Thank You For Checking On Me- COVID Free (For Now)

News that COVID 19 is spiking in Houston because of Gov Greg Abbott's idiotic decision to open the state for business before the Memorial Day weekend is now biting us in the behind.

Instead of our curve being on the downward trend that Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, and Houston mayor Sylvester Turner had it trending on, no thanks to TXGOP interference, our cases are now exploding toward New York levels.

Lina warned y'all.    But you conservafool Chads and Karens were too busy whining about haircuts, wearing masks and wanting to go to the beach rather than staying your azzes at home and letting this curve flatten out some more in the month of June..

And I damned sure didn't appreciate the racist 'Dora The Explorer' remarks you conservafools were flinging at her because she cared more about your lives than your own party did.

But naw, y'all wanted to listen to that orange pustule contaminating the White House and not wear masks like you were advised to by Judge Hidalgo and Mayor Turner.

I know the news coming out of Houston has y'all concerned about me, my family and everyone y'all know down here in the 713, and you have like I am, every right to be concerned.  I have had people i know now test positive for COVID 19 as my behind sits and chills out with her dwindling bottles of amaretto and wine at Casa de Monica.

The only time I leave my place is to go grocery shopping, load up on cleaning supplies and toilet paper, and as I did two weeks ago, do some blood work in advance of my doctor's appointment that happened back on June 11.   I also bounced out of the house on Juneteenth to speak at a socially distanced rally at Discovery Green

My immediate family and I are okay for now.   I thank all of you here in Houston, Texas and around the nation and the world who have made it your mission to check on me.  I deeply appreciate every call, message, e-mail, and texts that you send or make asking how I'm doing health wise.

I ask that you not only keep sending me your warm thoughts and prayers,  I ask that you also do so for all the people I'm aware of who tested positive for the 'Rona.   May they all have speedy recoveries with no serious post-COVID complications.

I also hope that Abbott stops stalling, corrects the mistake me made and shut the state down until our COVID curve starts going down for good 

But then again, I'm asking for far too much when it comes to TXGOP peeps who demonstrate failed conservative leadership every day. 

 Is it November 2022 yet?

I can't fire Abbott, Patrick and Paxton yet, but I can fire John Cornyn every other Republican who is on the ballot in 2020

Tommie Ross Makes Houston Pride History!

In the over 42 year history of Pride Houston, while we have had trans people be elected or named as  honorary grand marshals, we have never had a Black trans person be elected as one.

Phyllis Frye (2006) and Jenifer Rene Pool (2012) were the first and second trans women elected as  Grand Marshals, while Lou Weaver was the first trans masculine person elected as a Pride Houston Grand Marshal in 2017.

I tried to make that historical breakthrough happen in 2017, but something else that was far more important forced me to divert attention from that potentially historic grand marshal campaign. 
I ended up having to make multiple trips to Austin to help kill Potty Dan's and Lois Kolkhorst's anti-trans SB 6 bill.

Last year Dee Dee Watters, Atlantis Narcisse and I were named along with Ana Andrea Molina as honorary grand marshals as Shannon Baldwin became only the third Black woman ever elected as a Houston Pride Grand Marshal. 

Carolyn Mobley (1993) and Fran Watson (2016) preceded Baldwin in making that history..

Last year also saw Harrison Guy become the first ever Black person elected as a male identifying  Pride Houston Grand Marshal while Mike Webb became the first ever nonbinary one.

Congrats to Austin D Williams for becoming only the second ever Black male identifying Grand Marshal.

The Black trans breakthrough happened this year, as Tommie Ross became the fourth Black woman overall and the first ever Black trans woman to be elected as a female identifying Pride Houston Grand Marshal!.   Nikki Araguz Loyd was posthumously named as a 2020 honorary grand marshal.

So including the honoraries, we have now seven Black women, four of them trans identified, serving in the expanding sorority of Pride Houston Grand Marshals. 

The total number of trans people who have either been elected or named as honorary Pride Houston Grand Marshals is now up to nine people.

