Handle Your Election Business, GA 6

Today is the runoff election in the Georgia 6th Congressional District between Democratic Candidate Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel.

Last month Ossoff just missed winning this congressional seat outright on April 18, getting 48% of the vote to Handel's 18% in a crowded field,  This was a seat that was once held by Newt Gingrich for 20 years and hasn't been held by a Democrat since Jimmy Carter lived in the White House.

And both sides want it badly.   The Democrats want it because it'll put them one seat closet to taking back control of the House in 2018 along with the psychic satisfaction of taking away a seat that once was a GOP bastion.    The Republicans are just as determined to keep it, and that has resulted in both sides spending $56 million in this race.

After all the ads, the campaign stops in the district, the ground games and canvassing for both sides being unleashed, it's all in the hands of the GA 6 voters to decide who gets the seat and momentum toward the 2018 midterm elections as the nation and national news media awaits the results.

So if you live in the GA 6th Congressional District, go handle your electoral business .  This one is extremely close and your vote could decide this election.   You have until 7 PM EDT to cast it, so go do so and take a few friends to the polls with you.

Handle your election business GA 6.

The 115th Congress Starts Today

Well people,  today starts the first day of the 115th Congress which will be unfortunately like the last one, GOP controlled,.  It will also after 12:01 PM EST on January 20  have (yuck) Donald Trump in the White House and Mike Pence as the VP and Senate President

Here are the ugly numbers

In the US House, there will be 241 GOP members versus 194 Democrats    The GOP majority lost seven seats in the 2016 election.   Paul Ryan (R-WI) is still the Speaker of the House and Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is still the House Minority Leader.

It's ironically the most racially diverse in US history.  There will be 49 African American congressmembers, up from the 46 that served in the 114th Congress.  There will be 38 Latinx congressmembers, an increase from the 31 who served in the last Congress.  15 congress members will be Asian American, also an increase from the 11 that served in the last Congress  

And as usual, the vast majority of those congress members of color will be Democrats.

In the US Senate, its 52 Republicans, 46 Democrats with two independents Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont caucusing with the Democrats to make it a 52-48 GOP majority.

Once again the GOP lost two senate seats in the 2016 election, but not the seven needed for the Democrats to regain control of that chamber.

Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is still (boo hiss) the Senate Majority Leader, and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) takes over for the retired Harry Reid as the Senate Minority Leader.

There will be a record 21 women serving as US senators.  The bright spots for the Democrats is that this senate class has three history making freshman senators in it.  

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) became the first ever Latina US senator when she was sworn in today to replace the retiring Sen. Harry Reid.  She is also the first Latinx senator ever elected of Mexican American heritage.   The others have all been Cuban-Americans.

Sen Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) who knocked off incumbent Republican Sen Mark Kirk, moves from the US House and becomes the second Asian American female senator elected after Mazie Hirono (D-HI), who was elected in 2012.

When Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) was sworn in as Cali's junior senator, she became not only the second African-American female senator (Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois was the first), but also the first ever of South Indian heritage.

And for those of yall in Black Greek world wondering which Divine Nine org she belongs to, Sen Harris is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

So hold on to your human rights, the GOP controlled 115th Congress is in session.  

Is it November 6, 2018 yet?

Congressional Violence Against Trans People Forum Today

We owe it to the people we have lost this year to ensure this Congressional Violence Against Trans People Forum is the start of formulating federal government level policy solutions that fix the anti-trans violence problem negatively impacting Trans America.-TransGriot, November 14, 2015 

In an hour a historic forum held by the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus to discuss violence against trans people.  Hopefully the two hour forum will be the catalyst for legislative action that helps fix the problems we face.

Earlier this morning inside I-495 there was a 10:30 AM EST press conference held by the LGBT Equality Caucus to announce the formation of a Transgender Equality Task Force.

The forum will run from 2-4 PM EST, with the first hour of the forum featuring a panel on the causes and impacts of anti-trans violence chaired by Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA).

It will feature testimony from panelists La La Zannell from the Anti Violence Project and DC based advocate and blogger Joanna Cifredo who were both survivors of violence.

The second hour will focus on policy and how to end bias motivated violence against trans people chaired by Rep, Jared Polis (D-CO).  It will feature testimony from Kylar Broadus, the executive director of the Trans Persons of Color Coalition, Sharon Lettman-Hicks of the National Black Justice Coalition and Chad Griffin of HRC  

Hoping that the forum will be livestreamed like the press conference was this morning, and as soon as the video is posted, I'll post it to TransGriot.

