Number 14- Rest In Power Selena Reyes Hernandez

She is the sixth Latinx transperson to die in 2020 and the 14th transperson this year, but I'm just now finding out about this May 31 murder because of misgendering of her by the Chicago medical examiner, Chicago PD and the Chicago media

Even her family went there in disrespecting her in death, choosing to bury her in her native Mexico under her deadname.

The murder also took place on one of the deadliest days in Chicago in 60 years, with 18 people being killed in a 24 hour period.

37 year old Selena Reyes Hernandez was seen with 18 year old Orlando Perez, who lived several blocks away from her, entering her Marquette Park area home around 5:30 AM CDT. 

Perez told investigators when he asked if Reyes Hernandez was a girl, she told him he was trans.  He told her he had to leave, and returned 20 minutes later at 6 AM according to surveillance cameras armed and with a dark face covering.    He is shown on surveillance cameras pulling out a handgun, racking the slide and hopping the fence to Reyes Hernandez's home in the 3300 block of West 71st Street

He discovered the door was open, walked in and shot Reyes Hernandez in the head and back before running out of her home. 

Perez thought would be enough to kill her, but was so transphobically angry he returned to shoot her several more times as her body was on the floor.   Her body was found by someone who heard loud noises later that morning.

Perez was arrested, and the gun with the same type of bullets used to kill Reyes Hernandez was found in his Marquette Park home.   Multiple video camera show him going back and forth to the scene of the crime.

Perez is being held in the Cook County jail with no bail.   His next court date is on July 6.   Prior to killing Reyes Hernandez, he had no criminal history, but has sadly let transphobia ruin his young life.

And if he's thinking about trying to use the trans panic defense in an attempt to get off or get his sentenced reduced, not gonna happen.  Illinois is one of the states that bans it.

Rest in power, Selena.   Your Chicago trans fam is not going to rest until you receive justice.  Hopefully someone also has a photo of her as she lived her all too brief life.


TransGriot Note: Thanks to Elizabeth Rivera for finding and sending me the photo of Selena that graces this post. 

Say Hello To Judge Jill Rose Quinn!

History was made during the Illinois Democratic primary Tuesday night as the state of Illinois saw its first ever out trans person elected to public office.

65 year old attorney Jill Rose Quinn ran for a vacant seat on the Cook County Circuit Court.   There were two other candidates running for the Democratic Party nomination in the primary for that seat, and Quinn won big with over 65% of the vote.

"It’s not just a victory for me, it’s a victory for everybody out there who’s marginalized, everybody who’s different, everybody who’s trans,” said Quinn in an interview. 
Quinn was endorsed by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D), the Cook County Democratic Party and the LGBTQ Victory Fund.   She was also rated qualified by 13 different local bar agencies in addition to drawing the top position on the ballot.

Mayor Lightfoot said in her endorsement of her,"Jill Rose Quinn has fought for fairness, equality and justice her entire life and her perspective and experience will be invaluable for our courts and our community.” 

So she had a few things going her way in the runup to Election Night. 

Because there was no Republican running in their primary for this seat, she will when the November 3 election happens be running unopposed for it and is assured of being elected.. 

On that night she will officially become the first out trans person elected to public office in the state of Illinois, only the fourth transgender judge in the nation, and the second elected one after Judge Vicky Kolakowski of California.

Judge-elect Quinn does recognize the importance of her win.   In an interview that was conducted before Election Day, she said this as she reflected on her campaign:

“There are kids in this country killing themselves because they’re trans and they don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. They don’t see respect. They don’t see themselves portrayed as being people, not ordinary people, of course, because nobody’s ordinary, but they don’t see how great they can be," Quinn said. “So I think it’s important for them to see that you can survive, you can prosper, you can go to school, you can study hard. You can make your way, and you can be a judge."

Congratulations Judge Quinn for making history and being a possibility model to our kids.

Number 22- Rest In Power and Peace Ciara Minaj Carter Frazier

Little did I know that when I posted my cumulative trans murder stats for this year, I'd have to go back into the post to correct it a mere 24 hours later. 

We unfortunately go to Chicago for the second time this year to discuss the latest trans woman we have lost to anti-trans violence.

