1993 Oilers Getting More Interesting By The Day

Well well, looks like the In Living Color 'Men on Football' Super Bowl skit joke about the Oilers wasn't too far off base.

This team gets more interesting by the day.   First there was the allegation on HuffPo there was a transfeminine Derrick Doll shaking her pompoms on the Astrodome sidelines during the 1992 and 1993 seasons.

Then there was the recent NFL Network documentary about the 1993 Oilers team and all the drama surrounding it.  1-4 start, Warren Moon benching, Babygate, the nationally televised punch of Kevin Gilbride by Buddy Ryan, the 11 game win streak that led to them clinching the AFC Central title with a 12-4 record and earning home field advantage throughout the playoffs but falling victim to one last hurrah from Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs 28-20 in their divisional round Dome playoff game.   

Now in the wake of the documentary comes this preview of a Houston Chronicle article scheduled to be published on Sunday (December 29) that stated there were two gay players on that 1993 team, the team knew about it, and didn't care. 

“Listen, those guys that we’re talking about were unbelievable teammates. And if you wanted to go to war with someone, you would get those guys first. Because I have never seen tougher guys than those guys,” said Oilers Pro Bowl linebacker Lamar Lathon. “And everybody in the locker room, the consensus knew or had an idea that things were not exactly right. But guess what? When they strapped the pads on and got on the field, man, we were going to war with these guys because they were unbelievable.”

It's interesting info in light of the fact that no active NFL player has come out, and only a handful of NFL players have come out in retirement.  It's also interesting to note that Brendon Ayanbadejo and Chris Kluwe, after expressing support for marriage equality and filing an amicus brief on February 28 in support of the Hollingsworth v Perry case then before the US Supreme Court, were let go by their respective NFL teams and were not signed by any NFL team during the 2013 season.  

But back to the 1993 Oilers and that gay players revelation.  That was the way it should have been.  Nobody giving a damn about those two gay Oilers except for how they did their jobs on the playing field.

As to who they are, I remember hearing a lot of rumors during that time about who those players were, but as long as my fave team was winning, I didn't care.  

Looking forward to reading that Chronicle article on Sunday.
 

Houston Public Library Hosts “SpeakOUT!”, A Free Spoken Word Poetry Event Tomorrow

Houston Public Library (HPL) invites the community to its 'SpeakOUT' event, focusing on the unique experiences within the LGBT community that can be expressed through spoken word poetry.

A reception will be followed by presentations from local performers and activists Tye West, Scott Chalupa, and Ranma Kumayama. The program will include audience participation. 

The event will take place tomorrow, December 14, 2013 from 12 noon -5 PM at Clayton Library, part of the Houston Public Library system.

It will be held in the Guest House, located at 5300 Caroline, Houston, Texas, 77004. This event is free and open to the public. Further information can be obtained by visiting www.houstonlibrary.org or calling 832-393-1313.

This spoken word poetry event is part of an ongoing LGBT event series hosted by the Houston Public Library.

About the Performers

Ranma Kumayama

Ranma Kumayama, also known as Koomah, is an intersex-bodied multidisciplinary grassroots artist whose art covers an eclectic range from visual art, performance art, drag, burlesque & cabaret, genderbending sideshow acts, and film. Koomah’s work challenges audiences to ask questions, see from new perspectives, be vulnerable, and ponder social norms. Koomah has performed, showcased artwork, screened films, participated speaking on educational panels, and presented workshops on topics of intersex, transgender, gender, and sexuality nationwide.

Tye West

Tye West is a man of Trans experience. He is co-director for the non-profit Transcending Men Inc. and is a representative of Black Transman Inc., where he mentors and helps other transgender men in the community. He is Co-founder/Director of People Empowering People, as well as being a volunteer for HRC’s diversity and outreach committee and for MCC Resurrection. Tye has performed at MCCR’s Kwanza program and Gospel Ensemble, and the Transgender Unity Banquet. He will soon be appearing in the Vagina Monologues and the TRUTH Houston Project, an organization that seeks to give voice to the African American LGBT community. He’s participated in 3 panel discussions for Transgender 101, or the "T" in LGBTQ, and a presentation at MHMRA for Trans youth and family dynamics.

Scott Chalupa

Scott Chalupa is a queer poet working on his BA in creative writing at the University of Houston. His poetry has appeared in “Nexus,” “The Alitheia,” and “The Front Row” on 88.7 KUHF-FM. Scott is a featured writer in the 2013 Houston Public Poetry Series. He is a winner of the Howard Moss Prize for Poetry and an Honorable Mention for the Brian Lawrence Prize for Poetry. For the last year he has served as Co-Editor of “Glass Mountain,” the undergraduate literary journal at UH, which won the 2013 Program Director’s Prize for Content at AWP. So many years back it seems impossible, he helped establish the HATCH radio segment, now in its 15^th year, on KPFT-FM “After Hours. “

About the Houston Public Library

The Houston Public Library (HPL) operates 35 neighborhood libraries, three HPL Express Libraries, a Central Library, the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research, The African American Library at the Gregory School, and the Parent Resource Library, located in the Children’s Museum of Houston. Serving more than 4 million customers per year, HPL is committed to excellent customer service and equitable access to information and programs by providing library customers with free use of a diverse collection of printed materials, and electronic resources, Internet, laptop and computer use, and a variety of database and reference resources with live assistance online 24/7. 

For further information, visit the Houston Public Library at www.houstonlibrary.org  or call 832-393-1313.

Road To Creating Change 2014 Houston Diary- Emotional Rollercoaster

As you TransGriot readers know I'm co-chair of the Racial Diversity Committee, one of the subcommittees that's part of the organizing process for our upcoming Creating Change Conference that will be talking place in Houston January 29-February 2.

