Hurricane Katrina Anniversary

Today is the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall in the New Orleans area and Mississippi Gulf Coast. I couldn't let this day pass without commenting on what happened a year ago.

Many Houstonians have deep connections to New Orleans. It's just a five hour drive down I-10 or a 40 minute plane ride away. Whether it was weekend trips we made there to enjoy the city's culture, food, music and history, romance or just visiting friends and family who live in the area, New Orleans is never far from a Houstonian's mind.

As a toddler I lived on the West Bank for two years (in Marrero) when my dad was starting his radio career. If you get me around anyone from New Orleans for a long enough period of time my speech pattern will revert to Nawlinsspeak for a moment.

I made numerous visits to New Orleans over the years and my godsister still lives there with her husband and kids. I went through a lot of emotions in the days leading up to August 29 and afterward.

Concern about my godsister Angela, her family and my friends. Horror at the first pictures of the devastation. The torn roof of the Superdome. The chopped up I-10 bridges across the mouth of Lake Borgne where it meets the Gulf. Shock as the pictures of the Convention Center were broadcast on CNN and seeing the water pouring through the failed levees. Anger as people waited on I-10 for help that was too slow to get there and seeing the bloated bodies of the peeps that didn't make it.
Disgust as the Bush administration cavalierly waited for days before realizing they had a worldwide PR disaster on their hands and belatedly sent supplies in.

I want to say a prayer for the people that tragically didn't make it and the struggles that residents of New Orleans and the Missisippi Gulf Ccast are having rebuilding their lives.

It shouldn't be happening in the United States. But it is.

Callin' Y'all Out

The hypocrisy of the Black community concerning its GLBT children has always been a sore spot wth me.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard Reverend Bigbucks from the Humongous Baptist Church and his like-minded clones rail about GLBT peeps from the pulpit, then after that rousing gay-baiting sermon will point to his gay choir director to rock the sanctuary.

The Black community will flock to the theaters to see Tyler Perry in drag but got issues with the transgendered sistah or brotha they see out and about living their lives in the 'hood.

You have the 'hard' wannabe hip-hop thugs who say they hate fags but are doing more things on the down low to their behinds than wiping them with toilet paper.

Case in point. I found it funny that the recent homophobic incident involving Busta Rhymes happened near a gay club.

The genetic sisters who befriend us and give us all kinds of help putting our feminine presentation together until the guys start taking an interest in us, then there's drama. They start sniping at us behind our backs, telling the world our business or spouting that 'you ain't a real woman unless you can drop a baby or bleed once a month' line.

I won't even mention the parents who will toss their GLBT child out on the street without hesitation or withdraw their love from them in some instances.
But let Rashan be a frequent visitor of the court system and he gets more support from the family than we do. Mama will be on the six o'clock news loudly proclaiming her child's innocence to every television camera in sight

The refusal of the larger African-American community to openly embrace us, talk about GLBT issues and have frank discussions about sex has hurt our community. The explosion of HIV/AIDS cases is a symptom of that. It's also depriving the African-American community of our talents at a time when we are sorely needed to help us overcome some vexing problems. This is happening simply because some people can't get beyond their personal prejudices. The bottom line is that we exist and y'all need to deal with it.

We share the same heritage and African roots that you do. We get jacked with for being Black. With a government in power that hates ALL of us it's even more imperative that we band together to come up with strategies and solutions for dealing with the problems in our community and fighting those forces that still oppose our advancement as a people.

I Ain't No She-Male

By Monica Roberts and Dawn Wilson
Originally Published in THE LETTER


We read Noah (Tina) Williams' `She-Males Need Love, Too' article
that was published in the August 2002 issue of The Letter. While
there's no disagreement with the premise of the story, we do have one major problem with it: Noah's advocation of the use of the term `she-male'.

Noah asked in the article what was wrong with the she-male label and
why it was disliked by transsexuals. Well, be careful what you wish
for, because we're about to tell you why.

Grab yourself something to eat and a comfortable seat, because school is now in session.

First, sit down at your computer and prepare to surf the Net using
your friendly neighborhood web browser. Select your favorite search
engine and type in `transsexual'. Note how many responses you get
for `transsexual' and the type. You'll have some X-rated content,
but for the most part the responses you'll get will be fairly
positive. Now let's clear your favorite search engine and type
in `she-male'. You'll notice two things: You'll get more hits when
you type in `she-male' and two, the she-male hits will be
predominately X-rated sites.

