Fallon Has A New Fight-With Wannabee 'Advocate' Tamikka Brents

Our fave MMA warrior is now in training for her next fight with 24 year old Tamikka Brents

Y'all know I have much love for Fallon Fox and I'm looking forward to meeting her in person.  I wish the 'Queen of Swords' the best of luck as she gets ready to handle her business inside the octagon on September 13 in Springfield, IL.

And Fallon's probably got some extra motivation to be on her A+ WMMA game with this upcoming opponent after Tamikka Brents flapped her gums and let loose some dog whistle transphobia back on May 25, 2013. 

“I am tired of Fox getting all this publicity just for being a transgender fighter rather than having great skills. I think it’s unfair anyway but as long as the opponent knows and accepts the fight then go ahead… I mean Allana took her to the third and she’s not even a 145er; she’s a more of a 135er who can probably go even lower to 125 pounds. She’s using all that attention as a good publicity tactic – go ahead and ride that free publicity train as long as you can. I’ll gladly derail that s#*t quickly so the world can go back to giving the publicity and notice to the female fighters who earn it. It just pisses me off that Women’s MMA has fought to get away from being seen as a side show. She’s using that to further her career while setting Women’s MMA back in the process.”

And this from a woman who claims in a November 2012 Bleacher Report piece she wants to be an LGBT advocate.   Well, she said she wanted this fight with Fallon bad, and she's about to get her wish. 

But let me focus on Tamikka Brents' advocacy, or lack thereof.   The only thing you've done is take a rainbow flag a few hundred feet into an octagon twice.   I haven't seen op-eds written by you in TIME magazine, the TransAdvocate, or much less my GLAAD Award nominated blog   I have yet to see you at an National Black Justice Coalition event or do anything in support of the SGL, trans or bi  community.

While you bump your gums in a puff piece about wanting to be an advocate for the LGBT community, Fallon Fox is role modeling it. 

So stop hatin'.

And here's your first advocacy lesson, Tamikka.  The 'T' in LGBT stands for transgender.  Without transfolks like Ms. Fox showing up and showing out at Stonewall in 1969 fighting for everyone's human rights including our own, you wouldn't have a movement to consider being an advocate for.

And what pisses me off Tamikka is you piling on Fallon.   She's handled this lemon situation of being outed and the subsequent microaggressive and macroagressive publicity it generated with class and dignity while trying to build her reputation in women's MMA.  

She has remained classy as you and several of your women's MMA colleagues like Ronda Rousey, Ashlee Evans-Smith and Allana Jones have been transphobically shady towards her while spouting jaw dropping anti-trans ignorance.

So yeah, looking forward to September 13.   

POTUS To Sign Exec Orders Banning TBLG Workplace Discrimination Today

Happening in mere moments from the White House will be President Obama signing two executive orders 11246 and 11478 that ban workplace discrimination in federal contracting for LGBT employees and federal workplace discrimination against transgender ones

Glad that Mia Macy is in the house to witness it along with Faith Cheltenham and Kylar Broadus..  I'll find out later who else was at the White House to watch that history happen.   Her Macy vs Holder EEOC case has opened the doors for us to be able to go to the EEOC to fight anti-trans discrimination.

Once President Obama signs the new executive orders, TBLG employees who work for federal contractors will be protected from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. In addition, bias against federal employees based on gender identity will be prohibited.

Sexual orientation been protected from bias discrimination since President Clinton’s signed his executive order doing so in 1998.   It was past time it happened for the trans community.

TransGriot Note:  When the video is posted on White House.gov for the ceremony, I'll update the post.

Houston LGBT Community Needs To Be BETTER Black Community Allies

''Failure to engage my community means failure to win at the ballot box.' 
-TransGriot., March 23, 2009  Black People More Homophobic, You're Kidding, Right?


As many of you are aware, I spent an hour on Houston Media Source TV last night discussing the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance with show hosts Fran Watson and Durrell Douglas .

At least the first 30 minutes with Christina Gorczynski, Daniel Williams, and Noel Freeman were enjoyable.   The next thirty was a battle with King Hater Dave Welch and HERO opponent Kathy Blueford-Daniels, who shares my ethnic heritage.   

When it was over, he ran like Usain Bolt out of that studio because after the tag team demolition of him by me and Christina and the daggers I stared into him, he didn't want to hang around to see what was coming next from me.  I probably made it clear from the side eye I gave him off air that I have zero respect for him because he is a human rights oppressor.        

But Kathy and Christina struck up a conversation which I joined because she and the other woman there with her wanted to know more about the trans community.    

After I gave her some Trans 101, the four of us as women of color moved on to some other issues of discussion.   Kathy didn't like my calling the anti-HERO folks haters, and  my response to that was if you are in a coalition with people who want to roll back my human rights, you're a hater.   If you lie down with right wing dogs, don't get mad when their fleas bite you and I call you on it.

Kathy explained the reason she is part of the anti-HERO coalition is because she is part of the section of the African-American community that gets bent out of shape with any mention by white LGBT peeps that LGBT rights are a civil rights issue.  In her mind and the minds of a segment of our community, when you say that, you are conflating the African-American civil rights movement with the LGBT one.  

No matter how many historical examples I gave her that Black LGBT peeps like Lorraine Hansberry, Bayard Rustin, and James Baldwin were indeed part of the Civil Rights movement and as fellow African Americans I and other Black LGBT people can make that claim because it is part of our shared heritage, she wouldn't budge from that ossified in her mind perception.   


