White Gay Peeps, Back The Hell Up Off President Obama

One of the things I'm alarmed about is increasingly hearing from the African American acquaintances around the country I talk to, various Black GLBT people and family members who know that I interface with the GLBT community is escalating anger in the Black community over the continued attacks on President Obama.

What's feeding that anger? Hmm, where do I start?

*The Black community is still pissed over the displays of overt racist behavior and being blamed for the Prop 8 loss in California.

*We also haven't forgotten that many of the president's white gay critics were Hillary supporters.

*We remember that many white gay people unfairly attacked the President BEFORE he even entered office in January by proclaiming him as the 'worst president ever on gay rights.'

The one good thing about the Maine marriage fight is that if a loss happens there (and I pray it doesn't) you won't have Black people to blame for it since we're only 1% of the population there.

But with the President in the process of having to clean up the eight years of toxic waste from the Bush misadministration, extricate us from two wars, shut down the Dick Cheney Memorial Torture Prison in Guantanamo, Cuba, get a Supreme Court nomination through the Senate, pass health care reforms, repair and restore our battered national image around the world along with other myriad challenges he's faced since assuming office January 20, it's seen by many Blacks as selfish whining in the context of the major challenges that this country faces when you holler "Obama isn't doing anything for us', "He's all talk and no action' or 'I want (marriage equality/DOMA repeal/DADT repeal) now.'.

Hell, I and other transpeople since 1994 have wanted a trans inclusive ENDA and hate crimes passed. Thanks to you peeps who fought it like right wingers opposing your marriage rights I'm STILL waiting for that to happen.

May I also remind you that Black people have been waiting for full equality for over 200 years now.

I'm also tired of seeing the bullshit meme from white gays online that Black people hate them and don't care about GLBT rights.

No, what Black people hate is you white gays acting like spoiled brats and being called 'racist' or 'homophobic' when Black people of all stripes call your asses out on it. It's not 'racist' to state the fact that President Obama's critics in the gay community are predominately white gays. Deal with that reality.

And oh yeah, pick up a Sociology book and learn the difference between racism and prejudice. Racism=prejudice plus power.

POC's calling out whites for their behavior isn't racist. Only people who wallow in vanilla flavored privilege and conservative white males believe that.

Black GLBT people are especially sick of it. In addition to being stuck uncomfortably in the middle between the white gay community and our fellow African descended citizens when you do that, our votes, money and support of Obama helped put him in the Oval Office along with the votes of Black, Latino/a and progressives of all stripes.

It's also starting to piss off the middle class Black people whose support GLBT people cannot afford to lose. You still have much to atone for in the Prop 8 aftermath and much bridge building to do in the African-American community. Constantly attacking a still immensely popular president in our community who has only been in office ten months is seen as unfair by the Black community and it's not politically smart either.

He gets enough crap from the 'white' wing and so many death threats a day the Secret Service can barely keep up with it, and you vanilla flavored GLBT peeps are complaining he hasn't done enough for the 'gay community'?

Buy a fracking vowel and get a rainbow clue. Last time I checked, the gay community was not made up exclusively of white gay people. We're getting tired and fed up with you vanilla flavored privilege wielding GLBT peeps not only attacking our community and conveniently ignoring the fact that Black GLBT people not only exist, but we chocolate flavored GLBT peeps have a diametrically opposed view of how President Obama is doing.

The Black GLBT community is also concerned that your constant attacks are not only pissing our people off and alienating our African American cis and straight allies, you are making our job much tougher in the African American community to make the case why they should support and fight for these issues.

The reality is that Bush left the Obama Administration him a toxic mess to clean up and the man has his hands full. If the rest of us and Stevie Wonder can see that, what's wrong with y'all?

And spare me any spin lines in subsequent commentary of 'you're saying we're 'racist' for attacking President Obama or we can't criticize him.