That is the major reason why many transsexuals have a severe problem
with being called she- males. But it goes far deeper than that. The
term was coined by one of the transgendered community's bitter
enemies, Janice Raymond. This nattering nabob of negativity
concocted the term when she wrote her infamous 1979 book, The
Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She- Male. This mean-spirited
book is to many transgendered people the equivalent of Mein Kampf in
terms of its Ann Coulteresque rant against transsexuals. It is doubly
insulting because these words are now inextricably tied to the sex
industry.

Besides, there's already a term in use coined by transsexuals to
describe someone in Noah's situation. Can you say non-operative
transsexual?

Say it with us. Non-operative transsexual.
Good, we know you can do it.

The beauty of the words `non-operative transsexual' is that it not
only accurately explains who you perceive that you are, it also
avoids the use of a phrase that is used in the sex industry.
With the growth of Internet adult web sites, the word has only
exploded in infamy in the transgendered community's eyes.

As persons of color we take exception to that phrase to describe us
because of its negative connotation. Thanks to Jerry Springer and
others we already have it tough enough in terms of our images.
I don't like going into GLBT clubs and having people walk up to me
and asking "How much?". I'm blessed to be born as an attractive and
intelligent African-American transperson, and so is Dawn. I get tired
of people assuming I'm a sex worker just because they saw another
attractive African-American sista showing all of her private parts on
she-male whatever.com

Dawn and I have spent years perfecting and polishing our images to be
the African-American women that we were meant to be. Our families and
the African-American community expect us to live up to that.
The last thing either one of us want to hear is someone advocating
the use of `she-male' as a acceptable descriptive term. I can't
speak for Dawn, but call me a she-male and be prepared for the
verbal tongue lashing that will swiftly follow. Yes, I loathe it
that much.

One thing that you'll learn as a minority is that image is
everything. We've learned that painful lesson over 400 years of
history. Carolyn Gerard stated in 1971,"To manipulate an image is to
control a peoplehood. Zero image has for a long time meant the
repression of our peoplehood."

What that means is that you have to control the message. Submitting
to using the `she-male' epithet to describe us means that we have
given up control of our images to people who don't like us and
ultimately want to destroy our community.

That's how serious this is. That's why our people have gone from being called `Colored' to `Negro' to `Black' to `African-American'.
African-American is more descriptive of who we are, Americans who
trace our ancestry to the African continent. The other words are
ones that we used at various time in our history here in the United
States that we agreed as a community to call ourselves. The n-word is
what we are called by others who hate us. While some people within
the African-American community still use that word, it isn't
acceptable to many of us.

In the transgender community a majority of us have agreed that `she-
male' is not something that we wish to use as a descriptive term.
For a person who chooses not to have surgery, non operative
transsexual accomplishes the same thing as African-American does for
our community.

But you're right on one point. We need to have much love for non-
operative transsexuals, and we'll start with you. If we ever get the
opportunity to meet you, we'll be the first ones to give you a big
hug. There's the bell. Class dismissed.

Say It Ain't So, Patti!

For many Black GLBT people, Patti Labelle is The Diva. She's the face that has launched a thousand female illusionist careers with her larger than life stage presence and antics, unique wigs and designer costumes. She's the sistahgirl that everybody can relate to. She had a long friendship with Sylvester and other gay men. She's had her share of tragedy and bumps in the road too.

Through it all her loyal Black GLBT fan base has been there to scoop up her records, buy her books, watch her TV appearances such as 'A Different World' and lend a sympathetic ear to their favorite singer. Walk into any Black gay club in the country. I can guarantee that if they're doing a drag show, somebody will come out dressed as Patti, will perform with her music playing in the background or the entire club will be dancing to a remix of it.

So it was a shock to hear that Patti sang at a recent Easter Sunday service in the Georgia Dome sponsored by Atlanta's New Birth Baptist Church. It's the home church of gay-hating Bishop Eddie Long and his associate pastor Rev. Bernice King. (the baby daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King) Two years ago they led an odious anti-gay march in the ATL that started at the foot of Dr. King's grave to protest marriage equality.

In addition to hating on gays, Bishop Long belives that women were put on earth to procreate.

"Woman is the soul of man. She is his flesh consciousness. In
essence, God made Eve to help Adam replenish the earth. Woman has the
canal…everything else is an exit. God had to separate Adam and Eve
where they connected so he could tell them to reconnect in covenant
to duplicate Him. In Christ, God puts his seed in us. Any other way
is a spiritual abortion. Cloning, Homosexuality and Lesbianism are
spiritual abortions. Homosexuality is a manifestation of the fallen
man." ---Bishop Eddie Long

Patti's also alleged to have made comments during an NBC television interview that seem to suggest that she supports Bigot Long. I'm still looking for the transcript of that interview to verify that.

