Marisa Richmond To Receive Fan Fair's Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award!

"While I may be the first African-American trans person honored with this Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award, I emphatically believe I won't be the last one to be so honored. 

We have some people who have been and still are trailblazing African-American leaders such as Marisa Richmond, Kylar Broadus, Dawn Wilson, Miss Major and Louis Mitchell just to name a few who could have easily been standing here today instead of me."
Monica Roberts,
Virginia Price Transgender Pioneer Award Acceptance Speech 
October, 2015 

In 2015 I became the first African American trans person to receive the Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award from Fantasia Fair as Marisa Richmond congratulated me for doing so.

Now, four years later, Marisa Richmond will become the second African American trans person to win this prestigious award when Fantasia Fair kicks off in Provincetown. MA October 20-27.

And I couldn't be happier for her.   She has been blazing trails in our trans rights movement since 1992, and I'm pleased and proud to call her a friend.

In 1992 she founded the Tennessee Vals gender group that is still in existence.  She was a board member of NTAC, AEGIS and NCTE.   She founded the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition.  In 2008 she became the first African American trans delegate to the Democratic National Convention that was held in Denver.  In 2008 she also became the first openly trans person to win an election in Tennessee when she was elected to the Davidson County Democratic Party Executive Committee. 

Marisa was also the 2016 Democratic National Convention's official timekeeper
She is also a sought after speaker on trans issues in addition to being a college history professor

Congratulations Marisa!   It's well deserved, and hopefully I can get to FanFair 2019 and be in the room when she accepts her award

Heading Back To Texas From Fantasia Fair 41

After a wonderful and historic week here in Provincetown for my first ever Fantasia Fair, it's time for me to go back home with the Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award in my luggage.

It has been wonderful getting to see old friends in our community and our movement, and meet new ones as I knocked a series of firsts off my trans bucket list.

It was my first time visiting Provincetown and the first time I have had the opportunity to attend Fantasia Fair.   I had fun, got an opportunity to explore the town a bit.  Even got to see three seasons while I was up here.

But while it was enjoyable, and I hope I can make a trip to a future Fantasia Fair, my life in H-town awaits along with a date at a early voting polling location to ensure that Prop 1, AKA HERO passes.

If you haven't early voted yet H-town people, get to stepping to your nearest early voting polling location.  You have until this Friday to do so.

Thanks to the Fantasia Fair staff, volunteers, people of Provincetown and attendees that rolled out the red carpet for me and everyone else at FF41 during this week that went way too fast.

As for the question I got repeatedly asked about whether or not I would be at FF42 next October?   Depends on my 2016 schedule.

It`s been real P-town, but time for me to get some sleep and get my devices charged up for the long travel day back to a soggy Lone Star State.

But I do head back home with some positive memories and a few more additions to my Facebook page.

Fantasia Fair Day 5

Moni is still hanging around at the 2015 edition of Fantasia Fair, and the reality is sinking in that this wonderful week in Provincetown is rapidly coming to a close.

It`s Friday, and on the schedule for today is a keynote on a subject near and dear to my heart in trans history being delivered by Dr. Aaron Devor of the University of Victoria, which has a growing transgeder history collection I am anxious to see one day and hear about in this speech.

Other highlights for today include seminars on effective lobbying, one on The Biopsychology of Transsexualism by Dr Thomas Bevan, and the Fantasia Fair Follies at 8 PM followed by late night dancing at Club Purgatory starting at 10 PM

And yeah, yeah, I know what today is TransGriot readers.   The Shut Up Fool Awards post will be up on schedule.

Fantasia Fair Day 3

Day three of Fantasia Fair, and what on the agenda for today after I spent most of it making a little trans history and hanging out at Roomers with some of the other Fantasia fair attendees until 12 AM?

I get to watch Denise Norris do her keynote speech, and have my eye on two seminars by Dr Miqqi Gilbert..

The big event closing out tonught is the eagerly anticipated fashion show hosted by Temperance and Luna Maria.    Luna has been trying to get me o participate in it, but I told her I had my day in the sun yesterday, and it was time for someone else to have their opportunity to have some time in the spotlight.

I`ll be cheering on the participants from the audience unless I cut out early to watch `Empire`

2015 Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award Acceptance Speech

TransGriot Note: This is the text of the speech I'm currently delivering at Fantasia Fair that's entitled 'A Fantastic Voyage Towards Trans Human Rights Progress'


Good afternoon to Barbara Curry, Jamie Dailey, Dallas Denny, Mary Beth Cooper, Miqqi Gilbert, Fantasia Fair staff and volunteers, my fellow transpeople, my mentor Dainna Cicotello, Fantasia Fair attendees, significant others and spouses, allies and friends.

