Trans Actors Can Be In The Building And Still Get Ignored

Like a lot of Trans World peeps I was more than a little heated when the women of POSE were once again snubbed for Emmy consideration despite stepping up their acting games and putting in some Emmy worthy performances.

Tell me you didn't cry watching Candy's funeral?  Or laugh your azz off when Elektra read that Karen for filth in that Hamptons seafood restaurant scene.



Billy Porter was nominated for and won an Emmy last year for his Pray Tell performance and is now only lacking an Oscar to become only the 15th person ever to complete the EGOT.

What's the EGOT you ask?  An EGOT is when an entertainer during their career wins an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award. 

So yeah, he's mad talented.    He also said this when being interviewed last year for his historic Emmy win.   The part I'm salty about starts at the 2:51 mark of this video



That video with his 'we in the building' comment is heightening my irritation with that comment a year later.  While Porter received a second consecutive nomination for playing Pray Tell,  the POSE women got snubbed for a second consecutive year.

You can still be in the building and still be ignored.  You Mr. Porter and your fellow cis people all need to recognize that despite the 2020 Emmy nominations for Rain Valdez and Laverne Cox (and congrats to both those amazing women) the #EmmysSoCis.

Brian Michael Smith and Scott Turner Schofield are talented trans masculine actors who were not given 2020 Emmy consideration, either.   

Yes, trans actors are in the building.  But they still have to fight tooth and nail for the few roles in which trans women play trans feminine characters.  Hell, trans women have had to fight just to play a cis feminine character in Hollywood. 

Trans masculine actors have to fight just as hard to play a trans masculine character.   It took a major outcry from our community to get Halle Berry to reconsider a role in which she would be playing a trans masculine person.   Same with getting Scarlett Johansson to change her mind about playing Dante 'Tex' Ritter in the Rub and Tug movie.

Trans women actors have a problem getting trans feminine roles because studio execs and casting directors are still fixated on putting cis male actors in drag to play those roles.

And to our trans community's horror, those cis men (and a cis woman in Hilary Swank) have gallingly gone on to win the awards trans actors get routinely snubbed for by telling our trans stories..

So no, trans people aren't even close to having equity or seeing the change you claimed had come in that 2019 interview.  Your Emmy interview to our ears sounded like the dismissive 'wait your turn' crap we've been hearing from Black gay men with clout for over 50 years.

The way Black trans women are being genocidally murdered also adds a fierce urgency of now element to not only this situation, but everything we do.

POSE is one of the few productions in Hollywood in which we not only get to tell our stories, we have trans people in front of and behind the camera writing and directing them like Janet Mock and Our Lady J.  That makes it a unique and beloved show in our trans community, and we want to see MJ Rodriguez, Dominique Jackson, Angelica Ross, Hailie Sahar and Indya Moore succeed.

That means if these women's POSE performances merit Emmy recognition, we want to see them nominated for those performances.  If those nominations then turn into trans historic Emmy wins, we're good with that.

That is also the case for the trans folks working behind their camera.  If they are doing award worthy work, they need to be recognized for that.

Frankly, I love seeing all my Hollywood trans family succeed whether you are in front of the camera or behind it.  The measuring stick for how successful you are in Hollywood is winning or being nominated for major awards like Emmys, Oscars, or Golden Globes.

But to have a shot an winning an Emmy or any of those awards I mentioned, you have to be nominated for it.   This is the flaw in Billy Porter's 2019 'we in the building' speech.

You can be in the building all you want.  But if you're in the building, doing exemplary work, and are still getting ignored for unspecified reasons up to and including Hollywood transphobia and anti-Blackness, that's a problem that needs to be called out and addressed.

Will The Miss International Queen Pageant Finally Get A Black Queen?

'The anti-Black, pro-Asian and pro Miss Tiffany showgirl bias has got to end in order for the Miss International Queen trans pageant to have international credibility with people around the world who are thinking about competing in it.'
-TransGriot, March 2, 2018 

Since 2004 the Thailand based Miss International Queen pageant has billed itself as the most prestigious transgender beauty pageant on the planet.   It has grown to that status in large part because until recently, trans women were barred from participating in the major pageants systems like Miss World and Miss Universe.

