It's 2020 Y'all!

New year, new decade!

Happy New Year to all of you on the eastern side of the International Date Line.   My friends west of it and Down Under already celebrated New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

The arrival of January 1, 2020 also means I'm celebrating another TransGriot blogiversary.

Hope that 2020 is one that is chock full of amazing accomplishments and abundant blessings for you all. May we also receive the blessing of watching Trump go down in flames on November 3, 2020.

That's Election Day for those of y'all who were wondering about the significance of that date.

2020 also means I get to celebrate another high school reunion, my 40th.   It is still mind blowing to me that I walked out of high school with The Class With Class in 1980, 20 years before the year 2000 happened.   Now me and my classmates are 20 years beyond the year 2000.   

My niece Chantoya, who was born on January 20, 2000, will be turning 20 this year.

And just warning y'all now BTACers, Moni will be at the 9th annual conference May 5-10 will be ready to lay down some dominoes beatdowns in defense of my BTAC dominoes championship.

So you better bring your dominoes 'A' game.   I don't wanna hear any excuses when I'm calling out points in multiples of ten.   I'm also looking forward to celebrating my 58th birthday with y'[all as well

The ladies of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc are also celebrating a birthday this year..  January 16 will mark their centennial year, and every Zeta I know is ready to pop their collars  and celebrate the occasion.

The sorority was founded on the Howard University campus in Washington DC back in 1920.,

And yes, besides attending a few conferences and conventions along the way, 2020 will definitely have some domestic travel in my near future..  Will it finally see me going to an international destination for the first time ever?   I do have an international travel bucket list that is several pages long.

In July, the world will get to watch the dawn of another Olympiad in the Land of the Rising Sun

I'm anxious to see if my Houston homegirl Simone Biles will make history and dominate the gymnastic competition in these Tokyo Games just as she did four years ago in Rio.

She been collecting gold medals at all the gymnastics world championship events since 2016 and is now the most decorate athlete ever in the sport.

And yes, with the USA men's basketball team handle their Tokyo business, or will they finally get beaten for the first time since 2004 on an Olympic basketball court?

Will the World Champion USA women's soccer team repeat their FIFA Women's World Cup success in the 2020 Olympic tournament after being shut out of the medals in the 2016 Rio Games?

The wonderful thing about New Year's Day is that it is a chance to hit the reset button on your life.   You can celebrate the things in your life that did go right, and glean lesson from the stuff that didn't.

Whether you did New Year's Resolutions or not  (I did), the one thing that we should all have on our 2020 to do list is to be better human beings this year than we were in 2019. 

2020 is here, whether we are ready for it or not.   You have 366 days to make this year a great one!

A Houston Municipal Election Is Happening In 2019

It's a new year, and one of the things we have happening in the 713 in 2019 beside the county turning deep blue is our Houston civic elections.

Thanks to Proposition B passing back in 2015 in large part because the fake faith-based haters were fixated on killing HERO, we now have city elections every four years. 

The terms for mayor, city council and the controller were expanded to four years as well, and our term limits were adjusted . That means you are now limited to just two four year terms instead of the three 2 year terms we had under the old system.

Mayor Turner is going for his second and final term, and as of today no significant challenger has filed to run yet.  Right now it's attorney Tony Buzbee, Kendall Baker, Demetria Smith and 2015 mayoral election loser Bill King who have either declared or are thinking about it.   Wrestler Booker T had also declared last year that he was running, but he hasn't been heard from lately. 

Five council members are term limited.   CM Jack Christie in At Large #5,  CM Brenda Stardig in District A,  CM Jerry Davis in District B, CM Ellen Cohen in District C and CM Mike Laster in District J.

As you probably guessed the races with term limited council members are drawing a crowd of contenders filing for them.

Tarsha Jackson and Renee Jefferson Smith are the announced candidates so far running for the District B seat being vacated by CM Davis. 

In District C, the district that contains the Montrose gayborhood, the list of candidates is growing, with Shelley Kennedy and Nick Hellyar being just two of the people running for the seat being vacated by CM and Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Cohen.

In District D, the southeast Houston district I grew up in, Jerome Provost, the son of longtime Houston photographer Georgia Provost, is taking on incumbent CM Dwight Boykins.

