Anti-Trans Bathroom Bully Bill Filed In Kentucky

TransGriot Note:  In the interest of journalistic integrity, I served on the boards of the Fairness Campaign and its C-FAIR political PAC from 2008-2010

When I lived in Kentucky, while it was 1000 miles away from my birth state, when it came to the politics, I noticed some similarities in terms of it having some politicians in its legislature that would make Louie Gohmert look like a Mensa candidate.

What that meant is that every session, we'd have some WTF bills filed that fortunately, because of the split control of the legislature (GOP Senate, Democratic House) didn't become law because they died in committee.

I was reminded of that aspect of Kentucky politics when I heard about Kentucky State Senator CB Embry(R) filing SB 76, the 'Bathroom Bully' Bill.

It would if passed not only force trans teens to use locker rooms and bathrooms that don't correspond to the person they are now, but would allow students who encounter a person of the opposite biological sex in a restroom, locker room or shower room to recover $2,500 damages for psychological, emotional and physical harm suffered and reasonable attorney fees and costs from the school if school personnel gave permission for the student encountered to use the facility or failed to take reasonable steps to prohibit the person encountered from using the facility.

It was in response to what happened at Louisville's Atherton HS that the hatemongering Kentucky 'Family Foundation tried to stick its transphobic nose in and failed.   They are now trying to get legislatively what they failed to do at the local level in Da Ville

Chris Hartman, director of the Kentucky Fairness Campaign, said the SB 76 bill that Embry has filed is 'a solution in search of a problem' at a time when the General Assembly has many more pressing issues to address.

“It’s sort of a fruitless effort to give him an opportunity to soapbox on something,” Hartman said.  The focus, instead should be on protecting marginalized students through an anti-bullying bill with a strong suicide prevention element, he said.

“We don’t see any reason to further mandate micromanage decisions being quite capably handled by each school,” he said.

Amen Chris.  I'm tired of white male conservatives reflexively spreading bathroom panic fears aimed at marginalized groups for their own political gain and to demonize or 'other' them.

SB 76 needs to die quick, fast and in a hurry because the commonwealth of Kentucky has far more pressing items on its plate than oppressing  trans kids

Atherton HS Gender Identity Inclusive Nondiscrimination Policy Still Stands

Back in May Atherton High School's site Based Decision Making Committee added gender identity to the school's non discrimination policy.

Because the policy allows trans students to use the restroom based on their gender identity and presentation, predictably the local haters in Da Ville went to work trying to overturn it.

After failing at the Atherton SBDM Committee level to do so it went to a JCPS  appeal board hearing.

The SBDM Appeal Board was comprised of four teachers selected by the union, two parents selected by the PTSA and one principal selected by the Administrators Association.

There's good news to report.  By a 6-1 vote the appeal to rescind Atherton's addition of gender identity to their non-discrimination policy was defeated!  

As for the breakdown on the vote, the four teachers and the two parents voted to deny the appeal with the principal from Central High School voting for it.

So happy to hear that.   It's a big win not only for the gender variant students that attend Atherton but all students on the campus..

Okay JCPS School Board, now it's time for you to handle the business you should have handled back in 2007 and pass a district wide addition to your non-discrimination policy that includes gender identity

My Latest WFPL-FM 'Strange Fruit' Interview

Y'all know I have much love for Dr. Kaila Story and Jaison Gardner, (AKA 'Niece' and 'Nephew' and they refer to me as 'Auntie Monica') the co-hosts of WFPL-FM's Strange Fruit.  

I pop in from time to time with my thoughts on various topics, and normally I have to do so by calling in to participate on their show.

This particular appearance was different, because one of the things I got to do while I was on vacation in my other hometown was actually sit in WFPL-FM's 4th Street studios and tape an interview that was just broadcast.

Only took me being away from Da Ville for four years and be on vacation inside I-265 to actually walk in that building for the first time after years of walking past it for various reasons. 

The podcast is up of that interview, and you can click on this link to listen to it.  My comments start around the 13:00 minute mark of this edition of Strange Fruit.

Heading Back To Texas

After spending a wonderful few days in Louisville with friends and adopted family for the first time since I moved away from here, it's time to head back to my life in Houston.

As much as I love H-town and I'm a proud Texan, I'll admit that overall, the nearly nine years I spent in Louisville were enjoyable.

I grew to like the city, and those years were important to my development as a person and an activist.

And TransGriot was born here

It was wonderful getting the chance to see many of the people that became my friends and adopted family up here despite it being a holiday weekend.  For those of you I missed, I'll catch y'all next time.

Just hope it won't take me four years to come back

Moni's Back In Da Ville!

Yep people, if you wanted to know what my double secret destination was this time, it is Louisville. 

I'm in Jefferson County for the first time since I pointed the moving van south on I-65 toward Nashville on May 8, 2010 with the final destination being Houston.

Dawn wanted to keep it a surprise, and y'all know how well I can keep my lip zipped when it comes to keeping stuff radio silent. 

