The State Of LGBTQ POC In America NAACP Convention Town Hall

You TransGriot readers know that I have been pushing for the NAACP to end the silence, say the words Black Trans Lives Matter, and start aggressively backing them up with policy.

Yesterday afternoon during the NAACP convention happening in Detroit two longtime freinds of mine and fierce Detroit SGL leaders in Michelle Elizbeth Brown and Curtis Lipscomb were on a livestreamed townhall entitled The State of the LGBTQ POC In America town hall that was moderated by Keith Boykin.

Wish I could have seen this panel live, but I did get to see it on the NAACP convention website and was pleased that a trans person was on that panel.

Maybe next year we can get a panel at an NAACP convention that specifically talks about the issues that black trans people have to navigate in our community.

It was once again a needed and necessary conversation to have in that space,  We need our community's oldest civil rights org to recognize that Black TBLGQ people exist.  We also need the NAACP to open their mouths and consistently say that Black trans lives matter. 

But thanks for a wonderful and much needed conversation.

Not Feeling Your Transphobia, Black Gay Men

As if we didn't have enough transphobia coming from the federal government, the TERF's, evilgelicals,  elements of the white gay and lesbian community, and elements of the Black community, we also have Black gay men coming out of the closet with their toxic transphobia.

A few years ago I attended a drag show one steamy Saturday night in the Montrose gayborhood at a club now called Barcode.  I was bored, didn't see anyone I knew, and decided to head home and walk the few blocks back toward Westheimer Rd to the nearest bus stop and start the trip back home. 

I cut through the shared parking lot for JR's and the then open South Beach clubs in order to shorten the walk to Westheimer Rd.    While doing so I passed an interracial white and Black gay man who made the loud and wrong assumption I was a sex worker, with the Black one saying it loud enough for me to hear it.

I stopped, glared at both of them, read them for good measure and cussed them out one more time before I flipped them the finger before resuming my journey back to my bus stop.

In my 21 years of activism, I have had many Black gay men in my corner like Ashton Woods, Brandon Mack, Venton Hill-Jones, and Harrison Homer Guy just to name a few.  These men have unapologetically had my back and been major supporters in what I do activism wise.

These righteous gay Black men have also called their gay brothers out when they tried to aim transphobic shade or outright disrespect toward me and my trans sisters, and I love and appreciate them for defending our honor. 

Unfortunately, it seems that  righteous Black gay male accomplices are the exception lately and not the rule.  We have far too many of them letting their transphobic flag fly on social media, and Black trans women are beyond sick and tired of it.

Craig Brooks has gotten widespread acclaim for calmly handling a workplace racism situation in which he was called the n-word despite being majorly pissed off about it.

But Brooks couldn't be bothered to extend the same respect he demanded for himself when it came to Black  trans women.   It was discovered that his social media feed was a cesspool of transphobic hate.

And he's not the only one.   Far too often we see Black gay men making derogatory comments about trans women as the people in their feeds like and share them.

Even famous Black gay men like RuPaul have made repeated transphobic comments, and it's one of the major reasons why I refuse to support Drag Race.

I have to ask the question why some of you Black gay males engage in this behavior.  You jealous?  You mad and ashamed because you don't live unapologetically in your truth the way Black trans women do?   You trying to curry favor with the evilgelicals?   You just want to bully trans women? 

Let a trans sister know what the reason is so she can avoid your treacherous azz. 

You will get read for filth by us in the 2K19 if you're caught engaging in that nekulturny behavior because I will say it again, Black trans women are sick and tired of your crap. and being disrespected by people who are supposed to be our ride or die accomplices.

You throwing 'that's a man' shade at us from you spot in the SGL community will no longer be tolerated.  If you're mad because I called your azzes out on this problematic behavior, and are claiming you'll no longer be allies to the trans community because I did so, then sashay away because you were never trans allies to begin with.

