Heading Back To H-town From PTHC 2014

The 2014 Philly Trans Health Conference is one for the history books, and Sammi Jo probably has her phone off and is resting after the successful conclusion of this 13th annual event. 

I had a wonderful time, and would definitely life to come back in 2015 if we can make it happen.  Maybe next time as a keynote speaker.  (hint. hint)

We'll see if that becomes a reality next year or at a future PTHC, but now I have to go back to my H-town life.  Assuming both my flights leave on time from here and the ATL, I'll be home and destroying some Pappas barbecue at Hobby around 1:20 PM CDT.

Thanks to Jennifer Michelle Gellar for being my gracious roommate while I was here in Philly.  

It opened the door for me having an even more wonderful first timer experience meeting Jazz, Jeanette, her amazing family and all the people who advocate for trans kids.

And to my trans brothers and trans sisters, thanks for the love.  I get just as big a kick out of meeting you as you do in being around me.   You will go on, if you aren't already, to do some amazing things.

 I marvel at how fabulous y'all look while doing so. 

And hopefully, I'll be blessed to do PTHC again next year if they'll have me around.

Later Philly...Houston awaits.

I've Finally Arrived In Philly!

After traveling through the ATL to get here from Houston and ducking a few storm clouds on both flights, the Air Marshal has finally made it to my hotel and I'm in Philadelphia for my first ever Philly Trans Health Conference. 

Looking forward to seeing all my trans fam I didn't get to see at Creating Change and getting reunited with the people I did in H-town.   I'm also excited to be able to finally get the opportunity to meet some people for the first time like Jazz, Geena Rocero, L'lerret Ailith, and Koko Jones just to name a few.


As I mentioned in a previous post, this is my first ever Philadelphia Trans Health Conference and I'm excited to be here.   So excited I didn't get much sleep despite taking my behind to bed earlier than normal.   

Loving the fact my hotel is literally right across the street from the Philadelphia Convention Center where all the PTHC fun will be taking place. 

So yes, I will be in reporter mode fo this event in addition to handling my seminar business on Friday.

And remember #TransHealth 2014 is the Twitter hashtag to keep up with everything being tweeted and talked about during the next three days.

Leaving On A Jet Plane- Back To Philly Again

It's been 14 months since I last took a flight which had Philadelphia as its final destination, but once again I'm piling up the frequent flyer miles as I head to the City of Brotherly Love for the 13th annual Philadelphia Trans Health Conference.

It's my first ever one, and I'm deliriously happy to finally be attending one after so many near misses and last minute obstacles that canceled previous planned PTHC sojourns.

I'll be on Delta this time flying through the ATL up and back, and this time instead of those cursed regional jets the last time I flew on DL from Hobby to the ATL, this time I'll be on a Boeing 717 on the HOU-ATL legs of the flight.

Thank you Our Lady of Blessed Airplane Legroom.

Assuming things stay on schedule, I'm scheduled to arrive in Philly at 4 PM EDT and might be able to attend the PTHC  pre-conference event. 

If you wish to keep up with everything that happening at PTHC on Twitter, check out the hashtag #TransHealth2014

See y'all in a few hours.
 
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Back In H-town From #LGBTMedia14

After another exciting weekend and destroying some Pappas barbecue to celebrate my safe airborne arrival at Hobby, I'm back from my trip inside the beltway for the 2014 edition of the LGBT Media Journalists Convening.

So what were my takeaways from this trip?

*That elements of the community have a serious beef with GLAAD on multiple layers
*We DEFINITELY need to have deep, ongoing discussions concerning race and class issues in the TBLG community, and non-white LGBT people need to be leading it.
*There needs to be more discussion about bi issues
*Trans issues are at critical mass, but we also need to have those discussions about various issues in the SGL community. 
*The discussions around HIV need to happen again.
*We need to have the discussion about why senior leadership in GLBT non-profit complex leadership organizations look like the GOP ranks, and come up with a plan to fix it.
*I have a lot of people in LGBT Media World reading TransGriot (and I thank you for that).
*The #LGBTMedia14 hashtag must have been trending because out came the trolls, including the 2014 SUF Lifetime Achievement Award winner the Bug.
*I get as much love in Black SGL, bi and trans circles as I give to them.
*I'm getting increasing love from 'errbody' else because I fight for everybody's human rights.
*A TBLG sports conversation needs to happen.
*A BTLG religion panel needs to happen
*Dan Savage is still reviled by the other letters of the community. 

