Getting Another Award From The Houston GLBT Caucus!

Yesterday afternoon I was having a particularly crappy day until I got a phone call from the new Houston GLBT Political Caucus president Jovon Tyler that had me singing Ice Cube's 'Today Was A Good Day' when it was over.

Jovon called to inform me that I was being honored with the 2020 Don Hrachovy Lifetime Achievement Award!

Who is Don Hrachovy?   He was the second president of the Houston GLBT Political Caucus and Texas A&M Aggie alum who not only was a ten year member of the organization, but spent thousands of hours putting together that formidable 100,000 name database that has made the Houston GLBT Caucus one of the Big Four must get endorsements in Houston area liberal progressive politics.

That database Hrachovy created has paid dividends in helping endorsed Caucus candidates get elected and making the Caucus a formidable political force.  He was also one of the founders of Resurrection MCC and the second person to receive this award named for him in 1987. 

Before he died at age 37 from complications from AIDS on June 4, 1988, Hrachovy requested that the AIDS Quilt panel being designed for him be made to look like a voter registration card.   He served as the Caucus chair of membership and voter registration.

This is not the first time I've been honored by the Caucus.   Back in 2016 I received the John Paul Barnich Award from them at that year's Equality Brunch in recognition for the work I'd done to that point. 

But this one is huge.   The Hrachovy Life Achievement Award was last given out in 1995, and the list of people who have previously won it reads as a Who's Who list of iconic Houston TBLGQ leaders.

The award was first given out in 1986, with Cicely Wynne receiving the inaugural award.  Hrachovy received it in 1987   The other iconic Houston leaders who have received this award are Joe Thornton (1988)  Jack Valinski (1989), David Fowler (1990) , Pat Hall (1991)  Ray Hill (1992) Annise Parker (1993), Eugene Harrington (1994) and Jim Owens (1995) 

For some reason they stopped giving out the Hrachovy after 1995 at the Equality Brunch until Tyler and the Awards Committee revived it for this year. 

As you probably guessed, when I do receive it, I'll be making history once again.  I will become the  first Black and first Houston trans person of any ethnicity to win it .   The Caucus wasn't open to trans folks when it was founded, and it sadly took until 1999 to change that.policy.

A meeting my neophyte activist self  was sitting in the room for when the Caucus board voted to change it.

That's why despite us having some formidable trans leaders in the 713 like Toni Mayes, Phyllis Frye, Sarah DePalma, Dee McKellar, Vanessa Edwards Foster and Brenda Thomas who have done the work and whose shoulders I stand on, it's ironic and humbling that I will be the first trans person to receive this lifetime achievement award.

While I'm always focused on my goal of doing what I can to make, Houston, Texas, and the nation better than when I encountered it and haven't been concerned about getting awards for the work I do, it is nice and deeply appreciated when that work is recognized by your community.

I'll have to wait until the Equality Brunch happens on October 4 to receive it, but already clearing some space on my increasingly crowded awards shelf for it.

Law Harrington Senior Living Center Finally Breaking Ground Today

One of the stops that I enjoyed during a LGBT Media Journalists Convening trip to Philadelphia a few years ago was to the John C Anderson Apartments.

It was a seven story low income LGBTQ seniors apartment complex in the Philadelphia gayborhood.  I enjoyed a conversation I had with one of the residents, a trans woman named Barbara who dropped a history lesson on me in terms of what it was like to transition back in the 60's.

I walked away from that visit wondering why we couldn't have something similar to that in Houston.

Fortunately then Mayor Annise Parker was visiting a similar low income LGBTQ seniors complex in Los Angeles, and upon her return to Houston began the process in conjunction with the Montrose Center to replicate the same thing for us.

Later this morning at 10:30 AM ground will be broken on the 112 unit Law Harrington Senior Living Center at 2222 Cleburne Street 

It was first announced back in September 2018, but rising construction costs forced a delay. $23 million dollars in funding through various sources such as grants, tax credits and community donations and the No Place Like Home campaign put it back on track, and the final necessary funding was acquired in June.

Seniors age 62 and up will be housed in the one and two bedroom apartment on the site that located a 1.5 miles east of the Montrose Center along the proposed Blue Line light rail line in Third Ward. .

