Goodbye, Tammy Faye

Back in 2003 I attended my first Derby party as a Louisville resident. This particular derby happened on May 3, the day before my birthday so I got the tickets as an early birthday present from friends.

The Derby Benefit is a fundraising event for the Fairness Campaign, the local GLBT org here. It's a star-studded affair just like all the other Derby parties that take place in Louisville during Derby Week. It draws its share of national celebs as well straight and gay. You also have gay-friendly celebs popping in to give shout-outs to their GLBT fanbase as well.

In addition to the fun of getting glammed up for my first Derby party, I received a double dose of pleasure when I discovered that The Lady Chablis was there in attendance along with Tammy Faye. Anna Nicole Smith was walking in just as me and my friends were leaving around 10 PM. I got the Lady Chablis to autograph my copy of her book Hiding My Candy and after chatting with Chablis for a few minutes, started talking moments later to Tammy Faye.

Aftwr remarking how she wished she was my height (a sentiment also shared by the 5'3" Lady Chablis) we talked about our faith. She said something to me that she later shared with the assembled partygoers when she went up to the mic to speak.

"God loves you, too. Never let anyone tell you that He doesn't."

I thought about that when I heard the news Sunday that Tammy Faye lost this round battling an unrelenting foe in cancer. She's beat it back twice but this time it was not to be.

Tammy Faye came across to me as a warm, funny and caring person. She's more Christian than many peeps who claim they are. She talks the talk and walks the walk. She's a class act that's definitely gonna be missed.

They Don't Want No Sissy Church

An MKR Poem

Faith brought us through the Middle Passage
Helped us survive slavery
It emboldened us to take out Jim Crow
And build community

Our ministers led us all those years
Had dreams like Dr. King
They ran for public office
And still dried our salty tears

But now they're on cable TV
Leaving some peeps in the lurch
Shufflin' for the GOP
'Cause they don't want no sissy church

Thought y'all were called by God
To take care of all your flock
When it comes to your GLBT children
It's them you demonize and mock

Adulterer, drug dealer or hooker
If you're straight then that's okay
If you're gay and wanna get married
You wanna ride with the KKK

The sermons in front of arena-sized crowds
Chock full of hate and bile
Dividing our community
Making white fundamentalists smile


You flap your gums on Faux News
Repeating the 'gay agenda' lie
But y'all were strangely silent
When Katrina caused our peeps to die


You're a fool for the GOP
Groveling for every faith-based cent
Not caring what you do to Black gay peeps
For that you'll have to repent

You Christopimps disgust me
You designer suit wearing sellout jerks
God and history will determine
Who the sissies are in the Black church

TransGriot 'R' Rated? What The @*$#?

I read a post on Pam's House Blend this morning about a Blog Rating tool that gives a blog a rating similar to the movie classification system.

For some reason her blog was rated NC-17 and according to Matt Comer's post at InterstateQ.com Pam's wasn't the only GLBT blog that got slapped with 'NC-17 or 'R' ratings. Jasmyne Cannick's received an 'NC-17. My friend Jackie's THINGS According To Me received an 'R' rating, and AC's The Polar Bear Speaks picked up an NC-17 rating.

Just for fun I plugged in the TransGriot URL to see what rating my humble blog would come up with. This is what it spit back at me in response;



This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:
gay (8x) lesbian (5x) death (4x) pain (2x) gays (1x)

It tripped me out when it was noted that racist websites such as Stormfront and many anti-GLBT websites got 'G' or 'PG' ratings along with anti-trans Exodus affiliate Reality Resources.

Hmm. Gotta promote that right-wing 'family value' of hatred, eh?

So my inquiring mind wants to know. What rating would other transgender-oriented blogs/websites get according to this 'tool'?

Transadvocate NC-17
Woman In Progress PG
Trans Media Watch PG
Trans Political NC-17
The View From (Ab)Normal Heights NC-17
TransNation NC-17
Stilettos and Sneakers NC-17
The Transsexual Revolution G
IFGE 'R'

Letter To My African-American Transgender Elders

Dear African-American Transelders,

I hope and pray your golden years find you in excellent health, a secure life situation, and satisfied with the way your lives turned out.

But there's a question I've been dying to ask those of you who walked before me.

Why didn't y'all work harder to build an African-American transgender community for mine and the generations to come?

Yeah, I realize that y'all had a lot of thangs on your plate back in the day. Fighting Jim Crow segregation, getting our voting rights, the Civil Rights Movement, dealing with HIV/AIDS and trying to make a living making 70 cents for every dollar a white person earns. That does have a much higher priority than what I'm talking about.

Don't get me wrong, I'm eternally grateful for your contributions and sacrifices that helped make my life as a late 20th-early 21st century African-American better. I'm well aware that in addition to the other challenges you African-American transgender elders faced, I am cognizant of the fact that our community is somewhat conservative on gender issues and pursuing that may have opened you up to violent attacks and even death. I'm also aware of the fact that the HBIGDA/WPATH orthodoxy at the time you transitioned was to fade away and never let anyone know you're transgender.

But damn, I feel cheated.

By going stealth, I feel that my history as an African-American transperson has been hidden from me. I know HIV/AIDS took some of you away from us, but why didn't y'all do a better job of passing that history down to my generation? Where were y'all when I needed multiple transgender role models that share my cultural background to look up to back in the 70's? Why weren't more of you visionary enough like Justina Williams for example to build organizations on a local and eventually national scale that passed that knowledge down and build a networked national community at the same time? I know y'all had the skills to do so. You proved it time and time again during the Civil Rights era.

Why did some of y'all hate us younger transpeeps so much that when we humbly asked you for the information as to the how to's of Transition 101 and longed to be mentored by you the response was stony silence, derisive laughter or derogatory self-esteem deflating comments?

My generation and others are paying for that lack of vision right now. Because you didn't think long term and pursue this in a more politically favorable environment we are now faced with the task of trying to build community and unite separate factions of dispirited peeps in a hostile conservative political environment. Our churches have been infected by a doctrine of hatred for GLBT peeps. It comes from the same white fundamentalist preachers that opposed y'all in your youth and distracts our churches from fulfilling their historic mission of seeking justice for ALL African-Americans.

But you know what? I and my generation can't wallow in what SHOULD have been done decades ago. We are faced with the daunting task of doing it now.

The transkids who are being born right now or who are are transitioning in elementary and middle school will need those resources to lean on. Shouldn't our kids have access to the same or equal resources similar to what our transbrothers and transsisters of European heritage have today that were painstakingly built up over the last twenty years? Shouldn't those resources also be geared toward their culture?

