Happy Birthday To Barack and Meghan!

We like to say in the Black community that we are descended from kings and queens, but did you know that August 4 is the day a president and a member of the British royal family were born? 

Barack Obama and Meghan Markle were born twenty years and 2558 miles apart in Honolulu, HI and Los Angeles, CA.

The other thing they both have in common is that conservatives in the United States and Great Britain have irrational levels of hatred for both of them.

Y'all are already aware of the awesomeness that is POTUS 44, but did you know that Meghan was born four days after her hubby Prince Harry's parents were married?




Happy birthday to President Obama and the Duchess of Sussex!

 

Happy 50th Birthday Jevon Martin!

He doesn't look a day over 25, but Jevon Martin is celebrating his 50th birthday today.

I first met Jevon at the 2013 BTAC, when he and his trans brothers were spoiling me rotten to the point that he sent my butt away from the Doubletree Campbell Center host hotel to get a mani-pedi before the Awards Gala on the night in which I received the BTAC Advocacy award that is now named for me.

A year later he brought his wife Christina to meet the BTAC fam, and she and I have become great friends.   Christina and I usually do the Sisterhood discussion at BTAC in addition to both of them organizing to trains running on time perfection the BTAC Black Diamond Ball.

Speaking of running thangs, Jevon is  the founding CEO of Princess Janae Place

Princess Janae Place is New York State's only trans led organization that since 2015 has helped trans and gender non conforming people transition from homelessness to housing.

Y'all might wish to drop a donation or two as a birthday gift to support the important and life changing work they do there. .

But I can talk about PJP anytime.   You only turn 50 once.

So happy milestone birthday Jevon!   It has been (and still is) a blessing to have you and Christina in my life.   You are also a blessing to all of us as a leader in our community.

And yes, have much love, admiration, and respect for you.

Happy birthday Jevon!  Hope this 50th birthday is an amazing and blessings filled one for you, and you get to celebrate many more of them .


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Happy Heavenly Birthday Nikki!

Today would have been the 45th birthday of my homegirl Nikki Araguz Loyd.   It was always easy for me to remember it because she shared the same June 4 birthday of my late grandmother Tama

If she were still here with us, I can imagine her figuring out a way to despite the 'Rona, pull off some fabulous socially distanced event to celebrate the occasion.

But unfortunately, that's not going to happen because she's now been hanging out with the transcestors for nearly seven months.

She may have been only 5'5" inches tall, but she was a giant fun loving presence in the lives of all of us privileged to call her a friend.

She will also have a giant footprint in our trans history books.  It was her tenacious and ultimately successful six year fight in the Delgado v. Araguz case that led to the reestablishment of marriage rights for trans Texans.

She even became the first out trans person to be elected as a PTA president in the Lone Star State.

She was passionate about a lot of things, including her businesses, her activism on behalf of our community and other causes near and dear to her heart.   But what she was most proud of was being a wife and mother.

Nikki made it a point to drag my homebody butt out of the house from time to time.   There were numerous times when she and her bestie Meagan Gillett would roll up in her car and we'd hit the road.  Those road trips would inevitably end up with a stop at some restaurant for us to grab some food, have a few drinks, and some in depth conversation. 

Even though both of us got busy, she would still check in on me from time to time.  I'd pick up my phone and she'd say "Hello Goddess", to which I would reply "Hello Diva!"

The last conversation I had with Nikki was two weeks before she died.   I had actually called to check on her hubby Will to find out what was going on in his life.   When she heard Will say my name, she grabbed the phone out of his hands and we ended up talking for the next hour and a half.    It was during that call we started the planning for a slumber party at her house once we picked a date that would work for the both of us and everyone she planned to invite to the event.

Before we hung up, she told me 'I love you".  I said in response, "Love you too, Diva"
I was glad I got the chance to do that. 

Yes diva, I and everyone who is still on this space rock loves and misses you.  Our trans community and the world are far less fabulous without you in it. 

