnited Fund, since November 2018 will be here sooner than we realize. 

PM Trudeau Delivers Apology To TBLGQ Canadians

"It is with shame and sorrow and deep regret for the things we have done that I stand here today and say: We were wrong. We apologize. I am sorry. We are sorry."
-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered a tearful apology to TBLGQ Canadians in a televised address on Tuesday afternoon who were in his words, 'branded criminals by the government'




This is leadership in action, and some folks on our side of the 45th parallel need to take notes

Number 23- Rest In Power Brooklyn BreYanna Stevenson

Any hopes I had that we would not lose any more trans people in 2017 to anti-trans violence were dashed when I received word of the latest person to be taken away from us too soon.

This time the murder happened in Oklahoma City, OK  and it is 31 year old Brooklyn BreYanna Stevenson.

She was found dead in a motel room at the Oxford Inn at 5301 N. Lincoln Blvd in northeast OKC at approximately 2:30 AM CST Monday.

As you probably guessed, the initial news reports used her deadname.

Brooklyn's family put out a statement after hearing the news of her death.

"We are heartbroken.  Brooklyn BreYanna was an amazing daughter, sister and friend with a giving and loving heart.   We pray that those who committed this heinous crime will be identified and Brooklyn will receive justice." .

Brooklyn's family has also created a GoFundMe page to help assist with raising fund to cover the cost of her burial.

The murder investigation is in its early phase, and the OKlahoma City PD has no suspects or a motive at this time.   Those persons with any information concerning this case are urged to call OKC PD's Homicide Tip Line at 405-297-1200 

Stevenson is the 23rd  trans person killed in 2017, the 18th African-American one and the 17th Black trans feminine one.   And more irritating to me is that she was under age 35.

Rest in Power and Peace, Brooklyn!   Will keep track of this case until justice is served and the perpetrators of it are doing time.   If there are any upcoming memorial services or community vigils for her, will pass that information along as I get it.

Deray Mckesson At UH Tomorrow

Going to be an interesting event happening at UH on Wednesday night as as part of the UH Graduate College of Social Work Social Justice Solutions series of discussions and community conversations

Social Justice Solutions invites activists, thought leaders, and the community to explore action-oriented strategies to affect social change. Through an examination of social justice issues in their current and historical contexts, the goal is to inspire first, conversation and then action in keeping with the College’s vision of achieving social, racial economic and political justice, local to global.
The latest of these conservations brings civil rights activist Deray Mckesson takes part in a moderated discussion in the Cullen Performance Hall on the UH campus starting at 6 PM    Because of overwhelming demand for this event, the venue was changed to accommodate all the people who wish to see him and hear this conversation

Actually looking forward to seeing him again, since the last time we chatted with each other was for a few minutes during the joint NABJ-NAHJ convention in Washington DC last year.

The Cullen Performance Hall is on the UH campus near the UH Student Center, and the address is 4800 Calhoun Road.

Looking forward to hearing and seeing Deray again

'No Letter Left Behind' Conversation Tonight At Obsidian Theater

One of the things I've been saying for a while is that we need to have ongoing conversations and information dissemination events in Houston concerning TBLGQ issues.

Later today the group A Conversation For Colored Girls is sponsoring this event at the Obsidian Theater that seeks to jumpstart a dialogue about the lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer/questioning , intersex and asexual+ community.

So what's A Conversation for Colored Girls?  It's a community nonprofit that meets once a month to present invigorating conversation that aims to create a safe space for all of those who identify as women, and women of color, to come together for transformative conversation.

It also asks the very valid question how can we move forward as a people if we leave so many people, and specifically people in the TBLGQIA community behind?

This month's 'No Letter Left Behind' conversation hopes to dive into the semantics behind the LQBTQIA+ community and seeks to understand the significance of every letter representing the community and the people those letters represent

I agree with A Conversation For Colored Girls in the expressed sentiment that a lack of knowledge will never be an excuse for cruelty. As we explore each letter we gain a better understanding of everyone who lies on the spectrum. Opening our minds to appreciate the distinct people within the TBLGQIA+ community while showing the respect that is so seldom given, but always deserved.

This is your chance to ask questions and gain knowledge!

A Conversation For Colored Girls provides a safe space for such conversations as these. Come, share, and learn.  The doors open for the Obsidian Theater and this AC4CG sponsored conversation start at 6:30 PM.

