Roller Rink Opening At Discovery Green

One of the things that people don't know about me is I know how to ice skate and occasionally hit the ice  rink at the Galleria when my schedule allows me to do so.

During what passes for winter here in Houston, Kinder Lake in Discovery Green, the park that we have in the middle of our downtown Convention Center district has an ice rink set up for operation from Thanksgiving until late January.

While I can and love ice skating, roller skating has been more of a challenge for me.  My first foray at a now closed roller skating rink at Scott and OST in the 'hood back during my teen years in 1976 ended with the embarrassing spectacle of me at the end of a long frustrating day at a rink splitting the seat of my pants after a fall.

Fortunately I had a jacket to cover up the gaping split in the seat of my pants, but that incident is probably why I don't do much roller skating.  But even with my personal aversion to roller skating, I can get excited about this news.    

Thanks to Avenida Houston, the first ever outdoor roller skating rink in H-town will occupy that space starting today

The Rink  Rolling At Discovery Green opens today and will be in operation through the summer.  

It'll be open from 5-10 PM  Mondays-Thursdays, 5-11 PM  on Fridays, 11 AM-11 Pm on Saturdays and school holidays and 11 AM to 9 PM on Sundays.  Tickets are $12 per person onsite and $14 online.   The Cheap Skate night tickets are $6, aren't available online and are scheduled for March  6 and March 20

You can bring your own skates, either the four wheel kind or inline skates if you don't wish to rent them,  Bringing your own safety gear is encouraged.  

And because this is an outdoor rink, weather can and will affect its operations when lightning, rain or excessive heat happens

It will also be available for school and church groups, scout troop outings, daycare groups, company parties and birthdays.  There will be an event sponsored by the Houston LGBTQ Advisory Board on March 17 from 6-10 PM called Rainbow and Roll which will be a TBLGQ themed night..

And yeah, I'm going to attempt to get on roller skates again on that night.   Maybe if I do the inline ones/ roller blades, it'll be more familiar to what I'm used to and will have better results.

We'll see...

So How Did You Spend Your Friday?

My Friday turned out to be a busy one.  

Dee Dee and I joined a group of our fellow Houstonians at 2 PM CST who protested Lt. Governor Dan Patrick when he was invited by Houston Crime Stoppers to their dedication and ribbon cutting for their new headquarters building named for longtime Houston TV news anchor Dave Ward.

While we were respectful to other speakers including Dave Ward, who all of us grew up watching and is a beloved media icon here, we had no such love for our oppressive lieutenant governor, and we let him have it when he stepped to the mic.

He was visibly disturbed when we booed him and yelled 'Flush SB6' and 'No hate in the Lone Star State" among the other slogans we yelled at him while he was at the podium.

We obviously got on the nerves of someone besides Dan Patrick,   A white male attendee walked over to our protest group standing on the sidewalk off the property to complain we were 'ruining the occasion'.   I said in response "The time is always right to talk about human rights" while others in our group pointed out before HPD pulled him way from us that if Crime Stoppers wanted a drama free ribbon cutting, they shouldn't have invited the polarizing lieutenant governor of this state to speak.

Once that event was over, I went a few blocks north up San Jacinto Street downtown to the Harris County civil courts building on Caroline Street to watch the investiture ceremony in the packed ceremonial courtroom on the 17th floor of my good friend Ursula Hall, who is now judge of the 165th Civil Court.

She was elected in the wave of Democratic judges we swept into power when we flipped Harris County blue on November 8.   Many of those newly elected judges were in attendance at her investiture ceremony that started at 4 PM.

The Hall family in Houston is well respected in Black Houston.   Her father Anthony Hall, Jr, was a Houston city councilmember who ran and narrowly lost a 1978 US Congressional race to succeed Barbara Jordan to Mickey Leland.  

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis were just two of the local political luminaries who spoke at her investiture ceremony.

The ceremony had me in tears at one point, and Judge Halls' speech had a line in it that I have been pondering ever since I left it and returned home.:  '

"To whom much is given, much is required."

It was a joy to watch someone I have known for years and has served as a Houston municipal judge finally get elected to a state bench and I was happy to be there to witness it.

That's how i spent my Friday.   What did you do on yours?

My #CC17 Post Convention Thoughts

I'm now back in the Houston area after spending a few days at this year's edition of the Task Force's Creating Change Conference in Philadelphia.  It was a 29th annual Creating Change that up until about two weeks before it happened, I was seriously thinking about after attending the last three consecutive Creating Change events in Houston, Denver and Chicago and being part of the Host Committee for #CC14 not coming to Philadelphia for #CC17.