I'm not writing this letter to cast blame or start an inter generational war. That's not my intent. I'm approaching you in the spirit of Kingian love and respect for you as my elders. I wanted to convey to you the sense of loss and pain I and many African-American transpeople of my generation feel because we grew up feeling isolated and alone.

I am in the position now of being looked at as a leader and mentor to twenty something transkids. I don't want another African-American transkid on my watch to ever feel that kind of pain again and want to leave behind a world better than what I encountered. I and the current African-American transgender leadership need your help to achieve that modest goal. I would like to gain insight on what happened from your vantage point. We want and need to get your side of the story. We want to embrace the history you have to share with us so that we can pass it on. We've lost too much of our precious history already and our young people need to know about what you accomplished so that they can aspire to do something extraordinary with their lives.

Finally, we wish to lean on your hard won knowledge, be mentored by you in the time that God has granted you to remain with us on Planet Earth, learn from the mistakes as you see them through your generational prism and diligently work to ensure that we don't repeat them.

Respectfully yours,
Monica Roberts
The TransGriot

July 2007 TransGriot Column

Why “Gender Identity’ Is Necessary In ENDA
Copyright 2007, THE LETTER

Any day now Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) will be introducing his version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. We can only pray, wait and see if it mirrors the language of the recently passed HR 1592, the Hate Crimes Bill that is now as of my deadline sitting in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

But one thing I repeatedly heard in several offices I visited during the recent National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) Lobby Days May 15-17 disturbed me. Several staffers informed me that Senator Kennedy’s bill DOESN’T mirror HR 1592 by including the words ‘gender identity’ and the definition for it as set forth in Section 3.6 of the House bill. I hope by the time that this column is read that that it tuned out to be just a rumor and the bill does mirror the one that passed the House May 3.

But what if that information IS true?

There are some gay and lesbian people that would be ecstatic if that happened. Some of them have expressed the attitude that the term doesn’t belong in ‘their’ ENDA bill. That’s a fundamentally short sighted, selfish and myopic viewpoint.

It’s not the revulsion in Christobigot brains about who your bedroom partners are that causes the virulent reaction to GLBT peeps (although it is a factor in some of the discrimination experienced by gay and lesbian people), it’s the transgressing of the binary gender system.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen or read about the negative reactions of straight peeps to lesbians who exhibit behavior that’s considered ‘masculine’ or the gay male that exhibits ‘feminine’ characteristics. We transgender people know all too well that transgressing gender binaries sometimes results in death or severe injury.

A few years ago there was an incident in downtown Louisville in which a six-foot tall broad-shouldered straight woman with short hair was verbally abused and nearly attacked by a group of bigoted men who assumed she was a lesbian or a transwoman. The irony is that the woman was a student at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, which has long pushed intolerance of GLBT people as part of its ministry.

In the Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins Supreme Court case, despite glowing reviews of her major role in securing a $25 million dollar government contract, Ann Hopkins was denied a partnership in the firm in 1982 because she was considered ‘too macho.’

She was even advised at one point in order to improve her chances to make partner she should ‘walk more femininely, talk more femininely, dress more femininely, wear make-up, have her hair styled, and wear jewelry.’ She sued in 1984 and in a landmark care proved gender-based stereotypes played a substantial, motivating role in her employer's refusal to admit her to the partnership. When the Supreme Court ruled in her favor on May 1,1989 Ms. Hopkins was admitted to the denied partnership. She retired from Price Waterhouse in 2002.

Those are just two examples that point out why an ENDA that doesn’t include ‘gender or perceived gender’ language is a flawed bill. It would only cover 10% of gay and lesbian people. One of the lessons we African-Americans have learned from our centuries long struggle with the Forces of Intolerance is that when you draft civil rights legislation you design it as broadly as possible to cover the most people. You also don’t leave the bigot caucus any loopholes or wiggle room to come up with more creative ways to discriminate against you.

An ENDA that includes gender identity would not only cover all segments of the GLBT community, but also include straight people who don’t quite conform to the rigid gender binaries like the Ann Hopkinses of the world.

And that's a win for every American, be they gay, straight or transgender.

The (LIE) Impact Leadership Coalition-Lying For Da Man

One of the things that has really irritated me over the last decade is the emergence of the group of conservative Black sellout megachurch ministers who do the dirty work that their white fundie paymasters can't.

When the Reichers opposed the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act they called upon go-to homobigot Harry Jackson and his fellow Negro ministers in the Hi Impact Leadership Coalition back in April to browbeat the Congressional Black Caucus into withdrawing support for the bill. That group included Grammy-winning gospel artist and Detroit minister Marvin Winans.

The Congressional Black Caucus is not known as the 'Conscience of the Congress' for nothing. The CBC members and their staffers thankfully saw through the lies that Jackson and his merry band of homohaters were pushing. The homobigots pastors were taking their talking points from James Dobson and asserting that passage of HR 1592, which is now pending in the Senate as the Matthew Shepard Hate Crime Bill would keep them from expressing their First Amendment rights to preach anti-gay sermons and open them up to prosecution.

You know something, maybe people should file civil suits against you idiots if it's proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that your anti-gay diatribes inspired someone to go run out after the bendiction and kill a GLBT person.

The bottom line is that Jackson and his band of bigots are straight up prevaricating. There has been no law ever enacted in United States history that curtails First Amendment free speech protections and this one is no exception. In fact, the ACLU noted that HR 1592 "has stronger protections for free speech than any other federal criminal law now on the books."

How dare these so-called men of the cloth even part their lips to parrot James Dobson's false witness on this bill. Are you that joined to the hip and pockets of white fundamentalists that you can't even come up with your own creative BS in an attempt to kill this bill?

By the way, you failed. The House passed it 237-180 and it's now in the Senate.

Y'all are on the wrong side of history and this issue along with your Reicher buddies. 68% of the country is in favor of passage of this legislation, and that support according to a June 10-13 Gallup poll is BIPARTISAN. It even includes your homobigot base.

The evidence is crystal clear that bias crimes committed against transgender people are rampant and something needs to be done about it. I posted earlier about today being the seventh anniversary of the Amanda Milan killing in New York. It should be of great concern to you so-called Black preachers that your fellow African-Americans are disproportionately affected by it. Since 1999 70% of the over 300 victims posted to the Remembering our Dead list are predominately people of color.

So why in Hades would you oppose a bill that has the support of law enforcement personnel, prosecutors and the NAACP when you as an African-American know better than anyone what it's like to live life with a target on your back?

