Biden Blows Out Bernie Again!

Another Tuesday, another Biden blowout of Bernie Sanders as six more states held their Democratic Party primary elections. 

Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington were the six states participating in what was dubbed Super Tuesday II, with the biggest prize of the night being Michigan and its 125 delegates. 

Sanders now finds himself in a familiar position of trailing after getting his butt whipped during Super Tuesday, and was desperate to stop the slide in a state he surprisingly won four years ago. 

But just like in 2016, Sanders was ice skating uphill because once again, Black Democratic voters aren't Feeling The Bern and are making it loud and clear since the South Carolina primary they aren't.

Biden shattered and splatted that comeback trail political pipe dream by not only winning Michigan, Mississippi and Missouri by 'YUGE' margins,  Sanders failed to win a single county in all three of those states. 

Those huge wins in the 'Three M states' were once again powered by Black voters.  If you're wondering what the Black population percentages were in those three states, in Michigan, it's 13.7%.  In Missouri, it's 11%, and in Mississippi, where he was endorsed by Jackson mayor Chokwe Lumumba but still lost Hinds County and every other one in the Magnolia State, it was 37%.

Biden also captured Idaho to add to his big night and expand his overall lead in the race to 1991 pledged delegates to clinch the nomination, while Sanders is leading in Washington and won North Dakota 

Next up on the Biden Beats Down Bernie tour are the states of Arizona, Illinois, Florida and Ohio, who will all vote on St Patrick's Day.

While Arizona's Black population is only 4.1%,  in Illinois it's 14%, Florida it's 16% and Ohio it's 14.3%.   Not surprisingly, the polling is not looking good for Team Sanders in any of those March 17 primary states as Election Day rapidly approaches. 

Sanders' comments praising Fidel Castro also aren't going to help him in a state with a large Cuban population.   Florida is also the biggest prize delegate wise, with 219 pledged delegates.  Arizona has 67, Illinois 155 and Ohio 136.

Will Biden get closer to getting the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, or will Sanders spring an upset along the way?   Not likely because he's losing more diverse states while winning overwhelmingly white ones. 

Sanders is also pinning his barely got a pulse comeback hopes on this Sunday's debate which has now been moved to Washington DC because of coronavirus concerns.

But the only polls that count in any election are the voters actually casting ballots. 

We'll see what happens next Tuesday. 








 

Will Trans Rights Be A Debate Topic In The Second Democratic Presidential Debate?

The second set of Democratic presidential debates will kick off tonight and Wednesday night in Detroit's historic FOX Theater on CNN.  They will be moderated by CNN's Don Lemon, Dana Bash, and Jake Tapper.

A draw that CNN televised live on July 18 set the candidate lineups for both nights. 

The first of the three draws divided the bottom ten candidates  between both nights.   The second draw divided the middle six candidates, and the final draw the top four contenders for the Democratic nomination.

The ten candidates tangling with each other on July 30 are  Montana Gov Steve Bullock, South Bend, IN mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Maryland Rep John Delaney,  former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Sen Amy Klobuchar (MN), former Texas Rep Beto O'Rourke, Rep Tim Ryan (OH), Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT), Sen Elizabeth Warren (MA),  and author Marianne Williamson.

The ten candidates who will take the stage on July 31 will be Sen Michael Bennet (CO), former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Cory Booker (NJ), former HUD Secretary Julian Castro,  New York mayor Bill de Blasio,  Rep Tulsi Gabbard (HI), Sen Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), former Washington Gov Jay Inslee,  Sen Kamala Harris (CA)  and entrepreneur Andrew Yang

Now that we know which candidates will be debating each other on which night, the question now becomes what topics will are brought up for discussion by the CNN moderators?

Of concern to trans Americans is will trans Americans be discussed on either debate night in Detroit like we were by Sen Booker and Secretary Castro during the first debate in Miami.

We in Trans World certainly hope that what is happening to the trans community gets discussed again, but are cognizant of the fact that the topics that get discussed tonight and tomorrow night will depend in large part on the news cycle and what the moderators choose to focus on.

Either way, both nights are shaping up to be must see TV for political junkies like me and everyone interested in who will emerge from this crowded field to become the 2020 Democratic nominee.
     