The 2019 edition of the Miss International Queen pageant will be crowning its newest queen in Pattaya on March 8 (March 7 our time). 

It also has a dubious distinction that smacks of anti-Blackness..  In the decade plus history of the MIQ pageant, it has NEVER crowned a Black winner.

Two have been first runner up (2011, Miss SaHHara, 2015, Valesca Dominik Ferraz).  Stasha Sanchez finished as a second runner up in 2010.

There are peeps, myself included, who still believe Miss SaHHara was robbed of the 2011 MIQ title. The Thai contestant, Sirapassorn Atthayakorn horribly botched her final interview, but STILL shockingly won.

Then again it shouldn't have been a shock, since she like all four Thai MIQ queens, she won the Miss Tiffany's pageant.   Tiffany's Cabaret in Pattaya is the host venue for that Thai trans only Miss Tiffany's pageant that produces the Thai rep to MIQ and the Miss International Queen one.

This history of shady MIQ anti-Blackness and favoritism for Miss Tiffany Cabaret showgirls has discouraged many Black trans contestants from even plunking down their hard earned money for entry fees and attempting to make that long trip to Thailand to attempt to snatch that crown.

That shady treatment of Black MIQ contestants is a major reason why I stopped writing posts about this pageant as well.

This year Jazell Barbie Royale is the lone African descended contestant in this 2019 Miss International Queen event.   She captured the 2016 Miss Continental title, and is attempting to break that negative MIQ cycle, rep the USA and make some history as its first ever Black winner. 

If she does so, she would also become the first American winner since 2005 when Mimi Marks took the MIQ crown.



Wishing you the best of luck, Jazell.

We'll see if Jazell does so, or is just the latest Black contestant to fall victim to the anti-Blackness permeating the Miss International Queen pageant system.

Bye Megyn!

Black Santa came early this year and gave us the Christmas present of Megyn Kelly FINALLY getting fired from the Today Show for her comments defending blackface.

The karmic wheel has finally come for Kelly, who Black America has always had a hate-hate relationship with.    While Kelly was the pretty propaganda face at FOX Noise, she dished out a long stream of anti-Black comments that we still have receipts for and she's been unrepentant about.

What pissed off Black America even further was Andy Lack paying $69 million to Kelly to come to NBC, and the shady way that Tamron Hall and Al Roker were forced out of their Today Show time slot to make room fo her to do so. 

Seems like Andy Lack was the only person in America who didn't know this was a ratings trainwreck in the making. I stopped watching Today the nanosecond that Tamron Hall was bounced.

Wonder how my fellow Texan is feeling today about this news?   She's keeping it classy, so Black America will be gleefully petty for her. 

#ByeMegyn.  And a suggestion for you as you look for a new TV job.   Get some counseling to deal with those anti-Black attitudes you obviously have a problem with.

The Black Texan Free Vice News Beto-Cruz Discussion

The Black population of Texas as of the 2010 US Census was 12%.   We have one of the most exciting US Senate races going on in over 20 years, and this Vice News/HBO discussion speaks to the national interest in this election.

But do you notice the one thing missing in this discussion of 16 people who are either Beto or Cruz supporters?  Out of the 16 people in this room, NONE of them are African American Texans.

What's up with that?

It's already problematic enough that partisan Republican pollster Frank Luntz is conducting this Vice News/HBO discussion.   But the glaring absence of Black Texans makes this even more problematic.

How did Vice News NOT catch this?    Never mind, I answered my own question.

Here's the video if you think I'm kidding about this. 
 

The Miss International Queen Pageant STILL Has An Anti-Blackness Problem

"I said this on the MIQ FB page and I will repeat it   If the Miss International Queen Pageant is going to claim it's an international trans pageant and wants to have ANY international credibility in the trans pageant world as a fair pageant, from this point forward it is imperative that an international panel of judges be assembled to determine the winner and make sure that any Thai judges that are part of the panel have no ties to Tiffany's show or are severely limited."-TransGriot, November 4, 2011 


Another edition of the Miss International Queen Pageant has kicked off in the Thai resort city of Pattaya and I predict that when the pageant has concluded on March 9 Thai time, a trans girl with dark skin will NOT be the winner of it.

