Number 16- Rest in Power and Peace Tracy Single

Unfortunately we are in a moment in which the trans murders have been happening at a fast and furious pace in the last few weeks.    The latest one happened in my Houston backyard back on July 30.

There was a July 30 news report of a woman found dead in a gas station parking lot along the eastbound feeder road in the 11000 block of the Katy Freeway (I-10 to the rest of y'all)  at 3:34 AM CDT   

Two local stations, ABC13 and FOX 26 reported her as a woman who did not die of natural causes, and HPD detectives were investigating the case.  It took a week to pass here in H-town before we were advised by our HPD LGBT liaisons that the woman who was found along I-10 back on July 30 was actually trans and was murdered. 

Dee Dee Watters subsequently organized an August 11 town hall meeting that led to us finally IDing  Tracy so we can now officially #SayHerName.

Now for the business end of this post. 

The 22 year old Single is now the 16th person we have lost to anti-trans violence in the US in 2019, the third in the state of Texas this year, and the 12th person under age 30 that has joined the ancestors far too soon.

If you peeps in the Houston area have any information that will lead the arrest and conviction of her killer, you are urged to call the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600  or call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477).

Tracy is being remembered here in Houston by having City Hall lit up in the trans pride flag colors today and tomorrow.   

There's also a stretch of six arched bridges along the below grade portion of I-69 here in Houston that cuts through the southern edge of the Montrose gayborhood that can be lit up in various colors.

Like City Hall, those bridges will be lit up thanks to Houston Mayor's LGBT Advisory Board Chair Harrison Homer-Guy in trans pride flag colors to honor our fallen sister.

As soon as I get confirmation of the funeral arrangements and memorial service, I'll pass that information along when I receive it

Rest in power and peace Tracy.   You were taken away from us way too soon, and we will not rest in the 713 until the person who killed you is locked up for a long stretch in a TDC unit.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let's see:

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

*Attending a rally for Muhlaysia Booker in Dallas    

*The 8th annual BTAC Conference April 23-28

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

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

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

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

*Attending Muhlaysia Booker's wake and funeral  

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

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

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

*Participating in the March For Black Trans Lives in Dallas 

*Being a Houston Pride honorary Grand Marshal  

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

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

*MCing A Black Trans Lives Matter rally in Austin 

          *Netroots Nation 2019 panel discussion in Philadelphia 

*BTAC board meeting and Leadership Institute in Dallas  

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

*Writing my columns for OutSmart and my TransGriot blog posts

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

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

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

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

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

 

Warning H-town Progressives, Bill King and Tony Buzbee Are Republicans

Houston municipal elections are officially via the city charter nonpartisan, but a little digging into voter records,  Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) and Federal Election Commission (FEC) campaign donations records will reveal despite any spin attempts whether you're really a Republican or Democrat.

Because of the blue tsunami last year that flipped Harris County to Democratic control and the desperation of the Harris County Republicans to capture a Houston mayor's chair they haven't held in over 30 years, they are trying to peddle the fiction, especially in Houston's Black community, that mayoral candidates Tony Buzbee and Bill King are Democrats.

Um naw players, not on my H-town watch.  Buzbee and King are undeniably Republicans.  Don't want any Republicans in my mayor's chair.

Thanks to Melody Tan and Erik Manning, I have the receipts.

Let's start with Buzbee.   That's him on the right in this pic at the top of the post with Rick Perry and Lugenprasident at Buzbee's River Oaks mansion.

Um no.  He not only held a fundraiser for Trump, he has according to this FEC filing, made multiple donations to the Republican National Committee and Trump,

Buzbee has also given money to the state Republican parties of AR, CT, LA, MS,NJ, NY, TN, VA, WV and WY.

Nope, #NeverBuzbee   You were canceled when you donated money to Trump.

Now for Bill King,  the former mayor of the suburban community of Kemah who narrowly lost to Sylvester Turner in 2015.   He still wants to take his act to the Horseshoe. 