Anyway, I'm here through Labor Day weekend  and looking forward to not only destroying some Impelizzeri's pizza, but seeing as many peeps as I can before I head back home Tuesday. 

Louisville Forum Still Stonewalling On Adding Trans Panelist

So yes Louisville Forum, it it time to allow transpeople to plead their own cause.  Without a trans person on that panel, your impartiality and credibility as a non partisan public issues group will be called into question when it comes to this debate on trans issues.
-TransGriot. June 23, 2014, 'Louisville Forum, 'Why Are You Hosting A Trans Issues Forum With No Trans People On The Panel?'

With the scheduled Louisville Forum 'Growing Up Transgender' panel set to take place next Tuesday, the questions that Jaison and I asked began to be echoed around the Louisville metro area in local media outlets as Dale Josey and the Louisville Forum unconvincingly insisted that the exclusion of a transperson from the July 9 panel was not intentional.

But their stonewalling in terms of not immediately correcting their mistake gives people in Louisville and across the country the impression that's exactly what is happening in Da Ville.

Louisville Human Relations Commissioner Dawn Wilson echoed the thoughts of many people, myself included.  While we commend the Forum for taking on this trans-themed topic, it's problematic there is no representation on this panel from the Louisville trans community, as she noted in the WFPL-FM story about the controversy written by Laura Ellis.

"“It’s a very good start. But we really do need somebody who has the experiences of school, growing up transgender, growing up as a person who is questioning gender, that perspective needs to be there," Wilson said.

Wilson, who is black, likened the panel to a discussion on African-American issues by a panel of white experts.

“It doesn’t really make much sense, because they’re never had that experience. They’ve never been through those trials and tribulations," she said

The comments of Dale Josey have also been disquieting for the Louisville trans community and our allies. Josey is co-chair for the programs and issues committee for the Forum, made some problematic conflations of sexual orientation and gender identity in Ellis' article, and it emphatically points out why a transperson is needed on this upcoming panel in light of the fact an opponent is already on it.  

Because the Louisville Forum is usually being done in a room full of predominately white male business leaders, politicians, and other influencers, and it's being videotaped, I cannot underscore how vitally important it is to have the perspectives of an actual trans person in that discussion.

So do the right thing Louisville Forum and add the trans panelist.  It will not only balance the panel, it will improve the quality of the discussion.

And since you are discussing our trans lives, it needs to happen. 


TransGriot Update:  Looks like a change has been made to the July 9 panel.   Trans teen Henry Brousseau has been added to the panel.

Louisville Forum, Why Are You Hosting A Trans Issues Forum With No Trans People On The Panel?

Since 1984 the influential Louisville Forum has been a nonpartisan public issues group that hosts monthly meetings to discuss and debate issues of importance to the Louisville metro area. 

From their website:  The Louisville Forum is a nonpartisan public issues group. Founded in 1984, the Forum hosts debates and discussions of contemporary and sometimes controversial public policy issues that affect the greater Louisville community. The Forum provides an arena for the presentation and analysis of different sides of vital issues affecting the Louisville Metropolitan area.

As an independent and nonprofit organization, the Forum itself never takes a position on issues. Instead, we bring together speakers who aggressively articulate their specific and often opposing viewpoints. Membership is open to the public at large, and guests are welcome at all meetings.

Since its founding, the Louisville Forum has held monthly meetings to discuss wide-ranging matters of public interest, covering economic, political, environmental, health, and social issues. Members and guests receive firsthand information from community and industry figures: business leaders, elected officials, industry experts and others deeply involved in shaping Louisville's future.

So with the July 9 forum luncheon scheduled to tackle transgender issues in the wake of what happened at Atherton HS recently, it was interesting to discover courtesy of Jaison Gardiner, one of the co-hosts along with Dr Kaila Story of the Strange Fruit radio show on WFPL-FM, that the Louisville Forum panel has no transpeople represented on it.   

Yes Louisville Forum, one of the panelists is the mother of a trans child, but the fact remains there is no transperson on it to talk about trans issues.   That is the equivalent of having a discussion on gay issues, having no gay people on the panel to discuss and debate it, and the only person there to discuss the issues pertinent to the gay community is the straight mom of a gay child. 

And that's before I even point out how monoethnic the panel is to begin with..

You mean to try to tell me that in the entire Louisville metro area, you couldn't find one trans person to sit on that panel?   Or did you even try?   All you had to do was give Chris Hartman a call at the Fairness Campaign and I'm sure he and Fairness could have easily recommended more than a few trans candidates for that panel to you. 

I lived in that city for 8.5 years.  I know for a fact there are transpeople who can eloquently talk about being trans, and one of them is Dawn Wilson, who is a current member of the Metro Louisville Human Relations Commission.  

When the country is finally paying attention to the issues that transpeople face, it is vitally important to have people who actually are trans and dealing with those issues to be talking about them in these type of forums.

It's imperative in a space in which influential policy makers gather, are in the audience, and the discussion is videotaped for future multiple broadcasts on Louisville public cable television.we transpeople are represented.