I've been documenting since May what it's like to have a ringside seat for and be part of the team of people doing the organizing work in the host city to put together a major national conference like Creating Change.

Well, in this edition of my Creating Change 2014 Diary me and my fellow Host Committee have been riding a rollercoaster ride of emotions.   We see our convention date is rapidly approaching, we're excited about that, but realize that we still have a lot of work ahead of us before it happens.
. 
But first up was a night to have some fun.  On October 19 we kicked up our heels, cowboy boots and other fashion forward footwear at the Creating Change Pre-Convention Celebration event that was held at Neon Boots, a large GLBT country western bar on the northwest side of town.   It was a Creating Change 2014 local promotion event open to all volunteers, guests and people wanting to know more about this conference that is mere weeks away at this writing from happening.

When planning a major conference, there are some elements of it that are out of your local control.   There are aspects of it that Creating Change National decides such as who our plenary keynote speakers are going to be and which seminar proposals get accepted.  We have no idea or control over what the weather is going to be like for those days we have scheduled for the conference.  But as an FYI for you Creating Change conference attendees, Houston's average temperature in January ranges from 43-64 degrees F.

Don't want to jinx us by mentioning what our average rainfall number is for January.

The other major thing we didn't have a whole lot of control over as a Host Committee besides us voting in it was our mayoral election.   One reason Creating Change is here is because with 2.2 million people in it, Houston (the fourth largest city in the US) is the largest city in the United States and in the state of Texas run by a gay mayor.  

But Mayor Annise Parker was going to have to run for her third and final term during the fall while we were planning this conference.  Our worst nightmare as the Host Committee that nagged at us through the summer and fall was she not getting reelected and having someone in that chair taking the oath of office at the Wortham Center on January 1, 2014 that was hostile to our community.

It turned out our fears were well founded.  Although we knew that Mayor Parker had done an excellent job leading our city, elections can be unpredictable at times.  We had Ben Hall, one of Mayor Parker's major challengers deciding to pander to the anti-gay haters late in the campaign in a desperate bid to make up the double digit deficit he was facing.  It also pissed us off because when he was trying to get the Houston GLBT Caucus mayoral endorsement, Hall said he supported adding sexual orientation and gender identity to our city's non-discrimination ordinance, then did a 180 on that.

Fortunately for us Hall did his Mitt Romney impression while early voting was still transpiring, so we had time to handle our electoral business as a community and punish him at the polls.  But we still had to hold our breath until Election Day arrived on November 5.

We got to exhale and celebrate as Annise won with 57% of ours and our fellow Houstonian's votes to win without a runoff.   It ensured that when you show up in H-town for Creating Change, our city will still be run by Mayor Parker, a former attendee of Creating Change.  We're working on getting her to come by the Hilton Americas to say hello to y'all.   I'm hoping she'll be doing so since she made it clear when we were bidding for the conference she wanted it here.   

There was finite disappointment handed to the Houston trans community in this election cycle.  Jenifer Rene Pool missed getting into the runoff for the at-large Position 3 City Council seat she was running for by an agonizing 1,125 votes. 

That unfortunately ended her second bid to become the first out trans person ever elected to Houston City Council, but she's already let us know that she's going to make another run at it in 2015.    


So when we gathered at the Montrose Center for our November 10 Host Committee meeting, we were relieved that one of our nagging planning headaches was off our checklist and gleefully celebrating the fact that Annise would be our mayor until January 1, 2016.

As we waited for the Host Committee meeting to start, a transformer in the area blew out, subsequently knocking out power in the neighborhood and the Montrose Center building that hosts our meetings for almost two hours.   I joked when it happened that we probably wouldn't get power back until after the meeting was over and that's exactly what happened.   

As the Montrose Center building staff scrambled into action to provide us and the other community organizations hosting meetings in the darkened building at the time mini lights to give us some semblance of illumination, we soldiered on with our Host Committee business, issued subcommittee reports and greeted CC National's Russell Roybal.   

Overseeing Creating Change is one of his supervisory responsibilities and he was in H-town along with the IT director to not only convey to us what Sue Hyde told us last month in terms of H-town setting the CC organizing bar to unprecedented levels and congratulate us for our hard work, he also let us know who one of our keynote speakers would be and the folks who would be receiving awards at our event. The awards part I have to keep quiet about for now, but I can talk about who one of the keynote speakers will be. 

And peeps, I get to see my homegirl Laverne Cox again.  I met her during the National Black Justice Coalition's 2012 OUT on the Hill conference when I was part of the trans feminine panel discussion she moderated before she blew up in Orange Is The New Black    So I'm looking forward to along with the rest of the Houston Host Committee in welcoming her to my hometown and hearing her keynote speech. 

We're also trying to get another major Texas political speaker here for you besides our mayor. 

Russell also advised us that Task Force ED Rea Carey's State of the Movement speech would be carried live on C-SPAN.  He also let us know that people would begin to be notified about whether their panel discussions they submitted would be accepted or rejected, and I was part of two proposals.   One was accepted, the other was rejected.  I will be doing a panel discussion at CC14, and when they set the schedule I'll let y'all know which one and what time.

Our subcommittees were busy submitting our budgets proposals before the hard 6 PM CST November 15 submission deadline.  We also discovered the subcommittees were only getting $500 to spend, so we had to revise our plans to do what we'd wanted to do in our suites to fit that budgetary hard number.   I got to sit in on the Trans* and Gender Diversity subcommittee meeting November 14 and watch them go through the process, then had to get with my Racial Diversity subcommittee Chair Melissa Meadows the next morning and do the same thing for our committee.

We're still wanting to have barbecue in our Racial Diversity Suite, but because of the lower than expected hard budget number it'll be for one night instead of the two we'd originally planned.

