I noted that Kai Shappley has her bag packed to go on a quick trip to New York, but didn't know what the trip was for.
The trip for my adopted niece was for the Short Doc Emmy Awards, and the Trans In Texas documentary in which Kai had a major role in won a Short Doc Emmy.
This was the moment they announced the winner. I couldn't be happier for Kai and the team that put it together.,
When Erin Grinde Tunheim's attempt to win Miss Norway Universe resulted in her finishing as the third runner up in this pageant, with the number of Miss Universe national pageants quickly dwindling, I believed that the international trans community had run out of chances to have another trans beauty walk a Miss Universe pageant stage in 2019.
I wasn't aware until yesterday that we had another trans woman qualify for her national pageant, and this time it wasn't in Europe.
The person who would attempt to make that history was in Chile, and she is 26 year old model Gera Saint Garriga. She won the Miss Santiago title, which punched her ticket to the national pageant held in Punta Arenas that had her competing against 17 other women from across the nation.
Saint Garriga was motivated to do so after seeing Angela Ponce win Miss Spain Universe and compete in last year's Miss Universe in Bangkok. She is proud to not only be the first out trans person person in her nation to qualify for a national Miss Universe pageant, but the first out trans person to do so in South America, Latin America and the Western Hemisphere.
While she made it as one of the five finalists, the Miss Universe Chile crown went to 19 year old Geraldine Gonzalez, who will be Chile's representative at Miss Universe.
Week 3 ended up with me winning the week due to me getting the Texans game right.
Antonio Brown probably is done for this season as he was cut by the Cheatriots Patriots after another sexual assault allegation triggered an NFL investigation. Look for him to be back playing only if he gets cleared by the league.
Back to the Texans. For the first time this season they actually played better football in the second half, and they needed it against the LA Chargers. The defense also stepped up big late to propel them to another victory.
Jadaveon who?
Time to get back to work making these picks. Only 15 games this week because the Jets and 49ers are on their bye week watching everybody else play. My picks will be in bold red print with the home team in CAPS. Mike's Week 4 picks will be here at this link.
Week 3 ResultsNFL Season Results
TransGriot 11-5 TransGriot 30-17-1
Mike 10-6 Mike 30-17-1
Thursday Night Game PACKERS over Eagles
Sunday Early Games TEXANS over Panthers Titans over FALCONS GIANTS over Washington Chargers over DOLPHINS COLTS over Raiders Chiefs over LIONS RAVENS over Browns Patriots over BILLS
Sunday Afternoon Games RAMS over Buccaneers Seahawks over CARDINALS BEARS over Vikings Jaguars over BRONCOS
A suspect has been arrested in the shooting of 35 year old trans woman Daniela Calderon.
According to reporting from the Dallas Voice, Dallas police arrested 29 year old Domingo Ramirez-Cayente and charged him with aggravated assault in the shooting that took place on September 20 in the 11000 block of Dennis Road.
According to the arrest warrant, Calderon was walking along Dennis Road when Ramirez-Cayente pulled up alongside her in his red Chevy truck and yelled anti-trans and anti-gay slurs at her. Calderon walked away from the truck and toward a nearby DART bus stop so she could leave the location.
Ramirez-Cayente then pulled up to the bus stop as she was waiting there and shot Calderon several times with a handgun.
Calderon was taken to a nearby hospital where she underwent surgery for her injuries, and spoke to investigators in September 22.. Ramirez-Cayente's truck was captured by nearby security video cameras and was eventually identified by detectives on September 24.
Ramirez-Cayente was arrested on traffic warrants, and while being interviewed by detectives at DPD headquarters admitted to shooting Calderon. .
Ramirez-Cayente is still in the Dallas County jail as of this writing on charges of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and three minor traffic violations. His bond on the assault charge was set at $25,000.
Once again, this is another concrete example of what I I'm talking about when I say anti-trans hate thoughts + anti-trans hate speech = anti-trans hate violence and murder.
I'm thankful that Rony Calderon didn't become the fourth Texas trans person to be lost to anti-trans violence this year. I also wish her speedy healing and recovery from her injuries.
May the Dallas County DA handle their business and throw this waste of DNA under the jail for what he tried to do.
TransGriot Update: Stunned and angered to learn that Ramirez-Cayente was released on bail.
Matt Bevin (R) is polling at historic lows for a Kentucky governor, and is trailing Kentucky Democratic AG Andy Beshear in the governor's race that will be decided in a few weeks.
So what does the GOP do when they have no governmental accomplishments to run on and their candidate is majorly unpopular?
Deploy the transphobia.