And she was very pissed off when Mayor Parker stated the HERO was a civil rights ordinance.  It most certainly is.  But in her mind and the mind of like minded African-American Houstonians they had a major problem with her saying it.

Kathy is active in many issues in the Houston African-American community and is a super neighborhood leader.  One thing she asked me was where was the Houston LGBT community when it came to fighting for issues besides marriage and their own human rights ones?

Hey, she's not the only person who has asked me that question.  So have other leaders in the African-American community.   I've asked the same question myself about the.repeated failures in the TBLG ranks to spell the word intersectionality..

She remembered me after I told her I have been involved in fighting against the closure of Black schools in HISD for two years now.  I spoke to the HISD school board in 2013 and back in March about those issues in addition to speaking in favor of the TBLG friendly HISD non discrimination policy.    I was also front and center last July speaking at a Trayvon Martin protest rally at City Hall.  

That's what I have done, mainly because I have consistently preached that Black trans issues are Black community issues and vice versa.  Dee Dee Watters' has an annual toy drive she holds every Christmas as her way of giving back to the Houston Black community.  Other Black LGBT people do their part to give back to our community in myriad ways.   . 

But Kathy's question is a valid one.  When has the Houston TBLG community stood up and played a visible, vocal or fiscally supportive role when it comes to the issue concerns of other ethnic groups here in Houston?    Where is the Houston LGBT community when it comes to other issue concerns besides marriage and other LGBT oriented ones? 

African-American Houstonians ask where was the Houston GLBT Caucus voice when we were complaining about and fighting those HISD school closures?  The Houston Latin@ and Asian communities ask where are you when it comes to immigration issues that don't involve bi-national same sex married couples or other issues specific to their community? 

And all of us non white H-town peeps ask, where were you LGBT community when our voting rights were being attacked by the Texas GOP?

As Kathy stated to me, if that intersectional cooperation had been happening in H-town prior to May 28, we would have had additional support from the Black community for HERO, and Dave Welch and his hater collective's attempts to collect signatures would have been a non-starter.


But these HERO opponents see a predominately monoracial Houston GLBT community leadership.  They don't see people who look like them highlighted as leaders in it and one glaring example of that is Houston Pride.   There has to my knowledge NEVER been in the history of the Houston pride parade an African-American male or female grand marshal.  Don't think that hasn't been noticed by our straight and SGL African-American brothers and sisters.

There also the myth that wealthy white gays are trying to 'piggyback on OUR civil rights movement' that Welch, Miller and their cadre of his hate ministers are gleefully exploiting.   The perception the Houston LGBT community is selfish and pushed this ordinance when we have pressing needs of fixing potholes and streets is another factor fueling elements of the anti-HERO opposition. 

And yeah, let's be real, a major chunk of this is homophobia and transphobia.  

Many of these POC peeps are quite aware that Dave Welch and his pastors are Teapublican  homophobes and are being played as 'useful fools', but don't care as long as they can stick it to the LGBT community.

Even if it takes down a HERO ordinance that benefits them.

So what can we do to change this perception?

Short term, use the term 'human rights' or 'international human rights' Councilmember C.O Bradford did to describe the HERO and make it clear this ordinance protects 13 other characteristics besides sexual orientation and gender identity. 

Other things on the to-do list will have to be long term ones like highlighting and elevating BTLG leaders of color in our Houston LGBT leadership ranks.  Being a supportive ally and showing up when there are issue concerns for other Houston ethnic and constituent groups.  

But what needs to happen starting today is the Houston LGBT community needs to get busy doing a better job of working intersectionally with all communities, especially the African-American one.   
      

The 2014 Honor 41 List Honorees Are...

The Honor 41 list founded by Alberto B. Mendoza celebrates  LGBTQ Latin@ role models, and last year we were excited to learn that the inaugural 2013 class of Honor 41 List honorees included 5 trans people.

The Honor 41 list takes its name from a 1901 Mexico City hate crime in which a clandestine party was raided and the 41 people in attendance were beaten, arrested, and disappeared from society because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.   In Mexico, the number 41 became a slang term to refer to someone with a different sexual orientation

Honor 41 confronts this history and reclaims it to honor inspirational individuals and LGBTQ leaders of Latina/o heritage who are blazing the trail toward acceptance and equality. 

The Honor 41 2014 Class was announced this morning, and the trans representation is up to nine people.   As you probably guessed I do know a few of them.   Ruby Corado is one of the nine people honored this year!




"Everyone has a story, so having the opportunity to capture the stories of these amazing role models and share them with others is incredible, said Alberto B. Mendoza, founder of Honor 41 and the producer of the Honor 41 List.  "I know by sharing these stories, we are making it easier for Latino LGBTQ individuals to come out and live their lives with honor and pride."  

In the coming weeks as they are released and I get them from Alberto, I'll be posting the links to all the Honor 41 trans honoree videos.

Congratulations to all the Honor 41 class of 2014 honorees for all they do to advance our human rights struggle and understanding of LGBTQ people inside and outside the Latino/a community. 

Moni's In The Middle Of The WH LGBT Innovation Summit

It's been an amazing year so far for me and it still has five more months left in it before we flip the calendar page to 2015.

Another blessing came my way with an invitation courtesy of Dr Kortney Ryan Ziegler and Trans*H4CK to attend the first ever White House LGBT Innovation Summit.   You know as a history buff I love being at groundbreaking events, and definitely wanted to be in DC for this inaugural July 7 one.