We have just two Creating Change Houston Host Committee planning meetings left on December 3 and January 7 and we are now mere weeks away from rolling out the rainbow carpet and welcoming y'all to Creating Change Houston 2014.   

And I and my fellow Host Committee members can't wait to see y'all at the Hilton Americas.

Now if we can get that Chamber of Commerce weather we're wanting, sunny, cool 50-60 degrees and not a cloud in the sky, we'll be happy. 
   

Dallas Observer Amends Problematic LGBT Movers And Shakers List

The Dallas Observer as you probably read here published a problematic Dallas LGBT movers and shakers list of seven people earlier this month that had no ethnic diversity or people on it from the trans, bi or lesbian wing of the community. 

After the TransGriot and a few other people inside and outside the DFW metro area pointed out the original list was melanin and estrogen free in addition to omitting people from the trans, bi and lesbian ends of the  community, three days ago the article was amended

There was this comment from author Alicia Auping in the opening paragraph about it.

Update, July 18: After this post went up a couple weeks back, several people pointed that it was a little -- OK, a lot -- one-dimensional, omitting various demographics of Dallas' vast LGBT rainbow of a community.

So we've added to it. Not every mover or shaker or mover-shaker is included, and you're welcome to suggest the names of people who move and who shake in the comments. But we think it's a better reflection of the community's diversity, which should have been present the first time around.

Indeed.  The persons added from the trans end were Dr. Oliver Blumer and Rev. Carmarion Anderson.  BTMI/BTWI's Carter Brown should have been in this article, too.   On the L end of it Joretta Marshall, Feleshia Porter and Cece Cox were added.  

Still could stand to improve on the ethnic diversity of this rainbow community list, but at least you were listening. Dallas Observer and Ms. Auping.

Allyson Robinson's Statement To OS-SLDN Members, Families and Supporters

TransGriot Note: Here's the statement from OutServe-SLDN magazine of Allyson Robinson to the members, families and supporters of the organization.   What I said in my earlier post still stands. Allyson got screwed, this stinks, and I detect the rotten stench of transphobia in this situation.   TAVA, step up, salute and handle your business, please.

On 24 June 2013
This weekend’s events were most unfortunate and deeply troubling for many of us, but for my part, as from the beginning of my tenure with this organization, I am fully and firmly committed to our LGBT service members, veterans, and their families and to their fight for equality. For that reason, and to honor those who’ve shared those values with me, it is my intent to continue to lead OutServe-SLDN in the near term as we approach an historic moment for our community and our country. After that, at a date to be determined, I have decided of my own accord to step down, and will work with our members to ensure an orderly transition to the next phase of this organization’s life.


Very few people ever get the opportunity in this life to hear from those whose lives they’ve touched just how much they are loved and respected. I have no words to express my gratitude for the hundreds who have reached out to me privately or stood up for me publicly over these last 24 hours to show their support: from the military community, the LGBT community, and most especially, most dear to me, the troops of OutServe-SLDN and their families. For that, I am blessed beyond measure.

In light of the momentous events the coming days hold for us all, I intend to put this matter behind us and look forward to shifting the focus back to where it belongs: our LGBT service members, veterans, and families, who sacrifice so much every day, and their ongoing fight for full equality.
— Allyson Robinson, Executive Director, OutServe-SLDN

National Gay And Lesbian Sports Hall Of Fame Announces Its First Class

The National Gay And Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame in Chicago announced its inaugural nomination class of inductees, and it not only includes some people I'm acquainted with, but some girls like us.

The Hall of Fame is housed at the Center on Halsted and was created by its executive director Bill Gubrud and several other individuals to celebrate the sporting achievements of LGBT people.

The initial class includes tennis player and girls like us Renee Richards and sportswriter Christina Kahrl, ESPN and CNN columnist LZ Granderson, MLB baseball player Glenn Burke, two time 1984 and 1988 Olympic diving champion Greg Louganis, tennis legends Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova, the first out boxer Orlando Cruz, Gay Games founder Dr. Tom Waddell, former pro lacrosse player Andrew Goldstein, out NBA player Jason Collins, Jerry Pritikin, and straight English Rugby league player Ben Cohen.

Congrats to Christina and LZ on this well deserved honor.  The Hall of Fame is taking nominations until July 1 for additional people that will be voted on by the board and announced during their induction ceremony.  

I'd like to see Kye Allums, Keelin Godsey, Michelle Dumaresq, Kristin Worley and Fallon Fox also get nominations and have a chance of making this inaugural class.    . 

The induction ceremony will take place in Chicago on August 3 and I hope that these folks also make it 

Washington Watch-Racism And Lack Of Diversity In The LGBT Community

I've talked about this subject for Lord knows how long in the seven years I've been writing at TransGriot, so it was nice to see the rest of the mainstream Black media jump getting the discussion started for the rest of the African-American community.  

The TVOne Washington Watch Sunday show hosted by Roland Martin is a nice alternative to Meet the Press and other Sunday conservafool dominated fare.   This particular show was broadcast back on March 11, but needs to be seen in light of recent rainbow tinged bigotry eruptions in the wake of the marriage equality legislative failure in Illinois.  

My ascot wearing Houston homeboy had as guests on this Washington Watch episode to discuss the topic Rev. Dr. Darlene Nipper, the deputy executive director of the national Gay And Lesbian Task Force, Cleo Manago, CEO and founder of Black Men's Xchange; and Earl Fowlkes, president and CEO of the Center for Black Equity to tackle the topic of racism and lack of diversity in the LGBT community.

2013 TBLG White House Reception Today

And it could get ugly as the volume has risen from Gay, Inc and predominately white gay peeps about the ENDA executive order they are demanding President Obama sign that won't cover the entire community.

We'll see if the LG folks behave themselves today.  

And all I have to say if ENDA was so important to pass, why when we had to choose one bill to get done during the 2010 lame duck session it was DADT?

