Harris County GOP Chair-Elect Puts Up Racist Post

The Harris County Republicans are still big mad that the citizens of Harris County in the 2018 Blue Tsunami fired many of them from office including former incumbent Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, every Republican judge on the ballot from the district to the state court of appeals level,, and the odious vote suppressing county clerk Stan Stanart.

Now that the largest and most diverse county by population in Texas is undeniably blue instead of purple, the Harris County Republicans are not only desperate to hang on to whatever political seats they have left here and flip some Democratic held ones, they are desperate for media attention as well.

And they are about to get it

 
Meet Keith Nielsen.   He just got elected as the new Harris County Republican Party chair and was due to start on August 3.  Before he even got a chance to take control of the party and start running thangs, he was derailed by a salient feature of the Republican Party.

Racism.

Republicans from Harris County to Austin to DC  are okay with covert racism, especially if it keeps them in power. But what they have a problem with is when that racism goes from the covert variety to the full blown non deniable overt variety.

When that eruption of overt racism and bigotry by someone in their ranks threatens their future election prospects, then it becomes a problem they address.

That's why you saw the amusing spectacle of Harris County area, state and national Republicans like Sen Ted Cruz, Gov Greg Abbott, Lt Gov Dan Patrick and Texas GOP chair James Dickey.denouncing the tweet and calling for his resignation.

It also didn't help Nielsen that GOP county chairs in Bexar (San Antonio) and Nueces (Corpus Christi) counties are also under fire  for their own offensive social media posts  that have gotten unwanted media attention

After resisting for a few days, Nielsen finally succumbed to the mounting political pressure and resigned.

The Harris County Republicans are back to where they started in terms of trying to find a new chair, and they can't under state election law start the process until August 3.

Sucks to be y'all.   But then again, I'm enjoying the schadenfreude 

The Lincoln Project's MAGA Church Video

I'm loving this video from The Lincoln Project that smacks the evilgelicals surrounding Trump and exalting his as their lord and savior as the power hungry grifters they are.

They're racist and LGBTQ phobic too, but since Republicans created this video, guess they didn't want to go too far in excoriating their kindred spirits and fellow party members.

The Lincoln Project was launched by Steve Schmidt, Rick Wilson and George Conway last month, and is called the 'MAGA Church'



Amen!  Tell the truth and shame the conservadevil.   

Oh yeah, has anyone checked Trump's combover to see if the mark of the Antichrist is there.? 

No White Supremacists On My City Council

Our Houston municipal elections back on November 5 led to the mayoral race and several city council  races going into runoffs.

One of those races going into a runoff is the At Large 4 city council race in which Anthony Dolcefino,  son of former ABC 13 investigative reporter Wayne Dolecefino, is in against Dr Letitia Plummer.

This is the seat that CM Amanda Edwards held and was expected to win reelection to before she surprisingly decided to jump into the 2020 US Senate race.

I wasn't a fan of young Dolecefino in large part because of what his father pulled back in 1991.

Wayne Dolcefino aired that libelous hit piece on Sylvester Turner mere days before that 1991 mayoral runoff that cost him the chance to become Houston's first Black mayor and cost Dolecefino his ABC13 reporting gig. 

He's been hatin' on ABC 13 and Mayor Turner ever since, and is a frequent conservafool fixture on FOX 26.

It seems that young Anthony has a troubling history of palling around with White supremacists that goes back to his days at UT.   I also find it interesting that the Houston Firefighters endorsed Dolcefino.

We don't need someone like that on our Houston City Council, and I urge you to vote for Dr Letitia Plummer next month when early voting starts to make sure that happens.

Arizona Family Calls Out Their Racist Congressional Brother

Many of us in POC America have been saying for years now that progressive white people need to call their racist relatives and family members out instead of ignoring them in silence.

That call for our white allies to call out their racist kin has taken an even more urgent tone as the bigots have come out to play in the wake of Dolt 45's election. 

We have an interesting example of how to call out your racist relatives coming from Arizona.

Paul Gosar (R) is a far right wing nut congressman who has repped Arizona's 4th Congressional District since 2013.    Gosar has claimed that the infamous Nazi rally in Charlottesville, VA was planned and executed by 'The Left', defended British far-right activist Tommy Robinson, attacked "disgusting and depraved" Muslim immigrants at a speech in London in July, and in a Vice News interview, called billionaire George Soros a Nazi sympathizer.