She is 31 year old Ciara Minaj Carter Frazier.   At 9:28 PM CDT Wednesday night she had been arguing with a person inside an abandoned building in the 4500 block of West Adams in the West Garfield Park neighborhood, 

That person stabbed multiple times, then left her body in the backyard of the building.    She was pronounced dead at the scene by police and Cook County medical examiners.    A subsequent autopsy found that Frazier died of multiple sharp force injuries, and her death was ruled a homicide.

The Chicago Sun Times story l based this post on,  is being accused of leaving out some disturbing details that I'm hearing about from local trans advocates and people who knew Ciara. 

They allege that the perpetrator mutilated her body by cutting off her genitalia, and the body was nude when it was discovered.   Those missing details, if confirmed, escalates Ciara's murder to a hate crime.

It also fits into the excessive violence beyond lethality pattern that we know is a part of the profile of murders of trans women.

Her murder is being investigated by Chicago PD Area North detectives.

Frazier was well known in Chicago's ballroom community, and she was the second trans person to die in the city in less than a month.   She is also the 16th Black trans person to die in the US in 2018. 

And once again, she was under 40 years of age. 

#StopKillingUs    Our Black trans lives matter.   When will we hear community leaders, our legacy organizations, faith leaders and the politicians we put into office with our votes say that?

Or are you content to stay silent about it as the plague of violence being visited upon Black trans people continues? 

Number 17- Rest In Power Dejanay Stanton

Was hoping we could get through the month of August without losing a single trans person, but unfortunately that is not going to be the case.

We go to Chicago for our latest trans murder. 

24 year old Dejanay Stanton was found in an alley at approximately 12:30 PM CDT at E.40th and S.Martin Luther King Streets on Chicago's South Side. 

Stanton was discovered suffering from a gunshot wound to the head after people in the area reported hearing gunshots.  She was transported to Stroger Hospital, where she was subsequently pronounced dead.

Stanton is the 17th trans person murdered in the United States in 2018, and the 13th African American trans person we have lost to anti-trans violence.   The part that really irritates and pisses me off is that she is now the eight trans person under age 30 we have lost to anti-trans violence.

Dejanay's Black trans life mattered.   When is that point going to be unequvocally acknowledged by the Black cis community, its legacy orgs and its political leaders?

A balloon release will be held later today at the 40th and King Street alley where she was killed starting at 7:30 PM. 

Chicago Police Department Area Central detectives are investigating this case, and would appreciate any information you can give them that will help bring the perpetration of this crime to justice.

Rest in power and peace Dejanay.   I'm upset that you really didn't get a chance to live your life, and I'm tired of the anti-trans animus that probably played a role in cutting yours way too short. 

You trans family and all who loved you will not rest until the person who killed you has been brought to justice.

BTWI Statement About The Collier Murder

TransGriot Note:  The Black Transwomen, Inc (BTWI) statement about the Collier killing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 22, 2017
Contact: Monica Roberts BTWI Media Chair
Carmarion Anderson  BTWI Founding President
855-255-8636  Ext 11
media@blacktranswomen.org

***

Black Transwomen, Inc is saddened to hear the news that we have lost another sister to anti-trans violence.  On Tuesday morning 24 year old Keke Collier was found lying in the street in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood suffering from three gunshot wounds she would subsequently succumb from.

BTWI expresses our condolences to Collier's family and all who loved her for her untimely death

Collier is unfortunately the fourth trans person we have lost to anti trans violence in the United States, and the second this month.    Collier becomes the third African American trans person after 41 year old Mesha Caldwell in Canton, Mississippi and 23 year old Jo Jo Striker in Toledo, Ohio to die this year.

The fourth person we have lost in 2017 to anti-trans violence was 28 year old Native American Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow or Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

BTWI laments the loss of all these women, and are particularly upset and angered about the three women under the age of 30. These women were taken from us before they had a chance to explore the full potential of their lives.

BTWI Board Chair Dee Dee Watters is asking that we have a national moment of silence starting at 9:00 PM CST for five minutes for Keke and all the trans women we have lost in 2017.

BTWI's motto is that Every Voice Matters, and these women's voices were stilled before they had the opportunity to find their voices in society.  We're here to ensure that trans women survive, thrive and become the best persons they can be.  BTWI also exists to send the unmistakable message that our Black Trans Lives Matter.  