So once again I found myself on a jet plane winging my way to DC via the ATL to be there.  

Since it was post-4th of July weekend, it was an interesting route to get there.  Normally I like going in and out of DCA (I refuse to call it Reagan National) because it's on the WMATA Metrorail Yellow and Blue lines.   But on this trip I was routed to go into BWI on Sunday and leave out of DCA on Tuesday.  In addition I had 3 hour layovers in Atlanta on both legs.  But hey, I'm still getting my frequent flyer miles.    

I got up at 4 AM CDT to head over to Hobby for my 7 AM departure to the ATL.  After Dee Dee Watters dropped me off, I'm thinking "Who is going to be traveling at 6 AM on Sunday to go somewhere?" as I entered the airport terminal..  But after I picked up my boarding passes in front of the Delta ticket counter and saw the line at TSA security I was jarred back into the reality I was traveling on the back side of the holiday weekend, as my 15 minute wait to clear security attested to. For once I didn't get some hands on attention from our TSA friends after I went through the body scanner .

It's a gorgeous flying weather day and I get to the ATL with no issues.  I've already eaten breakfast, I'm chilling at my BWI gate with my laptop playing my fave tunes from the 70s-90's on my Spotify account as I settle in to kill my three hours of Hartsfield-Jackson airport sit time.  I'm watching the world and the Delta flight personnel walk by and thinking about how much I miss the airline biz when I heard the announcement that my flight has gate changed due to a mechanical problem with my just arrived inbound aircraft.

We ended up leaving 20 minutes late on the ATL-BWI leg but my captain made up the time and we pulled into my BWI gate at 3:47 PM EDT, three minutes earlier than scheduled.    Samantha Master grabbed me a few minutes later and off we went in the direction of Washington DC and my Dupont Circle area hotel.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, because I know so many people in the DC area who would love to spend quality time with me (and it's a nice problem to have), they know to get it they have to grab me either when I land inside I-495 or on my way out of town back to DCA.  

So Samantha made sure she got first dibs on me before Ruby Corado did.
     
After taking me to lunch, doing a little shopping and discussing the current state of the movement, we eventually ended up at the Carlyle Suites hotel on New Hampshire Ave NW.   I noticed along with Samantha the Delta Sigma Theta Way sign underneath it as we turned onto New Hampshire Ave.  I discovered I would be staying less that two doors down from DST national headquarters which made me chuckle as a child of a proud AKA. 

That area also has many embassies, and the Grenadian embassy was on the corner of New Hampshire Ave and R St.  I also noticed something else in addition to the embassies sprinkled throughout the tree shaded neighborhood, a 7-Eleven.   That meant I was going to be able to destroy some Slurpees on this trip.    

I checked into my 7th floor art-deco style suite, made some calls, walked around the corner to that 7-Eleven to get my first Slurpee (lemonade) since my PTHC trip and after returning to the hotel settled in to get some rest for the big day.

Monday July 7 was another warm but beautiful clear weather day in which I debated when I woke up at 8 AM whether to go to Capitol Hill and see Yesenia Chavez or just head to the White House area for the Summit which was starting at 1 PM. 

I was anxious to see who was going to be in attendance for the Summit, and started walking toward the Dupont Circle Metro station.   I discovered during that walk the embassies of Nicaragua, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Argentina were also in the vicinity along with the headquarters of the American Library Association.   That made me smile and think about my homegirl BiblioDiva, AKA Melissa Meadows as I made the turn onto Q St. near the Argentinian embassy and headed toward the station.  

When I arrived there I got my first pleasant surprise of the day when I tapped my WMATA SmarTrip card and discovered I had $9.60 on it.  That was more than enough to get me down there and back from Dupont Circle, so I added another $7 to it to cover any other Metrorail trips I would possibly do here before jumping onto my Red Line train to head to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House grounds.        
.            
After changing to a Orange Line train at Metro Center Station I get off at Farragut West and realize I didn't burn as much time as I thought I would and I'm way early.   Fortunately I spot a Mickey D's and decided to burn up an hour and grab lunch there before heading to the designated WH security gate since I knew it was going to be at least 4 hours before I'd get an opportunity to eat something.

I arrive at the security checkpoint outside of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at 11:40 AM and I'm met by a female intern ironically from Dallas who is waiting to escort another party into the WH complex.   After we exchanged Lone Star pleasantries a few minutes later I start seeing the peeps arriving for the Summit.   Michael David Battle arrives with his mom, then Geena Rocero, and Krys and Kin Folkz from Oakland who I'd met during the first Trans*H4CK 

We all start catching up on what has been transpiring in our lives as the clock ticks toward 12 noon and the point that security personnel are ready to begin checking our ID for the first stage of clearing the WH security gauntlet

After arriving in the auditorium I begin to see more familiar people like Kimberley McLeod from Elixher, Angelica Ross, Lourdes Hunter, Katrina Goodlett, and the man of the hour in Dr. KRZ complete with his patriotic flag pattern tie.  Introductions are coming fast and furiously, business cards are being exchanged and pictures and selfies are being snapped as the time ticks down toward the 1 PM start of the event. 

I even got an opportunity to talk to Tim Gill about politics and a few issues.    

One of the biggest questions I got asked once I revealed I'd come to the event from Houston is 'What's happening with the HERO?'   So yeah peeps, the world is watching H-town. 

Finally the program starts with the SRO crowd settling in for the welcome from WH Office of Public Engagement advisor Gautam Raghavan.