The SuperPAC campaign Fore American Principles deployed the ad aimed at Beshear which features a male actor running a race against female athletes.
Bevin's campaign predictably had no comment about the transphobic ad, but Chris Hartman, the ED of the Kentucky Fairness Campaign definitely did.
"'Ads like this coming out of Washington DC think tanks, that have no grounding in reality, are the types of things that ruin our elections," said Hartman.
"I hope, I believe that the people of Kentucky will prove that this type of political fear-mongering out of Washington DC, just doesn't work here, back home, where we deal with things on a local level," Hartman added.
The Beshear campaign issued a statement that also tore Bevin a new anus over the transphobic ad.
"This is a shameful and false attack from a shady group that will lead to bullying of our kids. Andy opposes discrimination. Matt Bevin is an unhinged failure who is hurting our students by seeking to tear down public education. He even blamed teachers, without evidence, for the sexual abuse of children.”
Is November 5 here yet so my Kentucky peeps can fire Matt Bevin?
We are blessed to have some amazing college bands in the Houston area like TSU's Ocean of Soul, Prairie View A&M's Marching Storm, and UH's Spirit of Houston.
But none of them can match the legendary irreverence of Rice University's Marching Owl Band, or 'The MOB' as they are affectionately known.
The MOB doesn't wear traditional band uniforms or march onto the field. They scatter into formations in their pinstriped three piece suits and fedora hats. They also live for irreverently poking fun at their game day rivals, politics, life on the Rice campus and themselves.
While those MOB shows can be good natured at times, there are other times the MOB drew ire from their targets because they struck a nerve. One memorable MOB show involved them during a November 17, 1973 game at Rice Stadium poking fun at cherished Texas A&M Aggie traditions.
The MOB Nazi goose stepped onto the field, mocked the Aggie War Hymn and the Corps of Cadets, and formed a fire hydrant while playing 'Oh Where Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone' to mock the Aggie mascot Reveille
The Aggies were not amused, and losing the game to Rice didn't help matters The pissed off Aggie fans formed a mob of their own that trapped the embattled band in the stadium tunnel for several hours after the game. HPD had to come in to disperse the crowd as the band escaped the Aggie wrath in empty food trucks
In 2007, the MOB mocked the legal woes of the Texas Longhorns by playing the theme from Dragnet as three band members dressed as Longhorn players were chased by other band members carrying cardboard police cars.
In 2011, days before Texas A&M announced they were leaving the Big 12 for the SEC, during the Owls season opener against Texas in Austin, they formed the words '$EC' during their halftime show.
In 2016, when Baylor last made the trip to Houston to play the Owls, the MOB not only formed the roman numeral IX to refer to Title IX and the sexual assault scandal engulfing the school at the time, they formed a star and played 'Hit the Road Jack' to allude to the firing of former Baylor president Ken Starr
They whacked UT again this season when they spelled out '2.89', which is the cumulative GPA of the Texas Longhorn football team.
The MOB struck again last Saturday as they hosted Baylor at Rice Stadium. They took a jab at Baylor for denying a charter for an on campus LGBTQ group. They formed the word 'Pride' and played the Village People's YMCA as students ran onto the field carrying the various TBLGQ community group pride flags.
Aw yeah. Going to have to check out a Rice home game before the season is over to see what the MOB does next.
If you're wondering why Laverne Cox as she walked the Emmy red carpet with ACLU staff attorney Chase Strangio was carrying a rainbow clutch purse with the October 8 date on it, the words Title VII' and 'Supreme Court' on it, I'm about to tell you why.
When the calendar page flips to October, on the first Monday of the month (October 7), the 2019-2020 Supreme Court session will start. After they take their traditional photo, the next day on October 8, the justices will hear arguments in three landmark TBLGQ workplace discrimination cases that will have a profound impact on all TBLGQ persons in the United States
Those landmark cases will determine whether TBLGQ Americans are covered under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Two of the three cases, Zarda v. Altitude Express and Bostock vs Clayton County Georgia have been consolidated, and will determine whether anti-gay discrimination is a form of sex discrimination.
The late Donald Zarda filed suit against Altitude Express after the skydiver was terminated by them in 2010 for being gay. Zarda died as the result of a base jumping accident in Switzerland, and his family elected to continue the case.
Gerald Bostock filed suit against Clayton County after he was terminated from his job by Clayton County in 2013 after it reveled to coworkers he’d joined a gay softball league.
Harris Funeral Homes v EEOC is a trans specific case that will determine whether anti-trans discrimination is a form of sex discrimination. Aimee Stephens was fired by the funeral home in 2014 after informing her employer she was beginning transition The Sixth Circuit already has positive case law backing up trans workers in previous discrimination cases that conclude anti-trans discrimination is a form of sex discrimination .