NAACP Passes Pro-Trans Resolution!

You longtime TransGriot readers are quite aware that I have been calling out for years the NAACP's cricket chirping silence when it comes to what is happening to Black transgender people .

They are the oldest civil rights organization in our community, and whether you feel that way or not, the 110 year old  NAACP's voice is still respected in the progressive civil rights community and with elements of our people.

I have urged them to not only say the words 'Black trans lives matter' from their convention stage, but pushed for NAACP state and local chapters to take action to make sure those words, when they are finally spoken publically, are backed up with policy.

Today, I was thrilled to hear that a resolution supporting the trans community was passed yesterday by the delegates of the 110th NAACP convention in Detroit!

The resolution reads:

Be it resolved that the NAACP will work with all of its Units to work to support equal protection for transgender individuals so that all members of our community can live free of violence, shame and discrimination.

This is a huge win for the Black trans community!  One of our legacy civil rights orgs has actually passed a resolution that acknowledges our existence. 

We in Black Trans World want all members of our Black community to be free from violence, shame and discrimination.   It's imperative that we at least get the process and conversation started about how we do so for Black trans individuals in collaboration with the NAACP before we start plunking down our T-bills for memberships.

Hopefully this opens the doors for conversations with the Black trans community as to the best way to accomplish coordinated action that makes a reality the goal set forth in that resolution.

The State Of LGBTQ POC In America NAACP Convention Town Hall

You TransGriot readers know that I have been pushing for the NAACP to end the silence, say the words Black Trans Lives Matter, and start aggressively backing them up with policy.

Yesterday afternoon during the NAACP convention happening in Detroit two longtime freinds of mine and fierce Detroit SGL leaders in Michelle Elizbeth Brown and Curtis Lipscomb were on a livestreamed townhall entitled The State of the LGBTQ POC In America town hall that was moderated by Keith Boykin.

Wish I could have seen this panel live, but I did get to see it on the NAACP convention website and was pleased that a trans person was on that panel.

Maybe next year we can get a panel at an NAACP convention that specifically talks about the issues that black trans people have to navigate in our community.

It was once again a needed and necessary conversation to have in that space,  We need our community's oldest civil rights org to recognize that Black TBLGQ people exist.  We also need the NAACP to open their mouths and consistently say that Black trans lives matter. 

But thanks for a wonderful and much needed conversation.

Number 24- Rest In Power and Peace, Keanna Mattel

I was wanting for Christmas no more trans death in 2018.   Unfortunately that is not going to be the case with three weeks left in this year.

We go to Detroit for our latest 2018 trans murder in the person of 35 year old Keanna Mattel. 

Detroit Police unfortunately found her lying dead in street from a gunshot wound on E. McNichols between Brush and Omira streets just before 6 AM EST.   A 46 year old male was arrested by DPD in connection with the shooting, which is still under investigation.

Keanna was active in the Detroit ball community, and was a beloved member of the House of Ebony.

Ironically just three years ago she had been interviewed and quoted in The Guardian in the wake of another Detroit trans sister who had been murdered named Amber Monroe.  .

The way we clean up our community is not to just throw people in jail. It’s to offer help, resources, jobs … helping girls get their GED.” 

Mattel is the 24th trans person we have lost to anti-trans violence  this year.   She is also the 18th Black trans person we have lost to anti-trans violence (17 female, 1 male).  She's also the 10th person under age 40 we have lost. 

Her Black trans life mattered.   When are Black trans lives going to matter to the rest of Black America? 

As of yet, no word on a memorial service, but will pass that info along when I receive it.

Rest in power and peace, Keanna.  We won't rest until you receive justice, and all of our Black trans  lives matter.

Shooter Of Detroit Trans Woman Arrested

I like many of you was horrified and pissed off about the video of one of our trans sisters fighting for her life in a Detroit gas station

29 year old Deonton Rogers was arrested last Saturday for the July 23 incident and charged by the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office according to Detroit Police Chief James Craig. 

The list of charges include a firearm discharge causing serious injury, felonious assault, felony firearm, felon in possession of a firearm, child abuse in the fourth degree and ethnic intimidation based on gender.