Following his remarks, the first armchair conversation with Google [x] VP Megan Smith moderated by Lesbians Who Tech founder Leanne Pittsford to start the four hour program begins.   

That conversation focused on women in the tech field and dropped the interesting historical note that the Duchess of Cambridge's (AKA Kate Middleton)  grandmother was one of the Bletchley Park duty officers that helped decode German military messages encrypted on the German Enigma coding machine for Allied use.  It moved to discussing other diversity issues before that conversation concluded with audience Q&A.

Before the next segment of the program happened, we were given the opportunity to line up at the two mikes on either side of the room and give a 30 second elevator  pitch discussing our innovative work on behalf of the community, ask for help or resources, or share your Big Idea.

Once the time allotted for the first round of elevator pitches expired, we moved to a panel discussion entitled Challenges And Opportunities Facing LGBT Communities.   The panel was comprised of USDA Special Assistant Ashlee Davis, WH National AIDS policy Director Douglas Brooks, Out2Enroll's Katie Keith and UCLA Williams Institute Senior Counsel Adam Romero.

After discussing HIV/AIDS and the problematic inclusion of transpeople in the MSM category, the problems of rural LGBT people, and the lack of inclusion of transpeople and especially transpeople of color in Gay Inc leadership ranks and organizations with the Black transfolks in attendance leading much of the conversation in that auditorium on many of those issues, it was time for the next round of elevator pitches.

When those concluded it was time for our sis Geena Rocero to take the stage. 

Taryn Miller-Stevens introduced her and Geena gracefully strode to the podium to talk about how the power of stories fused with technology is empowering trans people, helping us change lives and influencing public policy changes.  She also talked about the motivating reason why she founded GenderProud. 

I received an unexpected shoutout during her speech, along with Dr Z and some of the other trans POC leaders who have been pushing for systemic human rights change on behalf of our community.  

When she concluded her speech to a standing ovation, she and Taryn had an armchair conversation to answer more audience questions driven by her remarks before they stepped aside to make way for the next portion of the program. 

The Presidential Innovation section of the program was an interview conducted by Senior Advisor to the US Chief Technology Officer Erie Meyer with 18F Creative Director Hillary Hartley.

After their interview and Q&A, we took a short break before we heard Tim Gill's Call to Action speech to conclude the LGBT Innovation Summit. 

After some closing thoughts and next steps from Gautam, we moved to the Indian Treaty Room on the 4th floor for a Gill Foundation hosted reception that concluded a little after 6:30 PM to end our day on the White House grounds.

Some of us decided to continue the conversations at the nearby W Hotel and its patio bar with a gorgeous view of  the White House complex, the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, the Washington Monument and The Mall.   We were joined there by Kylar Broadus, Ruby Corado and Joanna Cifredo and engaged in debriefing conversations about what had just transpired on this historic day and discussed the lobby day taking place next week.  

We then took those conversations from that spot to another locale that lasted well into the wee hours of the morning before I had to bounce to my hotel and pack for my departure in a few hours.   

I woke up at 8 AM to another gorgeous but hot DC summer day.   Since my flight to Houston via Atlanta wasn't leaving until 3 PM, I decided before I had to check out of my room at 12 noon and because I didn't want to be schlepping my laptop and bag through Capitol Hill security, to bounce to Capitol Hill and attempt to keep my promise of seeing Yesenia before I left the Washington DC area.  

When I got to Rep Raul Grijalva's (D-AZ) office on the fifth floor of the Longworth Building a little before 10 AM, one of her coworkers advised me she'd just left for a training session and wasn't due back in until after 11 AM.  I decided after a few minutes of enjoying their hospitality to kill time by going to see my own congressmember. 

After accomplishing that mission, I headed back to Longworth to see if Yesenia was back. She wasn't and because it was now 11:10 AM I had to head back to the Capitol South station to begin my journey back to the Dupont Circle area and check out of the hotel.   I discovered later when I checked my phone at DCA after I cleared TSA security and arrived at my departure gate I just missed Yesenia by five minutes. 

Oh well, I'll catch her next time. 

Ruby showed up a little after 12 to pick me up from the Carlyle Suites and hang out at Casa Ruby for a moment before we headed off in the direction of DCA to drop me off to start my return trip home. 

So once again I got to spend a little time inside the beltway, see some old friends, meet some new ones, talk about the Trans Revolution Will Not Be Televised business with my trans peeps and get my learn on at the same time.

The evaluation for this inaugural White House LGBT Innovation Summit should be hitting my e-mail soon, but so glad I had an opportunity to be in the house for the inaugural event.   

Hope next year's is even better.   

And for those of you who missed me on this latest trip inside I-495, I'll probably be back before the year is out, so just get ready to try to get me at DCA before Ruby or Samantha do.

2014 WH Proclamation For LGBT Pride Month

May 30, 2014
LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER PRIDE MONTH, 2014

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION

As progress spreads from State to State, as justice is delivered in the courtroom, and as more of our fellow Americans are treated with dignity and respect -- our Nation becomes not only more accepting, but more equal as well. During Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month, we celebrate victories that have affirmed freedom and fairness, and we recommit ourselves to completing the work that remains.

Last year, supporters of equality celebrated the Supreme Court's decision to strike down a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act, a ruling which, at long last, gave loving, committed families the respect and legal protections they deserve. In keeping with this decision, my Administration is extending family and spousal benefits -- from immigration benefits to military family benefits -- to legally married same-sex couples.

