Two Trans Texans Running For The Texas Lege!

When we get to cast ballots in the general election this November, Texas Democrats are only nine tantalizing flipped seats away from gaining control of the Texas House for the first time since 2002 .

That would be huge as we go into a 2021 legislative session that will have redistricting on the agenda.

One of the things that would also be huge is if that new class of 2021 legislators had trans Texans as part of it. 

While we have actually had trans Texans serve in public office, we unfortunately have never had a trans Texan be elected to any public office in the Lone Star State. 

Phyllis Frye has been serving since 2010 as a Houston municipal judge,  and was appointed to the position by then Mayor Annise Parker 

Jess Herbst served as mayor of New Hope, TX for two years,   She was serving on city council as the mayor pro tem and took over after the mayor's May 2016 death. She unfortunately lost her bid to win a full term of her own in 2018.

In 2018 Finn Jones advanced out of an uncontested Democratic primary to take on one of the Texas trans community's biggest haters in incumbent District 94 Rep Tony Tinderholt.(R).  Jones made history as the first out Texas trans person to make it to a legislative general election race, and the first out trans masculine Texans to win a party primary . 

Unfortunately, even in a great election year for Texas Democrats, we couldn't get that electoral breakthrough we needed.  Tinderholt was one of the few North Texas House Republicans to survive the Blue Tsunami and win reelection 

So while we trans Texans are still looking for someone to make that Lone Star State history and get elected, history was made on March 3 when two trans feminine Texans won their Democratic primary races to make it to the November 2020 ballot.

In the Panhandle, Addison Perry Franks secured her spot in the District 83 general election by beating James Barrick  by a 54%-46% margin in the Democratic Primary. 

Perry-Franks will take on incumbent Rep Dustin Barrows (R) in the fall and attempt to flip the Lubbock area seat blue. . .

Meanwhile in Central Texas'  House District 17, Madeline Eden was advancing to the general election against incumbent Rep. Jon Cyrier (R), who was also unopposed in the GOP primary.   Cyrier has held this Austin metro area seat since 2015.

Eden is the current chair of the Bastrop County Stonewall Democrats and a former Democratic Party precinct chair.  She has also been endorsed by the Victory Fund.

So here;'s hoping that Eden flips that Centex seat.

And we could have a third trans person running for the Texas Lege if perennial candidate Jenifer Rene Pool wins the Texas House District 138 Democratic runoff for this Houston area seat against Akilah Bacy.

This was the seat that former Rep Dwayne Bohac (R) won by a razor thin 47 votes over Adam Milasincic in 2018, and Bohac retired when the 2019 session concluded.   This seat is seen as a prime pickup opportunity for Texas Democrats, and its a must get.

The winner in that May 22 runoff will take on Republican candidate Lacey Hull in the general.

So will 2020 finally be the year that Texas trans people get a trans person elected to The Lege?
We'll find out in November

Biden Wins Big On Super Tuesday!

There are a lot of folks who are shocked (or in the case of Bernie supporters angry) at what took place last night.   I'm not.  I've been seeing this night coming for a while.

Been telling people for months that Bernie Sanders is not well liked by the majority of Black voters, and y'all poo pooed it or called me a 'corporate Dem' and a 'tool of The Establishment' for saying it.  .

Can you hear me now?

Biden built on the huge South Carolina win by capturing ten states, including my home state of Texas to take the lead in the delegate counts and the 2020 Democratic presidential primary race.

It was a huge win powered by Black voters, who once again rejected Sanders' calls for revolution in favor of the politically pragmatic position of just beat Trump.   They also endured long waits of up to six hours to do so 

Just like in 2016, Sanders lost in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Alabama, and did so by double digit numbers.  The defeat in North Carolina was particularly disappointing to Team Sanders because in 2016 he received 41% of the vote and they were expecting to be competitive there.  They did worse this time, capturing just 24% of the vote.

Biden also took the states of Oklahoma, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Maine in addition to grabbing the second largest delegate prize of the night in Texas.

Sanders won in Colorado, his home state of Vermont, Utah and California.

As for Bloomberg, who spent $500 millions trying this Super Tuesday strategy?   He only won American Samoa for his trouble, and dropped out to endorse Biden this morning

After failing to win her home state of Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren also has a serious decision to make as well on whether to continue her presidential campaign

Next up on march 10 will be the states of Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and  Washington

It's Texas Primary Election Day!