Letter To My Fellow African-Americans

Dear Fellow African-Americans,

As one of your transgender cousins who shares your ethnic heritage I am moved to ask this question.

What the hell is wrong with y'all?

What has caused some of y'all to take leave of your senses and work with white fundamentalists who only 40 years ago were not only opposed to us gaining our civil rights but didn't want you, your kids or your grandkids to marry their sons and daughters?

It's pathetically sad when you have a group of African-American ministers go up to Capitol Hill to lobby against the passage of the Hate Crimes Bill at the behest of the same group of white fundamentalist preachers who fought our inclusion during the Civil Rights Movement.

It's also mind numbing and sad to ponder that the baby daughter of the greatest American our country has ever produced, the man who eloquently stated that 'injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere' is associate pastor of a megachurch in which the senior pastor is one of our oppressors and has made anti-gay statements herself.

Why do some of you hate us so much that you will kill us, brutalize us and vote against your own political and economic interests to put people in power to curtail GLBT civil rights? Why are you tossing us out of our homes and churches, ostracizing us within our families, demonizing us inside and outside the African-American community and selectively twisting Biblical scripture to justify it?

Please spare me the 'love the sinner but hate the sin' bogus scripture BS spin line that some of you will use as an excuse to justify your ignorance and hatred. The real deal is that y'all have allowed a bunch of white fundamentalists to jack with our historic community unity by injecting a false issue into our community debate. We have far more pressing issues to deal with than whether Adam and Steve or Tanisha and Markisha get married. We have allowed The Forces of Intolerance to not only gain a foothold in our churches and our communities, but allowed them to distract our churches from their ongoing historic mission of seeking justice for our people and speaking truth to power.

And for what? So a few selfish ministers who aren't fit to shine Dr. King's shoes can chase faith-based bucks and lust for power.

Where were you Hi Impact Leadership Coalition members and sympathizers when our right to vote was being jacked with in 2000 and 2004? Oh yeah, y'all were cheesin' for the cameras at the GOP conventions and the White House. Where were you in August 2005 when our people were dying in New Orleans? Y'all constantly flap your gums to rail against GLBT peeps from the pulpit but your silence was deafening then.

As for speaking truth to power, you megachurch posers and wannabes are more concerned with photo ops, building arena-sized churches and acquiring expensive clothes and cars than fighting for the civil rights of ALL African-Americans and speaking out against injustice. Instead of leadership we get posturing, posing, doublespeak and hate-filled soundbites from anti-gay sermons instead of ones like Dr. King's 'Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution'.

Hate sermons mind you that result in the creation of a climate of intolerance, ignorance and fear that resulted in the killings of African-American GLBT people such as Sakia Gunn, Rashawn Brazell, Amanda Milan, Stephanie Thomas and Ukea Davis. I wonder what DC church the African-American EMT attended who allowed a fellow African-American named Tyra Hunter to bleed to death after a 1995 traffic accident because he discovered that she was a pre-op transwoman? He stopped treating Tyra, but had the time to insult and crack jokes about her.

If you insist that every African-American life is precious and we don't have a person to waste, then that by extension includes same gender loving folks and transpeople as well.

We are your sisters, brothers, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors and co-workers. We are also proud African-Americans who work, vote, go to church, serve in our nation's military and pay our taxes. All we're asking for is the same thing that any African-American wants, which is respect and dignity to live our lives without unnecessary bullcrap and be contributing members of society.

How many deaths, how much spilled blood, how much pain and suffering and how long will it take before you get that message, my fellow African-Americans?


Respectfully yours,
Monica Roberts
The TransGriot

Dallas Goes From Red To Pink

-As a native Houstonian I've had a good-natured love-hate relationship with the third largest city in Texas. I can't hate on it that much because my mom and uncle grew up there and a large chunk of my relatives on my mother's side of the family still call it home.

So I was intrigued to read a recent May 17 Time Magazine article that basically lets America and the world in on a little secret. Dallas has quietly become a gay-friendly city and is battling Austin for the title of most liberal city in Texas.

It's been a remarkable shift to watch. I only recently returned to Dallas last November to attend my cousin William's wedding and I was amazed by how much the city had grown and changed since my last visit in 1984. I remember riding past JR's when Oak Lawn was in the infant stages of quietly becoming a gayborhood.

Back when I was consistently running up and down I-45 on a regular basis during the 70's to mid-80's Dallas ran on the four C's of Capitalism, Christianity (the fundie kind), Conservatism and Cowboys football. Dallas was staunchly Republican before the rest of the state succumbed to that temporary insanity.

I used to rub it in my cousin's face every time he started bragging about the Irving Cowchips that we'd been represented in the Lege since 1966 and congress by an African-American since 1972 (Barbara Jordan). I'd also point out that Houston is the historical center of African-American history, achievement and culture in Texas.

But Dallas has been gaining fast and shutting down my pro-Houston bragging points one by one. Eddie Bernice Johnson joined the congressional ranks from the Texas state senate when the 30th Congressional District was created in 1990.

It was a mild source of irritation to me that Dallas elected the first African-American mayor of a major Texas city when they chose Ron Kirk in 1995, beating us Houstonians to that milestone distinction by two years. I was also a little irritated that despite being one of five Houstonians who have earned IFGE Trinity Awards for our advocacy and service to the GLBT community, it was Dallas that became the first large Texas city to pass GLBT job protections. In 2004 they elected Latina lesbian Lupe Valdez as Dallas County sheriff. Dallas may also beat us to the distinction of having the first openly gay person elected mayor of a large Texas city if Ed Oakley wins the upcoming June 16 runoff election.

Dallas has a transwoman by the name of Monica Barros-Greene who owns a popular restaurant in Big D. In 2005 she ran for city council, received the endorsement of the Dallas Morning News but lost a close race to Pauline Medrano.

Now that I've finished digesting my Hater Tots, as much as it pains me to say it, Dallas has it going on. In the 2006 midterm elections they raised eyebrows among Texans when the former Republican bastion saw Democrats sweep every city, county and judicial race in Dallas County. Dallas has according to the 2000 census the 9th largest concentration of same-sex couples residing in its metro area.

As the Time article pointed out, Dallas knows like Louisville and Lexington a fundamental truth about American urban life. Urban sophistication requires gay civilization.

Oh well, I can still tease my cousin about living in the ONLY Texas city without an NBA (or WNBA) title.

Transgender Christian-Not an Oxymoron

I was baptized at my home church on August 2, 1972. Ever since that day, just like other African-Americans my faith has been an important cornerstone of my life.