Since the pageant started in 2004. no trans woman with African heritage or dark skin has won this pageant. 

The few times this has come close to happening or an African descended trans women has even placed in the MIQ event top three was in 2010, when the USA's Stasha Sanchez finished as the second runner up, 2011 when Miss SaHHara repping Nigeria finished as the first runner up (and should have won it), and in 2015 when Brazil's Valesca Dominik Ferraz also finished as a first runner up.

The 2011 MIQ pageant was the most controversial one.   Miss SaHHara, representing Nigeria, was presumed by many people, especially after the Thai finalist horribly botched her final interview to be the person that would finally make that history. 

But people in Thailand watching on live TV, in the Tiffany's Theater in Pattaya and around the world on the online feed were shocked when the Thai contestant still won despite blowing the interview. 

That ignited a firestorm of criticism and gave credibility to the allegations brought by Thai and Philippine contestants there was not only an anti-Black bias from the all-Thai judging panel, but an anti-Filipina one as well..

In 2015 Brazilian beauty Valesca Dominik Ferraz almost broke the color line in this pageant, but just as Miss SaHHara had done four years earlier, she wound up as the first runner up to Trixie Maristela of the Philippines. 

What I wrote back in 2011 when I blasted the Miss International Queen pageant about that shady 2011 result is sadly still valid today.   Out of the 12 winners of the Miss International Queen title, eight of them have been from Asia,  and four of the eight Asian winners have been Thai. 

Also to add another things that make you go hmm layer to this, all four Thai winner have worked as Tiffany's cabaret showgirls.   Tiffany's BTW, is one of the sponsors of this pageant. 

The other Asian MIQ winners have been from Japan, South Korea and two from the Philippines.

The other four contestants non Asians who have won the Miss International Queen pageant title have come from South America (Brazil and Colombia) and North America (US and Mexico) 

It's obvious that the Miss International Queen pageant has an anti-Blackness problem, and the immediate fix for that is to have an international panel of judges that doesn't have ties to Miss Tiffany's Cabaret.

And when I say an international panel of judges, I don't mean just grabbing judges from other parts of Asia because that won't fix the glaring anti-Black bias problem.   Y'all still have a continent wide problem in Asia of considering white skin as the penultimate in beauty.

It's why the Miss Universe pageant not only has a diverse judging panel, that panel also includes former titleholders because what is considered beautiful is different in different corners of the world, and yeah Miss International Queen, dark skinned women are beautiful as well. 

If this pageant is going to claim that it is the premiere international pageant for transgender women, some of those trans women are going to be dark skinned ones with African heritage. 

The anti-Black, pro-Asian and pro Miss Tiffany showgirl bias has got to end in order for the Miss International Queen trans pageant to have international credibility with people around the world who are thinking about competing in it.

Because no one is going to travel halfway around the world or put their hard earned money towards entering a pageant that they believe is unfairly rigged or they won't have a shot at winning because the judges are biased against them.

DFW Area White Woman Tripping About Curvaceous Black Reporter

Black women not only come in 24 different skin tones from light bright and damned near white to deepest darkest ebony, a fact that Rihanna is taking to the bank with her new makeup line, we also come in many different body types.

And one white Dallas TV viewer is mad because of that.

Meet Demetria Obilor.  She works at WFAA-TV 8 in Dallas, and does their morning traffic reports for them.  As you can also see she is beautiful, voluptuous, and curvaceous.

Conservaviewer Jan Shedd had a problem with that and took to Facebook to express herself.

“Has anyone seen channel 8’s new morning traffic reporter,” Shedd wrote on Facebook. “She’s a size 16/18 woman in a size 6 dress. She looks ridiculous. I understand that when I watch Channel 8 I’m going to get biased reporting and political correctness, but clearly they have taken complete leave of their senses."

Of course, once Jan's jealousy tinged Facebook comments were posted to Black Twitter, the ruthless dragging of Bigot Becky swiftly ensued with their usual brutal efficiency.

And yeah, Black Twitter is still putting their collective electronic foot up Shedd's behind as they call Shedd's bigoted ignorance out. 

Bitter Becky, party of one, your table is ready.