The rent will be limited to no more than 30% of a prospective seniors income because one third of .    LGBTQ seniors live at or below 200% of the federal poverty line.   Housing discrimination also forces many LGBTQ seniors to go back into the closet just to survive or age in isolation from the community.

The complex will include a social services center, a group dining area, a garden, dog park, game rooms, a fitness center and a geriatric primary care facility provided by Legacy Community Health

The Montrose Center is not yet taking applications for housing in the complex, but you can best believe I'll be keeping an eye on how construction is progression on it since I'm less than 5 years from being able to apply for one of those units

You Mad Because I Didn't Meet With You, Nick Hellyar? Stay Mad

The municipal political season is starting to heat up here in H-town with our November 5 election day rapidly approaching.

That also means that because many people in the Houston area respect my time in the movement and my political opinions as a social media influencer, candidates who are running for office believe that it is important to contact me and seek my endorsement. 

My political star has also been rising in the wake of the HCDP's JRR luncheon and the well received acceptance speech for the Barbara Jordan Breaking Barriers Award back in May.

The candidates that I endorse for local office will be announced in a TransGriot post I'll write before early voting in our municipal election starts on October 21.

We had a contentious GLBT Caucus endorsement meeting this past weekend in which I discovered during the debate for the Caucus' At Large 4 endorsement that candidate Nick Hellyar was talking shyt about me behind my back.   

In his words, Ana Andrea Molina, myself and Ashton Woods are in his words 'poor leaders' because we didn't take time out of  our busy schedules to meet with his vanillacentric privileged azz to discuss an endorsement.

And I have receipts in terms of how busy I have been.   This is just a snippet of some of the things I have done since April.  What was more important than spending my time with Nick Hellyar to discuss an endorsement? 

Let's see:

*Traveled to Minneapolis to participate in the Andrea Jenkins Lecture Series on the U of Minnesota campus

*Attending a rally for Muhlaysia Booker in Dallas    

*The 8th annual BTAC Conference April 23-28

*A Lambda Voices radio interview on KNON-FM in Dallas  

*A 9 AM press conference on April 29 in Austin urging passage of HB 1513 

*The HB 1513 hearing in Austin at 9 PM on April 29 
*Supporting Frankie Gonzales Wolfe's potentially historic council run in San Antonio on my May 4 birthday.  

*Being given the Barbara Jordan Breaking Barriers Award at the HCDP JRR Luncheon  

*Attending Muhlaysia Booker's wake and funeral  

*Interviews with CNN and other media outlets concerning anti-trans violence aimed at Black trans women  

*Lobbying the Texas Lege a total of six times this session  

*Marching in the Dallas Pride Parade with the BTAC and Dallas Black trans people contingent 

*Participating in the March For Black Trans Lives in Dallas 

*Being a Houston Pride honorary Grand Marshal  

*Being honored by Sara Ramirez on the Barclays Center stage with Ana Andrea Molina and Ashton P. Woods at NYC WorldPride opening ceremony  

*Taught during the 2019 TXTNS a seminar on Contemporary Texas Trans History 101 

*MCing A Black Trans Lives Matter rally in Austin 

          *Netroots Nation 2019 panel discussion in Philadelphia 

*BTAC board meeting and Leadership Institute in Dallas  

*Taping an ABC Nightline interview with Dee Dee Watters and Diamond Stylz 

*Writing my columns for OutSmart and my TransGriot blog posts

The At large 4 seats started drawing candidates from other crowded races because At Large 4 incumbent CM Amanda Edwards decided to run for the US Senate., 
The Caucus decided not to endorse anyone in the At large 4 race   Dr. Leticia Plummer also screened for it after switching from At Large 5, and I wish she could have gotten that endorsement. 

Christel Bastida, the candidate originally in the At Large 4 race (and a problematic one at that) didn't even bother to screen for it.   Hellyar only switched to At Large 4 after it became clear he wasn't getting any traction in this district.   It has two strong front runners in Shelley Kennedy and Abbie Kaman who are likely to be in a runoff.
Speaking of problematic candidates, the more I looked into Hellyar and talked to people about him, the more problematic stuff came out, including his controversial turn as GLBT caucus president.  

Questions about whether he actually lived in District C, which was the position he was running for before filing for At Large 4 came up, in addition to his condescending answers at a Pride Forum focused on council candidates 

It also came to my attention that trans folks are not part of his vision for HERO 2.0 either. 

