Upcoming One Day Local Elections 101 Campaign School

On February 16 I will be joining an amazing lineup of local party officials, former candidates, elected officials and campaign professionals as part of the One Day Campaign School Local Elections 101 event.

I'll probably be taking notes when I'm not on stage.

It's a discussion about how to run for public office for candidates and staff sponsored by Texas Victory Consulting that will break it down to the nuts and bolts of how to build your campaign.

It's taking place from 8:30 AM-3:30 PM, and continental breakfast and lunch will be provided.   You have to register for it, and it's $50 for early bird registration.  The at the door cost will be $65 and you can do so at this link.

Location for this event will be the Buffalo Soldier Museum at 3816 Caroline Street.

Hope to see you there



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Houston Lift Every Voice Trans Townhall Next Sunday

The recent shooting of Pinky, combined with another attempt by the Republican led Texas legislature to enshrine transphobic discrimination in our laws, and no movement on enacting a HERO 2.0, has Houston area trans people questioning what are the next steps we need to see happen as a community.

Thanks to Dee Dee Watters,  a tow hall meeting is being organize that will take place at the Montrose Center on February 10.

That town hall will take place from 2-5 PM at the Montrose Center in Room 107, and it is on that date we will discuss many of the issues that impact our community.

This is an opportunity for those of you who aren't in our community to learn firsthand some of the issues that affect Trans Houston. 

If you need further information about the event, you can reach out to Dee Dee
at deedeewenterprises@gmail.com or give her a call 832-335-4416

Hope to see you there.

2019 Houston Pride Grand Marshal Nominee Finalists Named

Houston Pride revealed on Thursday night this year's class of 2019 Grand Marshal nominees at an event held at Guava Lamp that also revealed the theme for this year's parade.

The theme is 'Summer of 69', to reflect the fact this is the 50th anniversary year of the Stonewall rebellion that kicked off the modern TBLGQ rights movement.

Houston Pride Grand Marshal nominees are comprised of people who have made significant achievements and contributions to our local LGBTQ community. 

According to Lo Roberts (yep, we're related), the president of Houston Pride, 2019 was the best year ever for Grand Marshal nominations

This year's Houston Pride Grand Marshal nominees are:

Male identifying finalists:
Eric Edward Schell
Jason Black
Harrison Guy

Female identifying finalists:
Shannon Baldwin
Janie Lopez
Iris Rodriguez

Non-Binary finalists:
Becca Keo-Meier
Julien Gomez
Mike Webb

LGBTQ-Ally finalists: 
Erika Richie
Marian Luntz
Constable Alan Rosen

For a parade that had serious diversity problems under its previous president, .it is the most diverse Pride grand marshal class ever and nice to see.   It was past time that the Grand marshal nominees reflected the diversity of this city.

For the first time ever, Houston Pride has created a non binary Grand Marshal category.

Voting has already started for it.   The voting will run until April 7, with the winners being announced on April 25.  The honorary grand marshals will also be announced on that date.

Here's the link to vote....

Houston Trans Woman Shot, Misgendered By Houston Chronicle

Anytime and anywhere a trans woman is shot I have a major problem with it.   But when the crap happens in my Houston backyard less than a mile from where I live I take it personally.

A 24 year old Black trans woman known as Pinky was chased Thursday morning through a busy Chevron station parking lot just after 11 AM CST.   The gun wielding miscreant shot at Pinky twice, cornered her by the front door of the gas station located on the corner of Beltway 8 and Richmond Ave in West Houston, and fired three shots at her at point blank range.

She was taken to a nearby hospital in unknown condition.

The surveillance cam video obtained by ABC13 is disturbing and infuriating to watch.


I know that location well because it has a Frenchy's that I love to patronize.   That station because it is on a major street by one of our busy H-town freeways is always busy. 

So somebody saw something or knows something that will lead to the arrest and conviction of this fool.