That rainbow toxic transphobia contributes to the climate in the Black community that gets Black trans women killed.   You Black gay males who gleefully engaging in spreading that transphobia in our SGL community need to cease and desist with that.
 

Congrats Alvin McEwen For Winning The 2017 GLAAD Outstanding Blog Award!

After four nominations for the GLAAD Outstanding Blog award, Alvin McEwen's Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters finally took home its first win at last night's GLAAD Media Awards in New York

Alvin also made a little history as the second Black owned blog to capture the Outstanding Blog award.  Rod 2.0 was the first to do so back in 2013.  

After a year off because of a misguided 2016 decision by the GLAAD Media Awards to cancel the Outstanding Blog category, it was a stacked 2017 field that included My Fabulous Disease, Mombian, I'm Still Josh and some blog y'all read called TransGriot.

I couldn't be happier for him.  I met the South Carolina based Alvin along with Pam Spaulding during the 2012 Netroots Nation in Providence, RI, and he had me and Pam doubling over in laughter for most of our time together.  But what is no joke is that Alvin is the creative force behind Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, can eloquently discuss and write about what they are up to along with a lot of other subjects, and strikes fear in their dark hearts. 

Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters has been since it started in September 2006 on chronicling the activities of right wing fake faith based hate groups and their reprehensible leaders.

Congratulations Alvin!   The award was well deserved and I and your fellow bloggers are immensely proud of you.

Maybe at a future GLAAD Media Awards we bloggers will actually get on the stage to collect a future Outstanding Blog Award.  

We Don't Need Alt-Facts In Black Trans World

One of the things I've been pondering in the run up to the start of BTAC 2017 in Dallas is the recent incident with a Black trans woman with a large YouTube media following in TS Madison Hinton having a trainwreck of an interview with a person who misgendered and disrespected trans men by calling them lesbians.

Note to that person, trans men are men.

That interview justifiably pissed off my trans brothers, and to TS Madison's credit, she wants to clean up the media mess she helped create and have a trans man on her channel who actually knows something about and can expertly talk about being a Black man of trans experience.

But that incident drives me to make this point.  Our social media platforms, whether they are on blogs or video channels, are powerful informational tools that are not to be played with.  When you have a large media following, great responsibility comes with that social media platform, and what you say and how you say it matters.

When you put something out there on your social media platforms, especially as a Black trans person, it needs to be accurate and on point.because you don't get to make mistakes.  Neither should you be putting alt-facts out there either.

Not everyone is qualified to talk about trans issues, especially if you aren't living our trans lives.   There are also some folks in Black Trans and SGL World who need basic Trans 101 'ejumacation' themselves.

We already have the burden in Black Trans World of overcoming the myth with cis Black people fed by right wing kneegrow sellout preachers cooning it up for white fundie pastors that being trans is a 'white thang'.   There's also that myth in LGBTQ World that Black people are 'more homophobic' that needs to die as well.  

We Black trans peeps are far too often invisible to the media except when they want to cover another Black trans woman being murdered, and still screw it up.  

That media invisibility is even more pronounced for Black trans men, who get little to no coverage about the issues of importance to them   Neither do Black trans kids or their supportive parents.

It's rare where we are shown in the media speaking intelligently about TBLGQ politics and other issues beyond the 'tragic transsexual' meme, so when we get those media moments as Black trans people, they are priceless educational opportunities to be used wisely.

That also includes our blogs and video platforms.  It takes a long time to build them up as credible sources, and it only takes one of two egregiously bad mistakes to ruin the years of hard work put in to get them to that point.

We also must remember that some of the peeps we need to educate on what ails the Black trans community are in our own cis Black community.   We must also be cognizant of the fact that with this ongoing national Republican push to pass unjust anti-trans laws, some of the legislators who will be voting YES or NO on those unjust bills share our ethnic heritage and are being lobbied by those misguided sellout pastors spouting facts free lies about us.

