Transgender Day Of Remembrance Event At HCC Southeast Tuesday

Trans Awareness Week in the runup to the November 20 TDOR tends to get busy for me as we take time to not only educate others in our community about our lives, but memorialize the people we have lost due to anti-trans violence.

I also enjoy speaking and doing events at our various Houston area colleges and universities..

Thanks to Prof. Antrece Baggett, I've been invited to participate in their upcoming Transgender Day of Remembrance event at the HCC-Southeast Campus along with Dr. Ilija Immanuel Gallego.

It's also a timely one in the wake of our disastrous election a week ago.

The HCC-Southeast College TDOR event is sponsored by the SE College Black Student Association, Women and Gender Studies Program, Counseling Center, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and the History Department.,

The HCC Southeast campus is located at 6815 Rustic St just off I-45 near Gulfgate Mall.   The TDOR event on the HCC-SE campus will start at 6 PM in the Angela Morales Building in Lecture Hall A.

The event is open to students, faculty, staff and the community, so hope to see my Houston trans fam and allies there if you can attend.    

Messages From Gender Infinity And Montrose Center Concerning The Phelps Phamily Protests

The Phelps Phamily is allegedly coming to Houston to spread their special brand of hate on Friday.   There's a 50% chance they won't show up since they frequently flake out like that, but if they do, they plan on targeting the Montrose Center and the Gender Infinity Conference with pickets.

The targets of their alleged pickets in the Montrose Center and the Gender Infinity Conference have a message for you Houstonians and peeps in the metro area outraged that these faux faith based fools are desecrating our city limits.

First, the message from Gender Infinity:

Gender Infinity is aware of a possible protest planned during our conference at the University of Houston on Friday, September 16th. Please respect our main focus to provide all conference attendees a wonderful experience. We have been working with community partners to make arrangements to ensure this goal.

UH has a free speech zone where only a small number of people are allowed to gather at a time. If counter-protesters exceed that number, you will all be asked to leave and the protesters will remain. This is not what we want.

With that in mind, we ask the following:

1. Do not show up at UH to counter-protest unless you have coordinated with our point of contact, Rev. Troy Treash, a dedicated supporter at revtroy@resurrectionmcc.org. He will coordinate this effort.

2. Our community partners who have experience with these particular protesters advise that the best way to respond is not to engage them verbally or physically. Do not give this group the media or social media attention they crave (e.g., do not share their website on social media).

3. Instead, please come together as a community in other ways at this time to support each other and display a united, organized, peaceful, and collected front.

4. Alternative ways to support Gender Infinity at this time include liking our facebook page, following us on Twitter, or making a financial donation to our organization or any other local LGBTQI+ organization.http://support.genderinfinity.org/

We hope the response of our community, in solidarity, will show the world our commitment to advance justice and inclusion with and for transgender, gender diverse, and gender expansive persons.

Thank you,
The Gender Infinity Team

Next, the message from the Montrose Center"

We are asking that people not come to the Center on the 16th between 10:30 am and noon unless you have business here. We do not want to give them any media attention or assist them in their mission to disrupt our services and guests.

We have consulted with other Centers who have been protested and have been advised the best way to frustrate them is to not engage them. We have it covered and ask that there be no counter protest. We have made arrangements to protect our clients, staff and visitors and their privacy. Thanks everyone for respecting our plan.

We'll see if the Phelps Phamily actually backs up their words, drives down from Kansas and shows up at either event this Friday,

H-Town peeps, I know you're pissed.  I definitely am seeing that I will be at Gender Infinity supporting our trans kids and their families.   But the best way to support both these orgs is respect their wishes.  

It also doesn't hurt if you express your pissivity at the Phelpses by dropping both of the targeted organizations some donations.

Here's the link for the Montrose Center and the Gender Infinity Conference to do precisely that.

Alberto B Mendoza To Become NAHJ Executive Director

You TransGriot readers are familiar with him as the founding creator of the Honor 41 list that recognizes LGBT Latinos, but on September 1 Alberto B. Mendoza will be recognized for another reason.   On that date he will become the executive director of the National Hispanic Journalists Association.

“Alberto is the right leader at the right time for NAHJ,” said Mekahlo Medina, NAHJ President. “He comes with decades of non-profit experience, exceptional organizational skills, sponsorship building and a history of elevating organizations to the next level.”

That extensive non-profit experience includes recently serving as the Regional Vice President with Jumpstart: Children First where he led the operations in California, Texas and Washington which served over 3300 children. He also served as the President and CEO of the Coalition for Clean Air, a California policy and advocacy organization, where he was the first Latino leader to run a statewide environmental organization.

In 2009, United States Senator Barbara Boxer honored Mendoza with the first ever U.S. Environmental Leadership Award. Alberto was also the founding Regional Executive Director for the Drug Policy Alliance- Southern California office and also led programs for Girl Scouts USA, Public Counsel and AIDS Project Los Angeles.