It's Texas primary election day!   It's also Super Tuesday, in which Texas and 14 other states and territories are conducting their primary elections today.

While Texas and  California are the biggest delegate rich prizes today, the other states and territories participating in Super Tuesday are American Samoa, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Virginia, North Carolina,  Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Colorado and Utah

Polls in Texas open at 7 AM and close at 7 PM    If you are in line at closing time, you must be allowed to vote.   Any shady behavior or voter suppression attempts at your polling places can  be reported at 866- OUR-VOTE

If you're unsure of who to vote for, I have some suggestions.

In case you're wondering if Moni practiced what she is preaching to y'all, I sure did.   I voted in the Democratic primary during the first day of early voting back on February 18.

If you live in Harris County, you can vote at any voting center in the county when the polls open.

So go handle your business.  Only takes a few moments out of your day and it's part of your civic duty to do so.  Besides, the kids who can't vote yet are counting on you to do it for them. 

Early Voting In The Texas Primary Starts Tomorrow

March 3 is the date you want to circle on your 2020 calendar if you wish to go handle your election business on primary election day.   But for those of you like myself who already have your minds made up and nothing is going to change it by waiting aonther week or so, early voting for the Texas primary starts tomorrow. 

The dates for Texas early voting are February 18-February 28.    In Harris County, you can vote at any voting center inside the county from 7 AM-7 PM CST.   On 'Souls To The Polls Day', Sunday February 23. the polls will be open from 1-6 PM CST 

There's also a new twist happening in this Texas primary election besides the fact the straight ticket voting option won't be on the ballot no thanks to our Texas GOP legislators.   In Harris County, Democratic and Republican primary election participants will be doing so from the same voting centers.

And if you're wondering who to vote for on the Democratic side, I have some suggestions.

This is a prinary election ballot, so it will be a long one, especially in Harris County. 

Vote the enitre ballor from POTUS to dog catcher, because there are good candidates wanting and needing your votes in races on that other end of the ballot as well, and those races are jsut as important as the presidential contest is.

Texas judicial benches, Texas State Board of Education, those offices are on the ballot and they  matter along with the state lege races.   Turning this state blue starts with you, the voters taking part in this and every election. .

The best part of early voting is that you choose when, whare and what time to do so, as long as you cast those ballots from Febraury 18-28 .   After those dates, you'll have to wait until the March 3 Election Day.

For those of you who aren't registered to vote for the primary, there's still time for you to get busy and get registered for the May runoff and general election on November 3.     To be eligible to vote in the May runoff election, you must be registered by April 2.   Final date to get registered for the general election in November is October 5

But first up is the primary elections what will play a major role in determining what peeeps are on your ballot in November    So tke some time out of your busy schedule to handle your electoral business.

     

3rd Annual March For Black Women Happening February 22

I'll be missing it for the first time due to a previous commitment, but just wanted to let people know that the 3rd annual March For Black Women Houston will be taking place on the Texas Southern University campus February 22.

That event will be starting at 10 AM CST,    Since it's also happening during the early voting period of the Texas primary,the march destination this year will be a nearby polling place to cast our ballots in this critical to our state and nation 2020 election. 

If you wish to support the March for black Women Houston  ., this is how you do so. 

To handle that business, - paypal.me/HoustonRising

Hope y'all' show up and show out for this year's edition of the March For Black Women and make this edition of it the best one yet.. 

TransGriot 2020 Texas Democratic Primary Election Endorsement Post

You've been asking me for it, and here it is, just before early voting starts in the Texas primary election on  February 18.   For those of you who wish to wait for the actual Texas primary Election Day, that will happen on March 3.

We are the most populous county in Texas, and our ballot is going to reflect that.   It always going to be a long one because of that.  Also bear in mind that no thanks to the TXGOP, we no longer have the option of straight ticket voting.

Every race matters, so vote from POTUS to dog catcher.   Your vote may be the differnce between winning and losing for many candidates in a tight race.

Make Trump, Greg Abbott and the Texas GOP mad by voting either during early voting, which runs from Febuary 18-February 28., on primary day on on the general election day on November 3.

You can also vote at ANY voting center in Harris County during early voting or the general election.

If you aren't registered to do so during the primary, you can still make sure you are registred for the upcoming presidential election in November and the May runoff elections from May 18-22

Vote as if your life depends on it, because frankly, it does.

