MJ Rodriguez To Receive Trailblazer Hispanic Heritage Award

You know MJ Rodriguez as Blanca Rodriguez Evangelista from the hit FX show POSE that will kick off Season 2 in 2019.   
MJ Rodriguez, the actress who plays Blanca, is poised to make history when the 31st annual Hispanic Heritage Awards take place in Washington DC at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

The 27 year old Rodriguez will be honored by the Hispanic Heritage Foundation with the Trailblazer Hispanic Heritage Award. 

It is a prestigious one in the Latinx community that has previously gone to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Gloria Estefan, Rita Moreno, Celia Cruz, America Ferrera, Gael Garcia Bernal, Zoe Saldana, Ricky Martin and Placido Domino just to name some of the recipients of that award. 

Congratulations to MJ as her name joins that distinguished list of honorees.

Rodriguez is being recognized for her “talent, courage and social impact,” according to Jose Antonio Tijerino, President and CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation. “Her story is a journey of triumph as she leads the way for transgender representation in Hollywood and beyond,” he said in a statement.

Rodriguez will become the first trans feminine woman ever to win this award, and the Hispanic Heritage Awards can be seen on PBS later this month.
 

Pulse Terror Attack: One Year Later

This was an attack on the entire TBLG community, and we cannot allow the people killed at Pulse to die in vain.  Far from the entire community cowering in fear, we should be even more determined to openly live our lives and work to ensure that homophobia and transphobia are eradicated from our culture.-TransGriot  June 13, 2016

I definitely remember where I was when I heard about the Pulse nightclub terror attack in Orlando.  I was in Philadelphia staying at Dionne Stallworth's place for the just concluded Philly Trans Health Conference.

I was in the midst of an empowering few days that started with me going to Washington DC and the White House for my first LGBT Pride Reception with Ruby Corado, then immediately leaving with Fiona Dawson to ride up I-95 to Philadelphia for my early Friday morning PTHC media panel moderated by Brynn Tannehill after arriving a little after midnight.

I was in Philadelphia preparing to catch a Megabus to Washington DC for Capital Pride and my flight back to the Houston area when Dionne hit me with the first disturbing early Sunday morning news about the Pulse shooting.

The details were still coming out as I headed to the Megabus pickup stop in Philly for my trip back down I-95 to DC, and I sent out a tweet that incensed the right wing haters when I said "This tragedy is the result of six months of nonstop GOP anti-gay hatred for their political gain."

That started a swarm of GOP leaning Twitter trolls heading to my Twitter feed to swarm attack me.  I spent the entire 139 mile (224 km) bus ride calling out and then blocking them until I hit DC's Union Station.   I spent some time at the nearby Capital Pride, and noticed the increased police presence for the event before heading to BWI airport a few hours later.

49 people died during that terror attack on Latin Night, with another 53 people being wounded.   And yes, I still do blame all the anti-gay and anti-trans Republican rhetoric in being a catalyst for the Pulse attack.

And still haven't forgotten that reprehensible tweet Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick (R) unleashed on the world early that morning.

It also made me think about the fact less than a few hours before I'd been in a predominately trans convention space.  I noted when I entered the convention center for PTHC's Saturday sessions the security level for our event and thinking we needed more than the single unarmed security company person at the doors in light of all the anti-trans rhetoric that had been put out there across the country by the Republicans and other conservative media.

A few months later I got the opportunity to see the Pulse site for myself while attending this year's LGBT Media Journalists Convening in Orlando.  

Earlier that Saturday morning during one of our sessions we'd heard from one of the survivors who urged us to remind people in our upcoming anniversary articles we would soon write that this happened on Latin Night.

I noted when our buses rolled up from the hotel the Puerto Rican flags put up as part of the memorial. I noted the reverent silence at a site that should have had vehicles filling its parking lot and excited anticipation building for another night in which the Orlando TBLGQ community gathered at this location for fun and to meet that special person.