I have strived to as much as humanly possible live my life and treat others that I come in contact with as my Christian beliefs dictate that I should. While I haven't been 100% compliant in living up to that lofty standard, I continue to diligently work toward trying to achieve it. So I fail to understand why peeps who call themselves 'Christian' would harbor so much vitriolic hatred for GLBT peeps that they would do whatever it takes to make our lives miserable.

I'll deal with that in a future post. Job One of this post is to help transpeeeps and others understand that being transgender and Christian are not mutually exclusive.

How many times did you say the Transgender Child's Prayer growing up? You didn't know there was one? It's short, sweet and is a one line sentence usually tacked onto the end of the Lord's Prayer. Sometimes it's said as a stand alone one.

Lord, please let me wake up tomorrow and be a (girl/boy) forever.

I said that one more than a few times myself.

Let's fast forward into adulthood. Being transgender is an exercise in faith. You have the knowledge and conviction that you're gender and body doesn't match. You believe that somehow, someday and someway you will make body and mind match up irregardless of what the world says, thinks or does to you. You will also take steps to make that a reality. The saying 'The Lord helps those who help themselves' definitely applies to transpeeps.

That rock solid conviction that you have as a transperson is the same level of conviction that you need to have as a Christian. Just as you feel the euphoria of finally living in your birth gender, you feel the same calming, peaceful effect when you accept Him as your Lord and Saviour. You become a better person as you learn to trust in the Lord, study the Word or attend chruch on a regular basis. (unless you join the Traditional Values Coalition or the Hi Impact Leadership Coalition)

I remember when I reached a point in 1993 when I was fed up and ready to start transition. I was hesitant that I was doing the right thing and prayed for signs that I was supposed to be female.

Boy did they come fast and furiously after that.

One day I randomly opened my Bible and found myself reading Matthew 19:12. I work a San Antonio flight and see female illusionist Maya Douglas on it. I work a New York flight two days later and see a girl returning from having her facial feminization surgery with Dr. Ousterhout in San Francisco. I'd been having problems reconciling my height with the gender issue. I see one girl I knew from hanging out in Montrose proudly strutting her 6'4" frame through downtown Houston streets in daylight hours a few days later. I get home and discover I have a call on my answering machine from my fave cousin Karen inviting me to come out to Los Angeles for a visit.

After I arrived in LA we ended up at a church watching TD Jakes speak. One part of his hour long sermon struck me like a thunderbolt. I recall him saying. "There are times when you will be placed on a path in which your friends and others will revile you, your family will turn away and you won't even understand it. Keep the faith and God will guide you through it." It was like he was speaking directly to me about the emotional tug of war I was having about transition.

But it took me having a recurring dream for three consecutive nights before I finally made that appointment at the clinic that started me on the road to transition. As Christine Daniels has mentioned in her blog, I've also discovered that my spirituality and faith has been enhanced by transition, not diminshed by it no matter what our misguided detractors have to say.

There have been times during my transition when I've had setbacks, trials and tribulations. I was frustrated, felt alone and wondered if I had the strength to keep pushing forward with my desires to be the best person I could be. My faith played a major role in helping me get off the canvas, stop feeling sorry for myself, dust myself off and get back in the game of life.

TD Jakes was also right about keeping the faith. It's definitely led to a better quality of life. The amazing part about it is that I don't think God is finished with me yet.

Transgender Teen Free To Be Herself

By DEBRA DENNIS / The Dallas Morning News
debdennis@dallasnews.com

photos by Ben Sklar / The Dallas Morning News

12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, May 20, 2007



FORT WORTH – When Rochelle Evans chooses what she's going to wear to Eastern Hills High School each day, her choices aren't solely fashion statements. To Rochelle, her flats, makeup and women's jeans represent a hard-fought right to express herself.

And a subtle declaration about transgender teens everywhere.

The 15-year-old transgender sophomore, who started high school as Rodney Evans, recently fought a public battle against school administrators over wearing women's clothes and her reaction when confronted by school officials. As part of the deal, Rochelle is addressed as a female and gets to use the nurse's bathroom to avoid
any awkward scenes in the boys' or girls' restroom.

I just felt more comfortable being a girl," she said. "I'm not asking for any special treatment."

For a while, she attended classes wearing both male and female attire but said that felt like a compromise.

She got herself suspended when asked not to wear her wig, fake breasts and short skirt to school.

Her attorneys met with school officials this month and hammered out an agreement that got her back in school. And Rochelle must attend summer classes to make up for missed classes.

"There was never a day when I was Rochelle for the whole day," Rochelle said. "I love makeup. I started wearing makeup because it helped to complete me more. It made me feel more like a girl. With the help of makeup, you can create your own kind of life."

She has learned to make the six-block walk to school in high heels.

Her schoolwork is tucked inside a large book bag that doubles as a purse.

Rochelle says she willingly toned down to less flashy attire – going from skirts to jeans – but wants the dignity of her pronouns.

"I have earned them," she said.

Transgender teens are demanding acceptance in all facets of society including school, said Simon Aronoff, deputy director of the National Center for Transgender Equality in Washington, D.C.

"Ten years ago, a transgender teen would not even consider being true to their gender while at school," Mr. Aronoff said. "But now we have youths who are coming out to their parents and wanting to go to school in the gender they feel more comfortable in. Sometimes, the younger generations are more accepting."

Lenora Felipe, Rochelle's mother, sides with her, although her support was not easily won.

"I admit I was confused," Mrs. Felipe said. "She's always been very feminine. I thought, as long as I keep putting him in boys' clothes, he's a boy. Well, that didn't work."

With counseling, Mrs. Felipe said she was able to better understand that her son is a transgender male who cross-dresses.

"I had to accept that," said Mrs. Felipe, a barber who has two other children – an 11-year-old girl and 14-year-old boy. "I was still being educated, but when it all came to the surface, I didn't understand. Why fight it? I support and love my child and try to make her safe and happy."

But that did not mean acceptance by all.

Mrs. Felipe said she was bombarded with calls from school administrators who said Rochelle's dress was disruptive.

They also complained that she skipped classes and used curse words when confronted by adults.

Rochelle's attorneys, Jerry W. Simoneaux and Phyllis Randolph Frye of Houston, worked out an agreement with school officials.

"They were addressing her as 'Rodney' and as 'he,' " Ms. Frye said. "Transgender is nothing new. It's gone through the schools. If it helps her to be able to deal with all of the problems that teens go through, then she should be allowed to say how she wants to be addressed."

Fort Worth school officials say they are committed to ensuring the safety of all students.