You can criticize him all you want, but free speech cuts both ways. If you're going to loudly defend your First Amendment right to criticize the president, don't get huffy when I use my First Amendment rights to call y'all out for going overboard on your criticism of President Obama and state the obvious fact about the color of his GLBT critics. Getting mad and attacking Black and other POC critics with the 'racist' and 'homophobic' label because we did so isn't smart either.

Renee's Rule applies to this critique. If it ain't about you, don't make it about you. The people who I'm directing this critique at know who they are.

But seriously, white GLBT peeps. Don't get this twisted. I'm someone who has been in this fight with you for over a decade. I'm a marriage equality supporter and support the repeal of DOMA and DADT, but I also realize that the president can't sign bills to do precisely that unless congress PASSES the legislation. Executive orders can be overturned by the succeeding president as Bill Clinton did to Daddy Bush, Junior did unto Clinton and now Obama is now doing to George W. Bush.

I'm also a proud African descended transwoman who has her antennae up in the Black community, and the chatter I'm hearing is alarming. You can either heed the warning I'm passing along in this post and take the necessary steps to correct this perception problem or dismiss it at your political peril.

But y'all really need to back the hell up off President Obama and give him the time he needs to be the president we believe and know he can be.

Obama HRC Speech

President Obama became the second president to speak to the Washington DC HRC dinner tonight, and here's the speech.








The sniping has already started amongst white gays and lesbians.

I'll give it a day before I comment on it.

Woody's To Face Boycott

One month after Woody's owner David Scott apologized for racist and sexist remarks hurled at U of L professor Dr. Kaila Story and a group of GLBT students at his bar, he once again hurled racist statements at a different group of bar patrons.



This time, the Fairness Campaign, our local GLBT organization will be calling for a boycott at 4 PM Tuesday. It will also be discussed at the Dismantling Racism forum to be held at the Fairness Campaign office at 6 PM Wednesday.

Here's the press release from the Fairness Campaign.

***

On the night of Monday, September 21, just one month after Woody’s Tavern owner David Norton’s public apology for racist and sexist remarks made one year earlier, Mr. Norton launched another tirade of prejudice and hate against customers in his bar. According to witnesses, a bar patron lifted the corner of a pool table to dislodge balls stuck inside, which prompted a yelling spree from Mr. Norton, who ultimately chased every patron out of his establishment. As he ejected them, he yelled after patrons, calling them “trashy faggots,” and then, referring to a group of African American patrons, stated, “Look at their skin color. You know what’s on the tip of my tongue.” Following these incidents, the Fairness Campaign Coordinating Committee has approved a public boycott of Woody’s Bar and Tavern, supported by the organizations listed below.

blkout
commonGround
Fairness Campaign
Jobs With Justice
Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
University of Louisville Office of LGBT Services, Brian Buford, Director
W.E.N.C.H.
WIT (Women In Transition)

“Mr. Norton has now proven that not only was his public apology of a month ago empty, but that he refuses to change,” shared Fairness Campaign Director Chris Hartman. “We, at the Fairness Campaign, believe a stand must be made against this series of injustices, which will undoubtedly persist if Mr. Norton continues to operate his business. We demand Mr. Norton cease ownership and operation of Woody’s Tavern, or, if he will not, that its doors close.”

The Fairness Campaign and its supporters will regularly flyer potential bar patrons and the surrounding community to educate them about the boycott and encourage their participation. A public forum discussing these incidents and the public boycott is scheduled for Wednesday, October 28 at the University of Louisville. The boycott will also be discussed at the Fairness Campaign's monthly "Dismantling Racism" dialogue, Wednesday, October 7, 6PM at the Fairness office.

The Magnolia Bar and Grille, currently owned by Mr. Norton, will not be included in the boycott, as Fairness leaders have received report of its ownership changing this month. If, by the end of October, the Magnolia Bar and Grille ownership has not changed, it will be included in the boycott effort.

Not Feeling The Equality March

We are guaranteed equal protection by the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution. Free and equal people do not bargain for or prioritize our rights, so we are coming to DC this October 10-11 to demand equal protection in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states. Now.