I arrived back home exhausted, but energized and excited to see how this year in LGBT media develops.   I know I'll have an important role to play in shaping how that happens. 

Now I need some sleep.
       

Enroute To DC Again

Moni's once again enroute to DC via a jet plane from Houston.   Seems like that's been a recurring theme in my life over the last 20 years.   

But this time it's for my second trip to participate in the LGBT Media Journalists Convening and in addition to hanging out with my fellow bloggers and journalists, I'll be armed with my Christmas present from my homegirl Samantha Master, my new laptop.

I'm still a novice in the world of laptop computing and far more skilled with a desktop than a laptop.  If I can figure out how to get my new laptop online, I'll be tweeting and discussing the happenings as they occur. 

If I can't, I'll do what I usually do.  Take notes and post the stories in a diary I'll put up on the blog later. 

If my flight leaves on time at 11:45 AM, I'll be arriving at DCA at 3:35 PM ET, then will head off to my NW DC hotel.  

In addition to a welcoming reception later tonight that starts at 7 PM which will have MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell doing a keynote speech at it, we'll have a packed Saturday of events and seminars that starts with breakfast and a White House tour.

We'll also be living up to this year’s #LGBTMedia14 theme of ‘Honing Our Game’, because this year's event will be focused on journalistic skill building.

For those of you wishing to keep up with what we're up during the LGBT Media Journalists Convening, you can check out our Facebook page for the event, and follow people tweeting at #LGBTMedia14.  

There will also be a fan meetup event tomorrow at the Green Lantern (1335 Green Court NW in Thomas Circle) that starts at 9:30 PM and is open to all our fans and readers to attend.    We hope you take advantage of the opportunity to meet many of your favorite TBLG bloggers and reporters in one spot.

And yeah, it goes without saying I'm looking forward to hanging out with my blogging and journalistic colleagues again. 
     

Busy Weekend Coming For Me

The tail end of January was busy for me with 4000 of my TBLG friends and allies descending upon Houston for Creating Change, and the end of February for me promises to be just as busy,

I'll be back on the UH-Downtown Campus hanging with the Gators for a Black History Month event jointly sponsored by UHD Safe Zone LGBTQA student org and the UHD Black Student Alliance entitled African American Culture Within The LGBTQ Community. 

It will take place on the UHD campus on February 27 and run from 2:00-4:30 PM  in Room: North 420. 

When that event is concluded, I'll be finishing whatever last minute packing I need to do and prepping to leave Friday morning on a jet headed to Washington DC to participate in the fifth annual LGBT Media Journalists Convening.  

This year’s theme is ‘Honing Our Game’ and will focus on skill building.

It's my second one and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and getting my learn on at the same time.  You'll also be able to follow us on Twitter at #LGBTMedia14 

It will be a whirlwind weekend just like last year's in Philadelphia jam packed full of events and seminars, and the best part about it is that I will get to see many of my TBLG blogging and journalistic colleagues.


So just like I did before Creating Change, definitely made sure I got my beauty sleep last weekend because this is the weekend I'm going to be quite busy and probably not working on a lot of rest.   

See Ya, San Antonio

This was a quick in and out trip to the Alamo City for their TDOR, and I do thank them and my gracious host Lauryn Farris for the invite to participate in it and their brand of Texas hospitality.  

It was also a blast getting to see my Dallas area homegirl Carmarion Anderson and meet and see all the wonderful people in the San Antonio trans community.  

Promise y'all it won't take me 32 years to come back to San Antonio for another visit. 

Now it's time for me to get back on the Megabus and figure out what fool, fool or fools deserve to win this week's edition of the Shut Up Fool Awards

If it left on schedule, I should be headed eastbound on I-10 and back to my semi-boring Houston life about noon.

Bye Oakland and Trans H4CK, Hello H-town

The interesting dynamic about events like Trans*H4CK is that you wait months for the date to finally arrive as you plan for it.  The calendar page flips to that month and as it relentlessly moves closer toward that date you sweat and nervously obsess about whether it will be a success or failure.  The day of the event finally arrives, you are in the moment of handling any last minute glitches and setting it up as you begin to realize it's here and get in the zone of enjoying it.

And then just as quickly as it arrived and you realize your event was the unqualified success you'd hoped, prayed and planned for it to be, it's sadly over.