The aforementioned 'Miss P' is taking on CM Mike Knox again for the At Large #1 seat.   Raj Salhotra is also running in the At Large #1 race.

District E, the Kingwood-Clear Lake seat, is held by CM Dave Martin.  District F is currently held by Steve Le,  District G by CM Greg Travis, District H by CM Karla Cisneros, District I by CM Robert Gallegos,  and District K by CM Martha Castex Tatum.

Tatum won a special election last year after the tragic death of CM Larry Green, and is running for her first full term.

Advocate Shere Dore has announced she's running for the At Large Position #2 seat currently held by CM David Robinson.

So far haven't heard if anyone is challenging CM Michael 'God put me on City Council to oppose the HERO' Kubosh  for the At Large #3 seat.   The suburban evilgelicals made an assumption I'm jumping into that race against that Drag Queen Story time hater.

CM Amanda Edwards holds the At Large #4 seat , but hasn't drawn a challenger as of this writing.

Laurie Robinson is running for the soon to be vacated At Large #5 seat

A lot can change between now and August 19, which is the last day to file for a place on the 2019 ballot.   People who are thinking about running for municipal office have until then to put up or shut up. 

And yeah,since I'm being asked.  I'm seriously thinking about it.  As for which seat I might be running for. we'll see.   Trying to decide between an at large or district race.

First day to file is on July 20, 2019.   Filing fee is $1250 for mayor, $750 for the city controllers office or $500 for a city council seat. 

You can also in lieu of cash collect petition signatures to place your name on the ballot.   However, we still don't know the exact number of signatures you need to collect to get on the ballot that way, and won't find out from the City Secretary's office until at least June.

Note to anyone running for office and seeking my support for your municipal political run. 

If you are a Republican evilgelical, anti-trans, anti-gay, openly opposed the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance in 2014, or supported its GOP sponsored repeal,  don't even think about asking for my support in this election cycle.

See y'all at the polls on November 5.

Happy 13th Blogiversary, TransGriot

Today is not only the start of a new year, it's also the 13th anniversary of the start of TransGriot.

At midnight Eastern standard time on January 1, 2006, my first post went up on this blog.   It initially started out as a way for me to comment real time on the issues of the day and complement the monthly column I had in a local Louisville TBLGQ paper called The Letter.

The blog eventually got more popular than the newspaper column after spending much of of TransGriot's first year trying to figure out what I wanted to do with it.

Now after 13 years, over 10,000 posts, and finally capturing an elusive GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Blog , what I figured out was that what I needed to do with it was be a voice for Black trans people who at that point and time didn't have one.

It also has another important mission of recording our history.  I also used TransGriot's electronic pages to push the media in the TBLGQ community and in Cis World of doing better when  and how they report on trans issues, and role modeling how to do so.

And yes, one of the most beloved features is the TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards.

So thanks to Jordana LeSesne for relentlessly staying on my azz until she got me to commit in November 2005 to start TransGriot, to pick a January 1 start date, and actually follow through with my first post.

This blog opened up a new world of opportunities for me, in addition to allowing me to be the voice for a community. 

While my blog may have started to give Black trans people a voice and talk about the issues from our perspective, it has grown far beyond what I envisioned for it when I hit SEND on that first post on New Year's Day 2006. .

Here's to TransGriot's Year 13!   Let's see how it transpires.

Happy New Year 2019

Happy New Year TransGriot readers!   I know some of y'all are out ringing in the New Year, while other of y'all may be chilling at home or fast asleep.

It a new year, and a new 365 days to tackle life.   The reset button just got pushed to do just that, so what are you going to do with it?.

As for moi, I'm going to do what I've been working to do for the last 20 years, try to make the world a better place for trans people in Houston, Texas, the nation and the world than when I first encountered it 

2019 means that trips to Austin for me are on the horizon as the Texas Legislature will be cranking up for business.   I also get to watch as a dark Blue Harris County becomes a reality with the swearing in of our new Harris County judges, our Democratic Harris County commissioner's court majority led my County Judge Lina Hidalgo, and in two more days, the 116th Congress with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi back in charge 

2019 means this is a municipal election year in Houston.   In a few months we'll be going to the polls to to see if we fire or rehire our mayor and council members, and peeps are already lining up to run in districts with term limited council members. 