BTWI hopes and prays that the perpetrator of this crime is swiftly caught and justice is served in this case.  We urge those of you who may have information that could possibly help expeditiously solve the Collier case to call the Chicago Police Department.


***

Black Transwomen,  Inc  is a national not for profit organization based in Dallas TX  that is part of the Black Trans Advocacy Coalition,  a social justice alliance of the Black Transmen Inc, Black Transwomen Inc & Black Trans International Pageantry System organizations. BTA is committed to the advancement of black and trans people and the liberation of all disenfranchised people by working collaboratively to help end race and gender inequalities
   

Rest In Power and Peace Keke Collier

I'm sad to announce we have lost another young trans woman to anti-trans violence.

The latest trans murder happened in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood on Tuesday, and our sister we lost way too soon is named Keke Collier.

Chicago Police responded to a call of shits fired in the 7300 block of South May Street around 6:14 AM CST and found when they arrived Collier lying in the street suffering from gunshot wounds to the chest, arm  and hand.

The 24 year old Collier was transported to Advocate Christ Hospital where she succumbed to her wounds.   She is now the fourth trans woman in the US, all trans women of color, who has been murdered in 2017.

Three of the four trans women who have been murdered this year are Black, and one was Native American.  The thing that is also pissing me off about this murder is that once again, Keke was another under 30 trans woman.

Chicago Police are investigating this crime, and are looking for a dreadlocked man wearing a black hoodie and a red vehicle who was spotted fleeing the scene.   Shasha Lauren, a peer navigator at Chicago House, reportedly talked to a witness who stated they say Collier get into a car with a man   of the

If you have any information that will bring her killer to justice you are asked to call them.

A vigil has already been held for Collier,and if there is word of a memorial service, I will pass it along as soon as I receive it.    I'll also keep track of what happens in this case until justice is served for Keke, her family and all who loved her.

Rest in power and peace, Keke..

'Back To The Future II' Was Right! Cubs Win!

While I was watching that thrilling World Series Game Seven that ended over a century of frustration for the Chicago Cubs, it hit me that the Back To The Future II movie that was set in October 2015 had a scene in which the news video board in Hill Valley flashed news of the Cubs winning the World Series.

It was against a team that didn't exist at the time the movie was released in 1989 in the Miami Marlins,.  The Marlins only came into existence two tears after the movie debuted and they are a National League franchise. not an American League one.

Something else the movie got right along with the handheld tablet computers and multiple television channels,   Still waiting for my hoverboard and the self lacing Nikes.

The movie predicting the Cubs being world champions was off by a year and in real life it was against the Cleveland Indians ,but at this point long suffering Cubs fans don't care.  They have waited 108 years for this moment to happen and I definitely feel their joy.  I experienced it myself when the Rockets finally broke through in 1994 and ended our H-town sports title drought..

Waiting for the Astros to finally win that elusive World Series title after a series of frustrating playoff losses..

Back To The Future II was right   The Cubs are champions of the American baseball world. Somewhere Harry caray is smiling about that along with Cubs fans there and around the country.

Two More USA Trans Women Lost In 2016

Once again, it's my sad duty to report that we have lost two more trans women, one in Maine, and one in Chicago which brings the death toll this year up to 20 with three months to go.

43 year old Lexxi Sironen's body was found floating in the Kennebec River on September 6 at 8:15 AM EDT near the water reservoir of the Brookfield Power Facility.   She was from Waterville, ME, lived along the riverbank and was associating with other transient people in the area.

Friends of Sironen think that foul play was involved in her death, and while an autopsy on the body has been done by the state medical examiner, the cause of death has yet to be announced.

There will be a memorial service held for Sironen on September 18 at 12:00 PM.

Waterville police are still investigating, and if you have information that will help solve this case, please call Waterville Police Detective David Caron at 680-4700.

I'm also tired of the mugshot being used instead of this pic I found on her memorial website.

In Chicago, the body of a 26 or 27 year old Black trans woman known as T.T. to all who loved her on Chicago's West Side was found with her throat slit in West Grant Park and the knife nearby on Sunday night.   Ironically T.T's body was found a mere two blocks from the spot where Paige Clay's body was found in 2012.

T.T was pronounced dead at the scene, and was misgendered by the Chicago Police Department, the Chicago Sun Times and the Chicago Tribune when they first reported the case.  It took subsequent reporting from the Windy City Times to correct the police and media misgendering.

