Happy 13th Blogiversary, TransGriot

Today is not only the start of a new year, it's also the 13th anniversary of the start of TransGriot.

At midnight Eastern standard time on January 1, 2006, my first post went up on this blog.   It initially started out as a way for me to comment real time on the issues of the day and complement the monthly column I had in a local Louisville TBLGQ paper called The Letter.

The blog eventually got more popular than the newspaper column after spending much of of TransGriot's first year trying to figure out what I wanted to do with it.

Now after 13 years, over 10,000 posts, and finally capturing an elusive GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Blog , what I figured out was that what I needed to do with it was be a voice for Black trans people who at that point and time didn't have one.

It also has another important mission of recording our history.  I also used TransGriot's electronic pages to push the media in the TBLGQ community and in Cis World of doing better when  and how they report on trans issues, and role modeling how to do so.

And yes, one of the most beloved features is the TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards.

So thanks to Jordana LeSesne for relentlessly staying on my azz until she got me to commit in November 2005 to start TransGriot, to pick a January 1 start date, and actually follow through with my first post.

This blog opened up a new world of opportunities for me, in addition to allowing me to be the voice for a community. 

While my blog may have started to give Black trans people a voice and talk about the issues from our perspective, it has grown far beyond what I envisioned for it when I hit SEND on that first post on New Year's Day 2006. .

Here's to TransGriot's Year 13!   Let's see how it transpires.