If you can, bring a friend.  because this is a conversation that has needed to happen since the passage of HERO in May 2014 and its repeal with the help of sellout Black pastors colluding with white fundamentalists and Republicans in November 2015.

The Obsidian Theater is located at 3522 White Oak Dr, and hope to see you there.

Prince Harry Putting A Ring On Meghan's Finger

White supremacists around the world are probably having hissy fits right now since it was announced that Prince Harry, fifth in line to the British throne, is getting married to Meghan Markle.

Here's the announcement for the spring 2018 wedding.

A sister from Cali   An actress who many of you saw on the show Suits.  And amazing thoughtful woman and public speaker. 



How you like her now British royal traditionalists and US haters? 

Prince Harry took Beyonce's advice and put a ring on this Black woman's finger.   Oh and FYI for the ignorati, Black women come in 24 different skin tones.

What's going to be interesting to watch is what transpires after the wedding.  The Daily Mail Fail and other tabloids have already been throwing racist shade at Markle including a 'Straight Outta Compton' reference to her LA roots that caused Prince Harry to publicly rebuke the British tabloid media for shadily dissing his future wife and mother in law along with the other stunts the tabloid media is known for.

Even after all the speculation on both sides of The Pond about whether this relationship was one that was going to end in marriage, looks like we have the initial answer to that question.

Prince Harry is engaged to Meghan Markle.   Deal with it.

Now what it means to British society, race and the royal family, and discussions of race in Great Britain is a question that we'll have to wait and see what happens .

Moni Needs Some Help.....

You  longtime TransGriot readers know that I don't like asking for help unless I really need it, but this qualifies as one of those times.

Because I had two speaking engagements cancel on me in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, it threw my finances into chaos for a few weeks   I managed to get everything straightened out except one bill and that on my storage unit.

I had some promised help fall through at the last minute, which is why I'm putting up this last minute appeal now.   It's a storage unit that contains a lot of trans history like my papers and awards like the Virginia Prince that if I don't get the balance on it down to zero by 11;30 AM CST tomorrow, at noon it goes up for auction.

Need to raise $750 to get the balance current, and the clock's ticking. 

I do have a link to my PayPal account on my TransGriot blog, and I do have Facebook Pay   Also don't mind making a trip to the nearest Wal-Mart for their walmart moneytransfer if you prefer to do it that way.   I just need to get it done before 11:30 AM tomorrow. 

Whatever you can spare, it's deeply appreciated..

Finding Fashionable Heels Is A Pain For Tall Girls

As many of my friends and readers know, it took me a while to get to that point, but I'm proud of being 6'2" and being on #TeamTallGirl.  Like my mother, I love shoes.   Unlike her, as a consequence of being on Team Tall Girl, bigger feet come with this body. 

And yes, tall girls don't want to wear flats all the time.  We like that sexy fashion forward pair of heels to walk in even if it puts at NBA center height to rock 3-4 inch heels. 

And you shorter girls cis and trans don't make it any easier.  Nikki Loyd teases me from time to time about her size 9 feet.  I have several petitte trans Latina friends who wear single digit shoe sizes, and one wears a size 7. 

One of my cis homegirls who was a gal pal of mine back in the late 90's is six feel tall.  Tracy rubbed it in every chance she got that she wore a size 10.   That is until she had her daugher in 2000 and gained a full shoe size. 

Karma is a you know what, huh?

Most shoe stores stop at size 10, so I don't even waste time heading into those discount shoe places.  Many department stores also stop at size 10, with a few size 11's and size 12's in their storage rooms.

Same with some of the online show outlets.   Even Zappos, which I have had some success finding shoes in the past, only carries some brands of them to size 11.  I also like Long Tall Sally's, but they start at $75 for many of their shoes.  There are also collections on Zappos that you will pay starting in the $100 range and up for them in the larger sizes, and they all go fast.
,

It's why we have the running joke in Trans World that Payless is the Trans Woman's Best Friend' (and tall girls) when it comes to finding fashion forward shoes..  When Payless announced they were heading into bankruptcy, that sent shockwaves through all us trans fashionistas who depend on them to augment our shoe closets.   Fortunately for moi, the Payless locations I faithfully hit for my shoes are still open.

But it's still torture when I'm out shopping, I see a nice shoe that I like that is in my price range, but it's not in my size.