My Administration proudly stands alongside all those who fight for LGBT rights. Here at home, we have strengthened laws against violence toward LGBT Americans, taken action to prevent bullying and harassment, and prohibited discrimination in housing and hospitals. Despite this progress, LGBT workers in too many States can be fired just because of their sexual orientation or gender identity; I continue to call on the Congress to correct this injustice by passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. And in the years ahead, we will remain dedicated to addressing health disparities within the LGBT community by implementing the Affordable Care Act and the National HIV/AIDS Strategy -- which focuses on improving care while decreasing HIV transmission rates among communities most at risk.

Our commitment to advancing equality for the LGBT community extends far beyond our borders. In many places around the globe, LGBT people face persecution, arrest, or even state-sponsored execution. This is unacceptable. The United States calls on every nation to join us in defending the universal human rights of our LGBT brothers and sisters.

This month, as we mark 45 years since the patrons of the Stonewall Inn defied an unjust policy and awakened a nascent movement, let us honor every brave leader who stood up, sat in, and came out, as well as the allies who supported them along the way. Following their example, let each of us speak for tolerance, justice, and dignity -- because if hearts and minds continue to change over time, laws will too.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2014 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.  I call upon the people of the United States to eliminate prejudice everywhere it exists, and to celebrate the great diversity of the American people.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-eighth.

BARACK OBAMA

Houston Britney and Crystal Candelight Vigil Tomorrow

For those of you in the Houston area and can do so, hope you're planning on joining me in the chapel of the AD Bruce Religion Center on the University of Houston main campus tomorrow evening, April 2  for the candlelight vigil honoring our fallen sisters Britney Cosby and Crystal Jackson.

Both died on March 8 and were just 24 years old.

I will be speaking along with Tamira 'Augie' Augustine, Dr. Rachel Afi Quinn and Pastor Ernie Turney from Bering United Methodist Church.

The event starts at 6:30 PM CDT and is being sponsored by the UH Women's Resource Center , UH LGBT Resource Center, Global at UH, NAACP UH Chapter, Equality Texas, Texas Freedom Network, the Student Feminist Organization at UH and  The Montrose Center .

AD Bruce Religion Center is on the Wheeler St/Cullen Blvd side of the campus with the closest entrance to AD Bruce and parking lot being Entrance 13 off of Cullen Blvd.    

Please consider joining us and the Houston community tomorrow  as we remember these young women and begin an open and honest dialogue about violence against the LGBT community.

And since it is being hosted on campus, I hope to see a strong UH Cougar presence at the vigil.

Moni Goes To Legacy

Spent a couple of hours this afternoon in the gayborhood at the invitation of Antonio Aguires speaking to a group of employees at Legacy Montrose Clinic.

My task for the hour was to discuss health issues, how they impact the trans community, and what we look for from the providers who wish to serve our community.  

It was one of the reasons I asked that question on my FB page in order to have a wide sampling of community opinions to do some hard, solid thinking about before I walked into the building Friday afternoon to discuss this issue. 

After a problematic incident with a trans patient a few months ago, Legacy is trying to address the problem that occurred by doing more training with its staff and the people who work there about our community and the issues we face. 

I started the talk a little after 1 PM CDT with this quote from the late Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D-NY) in which she stated during a 1970 congressional speech, "Health is a human right, not a privilege to be purchased."

I touched on some of the history of trans medicine.   I discussed Dr Magnus Hirschfeld and his Berlin institute for Sexual Research that was raided by the Nazis in 1933 and had its books and archives burned, touched briefly on Christine Jorgensen, the local gender clinic in Galveston that was founded in the early 1970's before shifting gears and tying all of this to the current day state of trans medicine and our expectations as the community Legacy seeks to respectfully serve. 

The point I wanted to drive home with the people in attendance is we trans people not only want to be seen as the men and women we are, when we come to you for medical services, we want to be treated with the same dignity and respect you'd demand for yourselves . 

I pointed out in addition to local advocates, there were also emerging online links about the subject of respectful trans medical care they could peruse as well from various organizations like WPATH, Lambda Legal, Transgender Education Network of Texas  (TENT),  TransHealth Coordinators,  and the Center of Excellence for Transgender Health just to name a few. 

I spoke for 45 minutes, then allowed another 15 minutes for questions before it concluded. 

Haven't gotten any feedback yet from Legacy in terms of the reactions from the people in attendance for this lunchtime conversation.  But I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did, took away from it something about my trans community they may not have been aware of before and it leads to the goal we all want of better health outcomes and delivery of respectful medical care for the Houston area trans community.   

Congratulations Omar!

The Lone Star State as you know has some fantastic activists living in its 268,561 sq. miles of territory and in the 16 years I've been involved in the TBLG human rights fight I've gotten to meet and know a few of them.

One of the people I have the pleasure of talking to from time to time is Omar Narvaez.

Omar is based in the Dallas area, is the former president of the Stonewall Democrats of Texas and is the community educator for Lambda Legal’s south central regional office in Big D. 

Narvaez made a little history when he was sworn in February 26 as the first openly gay trustee of the Dallas County School Board.    The DCSB governs the 14 school districts in Dallas County and has three countywide positions and four district seats that align with the Dallas County Commissioners Court

The DCSB's primary job is providing services for the Dallas County ISD's in the areas of transportation and information technology, as well as continuing education for teachers.

