Back In NOLA For The NLGJA Convention

It was touch and go in terms of whether or not I'd actually get here, but thanks to a major assist from BTAC, I'm here for #NLGJA18!

After missing out on the NABJ one in Miami, I was determined to at least make this one since it was this close (385 miles) to my Houston stomping grounds. 

My Megabus trip from Houston started out on a less than promising note, with us having to swap the bus out before we could start our eastward trek down I-10.  But better to have them handle that problem in Houston than having us break down along the route. 

I-10 in Louisiana includes major stretches of it going through swamp in the Atchafalaya Basin west of Baton Rouge and in St Charles, St John and St Martin Parishes as you approach New Orleans..

Still ended up getting to New Orleans an hour late, but in one piece with my luggage.

It's ironic to me that after not having visited New Orleans since the 1990 Mardi Gras, since then I have been to a 2018 BTAC Leadership Institute here, the 2018 Netroots Nation, and now this NLGJA conference.in the span of 14 months.   

I have a Saturday panel I'm on, so looking forward to not only handling my business on it, but also getting my learn on.  And yes, looking forward to seeing a few friends and some of the NLGJA leadership team while I;m wandering the convention hotel.

I also want to catch up with my NOLA trans fam before I have to hit I-10 west on Sunday

I still have to get registered before that happens, but will deal with it in a few hours.

I'll also be tweeting and posting to my Facebook while I'm here, and you can also check out the #NLGJA19 hashtag for the latest news.

Moni Is Going To San Antonio!

Going to San Antonio for the second time this year, and this time it's for two purposes.

May 4 is election day here in the Lone Star State.  San Antonio, Dallas and other municipalities across the state will have elections on that day. 

One of the election campaigns I'm watching is a San Antonio city council race which pits Frankie Gonzales Wolfe against an incumbent council member in District 8.

If Wolfe wins, she would become the first trans Texan elected to public office in the Lone Star State, and possibly the first out trans Latina elected nationally to any office.  I definitely want to be there to witness that history should it happen.

It goes without saying that I enthusiastically endorse Frankie Gonzales Wolfe for that San Antonio city council seat

May 4 is also my birthday and I wanted to do something on my birthday this year besides chilling in my apartment.   

So that's just a few of the reasons why I'll be spending it on the San Antonio end of I-10.   I hope I'll have a lot to celebrate before that day is over.     

Testifying For HB 1513

Been resting after spending  ten days away from Houston for BTAC and another trip to state capitol to testify in favor of a trans positive bill.

After the 9 AM CDT press conference, I spent  the rest of the day visiting a few House and senate offices to kill time before the 2 PM scheduled start of the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee meeting was scheduled to start. 

But because we're mercifully getting close to the end of this Texas legislative session, the House session didn't adjourn until 6 PM, with the committee meeting not starting until 6:30 PM

By the time I and Claire Bow, Danielle Skidmore, Ash Hall, and Leslie McMurry finally got to testify it was two hours later. 

Only one hater from Texas Values showed up, but it wasn't who I expected.   Instead of Jonathan Saenz doing his hatemongering personally, he sent a Black woman to try and fail do the job.

Sadly, the bill was left pending in committee despite our compelling testimony as to why trans Texans should be added to the Byrd hate Crimes Act.   That means if it doesn't pass out of committee and by the full House by Friday, it dies for this session. 

While I'm disappointed by that result,  Rep Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) has made it clear he will introduce that bill when the next session takes place in 2021.

And I and my Texas trans community will be there in force when it's time to testify in favor of it

Leaving On A Jet Plane-To Minneapolis

It's a travel day in which I get to take a jet plane out of Hobby and head to Minneapolis for the Andrea Jenkins Lecture I'll be participating in tomorrow with Dr C Riley Snorton on the UM campus.

Already have a shot of me next to the Bronze Fonz, and Minneapolis has its own iconic statue of a fictional TV character in Mary Tyler Moore at Nicollett Mall. 

It recreates the scene from the Mary Tyler Moore Show opening credits in which her Mary Richards character throws her tam in the air in front of the downtown mall along with scenes from the show. 

I was a huge fan of the Mary Tyler Moore show growing up that put Minneapolis in the public consciousness before His Royal Badness came along later..