Note to shoe manufacturers.  Fashion forward doesn't stop at size 10.   Many of us fashionistas in double digit shoe territory love heels, too.     . 

MassResistance Sets Off Gaydars With Rainbow Flag Waving Interpretive Dance

We have always said in TBLGQ World that the people who gleefully work on oppressing our community are usually self hating cowards who protest too much.

We got another gaydar triggering confirmation of this when MassResistance, an anti-TBLGQ hate group based in Massachusetts. made the curious decision to kick off an anti-gay hate conference with a rainbow flag waving interpretive dance that set gaydars off across the country.

Thought you hatemongers were more into he-man masculine activities like American flag waving.or shooting AR-15's.

Well. see for yourself

Shut Up Fool Awards- 2017 Post Turkey Day Edition

Know some of you like I am are still feasting on your Thanksgiving leftovers or were out and about trying to take advantage of the post Thanksgiving Day sales./

I know I want to hit some more turkey, but first I need to handle my Friday TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards business and carve up some jive turkeys.

And this week I'm going to make it short sweet and to the point.

This week's winner is a group award for the Republican Majority leadership in the Virginia House of Delegates. 

Seems as though Del-Elect Danica Roem taking out their self proclaimed' homophobe in chief' Bigot Bob Marshall to become the first out trans person elected to that chamber, has still got them shook up and looking for ways to try to insult her without looking like the transphobic azzholes they really are.

For hundreds of years, the Virginia House of Delegates have addressed each other in the chamber as 'Gentleman' or Gentlewoman'   Now when the new session starts they will refer to all members as 'Delegates' 

Yeah, y'all ain't slick.  We know why you are making this change, and it isn't because you wish to respectfully use gender neutral language.    You are doing this, because you don't want to refer to Del-Elect Roem as 'The Gentlewoman from Prince William'

Roem as usual, was classier than her GOP opponents.  “What matters the most to the people of the 13th District is that the woman they elected to serve them will be working on their behalf,” she said.

"I will be the delegate from Prince Williams, and I will conduct myself as the gentlewoman from Prince William while I am in Richmond and in any other official capacity in which I serve.".  

We see you VA GOP transphobes.  And I have something yo call you:  transphobic fools

So let's do this.   Republican VA house of Delegates leadership, shut up fools! , 

Let's Stop Trans Suicides This Holiday Season

Now that we've passed Thanksgiving and counting down to the Festival of Unbridled Capitalistic Consumption on December 25,  we definitely need to be on heightened alert for signs of our community members who may be contemplating taking their own lives.

It has been a tough year for transkind, and while we had some wins, we have also had to endure a tsunami of anti trans ignorance coming from fundamentalists, TERF's and Republicans

While that anti-trans hatred may be ignored at other times of the year, during a period like the holiday season with its happy happy joy joy pictures of smiling families breaking bread with each other and unwrapping gifts may be hurtful to people depressed about not being with their loved ones during the holiday season and can lead them down the path of taking their own life in response.

So during this 2017 holiday season, if you know a member of our trans family who is depressed over not being with their blood family for the holidays or any other reason, reach out to those community members and make sure they are feeling loved, wanted and needed.  Included them in your activities and dinner plans if you're able to do so.

And if you need to talk to someone, several organizations have hotlines or support lines that you can call and talk to someone.

Trans Lifeline is one of those organizations you can call at (877) 565-8860 in the US and in Canada (877) 330- 6366.

The Trevor Project  has a 24 hour hotline geared toward helping our youth, and you can call it at 1-866-488-7386

Let's do our part to make sure we don't lose any people to suicide this holiday season.

Happy Turkey Day 2017

Well, the planet is still here for now and we've made it to Thanksgiving 2017 despite 45.

One thing we can definitely give thanks for is that Trump hasn't blown the planet up yet as he continues to piss off Kim Jong Fool and the Iranians

For those of you breaking break with your families, be they your blood or chosen family members,  consider yourself blessed in that regard. 

I'm also thankful that I have a few options on the table in terms of choosing where I get to eat today.  I'm also thinking about the people who don't.   If you can, open your dinner table to someone who will probably be alone on this day.

Going to take a well deserved chill out day.  If something inspires me to write that I must put up as a post, you'll probably see it.   But more likely I'll be back to doing my normal posting schedule tomorrow. 

If you are traveling either a short distance or across the country for that Thanksgiving dinner, may the dinner be  tasty, you company be enjoyable, and you have safe travels to and from your final destination.