Bail for Rogers was set at $2 million



The incident took place at a gas station in the 15400 block of West Seven Mile Road after a verbal confrontation between Rogers and the still unidentified 29 year old trans woman.   Rogers pulled out a gun, a struggle ensued for it and after the trans woman suffered a thankfully non fatal gunshot wound to her shoulder, fled the scene with his 27 year old cis feminine companions child in the backseat of his car. 

Rogers was taken into custody without incident. 

Here's hoping that he is not only punished for his crime, but it also starts a conversation in the Black community about the toxic masculinity that is killing Black trans women and our gender variant kids.

Election Registration Deadlines Today In TX And Several States

If after watching (or not watching) the second debate and you are sufficiently motivated enough to vote on November 8, then you better bust a move because today is the deadline day to get registered.

Texas is one of those states in which today is the deadline to get registered to vote along with georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

Just a reminder, here's the rest of the voter registration deadlines for October.

In the District of Columbia today is also the deadline to register in advance of the election, but you can do same day registration there. I'd suggest you do it now DC if possible.

Florida's deadline was originally today, and Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) refused to extend the deadline despite the fact that county offices in much of the state were closed because of Hurricane Matthew.  
Thanks to a successful voting rights lawsuit filed by the Florida Democratic Party, the voter registration deadline was extended by US District court Judge Mark E. Walker (Obama appointee) by one day, with another hearing coming later today to determine whether to extend it beyond Wednesday.


Once again, presidential elections matter, and if you wish you exercise that right to vote on November 8 or during early voting if your part of the country offers it like Texas does (October 24-November 4), you must handle the first step of it and register to vote.

The clock's ticking.    You can check your registration status or register to vote via this link.

If you believe your voting rights are being messed with, call the ACLU Voter Protection Hotline at 877-523-2792

Another Split Decision In The March 8 Democratic Primary Contests

There were two primary contests Tuesday in Mississippi and Michigan that were favored to go in Sec. Hillary Clinton's direction on this International Women's Day.

Once again, the Black vote mattered as she stomped Sanders in Mississippi in another electoral blowout by an 83-17% margin.  Michigan however turned out to be a Sanders upset as the white independent and crossover Republicans vote helped Sanders as he eked out an upset victory that for now, has the Sanders peeps crowing until Saturday.   

A little reality check for sanders folks.  He's still trailing in the all important delegate count and in fact because of the Clinton blowout in Mississippi LOST ground because of the proportional allocation rules.

Clinton finished the night with 88 delegates while Sanders picked up 70,and she's now up 761 to 547 not including the superdelegates which Sanders still massively trails in.

On to the March 15 contests in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio.

Michigan And Mississippi Primary Votes Today

Two more primary elections are taking place today in Michigan and Mississippi in the wake of Sanders supporters getting all happy over their three caucus wins in Kansas, Maine and Nebraska while Clinton took Louisiana in another blowout fueled by Black voters.  

But what they conveniently forget to mention is that despite the caucus wins in (ho hum) predominately white states, by the proportional allocation rules, Clinton still walked away with 76 delegates while Sanders came away with only 64 delegates.

Drip, drip drip.   That's a +12 delegate gain for Clinton to add to her growing delegate lead, and it's only going to get better for her starting tonight..

Told y'all that failure to connect with Back voters would cost him the nomination.  And as the media finally does the deep tissue vetting of Sanders, a problematic picture is emerging even before he opened mouth and inserted foot in it during that Flint debate with the stereotype laced comment about Black people just in time for the Michigan and Mississippi primaries.  .

Michigan will be the big prize today with 130 delegates available, with Mississippi chipping in 35 more before this upcoming cluster of Saturday primary elections in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio that are worth 691 electoral votes.

And yeah, not only is Clinton leading in Michigan and Mississippi, she's also leading in all five states voting on Saturday,.  Black Democratic voters will have a major say in who emerges victorious.in the wake of Bernie Sanders continuing to fail to connect with Black voters.

Will be fun to watch it play out in a few hours.

Cis Woman Misgendered In Detroit Restaurant Suing

It's actually old news, but in light of the injustice that happened here Tuesday, I'm expecting it to happen here soon in the wake of all the lies unleashed by the haters in this HERO campaign.