TransGriot Update:  The link to the livestream of the forum.


  

Hope The Congressional Violence Against Trans People Forum Isn't Monoracial

I was thrilled to hear according to the Washington Post that the House Equality Caucus will hold on Tuesday a violence against trans people forum in the run up to the November 20 Transgender Day of Remembrance.

The House Equality Caucus was founded in June 2008 by Rep. Barney Frank and Rep. (now Sen.) Tammy Baldwin along with Members of Congress who are strongly committed to achieving the full enjoyment of human rights for TBLG people in the US and abroad.

Today, the Caucus is co-chaired by the six openly LGBT Members of Congress  Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO); Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI); Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY); Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI); Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA).

The Violence Against Trans People Forum is timely not only in the face of the looming TDOR date but us having 21 predominately Black and Latina trans people being killed in the US.

I hope that the House Equality Caucus will consider that fact, make this historic forum ethnically diverse and don't repeat the mistake made in 2008, I am concerned that the upcoming forum will end up being a monoracial one despite the fact the people taking the brunt of the anti-trans violence casualties are trans people of color.

I'm also worried that geographic diversity of the forum participants will be overlooked because of our nation's capital being easier to reach for people in the northeast US and East Coast and the people already living inside I-495 than the rest of us in 'flyover country'. 

While I love you peeps doing the trans human rights work on the coasts and in DC, our federal lawmakers really need to hear input from trans people who live in the South, Midwest and Rocky Mountain states as well.  It is in these areas where we are still fighting tooth and nail transphobic state legislators and officials to get the laws and policies in place that you peeps on the coasts and cities like Chicago have enjoyed for decades.

We owe it to the people we have lost this year to ensure this Congressional Violence Against Trans Women Forum is the start of formulating federal government level policy solutions that fix the anti-trans violence problem  negatively impacting Trans America.

Andrea Jenkins Gets Added To The Congressional Record!

You know I have much love and respect for my sis Andrea Jenkins, who I met and roomed with during the TransFaith in Color Conference in Charlotte back in 2012 and is a trailblazing girl like us and advocate in her own right up in Minneapolis.

Jenkins recently received two honors that need and deserve to be signal boosted.   She was named as the Grand Marshal for the upcoming Twin Cities Pride Parade.  She is the second trans person to receive that honor.(Debbie Davis in 2000) third African-American after Minnesota Lynx guard Seimone Augustus and her fiance LaTaya Varner in 2012 and first ever African-American trans person to do so.

Andrea on May 20 had her name added to the Congressional Record for the 114th Congress by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), whose 5th Congressional District covers that area.

So what's the Congressional Record you ask?  It is the official record of proceedings and debates of the United States Congress, and from time to time congressmembers will take a moment to use some of their time to do floor speech that recognizes people and organizations in their home districts.

Those speeches, because they happen on the House floor, get recorded, published and at the end of the 114th Congress in 2017 will be placed in bound volumes enshrined permanently in the Library of Congress and online via THOMAS.

Translation, this is a Big Fracking Deal, and so proud of Andrea for getting this well deserved recognition for the work she's done in the Twin Cities.  

She was a longtime policy aide for 12 years on the Minneapolis City Council for Minneapolis City Council Member Elizabeth Glidden where she initiated and helped develop the the Minneapolis Transgender Issues Work Group and produced the first Transgender Summit in the city.

Jenkins also a published poet, serves on numerous boards and is now with the University of Minnesota as the curator for their Transgender Oral History Project

I hear Andrea plays a mean game of tennis, so I'll have to remember to bring my racquet when I get the opportunity to visit her and the rest of the Twin Cities trans fam.

Congratulations Andrea for a well deserved honor!

Down Goes Cantor! Down Goes Cantor!

As you longtime TransGriot readers know I can't stand conservafools, and never liked Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) the House Majority Leader. 

That dislike of Cantor goes back to August 2009 when Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) referred to him (and McCarthy and Ryan) as 'Great White Hope leaders' in the wake of their loss of the White House to then Senator Barack Obama.

So you know I was doing the happy dance when the breaking news came onscreen as I was watching MSNBC about Cantor losing his House primary race to Teapublican challenger Dave Brat.   

And it wasn't a narrow loss either.  Cantor got spanked by 12 percentage points and lost to a guy he outspent by a 25-1 margin.   Hey, as the POTUS proved in 2012, Koch Brothers money can't buy everything and in many cases, it IS about the candidate. 