The funeral home and the Trump Administration are trying to argue otherwise. The ACLU is arguing the Zarda and Harris SCOTUS cases, while an Atlanta area legal firm is arguing the Bostock SCOTUS case. While all these cases are being argued on the basis of whether Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act applies to anti-TBLGQ discrimination, these cases will affect all federal laws banning discrimination on the basis of sex including Title X of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the Fair Housing Act.
The Trump Administration and the (in)Justice Department are arguing to make it legal to fire LGBTQ workers. If that happens, it won't be just TBLGQ people who are negatively affected by such an unjust ruling. If you are a cis hetero person perceived to be LGBTQ, you could also be fired as well.
While I'm hoping that five justices will reject that BS argument, with Kavanaugh and Gorsuch on the Court, it's possible we'll have an adverse 5-4 ruling. Then again we could get one that goes the other way
We won't know for certain until the June end of the SCOTUS 2019-2020 term At that time we will either be celebrating a landmark win, or a legal setback that will add years to our battle for TBLGQ human rights coverage.
TransGriot Note: I like to from time to time signal boost commentary from other thought leaders in the community in this space. I liked this one from my Chicago based sis Channyn Parker, and believe that it is a message y'all needed to see, read and hear.
Guest Post by Channyn Lynne Parker
I don’t really know where to begin, except to say for those of you who champion, defend, and continue to support trans women, thank you.
Honestly, I don’t think any trans person here expects a cis-person to understand what it’s like to have a body that expresses itself incongruently to one’s internal reality. However, what you can understand is the importance and recognition of our humanity.
None of us are blind to the fact there are fractures, rifts and subgrouping within our community along feigned notions of superiority. But know this, there would be no community unless we trans women had not stood up first.
I hear the word “sensitive” being thrown around a lot, as if to gaslight us into believing that we somehow are at fault for not recognizing the humor you find in our pain.
I wouldn’t be so quick to call a trans woman sensitive. Remember, due to our daily existence, we trans women in fact have very tough skins. What you are witnessing however, is heartbreak.
You can’t be sensitive while screaming in the face of a politician, to give you your right to be legally wed.
You can’t be sensitive while holding the hands of your dying, and burying your dead, and still muster up the strength to stand in the front lines demanding an end to the epidemic.
You can’t be sensitive when sitting in front of the young man who is hungry and tired with no place to go, and all you have to offer him is a little bit of comfort and something warm to fill his belly.
So, if to call us “sensitive” is your way of averting the need for or somehow directing at us a coded non-apology apology, it’s an apology that we do not accept.
We trans women were the wet nurses to this movement when “Gay Rights” was in its infancy. So again, what you’re your seeing and hearing from us is not sensitivity, it is a mother's grief. It is a daughter's abandonment, and a sister's rejection from her very own sons and brothers.
I feel no need to tarry any further as I have made myself abundantly clear with this soliloquy.
Again, I love you all with a love that is divinely mandated, and that love, is the love of respect.
We're in the third week of this young NFL season, and veteran quarterbacks are dropping due to injuries. Still too early to tell which teams appear to be Super Bowl contenders, but it's becoming apparent that the Miami Dolphins after being outscored 102-10 in their first two games may be on their way to the number one pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
After the Texans lost a game at the buzzer in NOLA last week, they somewhat redeemed themselves by stopping a late Jaguars two point conversion attempt at the goal line to preserve a 13-12 nail biter.
I was above .500 last week, but now trailing by a game in the prognostication contest no thanks to the Bengals loss to the 49ers.
See y'all in London, Jags. Question is will Jalen Ramsey be making that trip across The Pond with them?
Let's get to this week's picks. Another 16 games to get through since nobody has a bye week yet
My picks will be in bold red print with HOME team in CAPS. Mike's picks will be at this link.
Week 2 Results2019 Season Record
TransGriot 9-7 TransGriot 19-12-1
Mike 10-6 Mike 20-11-1
Thursday Night Game Titans over JAGUARS
Sunday Early Games BILLS over Bengals EAGLES over Lions PATRIOTS over Jets VIKINGS over Raiders CHIEFS over Ravens Falcons over COLTS PACKERSover Broncos COWBOYS over Broncos
Sunday Afternoon Games BUCCANEERS over Giants CARDINALS over Panthers 49ERSover Steelers SEAHAWKS over Saints Texans over CHARGERS
My multi-talented sis Diamond Stylz is a trailblazer in many areas of the media. She was a YouTube video blogger for over a decade until they shadily deleted her channel.