The approximately 5' 8" Black male assailant wearing a gray hoodie got away in a light colored SUV, possibly a Honda.   HPD is definitely looking for his reprehensible behind.

If you have any information that will expedite that happening, you are urged to call Crime Stoppers at  713-222-TIPS (8477)

As for Pinky, her Houston trans family will definitely be checking on her to make sure she is okay, and once the waste of DNA is apprehended, stand with her when he is inevitably tried and brought to justice.

What also has me incensed and concerned about about what happened besides the fact it was in my neighborhood is that the Houston Chronicle dipped into the transphobic pool to report on this story.

Note to Jay R. Jordan:  A trans woman is a WOMAN, not a man.    It was not necessary for you to go there and try to justify your transphobia by adding the sentence about Pinky's ID.

I find it interesting you could point out the incorrect ID, but couldn't report Pinky's name 

Another point I need to make is this.  What is or isn't on that ID is not germane to this story.

Houston cis Black community and cis Black community leaders and politicians, several questions for you to ponder. 

When will you FINALLY step up and say it is NOT okay to shoot at or kill Black trans people and act on it?  When will our Black trans lives matter to you?   How many of us have to die this year before you finally conclude that enough is enough? 

And another FYI for you. Black trans Houstonians vote.

A trans woman was shot and ended up in the hospital as a result of what happened Thursday.   It is infuriating to me and the Houston trans community that once again, instead of respectfully reporting on it like ABC13 did, transphobia was injected into this incident by our main local newspaper.

Sat Out The Houston Women's March Again

Did you not get the lesson that if your feminism isn't intersectional, you're doing it wrong?
Obviously you didn't, and that's why I and many Houston Black feminine leaders and our allies WON"T be at your little party-TransGriot,  January 19, 2018

And sadly, they STILL don't get it.

That's why when the Houston's Women's March (or whatever they call it now) took place today, I was chilling in my apartment writing and drinking hot chocolate.

Because just like the previous two years, the overwhelmingly white fauxminist centered leadership of it refused to include Black women, reach out to Houston grassroots advocates or the Houston trans community or listen to our concerns.

On top of that they co-opted a universally recognized symbol for a pagan goddess for their new logo

They refused to acknowledge our concerns in the Houston Black community that this march was not only taking place on MLK weekend, but also starting at the same time as the annual Houston MLK Children's March. 

Once they realized they had a PR problem of their own making, issued an insulting last minute late azz invitation to BLM Houston's Kandice Webber and Ashton Woods to participate.

The day these fauxminists finally decide to center the Houston march on women other than their pink pussy hat wearing selves is the day I finally venture downtown to join it. 

Until you get it through your heads that trans women exist in the Houston area in all our rainbow ethnic shades, and all women of color are at the table when you start the 2020 Houston Women's March planning instead of an oops afterthought invite after you mess up, I'll keep sitting this one out.

Until you fauxminists get it together, I'll be at Emancipation Park for the March For Black Women  where I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my presence is welcomed, and the invitation has been extended for me and girls like me to participate in it

A Houston Municipal Election Is Happening In 2019

It's a new year, and one of the things we have happening in the 713 in 2019 beside the county turning deep blue is our Houston civic elections.

Thanks to Proposition B passing back in 2015 in large part because the fake faith-based haters were fixated on killing HERO, we now have city elections every four years. 

The terms for mayor, city council and the controller were expanded to four years as well, and our term limits were adjusted . That means you are now limited to just two four year terms instead of the three 2 year terms we had under the old system.

Mayor Turner is going for his second and final term, and as of today no significant challenger has filed to run yet.  Right now it's attorney Tony Buzbee, Kendall Baker, Demetria Smith and 2015 mayoral election loser Bill King who have either declared or are thinking about it.   Wrestler Booker T had also declared last year that he was running, but he hasn't been heard from lately. 

Five council members are term limited.   CM Jack Christie in At Large #5,  CM Brenda Stardig in District A,  CM Jerry Davis in District B, CM Ellen Cohen in District C and CM Mike Laster in District J.

