Rep. Maxine Waters SOTU Response Speech

For those of you wondering what happened to Rep,. Maxine Waters'  SOTU response speech, she decided to delay it until Wednesday night 

The speech was broadcast on BET, and it was worth waiting for because she put her foot in Trump's oversized rump as she called out his white supremacist mispresidency.

And yes, once again Rep. Waters called for his impeachment.

Here's the video of it.

B. Scott Loses BET Lawsuit

I saw this coming back in August when I took a lot of criticism for questioning the timing of B.Scott's 'I'm transgender' declaration.

As you recall, that declaration happened just as a multimillion dollar discrimination lawsuit was filed against BET by Scott for forcing her to change into masculine clothing and later dropping her from the telecast during last July's BET Awards show.

A suit that B. Scott has lost.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Yvette M Palazuelos ruled Thursday that BET had the right to force Scott to change to more masculine attire.

Will have to chat with my attorney friends to see if the troubling vibe I got from Thursday's ruling is something to be concerned about as a trans human rights advocate. 

But as you probably guessed, B.Scott and her attorney are disappointed in the outcome and will appeal it.

It disheartens me that the message sent today wasn’t a message of acceptance, but rather it’s acceptable to discriminate against transgender individuals on the basis of their gender identity and expression  – and that such discriminatory acts are protected under the first amendment.

As my attorney and I seek to appeal the judge’s decision on the motion to strike in the California Court of Appeal, we’re continuing to fight for the rights of the LGBTQ community and to remind the world that it’s ok to be who you are.

I believe the fact B.Scott only made the trans declaration AFTER the July 2013 BET incident and had a long documented history of writings, video blogs and statements denying trans status may have possibly played a role into yesterday's decision by Judge Palazuelos.  

As I said in last August's post, the saga continues. 

Is B.Scott Genuinely Embracing The Trans Umbrella?

Well, well, well.  As many of you are aware of  BET got itself in some seriously hot water when they hired gender bender B. Scott to be the red carpet fashion commentator for the recent edition of the BET Awards and publicly disrespected him. 

They approved the outfits he wanted to wear, but after one interview the show producers yanked him off the red carpet, demanded he tone down his makeup, pull back his hair and don male clothing.

After doing so he returned to find out he'd been replaced on the red carpet by actress Adrienne Bailon.

It was jacked up and after the outrage ensured over it from B.Scott's love muffins, the Blackosphere and amongst other peeps in the community BET put out a half-azzed spin filled apology that B. Scott rejected.

Now it's being reported by TMZ that B.Scott is filing a multimillion dollar lawsuit against BET and Viacom for what transpired on that jacked up evening.   He's requesting $2.5 million dollars in damages and an apology for the damage the incident did to his reputation  

In a post on his website yesterday he explained why he did so.  

“I’m sure by now you’re aware of an unfortunate incident that occurred while I was serving as Style Stage Correspondent for the 2013 BET Awards Pre-Show. After sharing my open letter with the world I’ve received tons of support from family, friends and love muffins for which I’m truly grateful.
While I want nothing more than to put this incident behind me and move on with my life, I still wholeheartedly believe that I’m entitled to a true public apology. BET’s non-apology statement added more insult to injury. What happened to me was not a ‘miscommunication’ nor was it ‘unintentional’. It was wrong. I have been vehemently trying to come to a resolution with BET and Viacom behind the scenes. After a few weeks of back and forth dialogue with no foreseeable resolution, I have filed a lawsuit against BET and its parent company Viacom for discrimination on the basis of gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation..
Over the years my love muffins and strangers alike have questioned me about my gender identity. What IS B. Scott? As a society we’ve been conditioned to believe that a person has to be ‘exactly’ this or ‘exactly’ that. Biologically, I am male — as my sex was determined at birth by my reproductive organs.
However, my spirit truly lies somewhere in between. It is that same spirit that has allowed me to become so comfortable in my skin, choose how I express myself, and contributes to how I live my day-to-day life.
It is by that definition that I accept and welcome the ‘transgender’ label with open arms.
It is also by that definition that BET and Viacom willingly and wrongfully discriminated against my gender identity during the 2013 BET Awards Pre-Show.
Let’s be clear — I’m suing BET and Viacom for a true public apology and to be fairly remunerated for the time lost, humiliation and emotional distress this entire situation has put me through.”
- See more at: http://madamenoire.com/290080/b-scott-stings-bet-and-viacom-with-multi-million-dollar-lawsuit-for-forcing-him-to-wear-mens-clothing/#sthash.Qu0U4GUp.dpuf

I’m sure by now you’re aware of an unfortunate incident that occurred while I was serving as Style Stage Correspondent for the 2013 BET Awards Pre-Show. After sharing my open letter with the world I’ve received tons of support from family, friends and love muffins for which I’m truly grateful.