It points out the absurdity of 'bathroom bills' like the one proposed and that thankfully died in committee in this 2015 Texas legislative session by GOP state reps Debbie Does Discrimination Riddle, and Gilbert 'Don't Want Them Transkids To Pee' Pena.

Lexie Cannes reports about an ugly situation that took place at Detroit's Fishbone's Rhythm Kitchen Cafe in Detroit's Greektown area back in June in which 30 year old Cortney Bogorad was jacked up by a security guard who deputized himself to be a gender policeman, accused her of being a 'boy', and alleges he violently carried her through the restaurant and threw her to the ground outside the restaurant..

On June 23 she and her attorney David Pontes filed a lawsuit in Wayne County Circuit Court after attempts to mediate this incident were unsuccessful.

"The bottom line is I know my gender better than anyone else and I'm going to walk into the right restroom," said Bogorad. "Even when I was questioned, I tried to provide my ID. It shouldn't have gone any further than that."

Nope it shouldn't have.  But because FOX Noise and the conservafool movement have now decided to demonize the trans community, the unintended consequences of that anti-trans hate will unfortunately fall on women like Bogorad who don't fit society's ideas of what a woman should look like.

Damn, Damn, Damn! Ashton Is Number 14

Okay, at this point I am starting to feel like Florida Evans in terms of hearing the news about another trans person that won't ive to see their 50th, much less their 40th or 30th birthdays.  

I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired of writing these posts about another young Black trans person being murdered before they have even had a chance to live their lives.

Meet 25 year old Ashton O'Hara of Detroit, who was murdered on July 14.  Ashton is sadly now the 14th trans person murdered in this deadly year of 2015 that has exceeded in 8 months the entire total of US trans murders for all of 2014.   And once again, Ashton is another trans and gender variant person under the age of 30  who has been taken away from us far too soon. 

We've had five murders announced in August alone and this month still isn't over yet.  And yeah, this is the second one in Detroit in 2015.  Amber Monroe was the other one, and the last report I had was her killer has yet to be found.

Once again, when will our #BlackTransLivesMatter?  And far too often, the people killing us are other Black people.   That was the case in this latest murder in which we already have an arrest in this case.

O'Hara's suspected killer, 37 year old Larry B.Gaulding is facing a first degree murder charge in a trial set to begin on September 24.   Let's pack the courtroom and ensure that justice is served in this case.

One thing I am happy to see is that a dialogue has been opened up between the Detroit PD and the local community that will hopefully result in a reduction in crimes aimed at the trans population.  

We also need other cis Black folks to stop cosigning on the conservafool driven hatred of trans people for their nefarious political purposes.  We're tired of y'all in Black Cis World thinking that the way to be a 'good Christian' is to mimic white fundamentalists conservafools who have a deep seated hatred of blackness and Black people. .  

As per usual, I'll be keeping up with this case as well in order to see if Ashton got justice.

RIP Amber Monroe

Was made aware of this by Melanie Davis that we have now had a 12th transwoman killed in 2015, this time in Detroit.

Her name was Amber Monroe, and she was just 20 years old and a student at Wayne State University in Motown.   Her body was found early yesterday morning, and she had been shot, according to a statement by Equality Michigan .

“Our hearts are heavy with grief that we have lost another vibrant member of our community too soon. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of Amber’s family and friends whom she clearly loved deeply,” said Yvonne Siferd, Director of Victim Services for Equality Michigan.

“We have no idea yet whether this attack was fueled by transphobia, but we do know that Amber’s murder is the 12^th murder of a transgender woman in the United States this year, and the 10^th murder of a transgender woman of color. Transgender women, and especially transgender women of color, are disproportionately affected by violence.

Her life was just beginning; I know that this loss will leave so many people with a hole in their lives and with more questions than answers. Let’s come together to celebrate her life, and work for real change so that our transgender sisters can be free from persecution. I know we can do better. We have to do better.”

Yes, we as a society MUST do better.  With this third murder of a transwoman in the last 17 days, I know I'm getting fracking tired of writing the story about another young Black trans woman being killed.   We are being hunted, and nobody seems to give a rats anus about it.