So facts about our Black trans lives matter.  Accurate telling of our Black trans stories matter.   Factually accurate discussions about our Black trans lives is mandatory, especially when you have a camera or a microphone in your face.

It's why we don't need nor should we tolerate any alt-facts about Black trans people in our Black trans community.
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Houston African-American LGBT Community Town Hall Meeting Tomorrow

I have pointed out that across progressive Houston there are conversations happening in the wake of the Prop 1 HERO loss in various communities trying to dissect what went wrong, what are the problems in our Houston liberal progressive coalition, and what do we need to do immediately and in the long term to fix it so we're ready and on the same collective page for the next Houston human rights fight.

Tomorrow afternoon from 4-7 PM CST another one of those conversations takes place geared toward the African-American trans, bi and SGL community.

The conversation about what's next is extremely important. The fact that the highest percentage of discrimination is perpetrated based on race is a huge concern... Houston, we have a problem! Join us as we have this conversation and layout plans for what's next. Please bring something to take notes.   And a open mind!!!
See you this Saturday 

It most certainly is a problem when much of the Houston Black community got hoodwinked and bamboozled by white Republican activists and sellout kneegrow ministers into voting against their own human rights based on a transphobic lie.  Some of the people who have bought that transphobic lie they were selling are in our own chocolate LGBT ranks.

And yeah, that's a problem when I have SGL peeps who are as transphobic as the Hotzes of the world, and that crap needs to end.

We're going to discuss that and other issues at the Montrose Center starting at 4 PM.  If you wish to talk about that, have your face in the place,   Address is 401 Branard St.

I know I will and will have plenty to say about this failed HERO fight along with invited speakers Brandon Mack, Ashton Woods and Fran Watson and hope you will be there as well.

TransGriot Update:  Went well with 20 people in attendance.   It's a nice start, and this won't be the only conversation we will have concerning what we do in Black LGBT World going forward

NBJC Endorses Equality Act

The National Black Justice Coalition upon today's introduction in Congress of the Equality Act, has endorsed this sweeping and unprecedented piece of federal legislation.

If enacted, the Equality Act would expand basic human rights protections for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender) and gender nonconforming Americans based on their actual or perceived gender identity or sexual orientation. 

The Equality Act adds key LGBT rights protections to existing civil rights laws including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 to ensure like other protected classes (race, religion, national origin) LGBT people cannot be legally discriminated against in the United States. 

The Equality Act also provides federal protections on the basis of sex and sex-based stereotypes in both public accommodations and federally funded programs..

"Without a federal non-discrimination measure like the Equality Act in law, the current framework of LGBT civil protections--or lack thereof-- within states and local jurisdictions provides a majority of LGBT Americans with no clear legal defense from discrimination," said Sharon Lettman-Hicks, NBJC Executive Director & CEO in a statement.. "When a person is both Black and LGBT, discrimination--and the evils of blatant and systemic racism--is too common place  and faced on a number of levels that are fundamentally unacceptable in a democracy.   As such, NBJC supports the Equality Act, which would provide vital legal protections to so many in the Black LGBT community who are particularly vulnerable to discrimination in our nation."

According to a UCLA Williams Institute study, 3.7% of all adult African-Americans identify as LGBT people, representing more than 1 millions Black LGBT Americans. Significant populations of Black LGBT people like in southern states that in many cases have no local or statewide non-discrimination protections that cover LGBT people.  The Equality Act's passage would ensure that the most vulnerable LGBT citizens--which includes Black LGBT ones, would have recourse when they are treated unfairly because of their gender identity or sexual orientation.

'The heightened attention we have seen in recent years, months, and days about the mistreatment of black people in regards to policing, racial profiling and senseless violence demonstrates that the fight for true equality continues.  Even with key civil rights laws on the books meant to prohibit discriminatory treatment, we continue to live in a nation grappling with the plight of racial justice,"  added Lettman-Hicks.