So be mad and stay mad that I haven't met with you.   And news flash, when I endorse in At Large 4, chances are very high you won't be getting the TransGriot thumbs up.

 

Goodbye Ray Hill

One of our iconic Houston TBLGQ community and civil rights activists in Ray Hill passed away on November 24 at age 78 of heart failure while in hospice care at Bering Omega House. 

Yesterday we go to say goodbye to Ray at his memorial funeral service on the steps of Houston City Hall 

The service lasted three hours and was emceed by former Houston mayor Annise Parker, herself an iconic leader in our community.   It featured local politicians, people connected with KPFT-FM's The Prison Show, family members of Ray, past presidents of the Houston GLBT Caucus and a host of people gathered on a sunny December day to tell their Ray Hill stories and remember a man who had a huge influence not only our community, but Houston and the nation. 

He helped organize the massive 1978 march against Anita Bryant.   The Town Hall meeting at the AstroArena that led to the organization of the Houston TBLGQ community.  Was a supporter and thorn in the sde at times of the Caucus.

Hill was also the subject of two documentaries, with the most recent one entitled, The Trouble With Ray.



Of course I knew Ray, and bumped into him from time to time at our various community events.  I loved talking to him because it's not every day you get to talk to a historical community icon

The one thing I loved about him and I've also emulated in my own advocacy work is that he didn't just work on gay issues.    He was a prison reform advocate.   He supported the trans community and the First Amendment.

He was a proud, unapologetically gay agent provocateur and troublemaker pushing us in the TBLGQ community, local politicians and our community to be better. 

And we're going to miss him.

Houston Suburban Hate Pastors Hating On Drag Queen Storytime

Seems like because they're living their boring life in the 'burbs of Katy and Magnolia, Dave Welch and Steven Hotze have nothing better to do than meddle in Houston business.

Drag Queen Storytime was started back in November 2017 by Darius Vallier, a drag queen known as Blackberri for his bearded lady persona.

Vallier was invited by Brazos Bookstore last June to headline its Drag Queen Story Hour for LGBTQ Pride Month.   The event was a smashing success, and the Houston Public Library hired Vallier to host its own Drag Queen Storytime event at the Freed- Montrose Neighborhood Library.

KHOU-TV 11 recently broadcast a story on July 9 about the Drag Queen Storytime event at the Heights Public Library, and that was enough to get the attention of At-Large Councilmember Michael Kubosh and his reprehensible right wing friends.

The Katy based Hotze runs the SPLC certified hate group Conservative Republicans of Texas, and wasted no time sticking his nose in Houston business after being given the heads up by Kubosh at a July 17 council meeting by attacking the event as 'inappropriate for children.' . 

Hotze demanded that the city kill the Drag Queen Storytime, and compared it to pedophilia. 

Really fool?  Since when do you have credibility to talk about anything since A, you don't live in the city of Houston and B, you run a hate group.  Welch and his US Pastors Council are now joining the fray since the DQSH program is a nationwide one they have been sleeping on. .

Meanwhile the Houston GLBT Caucus has weighed in with a statement supporting the event.

But the big mic drop comment belongs to Vallier.

“I do it for me and the kids, not for attention,” said Blackberri, aka Darius Vallier. “I strive for a better tomorrow where hate and ignorance is overshadowed by love and acceptance. I didn’t even know the news was going to be there, so I am happy that accepting people now know about the programs. If anyone thinks that a drag queen taking the time out of their day to read to children and make them smile is a problem, they are more than welcome to volunteer their time like I did and read to children themselves.”

Nope.  Hotze, Welch and all their hate pastors are too busy gleefully coordinating oppression against the Texas TBLGQ community to take time out of their day to read to kids like you are doing.

20th Annual OutSmart Gayest and Greatest Awards Presentation Tonight

Tonight starting at 5 PM will be the live presentation of OutSmart Magazine's Gayest and Greatest Readers Choice Awards.

OutSmart is our local LGBTQ magazine here in Houston, and this is the 20th year they have presented these awards honoring our local heroes, sheroes and community organizations

The live awards will be presented in the People categories for the Best Male and Female LGBT Business Persons, Favorite Male and Female Commercial Radio Personality,  Favorite Male and Female Community Radio Personality,  Favorite Male and Female Community Hero, Favorite Male and Female Community Photographer, Favorite Male and Female Local Politician, Favorite Male and Female TV Personality, Leading Male and Female Fundraiser, Most Prominent Male and Female LGBT Activist, Most Valuable Male and Female volunteer and Favorite LGBT Philanthropic Organization..