As you probably guessed the races with term limited council members are drawing a crowd of contenders filing for them.

Tarsha Jackson and Renee Jefferson Smith are the announced candidates so far running for the District B seat being vacated by CM Davis. 

In District C, the district that contains the Montrose gayborhood, the list of candidates is growing, with Shelley Kennedy and Nick Hellyar being just two of the people running for the seat being vacated by CM and Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Cohen.

In District D, the southeast Houston district I grew up in, Jerome Provost, the son of longtime Houston photographer Georgia Provost, is taking on incumbent CM Dwight Boykins.

The aforementioned 'Miss P' is taking on CM Mike Knox again for the At Large #1 seat.   Raj Salhotra is also running in the At Large #1 race.

District E, the Kingwood-Clear Lake seat, is held by CM Dave Martin.  District F is currently held by Steve Le,  District G by CM Greg Travis, District H by CM Karla Cisneros, District I by CM Robert Gallegos,  and District K by CM Martha Castex Tatum.

Tatum won a special election last year after the tragic death of CM Larry Green, and is running for her first full term.

Advocate Shere Dore has announced she's running for the At Large Position #2 seat currently held by CM David Robinson.

So far haven't heard if anyone is challenging CM Michael 'God put me on City Council to oppose the HERO' Kubosh  for the At Large #3 seat.   The suburban evilgelicals made an assumption I'm jumping into that race against that Drag Queen Story time hater.

CM Amanda Edwards holds the At Large #4 seat , but hasn't drawn a challenger as of this writing.

Laurie Robinson is running for the soon to be vacated At Large #5 seat

A lot can change between now and August 19, which is the last day to file for a place on the 2019 ballot.   People who are thinking about running for municipal office have until then to put up or shut up. 

And yeah,since I'm being asked.  I'm seriously thinking about it.  As for which seat I might be running for. we'll see.   Trying to decide between an at large or district race.

First day to file is on July 20, 2019.   Filing fee is $1250 for mayor, $750 for the city controllers office or $500 for a city council seat. 

You can also in lieu of cash collect petition signatures to place your name on the ballot.   However, we still don't know the exact number of signatures you need to collect to get on the ballot that way, and won't find out from the City Secretary's office until at least June.

Note to anyone running for office and seeking my support for your municipal political run. 

If you are a Republican evilgelical, anti-trans, anti-gay, openly opposed the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance in 2014, or supported its GOP sponsored repeal,  don't even think about asking for my support in this election cycle.

See y'all at the polls on November 5.

Moni's Investiture Speech For Judge Bill McLeod

The text of the speech speech I'm delivering for Judge Bill McLeod's investiture today.

To Judge McLeod, distinguished judges, friends and guests in attendance.  

Happy Blue Year to all of you!  

It is a sincere honor and pleasure to have been asked to say a few words at this investiture ceremony today,  While I have attended a few of these investiture ceremonies in the past and will be attending quite a few more during the rest of this month and into February, this is the first time I have gotten to participate  in one of these beyond just being in supportive attendance of the judge being sworn in.

One of our local sheroes in Barbara Jordan once said,“What the people want is simple.  They want an America as good as its promise.

Substitute the words ‘Harris County’ for America, and you have the reason why we are sitting in this ceremonial courtroom today.  

We are sitting here because of the historic change that Harris County voters enabled on November 6 with their votes.   We are sitting here because Harris County voters wanted a county as go as its promise, and wanted its leadership to reflect the beautiful diversity of all 5 million of us who are please to call this part of southeast Texas home.  .

As part of the yearning to have leadership that reflected the diversity of this community, it’s why on November 6  we elected a diverse slate of talented servant leaders with decades of experience practicing law to serve on our Harris County judicial benches.

The Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr said that, "Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress."