His six siblings, horrified and disgusted by his long list of far right peccadilloes, all signed a letter printed in the Kingman Daily Miner stating: "It is extremely upsetting to have to call you out on this, Paul, but you've forced our hand with your deceit and anti-Semitic dog whistle."

The Gosar siblings haven't stopped there.  They are now taking the step of endorsing his Democratic opponent, Dr. David Brill  in the upcoming November election because they don't want him repping the 4th Congressional District any longer. 

To make that happen, Tim, David, Jennifer, Grace, Gaston, and Joan Gosar also cut a brutal ad that called their racist brother out.




Brill 's campaign s considered a longshot to unseat Gosar, but when your own family is willing to go on camera to say that you shouldn't be in Congress, that's gotta hurt you big time politically.

We'll find out how effective the ad was on November 6.   

Cali GOP US House Candidate Peddles Transphobia In Her Race

The Republican Party seems to think that peddling transphobia in this 2018 midterm election cycle is the way to primary and general election success . 

They need to talk to former North Carolina governor Pat McCrory, former South Carolina state senator Lee Bright, and former Texas state representatives Debbie Riddle and Gilbert Pena about the wisdom of that strategy.

All of them tried to peddle anti-trans legislation in their various states and paid the ultimate political price for it.   

We have Phillip Aronoff trying it in his runoff election for the Texas 29th US House District Republican nomination against Carmen Montiel, and now I am hearing it being taking to another disgusting level in California

Meet Jazmina Saavedra.   This GOP transphobe and Nicaraguan immigrant has drunk the Trump Kool-Aid.   She is running for the same 44th Congressional District seat held by freshman Congresswoman Nanette Barragan (D) that Stacey Dash was originally vying for. 

Dash suspended her campaign after it became clear no one was supporting her in the Los Angeles County congressional district that includes the cities of Compton, San Pedro and the Watts neighborhood.

Saavedra took to Facebook Live to film, misgender  and harass a trans woman trying to handle her bathroom business in a Los Angeles Denny's ironically on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOT)

Saavedra is filming as the Denny's manager is outside the stall for the trans woman.   As the trans woman is humiliatingly being led out of the restaurant located at Vermont Ave and Wilshire Blvd by the manager, the Trump sellout supporter is going on an anti-Obama and anti-trans rant.

The Denny's in question is less than five miles from the LA LGBT Center, and while they commented on the disgusting discriminatory display, Denny's hasn't issued a statement as of this moment. .

"Ignorance is not the sole province of one party or political perspective," Los Angeles LGBT Center Executive Director Darrel Cummings said in statement.

"But the current Administration has emboldened people to express their ignorance and hatred in a way that is so odious and shameful that we are required time and again to actively resist. That a candidate for Congress can express such outrageous and callous disregard for another human being clearly demonstrates that she is not fit for public office." 

"But just to be clear in case Ms. Saavedra does not get the message, ignorance, fear-mongering and harassment have no place in a country founded on principles of equality and mutual respect. On this International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia, let this candidate’s disgraceful behavior be a rallying cry for us all to stand up for what is right."

Congresswoman Barragan also released a statement reported by The Daily Beast concerning what happened at the Denny's to the still unidentified trans woman in question.

"I was appalled by the treatment that this woman received for simply trying to use the restroom. Everyone has the right to their own identity, and the right not to be discriminated against for who they are," said Rep. Barragan.

I'm appalled as well Rep. Barragan.  The trans woman in question is owed an apology by Denny's.

I hope that my LA trans siblings protest not only that Denny's if that apology doesn't expeditiously happen, but unfit for any political office GOP transphobe Jazmina Saavedra's campaign headquarters

May Saavedra discover on June 5 like Jeanne Ives did in Illinois that transphobia is NOT a winning campaign strategy.  

Phillip Aronoff Peddles Transphobia On The TX 29 Campaign Trail

The Texas 29th Congressional District was created in 1991 to ensure that a Latix person got elected to the US Congress.   But due to the Latinx vote being split among several candidates, Gene Green got the Democratic nomination and was elected to the seat in 1992. 