And now, my TransGriot 2020 Democratic primary endorsements.

President- Elizabeth Warren 

US Senate-  Amanda Edwards

US House-District 2-Sima Ladjevarian
US House District 9- Al Green
US House District 10- Mike Siegel 
US House- District 14- Adrienne Bell  
US House- District 18-Sheila Jackson Lee
US House District 21- Wendy Davis 
US House- District 22- No Endorsement

TX State Board of Education District 4 -Larry McKinzie 
TX State Board of Education District 6- Michelle Palmer

TX State Senator- District 11-Susan Criss 
TX State Senator- District 13- Borris Miles  


TX House- District 26-Sarah DeMerchant  
TX House- District 27- Ron Reynolds
TX House- Dsitrict 28- Lawrence Allen
TX House- District 83- Addison Perry-Franks 
TX House- District 126- Natali Hurtado
TX House- District 131- Alma A Allen
TX House- District 134- Ann Johnson 
TX House- District 135- Jon Rosenthal 
TX House-District 138- Akilah Bacy 
TX House- District 139- Jarvis Johnson 
TX-House- District 141- Senfronia Thompson
TX House- District 142- Jerry Davis 
TX House- District 146- Ashton P Woods 
TX House- District 147- Garnet F Coleman
TX House- District 148-- Penny Morales Shaw 

Chief Justice TX Supreme Court- Amy Clark Meacham
TX Supreme Court Justice- Place 6- Kathy Cheng
TX Supreme Court Justice- Place 7- Staci Williams
TX Supreme Court  Justice- Place 8- Gisela Triana 

TX Court of  Criminal Appeals- Place 3 - William Pieratt Demond
TX Court of Appeals District 14-  Jane Robinson
TX Court of Appeals- 1st District- Place 3- Veronica Rivas Molloy
TX Court of Appeals 1st District- Place 5- Amparo Monique Guerra
TX Court of Appeals 1st District Place 7 - Cheri Thomas
TX District Judge- 80th Judicial District- Larry Weiman 
TX Dsitrict Judge- 164th Judicial District- Alexandra Smoots-Thomas 
TX District Judge- 165th Judicial District- Ursula Hall 
TX District Judge- 176th Judicial District-Nikita 'Niki' Harmon
TX District Judge -179th Judicial District- Ana Martinez 
TX District Judge- 333rd Judicial District- Daryl Moore
TX District Judge- 334th Judicial District- Dawn Deshea Roigers 
TX District Judge- 337th Judicial District- Colleen Gaido
TX District Judge - 339th Judicial District- Te'iva Bell
TX District Judge- 351st Judicial District- Natalia 'Nata' Cornelio
TX District Judge- 367 Judicial District-  Janet Buening Happard
TX District Judge- 505th Judicial District- Surendran K. Patel  
TX District Judge- 507th Judicial District-Julia Maldonado 

Harris County District Attorney- Audia Jones 
Harris County Attorney- Christian Menefee
Harris County Sheriff- Ed Gonzales
Harris County Tax Assessor Collector -Jolanda Jones

Harris County Commissioner- Precinct 1-Rodney Ellis
Harris County Commissioner- Precinct 3- Diana Martinex Alexander

Harris County Constable- Precinct 1- Alan Rosen
Harris County Constable- Precinct 7-  May Walker

Harris County Civil Court at Law No 4- Bill McLeod

Harris County Department of Education Place 5- Erica Davis
Harris County Department of Education Place 7- Obes Nwabara
Harris County Justice of the Peace- Precinct 6 Place 1- Victor Trevino III
Harris County Justice of the Peace- Precinct 7 Place 1- Jeremy L. Brown

Bloomberg Protest At The 2020 JRR

Just arrived from the JRR dinner, and y'all might have heard about a silent protest I did in which I stood up,  turned my back to Bloomberg  when he started speaking,  and remained standing for the duration of his horrible JRR speech.

Naw player, couldn't let you waltz into my hometown without doing something to express my displeasure at his candidacy.  And yeah, these are just some of the reasons why I'm not feeling Bloomberg.

There were a few other attendees in that Marriot Marquis room that also weren't feeling Bloomberg either, and expressed themselves during his horrid speech in which there was no mention of stop and frisk or his transphobia.   Amelie Haydel and Aicilef Gnuoy started chanting during the speech and were detained by police.