If it's true, Black gays would be justifiably outraged and within their rights to call for boycotts of everythang Patti. If she won't stand with and stand up for a community that has loyally supported her career from jump street, then we don't need to be giving her our hard earned dollars.

We can start sending the message with the new flick she's in called 'Preaching to the Choir.' It also has a slammin' movie soundtrack that I won't be adding to my massive CD collection. That's too bad. Patti's vocals were slammin' on the house-flavored 'I Believe' track.

But we're standing on principle here. Patti LaBelle is either a friend to our African-American GLBT community or not and we need to know where she stands. If she's choosing to stand with Bishop Evil, Mini-She and all his faith-based bigot friends, then I'll be bypassing her CD's for a while.

You know, I've put off buying the Alicia Keys 'Unplugged', Kem and John Legend ones for way too long anyway.

Houston Proud!

I get teased a lot about my Texas and Houston roots and my unabashed pride and love I have and continue to express for my hometown. Well, I have a lot to be proud about.

It was one of the few cities to desegregate without the violence that took place elsewhere. It has a long history of distinguished African-American leaders from Norris Wright Cuney to Barbara Jordan and Mickey Leland. That torch has been ably picked up by US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, former mayor Lee Brown and other African-American leaders who continue to serve not only their fellow Houstonians but have garnered attention at a national level as well.

It is home to The Ensemble, one of the best African-American theater groups in the country. It has spawned a long list of hometown musical artists that cross several genres of music from jazz to R&B, hip-hop and gospel. Joe Sample, Yolanda Adams and Beyonce Knowles all call the city home. Hall of Famers in several sports such as Mike Singletary, Darrell Green and Clyde 'The Glide' Drexler played in HISD schools before finding their way to the pro ranks and having distinguished careers.

I grew up in South Park scarfing up Blue Bell ice cream, Harlon's barbecue and Frenchy's chicken. Hanging out at AstroWorld. Spending summer days at the beaches in Galveston and Freeport. Watching Astros and Oilers games at the Dome and Rockets and Comets games at Compaq. Checking out the TSU 'Ocean of Soul' which was the inspiration for every Black high school band in the city. Field trips to NASA.
Grooving to Kirk Whalum at Midtown Live in the early 80's. Watching the classic high school games between Yates and Wheatley, Kashmere and Booker T. Washington, Forest Brook and Smiley. When my generation entered high school it became my beloved Jones Falcons vs Sterling and Yates. Madison vs Sterling and Yates. Worthing vs Madison.

The University of Houston's Phi Slama Jama. The 'unbeatable' Houston Rockets winning the NBA championship in 1994-95 and the joyous city wide celebrations it set off followed by the Comets WNBA dynasty from 1997-2000. The Astros finally making it to the World Series last year.

And how could I forget Mattress Mac and his late night commercials for Gallery Furniture 'saving you money' and the man who the Melvin P. Thorpe character in 'Best Little Whorehouse in Texas' is modeled on, Marrrrrrrrrrrrvin Zindler, Eyeeeeeeeeewitness News?

Yeah, I still have much love for H-Town. Could y'all please FedEx me some Frenchy's chicken and some Blue Bell homemade vanilla ice cream?

The Power of The Pen

Every so often I get a reminder of the old saying 'the pen is mightier than the sword' and its relevance in today's techno go-go society.

One of my friends was moved to write a letter blasting Governor Fletcher's (R-KY) craven sellout to the radical right wing. A few days ago he rescinded the executive order that Governor Paul Patton (D-KY) signed three years ago that protected Kentucky's GLBT citizens in state employment.

The most odious part of the entire episode is that Governor Fletcher did it on 'Diversity Day' in front of school children and on the same day the University of the Cumberlands was expelling a gay honor student for declaring he was gay online.

Well, that letter to the editor was published as an Op-ed piece. Since it hit the paper this morning the phone has been ringing off the hook. A GOP state legislator called this morning who is the rep in AC's KY House district. A woman campaigning to replace the Republican in her eastern Jefferson County KY House district invited us to her speaking event tonight.

