H-Town Discrimination, Your Time Has Expired

With the rapid approach of the one year anniversary on May 28 of the passage of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), I've been going down a pleasant memory lane about that struggle to pass it.

I was proud to have fulfilled one of my civil rights dreams and be part of the team that fought tooth and nail, endured long council sessions, and did the  work that got  HERO passed.

For me, it began with the first of a series of TransGriot post I wrote starting in September 2013 in which I stated that I wouldn't accept any HERO that wasn't trans inclusive.  

But I wasn't just sitting behind my computer.  I was also taking my unapologetically Black trans behind to City Council starting in January 2014 to repeat what I said on the blog. 

Then it was being present for several packed and contentious hearings in late April and May with plenty of drama, ups and downs, two coming outs and the amazing feeling of joy when the 11-6 City Council vote for passage of it happened.

O course the haters tried to gather signatures for a repeal referendum, fubared that badly, then tried to sue their way towards getting that referendum.  

Never mind the fact their lack of reading comprehension about the clearly laid out rules for collecting signatures is why their riddled with fraud petitions were rejected by the city on August 4 and they failed in court.twice.

The HERO is finally being implemented, and note to Steve Riggle, we still haven't had ANY Houston bakers being forced to bake swastika cakes.  Neither have we had epidemic levels of cross dressed predators invading Houston feminine bathrooms.

If you're looking for sexual harassers and child predators, you need to look in your own pastoral ranks.   I'm sick and tired of you children and grandchildren of pointed hood wearing segregationists hiding behind the Bible to express your deep seated need to oppress people you don't like.

The people I have major  contempt for are the cookie chomping ministers and their sheeple who opposed the passage of HERO simply because it included sexual orientation and gender identity as two of the 15 categories it covered, and sold us out to kill your conservaazzes.

It was also hurtful to see people who share my ethnic heritage regurgitate right wing talking point and collude with the same individuals in the Texas conservafool movement that oppress the entire Black community

The bottom line is contrary to the lie you, Dave Welch and your kneegrow sellouts kept trying to pimp during the HERO fight, the fraud ridden collection of signatures for a ballot initiative and the runup to the trial is that we already had an election concerning HERO, and it was in November 2013. 

Guess y'all had selective memory about the fact the then proposed ERO was an election issue not only in the mayoral race that Mayor Parker won, but at the city council level races.   The candidates who supported implementing a non-discrimination ordinance won at the ballot, and the ones like Ben Hall who opposed it (and still does) lost.

But what we do have is a local remedy to address any discrimination happening in the Houston city limits in 15 categories, and if you faith based oppressors and your kneegrow auxiliaries don't like that because it covers the Houston TBLG community, too bad.

H-town discrimination, your time has expired, and I'm glad that my hometown has a human rights ordinance that covers me and all Houstonians.

HERO Updates, Notes And News-April 24

“The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance protects all Houstonians and with the favorable outcome of this trial, the City of Houston is now in the position to increase protections against discrimination for its residents. As members of a community that face ongoing discrimination based on race, sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation, we welcome a local mechanism to protect all Houstonians from facing further discrimination based on their identities.”

Brandon Mack, Co-Chair, Houston Civil Rights Strategy Group

Aww yeah, my hometown FINALLY has a HERO!   Thanks to Judge Shafer's ruling last Friday, the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance is now in effect, and the city is taking steps to enforce it.

Yes, those of us in H-town who have fought tooth and nail to get this ordinance implemented are very happy that the too long and frustrating wait to get a human rights ordinance enacted has resulted in another victory for our side.

But as you know conservaevil never sleeps.

In addition to making their usual threats to knock Judge Shafer (who is a Democrat) off the Harris County bench,  they are desperately judge shopping so they can get an appeals trial started and completed before the August Texas Secretary of State deadline to print ballots for the November 2015 elections.  

If they miss that deadline, wouldn't be on the ballot until 2016.

Judge Shafer Rules For City In HERO Trial

There has been a ruling in the HERO trial, and the city of Houston has emerged victorious.

Judge Robert Shafer ruled  moments ago for the city of Houston in the trial that the talabaptists sought to force a HERO repeal vote despite failing to collect enough signatures to do so.

"(As) a matter of fact and as a matter of law the Referendum Petition is not valid or enforceable in all respects," the judge ruled.

Judge Shafer ruled that the opponents didn't come up with enough signatures to force a repeal referendum  They came up with 16,684 signatures, well short of the 17,269 signatures they needed to place HERO on the ballot for repeal.

"This is a great victory in the courts, and a great day for civil rights in Houston, Texas," said City Attorney Donna Edmundson. "The jury found for the City, and now the judge has found in favor of the City too. I am gratified that the judge signed a final judgment rejecting the plaintiffs' claims and confirming that their pro-discrimination referendum petition failed. We will be prepared if the plaintiffs decide to appeal.”

Mayor Annise Parker was also pleased with Judge Shafer's  ruling.

“I would hope that the plaintiffs would not appeal, they lost during a jury trial and today they also lost with the judge's ruling. Now all Houstonians have access to the same protections.”

Will the Pastor's Council and their sellouts appeal?   Stay tuned to these TransGriot pages to find out.