There was a vigil held for T.T yesterday at the corner of Monroe and Kenton Streets in which a friend of T.T's named Jaliyah Armstrong stated that T.T had an altercation with another trans woman three days before she was found dead and that person threatened to kill her.

Hmm CPD, sounds like a lead in this case to me.

The Windy City Times in a 2015 investigative report by Gretchen Hammond documented the CPD's problems with misgendering trans people, but it's obvious that they still refuse to learn anything.

The investigation into T.T.'s death by the CPD is an ongoing one, but the local trans community is pessimistic that it will result in the arrest and prosecution of her killer.

If you have information that will lead to the arrest and conviction of T.T's killer, call Cook County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-535-STOP

Rest in power and in peace Lexxi and T.T.

Scott Turner Schofield's 'Becoming A Man In 127 Easy Steps' Play Coming To Chicago September 12

I have much love for my fellow Texan Scott Turner Schofield (he was born in San Antonio), who last year made a little history by becoming the first out trans actor on daytime television as Maya Avant Forrester's friend Nick on the CBS soap the Bold And The Beautiful.

I had the pleasure of seeing Scott's humorous one act play Debutante Balls while I was in Provincetown, MA last year at Fantasia Fair to pick up the Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award, and understand Scott has another one act play he is preforming called Becoming A Man In 127 Easy Steps.

So what's it about?  It's irreverent and dynamic, graceful and playful, Becoming A Man In 127 EASY Steps engages the deep questions and the locker room jokes about what it means to "become" a man.

Moving beyond the transgender narrative that focuses on the experience of transition, Scott Turner Schofield’s 127 stories explore the drama and hilarity of living a new life in the "opposite" gender. 

Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps has toured the world for nearly a decade to rave reviews, making a deep impact in every community in which it plays. It is an award-winning glimpse into the real life of one transgender man whose artistry as a writer and performer has achieved the highest critical acclaim. 

Becoming a Man in 127 Easy Steps will be in Chicago at the Center on Halsted's Hoover-Leppen Theater on September 12 starting at 7 PM.  Tickets are $25,but no one will be turned away for lack of funds if you wish to see it because it's only going to be in the Windy City for one night only.

Check it out.  You'll be glad you did.  Registering for seats is highly recommended and you can do that at this link.

Hope you peeps in Chitown pack the theater for it, and tell Scott i said hello when you do..

Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Brady!

Have to give a TransGriot shout out to one of my fave couples in Myles Brady and Precious Davis, who finally jumped the broom into the land of matrimony in front of their family and friends at the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel on the University of Chicago campus yesterday..

The Trans Obamas as we jokingly call them in the community were featured on the 2016 Windy City Times Wedding Guide in another indication of just how much attention their wedding got.

I last saw them both during #CC16, and have much love and admiration for both of them. Black love, and especially Black trans love is a beautiful and revolutionary thing to witness, and wish I could have been in Chicago for the wedding.

We also finally got to see what wedding dress Precious chose on that episode of Say Yes To The Dress she appeared in that was aired back in January.

Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Brady!   Glad your special day went as perfectly as you wished it to happen.  May you two have a long, healthy and happy marriage!

Bryanna Needs Some Support

My Baltimore based sis Bryanna Jenkins has been accepted to DePaul University's College of Law in Chicago and will be headed to Chicago in August to join the Class of 2019!

I'm proud of her for getting a step closer to her dream of becoming an attorney, and Bryanna wants to concentrate on the areas of public interest and civil rights law.

The 27 year old Jenkins is an award winning advocate for our community who was recently honored with a 2016 BTAC Rising Stars Award.

While she was awarded a $60K renewable scholarship and has applied for countless others, as those of us who have pursued higher education know, scholarships don't cover all the costs of your legal education.

She'll also be resigning her position at her job in Baltimore in August to make that move to Chitown and get her legal education started.

Bryanna started a GoFundMe page two months ago with a goal of raising $5000 to help her defray some of her moving expenses and get settled in Chicago.

However, I've been distressed to see that at the time I'm compiling this post, unfortunately she has raised just $805 toward that goal, and the clock is inexorably ticking toward the August moment that she will have to move from Baltimore to Chicago to get settled for her first year of law school at DePaul.