"The movement for equal justice under the law calls for us to continue to place pressure on those in power to make and enforce laws that protect us all--no matter our background.   That is why NBJC will continue to fight to see an end to all forms of racism in our nation and world, while simultaneously working to see the day when measures like the Equality Act are signed into law."

We Black LGBT Peeps Only Care About Gay Rights? Ignorant Fool Please!

I saw this meme on Nephew's AKA Jaison Gardner's FB page that some fool with too much time on his hands created that I am compelled to call out.

It levels an old charge in Black non- SGL circles they aim at the Black TBLGQ community that Black gay people are 'not loyal' to the Black cause because they are 'only loyal to gay rights'.

Which is straight up bull feces.

SGL, bi and trans folks first up are Black people.  We have to deal with the everyday microaggressions and macroaggressions of just navigating life in a Black body just like straight Black folks, with an extra heaping helping of transphobia, biphobia, and homophobia dropped on top of that.

In addition to having to fight the conservative movement tooth and nail just to avoid being dehumanized, we have to also deal with the same crap coming from people who share our ethnic heritage uttering the same loud and wrong BS at us.

We in Black TBLGQ World are sick and tired of being 'too Black' for our gay counterparts and 'not Black enough' for some of you peeps regurgitating that anti-gay propaganda you've been fed by sellout ministers and FOX Noise

The reality is that Black LGBT issues are Black community issues and vice versa.

I guess the ignorant creator of this meme didn't learn anything about Bayard Rustin in school, who not only created the concept of the Freedom Rides so skillfully used by Diane Nash and SNCC two decades later, also was a brilliant movement organizer, leader, and advisor to the Rev. Dr MLK Jr. 

If it weren't for Rustin, the 1963 March On Washington wouldn't have been the spectacular success it turned out to be.   And yes, Rustin was a Black gay man.

Lorraine Hansberry, the creator of the play A Raisin In The Sun, in her brief life was a civil rights movement warrior who was also concerned about the African liberation struggle.

Guess whoever created this meme (and I wouldn't be surprised if it was someone in the National Organization for Marriage)  also forgot about James Baldwin and Angela Davis

This meme may be part of their well documented plan to drive a wedge between the African-American, Latino and SGL community, and if the fool who created this is Black, then I pity him for allowing himself to be hoodwinked and bamboozled by NOM's propaganda.

And as Coretta Scott King pointed out in a March 31, 1998  speech:

"Gays and lesbians stood up for civil rights in Montgomery and Selma, in Albany, Georgia, and St. Augustine, Florida, and many other campaigns of the civil rights movement. I salute the contributions of these courageous men and women who fought for my freedom at a time when they could find few voices for their own."

It's not just in the civil rights era that Black LGBT peeps handled their human rights business on behalf of the Black community, it's happening in 2K15 America as well.  

The Black Lives Matter movement founders, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometti rep the L.   Black TBLG  peeps in Houston including yours truly busted their behinds to get the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance passed last May while being opposed by Black ministers and Black people on the loud and wrong side of this human rights issue.

We have the common goal along with our non-gay Black peeps of eradicating the anti-Black societal attitudes that deleteriously impact all of us.  Black BTLGQ people are not only concerned with advancing human rights for our own community, but simultaneously uplifting the Black community we intersect and interact with.

And there are many times we are doing Black community uplift work, but you just aren't aware that the person involved in your local civic club, chapter of the NAACP, or community leader is also part of the Black BTLGQ community.

While there are moments that the Black non-SGL community pisses us off with the internal homophobia that expeditiously needs eradication, the fact remains that we Black LGBTQ peeps are and historically have been an undeniable part of the kente cloth fabric of the African-American community. 

Our fate as Black TBLGQ people in this country is inextricably tied to the rest of Black America, and Black folks wishing to divide the Black SGL and non-SGL communities would do well to remember that.

So to say that Black LGBTQ peeps only care about gay rights is not only a blatant lie, it is a narrative contrary to the historical evidence.