He has been its only congressmember ever since, as has comfortably been reelected in every election cycle since. 

Rep. Green announced in November 2017 that he is retiring and not running for reelection in 2018.
That set off a scramble in both parties for the seat and raised hopes in the Latinx community that they would finally get one of their own people to rep the congressional district that was drawn for them by the Texas Legislature to send one of their own to Congress.

State Sen. Sylvia Garcia is considered the frontrunner to get the nomination on the Democratic side, in a crowded field of seven candidates. 

There are four candidates vying for the Republican nomination, with one of those Republican candidates being Phillip Aronoff.   It's obvious based on his recent Meet The Candidate interview he hasn't gotten the message that transphobia is not a winning campaign issue, even in the Lone Star State.

If Aronoff thinks I'm kidding about that, ask former state representatives Debbie Riddle and Gilbert Pena.  They tried to pass anti-trans legislation in the 2015 session and found themselves  on the outside of the Pink Dome at the start of the 2017 Texas Lege session.

This is what he had to say about transgender people during his interview  and you can see it starting at the 33:20 mark

Phillip Aronoff – Republican US Congressional Candidate District 29 Texas

“I think the whole transgender thing is a fraud. I think that if you’re a man; you’re a man physically. They say that we who think that Global Warming is a fraud don’t believe in science. What could be less believing in science when a man can become a woman. To say that a man can have a baby, can identify as a man and have a baby; I find that absurd, and disingenuous. I mean, how can you change like-you can’t. So, so, so the science deniers are the people who say if you have XY chromosomes, you can still be a woman. That’s not the case. You don’t see that happening in the animal world. So I think that it’s pandering to a group of people who may have I think maybe an emotional problem … overcome it pandering to them. You didn’t expect that answer did you? “

That comment is not only transphobic, it's intersexphobic as well as exposing your ignorance of science to the world.    Ever heard of intersex people?  XY women exist due to transsexuality and an intersex condition known as androgen insensitivity syndrome

In the animal world, clownfish are just one of the species that can change their gender orientation.

The anti-intellectualism in the Republican Party has got to be stopped.   

I hope someone other than Aronoff gets the GOP nomination, but if he does manage to walk away with it.  I definitely will be doing my part along with trans folks and our allies who live in the 29th Congressional District to ensure that the Democratic nominee wins this seat.

At this crucial time in our country's history, we don't need a wilfully ignorant transphobe and intersexphobe in Congress.  .

Jeanne Ives Peddles Transphobia In Illinois Gubernatorial Campaign Ad

Illinois state legislator Jeanne Ives  (R)  is a longtime foe of the Illinois TBLGQ community who is primary challenging Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R).

A lot of people in the Land of Lincoln are unhappy with her after she unleashed an attack ad aimed at Rauner that ended up offending many people in Illinois, and members of her own party. 

The misleading ad featured not only a bearded man in drag, but attacked the Women's March, the Chicago Teachers Union and Latinx immigrants

 
She tred to play of the ad as 'edgy' and 'informative'/  Yeah, that what you conservaBeckys always pivot to when you get caught peddling racist, transphobic and homophobic crap.



Illinois Republican Party chair Tim Schneider stated that Ives should pull the ad and immediately apologize to the Illinoisans who were negatively portrayed in a cowardly attempt to stoke division."

"There is no place in the Illinois Republican Party for rhetoric that attacks our fellow Illinoisans based on their race, gender or humanity,"Schneider said.   

Gov Rauner's campaign quickly called out the ad, stating "This TV ad has no place in Illinois.  It just shows how unelectable Representative Ives really is."

But in the wake of that ad, Ives campaign has received $2.5 million in donations from a conservative mehgadonor who funded Roy moore's failed campaign.   It has also raised her profile amongst those Illinois conservatives wishing to send Gov Rauner packing.

So stay tuned to see if this transphobe who also hated on gay marriage back in 2013 gets out of the Republican gubernatorial primary

Minnesota Republican State Legislator Unleashes Anti-Trans Tweet

Not everyone in the Land of 10,000 Lakes thought that Andrea Jenkins and Phillipe Cunningham's historic Minneapolis City Council seat wins were something wonderful to celebrate. 

Minnesota state Rep.Mary Franson (R-Alexandria) did what Republicans do and deployed the anti-trans hatred when asked about it.