Happy heavenly birthday, Nikki.

Even Though 'Rona Spiked My Birthday, It's Still All Good

Well, like everyone else who has had a birthday since the middle of March, mine was wrecked by 'Rona. 

I was supposed to be on the other end of I-45 in Dallas today awaiting the start of the 2020 edition of BTAC and celebrating it with my BTAC fam.   Instead I'm in Houston feeling a little bummed about it.

Actually, I'm feeling a lot less bummed because I received a delivery of Frenchy's chicken for lunch from Emmett Schelling and for dessert a delivery of Tiff's Treats chocolate chip cookies and Blue Bell ice cream from Rachel Gonzales and her family..

But not gonna lie.  I was really looking forward to celebrating my birthday at BTAC this year.

As of this writing I've had 400 birthday messages on my Facebook page, another ten on Twitter, and five calls at this point.  So yes. I'm definitely feeling the love from you peeps around the world, and it's making this birthday a little less sucky.

Instead I'm counting my blessings.   I'm way over the 35 average age that a Black trans woman lives to  before her untimely death.   I have a roof over my head, I'm relatively healthy, and still look fab for my age.

I thank everyone who took the time out of their busy days to text, write, e-mail or call me.   It meant a lot and really helped me get out of the funky mood I was in

But there's always room for improvement and for me to keep striving to be a better version of myself.   And to borrow the slightly edited words of my esteemed trans elder Miss Major for PG consumption, I'm still effing here.

I'm starting my 58th trip around the sun on this space rock.   So what will I wish for when I blow out the birthday candles?   Good damned question.

Happy 56th Birthday To Moi

It's my favorite day on the calendar, Cuatro de Mayo,  AKA my birthday.

56 years ago today I was born in a segregated hospital on a Friday at 10:45 PM in an H-town that was close to passing one million residents and the seventh largest city in the nation.   The Astros played their first game a mere two weeks before I was born.

Now my hometown has over 2.2 million diverse people in its population, will pass (or has passed Chicago to become the third largest city in the US and I look a lot different on the outside than I did in 1962

And the Astros finally captured that elusive World Series title last fall!

I have an amazing life with some wonderful people in it.  I have friends all over the world, get to travel on a regular basis thanks to the activism and sitting on two boards that allow me to focus on the trans folks I want to serve. 

I'm considered a trailblazing leader by my peers, a sister friend, and a role model to the trans kids growing up right now who I never want to disappoint them.

While my life is a quality one, there are areas of it that need to improve. 

But as I start my 56th revolution around the sun on this space rock, I'm seemingly at another crossroads in my life.   Question is which options do I take that will result in the desired improvement?

First thing is definitely becoming more vocal about what I need.or when I need help.  There are times when my Taurus personality lends itself to me trying to solve problems on my own, and only asking for help when the situation gets tobe too much for me to handle.

Gotta start asking for help before it gets to an emergency level.

That question won't be answered in this blog post, but in the interim, need to figure out simply what I wish to do to celebrate another year and then deal with the rest of those fork in the road questions later.

We'll see how this birthday plays out, and then the rest of the year after it 

Happy Birthday Kortney!

Definitely had to take a moment to give a TransGriot shout out to another one of the trailblazing trans brothers in our midst that I have mad love and respect for in Dr. Kortney Ziegler. 

Kortney was recently named to the 40 under 40 list of people making a name for themselves in various fields in the East Bay, and has also been named to the Root 100.

Kourtney is the director of the award winning documentary Still Black: A Portrait Of Black Transmen, and in 2013 created Trans* H4CK, that creates tech applications to solve real world problems in the trans community



 
Now he and Tiffany Mikell are the creative minds behind an app called Appolition, which allows people to use their spare change to help bail Black people out of jail. 

So when he says he's on his way to becoming a multimillionaire, I believe him based on his past track record. 