While I was nominated in three categories this year, unfortunately I didn't get enough votes to make the finals.   Maybe next year.

Congratulations to all the people who are finalists for these awards, those who won in other categories this year and good luck this evening.

The live presentation will take place at Rich's Houston, located at 2401 San Jacinto St. near downtown from 5 PM -9 PM.

Moni's In The Middle Of The 2015 Houston GLBT Caucus Endorsement Meeting

I  have attended a few Houston GLBT Political Caucus meetings before and after my Texan in Exile days in Da Ville, but this one was going to be special.    It was going to be my first one ever as a paid member of the Caucus, and it also happened to be the 2015 Caucus Endorsement Meeting. 

Founded in 1975, the Houston GLBT Political Caucus is not only one of the oldest organizations of its kind in the southern US dedicated solely to the advancement of gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans equality, it is also the largest political organization in Houston and Harris County. 

A Houston GLBT Caucus endorsement, while it is a nonpartisan org that gives the endorsement based on your support of LGBT rights, has basically become over time one of the most sought after and critical ones if you are a liberal-progressive leaning candidate running for office in the Houston area. 

Getting that endorsement helps your campaign tremendously if you get it, because their endorsement cards are used by Houston LGBT voters and our allies to ensure they are voting for liberal-progressive leaning candidates that have our community's trans..bi and SGL human rights interests at heart and will do a great job in the office they were endorsed by the Caucus for.. 

So while I have experienced being a participant in the political candidate endorsing process when I lived in Louisville and was a member of the Fairness Campaign board, I was still excited about today's events.

I didn't get there until 12:55 PM because I overslept, but once I arrived at the meeting venue I could feel the excitement in the air as I walked into the IBEW Union Hall where they had to move this endorsement meeting from the Montrose Center.  I later discovered that this was possibly the largest endorsement meeting ever attendance wise in caucus history.

Interest was huge because we in H-town are selecting a new mayor to replace outgoing Mayor Annise Parker and in the wake of recent political events surrounding HERO..  It was definitely on my mind and the minds of the folks in that packed and overly warm house.   The air conditioning in the building was having problems and improvised fans were having to be used by the meeting attendees until the AC issue got sorted out.. 

Five seconds after I walked into the room I ran into HISD school board trustee Juliet Stipeche who was seeking the Caucus endorsement in her race.   It also didn't take me long to start running into old friends like Ray Hill, Brandon Mack, Ashton Woods, Fran & Kim Watson, Dalton DeHart, Melissa Vivanco, Lou Weaver,, Brenda Langer, Michael Webb, Antonio Maldonado, Maverick Welsh, Nikki Araguz Loyd and Will Loyd/   It was also an opportunity yo meet new ones like Sharon Fuller.

I also started running into friends running for office like Jenifer Pool, Jolanda Jones and Lane Lewis and candidates seeking Caucus support that I'd met at various events over the last few months like Phillipe Nassif, Amanda Edwards and Laurie Robinson, along with my first 

Not long after I arrived at 12:55 PM because I overslept, the meeting started.  After voting to by acclimation give all the candidates in non-contested races except one the Caucus endorsements they sought,  and that all candidates endorsed by the Houston GLBT Political Caucus must publicly support ‪HERO‬ on some campaign materials, the meeting moved on to the business of dealing with the contested races, starting with the mayor's race.

It  took six hours of sometimes contentious debate and arguments that at times got heated, but in the end no chairs were thrown and no fights broke out.   The Caucus endorsement business was handled masterfully by Maria Gonzalez who kept the meeting civil and Daniel Williams who served as the parliamentarian ensuring Robert's Rules of Order were correctly and fairly applied.

Here are the candidates who earned Houston GLBT Caucus endorsements:.

Mayor 
Sylvester Turner

City Council
District B - Jerry Davis; District C - Ellen Cohen; District F - Richard A. Nguyen;
District H - Roland Chavez; District I - Robert Gallegos; District J-Mike Laster; District K-Larry Green

City Council At Large
Position 1 - Lane Lewis; Position 2 - David Robinson; Position 3 - Doug Peterson; Position 4 - Amanda K. Edwards,  Position 5 - Phillipe Nassif

Controller
Chris Brown

HISD School Board Trustee
District 2 - Rhonda Skillern Jones; Position 3 - Ramiro Fonseca; Position 4 - Jolanda Jones; Position 8 Juliet Katherine Stipeche

HCCS Board
District 3 - Adriana Tamez; Position 8 - Eva Loredo.