Philadelphia also happens to be a city that is near and dear to my heart, because I received my 2006 IFGE Trinity Award  here and I've been since 2013 in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection for two LGBTMedia events (2013,2015) and two Philly Trans Health Conferences in 2012 and 2016.

The drama filled experience in Chicago along with the jacked up protest of the NBJC Black Institute I called out later (and I'm still pissed about) was part of the reason I was reluctant to come this year.

Because of the Trans United Fund event, the TUF leadership meeting scheduled during #CC17 and being asked by NBJC's Isaiah Wilson to participate in this year's The Black Institute, that finally pushed me into the 'I'm attending it 'ranks along with TUF Board Chair Hayden Mora telling me my voice, thoughts and attendance were needed and necessary.

And I'm glad I did.  I also got to destroy a few Slurpees in the process since there was a 7 Eleven right across the street from the convention hotel.

On my ATL-PHL flight I ran into Dee Dee Chamblee, who was seated ten rows from me.  I stepped off the Delta plane after our 5:35 PM arrival but lost track of her.  After collecting my checked bag I ran into a group of students from Portland who were eagerly here for CC17 at the Terminal D SEPTA train platform.

After getting off the train, I immediately headed to the hotel room that Angelica Ross and my Houston homegirl Nikki Loyd were sharing to drop off my bags before heading to the TUF meeting we were having at the host hotel to finalize some last minute planning or the fundraising event at Philadelphia City Hall.

When I walked into that Marriott Downtown meeting room with Angelica and Nikki and saw my trans siblings from around the country and as I found out the world in Mat and Tiana from Zimbabwe, it was a reminder why I come to conferences and events:. I go to see old friends like Danielle King and meet new ones like Daye Pope.

With me now going into my 19th year of award winning advocacy for trans people in addition to being the founding editor of a now 11 year old award winning blog, the days of me walking around any convention space for longer than ten minutes incognito are long gone.

I ran into Sunnivie Brydum and a friend of hers moments after taking that post meeting photo with the TUF peeps, and while trying to get to the DoubleTree to get my bags so I could go check into the Hilton Gardens where I was staying, immediately ran into Cecilia Chung.

After running into her, tried to tip past the bar area where folks were congregated and ran into many friends there like my fellow Texans Omar Narvaez, Ashton Woods and the lovely Geneva Musgrave, and ran into Isaiah at the exit door.  I also ran into several students who recognized me from different speeches or who were fans of TransGriot that night and over the next several days.  

While I was waiting to sort out a problem with my Hilton Gardens reservation, Louis Mitchell spotted me while walking past the hotel from a late night food run and kept me company until it was resolved.

The love I got enveloped in while walking the CC17 host hotel over those next several days didn't hurt either, especially in light of the fact that we were literally in the last two days of the Obama presidency and about to see the dawning of a Trump presidency hostile to us.

The Thursday Trans United Fund event at the Philadelphia City Hall on Thursday evening was chock full of symbolism.

I thought about the fact that we were owning our political power as trans people in the city in which the Declaration of Independence was crafted and signed at Independence Hall several blocks away from where our event was taking place with a trans pride flag on the flagpole outside the building.

We were comprised of amazing trailblazing leaders in their own rights like Melissa Sklarz, Sharron Cooks, Danni Askini, Andrea Jenkins, Bamby Salcedo, and Mama Bear DeShanna Neal with her lovely trans feminine daughter Trinity. Some of the brothers were also there in support like Sean Coleman and Rev. Yunus Coldman

It was also great seeing Philadelphia's LGBT Liaison Nellie Fitzpatrick, Cathy Renna and getting to have all those conversations with the attendees during that fundraising event.   It was also wonderful to finally meet and get to talk to Danni Askini in the flesh after years of doing so on FB.

TUF was also holding this event on the last night of the Obama Administration, who will go down in American and TBLGQ history as the best president ever on trans issues.

Since my job during CC14 in Houston was to be co chair of the committee helping put together the People of Color Hospitality suit, I'm always interested in seeing how other Creating Change host cities accomplished the task of setting up their hospitality suites in preparation for the next time Houston gets to host Creating Change.

Once I was done with my portion of the NBJC Black Institute morning programming, I headed to the POC, Bi-Panfluid, Transgender and Elder suites that were located on the sixth floor of the hotel.  