Stanley Almodovar III, 23 years old

Amanda Alvear, 25 years old

Oscar A Aracena-Montero, 26 years old

Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33 years old

Antonio Davon Brown, 29 years old

Darryl Roman Burt II, 29 years old

Angel L. Candelario-Padro, 28 years old

Juan Chavez-Martinez, 25 years old

Luis Daniel Conde, 39 years old

Cory James Connell, 21 years old

Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25 years old

Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32 years old

Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez, 31 years old

Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25 years old

Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26 years old

Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22 years old

Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22 years old

Paul Terrell Henry, 41 years old

Frank Hernandez, 27 years old

Miguel Angel Honorato, 30 years old

Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40 years old

Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19 years old

Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30 years old

Anthony Luis Laureanodisla, 25 years old

Christopher Andrew Leinonen, 32 years old

Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21 years old

Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, 49 years old

Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25 years old

Kimberly Morris, 37 years old

Akyra Monet Murray, 18 years old

Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20 years old

Geraldo A. Ortiz-Jimenez, 25 years old

Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36 years old

Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32 years old

Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35 years old

Enrique L. Rios, Jr., 25 years old

Jean C. Nieves Rodriguez, 27 years old

Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35 years old

Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, 24 years old

Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan, 24 years old

Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34 years old

Shane Evan Tomlinson, 33 years old

Martin Benitez Torres, 33 years old

Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega, 24 years old

Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, 37 years old

Luis S. Vielma, 22 years old

Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50 years old

Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37 years old

Jerald Arthur Wright, 31 years old

#WeAreOrlando #Pulse #Orlando #Solidarity

Instead, it is now quiet because of a senseless mass shooting that targeted our community and the makeshift memorials that now cover portions of that fenced off parking lot.

The Orlando City soccer club has 49 rainbow flag seats in Section 12 with #OrlandoUnited on them in its new stadium just two miles from the club in honor of the persons we lost that night.  

The Pulse club itself in now a memorial    And sadly, we now have an idiot in the White House who is pandering to the right wing fundamentalists and members of his base who would love for that to happen again.

No, it can't be allowed to happen again.   And we must redouble our efforts as a TBLGQ community to eradicate homophobia and transphobia from our greater societal ranks

Congratulations Councilmember-elect Narvaez!

A few hours ago I received another reminder of just how many amazing people I have in my life and who call me their friend.

I've known Omar Narvaez for several years now thanks to his work with Lambda Legal in their Dallas regional office, as a past three time president of the Stonewall Democrats of Dallas and his service on the Dallas County School Board.   He was elected in 2015 to his first full six year term on the Dallas County School Board after being appointed in May 2014 to fill a vacancy on that board.

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He recently ran for the Dallas City Council District 6 seat in West Dallas currently held by Monica Alonzo, who is also the Dallas Mayor Pro Tem and sister of Texas state rep Roberto Alonzo (D).

Narvaez during the May 6 city election made it to the runoff with Alonzo, and armed with endorsements from the AFL-CIO and former Dallas city councilmember Angela Hunt, beat her in the runoff.  All the District 6 precincts reported in a few hours ago and have been counted, so that means Omar is the councilmember-elect for District 6.

It wasn't close.  Narvaez and #TeamOmar flipped the Election Day script, and garnered 1132 votes (58% of the vote) to Alonzo's 828 votes (42% of the vote).

Alonzo was one of three incumbent Dallas council members and allies of current Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings to lose their council seats yesterday.  Alonzo was joined by her council colleagues Tiffinni Young in District 7, the southeast Dallas district that includes Fair Park where the Texas State Fair happens, and Erik Wilson in the south Dallas centered District 8.

Mayor Rawlings had endorsed Alonzo and Young, and stayed neutral in the District 8 race.

"I'm ready to fight the corruption and get it stopped at City Hall and to stop the wasteful use of our tax dollars on boondoggle projects,"Narvaez said in a Dallas Observer story.  "For far too long, District 6 has been underrepresented;  It's time for thoughtful and intelligent leadership at City Hall.

And it looks like on runoff election night, District 6 agrees with you.

Congratulations Councilmember-elect Narvaez!   Amazing accomplishment, and know you are looking forward to this exciting new challenge of representing your District 6 constituents at Dallas City Hall.

Loving The Netflix 'One Day At A Time' Reboot

I watched the Norman Lear produced CBS show One Day At A Time back during my teen years which aired from 1975-1984.   When I heard the show was coming back on Netflix with an interesting rebooted twist and Lear down with it, I was intrigued

I was even more ecstatic about it when I heard that Rita Moreno was one of the cast members and the revamped theme song 'This Is It' was being sung by Gloria Estefan to reflect the fact the family in this version is Cuban-American.