It is important for a trans person to be on that Forum panel room when there is far too much disinformation and lies being gleefully spread by our opponents in order to derail trans human rights concerns. 

It is imperative to have a trans person on that Forum panel when the Southern Baptist Church, which has a seminary on Lexington Rd, just voted on June 10 to openly oppose trans human rights laws and deny our existence as human beings. 

As Samuel Cornish and John Russworm once said in 1827, 'We wish to plead our own cause.  Too long have others spoken for us.  Our vices and degradation are ever arrayed against us, but our virtues are passed by unnoticed.'  

So yes Louisville Forum, it it time to allow transpeople to plead their own cause.  Without a trans person on that panel, your impartiality and credibility as a non partisan public issues group will be called into question when it comes to this debate on trans issues.

There is time for you to reconstitute the panel so that a trans person is present and in the room representing our community on July 9.  If you can't  (or won't) do that, at least have a trans moderator there asking the questions.

Louisville High School Has Trans Drama

Back when I lived in Louisville as a Texan in exile, one of the fights I was involved in was a 2007 battle with the JCPS school board to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the JCPS nondiscrimination school board policies for students and employees.

To my dismay gender identity was stripped out of it in committee.   After some contentious public hearings the gender identity free policy passed on a 4-3 vote. 

I warned at the time the issue of transpeople in JCPS was not going to go away and it was better to be proactive about it than reactive.   JCPS superintendent Sheldon Berman claimed during the committee hearing in which gender identity was stripped out of the proposed additions to the JCPS non discrimination policy, that gender identity issues were 'too new' despite the presence of moi and a newly out trans teacher present to suggest otherwise..   

Now that lack of forward vision by the JCPS board is popping up seven years later.

A freshman Atherton High School trans feminine student recently asked AHS Principal Thomas Aberli for permission to use the girls facilities.   He granted permission for the trans student to do so, and seven cis feminine students immediately complained along with their parents at the Highlands area school.

Atherton was named to US News and World Reports list of Best High Schools in the US in 2013 and is the only public HS in Louisville with an International Baccalaureate program.

This has now blown up into a kerfluffle that will involve the Atherton Site Based Decision Making Committee with a meeting being held later today at 2:45 PM EDT to discuss adding gender identity to the school's non discrimination policy.  

It also makes crystal clear just how shortsighted the 2007 JCPS board decision to not address gender identity and be proactive in creating policies to cover thedistrict's trans students and JCPS employees was. 

"I have a responsibility to ensure that all of our students and staff are treated fairly and justly," Aberli said in a recent interview with the Louisville Courier-Journal. "At the same time, I also have a responsibility to educate our community on an issue that many are not familiar with and inform them about the rights of transgender individuals."

Chris Hartman, the director of Louisville's Fairness Campaign, said allowing a transgender student access to gender-specific restrooms is important not only for basic civil rights, but also for the safety of the trans student.

“A great deal of violence and sexual assault against transgender people, in general, and transgender youth occurs in restrooms,” he said.  “When we are talking about restroom accommodations being important it is about safety of all students and in particular the trans students.”

Dawn Wilson, member of the Metro Louisville Human Relations Committee had this to say in a statement. "As Education Chair of the Metro Louisville Human Relations Commission, I find it important that we show support for the students and the school; while urging the school board to adopt all aspects of the Metro anti-discrimination ordinances as a system wide policy rather than have school based decisions. This is the path we must tread."

Atherton High School's motto is Scholarship, Service and Self Respect.   Hope they, the AHS community and other interested parties keep that motto in mind when they conduct the SBDMC meeting later today.

TransGriot Update:  The meeting had several hundred people in attendance pro and con, and the policy passed.  

Edenside's Last Service Statement

At this moment the last service is taking place at Edenside Christian Church, my church home during the nearly nine years I lived in Louisville.   I'm sad to see the 106 year old church go. 

Since I'm going to be in Houston when that service happens, I submitted a statement that is going to be read during the service, and here it is.

***

I was saddened to learn that after over a century of service to the community, Edenside Christian Church is permanently closing its doors, and I won't get another opportunity to 'sliiiiide into Edenside' the next time I'm blessed to visit Louisville. 

Since I wanted to say a few words during this service and will be 1000 miles away from you in the Lone Star State when it happens, I hope this will suffice. 

When I first encountered Edenside Christian Church, it was a mere 48 hours after I arrived in Louisville after moving from Houston in late September 2001.  I was still depressed, homesick  and not dealing well with the ripple effects of losing an airline job I'd held for 14 years and dearly loved.   Dawn just basically told me to get up and get dressed because we were going for a ride.

Our destination was here, and I got to meet the gregarious Rev. Sally McClain that day.   You have to love a pastor with a formidable intellect and such a sense of humor she has a stuffed Cartman doll on her bookshelf. I'd also arrived just in time for the Louisville AIDS Walk, and that sunny, clear and cool fall weekend I got to participate in it with her and other member of the Edenside family.     