When she was in high school, she was the plaintiff for a successful trans rights lawsuit, then became the first out trans student to attend Jackson State University. Being in that somewhat hostile environment helped her hone her activist skills. She's also a singer and songwriter.
She recently wrote an article that was published in ESSENCE magazine, and for several years now she has a podcast called Marsha's Plate that she hosts with Mia Mix and Zee that focuses on Black trans community issues, pop culture and other subjects.
I've had the honor of doing one of their shows since the podcast is based here in Houston, and hope I get the chance to do another one in the near future.
The big news is that Marsha's Plate is now celebrating its 100th show, and it's a must listen to one in which one of the topics they discussed is Andre Mizrahi's jacked up transphobic rant.
Congratulations to the Marsha's Plate team for hitting this milestone!
If you've watched the last three presidential debates, you'll quickly notice as a member of the TBLGQ community the questions about the issues that concern LGBTQ + Americans have been non existent save for Cory Booker and Julian Castro mentioning trans Americans and Pete Buttigieg talking about love and marriage at the end of the Houston one.
GLAAD on Friday will sponsor along with The Advocate, One Iowa, and The Gazette the 2020 Presidential Candidate Forum on LGBTQ Issues at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA.
Joining GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis on the Sinclair Auditorium stage is actress and advocate Angelica Ross.
This makes Ross the first out trans person tapped to be a presidential forum host in addition to all the trans television history she's made already as a cast member of the groundbreaking FX series POSE and American Horror Story 1984 that premieres tonight.
Congrats to Angelica! I'm so proud of her, and I'm confident she will do a wonderful job in making sure that the concerns of our trans community are articulated during this event.
“This LGBTQ Presidential Forum is a pivotal moment in the 2020 election cycle,” said Ellis. “It’s the first time that LGBTQ issues will be exclusively discussed by 2020 presidential candidates on a national stage.”
She adds, “We look forward to hearing how the 2020 candidates plan to reverse the attacks and rollbacks of the Trump Administration and put LGBTQ Americans on a course to 100% acceptance.”
It's a pivotal moment indeed. We have had 20 trans people murdered this year in the US as the Trump misadministration ramps up its attacks on our basic human rights. It opposes the Equality Act, which passed the democratically controlled House but has gone nowhere in the GOP controlled Senate.
We TBLGQ voters need to know as November 3, 2020 gets closer what Democratic presidential candidates will do to stop the erosion of our human rights, and what policies they will enact that benefit TBLGQ Americans if they are elected.
Confirmed participants in this TBLGQ specific forum are Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Julián Castro, Tulsi Gabbard, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Joe Sestak, Elizabeth Warren and Marianne Williamson.
The forum is scheduled to start at 7 PM CDT on Friday, September 20, and you can watch the forum livestream here.
We are one step closer to hosting World Pride 2023 in H-town!
Pride Houston, the nonprofit that organizes our LGBT Pride Parade and festival and who is coordinating our hosting bid, announced that their application to the WorldPride Committee of InterPride was unanimously approved. Our competition for the 2023 WorldPride bid, Sydney, Australia and Montreal, Canada also had their WorldPride bids accepted by the committee.
Interestingly enough Austin, TX is bidding for the 2025 WorldPride against Rome, Italy.
Representatives from Pride Houston, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and Fierte Montreal will travel to Athens, Greece next month for the annual meeting to present their bids to the WorldPride Committee
The bids are then voted on, with the winning group getting to host WorldPride
I believe our toughest competition is Sydney. WorldPride has never been held in Australia or the Southern Hemisphere, and New York just hosted it in the US for the first time ever this year in large part because of the Stonewall 50th anniversary.
Montreal also has the problem of a WorldPride recently being held in their nation in Toronto, and being a 5 hour drive from New York that just hosted it.
Houston would also be another first time city with the advantages of nonstop international air travel to much of the globe from IAH and Hobby, in addition to being a large international city as well.
When the 2020 Census is completed, Houston is expected to officially pass Chicago to become the third largest city in the United States.
We'll find out next month if a Texas city gets a WorldPride. Hopefully it will be Houston that will be that city
I always love a good trans pageant, and have even been a judge in two of them.
Next weekend on September 21 the Mr and Miss Trans USA 2020 Pageant takes place in Milwaukee, and I have people I know competing for both crowns that are currently held by Abs Hart and Candi Stratton.
On the Mr Trans side my BTAC homey Jevon Martin is one of the five titleholders competing as Mr New York Trans USA, and you know I'm rooting for him to take that crown back to NYC.