I will at least have one of my trans community friends there to witness whatever goes down today in Antonia D'orsay of Dyssonance blog fame.   

When she's not writing thought provoking blog posts, she's the executive director of This Is H.O.W in Phoenix and who came up with the idea for the Trans 100 List that she and Jen Richards made happen. .

Congrats Toni on getting the invitation to the White House and having a ringside seat to what should be a very interesting day inside I-495.

Whatever Happened To 'The Dallas Principles'?

On May 15-17, 2009 a meeting was held at the DFW Airport Hyatt Regency hotel by 24 LGBT activists who were frustrated about the fulfillment pace of campaign promises made by the Obama Administration.

What came out of that meeting was a set of widely trumpeted guidelines to achieve LGBT equality that became known as 'The Dallas Principles'.

The authors of the Dallas Principles are Juan Ahonen-Jover, Ken Ahonen-Jover, John Bare, Jarrett Barrios, Dana Beyer, Jeffrey H. Campagna, Mandy Carter, Michael Coe, Jimmy Creech, Allison Duncan, Michael Guest, Joanne Herman, Donald Hitchcock, Lane Hudson, Charles Merrill, Dixon Osburn, Lisa Polyak, Barbra Casbar Siperstein, Pam Spaulding, Andy Szekeres, Lisa Turner, Jon Winkleman, and Paul Yandura.

***
PREAMBLE

President Obama and Congress pledged to lead America in a new direction that included civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. We now sit at a great moment in our history that inspires the nation to return to its highest ideals and greatest promise. We face a historic opportunity to obtain our full civil rights; this is the moment for change. No delay. No excuses.

Nearly forty years ago, a diverse group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people stood up to injustice at the Stonewall Inn in New York City. In doing so, they submitted themselves to bodily harm and criminal prosecution. Their demand was simple -- equal protection under the law.

Still today, full civil rights has eluded the same community that rioted forty years ago. Instead, untold sums of resources have been spent to divide our nation and turn our lives into a political football.
At several junctures in American history, the stars have aligned to deliver the promise of equal protection under the law to those previously denied. At this unique time in history, our nation must once again exercise the great tradition of making its people equal.

Justice has too long been delayed. A clear path toward full civil equality for the LGBT community is overdue and must come now.

Using fear and misunderstanding to justify discrimination is no longer acceptable in this nation. Those content with the way things are will be judged harshly by history. Those who do not actively advance these ideals or offer excuses will be judged just as harshly. Those who attempt to divide our community or to delay and deny action on civil equality, waiting for the right moment to arrive, will be held accountable.

We reject the idea that honoring the founding principles of our country is controversial. We believe in the inherent human dignity of all people. No longer will we submit our children, our family, our friends and ourselves as a political tool for any Party or ideology. A new day has arrived.


The following eight guiding principles underlie our call to action.  

In order to achieve full civil rights now, we avow

1.Full civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals must be enacted now.  Delay and excuses are no longer acceptable.

2.We will not leave any part of our community behind.

3.Separate is never equal.

4.Religious beliefs are not a basis upon which to affirm or deny civil rights.

5.The establishment and guardianship of full civil rights is a non-partisan issue.

6.Individual involvement and grassroots action are paramount to success and must be encouraged.

7.Success is measured by the civil rights we all achieve, not by words, access or money raised.

8.Those who seek our support are expected to commit to these principles.

CALL TO ACTION

1. We demand that government officials act now to achieve full civil rights without delay.
2. Our organizations and individuals need to develop a collaborative and revolutionary new organizing model that mobilizes millions of supporters through emerging web and phone technologies.
3. All LGBT individuals must accept personal responsibility to do everything within their power for equality and should get involved in the movement by volunteering, giving and being out.
4. We will hold elected officials and our organizations accountable for being transparent and achieving full civil rights by active participation when possible and active opposition when necessary.
5. Our allies need to be proactive in public support for full civil rights.
6. Every government measure that quantifies the US citizenry must permit LGBT individuals to self-identify and be counted in every way citizens are counted.
7. We demand that the media present LGBT lives in fair, accurate and objective ways that neither include nor give credence to unsubstantiated, discriminatory claims and opinions.

***

Ever since those lofty principles were espoused and trumpeted to the TBLG community back in 2009 across the Gayosphere, those of us in the trans community have openly wondered whatever happened to those Dallas Principles?  

While the Facebook page for them is still up, the host website they were initially published on is no longer up because it reportedly went out of business.

Granted, I know two of the authors of the Dallas Principles personally.  Three others I'm acquainted with online.  I presume the intent in that room was to help get conversations started on the rainbow community human rights agenda. get the federal legislative agenda moving and make sure President Obama didn't forget his promises made to a community that helped elect him and the Democratic House and Senate majority. 

But what bothered me at the time was the Dallas Principles were being pushed at a time when President Obama was barely three and a half months into his first term and trying to clean up the mess that got dropped in his presidential lap by the Bush misadministration. 

He had two wars, the fiscal crisis that was threatening to turn into a second Great Depression, and Massive Resistance 2.0 from Republicans hell bent on achieving their goal of making him a one term president.   In the context of this situation you had this group emerging from a Dallas hotel saying you haven't kept your promises to the gay community without giving him a reasonable time in his first term to do so like other interest groups were doing..

There was also the bad blood still percolating between white and Black TBLG peeps over the November 2008 Prop 8 loss in California and the internal anti-Black bigotry that erupted afterwards. 

The problem of the Dallas Principles as far much of the trans community is concerned has been in their implementation and execution. 

We've seen the Principles repeatedly violated when it comes to the gay and lesbian community getting what it legislatively wants in terms of marriage equality, an issue that predominately benefits them.   We've seen them once again revert to their historical tendency of being far too willing to throw the trans community under the civil rights bus to get the ability to marry at the expense of other GLBT rights issues. 