But back to talking about Tommie making history. I couldn't be happier for her.   Not only do I have much love and respect for her, she is the epitome of elegance and class for our community.

She also has much love and respect in our Houston TBLGQ+ community as evidenced by her grand marshal win..

The 2020 Houston Pride has been delayed until this fall, but I do want to congratulate Tommie for once again being an elegant history making trailblazer for our community.

3rd Annual March For Black Women Happening February 22

I'll be missing it for the first time due to a previous commitment, but just wanted to let people know that the 3rd annual March For Black Women Houston will be taking place on the Texas Southern University campus February 22.

That event will be starting at 10 AM CST,    Since it's also happening during the early voting period of the Texas primary,the march destination this year will be a nearby polling place to cast our ballots in this critical to our state and nation 2020 election. 

If you wish to support the March for black Women Houston  ., this is how you do so. 

To handle that business, - paypal.me/HoustonRising

Hope y'all' show up and show out for this year's edition of the March For Black Women and make this edition of it the best one yet.. 

Bloomberg Protest At The 2020 JRR

Just arrived from the JRR dinner, and y'all might have heard about a silent protest I did in which I stood up,  turned my back to Bloomberg  when he started speaking,  and remained standing for the duration of his horrible JRR speech.

Naw player, couldn't let you waltz into my hometown without doing something to express my displeasure at his candidacy.  And yeah, these are just some of the reasons why I'm not feeling Bloomberg.

There were a few other attendees in that Marriot Marquis room that also weren't feeling Bloomberg either, and expressed themselves during his horrid speech in which there was no mention of stop and frisk or his transphobia.   Amelie Haydel and Aicilef Gnuoy started chanting during the speech and were detained by police.

Bloomberg eventually stops droning and i get to sit down.   My beind wasn't in the chair for a minute when some random Becky walks up to be and starts ranting about she's supporting bllomberg because  get this, her daughter was sexually assaulted by a Black man.

WTF?   She also had the nerve to try to claim she was Latina. 

I got up out of my seat, and she now had to face an extremely pissed off  6' 5" moi with heels on towering over her petite self.   I then began to channel my inner Elektra Wintour and read the tramp for filth before she was mericfully escorted away from me by one of my tablemates. 

Amazing how a silent protest triggers peeps with privilege so much. 

Just to give you an example of the level of read homegirl got, here's Elektra shutting down a disrespectful Becky like I had to unexpoectedly do tonight.



For those of you who have been asking me on social media if I'm okay.  yeah, I'm good.
The Becky I read for filth, not so much.

Not Feeling Michael Bloomberg

It's not lost on me that on the 67th anniversary of the day Christine Jorgensen returned to New York after being in Denmark for two years for her physical transition and GCS, I'm looking at the prospect of having a transphobe on stage tonight at the Harris County Democratic Party's (HDCP)  Johnson Rayburn Richards (JRR) dinner being held tonight at the Marriot Marquis>

It ain't Julian Castro, who I am looking forward to hearing speak to night as the JRR keynote and hopefully getting a chance to meet.  Michael Bloomberg?   Not so much.

The JRR is the largest Democratic funraiser in Texas, and it's the one in which I received the Barbara Jordan Breaking Barriers Award from last year.  In the 2020 edition of the JRR, which is back to being a dinner now, awards will be presented to Amber Goodwin, Linda Morales, Cecile Richards and the Supermajority group..

I have not been happy with the remaing candidates available in the 2020 Democratic primary since Kamala Harris was forced to drop out along with all the other non white candidates.  I felt last year that 21 candidates in a presidential primary was far too many in a critical for our democracy election, and the sorry state of the primary confirms that.  My concerns are heighted by the realization that the Dems are the only thing standing beween Trump and a fascist dictatorship.

Neither am I happy that the media and Berners after Iowa and New Hampshire are rushing to crown Bernie Sanders as our nominee after primary contests in two of the whitest states in the nation.

Y'all need to slow your roll on that.  Guess y'all forgot about 2016 huh?   Rigged primary my azz. 