Um. no boo boo.   Not on my watch  Democrat my azz. Peddle that lie to someone that isn't paying attention.   #NeverKing

Note King's donation record.    Rep. Jarvis Johnson, the person who succeeded Mayor Sylvester Turner in HD 136 is the only Democrat on this donation list.   The rest of his cash is going to Republican leaning groups like the Houston Realty Business Coalition,  the Kingwood Republican Women's Club, The Spring Branch Republicans, state Sen. Paul Bettencourt's (R) problematic behind, and the Coalition For a Greater Houston.

And yes, King since 2006 has been voting (when he has cast a ballot ) in the Republican primary.

So naw Harris County Republican Party and all you Houston activists mad at Mayor Turner to the point you're considering spitefully voting for these two.   The Houston mayor's chair is not something to be played with because of its immense power in our strong mayor form of governance.

We know the Harris County GOP is big mad about being swept out of power, so they are trying to push that 'Buzbee and King are Democrats' lie to siphon enough votes from Turner to force a runoff.

Frankly, I don't see a compelling reason why Mayor Turner should be kicked out of office after only one term.  Neither am I inclined to fire only the second African-American and first Black Houstonian to have the job without an exceptional candidate to replace him.

I'm also not happy about the dog whistle racism that King has deployed in his second campaign implying there is  'corruption' at City Hall, or the dog whistle racism being aimed at him by some of his detractors.

As Trump has overwhelmingly proved, being a businessman doesn't mean you have the ability to handle the demands of being mayor of the soon to be third largest city in the US.  If these two are trying to cover up the fact they are proud Republicans, what else are they covering up?

Because of the charter change, the mayor no longer serves just a two year term.  If we don't handle our electoral business, we're stuck with that person in our mayor's chair for four years. 

So we must choose wisely on November 5. 

But at least you're going into the voting booth when early voting starts on October 21 armed with the knowledge that Buzbee and King are not Democrats, but undeniable Republicans. 

TransGriot Note:  Lugenprasident = lying president in German 

Houston Puts In Bid For 2023 World Pride!

I got a small taste of WorldPride when I made that quick trip to New York last month to participate in the opening ceremony for it at Barclays Center.   There's now a possibility that I may get to stay in my H-town backyard and participate in a WorldPride. 

So what's WorldPride?   It's an international Pride event sponsored by InterPride, the international organization that represents and is composed of producer organizations of TBLGQ community pride events from around the globe. 

WorldPride is generally a month long and is comprised of parades, panel discussions, parties and other events that celebrate the TBLGQ community.

The first one was held in Rome in 2000, and since then has held in Jerusalem  (2006),  London (2012), Toronto (2014), Madrid (2017)  and the just completed one in New York for the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion 

It was the first time that WorldPride was ever held in the US, and New York successfully handled their business, drawing over 5 million attendees for it.   

WorldPride will next be held in Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmo, Sweden from August 12-22, 2021 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Christine Jorgensen's successful GCS in 1951 and the 50th anniversary of the 1971 founding of the Danish chapter of the Gay Liberation Front.

The EuroGames will also be held in the two cities during WorldPride.

Pride Houston, our local group that coordinates our local pride event, has put together a bid to host the 2023 WorldPride event.   We have the fourth largest pride event in the United States (after New York, LA and Chicago), are the fourth largest city in the US (at least until we leapfrog Chicago to become the third largest after the 2020 census) and the only one that  has a nighttime parade.

Houston will be competing to get the WorldPride bid against Sydney, Australia and Montreal, Canada.   Pride Houston will have a 30 minute presentation to make at the InterPride annual meeting being held in Athens, Greece this October in order to secure it.

Houston Pride President and CEO Lorin Roberts (yep, my cousin) believes that we can do so. 

"We're Houston, where everything is bigger and better. Our main thing when it comes to this bid, is that even though we're a small town in the south of the U.S., you can see the world when you come to Houston," Roberts said in an ABC13 interview .

The theme for our Houston WorldPride 2023 bid is "Come to Houston, See the World, Feel Your Pride."   We are considered one of the most diverse cities in the United States, and only New York has more international consulates than we do.   
"We're trying to win this thing because we see so much in Houston as a Pride organization and within our community, that we just want to share with the rest of the world," Roberts said.