If there's legislation that is good for the community that will primarily benefit the trans community or it isn't marriage related, the GL folks will sit on their behinds, twiddle their thumbs and say, 'that's your issue'.


Think I'm being harsh with that assessment?   Let's see. 

There was the 2010 passage of the DADT repeal bill during the lame duck session of Congress that left transpeople behind and violated Dallas Principles 1, 2, 3 and 7

There was marriage equality being passed in New York in 2011, Maryland last year and Delaware in 2013  that also violated Principles 1, 2, 3 and 7 as the trans communities in those states were left behind again with no civil rights protection.

As I write this GENDA has been passed for six straight legislative session in the NY assembly but is running into its usual GOP-led resistance in the NY Senate. The trans communities in New York state, Maryland and Delaware are asking along with the rest of us in the country where's that all out push in support of the trans community basic human rights that will also expand rights for the GLB sectors of our community? 

DADT repeal still doesn't cover trans people, and all we hear in terms of ongoing efforts to rectify that situation is more khaki-flavored marriage stuff instead of getting transpeople the ability to serve their country, too.


Were the Dallas Principles a sincere attempt to change the way the BTLG rights movement goes about its business or did they evolve into public relations woof tickets aimed at dissenting TBLG peeps expressing increasing discontent about the 'all marriage all the time' direction of the LGBT rights movement?


Four years after their creation, it seems like sadly, the latter statement is true.
 

NCCU Opens Second LGBT Student Center On An HBCU Campus

Bowie State University in Bowie, MD opened the first LGBT Student Center on an HBCU campus last year.   The second is now on the North Carolina Central University campus.in Durham, NC.

On April 9 NCCU opened their LGBT Student Resource Center, located in G-64 of the Alphonso Elder Student Union.

n addition to making NCCU the second HBCU to have a dedicated LGBT center on campus, it has the distinction of being the first to do so on a North Carolina based HBCU campus.

The center is supported by Creating Open Lives For Real Success (C.O.L.O.R.S.) and Dominating Overly Motivated Studs (D.O.M.S.) and overseen by Director of Student Life Assessment and C.O.L.O.R.S. advisor Tia Doxey.


Ihe NCCU LGBT Student Center is open Monday through Friday from 9 AM-5 PM.  It is designed so students can connect with other members of the local LGBT community and learn about their culture and identity. The research center contains resources students cn take advantage of such as an LGBT support network, the LGBT lecture series, educational and social programming and a library stocked with LGBT themed materials.

Doxey gave the credit for attaining the space for the new center to Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Dr. Kevin Rome and the Empowerment Committee. "He worked diligently to find a space and to really push the envelope,” said Doxey. “We wanted a space where we can grow.”

Doxey's five year plan for growing the center includes getting permanent staff, offering more programming, reaching out to more NCCU faculty and staff, working with the school to create an inclusive environment for LGBT students on campus and eventually moving into a larger space.

Congratulations NCCU.  May the center grow and prosper to where you'll need that expanded space sooner rather than later. 

Kim Coco Iwamoto Being Honored As A Harvey Milk Champion Of Change

The White House will honor ten TBLG officials on Harvey Milk Day and one of them will be a girl like us.

Kim Coco Iwamoto, who is serving her first term on the state of Hawaii's Civil Rights Commission and previously served the state as an elected member of the Hawaii State Board of Education, is one of the people being honored on Wednesday, Harvey Milk's birthday as a Harvey Milk Champion of Change

The White House Champions of Change program was established in 2011 to spotlight ordinary citizens who are doing extraordinary things for to their community, their country, and their fellow citizens.  In that tradition, the Harvey Milk Champions of Change highlights a small group of TBLG state and local elected and appointed officials who have demonstrated a strong commitment to both equality and public service.

In addition to Kim Coco Iwamoto, the other Harvey Milk Champions of Change for 2013 are:

• Simone Bell – Georgia State Representative, Atlanta, GA
• Angie Buhl O’Donnell – South Dakota State Senator, Sioux Falls, SD
• Karen Clark – Minnesota State Representative, South Minneapolis, MN
• Michael A. Gin – Mayor of Redondo Beach, Redondo Beach, CA
• John Laird – California Secretary of Natural Resources, Santa Cruz, CA
• Ricardo Lara – California State Senator, Long Beach, CA
• Kim Painter – Johnson Country Recorder, Iowa City, IA
• Chris Seelbach – Cincinnati City Council Member, Cincinnati, OH
• Pat Steadman – Colorado State Senator, Denver,

Congratulations to Kim Coco and the other 2013 Harvey Milk Champions of Change for receiving this high honor. 

The 41 List Of TBLGQ Latino/a People Has Girls Like Us On It!

In 1901 a clandestine Mexico City party was raided and 41 people were arrested.   Half of those 41 people were dressed as women (and some of those 20 or 21 people were probably girls like us)   They were publically paraded by the police and sent off to slave labor camps simply for being gay, trans and bisexual.   Those that survived the ordeal had their names put on a list that condemned them and their families to a lifetime of ridicule and shame.

The arrest also unfortunately occurred at a time in Mexico when curiosity about sexuality was rising and set in motion a chain of events that combined with the negative media coverage led to a movement that led to the birth of the concept of homosexuality in Mexico.   It also led to the number 41 gaining a negative connotation in Mexican culture  

Honor 41.org  in conjunction with MALDEF, the nation’s leading Latino legal civil rights organization created a list to recognize outstanding TBLGQ Latino/a leaders.   The 41 List celebrates the Latina/o TBLGQ community and demonstrates how far the community has come in the over 100 years since that despicable incident.  