"The district vigorously enforces the student code of conduct, especially when it comes to harassment and bullying," said Chuck Boyd, the district's director of secondary school leadership. "We assure that all students are going to be treated safely and fairly. Our mission is to afford anyone a fair and appropriate education."

Rochelle and her friends say that her transformation has caused only a few problems at school.

La'Star Hardwick, 16, has been friends with Rochelle since both were in seventh grade.

She still calls her "Rodney" – a habit she has yet to break.

"Most of the students are cool, but there are some boys who act like they're uncomfortable," said La'Star. "But it's just a few, and they are not bullies."

Rochelle said she hopes to promote an understanding about transgender issues. She said she felt bullied mostly by school officials, not by classmates. Her classmates are asking questions and seeking answers, she said.

"I look at the world now and everyone knows there are transgender teens in Fort Worth," Rochelle said. "Some students thought I was gay, and I would say I'm not gay, I'm transgendered. They had no knowledge what it meant.

"They are trying to understand what it means and understand how I feel," she said. "They are asking me questions, doing their own research. They're on the Internet. In some ways, I'm a teacher."

Transgender Prom Queen

TransGriot Note: photos-Crystal (Johnny) Vera after being crowned, Toby (Cinthia) Covarrubias tux fitting, my classmates Jimmy Hernandez and Michelle Baines from the Jesse H. Jones 1980 prom, Crystal Vera and friend in official photo.

Remember when I posted the AP story last May about the drama Kevin Logan underwent in Gary, IN last year? The African-American transgender teen spent her entire senior year living as a female but was denied entry to the prom.

What a difference a year makes. Nice to see this inspiring story from the Fresno Bee concerning transteen Crystal (Johnny) Vera. Vera was crowned prom queen at Fresno's Roosevelt High School less than a month after Toby (Cinthia) Covarrubias' newsworthy run for prom king at Fresno High School.

Covarrubias didn't win but said at the time of his candidacy that he hoped to break the ice for other students who are transgender. Looks like that just happened, but I am saddened to hear that Toby has had much Hateraid thrown his way since the story broke on CNN.


Seeing all this news about proms made me recall my own back in 1980. I remember how out of place I felt sitting at the table with my friends in a powder blue tux secretly envious (and jealous) of my female classmates who were wearing their prom dresses. I liked growing up in the 70's but there are times that I wish that I was growing up as a transteen right now.

It reinforces the points that me and other transpeeps made on the Hill over the last few days.

We're here and we're Americans too. Just like anyone else we want a fair shot at contributing our talents to helping build our country and living quality lives. We aren't going away no matter how much screaming comes from the christobigots and haters.

Christine's Rebuttal to A Reader

Some of you may have heard about longtime LA Times sportswriter and syndicated columnist Mike Penner's April 26 announcement that he was beginning his transition to become Christine Daniels.

Christine is still working at the Times and is now maintaining a blog on her transition called 'Woman In Progress'. She recently had a christobigot write in and here was her response.

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Email from the edge

Now that I've changed my email address, I'd like to address my email.

Or, rather, one email in particular.

Ninety-nine- point-and- then-some percent of the messages I have received in the last week, my first week out as Christine, have been supportive, sympathetic, encouraging, understanding, touching, and moving-- basically, the most overwhelmingly pleasant shock of my life. I would like to individually thank everyone who has written, but if I did, I'd get even less sleep than I did before my concerned psychiatrist wrote me up a prescription for a sleeping aid on Tuesday.

I never expected anything close to this sort of response.

In fact, on the eve of my coming-out column's publication, I feared I would be hit with more of the kind of email Mike from Rancho Santa Margarita lobbed my way a couple days ago.

From Mike:

"I have long considered the Times' sports page to be the best in the state, if not the nation. However, I am appalled and disgusted at your column on Thursday, April 26. To say that humans are 'wired' that way is just denying absolute truth. I know that in today's secular progressive society, we're taught to 'accept' everyone, but this is going beyond acceptance. We are being asked to accept something that is morally repulsive. In no way is this anywhere near normal human behavior.
I have prayed for you, and will continue to do so. I have always admired your writing, but I will no longer read any article written by you. I am by no means advocating your firing. Instead, I felt it necessary to make you aware that your actions are Biblically unacceptable. "

Dear Mike,

I don't know what Bible you're using, but you might want to check the pull-date on that one. My Bible is the same one used by my pastor, who has counseled me throughout the early stages of my transition, helping me to stay on track and continue moving forward, because that is the plan God has s for me.

My transition has rekindled my spirituality, I am happy to say.

Often, too much focus gets placed on the physical changes brought about by a transsexual's transition -- through hormones, electrolysis and surgery. More than anything, my transition has been a spiritual journey, soul-searching and intense introspection accompanying every step of the way.

Why is my soul filled with so much feminine energy?

Why was I given such an agonizing burden to carry?

Did God simply decide it was time to draft a high-profile journalist with communication skills and a powerful platform for the task of spreading the message of transgender tolerance and acceptance_ a message that was long and painfully overdue?

Who can say? I do know this: God loves transgender people. He created transgender people. In some cultures - the world does not begin and end at U.S. borders, despite what our current administration thinks _transgender people are considered closer to God. They are revered as "two spirited" by these cultures, who often turn to transgender people as their spiritual healers and shamen.

I attend church every week. My church and clergy are more than supportive of my transition. In fact, they have encouraged it.

My pastor has told me repeatedly, "Christine, God created you the way you are. He made you a special person. He put you on this journey for a reason. By completing your journey and becoming the person God intended you to be, you are honoring Him."

Secure in my spirituality,
Christine
May 04, 2007

Copyright Los Angeles Times

I'm Boycotting Jamaica

No love
It's not right
If you're gay in Jamaica
You get beat down on sight
(sung to the tune of Bob Marley's 'One Love')


TRELAWNY, JAMAICA - A cross-dreser was set upon and severely beaten by a mob in Falmouth's Water Square yesterday morning.

Police who were called to the scene had to fire warning shots to disperse the stone-throwing, stick-wielding mob, which succeeded in tearing off the man's black-and-white form-fitting blouse and jet black wig.

According to eyewitnesses, the man was spotted at approximately 8:30 am in the town centre apparently waiting for transportation. He was wearing heavy make-up, high-heeled shoes, a long pair of shiny earrings, a black leather jacket over a snug black-and-white blouse, a tight-fitting pair of jeans, a black wig, a pair of sunglasses and a handbag slung over his broad shoulders.