And as pleased as NAHJ was to name him on June 10 as their new executive director, he is just as pleased to be joining the organization.

“I’m extremely honored and excited to join the NAHJ family,” said Mendoza. “The caliber of our membership and the organization’s impressive reputation, are the two key elements of why I wanted to take this leadership role. While there’s lots to do, I am confident we will achieve new levels of success for NAHJ and our members”

Congratulations Alberto!  I have no doubts that NAHJ is headed to the next level as a journalism organization with him in their executive director role that he will assume full time in September.  I've known him for several years as one of my FB friends and couldn't be happier for him. 

I'm looking forward to the day I finally get to meet him.  May have to do so at that joint NAHJ-NABJ conference in Washington DC next year.

3rd Annual Philly Trans* March Coming Soon

For those of you in or near the Philadelphia metro area, you may wish to circle October 12 on your calendar for the third annual Philly Trans* March.

It's being organized by Christian Axavier Lovehall and will take place at LOVE Park from 3-6 PM EDT after the march from Center City to the LOVE Park location. 

Here's the details courtesy of the Philly Trans* March Facebook page:

***

Join us October 12, 2013, for Philadelphia's 3rd annual Philly Trans* March. Philly Trans* March is not only a rally and demonstration, but rather a revolutionary movement. Open to people of all gender identities, expressions, and experiences, Philly Trans* March welcomes everyone to join in this MARCH TOWARDS EQUALITY and protest against the hate, social injustice, and inequality faced by trans*, gender variant, gender queer and gender non-conforming communities. Issues such as hate violence and the lack of official concern, healthcare policies, trans* media representation, financial and housing insecurity, police brutality, workplace policies and employment discrimination, and the lack of resources for T/GV/GQ/GNC youth are just a few of the concerns being voiced upon in this year's March.

PTM is also a CELEBRATION of the triumphs we have experienced in our city and the unique resources Philadelphia offers to our community. With an aim to increase Trans*, GV (gender variant), GQ (Genderqueer) and GNC (gender non conforming) visibility and to gain equality, Philly Trans* March is an affirmation of our beauty, strength, and diversity. Organized by members of Philly's trans*, gender variant, gender queer and gender non-conforming communities and our allies, this endeavor is committed to creating a safer, more inclusive environment for everyone.

Before we take it to the streets of Center City and march, this year we will be honoring those apart of Philly's Trans* community who have shown dedication to Trans* advocacy and increasing Trans* visibility. This October Philly Trans* March will host it's first PTM Advocacy Awards, giving much deserved recognition to those who have stood on the front lines in support of Philly's Trans* community and the fight towards equality. Below are the awards that will be given on that day. Congratulations to all of the recipients for this outstanding achievement!

PTM ADVOCACY AWARD CATEGORIES:
Leaders of Hope and Empowerment Award
Shining Pioneers Award
Rising Leaders Award
Artist Visibility Award
Ally Appreciation Award
Social Change Achievement Award

After we march, and return to LOVE Park some of our most creative local Trans* talent will rock the stage and help bring the event to a celebratory wrap-up!

Come One, Come All as EVERYONE is welcome to attend this monumental event! Bring your friends, your signs, drums and beautiful selves and rally in solidarity at PHILLY TRANS* MARCH 2013! LET YOUR VOICES BE HEARD!

**this is an all ages event
***a van will be on site to transport those with disAbilities who wish to march but are unable to 

Technical Difficulties

TransGriot Readers, if you were expecting your usual posts and features that you love coming here for, had multiple problems that prevented me from posting yesterday. 

I had a connection issue that didn't get resolved until today.   To add to my Internet woes, wasn't feeling well and I spent most of the day in bed getting over whatever bug waylaid me in the first place.

To add to my pissivity over my connection issue and grumpiness about being sick, kept getting calls from some telemarketer just as I was on the doorstep of nodding off to dreamland

I'm starting to feel a little more alive and in a better mood than I was yesterday, so I'll probably finish and put the posts up that I was planning to do on Friday.

Thanks for the concern and love y'all showed me, it's always appreciated.

We Who Are Sexy:The Images of Transgender People In Cinema

If you're looking for something to do in the San Francisco Bay Area today,  historians Jenni Olson and Susan Stryker will be presenting on a subject that is near and dear to my heart, the images of transpeople in film.

The location is the stately Victoria Theatre in San Francisco CA and you can join Jenni and Susan starting at 2 PM PDT for an interesting take on the history of transgender images in film.   

It will be a program that combines on stage conversation with film clips showcasing an array of rarely seen tidbits ranging from the bad old stereotypical days of guys in dresses and pathological transsexuals all the way up to the empowered self-representations of the early 90's and the hot transgender best of the early 21st century.

And you get two people who I respect and admire in this community breaking it down for you as well.

You still have two hours to get there, grab some tickets for it and get your learn on..