While I want nothing more than to put this incident behind me and move on with my life, I still wholeheartedly believe that I’m entitled to a true public apology. BET’s non-apology statement added more insult to injury.

What happened to me was not a ‘miscommunication’ nor was it ‘unintentional’. It was wrong. I have been vehemently trying to come to a resolution with BET and Viacom behind the scenes. After a few weeks of back and forth dialogue with no foreseeable resolution, I have filed a lawsuit against BET and its parent company Viacom for discrimination on the basis of gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation.
.
Over the years my love muffins and strangers alike have questioned me about my gender identity. What IS B. Scott? As a society we’ve been conditioned to believe that a person has to be ‘exactly’ this or ‘exactly’ that. Biologically, I am male — as my sex was determined at birth by my reproductive organs.

However, my spirit truly lies somewhere in between. It is that same spirit that has allowed me to become so comfortable in my skin, choose how I express myself, and contributes to how I live my day-to-day life.

Transgender is the state of one’s gender identity (self-identification as woman, man, neither or both) not matching one’s assigned sex (identification by others as male, female or intersex based on physical/genetic sex). [source]

It is by that definition that I accept and welcome the ‘transgender’ label with open arms.

It is also by that definition that BET and Viacom willingly and wrongfully discriminated against my gender identity during the 2013 BET Awards Pre-Show.

Let’s be clear — I’m suing BET and Viacom for a true public apology and to be fairly remunerated for the time lost, humiliation and emotional distress this entire situation has put me through.

It's the declaration that B. Scott is embracing the transgender umbrella after resisting it for years that is problematic for me and elements of the trans community. 

Many of us trans people have dealt with the slings, arrows, anti-trans hatred, crushing unemployment-underemployment and murderous anti-trans violence aimed our way as B Scott defined himself as a proud gay man. 

Now it seems to elements of us in the African-American trans community that alter all the years of ducking and dodging the question of whether he was trans or not, it's now happening as a multimillion dollar lawsuit suit has been filed. 

I'm quite aware of and know evolution and shifting along the gender line segment happens with people as they gain self-awareness and knowledge about where they fall under the trans umbrella.   I'm also quite aware of the fact that sometimes it takes years to get comfortable with the spot you're in under the trans umbrella.  But it's the timing of the 'I'm transgender' declaration that has my 'things that make you go hmm' antennae up.

The timing of this announcement also drove me to tweet this several hours ago after hearing the news about his justified suit.

When B Scott starts taking hormones and calling himself Brittany (or another femme name starting with 'B') and declares he's transitioning then I'll consider him part of Team Trans.

And I'll start using whatever pronouns B.Scott considers respectfully appropriate to his particular situation at this point in time.

Let me make it crystal clear, I have no beef with B.Scott.  What BET did to him earlier this summer was seriously fracked up and pissed me off as someone who fights for the human rights of everyone inside and outside the trans and SGL community. 

But as a proud African descended trans person who has discussed and written about trans issues for over a decade and does seminars, speeches and collegiate level education on this subject,  you can bet I'm going to be keeping an eye on this situation to ensure it doesn't drift into conflation territory or misrepresentation of a trans community that is still quite misunderstood in the African-American cis and SGL community.
 
Until I get and see more evidence that B.Scott's embrace of the transgender umbrella is genuine, permanent and not just related to this legal case, call me skeptical.   

B. Scott Ain't Accepting BET's 'Apology'

BET thought they had quelled the growing blacklash (pun intended) over their homophobic dissing of B Scott at Sunday's BET Awards with their apology to the multimedia maven.

But in an interview he conducted yesterday, B. Scott made it clear what he thought about BET's apology and asserted he made it crystal clear to the network how he planned to look on air. 

“I want a real apology from BET. This was a not a mutual misunderstanding or miscommunication. I pride myself on being very professional,” he said.

Scott has made past appearances on the network wearing feminine attire and was supposed to appear during the pre-show BET Awards red carpet activities as the sole host commenting on fashion.  

But when he showed up, he was physically yanked off the carpet and told that he had to dress more conservatively, and was later paired with singer-actress Adrienne Bailon.

“This was my day to come out in one of the biggest days of my career and I was publically humiliated,” Scott said. “I’m just hurt by it. I just want people to know that it’s ok to be who you are.”

I agree with my trans elder Cheryl Courtney-Evans and what she had to additionally say about this crap at her Abitchforjustice blog.