It was not clear yesterday how the alarm was first raised. However, the Observer was told that the assault began as soon as someone in the busy square shouted that the person was actually a man wearing female attire.

The news of the man's presence in the community spread rapidly and in a matter of minutes scores of angry residents converged on the scene and began to rain blows all over the cross-dresser's body with sticks, stones and whatever weapon they could find. "Where is the police station at?" the frightened man screamed.

During the melee, the wig the man was wearing fell off and wads of newspaper stuffed in a brasserie to lift the man's chest dislodged, while a cosmetic kit containing lipsticks of varying colours was thrown from a bag he was carrying, much to the amusement of the large crowd who stood watching.

"B***y boy fe dead," persons among the mob shouted. The sentiments were echoed by the rest of the riled-up crowd.

"Falmouth no pet no b***y boy. We no want none a them bout here," one woman yelled.

After the mob dispersed, the victim was whisked off in a police service vehicle, much to the disapproval of the crowd who rushed upon the vehicle demanding the man's release. "If you ever did see him. Him dress hotter than you and me," one young girl was overheard telling her friend.

"Nu worry man, we gi him a proper [beating]," one man said proudly.

The man was admitted to a hospital. However, a police spokesman said last night that a group of people, who wanted to beat the man on his release, were waiting outside the hospital, which, he said, could delay his release from the health facility.

Yesterday's beating was the second such in a month in western Jamaica.
In the previous incident, several men alleged to be homosexuals were chased, beaten and stabbed, resulting in one of them being hospitalised, during the Supreme Ventures carnival on Gloucester Avenue, Montego Bay. The men were said to have gone onto the stage and gyrated on each other, angering the patrons.

-------------------------------

Sadly, this is not an isolated incident in Jamaica these days.

When is someone in the Jamaican government gonna step up to the plate and state the obvious? It's not okay to beat down or kill your fellow citizens simply because you ASSUME they are gay, don't like who they sleep with if they are, or look better in a dress and heels than you do. It's also bull feces to hide behind religion to justify your naked bigotry.

Until Prime Minister Portia Simpson or someone in the Jamaican government makes that simple declaration, I propose that GLBT people worldwide initiate an immediate economic boycott of Jamaica.

Maybe hitting them in the wallet will get them to stop the madness.

The sad part is that Jamaica is one of my top ten places in the world that I would love to visit. But since they're beating and killing GLBT people on the streets and probably aren't taking the time to ascertain whether they're tourists or locals, I'm not going to the most homophobic place on Earth.

As of today I refuse to spend any more of my hard earned dollars on potential Jamaican vacations, Jamaican products, Red Stripe or Jamaican rums until they come to their senses. If I'm on a cruise and the ship stops in a Jamaican port I'm not going ashore to support the local economy.

If Jamaicans will not make room for my GLBT brothers and sisters to live peacably in their homeland and continue to viciously attack them and kill them, then why should my dollars support their naked bigotry and hatred?

Thank you Bishop Noel Jones. You and your cohorts in the Jamaican Anglican church have the blood of the Jamaican GLBT community on your hands for not only fostering the climate of hatred, but lobbying the Jamaican parliament to keep the anti-gay laws in place that are one of the root causes of the violence.

Roseanne Has A Point

While interviewing Jasmyne Cannick as a guest host for a radio show on KCAA-AM in San Bernardino, CA last week, Roseanne Barr made the following comments about gay peeps.

Never once in my 54 years have I ever once heard a gay or lesbian person who’s politically active say one thing about anything that was not about them. They don’t care about minimum wage, they don’t care about any other group other than their own self because you know, some people say being gay and lesbian is a totally narcissistic thing and sometimes I wonder.

I’ve never heard any of them say anything except for “accept me ‘cause I’m gay.”
It’s just, it’s screwed. It’s no different than the evangelicals, it’s the same mindset. They want you to accept Jesus and you guys want us to all believe it’s ok to be gay. And a lot of us, a lot of them, I do, I don’t give a damn who anybody has sex with, as long as they’re not underage and an animal. I don’t give a damn, it’s none of my damn business. I’m just sick of all the divisiveness, it’s not getting any of us anywhere.

The Victory Fund swiftly released a statement condemning remarks and quickly trotted out openly gay Alabama state legislator Patricia Todd and her work to establish a state minimum wage as a example of a gay person who does care about the issues she raised. Here in Kentucky Louisville's Fairness Campaign has consistently lent its voice to a wide range of causes beyond its primary focus on GLBT civil rights issues.

But Roseanne does have a point. There are too many gays who selfishly don't care about any issue other than their own civil rights. Unfortunately there are many African-Americans and others nodding their heads in agreement with her. The transgender community has experienced that attitude all too often since Stonewall and over the last 13 years.

We have a running battle going on with elements of HRC and some gay activists over transgender rights issues. We've been dismissively told by some of them 'it's not our turn' or 'wait until we get OUR rights and we'll come back for you' as they cut transgender peeps out of 'their' hate crimes and employment bills over the last decade at various levels of government. Some have even loudly complained we shouldn't even be part of 'their' movement while getting indignant over African-Americans flipping the script on them. Their panties get all in a bunch when African-Americans say that the GLBT rights movement is not the same as the 60's Civil Rights Movement and they need to stop hijacking 'our' movement.

African-American GLBT/SGL peeps have long had drama with the selfish white gays over racism in the community and their double standards about it. Gay peeps justifiably fumed, ranted and raved over Tim Hardaway's and Isaiah Washington's comments. They generated reams of press releases condemning them while the selfish ones flocked to watch a white gay man named Chuck Knipp do a demeaning minstrel show that African-American peeps have been loudly protesting since 2002. They then have the temerity to tell us to 'get over it'. When we call them on their double standard they spew racist invectives at SQL's African-American critics to defend the gay man doing the minstrel show.

Ain't that a switch.

Black gays, y'all ain't off the hook on this, either. There are many of you who only care about where's the next fabulous party, pageant or ball than being engaged and involved in the community. Before y'all start tripping I know that there are many African-American GLBT peeps who ARE active in various organizations and doing wonderful work to uplift the race. Unfortunately the perception out there is that we're not and don't care.

Roseanne apologized for the statement, but it's that perception and the actions of some gay peeps that led her to make it in the first place.

April 2007 TransGriot Column

Chill Out Calling Women You Don’t Like Trannies
Copyright 2007, THE LETTER

One thing I’m getting a little sick of is the trend in the blogosphere, the Internet and elsewhere to use ‘trannie’ as an epithet for women you despise.