I'm looking forward to seeing as many of the Minneapolis based trans peeps I know while I'm there, and hope everyone can come to check out the event at the Mayo Auditorium on the University of Minnesota campus.

Also looking forward to spending some quality time with D. Snorton.

The interesting thing is I have to fly to Denver first and then catch my connecting flight out of there to Minneapolis.   Here's hoping I have no drama or ATC delays.

If it's Monday It's Austin, Tuesday It's San Antonio

One of the things about odd numbered years is that going into them, I know I'll be doing a lot of travel inside and outside of the state of Texas.

An odd numbered year on the calendar means that the Texas Legislature is in session, and I'll be doing a lot of scheduled and unscheduled trips to Austin to lobby or testify for and against bills.

Monday afternoon was one of those unscheduled trips, as TENT's ED Emmett Schelling invited me to come to the ATX to do battle against SB 17.

It is the unjust bill sponsored by Sen.Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) that would allow anyone with a professional license to discriminate against people based on their 'sincerely held religious beliefs' and not face repercussions for doing so.

Translation, it's the 'religious freedom' BS once again.   Perry is also the conservafool who stated that 'being Christian in America is like being Jewish in Nazi Germany.'

Yep, that was the level of conservaidiocy we were taking on Monday.

That meant for the fourth time this session I would make the 175 mile trip from Houston to Austin to handle some political business under the Pink Dome.  This was the first time this session I would get to testify for or against a bill.

In case you're wondering, my personal record for Austin trips during a session is eight, set during the 2017 session.  I 'missed a ninth trip because I was handling San Diego Comic Con business during the special session, and Senate State Affairs called for a hearing on SB 6 while I was on the Left Coast.

The joke running around in the Texas activist community about me not being there for that ninth time is that the TXGOP heard I was leaving the state for a few days and decided to call that SB 6 hearing while I was in Cali because they didn't want to see or deal with me calling their conservaazzes out

Emmett, his family, Brad Pritchett, Lou Weaver and I piled into a minivan and rolled from Houston late Sunday afternoon for the hearing that was scheduled to take place at 9 AM the next day in the Senate State Affairs Committee.

But interestingly enough, this hearing took place on the floor of the Texas Senate chamber since as you probably guessed, committee hearing rooms are hard to get this time of year.

You can watch here as I said my piece along with other Texans opposed to it about that unjust bill.   It was also nice to spend some quality time talking to peeps in the community like Ashley Smith, Claire Bow, Finn Jones, Ash Hall, Fran Watson and my high school classmate Lawrence Allen, Jr

He was with his Omega Psi Phi frat brothers for their advocacy day, and also sits on the State Board of Education.  It was also nice bumping into Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, Rep. Ron Reynolds, Rep Shawn Thierry, and spending some quality time with my own state senator Borris Miles.

In case you're wondering, he's opposed to SB 17

The next day instead of going back to Houston, since I was riding with Emmett and had nothing important scheduled back home, I made the short drive down I-35 south with them to San Antonio.

It was actually the first time I'd done the drive to San Antonio from that direction, and noted all the home and other construction going on along I-35.

While I was in Bexar County, Emmett, Andrea and I stopped by the northwest San Antonio campaign office of Frankie Gonzales Wolfe, who is running for the District 8 seat on the San Antonio City Council against an unpopular incumbent.

Frankie, should she be successful in doing so on May 4, would become the first out trans person elected to public office in the Lone Star State.  She'd also become if it happens the first trans Latina elected to public office anywhere in the United States. 

Was happy to hear that her campaign is starting to pick up positive momentum in the Alamo City, but our trans sister could still use some donation dollars from y'all who pride yourselves on helping to build trans political power.

So after allowing for some time for Andrea to hang out with her mom Elsa, and grabbing a bite to eat to allow for San Antonio rush hour traffic to die down, we hit I-10 east for the journey back to Houston and to get a few days of rest before it was time for me next Monday to head back to Austin for another lobby day.

And nope, I didn't get to destroy any Slurpees in either Austin or San Antonio despite the plethora of 7 Eleven locations in both cities.

Well, maybe next time.

Heading To The ATX Again

If you're saying to yourself, 'weren't you just in Austin last week?', you would be correct.   I was there for a quick in an out trip to speak during an Equality Texas press conference on the south steps of the Texas Capitol.

