25th Anniversary Of The ICTLEP Conference

Today is the 25th anniversary of the first of eventually six ICTLEP conferences that took place in Houston from 1992 to 1997.

The International Conference on Transgender Law and Employment Policy (ICTLEP) was conceived by Phyllis Frye as an annual event that would focus on developing progressive legal strategies in employment and nondiscrimination law for the transgender population.

She had initially pitched the idea of the event to then International Foundation For Gender Education (IFGE) Executive Director Merissa Sherrill Lynn in the summer of 1991, as a traveling event under its auspices, but she told Frye that IFGE wasn't interested in hosting it.

Frye in the fall of 1991 ran for and won the vice presidency of the Houston based Gulf Coast Transgender Community (GCTC)  group on the platform of hosting a transgender law conference in Houston in 1992.

Planning then began with a group of local activists and GCTC members forming a committee that laid the groundwork for the historic conference to happen combined with Phyllis' attendance at the February 1992 Texas T Party and the March 1992 IFGE Convention.

Frye's attendance at those large trans conferences was crucial in those pre-Internet days to the success of the ICTLEP conference she and GCTC were planning.  It helped spread the word about the fledgling conference, and helped get attorneys who were interested in the different areas of the law that needed presenters to volunteer to do so

The organization of it gathered steam to the point that when the inaugural event kicked off at the Hilton Southwest Freeway in Southwest Houston on August 26-30, 1992, it did so with over 50 people in attendance.

The conference was a success, especially on the financial end, and led to the hosting of five more ICTLEP conferences.

The ICTLEP conferences from 1992-1997 were crucial for not only laying the groundwork for much of the subsequent transgender rights law and principles that we fight and lobby for in the modern trans rights movement, they also helped train my generation of trans rights activists and attorneys..

The International Bill of Gender Rights, Health Law Standards of Care, and policies for imprisoned transgender people came out of ICTLEP.   The Proceedings published after every ICTLEP conference documented for posterity what happened in those presentations on the different areas of law being discussed.

ICTLEP also led to the organization of the national trans rights org It's Time America, the second national trans lobby day in Washington DC in October 1994,  building working relationships between the legal and advocate wings of our newly emerging and energized modern trans rights movement, and more importantly led to the trans people who were in the legal profession becoming more out and open about who they were and forging working relationships with each other and the activist community.

It also led to trans folks becoming participating members in national gay legal organizations and conferences like Lavender Law.

And at a time in which the Trump misadministration is hell bent along with his fundamentalist anti-trans haters who advise him are getting orgasmic over the thought of eviscerating the human rights of transgender people in the US, the lessons learned and built upon over the last 25 years since the ICTLEP conferences took place here are going to be applied and tested as we fight 45's unjust policies in the federal courts.

But it all started on this day at a Houston Hilton hotel in the summer of 1992 thanks to the vision of Phyllis Frye and those early trans leaders in GCTC and elsewhere to make it happen. .

'Spirit Of The Confederacy' Has Got To Go

The local Robert E. Lee chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy erected a 12 foot tall statue of a bronze angel in Sam Houston Park downtown that was erected in January 1908 called 'The Spirit of the Confederacy'.

Over the last year in Houston we have seen HISD rename eight schools named for Confederate heroes and the renaming of Dowling Street to Emancipation Avenue.

Yesterday I joined several of my Houston activist friends during the public comment session at City Hall in calling for the city of Houston to remove that statue from this public park.

This statue is nothing more than the perpetuation of the Lost Cause lie.  The Spirit of the Confederacy  is nothing more than the failed attempt to keep my ancestors perpetually enslaved

That statue needs to go.

TransGriot Update:  A rally is being held at 3 PM Saturday to call attention to this Jim Crow monument that needs to go.