The march is not our final destination. It is our first step toward building a national grassroots network that will continue organizing until we have achieved full equality.

The Equality March is fast approaching. It's amazing how fast this has been put together, the number of sponsors compiled, and the long list of prominent activists, GLBT bloggers and organizations that have declared their support for the march that will take place October 11-12 in our nation's capital.

You'll notice that I'm not one of them.

I think the Equality March is a good idea. I just question its value and whether it will achieve its goal of full equality.

It also depends on what the organizers definition of 'full equality' is as well.

There's a group in Kalamazoo, MI battling the Forces of Intolerance that could use some major help, volunteers and cash in keeping their GLBT law on the books.

But what do you see when you click on the NEM website? Links to the No on 1 Maine campaign and none to One Kalamazoo.

So as I suspect, I'm anticipating and willing to put money on is that the majority of the messages we'll hear on that day will overwhelmingly pertain to and be about marriage equality.

That has led to my ambivalence about this march.

My ambivalence is fueled by several factors. It's being timed for a weekend in which Congress is on a holiday recess. Translation; there will be no congrescritters in town.

I understand the planners wanted to mark the 30th anniversary of the first national march on Washington for LGBT Rights and National Coming Out Day. But we have pending ENDA and hate crimes legislation being considered in Congress right now that could have benefited from a swarm of GLBT citizens hitting the Hill to speak to congressmembers about it

It's legislation that unlike marriage equality will benefit a wide spectrum of the GLBT community.

It is diverting scarce community financial resources in the midst of a recession.

“We will continue this fight in every state, in every county, every city and every town, but we are now determined to take this fight to the federal government, to our President Barack Obama, to the Congress and the Supreme Court of the United States.”

NEM organizer Cleve Jones, May 31, 2009, Fresno, California

Reading that quote, noting the action alert on the NEM website soliciting support of Rep. Jerrod Nadler's DOMA repeal bill and the silence on ENDA and hate crimes legislation has only crystallized that impression, not dispelled it.

“The Constitution’s promise to all citizens certainly extends to LGBT Americans-particularly the Fourteenth Amendment’s promise of equal protection of the laws.” President Barack Obama

While I agree with the concept of emphasizing the 14th Amendment to overturn anti- GLBT laws, I think the major thrust of this movement should be a cause that covers the broadest section of our coalition, securing ENDA and hate crimes legislation.

Marriage equality, while its a laudable goal, doesn't meet that test.

Uof L Pride Events with Calpernia and Andrea

For my TransGriot readers who are on or near the U of L campus, I'll be back on your side of Da Ville later today for the Pride Week LGBT Alumni Reception starting at 5 PM EDT. Calpernia Addams and Andrea James will be delivering their Pride keynote speech at 7 PM EDT tonight.

Some of you expressed dismay that you missed my panel discussion Tuesday, so you get another opportunity to meet with me and chat about whatever issues you have on your minds for the next few hours.

Y'all can't miss me. I'll be the stylish dressed statuesque sistah in the room.

Looking forward to chatting with y'all. If you say hi, you may even get a shout out in my next TransGriot post.

See y'all at the University Club at 5 PM and Humanities 100 at 7 PM EDT.

Pouring Tea At U of L

I only stayed home long enough to change clothes, write a post and check my e-mail as I returned to the U of L campus for a 7 PM Pride Week event.

This time I wasn't leading the discussion. I got the pleasure of being a spectator after running my mouth with Dr. Kaila Story, Jaison Gardiner (or as I call him 'Nephew' since he calls me 'Auntie Monica') the gang in Blkout, the new African American GLBT organization on the U of L campus, and other assorted peeps on campus and in the Louisville GLBT and progressive community.

What I bounced out of the house for was to witness Dr. E. Patrick Johnson's one man play entitled 'Pouring Tea: Black Gay Men of the South Tell Their Tales'

The play grew out of the oral histories that Dr. Johnson compiled while writing his just released book published by the University of North Carolina Press.