She'll also need for her dorm room appliances, bedding, and old law school textbooks while she's getting her legal education in the Windy City.

Can we show our trans sister some love and contribute to her fund?  Chicago based trans fam, can y'all also do what y'all can to help Bryanna out when she arrives in your backyard?

If you can drop $5, $10, $20 or whatever you can spare on her GoFundMe, every little bit helps to get our sis closer to that $5000 goal.  You can also consider whatever you donate to Bryanna's GoFundMe it an investment in the education of a future legal advocate for our community, and the more trans attorneys we have, the better.

Thank you for considering helping our trans sister out.

Coming Back From Creating Change 2016

And now it's time to say the words that everyone in Harris County loves to hear.

Time for me to come back home from #CC16 Chicago style.

After some morning panels and a closing brunch we'll be gathering for the final plenary session as the Chicago Host Committee gets to the bittersweet moment of passing the hosting torch to the #CC17 host city, Philadelphia..

I won`t get to see the end of it because I have to catch my flight back to Texas at ORD.

Our Creating Change in Houston was two years ago, and all of us who were involved in putting it together still have fond memories of doing so.  We want another opportunity to host it again and want to top what we pulled off in our maiden attempt..  

Hey, Dallas has held it twice , we've only hosted it once.

But thanks Chicago for handling your #CC16 business.  It's been an amazing and drama filled at times four days here, but I'm more than ready to get back to the warmth of Houston and scarf up some barbecue when I get back home.

To my old friends I had a chance to spend time with at #CC16, enjoyed it immensely and looking forward to the next time we get to share some space together.   To my new friends and all of our youth I got a chance to talk to and take pics with, it was my sincere pleasure to do so.

And to the peeps who live for stirring up mess and drama (and they know who they are), time for you petulant children to grow up and chill with that mess because we have far more important work to do on behalf of our entire community.

Later, Chicago.

#CC16 Day 3

Day 3 of Creating Change Chicago style and the last full day of seminars after an interesting night in which a protest aimed at the A Wider Bridge reception ended up with the Chicago po-po`s being called .

Highlights of today`s agenda are the MasQUEERade Youth Ball and the 50+ and Allies Dance .  

I`ll also be tweeting at times various panels when I pop into various panels and something interesting gets said.

#CC16 Day2

The second day of Creating Change Chicago style features the first full day of seminars at the Hilton Chicago

The State of the Movemnet Plenary is happening today, and the Muslim/ Prayer service at 12:30 PM with Imam Daayiee Abdullah presiding over it.

And later this evening, the Agents of Change House Ball
.

#CC16-Day 1

The moment the Chicago Host Committee has been waiting and conducting nine months of convention  planning for has finally come to pass.  Creating Change 2016 has started.

White it's the second day of #CC16, it's the first day of Creating Change Chicago style for me at the Hilton Chicago.  Today is dedicated to the all day institutes, and one of them I'm keenly interested in will be the NBJC sponsored The Black Institute in the Williford C room

It will feature a groundbreaking panel discussion moderated by Tona Brown that focuses on the trans attracted men  who love us and the issues surrounding them.

The opening plenary will hopefully be less dramatic than the one in Denver last year, but is featuring a discussion on Black Feminism and the Movement for Black Lives.

I am planning on live tweeting the action while I'm here chilling (literally) in Chicago, so stay tuned to these TransGriot pages for the #CC16 news.  You can also check out the Creating Change website to see the webcasts of the plenary sessions

You can also check out the #CC16 hashtag on Twitter to check out what people are saying about this event on social media or my @TransGriot Twitter handle.

As you noticed, in addition to the live tweeting, I'm planning on writing update posts concerning the #CC16 happenings here at the Hilton Chicago as our LGBTQ community gathers for this major conference.

And so happy to be in town for it.

In The #CC16 House!

Well, it wasn't looking good for a minute, but the stars aligned for me to finally be in Chicago for my third straight Creating Change and fourth overall.

The first Creating Change I attended was in 1999, but it took Creating Change coming to me in  Houston in 2014 for moi to be able to go to my second one.   Unlike last year at #CC15 in Denver when I had a room in the conference host hotel, this time I'll be at the Hyatt Regency Chicago up the street from the #CC16 host hotel, the Hilton Chicago.