That time has come for the wildly successful first edition of Trans*H4CK.   It was an interesting meld of a hackathon and trans social justice activism that was fascinating to witness.  I got to kick it with Kortney, his significant other, friends and a few folks in the Oakland area, enjoy some beautiful and cool weather, learn some interesting things about the tech world, be part of the decision making as to who won, and make a few new friends on the Left Coast in the process.

It was also pointed out to me Saturday that the Betti Ono Gallery venue that hosted TransHack was a mere two blocks from the 13th and Franklin Street corner where Brandy Martell was gunned down last year and unfortunately her killer is still at large.

But just like that, the inaugural edition of Trans*H4CK is over.  Kortney and his team get to bask in the afterglow of a successful event and rest before the process of planning the next one begins as I get to fly back to my own life back in Houston.

I enjoyed my time here witnessing history in the making and getting to observe just how much work goes into making a successful app or computer program.   It's also cool that this weekend reinforced for me the knowledge there are bright trans people who are intimately involved in the tech industry and talented enough to do that work.

As my plane takes off bound for Houston, I get to reflect on the way back home about this weekend and anticipate a bigger, better and badder Trans* H4CK 2.0.  I also hope to see the model that Kortney successfully envisioned for trans empowerment through social justice hackathons replicated elsewhere in the country and the world.

And thanks Kortney for extending me the invitation and the opportunity to be a part of it.

Bye Oakland.  I had a wonderful weekend.  See you next time.

Trans H4CK-Day 3

A truism about life is that all good things must come to an end, and I awoke Sunday morning with a sense of sadness.  I thought about the fact that my time in Oakland was rapidly coming to a close along with Trans* H4CK.

The hackers were feverishly working to bring their projects to completion by the 12 noon PDT deadline at the Betti Ono Gallery before we headed over to the New Parkway Theater for the 3 PM unveiling of the projects and discover who would take home the prizes in the inaugural TransH4CK.

I thought about what one of the trans hackers told me in terms of Brandy Martell being fatally shot two blocks from where trans hackers were compiling code for apps and websites that would help save lives and advance social justice issues in our community

I took a moment on my journey to the gallery from my hotel to walk by that corner at 13th and Franklin Streets to say a few words of silent prayer for her and express my hope that the perpetrator who committed that crime soon faces justice in an Alameda County criminal courthouse.

3 PM arrived way to soon as we took our seats in the New Parkway Theater to await the unveiling of the Trans Hack projects the six teams were working on.   They ranged from a phone app that changes the pitch of your voice to a site that facilitates clothing exchanges between trans masculine and trans feminine people

Kortney, myself and our other two judges had a tough time sorting out who would be the prize winners for the initial Trans Hack since all of the projects are ones that were worthy of winning the prizes for first second and third place.

But I was flown 1900 miles to help make that tough decision, and the winning project was Trans* Resources US.

They were the first to make their presentation, and they blew us away with the breadth, scope, execution and the fact it was already live on Facebook.  Second place was Dottify.me, and third was Know Your Transgender Rights. .

Sometimes it pays to go first.

After taking some photos and watching Kortney get interviewed (he is a grad of GLAAD's POC Media Institute like yours truly), we headed to a nearby bar to celebrate the fact the inaugural Trans*H4CK was an unqualified success.

The lives of those of us who participated in this amazing inaugural trans hacking event were impacted.  Six open source projects with enormous potential to help the trans community were created, friendships were forged, and Kortney finally gets to exhale after he drops me off at the airport in a few hours.

And yes, if you're wondering, Trans*H4CK 2.0 is n the planning stages

Trans H4CK-Day Two

Day Two of Trans Hack dawned as another overcast and cool morning in Oaktown stubbornly hung around until a little after 1 PM to reveal another cloudless blue sky northern California day.  

I had an interesting night after I got back to the hotel because there was a Skyline High School reunion party happening until 2 AM and didn't get to sleep until 3 AM because some of the reunion folks were parked on the street on my side of the hotel keeping the party going instead of taking their behinds home.

By the time I walked my dressed down self into the Betti Ono Gallery for Day 2, it was underway and embarking on its groundbreaking mission of creating social justice apps for the trans community.

The six teams of trans hackers and allies were hard at work as I arrived at 9 AM continuing to put them together with a break scheduled at noon for an informative and interesting Gender In Tech panel discussion moderated by Fresh White.

