Number 14- Rest In Power Selena Reyes Hernandez

She is the sixth Latinx transperson to die in 2020 and the 14th transperson this year, but I'm just now finding out about this May 31 murder because of misgendering of her by the Chicago medical examiner, Chicago PD and the Chicago media

Even her family went there in disrespecting her in death, choosing to bury her in her native Mexico under her deadname.

The murder also took place on one of the deadliest days in Chicago in 60 years, with 18 people being killed in a 24 hour period.

37 year old Selena Reyes Hernandez was seen with 18 year old Orlando Perez, who lived several blocks away from her, entering her Marquette Park area home around 5:30 AM CDT. 

Perez told investigators when he asked if Reyes Hernandez was a girl, she told him he was trans.  He told her he had to leave, and returned 20 minutes later at 6 AM according to surveillance cameras armed and with a dark face covering.    He is shown on surveillance cameras pulling out a handgun, racking the slide and hopping the fence to Reyes Hernandez's home in the 3300 block of West 71st Street

He discovered the door was open, walked in and shot Reyes Hernandez in the head and back before running out of her home. 

Perez thought would be enough to kill her, but was so transphobically angry he returned to shoot her several more times as her body was on the floor.   Her body was found by someone who heard loud noises later that morning.

Perez was arrested, and the gun with the same type of bullets used to kill Reyes Hernandez was found in his Marquette Park home.   Multiple video camera show him going back and forth to the scene of the crime.

Perez is being held in the Cook County jail with no bail.   His next court date is on July 6.   Prior to killing Reyes Hernandez, he had no criminal history, but has sadly let transphobia ruin his young life.

And if he's thinking about trying to use the trans panic defense in an attempt to get off or get his sentenced reduced, not gonna happen.  Illinois is one of the states that bans it.

Rest in power, Selena.   Your Chicago trans fam is not going to rest until you receive justice.  Hopefully someone also has a photo of her as she lived her all too brief life.


TransGriot Note: Thanks to Elizabeth Rivera for finding and sending me the photo of Selena that graces this post. 

Say Hello To Judge Jill Rose Quinn!

History was made during the Illinois Democratic primary Tuesday night as the state of Illinois saw its first ever out trans person elected to public office.

65 year old attorney Jill Rose Quinn ran for a vacant seat on the Cook County Circuit Court.   There were two other candidates running for the Democratic Party nomination in the primary for that seat, and Quinn won big with over 65% of the vote.

"It’s not just a victory for me, it’s a victory for everybody out there who’s marginalized, everybody who’s different, everybody who’s trans,” said Quinn in an interview. 
Quinn was endorsed by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D), the Cook County Democratic Party and the LGBTQ Victory Fund.   She was also rated qualified by 13 different local bar agencies in addition to drawing the top position on the ballot.

Mayor Lightfoot said in her endorsement of her,"Jill Rose Quinn has fought for fairness, equality and justice her entire life and her perspective and experience will be invaluable for our courts and our community.” 

So she had a few things going her way in the runup to Election Night. 

Because there was no Republican running in their primary for this seat, she will when the November 3 election happens be running unopposed for it and is assured of being elected.. 

On that night she will officially become the first out trans person elected to public office in the state of Illinois, only the fourth transgender judge in the nation, and the second elected one after Judge Vicky Kolakowski of California.

Judge-elect Quinn does recognize the importance of her win.   In an interview that was conducted before Election Day, she said this as she reflected on her campaign:

“There are kids in this country killing themselves because they’re trans and they don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. They don’t see respect. They don’t see themselves portrayed as being people, not ordinary people, of course, because nobody’s ordinary, but they don’t see how great they can be," Quinn said. “So I think it’s important for them to see that you can survive, you can prosper, you can go to school, you can study hard. You can make your way, and you can be a judge."

Congratulations Judge Quinn for making history and being a possibility model to our kids.

Biden Sweeps St Patrick's Day 2020 Democratic Primaries

Because of the COVID 19 pandemic, only three of the scheduled four states held primaries last night in Arizona,  Florida, and Illinois.   But that didn't stop the Joementum that has been building since Biden crushed Bernie Sanders in the South Carolina primary back on February 29.

Biden didn't just sweep all three primary contests, it was a political beatdown.  He not only decisively won Florida and Illinois to open the night, he prevailed in Arizona to open a sizable lead in the delegate count.

Florida was expected to be a 'YUGE' loss for Sanders because of his pro-Castro comments during that disastrous 60 Minutes interview combined with a Latinx electorate made up predominately of Cubans, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who don't have warm and fuzzy memories of socialism.

Oh yeah, because I need to remind some of y'all who the base of the Democratic Party is, Florida also has a 16% Black population.