TransGriot 2017 NFL Picks -Week 12

It's Turkey Day, and in addition to us getting our grub on with friends and family in a few hours, we get to watch NFL football.  Still on track to threepeat after Mr Watts and I tied after the Week 11 games were contested.

Since there are three games tomorrow with one kicking off early in the morning, this prognostication post is going up way earlier than my usual noon CST.

So time to get busy either building on or maintaining my lead.  As usual, my Week 12 picks are in bold print with home teams in CAPS.   Mike's Turkey Day weekend picks are here.

Gobble, gobble y'all and Happy Turkey Day! 

Week 11 Results                                                                  2017 NFL Season 
TransGriot     9-5                                                                 TransGriot   102-58
Mike              9-5                                                                  Mike             98-62

Thanksgiving Day Games
Vikings over LIONS
COWBOYS over Chargers
WASHINGTON over Giants

Sunday Early Games
BENGALS over Browns
Panthers over JETS
Titans over COLTS
FALCONS over Buccaneers
PATRIOTS over Dolphins
EAGLES over Beans
Bills over CHIEFS

Sunday Afternoon Games
Seahawks over 49ERS
RAIDERS over Broncos
Saints over RAMS

Sunday Night Game
STEELERS over Packers

Monday Night Game
Texans over RAVENS

Trans Man Named As A Rhodes Scholar!

If you are named as a Rhodes Scholar, you have achieved something academically that few people in this country and around the world accomplish in getting one of the most prestigious scholarships in the world/

Only 32 American college students every year are named to receive a Rhodes scholarship, which covers all expenses for two to three years of study at Oxford University in England starting next fall..

The US 2018 Rhodes Scholars awardees were named recently and for the first time in the US, an out trans man was among the 32 people named to receive one.  There were also ten African Americans named, the most in a Rhodes Scholar class ever.

Thanks to Marisa Richmond for alerting me to this latest amazing nugget of trans history and sterling example of #TransExcellence.

Calvin Runnels is a senior biochemistry major at Georgia Tech University from Baton Rouge, LA.  He is not only is maintaining a 4.0 GPA, but has also become the second out trans person ever to be named a Rhodes Scholar. 

"I was absolutely floored when they called my name," Runnels said in a Georgia Voice interview.  "I had been steeling myself to congratulate two of my new friends from the other 13 finalists --— all of whom, I think, would have been exceptionally deserving of the scholarship.  Most of all, I'm excited to get to know the other 31 Rhodes scholar-elects who received the good news yesterday, as well as all the other scholars from around the glob; I think we all have an incredible amount to learn from each other."

Pema McLaughlin was the first out US trans person to become a Rhodes scholar, and that happened according to the Rhodes Trust in 2016.  Other famous American Rhodes scholars are former President Bill Clinton, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), former UN Ambassador Susan Rice,  ABC This Week host George Stephanopoulos, singer Kris Kristofferson and MSNBC host Rachel Maddow.

Runnels is not only a well rounded student at Georgia Tech, he's also keeping being named a Rhodes Scholar in perspective.

“What I think it means, and the way I’m trying to frame it in my mind, is that I don’t want to view getting this scholarship as my peak accomplishment of my life,” he said. “I want to think of it as an affirmation of the things I have done so far and also as a call to duty to make a difference in the world and try to do great things from here on.” 

Runnels is planning to study for a doctorate in biochemistry, and it will be interesting to see what transpires in his life post Oxford..

I Told Y'all Ferengi = Republican

If you are so desperate to claim a Star Trek character,  if anything, the Ferengi are the peeps you Republicans are most like in the Star Trek universe.
-TransGriot  March 1, 2015

Back in 2015 I wrote a post shredding an Oregon Republican who dared to try to make the laughable claim on my watch that the late Leonard Nimoy was a Republican and so was Spock.

That claim didn't take me long to eviscerate. 

There is however at least one group in the Star Trek universe who perfectly mirrors the Republican Party and the conservative movement:  The Ferengi.   That's even more pronounced since 45 occupied the White House became Grand Nagus.

Think I'm kidding or off base with the comparison?   Let me count the ways and the multiple examples in the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition in which the Ferengi are just like the Republican Party.

Like the Ferengi, the GOP wants their women barefoot, naked, birthing babies and having no rights .
The both love 'greed is good capitalism with no rules and will do anything in the pursuit of profit  including screw their own family members.