And yes, that's what you were to me during the eight and a half wonderful years that Edenside became my church home because my blood family was back in Texas.  You were some of the first people I met in town and before I even officially became an Edensider you made me feel welcomed, loved and included in the life of this church.   
 
That helped me get over my homesickness and eventually settle into my life in Louisville.  Whether it was spinning Christmas tunes with soul during our Bardstown Aglow events, playing softball on the coed team. having the honor of being the DJ at Derek's wedding, the times I was able to be a worship leader that I wish I could have done more often, and conversations with all the wonderful people who are and have ever been part of this church, some of the fondest memories I have of my time in Kentucky are centered on Edenside.   

Those times as a worship leader and Edenside's social justice leanings also reawakened my own desire to get back into social justice advocacy, which had taken a severe hit during that 2001-2003 period.  

And as the native Texan in this congregation, you know I got a kick out of listening to all the shady comments being thrown back and forth between you Cats, Cards and Hoosier fans during basketball season.
  
But the best thing about Edenside is that when I finally did head back to Houston in 2010, I left a better, more confident, spiritually grounded person than when I first arrived thanks in large part to Sally and many of you Edensiders. 

So while I'm saddened that the doors of Edenside will be closing forever and I won't get the opportunity to hear Rev. Beaumer deliver a sermon inside its hallowed 100 year old walls, the church and its memories will live on in the hearts and minds of all who walked through its doors.

****

The Kentucky Basketball Hatetrix Reloaded

When I lived in Kentucky from 2001-2010, one of the more entertaining events for me next to Derby Week was watching the annual December basketball hatefest between the Kentucky Wildcats and Louisville Cardinals.

From the time I moved there in September 2001 until I left in May 2010 to come back to Texas I had the rabid fanbases of Cats and Cards Nations trying to get me to publicly declare whether I was a UK or Louisville fan.

They wanted me to choose to take either the blue Wildcat pill or the red Cardinal pill, but I managed to stay neutral during that time.

To be honest, the wall to wall coverage of that annual rivalry game is one of the things about the state I miss.

When I was setting up my 2014 NCAA men's tourney brackets, I noted the way they were set up, if both teams won their opening round games it would lead to a potential Sweet 16 clash between the current (Louisville) and last (Kentucky) NCAA champions to be played in Indianapolis. 

After the Wildcats narrow 78-76 tournament win yesterday over previously unbeaten Wichita State and defending NCAA champ Louisville knocking St. Louis out of the tournament with their 66-51 win to advance, we can take the word 'potential' out of that last paragraph and deal with the reality that the Kentucky basketball hatetrix has been reloaded.

It's Battle of the Bluegrass, Part II at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.  This time they are playing for higher stakes than just bragging rights as they did December 28 at Rupp Arena.  The Cats fans are already reminding the Cards fans of the 73-66 result of that December game, while the Cards fans are firing back it's all about what happens this Friday.   

And what it's all about is a trip to the NCAA tournament Elite Eight at their bitter basketball rival's expense. 

The bitterly disappointed loser will have a hour and a half long lament filled drive down I-65 south from Indianapolis back to Kentucky while the winner stays in Circle City and plays for a possible trip to the Jerrydome and the Final Four.

The Kentucky Basketball Hatetrix will ensure this is not going to be a quiet week along I-64 or at any job locations, homes, sports bars or churches in Louisville, Lexington or anywhere else in Kentucky this week.  

Kentucky HB 171 Hearing Testimony

It was one of the things I was working on before I left Kentucky, and I was pleased to hear that the statewide Fairness Bill, HB 171 finally got a committee hearing in the Kentucky House.

It was introduced back on February 5 and assigned to the House Judiciary Committee the next day. 

If passed, HB 171 would protect people in the commonwealth from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, and public accommodations. 

It would also make Kentucky one of the first Southern states to do so. 

Six Kentucky cities, Louisville, Lexington, Covington, Vicco, Morehead and the state capitol of Frankfort,  representing a quarter of the state's population of 4,380,415 are covered by Fairness laws.   But those laws only protect BTLG Kentuckians if you live in one of those six cities, which is why we've had the ongoing push for a statewide Fairness law. 

HB 171 is sponsored by my former state rep when I lived in Da Ville, Mary Lou Marzian (D).  It has as co-sponsors (all Democrats) Reps. Arnold Simpson, Kelly Flood, Ruth Ann Palumbo, Joni Jenkins, Jim Wayne and Susan Westrom    Speaker of the House Greg Stumbo is considering becoming a co sponsor as well and House Judiciary Committee chairman John Tilley (D-Hopkinsville) indicated in an interveiew that he supports HB 171.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2014/03/05/3122897/after-15-years-lawmakers-hold.html#storylink=cpy

.  .
The General Assembly is not yet ready to vote on a civil rights bill covering gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, Tilley said. The bill might be called again at a future date, he said.in an interview with the Lexington Herald-Leader .

"There still is concern among members on both sides of the aisle. This hearing was an attempt to dispel some of that concern," Tilley said.