It turned out to be Sanders' worst political nightmare.   The Sunshine State was the big delegate prize of the evening with 219 delegates up for grabs, and Biden handled his Florida business by winning every county in the state.

Biden captured 61.9% of the vote and the lion's share of the available delegates.   It was the fourth state this 2020 primary season in which he swept every county.

It was just as bad for Team Sanders in Illinois, where 155 pledged delegates were in play.
Biden captured 59.1% of the vote and 101 of the state's counties.  The only one Biden lost was Champaign County, which is the home of  the University of Illinois 

And ahem, Black population percentage in Illinois is 14%.

It was closer in Arizona, where Latinx people make up 25% of the electorate and have been in Sanders camp for much of this primary season.   Black population percentage in the Grand Canyon State is 4.1%.

It only had 67 delegates in play, and Biden had been trailing in the state to Sanders as late as March 3.

Biden edged Sanders by a 43%-32% margin.   Arizona awards 23 of its delegates to the person who wins the statewide contest, and the other 44 are allocated based on how well you do in each of the states nine congressional districts.   Biden swept all nine congressional districts

Biden is now well on his way to capturing the 2020 Democratic Party presidential nomination, with after last night's  contests, 1165 delegates.    You need 1991 to capture the Democratic nomination on a convention first ballot.   Sanders has only 880 with states demographically friendly to Biden up on the calendar assuming those primaries aren't delayed like Ohio's was yesterday. 

It's past time for the Sanders campaign to assess where they are, because the unmistakable message that is being sent by Democratic primary voters is they don't think you can win in November. 

You have lost 19 contests since February 28, many by lopsided margins, and it's past time for you to consider dropping  out in order to unify the party so that Biden can pivot to Job Number One in making Donald Trump a one term impeached POTUS.

But I don't expect you to do that.

Strawberry Hampton Finally Moved To Illinois Women's Prison

Some good news as we close out 2018 on the trans rights front

27 year old Deon 'Strawberry' Hampton has been transitioning since she was 5 years old.   She is unfortunately doing a 10 year sentence in Illinois for burglary that she started serving in 2015.

But no prison sentence should include sexual and physical assault, transphobic harassment from prisoners and guards and incarceration in a men's prison if you are a trans feminine person. That is a violation of the 8th Amendment prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment

Hampton has been in four different men's prisons in Illinois, and has according to court filings suffered violent sexual and physical assault and emotional abuse at four different prisons.

At Pinckneyville Correctional Facility, she alleges guards sexually assaulted her, then forced her to have sex with her cellmate for their entertainment.   That incident led to a suicide attempt.

In December 2017 The MacArthur Justice Center and the Uptown People's Law Center filed the first of several lawsuits on her behalf seeking a court order to stop the abuse being aimed at Hampton.

She has finally had her request granted to be moved from Dixon Correctional Center, a men's prison in Dixon, IL, to the Logan Correctional Center, a women's prison in Lincoln, IL

The Illinois Department of Corrections initially denied Hampton’s transfer request. 

In November  US District Court Judge Nancy Rosenstengel ordered the Illinois Department of Corrections to re-evaluate its denial of Hampton’s request for transfer to a women’s prison.
The judge also ordered they develop training on transgender issues for all staff.

If you're wondering what POTUS appointed Judge Rosenstengel to the federal bench, she was appointed by President Barack Obama. 

Despite the positive ruling in Strawberry's favor, the MacArthur Justice Center said that the Illinois Department of Corrections still hasn't done enough to remedy the systemic failures that lead to the abuse of transgender inmates. 

The transphobic hatred being put in the atmosphere by the Republican Party, conservafool media and evilgelicals isn't helping either.

Number 22- Rest In Power and Peace Ciara Minaj Carter Frazier

Little did I know that when I posted my cumulative trans murder stats for this year, I'd have to go back into the post to correct it a mere 24 hours later. 

We unfortunately go to Chicago for the second time this year to discuss the latest trans woman we have lost to anti-trans violence.

She is 31 year old Ciara Minaj Carter Frazier.   At 9:28 PM CDT Wednesday night she had been arguing with a person inside an abandoned building in the 4500 block of West Adams in the West Garfield Park neighborhood, 

That person stabbed multiple times, then left her body in the backyard of the building.    She was pronounced dead at the scene by police and Cook County medical examiners.    A subsequent autopsy found that Frazier died of multiple sharp force injuries, and her death was ruled a homicide.

The Chicago Sun Times story l based this post on,  is being accused of leaving out some disturbing details that I'm hearing about from local trans advocates and people who knew Ciara. 