The Netflix version of this classic Norman Lear show debuted January 6 and features Justina Machado playing Penelope Alvarez, a nurse, Afghan War vet and single mom separated from her husband who left the Army, but is doing private security there.   Penelope is raising two teenage kids with the help and sometimes hindrance of her mother Lydia, played by Moreno..

It is set in Los Angeles now instead of Indianapolis like the original show, and the separated Penelope is raising a tween son and a feminist teenage daughter in another change from the original show instead of two teen girls .  

 And yes, Dwayne Schneider, the building superintendent is in this version as well, played in hipster style by Todd Grinnell   Mackenzie Phillips from the original show makes a cameo appearance in one episode.

In addition to showcasing the dynamic of three generations living under one roof, the rebooted One Day At A Time also tackles issues in this first season such as immigration and deportation, religion, PTSD, the issues unique to female vets like Penelope, dealing with the VA bureaucracy, dating,.sex and a coming out story all with an unmistakable Latinx flavor.


The writing in this show is also up to the performances of this wonderful cast.

So if you're looking for something on Netflix to binge watch, check out the 13 episode first season of One Day At A Time.  You'll be happy you did.. .   .

Are Latinx Voters Finally Kicking The GOP To The Political Curb?

One of the things I have been hoping for and thinking about for a long time over the history of this blog is wondering when Latinx voters across the nation would get tired of being dissed by the GOP, have the same epiphany about the Republican Party not being their friends as their California cousins got in the late 90's, and react by punishing them at the polls?

It's a question I and a lot of people in liberal-progressive political world have long asked ourselves and waited with gleeful anticipation to see answered.   .

When would Latinos, the fastest growing ethnic group in the US, get tired of Republicans racistly attacking them for conservative political gain and as happened in California, kick the GOP to the political curb?

Looks like the answer to that question may be 2016.  

In California, you can trace the decline of the Republican Party in the state in large part to the passage in 1994 of the racist Proposition 187 that was pushed by then California Governor Pete Wilson (R), the California GOP and aimed primarily at undocumented Latinx immigrants..

After it passed on November 10, three days later it was hit with a federal injunction blocking its enforcement.   After Gray Davis (D) was elected, the state dropped the appeal of the federal injunction in 1999, which effectively repealed it.

But what California Republicans failed to realize as they gleefully celebrated that Prop 187 win in 1994 is that by being gung ho for anti- Latinx discrimination and attacking immigrants, they were setting up the unforeseen consequences of the decline of their party and pissing off a generation of California Latinx voters  
California went from being a competitive swing state to a safe Democratic bastion in less than a decade because California Latinx people left the party and then punished them at the polls for pushing the unjust law.

One of the smart things that George W. Bush tried to do as governor and Rick Perry continued as his successor was attempting to keep what happened to the California Republican Party from occurring in Texas by doing outreach to the Texas Latinx community, and appointing Latinx people to open statewide offices and positions.   He and the Texas GOP were quite aware of Texas rapidly changing demographics and inevitably becoming like California a majority minority population state by 2009.

One of their strategies for dealing with it was attempting to build the Latinx community up as a bloc to cancel out African-Americans, who they long ago lost as a constituency in 1964

But with the increasing anti-Latinx and anti-immigration rhetoric in the GOP political ranks as part of their Massive Resistance 2.0 strategy aimed at President Obama who was in favor of comprehensive immigration reform,  combined with a candidate in Trump despised by the Latinx community, it sure looks like the long hoped for Latinx voters permanently dumping the Republican Party and realigning their votes as part of the Democratic coalition may finally be happening.

The catalyst for this possible seismic political shift it is the Donald Trump campaign, his big mouth, Trump's racist antics attacking federal District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, former Miss Universe Alicia Machado. Univision and its journalists and his campaign's anti-Mexican rhetoric.

Trump has not been helped by his own Latino surrogates spouting more anti-Latinx immigrant rhetoric themselves like the infamous 'taco truck on every corner' comment by Latinos for Trump founder Marco Gutierrez back in September.

Latinx participation in the 2016 presidential election cycle was dramatically up across the country.  We have had Latinx celebs like America Ferrera, Eva Longoria and Wilson Cruz acting as surrogates for the Clinton campaign , and it may be the difference in this election.  