Papi Edwards, 20, Louisville, January 9

Lamia Beard, 30, Norfolk on January 17

Ty Underwood, 24, Tyler TX on January 26

Yazmin Vash Payne, 33, LA on January 31

Taja de Jesus, 36, San Fran February 1

Penny Proud, 21, New Orleans February 10

Bri Golec, 22, Akron on February 13

Kristina Grant Infiniti, 47, Miami on February 15

London Chanel, 21, Philadelphia on May 18

Mercedes Williamson, 17, Alabama on May 30

India Clarke, 25, Tampa on July 22

K.C. Haggard, 66, Fresno on July 23

Amber Monroe, 20, Detroit on August 8#SayHerName

This is still a developing story and Detroit Police are still investigating what happened, so as further details get passed on or I find out about them, I'll pass them on to you TransGriot readers.

This crap needs to strop.   With this murder we have matched in eight bloody months what it took all of 2014 to accomplish, and these are just the ones we know about.   Ten of the 12 trans women killed have been trans women of color.  

What also irks me the most is that nine of the now twelve murdered trans women were under 30 years of age, and one was just 17 years old.

I'm also tired of my young trans sisters being misgendered and posthumosly slimed by the media after they are murdered. 

So tell me Black America, when will #BlackTransLivesMatter to you?   Today?   Next week?  Next month?  Next year?  How many more young Black trans people must die before you start caring enough to work with us to stop the murders of trans people? 

When will you  send the message that Black trans people are part of the Black community too? 

Your fellow trans people are waiting to hear that answer instead of loud and wrong condemnation from sellout ministers cooning it up for white cconservafool fundamentalists and deafening silence from our legacy organization like the NAACP and the Urban League.

Rest In Power and in peace, Amber.   You are loved, and your trans family and our allies won't rest until justice is done in your case..
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The 40th And Last MichFest

The 40th and last Michigan Womyn's Music Festival starts today and runs in the Hart, MI area until August 9.   After 40 years, it is being shut down by its founder, longtime TERF oppressor Lisa Vogel with rivers of white womyn tears being shed over its self inflicted demise.

People have asked me as a longtime critic of the Trans Exterminationalist (Exclusionary) Radical Feminists and MichFest in general how do I feel about that.

As a trans woman targeted by people indoctrinated on '''The Land' who leave after the Hate On Trans Womyn Convening to take that transphobia they honed there into the real world, all I have to say is this

So long!  See ya!  Adios!  Good riddance to transphobic rubbish! 

Makes me so happy to see it happening after 40 years I feel like popping open that bottle of champagne I was saving for a special occasion and dancing.

But let's be real for a moment.   It didn't have to happen this way.   All Lisa Vogel and MichFest had to do was evolve.  They hypocritically let trans men in the gates, but refused to do so for trans women, and they paid the price for their lack of inclusive vision. 

Women who believed that ALL women should be on The Land tried and failed to get that policy changed, and eventually stopped coming.  Many artists because of the blatant transphobia like the Indigo Girls, Nona Hendryx and Lea DeLaria stopped coming or refused to play MichFest.

Through it all, Vogel denied there was a trans feminine exclusion policy and obstinately clung to those transphobic disco era ways like a wino clutching her last bottle of MD20/20.

So when you womyn-born-womyn are crying those rivers of vanillacentric privileged tears and looking for somebody to blame for your little anti-trans hate party shutting down forever in a few days, look in the mirror first, and then at Lisa Vogel. .   .  

Y'all have fun being stuck in the 70's for the last time on The Land.

MichFest Dead After This 40th Anniversary Year

I'm one of the peeps in Trans World who could care less about the cesspool of transphobia known as the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, but I do support the people in our community who would like to have a chance to go to MichFest if the hypocritically transphobic 'womyn born womyn' policy weren't in effect.

The so called 'unofficial' policy allows trans men on 'The Land', but trans women aren't welcome.

But MichFest was co-founded and is owned by one of the trans community's long time oppressors in Lisa Vogel, a TERF who was one of the peeps who signed the 1977 Olivia Records Letter demanding the ouster of Sandy Stone from that feminist record label.