A Black SGL Call To Arms- Part Two

TransGriot Note: A guest post by NBJC 100 Leaders To Watch honoree Brandon Mack.  

You can click on this link to see Part 1 of this post at Ashton Woods' Strength In Numbers blog.

Thanks to Ashton and Brandon for giving me the honor an pleasure of allowing it to be posted here.


I recently attended an event that discussed Black Leadership and its relationship with the Black LGBTQ community. The event was seeking to answer the question:  Are Black LGBTQ people being left behind by Black Leaders?  In my opinion, we are being left behind, but that is partly due to our own fault as a Black LGBTQ community.  We are not answering the Call to Arms to fight for ourselves.  We are not utilizing our voices to assert our humanity and existence enough to have our issues addressed. We do have many great advocates, activists, and allies who are doing the work, but we need more.  The phone is ringing but the call is going unanswered. In my opinion, this call is not being answered for three reasons: fear of rejection, fear of recognition, and fear of being labeled.

FEAR OF REJECTION

As African Americans we have a history of having our voices being rejected or not equally considered. Slaves could not speak out against their own oppression and enslavement. Early African Americans could not use the tools of the government through the ballot box and public service representation to have their voices heard.  There is a history of our voices being drowned out or not considered.  Couple that with the rejection experienced on a personal level when your family and community reject you for being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered, then it is easy to see why it is hard to raise your voice. However, we have to overcome this fear of rejection and utilize the tools we do have, because the SILENCE is killing our community and us.

FEAR OF RECOGNITION

Even though there is a greater visibility of GLBTQ people in the media and our society, there is still a fear of being recognized as a GLBTQ person that prevents people from participating in advocacy and activism.  People are worried about if they are going to be seen at a particular event or speaking out in support of the GLBTQ community, they are now going to have their identity questions by their family and community.  Often, I hear from SGL/GLBTQ people that, “its nobody’s business who I sleep with, or what goes on in my bedroom.” My problem with these statements is that it reduces who we are as SGL/GLBTQ people to sex. We are full human beings with full lives.  All of those aspects of ourselves should be respected and protected. You can’t be respected or protected if people cannot see you.  Therefore, we need to get over the fear of “what is this person going to say, or what will happen if they think I’m gay,” because the SILENCE is killing our community and us.

FEAR OF BEING LABELED

This may seem that it is similar to the fear of recognition, but it is different.  The fear of being labeled comes from the fear of being labeled as an activist.  Activists are often labeled as angry or difficult because they are always advocating on behalf of their communities. Activists are often accused of turning everything into a cause. This fear of being labeled as an activist or becoming bitter and angry because of the work causes people to not participate. My response to that: GET OVER IT.  Activism can be done in a variety of ways. It can be a simple as sending an email or letter to your Council Member or Congressperson. It can be as simple as casting your vote in an election. It can be joining a protest. It can be speaking out on the news and in front of decision makers.  All of these actions are needed to get our issues addressed. Therefore, we need more people to do the big and small acts of activism. Also, if you do not like what is currently being done by those who are doing the work, STEP UP and TAKE OVER.  Many times activists remain in their roles in organizations and on the front lines because there is no one to take the baton and keep the fight going. If you have a new approach, or want to take the lead, come take it! We need all soldiers to advocate on behalf of our community, big and small, but we need to get over this fear of being labeled the “angry activist” because the SILENCE is killing our community and us.

ANSWERING THE CALL

GLBTQ rights and equality is going to be achieved. However in order to do is we need to show up and show out. We need to bring all of ourselves, our race, gender, sexual orientation, education, talents, etc. to the table. We need to be unafraid to raise our unapologetic voices. We need to demand the recognition of our full humanity and all of who we are. We need to advocate for our community through the ballot box, the meeting rooms, and halls of government. This movement needs to be radical, conservative, intersectional, multipronged, and inclusive. In order for that to happen, we need to answer the call. The phone is ringing, are you going to pick up?

