Transphobic Defense Attorney Andrew Wilkerson Found In Contempt Of Court

Had a feeling this was going to happen sometime during this Edward Thomas trial, and today was that day.

Thanks to reporter Dana Branham, who is tweeting this trial for the Dallas Morning News now in its second day,  we've learned that Andrew Wilkerson, the transphobic lead defense attorney for Edward Thomas, the person videotaped beating Muhlaysia Booker in that infamous viral video, went too far in his as he termed it "zealously, righteously, and fearlessly defending his client."

Before the trial started, he tried and thankfully failed to deploy the trans panic defense to get his client who is facing 20 years in prison a lighter sentence.

Wilkerson and Michael Campbell, the other defense attorney in this case, continued to misgender and deadname Booker.   Wilkerson also made the BS laden claim that Booker instigated the attack that left her with a concussion and a broken wrist by 'talking smack'

He also continued to argue with Judge Hector Garza, who warned his transphobic behind several times that he was going too far with his courtroom antics before Garza cleared the jurors out of the courtroom and found Wilkerson in contempt of court.

Wilkerson was sentenced to 14 days in jail and a $500 fine, and led out of the courtroom in handcuffs before testimony resumed in this case. 

Wilkerson is now in jail for the rest of this trial, and hopefully his client Edward Thomas will be joining him in the Dallas County Iron Bar Hilton soon.

TransGriot Update: Wilkerson was released from jail Friday on a personal recognizance bond 

Edward Thomas Trial Starts Today

The reason that Diamond Stylz and I made a quick trip up I-45 to Dallas late Sunday night was to bring awareness of the fact the Edward Thomas trial was starting today in the Frank Crowley Courts Building.

Thomas was arrested for the April 12 beating of Muhlaysia Booker in a South Dallas apartment complex after a minor fender bender that left her with a concussion and other injuries.

She was murdered a month later.

We joined with local Dallas trans advocates Mieko Hicks and Stacey Monroe in a Monday morning press conference to not on shed light on that upcoming trail, but the transphobic comments of Thomas' defense attorney Andrew Wilkerson.

Wilkerson also attempted to sow the trans panic defense in this case by trying to get Booker deadnamed and misgendered during this trial, motions that Judge Hector Garza shot down.

We also called out the problematic release of Domingo Ramirez-Cayente and the murder of Atatiana Jefferson by a Fort Worth police officer that happened just before we departed for Dallas

Ramirez-Cayente is the waste of DNA who attempted to kill Daniela Calderon.   He was not only ridiculously charged with aggravated assault, but bond was set at only $25,000.   He was also allowed to leave without being required to wear an ankle monitor, and as you probably guessed, took the first opportunity after his released to point that red truck down I-35 south and run to the border.

Back to the Thomas trial.

Hope that my Dallas trans fam will pack the courtroom for this trial, and send a message to the jury, the defense and prosecuting attorneys that Muhlaysia was loved by a lot of people in the Dallas area.

For those of you who don't live in the DFW area, Dallas Morning News reporter Dana Branham is following the trial on her Twitter feed.

Why Was An Attempted Murderer Let Loose In Dallas?

Daniela Calderon Rivera is still recovering from the six gunshot wounds she received when a motivated by anti-trans hatred Domingo Ramirez Cayente tried to kill her.back on September 20.

ICE is also claiming according to the Dallas Morning News that Ramirez-Cayente was deported to Mexico back in 2010. 

We presumed in the DFW area and Texas trans community based on that emerging info, that when he was arrested, Ramirez-Cayente would be locked up until his trial, but we were wrong.  Instead of being charged with attempted murder, the Mexican national was only charged with aggravated assault

WTF?


To add to the high levels of WTF level issues in this case, Magistrate Judge Hal Turley issued a $25,000 bond for a hate crime.   Since you only have to pay 10% of that amount, that meant that all Ramirez Cayente had to come up with was $2500 to be sprung from the Dallas County Jail.

Turley compounded his bond amount mistake by not ordering him to wear an ankle monitor to ensure that he could be tracked.   

Turley also failed to consider the fact that Dallas is only a 7.5 hour drive to Laredo and the Mexican border, and that Ramirez Cayente may have a major incentive once released from jail to point that red Chevy truck he owns onto I-35 south and skedaddle across the Rio Grande into Mexico.