Happy birthday Kortney!   May you have many more and keep on doing amazing things for our communty.. 

Happy 14th Birthday, Trinity!

Today is the 14th birthday of one of our amazing trans kids and budding advocates in Trinity Neal.

I've had the pleasure of meeting and spending quality time with both Trini and her mom DeShanna, and Trini is one impressive young lady.   When I last saw her in Philly during a Trans United Fund event I was part of during Creating Change, she was playing with a game app on her phone that she'd designed and coded herself.

The other special thing about her birthday is that she has been her true self for a decade.

Too bad I couldn't be there in person for they party your mom is throwing that I'm sure is going to be one amazing event, but know I have much love and admiration for you.  .

If you're having a Sweet Sixteen party, maybe I'll be blessed to be in attendance for that one .

Also know Trini that anytime you need advice, to know your history or just vent, I'll drop whatever i'm doing to take that call. 

Happy birthday, Trini!   May you have and celebrate many more of them!

Happy 75th Birthday Miss Major! You're Still F*****g Here!

Y'all know I have much love and respect for my trans elder Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, and pick up the phone to call and check in on her from time to time.  Sometimes she does the reverse and calls to check up on me. 

Today it was me calling her to wish her a happy 75th birthday, and was disappointed when I got her voice mail.  But I left a message and started writing this post.

Happy birthday Miss Major!  It's nice to see that your story is finally being told for posterity and the historical record.  Thank you and your generation of trans women for being out and proud in an era that seriously discouraged it with anti-crossdressing laws and anti-trans repression.

Thank you for being a mentor to my generation of trans kids, and telling us our history so we can pass it on to the next generation of trans kids.

Those kids are at this moment raising the expectation bar even higher on what it means to be an unapologetically Black trans person

And finally, thanks to the Creator for blessing you with the ability to still be f*****g here, gracing us with your presence, checking in on me and others from time to time, and telling your story.

Thank you for also being an inspiration to all of us and reminding us and the world that trans people didn't just pop up all of a sudden in the late 20th century.  We've always been f*****g here and part of the community.

Happy birthday Miss Major!  May you have many more of them!

Why I'm Proudly Stating My Age Today

During one of the BTAC 2017 panels I was on last week, a question came from one of the attendees as to why since I look fabulous at 55, why I was stating my age to the world.

There are a few reasons why I'm doing so, and I can't think of a better time of laying out why I do so than on my birthday.

First off, I'm at the point in my wonderful trans flavored life in which every birthday I reach is a happy one.  That 55 year old milestone birthday is magnified for me as an unapologetic Black trans woman who has witnessed and documented far too many of our Black trans feminine younglings die way before they reach my age.

I've also received the blessing and opportunity to meet, talk to, at times mentor and watch an amazing group of young Black trans women who are just doing the damned trans human rights thing and making me proud as I witness their evolutionary growth into some fabulous women.

They are and will accomplish things I haven't even dared dream could happen.

We have a live fast and die young mentality that needs to change in Black Trans World.  That mentality feeds into some of the negative behaviors like silicone pumping and risky sexual encounters.   I don't want to be a pretty corpse.  When that time comes, I want to be one that lived her life well, did stuff that mattered, and leaves this community in better shape than it was when I arrived.

And frankly, one of the other reasons I reveal my age is that our young Black trans women need to see examples of what 55 and Black trans feminine looks like.

I didn't always share that sentiment.  When I turned 50 I was bummed about it and and made the mistake of whining about it while having drinks at a northeast Washington DC bar during the 2012 NBJC OUT on the Hill conference with Kimberley McLeod and Janet Mock that September evening.

Yes, that Janet Mock

Janet quickly put an end to that nonsense by calling me on my crap.  She and Kimberley reminded me of all the trans sisters that we'd lost that year who hadn't reached their 40th, much less 30th birthdays and here I was complaining about the blessing of reaching 50 years on this space rock.