But I would hope that they don't so we can implement this much needed human right ordinance for the city of Houston immediately.

Houston Anti-Trans Charter Amendment Petitions Turned In

You TransGriot readers are aware that we Houston TBLG peeps and our allies are still fighting to get the passed ten months ago Houston Equal Rights Ordinance implemented.

It is being litigated, .and we are awaiting the ruling from a judge about whether the much needed HERO will be immediately allowed to take effect, or be placed on the November ballot for a repeal vote.

Today Dave "I Pretended I Was Black To Get Elected' Wilson submitted six boxes of what he claims are enough signed petitions for an amendment to the Houston City Charter that seeks to enshrine discrimination against Houston transgender people.

I repeat what I said back in January about this: Not no but hell no.  Besides, why would we trust a guy who deliberately misrepresented himself as Black to get elected to the Houston Community College system board? 

But one of the things I'm pissed off about is the local media, led by FOXNoise26  that continue to pimp the discredited bathroom predator narrative instead of telling the truth and calling it what it is, a blatant attack on the human rights and humanity of trans Houstonians.

I'm also irritated about the failure of local media to interview trans Houstonians or local trans leaders about these repressive human rights proposals that will negatively impact us.

I left this comment in a KTRK-TV story which framed it once again around bathrooms and failed to interview ANY local trans leaders to rebut the haters.

Let's tell the truth ABC13 This petition by a longtime gaybaiter is all about enshrining bigotry and hatred of transgender people into the Houston city charter. This is not about 'safety'. I am sick of Houston media perpetuating a predator lie that has been thoroughly debunked and not talking to the people who will be deleteriously affected by this.
 
The good news is that a charter amendment requires 20,000 signatures to be placed on the ballot, and they failed (so far) to get on the ballot with a HERO repeal referendum with a lower signature threshold.

Will be anxiously watching this to see if I need to make another trip to City Hall to call some crap out.

TransGriot Update:  Mayor Parker announced that Dave Wilson's attempt to add hatred of transgender people to the city charter has failed because he didn't collect enough signatures.  He only collected an alleged 19,700 signatures and he needed to collect at least 20,000 valid signatures to place it on the November ballot.

HERO Protects You!

Since some of you or your friends and relatives may be going to church services this morning in which the lying sack of feces  pastor isn't being truthful about what the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance actually covers, here's this handy graphic that you can show peeps the 15 categories the much needed human rights law covers.

Remember, only you can prevent sellout pastors from bamboozling you into believing a human rights law doesn't cover you.

And once again Steve Riggle, no bakers in the Houston city limits have been forced before or since the May 28 passage of the ordinance to bake a swastika cake.

HERO Updates, Notes and News-January 3

Happy New Year people!  

While the calendar page has flipped to 2015, our fight to implement the passed on May 28 Houston Equal Rights Ordinance continues against our faith based oppressors.
 
The court hearing is coming up on January 19,  in which King Hater Dave Welch and his sellout kneegrow auxiliaries are trying to force a repeal vote on the HERO despite not collecting enough signatures by the deadline to do so, and repeatedly violating the procedures to do so.

In this first update for 2015, our opponents continue to try to pimp the lie that TBLG discrimination doesn't happen in Houston, but this lawsuit filed by a trans woman of color who was formerly employed by Saks Fifth Ave. just blew that lie up.

Here's the KPRC-TV news story about that anti-trans discrimination lawsuit.



In addition, it was disturbing to hear the Saks attorneys try to use their HRC Corporate Equality Index score as a defense against the trans discrimination allegations.

It is an index  that trans people have complained to HRC about since 2009 that the Corporate Equality Index is problematic because it doesn't give proper scoring weight to transgender discrimination issues or policy solutions that would go a long way to alleviate it.

But the bottom line is that the HERO needs to be implemented without delay, since it's obvious that the discrimination inside the Houston city limits aimed at the TBLG community won't end unless the violators are forced to do so.

Texas Non-Discrimination Ordinances Panel Discussion Today

If you're looking for an interesting and timely discussion concerning non-discrimination ordinances in Texas especially in light of our upcoming court fight over HERO, that will be happening on the campus of the South Texas  College of Law this afternoon at 1 PM.

It's sponsored by the Stonewall Law Association of Greater Houston , South Texas College of Law AMICUS, Social Sciences & The Law Society and the ACLU Student Organization.

It will take place at the Joe M. Green Auditorium on the South Texas College of Law campus at 1301 San Jacinto St. in beautiful downtown Houston from 1:00-5:00 PM CST

The panel will feature Houston City Attorney David M. Feldman, Attorney and human rights advocate Susan L. Hays, Founding CEO of First Person Christina Canales Gorczynski,  South\Texas College of Law Professor Richard R. Carlson, and ACLU Texas Legal and Policy Director Rebecca Robertson.

Upcoming TSU Town Hall On Being Black, Gay & Trans

It's an event that is sorely needed in Black Houston.,

I've been pushing to have more of these panel discussions take place, and it figures I'll probably be out of town when this one takes place on the TSU campus November 13.

One of the things that has been upsetting to me as a proud Black Houstonian who also happens to be a proud transgender person is the total ignorance on display about trans lives here.  It's the ignorance about trans people and our lives that has been exploited by the opponents of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance and their sellout christopimpin' sycophants. 