More like Black Democrats massively rejecting St Bernard of Sanders, and news flash, ain't nothing changed in Black America since 2016 concerning our low opinion of Sanders, no matter how much you believe the hype from Nina Turner.

Black Democratic voters matter, and it looks like we'll have to teach that lesson once again.  Early voting for the Texas prmary starts on February 18,  with the election happening on March 3.

FYI, Texas awards 262 delegates.  That dwarfs the number you can get in Iowa and New Hampshire combined .

But back to talking about Bloomberg.   One of the other things that has me concerned is this rush to canonize him as some sort of savior when he is deeply problematic to me and many Black Americans

And oh yeah, haven't forgotten that Bloomberg ran as a Republican to become mayor of New York

I'm not happy about the 2016 transphobic comments that Bloomberg uttered in Great Britain, and damned sure was paying attention when stop and frisk Black and Brown people was going on when he was running New York City. 

Many of the Black and Brown people being frisked by NYPD were also transgender New Yorkers.
It was also a policy that Bloomberg zealously defended and didn't apologize for until he decided to jump into the 2020 presidental race.

Note to Bloomberg:  Trans Democrats exist and you're about to find out that salient point the hard way that we do.   Some of us are major leaders in not only the national party, but in our local party organiations as well.

FYI, two of the first statewide trans inclusive non discrimation laws were passed in Minnesota and Iowa, so contrary to your 2016 transphobic opinion, Midwesterners and folks around the country do get the point that trans rights are human rights. 

Trans people are also part of everyone's family.  It's why the increased support for trans rights is happening along with trans folks across the country, our Mama and Papa Bears, and our allies fighting tooth and nail to make it happen.. 

So if you see me pouting at the JRR tonight, now you have the backstory on why.     .

HBAD Endorsement Meeting Today!

The Texas primary election date of March 3 is rapidly approaching, and so is the start of early voting in the Lone Star State on February 18.

That meant that for the second consecutive Satuday I got up out of bed early so that I could be at the  Sunnyside area venue in which the Houston Black Area Democrats (H-BAD) endorsement meeting was being held before it started at 9 AM.

It was my first time doing their endorsement meeting, and was nice seeing old freinds and meeting some new ones.  I laughed when I got asked the question by a few people in attendance if I was running for office in this cycle, and when I said 'Not yet", that question truned into 'When was I going to run for office?

91 people screened for the H-BAD endorsement, which is one of the Big Four endorsements of Houston progressive Democratic politics. 

These endorsement meetings can have a lot of drama that rivals the best reality TV shows.  There's twists and turns.   People getting endorsements as expected, and others who didn't get it from the screening committe, but who flipped it once itgot to the meeting. 

People can win or lose endorsements based on what they say that sways the people in the room or pisses them off.

Here are the folks who after six hours, walked out with those coveted H-BAD endorsements:

US Senate- Amanda Edwards 
US Representative District 2- Sima Ladjevarian   
US Representative District 18-  Sheila Jackson Lee
US Representative District 22- Derrick Reed 

Member TX State Board of Education District 6- Michelle Palmer 
TX State Senator Disctrict 13- Borris Miles 
TX State Representative District 27- Ron Reynolds
TX State Representative District 126- Natali Hurtado 
TX State Representative District  131- Alma A. Allen 
TX State Representative Distrct 138-Akilah Bacy 
TX State Represntative District 139-  Jarvis Johnson
TX State Reprsentative  District 141- Senfronia Thompson 
TX State Representative District 142- Richard Bonton 
TX State Represntative District 146 -Shawn Nicole Thierry
TX State Representative District 147- Garnet F. Coleman
Cheif Justice Texas Supreme Court -Amy Clark Meacham
Justice, Texas Supreme Court Place 6- Kathy Cheng
Justice Texas Supreme Court, Place 7- Staci Williams 
Justice Texas Supreme Court Place 8- Peter Kelly
Justice, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals  Place 3 - William Pieratt Demond  
Justice, Texas Court  of Appeals District 14- Jane Robinson
Justice  Texas Court of Appeals 1st District, Place 3 -Veronica Rivas-Molloy
Justice, Texas Court of Appeals  1st District Place 5- Amparo Monique Guerra
Justice Texas Court of Appeals 14th District  Place 7- Tamika Craft