Houston's FOX 26 Is Demonizing The Trans Community Again

I've noted to my dismay ever since I returned home from Louisville in May 2010 the rightward slant of the news department at KRIV-TV.  One of the other things I'm not fond of concerning FOX 26 is the ongoing pattern they have of demonizing, attacking and peddling disinformation about the Houston LGBT community.

And I've called them and their reporters who engage in it out about that crap.

It is a pattern at FOX 26 that was abundantly clear during the fight to keep the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance and their slanted anti-TBLGQ coverage lead was unfortunately followed by other television stations in the Houston market.   It has continued post HERO.

With the Special Oppression Session on the horizon in Austin, news coverage is starting to ramp up in advance of it.  Thanks to Media Matters, I was made aware of this problematic July 9 KRIV-TV panel since I'm not in the habit of watching FOX 26 because of their slanted and transphobic news coverage.

This latest FOX 26 panel I'm slamming was in response to the recent New Yorker article in which Texas House speaker Joe Straus (R) expressed his opposition to these anti-trans bills and said that he didn't want the death of a single Texan on his hands as a result of SB 6 and HB 2899.

Do you notice the problem with this panel?  You probably do if you're a Houston area or Texas based trans person or Texas trans ally. But for those of you who don't see it,  the problem is there are ZERO Houston area trans advocates among the six people being interviewed for this segment.

Guess it's easier to demonize a group FOX 26 when you don't invite them to your studio so they can push back against the anti-trans narrative you're trying to peddle.



Next time you wish to do a panel that discusses the lives of trans people FOX 26, it may help if you have actual Houston trans people as part of that discussion instead of a bunch of cisgender people and Republican haters who are ignorant, hostile and deliberately obtuse about our trans lives and the issues we face.

But then again, your conservative sycophants probably don't want that to happen because every time they have run up against a Houston trans advocate on your airwaves, they've gotten their azz handed to them.

TransGriot Perv Watch- Guess Who Wasn't Caught In This Houston Area Child Predator Sting?

Police and sheriff departments across the Houston area recently conducted an online sting operation that lasted two months,  netted sixteen arrests and was geared toward ferreting out child predators.

Police participating in 'Operation Broken Heart' arrested thirteen men who were busted as they attempted to have sex with children they met online.   Another three men were arrested and charged with state and federal crimes that included possession, distribution and promotion of child pornography.

Two of those 13 people busted included a now former Alief ISD police officer Robert Haney and Juan Pena, a registered sex offender.

So how many Houston area trans people were caught in that sting?    ZERO

An FYI Moment for you.  There have been far more Republican politicians and pastors busted in these stings across the country than there have been the trans folks they demonize.

Marinate on that point as we approach the upcoming Texas special oppression session and the GOP Noise Machine starts turning up the volume on the anti-trans hatred in their attempt to pass anti-trans legislation that failed in the regular session because it was a bad law..

And note that all these arrested menz were not only not in drag, but are #StillNotTrans.

I'll Be At The 2017 Houston Pride Parade, But...

It wasn't quite was I was hoping for when I decided to run for the Houston Pride Parade female Grand Marshal.   When our nighttime Pride parade kicks off on Saturday I'll be in it at the start of it as one of the pride parade flag bearers.

As to why we have our parade at night?   It does get a little warm here in late June.

Been asked by a few people since we are now in the middle of Pride Week in H-town am I disappointed I wasn't elected grand marshal this year?  

Do the Astros have the best record in the major leagues?  

And let's be real, I've been blessed with a nice run lately in scooping up awards and honors, and BTAC gives out an award named for me.  Can't win them all.  

And not making that Houston Pride history this year means I have something to shoot for later.

But back to talking about the parade.  I marched with the Organization Latinas de Trans en Texas last year  and when the call came on Sunday I was mulling over offers from three different groups to march with them in the upcoming parade.

So in this year's parade I;m one of the flag bearers.   As for next year, we'll see.