The depth of ignorance in Black Houston has shockingly been exposed even in the ranks of 'ejumacated' Black people you presume would know better and our SGL community.

To combat the spreading of disinformation and lies by the hate ministers, another effort to do some community outreach education is taking place, and this one is being sponsored by Delta Phi Upsilon Fraternity Inc, Legacy Community Health Services, TSU OUTLaw, and the House of Capri.

The panel is entitled The Misfits: Being Gay And Transgender In The Black Community.  It will take place starting at 6:30 PM CST at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Moot Court Room #105.   Address is 3100 Cleburne St.

It's another event designed to drive home the point that #WeExist , we aren't going away, and you are going to have to deal with the fact that Black trans and SGL people are part of the kente cloth fabric of the Houston Black community.

Hope you take the opportunity to check out what I'm sure will be a lively and informative panel discussion.

HERO Updates, Notes and News- November 3

Well, the big hate rally at Riggleworld is over. and it was wonderful to see the Houston LGBT community meet those multiple violations of the Ten Commandments by Riggle and his friends with an outpouring of action.  

While his conservasheeple were buying t-shirts proclaiming they had the right to discriminate against gay peeps (and naw, you don't), we were busy collecting winter clothing and supplies for homeless LGBT youth and role modeling what real Christianity looks like.

Just to remind you peeps around the country.   Steve Riggle and his not so righteous flock don't represent the majority of Houstonians.   An overwhelming 75% of us favored passage of HERO and outnumbered the bussed in suburban haters when we testified in favor of it.  Neither do they represent the Houston clergy who testified in favor of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance by a 2-1 margin over the hatemongering preachers.

The citizens of Houston, especially those of us who face discrimination every day, wanted this ordinance implemented back when it passed on May 28.  Unfortunately that's being prevented by a gaggle of loud and wrong ministers who want to impose their hatred on the rest of our city.

Speaking of loud and wrong preachers,  the kneegrow sellout ones of the Baptist Ministers Association of Houston and Vicinity trotted out another one to test another talking point lie.

Pastor Willie Davis laughingly tried to claim that 'HERO takes away the rights of heteros'.

Seriously?   Once again, because it seems like you missed it while kissing Dave Welch's  rump,   HERO protects all Houstonians from discrimination based on sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, familial status, marital status, military status, RELIGION, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity, and pregnancy.

So where exactly Rev Davis, does it 'take away the rights of heteros'?    If you weren't so hellbent on selling out and cooning it up for the Harris County GOP,  you'd see that the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance EXPANDS the rights of heterosexuals like Judge Alexandra Smooths-Hogan, whose discrimination case was the catalyst for passing this much needed Houston human rights advancement.

And Rev Davis, since you went there, contrary to what your misguided ally Becky Riggle said, you so called Christians don't have a right to discriminate against LGBT people either based on your misguided interpretation of scripture.

And I still have to ask the question, what are the members of the Baptist Ministers Association of Houston And Vicinity getting from the conservative movement in exchange for being the sellout melanin laden faces of this HERO repeal effort so it has the appearance of looking less overwhelmingly white and Republican that even Stevie Wonder can see it already is? 

And why are you doing the conservative movement and FOX Noise's dirty work for them?

The  other question I have to ask is this.   When will members of the local African-American media start asking the hard questions of the opponents I just asked?   When will they start calling these ministers out about opposing a long needed Houston human rights ordinance that benefits the ENTIRE African-American community?

And yeah, a message for my H-town peeps.   If you want human rights laws in Houston and in Texas, this is another TransGriot reminder to take your souls to the polls tomorrow if you haven't done so already.   Don't stop with Wendy and Leticia, hit those judicial races, too.   We need more fair minded judges on our Harris County benches instead of ideologically driven ones.

The fight to keep the HERO continues.



 

Houston LGBT Positive Impact Day Meets Hate With Love

While our right wing opponents brought their all star team of national hatemongers to Steve Riggle's Grace KKKomumnity Church (and they are livestreaming it BTW)  the Houston LGBT community and our allies executed a different response to their hate rally.

From 2-4 PM members of the community, our allies and simply people living up to their personal values showed up at Grace Lutheran Church on Waugh Drive to donate clothing and other items for homeless LGBT youth.

Didn't take long for the room to start filling up with clothes and supplies, and two TV news stations and a HCC student reporter were there to record the happenings.  And yes, it's always good to see my Houston LGBT community and Team HERO peeps doing good in our Houston 'hood as usual.

This was the needed pile of winter clothes collected in just two hours as the haters gathered at Riggleworld to lie to the country about the fact they screwed up collecting signatures on their HERO repeal petition and they are trying to bully the city of Houston into overlooking it.

Um nope, rules are rules.   Even your boy Dave Welch spelled it out what the consequences were for not doing thangs to the letter.

One thing I'm certain you won't be seeing at the hate rally is them living up to their Christian values the way that was demonstrated at the Houston LGBT Positive Impact Day this afternoon

Upcoming Texas Non-Discrimination Ordinances Discussion

Too bad I will miss this event on November 7 sponsored by the Stonewall Law Association of Greater Houston , South Texas College of Law AMICUS, Social Sciences & The Law Society and the ACLU Student Organization

It will be a timely and fascinating discussion on non-discrimination ordinances in the state of Texas with a concentration on our own fight to implement the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance that was passed back in May.