Bloomberg eventually stops droning and i get to sit down.   My beind wasn't in the chair for a minute when some random Becky walks up to be and starts ranting about she's supporting bllomberg because  get this, her daughter was sexually assaulted by a Black man.

WTF?   She also had the nerve to try to claim she was Latina. 

I got up out of my seat, and she now had to face an extremely pissed off  6' 5" moi with heels on towering over her petite self.   I then began to channel my inner Elektra Wintour and read the tramp for filth before she was mericfully escorted away from me by one of my tablemates. 

Amazing how a silent protest triggers peeps with privilege so much. 

Just to give you an example of the level of read homegirl got, here's Elektra shutting down a disrespectful Becky like I had to unexpoectedly do tonight.



For those of you who have been asking me on social media if I'm okay.  yeah, I'm good.
The Becky I read for filth, not so much.

Not Feeling Michael Bloomberg

It's not lost on me that on the 67th anniversary of the day Christine Jorgensen returned to New York after being in Denmark for two years for her physical transition and GCS, I'm looking at the prospect of having a transphobe on stage tonight at the Harris County Democratic Party's (HDCP)  Johnson Rayburn Richards (JRR) dinner being held tonight at the Marriot Marquis>

It ain't Julian Castro, who I am looking forward to hearing speak to night as the JRR keynote and hopefully getting a chance to meet.  Michael Bloomberg?   Not so much.

The JRR is the largest Democratic funraiser in Texas, and it's the one in which I received the Barbara Jordan Breaking Barriers Award from last year.  In the 2020 edition of the JRR, which is back to being a dinner now, awards will be presented to Amber Goodwin, Linda Morales, Cecile Richards and the Supermajority group..

I have not been happy with the remaing candidates available in the 2020 Democratic primary since Kamala Harris was forced to drop out along with all the other non white candidates.  I felt last year that 21 candidates in a presidential primary was far too many in a critical for our democracy election, and the sorry state of the primary confirms that.  My concerns are heighted by the realization that the Dems are the only thing standing beween Trump and a fascist dictatorship.

Neither am I happy that the media and Berners after Iowa and New Hampshire are rushing to crown Bernie Sanders as our nominee after primary contests in two of the whitest states in the nation.

Y'all need to slow your roll on that.  Guess y'all forgot about 2016 huh?   Rigged primary my azz. 

More like Black Democrats massively rejecting St Bernard of Sanders, and news flash, ain't nothing changed in Black America since 2016 concerning our low opinion of Sanders, no matter how much you believe the hype from Nina Turner.

Black Democratic voters matter, and it looks like we'll have to teach that lesson once again.  Early voting for the Texas prmary starts on February 18,  with the election happening on March 3.

FYI, Texas awards 262 delegates.  That dwarfs the number you can get in Iowa and New Hampshire combined .

But back to talking about Bloomberg.   One of the other things that has me concerned is this rush to canonize him as some sort of savior when he is deeply problematic to me and many Black Americans

And oh yeah, haven't forgotten that Bloomberg ran as a Republican to become mayor of New York

I'm not happy about the 2016 transphobic comments that Bloomberg uttered in Great Britain, and damned sure was paying attention when stop and frisk Black and Brown people was going on when he was running New York City. 

Many of the Black and Brown people being frisked by NYPD were also transgender New Yorkers.
It was also a policy that Bloomberg zealously defended and didn't apologize for until he decided to jump into the 2020 presidental race.

Note to Bloomberg:  Trans Democrats exist and you're about to find out that salient point the hard way that we do.   Some of us are major leaders in not only the national party, but in our local party organiations as well.

FYI, two of the first statewide trans inclusive non discrimation laws were passed in Minnesota and Iowa, so contrary to your 2016 transphobic opinion, Midwesterners and folks around the country do get the point that trans rights are human rights. 

Trans people are also part of everyone's family.  It's why the increased support for trans rights is happening along with trans folks across the country, our Mama and Papa Bears, and our allies fighting tooth and nail to make it happen.. 

So if you see me pouting at the JRR tonight, now you have the backstory on why.     .

HBAD Endorsement Meeting Today!

The Texas primary election date of March 3 is rapidly approaching, and so is the start of early voting in the Lone Star State on February 18.