In the Bi suite I ran into Stacey Langley, new Bi-Net president Lynette McFadzen (who I met and roomed with during CC15), and other amazing folks in those Thursday and Friday excursions up to the suites.  

We aren't always talking politics in those hospitality suites.  The conversations can also be about pop culture discussions to blood family acceptance or lack thereof.   Some CC17 attendees are playing cards or board games as they wait for breakfast, lunch or dinner to be delivered to the suites.  

And yes, for you CC vets, they are still vegan.

Speaking of dishes, nice segue into moi dishing out in the Transgender Hospitality Suite a trash talking filled dominoes butt kicking to a New Jersey based activist who has promised me he'll be ready for me when #CC18 roll around.

Good luck with that Kwame.   Love ya and enjoyed our conversation, but Mama Moni still has dominoes skills that will be sharpened over the next 11 months.

You've been warned BTAC and every other conference I get to attend in 2017.  Be afraid.

The Elders suite had a TBLGQ Philadelphia history display set up.  I ran into during my visit to check it out Barbara, one of the trans elders I met during my LGBTMedia13 visit to Philly at the John C Anderson LGBT apartment building for low income LGBT seniors.

Barbara was one of the local volunteers staffing it, and it was wonderful reconnecting with her again..

But the best part of any Creating Change event is being able to not only talk to the elders that preceded me in paving the way for my generation of TBLGQ activists, but the young people for who this is their first Creating Change, who see you as their elder, and get the intergenerational conversations going that we need to have happen.

I had an interesting discussion on Friday with one CC17 attendee who let me know she'd been reading TransGriot since she was 12 years old.   I had more than a few people stop me in the halls during my time there who recognized me either from the blog, previous events, conferences or panels and tell me how much they loved TransGriot, dropping some knowledge in a panel, or appreciated me doing the necessary work to advance our shared human rights struggle.
 

Friday morning Rebecca Kling, Brynn Tannehill and I  talked to two of Bear Bergman's students about the trans rights movement and our parts in it.  Bear later sent me a message about how excited they were to meet us and went on about it for hours.

I was supposed to leave Saturday, but the fog at PHL airport that hugs the Delaware River killed that and forced me to stay an extra day at Creating Change, something I wasn't disappointed about.  But because of my travel back and forth from the host hotel to the airport, I missed the local Women's March that some of the CC17 attendees participated in and Sharron spoke at.

I also got to spend some more quality time with my Birmingham based sister Daroneshia Duncan, who graciously let me crash in her hotel room since I'd checked out of mine at the Hilton Gardens earlier that day..

After dinner at Chili's, swinging by the Boomers Dance with Daroneshia and sitting in the bar area chatting with various people until nearly 2 AM, I reluctantly left the Marriott Downtown host hotel for the last time to get a little sleep for my rebooked 7:35 AM departure back to Houston via the ATL

That meant no Sunday closing plenary or brunch for me this time.

Thanks Philadephia Host Committee for putting together a wonderful event.   I'm glad I came.  Coming to #CC17 helped me realize once again all the positive reasons why I have loved this conference ever since my first one in Oakland back in 1999.

I'm eagerly anticipating being at the 2018 edition of it in Washington DC. Hopefully by that time CC18 happens I'll be able to go to the African American History Museum in addition to seeing all of you peeps there again at our TBLGQ family reunion
.

Still Evolving To Be That Quality Black Woman

When I say 'quality Black woman', I wanted to be the type of woman that even if you knew or discovered after meeting me I was a transwoman, you wouldn't care, you'd see me as an asset and not a liability on the balance sheet of femininity and you'd want me in your life as a friend. 

TransGriot, January 8, 2009   'Becoming A Quality Black Woman'

During that December 18 Christmas party I attended with my high school classmates, I had several of my cis feminine classmates pull me aside and tell me they were proud of me.   It made me tear up for a moment because one of the persons I talked to that night has known me since junior high school.

It's not just my classmates.  I've had messages during the Christmas holidays from cis and trans women wishing me Happy Holidays with heartfelt variations of the same theme..

It got me thinking about that 2009 post and the subsequent one in 2013 I wrote about the subject as New Year's Day draws closer and I take stock of my evolutionary growth in 2016.

Evolution is definitely the operative word here  April 4 will mark 23 years that I began to live my truth, and it has been an amazing journey at times with the occasional pothole here and there.