On Wednesday she unleashed this transphobic Tweet from her now deactivated account.

The Minnesota LGBTQ Legislative Caucus quickly fired back in a letter to their transphobic colleague

***

It is a shame to read on social media a statement by a public official that perpetuates a false and pejorative stereotype about transgender people.

We encourage our colleague, Representative Mary Franson, to get the facts and to get to know transgender people herself. She will quickly learn that, as the American Psychological Association says, being transgender is not a mental illness. Problems arise for transgender people from lack of support and acceptance that creates the path for discrimination, and all too often assault, that almost all transgender people experience at one time or another. When leaders who hold positions of respect casually trade in negative comments about transgender people, some interpret that as an invitation to treat their fellow Minnesotans poorly.

Our job as state legislators and policy makers is to ensure that there is as much opportunity as possible in Minnesota so that all people can pursue their dreams and aspirations. Putting barriers in place for anyone, doing active harm to our own neighbors, is antithetical to our country’s core values – a place where everyone is free and everyone is equal. We all are better off when people are able to contribute the best of themselves in every Minnesota community.

We celebrate that two transgender people, Phillipe Cunningham and Andrea Jenkins, both with deep and broad experience, have stepped up to public service and won election to the Minneapolis City Council. In Virginia, we are delighted to welcome the first transgender member of a state legislature elected as an out transgender person, Danica Roem. We know that they all will serve their constituents with distinction and hard work.

#

Minnesota DFL Chair Ken Martin also called Franson out:

“Minnesota made history Tuesday night. Voters elected the first two openly transgender African-American candidates to City Council in the nation. Republican Representative Franson’s hurtful remarks attempt to cheapen this historic victory and take the wind out of the sails of equality. We won’t let that happen,”

“In the face of divisive rhetoric at the national level, Minnesotans are doubling down in our efforts to ensure the diversity of our government reflects the diversity of our people. We are immensely proud of Andrea Jenkins and Phillipe Cunningham. We know they will work tirelessly to serve the people they represent equally and without prejudice, unlike Representative Franson.”

***

Haters gotta hate.   Franson, sensing a backlash developing around her tweets, issued a non apology for it later.

Wouldn't be the first time a Republican hated on a trans woman for their own political gain, and probably won't be the last until they start losing their legislative seats with more frequency like Bigot Bob Marshall did in Virginia.

Councilmembers-elect Andrea Jenkins and  Phillipe Cunningham getting elected is a big deal to me, their constituents in Wards 4 and 8,  the DFL Party, to every Black trans person in the nation and everyone else inspired by their #BlackTransExcellence.

Special Oppression Session Anti-Trans Bills Have Senate Hearings Today

It figures that while I'm in San Diego for Comic Con that the Texas GOP Senate transphobes would not only file two anti-trans bills  (SB 3 and SB 91) authored by Lois Kolkhorst, but hold a hearing on them that starts at 9 AM CDT

Texas trans folks will be in the ATX to oppose them when that Senate State Affairs Committee takes place.  .So go get 'em Texas trans folks.  Let our GOP oppressors know that these unjust bills are bad for Texas and bad for us.

Send them the message we are wide awke and cognizant of what they are trying to do.

You can sign up to testify against them starting at the Texas state capitol at 7 AM. We also need people and our allies calling these senators and asking them to oppose SB 3 and SB 91.

Call the members of the Senate State Affairs Committee too while you're at it..

TransGriot Update:  After 10 hours of hearings, it was deja vu all over again.  An 8-1 vote (7 Republicans, 1 DINO)  sent this legislative abomination to the Senate floor.

Thank Sen. Judith Zaffirini for voting NO once again as she did back in March, and let's redouble our efforts to make Eddie Lucio, Jr an ex-senator 

TX Anti-Trans Hate Bills 46 and 50 Filed

Trans Texans and our allies now know what unjust bill numbers we have to fight when the Texas GOP Special Oppression Session cranks up July 18.

Rep. Ron Simmons (R-Carrollton) filed  on yesterday two unjust trans oppressive bills aimed at Texas trans children and Texas trans adults, HB 46 and HB 50

HB 46 is aimed at Texas trans adults, and would prohibit all political subdivisions, including municipalities, school districts, state colleges and universities from adopting and enforcing any ordinances or policies that protect transgender people in bathrooms or changing facilities.