Those featured on The 41 List represent a diversity of professional backgrounds, age groups, genders, geographic regions, and Latino backgrounds that make up our community. They are all role models for our community and for future Latina/o LGBTQ generations. 

I'm happy to note that on the 2013 list girls like us Bamby Salcedo, Arianna Inurritegui Lint and Maria Roman are on it.  When I find the full list of names I'll post it to TransGriot. . 

While I'm happy three of my trans Latina sisters (and two I personally know) were honored on this list, I was disappointed that some of my trans Latino brothers like Mark Angelo Cummings and Yosenio Lewis just to name two are missing.  

Nominations will be taken in the fall for the 2014 edition of the 41 List.  I hope that when I compile my 2014 post about this list, it not only has Latino transmasculine representation, but more Latina trans women on a list to honor and spotlight outstanding TBGLQ Latina/o people.   

Reconciling Ministries ChurchQuake Scholarships For LGBTQ Kids Of Color

One of the wonderful people I got to meet during last year's GLAAD National POC Media training event last summer was Dr. Pamela Lightsey.

She is one impressive woman on many levels.  She is the Associate Dean of Community Life and Lifelong Learning and Clinical Assistant Professor of Contextual Theology & Practice at Boston University.  In addition, she is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and is the Co-Chair of the American Academy of Religion's Womanist Approaches to Religion & Society Group. 

The UMC's Reconciling Ministries seeks to 'mobilize United Methodists of all sexual orientations and gender identities to transform the Church and the world into the full expression of Christ's inclusive love'. 

I'm definitely down with that program as a 'Big C' Christian, and Pamela sent me this information about their upcoming 'ChurchQuake' national convocation taking place the weekend of August 30-September 2 in Chevy Chase, MD.    

Reconciling Ministries is offering 4 full scholarships for "ChurchQuake" to LGBTQ young adults who identify as persons of color and wish to participate in this event.  United Methodist affiliation is not a prerequisite though UMC members will be given primary consideration for the four available scholarships .

If you wish further information about the Church Quake scholarship opportunity, you can phone Dr Lightsey at 617-353-3051 or fax her at 617-353-3061.

Black Trans Women Became Visible Because We Had To Be

Was sent a link by reader Segmoh Hareema Akinak to a Clutch magazine story by Ella Vincent discussing how Black LGBT women became visible.  

Was surprised to note that it included me and Janet Mock in it since when they discuss women in these online heteronormative and cisgender oriented spaces, far too often trans women get left out of the discussion or dissed when people try to include us in it..

I appreciate the shout out, but I do need to expand on the #girlslikeus portion of Vincent's piece.

Black trans women are visible because we had to be for our own survival, political evolution and our sanity.  We face anti-trans violence aimed at us that we will sadly be memorializing this week in TDOR events here in the States and around the world.  We were getting ignored not only by our own transpeople and our African-American family inside and outside the community, but being erased from the trans and LGBT history we helped make.

Don't even get me started about the Black unwoman meme that is magnified when it focuses its negativity on African descended trans women and slaps us with a definition of Black trans femininity that is not who we see when we look in the mirror. 

In the face of that, it amazed me when I read about the Gallup survey that noted that 4.6 percent of African-Americans identify as LGBT along with 4 percent of Latinos and 4.3 percent of Asian-Americans while only  3.2 percent of white Americans say they are LGBT.   But the media faces representing the LGBT community and dominating the leadership ranks of professional TBLG rights organizations lobbying for it are far too often white ones.  The minuscule numbers of transpeople involved in those Gay, Inc organizations far too often aren't transwomen of color either. 

It's been glaringly obvious to me since the 90's that we desperately needed out and proud Black transwomen telling our stories and offsetting the disco era hate speech pushed by radical feminists about trans women. 

I've been part of that effort since 1998 and I'm happy I now have help in this vital visibility project from a new generation of out and proud trans women such as Janet Mock, Isis King, Laverne Cox, Rev. Carmarion Anderson, Bali White, Danielle King, KOKUMO, Dee Dee Chamblee and countless others around the country.

It's also wonderful that in addition to the new attitude we Black trans women have about fearlessly telling our chococentric truths about our transfeminine lives and stepping up to leadership roles in the various communities we intersect and interact with, we also have our trans elders such as Cheryl Courtney-Evans, Gloria Allen, Miss Major, Tracie Jada O'Brien, and Sharyn Grayson passing on their hard won knowledge and community history to us so we can pass on that history to future generations of African descended trans kids and our allies.

As New Black Transwomen, we not only had to become visible to attack the shame, guilt and fear that deleteriously impact our lives, we needed to do so in order to own our political and personal power, love ourselves and build pride in becoming and being who we are as proud African descended women. 

Black transwomen have become and are visible in this second decade of the 21st century because for the sake of the transkids wishing to walk in our pumps, we had to be.  

 

Double Birthday Shout Out To Josephine and Lowell!

Two of my fave people in our community are celebrating birthdays today, and I'm not letting this date pass without giving both of them the TransGriot birthday treatment they deserve

Since beauty and wisdom goes first, my first birthday shout out goes to Josephine Tittsworth.  

I've known her for over a decade, am proud to call this fellow Cougar my friend, and she has done much to help advance the cause of trans human rights in Texas and across the nation..

And oh yeah, happy birthday Jo!

She's the creative force behind the two day Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summits that I've been reporting from for the last three years.

The TTNS not only helps focus attention on getting trans friendly non-discrimination policies enacted at Texas colleges and universities and school districts, it also has trans related policy discussions, keynote speakers and programming about our lives.

And oh yeah, I can't forget to mention the TTNS chocolate break.

Since the Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit started in 2009 it has grown to become an event coveted by area universities to host.  Josephine has the vision and desire to not only take it statewide, but wants to host it someday on one of our Texas HBCU campuses.