For several years now 6-foot conservative commentator Ann Coulter has been bombarded with the ‘Mann Coulter’ wisecrack. Yeah, she’s said far worse things about gays, liberals and a whole host of peeps that we need to forcefully call her on. But why stoop to her middle school level of discourse?

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about from the blog ‘Moon Over My Hammy’:

‘Isn’t it Ironic . . . that Ann Coulter would call Edwards a "faggot" when she looks like a post-op transsexual?'

It’s hypocritical for the progressive community to get its panties in a bunch about Coulter’s f-word insult of John Edwards and then counterattack by calling her transvestite, transsexual or transgender. The part that galls us even more about this is that we’re supposed to be your allies in the struggle against these conservaidiots.

It’s not just progressive bloggers who are culpable. Gay ones such as Perez Hilton and others have savaged 5’8” Paris Hilton as well by repeatedly calling her and her sister Nicky trannies. Tina Fey commented during a recent interview on Howard Stern’s Sirius radio show that “Paris looks like a tranny up close.”

That remark is also hurled at 6-foot former model Kimora Lee Simmons as well as any other women perceived as having traits that ‘belong’ to the opposite gender. While I would expect that crap from the general public, It angers other transwomen and me even further when GLBT peeps such as Perez Hilton are engaged in doing it.

Let me ‘edumacate’ y’all on something. GLBT peeps should know that better than any other humans on Planet Earth that no one is 100% male or female. You get some of your genetic and physical traits from mommy and some from daddy. In many cases you get a blend of the two.

One of the things my female relatives noticed about me before and since transition is my naturally long eyelashes. I got relentlessly teased in junior high about my 'girl's legs’ and ‘girl’s butt’ by the fellas in my gym classes.

Just because Paris Hilton wears size 11 shoes and Ann Coulter has a huge Adam’s apple doesn't necessarily make either one of them transsexuals until they proclaim otherwise. I know more than a few petite transwomen as well as genetic women who are taller than my 6’2” height.

While there are a lot of genetic women that we in the transgender community would happily embrace as our sisters and welcome them with open arms, Paris and Ann ain't high on my personal list of peeps I’d love to see declaring they are transwomen.

The problem with using transgender or transsexual as pejorative terms is that it reinforces the views of some less-than-enlightened people in our society that being transgender is wrong or strange. Some people in the transgender community also consider the term transvestite an inflammatory insult, so it’s doubly wounding to us if you call somebody out using that word simply because you loathe them.

If you feel the need to insult someone, find some other creatively shady epithet to use (and not the b-word either). Transwomen deal with enough accumulated slights, slurs, negativity and assaults on our self-esteem and images from our foes. We don’t need our allies contributing to the dissing of us as well by using the terms we chose as a community to describe ourselves to insult our genetic sisters.

Katrina Rose

Another installment in my ongoing series of articles on transgender and non-transgender women who have qualities that I admire.

I first met Katrina Rose when she and I transistioned in Houston back in the mid 90's. I was the lone African-American member of TATS (Texas Association for Transsexual Support) the local transgender group and feeling a little isolated in it until Kat and my Latina homegirl Alexandra joined.

We bonded almost immediately. As I've mentioned I like having intelligent people around me and Kat definitely fit the bill. She was attending law school at the time and loathes hypocrites as much as I do. We also loved discussing history, politics and other real-life subjects that often put us at odds with some then members of the TATS group who were more concerned about getting SRS and going stealth.

Kat's also a gifted writer, photographer and painter. She wrote a column for several years in a local GLBT newspaper while I was doing my radio show co-hosting with Jimmy Carper on KPFT-FM at the time. It's kind of an interesting twist in our lives that now I'm the one writing the newspaper column and she's doing radio.

We're an unbeatable team when we're partnered together at Trivial Pursuit. We used to beat up on our fellow TATS members so badly that they wouldn't allow us to play on the same team after a while. ;) I also admire the relationship she has with her mother.

Kat's now happily married, working on her doctorate and does a podcast radio show these days when she's not cracking books, teaching classes, attending law conferences, teaching seminars and writing scholarly legal articles.

Miss Honey Dijon

Another installment in my ongoing series of articles on transgender and non-transgender women who have qualities that I admire.

Since I like to spin from time to time (70's-80's-90's R&B, old school hip-hop and jazz are my favorites) my homegirl Jordana brought this transwoman to my attention during a long IM conversation we were having one night.

Miss Honey Dijon has become one of the most sought after DJ's in New York's party scene.

She grew up in Chicago during the early days of house music exposed to the work of legendary house DJ's Frankie Knuckles AKA The Godfather of House, Ron Hardy and Andrae Hatchett. She would later be inspired and encouraged to become a DJ herself by influential DJs such as Danny Tenaglia and others.

After spending a short time in Washington D.C. she moved to New York in the mid-90's and rapidly became one of New York's top DJ's with her infectious mix of house, acid, hip-hop and new wave. Some peeps describe it as a Chicago house sound with a deep New York underground feel to it. She's been featured in Wigstock: The Movie , articles in various DJ magazines and nominated for several local DJ awards.

Miss Honey Dijon is someone that I am looking forward to meeting one day and hearing her spin. If you are lucky enough to see her in your locale or get to New York don't miss her.

Your dancing feet will be glad you did.

She Swoopes To Conquer

By Arnold Wayne Jones
Staff Writer, Dallas Voice
Mar 8, 2007, 19:12

WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes, who rocked pro athletics by coming out at the height of her career, has some choice words for Tim Hardaway

More people have probably used the words “gay” and “basketball” in the same breath in the last two months than at any other time in history. And it’s not because of March Madness. The discussion was stirred by retired NBA player Jon Amaechi’s decision to come out, followed soon thereafter by ex-star Tim Hardaway’s proudly homophobic remarks that gay people shouldn’t be allowed to exist.

But the dialogue over gay athletes in basketball really started more than a year ago when WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes came out.

At the time of her admission to being lesbian in October 2005, Swoopes became (and still remains) the only player on a professional team sport to come out as gay or lesbian while still active.

What made her announcement all the more remarkable was that it came not from a minor player or someone hawking a new memoir, but an acknowledged superstar in her field with nothing to sell at all. No, the Texan-bred Swoopes — a three-time MVP with the Houston Comets, three-time Olympic gold medalist and the first woman to have a Nike shoe named for her — had far more to lose financially than to gain. Yet she came out anyway.

Prior to her appearance at several events in Dallas this weekend, Swoopes shared her thoughts about the Amaechi-Hardaway debacle, the state of pro sports for gay athletes and why she chose to come out when she did.

