Countdown To GLAAD Gala SF 2016

I've gone through my noon PDT rehearsal for my GLAAD Gala speech tonight., know where I'm sitting (will be close to the stage of course) figuring out what I want to wear tonight, and I'm ready as I'll ever be for this event that is starting at 5:30 PM PDT..

And I've even gotten a free Slurpee, so today is definitely a good day despite not being able to find the BART pass I just picked up at the airport yesterday..

The Gala at the Metreon is sold out, and thanks to everyone in the community who continue to honor me with your well wishes.for receiving this award.  

Means a lot to me.

If you want to follow the action, check out GLAAD's Twitter page at @GLAAD and the hashtag #glaadgala

I'll also post the text of the speech in  a few hours.

Moni's In The Middle Of The White House LGBT Pride Reception

After a emotional United flight up here to BWI in which for once I didn't get jacked up in TSA security, interesting Uber rides on the H-town and BWI ends in which I discussed politics and life in Houston for my BWI Uber driver who is ironically moving to Houston next week with his family , having dinner and drinks with Hayden Mora, Angelica Ross and Ruby Corado, it's now hitting me that I'm finally going to be in the White House for my first LGBT Pride Reception.

It will be the last one that President Obama will host of his administration (sniff, sniff) and looking forward to just soaking it in, tweeting it, taking photos, seeing who is there and taking as many photos as possible.

So far I'm not the only Houstonian up here for it.  Ashton Woods has already let me  know that he'll be there, and I'm anxious to see how much of my trans fam will be in that nice white mansion my ancestors built with their free labor..

I have to be in line at the White House southeast entrance at 2;30 PM EDT to clear security, and y'all know I made damned sure I made sure I put my ID back in my wallet after I cleared TSA security at IAH.

If it's anything like previous White House LGBT Pride Reception events, you might be able to see it on C-SPAN starting around 4 PM EDT.

Been Invited To The 2016 White House LGBT Pride Month Reception!

It has been an event that I have been wanting to attend ever since it started seven years ago.  It had heightened importance for me because of the African-American president we have in the White House right now.and was more disappointing when I didn't get an invitation to it.

Yesterday that invitation that I have been hoping for finally happened.

I've been invited to next week's  LGBT Pride Month Reception!.   I cried when I saw the e-mail, and now I'm scrambling to do my best to get to Washington DC so I can attend it.  

It's going to be the last one of President Obama's administration, and I want to be there for that history and most of all, to record it for my TransGriot readers.

Now it's just a matter of doing what I can to make it happen and be in the room when it kicks off..

'Game Face' Houston Debut Happening July 26

The 19th annual QFest LGBTQ film festival will take place in several venues around Houston from July 23-27.   One of those films being shown is the classic documentary Paris Is Burning.

But QFest will also have thanks to Out & Equal Houston the local debut of the documentary Game Face that features the coming out stories of my WMMA fighting homegirl Fallon Fox and Terrence Clemens, a young, ambitious and talented college basketball player in Oklahoma, who happens to be gay.


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The Out & Equal sponsored screening of Game Face will occur at 14 Pews on July 26 starting at 3 PM CDT.   The doors at 14 Pews will open at 2:30 PM and after the film's conclusion there will be a mix and mingle event in the 14 Pews backyard. 

!4 Pews address is 800 Aurora St. in Houston. Free seating through Out & Equal Houston & QPass Holders is limited, so registration will close at 60 persons.  General admission for non-Out & Equal Houston or Q-Fest members is $10.

So hope y'all take advantage of the opportunity to see Game Face and the other exciting cinematic offering that QFest has on tap in it's 2015 edition..

CC15 Day 2 Recap

This CC15 day started for me with the NBJC Black Institute, and ended at 2 AM cutting up in the Sheraton Denver lobby with my trans brothers and trans sisters.

After the opening remarks from NBJC executive Director Sharon Lettman-Hicks, we dove right into the first panel of the day

It was entitled From the Grassroots to the National Stage: Movement Building with Intersectional Justice for Black LGBTQ/SGL People.    It was a panel with Mandy Carter, Earl Fowlkes, Geneva Musgrave, Rev. Dr Kenneth Samuel and Chai Jindasurat and myself in a robust discussion of the state of Black LGBTQ?SGL America .moderated by Angela Peoples.

It was a 90 minute discussion that ended far to soon for the breakout sessions that followed later. and took us to lunch.

Black LGBTQ youth was served in the first panel after the lunch break was a Black Youth Project 100 sponsored panel entitled Get Free:Black LGBT Rights and Grassroots Organizing. 

The high energy and informative presentation by Angie Brilliance, Samantha Master and Charlene Carruthers discussed grassroots organizing, and building power in our community as seen from the eyes of the 18-35 set.

After their part of the institute concluded, we had the honor of Fallon Fox addressing us after being introduced by Kye Allums.   Fallon told us about her journey to becoming a kick butt WMMA fighter while trans.