Congratulations to all the candidates who did get the Caucus endorsement, and to those who didn't, sorry it didn't happen for you this cycle.  

Now let's focus on the next step of getting them in office this November.

Houston GLBT Caucus Endorsement Meeting Today

In a normal Houston civic election year, stuff usually doesn't start heating up politically until September around Labor Day   

But this isn't a normal election year.   After winning her three allotted two year terms, Mayor Annise Parker will have to vacate the chair in January, and there are 6 declared candidates who have jumped into the race.

There are also peeps running to either replace term limited council members or challenge sitting ones. 

With HERO no thanks to the partisan Texas Supreme Court being forced onto the ballot, we will have to decide who will be the best candidates in this 2015 election cycle are the ones best able to support the human rights of all Houstonians.

That process for who the Houston LGBT community will support starts with the Houston GLBT Political Caucus that kicking off as you read this.   There was so much interest in this endorsement meeting, they had to move it from the Montrose Center to the IBEW Union Hall,

It`s going to be an interesting afternoon of H-town political action .  And I'm in the middle of it this time because I'm a voting member of the Houston GLBT Political Caucus.

Tell y'all what transpired in a few hours.  I'm also armed with my tablet, and if I can do so, will drop some tweets or Facebook comments.

'50 Shades Of Me' Panel At TSU This Thursday

This Thursday April 23, I'll be taking part in a panel discussion on the Texas Southern University campus entitled 50 Shades of Me: Mental Health And The Transgender Community.

The scheduled panelists are J. Feng, Marie Angel Hernandez and  Atlantis Capri in addition to myself, and will take place starting at 6 PM.

I thank Dr. Dominique Broussard and Dr. Andrea Shelton for the invitation to participate in this panel discussion.

I'm looking forward to this panel because it has some personal significance to me.  It will be the first time ever I've done a panel on an HBCU campus, and it's apropos it happens to be on an HBCU campus in my hometown that I have deep family ties to. 

My mother, brother and sister all earned their degrees from TSU, and my late father was a play by play announcer for TSU football and basketball games in the 70's and 80's in addition to running KTSU-FM for five years as its general manager.

The panel will take place in the Leland-Jordan Public Affairs Building on the Tierwester and Cleburne St. side of the campus.   There is parking across the street from the PAC, and hope you'll join us for this upcoming discussion,

A Modest Proposal For Solving The Houston Pride Grand Marshal Diversity Problem

I was in the house Thursday when the problematic unveiling of this year's Houston Pride Grand Marshals happened, and expressed myself (and as I've been hearing privately) and the sentiments of much of Black LGBT Houston and our allies in a post.

Some of y'all can roll your eyes all you wish, but we have a problem when in this diverse city, it has been 22 years since the last African-American female was elected Houston Pride Grand Marshal on the feminine side in Rev. Carolyn Mobley, and I'll have to go through the historical record to find out when the last African-American male was elected.

So since I brought up the fact we have a problem, I'm going to suggest a possible solution for it.

For starters, you have to bear in mind that not everyone in LGBT Houston lives in Montrose.   If you're publicizing it in the traditional gay print media sources like OutSmart, the Montrose Gem, et cetera, those don't get distributed to neighborhoods of color.  

You also have to take into account not everyone goes to a gay club or the Montrose Center, where those gay print publications are accessible for pickup.

Yes, you could go to TBLG friendly sites like Project Q and TransGriot, KPFT-FM, post it on the Pride Facebook page, Twitter feed and other social media outlets, but once again, not everyone is on the Net, or in many cases aware of what's happening in Houston's LGBT community for a variety of reasons.

Now here's my suggested proposal, and it's an idea that JD Doyle and I were discussing a few days ago. 

First order of business is that the Pride Committee must become more diverse, not only ethically, but class wise as well.   It's a red flag when Houston Pride is cricket chirping silent about a human rights ordinance (HERO) that will benefit the entire Houston trans, bi and SGL community.