H/T Strength In Numbers blog.

Educating Us About Us Forum

One of the things the fight to pass the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance exposed is just how much education needs to be done about the various letters in our own chocolate Houston SGL trans and bi ranks.

Trans 101 is particularly needed, especially when we discovered in the repeal petition checking process some of our own LGBT people signed them or swallowed the lies Max Miller and company repetitively at the behest of their puppet master Dave Welch told about the trans community due to lack of knowledge about us. 

Now that we not facing in Houston the imminent threat of a referendum this November, are awaiting the January 19, 2015 trial date, and have some time to do some 'ejumacation', we are dong just that and holding community conversations that we'll eventually expand to the straight African-American community. 

Last Sunday (August 24) I took part in a forum held at the Montrose Center moderated by Austin D. Williams entitled Educating Us about Us.

 It started at 3:30 PM and featured some real talk about the HERO by Ashton Woods.    He talked about the fifteen categories it covers, busted the lies the faith-based haters have been saying about it, and it was a nice segue into my portion of the event  discussing Trans 101 and some of the historical background.

We spent about an hour and a half in spirited discussion talking about the trans community since that's where much of the educating needed to be done.  We eventually moved from talking about the 'T' and busting myths to the portions of the facilitated discussion about the other letters in our SGL community.   We broke down some of the myths about lesbians, gay Republicans, gay Christians, gay men and finally the DL peeps that cause dissension and drama.. 

6:30 PM came way too soon, and a group of us decided to take the discussion to the Midtown Grill, a nearby Montrose area restaurant on West Gray where that SGL community centered discussion continued over a meal and spilled out into the parking lot for a little while longer.

But it was clear to many of the passionate and intelligent folks in that room that more of these H-town community building conversations need to (and will) happen.   And when the next one is scheduled, I'll let you know on these TransGriot electronic pages when it does.

HERO Updates, Notes And News- August 20

Last night Team HERO took a moment to celebrate and recognize the team of folks who helped get the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance passed back on May 28, verified the oppositions petitions, or did whatever it took to make the HERO a reality.  

In addition to just being in the same Resurrection MCC church space with each other, we had the pleasure of hanging out with Mayor Annise Parker and State Rep Sylvester Turner.

As you can see by the photo, a certain blogger was there, and I got to hear Mayor Parker thank us for collaborating in the effort to get it passed and showing the world that Houston doesn't discriminate.



Mayor Parker in addition to thanking us provided an update on HERO's status.  The implementation of it is unfortunately on hold pending the legal case, but she also stated that if you are discriminated against, bring your cases to the OIG anyway so they can start tracking them,deal with them and have documentation to bring to the January 19 trial that HERO is needed to tackle the discrimination that does happen.

As for what the faith-based haters were up to?  Probably licking their wounds after the dual legal setbacks they received on Friday.   But the biggest loss for them is that the HERO repeal vote will not be on the November 2014 ballot. 

It gives us time to educate and fundraise should it hit the November 2015 one, and the money they're wasting on the lawsuit is cash that won't be going to right wing candidates in this election cycle.


Speaking of that education effort, the Houston Forum will be having at 6:30 PM their event tonight at Social Junkie entitled '10 Things I Hate About You: Why Houston Needs HERO.   Featured speakers will be Councilmembers Ellen Cohen and Ed Gonzales (who sponsored and voted YES for the HERO).  

I won't be at that one because of a scheduling conflict (darn) but if you wish to attend it,  Social Junkie is located at 2412 Washington Ave.   You'll need to e-mail an RSVP to Lillie Schechter at rsvp@lillieschechter.com in order to do so.


On Houston Media Source TV tomorrow at 6:30 PM is another in their series of HERO conversations hosted by Fran Watson and Durrel Douglas. 