When I started my journey in 1994, there weren't many nationally or internationally know out Black trans women.   I knew part of what was required of me was to be a possibility model.  I knew that wherever I went, be it IAH's Terminal C, a conference or a college campus, the race and my chocolate segment of the trans community would enter with me.  

With the assortment of talents I have, I eventually became a leader in this community.  

But while recognizing I was going to become whether I wanted it or not a role model, I never lost sight of of that personal goal of being a quality Black woman.  I knew that it was mandatory that I must excel in whatever I chose to do because I had additional scrutiny on me.  

Neither did I forget the promise I made to myself, many of my cis feminine CAL co-workers, and other cis Black women I had conversations with in that period that this transition was not a game or joke to me.  

I don't think about myself that way, but it amuses me at times when I'm called a trans pioneer or trans elder.  But when you transition in 1994, and have been involved in  activism on behalf of a community since 1998, that happens.

I'm proud to note there are many different versions of beautiful Black trans women out there around the country and increasingly the world.   I'm proud to call many of them my friends.  I'm even more proud of the fact that my Black trans feminine elders tell me they are just as proud of me that I am of them who transitioned in much tougher circumstances than I did.

And I never forget the far too many Black trans women we have lost during my over two decades in this community.  They unfortunately will never have the opportunity to know what it's like to be my age because they were violently taken away from us.

Many of my Black trans sisters are as my fellow writer Denny Upkins would say are #BlackFolksBeingAwesome.  

We are New York Times best selling authors, athletes, entrepreneurs, college professors, award winning actors, teachers, students and award winning community leaders.

We strut fashion runways around the world.  We are your wives, lovers, sisters, aunts, and mothers raising kids   And yes, increasingly some of my future quality Black women are trans kids or trans teens like Trinity Neal  who are being raised by some amazing parents .

We are simply not only being the best people we can be, but also doing our part to uplift our community despite being reviled and hated on by ignorant sectors of the Black community..

I'm glad to have done, and will continue to do to the best of my ability my part to not only point out the fact that Black trans women exist, but we have a proud legacy of leadership and solid contributions to the communities we intersect and inhabit.

At the same time, I'm still continuing that evolutionary journey to be that quality Black woman who loves seeing the person staring back at her in the mirror when she wakes up in the morning.

It that inspires some of you, be you cis or trans women to do the same, then that's all good as well.

Thanks For A Wonderful Miss Trans Universo 2015 Reign, Aleika!

One of the things I like to point out is that your family expands, not contracts after you transition, and in many cases those family members you gain are your trans siblings around the world.

One of those people I've had the pleasure of getting to know is my Brazilian sis Aleikasandria Barros. Since her reign as Miss Trans Universo 2015 is coming to an end and she'll have to return to Italy to crown her successor, I wanted to take a moment to give her a TransGriot shoutout.

Thanks Aleika for representing yourself, your nation and our community while wearing the Miss Trans Universo crown.



The Miss Trans Universo pageant is taking place on December 10, and it's on that night in Perugia, Italy she will crown her successor.



I've had the pleasure of getting to know Aleika for the last few years, and I've had some interesting conversations with her about a variety of subjects along the way.

In addition to being involved in the pageant world, she's passionate about causes near and dear to all of our hearts around the world in the eradication of transphobia, educating about our lives, the expansion of our human rights and building sisterhood in our ranks.

I have much admiration and pride for my sisters who compete in the pageant world.  They are not only my sisters, they also have an important role to play in the advancement of our community's human rights in our various nations and around the world.

I've seen that firsthand since I have been in the position a few times of being a trans pageant judge. My pageant sisters at times are also advocates.  They are not only serving as community ambassadors facilitating conversations between the cis and trans communities, there are qualities and things that you learn while competing in pageants that also translate to life outside the pageant world.

I'm eagerly looking forward to the day, like I am with all my international sisters, that I finally get to meet Aleika in person.

Congrats on your amazing year as Miss Trans Universo Aleika!  May the blessings continue to flow for you in 2017 and beyond.

First They Came For The Muslims...

Many of us in non-white America were shocked, angered and dismayed by the election of a grossly unqualified man who was endorsed by white supremacists, has one as his advisor, and stoked racist hatred and fear during his reprehensible campaign that has continued past the November 8 election

It's eerie the similarities between Germany 1933 and America 2016, and while reading the words of Pastor Martin Niemoller and reflecting on them, ,I came up with this remix of his words from the perspective of a Trump voter who doesn't realize as of yet how badly they screwed themselves this nation and possibly the planet.