Even many of the 285 Rules of Acquisition sound like they were  plucked straight from the Republican party platform   

Rule 34: War is good for business.
Rule 35: Peace is good for business   
Rule 63:  Power without profit is like a ship without an engine.
Rule 106:  There is no honor in poverty 
Rule 125:  A lie isn't a lie until; someone knows the truth
Rule 126:  A lie isn't a lie, it's the truth seen from a different perspective
Rule 128:  Ferengi are not responsible for the stupidity of other races
Rule 188:  Never bet on a race you haven't fixed

So yeah, when it comes to the Star Trek universe, the Ferengi are the GOP's doppelgangers.

A Ten Point Post TDOR Plan

TDOR 2017 is over.  The memorials are done and the last tear has been shed.  The sun is shining on this November 21st day.  So what do we do over the next 365 days to not only help decrease the number of names we read at the 20th anniversary edition of TDOR in 2018, but make the world better for Trans kind?

You just knew I'd have a few suggestions for the question I just asked.   It's not just a few suggestions, either.  It's  a Ten Point Post-TDOR Plan.

First one is collective community self defense.   By that I mean not just self defense courses or arming yourselves with guns or tasers, but employing the buddy system whenever possible.  Have one when walking in neighborhoods, or when going to our cars or public transit stops in the wake of leaving clubs or our community events.  Let trusted people know where and when you're headed out and make it a point to call certain people on a regular basis.

The second one is working with the media and the police to get them to understand that deadnaming our fallen people is not acceptable.   Doing so whether by accident or accidentally on purpose to trans murder victims delays their ability to apprehend the perpetrators of those crimes and get justice for the victims.   Many times we don't know or don't care what the person's deadname was, so if you come to us citing that deadname, we'll look at you with blank stares. 

We also know that the most critical time to solving a crime in in the first 48 hours of it.

Third is continuing the ongoing education of the moveable middle toward unconditional acceptance of our humanity as trans people.  We're not going to flip hardcore Trump voters or doctrinaire Republicans.  But we do have a large population of people who wish to be on the right side of history and do what's decent for trans people.   Let's get to work converting them to supporters of our community.

Fourth is punishing our enemies at the ballot box, rewarding our friends, and running our damned selves for public office.   You gleefully sponsor an anti-trans ballot measure or unjust law aimed at us and out kids, expect swift retaliation at the ballot box in the next cycle.  You work hard to defend our community, expect to reap the earned political reward of unwavering community support.   And if a cis candidate doesn't step forward to take on the transphobe, we do the job. 

If a qualified trans person is running for office help them get elected.

Voting is a trans revolutionary act, and we must do so strategically as trans people in every election cycle. We cannot afford to be politically aloof or ignorant.

Fifth is pushing back hard against people who wish to disseminate anti-trans propaganda like TERF's, fundamentalist 'christians', the Republican Party and any assorted hater by not allowing any anti-trans speech or facts free comment to go unchallenged.  Ignoring them and their hate speech is not an option.  It must be challenged, and we don't have to be nice when we do it either..

Sixth is ensuring our trans kids grow up with healthy self esteem by not only making them aware of the history that people like them helped make, but working with the Mama and Papa Bears to ensure they can just focus on their educations as we battle with the transphobic teachers and administrators to ensure our kids are treated with the dignity and respect in the educational setting

Seventh is ensuring that we trans adults love ourselves.  We need to role model that sixth point I made in our own lives by looking in the mirror and repeatedly telling ourselves that we ARE the amazing men and women we see staring back at us.

Eight is build your expanded family.  If you still have loving and supportive blood family members, that is a bonus in this case.   If you don't have blood family, create one.  While they won't help you totally alleviate the pain of being separated from blood family,  they can go a long way toward helping you fill that vacancy where your blood family once was. 

Nine is get involved in building our community.   Whether it's attending a monthly trans group organizational meeting, getting involved with a non -trans specific cause you support,  or just going out on a regular basis with people you love and care about cis or trans, just do it.

Ten is love one another.   We trans folks are all we've got in many cases.

Major! Documentary Screening And Panel Tonight At UH

I enjoy the opportunities I get to walk the grounds of my collegiate alma mater, and what's bringing me back to UH again  is a screen of the documentary Major followed by a trans rights panel discussion with my fellow panelists Jessica Zyrie and Reagan White

Since I was on the advisory board for the movie,  I've already seen it.   But for those of you who haven't, you'll definitely want to roll by the UH campus to see this documentary about one of our amazing trans elders who in her words is 'still f*****g here. 

