A proud unapologetic Black trans woman speaking truth to power and discussing the world around her since 2006
Won't be there, seeing the wonderful folks I got to know on campus or taking part in this one, (maybe next year) but the annual student-driven celebration of LGBT contributions to the University of Louisville campus and greater community kicks off later today.
It escaped most people's attention and I'm surprised the nekulturny media pimps at PETA didn't release another one of their anti-KFC screeds, but today was the 120th anniversary of the birth of one of my fellow Kentucky Colonels, Harlan David Sanders.
Even though I'm now 1000 miles from Louisville and the state of Kentucky, I still am in contact with many of the people and organizations I gave time to, helped and was a part of for the almost 8 years I lived there. 
I attended the spring Statewide Fairness Summit in Frankfort, and now it's time for the fall edition to happen and plot the next steps toward getting a statewide Fairness law. 
Since this is occurring during U of L's Pride Week celebration, there will be a special student event. So if you're a college student thinking about attending ask for the details about the Friday night special student event as part of U of L's Pride Week. 
When I was living in Da Ville, any sporting event between the Universities of Louisville and Kentucky not only drew sellout crowds, but passionate fans on both sides of the Red and Blue line. Those passions intensify when the competition between the Cats and Cards happens on the gridiron or the hardwood.
During the almost eight years I lived there, Kentucky and Louisville fans tried to recruit me into their fanbases with the zeal of missionaries, but I stayed neutral because I liked both teams.
As the date for Carla Wallace's Lawn Party gets closer, missing all my peeps in Da Ville. Just wanted to post this and let you wonderful people know I'm thinking about y'all.
It's been a few months since I left Da Ville to move back to H-town to the cheers of the people living inside Harris County and the sorrow of the folks living inside Jefferson County. 
I miss doing some of the things that became traditions for me as well. In a few weeks Carla Wallace's Lawn Party will happen on Labor Day weekend. It's a event that progressive Louisville doesn't miss, especially during an election season. 
And it's really going to hit me when the fall campaign heats up and I'm not part of the endorsement interview teams for C-FAIR, on the U of L campus speaking or taking part in various events and the new arena opens up in a few months for the upcoming U of L basketball season..
While I had my moments, good, bad and indifferent in Louisville, I did meet a lot of wonderful people, get to know some a lot better, and for 8 years had the pleasure of not hearing my old name for almost a decade. That did wonders for my development as the Phenomenal Transwoman.
One of the radio stations I steered clear of while I was living there was the Clear Channel owned WHAS-AM.
She made the derogatory comment about the president on Tuesday's show. “The only thing I can do is express my embarrassment that was the phrase that came to mind and apologize for the offensive way I was trying to convey my point about the President’s mixed heritage. It was inappropriate, and truthfully, I was shocked when that tumbled out of my mouth. My only excuse is that when talking for three hours without the opportunity to choose words in advance, sometimes my brain doesn’t do the good or right thing. I am human.”
Love the people wallowing in vanilla flavored privilege who are too scared to put their names on their disrespectful comments.
African-Americans and other people of color are sick and tired of white conservative people who comfortably and consistently make bigoted and borderline racist comments, especially those who do so on the radio and television airwaves.
Then y'all have the nerve to get your backs up when we call you on it.
You don't as part of the dominant ethnic group with a long negative history in this regard get to tell my community what we should and should not be upset over.
Louisville NAACP president Raoul Cunningham stated in a LEO interview, “I think it was a very poor choice of words. I know she doesn’t care for Obama or his policies, but to refer to him as a half-breed is disrespectful of the office of president.”“And racially, the term is derogatory in today’s society. It’s just not an acceptable term.”
The second annual 'Fairness Over Louisville' event will be taking place on Saturday, July 24 at the Frazier International History Museum downtown.
The Frazier International History Museum is located at 829 W. Main in downtown Louisville. 
One of the things that was a casualty of my move back to Houston was an opportunity to be the narrator for this Sheila O'Bannon produced play which premiers at 8 PM EDT tonight at the Kentucky Center for the Arts.