***

First they came for the Muslims, and I said nothing because deep down the Republicans were doing what I wanted and voted for them to do.

Then they came for the immigrants, and I cheered because I don't like the immigrants that are taking jobs from me.

Then they came for the transgender people, and I was happy because I believe they are confused, need help and are rebelling against God.

Then they came for the n*****s and Mexicans, and I was happy because I think they've gotten too many special rights and I wanted them to be put back in their place.

They came for the liberals, and I cheered because they are unpatriotic and what's wrong with America.

They came for the atheists and nonbelievers, and I cheered because there is no place for them in our Christian nation.

Then they came for me, and I was shocked because I'm not one of those groups of people who deserved to suffer. I voted to Make America Great Again for working class white people..

But I fell for the lies, and now there's no one left to help me because I turned a blind eye to and cheered the oppression of fellow Americans. .

Moni's 2016 POTUS Election Musing

Today as many of you know is the first day of early voting in my home state of Texas  I have loved early voting ever since they started doing it in the Lone Star State back in the 90's .

I love early voting because I can do so on my schedule and I'm not stuck waiting until November 8 when I already know who I'm voting for.   Another 14 days or so of campaign commercials and speeches isn't going to change my mind.

Spent some time at the West Gray Multicultural Service Center, one of the 45 early voting locations in Harris County for early the 2016 presidential election.   I arrived a little after noon to the delightful surprise of seeing a long line here, and it took me 45 minutes total to do so

40 minutes in line, and only five minutes to run through the ballot vote, check my work and press the SEND button on the E-Vote machine to handle my electoral business.

And yes H-town , I practiced what I'be been preaching to y'all and voted the entire ballot from POTUS to dog catcher.  I also voted for all the endorsed candidates on the Houston GLBT Caucus Card.

Who did I vote for for POTUS?  Definitely wasn't Trump,Jill Stein or Gary Johnson.

I voted for the person I endorsed for president on these TransGriot electronic pages.

This is another historic election I have been pleased and proud to participate in.  We set a first day early voting record in Harris County, so if you want to avoid the lines on November 8, better go now.

I was pleased that for the first time in my eligible voting life (my first election was the 1980 Carter-Reagan one) , I've had an opportunity to cast a ballot in a battleground state.

The fact the battleground state in question is my home state of Texas makes it that much sweeter and warms my political heart.

Seeing that long line at this polling place and others around town and the county also made me feel good.   It also compels me to remind you TransGriot readers across this nation to show up and show out at the polls because you vote matters.

Once again, early voting in Texas started today and will continue until November 4.  if the record turnout persists, may wish to do what I did and vote early as well.

The direction of this country for the next four years and beyond depends on it.

2016 DNC Day 1 Convention Musing

The 2016 Democratic National Convention gets started in Philadelphia today with the opening gavel in the Wells Fargo Arena scheduled at 3 PM CDT.  Should be much better than the Klan rally masquerading as the Republican convention in Cleveland last week even with the drama of Debbie Wasserman Schultz's resignation

The featured speakers lineup for today is First Lady Michelle Obama, Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT), Sen Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)  and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ).

Looking forward to once again seeing a Democratic convention hall that looks like America, and I'm exceedingly proud of the fact trans Democrats will be in the hall in full effect.  There will be a record 28 person DNC trans delegation and they and Trans World will witness a historic Thursday speech by Sarah McBride from the convention stage..  

I'm taking a moment to give a TransGriot shout to my Houston home peeps who are part of the Texas DNC delegation.   Like I've said before, we have some amazing advocates repping H-town at the DNC, and those Texas delegation meetings at your host hotel should be a lot of fun.

Wish I could be there with you for this historic convention which will witness the first woman to be nominated as a major party presidential candidate but have another commitment I made I must fulfill. But definitely will be with y'all in spirit.

Also sending love to my Kentucky peeps who made it to #DNCinPHL and all the peeps on my FB pages and Twitter feeds who will be in the house with their various state delegations.    

Already enjoying reading your Facebook statuses and tweets, and anticipating the pics and posts I'll see as the DNC is gaveled into session later today and it winds to its climax of Sec. Hillary Clinton's acceptance speech on the 28th..

Hope y'all have fun, handle your business, get to spend a little time enjoying the city and make some amazing memories while you're in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection.