If we get WorldPride 2023, it would also be happening during the 45th anniversary of Pride Houston's formation and the 20th anniversary of the Lawrence v Texas SCOTUS case that declared sodomy laws unconstitutional in Texas  and a dozen US states. .

Good luck, and hope it does happen for us.   Would love to experience a WorldPride without having to leave Texas to do it .

Congrats Judge Watson!

Y'all know I have much love and admiration for my trailblazing Houston activist sis Fran Watson.

She's an attorney and former head of the Houston GLBT Caucus.   She was also the first Black woman to head the Caucus.  ,

Fran has run for the Texas state senate,  is one of only three Black women to be elected as a Houston Pride grand marshal, and volunteers her time to many worthy causes and organizations in the Houston area.

Earlier today the Houston City Council unanimously voted to approve Fran's nomination for a two year term as a municipal judge.

Congratulation Judge Watson!   This is a well deserved, and glad you will get to serve our fellow Houstonians from our municipal court bench.  I have no doubts that you will do a fantastic job in this new position

Houston Pride Parade Today!

Well people, today is the big day!

I was named back in April as one of the four honorary grand marshals for the Houston Pride pride taking place later tonight. 

I'm part of historic group of grand marshals for the Houston event.   Harrison Homer Guy was elected as our first ever Black male grand marshal.   Judge Shannon Baldwin, one of the 17 sisters elected to Harris County judicial benches last year, became the third Black woman elected as a grand marshal.

Houston GLBT Caucus president Mike Webb was elected as our first ever non-binary grand marshal, and Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen, a longtime friend and supporter of the Houston TBLGQ community,  was elected as our ally grand marshal. 

The four honorary grand marshal spots are all Houston trans women to commemorate the fact this is the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion that kicked off the TBLGQ rights movement.

The four honorary marshals have also been actively involved in the community and the trans rights struggle on multiple levels for years.

In addition to a certain blogger y'all know, the other trans Houstonians named as honorary marshals are Atlantis Narcisse, the founder of Save Our Sisters United, Black Transwomen Inc, President and entrepreneur Dee Dee Watters and OLTT executive director Ana Andrea Molina.

The parade once again will be downtown and televised, , so looking forward to waving at y'all from the front this year.

Macy's Galleria Pride Fashion Show

Some positive news out of my home state in terms of Macy's Galleria celebrating Pride Month by hosting a fashion show inside the store yesterday from 6-8 PM CDT.

This wasn't just any store fashion show.  The participating models were all local Houston area trans people, and one of the show's organizers and commentators was none other than Jessica Zyrie, who knows a few things about ripping runways.

She was joined in the commentator duties by wardrobe stylist Ashley Kahn as the models showed off in season fashion looks that were inspired by Pride month.   The show also included a DJ spinning tunes, a photo booth, makeup tutorials and complementary swag.

Note to my critics.   Hey it ain't always about me.  I'm a firm believer in there is room for everyone in this trans community to shine, and I practice what I preach. 

I was good with the fact that I got to see the spotlight shined yesterday on our younger Houston area trans peeps . I also got to watch a positive event for our community in a month we sorely needed it.

Just wish the show had been a little longer, but the people in attendance who saw this first ever event won't forget it along with the customers and employees who were in the store at the time it happened.

And hope it happens again next year.

Miss and Mr OLTT 2019

I mentioned I had a late Friday night that saw me getting back home at 3:30 AM, only to bounce right back out the door 2.5 hours later to go to Dallas. 

But it was well worth the sleep it cost me to see and talk to Jennicet Gutierrez, Sara Ramirez, Bamby Salcedo and Ruby Corado in one shot here in my hometown along with many of our Houston area advocates and allies.

And oh yeah, a pageant broke out while I was there.

It was the second annual Mr and Miss Trans OLTT pageant at Club Crysta in southwest Houston. It would not only choose the new OLTT royalty was that would represent the organization during their reign, but served as a fundraiser for the organization.  All the tips for the performers were also donated,

As for the pageant business at hand, the new Miss Trans OLTT is Catalina Ramos, with the Mr Trans OLTT crown going to Fabian Echeverria.   