“It’s not a well-known seat, but it’s one that affects the entire county as far as schools go and ISDs,” he said in a Dallas Voice interview, adding he’s excited to focus on a position that affects youth. “They are the most important entity for our future.”

Narvaez is serving out the remaining DCSB term of trustee Maricela Moore, who resigned from it in January.  That term expires in May 2015 and he has yet to decide if he is going to run for reelection on the DCSB.  

He is also quite aware of the fact that he is now one of the few openly gay officials in Dallas County.  It is a short but distinguished list that includes Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, District Clerk Gary Fitzsimmons and 116th Judicial District Court Judge Tonya Parker.

“There’s not a lot of us, but at the same time we are putting ourselves out there, and our orientation does not deter us from running for office,” Narvaez said.

Congratulations Omar!   Knowing you, you'll have no problem focusing on being the best person on the DCSB.  The children in those 14 Dallas County ISD's couldn't have a better advocate for them.
   

2014 LGBT Media Journalists Convening-Moni's Busy DC Weekend

Another year, another trip to Hobby Airport to board a jet plane for the 2014 edition of the LGBT Media Journalists Convening.  

Once again I was pleased to receive an invitation to participate, represent my community and hang out with many of my fellow journalists and bloggers from around the country.

As the days rapidly ticked off the calendar toward my February 28 departure I found myself getting excited because this year's convening was in Washington DC.

But what I wasn't excited about was that I was leaving the 70 degree (21 C) warmth of H-town to head to a nation's capital still in the grip of winter weather and which on the day of my arrival would have a high temp of 25 degrees (-4 C)

But as usual, it wouldn't be a Moni trip without some drama in the mix.

Decided to take the bus to Hobby, and planned to leave myself time to get to the airport, check my bag and play with my new Asus laptop (thanks Samantha Master) at my gate after clearing TSA security. 

But as my bus left the UH campus and approached Spur 5 from UH University Drive, to my horror I saw standing between me and my connecting 88 Hobby Airport bus due at the Eastwood Transit Center  a trail ride plodding its way up the feeder.   

I'd forgotten that Friday was Go Texan Day, the date that all of us Houston denizens are encouraged to wear Western style clothing for the day.  It was also the date the various trail rides taking part in Saturday's parade to kick off Rodeo Houston would hit town and converge at Memorial.Park for their big campout before the last ride up Memorial Drive to downtown for the rodeo parade on Saturday.  

That little factoid was now impacting my trip out of town for the convening.  As we excruciatingly plodded along on my METRO bus headed north toward the Elgin-Lockwood intersection behind the horses, wagons and the HPD car guarding their rear, I with increasing stress looking at my watch hands tick inexorably closer to that 10:07 arrival time of the 88 Hobby bus into the transit center knowing that if I missed it, next one was not scheduled until 10:52 AM.  

That means instead of getting to Hobby at 10:30 AM and having time to check my bag and clear TSA security, I wouldn't be getting there until 11:17 AM, a few minutes after boarding started for my 11:45 AM nonstop on Southwest to DCA.  

I got to the Eastwood Transit Center at 10:06 AM and did my FloJo impression to the 88 Hobby southbound bus bay on the opposite side of where I got off of my initial bus as the 88 Hobby entered the transit center exactly 60 seconds later. 

Good thing I did make it because as it turned out my Southwest flight left early and arrived at the gate in DC at 3:15 PM EST.

I arrive at Washington National's (I refuse to call it Reagan National) Terminal A and after scooping up
my checked bag, called Ruby Corado to let her know I'd arrived.   She sent her executive assistant Caprice Williams to get me and take me to Casa Ruby after detouring by the Capital Hilton to allow me to check in, dump my bags in my room and head over there.

When I arrived at the Capital Hilton which is on 16th and K Streets two blocks from the White House, I noted as we pulled into the driveway police officers positioned on the roofs of adjacent buildings.  When I got out with my bags I noted a larger than normal doorman presence, multiple police cars parked on both sides of 16th Street, K-9 and other units in the lobby.  Didn't know until later that the DNC Winter Meeting was also being held at that location.



After depositing my bags in my 7th floor room, spending an enjoyable two hours with Ruby catching up with her life post Creating Change 14, getting a tour of the facility, hanging out with many of the people there, and saying hello to my Latina trans sisters who were arriving for a Friday support meeting, 6:30 PM comes way too soon and it's time for Caprice to take me back to the Capital Hilton.    

The game plan before I arrived in DC was for me spend some time at Casa Ruby, then head back to the hotel and change from my travel clothes into something nicer so I could attend the opening event of the Convening, the reception at the AFL-CIO building two blocks up the street. 

The reception would give us a chance to connect with and catch up with each other before the keynote speech by MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell and we dove into the full day of seminars Saturday.
  
However, while I was at the Georgia Avenue location of Casa Ruby, the security plan for President Obama's speech to the assembled DNC Winter Meeting masses was being executed.   Two blocks from the hotel we ran into it and Caprice had to drop me off.

I also found out the next day Caprice just three hours after she dropped me off would be involved in another ugly incident of Washington Metro Po-po's fracking with non-white transpeople that I'll discuss in a separate post.   

While I was gone the POTUS arrived at our hotel to speak at the DNC meeting and it was on lockdown.  I ended up across the street from the Capital Hilton  at 16th and L St but wasn't allowed to cross the street at that point by the officer stationed there.   The peeps inside weren't being allowed to leave either.  