A petition initiated by Equality Michigan has called for a boycott of the festival until they end the policy, and artists such as the Indigo Girls and Nona Hendryx have joined that boycott.

The Equality Michigan petition contains these bullet points:

1. Demanding you end the "womyn-born-womyn" intention at Michigan Womyn's Music Festival.
2. Request that Lisa Vogel, as co-founder and owner, meet with leaders of the transgender community and enter the space with an open mind to the notion that transgender womyn are womyn too, and have shared in their experiences.
3. Asking artists, attendees, and vendors to act in harmony with their equal rights values and NOT attend the festival until the transgender discrimination ends, and instead support other women's events which are creating a safe space for transgender women so they can join as well.
4. Requesting that any artists participating this year speak against the policy while on stage.

One of the organizations that stepped up to call for MichFest to end their transphobic ways was the National Black Justice Coalition.

“Our transgender sisters are simply women and deserve to be treated as such. It is baffling that at MWMF -- an event organized by and built exclusively for women -- imposes such blatant discrimination against one of the most marginalized groups of women in our society,” said Sharon Lettman-Hicks, NBJC Executive Director and CEO. “NBJC joins with Equality Michigan and the host of other advocacy organizations calling on the organizers of MWMF to immediately end their policy of not welcoming transgender women. This unjust policy only perpetuates hate and stigma, and has no place in a space meant to empower women.”

The MichFest is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year and Lisa Vogel has announced this year will be the last

"I am writing to tell you that the 40th Festival will be the last Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival. The spirit of this community will live on forever, the friends and family we have found on the Land are eternal. Everything we have created together will feed the inspiration for what comes next. It’s possible that I will come back with something else, or that other sisters will take the inspiration of the Michigan community and create the next expression of our Amazon culture. What is true for me is that now is the time to bring this 40-year cycle to a close, stepping out on joy at our most incredible anniversary celebration."

Yep, 40 years of anti-trans discrimination on 'The Land'.  Whoopee.  Good riddance.

The TERF's can whine the boycott killed MichFest all they want, but that would be a lie like everything else they have said about trans people since the 1970's has been. 

Lisa Vogel's stubborn insistence to cling to disco era racist and transphobic TERF hatred of trans women in a world that is rapidly evolving toward acceptance of trans women, is the reason MichFest is dying and will soon be on the ash heap of history.

When Is Vandalism NOT Vandalism?

When white kids engage in it.

In our latest episode of White Privilege Gone Wild, several University of Michigan fraternities and sororities did their best Animal House impressions and trashed two ski resorts in Gaylord and Harbor Springs, MI during the January 16-18 weekend.

At the Treetops resort in Gaylord, 120 members of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity and Sigma Alpha Tau sorority did $50,000 in what was termed significant damage.  

They were staying in 45 rooms at the resort and according to reports, damaged hallway ceiling tiles, broke windows, broke and damaged furniture, ripped lights out of fixtures and generally left the place a filthy mess before they were escorted by Michigan State Police off the property.

Meanwhile at the Boyne Highlands resort in Harbor Springs, the Pi Kappa Alpha and Chi Psi frats and the Delta Gamma and Alpha Psi sororities were merrily engaged in destroying furniture and fixtures, putting holes in the drywall, broke doors and ruined carpet in the 12 condo units they were renting to the tune of several thousand dollars.

The resorts are considering filing charges in the wake of this incident, the Michigan State Police are still investigating, and the University of Michigan Greek Life office is still doing their own investigation that could result in sanctions for the orgs involved.

"The entire University of Michigan community is deeply saddened by the actions of some of our students last weekend at two northern Michigan ski resorts," said UM spokesperson Rick Fitzgerald

"The damage caused by out-of-control students fueled by excessive alcohol consumption at Treetops Resort and Boyne Highlands is an affront to the thousands of respectful, hard-working students on our campus."

The Sigma Alpha Mu chapter national office has suspended the chapter indefinitely as chapter president Joshua Kaplan issued an apology for the actions of their off the chain members

But it was interesting to note in the comment sections of the stories about the college students gone wild, how quick people were to try to excuse their behavior.   Non-whites in those story comment threads pointed out that if these had been Black kids or Black Greek orgs, those resorts probably wouldn't have waited until Sunday to call the po-po's, and you can bet those kids wouldn't have been politely escorted off the property by the Michigan State Police.