It's one of the things that I always loved about writing. The written word still has the power to galvanize people to action, right wrongs, soothe troubled souls, entertain, enlighten and inform. Even legislators place a higher importance on written communications than phone calls. They equate one written letter to representing the views of TEN constituents. So grab that pen and some paper or sit down at your computer and start writing your local newspapers about what's bugging you. You may see it in print and be surprised at the results.

It may even get you your own newspaper column one day.

Why 'The Gurls' Hate On Each Other

One of my TSTB members posted to the list last week a comment about how surprised and shocked she was to see how some African-American transwomen treat each other.

It's nothing new.

The way some of 'The Gurls' negatively interact with one another is a long-term observation of mine that has exasperated me over the two decades I've been around the African-American transgender community.

WARNING: What follows are my personal observations. If they hit too
close to home, nothing personal. To borrow the words of the late DJ icon Jack 'The Rapper' Gibson, I'm tellin' it like it 'TIS' is.

We're basically split into six factions. The Street Girls, the Stealth Girls, The Club Girls, The Pageant/Show Girls, The Crossdressing Girls, and the Real World Girls.

Some of the Street Girls either HATE on everybody that's in the other
four groups or harbor deep suspicions about their transsistahs.
They've had hard lives and resent the fact that in their eyes,
the 'rest of us have it easy' or 'we look down our noses at them'.
They feel like everything should be handed to them on a silver
platter since they've had to struggle for everything they get.

The Stealth Girls blitzkrieg through the transition process, get their surgery, and then disappear never to be seen again in the transgender community. They are women now and they believe that they are better than pre-ops because they don't have that pesky male organ between their legs. Some of them cut off all contact with out transgender people and won't be caught dead at a drag show or GLBT club. They don't want even a hint of suspicion from the people that are in their new lives that they're transgendered.

The Club Girls lives revolve around the various GLBT clubs sprinkled across the nation. Some are well into their transitions while others are crossdressing until they can get to that point. They hang out trying to pick up `husbands' to validate their new gender identity or `trade' to make a fast buck. They are hostile to any other t-girl that comes into their turf that's prettier, smarter, younger, more popular or `fishy' looking than they are.

The Pageant/Show Girls lives revolve around the various transgender beauty pageant circuits that are held across the nation and the drag shows in various GLBT clubs. They are a fairly tight knit sorority. Some of them have interests outside that world, others don't.

The Crossdressing Girls are the ones that are either in the early stages of discovering whether they are transgendered or just dress in women's clothes for the fun of it. There's some friction between them and the t-girls because they remind the t-girls too much of where they came from and wish to forget.
The Crossdressing girls sometimes forget that t-girls AREN'T guys on `mones, we are emotionally women. When they treat t-girls as one of the fellas they resent it. T-girls have pissed off crossdressers by making snide comments about their ability to pass as women, which is a sensitive subject with them.

The Real World Girls are the ones who are so far out of the closet it would take a bulldozer to shove them back into it. They're the activists and the peeps who are out and about in the community. They annoy the other groups on various levels. The street and club girls consider them uppity and elitist. The stealth girls wish they would quit 'rocking the boat' with their activism so that they can continue hiding and living their lives as women. The pageant girls are indifferent about it and the crossdressers have split loyalties on the subject.

Is it any wonder why we've had such a hard time building a cohesive community with all this Hateraid between the various groups?

The bottom line is that our enemies hate all of us no matter what faction we belong to. We are all potential victims of hate crimes because of who we are. If everybody would take a deep breath and realize that we all have something substantive to bring to the table as we build a community, there's no telling what we could accomplish pulling together.

Come On Out to the Ballgame

From an August 2004 TransGriot Column
Copyright 2004, THE LETTER
--------------------------------------


One of the things that amuses me about the trans community is the lengths that we'll go to reject anything thought of as 'masculine' (unless you are a female to male transsexual). I'll get strange looks whenever I'm around some of my transgendered friends and start talking sports with a genetic male or another T-sports fan. The other people in that group will roll their eyes and inevitably come back with a lame comment such as 'I hate sports' or 'women aren't sports fans'.

Women aren't sports fans? Please. My former coworker Lucy Schroeder rivals my intensity in terms of being a sports fan. My mom loves the NFL, and my late grandmother Tama faithfully tuned in to Astros games. My late friend Glenda Baker used to give me a run for my money when we fired sports trivia questions at each other. If you take a trip to any stadium, NASCAR track or arena you'll discover that sometimes the most rabid fans are women. I'd see women screaming louder at the refs over bad calls than their boyfriends, sons or husbands.