On the Miss Trans USA side one of the 15 people competing is my homegirl Jody Cofer Randall, who will be repping the Lone Star State at this event as Miss Texas Trans USA.
For those of you who are in the Milwaukee area and wish to check it out, the pageant will be held at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts- Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall
It also means on that night Candi and Abs' reigns will be over and they will crown their successors.
While I'm wishing good luck to all the contestants competing next week, we'll see if Jevon and Jody handle their pageant business next Saturday and go back home with their respective crowns
The 2019 NFL season is underway, and so is the season long prognostication contest between myself and Mr. Watts. We're still deadlocked after i got the Bills-Jets game right and he got the Buccaneers- 49ers one correct.
And ugh, one I came 2 seconds from getting wrong was the Saints-Texans one. A 58 yard game winning field goal saved that pick because you don't go against the Saints when they are playing in the Superdome.
And yeah, Saints fans are still majorly pissed about the call in the NFC Championship Game eight months ago that cost them a trip to the Super Bowl
Gotta shake it off because there are 16 more games to pick this week and I need to build on the nice Week 1 start. Speaking of good starts, there are a few NFL teams that will be like my Texans fighting for their first win of the young NFL season so they don't fall into an 0-2 hole.
My picks will be in bold red print with the HOME team in all CAPS. Mike's picks will be at this link for you to peruse.
Week 1 Results 2019 Season Record
TransGriot 10-5-1 TransGriot 10-5-1
Mike 10-5-1 Mike 10-5-1
Thursday Night Game PANTHERS over Buccaneers
Sunday Early Games TEXANS over Jaguars RAVENS over Cardinals Cowboysover WASHINGTON TITANS over Colts Seahawks over STEELERS GIANTS over Bills BENGALS over 49ers Chargers over LIONS PACKERS over Vikings Patriotsover DOLPHINS
Sunday Afternoon Games Chiefs over RAIDERS Saints over RAMS Bears over BRONCOS
As I was literally finding out about the Labor Day murder of 17 year old Bailey Reeves in Baltimore, I was getting word about an even more disturbing one that happened in Clewiston, FL on September 4.
23 year old Bee Love Slater was found inside her burning car outside the town of Clewiston, FL. Her burned beyond recognition body was only identified through her dental records.
Hendry County investigators have stated it is one of the most brutal murders they have seen yet.
Friends of Bee also stated to local media that she was in fear of her life and getting a lot of cyber bullying prior to her death.
A vigil for Slater was also held in Pahokee, FL where she lived.
Let's get the stats out of the way. Slater is the 18th trans person we have lost to anti trans violence in 2019. She is the 17th African American one, and more infuriating to me, the 12th under age 30 that we have lost.
If you have any information that will lead to the capture and incarceration of the wastes of DNA who killed Bee, you are urged to call the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office at 863-674-5600 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS (8477).
Rest in power and peace, Bee. We won't rest until the persons who killed you are captured and justice is served in your case.
It's been a few weeks since my last instate road trip to Dallas, and I've hit the road again for an unprecedented for me third trip to San Antonio in the same calendar year.
Unlike my birthday trip to the Alamo City back in May, this one is business.
I'm here to attend the Excellence In Journalism Conference that started yesterday and is being held through September 7 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in downtown San Antonio on the Riverwalk
This 2019 edition of the conference is jointly sponsored by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ).
The Excellence In Journalism Conference was started in 2011 by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) and the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) to provide an industry event that would provide the best training and networking opportunities.
The NAHJ had previously been a partner for this conference in 2013, 2015 and 2017, and is now in the house again this year.
Like the other media Conferences I have attended such as the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), NLGJA, the Unity Conference held every four years in Washington DC jointly sponsored by the NABJ and NAHJ, and the LGBT Media Journalists Convening, it's an opportunity to not only get more training to get better at what I do, but also give me an opportunity to network with other media professionals.
It also goes without saying I get an opportunity to rep the trans community at the same time in those media conference spaces.
Major thanks to NAHJ for the invitation to be here, and I'm looking forward to spending a few days in San Antonio getting my learn on and networking with the people in attendance here.
Hopefully since the Alamo is not far from the conference hotel, I'll finally get to do more than just drive by it before they do the renovation and redesign of the area in front of that historical landmark and site of a crucial 1836 Texas Revolution battle.
I also hope I get some time to actually check out the Riverwalk for the first time ever. I have been coming to San Antonio since 1981. Because many of my San Antonio trips have either been day trips or I had other business when I came here and a too tight schedule that had no room for a trip to the Riverwalk, I have yet to spend any time exploring it.
And yes, y'all already know I'm not leaving the 210 without making another tasty stop by Wayne's Wings.