Judges play an important role in our system of government because they are the umpires who call the legal balls and strikes and ensure that justice is impartially served regardless of race, creed, color, gender identity or economic status.  

And having known Judge McLeod personally for several years, I he is a caring, compassionate and loving person.  He is a wonderful community leader with a keen legal mind. I have no doubts that he will bring his full self into the task of ensuring justice is  served and fairly administered for all who appear before him.
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Congratulations, your Honor.  May you have a long and successful term serving the citizens of Harris County on the County Court at Law Number 4 bench.   

Speaking At Judge McLeod's Investiture Ceremony Today

Another day in Houston, another investiture ceremony.   Because of the Democratic judicial sweep that cleaned all 59 benches in the Harris County court system of every sitting Republican judge, we've had the pleasure of gleefully watching or attending a investiture every day.

Today, it's Judge William McLeod's turn, and this time I'll be an active participant in one instead of a guest sitting in the audience watching it. 

I've been given the honor by Judge William McLeod to be one of the two speakers at his investiture in the ceremonial courtroom on the 17th floor of the Harris County Civil Courts building. 

Looking forward to doing that starting at 2 PM CST, and if you can make it, hope you'll join me there to honor him. 

First Meeting Of The New Harris County Commissioners Court Today

We have been having a wonderful first week of the New Year because we flipped Harris County to dark blue in the 2018 midterms. 

There has practically been an investiture ceremony for our new diverse group of Democratic judges every day at the county courthouse, and I'm speaking at one of them on Thursday for Judge Bill McLeod.

At 10 AM CST this morning we'll get to gleefully watch another historic Harris County political moment as we have our first Harris County Commissioners Court meeting of 2019 with our Democratic majority in place. 

It will also be the first one in which our new County Judge Lina Hidalgo will be presiding over. 

I'm a native Houstonian, but I have never gone downtown to attend a Harris County Commissioner's Court meeting because in large part of it being a Republican controlled body and a waste of my time to do so.

Now with a diverse Democratic majority on it for the first time since I was in high school, this governing body for the third largest county by population in the United States (Harris County has 5 million residents)  has gotten my undivided attention.

Elections matter people, and because of the blue tsunami that swept through Harris County and swept GOP officeholders out with it, it's a brand new day here politically.

We have already seen evidence of that at the county courthouse, where the new judges elected in the Democratic sweep of all 59 judicial benches filed a motion yesterday to withdraw from the appeal of the bail bonds system lawsuit.   The county bail bond system was declared unconstitutional

The suit alleges the county unfairly jails those charged with misdemeanors who cannot afford bail. A federal district judge ordered Harris County to remedy the situation, but the suit has been held up in the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.   All the Republican criminal court judges named in the lawsuit were swept out of office

Partisan political hack Stan Stanart was fired as county clerk by Harris County voters and replaced by Dr. Diane Trautman.   One immediate change was the ability to register to vote online on the county clerk website.   Discussions have started to implement countywide voting centers in which you are able, just as you can during the early voting period, to do so at any location on Election Day. 

One of the items on the agenda for the Harris County commissioner's court meeting is a $15 minimum wage for all county employees.

Looking forward to attending my first ever Commissioner's Court meeting.   

Congratulations Judge Rabeea Collier!

Yesterday afternoon I got to witness some Texas history being made.

While many people have heard of the 17 African American women being elected to the judicial benches in Harris County, another story being missed is that we had a large group of Asian American judges running for office in this cycle as well.

One of those judges who was successfully elected was Rabeea Sultan Collier.   This was her second run for a judicial bench.  She lost a Democratic primary runoff for the 11th District bench in 2016.

Her second run was much more successful.  She overwhelmingly won the 2018 Democratic primary race for the 113th District Court seat, and comfortably defeated the Republican incumbent Michael Landrum in the November midterm election.

The TSU Thurgood Marshall School of Law grad has been a practicing attorney for 12 years.  She's served as a board member of the Harris County Democratic Lawyers' Association, the Association of Women Attorneys, and served on the State bar of Texas' Women in the Profession Committee.