Houston City Council Votes To Join SB 4 Lawsuit

After a contentious city council public session yesterday that featured over 200 impassioned speakers, several state legislators along with weeks of grassroots pressure to do the right thing, they Houston City Council finally got off the sidelines and into the legal game on SB 4.

Houston is home to according to the Pew Research Center the third largest population of undocumented immigrants in the US behind New York and Los Angeles.

On a 10-6 vote with one abstention in CM Jack Christie, Council voted to join the lawsuit filed by Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso County, several local governments, and nonprofit organizations in a  consolidated suit against the state of Texas over its racist and unjust SB 4 law that gets a hearing on Monday in San Antonio.

Mayor Sylvester Turner said prior to the vote," This it not an issue of our choosing, but when it ends up on your plate, you have to address it

Mayor Turner was one of the ten YES votes in addition to Councilmembers Dwight Boykins, Karla Cisneros, Ellen Cohen, Jerry Davis, Amanda Edwards, Robert Gallegos, Larry Green, Mike Laster and David Robinson.

Voting NO in opposition to joining the lawsuit were Councilmembers Mike Knox, Michael Kubosh, Steve Le, Dave Martin, Greg Travis and Brenda Stardig.

It was also laughable to hear the conservative councilmembers hypocritically whine about taking laws you don't like to court when you lose legislatively because that's exactly what they did to stymie implementation of and eventually kill the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.

The vote came after the majority of the citizens who came to City Hall yesterday to offer five hours of testimony, urged council to join the lawsuit.

SB 4 was recently signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) an allow police if they stop someone to inquire about their immigration status.   It also threatens sheriffs and police chiefs who refuse federal requests to hold immigrants detained for other alleged crimes with jail time and fines for non-compliance with the unjust law.

Unless SB 4 is declared unconstitutional in federal or state court, it will take effect on September 1.

Here's hoping that happens.

The Rainbow Crosswalk Is Up In Houston!

Just in time for Houston Pride Week is this first in Texas TBGLQ themed crosswalk went up at the corner of Westheimer and Taft streets in the Montrose gayborhood this weekend.

The site of the crosswalk was chosen to honor 21 year old Alex Hill, who was killed at that intersection by a hit and run driver in January 2016.   The traffic light control box is painted with a mural of Alex and his friends with a rainbow sunburst in the background.    

'While this project was initially requested by friends of Alex Hill,  the idea behind the crosswalk is to also honor  the support and friendship many people find in Houston's LGBT community," said Matthew Brollier, a member of the Houston Pride Crosswalk Committee in an OutSmart interview. "Hill's friends join countless Houstonians in encouraging the city to improve safety conditions for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers on its roadways,"

The $15,000 cost of the crosswalks were paid for by Pride Houston and will last for two and a half years.  A permanent rainbow crosswalk will be installed at the intersection when the Lower Westheimer reconstruction project gets completed by the city of Houston.
 

'Stacey's Not A Girl' Book Launch Event

While I'm here in Nacogdoches, my heart will also be with Dr. Colt Keo-Meier as he finally launches his trans themed children's book Stacey's Not A Girl.

It is a compilation of stories from not only Colt's childhood, but the childhood of several trans masculine persons.  An Indiegogo campaign raised the over $9,000 to get it published,

I got to read an advance copy of it and loved the book.  I also thought about the trans kids who will enjoy reading something that has a character in it like them

The book is now available for purchase, and you can check out the book launch event for it at The Montrose Center from 2-4 PM.

Good luck, hope it's successful and you sell out all the available copies of it.

First LGBT Pride Month Display Up At Houston City Hall

On my birthday, as their way to get me out of the house and to a known location so they could surprise me, I ended up at Eric Edward Schell's studio to take a P.R.I.D.E, Portrait.

I was happy to discover that it is one of the photos that went up today along with a placard explaining the project;

The P.R.I.D.E Portraits project was created by Schell, and the acronym stands for Photographs Representing Individuals Deserving Equality.   As Schell said in an OuTSmart interview this campaign is about visibility.