I usually can't wait for the NFL and college football seasons to start. Admit it, some of you feel the same way, too. Liking football is part of a Texan's DNA just as a person born in Indiana or Kentucky gets misty eyed about basketball. I'm a college basketball fan, and don't get me started about March Madness. I love it except when they show repeats of a certain slam dunk from the 1983 NCAA Championship game with my beloved Cougars that makes me sick to my stomach.

I embraced the WNBA when it began play in 1997. I'm an NBA fan but hate the corporate crowds that treat going to the game like attending a golf tournament. The WNBA's affordable ticket prices allow Joe and Jane Fan to see a pro ball game with the best women players in the world. The other interesting aspect of the league is the number of GLBT people that attend games. The league estimates that ten percent of its season ticket base is GLBT.

I can confirm that. I had Houston Comets season tickets for several years until I moved to Da Ville and make a trip to Indy every summer to see my girls play.
There's a post op girl from my old gender group that had her season tickets in the same section as mine ten rows up from my seats. A lesbian couple sat on the row immediately in front of me, and another one sat behind me. I saw GLBT folks when I walked the Compaq Center concourses. We were joined by mothers and sons, fathers and daughters and entire families. We were united in our love for the Comets and our dislike of the Los Angeles Sparks and New York Liberty. You also had the sense of history unfolding in front of you.

Watching those games helped me get over the height hangup I had when I started transition. I couldn't gripe about being 6'2" after seeing Tina Thompson on the court. There are even taller women in the league such as the LA Sparks 6'5" Lisa Leslie and 7'2" Margo Dydek of the San Antonio Silver Stars. I discovered that many WNBA players have double digit shoe sizes such as Sheryl Swoopes and Washington's (now LA Spark) Chamique Holdsclaw. I don't complain as much when I'm hunting for fashionable shoes. I'm in good company.

It's time for us transgendered sports fans to come out of the closet. There are numerous ways to express femininity and being a sports fan doesn't detract from that. Whatever your favorite sport was growing up, enjoy and embrace it. It's okay to let your inner sports fan out.

Oops, gotta go. Sportscenter's on.

Coretta Scott King-My Comments

Like many people who revere and fight for freedom and social justice I was saddened by the January 31 death of Coretta Scott King. She has been one of my role models in terms of becoming the type of woman that I wish to be.

I've been amused by the whining coming from our conservative friends recently that the funeral was 'too political' and it wasn't an appropriate venue for criticizing George W. Bush.

Au contraire. How quickly y'all forgot about Ronald Reagan's funeral.

Dr. King and Coretta Scott King were POLITICAL people. Therefore, it is appropriate in terms of commenting on the totality of their lives to refer to political themes when making remarks to honor them. Rev. Joseph Lowery, President Clinton, Mayor Shirley Franklin, and President Carter were saying publicly things about Junior that many African-Americans say about him in conversations with each other. If that bothers you conservatives, too bad. Must hurt to realize that you peeps are on the wrong side of history yet again and it shows your utter lack of understanding of African-American culture and traditions. It is also arrogant and presumptuous of people who fought (and still are fighting) tooth and nail to derail America's progress toward fulfilling The Dream to tell us how to mourn the passing of the 'Queen of the Civil Rights movement.'

I'm really getting sick of this conservative BS that there should be NO criticism of the president, when these SAME conservatives several years ago called President Clinton everything but a child of God. They even stooped as low as to attack their then-teenaged daughter Chelsea. If George got out amongst the 90% percent of African-Americans who DIDN'T vote for him in either election he'd hear those comments more often.

But back to Coretta Scott King. Talk about strong Black women. The definition for it should have her picture posted next to it. She simply oozed class, style, beauty and intelligence.

I wanna be just like her when I grow up.

The Religious Right Ten Commandments

1-Thou shalt exalt wealth and power before me.

2-Thou shalt make unto thee graven political images to bash Democrats with

3-Thou shalt not take the name of George W. Bush in vain

4-Remember the holy Sabbath day is great for pitching GOP policies and talking points

5-Honor the Republican Party and the conservative movement above thy mother and father

6-Thou shalt not kill unless it is a death row prisoner

7-Thou shalt not commit adultery unless you are a GOP legislator or a conservative defender of 'family values'

8-Thou shalt not steal unless it is an election or you’re working for a company that supports GOP candidates

9-Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor unless you work for Fox News or are a right wing talk show host

10-Thou shalt not covet anything that is thy neighbor’s unless it is their oil reserves or other valuable natural resources

How to Talk to a Conservative...If You Must

1- Don't use words with more than three syllables.