They allege that the perpetrator mutilated her body by cutting off her genitalia, and the body was nude when it was discovered.   Those missing details, if confirmed, escalates Ciara's murder to a hate crime.

It also fits into the excessive violence beyond lethality pattern that we know is a part of the profile of murders of trans women.

Her murder is being investigated by Chicago PD Area North detectives.

Frazier was well known in Chicago's ballroom community, and she was the second trans person to die in the city in less than a month.   She is also the 16th Black trans person to die in the US in 2018. 

And once again, she was under 40 years of age. 

#StopKillingUs    Our Black trans lives matter.   When will we hear community leaders, our legacy organizations, faith leaders and the politicians we put into office with our votes say that?

Or are you content to stay silent about it as the plague of violence being visited upon Black trans people continues? 

Number 17- Rest In Power Dejanay Stanton

Was hoping we could get through the month of August without losing a single trans person, but unfortunately that is not going to be the case.

We go to Chicago for our latest trans murder. 

24 year old Dejanay Stanton was found in an alley at approximately 12:30 PM CDT at E.40th and S.Martin Luther King Streets on Chicago's South Side. 

Stanton was discovered suffering from a gunshot wound to the head after people in the area reported hearing gunshots.  She was transported to Stroger Hospital, where she was subsequently pronounced dead.

Stanton is the 17th trans person murdered in the United States in 2018, and the 13th African American trans person we have lost to anti-trans violence.   The part that really irritates and pisses me off is that she is now the eight trans person under age 30 we have lost to anti-trans violence.

Dejanay's Black trans life mattered.   When is that point going to be unequvocally acknowledged by the Black cis community, its legacy orgs and its political leaders?

A balloon release will be held later today at the 40th and King Street alley where she was killed starting at 7:30 PM. 

Chicago Police Department Area Central detectives are investigating this case, and would appreciate any information you can give them that will help bring the perpetration of this crime to justice.

Rest in power and peace Dejanay.   I'm upset that you really didn't get a chance to live your life, and I'm tired of the anti-trans animus that probably played a role in cutting yours way too short. 

You trans family and all who loved you will not rest until the person who killed you has been brought to justice.

Jeanne Ives Peddles Transphobia In Illinois Gubernatorial Campaign Ad

Illinois state legislator Jeanne Ives  (R)  is a longtime foe of the Illinois TBLGQ community who is primary challenging Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R).

A lot of people in the Land of Lincoln are unhappy with her after she unleashed an attack ad aimed at Rauner that ended up offending many people in Illinois, and members of her own party. 

The misleading ad featured not only a bearded man in drag, but attacked the Women's March, the Chicago Teachers Union and Latinx immigrants

 
She tred to play of the ad as 'edgy' and 'informative'/  Yeah, that what you conservaBeckys always pivot to when you get caught peddling racist, transphobic and homophobic crap.



Illinois Republican Party chair Tim Schneider stated that Ives should pull the ad and immediately apologize to the Illinoisans who were negatively portrayed in a cowardly attempt to stoke division."

"There is no place in the Illinois Republican Party for rhetoric that attacks our fellow Illinoisans based on their race, gender or humanity,"Schneider said.   

Gov Rauner's campaign quickly called out the ad, stating "This TV ad has no place in Illinois.  It just shows how unelectable Representative Ives really is."

But in the wake of that ad, Ives campaign has received $2.5 million in donations from a conservative mehgadonor who funded Roy moore's failed campaign.   It has also raised her profile amongst those Illinois conservatives wishing to send Gov Rauner packing.

So stay tuned to see if this transphobe who also hated on gay marriage back in 2013 gets out of the Republican gubernatorial primary

Big Trans Rights Win In Illinois D211!

With 147 or the 147 precincts counted, and totals still unofficial, in an April 4 school board election with national implications that was closely watched by the trans community in Illinois and our allies, it looks as though the trans inclusive slate of D211 board members Anna Klimkowicz, Robert LeFevre and board member elect Edward Yung backed by the partnership of local parents and national trans rights group the Trans United Fund have defeated a candidate slate backed by a coalition of anti-trans activists and groups affiliated with the anti-trans SPLC-certified hate group the Alliance Defending Freedom.

In the D211 school board race, incumbent member Klimkowicz topped all candidates by garnering  9,951 votes to easily retain her seat.  incumbent member LeFevre got 8,706 to retain his and member elect Yung got 8,144 votes to capture the last available seat and return to the D211 board compared to the ADF affiliated 'Parents For Privacy' hate slate of Katherine Jee Young David with 7,917 votes, Ralph Bonatz with 7,318 and Jean Forrest with 7,225 votes.