And note to those Houston area human rights hatin' preachers, there have still been no bakers forced to bake swastika cakes in the Houston city limits.

The panel will feature Houston City Attorney David M. Feldman, Attorney and human rights advocate Susan L. Hays, Founding CEO of First Person Christina Canales Gorczynski,  South\Texas College of Law Professor Richard R. Carlson, and ACLU Texas Legal and Policy Director Rebecca Robertson.

That's definitely shaping up as an interesting panel for this human rights discussion, and it will take place at the Joe M. Green Auditorium on the South Texas College of Law campus at 1301 San Jacinto St. in beautiful downtown Houston from 1:00-5:00 PM CST

Attendance is free, but you must RSVP slaghlaw@gmail.com by November 5 to attend.

CLE's will also be offered, but you need to be a member of the Stonewall Law Association of Greater Houston to receive those credits.   Membership is $20 for attorneys and $10 for non attorneys at the reduced rate in effect for the rest of 2014.

HERO Updates, Notes and News-October 20

Things are definitely heating up on the HERO news front and it came from an unexpected direction. 

The HERO haters filed a lawsuit designed to clean up the mess they made of the signature gathering process and force a repeal vote  that will be heard in state district court January19. 

So with things inexorably creeping toward that date,  all of a sudden we hear over the top headlines coming from the conservative ranks that the city of Houston was 'attacking the religious liberty if Houston pastors'.   

Alvin McEwen of the Holy Bullies And Headless Monsters blog that tracks hypocritical right wing pastors and anti LGBT human rights activity, sent me a link to a Tony Perkins radio show on the topic.  Then FOX Noise, the junior senator from Alberta, and even Greg Abbott jumped into the faux controversy.

What happened was the law firm working pro bono for the city sent a discovery motion asking for all communications related to the failed petition from David Welch, Steve Riggle, Khan Huynh, Magda Hermida, and Hernan Castano.   While that motion may have been  overly broad in asking for the sermons, there is precedent for subpoenaing sermons in a legal investigation. 

While the city later refiled and cleaned up that language in the motion, it was still basic Legal Work 101.

"There's no question, the wording was overly broad. But I also think there was some deliberate misinterpretation on the other side," Mayor Parker said at a press conference Wednesday. "The goal is to find out if there were specific instructions given on how the petitions should be accurately filled out. It's not about, 'What did you preach on last Sunday?'"   

The HERO haters filed a lawsuit.  One  of the consequences of that is when you do, it opens you and your associates to legal scrutiny.   The subpoenas are seeking to gather information about improper church behavior, which is why the wingers are tripping in the first place.

And these conservafools, as usual, overplayed their hand by hating on Mayor Parker and spouting the usual hysterical lies about a HERO ordinance that isn't being implemented yet pending the court case..

Moving on to other topics.  The Houston Black TBLG community is continuing its efforts to handle its business.  There was a another strategy meeting held  October 15 in which this issue was not only discussed, but an upcoming November 22 trans health fair    We also have ongoing efforts to do HERO mythbusting in the Houston African-American community ranks. 

 In addition to continuing the education efforts inside the community, there are also other initiatives we are doing that fall into the Houston Black LGBT Revolution Will Not Be Televised territory, and to enhance their success I can't discuss them in this post.

One thing that is in the works is another sisterhood panel in which Black cis and trans women get together and discuss issues of importance to both groups.   There is still far too much disinformation out there about transgender people in the African-American ranks, and it's feeding into anti-trans animus and hysteria eagerly whipped up by our  sellout  pastors.

The first sisterhood panel back in July was a success, and there will be more of them to come. 

The struggle to keep the HERO continues.

HERO Updates,Notes and News-October 14

While we wait for the January 19 court date and trial to take place, the HERO is unfortunately not being implemented until the legal issues get sorted out.

In the interim, more evidence just keeps on surfacing in Houston why HERO is needed and why it was pushed for and passed in the first place.

Interesting news broke here recently about a gay male couple tossed out of a Yellow Cab last weekend because of a PDA the homophobic cab driver didn't approve of.

He should have had a clue because he picked up Travis Player and Andres Orozco in front of FBar, a gay club on Tuam Street.

As they shared a PG kiss on their way to their Museum District area home,  Orozco told ABC 13 "The man just turns back to us and tells us that he doesn't give gay people rides. And he proceeds to tell us we're going to hell for being gay."

The homophobic cab driver then kicked the couple out of his vehicle a few blocks from their home.

Yellow Cab had this to say about the incident.

"Yellow Cab immediately investigated this allegation of discrimination, including talking to the independent contractor driver. the driver stated that he would have taken the same actions if it was a man and a woman in the taxicab. Evidently, the driver was overly sensitive to passengers kissing. Yellow Cab does not have a policy about passengers showing affection in taxicabs. in fact, we encourage kissing in our taxicabs."

Yeah right.  If it had been a heterosexual couple locking lips in his backseat, the homophobe probably would have been hi- fiving and grinning at homeboy when he dropped them off.