Janet also said that when she turned 30 the next year, she was going to celebrate that milestone birthday.

I pondered what both women said, took another sip of my amaretto sour, concluded that my sisters were right and told them so.  Since then I've basically had the attitude that every birthday I reach is a happy one.

I have some role models to look up to when it comes to being a fabulous and 50 Black woman.   Some of them are my high school and collegiate classmates.  Some are in Hollywood.  Some are my former co-workers.  Some are inside the community, some aren't.   Some are just women of any age and ethnic background I admire for a lot of reasons.  

But they all give me a template for role modeling and putting my own interpretation on what that looks like for Black Trans World because I am quite aware of the fact that I'm looked at as a iconic leader in this community, even if I don't feel that way at times or try and fail to downplay it.

Yep, Moni's has hit 55 today.   On to the next milestone birthday in 2022, if I'm blessed to make it.

But with a maternal grandmother who turned 95, a great aunt who lived to be 102 and a mon who is still celebrating anniversaries of her 39th birthday, I like my chances.
 

It's Moni's 55th Birthday!

Well, I've made it through another 366 days on this space rock and get to celebrate another birthday. Yay me!

A lot has happened in my time on the planet.   Mere months after I was born the Cuban Missile Crisis happened.  The Civil Rights Movement.  The assassinations of JFK, Malcolm X, the Rev. Dr Martin Luther King, Jr and RFK.  Watergate. and my hometown growing to become the third largest city in the country.  

And oh yeah, something else happened in 1994 besides the OJ trial and the Houston Rockets winning the first of their back to back NBA titles.

So what's in store for me on this milestone birthday?   Don't know yet.  One of my birthday presents was last week's BTAC conference in Dallas.  Another friend gave me a DVD copy of the movie Hidden Figures that I never got to see in the theaters and heard me lamenting it.

Now that the cold front has blown through town at least we'll have chamber of commerce weather for my born day.

As to what transpires on it to be recorded for the history books, we'll find out in a few hours.  

Happy 82nd Birthday, April Ashley!

Today is the 82 birthday of British trans icon and pioneer April Ashley.  She has led an amazing life as a Vogue model, received an MBE back in 2012 and was a plaintiff in Corbett v Corbett, a 1970 marriage case that went the wrong way for her and trans folks in Great Britain of which the repercussions of it didn't get cleaned up until the Gender Recognition Act was passed.

But by living her life, she inspired others in Great Britain to live as their true selves, and she deserves much credit and praise for that.

Happy birthday April!   Thank you for being that trans pioneer that we all needed, for the wonderful trailblazing life that you have lived up to this point, the honors that you have received, and may you be blessed to see many more

Here's two clips of her 2015 interview on the British TV show Loose Women

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A film that documented April's visit to her hometown of Liverpool for her 80th birthday to receive an Honour of the City.

Happy 53rd Birthday To Our Fab FLOTUS

Today is the 53rd birthday of our fabulous FLOTUS Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama, who was born on this January date in Chicago in 1964.

This is (sniff sniff) the last birthday she will celebrate as our amazing First Lady, and I'm definitely not looking forward to seeing her go back to her civilian life this Friday after eight fabulous history making years

Like the POTUS said doing his farewell speech, you have represented our nation with dignity and class despite all the haters and the racist, misogynist and transmisogynist hatred thrown your way,.

You have been a wonderful possibility model for not only our youth, but myself/  We also deeply appreciate and love you in TBLGQ world for being an ally for our community..

Happy birthday Madame First Lady!   Looking forward to seeing what the next chapter in your life brings.

Happy Birthday, Trinity!

It's come to my attention that today is the birthday of one of our amazing trans teens!

I got to meet Trinity and her mom DeShanna back in June during the Philadelphia Trans Health Conference, and over the last few months she's been making it clear that she wants to not only become a possibility model and advocate for our community.