"I think that what it says is the community thinks we're doing a good job," Klimkowicz said.

The voters have spoken, and it's a resounding defeat for anti-trans bigotry in D211.

The Alliance Defending Freedom sought to insert themselves in this local school board race in Palatine, IL in order to flip control of the largest school district in the state and undo the DOE/DOJ agreement reached in a discrimination case with a local trans student.

The national Washington DC based trans rights group Trans United Fund jumped into this race two weeks ago at the behest of parents concerned about the ADF affiliated opposition slate.

The Alliance Defending Freedom had been targeting D211 for months with a lawsuit designed to strip the trans protections from the district and overturn the settlement.

"A mom from Palatine, IL called us up to advise me that a slate of school board members was running (the Parents For Privacy slate) to take out school board members who had supported inclusive schools and with the goal of rolling back protections for trans youth," said Chicago based TUF national board member LaSaia Wade.

"The anti-trans candidates recruited to flip control of the school board were supported by a network of anti-LGBT activists and groups ranging from Illinois state senator Tom Morrison to ADF ally Vicki Wilson to the Illinois state chapter of Focus on the Family.  I raised the issues with the board, and they enthusiastically endorsed the idea of going all in to support these D211 moms and kids fighting back against an array of anti-trans oppressors," said Wade.  

Trans United Fund, sensing the national political implications and symbolic importance of this race to the trans rights cause, did more than just send a stand with them in solidarity message to the concerned parents and kids of D211. They launched the first trans led political independent expenditure in the history of the modern trans rights movement on behalf of those parents and kids.

In less than two weeks, despite the financial and organizational head start the anti- trans forces had, Trans United Fund helped the pro-trans slate parents, kids and allies raise funds and quickly assemble a strong political program that included phone banking, mail, digital and volunteer canvassing to get their ultimately successfully messaging out to the D211 voters.

As the Trans United Fund board foresaw, this is a major political win, one with soon to be determined political implications that will be felt across the country. One of the moms, sharing how inspired she was by the experience wrote about how it felt to have Trans United Fund have her and her child's back

“…words cannot express how grateful I am that you have taken your time your time and resources to help us fight back against a group of people who have sought to demean and discourage my daughter for being who she is throughout her high school years.  Unfortunately, because of their tactics, I have seen my strong-willed, smart and beautiful daughter's self-confidence shatter.  It has been an exhausting battle and at times we often felt alone and that the majority of people were, in fact, on the side of the hate group.  However, as more and more people step up and speak out, we realize we were wrong.  Through your courageous efforts, you have brought hope not just to my daughter, but to trans kids throughout D211 and the world.  You have told them that they are accepted, that they are cherished and that they have amazing talents to contribute to our society. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.” a local mom in Palatine, IL. 

"We have been so inspired by the more than 30 moms and young people who have been at the core of the campaign to fight back against hate and fear in their school district," said Hayden Mora, co-chair of Trans United Fund. "I'm proud that Trans United Fund was able to make a decisive difference but I'm even prouder of the incredible coalition of allies we were able to build. "Tonight's victory is the result of the incredible leadership of moms and youth in D211, the amazing allyship of Brian Johnson and the Equality IL team, the savvy and commitment of LaSaia Wade and the Trans Liberation Collective and our team at Trans United Fund, " Mora added..

"Hate groups weren't just trying to roll back rights in this Chicago suburb, they were trying to build a model that they could export across the country. What they got was a model of what's possible when trans people, parents, youth and our LGBTQ allies work together. The message to parents and trans people all over the country tonight is one of hope and a story about how we can fight back against hate and fear and win. "
Yes we can!   In Palatine, IL tonight, we sent the message thanks to a committed group of people that we will fight for our kids, the allies who support them and do so successfully.

Why Is A Hate Group Meddling In An Illinois School Board Race?

Normally school board races can be low key and non controversial in nature unless something happens during the campaign or a controversial candidate is involved.

There's a school board election happening on April 4 in District 211 in Palatine, IL near Chicago that is fitting that description..  District 211 has been at the epicenter for a trans human rights case involving a trans feminine student at Township High School that was allowed access to the locker room after the district was found in violation of Title IX

The District, the Department of Education and the Department of Justice entered into a settlement agreement, then were sued by a group of transphobic parents and students backed by the right wing anti-trans group Alliance Defending Freedom, an SPLC-certified hate group..

Fast forward to the looming election.   Incumbent District 211 board members Anna Klimkowicz and Robert LeFevre voted for the settlement that was worked out with the DOE and DOJ.   D211 board candidate Edward Yung is a former member seeking to rejoin it that has expressed his support for transgender students.  