HOW does one "miscommunicate" the words, "GET OFF THAT MAKEUP, HIGH HEELS, PUT ON A SUIT AND COMB BACK THAT HAIR!!" ??? Get the fuck out of here with that shit...that "miscommunicate" is what con artists use when they get caught out in a lie and they want to try and explain it away ("Oh, there was a 'miscommunication', dear."... yeah, riiight)..."BET embraces diversity..."??? Okay, prove how much you do; show how you eschew mistreating folks of diverse lives...FIRE THE HOMOPHOBIC PRODUCERS!

Still, Scott said he had some supporters at the network and believes the mandate to change came from a single executive. He also said he could see working with the network again “if I knew for sure that they wanted me to be there and I could express myself how I normally express myself and my brand.”

And with the PR beating BET is taking on this issue, y'all better give B. Smith that real apology he's seeking  ASAFP

BET Apologizes To B. Scott For Awards Show Drama

Diamond has commented on it in her latest video blog along with other people in the blogosphere and outraged fans of multimedia personality B. Scott

The openly gay Scott sports an androgynous look and was hired by BET to be the host of the red carpet pre-show broadcast before Sunday's 2013 edition of the BET Awards.  

But just before Scott went on camera, drama ensued as BET producers demanded he tone down his makeup, pull his hair back, wear masculine clothing and not wear heels.

The producers also attempted to replace him with Adrienne Bailon before pressure from show sponsor Procter & Gamble forced them to drop that idea and got him back on the telecast.

Scott was not a happy camper about the behind the scenes homophobic drama, and it was noticeable during his first on camera interview.  He later took to Twitter to discuss his feelings about it and dished about what happened to a fellow blogger and BET took a public relations beating over it.

“It’s not just about the fact that BET forced me to pull my hair back, asked me to take off my makeup, made me changed my clothes and prevented me from wearing a heel,” Scott wrote. “It’s more so that from the mentality and environment created by BET made me feel less than and that something was wrong with who I am as a person.”

BET tried to ride out the controversy with silence as outraged fans of B. Scott vented on Black Twitter and elsewhere but as the firestorm of criticism continued and BET continued to take a public relations black eye over this they finally issued an apology to the multimedia maven.  

“BET Networks embraces global diversity in all its forms and seeks to maintain an inclusive workforce and a culture that values all perspectives and backgrounds,” the statement read. “The incident with B. Scott was a singular one with a series of unfortunate miscommunications from both parties. We regret any unintentional offense to B. Scott and anyone within the LGBT community and we seek to continue embracing all gender expressions.”

Yeah, right. You sure didn't demonstrate that 'embracing of global diversity' and 'valuing all perspectives and backgrounds culture' Sunday night with B. Scott and you are deservedly getting excoriated for it.

Diamond Stylz Comments On The BET-B Scott Controversy

Catching up on all the news I missed while traveling, and I'm just hearing about BET hiring the androgynous B Scott and then demanding he not wear heels on the red carpet for the BET Awards.

WTF?  

Cheryl Courtney-Evans has her theory on why BET was hatin' on B Scott despite hiring him because his claim to fame is being that over the top androgynous personality.

Diamond comments on it in her latest video as well.

 

'The Game' Season 5 Cranking Up In January

I was deliriously happy when BET resurrected the NAACP Image Award winning series The Game and decided to broadcast a new season of 13 shows.

The Mara Brock Akil produced show picked up two years later where the Season 3 storylines left off when the CW abruptly canceled it after its merger with UPN  

The Game kicked off Season 4 with a bang on January 11, 2011 when it garnered a record breaking 7.7 million viewers in its BET premiere.   Pleased with The Game's successful season, BET subsequently renewed the show for a fifth season with a 22 episode run    

Season 5 of The Game will commence on January 10, 2012 and we get to see what has happened since the Season 4 finale.   Derwin and Melanie were at a fertility clinic in which he found out the news that Melanie previously had undergone an abortion.  Jenna has turned down Malik's desire to reconcile with her.   He's also in hot water with the Sabers owner after he found out  about Malik's affair with his wife Parker, and Tasha discovers during a chance encounter with Bo that he's not only not terminally ill, but is married with a family.   And speaking of family, Jason quits his sports talk show job to focus on parenting his increasingly rebellious and out of control daughter Brittany

Here's the sneak peek video that was on the BET website for the show..
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So I'll definitely be looking forward to checking it out on Tuesday nights and watching the drama surrounding my fave characters on The Game.   I'm also hoping the show continues on the successful path it has blazed since being revived and broadcast on BET and gets renewed for another season..