Today is Trinity's 13th birthday, so wanted to take a moment to give her a well deserved TransGriot birthday shout out as she officially enters her teen years..

Happy Birthday Trinity!   Hope today is filled with lots of love, fun and abundant blessings.   May all your birthday wishes come true, and may you be given the ultimate blessing of celebrating many more birthdays to come  

Happy Birthday Madame Secretary!

Today is the 69th birthday of Democratic presidential nominee and former secretary of state Hillary D. Clinton, who was born on this date in 1947 in Chicago.  

As we are aware of, she is engaged in a pitched battle with Donald Trump to make history and become our first female president,   If the polls are correct, she will make that electoral history on November 8.

Just a not so subtle reminder that early voting is going on in Texas, so handle your business here and everywhere else early voting is happening.

Happy birthday Madame President, er Madame Secretary.   Hope you have a fabulous birthday, and definitely hoping you get the late birthday present of being elected and the 45th and first female president of our nation..

Happy 55th Birthday President Obama!

Today is the 55th birthday of our President Barack Hussein Obama.   He was born on this date in Honolulu, HI in 1961 exactly nine months before I arrived on the planet., even though Donald Trump and his birther fools ignorantly dispute that fact.

Frack 'em.   They can keep letting their hate flow for the best POTUS of my lifetime. He is still in the White House and the Oval Office until 12:01 PM EST on January 20, 2017,

Today will unfortunately be the last birthday that President Obama celebrates as a resident of that nice house at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave that our slave ancestors built.  That thought of the clock inexorably ticking toward the end of this historic presidency makes me sad to contemplate.

It has been amazing and inspirational to see the rise of the self described skinny kid with the funny name become a US senator and later POTUS, and he has lived up to everything I said he would do back when I wrote that post in February 2009

And the admiration for him hasn't stopped at our borders, it covers the entire African Diaspora.  I remember a conversation I had with Renee Martin of Womanist Musings and her telling me how excited her son was to get for his birthday the magazines I sent him with President Obama on the cover.

He is respected by other world leaders, unlike the previous POTUS, and that makes me as a person who shares his ethnic background pleased and proud to hear that.

I'm also pleased and proud to note that this is the most scandal free administration that we have had in decades.

Happy birthday Mr. President!   May you celebrate many more.
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Happy 25th Birthday Raquel!

Last year I got to meet this amazing twentysomething trans advocate during an anti-violence conference in Chicago..

When I first met her, I originally thought she was a cis feminine ally until she spoke during one of the discussion sessions and let us all know she was a girl like us.  

I had a chance during the Chicago event to have a long one on one conversation with her, and participate in some discussion groups with her during the conference.  I could tell right away that she was going to do amazing things for our community.  The fact that she was a writer made me even more of a fan of hers, and we exchanged contact information that day.  

That twentysomething I met who so impressed me was Atlanta-based advocate Raquel Willis, and as I figured out after meeting her, my initial impression of her was on target.

 She has been getting well deserved attention for her thoughtful and incisive writing and her efforts as one of the group of trans leaders we are blessed to have in Atlanta doing the education not only on trans issues, but an eloquent voice speaking about a wide range of social justice issues.

Raquel is the bomb as one of our emerging young leaders, and I'm glad people inside and outside our trans   community ranks are recognizing it.

I'm also exceedingly proud of her. .Yeah, she's heard me say this to her in our check in phone conversations, but I wanted to put it in writing so she knows beyond a shadow of a doubt how much I love and admire her.
And what better day than her birthday to do so?

 I also couldn't let her 25th birthday pass without giving her the TransGriot shout out this auspicious occasion deserves.

Happy birthday Raquel!  Thanks for everything you do for our community, and I hope your special day is one filled with love, fun, and maximum fabulousness.    Hope it is also a blessings filled one for you, and you receive the ultimate blessing of being around to celebrate many more of them.

Moni's Birthday Musings

It's my favorite day on the calendar next to Christmas, Thanksgiving and to opening day of the NFL season.