HB 50 is aimed at Texas trans kids.  It is similar to the odious HB 46, but focuses on school districts by prohibiting them from adopting and enforcing policies that protect transgender students  in batrooms or changing facilities.

Simmons was the author of the failed HB 2899 that Gov Greg Abbott (R) liked but died in the House State Affairs committee during the regular session.

Hundreds of trans Texans (including this blogger) and our allies showed up in Austin to express our disgust and outrage over this attempt to criminalize the lives of transgender Texans.

Guess Ron and the Texas Republican Party didn't learn their lesson from the recently concluded regular session that the vast majority of Texans oppose their unjust right wing crap.

We'll also be watching SB 23, a bill proposed and filed yesterday by Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood) that would prohibit cities, counties and other political subdivisions from passing non discriminations laws  on a basis not written in state law, and wipe out the already existing non discrimination laws in Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Plano and San Antonio.

What is it about you conservafools and your obsession with oppressing people you don't like?

Looks like we'll be busy fighting oppression for the 30 days of this upcoming Special Oppression session, so you know what to do.

Light those phones up in their offices and don't relent until all those unjust bills are dead.

Potty Man

Texas Lt .Governor Dan Patrick (R) is sure obsessed about where Texas trans people poop and pee to the point he tried with the help of TX state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) to pass the reprehensible SB 6 to do so.

We successfully killed it during the regular session, but have to do so again when the Special Oppression Session starts on July 18.

It's been awhile since I've done one of my TransGriot song rewrites, but it was past time for me to satirically slam Lt. Gov Potty Dan with this remix.

Y'all know the drill, find the song in your fave music program and sing along with Moni's remixed lyrics

Potty Man
(sung to the tune of  'Candy Man' by the Mary Jane Girls)

When you wake up in the morning
And you're laying in your bed
Thinking of new ways to oppress us
That's what goes on in your head

You're the meanest (Potty Man) man I know
And the whole world knows it's so
It's time for another election
November 6 you've got to go

(chorus)
Ooh Ooh, Ooh Ooh
Dan Patrick is the Potty Man
Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh

Ooh Ooh, Ooh Ooh
He's a despicable Republican
Hey Hey

Potty man
Potty man
Ooh hoo

When you wake up in the morning
And oppression's on your mind
You just call up Lois Kolkhorst
And she eagerly found the time

You're the meanest (Potty Man) man we know
We Texans thought we'd tell you so
Don't want you as Lite Gov forever
November 6 you've got to go

Ooh Ooh, Ooh Ooh
Dan Patrick is the Potty Man
Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh

Ooh Ooh, Ooh Ooh
He's a despicable Republican
Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh

Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh
Yeah yeah he's the, he's the potty man

Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh
Cause he's a Republican
He's a Republican

Let me pee, let me pee (Let me pee, Let me pee)
In the bathroom that I need to
Let me pee, let me pee (Let me pee, let me pee)
That I would really love (love, love)

Stop attacking trans kids, baby

Potty man
Ooh
Potty man

Potty man
Potty man
Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh

Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh
Dan Patrick is the potty man, oh, oh, oh
Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh
Cause he's a Republican

oh oh oh oh oh oh ooh Ooh
Dan Patrick is the potty man
oh
Cause he's a Republican

I want you to leave
Leave Texas trans peeps
Leave Texas trans peeps alone, baby
Stop oppressing
Stop HB 2899 baby

Stop oppressing
Stop attacking Texas transkids, baby
Leave the Texas
Leave Texas transpeeps alone baby
Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh

Texas Special Oppression Session To Start July 18

Not satisfied with the fact they didn't get all their legislative oppression done during the recently concluded 85th Texas Legislative session that ended on Memorial Day, Gov. Greg Abbott just called for legislators to come back to Austin starting on July 18 for another 30 days and $800,000 wasted taxpayer dollars.

While he caved to Lt Governor Dan 'Potty Man' Patrick, he also made it clear he wasn't happy about the gamesmanship that was played in order for Patrick to get the special session he craved.

Well Governor Abbott, ,you could have called the special session and limited it only to the sunset legislation if you were that unhappy about the stunts that Patrick and his Texas Conservafool Freedom Caucus buddies played in the House. .