It'll be running from 6-9 PM  at Agnes Arnold Hall Auditorium 2, and hope to see you there.

Take A Knee Protest At NRG Stadium

If Bob McNair thought that the passage of time and ignoring it would eliminate the anger myself and many people had at him about his racist 'inmates running the prison' comment,, no it hasn't.

During the Texans game at NRG Stadium yesterday with the Arizona Cardinals, several groups led by the ACLU and the Texas Organizing Project 'took a knee' in solidarity with Houston Texans and other NFL players who continue to take a knee during the national anthem to protest injustice aimed at Black Americans.

The Texans were intially refraining from joining the protest out of respect for McNair, but once news of his infamous NFL meeting comments got out. took a knee before their October 29 game with the Seattle Seahawks..

Three buses full of protesters showed up yesterday actross the street from NRG Stadium to call on McNair to either step down as the Texans owner or make meaningful progress on his stated position of making progress on social,justice issues 

Some also called out his participation in the blackballing of free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick in light of the fact Texans starter Deshaun Watson has been lost for the season with a knee injury.

There was also a call during yesterday's rally for McNair and other NFL owners to respect the ability of players to exercise their First Amendment rights.   They also pushed back against the right wing lie that the NFL player protests were 'disrespecting the flag'  or 'disrespecting veterans'

The press conference was followed by a short march that ended with the protesters taking a knee in the right lane of Kirby Drive.

Moni's 2017 TDOR Thoughts

Today we mourn the people we lost.   Tomorrow we prepare to do what we always do and fight for our very humanity.   And yes, we will win.  Yeah I know I said that in 2007, but I believe it, and I'm going to speak it into existence today.
-Monica Roberts, Moni's 2016 TDOR Thoughts

Another 365 days have passed since last year's commemoration of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, and this one is quite different from the TDOR we observed last year.

This 19th annual observance of the Transgender Day of Remembrance has some elements of it that are depressingly familiar to it.   Once again we are reading off a list of names of the people who were taken from us due to anti-trans violence that is overwhelmingly Black and Latinx.. We lights candles in their memory    Once again many of the people we lost are under 40.   When we not how they died, we are aware of the fact that many of them experienced horrific violence in their last moments on the planet.   And we sadly note that Brazil led the pack in terms of being the most violent nation for trans people 

What's different is that we went from an administration that was unapologetically on our side in fighting for justice for trans people to an unjust one hellbent on oppressing us.

But what these misguided people and transphobes fail to understand is that when you are a people who have to fight tooth and nail just to exist, we're going to fight oppression aimed at us even more tenaciously because it is literally a life or death situation for us. 

In that stark scenario with those kind of stakes for the trans community, we have no other option but to prevail mo matter what kind of challenges are presented to us.

In Texas, we killed the odious SB6/SB3 twice in a regular and a special oppression session.  The attempt to ban us from the US military is being fought out in the federal court system. 

And far from eviscerating us from everyday life and force us back into a closeted existence as our opposition is trying to do,  we are becoming even more visible and more of an integral part of it from media to politics.   We will also have when 2018 dawns trans folks repping their constituents and out community in the Virginia House of Delegates and the Minneapolis City Council. 

So yes, while we trans people, our families, friends and allies on this day think about the over 275 people around the world we lost to anti-trans violence, TDOR is a day more so for those of us who mourn them.   Once we leave the various venues holding the memorial services around the world, we steel ourselves for the challenging at times task of fighting for the humanity and human rights of the people who to borrow the words of Miss Major, are still f*****g here.

The best way we can honor those we lost is to fix society to the point that we make the TDOR obsolete.   We aren't there yet and may not get there in my remaining lifetime on this planet.   But we still have to keep fighting to reduce the number of anti-trans murders in the US and around the world, and ensure that the perpetrators of them do hard time when they are caught..

How fast will that day happens?   Good question.  But I can guarantee that won't happen fast enough to keep me from writing another TDOR post 365 days from now.

2017 Transgender Day Of Resources and Healthy Living

Hanging out at the Montrose Center checking out the 2017 edition of the Transgender Day of Resources and Healthy Living.