They are being challenged by a trans hate slate of candidates calling themselves the 'Parents For Privacy' that are backed by the Alliance Defending Freedom, and they are dumping lots of cash and lies in this race in order to get majority control of the D211 board and rescind the settlement.

Klimkowicz , LeFevre and Yung have been endorsed by the Daily Herald, one of the area newspapers , Equality Illinois PAC , and a group of parents called Progress for D15 and D211'.

Trans United Fund, sensing the importance of this upcoming election, has not only endorsed the pro-trans incumbents, but has already spent over 80 hours organizing with the moms, who have limited resources compared to the professional hate group .

Those parents are concerned about the ADF meddling in their school board race, but don't quite have the funds they need to combat the money flowing in the Parents for Privacy camp.

The rights of trans students are on the ballot in this April 4 school board race, and if you live in the area and support trans human rights, hope you're registered to vote, will participate in this election and prove that you support trans students by voting for Klimkowicz, LeFevre and Yung to sit on that D211 board.  

Secretary Clinton Breaks Out the Victory Broom

The voters in five states spread out from the South to the Midwest went to the polls yesterday for Democratic presidential primary elections.  There were 793 delegates at stake with the big symbolic prizes being Florida (246 delegates at stake), Sec. Clinton's home state of Illinois (182 delegates) and Ohio with 160 delegates.   North Carolina  had 121 delegates at stake and Missouri with 84.

Within minutes of polls closing in Florida and North Carolina came the first indication it would be a YUGE night for Secretary Clinton.   The network calls of Clinton wins in Florida and North Carolina came swiftly, with the call for Ohio coming an hour later.

The Ohio win for Clinton was a disappointment for Sanders, who had predicted he would win the state after the shocking upset win in Michigan last week.

Illinois and Missouri took longer to decide, with Clinton taking her home state of Illinois and eked out a narrow win in the Show Me State late thanks to the voters in Kansas City and St Louis.

#BlackVotersMatter  

Told you Bernie supporters that losing the Black vote would cost him the nomination. Clinton's massive 84-16% support with African-American voters was critical to fueling her sweep of all five primary states.

Thanks to the sweep, Sec. Clinton has opened up a 300+ delegate lead on Sanders and effectively ended the talking point among Sanders supporters that Clinton could only win in Southern states.

Next up are caucuses in Utah and Idaho and the primary election in Arizona on March 22.  Arizona is the big prize with 85 total delegates..

While Sec. Clinton is not the 2016 presumptive Democratic nominee yet, she took another huge step toward making history as the first woman to win a major party presidential nomination.

The obese opera singer may not be singing yet in this Democratic contest, but is definitely beginning to warm up to sing the aria.

Erika Harold Loses Illinois GOP Congressional Primary Bid

A few months ago I wrote about on these electronic pages former 2003 Miss America Erika Harold running for Congress in the Illinois Republican primary against current 13th District US Rep. Rodney Davis and getting racistly dissed for her trouble. 

In addition to that racist email from a GOP county chairman calling Harold “a streetwalker.” that led to his resignation, Harold according to Politico endured a bizarre snub at the Illinois state fair, flat out rejection when she asked the Illinois Republican Party to use GOP voter data and was denied, and constantly heard the frequent suggestion she would be better off running for some other office besides a Congressional seat.

You let bizarro world conservafools like Suzanne Atanus run for Congress, and she's your nominee against Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D).   So why do you Republicans have a problem with a 33 year old Illinois born mixed race former Miss America who spoke at your 2004 convention, at CPAC, got the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune and is a Harvard Law graduate? 

Oops, never mind.  I withdraw the question. 

She's an American citizen who can run for any office she wishes.  While I don't care for her conservative political stances, the only thing we see eye to eye on is that she's anti-death penalty.   But those conservative stances still didn't help her in this race. 

The Illinois primary election was held on Tuesday night and her challenge to Rep Rodney Davis fell short.   She did however serve notice that she has a bright political future in Illinois by garnering an impressive 41.2% of the votes (20,921)  in this primary to the incumbent Davis' 54.6% (27,773).

This race is a real world example of why Republicans don't have a snowball's chance in Hades of making themselves attractive to African-Americans. 

While I'm no fan of her politics because I'm aligned politically with 90% of the rest of the African-American community, I still didn't appreciate along with many left of center Black peeps seeing the sistah get dissed like she did in the GOP ranks.  

And if she's not "Republican enough' for you, who is?   You continue to reinforce what I have unflinchingly said about the GOP when I call it the political arm of white supremacy.  You have also reinforced by your treatment of her the well deserved reputation that you don't like women, and especially women of color.

