Happy 95th Birthday President Carter!

Today is the 95th birthday of President Jimmy Carter, who served as our POTUS during my high school years and was the first one I was able to vote for when I hit voting age in 1980

We would also be a much better nation had he gotten that second term.

As of today, he is now our oldest living former president. This is a man who has been a person who role models his Christian values better than all the evilgelicals who claim their are but are more like Pharisees and Sadducees.   He left the Southern Baptist Convention and said this in his letter explaining why:

"I have seen an increasing inclination on the part of Southern Baptist Convention leaders to be more rigid on what is a Southern Baptist and exclusionary of accommodating those who differ from them. In the last couple of years, this tendency of the Southern Baptist Convention leadership to ordain their creed on others has become more onerous for me and more difficult for me to accept."

During his presidency he broker a peace deal between Israel and Egypt that still lasts to the present day and led to Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat jointly winning the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize.
The Department of Energy and Department of Education were established, the treaty was signed with panama to end US control of the Panama Canal in 1999, full diplomatic relations were restored with China, and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was established.

He also had to deal with the Iranian hostage crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan that led to the US led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.

Although he only served one term, he has post presidency continued to be a clear and consistent voice for human rights.  He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his dedication to international democracy building, conflict resolution, and development programs.

Carter has also won three Grammys for Best Spoken Word Album.  He has  monitored elections around the world, builds homes for Habitat for Humanity, and has continued to be a great role model of what Christian love in action looks like.

For those of you in the ATL, the Carter Center will have a 95 cent admission price in honor of his birthday.  you can also leave a birthday message here

Feliz Compleanos Ana Andrea!

Couldn't let today pass without giving a TransGriot birthday shoutout to another amazing Houston area trans leader in Ana Andrea Molina, the founding executive director of Organizacion Latina de Trans en Texas (OLTT)

It's also interesting to note that many of the kick butt activists here in the Houston area who get stuff done and have no problem bluntly speaking truth to power are predominately Tauruses.

While the Houston based OLTT is focused primarily on the issues affecting our trans Latinx immigrant population in Texas, OLTT also has Casa Anaandrea, which is a shelter for trans and gender nonconforming person open to all

OLTT also does a wide range of events and programs  immigration help, name changes and the Mr and Miss OLTT Pageant designed to support the trans community

But it could also use some funding, because it does cost money to provide those services.  OLTT is also trying to raise $30,000 to renew the rental agreement for the home Casa Anaandrea is housed in with the goal of eventually owning this place.

Andrea has quickly established herself as one of our major Latina trans leaders in Texas and the United States, and we in Houston are fortunate to have her in our midst.

She also a wonderful friend and I have mad love and respect for her as a leader.

Feliz  Compleanos, Andrea!    May you celebrate many more birthdays to come!

Happy 40th Birthday Fran Watson!

Couldn't let today pass without wishing Fran Watson a very happy 40th birthday.

Y'all know I have much love for my trailblazing sis, who has weathered much adversity in her life and overcome it to blaze trails, get happily married to her spouse Kim and make history.

She is a much loved figure in our Houston advocate community, and someone who I admire and look up to as a role model.

Fran is not only a kick butt attorney, but was elected as the first African-American female president of the Houston GLBT Caucus.   She became only the second African American female Houston Pride Parade Grand Marshal last year, and spends some of her precious free time sitting on the boards of several organizations in our Houston area community.

Now she is taking on another challenge by running for the Texas Senate and taking on Republican incumbent senator Joan Huffman.

If she wins next November, she would become only the second ever Black woman in Texas history elected to the Texas Senate and the first since the legendary Barbara Jordan successfully did so in 1967.

So looking forward to seeing if that history gets made with the help of the SD 17 voters .  But in the meantime, happy milestone birthday Fran!

Can't wait to see what else you accomplish in your amazing life!

Happy Birthday Tona!

It;'s December 30, and that means my thirtysomething sis Tona Brown is celebrating another birthday.

Tona as you may or may not know has been a trans trailblazer in her own right as a classically trained singer and violinist based in the DMV area.  ,She's founder of the AIDA Strings, and is the first out transperson to perform for a sitting US President (2011) and first out Black transperson at Carnegie Hall in June 2014.