And yeah, got my Slurpee before I headed back to H-town.

This time I'm heading back to Austin to take part in the Trans Education Network of Texas (TENT) trans lobby day that is also cosponsored with the Texas chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW).

This lobby day is happening nearly 20 years to the day I made my first ever Texas lege trans lobby trip in 1999 organized by TGAIN, the forerunner org of TENT.

Same Pink Dome, but a different Texas legislative configuration.   Even Austin is way larger population wise than when I first started coming to lobby the Lege.

We have a long list of good bills to support, but are also concerned about the bad ones like SB 15, that would kill already passed non discrimination ordinances in Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Plano, Carrollton and El Paso and prevent cities from enacting those laws

We also for the first time have an official Texas LGBTQ Legislative Caucus this session, and looking forward to talking to the members of it in addition to my own state rep and state senator.

My behind is already in bed as you read this because I have a 7:35 AM Megabus departure from downtown Houston to get to our state capitol, and the alarm is set for 5 AM CST

I sure hope the route we're going to take to Austin is via I-10 west to TX 71 because I despise going there via US 290.

Despite our schizophrenic weather lately, the bluebonnets are starting to bloom along TX 71 as well

My ETA there is 10:40 AM, so hope we get there on time.   Once I get there, I'll have the opportunity to catch up with what the Texas Lege is doing and on Thursday see my Texas trans fam from across the Lone Star State. 

Moni's Marvelous Milwaukee Weekend

Got my 'I've arrived' phone call done to my mom last night after I arrived, and I'm in the state of Wisconsin and in my nice hotel room overlooking the Milwaukee River at the A Loft Milwaukee Downtown.    I'm also a mere two blocks from the new arena here.

The best part is I'm still in the Central time zone, so no jet lag issues. .

I'm chilling in Wisconsin's largest city, and woke up to snow on the ground to start my busy weekend that melted as the day wore on.    I was also on deadline for my OutSmart column and had to finish that column up

As for the weather, the last two days in Houston already prepped me for it since on Tuesday and Wednesday we were in the mid to low 30's temp wise.

Since I love to when I travel check out the local restaurants and food I can't get in Texas, Ian's Pizza is definitely on my foodie radar, along with Kopp's Frozen Custard.  Also looking forward to exploring the area near the hotel.

I spent part of today at the Milwaukee LGBT Center being this month's featured speaker as part of  their ongoing Stonewall Stage Talk Series.    I got a chance to do what I love and talk about trans history, current political developments, and what got me into my now 20 years of activism .

As soon as the link comes up for that talk, I'll post it.

Tomorrow is the more serious part of why I came here.  I'm the featured speaker for their TDOR that will take place at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at 7 PM

Hope those of you in the Milwaukee area will check it out.

Moni's Leaving On A Jet Plane To- Milwaukee!

Been a few weeks since I hopped a flight somewhere, and this time I'm headed to the upper Midwest and a first time ever trip to Milwaukee.

And I'll get to see some of my United-CAL family since I'll be flying through IAH on this trip.

I'll be heading up there to speak at their TDOR event at UW-Milwaukee on Sunday night.   I'll also be doing on Saturday from 2-4 PM CST a Stonewall Stage Talk at the FORGE/ MKE LGBT Community Center at 1110 N Market Street.

The TDOR event will be on the UWM Campus in Bolton Hall, Room 150.  Address is 3210 N. Maryland Ave from 7-9 PM CST.   

Looking forward to hanging out with the Milwaukee and Wisconsin TBLGQ community and our allies this weekend.   Hopefully I will get a chance to see the 'Bronze Fonz' before I head back home Monday. 

Milwaukee was the setting for not only the longtime ABC sitcom Happy Days, it was also the setting for several seasons of the spinoff series Laverne and Shirley.

Leaving On A Jet Plane To.....

Palm Springs, CA.

I'm headed there for another LGBT Media Journalists Convening.  This one is going to be interesting because it was not only pushed back from its normal early-mid March weekend, we're also going to be in the middle of the National Lesbian Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) Convention.

And I'm going to have to get up at 4 AM Houston time to catch an 8:10 AM departure out of IAH.