Chris Hartman, the director of the based in Da Ville Fairness Campaign, said in a Herald-Leader interview that Wednesday's hearing on the statewide fairness bill was progress because past versions of HB 171 were never even discussed in a committee.

"At the very least, there was conversation, and that ultimately engenders support," Hartman said   "Without conversation, the bill would ... languish for the next 15 years."

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2014/03/05/3122897/after-15-years-lawmakers-hold.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2014/03/05/3122897/after-15-years-lawmakers-hold.html#storylink=cpy

In the Senate it's SB 140 and is sponsored by Sen.  Morgan McGarvey (D) with co-sponsors (once again all Democrats) Sens Gerald Neal, Denise Harper Angel, Perry Clark, Reginald Thomas and Minority Whip Jerry Rhoads.   It was introduced on February 12 and assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Valentines Day.   

After 15 years of liberal-progressive Kentuckians pushing for it to happen, the hearing that Chairman Tilley talked about finally took place on March 5.  But with a divided legislature  (Republicans 23-12-1 independent in the Kentucky Senate, Democrats 54-46 in the Kentucky House) and the political shockwaves from the recent federal judicial decision invalidating Kentucky's same sex marriage amendment still reverberating throughout the Commonwealth, this may be all we get before the session ends in April

Then again, I never thought I see a Fairness law passed in Frankfort either. 

You can check out the video testimony from the HB 171 hearing.






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Miss Kentucky 2010 Comes Out

Back in 2010 Djuan Trent became the second African American woman after Lyda Lewis in 1973 to be crowned as Miss Kentucky.   She went on to place in the Top 15 during the 2011 Miss America pageant. |

Having lived in Louisville when that marriage ban stain on the Kentucky Constitution was enacted and approved by a misguided majority of voters in 2004, I was happy when federal Judge John G. Heyburn dropped the legal hammer February 12 and ordered the Bluegrass State to recognize legal out of state same gender marriages.

With the haters homophobic rhetoric running hot and heavy, Ms.Trent came out in a February 20 post at her 'Life in 27' blog.   She noted in that post:

Ideally, I would love to one day live in a society where coming out is no longer necessary because we don't make assumptions about one another's sexuality and homophobia is laid to rest. For now, that is more of an ideal than it is a reality. But if you want see that ideal become a reality and you have the courage to change history...if you want to earn some gold stars, then yes, come on out and make your presence known. People can't know that their best friend, brother, sister, co-worker, neighbor, news anchor, favorite singer, or local coffee shop barista is being oppressed and denied the rights in which their heterosexual counterparts are so happily welcomed partake, unless you open your mouth and say it.

Or the former Miss Kentucky 2010 titleholder

I wrote this comment on her coming out post 

Thank you, Djuan!

As one of your trans sisters who once lived in Kentucky (Louisville) from 2001-2010, I definitely applaud you for taking this one small step for you, but a giant leap for the Kentucky LGBT community.

You help emphatically drive home the point that LGBT people are just living their lives, following their dreams and wanting to do so without interference. 

As you pointed out, the more people we have coming out, speaking their truth and living their lives, the better. 

Since this post is about Ms Trent coming out, her words need to be the ones closing it out.  But I echo what my SGL sistah said.

I applaud those who take that step in speaking up and speaking out, because in your doing so, you create a sense of awareness amongst your friends, family, and peers, letting them know that this hits a lot closer to home than they may have realized.  You create a sense of community, letting others know that they are not alone, and giving them the courage to also speak up and speak out.

 

Not Everyone Is Happy About This Louisville Billboard

TransGriot Note: In the interest of journalistic integrity, I served on the boards of the Fairness Campaign and its C-FAIR PAC for several years  

Got an interesting link to a LEO Weekly story from peeps in my old stomping grounds in Louisville about a billboard that causing some controversy there. 

During first three years I lived in Louisville, I lived in the militantly liberal Highlands neighborhood that is one of the most densely populated gayborhoods in the city.   I lived in a house in the s-curve by Cave Hill Cemetery which when it snowed was highly entertaining to watch cars try to navigate it. 

The next most heavily populated gayborhood is the one I spent the rest of my Louisville years in down Grinstead Dr. on the other side of I-64 near the Southern Baptist Seminary in nearby Crescent Hill.

But moving on to the story du jour. 

Seems like the wingers are still desperately trying to get some return out of their investment in the debunked 'ex-gay' ministries that seek to convert gay people to a heterosexual orientation. 

One recently popped up in Da Ville called (no joke) Abba's Delight founded by Daniel Mingo who claims he walked away from homosexuality 20 years ago.  The LEO Weekly did an expose about ex gay conversion therapy last June that featured Mingo's ministry.  

Yeah, think somebody needs to e-mail the Swedish group and their management about the problematic intellectual property issues on that one.   But I digress again.     

A billboard ad advertising Abba's Delight's controversial services popped up recently at the heavily traveled Bardstown Rd and Grinstead Dr. intersection in the heart of the Highlands.  Mingo is trying to claim he had no say in having the ad placed there, but the location is near three gay bars, so peeps in the Louisville TBLG community ain't buying that story.. 