Once it was over an hour later the hackers returned to work on compiling their projects that they hope will earn them Trans Hack cash prizes later today when they present them to be judged

While they were doing so we also had a pair of the latest tech toy in Google Glass that people were eagerly trying out.  Of course it was not long before the hackers in the room familiar with my blog realized the TransGriot was in the Trans Hack house.


While some of the assembled hackers congratulated me about my almost eight year old blog and asking questions about it, I was doing the same for them in terms of marveling at the work, patience, skill and hours it takes to write computer code and turn it into a finished app or computer program.

It's a skill I envy them for having.  

The apps and programs are quickly taking shape with the work lasting long into the night and through breakfast, lunch and dinner from local area eateries.

Speaking of lunch, I spied a place across the street from the gallery that served pizza by the slice and decided to try it.   I was well pleased with the quality and size of the two slices I got.

In the interim I was interacting not only with the hackers, but many of the people in the Oakland community, Trans Hack supporters and having long conversations with them on a wide variety of issues.

I even broke out another one of my little known hidden talents when I did an impression of Robin Leach, who used to host the 1984-1995 TV show Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous that Nick Cannon is supposedly discussing doing a revival of in response to a humorous comment Kortney made.

The big day will be happening in a few hours as the groups make their presentations at the New Parkway Theater, the judges ask their questions, and the winners of the inaugural Trans Hack prizes will be decided and announced.

Trans H4CK-Day One

I'm in the Bay Area, Oakland to be precise for the first time since 1999 to attend and be part of the action for the inaugural Trans H4CK at the invitation of organizer Kortney Ryan Ziegler

And yeah, I get to see first hand how my $10 investment in his dream came to fruition.

I got up at 4 AM CDT to head over to Hobby for an uneventful 8:45 AM flight to Oakland in which I arrived to an overcast morning that was gone by noon PDT to reveal a beautiful Northern California late summer day.

I was scooped up at the airport by longtime TransGriot reader Terrilynn Cantlon, who proceeded to take me to lunch in which we had a long conversation about the state of the trans community and other issues at our establishment in the shadow of the Oakland Coliseum, the Raiders home stadium.    Terrilynn also swung me by Lake Merritt when we were done to check out this beautiful urban lakefront and park before we headed downtown and my second floor room at the Washington Inn Hotel.

You know the old saying about the circle of life?   My hotel is across the street from the Oakland Convention center which was where the 1999 edition of Creating Change was hosted.   Talk about deja vu, especially since y'all know yours truly is helping put together the 2014 edition that's coming to H-town in January.

Terrilynn and I finally head over to the Betti Ono Gallery, where I met the owner Anyka Barber who was also excited to be the host venue for this inaugural Trans H4CK.

I finally see Kortney and meet his partner Tasha, which was the first of many introductions and hugs I would get this evening as we wound closer to the 7 PM start time of the event.

Trans H4CK kicked off with Google Hangout chats featuring Janet Mock and two other people. After the hangout chats were completed the over 30 assembled hackers introduced themselves, formed into teams and began the process of creating apps and other computer programs that not only will earn cash prizes for their teams, but also advance the social justice mission of the trans community.

Moni needed her beauty sleep after her long day that ended near 11 PM PDT, but I am headed over to the gallery now to check out the Day 2 goings on and be in the house for the panel discussion that is going to happen at noon.

I also want to see the amazing work of the hackers and it coming to fruition as they embark on the longest day of the hackathon

Tell y'all about it later.

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Mile High Chillin' With My Family

Moni's was in the middle of her just concluded family reunion in Colorado's state capitol over the weekend just relaxing.

The reason you TransGriot readers are just now seeing this post about it is because I decided before I left Houston to take the opportunity to unplug from the Net for a few days, recharge the creative batteries and treat this reunion like a vacation.  

I didn't want to think about anything activism or blog related because I was going to have plenty of time to deal with that when I returned to Houston starting July 2.    

In addition to seeing my blood family members from different parts of the country and meeting my Colorado based cousins I tried to carve out some time to hang out with the Denver based trans family before I headed back to Texas Sunday after arriving there a little after 5 PM MDT Thursday afternoon.

We bounced out of Houston at 10 PM CDT Wednesday night headed north on I-45 toward Dallas on the first leg of a 1100 mile trip that would take us up I-45, on I-30 west for a mile to connect with I-35E going north to Denton and its merger point with I-35W from Fort Worth, I-35 through Oklahoma City and Wichita, KS to I-135 north to Salina, KS and west on I-70 through the Sunflower State to Colorado.