It appears that Ramirez-Cayente has fled the Dallas area, and that a fugitive warrant was issued by the Dallas Police Department on October 7 for his arrest. 

Local advocate Stacey Monroe is holding a press conference at 3:15 PM at the Frank Crowley Courts Building to discuss the latest developments in this case.

Daniela Calderon Rivera deserves justice, and has every right to be fearful in light of the fact the violent transphobe who tried to kill her is a fugitive from justice.   Some folks in the Dallas County justice system failed her, and they must  be held accountable for that.

We also need to know the answer to the question of why an attempted murderer was released in Dallas?

Amber Guyger Guilty!

To be honest, I didn't think I would be writing these words in relation to that case, but that's what happened.  A cop who killed an unarmed Black person in their own home finally will be held accountable for it.

And the coolest part of this whole story is it happened in my home state.

The white women's tears she cried on the witness stand didn't work, as the jury made of of 5 Black peeps, 5 Latinx peeps and 2 whites returned a unanimous verdict convicting her of entering 26 year old Botham Jean's Dallas apartment on September 6, 2018 and killing him.

Can't do the happy dance just yet.  Trial is still in the punishment phase, and the racist texts the former Dallas PD officer unleashed have come out     She is facing 5-99 years in a TDC cell, so to me justice won't be truly served unless she's doing as close to 99 years as possible.

We'll find out soon how much time she got.

But the people I feel for are the Jean family, who have lost someone they can never get back 


TransGriot Update:   And how much time did she get?  10 effing years?   Really?  People, and especially POC's have gotten more time for selling drugs or robbing a bank.

What Happened To Trans-Fusion Radio?

Last Friday night there was supposed to be a Trans-Fusion Radio show on the subject of the trans prefix and whether it was necessary to identify ourselves as such or just use 'woman' to ID ourselves.

For the record, I think we should unapologetically ID ourselves as trans women, but that's another post.

When 7 PM CDT hit I was in my Dallas hotel room tuned in and eagerly expecting to hear the voices of my Dallas based sisters Mieko Love, Leshay Weeks and R. Pocahontas Duvall Crowe.   

But what I and everyone who tuned into Power214.com that evening got was silence, and when I called the show's number it just rang without being picked up.

When I called Mieko Saturday morning to find out what happened to that Friday's show, I was angered to find out that since mine and Dee Dee Watters' visit to the Power214.com studios back in April during the BTAC conference, they have not been treated with the respect they were due as one of the more popular shows on that Dallas based broadcast platform.

In fact Trans-Fusion Radio has become so popular beyond the Dallas- Ft. Worth area, the other Power 214 platform shows noticed and expressed their desires to do collaborative shows with the Trans-Fusion Radio team, according to Love.   

But they were receiving no love from the station's cisgender Black male owner, who was getting squeamish about the increasing popularity of the show and bristling from comments he was hearing from the Dallas Black community that Power214.com was 'the t****y network'.

The owner revealed that alleged community critique in conversations with the Trans-Fusion team,  then in the wake of the conversation started showing up late to produce Trans-Fusion Radio. 
Even though it was his tardiness that would delay the start of their show, he wouldn't make up for his late arrival by extending their paid for two hour time block into the next show . 

When the Power214.com studios moved to a new building at the intersections of Alpha and Preston Roads in far north Dallas, the owner asked if they were coming along, but said it in such a way that gave the Trans-Fusion team the impression he wouldn't be disappointed if they didn't.

Power214.com also has a online magazine that does feature interviews with the podcasters to promote their shows.   In the time that Trans-Fusion Radio has been part of that station, they have never had a feature article done on them.

So being fed up with the shady treatment they were getting for their t-bills, the Trans-Fusion team started looking for a new broadcast studio home just in case caca hit the fan and the Power214.com owner went full transphobe and cancelled the show.

The final straw was the Dallas Morning News article written by award winning journalist Lauren McGaughy to discuss the epidemic of anti-trans violence in Texas that seems to be centered on the DFW area.   McGaughy interviewed the Trans Fusion team for the story and wanted to take some photos of the Trans Fusion team at work in the studio for Friday's show.

Most rational business owners would jump at the chance to get free media publicity about their business.  But the transphobic station owner started tripping, probably because of who was getting the publicity and why. and the Trans Fusion team had enough of his crap.