A Black frat or sorority engaged in the same level of nekulturny behavior would have had the cops called on them as soon as the music got too loud.    The state police would have showed up with guns drawn, hauled people off to jail upon arrival and the resorts would have immediately filed charges.

FOX Noise would be putting this story on an endless loop, calling the kids 'thugs and hooligans' as they did so, castigated their parents, dissed the frats and sororities, injected the arrest mugshots in the story and gleefully used it to race bait the entire Black community.

They would have also found some kind of way to blame President Obama for it.

We'll be watching in Black America to see what actually happens to these affluent frat and sorority kids that were involved in this reprehensible incident, but we're pessimistically expecting that affluenza and white privilege will prevail as we wait for Bill O'Reilly, Geraldo Rivera  and Sean Hannity to call out the bad behavior on their shows.

But judging by what we've observed from the justice system over the last few months, we have a reason to be pessimistic.

Read Your AP Stylebook, JIm Kiertzner And WXYZ-TV

When I took a trip up to Boston recently for the National Association of Black Journalists convention to discuss the coverage of Black transwomen, one of the things I implored them to do was make sure they got it right the first time because white run media consistently screws up when it coves to covering us.

And right on cue, thanks to Can We Talk 4 Real  podcast host 'Michelle Brown bringing it to my attention, here's another example of messed up media coverage courtesy of WXYZ-TV and reporter Jim Kiertzner..

In the process of reporting on a string of attacks on trans women in Detroit's Palmer Park, one fatal, Kiertzner got it horribly wrong.

Let me do your job for you and write the story properly before I put you on blast for failing to read your AP Stylebook.

(WXYZ) - Detroit Police say they are investigating three hate crimes that may be related.

All three targets were transgender men women. One was killed in Palmer Park last Friday.  In that case, the killer drove off, crashed into another car and ran away on foot, but a gun was left behind.

Another shooting on Sunday and another last week were not fatal, but the victims were also transgender men women. Police are not releasing any identities of the victims.  No one is in custody but police say they have a person of interest.

Palmer Park is located along Woodward Avenue between 6 and 7 Mile.    The area east to John R and up to 8 Mile is also a well known Detroit "red light" district.  Many in the LGBT community live here and some work the streets for sex.

For now, in this area, a killer is on the loose.

***

Now, let's get to discussing the problematic August 20 video report.    Jim, a male to female transperson is a transgender woman, NOT a 'transgender man'.   You also use FEMININE pronouns when referring to that person.

And using 'lifestyle' in the context of a report on a transgender person is problematic and offensive.

But you would have known that Jim had you referred to the AP Stylebook, The National Gay And Lesbian Journalism Assn (NGLJA) guide or GLAAD's guides

The way this story was reported was not only confusing to those of us in the trans community and our allies, but has raised questions of just how committed you and your station are to respecting the humanity of transpeople and reporting accurately on our lives.

This won't be the first or last time you encounter trans people in the Detroit area.  Past time for WXYZ-TV and other Detroit media outlets to get it right in reporting on us.

TransGriot Update:  Looks like the story has been cleaned up to remove the misgendering language. 

Netroots Nation 2014 Is Headed To Detroit

I couldn't make it to Netroots Nation 2013 in San Jose, CA to my sorrow after being part of the fun last year in Providence and a historic first ever all trans panel discussion..  

I was busy with my own stuff during the June 20-23 period of Netroots Nation's San Jose run so I didn't get a chance to check out the news from the just concluded convention to see if what I wrote at the end of the Providence 2012 Netroots Nation event as to what I would like to see at #NN13 actually came to pass. 


They announced the city that will be hosting Netroots Nation 2014 a few moments ago and it will be in Detroit

It will take place July 17-20 at Cobo Hall in the Motor City and will be coming at a critical time.  The crucial 2014 midterms will be taking place a few months later on November 6 and the citizens of Michigan will be striving to throw off the yoke of Republifool oppression and toss Rick Snyder and their Tea Klux Klan dominated legislature out of power in addition to selecting a replacement for retiring US Senator Carl Levin (D).