The book is entitled Sweet Tea: An Oral History of Black Gay Men of the South.

It covered topics such as coming of age in the South, religion, sex, transgenderism, love stories to coming out. The oral histories are from black gay men and a transwoman who were born, raised, and continue to live in the South ranging in age from 19 to 93.

It was a fascinating and enjoyable two hours listening to Dr. Johnson channel the various people depicted in this play. One of the people was an old friend of mine I met at the 2004 Southern Comfort Conference.

Some of the stories hit close to home, especially when Dr. Johnson got to the section of the play about Chastity, the trans character. I was also fascinated to hear 93 year old Countess Vivian tell his stories about Black gay life in segregated New Orleans.

I had the pleasure of talking to Dr. Johnson when it was over. He is on a fall tour on various college campuses with this play as I write this.

If it appears on your campus or a campus near you, go see it. You'll be glad you did.

Dr. Story Gets Public Apology

It's a better late than never story, but yesterday U of L professor Dr. Kaila Story finally received her apology for racist and sexist remarks hurled at her and several U of L students by the owner of a local bar called Woody's.

I have much love for Dr. Story. She's the Assistant Professor of Women's and Gender Studies, with a joint appointment in the Department of Pan-African Studies. She also holds the Audre Lorde Chair in Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

But to bring y'all up to speed on what transpired here in Da Ville, last year Dr. Story along with a group of four Black GLBT friends was visiting the bar which is near the U of L campus.

She and the group were playing pool when two unleashed dogs charged into the room barking. Dr. Story was startled by the unexpected entrance of the dogs and jumped on the pool table.

The owner of the dogs was Woody's owner David Norton. He began berating her, remarking that he didn’t like “big girls” on his pool table.

That triggered an argument that spilled out into the street. Norton followed the group outside while hurling epithets, calling them “cunts,” “bitches,” “niggers” and other racist and sexist slurs.

The incident happened about the same time that a local McDonald's on Market Street hurled anti gay slurs at two white gay patrons.

Predictably the reaction of the local GLBT community was a night and day one. A protest was quickly initiated and the ACLU was called in. It resulted in a $2000 settlement paid to both of the offended persons and sensitivity training for 30 local McDonald's restaurants.

Dr. Story's situation struggled just to get the same level of action and attention since it uncomfortably highlighted the internal racism many Black GLBT people face from other GLBT people.

Norton tried to deny the incident happened, but with the May resolution of the McDonald's incident, new Fairness Campaign director Chris Hartman along with the University of Louisville's Director of LGBT Services Brian Burford revisited what happened at Woody's.

Burford wrote a letter that was posted to the Fairness Campaign website calling for Norton to apologize. He also noted the lack of GLBT community response vis-a-vis the McDonald's case

“I would’ve liked to have seen some greater response to what happened at Woody’s,” “I wished people would have boycotted. Individuals did, but in terms of an organized effort, there wasn’t one.”

Chris Hartman lamented the lost opportunity as well in the Woody's situation.

“Discrimination is discrimination. Any sort against any people is absolutely unacceptable and we will not allow it to go silently by,” says Hartman, who is now urging Norton to apologize. “It’s deplorable to continue to not offer an apology.”

Hartman also stated in the Fairness press release, “We hope this apology will begin a process of healing and reconciliation,” shared Fairness Campaign Director Chris Hartman. “This incident, however, must continue to shed light on the fact that racism pervades every community in America, including our own LGBTQ community, that any form of discrimination hurts everyone, and that no act of discrimination may go unchallenged.”

Hopefully the apology that finally occurred with the news cameras rolling yesterday will begin to jump start that process of reconciliation.

Dag Gay Peeps-Stop Tripping II

There's increased frustration and sniping coming from the gayosphere about their perception that President Obama is 'ignoring' them.

May I remind you gay peeps once again that President Obama is more than a little busy cleaning up the political and economic mess left him by the previous misadministration that many GLBT peeps got bamboozled by?