District Judge  80th Judicial District-  Larry Weiman 
District Judge  164th Judicial District- Alexandra Smoots Thomas 
District Judge  165th Judicial District- Ursula Hall 
District Judge  176th Judicial District-  Nikita 'Niki' Harmon
District Judge  179th Judicial District-  No Endorsement 
District Judge  333rd Judicial District-  Daryl Moore   
District Judge  334th Judicial District-  Dawn Deshea Rogers
District Judge  337th Judicial District - Brennen Dunn
District Judge  339th Judicial District- Te'iva Bell
District Judge 351st  Judicial District - Natalia 'Nata' Cornelio 
District Judge 507th Judicial District-  Julia Maldonado

Harris County District Attorney - Carvana Cloud
Harris Ciunty Attorney- Christian Dashaun Menefee 
Harris County Sheriff - Ed Gonzales  
Harris County Tax Assessor Collector - Jolanda Jones

Harris County Commissioner Precinct 1- Rodney Ellis
Harris County Commissioner Precinct 3- Morris Overstreet 

Harris County Constrable Precinct 1 -Alan Rosen 

Harris County Civil Court At Law Number  4- Lesley Briones

Harris County Justice of the Peace Precinct 6 Place 1 - Victor Trevino III
Harris County Justice of the Peace Precinct 7 Place 1 -  Jeremy  L. Brown 
 

Houston Inaugurates Mayor Turner and Female Majority City Council

One of the things I got to do today thanks to an invitation from CM Letitia Plummer was for the first time ever be in the Wortham Center to witness the inauguration of a Houston mayor and our new city council.

Mayor Sylvester Turner was inaugurated for his second term as Houston's mayor earlier today in a joyous ceremony that spotlighted our city's diversity.   Everyone from Mariachi Pumas to rapper Trae Tha Truth performed on the Wortham stage along with the Houston Symphony Orchestra .

It was also a historic one in which it became official in terms of having a majority female city council.    Eight women took their oaths of office today, with four of them being African American women.  The ninth one will join once the contentious District B race is settled in the courts and the runoff election is finally held.

The court case will be heard on January 28, and will determine whether Cynthia Bailey or Renee Jefferson Smith will face frontrunner Tarsha Jackson in the runoff. 

In his inaugural address Mayor Turner stated that his second term would focus on flooding, affordable housing and transit issues.   He also challenged the private sector to do more to help solve the city's homeless crisis.

It was nice getting to see many of the area's politicians, judges, and advocates in attendance for this event. 

But rest assured that I and other peeps  will be watching to see if the mayor and this council lives up to their promises, and holds them accountable for doing so. 

Mayor Turner Reelected!

Tony Buzbee spent $13 million of his own money in an attempt to get a chair he claimed he didn't want or need.   In the end he was blown our after his last ditch attempt  to inject transphobia in this race failed.

The  last minute Trump robocalls didn't help either.  All they did was piss people off

Incumbent Mayor Sylvester Turner cruised to reelection with 56% of the vote to crush Buzbee and drive home the point that transphobia is no longer a successful political strategy in H-Town.

In addition, when the new city council gets seated in January there will be five Black women sitting on it and nine women total..

In other good news from this Election Night, transphobe Dave Wilson was ousted from the HCC board by Monica Flores Richart, and two more Black women in Kathy Blueford Daniels and Patricia Allen are joining the HISD school board. 

The results are here.

So now I can go to sleep know that I won't have a transphobic jerk as my mayor or a white supremacist sitting on my city council.