2-Remember that they are used to getting their talking points from Rush Limbaugh or other conservative media, so don't assume they can think for themselves

3-Remember they think that George W. Bush ACTUALLY won two elections, so bear in mind that conservatives are slightly delusional

4-If they start ranting, offer them Oxycontinin. If it's Ann Coulter, offer her estrogen.

5-Remember that conservatives are insecure because they've been handed everything on a silver platter from Mumsy and Dadsy, so they have no clue how Real Americans live

6-If you talk about religion with them remember that they worship a God that hates anyone that's not a heterosexual white male who votes GOP and condones cheating, greed, lying, gaybaiting, racism, xenophobia and sexism

7-If you're talking to a wife of a conservative, make sure that you steer clear of any water puddles or aren't standing next to her during a thunderstorm

8-Remember that conservatives don't have a grasp of reading fundamentals or proper sentence construction since many of them are low C or D students who got over...you know...like George W. Bush

9-Be on the look out for them to pull out 9-11 as a crutch to buttress their weak ass arguments every time they are intellectually overmatched or confronted with overwhelming evidence they are wrong.

10-Remember that a conservative will NEVER tell the truth, so don't expect them to be honest about anything or acknowledge that they are wrong.

20 Things NOT To Say to an African-American Transwoman

TransGriot Note: These are some of the various comments over the years from various sources that I've had the displeasure of hearing. It was past time to post some responses to them.

1. How much?

Asking that question will get you either slapped, read like a cheap novel or beat down if the transwoman you insult with that query is one of the many who DON'T make their living this way.

2. Do you play basketball?

Any African-American transwoman 5' 8" or taller will hear this question ad nauseum thanks to the WNBA. Then again, if peeps are asking that question that's a sure sign you're passing.

3. The N-word

That will straight up get you severely cussed out or your butt kicked.

4. What's up 'Miss Monica'?

I absolutely HATE getting called that. First of all it's a term mothers used
condescendingly for unruly teenagers or precocious little girls. In the Black gay community Miss Anything is not a complimentary term.

When you address me as such in public the term is unmistakably a gay thang. It not only calls my femininity into question when I'm addressed that way, by doing so you may have just outed me and exposed me to more ignorance or worse.

You can call me Monica or Ms. Roberts, NOT Miss Monica.

5. The word `shemale'

Do not EVER in life call me a shemale. That is second only to calling me the N-word. It is a derogatory term created by one of the transgender community's biggest enemies, radical feminist Janice Raymond. It was later appropriated by the adult film industry.

For reasons that escape me some transwomen use that term to describe themselves. I'm not one of them.

6. You LOOK like a real woman.

You swallow estrogen for a few years, do electrolysis or laser, have some facial reconstruction, some SRS and see how feminine you look. Definitely won't be like Billy Blanks or Ah-nold.


7. You'll never be a REAL woman because you can't have children.

I have several genetic women friends who possess a uterus but can't have children. Does that make them men? I think not. When menopause kicks in for you will it be okay for me to call you a man since you will no longer have the ability to bear children?


8. Do you do shows?

I love watching them, but just because some female illusionists are my friends and share my ethnic background, don't assume that I'm also an illusionist.


9. Do you know (insert name of favorite female illusionist here)?

I repeat, just because some female illusionists are my friends and share my ethnic background, don't automatically assume that I know every one of them in Louisville or elsewhere in the country.


10. Who do you sleep with?

That's my personal business what gender I prefer to have in my bedroom. Just be thankful it ain't your partner.


11. I think of you as a real woman.

Hello? I didn't spend several years in therapy, endure 400 plus hours of electrolysis, change my name and identity documents to be called a dude. Could it be that you think of me as a woman because I look, speak, think and act like one?


12. I can't stand transsexuals because they don't take womanhood seriously.

Please. I've run into sistahs that have let their appearance go to hell, rarely wear makeup if at all, put their hair in braids like Allen Iverson, wear baggy shorts down to their behinds, wear saggin' pants and cuss like gangsta rappers. So when are they gonna start taking womanhood seriously?

13. What you're doing is against God's will because He don't make
mistakes.

You're right. God doesn't make mistakes. Biology does. That's why God gave surgeons the skills and talents to repair cleft palates, do open heart surgeries, fix noses and change a penis into a vagina. They have a little work to do on the other end of the spectrum.

14. All you Black trannies wanna do is party and be escorts.

All White trannies wanna do is desperately hold on to White Male Privilege and pretend we African-American ones don't exist.