Thursday was a gorgeous travel day with not a cloud in the sky and the best part about starting that late was we got through Dallas and OKC before the morning rush hour started and while most of the truckers were asleep. 

We did get to see a lot of interesting scenery during the drive and as I'm used to with Dawn and Polar thought provoking commentary on a lot of topics.

This time the commentary came from the smart people that are part of my family tree.

As we rolled north and west we spotted acres of farmland with soybeans and wheat growing on it.  Cattle grazing in Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado.  Grain silos dotting the flat plains of Kansas to the horizons edge, clusters of wind turbines producing power west of Salina, KS and Limon, CO and farmers along I-135 and I-70 in Kansas busily harvesting their wheat in preparation to sending it to market.  

When I spotted that United plane on final approach to DIA, passed the hotel I stayed at on the corner of  I-70 and Quebec St. that was a Hilton back in 1988 during my Air Marshal days and the Havana Street exit that used to lead to Stapleton it reminded me for a moment about how much things had changed in Denver, my life and how much I missed the airline biz.

But I couldn't dwell on that thought long because we did get to Denver right at rush hour and I happened to be behind the wheel of our rented van. One thing that hasn't changed about the city is that traffic on I-25 and I-70 still sucks.

Before I'd left Houston I'd planned a Friday lunch outing with Eden Lane and hanging out with Kelley Winters as well on Saturday but you know what they say about best laid plans.  Complications killed both of those planned events (darn it) after I arrived here Thursday afternoon. 

It was unseasonably warm here in Denver the first two days with the temps clocking in at 95 and 97 degrees. (No Denver peeps, I didn't bring the heat from Texas with me)  But considering I ducked out of Houston as the temperature spiked up to 100 and 102 on Thursday and Friday for the first time this summer, this was heaven.  

Took a ride on the South Platte Trolley by the Aquarium on Friday with my uncle and aunt, my grandmother, mom and sister. 

When the female guide after asking how many of us riding the trolley were from out of town and we Texans and New Yorkers raised our hands, she began bragging about her beloved Broncos beating our local NFL squads at Sports Authority Field at Mile High Stadium as we passed it. 

I got a return shot in to my family's and the New Yorkers snickering that wasn't the 31-25 case last season when they played the Texans last September.

Once a smartass, always a smartass.

Enjoyed the dinner at the Cheesecake Factory downtown with my family Friday night despite us having to fight our way past Coors Field traffic to get to it and spend a few minutes looking for reasonable parking.  We did find a garage in Tabor Center that was $6 right next to the place, so it was all good. 

Speaking of good, there was next door to our hotel a Mexican restaurant called Maya's that had great food, reasonable prices, sizable portions and excellent service that we went to on Thursday evening and just before we departed Denver on Sunday afternoon. 

Our LaQuinta hotel in addition to being next to I-25 and close to downtown also had free breakfast.  After I helped myself to the juice and waffles I walked out of the front door of the hotel and hiked up the viaduct toward Coors Field to burn off those calories.

I also had a nice conversation with several people from the San Francisco bay area checked into the hotel during my stay there who were in town to watch their beloved Giants take on and get spanked by the Rockies

So I could get away from the hotel once my Saturday event with Kelley also turned out to be a disappointing no-go, I tagged along on a trip up I-25 to Dacono, CO where there is a motocross and go-cart track complex.  I watched my Uncle Leo and my cousin William do some laps around the track in carts that can run up to 60 MPH and required them to suit up and wear a helmet for the ride.

The storm clouds started gathering over the Rockies and looking like they were about to drop another monsoon like rain on us, but didn't.  It actually cooled things down before they headed into the mountains to hit a casino and I took the opportunity to have some quiet time without my grandmother in the room and get some sleep I would sorely need when we hit the road the next day.

I enjoy doing road trips, and this one was not only a chance to drive interstates I don't normally get to travel on in the Midwest and see the Denver area again, I needed the change of scenery. 

And looking forward to the next one I do.    

HT to Mike and Joyce's Travel Pages and AARoads.com for the Kansas and Colorado highway photos I used in this post.  

Back Home Again From Denver

I'm back home after a 2200 mile roadtrip across Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado to Denver for a family reunion. 