2016 DNC Pre-Convention Trans Delegate Musing

One of the things I'd like to see in that 2016 DNC transgender delegate contingent besides more people and continued ethnic diversity is that trans DNC delegation in 2016 and beyond include trans people who are elected to public office.  That would be in addition to the trans people already diligently working inside the various levels of the Democratic Party to ensure we have a voice in it at the policy formation tables.
TransGriot, September 6, 2012

When the 2016 Democratic National Convention is gaveled into order for its first session at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, we will have a record 28 trans folks in the house and taking part at this historic convention which will  see Hillary Clinton officially become the first female presidential nominee of a major political party.

The Green Party and Jill Stein doesn't count as a major political party and she doesn't have a credible chance of taking the oath of office on January 20, so stop hatin' fauxgressives and deal with that dose of political reality.

We've come a long way in Trans World from the 2000 days in which Minnesota's Jane Fee became the first out trans person the attend a DNC convention and was the lone trans delegate in Los Angeles.

Trans representation at the DNC convention has grown exponentially to the point that we had our most diverse delegation ever in Charlotte with 14 people in 2012,   One of the 14 people in attendance in Charlotte was a superdelegate in New Jersey's Barbra Casbar Siperstein.

Babs has been blazing the trail and active in New Jersey and national Democratic Party politics for years, and will be one of the superdelegates in attendance in Philadelphia, the other super being Laura Calvo of Oregon.  
I'm hoping that the 2016 trans DNC contingent during their time in Philadelphia will actually see more trans history made with one of our people actually making a speech to the convention attendees and hopefully the nation from the convention stage.

It's even more vital the American people see that in the wake of the Republicans putting together a virulently anti-trans and LGB platform.  We need to make it clear as a party that we are proud of the most pro-trans platform in Democratic Party history, and putting a trans Democrat on stage would put an exclamation point on our values of treating trans people with dignity and respect.

We already know the Texas DNC delegation will have its first ever out trans masculine representative in Lou Weaver, and Montana will be sending its first ever out trans delegate in Anita Green.  Monica DePaul will be the first ever out trans delegate from Florida.

There will also be just as in 2014, two African American trans representatives in Merrick Moses from Maryland and Sharron Cooks representing the host delegation from Pennsylvania

While I'm proud of the record numbers of trans people headed to Philadelphia, many for the first time, we do have room for improvement in terms of the diversity of our trans DNC delegates.   It's been a dream of mine to one day be a DNC delegate, and I hope I can make that happen someday.

I would also like to see more trans people of all ethnic backgrounds showing up at future DNC's as elected representatives, and hope the 2016 election cycle is the first step toward that becoming a reality.

Speaking of reality, will be nice to not only see a political convention that's grounded in reality, but looks like America at the same time.

Moni's First Gay Bar Experience

In the wake of the Pride Orlando shooting, we've had a few celebrity TBLG people talk about their first time visiting a gay bar in a New York Times article..  I thought that was a great story idea, so I'll talk about mine.

It was June 1980, a mere two weeks after I'd graduated from high school.   The pull to become me was becoming stronger but I was still living at my parents house and prepping to go to college.  I still had quietly put together a stash of femme clothing I kept hidden along with a growing collection of clipped Houston Chronicle and other newspaper articles about trans people I stuck in an unmarked manila envelope.

One day I stumbled across a Houston Defender newspaper with an article written about legendary female illusionist Tommie Ross, who would later become Miss Continental in 2000.  She was based in Houston at the time and performing at the only Black oriented gay club on Lower Westheimer at the time called Studio 13.

It probably got its name because of its address at 1318 Westheimer Rd, and I decided to check it out and the Sunday Studio 13 divas show that she was one of the performers for,

As I entered the split level converted house that Sunday night, it became the portal to another exciting and interesting world I would continue to visit until I moved to Louisville in 2001.

There was a sunken dance floor that led to the stage and dressing rooms in the back for the showgirls, along with two bars on the lower level and the DJ booth on the east side of the club where the DJ would spin his music. Upstairs was another bar and pool table, with windows facing the McDonalds next door and south to Westheimer. In the back there was a high walled patio with a hot tub, but it stayed covered, and especially after Houston started experiencing the first wave of AIDS deaths in 1981.

In the front on the Westheimer side of the club was an enclosed patio with a high fence so no vehicles passing by Studio 13 could spot you.  It allowed you to get away from the crowds and noise inside and enjoy a somewhat quiet conversation.  It became one of my fave spots when I got tired of the crowd inside.