Ramos was the favorite going into the event, and she proved why in dominating fashion, capturing five category awards on her way to the Miss Trans OLTT crown and the $500 first place prize.

Congrats to Catalina and Fabian!   I know we'll be seeing them at many of the Houston area community events representing OLTT and the Latinx trans community.

And congrats to Kassandra and Mo for their trailblazing reigns as the first Mr and Miss Trans OLTT.

   

Forgotten Women Panel Happening April 16

I have another panel I've been asked to participate in as I pass the time before I head to Dallas for BTAC 2019. 

This one will take place on April 16 on the Lone Star College North Harris County campus, and is entitled Forgotten Women:  Sexual Assault and Violence Against Women of Color.

I'm joining three amazing women in Dee Dee Watters, Audia Jones, and Mya Carroll as we discuss this topic.  This also gives you folks who live in the Houston 'burbs a chance to see all of us in your neck of the woods.

The panel will start at 2:30 PM at the Lone Star College North Harris campus, located at 2700 WW Thorne Dr not far from Bush IAH.

Hope I see al lot of my far northside friends there for this event..   

I'm Getting An Award At The JRR Luncheon!

I've never been to the annual Johnson Rayburn Richards event that Harris County Democratic Party conducts.\  It's one of their biggest fundraisers, and one of the biggest for any of the Democratic Party organizations in the Lone Star State.

But this year I'll be attending it for the first time, and a I have pretty good reason for doing so.

I've known about it for a week now, but was asked to keep it quiet until the official announcement could be made.by the HCDP.

I'll be receiving the Barbara Jordan Breaking Barriers Award at this year's JRR luncheon!

As a native Houstonian who was a witness to the remarkable trailblazing political career of this legendary H-town Democrat, it is a high horor to receive an award named for her.

That also means I'll be writing a speech for the occasion, and so looking forward to being there on May 24 to deliver it and receive the award along with my fellow JRR Award honorees Yolanda Black Navarro and Ai-jen Poo for it.

You're Mad At Mayor Turner - But Who Are You Going To Replace Him With?

Sylvester Turner succeeded Annise Parker as mayor of Houston after narrowly defeating Bill King in a December 2015 runoff.   His first term has been a contentious and rocky one because of budgetary issues and the hard revenue cap that has forced him to make unpopular cuts.

There's also the contentious fight over Prop B.   Despite his repeated warnings that the city didn't have the money to pay for it, people passed it anyway, and now that has devolved into our own local Brexit style mess pitting him in a messy public battle against the firefighters.

Homeless advocates don't like the initiatives coming from the mayor's office they contend are anti- homeless.   I'd need another post to discuss the other groups who are big mad at Mayor Turner right now and want to fire Mayor Turner in November, and some of it is personal animus with him.

The Harris County Republicans are also big mad because the Blue Tsunami swept them out of power.  They went 0-59 in the Harris County judicial races, lost control of Harris County Commissioner's Court thanks to the wins of County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Commissioner Adrian Garcia, and haven't held the Houston mayor's chair since the early 70's. 

They would love to get some political payback for their massive Harris County losses by taking the Houston mayor's chair away from him.

There are several candidates who have stepped up to run against him, but they are far from the top tier candidate that is necessary to beat an incumbent mayor.

Turner has my vote for now because none of the declared candidates are demonstrably better than him, which is my standard to fire an incumbent ,mayor.   These declared candidates are all flawed in major ways, and are actually WORSE than the guy currently in the mayor's chair.



Tony Buzbee? 

Doing fundraisers for Trump at your River Oaks mansion and donating $500K to Orange Fooluis automatically calls his judgment into question.   And he's a Republican. 
Hell naw

Kendall Baker?

Please, that faux faith based HERO hater and transphobe who got fired from his city 311 director job for sexual harassment while falsely demonizing the Houston trans community at the behest of Dave Welch during the HERO passage and repeal fight? 

Naw player, I haven't forgotten about that, and neither has the Houston trans community, and FYI dawg, we vote.