Instead you rewarded their shenanigans and probably ensured they will play those games in the future.

The first bill to be taken up on the call will be the sunset legislation to keep key state regulatory agencies from shuttering their doors, but once that legislation is passed, Gov. Abbott then outlined 19 items that he will allow the legislature to take up, including oppressing Texas transgender people.

In addition to oppressing trans people, some of the other items are school finance reform, creating automatic rollback elections when local property taxes rise by a certain amount, more abortion regulations, voter fraud, school choice for special needs students and property tax reform.

And it means that once again,  me and the rest of the Texas trans community and our liberal progressive allies are going to have to roll to the ATX once again this summer to fight Texas GOP legislative tyranny aimed at our trans kids..

It's a fight that we not only must win, we're determined to win.

Dan Patrick's Trying To Force A Special Session To Oppress TX Trans People

The 85th Texas Legislative session is mercifully drawing to its sine die day close, but  Lt. Governor Dan 'Potty Polizei' Patrick wants a special session to oppress trans people.

Last time I checked the Texas Constitution, only the governor had the power to call a special session, not you.

On Friday Speaker of the House Joe Straus, who made it clear at the beginning of the session that he nor the House is interested in his pet project SB6 bill to oppress trans people, called a rare press conference to announce that the House would waste no more time on his bathroom obsession.

“The House has compromised enough on this issue,” Speaker Straus said at a press conference, announcing that the watered-down version passed by the House was the most his body was willing to do. “It’s absurd that bathroom bills have taken on greater urgency than fixing our school finance system.”

Yes, it is absurd that Dan Patrick has been pushing this issues even that thousands of Texans, the business community and others have said we don't want North Carolina style HB 2 idiocy with a GOP Texas twang in our state oppressing our trans kids and trans Texans.

We thought we'd sent that message loud and clear with us showing up en masse at the Pink Dome back in March and April in opposition for the SB 6 and HB 2899 hearings, but yet Dan Patrick and his Texas GOP lackeys still want to mess with Texas trans people.

Maybe we need to send it again by calling and contacting the governor's office and urging him to resist following Dan Patrick's delusional lead and not waste our time and tax dollars by calling a special session.

The number to Gov. Greg Abbott's office is 512-463-2000   

Patrick of course, flanked by Senate Republican oppressors, called a one man press conference ian hour later n response to the middle finger one that Straus had just conducted, and basically blamed Straus for the special session should it happen that he doesn't have the authority to call

And yeah, if it does happen, me, my trans fam and our allies will be headed to Austin for it, and once that 30 day special session is over, will begin working to #FlushDanPatrick and #FlushTheTexas GOP on November 6, 2018

TransGriot Perv Watch- Oklahoma TBLGQ Oppressor Busted For Child Prostitution

How deliciously apropos in the wake of the Texas senate passage of SB 6, the Texas Transgender Oppression Act which is laughingly claimed to be about 'protecting our children', that another conservative Republican legislator gets busted on child prostitution charges.

If the GOP was serious about protecting our children, they would ban Republican male legislators from the bathrooms.

This time it's north of the Red River in Oklahoma, and the GOP legislative perv that got busted for being in a hotel room with an underage by is Oklahoma state senator  Ralph Shortey (R-Oklahoma City) .

Shortey voted to advance a failed trans oppression (bathroom) bill out of committee last year that has stirred up anti-trans animus in the state,  and now he's been busted  for engaging in the predatory behavior against our youth he and his fellow Republicans repeatedly accuse transgender people of engaging in.

Shortey was also Trump's Oklahoma campaign manager during the state's GOP primary.

The married Shortey was busted on March 9 in a Moore, OK Super 8 motel room with a 17 year old male juvenile with a history of soliciting himself online according to his parents and the Moore PD.  

When they arrived at the motel room there was according to the Moore PD a strong smell of marijuana and an open box of condoms in the juvenile's backpack.   Shortey claimed he was there 'just hanging out with a friend'  

Communications records from the teen's Kindle Fire that was also in his backpack say otherwise.   KFOR-TV reported that when the teen told Sen. Shortey that he needed money for spring break, Shortey allegedly responded, "Would you be interested in sexual stuff?"