After twenty chilly minutes in that corner I finally got the idea along with a Hilton hotel employee standing there with me trying to get to work to just simply walk in the opposite direction to 17th Street, go to K St, and them come back up to the hotel that way where the police officer was letting people through a security checkpoint set up there.     

So as I executed my Plan B to get to my room while making a new friend, we arrive at the hotel doors just as they release it from lockdown and I end up running into Will Kohl, Viktor Kerney and several other people in the #LGBTMedia14 crew trying to get down the street to the AFL-CIO building for the reception..

So I get to the building moments later and start running into all the peeps I know like Bi Net USA's president Faith Cheltenham, Dr. Kortney Ziegler, Kimberley McLeod of Elixher, TLC's Masen Davis, Daniel Villarreal, Rebecca Juro, media trainer extraordinaire Joel Silberman, Reina Gossett, Mike Rogers and Autumn Sandeen.  I also begin to get introduced to others who were there for the first time like Ebone Bell, Dyana Bagby of the GA Voice, Brynn Tannehill, Trish Bendix of AfterEllen and Dana Rudolph of Mombian.

After some animated conversation in the lobby with various people including my Lone Star homegirl Cristan Williams and some tasty finger food, it was time to head into the room to start the portion of the evening's events that would lead up to Andrea Mitchell's keynote.

After several speeches, the reading of a proclamation from Washington Mayor Vincent Gray, and opening remarks from Sarah Blazucki, Matt Foreman and Bil Browning, with Bil telling his humorous story about how he met Andrea, he yielded the podium to our keynote speaker for the evening.

Michell discussed several topics during her speech such as international issues, her journalism journey, and a shoutout to her MSNBC colleague Rachel Maddow.

But the major theme was human rights progress, the progress of the LGBT movement and our roles in making that happen.

When her speech concluded, she opened the floor to questions before yielding the podium back to Bil who made a few announcements concerning the White House tour that would happen tomorrow and what we could not bring with us before concluding the reception. 

Saturday dawned sunny and cold as a group of us bounced from the hotel at 7 AM to make the two block walk over to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and take part in the tour that was set up for us. 

Let's just say I will never complain about the TSA security at the nation's airports ever again after undergoing the gauntlet you have to go through just to get into the White House for the tour.

But it was fascinating to see the White House and all those rooms that I have up to this point only seen in photos or on television. 
  
After the conclusion of the White House tour, we headed back to the Capital Hilton to begin the long day of #LGBTMedia14 seminars which ironically were across the hall from the DNC Winter Meeting.

After the announcements from Bil and Matt Berger about the media trainings and the scenario that they were setting up for it, the rest of us not signed up for one introduce ourselves to the rest of the room and were challenged by Bil to come up with not more than three words to describe ourselves.  

Mine: Texas Trans* Troublemaker

The first seminar that kicked off at 9:20 AM was Mythbusters: Understanding and Deconstructing The Lies of the Anti-LGBT Industry with Nathaniel Frank, Joel Silberman and Masen Davis as panelists and moderated by Matt Foreman 

Loved Masen Davis pointing out the lack of Rachel Maddow show coverage of trans issues by stating. "Rachel Maddow, it's time to say the words 'transgender'."  He also pointed out that only 11 percent of Americans know or are friends with a trans person, and that gives anti-trans messages more power.   Joel Silberman also made the point that responses to opposition should be according to our message, not their framing of the issue.

That discussion ran until our 11:00 AM break, and 20 minutes later we dove into the second seminar of the day moderated by Erin Rook entitled What We Don't Talk About: Radical Methods For Greater Diversity In Queer Journalism with panelists Reina Gossett, Robyn Ochs and Paul Kawata.

There was an interesting discussion dominated by HIV issues and bisexual erasure issues hat ran right up to lunch time. I asked Reina the question of if the LGBT media was doing a better job of covering trans issues and also reminded the people in the room that "'POC LGBT people do not have the luxury of separating our ethnicity from our LGBT status."

That took us to our lunch break at 12:50 PM, and while I was out fixing my plate ran into Earl Fowlkes, who I met during CC14 and was here for the DNC meeting.  He told me that he'd just left the DNC LGBT caucus one and everyone was in high spirits and enthused about the upcoming 2014 midterms.   We also got visited by Dana Beyer and DNC member Babs Casbar Siperstein

We came out of the lunch break with Rebecca Juro introducing our next speaker, DREAMer Lorella Praeli, who talked about immigration reform for a few moments before heading into our 2:10 PM Trish Bendix moderated panel entitled Geek Tech: The Future Of LGBT Media with Tyler Chance and Kortney Ziegler.  

Kortney got to talk about Trans* H4CK for a few moments before launching into along with Tyler developments in tech world that affect bloggers and the LGBT community.

After our snack break at 3:40 PM, we headed into the final panel discussion moderated by Sarah Blazucki entitled: Airing Our Dirty Laundry: Best Practices in Airing Touchy Subjects with panelists Mara Keisling, Darlene Nipper and Steven Thrasher.

And yeah, we did touch on race in that discussion, in which I made the point that the LGBT community does have a race problem that we need to solve.  I reiterated the point I made earlier that  POC LGBT people don't have the luxury as our white counterparts do of separating their race from the rainbow community status and don't want to.  Because of the LGBT Two Americas and white privilege, there are times non-white LGBT people are going to see things differently like the Piers Morgan interviews with Janet Mock
 
That brought us to the wrap up and feedback portion of #LGBTMedia14 that Daniel Villarreal moderated in which we threw out suggessions for topics to cover at the next convening.     