During the 2018 cycle, Collier made history on multiple fronts with her November 6 win.   She became the first person of Pakistani descent and the first Muslim woman to ever win a Texas judicial bench.

I had the honor and distinct pleasure of watching Rabeea's investiture ceremony yesterday inside a packed Harris County Civil Court building ceremonial courtroom in which she took the oaths of office.

As of Wednesday morning, she began writing her own chapter of the distinguished history of the 113th District Court.   She is only the second woman ever to serve as a judge in this court.

Along the way she will serve as a role model and a leader to many inside and outside her community 

Congratulations Judge Collier!  It was an honor and a pleasure to be there to witness history and meet your family.  I know you will be an outstanding judge, and continue to be a trailblazing leader in our community.

Final Ruling Issued In Houston Drag Queen Story Time Federal Case

The final ruling was issued yesterday in the Houston Drag Queen Story Time case, and the hatemongers lost

Chief District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal issued he final ruling yesterday swatting away the evilgelicals attempt to shut down the event  in a case that was filed back in October.

Rosenthal granted the city of Houston's request to terminate the case, stating the court didn't have jurisdiction because the plaintiffs didn't have standing to sue, and the plaintiffs had failed to establish that the freedom of religion clause had been violated by the storytellers.

The haters contended that program where drag queens read books at the Montrose library violated the freedom of religion of library patrons.

Yeah, right.

They argued in court documents that drag queens and transgender storytellers would 'indoctrinate children to believe in another religion', which the suit identifies as Secular Humanism. The activists believe the storytellers would 'groom children at the event to become transgender.'
Excuse me for a moment while I double over in laughter at that last delusional sentence in that paragraph.

The Houston Public Library in a previous court filing, explained their rationale for hosting the Drag Queen Story Time events

“Throughout their history, American public libraries have been on the front lines of promoting inclusivity and dispelling intolerance. The Houston Public Library is committed to celebrating the diverse and culturally rich communities here in Houston through a broad array of programs and resources we offer. All our programs are free, open to the public, and accessible by choice,” the legal filing stated.

The fake faith based haters plan to appeal   They tried to spin their crushing legal defeat as 'happiness the case is out of Judge Rosenthal's hands'.   Judge Rosenthal was appointed by President George HW Bush.

Mayor Turner and the HPL declined comment concerning the ruling.

Historic Change Comes To Fort Bend County!

When I was growing up in Houston,  I had a great uncle and aunt who lived in Rosenberg that we used to visit every Christmas until they moved to Houston during my college years. Fort Bend County was despite a sizable Black population, largely white and conservative leaning.

It was Tom DeLay's power base during the 80's and 90's as a reliably red suburb on the southwest corner of purple to blue Harris County.   DeLay rose from here to prominence in the Texas GOP and a state legislative seat.  He eventually got to Washington DC repping the 22nd Congressional District, and became the House Majority Leader and a major adversary of President Bill Clinton.

Fort Bend County isn't red any more.  It has increasingly been trending purple because of the numerous suburban neighborhood that have popped up around Missouri City, Sugar Land, Katy and Rosenberg like Mission Bend, Sienna Plantation, Quail Valley and others.

Fort Bend County not only became since the 80's one of the Houston metropolitan area's fastest growing suburbs next to Montgomery County to the north of us, it is also rapidly diversifying. 

That spells political trouble for the Texas and Fort Bend County Republican Party.

Tom DeLay Country finally flipped blue in the midterms, and while we were at NRG Center yesterday gleefully celebrating Harris County going deep blue, down I-69 our suburban neighbors were having a very Happy Blue Year celebrating their own historic gains.

The Fort Bend Democrats had come close in 2016.   Hillary Clinton became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Fort Bend County in decades, but unlike here in Harris County, Republicans still won countywide, but by much narrower margins than usual.