"Visibility is key to promoting the humanization of a group that faces dehumanization every day," said Schell.

It's also vital it happen when the Texas TBLGQ community is under sustained legislative attack.

As far as we;re aware of , this is the first time that the city of Houston has displayed an LGBTQ-specific project at City Hall, and it couldn't have come at a more opportune time.   .

The New H-Town Emancipation Avenue Signs Are Up!

I've known this was going to happen since January, but the city of Houston a month before Juneteenth finally has put the new street signs up on the street formerly known as Dowling Ave.

The city followed HISD's lead in renaming eight schools that were named for Confederates, and that at times contentious renaming took effect at the start of the 2016-17 academic year.

Texas State Rep Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) started the push to rename the street a year ago.  It was originally named for Houston businessman Dick Dowling, a Confederate war hero from the 1863 Second Battle of the Sabine Pass.  

Dowling and his 47 artillery armed troops faced and fought off a Union invasion flotilla of 22 ships, armed with four gunboats and artillery of its own and 18 transports with an Union invasion force of 5000 men.   Thanks to the inept execution of the Union invasion plan, Dowling and his men managed  to disable and capture two Union gunboats and 200 soldiers as the rest of the Union flotilla retreated to New Orleans.  

The victory was celebrated with much hyperbole throughout the Confederacy and the city of Houston, with Dowling being promoted to the rank of major, but after the war dying during a Houston yellow fever epidemic in 1867.  

The street traverses the historical heart of the predominately Black and southside Third Ward neighborhood near downtown.   It passes Emancipation Park, which sits on the corner of Elgin and now Emancipation Ave, and that park also has historical and emotional significance for Black Houstonians.

Freedmen led by the Rev. Jack Yates, the first pastor of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, the oldest Black church in Houston, raised $800 to purchase the ten acres of land that Emancipation Park now sits on to have their Juneteenth celebrations.

Emancipation Park when it opened in 1872 was Texas' first public park.   It was also the only one in the entire city of Houston open to Blacks , so it was rather insulting that a street named for a man who fought as part of an armed rebellion to keep us enslaved ran past that historic park that is directly tied to the early Juneteenth celebrations in Texas.

Until the Juneteeth Parade moved downtown, it used to come down Emancipation Ave to terminate at the park for the subsequent festival that happened there.  Went to more of a few of them with my brother and my late Grandmother Tama as a child as we grabbed a spot in the park to watch the parade go by..  

In addition to city council unanimously voting to change the name of the street, it also repaved much of Emancipation Avenue in conjunction with the $33 million renovation of Emancipation Park that will be celebrated on Juneteenth 2017..

But so happy to see the new Emancipation Avenue signs

Faith and Family Dynamics Panel at Resurrection MCC Today

If you're looking for something to do on this Saturday afternoon, how about joining me and a few Houston community friends for a trans panel focusing on the intersection of faith and family and its impact on the lives of TBLGQ people.

This event will be focused on lifting up the lives and voices of the Black trans community and will include a panel discussion and a memorial to the ten people we've lost in 2017 to anti-trans violence.

The Faith and Family Dynamics event will take place at Resurrection MCC from 1-4 PM,     The church is located at 2025 W. 11th Street in Houston and hope you can join us for it.
 

Trans Latinx Leadership Institute in Houston This Weekend

Been a while since I got to spend some quality time with Jennicet Gutierrez, and when she let me know she was in Houston for a few days, I carved some time out yesterday to reconnect and hang out with her.

That three hours I was planning to hang out with her turned into ten because what I discovered after I met Jenni at her Galleria area hotel is that she was here along with the Transgender Law Center to help facilitate a Latinx Leadership Institute that started this morning at 9 AM CDT..

I also got reminders of my quasi celebrity status while I was hanging out at the Doubletree Galleria. Discovered that someone I'd done a panel discussion with at HCC Southeast a few years ago was now working as the manager at the hotel, and he thanked me for all the work I'd been doing on behalf of the community.