Cantor made some history with this political earthquake of a loss.   He is the first sitting House majority leader to not even survive his party's primary. 

In case you're wondering, there is a Democratic candidate in the Virginia 7th Congressional District race in college professor Jack Trammell, who ironically works at the same college as Brat.

Now we need to send some cash to Trammel and help him win that seat. 

Bye bye, Eric.   Not sorry to see you go.

ENDA Set For July 10 Senate Committee Vote

The long delayed Employment and Non Discrimination Act (ENDA) will finally get a Senate committee vote.

The bill if passed would prevent discrimination by civilian non religious employers of 15 or more people on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in hiring and employment.

I'd personally like to see religious employers added to this bill as well because as far as I'm concerned, you don't have a special right to discriminate. 

It was reintroduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers back in April and has been scheduled for a July 10 vote before the Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee.

President Obama supports ENDA, wants to sign it and is urging action on the bill as a coalition of legislators and LG groups press him to sign an executive order that won't have the coverage that passed Congressional legislation will.   An executive order is also vulnerable to being overturned which is why the POTUS wants to go the legislative route.   
 

Historic Day For African-American US Senate Representation

With the confirmation of Sen John F. Kerry to become the next Secretary of State, his now empty Senate seat had to be filled by an appointment until the state of Massachusetts can elect his replacement.

After considering former Rep. Barney Frank for it, Gov Deval Patrick (D) appointed his former chief of staff  William 'Mo' Cowan to hold the seat until the election is held June 25

"Mo Cowan has been a trusted adviser, and professional colleague and friend for a very long time," Patrick said at a press conference at the Statehouse Wednesday. He lauded Cowan's law background and experience in the administration, in which Cowan has served since 2009.

Cowan unfortunately will not be a candidate in the special election to succeed Kerry, but reassured his new constituents that he will head to Washington "ever mindful of what matters to the people of Massachusetts." He noted jobs, education and affordable health care as top priorities for state voters.

By selecting him, Cowan made a little congressional and Black history.    He is the not only the second African-American US senator from Massachusetts after Republican Edward Brooke who served from 1967-1979, he is the first Democratic senator who hails from a state other than Illinois.

All three previous Democratic senators, Carol Moseley-Braun, Barack Obama, and Roland Burris all were residents of the Land of Lincoln.  .

Interestingly enough, with this appointment following South Carolina Gov Nikki Haley's (R) appointment of Tim Scott (R) to fill the remaining term of the resigned Jim DeMint, this is the first time ever in US history that we have had more than one African-American senator serving in the US senate during the same congress. 

Just wish Sen. Cowan was serving longer than June 25..    

Welcome Back Rep Alan Grayson!

One of the other cool things about the opening of the 113th Congress yesterday is the return of Rep Alan Grayson (D-FL) to the Democratic caucus..

I'm so happy to see Rep Grayson back.   We've needed somebody on the liberal-progressive side inside the Beltway who isn't 'scurred' to call out the Republifools and stand up proudly for our policy ideas and principles. 

Check out his first interview on Rev. Al's Politics Nation since returning to DC in which he accuses the GOP of 'legislative terrorism' ion the debt ceiling issue. 




Welcome back Rep Grayson.  This time I hope your stay in Congress is much longer than just two years.

113th Congress Starts Today

The 113th Congress starts today with the Democrats gaining ground thanks to the 2012 election.  There will be 200 Democrats and 233 Republicans in this Congress with the seat of resigned Illinois Democrat Jesse Jackson, Jr to be determined in an April 9 special election.

The 113th Congress will run from today until January 3, 2015 with the eagerly anticipated on our side November 2014 midterm election at the end of it. 

As always, there's history being made with the opening session of the most diverse so far Congress in US history.

There are 84 freshmen in the 113th Congress, 49 Democrats (33 men, 16 women) and 35 Republicans (32 men, 3 women). This year's Freshman House class includes the first Hindu elected to Congress in Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), and the first openly bisexual person elected to Congress in the person of Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ)

Speaking of women, in the House, the 113th Congress will have the most female officeholders ever with 100 women in both parties serving in the House and Senate.  In addition to the 80 female House members of both parties serving their various districts there will be a record 20 women serving in the US Senate..  

The Democrats will be the first party ever to have more women and non-white members serving in their caucus than white males.  There will be 43 African-American members of Congress pending what happens in the Illinois special election and one* in the Senate    There will also be a record number of 30 Latinos coming to Capitol Hill as well with 3 serving in the Senate.