The other person I'm giving a TransGriot birthday shoutout is Lowell Kane.  I met this handsome Aggie during the 2010 TTNS that was held on the Rice University campus along with a few of his Aggie students in his capacity as the coordinator of the LGBT Center on Texas A&M's campus that he helped found in 2007. 

The campus climate toward LGBT students improved dramatically on the A&M campus during his time there and he's now moved on to become the founding director of the new LGBTQ Center on the Purdue University campus.

He's now busy in the Hoosier state building their LGBTQ center and I have little doubt he'll have the same success up there that he did at Aggieland.

We already miss him in the Houston area (and so do I), but our loss was Purdue's gain.   At least they sell Blue Bell ice cream in West Lafayette to go with that cake he gets to eat for his big 3-0 birthday.

Happy birthday to both of you.   Love you both, thanks for all you do on behalf of our rainbow community, may you have continued success in your personal and professional lives and may you continue to celebrate many more birthdays to come. 

2012 OUT on The Hill-Day 2 Recap

Missed most of the action today since I was saying goodbye to Jeri that morning, eating breakfast at her house and prepping to move to the conference hotel.   I hoped I could  get it done before it was time for the Issue Advocacy Day to start at the Church of the Redemption at 12 noon EDT and then from there head over to Capitol Hill to Own Our Power.

I also had the option of heading downtown to the Walter Williams Convention Center to witness the opening of NBJC's Exhibit Booth at the 42nd annual Congressional Black Caucus Foundation-Annual Legislative Conference or CBCF-ALC in DC acronym speak.    That event was also starting at 12 noon EDT.

There was also the CBCF-ALC workshops schedule for that date of which the one I was interested in, a national Town Hall meeting moderated by Melissa Harris-Perry was scheduled for 9 AM, just as I was getting my behind up from the previous night's reception and chilling with Kimberley and Janet.

By the time I got packed, made the ride over with Jeri and checked into my room in the historic Marriott Wardman Tower it was 1:15 PM and I just decided to catch up on my blogging and take a nap before the 2012 Chairman's Reception.

You'll note I wrote the historic Wardman Tower.  In that part of the sprawling complex, by the elevators that led up to my third floor room was a black plaque hanging on the wall noting that one tine busboy Langston Hughes on November 27, 1925 nervously handed three of his poems to noted poet Vachel Lindsay while he was dining at the hotel's restaurant.  

Lindsay at a segregated event later that night in the hotel read those three poems Hughes left by his dinner plate and announced he'd discovered a talented Negro poet. 

The media picked up Lindsay's comments, remarked about the 'busboy poet' and the career of Hughes was born.  So yep, it was awesome as a writer to know that I was staying in the same hotel where Langston Hughes once worked.  

Speaking of work, back to this post.

At 7:00 PM the 2012 OUT on the Hill Chairman's Reception cranked up in Maryland Suites A, B and C.   Nice spread with a set up dance floor and DJ so we got to get our grub on, meet and greet each other and dance to tune courtesy of our DJ that covered a wide variety of music including soca from the Islands.
Since we were in DC, I requested EU's Da Butt.   Hey when in DC you gotta hear some Go-Go, so when the DJ honored my request and played it moments later, I hit the dance floor along with half the room  

Hopefully there aren't any incriminating pictures of me on the Net allegedly dancing way close to the floor..

Oh well, Day 2 over, two more to go.   

DNC 2012-The Jane Fee Award Presentation

Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention, and video from today's LGBT Caucus meeting in Charlotte and the presentation of the Jane Fee Award.   It goes to the ally within the Democratic Party that has stood up for transgender inclusion. 

Joint LGBT Organization Statement Over FRC Shooting

Joint Statement regarding shooting at Family Research Council (FRC) from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organizations

We were saddened to hear news of the shooting this morning at the offices of the Family Research Council. Our hearts go out to the shooting victim, his family, and his co-workers. The motivation and circumstances behind today’s tragedy are still unknown, but regardless of what emerges as the reason for this shooting, we utterly reject and condemn such violence.  We wish for a swift and complete recovery for the victim of this terrible incident. Michael Adams Executive Director, Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) Tico Almeida President, Freedom to Work Katie Belanger Executive Director, Fair Wisconsin Wayne Besen Founding Executive Director, Truth Wins Out A.J. Bockelman Executive Director, PROMO Carly Burton Deputy Director, MassEquality Dr. Eliza Byard Executive Director, Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) Jennifer Chrisler Executive Director, Family Equality Council Brad Clark Executive Director, One Colorado R. Clarke Cooper Executive Director, Log Cabin Republicans Heather Cronk Managing Director, GetEQUAL Jerame Davis Executive Director, National Stonewall Democrats Emily Dievendorf Director of Policy, Equality Michigan James Esseks Director, ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project Lynn A. Faria Interim Executive Director, Empire State Pride Agenda Jenna Frazzini Executive Director, Basic Rights Oregon Herndon Graddick President, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Chad Griffin President, Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Jody M. Huckaby Executive Director, PFLAG National (Parents, Families, Friends of Lesbians and Gays) Mara Keisling Executive Director, National Center of Transgender Equality Kate Kendell Executive Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) Abbe Land Executive Director & CEO, The Trevor Project Ineke Mushovic Executive Director, Movement Advancement Project National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs Darlene Nipper Deputy Executive Director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Donna Red Wing Executive Director, One Iowa Aubrey Sarvis Executive Director, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network Josh Seefried Co-Director, OutServe Brian Silva Executive Director, Marriage Equality USA Lee Swislow Executive Director, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders Rachel B. Tiven, Esq. Executive Director, Immigration Equality Chuck Wolfe President & CEO, Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Institute Evan Wolfson President, Freedom to Marry ### About GLAAD: The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) amplifies the voice of the LGBT community by empowering real people to share their stories, holding the media accountable for the words and images they present, and helping grassroots organizations communicate effectively. By ensuring that the stories of LGBT people are heard through the media, GLAAD promotes understanding, increases acceptance, and advances equality. For more information, please visit www.glaad.org or connect with GLAAD on Facebook and Twitter.