The male and female Grand Marshal can remain a Houston areawide election process, but steps have to be taken to ensure that LGBT communities of color have a fair shot in selecting them.   Use the newly created Diversity Committee to select elective marshal candidates from across our diverse Houston BTLG community, and give the Diversity Committee the power and responsibility of adding two to four marshals from communities of color when the elective process fails.

Once those Grand Marshal candidates are selected, announce those elective candidates and the voting period dates at a Pride Perspective community meeting, on social media, and on KPFT-FM's Queer Voices. 

That's my suggestions on the subject, and here's hoping that Pride Houston will engage in some hard solid thinking on the subject that will result next year in a more diverse group of Pride Parade Grand Marshals.

Congratulations To The 2015 Houston Pride Grand Marshals, But...

Was at last night's Pride Houston kickoff party at the Audi Central location before the thunderstorms arrived for the first time ever. 

I was hoping to watch a little Houston LGBT history being made, and I enjoyed seeing many of my friends inside the community and getting the opportunity to chat with them. 

I enjoyed meeting some new people, and hope we continue the conversations that we started last night.  I enjoyed seeing HISD school board president and longtime ally of our community Anna Eastman finally get that elusive ally marshal spot she so deserves.

I even enjoyed the dinner conversation afterwards at 59 Dimer and yes, my sincere congratulations to Ryan and Britt as well for being elected the 2015 Houston Pride Parade Grand Marshals.

But what I had a problem with, and it seems that feeling was shared by many of the attendees at the Houston Pride event last night, was the perception that Fran Watson got screwed in the female grand marshal race.

It continues the problematic pattern of not having had a Black female Houston Pride Parade Marshal since 1993  (Rev. Carolyn Mobley) in a city in which we've had two trans feminine ones in Phyllis Frye and Jenifer Rene Pool, and another Latina one just last year in Christina Canales Gorczynski.

I have to ask the question if someone with Fran's (and Augie Augustine's) record of service to the entire Houston LGBT community can't get recognized and be subsequently elected to become a Houston Pride Parade Grand Marshal after nomination, when will it happen?

I was asked by several people to jump into the 2015 female Pride Marshal race and declined it for that very reason.   Why waste my precious time and energy in pursuit of that when it's obvious some people in the Houston LGBT community have a problem with folks who look like me?

And when you have a Pride Marshal selection process that calls for election by peeps in the Houston area, that bias will always impact a city wide elective race.  

And that's before I even bring up my loud and proud trans self into the mix.

This Houston LGBT community unfortunately still has a race problem that needs to be expeditiously fixed, and progress has been made toward doing that.  

However, last night's Pride event didn't help an organization that has a board perceived to be out of touch, insular, and tone deaf to the Houston LGBT community of color, and one in which just five months ago we in Black TBLG Houston and our allies had to raise hell just to get them to move the pride parade back to its traditional last weekend in June date from the Juneteenth date they cluelessly set it for.

Last night didn't help dispel that perception, and it's going to take a lot of deeds, and not words to shake that perception in Black Houston LGBT World, and with our allies.

2015 Pride Houston Kickoff Event Tonight

Had to put them on blast a few times for other issues, but like everyone else in TBLG Houston I want to know the answer to one question:

Who will be the Pride Houston parade grand marshals for 2015?  

We'll find out the answer to that question later tonight at a Pride Houston kickoff event at Audi Central Houston.   The Grand Marshals will be announced at this FREE event that will start at 7:30 PM.  

Everyone's welcomed, but you have to be 21+ to consume adult beverages and need to show your photo ID.   Those who attend will also find out the schedule for all the 2015 Pride Houston events leading up to its first ever downtown parade on June 27.

Some of those Houston Pride Week® events that will be announced like Pride Superstar®, Dine with Pride, Rock the Runway, Salvation Pool Party, Wonderland Houston®, the Houston LGBT Pride Celebration® and more.

The Grand Marshals races this year had so many worthy candidates who all deserve to win and ride in the historic first parade.,

But unfortunately we'll only have one in each category voted on by those of us residing in the Houston area.

Audi Central Houston is located at 2120 Southwest Freeway inside the Loop at S. Shepherd, and tickets aren't needed for this first event of the upcoming pride season.

