TENT Trans Lobby Day Today

I'm chilling with my peeps in Austin after a relatively uneventful travel day.  I did have to wait two hours before I got into my hotel room.  I got here at 11 AM, and like my hotel, many of the ATX hotels are packed not only because of the legislative session, but also because SXSW is about to kick off this weekend

So after I grabbed something to eat, I had to kill two hours wandering the downtown streets of Austin.   I happily discovered during my wandering to familiarize myself with the general hotel vicinity there's a 7 Eleven near the hotel.

I'm halfway to my free Slurpee.

I'm here for the TENT Lobby Day, and I'll be speaking before we start heading into the Pink Dome to talk to our legislators.   The registration for the event closed on March 4 with 276 people signaling their intention to be here, so looking forward to seeing if we get more than that.

Also looking forward to seeing our trans family from across the Lone Star State

Our legislators know we're here because we've already made the local ATX news.   It's also interesting for me because it's exactly 20 years to the day I first made the trip to Austin as a rookie citizen lobbyist to participate in my maiden trans lobby day. 

I'm also doing so with a heavy heart because back home in Houston, the private memorial service for Sarah DePalma, the founding executive director of the Texas Gender Advocacy Information Network (TGAIN), and the proto org of TENT, takes place today. 

Our trans elder and my activist mentor died several weeks ago at age 67.

Here's the schedule for today's TENT Lobby Day

8-9 AM - Check in at FUMC Family Life Center (1300 Lavaca St), parking is available in the Capitol garage and will be within walking distance of all events. It is also handicap accessible and so is the FUMC Family Life Center)

9-10:00 AM - Lobby Day Training

10:35 AM - Pick up lunch, walk over to south steps of the Capitol

11:00 AM - TENT Rally

12 PM - Join NASW Rally

1 PM - Lobby Day Visits begin

5 PM - Lobby Day Ends

Hope I'll see as many of you peeps and allies handling your trans human rights business.