Trans-Fusion Radio is moving to a new home, and as soon as they have done so, they will let everyone who loves their show know what night and time it will be broadcasting from their new platform.   I also hope that there is a way they can file a complaint against Power214.com under the Dallas non discrimination ordinance that covers anti-trans discrimination

And I hope that Trans-Fusion Radio is broadcasting sooner rather than later, because the DFW area, Texas and the world needs to hear their voices.

Suspect Arrested In Shooting Of Dallas Trans Woman

A suspect has been arrested in the shooting of 35 year old trans woman Daniela Calderon.

According to reporting from the Dallas Voice, Dallas police arrested 29 year old Domingo Ramirez-Cayente and charged him with aggravated assault in the shooting that took place on September 20 in the 11000 block of Dennis Road.

According to the arrest warrant, Calderon was walking along Dennis Road when Ramirez-Cayente pulled up alongside her in his red Chevy truck and yelled anti-trans and anti-gay slurs at her.  Calderon walked away from the truck and toward a nearby DART bus stop so she could leave the location.

Ramirez-Cayente then pulled up to the bus stop as she was waiting there and shot Calderon several times with a handgun.

Calderon was taken to a nearby hospital where she underwent surgery for her injuries, and spoke to investigators in September 22..   Ramirez-Cayente's truck was captured by nearby security video cameras and was eventually identified by detectives on September 24. 

Ramirez-Cayente was arrested on traffic warrants, and while being interviewed by detectives at DPD headquarters admitted to shooting Calderon.     .

Ramirez-Cayente is still in the Dallas County jail as of this writing on charges of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and three minor traffic violations.   His bond on the assault charge was set at $25,000.

Once again, this is another concrete example of what I I'm talking about when I say anti-trans hate thoughts + anti-trans hate speech = anti-trans hate violence and murder.

I'm thankful that Rony Calderon didn't become the fourth Texas trans person to be lost to anti-trans violence this year.   I also wish her speedy healing and recovery from her injuries.

May the Dallas County DA handle their business and throw this waste of DNA under the jail for what he tried to do.     

TransGriot Update:  Stunned and angered to learn that Ramirez-Cayente was released on bail. 

Motion To Deadname Muhlaysia Booker Denied

Andrew Wilkerson, the transphobic defense attorney for Edward Thomas, tried it. 


Knowing that his client is on videotape beating down Muhlaysia Booker into unconsciousness for $200, and knowing that there are witnesses to that hate crime, he tried injecting transphobia in the mix for the upcoming October 14 trial.

Wilkerson is cynically trying to get the April 12 assault by the 29 year old Thomas characterized as a fight between two men, instead of a man beating up a woman.

The 29 year old Thomas is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second degree felony that if convicted, can get Thomas anywhere from 2 to 20 years in jail.

The attack left the 22 year old Booker with a broken wrist and a concussion.

Fortunately for us trans Texans, Judge Hector Garza (D) saw through this BS attempt to use a cynical variation of the trans panic defense in this trial.

Wilkerson is claiming that recognizing Booker as the female she was will 'prejudice the jury', and tried to have the name on the indictment changed to Booker's deadname.   Prosecuting attorneys argued that indictments can be amended to include aliases, and since Booker had been living as her true self for several years and answered to Muhlaysia, the court should honor that.

"Our position is one of respect," said lead prosecutor Jason Hermus to Judge Garza.

Wilkerson has been a serial transphobe in this case.   He also disrespected and misgendered Booker in a June 7 Facebook post, which led to Judge Garza issuing a gag order for both attorneys.

Judge Garza ruled that when this case goes to trial, the jury will hear the name Muhlaysia Booker, not her deadname.

Remember that trans Dallas when Judge Garza runs for reelection for the 195th Judicial District Court next March.

Edward Thomas Defense Attorneys Attacking Muhlaysia Booker's Femininity

Damn, we Black trans women can't get any respect in life or in death.

The news out of Dallas is that Edward Thomas, the waste of DNA who violently put his hands on the late Muhlaysia Booker back in April, will be going to trial in October for that assault in the 195th District Court of Texas.

Thomas was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.   Even though Booker was murdered back in May, that video of the April 12 assault is still around on The Net along with all the witnesses to that violent attack on her.

So what do you do when you're faced with mounting evidence that your client attacked a trans woman?  Go for a cynical variation of the 'trans panic' defense and attempt to strip the trans woman of her femininity.