Thank you Denise Norris for that wonderful introduction, and thank you for the work that you have done to make this world better for all of us.

Thanks also to the Fantasia Fair team that has worked hard to not only make it possible for me to be standing in front of you delivering this speech, but is working daily to make this week a special and enjoyable one for all of you here in attendance here in Provincetown today and for the rest of the 41st edition of this conference.

I am pleased and proud to be standing before you making history this afternoon as the first African-American transperson to be honored by Fantasia Fair with the Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award.  I enthusiastically accept it on behalf of myself and the trans ancestors who preceded me in proudly living our trans lives and fighting for our humanity and freedom,.

I also accept this award in the name of all of the people we have lost this year be it through murder or suicide, and may we please have a moment of silence to remind ourselves their lives mattered.

Thank you.

While I may be the first African-American trans person honored with this Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award, I emphatically believe I won't be the last one to be so honored.   We have some people who have been and still are trailblazing African-American leaders such as Marisa Richmond, Kylar Broadus, Dawn Wilson, Miss Major and Louis Mitchell just to name a few who could have easily been standing here today instead of me.

But hey, I'm not going to lie.  I am so happy y'all gave it to me.

It's actually fitting when you think about it, since Texans have figured prominently in shaping the history of the modern trans community.  My fellow Texan Phyllis Frye, who won this award in 2003 is called 'The Godmother of the Trans Rights Movement for providing the innovative leadership we needed at that time as an out trans woman.  She got the Houston anti-crossdressing law killed in August 1980.  She founded the Houston based ICTLEP conferences that started in 1992 and helped organize the trans community, got us focused on the legal aspects of being transgender, got us on the same page politically, instilled a sense of pride in being out, trans and proud, and trained my generation of activists.

The second gender clinic founded in this country after the now closed Johns Hopkins one was in Galveston, TX. in the early 70s at the University of Texas Medical Branch there.. To the west of me in San Antonio the Texas 'T' Party organized in 1988 by Linda and Cynthia Phillips was mushrooming from a regional crossdresser and trans gathering into the then largest trans themed event in the country before it shut down in 1996 and the Atlanta based Southern Comfort grew to take that title.

When the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition was founded in 1999 at an Italian restaurant in Bethesda, MD, two Texans were sitting at that table helping to put it together in myself and Vanessa Edwards Foster.  

And that legacy of innovative Lone Star State trans leadership continues with Josephine Tittsworth's founding of the Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit, which has resulted in 20 Texas colleges and universities and five school districts adopting trans inclusive policies.  Carter Brown has grown Black Trans Men Inc from a trans masculine centered conference that happened in Dallas to the Black Trans Advocacy Conference that will be held again in Big D in late April

We have trans leaders emerging across our state that is bigger than France like Lou Weaver, Nell Gaiter, Dr Oliver Blumer, Dee Dee Watters, Lauryn Farris, Katy Stewart, Robyn Morgan Collado, Ana Andrea Molina and Nikki Araguz Loyd.

Thanks fellow trans Texans for your contributions in making the trans community, Texas and our local communities better for transkind.

So don't hate on Texas, appreciate it because of our tradition of producing some kick ass trans leaders, and contrary to outside of Texas public opinion, Austin is not the only spot in my bigger than France sized state that is a liberal progressive bastion.
There is also the Rio Grande Valley, Corpus Christi, El Paso, Dallas, San Antonio, Beaumont-Port Arthur and my soon to be third largest city in the US hometown of Houston,

Houston has proudly elected Annise Parker, an out lesbian and longtime LGBT community activist as our mayor three times, and we will shock the world again on November 3 when my fellow Houstonians reject right wing fear and smear campaign tactics and vote to keep the HERO.

For those of you who are not aware of my story beyond what you have seen printed in your Fantasia Fair program, here is the short version.   I have been on my evolutionary trans feminine journey for 21 years and counting.  I love history and I am a Christian in the Rev. Dr MLK Jr liberation theology mode of my faith.   I have been involved in trans human rights activism at the local and state level in Kentucky and Texas, and the federal level since 1998.  

I have an award winning nearly ten year old blog called TransGriot that according to my haters nobody reads.