My AA flight from HOU to DFW was delayed,  making my connecting flight through DFW to O'Hare a little tigher than I like considering the size of DFW.   But what I can`t complain/about was I had the front row of a regional jet to myself on the HOU-DFW leg (think extra legroom), and a row to myself on/ the second leg.

Even better, I got up here early along with my bag.   Buit I still like Southwest.

Walked into/ the conference hotel, and within 30 seconds after entering the doorI started bumping into people.   I`m also chilling here until I can catch up with Ruby Corado, whose flight to ORD was delayed.
.

As I mentioned in a previous post, it's the first time I've ever been to Chicago in the winter, and I was hoping and praying while I was up here during the four days of this conference that neither the high or low temps would have minuses in front of them or snow would be in the forecast.  So far so good.

You're welcome.  You can thank a sistah for bringing some heat with her and the somewhat warmer winter temps (for Chicago) from H-town by hooking her up with some Giordano's deep dish pizza.

I'll also be hitting some 7-Elevens near my hotel to handle my Slurpee addiction.

I'm looking forward to during my #CC16 time here hanging out with my homegirls and 'errbody' else I know in the LGBTQ community.  I'm also looking forward to meeting in the flesh peeps I correspond with and have gotten to know via Facebook and meeting some new friends while I'm in the Windy City.

Speaking of meeting new friends, for those of you wandering around the #CC16 Hilton Chicago host hotel, just want to let y'all know to don't be shy, say hi to Moni.  I remember what it was like when  I was attending my first Creating Change back in Oakland in 1999 and I was the neophyte activist in awe of my trans elders at the time.

While I may have a lot of people around me at different times due to being in the movement now for 18 years and counting, I don't bite unless you're a right wing Teapublican or a Trump supporter.

Just stop me in the hall or after the panel discussion and say hello when you see me.  If I'm not rushing off to a meeting, to grab food with someone or another panel, I'll be happy to take a few moments to chat with you.

For those of you here in the Windy City for #CC16, here's the link to the program book.   I'm also planning to tweet different panels I find interesting to attend and report about what's happening here when we're not getting our learn on.  

And yeah, I did pack plenty of warm clothes for the time I'll get to spend here..

 I'm taking some time tonight to get some preliminary writing done so I have more time to hang out.  Once I get through doing that, I might go swing by the bar later and see who is in town.

But if y'all don't see me tonight, see y'all at the Hilton Chicago in the morning.

#CC16 Pre-Conference Drama

Assuming my flight left DFW on time, I'm winging my way to Chitown as your read this.

One of the things about every Creating Change is that when you have a conference in which 4000 advocates come to town for a major conference that has the goal of training LGBT advocates to do the work, we shouldn't be surprised if people take the tactics they learned and aim them at you or decide to use the heightened media spotlight this convention gets in the LGBT and local media to advocate for various causes. ..

Drama is already happening in advance of the start of Creating Change 2016.

We already had ICE cancel a problematic #CC16 panel back on January 12, and now a kerfuffle has erupted over the cancellation and now reinstatement of a January 22 reception sponsored by the group A Wider Bridge.

Dean Spade and Dark Matter were openly critical of the reception, calling the group Zionist and an Israeli government front organization trying to pinkwash the ongoing conflict and Israeli treatment of the Palestinians.

When the reception was canceled on January 15, Jewish LGBT people responded in outrage, accused the Task Force of being anti-Semitic and began the noisy push to get the event reinstated on the #CC16 calendar.

The increasing rancor between the two groups resulted in National LGBTQ Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey to issue this statement Monday about the reinstatement of the reception.

Having taken in a range of information and seeing what has happened over the last couple of days, I have decided to reverse our decision to cancel the ‘Beyond the Bridge’ reception hosted by A Wider Bridge with guest speakers from the Jerusalem Open House. It is our belief that when faced with choices, we should move towards our core value of inclusion and opportunities for constructive dialogue and canceling the reception was a mistake. Our decision was made by staff; neither our board members nor the local Host Committee were involved.  We are aware that our original decision made it appear we were taking sides in a complex and long-standing conflict, which was not the intention, and that in cancelling the reception we deeply offended many people, and our reversal will offend others.  In reversing the decision today, we want to make it quite clear that the Creating Change Conference will always be a safe space for inclusion and dialogue for people with often widely different views.  It was not at all our intention to censor representatives of the Jerusalem Open House or A Wider Bridge at Creating Change and I apologize that our actions left people feeling silenced.