Dee Dee Watters organizes this event  which merges seminars with vendors providing healthcare related services, representatives of various Houston orgs like Organization Latina de Trans in Texas, Save our Sisters United, Inc, Lesbian Health Initiative, Kinship Care, Baylor College of Medicine, the Gender Infinity Conference, the Houston Intersex Society, PRIDE Portraits and Rice University to the Houston Trans community and our allies.

One of the reasons I'm writing about it is because the inaugural event in 2014 probably saved my life.  I hadn't been to the doctor in a while, and there were some TSU medical students there looking to do some testing on people.   I let them run some tests on me, and they determined that my blood pressure was elevated to the point that had it not been addressed. it could have led to me having a stroke.

Some of the workshops are covering topics like self defense< media training and voice training just to name a few.

This years event is running from 10-2 PM at the Montrose Center and hope you can come and check it out.

Special PISD Board Meeting Today

Today at noon the Pearland ISD is having a special board meeting. 

In the special board meeting announcement it says one of the issues being covered is 'to deliberate the duties of the Superintendent of Schools.'  Looks like they are probably going to be discussing the interesting revelations that surfaced last week concerning Pearland ISD superintendent John Kelly's son Patrick.

Patrick's now taken down Facebook page was a hot racist mess of white supremacist negativity aimed not only at various ethnic groups, but the transgender community as well.

Dr. Kelly, while screeching about 'parental responsibility' on his PISD website blogs, has also made some homophobic and transphobic remarks, and was also in Austin back in March gleefully testifying in favor of an SB 6 bill that would oppress many of his students in the rapidly diversifying city and school district.

While Dr. Kelly has been loud and proud about demonizing Kai Shappley and the TBLGQ community, he's been cricket chirping silent about the allegations concerning his own white supremacist son as PISD parents increasingly want to know what is going on with the man tasked to oversee the district in which their children are being educated.

So it's going to be interesting to see what transpires at the end of this special school board meeting and if some statement comes out of 1928 N. Main St.

TransGriot Update:  As I suspected would be the case,  nothing happened.  As long as the conservafools have majority control of the PISD board,  no accountability will be forthcoming to John Kelly

It's up to progressive PISD parents to clean house on that board and vote Kelly's allies off of it.

Memorial Hermann Has A Medical Transphobia Problem

Went to visit my friend Samantha yesterday who was taken to Memorial Hermann in the Texas Medical Center after having several grand mal seizures on Tuesday morning.

And I was not happy to find out when I arrived late Wednesday morning that what she has experience runs counter to what Memorial Hermann posts

One of the fears we have in Trans World is when we must access the medical establishment while trans is being mistreated. 

We trans peeps have to access the medical world for things besides transition related health care for things such as flu shots, general healthcare exams, mammograms and pap smears   Some of us have had to access emergency health care as well for broken bones or other issues.

Some of us have experienced everything from being repeatedly misgendered by hospital personnel to being hit with outright refusals of doctors and other medical personnel to treat us based on their faux faith based prejudices. 

Medical transphobia can have deadly consequences for us as we transpeeps and our allies are all acutely aware of and has been documented in the 2015 US Transgender Survey.

23% of the respondents in the USTS survey have declined to see a doctor or seek medical treatment because of the fear of being mistreated as a transgender person.

When Samantha recounted to me what had transpired since she was admitted to Memorial Hermann, combined with the misgendering I personally witnessed,  pissed me off.  It also pissed off Kandice Webber, Mo Cortez, Ana Andrea Molina and a long list of people in the Houston advocacy community.

The fact this is happening during Trans Awareness Week in what is considered one of the best medical centers in the United States adds another level of pissivity to what is going on .

Samantha has been repeatedly misgendered by doctors, nurses, and the staff.  The Patient Advocate, after being requested by Samantha Tuesday, wasn't grasping the gravity of the situation and didn't see her until Kandice, who when not doing activism is a supervisory nurse, put them on blast about their piss poor care of her. 

The question that is running through all of our minds as we battle for Sam to have the respectful trans competent healthcare she deserves is  how man other Houston area trans people have suffered through the same crap?

To borrow Kandice's words to the Patient Advocate and other as we witness continues screwup in relation to Samantha's care, "Don't apologize for your mistakes, do better!"

But it is blatantly obvious to me and everyone else who has visited Samantha that Memorial Hermann in the Texas Med Center has a serious case of virulent transphobia, and it's a problem that needs to be rectified immediately.