There are also multiple TARC bus lines that also converge at that  intersection as well, so peddle that bull feces somewhere else. 

The Fairness Campaign's director Chris Hartman had this to say to the LEO Weekly about the specious billboard and the failed conversion services Mingo's org is offering.

It is sad and shameful that Abba’s Delight, an ex-gay ministry, is still trying to peddle their harmful, failed wares in Louisville. And to do so across from a successful, open, accepting, and diverse establishment, like Nowhere Bar, hints of a particularly degenerate desperation.

With more than 90% of people who have been through ministries like Abba’s claiming they have been harmed by the program, and nearly 85% of participants saying that harm still affects them today, it’s time to shut the program down.

No business I know that sells increased depression and suicide rates among its participants and leaves many with PTSD experiences is successful. Abba’s Delight and programs like it are a straight up sham–don’t buy the snake oil.

Since I have plenty of sources in Da Ville to keep me updated about this developing story, will let you TransGriot readers know what's transpired.and if the billboard came down.

Still Miss Y'all, Louisville!

Ever since I accompanied by Polar back in May 2010 drove the moving van onto that I-65 south entrance ramp to eventually end up 1000 miles later back here in Houston to close that chapter of my life, I have yet to return to the Louisville metro area.   Had a few nibbles of interest in the area concerning some speaking engagements in the area or attempts to bring me back for visits that fizzed out,but for the most part it's been close but no quality time in Louisville.

If or when it does happen, I know I'm going to be busy just squeezing in visits with all the people who want to see me when I do return

But every now and then thoughts, events, Facebook photos, UK or U of L games or comments form people in the area trigger memories of the overall pleasant nearly nine years I was a resident of the state. 

I was watching the Louisville-UCF game and thinking about the numerous times I was on the U of L  campus to participate in various events.  I think about those lobby events in Louisville and Frankfort I got to participate in and some of the funny and not so funny moments that happened during those times.

I ponder the many runs up and down I-64 to Lexington and back or up and down I-65 to Indianapolis and Nashville.  I think about the long list of people I met there who became and I still call my friends along with my chosen family that still lives inside I-265.

And this picture Dawn sent me jogged even more memories and this post as we get closer to Halloween   

Grinstead Ave where I used to live is just a few short blocks away from Hillcrest Ave.  Every Halloween for over 20 years the homeowners on that street between Frankfort Avenue and Brownsboro Rd in the Crescent Hill neighborhood would decorate their houses for the occasion.   Some of the decorations were political, others fit the Halloween theme and it drew people from all over the Louisville area to come see them..

One of my favorite houses on that stretch was Dante's Disco Inferno, in which the homeowner installs a working lighted disco dance floor, has mirrored disco balls in the trees and played 70's disco music with tombstones and half buried records surrounding it as people dance to their favorite disco tunes.

That picture rekindled some fond memories of walking up and down the street with all the costumed kids happily in search of candy or happy they get to be their fave character for the night.

There were others on the Trans National Holiday also dressing up for the night, but that's another story.  

Yeah Louisville, just in case you're wondering, I still miss y'all too.   

Strange Fruit-Janet Mock Interview

I've talked about the WFPL-FM radio show that Niece and Nephew (Dr Kaila Story and Jaison Gardner to y'all) do in Louisville entitled Strange Fruit: Musings on Politics, Pop Culture and Black Gay Life that is produced by Laura Ellis and has been on 89.3 FM for a year now.

And yes, I've been on it twice.  By the way, congratulations and Happy 1st Anniversary for the show Niece and Nephew!  

They have had some interesting guests and discussed some thought provoking topics in the year they have graced the radio waves of Da Ville and I expect there will more of the same to come in Year Two of Strange Fruit.

For those of you who don't live in the Louisville metro area, Strange Fruit is also available via podcast. 

Speaking of interesting guests, last Saturday's Strange Fruit broadcast featured Janet Mock, who was on her way to Louisville as a keynote speaker for U of L's annual on campus Pride Festival event.

Janet's keynote speech happened Thursday night, and I heard from my friends in the area she rocked it per usual.  Heard there were some cheers for yours truly who was part of Janet's presentation when I popped up in it.

Aww, miss y'all too Louisville.  If there's video of Janet's keynote floating around I'll put it up in a future post.   

Here's Janet's Strange Fruit interview with Kaila and Jaison. 

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Janet Mock Keynote Speaker For U of L Pride Tonight

It's one of the things I didn't get to do when I lived in Da Ville, but so happy to hear that Janet Mock will be delivering the keynote address for the University of Louisville's Pride Week tonight.

It's scheduled for 7 PM EDT in the Student Activities Center, Multipurpose Room and is open to the public, so come on out Louisville and check out my sis. 

She has her book Redefining Realness coming out in February, and she'll probably have some very interesting things to say about our LGBT community that you may want to be in the room for.