15. I like you, but I can't risk being seen with you.

If you like me enough to wanna get in bed with me, then you like me enough to take me on a real date to dinner, concerts, museums and the ballgame. Some of those activities require leaving the house during daylight hours. If you have issues about being considered as less than a man for dating a transwoman, then don't step to me or any other transwoman.

16. How big is it?

Some pre-op/non-op transwomen are extremely sensitive about that topic. You wouldn't want her asking you five seconds after she met you how big yours is, so don't go there with her. You may be embarrassed by the answer you get to that question.


17. You're the first transwoman I've met.

We're 3% of the population, so you've probably met one of my sistahs. You just didn't know it or for various reasons she didn't tell you.

18. You're a transwoman because you're ashamed of being a Black man.

If I WERE a Black man I'd be just as proud of being Black as I am now. The problem is that I'm a Black WOMAN who was born in a Black male body and I dealt with it. Some of you just didn't like the solution I came up with.

19. You're a transwoman because you're gay and don't want to face society as a gay man.

What part of gender identity and sexual orientation are not the same are you failing to realize?

20. All you transsexuals are just men in drag.

Stop drinking that two-liter sized bottle of Hateraid and chill. Don't be mad because some of my sistahs look better in a dress and heels than some of you do.

Say It Loud: Black, Transgender and Proud

TransGriot Note: An article I wrote for a local publication, the African-American Journal. Got the runaround on it, so I submitted it to IFGE who just published it.


There are a lot of words you can use to describe me. Daughter,aunt, friend, woman, sister, native Texan, Houstonian, African-American, deejay, Christian, transplanted Louisvillian, transplanted Kentuckian, activist, writer, sports fan, columnist, Kentucky Colonel, American.

Another one that would be accurate to use in my case is transgender.

Since much of the media attention that transgender people have garnered since 1953 is heavily slanted toward white transgender people, many African-Americans aren't familiar with or have preconceived notions about us. So let me take a moment to drop some science on you. There are also female to male transgender people but I'm going to focus on the male to female aspect of it

Transgender people are persons whose gender identity, that deeply held internal sense of being male or female, doesn't correspond with the body they were born with. One thing I want to stress is that gender identity and sexual orientation are two entirely separate and distinct issues. Being transgender doesn't necessarily mean that you are also gay. Current medical research has determined that one in every 250 births is a transgender person or about 3% of the population. Of the 34,772,381 people in the United States that are or identify as African-American, that translates to about 1 million of them being transgendered. Ongoing worldwide medical research into why it happens has been leaning to a biological cause for it

To become the Phenomenal Transwoman you see today, I had to adhere to the Standards of Care protocol devised by the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association, or HBIGDA. It's the medical association that devoted to research, understanding and treatment of gender identity disorders. I did counseling in the Houston area with a therapist trained in gender identity issues,endured several years of electrolysis to remove facial hair, changed identity documents and started hormone replacement by taking estrogen and several testosterone blockers. I was also required to live in the new gender role for a year before I would be allowed to have the gender reassignment surgery.

So as you can see, the journey to make my body match its gender role is not an easy one or a joke. I've been transitioned for 11 years and I still to this day deal with issues that crop up from time to time. Unfortunately a lot of the issues that affect me come from my own community. I love my people, our history and culture but we can sometimes be more narrow-minded, contrary and intolerant than many right wing fundamentalists. It's bad enough when African-American transpeople are disrespected by society at large. But it really hurts when the drama comes from people that share your cultural heritage. But as Zora Neale Hurston once wrote, `All my skinfolk ain't my kinfolk.'

So what is it like to be transgendered? The best way I can describe it is if you grew up female, imagine that you had all the same feelings, hopes, desires and dreams you always had growing up but you had your brother's (or some other male relative) body. Then try navigating puberty in that body knowing that something's different about you, but you can't quite put your finger on it. While you're trying to sort that dilemma out, you're being ostracized, picked on,and bullied. Then it finally gets revealed to you that you're on the wrong side of the gender fence and start making the moves to correct that situation.

I'm blessed that I came through the journey as a well-rounded spiritual person proud of who I am, what I have accomplished, what I'm going to accomplish and the person that I have evolved to become. I'm extremely happy and content with my life. I may be six-two without my heels, but that does not give you carte blanche to refer to me as `he'. I look at and think about life, love and the world around me through a feminine prism. Unfortunately thanks to anti-transgender violence many of my sisters don't get that chance and fall by the wayside.Others are emotionally wounded by the anti-transgender vitriol that comes from people in our community, their families and increasingly the pulpits of our churches

There are a lot of talented African-American transgender people like myself who are poised and ready to contribute our education and talents to uplift our race. Many of them reside in the Louisville metro area. The question I put forth to my fellow African-Americans is will you allow us the opportunity to do so?