My share of the driving included segments on Wednesday from Fairfield, TX through Dallas and Oklahoma City to Perry, OK and Burlington, CO to Denver.  On the Sunday return trip I drove from Flagler, CO to Colby, KS, Guthrie, OK through OKC to the Texas state line and from Huntsville, TX back to H-town,

We left Denver after leaving the Mile High City at 2 PM MDT Sunday.

Thanks to all of you who left me well wishes and prayers for safe travels on my Facebook page before and during the trip.  We couldn't have asked for better weather for the drive to and from Denver. 

I did unfortunately miss making connections with some of the Denver area trans fam and was a little bummed about that.   Me and my family missed by ten minutes getting soaked in that monsoon that hit Denver Friday night.  

We had a family dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in Tabor Center.  After it concluded we battled the traffic leaving Coors Field for the Rockies-Giants game back to our hotel on I-25 and Park Ave.West

No more than ten minutes after we exited the van and walked into our rooms to settle in for the night did the skies open up and let loose with a soaking rain that the Denver area needed and dropped the temps from the high 90's to the low 80's.

Will talk about the trip later.   Need to get some sleep, then catch up on all the news I missed because I treated this reunion like a vacation and decided to unplug from the Net. 


TransGriot Note:  Photos courtesy of AARoads.com

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On The Road Again-Denver Here I Come

Doing an interstate road trip for the first time since I moved back home as of this writing.  It's also the first time in over a decade I've done one with members of my blood family in the vehicle.

I'm hitting the highway for a family reunion on my mother's side of the family that's taking place in Denver this weekend.

As of the moment you're reading this we're now a few hours into the drive and on out way out of Texas enroute to Denver on the I-45/I-35 leg of the trip

My mom's side of the family has frequent family reunions of which the first one I was able to attend was mere weeks after I returned to Houston in 2010 since it was our turn to host it.   My family on my mom's side is clustered in Texas on both ends of I-45 in Dallas and Houston, in the Greenwood-Yazoo City-Itta Bena, Mississippi area all up and down US 49, in the Cleveland area, the Memphis, TN area,, the Chicago-Gary, IN metro area and in the Tampa, FL metro area.

We have cousins in the Denver mtro area which we will meet when we gather for the reunion this weekend. I'm hoping I'll get a chance while I'm in the area to finally meet Eden Lane if she isn't too busy and see Kelley Winters again.

But have a few more hours and a lot of interstate highway miles to travel before I'm staring at the Rockies again for the first time since 2008.    

Moni's Getting On The Bus-To Dallas

I'm flipping the travel script for this trip to deliver the keynote speech for the Black Transmen, Inc conference.   Instead of heading to either Hobby or Intercontinental airport to initiate my travel to Dallas, I'm taking the bus. 

The Megabus that is.

As you read this, I'm at the downtown pickup point for Megabus awaiting my 1 PM CDT departure to Dallas.    

I've seen the Megabus a few time at its downtown pickup point when I'm coming through METRO's Downtown Transit Center or passing it when I'm riding the light rail that passes by it.   I've done a long bus trip from Louisville to Houston and back so I'm curious to see what traveling by Megabus is like.

It's scheduled for four hours, which is about the time it would take me to drive from Houston to Dallas up I-45, so that's a good sign.   It's also been a while since I done the trip on terra firma from Houston to Dallas, so I'll get the opportunity to see just how much the scenery has changed between the two cities.

 See y'all in a few hours, Dallas. 

Goodbye Philly-Hello Houston

Well, I'm headed back home after spending a wonderful weekend..here at the 2013 LGBT Media Journalists Convening.

It was my first one, and the cool part was being in the same space with fellow bloggers whose work I've long admired for the first time. 

I got a chance to make some new friends and see old ones.   Talking to Cleve Jones, one of our history makers Friday night at the welcoming reception was priceless.

It was nice to see Philadelphia mayor Michael Nuitter, and have the opportunity to talk to Gloria Casarez, the director of the Philadelphia office of LGBT Affairs.  

Our tweets at #LGBTmedia13  were the number one trending topic of Twitter for a few hours on Saturday, so you my wish o check out what different peeps were saying.   

It was a wonderful experience that I hope I'm blessed the be in the position to take advantage of once again.

But it's time to head back home better able to talk about the issues of immigration, again, labor, and international issues and incorporate that knowledge into the blog posts I write.   It will hopefully lead to some opportunities to  collaborate with other fellow journalists

But it's time to reluctantly say goodbye to Philadelphia and come back home to Houston.