There are seven total LGBT members of Congress including for the first time ever a senator in the person of  Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI).  Hopefully one day I'll be writing about the first trans member of Congress, but for now the 'T' isn't part of the LGBT congressional delegation.

On the Senate side, the Democrats retained control of the Senate and thanks to two independent senators caucusing with them in Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Angus King (I-ME) will have a 55-45 edge 

As far as the 113th Congress leadership goes, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) will remain Senate Majority Leader, Sen Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will remain as Senate Minority Leader.   In the House Rep Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will remain the House Minority Leader but as to who will claim the Speaker of the House gavel is questionable on the GOP side with current speaker John Boehner (R-OH) being in serious trouble with he conservative movement and his rebellious caucus.

It also remains to be seen if the Democrats take their opportunity to change the filibuster rule today.  hope they do after the way the GOP has been abusing it for the last few years.  

Will definitely be tuned into the political drama inside I-495 when this 113th Congress starts.

Rep.Gutierrez 'Pick Out The Immgrant' Speech

Love this 'Pick Out The Immigrant' speech by Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) that he recently gave on the House floor while eviscerating the Arizona SB 1070 'Your Papers Please' law that was gutted by the SCOTUS last week.

Here's the video for it.

Big Political Day Inside I-495

In a few minutes, the Supreme (Conservafool leaning) Court will let the nation know what they have kept a secret for three months- how they ruled on the Affordable Care Act..

May wish to check SCOTUSblog.com for the breakdown on what is sure to be another 5-4 ruling.

Meanwhile, across the street from the Supreme Court building there will be more drama at the Capitol building in the Republifool controlled US House as they move to vote around 3:30 EDT to cite Attorney General Eric Holder for contempt of Congress over the faux Fast and Furious 'scandal'..

A pissed off Congressional Black Caucus is threatening to walk out of the chamber to protest the partisan vote that is coming up and word is that the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Congressional Asian Pacific Caucus, and The Congressional Progressive Caucus are also going to walk prior to the partisan travesty of a vote.

Will keep y'all posted about the developments inside Hollywood for Ugly People when they happen.

Senate To Hold ENDA Hearings Soon

While we know  that ENDA is not getting through the Tea Klux Klan controlled House this year, at least they can do the groundwork and build the legislative record so that when the opportunity presents itself things will proceed quickly.

Wonderful news coming out of Hollywood for Ugly People (AKA our nation's capitol) is that the Democratically controlled Senate will be holding hearings soon on the Employment and Non-Discrimination Act

According to a Washington Blade story Sen Tom Harkin (D-IA), the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee will call those hearings on June 12..

“This upcoming HELP Committee hearing will provide an excellent opportunity to build on the Committee’s previous work and help advance our shared goal of equal rights for all Americans. I am hopeful that working together, we will reach a point where lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons enjoy the same rights and protections, and full equality, as all our fellow Americans.” said Sen. Harkin.

Here's hoping that unlike in 2009, they will at least have trans witnesses, and especially some trans witnesses of color giving testimony to this committee.

Rest In Peace Rep. Donald Payne

I was shocked and saddened to hear that Rep. Donald Payne of New Jersey died today after a several month long battle with colon cancer. 

Rep. Payne was the first (and so far only) African-American elected to Congress from New Jersey and represented New Jersey's 10th Congressional District for 23 years after his initial election in 1988.

In addition to his tireless advocacy for increased United States attention on African continent issues, he was a tireless advocate for his constituents, a champion for education as a former teacher and a civil rights warrior who was returned to Congress 11 times by wide margins.

And yes, I had the pleasure of meeting him along with Vanessa Edwards-Foster during the 1999 GenderPac lobby day.   Vanessa and I had gone to Rep JC Watts (R-OK) office earlier that morning and as we were recapping what happened in the elevator it stopped and Rep. Payne got on enroute to his office to open it.     

He'd heard part of our conversation and asked what we were there to lobby for.   When we told him trans rights issues, we ended up getting to follow him to his office and having 30 minutes with him before he started his day to explain why our coverage in hate crimes and ENDA was needed.  

During my subsequent lobby trips to Washington DC I made it a point to stop by his office any time I was on Capitol Hill just to say hello.  Unfortunately, the next time I'm on Capitol Hill, I won't be able to do so

Rest in peace Rep. Payne.  I will definitely miss you.along with your constituents in the 10th Congressional District..