2015 Bunnies On The Bayou Party

One of the Houston LGBT community traditions that happens every Easter Sunday is the plaza and park in front of the Wortham Theater Center becomes the site of a major fundraising party that draws people from as far away for it as New York and California and over its history has raised over $550,000.

It's the Bunnies on the Bayou Party, and this 36th edition of it drew a crowd of thousands 21 and up that enjoyed a cool and cloudy Houston day to listen to the sounds of DJ Joe Ross and DJ Special K with proceeds going to several LGBT community organizations.

The Bunnies On The Bayou party got started in 1979 as a small Easter Sunday party amongst friends in a Clay Street apartment complex.   The word of mouth about the event spread throughout the gayborhood and helped it grow into an outdoor party the next year that added an outdoor sound system and sent out invitations for it.

With AIDS taking a terrible toll in the Houston LGBT community by the mid 1980's, the party evolved to help people in our community struggling to overcome it.  The party hosts decided to help their friends suffering from AIDS by charging a bag of food as admission for the still growing event.

By the 1990's the outdoor party had grown so large it was moved to the brand new Wortham Center Plaza downtown next to Buffalo Bayou, and Bunnies on the Bayou was born as the party evolved once again, set up a 501(c)3 organization and began to raise money for local charities.

This was the first time I'd ever attended the event, and was nice to not only see some familiar friends in the H-town SGL, bi and trans community wandering Fish Plaza and the Buffalo Bayou hike and bike path that the massive party covered, but meet some new ones while enjoying complementary adult beverages and wonderful conversation with people outside my usual circles of influence in the Houston BTLG community/.  

It was also fun to see the people who came dressed in costumes for this event that included two gentlemen who were covered in full silver body paint while other attendees wore bunny ears..

It was a fun, festive charity event that I'm looking forward to see what happens in its 37th edition next year.

Is Pride Houston Selling Woof Tickets On Inclusion?

Great first steps to undo the unnecessary drama started by the initial decision, but satisfying to many people including those of us who warned about the Juneteenth scheduling conflict in the first place..

We'll be watching to make sure PRIDE Houston follows through on what you told that packed meeting room you'd do.

Deeds will be far more important than words from now on.
-TransGriot , November 14, 2014

You'll remember yours truly a few months ago talking about the boneheaded, arrogant and vanillacentric privileged clueless decision of Pride Houston to move the date of the 2015 pride parade to Juneteenth despite the warnings of myself and other Houston African American TBLGQ leaders and allies not to do that.

It triggered an unnecessary media firestorm, and at a contentious November 13 Pride Houston community meeting, in addition to Pride Houston moving the date back (June 27) to the traditional last weekend in June, promises were made by Pride Houston to form a Diversity Committee, to add board candidates more in tune with the ethnic diversity of the Houston LGBT community, and to sponsor a float in the 2015 Juneteenth parade.

It's now four months later, and I'm hearing disturbing chatter in Houston SGL, trans and bi world and from our allies that Pride Houston has backslid into its insular, secretive ways that got them into trouble last October and November.

Their deeds so far have not matched their words, and Juneteenth is fast approaching.  As of this writing, Kijana Wiseman, the chair of the Juneteenth Emancipation Celebration & Parade has yet to hear from, much less receive an e-mail from Frankie Quijano or anyone else on the Pride Houston board concerning participation in their 2015 Juneteenth parade.  

And speaking of the Pride Houston board, I'm hearing a problematic allegation that a trans feminine person who wished to serve on the Pride Houston board predominately packed with peeps from the gay wing of the community was stonewalled (pun intended) for several weeks before being told all positions were filled.

As for that Pride Houston Diversity Committee, it has yet to be formed, much less have parties interested in joining it be told when and how to apply for it and when it will have its first meeting.

So yep, starting to look like Pride Houston was selling woof tickets when the unblinking eye of Houston news media cameras was turned on them.  

Maybe it's time for the Houston media cameras to be turned on Pride Houston once again to ensure they keep the promises made to the entire Houston community last November and make them realize we were deadly serious about having a Pride Houston board that reflects the diversity of our city and all the letters in our H-town BTLGIQ community..

Upcoming Houston HPD-LGBT Community Dialogue

When all that anti-trans and /SGL hate speech was flung by our faith based haters in opposition to the passage of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, one of the things I feared was a spike in hate crimes in the area because of it. 

It's taken a while, with the attack on transwoman Thailand Warr being the first warning sign that the hate speech sown during the HERO passage campaign was beginning to manifest itself into hate violence.