Rev Sally McClain Retires

Those of you who have been long time readers of TransGriot know that the blog not only started in Louisville, but through May 2010 chronicled some of my Bluegrass State life as a Texan in exile.

One of the people that I talked about in various blog posts who was a big part of my Louisville life and  my evolving faith journey was my pastor at Edenside Christian Church, the Rev. Sally McClain.  

I first met her approximately 48 hours after arriving in Louisville in late September 2001.  I was still reeling emotionally and depressed about my move from Houston, the series of seismic level events in my life starting that February which precipitated my relocation.  I was also spending a lot of my time in my new locale pondering my future and my 40th birthday that was a mere 8 months away.  

Dawn had me hop in her car and took me to meet the pastor of her church and at the time I didn't know anybody yet in Da Ville besides the Fairness peeps, my housemates, and my new next door neighbors.

When I walked into Sally's office, it did wonders for my mood that day.   You gotta love a pastor that has a stuffed Cartman doll on her bookshelf and who Dawn nicknamed 'Mustang Sally' because at the time she took over the leadership of Edenside she was driving a Ford Mustang.  

A few days later after visiting her Edenside office the Louisville AIDS Walk happened, and I joined the Edenside crew as we walked from the Belvedere starting point in downtown Louisville across the Clark Bridge to Indiana and back.  

I had so much fun that day with the folks there I started attending Sunday services at Edenside since the Highlands neighborhood in Da Ville that surrounded the church reminded me a lot of Montrose.

Edenside eventually grew on me until I joined the church a few months later in 2002.  You have to love a church like Edenside that in addition to being actively involved in the Highlands neighborhood and the Louisville community, hosted art shows in its building, hosted a concert by one of our members who was a jazz vocalist, had an HIV/AIDS memorial service and has the Louisville Scottish Association Bagpipe band pop in from time to time.

And oh yeah, did I forget to mention a certain DJ spinning Christmas tunes with soul as part of our church's contribution to the Bardstown Road Aglow event the first Saturday in December that kicks off the holiday season in the Highlands? 

She also led by example.  She's on the advisory board for the WHAS-TV Crusade For Children, one of the major charity fundraising events in the area.  Before I left for Texas she'd become a regular panelist on WHAS-TV's The Moral Side Of The News. 

As the Cartman doll on her bottom bookshelf demonstrated, Rev. Sally also has a wicked sense of humor she''d unleash at times. As a proud UK alum during basketball season no Louisville and Indiana fan in our congregation was safe whenever they lost their annual games to the Cats.

I loved the fact she could say in a 20-30 minute sermon what it would take most Black minsters 45 minutes to an hour to dramatically pontificate on.  I also loved the fact my Louisville church later officially became an open and affirming one.

I also loved the fact Edenside services started at 10:40 AM, included weekly communion and we were done by 11:45 AM.  Most times I was back home by noon unless we were having a post service church dinner or event.  

Yesterday the retirement service was held for Rev. Sally at Edenside.  We tried to arrange it so I could come to Louisville and 'sliiiiide into Edenside' for this event as a surprise for her but it didn't work out. 

Then again, the news of me being back in Jefferson County wouldn't have stayed a surprise long either.

With all the stuff I been juggling lately I didn't think about simply writing a statement about what my time at Edenside meant to me that pretty much coincided with Sally's tenure at the church for Dawn to read until it was way too late to do so.. 

She not only helped me start to get over being depressed about being there but helped me get acclimated to life in Kentuckiana as a member of Edenside.   I got the chance to find my speaking voice again as a worship leader and meet some new people who became my friends during the what turned out to be eight years I lived there.  Her sermons got me thinking about a lot of social justice issues that fueled my activism while I was there and sometimes fueled my social justice during my Texan in exile days.

And it was a two way street.  I was the DJ for her son Derek's wedding.  I also gave her the advice after she asked my opinion about her first Moral Side of The News telecast to be fearless in making her points.  As the only female panelist on the show at the time, the boys ganged up on her during her first appearance.    

Just as things changed and time moved on after I left Houston, the same is true for my 105 year old church.   Some of the members I met when I arrived in 2001 and later joined the church have either moved on, moved out of state like I did or are not in this plane of existence.  Edenside's building is unfortunately for sale as well and Sally is retiring.

But the 1000 miles between me and Edenside didn't keep her from checking on me from time to time or sending me her and the Edenside family's condolences when my father was gravely ill last March and eventually passed away.

Congratulations on your retirement, you've earned it.  While I'm sure the Edenside church family will miss you doing those weekly thought provoking sermons, spending quality time with the grandkids and getting to travel for stuff other than church related events will be a bonus.
 
And I'll not only stay in touch, but give you at least 48 hours warning the next time I'm headed to the Louisville area.

We Have a History, Too

Another one from the TransGriot The Newspaper Column archives that i peened in February 2005 for Black History Month.

We Have a History, Too
Copyright 2005, The Letter


Ever since I was a child I've loved history. I enjoy looking at past events to get an understanding of how the reality of the present took shape. It is then that you can formulate plans to make a better future.