I was blessed to spend quality time with Tona back in January when I went to Chicago for #CC16 and when I visited Washington DC a few months later in August for the joint NABJ-NAHJ Convention.

During the DC visit I finally got the chance to do the Conversations With Tona Brown interview I've been promising her for two years, but could never make the timing work with our busy schedules until that moment..

Yeah, she deserves a TransGriot birthday shout out and much more, so taking the time to wish her a very happy blessings filled birthday and Happy New Year.  

May 2017 bring even more success for this amazing woman and looking forward to the next time we're in the same area code.

Happy Sweet 16th Birthday Jazz!

Today is the Sweet 16th birthday of one of our amazing trans teen advocates in Jazz Jennings!

What can you say about someone who has been an eloquent voice and human rights warrior for our community since the ripe old age of six, has authored two books, and has a hit reality TV show that we're hoping gets renewed for its third season?

And I'm glad to have had the pleasure of meeting this amazing young woman.

Yep, our baby has been growing up in front of ours, Jeanette's and the world's eyes and still isn't done yet, and it seems like just yesterday we were being introduced to her by Barbara Walters on 20/20..

Happy Sweet 16th Birthday Jazz!   Can't wait to see what the next chapter in your young life brings .

Happy Birthday Jenifer Rene!

Need to close out this emotional day with some positive news. Today also happens to be the birthday of my trailblazing sis Jenifer Rene Pool!

Jenifer made some Texas electoral history back in March when she became the first trans Texan to win a primary election of any kind in the Lone Star State. She handily won with 78% of the vote her Democratic primary election for Harris County Commissioner, Precinct 3 race.
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She is now in the November 8 general election against six time Republican incumbent commissioner Steve Radack who has been in that office since 1980.

It won't be easy in a district that covers 400 square miles of Harris County's fast growing west side, but by winning that primary, she has a chance to win.

If she beats Radack, she will not only add another historic election achievement to her resume, she will also flip the balance of power on the Harris County Commissioner's Court to liberal progressive control.

Happy birthday Jenifer!  Hope you get a chance to make that history and hear us getting to call you #MadameCommissioner as your late birthday present!

Happy Birthday Eden Lane!

Couldn't let today pass without giving a TransGriot birthday shout out to my trailblazing Denver based television producing sis in Eden Lane.

I say trailblazing because she is the first out trans reporter and journalist to cover a national political convention.  She covered the 2008 Democratic National Convention for PBS when it came to Denver.

She has also produced the show In Focus with Eden Lane for the last seven years on Colorado Public Television, and is seeking to raise $15,000 to produce another season of the weekly show that focuses on the local arts scene in Denver and the state of Colorado as she works on other media projects..

And if her name seems familiar to you, you have probably seen Eden's insightful commentary pop up recently on CNN and other television shows. 

Lane was also recently voted by readers of the local Westworld  newspaper as the 'Best Non-Network Television Personality', and I definitely hope she gets the birthday present of a major network or local station in the Denver area giving her an on-air job.

Happy birthday Eden!  May your special day find you enveloped in love, be a stress free one, and you receive the ultimate gift of celebrating many more of them.

And so looking forward to the next time we get to spend some quality time together.

Happy 45th Birthday Ruby Corado!

It's time for another TransGriot birthday shoutout, and today is the 45th birthday of the amazing executive director of Casa Ruby, the fabulous Ruby Corado Walker.

She was born on this date in El Salvador, but has called Washington DC home for over two decades, and is as proud of living in that city as any native Washingtonian.

I not only enjoy the time I get to spend chatting with her and her hubby, but it's also been gratifying to watch her make her dream come true of building Casa Ruby into a full service center for the DC metro area.

And much props to the new LGBT transitional house I'm looking forward to getting to see the next time I spend some quality time inside I-495.

Happy Birthday Ruby!   You've overcome a lot of challenging circumstances to become the fabulous person you are and I'm blessed to have you in my life as a friend and sister in the trans human rights struggle.   