Definite Hell Naw.

Booker T?

Really People?   Did y'all not learn anything from 2016?

Not a viable candidate, and too many questions about who is pushing him to run and why.  Not gonna let 'em have the mayor's chair.

Nope, not today.

Demetria Smith?

NOT an option either. She not only hated on HERO, she told me to my face she voted against it because I quote ' she didn't want 'men in women's restrooms' and was clueless to the fact it covered 15 categories.   Also wasn't smart to say that to a nationally known trans advocate who fought like hell to pass HERO.

I was in the room when she had the meltdown at the January 2018 GLBT Caucus meeting in large part because she got mad she couldn't get more than 1 minute to speak, and then tried to spin it as 'The GLBT's wouldn't let me speak and tried to bully me'

Naw Miss Thang, you thought we forgot that you hated on HERO?   You had nerve to even step your behind in that room to ask for our endorsement after demonizing our community. 

She's a perennial candidate not ready for mayoral prime time or ANY elected office, and an . .
Unequivocal HELL NAW

Bill King?

Another GOP HERO hater who lost to Turner in 2015, couldn't run Kemah without drama, but y'all think he's Houston mayoral material?    Did I mention he's a Republican?

Hard pass

What some of you peeps big mad at Mayor Turner are failing to realize is that the Houston mayor's office is now a four year term with a term limit of eight years.   The mayor's office combines the ceremonial functions  of a mayor's office with the administrative duties of a city manager, and the mayor gets a vote in our strong mayor form of civic government on council .   

It is a powerful office, with the mayor having lots of power to dictate how stuff gets done around The Horseshoe and at City Hall.   The mayor selects the committee chairs.  He dictates the legislative agenda and how, if or when issues come up.

It's no longer a two year term.   If we pick the wrong person this November, we can't correct it until 2023. 

As part of a community taking the brunt of the anti-trans animus stirred up by the contentious passage of HERO five years ago and the 2015 HERO repeal, I'm majorly concerned that three HERO opponents are running. and we don't know Buzbee's or Booker T's public stances about it.

Based on who Buzbee has been palling around with, HERO 2.0 is probably a NO with him as well. .

You may not like Mayor Turner right now, but as far as I'm concerned, unless someone majorly qualified steps up to run by July who is demonstrably better than Turner, I'd rather have him in office for his second and final four year term running this city than these currently declared candidates. 

Rest In Power Sarah DePalma

We in the Houston trans community knew this day was coming because she had been valiantly battling Parkinson's Disease since 2006, but it still hurts to write this post announcing the death of one of our pioneering trans leaders in Sarah DePalma.

DePalma passed away Sunday night, and the woman I call 'Mommy Sarah' was another one of our Houston based kick butt trans advocates who also had trailblazing national and statewide reach. 

She and another Houston trans trailblazer in Phyllis Frye met in the late 1980's, and the two Aggies formed a lasting friendship as a result.   By 1993 DePalma was upping her own activism game and heading to Austin to push for changes in our state laws that would benefit transgender people.

She was also giving the lesbian and gay community in Houston and nationally hell for their exclusionary anti-trans attitudes in the 90's and early 2000's.  We successfully fought a pitched battle for inclusion in the Houston GLBT caucus during that time while calling HRC out for their anti-trans stances.

DePalma was the founder of and Executive Director of It's Time Texas, which later became TGAIN (Transgender Advocacy Information Network) and is now TENT (Transgender Education Network of Texas)  She also led It's Time America, one of the early trans advocacy groups formed in the 1990's.

My first Texas Lobby day was in 1999, but she was already a veteran lobbyist at the state and national level by the time I met her.   Where Sarah and I connected in addition to her being one of my early trans advocacy mentors was as the co-host of KPFT-FM's After Hours show with the late Jimmy Carper.   

She leaves behind her longtime partner Lori, and a host of people who loved her.   As of yet don't know when her memorial service is going to happen, but will definitely be there to pay my last respects to her.

We've lost another of our trans pioneers.  Rest in power and peace, Sarah. .