Shortey was arrested and charged with three felony counts of engaging in child prostitution, engaging in prostitution within 1000 feet of a church, and transporting a minor for prostitution  

The Oklahoma Senate in the wake of this serious unanimously voted to strip Shortey of his legislative privileges.  While he still gets to collects his monthly Senate paycheck and can still vote on legislation, he has been stripped of all committee assignments, barred from his office and stripped of his right to have an executive assistant.

Hopefully the voters of his senate district will strip him of his legislative seat in the next election cycle.

Freedom Oklahoma noted Shortey's support of the failed OK bathroom bill in their comment about his arrest to the Norman Transcript:

"We find it highly ironic that Senator Shortey voted to advance these bills out of committee and less than a year later, he was caught in what appears to be actual predatory behavior toward a vulnerable youth.  

There has never been a legitimate recorded incident in Oklahoma of a transgender person harming anyone in a restroom, yet there are numerous accounts of predatory behavior by anti LGBTQ legislators who have taken bigoted votes akin to the one Senator Shortey cast last year. "

And once again I and the trans community collectively ask, who are the perverts?   And FYI, Shortey wasn't in drag when he committed his crimes.

Will be keeping an eye on this case to see what happens.,

Transphobic Hypocrisy, Thy Name Is The GOP

This was an interesting point that i was pondering as I watched last night's debate.

The GOP and conservative movement has been attacking transpeople for over a year in the wake of their marriage equality loss and needing another marginalize group to demonize for their nefarious political purposes.

We even have Republican attorney generals fighting the federal government so they can continue to be on the wrong side of history and oppress trans children.
 
But this 2016  presidential campaign has revealed they have a real life molester as their presidential nominee, and not a word has come out of their mouths condemning it.

The cricket chirping silence has been most deafening from white fundamentalists who crave power and their desire to oppress people over what is morally correct.

Their religion is the 'dry as dust' religion that Dr King talked about

Can't wait for October 24 to get here.   What's that date you ask?   The first day of early voting in Texas.

Moni's Thoughts About The Pulse Terror Attack

I was in the midst of one of the more empowering weeks I have had in my life between getting to attend my first White House LGBT Pride reception, a well received Philadelphia Trans Health Conference media panel on Friday, and experiencing the love of much of my community (except for five haters who know who they are)

So it was a shock but not too surprising for me when I awoke on Sunday morning to hear the distressing news about the Pulse TBLG nightclub in Orlando being attacked on Latinx Night.

Why am I not surprised it happened?  Because of the ramped up anti-trans and anti-gay animus that has been stoked by the Republican Party and fundamentalist preachers like James Dobson, I have been concerned that something like this was going to happen.   When you keep demonizing a marginalized group, just a matter of time before something like this happens in a country with far too many guns and easy access to acquire them.

We have 49 people dead with 53 more are injured as a result of the terrorist attack at Pulse and my condolences to the predominately Latinx BTLG family members we lost.  I also pray for the people who survived it, but will be haunted by memories of that  horrific night for a long time to come.

But it seems to me the media is more obsessed with the now deceased shooter Omar Saleem's radicalization and playing footsie with ISIS than pointing out the fact that the Republicans were gleefully trafficking in anti-trans and anti-gay hatred for months before Sunday's attack.

In fact, Texas Lt Governor Dan Patrick unleashed a tweet at 7 AM he later retracted about people 'reaping what they sow' mere hours after the mass shooting happened.  Once again, another day when Texas Republican leaders have embarrassed the state.

I'm also not liking the Republicans, after spending decades demonizing the TBLG community, all of a sudden trying to play like they are our community's best buds.   And the Log Cabin Sellouts Republicans need to check themselves in terms of that press release they put out, but conveniently ignoring that their party was pushing fear and hatred of transgender people for political advantage.

As the details of this mass shooting continue to come out, the nation and the world mourns with Orlando and the national BTLG community.   In addition to the one held in front of the historic Stonewall Inn in New York, the Houston LGBT community held a vigil on Sunday, and there have been others either held or planned as the week has progressed.

This was an  attack on the entire TBLG community, and we cannot allow the people killed at Pulse to die in vain.  Far from the entire community cowering in fear, we should be even more determined to openly live our lives and work to ensure that homophobia and transphobia are eradicated from our culture.