Obilor also posted a video to her own Twitter feed thanking Black Twitter for coming to her defense and calling the hater out and basically saying if you don't like her, you have channel options

You're welcome sis.  We got your back. 

Meanwhile, I have another reason to watch WFAA-TV 8 besides Dale Hansen the next time I end up on the northern end of I-45.

Killing Black People Is As American As Apple Pie

Like many of you, I was disgusted about the miscarriage of justice in Minnesota and seeing another police perpetrator of a murder of a young Black man get off for his crime.

But as any African American can tell you, this isn't a new phenomenon.  Killing Black people and getting away with it is as American as apple pie.

Why am I saying that?   Because white people have been taught and conditioned because of 246 years of slavery and another 100 years of Jim Crow segregation to have little to zero regard for the lives of African descended people.

In order to justify owning another human being, you have to demonize them, and anti-Blackness did that.   Anti-Blackness is one of the negative legacies of America's original sin of slavery. When you spend 400 plus years demonizing African descended people, that negativity just didn't go away when the Civil War and slavery ended.

It is deeply embedded in the American psyche to hate Black people.  It is also a deeply embedded practice to kill Black people and face little or no punishment for it via lynchings and extrajudicial killings.

As an example, when Lawrence Russell Brewer, Shawn Allen Berry and John William King were convicted in 1999 for the July 7, 1998 murder of James Byrd, Jr. by callously dragging him behind a moving truck, when Brewer and King were sentenced to death, they were the first Texas white men in over 100 years to be sentenced to death for killing a Black Texan.


That's how rare it was for a white person in Texas to be sentenced to death for killing a white person

If you think I'm kidding about this or the title of this post is over the top hyperbole, there are pictures you can Google of Black people being lynched and the white citizens turning it into a joyous occasion they mugged for the cameras or deemed it suitable to take their precious children to.

Because of the ongoing demonization and othering of Black people by the with majority, we have sadly had a long history of other ethnic groups participating and marinating in that anti-Blackness in order to be 'more American' and attempt to set their ethnic group apart from Black people.
Even African descended immigrants from the Caribbean and continental Africa who should know better have engaged in bashing American Black people when they step on these shores.

Anti-Blackness is an international problem.  Note the popularity of skin lightening creams in Asia, the Caribbean and sadly even on the African continent because dark skin is considered 'bad'.

It also isn't new that African-Americans have had a long, negative and ugly relationship with oppressive police to the point where we say that it's Officer Oppressor who patrols our neighborhoods, not Officer Friendly.  

And police forces across the country sadly keep proving that point with every ugly incident that happens .  Eric Garner.  Tamir Rice. Michael Brown. Terrence Crutcher.  All killed by white police officers.   All those officers either were not indicted, or as sadly happened last month in the Crutcher case in Tulsa, found not guilty by predominantly white juries    

What will it take for a cop who kills a Black person to get punished for it?  

And miss me with that Blue Lives Matter 'be respectful to the cop' toro poo poo.  Philando Castile not only did exactly what you po-po loving conservafools screech at us,  as someone exercising his Second Amendment rights and being a licensed gun owner,  he even told Officer Yanez during the traffic stop for an inoperative tail light he had a gun and had no intention of reaching for it. .

And he was still killed for it with his fiance Diamond Reynolds and her then 4 year old daughter in the car as passengers and witnesses to this extrajudicial murder along with the world that watched her heart wrenching Facebook Live video shot to document for posterity what happened.

The Second Amendment is for conservative white people only.   The National Rifle Association's cricket chirping silence on the Castile case proves just how anti-Black and racist they are and always have been.

When the Black Panthers marched into the California state capitol building carrying their unloaded shotguns, it's interesting to note the NRA was quick to call for gun control legislation then.

Speaking of the Panthers, one of the major reasons the Black Panther Party formed in Oakland in October 1966 is because they and the Black citizens of the Oakland area were tired of being harassed and killed by police with impunity.

So what happened in the Philando Castile case isn't a new problem. It's just a problem that has never been properly addressed because of its systemic nature that the conservative white males and females in power don't want to deal with.because it isn't happening to 'their kids'

They also don't want to deal with it because they will not only have to do some deep introspection into their own roles of perpetuating the anti-Blackness, but having to come to grips with how they and their ancestors benefit from it.