I am an unapologetically Black Texas trans angelic troublemaker who has zero tolerance for TERFs, fundamentalist idiots, trans community sellouts and anyone else who wishes to oppress and demonize trans people or trample the human rights of others. And I vote in every election cycle despite your attempts Texas GOP to make that harder for me and other people they hate in the Lone Star State to do.

At the time I transitioned on April 4, 1994, the landscape for trans people was light years different than it is now.  Minnesota was the only state along with ten cities, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Paul, MN,  Harrisburg, PA, Champaign, IL, Urbana IL, Santa Cruz, CA, and Grand Rapids, MI which had trans inclusive nondiscrimination laws.   We were a few months from doing a national lobby day in Washington DC, and the trans human rights case law was sketchy at best,

We now have 16 states, the District of Columbia and over 200 jurisdictions that have trans inclusive laws.  We are starting to have court rulings go in our favor and even popular culture is starting to add trans characters like the CBS soap The Bold and the Beautiful, Transparent and Orange Is The New Black.  

And sometimes they will even have wonder of wonders, trans actors like Scott Turner Schofield and Laverne Cox, playing trans characters.

We are also a few months from seeing the 15,000 trans people in our armed forces get the ability to openly serve our country.    Thanks to TAVA, SPARTA, our allies and people inside our military like Sgt. Shane Ortega who pushed our nation to do what 16 other countries have already done and allowed trans people to enthusiastically answer the call to serve our nation.

Why is that important?  Because people like Kristin Beck, Amanda Simpson, Brynn Tannehill and our trans elders like Monica Helms, Christine Jorgensen and Allyson Robinson have in common is they served in the military, and are now using those leadership skills to benefit our community and our nation.

Another thing I have been moved and gratified to see is the emergence of trans teen leaders like Jazz Jennings, Nicole Maines and others with the help and loving support of their amazing parents, step up around the country to not only educate their peers about trans issues, but fight for their own and our human rights while kicking knowledge to us trans elders and others outside our community as well.

I can`t forget my amazing sister Fallon Fox, who is kicking ass and taking names in the women's MMA world while my sportswriting sis Christina Kahrl is reporting the sports news.

And speaking of reporters, I can't forget the trailblazing Eden Lane, who was the first out trans woman to report on a national political convention back in 2008 when she did so for PBS during the historic Democratic National Convention in Denver that served as then Sen. Barack Obama`s springboard to a presidency that has been the best ever for trans people.

I have been proud to see Geena Rocero, Isis King, Andreja Pejic, Carmen Carrera, Arisce Wanzer and others continue down the path that people like April Ashley, Caroline Cossey, Tracy Africa Norman, Roberta Close  and Lauren Foster blazed down the world's fashion runways.

And even in the tech world, we are represented in that world by Dr Kortney Ziegler and Angelica Ross building on the accomplishments of Dr Lynn Conway.  

But unfortunately one thing hasn't changed since I began my own transition, and that is the level of anti-trans violence aimed at our community.

We received another reminder of it happening on the eve of this conference when Zella Ziona Smith was murdered last Thursday in Maryland.   The thing that infuriates me is that she was just 21 years old and continues the upsetting to me pattern of trans women of  color taking the disproportionate brunt of it.

Thankfully the waste of DNA who is accused of killing her was arrested by the Montgomery County MD police and is rotting in jail without bond.

I am going to say this and continue to say it loudly and proudly until they bury me six feet under my beloved Texas soil.   As a person who is unapologetically Black and trans, my transition does not mean because you don`t like my Black trans behind or my Black trans brothers and trans sisters,  you can unilaterally erase us from the Black community we are an intertwined kente cloth part of.

Neither will we put up with in Trans and LGBT World attempts to erase us from the community we have shed blood for, helped to create or its historical record.

We trans peeps are part of the diverse mosaic of human life on Planet Earth and didn't just pop up in the late 20th early 21st century.   You haters of all ethnic backgrounds don`t like the fact we trans peeps exist, tough.

We ain't having it or putting up with that crap any more because Black trans issues are Black community issues and vice versa.  Trigger happy policing and voter suppression negatively affect me as an unapologetically Black trans person along with the historic demonization of Blackness and Black femininity.    

We have seen far too many people in Houston, including a mayoral candidate named Ben Hall and misguided hypocritical Black ministers who share my ethnic background in this battle to keep our much needed human rights law bearing false witness against the trans community.   We in Black TBLG Houston are not going to tolerate that revolting development, especially when the off the charts anti-trans hate being spewed is resulting in the deaths of my trans younglings.