BTWI and TENT Condemn Transphobic Buzbee Campaign Mailer

For Immediate Release

December 13, 2019

Contact: Monica Roberts, BTWI Media Chair, Emmett Schelling, Executive Director, TENT

Phone: 855-255-8636 ext 69
Email: info@transtexas.org or mroberts@blacktranswomen.org

BTWI and TENT CONDEMN TRANSPHOBIC BUZBEE CAMPAIGN MAILER 

There is a runoff in the Houston municipal election tomorrow that features incumbent Mayor Sylvester Turner and challenger Tony Buzbee. Both BTWI and TENT were disappointed to see and hear about this transphobic and homophobic mailer being deployed on the eve of the runoff election by the Buzbee campaign.

“This mailer is additionally disturbing in light of the fact that Texas has unfortunately led the nation in anti-trans homicides. Two of the four trans Texans we lost in 2019 were from Houston. To see trans women being vilified and misrepresented by a candidate running for mayor in the most diverse and fourth largest city in this country to score political points is a shameful day in Houston’s history.” said Diamond Collier, interim Executive Director of Black Transwomen Inc.

Buzbee claimed in an August 2 Pride candidate forum on the Texas Southern University campus that he would be a mayor for all Houstonians. Based on the mailer, along with his subsequent actions garnering the endorsement of longtime Houston-area anti-LGBTQ activist Steven Hotze, it has become clear that was not the truth.

“As a native Houstonian, it is irritating and disgusting to once again see a political candidate attempt to deploy transphobia and homophobia for their personal electoral gain in a municipal election. Spreading this ugly rhetoric has real-world consequences that the Black trans community will have to deal with long after Election Day has passed,” said BTWI President Dee Dee Watters. 

Emmett Schelling, Executive Director of Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT) stated, “LGBTQ Houstonians are part of this diverse city that we are all exceedingly proud of, and we urge all Houstonians to reject the false message that the Buzbee campaign is trying to send.”

Buzbee Pimps Transphobia In The Houston Mayoral Runoff

Looks like Tony Buzbee is getting desperate on the eve of the Houston municipal runoff election tomorrow.

He didn't get as many votes as he thought he would on Election Day or from the early voting phase that concluded on December 10, and is now resorting to transphobia to try to win. 

Why am I not shocked that he's playing that game since he was endorsed by long time Houston gaybaiter Steven Hotze?

Buzbee tried to claim when he was at the Pride Forum held at Texas Southern University back on August 2 that he was in favor of HERO 2.0 and would be a mayor for all people.  He also tried to bash Mayor Turner during that forum by claiming that the mayor didn't listen to the LGBT Advisory Board.

Unfortunately for him I and LGBT Advisory Board Chair Harrison Homer Guy were in the room, and we promptly blew up that lie in real time.. 

These mailers started appearing at the homes of many Houstonians across the city, including my mother, who alerted me this morning she'd received it and wasn't happy about it.



The mailers make references to the HERO repeal debunked 'men in women's bathrooms' talking point and Drag Queen Story Time, which is actually on hiatus at this time.

Buzbee is getting called out for his transphobic political Hail Mary by a wide variety of local and state groups, including Black Trans Women Inc (BTWI) the Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT), and the Houston GLBT Caucus.

“This mailer is additionally disturbing in light of the fact that Texas has unfortunately led the nation in anti-trans homicides. Two of the four trans Texans we lost in 2019 were from Houston. To see trans women being vilified and misrepresented by a candidate running for mayor in the most diverse and fourth largest city in this country to score political points is a shameful day in Houston’s history.” said Diamond Collier, Interim Executive Director of Black Transwomen Inc.

"Gone are the days where constituents are silenced and forced to live through inconsistency in our elected public servants dedication to our needs. WE SEE YOU AND WE VOTE! Demeaning narratives that perpetuate an already exacerbated hate within our community fortifies systematic and cultural disenfranchisement of our demographic. It leads to unsheltered people without homes. It leaded to workforce discrimination which we don’t have protection from. It leads to us not trusting you to do when we would be electing you to do which is to represent of the most marginalized people in this community as well as the privileged. Undignified narrative about trans people, immigrants, black people, poor people or women is not the direction leaders should be going for the future,

BTWI President Dee Watters added. "As a native Houstonian, it is irritating and disgusting to once again see a political candidate attempt to deploy transphobia and homophobia for their personal electoral gain in a municipal election. Spreading this ugly rhetoric has real-world consequences that the Black trans community will have to deal with long after Election Day has passed." The Houston GLBT Caucus stated, "Tony Buzbee's latest mailer ad is a grotesque anti-transgender charade, in an attempt to pander to his conservative base. We cannot let this kind of blatant, bigoted mindset into City Hall."