 The transphobic defense attorney in this case are objecting to the fact that prosecutors are asking Judge Hector Garza (D) to rule that the indictment can use Muhlaysia's name even though she hadn't changed it legally or on any identification documents.

The defense attorneys are using her dead name and disrespectfully referring to Muhlaysia as a man

"Pierre Booker is legally a male by gender. To name him 'Muhlaysia' Booker could have the jury wrongfully conclude that Pierre is female...This is prejudicial against our client ,who is male."

The defense attorneys are trying a variation of the trans panic defense to strip Muhlaysia of her femininity.  They hope they can stir up transphobia in the jury pool and get potential jurors to not see Booker as the woman she is.

It also feeds this dangerous for us and patently false meme that trans women are just 'men in dresses'.

The Edwards defense attorneys also fear that if Booker is seen as the woman she is, it won't go well for their client.   Society usually takes a less charitable view of any man who puts his hands on a woman, and the defense attorneys know that.

It is a despicable legal tactic by the defense attorneys.  Here's hoping that Judge Garza sees the same thing I see and rules in favor of Dallas County prosecutors when the defense motion has a hearing next week.

If he doesn't, I predict that Judge Garza is suddenly going to find himself being primary challenged in March 2020

In The 2019 BTAC Leadership Institute House

Last week I was in Philadelphia for Netroots Nation, now I've made another drive up I-45 with Dee Dee Watters and Diamond Stylz to attend the second annual BTAC Leadership Institute.

This time instead of having it in NOLA, we're having it in our headquarters city of Dallas.   Last year's event in New Orleans helped us tremendously in not only building a solid foundation for us to kick off our 2018-2019 programming year, it also had the benefits of allowing us to get to know each other better

We had a board meeting yesterday at the Wyndham Dallas Suites in which we discussed BTAC coalition business, our upcoming 2019-2020 programming year and fundraising to pay for it.

Today at the Wyndham Dallas Suites starts our two days of training to level up, and I'm looking forward to it.

Also looking forward to seeing and spending quality time this weekend with my BTAC family

Edward Thomas' Attorney Disrespects Muhlaysia Booker

Our crappy pride month continues with more info coming out of Dallas concerning the legal fallout from the videotaped April 12 assault on Muhlaysia Booker that landed Edward Thomas in the Dallas County Jail.

Thomas is being defended by attorney Andrew W. Wilkerson, who is big mad that his client is facing twenty years in a TDC facility for the videotaped hate assault on our departed sister.

This is the transphobic shyt he had to say on his Facebook page about it:

I’ll say this again, our condolences to the family of Pierre Booker. He was a human being, he was a person that was loved dearly by his family. He did not deserve to die. No one deserves to die. But our client had absolutely nothing to do with his death.

But this is ridiculous. The State is offering Edward Thomas twenty years for that fight in back Royal Crest Apartments a couple months ago. The State is offering twenty years for a fist fight, between two men, with no weaponsinvolved. Let that sink in. There was no knife, no gun, no brass knuckles, and nothing was picked up off the ground and used during the physical altercation. Furthermore, this was no hate crime, period. People who were there know that this all arose from an altercation after Pierre Booker rear ended Thomas’s friends vehicle and refused to exchange insurance information or rectify the situation in anyway. Are you surprised that the news didn’t tell you these details?? Don’t be😑.

No disrespect to anyone’s life style at all. It’s your decision. But when the law recognizes gender it’s based off one’s anatomy or biological make up if you will. So when dealing with the law you must realize that ones sexual preference/orientation has no bearing on his or her gender, a persons gender is based on his/her biological hardware or, plainly said, if a person has a penis, the law views him as a male and if a person has a vagina the law views her as a female. Ridiculously obvious to say, I know, but some of you facebookers seem to have the law a tad bit confused.

So, now that we’ve cleared that up, to offer a man twenty years for a fist fight with another man is unconscionable and shows no regard for his life or his future. Say what you want, but that ain’t justice, not even close. A man can literally wave a gun in another person’s face and not receive twenty years in prison, come on now. Call a spade a spade, this is beyond ridiculous

First off,  Miss Wilkerson, what you said is this jacked up post is not only loud and wrong, but your ignorant and scientifically illiterate rhetoric is why we have a major problem in Black America with anti-trans violence being visited upon trans individuals in Texas and elsewhere in the United States.