I also ended up demolishing a few of those delicious Doubletree chocolate chip cookies as Jennicet and I caught up about what we'd been doing since #CC15 and a few other subjects as we waited for the other people flying into Houston for the Institute arrived at the hotel and ensure they had no issues checking in while doing so.

I ended up going to the Argentine Cafe with them for dinner and chatting with many of the participants, some of who are my Facebook friends like Alexa Rodriguez, Isa Noyola and Flor Bermudez   Houston's own Ana Andrea Molina was also in the house to hang out and reconnect with the folks arriving for the Institute and to also welcome them to H-town   

I also ended with a few new friends like Reyna Ortiz, Mia Lozado Navarro, and Diego Barrera.

The Instituto Nacional de Capacitación kicked off this morning and will last through Saturday,

It has over 20 Latinx trans participants from across the United States with a focus not only on discussing the issues impacting immigrant trans Latinx people, but also building their leadership skills so they can be more effective at their grassroots level work when they return home.

Welcome to H-town Latinx Trans Fam!  Hope you have a successful and informative conference. Hope you also get to enjoy what my hometown has to offer while you're here inside Harris County.

I also hope that lifelong friendships and working relationships are being formed during your time here, and looking forward to see what amazing work you all do post conference.

   

I Find Out If I Make Houston Pride Parade History In A Few Hours

As y'all loyal TransGriot readers know, I'm 262 miles north on the other end of I-45 for the Black Trans Advocacy Conference handling my BTWI board and conference related business.

This was planned before I agreed to run for Houston Pride Parade female Grand Marshal.  What I didn't anticipate was all the subsequent political mess of this current 85th Texas Legislative session causing me to spend more time where I was needed in Austin.

Tonight at Pearl Bar is the 2017 Houston Pride Kickoff Party that starts at 7:30 PM, and the pride Grand marshals will be announced during it.

I'm poised to make a little Houston Pride parade history if they call my name for female Grand Marshal.  I would be only the third African American woman after the Rev. Carolyn Mobley (1993) and Fran Watson (2016), the third trans feminine one after Phyllis Frye (2006) and Jenifer Rene Pool (2012) and the first Black trans feminine one ever.

If they call Lou Weaver's name as the male grand marshal, he would not only become the first ever trans masculine grand marshal, we would make history together as the first out pair of trans grand marshals serving together at a pride parade in the same parade year.

If it happens, yay moi and yay Lou and y'all have some drinks for me.

TransGriot Update:  Lou made Houston Pride parade history, but I didn't  

Upcoming LGB and What About The T? Panel At 14 Pews

There's an interesting panel discussion that will be taking place at 14 Pews on April 19 focused on the trans community

It's entitled LGB and What About The T?   It is a panel discussion with the goal of talking about the erasure of trans people of color, and how we can create a world in which trans folks can exist freely and without drama.

It's a timely discussion at a time in which the Republican majority in the Texas Legislature is trying to unjustly legislate oppression against the Texas trans community,

Kaleb Elijah is one of the panelists, and nope I get to be a spectator on this one.  Food will also be served from 6-7 PM with the panel starting immediately after the food is served.

Kaleb is also challenging his trans brothers to show up for this event.

"I am asking Houston trans men of color to join me as I guest speak on this panel. The organizer told me today that besides me and one other he has not met any transmen of color, that is alarming." he wrote in a comment on his FB page.  .

"Instead of complaining that you are not heard or understood or your needs are never tended to in the community, show up in the spaces that are inclusive and have been created for your voice to be heard. The torch has been lit,  Please don't let those who are in leadership carry the load by themselves. Just like you needed someone, someone needs you."

He's right trans men of color,  I've said the same thing about you needing to show up for events and claim leadership roles in our community.  Can't be just trans women of color consistently carrying the community leadership torch.