Sheryl Swoopes will appear at a private home at 5214 Livingston Ave. at 6 p.m. on Friday. $350. 972-383-6926. She will also speak at the Lambda Legal Women’s Brunch, “Making the Case for Equality,” at a private home at 8505 Douglas Ave. at 11 a.m. on Saturday. $100 suggested donation. 214-219-8585.


Were you surprised when Jon Amaechi came out — or by Tim Hardaway’s response? No and no. I think what Jon Amaechi did was very courageous. And obviously, I am very supportive of the decision he made. I was not surprised by what Tim said, but it could have been any NBA player to make that comment. That’s how society is, and how sports are. It is kind of disappointing. I have know Tim Hardaway for a while and admired him as an athlete, so to hear his comment made so strongly was more hurtful and disappointing than anything.

Had Tim Hardaway ever said such things to you directly? No. But then I don’t hang out with NBA guys. I saw him in January, and he didn’t treat me any differently than he ever has.

After you came out, did anyone make Hardaway-like comments about you? I haven’t heard any yet. It wouldn’t surprise me if it happened and I just don’t know about it — I’m sure people had comments but everything I’ve heard directly has been very positive and supportive.

You came out while still an active player, a first for a team-sport athlete. Why? It didn’t have anything to do with me saying, “Do I want to do it while I’m still playing or do I want to wait?”

For me, the timing was perfect. I was at a point where I was tired of not being able to be me. I knew I’d have to deal with everything that came along, whether it be good, bad or indifferent. But I didn’t discuss my decision with anyone. I just said, “This is the day.” I could not ask what’s gonna happen, what’s the league is going to say, how my teammates would feel.

That was brave. I think so, too. But there are so many other issues that are bigger and more important in this world than we should be concerned with than dealing with someone’s sexuality. Of course, that’s what people want to read, so that’s what people cover.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban recently said he thinks gay players should come out because it would actually do wonders for their marketability, making them media stars. Agree? I agree — it would be a huge media circus. But I would bet my life that he’d have a hard time selling that to current NBA players. When I made my decision — and to this day I haven’t regretted it — I didn’t say, “These are all the endorsements I could lose.” What I gained was peace of mind and happiness, which outweighs all the money in the world.

But when you talk about male athletes — and not just basketball players but all male professional athletes — their biggest concern is “What about my endorsements? What’s the money I’m going to lose?” It becomes such a huge male-ego thing. Even Jon Amaechi said the NBA is not ready for a current player to come out.

What Tim Hardaway said not only hurt Jon and myself but all the younger people who are dealing with this who think “I can’t do this because this is how people truly feel.” And I think that’s unfortunate. I think what Jon and I did will do the world more good than harm; what Tim Hardaway did is just the opposite.

Do you think it was harder to come out because you did still had to deal with teammates and fans? I think it’s hard, period. There are so many issues you have to deal with. I don’t think it’s any easier for a female athlete than a male. But I got to a point where I didn’t care about those things anymore. The entire time I was being what everybody else thought I should be, I was totally miserable. I would go to bed with a headache or a stomach ache and wake up that way. No one in their right mind could say that was healthy or good.

I have to thank Martina [Navratilova] and Billie Jean [King], because when they made that decision they lost so much money. But they kind of set the bar for other female athletes. They did it and are very successful now — why shouldn’t I? Why couldn’t I?

Aside from the gay issue, what is the state of the WBNA right now? I think there’s always room to grow. When you look at the women’s college game, it’s in a very good place. Look at all the talent and potential that’s there.

As for the WNBA, we have a lot of room to grow and you can only hope that the WNBA is going to be very successful. I do believe it will be around a while because of all the talent.

How do you want to be remembered as an athlete? I’m proud of what I did or helped to do at Texas Tech, which I think will always be remembered. Being on the first team to win four championships in a row, and the first woman to receive three MVP awards, was great. And being able to represent your country [in the Olympics] is phenomenal honor, but three times was a dream come true. One doesn’t mean more to me than another.

But when I’m done playing, whether that’s in a year or two or three, I want people to look back and say I had it all and did it all. Every time I stepped on the floor, I left if all there.



This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition March 09, 2007
© Copyright by DallasVoice.com

Houston Unity Banquet Tickets Go On Sale

Renowned activist Ray Hill to keynote April 14 event


The Houston Transgender Unity Committee has opened ticket sales for the 15th annual Houston Transgender Unity Banquet, which will be held on Saturday, April 14, at the Westchase Hilton (9999 Westheimer at Briarpark), 6:30 p.m. until 1 a.m.

Tickets are $50 in advance ($60 at the door) and can be purchased through Ticketweb at the Unity Committee website, www.htuc.org. Tickets are also available at Jewel’s Boutique (2404 Taft near Fairview) and by mail (P.O. Box 542287, Houston 77254).

Some proceeds from Unity Banquet ticket sales support the Peggy Rudd Transgender Scholarship Fund. For the second year, the Unity Committee will present a scholarship at the banquet to a transgender-identified student pursuing higher education. The Rudd Scholarship application is available at the Unity Committee website.

The 2007 Unity Banquet, which is the largest single-night transgender event in the nation, is dedicated to the memory of the transgender advocate and HIV/AIDS activist and educator Brenda Thomas (1943-2006). Thomas was the Unity Committee executive director. Among her many achievements and honors, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2002 Unity Banquet and the Trinity Award, which honors transgender heroes, from the International Foundation for Gender Education in 2004.

Ray Hill, the renowned activist for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender rights, is the Unity Banquet keynote speaker. During the banquet, representatives from other local transgender groups will make presentations about their work. These groups include Helping TransGenders Anonymous, Houston Transgender Life Connection/Thursday Night Social Group, STAG/Some Transgenders Are Guys, Tau Chi chapter of Tri-Ess, the Society for the Second Self, and Texas Association for Transsexual Support,

Unity Banquet sponsors (as of March 1) are Charles Armstrong Investments, Nechman, Simoneaux, and Frye, PLLC, Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church, Dr. Pierre Brassard-Clinique de Chirurgies Esthetique St-Joseph, Dr. Suporn Clinic-Thailand, Denise O'Doherty, The Princess Company, Legacy Community Health Services, Tim Brookover & Albert Mata, The Crossings-Austin, Alley Theatre, Houston Symphony, Bruce Kieler, and John Steven Kellett Foundation.

The Houston Transgender Unity Committee is the nonprofit consortium of area trans organizations. In addition to the Unity Banquet, Unity Committee projects include the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance in November and Unity Month in March. Committee representatives frequently speak to schools, businesses, and organizations.