That was the lead in to the next panel at 3:30 PM, presented by Athlete Ally.which focused on the sports world.   Black TBLGQ athletes such as Kye Allums, Fallon Fox, Brittney Griner, and Michael Sam have not only excelled on the field, but made trailblazing progress that also has bigger ramifications for our community.

The Color of Sports:Black Perspectives at the Intersection of Race, Gender and Orientation in Sports was moderated by Wendy Lewis after being introduced by Akil Patterson.

Panelists Kye Allums, Wade Davis Ashland Johnson and Nevin Caple discussed the challenges of being Black and LGBT in the sports world.

The final panel of the Black Institute was entitled Suffering in Silence:Addressing HIV, LGBT Health and The Black LGBTQ/SGL Community moderated by Venton Jones.

This was my second panel of the day, and I was joined by the  Rev Dr Jamie Washington, Kenyon Farrow, Jai Makokha, and Maria Glover-Wallace in which we not only discussed the HIV/AIDS epidemic in our community, but the need to focus on health care, wellness, and raising the profile of HIV/AIDS  to where it has the same level of  urgency that we give to combating obesity and diabetes in the Black community.

We also discussed the launch of the NBJC Black Wellness Initiative in that interactive panel discussion what we probably could have used another hour for.

After the closing remarks from Sharon, the second annual NBJC Black Institute was concluded.

After joining my Houston homies Ashton Woods and NBJC Emerging Leader Brandon Mack,  we headed to the People of Color suite to hilariously kill some time before heading to the what turned out to be a very interesting opening plenary session.

After writing up what happened at the protest, I returned to the lobby area to hang out with my trans sisters and trans brothers until nearly 2 AM

Yep, long day.  But I'm not complaining.Just need a little sleep and I'm good to go.

Nartional Coming Out Day 2014- It's STILL Different And Challenging For Trans People

"If you're trans*, it's even scarier and a much different dynamic from our LGB brothers and sisters because a gender transition is not easy.  After the initial coming out date, unlike our cis LGB brothers and sisters, we have to pay cash out of pocket, get trans specific medical care and counseling, and morph our bodies to be our kind of person we wish to project to the world. "  -TransGriot October 11, 2013,"National Coming Out Day 2013-It's STILL Different For A Trans Person


Today is National Coming Out Day!  While some peeps celebrated it with events yesterday because the date has fallen on a weekend, today is the official day.

National Coming Out Day is still and always will be fundamentally different for a trans person to do so than someone in the LGB community. We not only have to pay for the privilege of being ourselves, we have to have the assistance of medical science to morph our bodies to present as the people we are.

If you chose this date to come out and live your trans, bi, or SGL lives, congratulations for taking your first bold steps toward being your true selves.  

And yes, know that there are differences in the coming out experience, and it is affected by race and class just like everything else in American society is.

For my newly out transfolks, while I congratulate you for doing so, on this National Coming Out Day I do need to take some time to drop some real talk on you. 

You are coming out at a fascinating time in modern trans history.   While it is undeniably the best of times in terms of the unprecedented visibility and coverage for transgender issues, and especially seeing trans people of color represented, at the same time we've gotten the undivided attention of the Religious Right.

They have lost their War Against Same-Sex Marriage, and need a new cause to rally the hate troops around.   Since trans rights are quickly being recognized as a human rights issue, they are  joining our longtime disco-era enemies the TERF's in hating on transpeople.

We've had a rough week in terms of the trans women we have lost in Los Angeles, Brisbane, Australia, and Brazil with the Transgender Day of Remembrance just a few short weeks away. 

We are the only peeps in the TBLG rainbow community who have to pay for the privilege of being ourselves.

When I say pay for the privilege of being ourselves, of course I'm alluding to the medical and body morphing aspect of the transition.   That's the easy part.   But it is not the end all and be all of a gender transition.  If you wish to have as a trans feminine person SRS, go for it, but remember that gender is between your ears, not your legs.  

The tougher part of a transition is the ongoing part of you evolving to be the best person you can be while trying to grasp the nuances of living in the world as the man or woman you always were and now get to be full time. 

And you're trying to do so while being hated on by a way too long list of haters inside and outside the TBLG community ranks.

But the interesting note to all of this is that once you do finally start down the transition highway, you'll wonder to yourself as you get comfortable in your skin and your desired gender role why you didn't do this sooner.

You'll meet some amazing and loving people in this community to replace the people that kicked you to the curb or distanced themselves from you after you began your transition.  Your family expands to the point where you will have brothers and sisters across the country and the world. 

And you are part of a group of remarkable human beings who have a proud history, are part of the diverse mosaic of human life, and are fighting every day to just live their lives without drama and to the best of their ability.


Yes, coming out as and being trans is challenging.   But it is oh so rewarding when you do so as well.   

Welcome to the trans family.