14 Pews is located at 800 Aurora street in The Heights, and hope to see you trans men of color in the house on that date.

My HRC Houston Gala John Walzel Equality Award Acceptance Speech

TransGriot Note: The text of the HRC Gala John Walzel Award acceptance speech I'm delivering at the Marriott Marquis for the 20th Annual Houston HRC Gala

To the HRC Houston Gala Tri Chairs, HRC Houston, Chad Griffin, Ian Barrett, our local, state and national political leaders, distinguished gala attendees, fellow award recipients, gala volunteers and my TBLGQ family in the house. 

Tonight, I stand at this podium to announce that I humbly accept the John Walzel Equality Award.

In three days I’ll celebrate the 24^th anniversary of the April 4, 1994 day I nervously walked into Houston Intercontinental Airport’s Terminal C to clock in for my first shift as the person you see standing before you.   As those who know me are already aware of, I’m not only proud of being unapologetically Black and trans, I have no problem speaking truth to power and calling crap out.

Next year will mark 20 years of activism for me.   I’m also part of a tradition of Houston trans women who have since 1972 in the late Toni Mayes, Phyllis Frye, Sarah DePalma, Nikki Araguz Loyd and Dee Dee Watters just to name a few, have fought tenaciously for our humanity and human rights as trans people and the human rights of others.

I started getting involved in trans human rights efforts in 1998 because I didn’t see people who looked like me in the leadership ranks of this community.  Black trans people exist, we are more than just ‘tragic transsexuals’ and we are definitely capable of leading in this ongoing human rights fight. 

Black trans people must be at the advocacy and policy tables because frankly, some of the legislators voting on our issues share my ethnic background.

Human rights are not a zero sum game.  I practice what I preach on TransGriot about coordinated intersectional actions and being there for other communities in their human rights struggles.  I believe that when you criticize someone or an organization for screwing up, you must praise them when they are doing things right.  I must admit that since the 2007 ENDA debacle, HRC as an organization is on a positive trend line.  

Can it be better?  Yes, and it’s going to have to be if HRC is ever going to win the trust of transgender community folks.  It is your deeds as an organization at the local, state and national levels those skeptics will be watching, and you have little room for error.

I saw local HRC members like Melissa Vivanco and Lou Weaver in the trenches when we passed HERO in May 2014 and while defending the ordinance.  I saw Ian, Lou, Melissa, Meghan Stabler, Marty Rouse and other folks from HRC at multiple lobby days in Austin last month in partnership with other organizations walking the halls of our state capitol.

I see the HRC sponsorships to trans conventions like the Black Trans Advocacy one in Dallas and the new HRC Houston office.

The progressive community needs HRC to be on its A+ human rights game because of a hostile to LGBTQ human rights Trump administration.   Texas has a regressive GOP legislature trying to pass unjust laws like the Texas Transgender Oppression Act (SB 6) while fueling the hellfire flames of anti-trans hatred and attacking trans kids to do so.   That hostile rhetoric is killing my Black trans sisters.

We have work to do to ensure there is no slippage or repeal of TBLGIQ positive human rights laws, court cases, programs and polices people and our allies have worked tirelessly for decades to achieve. 

We have the moral high ground in this fight, not our loud and wrong pseudo-faith based opposition.   And when we work together as a team, we can accomplish anything.

TransFORM Our Hearts Event

Our Republican controlled Texas legislature is still in session, and in addition to watching the Texas Transgender Oppression Act (SB 6), we are watching other unjust bills like SB 4.

Because the Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) is happening tomorrow, an event is happening starting at 6 PM.

***

In light of the continued violence exacted upon our Black sisters, the atrocity that is S.B. 6 that continues to demonize trans women, and the silence about the loss of Black lives coming from Washington    In light of the interdependent systems of disadvantage that affect the Latina trans community, the atrocity that is S.B. 4, and the anti-immigrant rhetoric coming from Washington.