Because Texas doesn't have a state law banning this type of discrimination and HERO is on hold pending the court case, what the homophobic cabbie did is legal.   But it ain't morally right.

"The sad reality is that it is completely legal," said GLBT community advocate Noel Freeman.

Freeman said in the ABC 13 interview that in the last six months, he's heard 4 other similar stories: gay couples getting kicked out of Yellow Cab taxis, for being affectionate.

"There are no laws in the state of Texas that protect people from discrimination in public accommodations like cabs. So someone can be kicked out of a cab because they're gay, black, because they're a woman," Freeman said.

Even though HERO isn't being implemented yet, if you run into any discrimination inside the city limits of H-town, go to the Office of Inspector General at City Hall and file a complaint so they can have a record of it.  

These haters need to buy a vowel and get a clue that discrimination's time in Houston has expired.

And Yellow Cab, don't forget you now have LGBT friendly competition from Uber and Lyft..  If your  drivers want to keep handing business to them, I'm sure the Uber and Lyft people will definitely be happy to take those LGBT customers off your hands and drive them wherever they need to go inside the Houston city limits.

But this is another concrete reason why the HERO needs to be implemented without delay.

HERO Updates, Notes and News-October 3

Was using the computers at the Houston Public Library location downtown when I received another reminder of why the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance needs to implemented without further delay.

I was just one spot away from two other people using some HPL computers when a  twentysomething Black man made a comment to the gentleman sitting next to him after he was visited by some openly gay people that 'he hated gays' and 'you need to keep your f****t azz away from me'.

Of  course the Black gay man was offended , and asked the homophobe if he wanted to take it outside and find out just how much of a man he was.

After listening to this for about five minutes, I finally shifted to Maya Wilkes mode and was moved to speak when he made the crack that 'Black people shouldn't be homosexuals' .

Interestingly enough I'm wearing my purple Task Force Houston Host Committee t-shirt today, and I called his azz out after he said, 'God didn't create gay people' and "I don't understand why people are homosexuals'

I said to him, 'God did create gay people, and I'm sick and tired of hearing that bigotry wrapped in prayer.'

He then shot back, 'What makes you think I'm a Christian?' to which I replied, "Too many people that call themselves Christian are spouting that right wing anti-gay hate speech, and I'm tired of it."

I then ended my soliloquy with "I don't understand why people are homophobes' and shut his behind down before I went back to handling my writing business.   

The gay Black man eventually took his problem with the homophobe in question to security . 

The sistah security guard warned the homophobe that if she had one more complaint about him, out the library he was going.

After she left, he mutters some more anti- gay remarks and 'effing f*****s before he gets up from the computer and storms off.

Note to you HERO haters: A library is a public accommodation.  Since we have far too many people in the Houston area like you wanting to do more than just vocally express your anti-LGBT attitudes and discriminate against folks, that's why gender identity and sexual orientation are included in the 15 protected classes in the HERO that awaits the rapidly approaching January 19 court hearing.

And yes, as today proved, it's an ordinance that is sorely needed,
  
 

HERO Updates, Notes And News- August 20

Last night Team HERO took a moment to celebrate and recognize the team of folks who helped get the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance passed back on May 28, verified the oppositions petitions, or did whatever it took to make the HERO a reality.  

In addition to just being in the same Resurrection MCC church space with each other, we had the pleasure of hanging out with Mayor Annise Parker and State Rep Sylvester Turner.

As you can see by the photo, a certain blogger was there, and I got to hear Mayor Parker thank us for collaborating in the effort to get it passed and showing the world that Houston doesn't discriminate.



Mayor Parker in addition to thanking us provided an update on HERO's status.  The implementation of it is unfortunately on hold pending the legal case, but she also stated that if you are discriminated against, bring your cases to the OIG anyway so they can start tracking them,deal with them and have documentation to bring to the January 19 trial that HERO is needed to tackle the discrimination that does happen.

As for what the faith-based haters were up to?  Probably licking their wounds after the dual legal setbacks they received on Friday.   But the biggest loss for them is that the HERO repeal vote will not be on the November 2014 ballot. 

It gives us time to educate and fundraise should it hit the November 2015 one, and the money they're wasting on the lawsuit is cash that won't be going to right wing candidates in this election cycle.


Speaking of that education effort, the Houston Forum will be having at 6:30 PM their event tonight at Social Junkie entitled '10 Things I Hate About You: Why Houston Needs HERO.   Featured speakers will be Councilmembers Ellen Cohen and Ed Gonzales (who sponsored and voted YES for the HERO).  

I won't be at that one because of a scheduling conflict (darn) but if you wish to attend it,  Social Junkie is located at 2412 Washington Ave.   You'll need to e-mail an RSVP to Lillie Schechter at rsvp@lillieschechter.com in order to do so.


On Houston Media Source TV tomorrow at 6:30 PM is another in their series of HERO conversations hosted by Fran Watson and Durrel Douglas. 

I'll be a panelist along with Brandon Mack, Michael C. Webb, Jr and Tarah Taylor in that discussion from the perspective of Black allies and supporters concerning the issues that cropped up during the unnecessarily contentious HERO debate in the African-American and mainstream communities.