In the meantime, because of their inaction, Anti-Blackness, especially when it is combined with a racist trigger happy cop, is killing my people.  .  

Miss International Queen 2017 Is..

Another Thai winner.  

Jiratchaya  Sirimongkolnawin was crowned on March 10 as the newest Miss International Queen winner.  The runner ups in Miss International Queen 2017 were a pair of girls from South America. First runner up was Nathalie Oliveira of Brazil and the second runner up was Andrea Collazo of Venezuela.



While I ain't mad at those girls who won or were the first and second runners up, I've had a problem with Miss International Queen on a lot of levels since 2011.


My dissatisfaction with this so-called most prestigious premiere international pageant for trans women has only increased since I wrote this post in the wake of the controversial end of the 2011 pageant calling for Miss International Queen to have an international judging panel.

I have serious questions about the impartiality of an all Thai panel with uncomfortable connections to the host Tiffany's venue, and also have serious concerns that those Thai judges have a cultural bias against dark skin girls.

If that's not the case, then why has there in the history of this MIQ pageant NEVER been a Black trans woman to win it, and only three who have even placed in the top three of the pageant since 2004?

Black trans girls across the African Diaspora don't even bother trying to enter the Miss International Queen pageant because of the perceived anti-Black bias.

It's also problematic when all four Thai winners of the Miss International Queen title also won the Thai only Miss Tiffany's Thai pageant that year, and the Tiffany's show bar in Pattaya is the host venue for Miss International Queen.

So nope, still going to be giving Miss International Queen the side eye until they decide to make the changes necessary that will take the pageant to the next level, make it a truly international event, and people who wish to compete in it don't feel like it's rigged in favor of a Thai or Asian trans girl.

We Black Trans Women Stand Up For Everyone - When Will People Stand Up For Us?

One of the things that was said during the emotional memorial service we held in Houston for Chyna Gibson Sunday was a comment that had some profound truth backing it.

Diamond Stylz in her comment to the assembled Montrose Center crowd was this: "We Black trans women are there for everyone's movements.  We're there for gay people.  We're there for the women's march.   We're there for Black Lives Matter.   When will people be there for us?"

Indeed, that is the question for these Trumpian times.  We Black trans women stand up for everyone and their human rights.  When will you begin to consistently stand up for ours?  When will people consistently be there for us?

We Black trans women are walking examples of intersectionality. We are an undeniable part of the Black community.  We are part of the TBLGQ one. We are part of the Black SGL community We are trailblazing women doing our part to uplift all the communities we intersect and interact with.

If there is a human rights cause or struggle out there, you can count on Black trans women to practice what we preach about intersectionality and be on the front lines with you.

Whether it's at Ferguson, MO and elsewhere with Black Lives Matter, speaking from the women's march stages in DC and elsewhere. march for a woman's right to choose, at a anti-police violence rally, speaking at a memorial service, or any cause that requires us to be there in solidarity with our people, we're there to not only lend our voices to it, but in some case we will step up to lead or organize it.

But when we Black trans women need you to stand with us on issues important to our community, far too often many of you are MIA.

Black trans women are catching hell from multiple angles.  We have people hating on us because we are transgender . We have people hating on us for having the audacity to exist.  We have people hating on us because we are unapologetically Black.  We have people hating on us because of our #BlackTGirlMagic.  We have people hating on us because we are walking this planet in feminine bodies.

But despite that, we rise, survive and thrive as proud Black trans women.   But we're not superhuman. We're facing near genocidal levels of anti-trans violence aimed at us, and it is going to take a village to help us stem the tide and stop it.   Four of the five trans women killed due to anti-trans hate violence in 2017 have been African American, and three of the four murdered this year have been under age 40.

That's unacceptable to us.  It should be just as important to the cis Black community and all the communities we intersect and interact with that Black trans women get to live long, healthy and productive lives as it is a Prime Directive imperative for us.

So where y'all at Black community?  When will elements of you peeps in the faith community stop cooning it up with right wing politicians and white fundamentalist Christians gleefully using the Bible to attack our humanity?