That meant that for the second consecutive Satuday I got up out of bed early so that I could be at the  Sunnyside area venue in which the Houston Black Area Democrats (H-BAD) endorsement meeting was being held before it started at 9 AM.

It was my first time doing their endorsement meeting, and was nice seeing old freinds and meeting some new ones.  I laughed when I got asked the question by a few people in attendance if I was running for office in this cycle, and when I said 'Not yet", that question truned into 'When was I going to run for office?

91 people screened for the H-BAD endorsement, which is one of the Big Four endorsements of Houston progressive Democratic politics. 

These endorsement meetings can have a lot of drama that rivals the best reality TV shows.  There's twists and turns.   People getting endorsements as expected, and others who didn't get it from the screening committe, but who flipped it once itgot to the meeting. 

People can win or lose endorsements based on what they say that sways the people in the room or pisses them off.

Here are the folks who after six hours, walked out with those coveted H-BAD endorsements:

US Senate- Amanda Edwards 
US Representative District 2- Sima Ladjevarian   
US Representative District 18-  Sheila Jackson Lee
US Representative District 22- Derrick Reed 

Member TX State Board of Education District 6- Michelle Palmer 
TX State Senator Disctrict 13- Borris Miles 
TX State Representative District 27- Ron Reynolds
TX State Representative District 126- Natali Hurtado 
TX State Representative District  131- Alma A. Allen 
TX State Representative Distrct 138-Akilah Bacy 
TX State Represntative District 139-  Jarvis Johnson
TX State Reprsentative  District 141- Senfronia Thompson 
TX State Representative District 142- Richard Bonton 
TX State Represntative District 146 -Shawn Nicole Thierry
TX State Representative District 147- Garnet F. Coleman
Cheif Justice Texas Supreme Court -Amy Clark Meacham
Justice, Texas Supreme Court Place 6- Kathy Cheng
Justice Texas Supreme Court, Place 7- Staci Williams 
Justice Texas Supreme Court Place 8- Peter Kelly
Justice, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals  Place 3 - William Pieratt Demond  
Justice, Texas Court  of Appeals District 14- Jane Robinson
Justice  Texas Court of Appeals 1st District, Place 3 -Veronica Rivas-Molloy
Justice, Texas Court of Appeals  1st District Place 5- Amparo Monique Guerra
Justice Texas Court of Appeals 14th District  Place 7- Tamika Craft

District Judge  80th Judicial District-  Larry Weiman 
District Judge  164th Judicial District- Alexandra Smoots Thomas 
District Judge  165th Judicial District- Ursula Hall 
District Judge  176th Judicial District-  Nikita 'Niki' Harmon
District Judge  179th Judicial District-  No Endorsement 
District Judge  333rd Judicial District-  Daryl Moore   
District Judge  334th Judicial District-  Dawn Deshea Rogers
District Judge  337th Judicial District - Brennen Dunn
District Judge  339th Judicial District- Te'iva Bell
District Judge 351st  Judicial District - Natalia 'Nata' Cornelio 
District Judge 507th Judicial District-  Julia Maldonado

Harris County District Attorney - Carvana Cloud
Harris Ciunty Attorney- Christian Dashaun Menefee 
Harris County Sheriff - Ed Gonzales  
Harris County Tax Assessor Collector - Jolanda Jones

Harris County Commissioner Precinct 1- Rodney Ellis
Harris County Commissioner Precinct 3- Morris Overstreet 

Harris County Constrable Precinct 1 -Alan Rosen 

Harris County Civil Court At Law Number  4- Lesley Briones

Harris County Justice of the Peace Precinct 6 Place 1 - Victor Trevino III
Harris County Justice of the Peace Precinct 7 Place 1 -  Jeremy  L. Brown 
 

My Post CC20 Musings

I'm back on my end of I-45 after an amazing few days in Dallas for Creating Change 2020.

In addition to bringing something back to Houston with me to put on my trophy shelf called the Susan J Hyde Award for Longevity in the Movement,  I brought something else back with me.

The knowledge that we're gonna be alright as a movement because of all our wonderful younglings.

The younglings are not only pushing us elders and yelders to be better, they are also doing the same with their youthful energy to society and our movement as a whole. 

They also get the benefit of being part of the intergenerational conversations that happen in the CC20 space

As with any Creating Change, while I always enjoy getting to spend quality time with my cohort of trans activists marveling how far we've come since our days when we were the new kids on the activist block, I get my life and enjoyment from talking to and actively listening to the younger generation.