I'm getting more than a little annoyed with GLBT peeps whining less than six months into Obama's presidency that 'he isn't moving fast enough on our issues', especially when many of y'all:

A-supported Hillary
B-gave the Bush administration more time to do absolutely nothing for us.

I'm not saying President Obama isn't above criticism. But my lack of patience with it is tempered by the fact that I recall many white GLBT peeps calling him the worst president ever on GLBT issues and he hadn't even taken the oath of office yet.

So yeah, I'm giving him more time to let his deeds live up to his words.

The point is that there are more important things on the national plate than your ability to get married, DOMA and DADT repeal. I want ENDA and hate crimes passed like yesterday, and like many African-Americans we have issues on the table that we've waited years to get dealt with, too.

But the difference between the African-American community and the gay community is that we're looking at the big political picture. The GLBT community is politically immature and impatient at times, muddles its political messages, fails at times to look at the big picture and doesn't grasp the importance of unspoken communication and symbolism.

The flag issue is an example of that, and don't even get me started on its monoracial leadership.

Well, the way to build political power is to be a good ally first. If you help them pass their pet issues or support them with more than lip service, then they'll be on board with helping you with yours.

That means the next time the labor movement needs a helping hand with a protest, Latino/a's request your support on the Sotomayor nomination or African-Americans request some help trying to get congressional representation for DC, that y'all need to show up and push just as hard for those issues as you would your own.

The 2012 election cycle will be here soon. Obama has to worry about the 53% of the population and the 69,492,376 peeps that put him in the Oval Office, not just 13% (African-American US population) or 10% (the GLBT US population).

Contrary to the vanilla flavored bullshit many GLBT peeps are spouting, y'all didn't put Obama in the White House by yourselves. We Americans wishing for a progressive direction for the country did.

That means Democrats, Republicans, independents, liberals, moderates, conservatives, African-Americans, Latino/a's, Asians, Whites, Native Americans, gay, straight, bi, intersex, transgender, cisgender...Well, you get the picture.

That means gay boys and girls, to paraphrase Spock's line from Star Trek, the needs of the progressive many outweigh the needs of the progressive few.

It may have escaped those of you GLBT peeps who live in The Castro, inside the Capital Beltway or in Manhattan south of Christopher Street, but the progressive GLBT agenda for those of us in 'flyover country' doesn't begin and end with same gender marriage, DADT and DOMA repeal

You don't think GLBT peeps need universal health care? That GLBT peeps don't want or need good jobs at good wages? That there are GLBT service members not ensnared in DADT issues who want the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to end and come home?

That there are GLBT peeps who understand the importance of having a Democratic president in office for the next seven years not only selecting diverse progressive federal and Supreme Court judges, but pushing progressive change?

Whether you believe it or not, politicians noticed the gay community's decades long penchant for selling out its transgender allies and couching it in 'incremental progress' weasel words to selfishly get their own rights passed.

They also noted the lack of intersectionality work by gay community peeps who loudly dismissed it with the words 'it isn't a gay issue'.

The way the political peeps look at it, if you gay peeps repeatedly sell your own allies down the river, what are they going to do with us?

If they have to face angry constituents back home, the political peeps factor that into their cost-benefit electability analysis.

Besides, the president can't sign progressive legislation if Congress doesn't introduce or pass it. It's on us to hold Congressional feet to the fire and let them know that it's progressive change we want, not bills watered down by conservacrap.

So yeah, I believe much of the GLBT criticism being directed at President Obama is sour grapes.

I'm sick of it and y'all need to stop tripping.

LGBT Pride Month Proclamation

TransGriot Note: Here's the text of the proclamation declaring June as LGBT Pride Month. The Hillaryites in the GLBT community are still hatin' on the prez because she lost in the Dem primary, they haven't gotten over it and in their eyes he ain't moving fast enough on their issues.

Um, hello, the man did have two wars and a jacked up fiscal mess left on his doorstep to deal with. I still haven't forgotten the fact that many white gay peeps were screaming before the President Obama even took office he'd be the worst president on GLBT issues ever, and I take their selfish whining with a grain of salt.