It was also straight up disrespectful to the memory of Ms Booker, her family, and all the people in the Dallas area who loved her.

Gender is between your ears, not your legs, and that is the overwhelming consensus of the scientific community and folks who have been doing the research for decades when it comes to transsexuality and gender identity.

Let me repeat it for you one more time so your willfully clueless azz gets it.  The genitalia between your legs is not the sole determinant of your gender identity.

Your client in a fit of transphobic and toxic Black masculinity, stuck his nose in somebody else's business and beat down a trans woman for $200.   He also by doing so, triggered the series of events that resulted in Muhlaysia Booker's death a month later.   

And can you accurately account for your client's whereabouts after he was released from the Dallas County Jail on bail days before Ms Booker was killed?

When your client beat a trans woman unconscious on that April 12 day to the point that several cis women had to step in and physically remove her from your client's flying fists as he uttered homophobic slurs, yeah Miss Attorney Thang, that's not a mere fight.   That's a hate crime that your waste of DNA client deserves jail time for.

One other thing.   Trans people live lives, not a lifestyle.  So miss me with that 'no disrespect' line because your entire comment was dripping with it and transphobic ignorance.   Calling a trans woman a man is the height of disrespect.

You need Jesus and some serious education about trans issues.  .You are also a disgrace to the proud tradition of attorneys from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law.

Now what's the phone number and the URL for the State Bar of Texas?

Number 7 Rest In Power Chynal Lindsey

I and the Texas trans community still haven't had time to regroup after laying Muhlaysia Booker to rest, and now a mere 24 hours after Dallas Pride happens, we are now having to say the name of another of our trans siblings gone far too soon in her young life.

We go back to Dallas for the second trans person they have had murdered there in 2019, the second in the state of Texas, and the seventh in the United States.

Meet 26 year old Chynal Lindsey.   She was born in Chicago, but lived here in the Lone Star State.  Her body was found in the White Rock Lake reservoir on June 1.

As I mentioned, she is the seventh trans person we have lost in the US to anti-trans violence.  All seven have been African American.   Five of the seven are under age 30.

As of yet,  haven't heard if there is going to be a memorial vigil or detail about funeral arrangements.  Dallas Police has called in the FBI on this case per reporting from David Taffet to determine whether or not this is part of a string of serial killings of trans women in the Dallas area.. 

Something else I haven't heard is the words 'Black trans lives matter' coming from the mouths of the Texas NAACP, which is headquartered in Dallas.

Rest in power and peace , Chynal.  We won't rest until the person who took your live is brought to justice.

     

My Muhlaysia Booker Post Funeral Thoughts

I traveled to Dallas on Memorial Day with Dee Dee Watters and Diamond Stylz to represent BTAC and the Black Transwomen .Inc (BTWI) board at Muhlaysia Booker's wake and funeral 

While I was being interviewed by CNN and having a TV camera follow us upon our arrival in Dallas, I did take a moment on the nearly 4 hour drive up from Houston to ponder this latest trans death.

There were things about it that were maddeningly familiar, and some that felt different this time.

Let's start with the familiar stuff.   Muhlaysia was at the time the fourth trans woman to die due to anti-trans violence in 2019.    She was just 22 years old and as we already depressingly know, a Black trans  woman.  She was also like someone else y'all know from Texas, unapologetic about it.

To add to the pain we were already feeling in Dallas, in Philadelphia and across Black Trans America, just before Dee Dee, Diamond and I headed up I-45 to be at Muhlaysia's wake and funeral came the news about Paris being killed in Detroit that Saturday.

Six Black trans women this year.  Four in the month of May alone.   We were also here in Dallas a year after Carla Pavon had been murdered a few miles from where the Cathedral of Hope sits

But this one felt different as well.   The last time I attended a funeral for one of our slain trans siblings was back in 2008 when I was living in Louisville.   That particular funeral was deeply personal because I knew Nakhia Williams and we worked for the same local security company.

Despite being active in trans rights work for a decade at the time, I wasn't as well known nationally as a trans advocate as I am now when walked into that funeral home and the Cathedral of Hope the next day.   TransGriot was only two years old at the time. 