Eyewitness To LGBT Foundation

TransGriot Note: Guest Post by Denise Norris

I want to share some eyewitness history about the founding of LGBT and the original meaning of Transgender. As some of you know, I participated in the formative events back in the early 90s in New York City.

A Transgender Nation

The word transgender dates back decades, well before it was used by Virginia Prince in the 1980s. Overtime, it has been used to represents all types of people who transcend society’s definitions of gender, from episodic crossdressers to transsexual woman. It was first publicly re-purposed in its modern incarnation by Anne Ogborn when she started Transgender Nation in 1993 which she modeled on Queer Nation, a predominately LG radical young activist organization that arose out of the AIDS crisis and lack of civil protections for Queer people. More and more people began to substitute the work transgender when referring to themselves to avoid the stigmatization associated with ‘transsexual’ Over time, this has lead to many cis-people thinking that transgender only applies to people who have, are or intend to change their sex.

That being said, Transgender is actually an umbrella sociopolitical term intended to cover all aspects of non-conforming gender. It is not a medical term, it is not a condition, it is not something to pathologize. It was adopted to represent all the people who face discrimination because they have a non-conforming gender in the eyes of society.

So why was it important that the term was so broad? Simply put, we realized that all the groups under the umbrellas (including drag, intersex, crossdressing, butch women, fem men, transsexuals, etc…) alone lacked the numbers to effectively reform society to stop discrimination and achieve equality.

But even then, we still lacked the numbers to effectively press forward an agenda for equal rights and stopping discrimination.

Enter LGBT

While transgender was slowly becoming an accepted term within the Queer world, there was still great resistance with the older gays and lesbians who represented a majority of G&L community. Trans people were frequently frozen out of G&L support centers or we were tolerated, but a member of the family.

Things soon came to a head. 1994 was the 25th anniversary of the riots at Stonewall in NYC and we found ourselves completed excluded from the Huge Pride March that year. We were told we would have a place in the alternative march. Even worse, in the slew of Gay history books that appeared at that time, the role of what we now call transgender people in the riots was completely excised. Needless to say, we fought back and won inclusion in the parade. I recommend http://books.google.com/books?id=KmMEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&ots=YuNwga5SVH&pg=PA59#v=onepage&q&f=false to those who want to get a better understanding of the dynamics of the times.

Getting the G&L community to back down and include us acted a seed crystal in a supersaturated solution. More and more of the progressive G&L thinkers reconsidered the demands of bisexuals and transgenders for inclusion. Many people were pushing for the adoption of a word like queer, but for many, it was too loaded with negative history and as a result, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender was adopted, building on the existing Gay and Lesbian theme. Eventually this was changed to Lesbian, Gay Bisexual and Transgender to place more focus on the needs of woman and so, LGBT was born.

It was never intended that LGBT stop at Transgender. The original intent was for a rainbow of people, celebrating diversity and inclusion, while fighting against discrimination and for equality for every one under that rainbow. According to Gilbert Baker, creator of the rainbow flag, this rainbow included everyone.

Forward to the Future

Eventually, I believe that we will find a better moniker than LGBT to describe our rainbow, but like the old G&L guardians that sought (and still seek to exclude) T, there will be people who have found safety in the identity of LGBT who will resist the changes still necessary to have equality for all people in our spectrum. I, for one, look forward to true equality for all people who don’t comply with the gender binary, be they gay, lesbian, bi/omni/pan, trans, intersex, questioning or any other member of my family.

Goodbye, Lowell

After five years as the coordinator for the LGBT Center at Texas A&M, Lowell Kane is leaving Aggieland and headed to Purdue University.  I along with my Aggie rainbow family and the Houston area rainbow community are sad to see him go.  

I met him and some of the LGBT Aggies back in 2010 when I attended my first Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit at Rice University mere weeks after I'd moved back home. 

It led to Texas A&M being one of the first schools inside the Lone Star State I had the honor of speaking at post return home in November 2010 and me getting to spend some quality time on its campus with him and some of the wonderful students there.

While at Texas A&M, Kane received several awards, including the Diversity Service Award and the Phyllis R. Frye Advocacy Award. During his time as program coordinator, the Aggieland campus climate toward the GLBT community improved, according to the LGBT Friendly  Campus Climate Index.

He was also one of the founding members of the now thriving LGBT Center on the Texas A&M campus, a first of its kind program for a Texas college campus and he was named its Program Coordinator in 2007.

It was so successful conservafool state Rep. Wayne Christian (R-Center) tried to kill it during the 2011 legislative session  by starving LGBT centers of funding and banning their housing in state owned buildings.  The Texas House Democrats made him back off by threatening to scuttle the entire school financing bill if he persisted in his phobic lunacy. 

When he gets to Purdue he'll have a similar situation to the one he encountered when he arrived in College Station in 2007 in terms of no GLBT center or full time staff devoted to advocacy work on behalf of that student population but Kane is relishing the challenge.

“I did it here, and I know that I can do it there,” Kane said in an interview in the Batallion. “In fact, I’m going to be more informed because I’ve had five years of wonderful experience here at Texas A&M that I’m going bring with me to Purdue.” 

There will be a farewell event for Kane on the A&M campus starting at 3:30 PM today at the LGBT Center in Cain Hall's POD (B111) that I sadly can't attend, but best of luck to you Lowell in your new position. 

For you folks at Purdue who read this blog, you're about to get one fantastic person headed your way and one we're sorry our community is losing and are definitely going to miss.