Emmett Schelling, the Executive Director of TENT stated,“LGBTQ Houstonians are part of this diverse city that we are all exceedingly proud of, and we urge all Houstonians to reject the false message that the Buzbee campaign is trying to send.”

If you haven't voted yet, you have a chance to send your own message and reject the transphobic bigotry that Buzbee is trying to peddle. 

Voting for the runoff election starts at 7 AM tomorrow and runs until 7 PM in 350 voting centers across Houston and the Fort Bend County portion of Houston.

If you don't know who to vote for, here are my TransGriot Municipal Election endorsements.

But by all means, we cannot afford to have a this transphobe in the most powerful mayoral seat in the country.

     

A Chance To Make Houston Women's History

I got back to Houston as early voting cranked up again after the holiday break for our December 14 midterm election.

You can early vote at any location from 7 AM-7 PM from today until December 10.   On Sunday December 8 you can do so from  1-6 PM.  Final day to handle your early voting business is on December 10. 

My TransGriot endorsements for the Houston runoff election are here.

While I was in Da Ville, I noted that we have a chance to do in this runoff election something as historic as the #BlackGirlMagic Judges.

We have the chance to elect an unprecedented in Houston history six Black women to The Horseshoe as part of a first ever female majority City Council.

CM Martha Castex Tatum's spot is already assured on the new council.  She was reelected to represent District K back on November 5. 

In District B, a Black woman is assured to be the next council rep for that area.   The runoff elections will feature Tarsha Jackson,  who received 20% of the vote to lead a crowded fourteen person field to succeed term limited CM Jerry Davis, in either Cynthia Bailey or Renee Jefferson Smith.

That seat will be determined in a special election once the court drama between Bailey and Jefferson-Smith is resolved over whether Bailey is eligible as an ex offender with a felony conviction to hold public office in Texas.

Several of the city council runoffs  have a Black woman running in them

In District D, former HCC board of trustees chair Carolyn Evans Shabazz is running against Brad 'Scarface' Jordan from the Geto Boys rap group.. 

In District F, which is my council district, former Alief ISD board member Tiffany Thomas is running against Van Huynh, the former chief of staff for outgoing councilmember Steve Le who decided not to run for reelection.

In the runoff election for the At Large 3 seat, Janaeya Carmouche is taking on anti-HERO incumbent councilmember Michael Kubosh

In the at Large 4 race to succeed CM Amanda Edwards, who surprisingly decided not to seek reelection and jump into the US Senate race, Dr. Letitia Plummer is taking on white supremacist Anthony Dolcefino.

Add to it the one in District A in which Amy Peck is trying to succeed term limited CM Brenda Stardig. and in the At Large 5 race between Sallie Alcorn and Eric Dick.

The one in the diverse Gulfton area District J between Sandra Rodriguez and anti-HERO transphobe Edward Pollard to succeed term limited CM Mike Laster also has the potential to make history.

If Rodriguez is successful in her District J race, it would be the first time we have had two Latinas serving on Houston city council together.  It would also mean that with CM Robert Gallegos being reelected in District I, three Latinx councilmembers would be sitting in the Horseshoe for the first time. 

The hotly contentious battle in District C between Abbie Kaman and Shelley Kennedy guarantees a woman will emerge as the rep for that seat that stretches from Meyerland to Montrose . 

The equally as contentious one in District H between Isabel Longoria and incumbent CM Karla Cisneros guarantees a Latina will sit on the new council representing that predominately Latinx district.

If all these women win their races on December 14, it means that Houston would have a historic eleven women on city council   A diverse group of women councilmembers that would comprise two Latinas, three White women, and six Black women.

But if you want that to happen, you must vote for it starting today and on December 14 to become a reality.