The reason I won't be there for the Houston Forum event is because I'm signed up to participate in a African-American specific training that starts an hour later several miles away at the Montrose Center.
The Real Talk: A Message Of Equality training is jointly sponsored by the Movement Advancement Project and Equality Texas

The rationale behind this messaging training is that the best messengers to get the HERO word out amongst African-Americans are other pro-human rights minded African-Americans. 

It's past time that happened, since our predominately conservative white male opponents have been playing the game of using sellout kneegrow pastors to christopimp their message of hate and claim they have 'broad based support'.

If you wish to attend the event, it will happen at The Montrose Center, located at 401 Branard St.   An RSVP is required for your attendance.  Please go to this link: http://tinyurl.com/realtalktraining to register for it and hope to see you tonight starting at 7:30 PM

Finally on Sunday, August 24, the Educating Us About Us Forum facilitated by Austin D.Williams will take place starting at 3:30 PM.  Yep, I'll be at that one too and hope you'll be in attendance for this much needed conversation.   

This facilitated conversation will do some HERO mythbusting liebusting, break down misconceptions about different groups in the African-American SGL, trans and bi community and facilitate community building    Should be an interesting and much needed three hour discussion.
The fight to keep the HERO continues.

HERO Updates, Notes And News- August 18

HERO 4-HERO haters 0

Despite the faith-based oppressors trying to spin this as a 'victory', the reality is they lost twice in court Friday in their bid to force a November repeal vote of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.

Because the 152nd District Court has a Democratic judge (which is more ample evidence that elections matter) the haters tried to get the case heard in the  14th District Texas Court of Appeals in the hopes they would get a conservative leaning judge.

The strategy didn't work, because the 14th District Appeals Court refused to hear their case and sent it back to the 152nd District Court and Judge Schaeffer

While all this legal maneuvering was going on, Team HERO was holding a noon press conference before the court hearing at the steps of the Harris County Civil Courthouse telling our side of the story.

The pro-HERO peeps are continuing to hammer home the points why this non-discrimination ordinance needs to be implemented without delay instead of being delayed .  

This news story that broke last Thursday about an African-American cis man being denied access to a downtown public bathroom in a public building is more evidence why HERO needs to be implemented in H-town without delay. 


In the Friday afternoon court hearing, the faith based haters went in trying to accomplish three things.  
*A temporary restraining order to stop HERO from being implemented. 
*An order forcing City Council to vote to repeal HERO in its entirety
*An order forcing a City Council vote to place it on the November 2014 ballot.

Never mind the fact the HERO haters screwed up and failed to follow clearly set out city charter parameters for conducting petition drives and they know it.  Now in their faith-based phobic arrogance want the special right to ignore the rules that everyone else has to follow.

At the end of the hearing, the HERO haters failed to accomplish any of their goals.  They agreed to withdraw the TRO request since Mayor Parker made it moot by suspending implementation of the HERO pending the results of the court case

The trial date will be January 19, 2015, which means that the earliest election date that can happen for a HERO repeal vote will be the November 2015 city elections.  

The haters were trying to get it on the ballot this November, and the deadline to submit ballot language to the Texas Secretary of State for the upcoming election was today.   It's why the HERO haters were so pressed to force City Council to act on it.  

But while a HERO repeal referendum will not be on the November 2014 ballot, it also means the HERO will not be in effect either until the legal issues are sorted out.   The silver lining is that it gives us time to educate the people who have been bamboozled into believing the faith based lies and flip them into becoming supporters of the ordinance once we lay out the facts

Moving on to other HERO related news.   On Tuesday August 19 there will be a HERO Volunteer Appreciation Event at Resurrection MCC featuring Mayor Annise Parker.

At the event will get an update on where the legal challenges against HERO-our new landmark nondiscrimination law stand, take a moment to celebrate the amazing work that our broad citywide coalition has done and accomplished so far and hear what we need to do to ensure that HERO remains City of Houston law.

The Volunteer Appreciation event will start at 6:30 PM at the church, located at  2725 W 11th St. 

On Wednesday August 20 at Social Junkie, the Houston Forum will present starting at 6:30 PM entitled '10 Things I Hate About You: Why Houston Needs HERO.   It will feature Councilmembers Ellen Cohen and Ed Gonzales      

As is so apropos to this HERO discussion, Social Junkie is located at 2412 Washington Ave, the street where clubs located on it have been going buck wild discriminating against anyone that isn't a heterosexual white male.  

The Houston Forum is a space for like-minded people to meet, network and discuss current issues and to foster the progressive community in Houston.   If you wish to attend what should be an interesting event,  e-mail Lillie Schechter at rsvp@lillieschechter.com to do so. 

Meanwhile at the Montrose Center that same night, starting at 7:30 PM will be the Real Talk: A Message Of Equality event jointly sponsored by the Movement Advancement Project and Equality Texas.

African Americans are the best messengers for LGBT equality in the African American community. This training brings national experts from the Movement Advancement Project and Equality Federation to lead a conversation among African Americans about the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance. Our presenters will provide evidence-based information on effective messaging that can be difficult to hear, but is vital to broader public education efforts.

RSVP is required for your attendance.  Please go to this link: http://tinyurl.com/realtalktraining.

The struggle to keep the HERO continues.