While we have nonstop service out of Houston on United to Palm Springs, I got booked on American, which means I'm going to have a brief 40 minutes going through Phoenix to get there.

But it's also mind blowing to me that I'll be hanging out in a city way out west on the same I-10 that rolls through my hometown. 

But hey, it's another trip out of town for a few days, and I get to hang out with my #LGBTMedia fam once again.   I'm also looking forward to being at my first NLGJA convention and seeing what that is like   

If I like the event, the 2019 NLGJA one will be just down I-10 east from me in NOLA. 

One thing I'm not liking is the forecast.  While it is going to be sunny the whole time I'll be there, I'm actually going somewhere that is hotter temperature wise than Houston.  Temps will be in the triple digits for every day I'm there.

Dry heat, my azz.  Gimme my home sweet humidity any time 

But first things first.  here's hoping both my flights leave on time and my bag gets there in one piece.

Headed To NOLA!

Been far too long since I've been to New Orleans.   Despite it being only a five hour drive and an hour's flight away, the last time I was in NOLA was for the 1990 Mardi Gras

I was there for the last weekend leading up to Fat Tuesday, so I got to see not only some West Bank parades while gulping a few 64 oz frozen daiquiris, but watched the Endymion parade in downtown NOLA from a coveted bleacher seat near the reviewing stand.

Endymion is known for its celebrity grand marshals, and the grand marshal that year was I kid you not, Spuds Mackenzie and the Spudettes. 

This is not only the first time I'm traveling to NOLA in the 21st Century, it's also the first time I've been here since transition, and so looking forward to the trip.

I lived there on the West Bank in Marrero with my family for two years as a toddler when my dad was working for WBOK-AM, so it is somewhat of a long overdue homecoming. 

New Orleans was one of the first non rev trips I took in March 1987 when I put in the month I needed to become pass eligible.

It is a business trip since I'm headed there for a BTAC Leadership retreat and training that starts tomorrow morning at 9 AM and ends Saturday afternoon. 

The good news is I get to spend some quality time with my BTAC fam again and didn't have to wait until April 2019 to do so.  The bad news is I have to go to IAH because Dee Dee and I have been booked on (ugh) Spirit Airlines to get there. 

And y'all know how much I despise Spirit.

The good thing about this trip is that it's only 45-50 minutes in the air and I get to stay at a Doubletree Hotel for it upon arrival.

Can you say 'destroyed cookies' people?   Thought you could. 

Some beignets will be destroyed on this trip as well as soon as I get the opportunity to do so, preferably from Cafe Du Monde.

Moni's In The MIddle Of BTAC 2018!

After a Megabus ride, that was delayed almost an hour in the Houston exurbs due to a chemical spill cleanup in Montgomery County, I'm on the other end of I-45 for my annual trip to hang out with my Black trans fam and attend the 7th annual Black Trans Advocacy Conference.

And yeah, it also serves as the kickoff to my upcoming Cuatro de Mayo birthday 

This year's BTAC Conference theme is Journeying Together: Living In Greater Truth and Healing.  In a time when trans people are under attack from a hostile federal government and depending on where we live, Republican state governments adding to the macroaggressive hostility, now more than ever Black trans people need to be pulling together, living our truth, and saying in a loud collective voice that our humanity and human rights are not up for debate or discussion.

It's also one of the few trans conferences that is centered on our heritage

We also have a new host hotel for this event in the Wyndham Dallas Suites Park Central, so once again we'll have to learn a new Dallas neighborhood and what off hotel property eating establishments and attractions are in the surrounding area. 

One the Cali crew is already salivating about is the nearby In and Out Burger just across the parking lot .  Nah, I'll stick to Whataburger

We're also going to be there as the NFL conducts its 2018 Draft at Jerry World (AKA AT&T Stadium) and The Star Complex in the nearby exurb of Frisco, TX.

And yeah, Moni will be looking to defend her domino championship at the upcoming picnic on Saturday.   But for those of you headed to BTAC, if y'all want a domino beatdown before that day, I will happily oblige you.