I'll be a panelist along with Brandon Mack, Michael C. Webb, Jr and Tarah Taylor in that discussion from the perspective of Black allies and supporters concerning the issues that cropped up during the unnecessarily contentious HERO debate in the African-American and mainstream communities.

The reason I won't be there for the Houston Forum event is because I'm signed up to participate in a African-American specific training that starts an hour later several miles away at the Montrose Center.
The Real Talk: A Message Of Equality training is jointly sponsored by the Movement Advancement Project and Equality Texas

The rationale behind this messaging training is that the best messengers to get the HERO word out amongst African-Americans are other pro-human rights minded African-Americans. 

It's past time that happened, since our predominately conservative white male opponents have been playing the game of using sellout kneegrow pastors to christopimp their message of hate and claim they have 'broad based support'.

If you wish to attend the event, it will happen at The Montrose Center, located at 401 Branard St.   An RSVP is required for your attendance.  Please go to this link: http://tinyurl.com/realtalktraining to register for it and hope to see you tonight starting at 7:30 PM

Finally on Sunday, August 24, the Educating Us About Us Forum facilitated by Austin D.Williams will take place starting at 3:30 PM.  Yep, I'll be at that one too and hope you'll be in attendance for this much needed conversation.   

This facilitated conversation will do some HERO mythbusting liebusting, break down misconceptions about different groups in the African-American SGL, trans and bi community and facilitate community building    Should be an interesting and much needed three hour discussion.
The fight to keep the HERO continues.

Educating Us About Us Forum Sunday

One of the things the HERO battle exposed in our Houston African-American SGL, trans and bi community was not only a need to do a better job of owning our power, but also understanding the component parts of our communities and debunking the stereotypes and myths the component groups have about one another.

Austin D. Williams is facilitating a conversation on Sunday, August 24 to do precisely that

Acceptance is a beautiful thing! We all want to be accepted, but to understand those who make up the LGBTSQA-SGL community will make us better as a community. If we don’t take the time to know where others are coming from in our own community we limit our potential on where we can go. I want to invite you to join us in an in depth discussion on the following topics:

Understanding Transgender
Understanding the Lesbian
Understanding the Gay Christian
Understanding the Gay Republican
Understanding the Gay Man
Understanding DL

This conversation will take place at the Montrose Center 401 Branard St. from 3:30-6:30 PM CDT.  I'll be taking part in that discussion and hope you can attend. 

HERO Updates, Notes And News-August 11

It's been a week since the haters faith based oppressors failed to gather enough signatures to place the HERO on the ballot for recall.   Because it was via their own ineptitude that they failed to do so, now they want the court system to bail them out of the mess they made for themselves.

They tried to play it off as if the city was being nitpicky about it, but as this training video shows, even King Hater Dave Welch knew what the requirements were before they got started on the failed recall petition drive  



The case was sent to federal court, on August 6, but went back to state court the next day with a hearing on August 15.  The HERO haters are running into an August 18 deadline if they want to get it on the 2014 election ballot, and the clock is ticking. 

As expected, a judge has enjoined the city from enforcing the HERO  until the legal questions are resolved.   Mayor Parker had already anticipated this, which is why she suspended HERO mplementation for two weeks until the haters trip through the court system is done. 

In the meantime, Team HERO is in standby mode.  While we'd rather the HERO not be on the ballot period, if push comes to shove we are ready to start fundraising money and prepare defending our much needed human rights ordinance.Stay tuned to this TransGriot channel to see if they were successful 

On to other news.  The next Civil Rights Strategy group meeting will be on Tuesday, August 12 at 7:00 PM at the Montrose Center, 401 Branard, Room 112..

The struggle to keep the HERO continues

TBLG Youth Of Color Survey About LGBT Movement

The negative way some of my haters bump their gums about the subject, it's only Moni talking about and calling out the lack of intersectionality and diversity in the LGBT movement. 

Y'all can keep hatin' because I'm not going to stop talking about the subject until something is done to fix the problem.  