And yeah, proud of my Houston activist fam.   We are always busy at these events, whether we are presenting at panels or strategizing about what we're going to do in the coming year to make Houston, Texas and our TBLGQ community better

There are also those wonderful moments when I get to step away from the convention hustle and bustle and jet for a few hours connect with friends who live in the host city.   I was glad that Kyiana Wheeler and I got a chance to make that happen on Wednesday.

One thing I need to do a better job of is checking in with my blood relatives who live in Dallas.  Some of them only knew I was in town when they saw me on the local news doing an interview.

In my defense to my Dallas relatives who are reading this post and sucking their teeth, this is a business trip for me.  A fun one, but at its most basic level it is a business trip.

I tend to get busy with panel discussions, interviews, and all the other stuff that happens at conference events like CC20, and before I know it, the event is over and I'm headed back home.

I enjoyed just getting to at times sit back in the hospitality suites and listen to them talk about what was happening in their lives.  There were times when I was asked to drop some knowledge about what I'd experienced as a 22 year advocate, and time when I just sat back and absorbed it.

TBLGQ intergenerational conversations matter.

There was a moment when Antonia d'Orsay and I were giving a Trans 101 history class to three gender non conforming peeps as they were out in the smoking area. .

There are the meetings happening on and off the #CC20 campus between ED's of the various organizations in attendance in Dallas plotting the next phases of our human rights movement

There were also moments during CC20 when I was the person having those meetings with leaders of various TBLGQ community orgs

There was me walking around at my sixth Creating Change having the younglings stop me in the hall, take photos, and tell me how much they appreciated my work and the blog.

And I needed to hear that.   One attendee told me about her professor actually assigning TransGriot blog posts as reading material for her Women and Gender Studies class.

That increased in intensity after I gave the acceptance speech for the Hyde Award, and I'm not mad about that.   Once upon a time (CC99 in Oakland)  I was the wide eyed newbie nervously rubbing elbows with the leadership icons of that period.

Now I have become that icon.   I want peeps to be aware of the fact that if I'm not busy at a conference, I will always have time (or make time) to talk and listen to you. 

It was also nice to get to know the other Black and Latinx trans folks that were able to attend and get to know them better in addition to taking part in that rally Thursday afternoon.

Creating Change 2020 has passed into the TBLGQ community history books.  I salute the Dallas organizing team for putting on a great event while pointing out the Houston #CC14 attendance record is STILL intact.

Looking forward to the next time I can be at one, either in Washington DC next year or NOLA in 2022.

.

CC 2020 Susan J Hyde Award Speech

TransGriot Note:  This is the text of the speech I'm currently delivering at the opening Creating Change 2020 plenary session

To Rea Carey, the Creating Change leadership team, the Dallas CC20 Organizing Committee, Barbara Satin, Creating Change 2020 attendees, my Houston activist family and my trans siblings.

I am beyond thrilled and excited to be honored with this year’s Susan J Hyde Award for Longevity in the Movement.   Even better is the knowledge that I’m receiving it in my home state. The only thing that would have made it more amazing would have been to be receiving it on my end of Interstate 45.

I humbly accept it not only for myself, but for every Black trans person who will never have the opportunity to contribute their talents to our community because they were taken from us far too soon..  

Can we please have a moment of silence for all the trans people we’ve lost to anti-trans violence in 2019?   

Thank you.

I’m not the first Black trans person to receive this award, and you can trust and believe I won’t be the last Black trans person standing up on a future Creating Change stage to pick up one of their own.

Kylar Broadus received this Hyde award during Creating Change 2011 held in Minneapolis.  He’s a trailblazer, community leader and a man I have the utmost respect for. I’m proud to be on this date following in his footsteps and receiving this prestigious award.   

As much as native Houstonians like myself revel in poking fun at the third largest city in the state because it is ingrained in people growing up either here or in Dallas to throw shade at each other and their respective NFL franchises (Go Texans!) , there is no denying the fact that Dallas has been a major part of my life.  My mom grew up here until her junior year of high school and my grandfather was transferred by his Continental Airlines job to Houston.