This funeral had international news coverage, in large part because of the viral video of Muhlaysia being assaulted after a traffic accent just a month ago.   This funeral was attended by Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and Dallas council members Omar Narvaez and Adam Medrano

We had people that came from New Orleans and Washington  to be in attendance.in addition to her Dallas and Texas trans family showing up and showing out in terms of their support for Muhlaysia and her family.

It was also nice to find out some interesting personal details about Muhlaysia.    She was an Eagle Scout.  We discovered that when members of her former scout troop showed up at the funeral home to pay their respects to her.   She was fun loving  and well liked by members of the Dallas trans community and people in Oak Cliff neighborhood.

Her mother told us that while Muhlaysia didn't like starting fights, she had no problem finishing them.

During the resolutions phase of the funeral, proclamations were read from Texas state Senator Royce West (D-Dallas), the city of Dallas, and the Texas House of Representatives from House Rep Jessica Gonzales (D-Dallas)    A few days earlier, Muhlaysia Booker's name had been spoken from the US House floor by Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Ft Worth)

It reminded me as I was sitting there listening to those resolutions being read, that the Texas Lege had gone sine die the day before.   HB 1513, which would have added trans Texans to the James Byrd Hate Crimes Act, was one of the bills that died when it was left pending in the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee after an April 29 hearing in which I and other trans Texans pointed out why it needed to be passed.

Our sister Muhlaysia is now with the ancestors.   It's up to us left here to make certain that when the 2021 Texas legislative session kicks off, we do everything possible to add trans Texans to the Byrd Hate Crimes Act.    We also must ensure that the wastes of DNA who killed her are also brought to justice.

Muhlaysia Booker Wake Today

Headed to Dallas today with Dee Dee Watters and Diamond Stylz as representatives of BTAC and Black Transwomen, Inc to attend the wake and funeral of Muhlaysia Booker.

The wake is later this evening at the Golden Gate Funeral Home starting at 6 PM CDT, with the funeral service being moved to the Cathedral of Hope.

If you live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and wish to attend the wake and or the funeral, the Golden Gate Funeral Home is located at 4155 S. RL Thornton Fwy in Dallas

The funeral will start at 11 AM CDT    The Cathedral of Hope is located at 5910 Cedar Springs Road.   You may wish to get there early because they are expecting a large crowd to attend this service.

BTAC Press Release Concerning The Muhlaysia Booker Murder

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 19, 2019
Contact Monica Roberts BTAC Media Chair 346-310-0824
Dee Dee Watters  BTWI President
855-255-8636 Ext 11
media@blacktranswomen.org

As a Dallas based organization, Black Trans Advocacy Coalition expressed our anger and dismay concerning the April 12 hate attack visited upon our sibling Muhlaysia Booker.   We were happy to hear that Dallas police arrested Edward Thomas in connection with that case, and are aware that the investigation into that transphobic mob attack on her is ongoing. 

This afternoon BTAC was shocked, angered, stunned and saddened to learn that the trans woman found dead Saturday morning in far east Dallas was positively identified as Muhlaysia Booker.

The 23 year old Booker was found shot to death in the 7200 block of Valley Glen Drive near the Tenison Park golf course.  As of yet there are no suspects in this case, and if you have any information that will lead to the arrest of the person or persons who killed our sibling, we urge you to call the Dallas Police Department.

BTAC wishes to express our sincere condolences to the family of Ms Booker and all the people who loved her.

Rest in power and peace, Muhlaysia.   You didn't deserve this.  BTAC is committed as an organization to do what we can as a organization and as members of this community to ensure that the perpetrators of this heinous crime are brought to justice.

One of the reasons why BTAC is extremely angry about this murder besides it happening in our headquarters city, is because back on April 29 Monica Roberts traveled to Austin immediately after the conclusion of our 8th annual conference to represent BTAC and testify in favor of HB 1513, a bill that would have added gender identity to the James Byrd Hate Crimes Act.

Unfortunately, after her testimony and the testimony of several other Texas trans people as to the necessity of us being covered in this hate crimes legislation, the bill was left pending in the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee.  HB 1513 has died for this 2019 session. 

Now Muhlaysia has unfortunately joined the ancestors, and the negative message continues to be sent that it is open season on trans people in the Lone Star State and everywhere else in this country.

When will you care that our Black Trans Lives Matter?   When will Texas legislators right the wrong that occurred in the 1999 and 2001 legislative sessions that resulted in trans people being cut from the Byrd Hate Crimes Act?