On that note, here's the proclamation.


THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary

___________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release June 1, 2009

LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER PRIDE MONTH, 2009
- - - - - - -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION

Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans.

LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society. There are many well-respected LGBT leaders in all professional fields, including the arts and business communities. LGBT Americans also mobilized the Nation to respond to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic and have played a vital role in broadening this country's response to the HIV pandemic.

Due in no small part to the determination and dedication of the LGBT rights movement, more LGBT Americans are living their lives openly today than ever before. I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration. These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants, and across my Administration -- in both the White House and the Federal agencies -- openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism.

The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect.

My Administration has partnered with the LGBT community to advance a wide range of initiatives. At the international level, I have joined efforts at the United Nations to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include enhancing hate crimes laws, supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights, and ending the existing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security. We must also commit ourselves to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic by both reducing the number of HIV infections and providing care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS across the United States.

These issues affect not only the LGBT community, but also our entire Nation. As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected. If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our Nation was founded, every American will benefit. During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

BARACK OBAMA

Another Year, Another Student Booted From Their Prom

Ah graduation. Is it me or does it seem as though every year we have a story that blows up in the news about a student being booted from their prom for clothing issues?

Last year it was my teenage Houston homegirl Marche Taylor, who wasn't allowed to enter Madison High's prom at the Sugar Land Marriott hotel by school officials because of her skimpy dress. The heated argument that ensued with school officials ended with Ms. Taylor getting busted and taken away in handcuffs by the Houston po-po's.



I posted two years ago about KK Logan of Gary, IN who was banned from attending the 2006 West High School senior prom by Principal Diane Rouse despite wearing women's apparel during his junior and senior year.

KK with the help of Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit which is now percolating in the federal Northern District Court of Indiana.

Well, it seems as though the peeps of Guam's George Washington High School weren't paying attention to the Logan case because they just banned a student who calls himself 'Jeremy' from attending his senior high school prom in feminine attire. The guidelines created by the school's Prom Committee didn't contain any prohibitions against wearing opposite gender clothing.



"Going to prom is supposed to be like a Cinderella story. And this is no Cinderella story. I said, 'Naw-aw - I don't think so.' I'm not letting this go," promised "Jeremy". Unlike Cinderella, the local senior got booted from the ball...because he showed up in a dress.

"They didn't like the fact that I was in a dress. I was dressed appropriately following the girls code, and I looked on the list of the rules and it didn't say 'no cross-dressing, no transgenders or opposite dressing'. All it said was 'males and females'," he said.

Jeremy added that one teacher questioned whether it was appropriate for him to dress that way, saying, "When I walked in, one of the teachers put me to the side and had the audacity to ask me, 'Are you a male or a female?', and I said, 'What does that matter?' and he said, 'It matters!'"

We have yet to determine whether Jeremy had been dressing in femme attire the entire school year like KK Logan. What we do know according to the KUAM-TV story is that Jeremy hasn't received a refund for his prom ticket and spent $400 for that once in a lifetime night he can never get back.

It's also interesting to note that while Jeremy was being given the third degree by school officials, girls who wore tuxedos were allowed in.

Jeremy's classmates, who were cited as the reason for his denial of entrance to the prom because it would make them 'uncomfortable' made a mockery of that statement in subsequent interviews about the incident.

So stay tuned. Jeremy's case could get ugly before it's resolved.

Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Bill Passes House!

"I urge members on both sides of the aisle to act on this important civil rights issue by passing this legislation to protect all of our citizens from violent acts of intolerance." President Barack Obama

As we've stated for a decade, a hate crimes bill would pass with transpeople in it and did!

On Wednesday the Democratic-controlled United States House passed on a 249-175 vote and sent to the Senate the Federal Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, also known as the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Bill.