Every summer, my family and I made the four hour trip up I-45 to Dallas to visit many of my relatives that still live here in the area and span the Metroplex from Garland to DeSoto, and South Dallas to Oak Cliff.   I’ve been coming here since 2013 for the Black Trans Advocacy Conference, and proudly sit on the Black Trans Advocacy Coalition board as a member of Black Transwomen Inc. I’ll be back here to spend my birthday week at BTAC’s 9th annual conference also being held here in Dallas May 5-10. 

And I can’t forget last year, when I made multiple trips to Dallas for everything from a BTAC leadership institute to Muhlaysia Booker’s wake and funeral.

I’ve been a trans activist for over two decades, and 2019 was a milestone year on two levels. It marked 25 years since that April 4,1994 day I walked into Houston’s Intercontinental Airport to begin the work shift at my airline job that would change the course of my life for the better. 

2019 also was the year that I passed the 20th anniversary of my first Texas trans lobby day organized by my late mentor Sarah DePalma, the ED of the Texas Gender Advocacy Information Network or TGAIN.    TGAIN is still around, but is now called the Transgender Education Network of Texas.

It also marked the 20th anniversary of me attending my first Creating Change conference in Oakland.

But to be honest, when I started the transition in 1994, being an activist was the furthest thing from my mind.  My goals then were a little more modest. I wanted to do my 35 years at the airline job I absolutely loved and retire   I wanted to just get comfortable being me and enjoy my life evolving into the fabulous Black trans woman you see on this stage today.

There’s an old saying that if you want to make God laugh, try to plan out your life.

There used to be an organization back in the day called the International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE) that was around until 2015.   Back in the 90’s they published a quarterly magazine called Transgender Tapestry that I started a subscription to in 1995. 

In 1997 they decided to publish a series of articles highlighting 100 out and proud trans leaders.   The first magazine I received highlighted 25 people, many of them iconic elders in our community like Jamison Green and Phyllis Frye just to name a few. 

But as I read that article, I was left asking the question, “Where are the trans leaders who look like me?”   I know we exist.

I get my next quarterly Tapestry issue, and it finally had two Black people in it.   RuPaul and Dennis Rodman.

Needless to say I was pissed.  RuPaul and Dennis Rodman had made it quite clear they weren’t trans, and worst of all their inclusion was perpetuating a racist stereotype that the only thing Black folks could do was be an entertainer or an athlete.

Never mind the fact that Marisa Richmond in Nashville and Dawn Wilson in Louisville were at that time running trans support groups called the Tennessee Vals and the Bluegrass Belles on opposite ends of I-65.  Marisa and Dawn were also emerging Black trans community leaders that I would later meet at the 1999 Southern Comfort in Marisa’s case and Dawn at the 2000 IFGE Convention in DC.. I’m also proud to call them my friends,

So after seeing that I resolved to not only be at the 1998 GenderPac Lobby Days in Washington DC, I made it my mission to start getting involved in local and national trans activism.

So yeah, a jacked up article in a trans magazine was the impetus for me getting into trans activism, and I never looked back.

When I  came into trans activism in 1998, there was unfortunately a prevailing attitude that adding trans folks to pending legislation for the TBLGQ community would kill it for everybody, so all TBLGQ activism at the local, state and federal level operated on the euphemistically named ‘incremental progress’ model.  

Translation: We trans folks were told by some Big Gay Org this bill won’t pass with you trans folks in it.   Or we were told that ‘trans rights was ‘too new’, so let’s just take what we can get and we’ll come back for you trans folks later.  

A later that never came.   Ask the trans folks in Wisconsin, who have been waiting since 1982 for people to come back for them and add them to their state’s nondiscrimination law.

Sometimes the anti-trans legislative hostility came from our own community    The anti- trans bathroom argument was created not by Republican politicians, but by one of our own in former US Rep Barney Frank in 1999 because he didn’t want trans folks included in ENDA..  

The 1998 landscape also included the trans community being relentlessly attacked by TERFs, evilgelicals  and being laughed at and considered a joke by politicians on both sides of the political aisle

But still we rose.  During my 22 years in this movement, I have been blessed to see changes in how the trans community was perceived, and I'm happy to say that the Task Force played a major role in making that happen.  As the Political Director of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition, (NTAC) from 1999-2002, one of the first events I attended in that role was a National Transgender Policy meeting facilitated by the Task Force in 2000. 