'The Purple One' Isn't Running In 2012

Next to me ripping the GOP on a regular basis here at TransGriot, the person who is next in line that I have frequently called out on more than a few occasions when he deserved it has been Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)

I and many people in the trans community have cursed  'The Purple One' for our major differences in the speed of passage of federal human rights laws for transgender people that came to a head in October 2007 when he stripped us out of an ENDA bill that eventually got passed by the House but went nowhere in the Senate.  

However, as much as I have chewed on 'the Purple One' in these electronic pages for being a legislative impediment for trans human rights issues, I also have to note that he also hired a transman on his staff

And differences in trans policy aside, The Purple One and I do have similar stances on a few liberal-progressive issues. 

I also love the fact that Rep. Frank ain't scared to call out the conservafools for being the lying, informationally challenged doofuses they are on their own propaganda network.   That tell it like it T-I-S style also applied to constituents too.

So I was stunned to flip the TV on to MSNBC this morning right in the middle of his press conference announcing that he is retiring and will not be running for a 17th term in 2012.   Massachusetts lost a congressional seat in the latest round of redistricting and Frank noted it was a factor in his decision along with his desire not to be in politics past his 75th birthday.

He was the first congressmember to come out while in office, and rose to become a liberal icon and one of the more powerful Democrats on the Hill.   He has since been followed to Capitol Hill by Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) who is now running to become the first openly gay US senator and Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO).

President Obama had this to say about the retirement of Rep. Frank:

"This country has never had a Congressman like Barney Frank, and the House of Representatives will not be the same without him. For over 30 years, Barney has been a fierce advocate for the people of Massachusetts and Americans everywhere who needed a voice. He has worked tirelessly on behalf of families and businesses and helped make housing more affordable. He has stood up for the rights of LGBT Americans and fought to end discrimination against them. And it is only thanks to his leadership that we were able to pass the most sweeping financial reform in history designed to protect consumers and prevent the kind of excessive risk-taking that led to the financial crisis from ever happening again. Barney’s passion and his quick wit will be missed in the halls of Congress, and Michelle and I join the people of the Bay State in thanking him for his years of service."

When the 113th Congress cranks up for business on January 3, 2013, for the first time in 32 years Rep Barney Frank will not be in the House chambers as a part of it.

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State Of The Union Speech 2011

In a few hours all of us political junkies will be tuned in to our favorite news channel or C-SPAN to watch President Obama's second State of the Union address.

This one not only comes at the midpoint of his first term, it comes during a time when his poll numbers have rebounded after a bruising fight to enact health care reform legislation and a disastrous midterm election in which the Democrats lost control of the House

So it will be interesting to see what the president has to say about more than a few issues and his thoughts as to how this legislative year should play out..

All US Politics Are Identity Politics

One of the terms I see with regularity in the liberal progressive blogosphere is someone writing a comment decrying 'identity politics'. 

After slamming the term, they will then make the case that if identity politics didn't exist, our country would be a better place or whatever point they are trying to make at that time..

News flash, people.  All politics in the United States are identity politics, and that reality of American life ain't going away any time soon.   When you have one ethnic group which has dominated American life since before the founding of the United States, is grudgingly reluctant to share power and engages in the same identity politics decried to keep their hold on the top rungs of society despite their declining population numbers, you can guarantee that identity politics will be hanging around for a while.

So since we know that identity politics are an integral part of the American political landscape, why aren't we factoring that into the way we conduct our civil rights business in the TBLG community?

The Congressional Black, Hispanic and Asian-Pacific caucuses in Congress exist for a reason.  Those caucuses advocate for their ethnic groups interests as public policy is formulated .


We are still acting in the GLBT community as if the country is already 'post racial' and 'colorblind' when it most certainly isn't, and our organizations are not configured to deal with that reality.    They are also not dealing well with the reality that our rainbow community is multicultural, just like the country is.

It's past time that the organizations that claim to represent this diverse rainbow community represent and reflect that diversity.

You need Latino, African American and Asian Pacific islander GLBT people in your orgs to eloquently speak not only for the entire community, but articulate the concerns and policy needs of their specific communities in order to make overall GLBT policy better and more inclusive.

It should be obvious by now that you are not going to get broad based support for BTLG policies that are formulated of, by and for the benefit of predominately upper middle class white GLBT people.


The point is that you can either continue to misfire on gaining LGBT rights by ignoring reality and continuing business as usual or step into the 21st century, realize that we are a multiethnic country that engages in identity politics and calibrate your policies to not only be cognizant of that fact, but calibrate your politics to account for the identity politics that said polices will have to negotiate to become codified into the law of the land.