"Hate crimes motivated by race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, and identity or disability not only injure individual victims, but also terrorize entire segments of our population and tear at our nation's social fabric," House Democratic Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said while urging the bills passage.

The current law which was enacted forty years ago limits federal jurisdiction over hate crimes to assaults based on race, color, religion or national origin.

The bill broadens the original law by classifying as hate crimes those attacks based on a victim's sexual orientation, gender identity or mental or physical disability.

The Senate version of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, was introduced Tuesday by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) who stated the legislation is "long overdue" and "hate crimes are especially poisonous."

"They are acts of domestic terrorism that target whole communities, not just individuals," he said. "This bill will bring greater protection to our citizens and much-needed resources for state and local law enforcement to fight these vicious crimes."

Other sponsors of the Senate bill include Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Arlen Specter (D-PA). A Senate Judiciary Committee spokesperson said she didn't know when the committee would take up the legislation.

Let's savor this historic event, ensure it passed the Senate and let's get cracking on ENDA.

Shut Up Fool! Award-Kentucky Derby Edition

The 135th running of the Kentucky Derby happens in Da Ville tomorrow. We'll find out which horse wins the first leg of the Triple Crown and ends up in the Winner's Circle crowned with roses.

Today is Ladies Day at Churchill Downs with the running of the 135th Kentucky Oaks. All the races run today involve fillies including the Oaks. Just as the winner in the Derby gets a garland of roses, the winning horse in the Oaks gets crowned with a garland of lilies.

So sticking with the horse racing theme for this week's awards, I know y'all are ready for me to get to it, so lets see what horse's rear end wins the race for fool of the week.

There were many worthy contenders, but there is only one that was so breathtakingly stupid she's now in the running for a Shut Up Fool! lifetime Achievement Award.

And no, it wasn't Rep. Michele Bachmann.

That would be Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina. I'll give you one guess what party she reps, but the folks in Winston-Salem might consider replacing her next year with somebody that has some brain cells and a 'D' behind their name.

While arguing against the Matthew Shepard Hate Crime bill she said on the House floor the Shepard murder was a hoax. Foxx said Shepard wasn't killed in 1998 because he was gay but because he was involved in a robbery.

She said this as Matthew Shepard's mother Judy was sitting in the gallery watching the debate on this legislation.



She also asked during the House Rules Committee meeting for the bill why prostitutes weren't included, because people who hate prostitutes as a class sometimes murder them for this reason.

"Should there be an amendment to this to say that prostitutes are a protected class? "Why is it worse to go after someone who's gay than going after someone who's a prostitute?"

Rep. Virginia Foxx, shut up Fool!

Call CBC Congressmembers On Hate Crimes!

I received an e-mail from the National Black Justice Coalition this morning and it's a classic good news-bad news situation concerning hate crimes legislation.

As many of you may already know, Representative John Conyers (D-MI) introduced H.R. 1913, the comprehensive hate crimes legislation in the House.

According to the NBJC, the following Congressional Black Caucus members have co-sponsored it.

Sanford Bishop (GA)
Corrine Brown (FL)
William Lacy Clay (MO)
James Clyburn (SC)
Elijah Cummings (MD)
Alcee Hastings (FL)
Sheila Jackson Lee (TX)
Barbara Lee (CA)
John Lewis (GA)
Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC)
Diane Watson (CA)

These are the Congressional Black Caucus members according to the NBJC who SUPPORT the bill, but have not committed to co-sponsoring H.R. 1913 yet.

Gwen Moore (WI)
Mel Watt (NC)
Yvette Clarke (NY)
Maxine Waters (CA)
Kendrick Meek (FL)
Andre Carson (IN)
Marcia Fudge (OH)
Keith Ellison (MN)
GK Butterfield (NC)
Gregory Meek (NY)
Charlie Rangel (NY)
Edolphus Towns (NY)
Artur Davis (AL)
Senator Roland Burris (IL)

The bad news is that the right-wing Forces Of Intolerance and their Uncle Tom lackey ministers in the Hi Impact Leadership Coalition are already hard at work in their opposition to the bill. They are flooding their representatives with letters and calls opposing hate crimes legislation and outright lies about the bill's effects.