And naw, I did not stutter when I said that.  #BTACDominoChamp

Looking forward to a week of seeing the lovely Demetria Obilor doing the traffic reports on WFAA-TV along with Dale Hansen's on point commentary and my friends in the DFW area like Rachel Adams Gonzales, Rafael McDonnell, Councilman Omar Narvaez and countless others.

I'm also looking forward to the Dallas BTAC week of learning, fun and bonding at this Black trans family reunion that in seven years has become one of my favorite conferences to attend.   

Getting On The Bus- To Dallas

It's that time again, and I'm getting on the Megabus once again for the second time this year to do an instate trip. 

This time I'm headed up I-45 to hang out with my transpeeps for the 7th annual edition of the Black Trans Advocacy Conference 




Much of the reason I enjoy it is not only because I get to hang out with my Black trans family from here and around the world, it also acts as a kickoff to my Cuatro De Mayo birthday celebration.

So ready to see everyone, the new hotel, and my DFW peeps.

Time to settle into my seat and roll over for some sleep, and I'll catch up with you peeps in a few hours.

Moni's In Las Vegas!

My first trip outside of Texas takes me to Las Vegas, and the landing was a little more exciting that I wanted, but I'm here in one piece until Sunday.  It's also the first time I've ever spent time in Clark County, NV besides transiting the airport.

But it's not a vacation,  it's actually a business trip.  I'm here for the Working Families Party Spring School along with some of my colleagues from Trans United Fund.

In case you're wondering who and what is that group, the Working Families Party is a progressive organization founded in New York in 1998 by a coalition of labor unions, civic organizations, and advocacy groups.

They are a growing progressive organization dedicated to fighting for an economy that works for all of us, not just the 1% billionaires and a democracy in which every voice matters.  Working Families now has chapters in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Washington DC

The policies they are pushing for are a livable wage, affordable housing, raising the minimum wage, universal single payer health care, better public schools, and more investment in public services.

This Spring School is a multi day training that is happening here, and it's going to be interesting to see what other persons and organizations are here and what transpires over the next few days until I head back to the Lone Star State.  

Leaving On A Jet Plane To- Las Vegas

My first trip outside of Texas in 2018 is also to a place that I'm visiting for the first time in Las Vegas, Nevada.   It also comes with a large slice of deja vu attached to it.

I get to travel out of IAH on United.   I get to not only see my former coworkers who haven't retired yet, I also get to walk through Terminal C and E exactly one week after my transiversary. 

When I made my first trip to Portland, Oregon back in 1996, we hadn't started non-stop trips to PDX yet, so I had the options of either flying to Las Vegas, Phoenix or San Francisco on Continental, then fly an America West flight up there from whichever of those airports I chose up to PDX and back and back.   We has a code share and pass agreement with America West at the time, so it wasn't going to cost me more than the standard pass charges no matter which way I went.

I decided to go through Las Vegas.   I had a 45 minute layover, and I knew about the slot machines in the McCarran International terminal waiting to relieve you of more cash.   I had every intention of sitting there, exercising my Taurean willpower and resisting the temptation to play until my flight boarded.

That only lasted 10 minutes, so I ended up playing one of the nearby quarter slot machines.   

$1.75 of playing later I hit it for $25 dollars just as it was time for me to board my America West flight to Portland, so I was forced to grab my money and go. 

My luck was even better on the America West flight.  The head flight attendant on this trip was one I helped non- rev on one of my CAL flights two weeks earlier.   She raved to her crewmates about the service I'd provided for her at my gate, and was determined to return the favor.  Her America West crew spoiled me rotten on that flight to Portland even though I was in the back with a row to myself.   
On the way back to IAH I had a much longer layover in Vegas for my Continental redeye back to Houston, so once again I killed some time by playing the airport quarter slot machines.   

It only took me only $1.25 of play this time to hit for a $15 payday.  I immediately quit while I was ahead of the game and took my winnings to grab something to eat in the airport food court before it was time to board my plane back home. 

It took 21 years, but this time I get to leave the airport and stay in the city for the first time.  It had always been on my domestic trip bucket list, but never got the opportunity to take it as an employee.

Now I get to go to Vegas for a multiday training and also stay in a hotel on the famed Las Vegas Strip.  I also have two cousins who live there that hopefully I'll get some quality time with before I have to come back to Texas on Sunday

.
See y'all in a few hours Las Vegas,