In the eight years I lived in Louisville, one of the first civic leaders I had the pleasure of meeting not long after moving there was trailblazing Metro Council member George Unseld.
He's had some health issues over the years. He's battled diabetes, a kidney infection, skin cancer, and a drug resistant infection following a knee operation.
TransGriot Note: One of my former colleagues in Da Ville, Nick Wilkerson, wrote this letter that was published in Sunday's Courier-Journal.
The sun broke out just before the start of the 2010 Kentucky Derby. I watched jockey Calvin Borel hit the inside rail and guide Super Saver to his third Kentucky Derby win in the last four years.
The Down and Derby Party is the successor event to another GLBT derby event the Louisville GLBT community used to have at the Olmstead and I attended a few times.
Despite the lack of celebrity star power (for now) since the event is in its second year, it's still a worthy one to attend. It serves as a fundraiser for two AIDS-related organizations in Louisville — the WINGS Clinic at the University of Louisville Health Sciences Center, and the Louisville AIDS Walk.
TransGriot Note: This news comes courtesy of Brian Buford , head of U of L's Office of LGBT Services.
I'm heading out the door to go to dinner...At the Muhammad Ali Center
Freedom Hall is located on the grounds of the Kentucky Fairgrounds just 5 miles south of downtown Louisville and not far from the U of L Belknap campus. 
The Cards have won 82% of the games played in this building, including a January 2004 game I and Polar watched my Cougars play against U of L during the Cards last season in C-USA before they left for the Big East Conference.
It didn't come without a struggle. The Cards trailed by eight points at the half, but rode the 4 for 4 three point shooting and 9 of 11 overall of sophomore Kyle Kuric to erase the deficit. 
Headed down I-64 east to our state capitol along with other liberal-progressive minded folk to exercise our right to talk to our state legislators.
Louisville, 1981. The Humana Building was yet to be built. There was no Kentucky Center for the Arts. The Watterson Expressway was still a four-lane nightmare. The airport was an antiquated remnant of the 1950s called Standiford Field.
In 1989, the LGBT community convinced the old Louisville Board of Aldermen to pass an ordinance banning discrimination against people with AIDS. In 1990, that same community convinced the Board of Aldermen to pass a hate crimes ordinance that included the category of sexual orientation (though not gender identity). In 1991, the Fairness Campaign was launched, initiating eight years of efforts before a local LGBT civil rights ordinance was finally passed.
“Busting Out: Louisville ’s LGBT Community in the 1980s” hopes to answer those and other questions. Seven leaders from that era will participate in a forum to be held at Strickler Hall, Room 102, on Tuesday, February 16, 2010 from 7-9 PM . The public is invited to attend and ask questions.
But as I've discovered over the last eight years of being a Texan in exile, you can't take the Texas out of the girl. 
But despite all the positive experiences, it ain't home despite the fact they sell Blue Bell up here. I'm just simply a Texan who misses Texas. 
I pondered that comment on the long ride back to Da Ville and she's right. I'm a Texas girl who misses everything about it. 
During my time as a Texan in exile I've evolved and grown a bit toward becoming a proud African descended Phenomenal Transwoman. When I arrived in 2001 I was embraced by the local progressive community and my church family here and it was deeply appreciated at a time when I was in a down period of my life. Dawn, AC, Susan, Karen and her nieces are my family up here, and it's been an interesting eight years getting to know them better.
The Tides Foundation’s State Equality Fund, a philanthropic partnership that includes the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, the Gill Foundation, and anonymous donors, has awarded the Kentucky Statewide Fairness Coalition $30,000 to promote lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) equality. The Fund is programmatically staffed on behalf of the donors by the Gill Foundation’s Movement Building Center.
The Coalition releases the following joint statement: “We are fortunate to receive this grant through the State Equality Fund to support our work advancing the rights and dignity of LGBT Kentuckians. We will continue to bring fair-minded people together for real and substantive change that betters our Commonwealth.”