Leaving On A Jet Plane-To Philly

This is my first trip of the new year for a community event, but it's to a destination that is familiar to me. 

Unless my flight is delayed, I'm should be airborne at this point and headed to Philadelphia via DFW for the 2013 LGBT Writers Convening.  

I'll see you peeps in Dallas in a few weeks for the second Black Transmen, Inc Conference.

Really looking forward to this return trip to Philly and this chance to talk to and meet other LGBT writers, bloggers and social justice people.   Some I'm familiar with, others I'll be meeting for the first time

If I get some down time (or create some), I'll post my observations about it. 

If not, I'll take good notes and write it up in a post when I get back to Houston

OUT on the Hill 2012 Is Over-Time To Go Back To Texas

My Week 3 TransGriot NFL picks are already made and I'll find out how well I and my hometown NFL ballers did when I get home.  But in a few hours I'll be checking out of this hotel room that has been home for the last few days and heading back to Houston.

I've been waiting with breathless anticipation for the 2012 edition of  OUT On The Hill honestly since the 2011 one concluded.  Will be interesting to see how much this event grows in 2013, especially since it will be NBJC's tenth anniversary year.  I hope I'll be invited to participate in OOTH once again.

I'm not kidding y'all when I write the words 'my NBJC family' in my TransGriot posts.  They really have made me feel that way and let me know in no uncertain terms they appreciate me as much as I appreciate and love the work they do on behalf of the Black LGBT community. 

I also gained some new fans and readers for TransGriot, and thanks for all the love NBJC family y'all showed me during this conference.

This has also closed an amazing summer of activism and other speaking events for me on a high note. 
How high I'll detail later after I've had some time to ponder it on the plane ride home from BWI.

See y'all in a few hours Houston.   And see you Pappas Barbecue in the airport when I arrive.. 

Leaving On a Jet Plane-DC Bound Again

Been piling up the frequent flyer miles this summer and loving every minute of it as you TransGriot readers have noticed. 

My trips have basically been for one community event or another.

Whether it was the first ever trans themed panel discussion at Netroots Nation, the double secret trip I took to DC for business I still can't talk about,  the one to Charlotte to do the keynote address for the TransFaith In Color conference or the GLAAD National POC Media Institute in New York I not only felt blessed to be at all these events this summer representing our community, I not only enjoyed them, but loved seeing my trans and SGL peeps. 

Getting out of Houston's blast furnace heat for a few days is a bonus, although July was the coolest summer month on record for us and it's been in the high 80's-low 90's temperature wise for the last few days..

This time I'm bouncing from H-town to go back to Washington DC and inside I-495 for the third annual edition of Out On The Hill.  I'm looking forward to it, hanging with my National Black Justice Coalition family, my Black trans and SGL peeps my freinds in the area and participating in the two panel discussions I'm slated for.  

Oh yeah, will be making a major activism announcement while I'm up here. 

If I get the time or opportunity to hit a computer will talk about what happening at Out On The Hill 2012.  And DC area Facebook friends, I'll be here until Sunday.

Time to get the beauty sleep.    See y'all in a few hours Chocolate City.

Leaving New York

Well Texans, I'm about to type the words y'all love to see me write anytime I'm doing one of these out of town trips and write posts about them.

Moni's on her way back to Houston.

Had a wonderful and informative time while attending the 2012 GLAAD National POC Media Institute and I learned some things that will serve me well in future public speaking engagements and media opportunities.

I also highly recommend that POC rainbow community activists who wish to improve their public speaking skills and media presence consider attending it when the application process opens up for the ones that will take place in New York and Los Angeles next year.

To the peeps attending the 2012 Los Angeles one September 7-9, you're in for a treat.   

I got to at least see one of my girls like us while I was here in Janet Mock. Unfortunately I just missed connections with others but I'm confident we'll see each other somewhere down the line either at a conference or the next time my travels bring me to New York.   

And speaking of travels to New York, the clock is ticking,  it's getting close to time for me to check out of my hotel and make the return trip to Hobby via Chicago Midway.   

I leave here with tools to make me a better activist communications wise, being able to connect faces with the names of some of the people I have communicated with at GLAAD and seeing firsthand how hard they work to improve the media images of people of color.   The bonus was leaving here with a few more friends than I had when I arrived.

I also get to rest for a few weeks before I make another trip to the East Coast in September for the 2012 edition of Out On The Hill

Later New York.   Time for me to head back to the Lone Star State