Women and Allies and Pantsuit Republic Houston are hosting this fundraiser mixer at Dan Electros on Thursday, March 30 (on the eve of the day for trans visibility, March 31).

The purpose of this event will be continued education and awareness of the struggles of the Trans community in Houston.

It will be a great opportunity for all of us who do not know members of the Trans community to mingle and get to know more of our family in the fight against injustice.

Let's join them and other progressive organizations around town in support of a group that is continually marginalized! RSVP now! And invite all your friends!

***

The address of Dan Electro's Guitar Bar  is 1031 E. 24th Street in Houston.   Looking forward to seeing you there. 

Getting Another Award This Weekend

Well, this latest award for my nearly 20 years of trans advocacy work is coming from an unexpected direction and organization in the Human Rights Campaign.

Yep, HRC.  And yeah, many of the folks in HRC Houston know that along with my longtime readers at times I have been one of the organization's harshest critics.

I'm getting the John Walzel Equality Award at the upcoming Houston gala on Saturday April 1, and nope, this isn't a TransGriot April Fool's Day prank.

Who was John Walzel?   He was a native Houstonian, Bellaire HS grad and the owner of Walzel's Houston's oldest fine jewelry store that was founded by his father in 1944.

Walzel was also active in social justice and LGBTQ rights issues in Houston.   He was not only an active member of HRC and sat on its Board of Governors, but supported other causes like the AIDS Foundation Houston, the Center For AIDS, DIFFA, and the Houston Black Tie Dinner.

He was also politically active.  He supported Chris Bell in his unsuccessful bid to become Houston's mayor, Annise Parker when she successfully ran for city council, former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore.

Walzel died at age 50 while on vacation in New York in June 2002.  

 It's really happening, and HRC Houston was serious about wanting to honor the work I've done and will continue to do on behalf of the TBLGQ community.

This year's gala is happening at the new Marriott Marquis hotel on the other side of Discovery Green in downtown Houston, and looking forward to seeing a few people this Saturday..

TNA Fundraiser At Hamburger Mary's Tonight

Later tonight at our brand new Hamburger Mary's location in the heart of the gayborhood the Transgender National Alliance will be hosting a fundraiser event there.

So what's the Transgender National Alliance?   It's a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization that seeks to employ and empower the transgender community by providing funding, outreach, education and support for the issues affecting our community and allies. Focusing on providing name and gender marker changes, we distributed more than $50,000 in 2016 providing surgical procedures and legal funding to more than 50 people.

TNA exists to support and give a voice to our trans community in addition to empowering them with name and gender marker changes.  

I was one of the most recent recipients of one of those gender marker changes last month, and it helped complete a nearly 20 year journey for me in terms of getting my documentation changed.

I would love to see a full house at this Hamburger Mary's TNA fundraiser tonight so that other trans people may also experience the joy of knowing that their documentation matches the person they know they are and present to the world.

The Hamburger Mary's Charity Drag Bingo night will also feature in addition to their wonderful dinner menu, games and performances by their showgirls with the proceeds to benefit the Trans National Alliance .

There will be $10 bingo cards and $5 raffle tickets available for purchase, and six prizes valued at more than $1000 will also be given away during the evening

Also neat to know that international fashion model, founder of Gender Proud and trans advocate Geena Rocero will also be in the house tonight. along with some GLAAD award nominated blogger y'all know.   Thanks to TNA, after a 19 year journey, I now have my documentation in order thanks to a TNA New Year's Eve fundraiser that raised enough money to also cover my gender marker change.

And as someone who does a lot of air travel with a trip coming up next week, I'm ecstatic that this upcoming trip will be the first one I take in which I get to show a driver's license with corrected gender markers  

I want others in our community to know what that feels like, and I hope you'll join us from 6-10 PM   Hamburger Mary's is located at 2409 Grant #A.

Seating is limited, so call Hamburger Mary's at 713- 677-0674 for reservations.