Hate thoughts + hate speech = hate violence is an equation that leads to the deaths of far too many of our people here and around the world.  And it needs to stop.        

Black community, when will #BlackTransLivesMatter enough to you for you to get off your asses and recognize that our babies are being killed?  I am beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of having to remind Black America that Black transpeople are Black people too.

I`ve discussed some issues pertinent to our community, so let`s shift gears for a moment and talk about where do I see this amazing trans human rights voyage we are on needing to go?

One thing we need to do ASAP is have more trans people run for public office.  As that attempt in several states to criminalize being trans in this 2015 legislative cycle points out, we need to be writing the laws that govern us and not on our knees begging to kill the bad bills or get included in the good ones that advance our human rights.

And before you ask me if I am going to take my own advice and run Moni run, let`s just say I am seriously thinking about it.

I would also like to see every trans person who is eligible to do so to not only register to vote, but to exercise it in each and EVERY election cycle.  If we wish to see trans city council members, trans judges, trans mayors, trans state legislators, trans congress members and a trans president someday, we've got to do our part and provide the trans candidate that steps up to run for office support that includes a cadre of base voters they can reliably count on.

We also need as a trans community to be proactive in tackling systemic race issues in our ranks and doing the hard work to dismantle racism, sexism, homophobia and internalized transphobia in our ranks.  Some of our trans brothers need to stop being as misogynistic as their cis masculine counterparts and be the quality men of trans experience we know they can be.

And as Precious Davis and Myles Brady have been role modeling lately,  trans men and trans women loving each other is a powerful and revolutionary act.

As the stats from the 2011 NTDS point out, my transition as an African descended transperson is not like many of yours in this Fantasia Fair room, and neither is it like the one our Latina trans sisters like Arianna Lint, Jennicet Gutierrez, Ruby Corado, Joanna Cifredo and Elizabeth Rivera among others face.

We have an opportunity to role model to the rest of cis world what the Beloved Community that the Rev. Dr Martin Luther King, Jr talked about looks like in practice. White that is going to be a bumpy process at times, it need to be done as part of our ongoing community building efforts.

We must to do a better job on addressing HIV/AIDS issues in Trans World, and the recent Positively Trans Survey was a major first step to doing precisely that.

And people, to borrow the words of Elizabeth Rivera, #StopThe Shade.   We have an array of enemies from the Catholic and Southern Baptist Churches to the TERF`s, FOX Noise and the conservative movement hating on us.

There is enough work that needs to be done in Trans World and beyyond across this country for all of us to excel and shine.  It is time to get busy figuring out what you wish to do, if you have the talent and skill set to accomplish that mission you laid out for yourselves, and get busy making positive change happen.  We do not need to be hating on each other when the reality is we have enemies who wish to destroy all of us.

We need to have regular intergenerational conversations with each other.   I enjoy the phone calls I get for example from Miss Major and Sharyn Grayson, and I`m committing to havoing more conmversations with younger trans activistsgoing forward.   I learn just as much from those conversations as you do from me.

I was blessed to have one of those conversations with Sylvia Rivera in May 2000, and trans younglings, I wish to do for you what Sylvia did for me as a neophyte trans activist.   Those intersectional conversations are important in passing along our history, strategy and tactics, training our replacements in this struggle, and building pride in being the trans men and trans women we are.

We are blessed to be in a tipping point moment for not only the acceptance of trans people in all walks of life, but seeing trans human rights progress grow around the world.

I can`t wait to see how this fantastic voyage of trans human rights progress is going to transpire (pun intended) in the next five to ten years and what exciting things are in store for us.

I also hope we remember the words of the late Nelson Mandela as we continue on this trans human rights voyage  when he said, `For to be free is not merely to cast off one`s chains, but to live in a way that enhances the freedom of others`

I am proud to be doing my part at this pivotal moment in our history to help our community do exactly that as we continue to steer the SS Trans Human Rights to the safe harbor of codified human rights and having our humanity recognized until I have to pass the steering wheel of this ship to the next generation of trans leaders

And I`m confident that when that day comes, the SS Trans Human Rights will be in good hands.

Thank you, may God bless us and our community, may we love one another and ourselves, and you have a wonderful rest of your time here at Fantasia Fair 41.