One I would like to see is a TBLG sports one which I believe is sorely needed as more trans and SGL athletes come out like Fallon Fox, Michael Sam, Brittney Griner and others.  In addition to trans, bi and SGL athletes we also have trans and SGL sportswriters like Christina Kahrl and LZ Granderson who would be perfect panelists for it 

We in the BTLG media ranks need to be able to bust the myths and lies of the haters and also explain to the community that our LGBT athletes are trailblazing heroes and sheroes, too.

That wrapped up at 6:00 PM and I dashed up to the room to get ready as I would get not one but two visitors wanting to hang out with me in Tona Brown and Candace Montague. 

Candace I met briefly during OUT On the Hill 2012, but we were finally going to get to spend some quality time together.   She'd already gotten a commitment from me to go to dinner with her, which was the reason I didn't go to the meetup at the Green Lantern.  

I know a lot of peeps in DC who the nanosecond I mentioned I was coming inside I-495 were blowing up my Facebook page and phone wanting to know when, what day and time. Some I couldn't catch up with like Imam Daayiee Abdullah and Kristopher Sharp.

And pro tip: In Ruby's case, she made sure she got her quality time in by grabbing me at the airport.   

Speaking of the airport, I started hearing rumblings about flights being canceled because of the approaching winter storm Titan, and called Southwest reservations to make sure my flight was still alive for Sunday.  If it hadn't been, I was looking at the prospect of spending an extra day or two in a snowed in Washington D.C.

I got checked in for my return non-stop to Houston (hallelujah) and got back to the business of prepping for my dinner outing with Candace and Tona.

In Tona's case I've known and talked to her for almost ten years, but we'd never officially met until that night.  Candace was coming to get me at the hotel at 7 PM and Tona rolled up from northern Virginia at 6:50 PM just as I made it downstairs to the lobby.

Tona has an amazing announcement to make about an upcoming event she's planning that I'm sworn to secrecy on, but as soon as the details are finalized I will announce to you what our classically trained history making mezzo soprano vocalist is up to.    

Candace arrives and we head over to Georgia Brown's for a wonderful dinner and even better conversation as I got my crabcake grub on.

When I come to DC, next to Five Guys, destroying somebody's crab cakes in the area is a must.   And yeah I do need to knock off my DC Bucket List a trip to Ben's Chili Bowl.

Just as quickly as it started, the LGBTMedia14 weekend drew to a close with the monument bus tour in which I and the other peeps on the bus with moi passed by the Newseum (another place I want to go) and the future site on the National Mall of the under construction National Museum of African American History and Culture slated to open in 2015. 

We also passed by the Canadian Embassy which wasn't hard to miss with all the Canadian flags on it.  I'm shocked they didn't put monster sized posters of the men's and women's Olympic hockey teams on the Pennsylvania Avenue side, too.

We returned back to the hotel after stopping at the Jefferson and MLK memorials and passing the Lincoln, World War II, Korean and Vietnam Veterans memorials and rolling by the White House, the US Capitol building, the OAS headquarters, and other major federal agency buildings.   .

My busy weekend in DC came to a close with me catching up with Ruby again, having lunch with her at a local pupuseria and finding out what the hell happened Friday night before she took me to DCA.

After hearing her side of it and from Caprice, I pointed out that the po-po's probably (racistly) assumed that the BMW Z3 SUV owned by Casa Ruby and full of trans folks minding their own damned business was stolen, and that a couple of magnetic Casa Ruby logo signs would end that BS. 

I also found out the interesting point that Metro PD Chief Cathy Lanier talks a good game about eradicating transphobia in her MPD force, but Friday's incident, the Kenneth Furr and Patti Shaw cases and a recently released report compiled by  the  Anti-Defamation League says otherwise.

As I chatted with Ruby, I noted the skies above DC becoming increasingly cloudy and the temp starting to drop, which let me know the cold front was starting to arrive in the area.

Well another busy LGBT Media Journalists Convening has come to a close, and as of today we don't know where it's going to be held in 2015.   But wherever that place is, sure hope one of the peeps getting an invite.for it is me. 

Moni's Headed To The 2014 LGBT Media Journalists Convening!

One of the first trips I'll make in the New Year will be back to Washington DC, but it won't be to lobby. 

I'll be headed inside I-495 to attend the 2014 LGBT Media Journalists Convening that will be taking place in our nation's capital.

The National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NGLJA) is the proud host of the 2014 LGBT Media Journalists Convening, and it is sponsored by the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund.

The theme of the 2014 LGBT Media Journalists Convening is "Honing Our Game," and will be held Friday, February 28 to Sunday, March 2, 2014.  The goal of this fifth annual forum is to strengthen the capacity of TBLG  members of the media and blogosphere to more deeply understand and more effectively communicate critical issues facing the BTLG community, as well as assist in increasing the presence and diversity of GLBT bloggers in the national blogging community.

Translation, the convening is a business trip to help me become a better blogger and meet with many of my counterparts around the country to talk shop.   

Last year's event in Philly was the first time I was able to attend it.  I'm still bummed I missed the 2012 one in Houston, and from what I heard when I was in the City of Brotherly Love for it, so were many of my fellow bloggers.

So as the date gets closer to it and other attendees start talking about it,  I'll have more to say.  But one thing I'm already aware of is the hashtag we'll be using for the 2014 convening, which will be #LGBTMedia14.

I'm looking forward to 'Honing My Game' with my fellow bloggers and journalists and hanging out with y'all in late February.