When will you stop killing us?    When will other Black community organizations join BTAC in not only condemning this and other killings of Black trans people. but commit themselves to coordinated action in our Black community to eradicate anti-trans violence?

Number 3- Rest In Power and Peace Muhlaysia Booker

This latest report of a trans murder in 2019 is not only coming from my home state of Texas, it is shocking and mindnumbingly sad for me.

23 year old Muhlaysia Booker survived a brutal April 12 assault by a mob in an apartment complex in Dallas' Oak Cliff neighborhood.  Today it is my sad duty to report that Ms Booker was found shot to death Saturday morning by responding Dallas police officers at 6:40 AM CDT in the 7200 block of Valley Glen Dr. near the Tenison Park golf course in east Dallas.

Booker was pronounced dead at the scene due to 'homicidal violence'.   There are also no suspects as of yet in her murder.   I know where y'all can start looking, DPD.   How about every transphobic fool that was videotaped throwing blows at her on April 12? 

Rest in power and peace Muhlaysia. 

This one's personal to me, her loved ones, BTAC and every trans Texan.  As BTMI president Trenton Johnson said on my FB page, "They attack her in one month and then take her life the next!! This has to stop!"

I agree.  It needs to stop.  I want the waste of DNA who killed Muhlaysia to be expeditiously captured and brought to justice.

Booker is now officially the third trans person to die due to anti-trans violence in the US in 2019, and our first in the Lone Star State this year.  All three trans persons who have been killed in 2019 so far have been African American

This one infuriates me even more because it not only happened here in Texas, it is because of what happened to Booker back in April.   It also happens after HB 1513, a bill sponsored by Rep. Garnet Coleman that would have added trans people to the state's James Byrd Hate Crimes Act, died in the House State Affairs Committee committee for this session. 

What is really pissing me off is that we are still sorting out the fallout from the transphobic April 12 mob assault on her in Oak Cliff and were engaged in getting justice for her in that case. 

Now she's dead and her family is now planning her funeral.

I have to ask the question of the Texas NAACP and other organizations in the Black community not named Black Lives Matter or Black Trans Advocacy Coalition.   Do y'all even care about the lives of Black trans people, much less Black trans women?

Your silence, Texas NAACP tells me otherwise. 

If any memorial services are scheduled, I will pass that info along to you as I receive it.

BTWI Board Welcome For BTAC 2019

The BTAC conference welcome from the BTWI board....




See y'all tomorrow.

Getting On The Bus Early To BTAC 2019

Been waiting for this day ever since I sadly said goodbye to my BTAC family at the closing brunch last year and headed to the DART Downtown Transit Center to return home to Houston. 

This time I get to go much earlier than I usually do.   

It's time for me to be with my BTAC family again.  It's time for the eighth annual Black Trans Advocacy Conference that starts April 23 and runs until April 28.  It also serves as the kickoff to my extended birthday week celebration.   BTAC 2019 is already according to Espy Brown poised to smash last year's attendance record.

It's still not too late for y'all who are thinking about coming to join us at the Wyndham Dallas Suites-Park Central host hotel for what promises to be an empowering and life changing event..

And yeah, some of y'all need to be very afraid when Family Fun Day comes, because the BTAC Bonemaster is coming to take her dominoes title back from Kayla Gore.

But before we get to me administering domino beatdowns next Saturday and throughout BTAC week, I have a 4 hour bus trip ahead of me up I-45.   I also have the week of sessions, Trans Manifest Live, the keynote luncheon and the  Awards Gala to get through before we get to Family Fun Day. 

The reason I'm leaving today and not on the Monday before like I normally do is because my presence was requested for a Muhlaysia Booker rally happening later today.   I didn't see the logic in rolling up to Dallas, attending a rally doing th 4 hour trip back home and then repeating it 24 hours later when i could just simply stay in Big D a few extra days. 

Sure will be glad when Texas Central Railways FINALLY starts construction on the Houston-Dallas bullet train and that four hour nonstop bus trip turns into a 90 minute Shinkansen train ride.

But that 90 minute bullet train trip is in the near future.  Right now I have to make sure my statuesque behind gets to the downtown Houston MegaBus station in time for my departure to North Texas, especially after the late night I had with my OLTT fam.