It's Cuatro de Mayo, aka my birthday that I have been blessed to celebrate for now 54 years and counting.

I thank you for blowing up my Facebook page with birthday greetings from around the world, and I'm not kidding when I say that.  I'm blessed to know people around the world and call them my friends, and that list is expanding as time moves on.

My birthday can be bittersweet at times.   I'm realizing that there are several trans people who have been murdered this year that will never know what it is like to live 50+ years on this planet, and we just got word we lost another young Black trans sister in Wichita, KS just 48 hours ago.  .We have been robbed of their talents and potential contribution to building our community and society at large.

And I'm tired of that crap.  I'm also seeing with increasing frequency the artists that provided the musical soundtrack to different points of my life are leaving us, as Prince's untimely death drove home two weeks ago.

And as the just concluded BTAC pointed out, I am now a seasoned elder in the community and not a neophyte thirtysomething activist in awe of my elders I'm encountering in a large convention shared space.  Now it's me that frequently has the experience of awestruck trans people approaching her.

Hey people, I'm human.  The only people whose heads I bite off are people who wish to oppress us.

But I'm blessed to be a year older, celebrating 22 years being my authentic self, and still don't know what I'm going to do to celebrate it.   It is Cheap Chicken Day at Frenchy's, so I'll probably be destroying some of that later.

Will be nice to see how this day plays out...

 

Happy Birthday, Lauren!

Every now and then I find myself doing some hard solid thinking about the fact that the pioneering #girlslikeus I admired as a teen when I was struggling with my gender issues I actually get a chance to chat with as a trans human rights advocate from time to time.

And I realize at that point how fascinating my life really is at times.

I've had (and still have) some interesting and amazing conversations from time to time with one of our pioneering models who is more than 'just another girl' as she likes to describe herself.   She recently launched the Just Another Girl website that not only tells her story for a new generation, but is kid friendly and chock full of information about trans issues. .

We're only a few years apart age wise, and Lauren Foster is still all that and ten bags of chips as she celebrates another birthday today. I also find it interesting that she and Tyra Banks share the same birthday.

But this post is all about giving Ms. Foster the TransGriot birthday shout out she deserves.

Happy birthday Lauren!   May you have a celebration of the day you arrived on this planet that is as cool as you are!  Looking forward to the next time we get to chat, and may you be blessed to celebrate many more birthdays to come!  .

Happy Milestone Birthday Dee Dee!

Today is the day 30 years ago that Dee Dee Watters showed up on this planet!  I've had the pleasure of calling her a friend and collaborating with her on several human rights projects in the Houston area for the last several years.

And yeah, she's a lot of fun to be around when we are not handing a trans oppressor their behind or telling them where to go and what bus line to take to get there.

But anyway, that's a story for another time.   I'm happy to see that Dee Dee is finally bginning to get the well deserved recognition for her work to make Houston, Texas and the world  a better place for all of us.

Happy milestone birthday Dee Dee!    May you be blessed to celebrate many more of them

Happy 15th Birthday Jazz!

Y'all know here at TransGriot I'm ride or die for all things Jazz Jennings, and today I want to take a moment to wish this amazing teen a happy 15th birthday!

I had the pleasure of meeting her and much of her family in 2014,  and I'm definitely looking forward to the next time I get the opportunity to share the same space with them.  

Ever since Jazz burst onto the scene as a precocious six year old advocate for our community and kids like her, she has gone from being the face and voice for our trans kids to the face of Clean and Clear.   She has done stuff many trans people twice her age have yet to do

And now our fave trans kid is a high school freshman and a teenage girl who has happened to have a reality TV show, published a book and has a future so bright she needs shades.   

And it has been fun to watch it all transpire.

Happy 15th birthday Jazz!     May you have a happy, fun and blessings filled one, and you recive the ultimate blessings of getting to celebrate many more of them in the decades to come.