HERO Updates, Notes and News-August 13

The scene for the battle to keep the HERO shifts from City Hall to the Harris County Courthouse at 201 Caroline Street on Friday afternoon.

It'll be heard in Judge Robert Shaver's 152nd Civil Court on the 11th floor of that building at 1:30 PM CDT on Friday

The clock is ticking on the faith-based oppressors as they try to get in the courtroom what they failed to get when they committed their unforced errors in collecting signatures.

They have a looming August 18 deadline to get their repeal  referendum language on the ballot, and they have no one to blame but themselves for their predicament.

King Hater Dave Welch told them in the training video what not to do when collecting the signatures for the repeal petitions, and they did it anyway. 

Meanwhile on to other issues of importance.  Media Matters wrote a story that confirmed what Team HERO already knew.  Houston media coverage of our HERO fight has been slanted far too much in the oppressor's direction, and offered suggestions to fix it.

On Monday night was the August meeting of the Stonewall Young Democrats, and in addition to having a small celebration to acknowledge the HERO wins so far, this meeting also revealed more of the groups endorsements in statewide  and local judicial races.

There was another HERO strategy meeting held at the Montrose Center last night in which several bullet point issues of importance to the Houston Black SGL trans and bi community were discussed.   There was also a review of the previous meeting, where we stood with HERO and continuing to do our 'Revolution Will Not Be Televised' work to own our power.    Watch this TransGriot space for date, time and location of the next meeting.

A HERO fundraiser is happening later tonight with suggested donations of  $250, $500, to $10,000. RSVP to Kathryn@KChace.com if yo wish to attend this event at the home of  Richard Holt and Mark McMasters

Interesting news dropped about one of our haters in Jonathan Saenz of Texas Values and why he's hating on HERO.  Seems according to Lone Star Q, his ex-wife left him for another woman.  Hmm.  .  

The #NOFILTER conversations also start at 7 PM tonight

Don't you think it's time for us as a community to come together and have those hard conversations that we always wanted to have but didn't know how to? Well, we have the discussion for you. #NOFILTER is a place to start tearing apart any of the things we want to get off our chest!

In case you're interested, MSociety is located at 1116 Jackson St.in Montrose.

There is also a HERO volunteer appreciation event happening August 19 at Resurrection MCC Church.  If you did anything to help the HERO pass from speaking at City Council to checking petitions to e-mailing our councilmembers, your presence is requested and wanted for this event.

Soon as I get the time, I'll pass it along in a future HERO update post.

And finally, on August 14 there will be a Houston moment of silence for Mike Brown, the folks in Ferguson, MO and all the people who were either killed unjustly or due to police brutality. 

Ashley Williams is organizing this #Houston National Moment of Silence which will take place Thursday at MacGregor Park at the corner of Old Spanish Trail and MLK (at the MLK statue corner of the park) starting at 6 PM CDT.  



#NMOS14 organizers are asking you to bring your families, signs, and stories. If you have any questions, or need more info, please contact Ashley at  fashionfwd_ash@yahoo.com or send a text to 214-608-6329

I'm planning to attend and hope we'll have representation from the Houston TBLG community there.

The fight to keep the HERO continues.   

HERO Updates, Notes And News-August 11

It's been a week since the haters faith based oppressors failed to gather enough signatures to place the HERO on the ballot for recall.   Because it was via their own ineptitude that they failed to do so, now they want the court system to bail them out of the mess they made for themselves.

They tried to play it off as if the city was being nitpicky about it, but as this training video shows, even King Hater Dave Welch knew what the requirements were before they got started on the failed recall petition drive  



The case was sent to federal court, on August 6, but went back to state court the next day with a hearing on August 15.  The HERO haters are running into an August 18 deadline if they want to get it on the 2014 election ballot, and the clock is ticking. 

As expected, a judge has enjoined the city from enforcing the HERO  until the legal questions are resolved.   Mayor Parker had already anticipated this, which is why she suspended HERO mplementation for two weeks until the haters trip through the court system is done. 

In the meantime, Team HERO is in standby mode.  While we'd rather the HERO not be on the ballot period, if push comes to shove we are ready to start fundraising money and prepare defending our much needed human rights ordinance.Stay tuned to this TransGriot channel to see if they were successful 

On to other news.  The next Civil Rights Strategy group meeting will be on Tuesday, August 12 at 7:00 PM at the Montrose Center, 401 Branard, Room 112..

The struggle to keep the HERO continues

HERO Updates, Notes and News-August 7

The big HERO news is still the failure of the haters to collect enough signatures to get it on the ballot this fall.  But as we expected, the faith based oppressors went there and filed a lawsuit Tuesday to force their way onto the ballot.

They're trying to claim the sampling by City Secretary Anna Russell is satisfactory enough to get them over the 17,269 signature threshold to place the HERO on the ballot.

City Attorney Dave Feldman is stating that the numerous errors and violations of procedures in collecting those petitions invalidates enough of those petition to where it did fail.

The haters have no one to blame but themselves for the half-assed job they did in collecting signatures, and now they're trying to skirt the rules in court.   The deadline to put any ballot or referendum on the upcoming November 4 ballot is August 18, which is why they filed the suit as quickly as they did. 

And naw CultureMap, people's civil or human rights should NEVER be put to a vote.  But I guess if you weren't a white male who doesn't have to face discrimination of an almost daily basis you'd have a different opinion about that.