She's also managed to do what all your cookie chomping kneegrow sellouts haven't been able to do in the history of the blog--get me to write a post about a Republican in which I'm not slamming them from the first syllable of it..   

This latest GOP rebranding effort will fail just like the previous ones when you continue to diss thoughtful people like Harold.  It's people like her you should be running to embrace and putting out there as your standard bearers, not batturd wing sellouts like Mia Love, Sen. Tim Scott and Allen West who have zero chance of getting our votes or our community's respect..   

But as a Democrat I thank you for continuing to be the stupid party. 

T.G.I.F. 2013 Happening Tomorrow

Last July  T.G.I.F., spearheaded by local trans activist KOKUMO brought over 350 people to a first of its kind event in Chicago celebrating the trans, gender variant and intersex communities that featured a rally, musical performances, a picnic and a community expo. 

The second annual Trans*, Gender Non-Conforming, Intersex Freedom (T.G.I.F.) event happens tomorrow July 28 at Union Park from 12-4 PM CDT at 1501 W. Randolph St.   If you're living in the Chicago area and are looking for something to do on a Sunday afternoon that supports the local community, you may wish to show up for this one. 

The theme for this year's T.G.I.F. is "Transcending Pride, Evolving Movements," is hosted by Cyon Flare and will have performances by Angelica Ross, Dirty Grid, About Face Youth Theatre, Elias Karal, Jova Black, KOKUMO and more.  Local activists delivering keynote addresses are Alexis Martinez of the Chicago Dyke March Collective, gender nonconforming performance artist Nic Kay and intersex activist Pidgeon Pagonis.

There will also be organizations at T.G.I.F. 2013 with information booths and tables performing services such as SAGE Community Services, the Young Women's Empowerment Project and the Transformative Justice Law Project.

Should be a fun, interesting and informative event, so if you're in the Chicago area, go support it.

Illinois Is Looking More Like Prop 8 2.0

Well, well, well  John Aravosis.   Looks like there's increasing evidence piling up to show that you were loud and wrong as usual.

You were also wrong for peddling that bigoted 'The Blacks cost us marriage equality in Illinois' meme  in the immediate aftermath of the non-call for a House marriage equality vote that has been repeated like a mantra in various spots in the Gayosphere and progressive blog comment threads that Black bloggers are now going to have to spend time debunking. 

I presume the 'I'm sorry' Americablog post will be swiftly forthcoming to the Black community and the legislators you slimed, but I suspect it'll be a snowy June day in Houston before we see it.
  .
It's also eerily looking more and more like Prop 8 2.0 in terms of the deja vu all too eager white gay propensity to quickly point the finger at my community for this stunning Illinois marriage equality legislative failure and engage in rainbow bigot eruptions. .   

Before the weekend was out I was starting to get confirmation about what I suspected was the real reason the marriage bill failed Saturday morning:

A Gay, Inc organizational frackup. 

It turns out that your vanillacentric staffed umbrella marriage org on the scene there didn't even bother to hire more lobbyists to talk to the Illinois Black legislative caucus, when they knew for months it was one of their lobbying weaknesses.   The problem wasn't addressed until a day and a half before the vote was supposed to happen and former Illinois Chitown Democratic legislators Paul Williams and Coy Pugh were put on the payroll 

Williams and Pugh had they been given ample time may have been able to flip some votes in the Caucus, but they damned sure needed more than a day and half for that task. 

The umbrella org also repeated California's failure of not consistently engaging the Black and Latino communities and mobilizing progressive ministers and priests tn the state to neutralize and drown out the bigots in the African American Clergy Coalition and the Roman Catholic Church.

Thanks to TransGriot reader Chitown Kev for pointing me to an NBC5 article entitled 'Don't Thank (Or Blame) Black Legislators For Killing Gay Marriage' and giving me more ammunition to point out why fanning the hell-fire flames of gay bigotry against Blacks is not only wrong but not helpful to your marriage cause. 

Interestingly enough that NBC5 story breaks down how the so-called 'homophobic' Black Legislative caucus votes would have probably gone down if a marriage vote had been called

Eleven of the 20 Black Caucus members would have voted YES,  four NO and five were undecided.

YES
Ken Dunkin, Chicago
Esther Golar, Chicago
Chris Welch, Hillside
La Shawn Ford, Chicago
Christian Mitchell, Chicago
Rita Mayfield, Waukegan
Al Riley, Olympia Field
Camille Lilly, Chicago
Arthur Turner, Chicago
Marcus Evans, Chicago
Elgie Sims, Jr., Chicago

NO
Monique Davis, Chicago
Mary Flowers, Chicago
Eddie Jackson, East St. Louis
Charles Jefferson, Rockford

UNDECIDED
Thaddeus Jones, Calumet City
Jehan Gordon-Booth, Peoria
Will Davis, East Hazel Crest
Derrick Smith, Chicago
Andre Thapedi, Chicago

As an FYI moment, the six Latino Illinois legislators were considered supporters.