So the peeps in Detroit are excited about this opportunity to show a different side of Detroit than the one that has been depicted on the national news lately and will be wanting to roll out the red carpet for the over 3000 progressive activists headed there next July.

And with a little luck, hope I'm one of them.

Openly MRKH Contestant In Miss USA 2013

We won't have a girl like us competing in the Miss USA 2013 pageant next month because Kylan Wenzel unfortunately didn't win the Miss California USA pageant.

I'll still have somebody else to root for besides the women of color and my Lone Star state representative when I watch the pageant on June 16 and see who  Miss USA 2012 Nana Meriwether crowns as her successor. 
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My friends in the intersex community are excited to learn that Miss Michigan USA Jaclyn Shultz is one of the 51 women vying for the Miss USA crown.

Jaclyn has a condition that affects one in 4500 newborn girls called Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome.   MRKH affects the reproductive system and causes the vagina and uterus to be underdeveloped or absent    Women with MRKH syndrome have a female chromosome pattern (46,XX), functioning ovaries, conventionally developed external female external genitalia and breast and pubic hair development.

In Jaclyn's case, as she mentions in her Miss USA profile, "Jaclyn is the proud spokeswoman for A Beautiful You MRKH Foundation. Since she was born without a uterus, this non-profit is close to her heart."

She has been working to spread awareness about MRKH and provide support to girls and women across the globe who are diagnosed with it. 

As Claudia Actorino said in the opening sentence of her post about Jaclyn, 'intersex bodies are beautiful.'

I wish Jaclyn the best of luck in the upcoming Miss USA 2013 pageant and continued success in her ongoing mission of spreading awareness about MRKH.


H/T  Claudia Actorino- 
 

Trans History Moment: The Anti-Trans Michigan Womyn's Music Festival

If you're wondering why  this issue between girls like us and the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival keep popping up repeatedly, it's time for another trans history moment. 

Cristan Williams has a Transadvocate post up in which Nancy Burkholder tells the story about the 1991 night in which she was thrown off 'The Land'.

Here's an excerpt from it.

While I waited for Laura to return I was approached by two women, Chris Coyote and Del Kelleher. Chris said that she needed to speak with me regarding a serious and difficult matter. Sensing her urgency I suggested we move away from the women near the fire pit in order to talk privately. Chris said that the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival was a woman-only event and she wanted to know if I was a man. I replied that I was a woman and I showed her my NH picture ID driver’s license. Then she asked me if I was a transsexual. I asked her what was the point of her questioning and she replied that transsexuals were not permitted to attend the festival. She said that MWMF policy was that the festival was open to “natural, women-born-women” only. I replied that nowhere, in any festival literature or the program guide was that policy stated. I asked Chris to please verify that policy and she went to the office to contact the festival producers, Lisa Vogel and Boo Price. Sometime during this conversation I waved Laura to come over and she witnessed much of what transpired.

I continued speaking with Del. Del stated that the reason the policy was not in any literature was because the issue of transsexuals had never come up as a problem before. Del added that the policy was for the benefit of the transsexuals’ safety and the safety of the women attending the festival. When I pointed out that there were other transsexuals on the land she acknowledged that this was true. Then she added, ‘We haven’t caught them yet, but we did catch you.”

I could care less about the MWMF and have no desire to sitting in the woods in Hart, MI swatting mosquitoes for a concert.  But neither am I going to stand idly by and allow the rabid TERF ideological driven ignorance and transphobia of MWMF and its not anywhere in print anti-trans exclusion policy to keep transwomen who do want to experience the event away from it.

You can read the rest of the post here.

Justice For Shelley Hilliard-Killer Sentenced

Here's an update in the Shelley Hilliard murder case. 

30 year old Qasim Raqib, the killer of transwoman Michele 'Shelley' Hilliard was arrested back in December and charged with her murder.   Raqib pleaded guilty back on March 7 to second degree murder charges.  

He was sentenced on March 26 by Judge Bruce Morrow to serve 25-40 years in jail for the brutal killing in which he dismembered and burned 19 year old Hilliard's body on Detroit's East side.

The sentence won't bring Shelley back, but at least this waste of DNA will be rotting in jail for it.