But the thing that immediately caught my attention was all the female illusionists, drag queens and trans women who looked like me.

Some were early in their transitions, while others were drop dead gorgeous as they elegantly glided through the club.

I met one tall trans sister who I struck up a conversation with.  She introduced me to several people and put me so much at ease that I came back on Thursday for Studio 13's Talent Night amateur drag show and met Cookie LaCook, the 'Mouth of the South' and longtime emcee of that show until she passed away in 2007,

One of the reasons I love amaretto sours to this day is because she introduced me to them.




I eventually made my first public foray out en femme at Studio 13, and started hitting the other Montrose area trans friendly clubs like the Boobie Rock that later became Chances, EJ's, QT's, Cousins, and the gay owned 24 hour restaurant a few blocks up Westheimer close to Waugh Drive called Charlie's.

It was Studio 13 where I had some memorable times during the 80's and 90's.  It also brings a twinge of sadness when I think about it because many of the peeps I met during my first foray into Studio 13 would be dead by the end of the decade from AIDS.  Some of the peeps I met moved elsewhere because of the hostility that was stirred up by Steven Hotze and his evil minions in the wake of the vicious 1985 repeal of the Houston non discrimination ordinance that passed in August 1984 with sexual orientation only language in it.

Carla, one of my trans homegirls I met during those Studio 13 trips died in 1990 when she broke her neck after she was shoved down some apartment stairs during a heated argument with her boyfriend. She used to rub it in when we hung out about being a petite 5'2" size seven pump wearing sistah and used to tell me that I was going to transition.

Too bad she didn't get to see me do so.

Studio 13 allowed me to get comfortable being out and dressed in public as Moni, and I even met a few people that are still my friends to this day.  I discovered that me and Nikki Araguz Loyd's late teens-early 20's self actually crossed paths there since from time to time she would either do Talent Night or just hang out with a friend there.  I eventually met Tommie Ross, and discovered to my dismay one night she plays a mean game of pool.

Unfortunately in large part due to the gentrification of Montrose, many of those gay bars closed down or were bought out, and Studio 13 eventually became a casualty of that gentrification push.  Studio 13 became Rascals in the late 90's, and was eventually sold after I moved to Louisville in 2001 to become what is now the Royal Oak Bar and Grill.  

Studio 13 may be ancient Houston TBLG history, but I still have the memories from those times my twenty something-thirty something self wandered through its doors.

I'll always remember DJ Tony Powell spinning house music until the club closed.  Cookie LaCook hosting Talent Night and making her 'f*****g great audience' laugh.

I'll remember the pageants, the talent nights and the one Studio 13 Talent Night in which there were 12 contestants and eight of them performed to Anita Baker's 'No More Tears' to the point I hated that song for a while.

I still call that Anita Baker song to this day 'The Houston Drag Queen National Anthem'.

I'll remember hanging out in Studio 13's cramped parking lot after its 2 AM closing and watching peeps trying to pick somebody up to go home with.  The hilarious night in 1983 I watched the entertaining spectacle of some suburban jerk calling himself trying to do some trans bashing and unfortunately for him picking on a Latina trans girl who fought in Golden Gloves before transition. She whipped that jerk's azz while in heels and without breaking a nail as we stood by laughing.

But it all started because I wanted to see Tommie Ross perform.

Moni's Birthday Musings

It's my favorite day on the calendar next to Christmas, Thanksgiving and to opening day of the NFL season.

It's Cuatro de Mayo, aka my birthday that I have been blessed to celebrate for now 54 years and counting.

I thank you for blowing up my Facebook page with birthday greetings from around the world, and I'm not kidding when I say that.  I'm blessed to know people around the world and call them my friends, and that list is expanding as time moves on.

My birthday can be bittersweet at times.   I'm realizing that there are several trans people who have been murdered this year that will never know what it is like to live 50+ years on this planet, and we just got word we lost another young Black trans sister in Wichita, KS just 48 hours ago.  .We have been robbed of their talents and potential contribution to building our community and society at large.

And I'm tired of that crap.  I'm also seeing with increasing frequency the artists that provided the musical soundtrack to different points of my life are leaving us, as Prince's untimely death drove home two weeks ago.

And as the just concluded BTAC pointed out, I am now a seasoned elder in the community and not a neophyte thirtysomething activist in awe of my elders I'm encountering in a large convention shared space.  Now it's me that frequently has the experience of awestruck trans people approaching her.