Now compare and contrast that with the 92 white legislators in the Illinois House.  I pointed out the fact in my initial Saturday post the bulk of the people and legislators opposed to marriage equality don't look like me and it was borne out in this report.

45 of the 47 Republicans (who are survey says, all white peeps) were opposed to the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act with only two supporting it..  

The 45 remaining white legislators in the Illinois House are Democrats. Of those white Democrats 26 were considered solid YES votes, but there were 19 white Democratic legislators identified by the Windy City Times who are either committed to vote NO on the bill, or have not publicly supported it. 

Those legislators are Brandon Phelps, John Bradley, Jerry Costello II, Jay Hoffman, Daniel Beiser, Sue Scherer, Stephanie Kifowit, Anthony DeLuca, Katherine Cloonen, Patrick Verschoore, Jack Franks, Michelle Mussman, John D’Amico, Natalie Manley, Emily McAsey, Kathleen Willis, Fred Crespo, Keith Farnham, and Kelly Burke.

So how in the hell does the Black Caucus get the blame or the failure of this bill when all along you had a white Democratic legislator problem?  

Easy, when you want to deflect from your own organizational failures.

"Don’t blame the Black Caucus. The Black Caucus has always been with us and so have the Latinos,” said Rick Garcia, the policy director of the Civil Rights Agenda. “They are just using the black people as an excuse.”

And once again for you white gay peeps still pouring gasoline on the hell fire flames of gay bigotry against African-Americans, 60% of Black Illinois residents supported marriage equality with many of them being high profile ones like Desiree Rogers, the CEO of Johnson Publishing Company, Linda Johnson Rice, the chair of Johnson Publishing Company, the Rev Dr. Otis Moss III, the pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, retired shortstop Ernie Banks, Andrea Zopp, the president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League just to name a few      

So for those of you in the Illinois gay community still squawking about who not to support in the next election cycle, primary challenge or you're petulantly not going to support issues of importance to the African-American community in retaliation for this setback, my suggestion is you don't let the white privilege you're swimming in be the catalyst for writing a political check your azzes will regret cashing.  

Seems y'all need to be focusing your attention moreso on the problem you have with white people supporting marriage equality.  You need to do a better job building support for marriage equality amongst your fellow white people, get busy building that coalition of progressive ministers you'll need to fight the bigoted ones and quit scapegoating Black people for your failure to come up with an argument that resonates with your fellow white folks.

Because frankly, Black people, and especially Black TBLG folks are sick and tired of being blamed for your failure to do precisely that.  

East Aurora, IL School Board Caves To The Bigots Again

What started out as a wonderful happening for the kids in the East Aurora, IL district when their school board passed a trans inclusive policy only to cave on it days later after opposition from the SPLC certified hate group the Illinois Family Association is getting more exasperation inducing as it goes along. 

After the IFA browbeat the school board into rescinding the policy, the East Aurora board announced the formation of an ad hoc committee to formulate a new policy to protect their trans and gender variant students.

But as I feared when the board caved initially to the IFA in October and emboldened the transphobes, they simply doubled down on the bullying tactics in an attempt to kill any trans inclusive policy from being crafted and adopted.   At a November 30 meeting of the ad hoc committee they filled the room with 120 opponents of the trans inclusive policy and disrupted it to the point the committee couldn't conduct business.   

Anita Lewis, the school board member chairing the ad hoc committee declined to schedule another meeting, and now the East Aurora IL school board has caved once again to the transphobic bigots. 

The board dissolved the ad hoc committe that was formed to craft a trans policy that would be in their words when they formed it 'a model to the nation'.

Yeah East Aurora, IL school board.   You're a model to the nation all right.   You caved in the face of intolerant bigots, reversed a policy that would have protected your trans and gender variant students and now left them vulnerable to the very bigots you sought to protect them from.

You also sent a message to those trans and gender variant students in this district that you as a school board would (and have) throw them under the bus and not stand and deliver for them when they needed you to. 

I hope your profiles in cowardice are rewarded with all of your being voted out of office by progressive minded parents and residents and you are replaced by civic minded people who will do what's right for all the kids of the East Aurora district.  

They need school board members who will stand by their principled decisions,  not retreat from them in the face of loud and wrong opposition.  