Now that we have had a fatal attack yesterday morning resulting in the death of a 22 year old man and  two other gay men wounded, now people are paying attention to what I warned about back in November.

A town hall meeting is being set up to take place at the Montrose Center on Saturday April 11 from 10 AM-1 PM CDT that will involve HPD Chief Charles McClelland, HPD's command staff, the HPD LGBT Liaison EJ Joseph, HPD personnel and other community leaders to discuss the growing crime wave and come up with solutions to this problem.

I can throw one old school solution out there right now.  

In the wake of the murder of Paul Broussard outside a gay nightclub back in 1991 by The Woodlands 10, the Q Patrol was formed.

Looks like we may have to resurrect it.

But we'll see what happens on April 11

World AIDS Day 2014 Houston Memorial

I got a chance to spend some quality time with the Gallery Girls, AKA Nikki Araguz Loyd and Meagan Gillett on Monday afternoon and evening.

One of the things that we did besides having a girls afternoon out was also take time to head to Legacy for their World AIDS Day Observance that started at 5 PM.

I was there not only to commemorate the day, but remembers my friends and family members that we have lost since 1981 to AIDS
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It was hosted by former KHOU-TV anchor Lisa Foronda at Legacy's California St. clinic. Since the weather was a little chilly for H-town, the ceremony was moved to the facility's garage.

State Rep and Houston mayoral candidate Sylvester Turner was in attendance along with Houston city councilmembers Ed Gonzales and Ellen Cohen and representatives from Rep Sheila Jackson Lee's and State senator Rodney Ellis' office.

Proclamations were read commemorating the day read from our city council, state and federal legislators along with the names of many of the people we have lost. 

There were also people from the medical community discussing the progress that we have made toward getting to the goal of zero new HIV/AIDS infections and urging people to get tested.

After a song from Pride Superstar Daniel Rosales, a community candlelight walk commenced to circle the Montrose block the Legacy Clinic occupies before it concluded.

PRIDE Houston Moves Date Back To June 27

PRIDE Houston after a contentious public meeting at the Montrose Center last night corrected their mistake and moved the 2015 Pride Parade back to its traditional last weekend in June date.

Now was that so hard?   It wouldn't have been if you'd listened to the Black LGBT community and our allies when we first told you about the problematic date conflict to begin with. instead of blowing us off. 

You could have saved yourselves the negative publicity, another contentious public PRIDE meeting, and unnecessary drama.  

But thank you for FINALLY doing the right thing and moving the parade date back to the last weekend in June where it belongs.    They also announced the formation of a Cultural Committee.

Great first steps to undo the unnecessary drama started by the initial decision, but satisfying to many people including those of us who warned about the Juneteenth scheduling conflict in the first place..

We'll be watching to make sure PRIDE Houston follows through on what you told that packed meeting room you'd do.

Deeds will be far more important than words from now on.

PRIDE Houston Juneteenth Parade Conflict Update 3

Even though I'm in Dallas for the Facing Race Conference, the fight continues on my end of I-45 to get the PRIDE Houston board to see the error of their ways and change the date of the parade back to June 27.

Looks like since the heat has been turned up on them by other peeps with clout.  Seems they are less obstinate and dismissive about things than they previously were and are now willing to discuss the issue.  

Well, that what we presumed we were doing back on October 22.   But actions speak louder than your weasel words.

In our latest update on this hot mess, the original post I wrote sounding the alarm about the jacked up decision not only has gone viral, it's now picking up national LGBT blog attention.

It also got the attention of KCOH-AM, one of the local African-American radio stations this morning and their talk show hosts. As we feared, the verdict from my community about this parade conflict has been 'this was deliberate' along with other conspiracy theories.

Sunday sermons from the hate ministers claiming 'the gays are trying to hijack Juneteenth' in 5...4..3..2...1.

A Change.org petition has been created asking PRIDE Houston to once again, do the right thing and move the parade from June 20 to the tradition last Saturday in June date closest to the Stonewall rebellion date of June 28, 1969.   Here's the link to it if you wish to add your John and Jane Hancocks to it.

The PRIDE community meeting is also taking place tonight at the Montrose Center starting at 7 PM.   So come on down to 401 Branard St and let your voices be heard on this issue.

Will keep y;'all posted.