That set the stage for what happened on November 6 when the Blue electoral tsunami hit Fort Bend County.

Brian Middleton became the first African American ever elected as the Fort Bend County DA. He was also the first Democrat elected as Fort Bend County DA in 25 years. 

But they didn't stop there.  KP George was also elected to become Fort Bend County judge (the chief executive of the county) and become the first South Asian elected a county judge anywhere in the state of Texas. 

George, as Lina Hidalgo made happen here in Harris County, unseated a longtime Republican incumbent in Robert Herbert, who had held the position for 15 years.

Missouri City also elected its first African American mayor in Yolanda Ford.   The lifelong resident of the town and city council member beat incumbent mayor Allen Owen, who had been running the city for nearly 25 years.

Fort Bend County also elected seven Democratic judges, one of them being a high school classmate of mine in Teana Watson.   This was her third attempt at a judicial run, losing in 2012 to James Shoemake for the 434th District Court, then four years later narrowly losing the race for the 400th District Court to GOP incumbent judge Maggie Jaramillo.

The third time was the charm for Watson in her race for the Fort Bend County Court At Law #5 bench, comfortably beating Republican Harold Kennedy. 

Shapnik Khan, the vice chair of the Fort Bend Democratic Party, also attributed the wins to the increasing diversity of the county.

“It’s the minorities like us,” he said in an interview with Ella Feldman. “The Asian-Americans, the Hispanics, the African-Americans, it’s a combination of the different ethnicities. They’re moving in, and not only moving in, but getting involved.”
That they are.   Even more importantly, they are working together to change the county for the better and make its leaders and government officials as diverse as Fort Bend County is.Congrats Fort Bend Dems!  The easy part is over of flipping the county blue.   Now comes the hard work of keeping it that way.

Swearing In Of Harris County Officials Today!

Happy Blue Year!

In a few hours, I'll be at NRG Center to watch the swearing in ceremony for all our newly elected Harris County officials. 

For those of you who aren't aware of what happened here on Election Night, Harris County (translation the county that Houston is in) went dark blue on November 6. 

A blue tsunami swept through the most populous county in Texas and swept out every incumbent Republican judge.  Harris County voters replaced them with a diverse, experienced group of Democratic judges that included 19 Black women.

The blue tsunami also put Lizzie Fletcher in George HW Bush's old TX-7 congressional seat that had been in Republican hands for 50 years.   It also gave us an opportunity to send former TX state Senator Sylvia Garcia to Washington DC along with Fletcher as part of the new Democratic House majority taking office in 48 hours.

Garcia, along with Veronica Escobar, who won the race to succeed Beto O'Rourke in Congress, become the first Latinas Texas has ever sent to the US Congress.

Democrats also got control of the Harris County Commissioners Court with the election of Latinx peeps Lina Hidalgo as our new county judge and Adrian Garcia as Precinct 2 commissioner.

In addition to making our Harris County judicial ranks finally look like the diverse county we are, we also fired Stan Stanart, our much loathed county clerk, and replaced him with Diane Trautman.

The county clerk is the person who administers voting procedures, and Stanart was a partisan GOP hack hellbent on suppressing votes.   That ends today 

Marilyn Burgess will take office today as our Harris County District Clerk.  We also sent Orlando Sanchez packing and replaced him with a new county treasurer in Dylan Osborne

What a wonderful way to kick off 2019 in terms of watching dozens of Democrats get sworn into office as the Republicans they replaced suck their teeth and whine that 'straight ticket voting cost us our offices'

Naw GOP boo boos.  It wasn't straight ticket voting that did you in.  It was the fact your party is seen by a majority of voters as intolerant and hostile to people of color.   The Republican Party has become toxic to a majority of Harris County voters, and you refuse to deal with the reality of that.

You Harris County GOP fans let that truth sink into those hard heads while I get dressed to watch my friends and every Democrat I gleefully voted for get sworn into office.