Somebody needs to take on CM Kubosh.  ..

And as always, there's the stuff we don't foresee happening.   What will those events look like?

That will all unfold over the next 365 days. 

Happy New Year 2018

Happy New Year, Trans Griot readers!   Yeah, I know it hasn't hit midnight in the Mountain and Pacific time zones yet, but since I'm chilling in Houston, it is 2018 for moi.

And yes, today is also TransGriot's blogiversary

2018 is also a political election year, so all you peeps pissed off over everything that is coming out of the GOP controlled government, on November 6 you have a chance to step to the ballot box and change it.

There's also some things I want to leave behind in 2017 and goals I want to and need to reach in 2018   While 2017 wasn't as bad as it could have been, there are things that happened that also would have made it much better.

Is a relationship in the cards for me in 2018?   That I'm not sure about. 

I'd like to do more education and panel discussions on trans issues.   I want to get bust on that needed and necessary project of eviscerating transphobia from cis Black community ranks that is negatively impacting the human rights of all Black people as the GOP tries to use it as a wedge issue.

I'd like to put those championship punditry skills to use  (I'm the Netroots Nation 2016 Pundit Cup champ) and exercise them in 2018.   I want to have more op-ed articles published this year .

And I want to do an international trans conference this year.

There are a few trans folks I haven't met in Trans World I'd love for that to happen like Laila Ireland, Lauren Foster and Del. Danica Roem for starters.  .And yes, trans kids, you know I'll always have and will make time to listen to your concerns. 

Better self care is also on the menu in 2018.  I need to spend more time hanging out with my homies and homettes for stuff beyond just activist stuff.   Need to do more fun stuff with the peeps I care about, and maybe the upcoming debut of the Black Panther movie can be the jumping off point for it.

We'll see if all of that happens for me as this year unfolds. . 

Trans Community Things To Look Forward To In 2017

We are in Day 1 of the 365 that will make up 2017, and since we are in the afterglow (or getting over hangovers) from the New Year's Eve celebrations.

2016 is starting to fade into the historical rearview mirror, and it was as we all know a presidential election year in which the result wasn't one that we liberal progressives would have liked.

We are also not looking forward to seeing when a certain reprehensible orange tanned idiot get inaugurated on January 20.

There's also the upcoming April SCOTUS arguments in the Grimm vs Gloucester County case that will either turn out to be a huge win for transkind or a SCOTUS case negatively affecting out humanity and human rights like the odious 1857 Dred Scott v Sandford one for years to come..

But there are things in Trans World that we will get to look forward to that are positive.  For starters, the emergence of trans people of color that started two years ago will continue.

We'll also continue to see our trans kids get positive media coverage to the consternation of the right wing haters and their ignorati.

Personally in a matter of days I will have the 6.5 millionth visitor peruse my as of today 11 year old blog    In addition to seeing Amiyah Scott make television history on our television screens on the FOX show Star, we'll finally get to see Laverne Cox playing trans feminine attorney Cameron Wirth on the CBS legal drama Doubt on February 15.

We'll also have conferences like the Black Trans Advocacy one in Dallas April 24-30 and Philly Trans Health Conference  now taking place September 7-9 instead of its traditional early June date.

And as always, there will be stuff that happens in Trans World we didn't expect that will,be a pleasant surprise for us over the next 365 days.

2017 is here.  We just have to deal with it and all the challenges and opportunities it brings with it as they occur. .

Happy New Year 2017 And Happy Blogiversary TransGriot!

At this moment I'm ringing in the New Year at a party being hosted by Nikki Araguz Loyd, so I wanted to make sure I took a moment to wish you TransGriot readers around the world a very Happy New Year.  

It's actually the first time in several years that I've done something on New Year's Eve besides chill at home and wait for ABC's New Year's Rocking Eve to come on TV and watch the ball drop from Times Square.   Hasn't really been the same for me since Dick Clark died anyway, so needed to do something to get out of the New Year's Eve rut I've lapsed into, and thanks Nikki for providing the opportunity and the event to do so. ..

January 1 is also the blogiversary for TransGriot.   11 years ago today my first post went up on this electronic platform at 12 midnight EST.    It was based in Louisville at the time, and not only focused on my life in Da Ville, it was also focused on giving Black transpeople a voice in the blogosphere in addition to talking about and recording our history.