Hey people, I'm human.  The only people whose heads I bite off are people who wish to oppress us.

But I'm blessed to be a year older, celebrating 22 years being my authentic self, and still don't know what I'm going to do to celebrate it.   It is Cheap Chicken Day at Frenchy's, so I'll probably be destroying some of that later.

Will be nice to see how this day plays out...

 

Moni's Post BTAC 2016 Thoughts

I'm back at Casa de Monica after spending an amazing week hanging with my chosen family at the 2016 edition of the Black Trans Advocacy Conference in Dallas.

It was the fifth anniversary edition of this event, and it was a week in which I got to share the same space with old friends and make acquaintances with new cis and trans friends from around the country and increasingly the world.  This year we had attendees from Brazil and Jamaica, and I hope we continue to draw more people from the African Diaspora to the Black Trans Advocacy Conference..

It's an event that has the feel of a giant family reunion, but it's one in which we get to learn, laugh and love each other in a world that is being stirred up for crass political reasons to become more irrationally hostile to all trans people.  

It was sad we had to spend time putting out a press release condemning Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick (R) for pimping anti-trans hate in the Lone Star State mere hours before our conference kicked off..

But we refused to let the transphobic devils suck the joy out of this conference.

BTAC is a gigantic raised clenched Black fist debunking the notion that Black trans people don't exist.  It is the middle finger to all those who would seek to harm and oppress us.  It is an unapologetically Black trans focused space and conference that is also welcome to all who wish to attend and hang with us.  

BTAC is your family beckoning to those of you to come, get your hug and the welcoming love you deserve that the world and at times your own blood families fail to properly give you at times.  It's having fun and enjoying each other's company whether we are in the host hotel or out and about in the world trying to legislate us out of existence.

It's where we went to the correct bathrooms for an entire week and nothing happened in this hotel except us pooping, peeing and washing our hands when we were done.

It's remembering our ancestors who paved the way, the people we've lost, and the folks who wanted to be there but circumstances kept them away from us this time.  Know that you are loved by your BTAC family, we missed you at BTAC 2016, and hope you're blessed to be with us in 2017.

BTAC is where you can unapologetically be your fabulous Black trans selves.  It's sharing a meal with people who are like you and allies who unconditionally support us..  It's displaying your talent at TransManifest Live.  It's strutting your stuff on the Black Diamond Ball runway as you get tens across the board from the judges.  It's being crowned the king and queen of the BTIPS pageant system by last year's royalty.

It's exchanging information, hugs and heartfelt stories not only in the seminars but as you chill in each others rooms, in the hospitality suite or in the lobby area with other hotel guests and staff.  It's celebrating the start of love connections made at past and this year's BTAC conference.

It's getting dressed up for the Awards Gala and being recognized by your BTAC family for the work you do not only inside the organization, but to advance the human rights of our entire community even if the rest of the world ignores your substantive contributions to doing so.

BTAC is where your voice matters and you get to role model the change you wish to see in the world.

It's also a conference in which peeps find out I write and spit spoken word poetry, can step up my fashion game when necessary, I don't bite when you approach me to say hello, I have a wicked sense of humor, and I play a take no prisoners trash talking game of dominoes while others are doing the same thing when they play whatever card game du jour that is going on at the time.

You have been warned for next year, peeps thinking about coming to challenge the Queen of the Dominoes table. And if it hadn't been raining too hard Tuesday night, y'all would've found out I can bowl.

And trans haters, it's where we gleefully blow up your lies about what it means to be an unapologetically Black trans person or an unapologetic ally to our community..

It's also a conference in which by the time it reached the closing brunch on Sunday, I and everyone else there is sad it's over.

We are all painfully aware as we gather together one last time for that closing brunch it will be another 365 days before we're blessed to be in the company of these amazing people we've spent a fab week with in the same BTAC space

And this year I missed the brunch because I had to leave early to catch my 2:50 PM Megabus back to Houston.  I and Dee had to depressingly watch as everyone else attending it got dropped off by the hotel shuttle bus at Blue Mesa and we stayed on enroute to DART's Addison Transit Center.

So yes, while BTAC 2016 is one for the history books, already looking forward to next year, and hope those of you who missed it this year will join us for BTAC 2017. .

And when the date and location for BTAC 2017 is announced, you will definitely see it on these TransGriot pages.