When will you, NAACP, Urban League, and other traditional Black civil rights orgs step up and loudly and consistently call out the injustice aimed at Black trans women?

When will you cis Black trans attracted men get over your shame and guilt issues, stand up, and boldly proclaim to the world you love and stand with trans women?  

Cis Black women, when will you call out the unacceptable level of violence aimed at us and help us do the ongoing work of building sisterhood in our ranks that will be required to stem the tide of it?

Black politicians at all levels of government, when will you step up to the plate to use your political influence and bully pulpits as President Obama and former Attorney General Loretta Lynch did while in office to call out unjust legislation aimed at us and author just legislation and policies that will help us?

Black SGL community, when will you call out your fellow peeps in LGBTQ World and let them know that shadily attacking trans people is unacceptable, and diligently work to eradicate transphobia in our community ranks?

When will you Black community, make it clear that demonization of Black trans people will not be tolerated inside or outside our community?

We're anxiously awaiting in Black trans feminine world your answer to all those questions.

Alleged Bayou City Bigotry?

Ever since our HERO ordinance went down in flames last November no thanks to an unholy coalition of out of town right wing haters, the GOP controlled Texas Supreme Court, the Harris County and Texas Republican Party and sellout kneegrow ministers, my pissivity has increased with every story I hear about discrimination happening within the city limits that would have been prevented and people would have a local recourse to deal with had HERO been in effect.

It's bad enough when entities inside our city limits gleefully discriminate because they know if the group they targeted for it is pissed about it, the only recourse they have now post-HERO repeal is file an expensive, time consuming federal lawsuit.

It's even more egregious when the entity doing the alleged discrimination is a gay nightclub located in the Montrose gayborhood.

I do an occasional trip from time to time to visit some of our local LGBTQ bars and establishments and support people with my presence at their events.   And when I was doing my Houston Montrose bar hopping starting in 1980, I ran into situations in which I was blatantly discriminated against for being Black and trans by being denied entry into the now closed Mother's, or had racial or transphobic slurs aimed at me from people in this LGBTQ community while patronizing those clubs.
So I'm keenly aware of the undercurrent of anti-Black attitudes that sadly exist in elements of our Houston GLBTQ community

But my attitude has been since the early 2K's because my life has evolved from the bar culture to leave the bar hopping to our TBLGQ millennial generation because I personally never wanted to be the 'old girl in the club.'

That personal point out of the way,  I'm still not happy about hearing and reading disturbing anecdotal claims from my millennial siblings that the Bayou City nightclub on Grant St.is harassing and targeting Black customers of the establishment.

I'm also hearing and reading in these anecdotal reports from people that I trust and who have no reason to prevaricate to me about the situation that the alleged targeting at this particular nightclub has possibly been going on since 2010.

If it's happening, it needs to be called out and immediately fixed.  I would encourage people who feel they have been targeted for discrimination in this or ANY other situation within the Houston city limits to file complaints with the Houston Office of Inspector General or your district and at large city council members so that we have a documented paper trail to point to

You can also sign up and show up to talk about it to Mayor Turner and our city council during the open city council sessions that are held at City Hall every Tuesday starting at 1:30 PM.

This is once again another example of why we need HERO 2.0 (or whatever we decide to call it) immediately back on the Houston Code of Ordinance books, and phuck the faux faith based GOP haters if they object to that.

As I've said far too many times and in multiple posts in the ten years this blog has been in operation, anti-Black attitudes exist in LGBTQ World because we are a microcosm of the parent society we all marinated in.

We need to be as a LGBTQ community BETTER than our parent society,and when I say that, I mean that we need to be role modeling how a diverse community handles its human rights business for the benefit of the entire group.

Discrimination's time in the Houston city limits, and especially in the Houston LGBT community needs to expire, and we shouldn't have to potentially file a federal discrimination lawsuit to make that happen.

'Dark Girls' Documentary

All Black women get smacked with the 'unwoman' meme, but it's even worse on the dark skinned sisters.

Check out this clip from the documentary Dark Girls, directed by Bill Duke and D. Channsin Berry which explores the biases and deep seated attitudes inside and outside African American culture about skin color.


Dark Girls: Preview from Bradinn French on Vimeo.