Today my award winning blog is now based in my hometown of Houston, and this is just one of over 10,000 posts I and my guest bloggers have written for you to peruse.

I'm also rapidly approaching the 6.5 million hit milestone that I'll achieve sometime during the first two weeks of 2017..   I'll also have something I didn't have when I started this blog thanks to Koncept Kit, a logo.

With an incoming administration that doesn't like the media or the truth, telling it like it T-I-S is even more important now and vital for the next four years.   It's also important to speak truth to power to the people in our TBLGQ community and the other communities I intersect with.

So celebrate the fact that we've survived the 366 day trip on this space rock, and then after the last song has been played and the fireworks have faded, it'll be time to wake up and get to work.

And it'll be time for me to start my second decade of telling it like it T-I-S is on this unapologetically Black blog that has evolved to be a media voice for an entire community.

Happy New Year 2016!

Happy 2016 TransGriot readers!  I'm so glad to see 2015 in the rear view mirror because it was an up and down year for a lot of people, including myself.

Now that the date on the calendar and all our electronic devices says January 1, what am I looking forward to besides the Rio Olympics?

One thing I'm looking forward to is spending some quality time with some of the peeps I know in the community at various events here, in Texas and around the country.  

I hope to finally get to meet some people in 2016 I've been corresponding with on Facebook like Lauren Foster and Caroline Cossey.

I hope to see progress on trans human rights issues, and most importantly,on November 8 I hope to witness the Democratic nominee, whoever he or she is, get elected as the 46th president of the United States to replace one of the best in my lifetime in President Barack Obama.

And the two things I hope to see in 2016 is a sharp decrease in the number of blog posts I have to write about my trans sisters being murdered and a sharp increase in the number of trans positive posts I get to write over the next 366 days.

Happy New Year 2015!

Another  January 1 has arrived for this space rock, and 2015 starts off for me personally with some major life changes.

For the first time since 1992 I start off a new year in my own place.  Been in it a little over two months now, but getting adjusted to my new neighborhood and the METRO bus grid and routes that flow through it.

And I've also been doing some hard solid thinking about the major difference between this New Year's Day and that one in 1992.

Well, some of y'all are probably partying , attending a New Year's Eve watch service or nervously glancing up at your ceilings hoping that Newtonian physics doesn't get proven once again as the fools with firearms shoot their guns and bullets in the air in a populated area.

I have some resolutions that I made I have every intention of keeping since they are all personal growth related.

However you celebrated the beginning of 2015, I hope and pray it's a fabulous one for all of us.

Trans Community Things To Look Forward To In 2014

Many of you TransGriot readers either got dressed up to go party last night or brought in the New Year like I did.   I chilled quietly at home while nervously looking up at the ceiling hoping and praying the fools who were shooting their guns in the distance didn't prove to my detriment the Newtonian gravitational laws of physics.

What goes up (bullets) must come down.

Now that we are past the midnight hour, the ball dropped in Times Square or however you celebrated it around the world to signify that we are indeed in the early morning hours of 2014 east of the International Date Line, what do we have to look forward to as an international trans community this year as we build on 2013?

We are less than 30 days from the 2014 edition of Creating Change happening in H-town January 9-February 2.   I and my Creating Change Host Committee members are ready to roll our the pink, blue and white carpet for you estimated record breaking 4000 attendees and are looking forward to seeing those of you who can be at the Hilton Americas Hotel for the event.

The Trans 100 List is still taking nominations for the 2014 edition of the list.  Deadline to get them in is January 15, and this year nominations of international trans people are encouraged. 

While I'm on the subject of lists, the Latino LGBT oriented Honor 41 List will also be taking nominations soon, and it will be interesting to see if more than five trans Latin@s make the 2014 edition of it.

We finished 2013 with the early good news of our unjustly incarcerated sister CeCe McDonald's scheduled release from that Minnesota jail on January 13.   So we'll be anxiously watching to see if that happens along with the documentary that Laverne and Jac Gares are filming on her.

Speaking of anticipated documentaries, our community will be anxiously awaiting the release of MAJOR! that StormMiguel Florez and Annalise Ophelian are putting together.
   