Harris County Democratic Party Chair Election Today

My home county, Harris County is the largest by population in the Lone Star State and provides 22% of the vote totals in any statewide election    It is also one of the most diverse counties in the state thanks to its county seat of Houston

We just had the pleasure of watching it turn blue in the 2016 election cycle and want to solidify those  Democratic gains in 2018 and other future elections

Despite that success in turning Harris County from purple to blue, Lane Lewis, who has served ats the HCDP chair since 2011 resigned in February and today at HCDP party headquarters the precinct chairs will gather to select his replacement

Two favorites have emerged so far in Lillie Schechter, who was endorsed by the Houston LGBT Caucus, Eartha Johnson and Dominique Davis, who is active in the HCDP leadership ranks and is garnering an increasing number of supporters for her to get the job.

One of them is me.  

Unlike some of the other candidates, Dominique actually reached out to me and asked for my support.

 I attended a listening session she held yesterday,in Southeast Houston  with a diverse group of precinct chairs and was impressed with her knowledge of the party operations, her willingness to listen to the concerns of the precinct chairs, solicit their ideas for making the HCDP better  and also after it was done, ask me what can be done to increase and have sustained representation of trans people in the Harris County Democratic Party ranks

I believe Dominique Davis would be the perfect choice to succeed Lane Lewis as HCDP chair,. I'm not only enthusiastically endorsing her for HDCP chair, I'm urging people to make that happen at today County Executive Committee meeting..

Thee meeting at HCDP headquarters is open to the general public, but only the precinct chairs will be allowed to vote for our next Harris County Democratic Party leader.

It is running from 3-6 PM and will take place at the IBEW Union hall next door to HCDP headquarters at 1445 North Loop West Fwy.

And yes, I'll be in the house to watch it..

TransGriot Update:  Lillie Schechter ended up getting elected as HCDP chair with 190 votes over Eartha Johnson with 118.   Dominique received 21 votes.

Roller Rink Opening At Discovery Green

One of the things that people don't know about me is I know how to ice skate and occasionally hit the ice  rink at the Galleria when my schedule allows me to do so.

During what passes for winter here in Houston, Kinder Lake in Discovery Green, the park that we have in the middle of our downtown Convention Center district has an ice rink set up for operation from Thanksgiving until late January.

While I can and love ice skating, roller skating has been more of a challenge for me.  My first foray at a now closed roller skating rink at Scott and OST in the 'hood back during my teen years in 1976 ended with the embarrassing spectacle of me at the end of a long frustrating day at a rink splitting the seat of my pants after a fall.

Fortunately I had a jacket to cover up the gaping split in the seat of my pants, but that incident is probably why I don't do much roller skating.  But even with my personal aversion to roller skating, I can get excited about this news.    

Thanks to Avenida Houston, the first ever outdoor roller skating rink in H-town will occupy that space starting today

The Rink  Rolling At Discovery Green opens today and will be in operation through the summer.  

It'll be open from 5-10 PM  Mondays-Thursdays, 5-11 PM  on Fridays, 11 AM-11 Pm on Saturdays and school holidays and 11 AM to 9 PM on Sundays.  Tickets are $12 per person onsite and $14 online.   The Cheap Skate night tickets are $6, aren't available online and are scheduled for March  6 and March 20

You can bring your own skates, either the four wheel kind or inline skates if you don't wish to rent them,  Bringing your own safety gear is encouraged.  

And because this is an outdoor rink, weather can and will affect its operations when lightning, rain or excessive heat happens

It will also be available for school and church groups, scout troop outings, daycare groups, company parties and birthdays.  There will be an event sponsored by the Houston LGBTQ Advisory Board on March 17 from 6-10 PM called Rainbow and Roll which will be a TBLGQ themed night..

And yeah, I'm going to attempt to get on roller skates again on that night.   Maybe if I do the inline ones/ roller blades, it'll be more familiar to what I'm used to and will have better results.

We'll see...