East Aurora, IL School Board Caves To Hate Group

On Monday the East Aurora, IL  Board of Education unanimously adopted a groundbreaking policy hat would benefit the trans and gender non-conforming students in their district

The new policy specifically states that transgender and gender nonconforming students have the right use the restroom that corresponds to their gender-related identity that is consistently asserted at school. The student has the right to be addressed by the name they want to be called, too.
“A court-ordered name or gender change is not required, and the student needs not change his or her official records.” it's stated in the policy
…
“In no case shall a transgender student be required to use a locker room that conflicts with the student’s gender-related identity,” the policy reads.

Didn't take long for the transphobes of the Illinois Family Association, a Southern Poverty Law Center  certified hate group to jump in and start stirring up opposition to the policy. to the point in which the East Aurora school board started wavering on doing what was right.   The pushback from groups supporting the policy was just as swift.

The Trevor Project issued a statement in support of the policy. 

“The Trevor Project is fully in support of maintaining the policy adopted unanimously by the East Aurora School Board on Monday,” stated Abbe Land, executive director and CEO of The Trevor Project. “Since 2010, more than 3,000 teens from Illinois have called the Trevor Lifeline in crisis, and among their top presenting problems were bullying and harassment at school. This policy will help protect the highly vulnerable transgender student population from discrimination, fear and hate that leads to bullying, increased anxiety, and elevated safety concerns on East Aurora’s campuses, and is a step that can help save lives.”

Last night the East Aurora board held another meeting.  By a 4-0 vote with three board members absent, they caved to the chrisotfascists at the Illinois Family Association and rescinded the policy the board passed on Monday to boos and cries of "Shame" and "Cowards".

The policy had support from the overflow crowd in attendance for the meeting.   Out of the twenty people that spoke at the emergency meeting, 17 were in favor of keeping the passed policy.    One of those persons in favor of it, Victoria Beltran, who has three children in the District's schools had this to say.

“If you go against it, there’s no reason to support you guys,” she told the board. “We need to hear everyone in our district and not people outside our district.”   Ms.Beltran was referring to the haters at the IFA, who like the cowards they are didn't send anyone to speak at that meeting.  

Parents who are in favor of the policy are considering in conjunction with several organizations lawsuits to restore the policy, and I wouldn't be surprised if those board members find themselves challenged in the next election cycle for caving in the face of bigotry and hatred.

The bigots and bullies of the IFA won this round because the East Aurora, IL school board was too cowardly to stand up for what they passed Monday.   If they did so out of fear they were going to lose their seats, their actions last night to rescind the policy may be what actually costs them their seats, not supporting the trans and gender variant kids of the district .  

And speaking of those trans and gender variant kids, you rescinded the policy on Spirit Day.   It's bitterly ironic that on a day in which millions of people and allies around the country show support to trans and gender variant kids against bullying aimed at them, you East Aurora school board members caved in to the bigots and bullies of the Illinois Family Association.

That's fracked up East Aurora school board, and shame on y'all for not being tough minded enough to stand up for the trans and gender variant kids in your district.

Trans Victories In Illinois And Alaska!

The trans wins just keep on coming , with one of them being from a surprising place.

Trans folks living in the Land of Lincoln can now change the gender markers on their birth certificates without having to go through genital surgery. 

There is still a requirement for a type of surgery to be performed but the specifics of that surgery are left up to the individual’s physician, according to Melaney Arnold, Public Health Communications for the Illinois Department of Public Health.

“The vital records code now requires a licensed physician to appropriately complete the affidavit, attesting that the applicant has undergone an operation, by reason of that operation the gender should be changed on their birth record,” said Arnold.

Gender changing operations that would potentially fit this criteria would include a double mastectomy, hysterectomy, orchiectomy, or facial feminization surgery. 

This is a major step forward for trans people who cannot afford the cost of genital reassignment surgery, are worried about the results or feel they don't  need to undergo such procedures.

The other win was in surprise surprise, Alaska

In the wake of an Alaskan superior court ruling that stated that the Alaska Department Of Motor Vehicle requiring proof of genital surgery before it would change the gender marker on a license was an invasion of privacy and unconstitutional, the Alaska DMV got busy writing new regulations to a comply with the ruling.

The new regulations was approved by the lieutenant governor on July 30 after a 30 day comment period and will take effect August 11.

Residents wanting to change their physical description, including sex identifiers must submit certification from a licensed physician, social worker, psychologist, professional counselor, physicians assistant or certified nurse practitioner.

In the certification paperwork the provider must certify that the individual has been undergoing treatment and that the change is expected to be permanent.   The Alaska DMV will accept, but not require documentation to change other physical descriptors such as height, weight or eye color.

This is great news and will help make our lives a little easier in these two states in terms of having idenitfication documents that match our current gender presentations.