The transgender community is starting to come to grips with this truth and a website called Transhistory.org has tried to do that. However, it misses the boat in terms of the stories of the African-American trans community.

I'll start with Cathay Williams. She was born into slavery in Independence, MO and worked for a wealthy planter until his death, which occurred about the time the Civil War broke out. After Union soldiers freed her she began working as a paid servant. She traveled with Union Army until the war was over. She liked military life and wanting to be financially independent, in November 1866 enlisted as William Cathay. Because a medical exam wasn't required at the time, she was able to join Company A of the 38th United States Infantry. The 38th Infantry later became known as the Buffalo Soldiers, the all-Black cavalry and infantry units that saw action in the Indian wars, the Spanish-American War, and World War I.

Only her cousin and a friend knew Cathay's true gender. On October 1, 1867 she arrived at Fort Cummings, NM with Company A and spent the next few months protecting miners and wagon trains from Apache attacks. Eventually Cathay became ill, and once the post doctor discovered that she was a woman she was discharged on October 14, 1868.

That's just one of the interesting stories involving an African-American transgendered person. If you saw the 1990 documentary `Paris Is Burning' you were introduced to the Harlem drag balls. Those balls date back to the Harlem Renaissance.

It was the period from the end of World War I to the middle of the Great Depression in which a talented group of Harlem based writers produced sizable volumes of poetry, fiction, drama, and essays. Several of those writers were gay, such as Countee Cullen, Wallace Thurman, Langston Hughes and Richard Nugent.

The drag balls were eagerly anticipated by both White and Black New Yorkers. The largest ball was held in the Rockland Palace, a venue that held up to 6000 people. Smaller balls were held in the Savoy Ballroom and at other locations around Harlem.

Chicago also has a ball tradition. In 1935 a gay man by the name of Alfred Finnie held his first ball in the basement of a bar on the corner of Michigan Avenue and 38th Street. Finnie was killed during a gambling brawl in 1943, but the ball continued for several decades. It grew to be a highly anticipated glamour event attended by thousands of people on Chicago's South Side.

Annie Lee Grant's story is an intriguing one. According to the book 'Black Love Black Resistance', in order to get higher paying men's jobs he passed for 20 years as Jim McHarris. After working as a short order cook, cab driver, gas station attendant, preacher and shipyard worker, his secret was discovered when he was stopped for a traffic violation in 1954.

I can't end this column without briefly discussing Lexingtonian James `Sweet Evening Breeze' Herndon, who I'll talk about in next month's column. Miss Sweets was born in Scott County in 1899. She spent 40 years working as an orderly at Lexington's Good Samaritan Hospital and was regarded so highly she trained the new ones. . Miss Sweets blazed a colorful trail through the Depression, World War II and beyond until her death on December 16, 1983.

Since it's Black History Month I thought this would be an excellent time to share some of my history with you. Hope you enjoyed it.

Louisville Landmark Lynn's Paradise Cafe Closes

I've talked about the wonderfully quirky Lynn's Paradise Cafe in a previous 'I miss da Ville' post.

But was shocked to read via a post on Angie Fenton's FB's page and commentary from my other Louisville friend's pages that after 22 years in business, the legendary independent restaurant that is Lynn's Paradise Cafe has closed its doors.

I had the pleasure of eating there when I lived in Da Ville and even experienced the tradition of a New Year's pajama breakfast there.  

It's so well known nationally that during Derby it's tough to get a table in it.  Then Senator Hillary Clinton is one of the long list of notable people who have visited Lynn's.  She did so during the May 2008 Democratic presidential primary in Kentucky.

The details are still coming out and the accusations are still flying as to exactly why the doors have closed on this Louisville institution.  But I'll probably be finding out from all my Louisville friends what's up in the ensuing days as more info becomes available.

Whatever the reason, still sad to hear it happened.

Bardstown Road Aglow 2012

Today is not only December 1, it's also the first Saturday in the month.   That means that later on tonight in Da Ville will be the 27th annual edition of another event that signals the arrival of the Christmas season in Louisville in Bardstown Road Aglow.

Since this blog started while I was living there, writing a post about it is one of my holiday traditions. It's also the day besides Thanksgiving and Christmas I miss my friends, chosen family and church family in Louisville the most and glad you'll have a nice night and perfect weather for it.

At dusk many of the business and churches along a several mile section of Bardstown Road in the Highlands neighborhood open their doors until 10 PM and greet revelers with sales and holiday music .

There are street vendors up and down that stretch of road, carolers and even bagpipers playing or singing Christmas carols.

My old church used to have yours truly spinning Christmas music with soul in the entry narthex of the over a century old church exhorting the people walking by to "slillllde into Edenside" as other members served hot coffee, wassail, lemonade, apple cider, baked goods and had our choir or other local groups perform in the sanctuary.

So know that when it hits sunset here, I'll definitely be thinking about y'all enjoying the latest edition of Bardstown Rpoad Aglow while i'm dealing with some unseasonably warm weather here in H-town.