If you are represented by a CBC congressmembers, if they are sponsoring it, call them to thank them for their support. If they're on the missing list please take a few moments to call your congressmembers to help drown out the voices of intolerance and ask that they consider co-sponsoring H.R. 1913.

This is our chance to secure federal protections for the LGBT community from vicious attacks and hate. But we've got to flood our legislators' inboxes and phone lines to make sure they hear our message loud and clear. There are some who are using this as litmus test to gauge how much political capital they can spend on ENDA, which will have much more determined right-wing opposition when it's introduced later this year.

Please take action now, then urge everyone you know to get in touch with their representatives.

No civil rights legislation passes without the CBC being on board. The Congressional Black Caucus isn't called the 'Conscience of the Congress' for nothing. Remind the members of that proud legacy when you ask them for their support.

TransGriot Note; Received an e-mail communication from NBJC's H. Alexander Robinson about the e-mail that went out. The folks that are listed under the co-sponsors actually SUPPORT the bill, but aren't co-sponsors of it yet. Post has been corrected to reflect the new information.

Yes Perez, You ARE A Representative Of The Gay Community

I'm not a representative of the gay community, in the same way that being Cuban, I'm not representative of the Latino community.

I just speak for myself. And I'm Perez Hilton, Rick Sanchez. I can be offensive. I don't have to be politically correct. I can call her the B-word.

Perez Hilton, April 2009

One of the major errors of the GLBT community is they continue to forget that once you declare that you're gay or transition, you are a minority and the old 'rugged individualist' rules no longer apply to you.

As a matter of fact, in the Houston GLBT community we used to have signs posted in many GLBT clubs that stated:

What I do reflects on you
What you do reflects on me
What WE do reflects on the ENTIRE gay community.

It's something we already know in the African-American community, but it reminded people of the fact that whether you like it or not, the parent society will look at you as a representative of the marginalized community and your behavior better be on point lest you paint the entire community in a negative light.

One the continued problems of this movement and a reason it continues to have PR problems is the consistent failure to realize that you ARE a minority and the rules you USED to operate under are different.

You have to be cognizant of the fact that every GLBT person is a potential ambassador to the community. It's even more important to remember that point when the media spotlight is on you. When the unblinking eye of a camera is on or a tape recorder is running for a print interview, at that moment you are a representative of the GLBT community.

And as a former employee of GLAAD Hilton should know that better than anyone.

Yeah, what Carrie Prejean said was jacked up on many levels. I was even more pissed off about the 'in my country' comment that got lost in this dustup over her opinion on same gender marriage.

You had a perfect poster child for bigotry right here, but Perez Hilton fracked it up by arrogantly going too far with his criticism of Ms. Prejean.

Calling her a 'dumb bitch' was out of line. You do not have the right as testosterone based lifeform, be you gay, straight or trans to call any woman the b-word. Hilton then compounded the mistake by arrogantly stating on an international network the next day that you have the right to be offensive. I sincerely doubt you'd feel the same way if someone called you the derogatory terms for a Latino or the f-word.

That was Grade A stupid.

You also forgot the element of race that's always bubbling under the surface in American life. A Latino publicly calling a White woman the b-word ain't gonna fly.

Perez Hilton played right into the meme of the 'selfish gay male' because he grossly overreacted instead of blasting her for the comment without being offensive, then backing off and letting her get justifiably whacked in the court of public opinion.

But because he didn't, Prejean now has a plausible argument she can peddle to the Faux watching sheeple that the 'mean gay blogger' cost me the pageant, and Hilton's reprehensible antics have now turned Carrie Prejean into an aggrieved poster child for the Reichers to use as a baton to beat the community with instead of the inarticulate bigot she really is.

Gee thanks Perez, way to go.

The bottom line is that your actions, positively or negatively, DO have an effect on the entire gay community, even if you don't think so.