I Won A Trinity!

A few days ago I received word that I became the third African-American transwoman to receive an IFGE Trinity Award.

I've had a few days to think about it now that the shock has worn off. I've always been a pretty outspoken individual. My friends can tell you that along with the peeps who post to the blogs, Yahoo lists and websites that I inhabit. They have seen me blast at various times the hypocrisy of Black ministers, negro Republicans, the Religious Right, the GOP, DINO Dems, the Human Rights Campaign, and the Euro-American transgender community for their racism and desperate desires to hang on to whatever remaining vestiges of White Male Privilege they have left. (Hey, I have a low tolerance level for bullshit)

Ever since I've transitioned 12 years ago I have done my part to simply live my life as an out and proud African-American transwoman. I don't wear my transgender status on my sleeve, but if you approach me in the spirit of loving curiosity about how I live my life, I'm happy to share that with you. I'll also tell you if you're treading too close to personal space.

But just a little background on the Trinity. Since 1991 the International Foundation For Gender Education has given out this award to transpeeps and their allies. Some of the biggest names in the transgender community have received this award at one time or another such as Phyllis Frye, my activist mentor down in Houston, Jamison Green, Monica Helms and Angela Brightfeather of TAVA, and Vanessa Edwards Foster just to name a few. There's another one for lifetime service to the transgender community that IFGE issues called the Virginia Prince.

The first African-American winner was Dawn Wilson in 2000, followed two years later by Dr. Marisa Richmond. I thought it would be a while before I got one, because of my opinionated big mouth and noting that other African-American transpeeps have yet to be honored such as Chanel Tresvant of Los Angeles, Lorrainne Sade Baskerville of Chicago and the late Alexander John Goodrum. They have yet to honor an African-American transman with a Trinity. (Hint hint. Maybe we can start with either AJ Goodrum or Zion Johnson, the first African-American president of FTM International)

Nevertheless, I'm damned happy to finally get one and will be at the IFGE Conference in Philadelphia in full diva mode this April to collect it.

Sure will look good on the mantel.

What's A Griot?

You may be wondering how I came up with the name TransGriot for my now two year old column and this blog. When I started the column back in January 2004 I wanted to come up with a name that reflects my ethnic heritage, the history that I'm trying to document and my love of writing. Then it hit me.

I come from a long line of historians in my family. I'm also a voracious reader. I recalled something that I'd read about the griots of Western Africa, the storytellers who pass on the oral history and traditions of their people. Some griots can recite up to 500 years of their people's history from memory. It is said that when a Griot dies, a library has burned to the ground. They are mainly present in the Western African countries of Mali, Gambia, Senegal, and Guinea. There are also Griots among the Mande, Tulkuloor, Wolof and Serer peoples and Mauritanian Arabs.

A Griot is not just a human library, storyteller and historian. They are all of these things and more. Griots are a visible and tangible human link to the past. They are someone who not only could be touched, but could touch you with stories and facts that enlighten you and others about who you were and are as a person.

That's what this blog's mission is. I am going to be your guide to a world that many people have not seen or heard about until now. I'm going to introduce you to your African-American transbrothers and transsisters. We've played a much larger role in the history of our people than you've been led to believe. I'll also comment on the general stuff that goes on around me from time to time, too.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year and welcome to TransGriot!

I finally decided at the urging of a few friends to try my hand at the wonderful world of blogging.(They really didn't need to push me too hard, I'd been thinking about it for a few months anyway).

One of the things I've noticed is that while there are tons of blogs out there, I'm willing to bet that there probably aren't many on The Web that feature the musings of African-American transpeople. (If there is one, please bring it to my attention)

One reason I've started TransGriot the Blog is that when I write my monthly column for a local GLBT alternative newspaper, there are subjects that pop up in which I'd love to go in depth on, but I'm constricted by time or my word limit. This blog will allow me to do that and comment on breaking news and issues that crop up in real-time.

One thing I can promise you dear reader is that you won't be disappointed. There will be times I'll make you laugh. Other times I'll touch your heart. Then there will be the occasional time or two when I piss you off. But my goal is to make you think and expose you to some of the drama that African-American transpeeps (and transpeople in general) deal with.