We'll see the launch of Janet Mock's book Redefining Realness at bookstores near you on February 2 along with Laverne Cox's anticipated return in season two of the hit Netflix show Orange Is The New Black 

The third annual Black Trans Advocacy Conference will happen in Dallas on April 29-May 4.  The Cal for Proposals has already gone out along with asking the community for nominations for the awards that will be given out at BTAC 2014's dinner are being accepted.

On the international front, will my Kenyan sister Audrey Mbugua get the positive result she's seeking in her history making court case?  Will trans human rights on the African continent build forward momentum and wins despite meddling from US based fundie groups?

Will the Canadian Senate when they come off their extended holiday break January 28 finally do the right thing, pass Bill C-279 and finally join the list of nations that protect the human rights of its trans citizens?

And what Canadian province will be the next one that steps up to do so? 

What nation not on our radar will step up to the legislative plate and be the next one to make groundbreaking positive legislative progress on behalf of its trans citizens?  Will we see another trans MP or legislator join Poland's Anna Grodzka on that very short list of trans national legislators in 2014? 

Will we see a trans contestant in the Miss Universe pageant system in the US or elsewhere in the world during the 2014 cycle?   Another trans model rock the runway?  Another high profile trans coming out? Another trans societal breakthrough? 

We'll be watching to see if New York becomes the 18th US state plus the District of Columbia to pass a statewide law protecting the human rights of its trans citizens.  It has passed the NY State Assembly in lopsided numbers six consecutive times only to be stalled by the GOP controlled New York State Senate.  Will that finally change or will other states not on our trans human rights radar at the moment step up to the plate and do whats right for their trans citizens like Delaware did in 2013? 

We will be nervously watching to see if the California Forces of Intolerance haters were successful in forcing a statewide referendum vote on AB 1266.  If they did get enough signatures to force a November repeal vote, did the liberal progressive groups in Cali learn their lessons from the Prop 8 failure?  Do they actually have a plan and are they prepared to fight as hard as the trans community will to decisively win it?

Will my hometown chuck the embarrassing distinction of being the largest city in Texas and the US that doesn't protect the human rights of its trans citizens this year? 

It goes without saying that I'll be watching to ensure that any such ordinance should it happen will be trans inclusive.  

What cities will add their names to the lists of municipalities that value the rights of their trans citizens?

Texas trans peeps are waiting to hear the results of Nikki Araguz Loyd's appeal to the Texas 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in the Araguz v. Delgado case.  Speaking of legal cases we're watching in Texas, the nation and the world, will the trans people we lost in 2013 like Islan Nettles receive justice? 

Will the Black cis community, the Black Church and our legacy orgs step up and accept the challenge Carter Brown laid down?  Will they not only loudly proclaim this year that Black trans lives are just as valuable as their own but back it up with fierce urgency of now action?

Will the African-American and Latino trans communities continue to build on the progress they made in 2013?   Will our African American and Latino trans brothers finally get the media attention they deserve?

In the wake of Fallon Fox, Aeris Houlihan, and Miranda Itzayana running into loud, ignorant and transphobic resistance to them playing and participating in the sports they enjoy, will cis world finally get a grip in 2014 along with the international sporting governmental bodies and simply let us play? 

It also points out that trans human rights advances are and need to happen in the sports world, and why I unapologetically cover them.   

Finally, who will be the breakout trans personalities this year?   The surprises we didn't see coming?   The heartwarming stories we talk about and cover?

And yeah, what will the TransGriot do in 2014?

Those are the interesting things we'll get to see as we spend the next 364 days on this space rock watching the year 2014 unfold before our eyes.  

Happy New Year 2014!

Happy New Year TransGriot readers! 

2013 is done, finished, exited stage left and is going to be consigned to our receding memories and discussion for future historians.

For the international trans community and my African-American trans brothers and sisters in the United States, it was a good news bad news kind of year.   

For those of us living in this moment, January 1, 2014 is not just some nebulous date, it's our today and our reality.  The question we have to look ourselves in the mirror and ask ourselves is what are we going to do to make the year 2014 a better one for us than 2013 turned out to be?   That's a question we need to ask ourselves not just on January 1, but for the other 364 days that will comprise this year as well. 