Moving on to what's at stake if this does make it to the ballot, as many of Team HERO folks warned in the runup to HERO passage, Bloomberg News has posted a July 31 story warning that if the HERO is repealed, the 2017 Super Bowl now scheduled to be played at NRG Stadium could go bye bye along with the estimated $350 million that it would bring to our H-town economy.

So the question I have to ask to Max Miller, James Nash, FN Williams and all the other kneegrow sellouts in the Baptist Ministers Association of Houston and Vicinity cooning it up with Dave Welch and his right wing friends.

Is your faux faith-based hatred of LGBT peeps being covered in the HERO worth costing the city a Super Bowl?

There was an interesting development during the Forward Times forum that was scheduled to talk about the HERO interestingly enough on August 4.   The news dropped about the failure of the faith-based haters to get the required signatures one hour before the forum's 6 PM start time.   Max Miller and Kathy Blueford-Daniels had been invited by the forum organizers to discuss the opposition viewpoint. They cancelled on the Forward Times forum organizers at the very last moment via e-mail after previously confirming their appearance before the date.

"Due to the Mayor’s announcement of invalid signatures of our petitions and the upcoming court proceedings, it is with my apologies that we will not be attending the forum tonight."
     
Obviously that didn't sit well with the Forward Times organizers, and TaShon Thomas let fly with this column in the online version of the newspaper  

I have always been one who is open to hearing opposition and trying to understand where they are coming from, but it is impossible for me to do that if they do not show up when it is important. The mayor’s announcement should have not deterred the petition leaders from attending the forum; it should have been a rallying cry.

If you truly care about bettering the city of Houston and believe the ordinance would lead to its downfall, then you should use whatever avenue is given to you to get your point across. Do not just say you are going to attend and back out at the last moment as though you are cowering in defeat. Especially now since the window for the repeal to be placed on the ballot is approaching fast.

I was definitely looking forward to the opportunity along with the 60 people in the CWA Hall Monday night to ask Max Miller and Kathy Blueford-Daniels some questions about why they were selling out the community.  

Oh well, I'll hopefully get an opportunity to do so soon, because I'm very interested in hearing his responses to my questions. Already had the opportunity to rebut Kathy's headscratching reasons for opposing a comprehensive HERO ordinance that will benefit her and other Houstonians.

The battle to keep the HERO continues.

HERO Updates, Notes and News-August 5

The big story yesterday was the failure of the HERO haters to get the 17,269 signatures they needed to force the Houston Equal Right Ordinance onto the fall election ballot.

Aww, too bad.  The reports by City Secretary  Anna Russell and City Attorney Dave Feldman confirm it.

The haters only gathered 15,249 valid signatures.  They probably had more, but thanks to their own sloppiness and failure to follow the law, many of their petition pages were invalidated.

They can hate the process and blame Mayor Parker all they want, but if they want to know the major reason why their recall petition drive failed, they can look in the mirror.  As far as I'm concerned, no one's civil rights should be placed on a ballot for an up or down vote.  

Because the press conference was held at 5 PM, it was the lead story on all the local news channels. 

KHOU-TV CBS 11



KPRC-TV NBC 2



KTRK-TV ABC 13



KRIV-TV  FOX 26 



About an hour later the Forward Times political forum talking about the HERO kicked off at the CWA union hall with 60 people in attendance.  It was interesting to note that HERO opponents Max Miller and Kathy Bluefield-Daniels, who were supposed to be on the panel, no showed.

Darn, was looking forward to tangling with her and especially Max Miller's sellout behind.. 

Councilmember Dwight Boykins was there along with a rep from Mayor Parker's office who were asked questions by moderators Jeffrey Boney and TaShon Thomas before the forum was opened to questions from the audience.

Eventually one of the HERO haters, Pastor James Nash of St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church did show his face in the place, but HERO opponents were definitely outnumbered by HERO supporters.

When Pastor Nash tried to play the sexual predator card mere moments after being told by Cassandra Thomas, a 30 year expert in the field, that the anti-trans bathroom predator scare tactic they repeatedly used in this HERO fight is false, he got smacked with the fact that many of the sexual predators we hear about in the news are his fellow clergy.

So stop projecting Pastor Nash, and give that discredited transgender bathroom predator lie a rest. .

It was another huge win for Team HERO, but the haters are not going to give up.  

Once again, if you anti-HERO peeps have problems with me calling you haters, until you stop working with Dave Welch and other white conservafools to openly oppose my human rights, I'm going to keep calling you exactly what you are:  Haters.

Or if you don't like haters, I could refer to you as faith-based oppressors, faith-based haters, oppressors, sellouts...You get the general drift.

I have zero respect for anyone who works to repress the human rights of someone else.  It's even more distasteful to me when they try to justify their anti-TBLG bigotry by using Bible scripture or your pulpits to do so and colludes with white conservative Republicans.

The Houston African-American SGL, bi and trans community will have another strategy meeting August 12 at the Montrose Center.  This one will take place at 7 PM and will discuss our next steps in defending HERO and what we need to do in our ongoing efforts to reverse the damage caused to community unity by the hate preachers lies..

The fight to keep the HERO continues.