We'll see how much of a difference it makes in 48 hours.  We'll have to stay tuned to discover whether this massive Latinx rejection of Republicans fueled by dislike of Trump continues in down ballot races and beyond November 8.

I hope the message sinks in to the Latinx community that the best way to deal with politicians who disrespect your community is either vote them out of office in every election cycle or build a wall of votes for their opponent that keeps the offensive politician out of office in the first place.

I also hope the Latinx community continues to show up and show out in large numbers in every election cycle from now on as an an important part of a liberal-progressive voting bloc that will make this country better.

Selena MAC Collection Is A Hit!

If you don't think the Latinx community still doesn't have mad love for all things Selena, here's more evidence they do.

Was checking out a picture from my homegirl Chelsea Noriega posted on her Facebook page of the line in a Boston store where she and countless other people are waiting to purchase items from the MAC Selena Collection which went on sale in the stores that sell MAC Cosmetics stores today

The MAC Selena Collection lunched September 30 in Selena's hometown of Corpus Christi, TX, and went on sale online the next day.   I'm not surprised about hearing it sold out online in its first day of availability.

The MAC Selena collection was a collaborative effort of MAC and Selena's sister Suzette Quintanilla, who wanted the collection to reflect the bold makeup choices her sister made and effortlessly pulled off.

The three lipsticks in the collection are named after Selena songs.  The dark red one is Dreaming Of You, the light red is Como La Flor, and the dark brown is Amor Prohibido  

 It includes two eyeshadows, a purple one named Selena. and a pink one called Fotos Y Recuerdos, and the Techno Cumbio.blush duo that's part of the collection comes in Ven Conmingo and Blunt

"I wanted the colors to be about her personality, what she wore on and off stage," said Suzette Quintanilla about the collection.

MAC is working now to restock to satisfy the customers disappointed that they couldn't get the collection when they attempted to purchase it online.

And judging by the line from the location where Chelsea took the picture, MAC will probably have to do some major restocking of stores across the country over the next few days as well..

H/T Chelsea Noriega for the photo.  And yes, Chelsea got her Selena MAC collection items 

Moni's Thoughts About The Pulse Terror Attack

I was in the midst of one of the more empowering weeks I have had in my life between getting to attend my first White House LGBT Pride reception, a well received Philadelphia Trans Health Conference media panel on Friday, and experiencing the love of much of my community (except for five haters who know who they are)

So it was a shock but not too surprising for me when I awoke on Sunday morning to hear the distressing news about the Pulse TBLG nightclub in Orlando being attacked on Latinx Night.

Why am I not surprised it happened?  Because of the ramped up anti-trans and anti-gay animus that has been stoked by the Republican Party and fundamentalist preachers like James Dobson, I have been concerned that something like this was going to happen.   When you keep demonizing a marginalized group, just a matter of time before something like this happens in a country with far too many guns and easy access to acquire them.

We have 49 people dead with 53 more are injured as a result of the terrorist attack at Pulse and my condolences to the predominately Latinx BTLG family members we lost.  I also pray for the people who survived it, but will be haunted by memories of that  horrific night for a long time to come.

But it seems to me the media is more obsessed with the now deceased shooter Omar Saleem's radicalization and playing footsie with ISIS than pointing out the fact that the Republicans were gleefully trafficking in anti-trans and anti-gay hatred for months before Sunday's attack.

In fact, Texas Lt Governor Dan Patrick unleashed a tweet at 7 AM he later retracted about people 'reaping what they sow' mere hours after the mass shooting happened.  Once again, another day when Texas Republican leaders have embarrassed the state.

I'm also not liking the Republicans, after spending decades demonizing the TBLG community, all of a sudden trying to play like they are our community's best buds.   And the Log Cabin Sellouts Republicans need to check themselves in terms of that press release they put out, but conveniently ignoring that their party was pushing fear and hatred of transgender people for political advantage.

As the details of this mass shooting continue to come out, the nation and the world mourns with Orlando and the national BTLG community.   In addition to the one held in front of the historic Stonewall Inn in New York, the Houston LGBT community held a vigil on Sunday, and there have been others either held or planned as the week has progressed.

This was an  attack on the entire TBLG community, and we cannot allow the people killed at Pulse to die in vain.  Far from the entire community cowering in fear, we should be even more determined to openly live our lives and work to ensure that homophobia and transphobia are eradicated from our culture.