Stay tuned, because the drama over this event probably isn't over, and we'll see how this plays out on Friday.

Moni's Leaving On A Jet Plane...

To Chicago!

The first trip of the New Year for me leaving out of Hobby in a few hours to the chilly Windy City to attend and cover Creating Change 2016.   It's not only the third straight Creating Change I've had the opportunity to attend and my fourth overall, it's going to be the first time I've flown into O'Hare since my Air Marshal days.

It's also the first time I'm traveling to Chicago in the winter.  I usually despise air travel during the winter months, but gots to do what I have to do to be in the #CC16 house including enduring a connection and DFW layover up and back.

I'm so looking forward to seeing the Chicago peeps who are in attendance, my trans sisters and brothers and  'errbody' else in the national and international TBLGQ community that are traveling by land and air to get to the Hilton Chicago host hotel and other nearby lodging spots in the Chicagoland area starting tomorrow.

But I'm not looking forward to the 40+ degree winter temperature difference between Houston and Chicago.

I need to stop whining about it and count my blessings. The temp will warm up to a high of 31 degrees F by this weekend.  Until a few days ago, it was looking like I was going to miss it and moping in Houston about not being there.

Creating Change not only is an event in which we get our learn on and hone our activist skills, it also serves as a big impromptu TBLG family reunion and one in which much of the community's business is conducted during the time everyone is in the Creating Change host city.  

But some positive things happened for me over the weekend that made moi being in the #CC16 house possible, and I thank Brock and Ruby in advance for making it happen

Well Chicago, see y'all in a few hours.  Save some Giordano's meat lovers deep dish pizza for me.

3rd Annual NBJC The Black Institute Features Groundbreaking Panel Discussion

One of the highlights of any Creating Change event is the daylong institutes that are eagerly anticipated parts of the conference programming.

Since the 2014 Creating Change hosted in Houston, The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) has organized The Black Institute, which focuses on the issues impacting the Black TBLG/SGL community and also functions as a space to foster policy discussions on a national and local level.

I've been blessed to be part of the conversations at the Houston and Denver events in 2014 and 2015, and the daylong The Black Institutes have been informative and needed substantive family conversations about the various issues that ail the Black gay, lesbian, bi, trans and SGL community

The #CC16 edition of the Black Institute once again in coordination with the Trans Persons of Color Coalition (TPOCC) will have the theme of Healing, Healthy and WHOLE and features another one of those groundbreaking panel discussions it is renowned for.

This year at 11 AM will be a discussion moderated by trailblazing musician and trans advocate Tona Brown that discusses the men who love trans women with a panel of trans attracted men.

One of the men taking part in that panel is one you TransGriot readers are familiar with from his Trans Attracted man videos in Troy.

In addition to discussing the dearth of visibility, support and resources from trans attracted men, it will also discuss the role that cisgender trans attracted men have had in perpetrating the intimate partner violence that has lead to the deaths of Black trans women when those secretive relationships are discovered.


The Black Institute will also discuss what holistic health looks like for the Black SGL/ LGBT community among other subjects they can squeeze in during that programming day  .

The NBJC The Black Institute will take place on January 21 from 9 AM-6 PM  CST at the host hotel for this year's Creating Change Conference, the Hilton Chicago.

Hope those of you headed to the Windy City will check it out.

Obama Presidential Center To Be In Chicago

There were 13 areas that fought to get it including his hometown of Honolulu, but in the end the Barack Obama Presidential Center's home will be in Chicago.

The Barack Obama Foundation decided May 12 to accept the University of Chicago proposal to build in either Washington Park or Jackson Park.

The foundation following the announcement by the President and First Lady immediately got to the business of selecting an architect to design it and coordinate the details for the construction of it.



They will also discuss the needed infrastructure improvements and details concerning building the Obama Presidential Center on city owned parkland with the City of Chicago, in addition to determining which park will be the home of it..  

If you're wondering when you'll be able to take a trip to Chitown to visit the Obama Presidential Library, you'll have to wait a few years.  Construction is not scheduled to begin until after President Obama leaves office in January 2017, with completion scheduled between 2020 and 2021.