So as we take the opportunity to revel in the optimism that permeates this day, and in some cases get over last night's New Year's Eve party hangovers, let's take a moment to thank God or whatever you call the higher power that you are alive to witness another New Year's Day.

And let's make one new year's resolution that will be fairly easy for you to keep   Let's resolve that we will be better human beings tomorrow than we were when this day started, and strive to be a better human being on January 3 than you were on January 2.

To my trans brothers and trans sisters, one thing we should resolve to do in 2014 is continue to keep striving to not only build community with each other, but expand human rights for ourselves and others. 

Let's ensure that our beloved trans community leaves this year in 364 days in better shape human rights wise than when we entered it.

Happy New Year 2014*!

It's New Year's Eve on my side of the International Date Line, but for all of you west of it you are already into the first day of 2014.

I appreciate the valuable time you spent in the year that just moved on to our history books surfing the Net and landing at my cyberhome.   Thanks for you love, support and even news tips as I sought to cover trans issues not only in my own nation and the African Diaspora, but include relevant content about your corner of the globe as well.  

2013 was an interesting year for us internationally, and I hope that as 2014 unfolds it is a wonderful and fantastic year not only for the international trans community as a whole, but for all of you in your respective nations and personally.

Happy New Year, TransGriot readers!    I'll be able to join y'all in about 24 hours.

Happy New Year 2013!

Happy New Year TransGriot readers!

Well, we made it through that leap year and a contentious presidential election cycle to see January 1, 2013 and for my west of the International date Line folks they are getting over their party hangovers since it's January 2.  

January 1 also means that I've reached another blogiversary, so yay me and yay TransGriot blog.

As to what will happen in 2013, we don't know at this point how this year will play out on a personal scale or on the macro one,.but as always happens on the first day, it's one that is chock full of optimism and promise.  It's also one on a personal level that people make resolutions in the spirit of making a fresh start and embarking on creating changes in their lives so that 2013 does result in positive personal growth

And speaking of positive growth, I hope and pray that 2013 continues to see forward momentum in the United States, Canada and around the world when it comes to trans human rights issues.

And yes, hope to see some positive momentum in my own life and for my blog that now enters its seventh year of chococentric commentary on trans issues and how they impact me and my community. 

Happy New Year 2013*

It's still New Year's Eve on my side of the International Date Line and we're a few hours away from the crystal ball drop in New York's Times Square and our local New Year's Eve event that happens at Discovery Green downtown.

KC and the Sunshine Band is the entertainment scheduled for it, but unfortunately rain is in our forecast for tonight, so I may end up watching it on television instead of standing in Discovery Green holding my umbrella and fighting off the chill. .

Speaking of television, New Year's Rocking Eve just won't be the same to me without Dick Clark.  But as my mascot for the Shut Up Fool Awards would say, enough jibber-jabber.   

Wanted to take a moment to thank y'all for reading TransGriot and wish you readers and all my friends and international trans family on the western side of the Date Line a Happy New Year!. 

Hope 2013 is a fantastic year for all of us and for the advancement of trans human rights in your respective nations.

Moni's 2012 New Year's Resolutions

The first day of a new year means a chance to take a hard solid look at how your life is transpiring and make some adjustments and changes.  It's also the day that my make my resolution and try to have 100% compliance in terms of meeting them by January 1, 2013.

Well, it's that time again.   Time to continue my tradition of posting my New Year's Resolutions on the blog for all my readers to see and help keep me on the path to being 100% compliant in meeting the goals I set.

Here are my resolutions for 2012

1.  I will make it a point of emphasis to go out more often.

2. Will do a better job of making time to hang out with friends and family.  

3. Will read ten novels from my favorite writers before the end of the year.

4. Will meet and get to know five new transpeople in the Houston area before the end of the year.

5. Will meet and get to know five new transpeople internationally before the end of the year.

6.  Will take a trip to either New Orleans, Dallas or both cities before the end of this year.

7. Will continue to speak truth to power inside and outside the rainbow community in pursuit of trans human rights.

8. Will attend at least one major rainbow community event this year.

9.  Want to grow TransGriot to where I have a 50% return hit rate by January 1, 2013 (currently at 44%)

10. Will ensure that I stay near the 185 pounds I'm currently at

11. Will make more time for fiction writing..

12. Will block out more 'me time' days this year.

.