 

Fantasia Fair Day 2

The second full day of Fantasia Fair is the big one for me.   I get to collect that Virginia Price Trans Pioneer Award and deliver an acceptance speech at 1:30 PM EDT at the Crown & Anchor.

I was up until 4 AM EDT Monday morning working on tweaking it, and I will post the text of the speech for those of you who could not bee in the room with me at that time

I am looking forward to delivering that speech and enaging with Fan Fair attendeees in the post speech Q & A session.

There will also be another day of seminars highlighted by one discussing Transgender Hate Crimes n the Federal Government.

The day will close with the Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneeer Awards Banquet at the Crown & Anchor.

Fantasia Fair Day 1

After my travel day, and attending the welcome reception last night, and dealing with an unexpected cold snap in which the temps dived down into near freezing territory , getting up and getting ready for the first day of Fantasia Fair action here in Provincetown.

So what's on the schedule for today?

There's an orientation brunch at the Crown and Anchor, the first seminars of Fantasia Fair 41, and later/tonght at 6 PM the Town and Gown Dinner.

After we get our grub on,  at 8 PM Scott Turner Schofield (yep, THE same one from Bold and the Beautiful) takes the stage at the Provincetown Theater to perform his comedic play Debutante Balls.

An interesting first day to start off this Fantasia fair 41 week.

Hanging Out In P-Town For Fantasia Fair

I've arrived on Cape Cod after my nonstop flight to Boston and a puddle jumper Cape Air plane ride over Cape Cod Bay in a ten seat Cessna to P-town

Provincetown Municipal Airport is one of two unique aviation facilities in the country because like Jackson Hole in Wyoming, it sits in a national park.   The Cape Cod National Seashore was created by President Kennedy in 1961 and encompasses 40 miles of the Atlantic Ocean facing eastern seashore of Cape Cod.  

And yes folks, P-town airport does have a TSA facility.

Provincetown also has an interesting history.   It was the first landing site of the Pilgrims before they settled in Plymouth in 1620.   The Mayflower Compact was signed aboard the ship while it was anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor.

It was incorporated in 1727, and has a year round population of 3,000 people that swells to 60,000 during the summer resort season.   Because of its location at the extreme end of Cape Cod, an artists colony developed there;   It also has a well earned reputation as a town that is LGBT friendly, which is why Fantasia Fair started here in 1975.

And it;s cold up- here.   Temp is getting down to 38 tonight, and not long after I landed and settled into my digs at Dyer House it got cloudy and started spitting snow flurries for a few minutes

I'm excited to be here for the week and getting an opportunity to explore it.  I'm looking forward to the start of Fantasia Fair tomorrow and my big day on Tuesday.

I'm now checked into my room, gotten my conference materials with the Participant's Guide program with my smiling face on it, perused the schedule, and resting a bit before I head to the 7:30 PM Welcome Reception at the Boatslip.

Going to be an interesting week, and it starts in a few hours

The Air Marshal Takes Flight To Fantasia Fair

The Air Marshal got up at the crack of dawn so I can catch a non-stop bird taking off for Boston. My eventual destination will be Provincetown, MA on Cape Cod for Fantasia Fair and my date with trans history.  

On October 20 I become the first African-American trans person to be honored with the Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award and really looking forward to it and being in the Fantasia fair house for the first time ever..

I'm also looking forward to seeing everyone while I'm in P-town for this year's edition of Fantasia Fair.   And yes, you know I'll be tweeting and writing about what's going on during this exciting week for me.

You can follow those tweets on the #FantasiaFair hashtag or my @TransGriot Twitter feed.

Assuming my flight leaves on time at 7:45 AM, will be in Massachusetts and on Cape Cod in six hours to start the latest exciting chapter of my semi-boring life


 .

Two Weeks To Fantasia Fair

Got another reminder of how close the start of the 2015 Fantasia Fair is with the release of the Participant Guide schedule booklet that has my smiling face on it as the person being honored with this year's Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award.

I'm actually getting excited as the date for my flight to Boston and eventually Provincetown. MA and the wonders of this openly gay Cape Cod town approach.

And already have the sweaters and leather coats packed.

If you're going, it happens for me on Tuesday, October 20, and once i'm done with what I'm coming up there to do, I'll be popping in on other seminar presentations throughout the week as I shift into reporter mode for the event. 

And yes, if you can go, not to late to register, and the Fantasia Fair team would love to have you there in P-town for it..

Three Weeks Until I Make History At Fantasia Fair!