I got to witness the rise of our trans kids like Jazz Jennings and the Mama and Papa Bears as a political and cultural force for our community    I got to witness politicians stop laughing at the trans community and take our demands for human rights equity seriously

I started a blog in 2006  ‘nobody reads’ called TransGriot that not only just celebrated its 14th birthday on New Year’s Day, but was just honored with its fifth GLAAD Media Award nomination.

I get to watch an amazing TV show called POSE in which the issues that affect the trans community get told as you watch it from coast to coast.   The trans characters are also played by trans women, with trans women being writers and producers of the show. 

I’m also happy to witness trans men not only become better known in Hollywood, but stepping up across the country and the world to take on their leadership roles in the movement.  I’m also proud to see my Dallas based sibs in BTMI under Carter Brown’s leadership role model not only what that leadership looks like from a Black trans masculine perspective, but also be sterling examples of Black men while doing so.

I have gotten to witness people like Virginia Delegate Danica Roem get elected and reelected to their state legislature.   I got to see Black trans people like me in Councilmembers Andrea Jenkins and Phillipe Cunningham be elected to the Minneapolis city council and serve together on that body.

And naw siblings, I didn’t forget about the work that nonbinary and gender non conforming people are doing to drive home the point that gender is on a spectrum, not a rigid binary.

I have also been blessed to witness the beautiful sight of our Texas trans kids living up to our history of being tenacious fighters for trans rights in the Lone Star State and helping lead the charge in 2017 to kill twice the odious SB 6 ‘Bathroom Bill’ in a regular and a special oppression session. 

It’s interesting that Creating Change is back here in Texas at a potential tipping point moment in our politics.   We are now only nine seats away from flipping the Texas House to Democratic control for the first time since 2002   There is the possibility that we may flip this state blue on November 3 and flush John Cornyn out of his US Senate seat he has occupied for way too long at the same time.

We have lesbian and gay office holders across the Lone Star State from judges to city councilmembers to state legislators.  I hope to see in my lifetime a Texas trans person get elected to public office before the decade of the 2020s has passed into the history books.

But much needs to be done here in Texas before we can see that glorious day.  We mush flip our legislature and ensure that fair maps instead of gerrymandered ones are drawn.  We must make sure that every TBLGQ person is counted in the upcoming 2020 Census and registered to vote.   On November 3 we must do everything within our power to ensure that every person who is registered to vote has the opportunity to cast a ballot in a critical to our democracy election.

We must push to ensure that trans Texans are covered not only in our state’s James Byrd Hate Crimes Act, but a statewide nondiscrimination law.

In my Houston hometown, we must convince our female majority city council to pass HERO 2.0, and defend it from attack from the evilgelicals and the Republican Party.

We must kill any proposed bills in Texas and anywhere else in the US that seek to ban the ability of trans kids to get trans medical care before their 18th birthday or criminalize doctors for providing that treatment.

And yes, I have a message for Gov Greg Abbott, Lt Governor Dan Patrick and the Texas Republican Party:  Don’t mess with Texas trans kids.

Don’t mess with our trans kids in the other 49 states and\ US territories either.  
   
How do we accomplish all that?  That’s why you’re here in the 214 area code for the next few days at CC20.  You are here to not only network with the peeps that can help you accomplish those goals, but learn new skills, and brush up on ones you learned decades ago like I did at my five previous Creating Change events.

You are also here to hopefully make lifelong friends during the time you’re here in Dallas for CC20.

In conclusion, when I transitioned a quarter century ago, I never imagined standing up on stages as my fab self getting honored for the work I do to make my community, the Lone Star State, and our nation better.   I never imagined back in 1994 that I would be appearing on Nightline or MSNBC, or doing print media interviews or podcasts to talk about trans issues.

I didn’t consider the possibility that people would be asking my unapologetically Black trans self to run for public office.  I never thought about the fact that while I don’t have children of my own, I would gain a whole lot of nieces and nephews who chose me to be their Aunt Monica.  

But it’s happening.  I’m seen as a possibility model and an icon to a community that I’m unabashedly proud of.  I’m proud of the next generation Black trans women I see who will make me look like a slacker by the time that I’m done in terms of what they collectively accomplish for our movement .

And to quote our  trans elder Miss Major, “I’m still effing here.”

We’ve got work to do CC20.  Time to go handle our movement business, get our learn on, and get it done for the TBLGQ + kids who look up to all of us.  

And I’m not going to disappoint them.