The Conservafools Are Losing World War T

Ever since they lost the Obergefell SCOTUS case last year, the conservative movement has decided to take out their anger about losing that marriage case on the transgender community.  Right wing hate radio, the Southern Baptists and Republican Party have declared war on our community along with their longtime professional gay-baiting hate orgs like the Family Research Council, retooling their rhetoric to attack us as our longtime TERF enemies gleefully egged them on.

Even FOX Noise joined World War T, deploying longtime trans haters Keith Ablow and Paul McHugh to join their pundits in unleashing on-air facts free attacks denigrating the trans community.  The anti-trans haters successfully tested to my disgust their anti-trans talking points in their successful campaign to repeal the trans inclusive Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.

But despite their early successes, the bottom line is that the conservafools are losing World War T as they call it.  You might say the preponderance of evidence indicates the conservative movement was already losing to the trans community even before they fired the first ramped up shots of anti-trans hatred in this trans culture war..

Trans folks were already getting unprecedented media attention thanks to Janet Mock and her New York Times best selling memoir, Laverne Cox, Geena Rocero's well received coming out TED Talk and later Caitlyn Jenner.

We were already an increasing presence on reality shows, with movies like The Danish Girl and television shows like Orange Is The New Black, Transparent and groundbreaking trans characters like Maya Avant on the CBS soap The Bold And The Beautiful.

We were already winning in the courts and with federal regulatory agencies on various trans human rights issues thanks to Vandy Beth Glenn, Nikki Araguz Loyd, Mia Macy and most recently, Gavin Grimm's 4th Circuit court win that may be the death blow to Hate Bill 2.   Trans human rights protections are included in laws in 16 states, the District of Columbia and over 200 jurisdictions, with more jurisdictions considering doing so for their areas every day.

Colleges and universities are starting to create trans inclusive policies, although we still have much work to do in academia and the school settings to make them less hostile for trans students. . .

Those trans human rights court wins even continued on an international level with Ms W in Hong Kong and Joanne Cassar in Malta   Several nations allow trans people to change their identification documents without the prerequisite of requiring expensive genital surgery.

And thanks to trans youth around the country like Jazz Jennings and her award winning reality show I Am Jazz, our trans kids in many cases have been the front line advocates that have helped kill anti-trans legislation while emphatically pointing out in various ways that trans folks are part of our diverse mosaic of human life.

Even the preponderance of medical science is increasingly lining up with what we have asserted for decades and the medical care protocols for trans people and manuals like the DSM-V and ICD-11 are changing in response to the updated medical research about us..

North Carolina's Hate Bill 2 has resulted in an international backlash aimed at the Tarheel State. GOP controlled state legislatures in Missouri, Kansas, Tennessee and South Carolina that have pushed anti- trans laws have found out they have gotten ferocious opposition to them, and anti-trans measures passed in South Dakota and Georgia were vetoed by their Republican governors. .

And in a broken clock FOX Noise moment, FOX's Megyn Kelly jacked up North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) over the transphobic HB 2.

And yesterday transphobic Ted Cruz ended his campaign after trying to deploy anti-trans hatred as a wedge issue in his campaign against Donald Trump and got his butt kicked in Indiana last night.

The coordinated attacks upon our community are not only forcing us to close ranks and work together to repel them, it's also resulting in us in Trans World stepping up our activism game.

In addition to building coalitions with cis people and groups to help fight the anti-trans attacks, other trans folks like Danni Askini and Kristin Beck have stepped up to run for office.   It's past time we were in these legislatures helping to write the legislation that governs us, not be on the legislative menu.

It's also past time that funders give our trans led organizations what we have needed for decades, the money and grants to build permanent trans human rights infrastructure and services.


While World War T is one that has been raging that we trans peeps didn't ask for, we had no choice but to fight it tooth and nail to a successful conclusion for trans kind.

So far we are doing that.  We are building community and the intersectional connections necessary to fight off the right wing attacks on us.

We will have wins like Rockwall, and some losses like North Carolina.  The trans suicide rate is unacceptably high, and it is ridiculous that people who kill us get a legal slap on the wrist fro doing so.

The overall trajectory is positive for us and trans human rights in general.. We still have much work to do in Trans World in order to vanquish the Conservative Forces of Anti-Trans Intolerance and win World War T.