The Provincetown. MA based Fantasia Fair that started in 1975 is the oldest trans conference in the USA and probably the world, and in three weeks I get to attend it for the first time.

I also get to make some history at the 41st annual edition of it when I do.

When I step up to the podium on October 20 to accept the Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award, I will become the first African-American winner of it.  

While I can think of a few people who probably should have gotten it before I did, I'm not complaining about the blessing of making some more trans history.  I'm confident that some of my African-American trans contemporaries who have also toiled long and well in advancing the human rights of our community will get their well deserved Fantasia Fair day in the sun.

I'm also looking forward to seeing my mentor Dainna Cicotello, Laurie Cicotello and other veteran leaders like Dallas Denny, Marisa Richmond, Denise Norris, Dr Jillian Weiss, and Miqqi Alicia Gilbert just to name a few along with the Fantasia Fair attendees who see me as one of those iconic leaders.

Also looking forward to finally meeting another trailblazer in Bold and the Beautiful actor Scott Turner Schofield.  So want to talk to him as a fan of B&B about that groundbreaking trans storyline

And yeah, you know I'll be live tweeting and reporting on much of what happens this year at Fantasia Fair 2015.

Moni's Getting The 2015 Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award Press Release

I knew this was going to happen back in January, but now thanks to yesterday's press release, the whole world is aware of it.  

I'm thrilled I'll be receiving it this year, and thanks to all of you who have called or sent congratulatory messages concerning this historic achievement.

I'm looking forward to being in Provincetown, MA in October to receive this award and spend some quality time at the 41st annual Fantasia Fair with the attendees their guests and the Fantasia Fair family.

For those who haven't seen it yet, here's the press release announcing the 2015 Virgina Prince Transgender Pioneer Award.

***

PROVINCETOWN, Mass. – Real Life Experience, Inc. has announced that the Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award for 2015 will go to Monica Roberts. The award, named after the late Virginia Prince, will be presented  Oct. 20 in Provincetown, Mass. during the 41st annual Fantasia Fair conference.

Monica Roberts is an award winning blogger, history buff, thinker, lecturer and passionate advocate on trans issues.

In 1994, after seeing an article with a problematic representation of Black trans people in a trans centric magazine, Ms. Roberts resolved to participate in the next GenderPac trans lobby day in Washington DC and increase the visibility of Black trans leaders in the transgender movement. Since then, she’s advocated for trans human rights protections and has lobbied at the federal, state and local levels in Kentucky and Texas.

Monica is a founding member of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition and served on its inaugural board as its Lobby Chair from 1999-2002. She co-hosted a GLBT radio show in her hometown from 1999-2001, founded the Transsistahs-Transbrothas Internet discussion list for African-American transgender people in 2004, and helped organize the 2005 and 2006 Transsistahs-Transbrothas Conferences that took place in Louisville.

Ms. Roberts is also a prolific writer. She wrote for the Louisville-based GLBT newspaper “The Letter” and since 2006, has authored the award-winning blog TransGriot. According to GLAAD, the writings at TransGriot made Monica Roberts “the first African American trans woman to create a news outlet that not only reports trans women of color issues but also showcases the leaders in the fight for equality of trans people… filling a void in the blogosphere.” Her writing about transgender issues from a Black perspective has appeared at Ebony.com, Loop21.com, Transadvocate, Racialicious, Feministe, Global Comment, The Bilerico Project, What Tami Said and Womanist Musings.

Monica seeks to not only end the erasure of African-American trans voices from a movement they played significant roles in starting, but get African-American transpeople and other voices of color more involved in empowering themselves. Her activism focus is educating the GLBT community and allies about our issues and concerns in addition to shedding light about the struggles of GLBT people across the African Diaspora.

“We're delighted to help showcase the outstanding work of a true pioneer of our community” said Barbara Curry, the Executive Director of Fantasia Fair. Ms. Curry continues saying “Monica Roberts has made a significant, positive impact on so many. It is an honor to have her join us this October in Provincetown.”

Started in 1975, Fantasia Fair or “Fan Fair” is the oldest and longest-running gathering of transgender persons for mutual education, support, collaboration, and socializing. The week-long event happens every October in the resort town of Provincetown, Massachusetts. Presenters scheduled to appear at the 41st Fantasia Fair include Denise Norris, Marisa Richmond, Aaron Devor, Ph.D., and Dr. Jillian Weiss, and many others.

For more information about Fantasia Fair, including workshops, daily schedule, and scholarships, please visit http://www.fantasiafair.org.