Besides I'm not the only person in Black trans, bi and SGL World complaining about the issue.  Other peeps who look like me inside and outside our community are talking about it, and you ignore this discussion at your political peril.

There was an interesting NewsOne discussion I was sent a link to by one of my regular readers about a recently compiled report by the Black Youth Project entitled  Moving Beyond Marriage: What LGBT Youth Of Color Think About The LGBT Movement

A survey of 1500 youth between the ages 18-30 was recently conducted during June 2014.  The BYP's main findings in the report are as follows:

• More Black (80.2%) and Latino (74.9%) youth believe the marriage equality movement has taken too much attention  away from other important LGBT issues compared to white youth (64.0%).

• More Black youth (58.0%) believe that LGBT issues in communities of color are not well-represented by mainstream LGBT organizations than Latino (45.9%) and white youth (42.7%).

• More than a third (35.0%) of Black youth reported that HIV/AIDS is the single most important issue for LGBT organizations to address. Latino youth reported that bullying (20.1%) is the most important issue, while white youth (21.3%) reported that same-sex marriage is the most important issue.

• Young people of color are more supportive of policies that would provide sensitivity training for police around transgender issues (77.8% and 73.2%, respectively) and require health insurers to provide coverage for transgender health issues (64.5% and 65.8%, respectively) than white youth (66.2% and 56.3%, respectively).

The NewsOne discussion about it facilitated by Roland S. Martin featured Jasmyne Cannick, Cleo Manago, and Terrance Laney of BlackYouth Project





This survey documents that Black and Latino LGBT youth have a very different perspective about what issues this LGBT movement should be focusing on. 

We'll see if anyone's paying attention  

HERO Updates, Notes and News-July 25

I spent an interesting Thursday night over at Resurrection MCC with Dee Dee Watters and 25 leaders leaders in the Houston African-American trans bi and SGL community.  

We spent two hours having a much needed tell it like it T-I-S is discussion about issues in our community that needed our attention.

We were hit with the sobering news that many of the petitions to repeal the HERO were signed by people in Districts B, D and who lived in Rep Sheila Jackson-Lee's congressional district.  

Never mind the fact the push to pass the HERO started because a straight Black female judge was denied entrance to a Washington Ave club along with members of the Houston Dynamo MLS team in a separate incident.   

We also talked about the demonization of the trans community that even elements of the  Houston Black SGL community are complicit in engaging in, the lack of engagement on our end with the non-gay Black community and our legacy orgs, the invisibility of our Houston Black TBLG community and the complicity of the white Houston LGBT community in that invisibility.  

We spent that two hours doing an overview of the HERO, its history, who it covers, and where to find accurate information about it.   We also discussed some problems in our own ranks.  Strategies to deal with the diagnosed problems short and long term were envisioned.   The leaders in attendance also came up with suggestion and concrete steps to engage our SGL, bi and trans ranks to get more involved in ours and the African-American community and engaging the local Houston media to deal with the Black LGBT invisibility issue.    

Much of what we discussed is in the 'Houston Black GLBT Revolution Will Not Be Televised' territory, but you will see action occurring over the remainder of the year and into 2015 to solve the identified problems.  

As for other HERO news, more events to do training and petition checking  are on the agenda.    A HERO petition training and work session will happen at Resurrection MCC tomorrow starting at 1 PM.  If you've got a spare two hours, come on down to 2025 W.11th St and the Gathering Place.  The verification process training is quick and easy, and once you're trained, you can get busy verifying the petitions because the deadline to do so is August 3.

Please bring a laptop (or tablet if you are comfortable with that). Resurrection will also provide a limited number of laptops for use and snacks.

There will also be a sisterhood discussion on July 31 at the Montrose Center designed to help cis and trans women break down barriers that inhibit sisterhood amongst each other.  More details coming soon in this TransGriot space.  

The struggle to protect the HERO continues..