All the people whose lives you have positively impacted or you serve as a role model for would agree.  

Happy Birthday Laverne!

It;s time for another TransGriot birthday shoutout, and today's recipient of it is my amazing sis Laverne Cox, who was born on this date in Mobile, Alabama along with her twin brother Lamar.

I have much love and respect for her, and I forgot to ask her the last time I talked to her who is the eldest sibling.

She continues to make history.  In addition to her role on Orange Is The New Black, she will get to play an Ivy League lawyer on a upcoming CBS legal series called Doubt that I'm looking forward to the premiere of.

Laverne also continues to be a lovely and thoughtful ambassador for our community as she travels the country speaking at various events and colleges.

Happy birthday Laverne!  May you continue to have much success with your acting career and get the roles that are not only challenging for you but expand opportunities for other trans actors following in your footsteps.   

May your birthday be filled with abundant blessings, and you be granted the time to celebrate many more of them.

Lawdy Lawdy, Kimora's 40!

I share my May 4 birthday with more than a few famous people, and one of them is the fabulous Kimora Lee Simmons.

I love my Blasian sister for a lot of reasons as a former fashion model, actress, entrepreneur and mother of four children.

But the major ones are she is 1.83 m (six feet) tall, she's a Taurus, and she was born on this date in St. Louis in 1975.

So happy 40th birthday Kimora!   You make 40 look fabulous, not that it was ever hard for you to do so.

May you have a wonderful milestone birthday, and receive the ultimate blessing of celebrating many more of them in the years to come.

Happy 20th Birthday Trayvon!

As I was getting prepared to leave my hotel room and get ready for the NBJC The Black Institute here at #CC15,  it hit me that today would have been the 20th birthday for Trayvon Martin if his life hadn't been cut short by that waste of DNA George Zimmerman.

So what would Trayvon be doing to celebrate his 20th birthday today?   Would he have been doing so in his college dorm room?   Would he have spent a quiet day surrounded by his parents and close friends?

We'll never know the answer to that question because a racist bully with a fetishistic attachment to guns ended his life.  

And since that racist jury set Zimmerman free, the massive mistake they made not throwing his ass in jail has become apparent to the entire world.

We do know the pain that Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin feel over their son's loss will be magnified today along with all the people who knew and loved Trayvon.

Rest in power, Trayvon.  Your people are doing everything we can to help ensure that no more mothers like yours are mourning the untimely deaths of their children.  

We're also working hard to eradicate the odious Stand Your Ground Kill A Black Person With Impunity laws and remind America that #BlackLivesMatter..

We still have a lot of work to do to get to that point, but get there we will.

Happy Birthday Bamby And Dawn!

October 12 happens to be the shared birthday of two people in the trans community I have mad love and respect for as leaders and role models in our community.

You long time TransGriot readers know that my former Louisville roomie, Dawn Wilson's birthday is today.  While I kiddingly use the old nickname of Darth Vader in my posts for her because she is an avid fencer and takes no prisoners on the strip, there's no joking about her role in shaping much of the history of the modern trans rights movement.  

She participated in the first national transgender lobby day in Washington in 1994 and was the first African-American transperson to win the IFGE Trinity Award in 2000.  She played a major role in the passage of the Louisville and Lexington Fairness ordinances and the defense of the Louisville one in 2004.

Wilson was the first chair of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition after its 1999 founding, has been the chair of C-FAIR, the political action committee of the Louisville based Fairness Campaign, and is currently a Metro Louisville Human Rights Commissioner.

The other person who shares this October 12 birthdate with her is Bamby Salcedo

Los Angeles based Bamby's accomplishments in this community are just as distinguished and lengthy. 

She is the founding president of the TransLatina Coalition, an organization of national trans Latina leaders founded in 2009.  She is the founding publisher of the digital XQsi Magazine, is a longtime HIV-AIDS activist in the LA area,, has been the subject of a documentary entitled Transvisible: The Bamby Salcedo Story, is a board member of Unid@s LGBT, and has also worked with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) on health care services for trans people in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Salcedo has garnered a long list of awards for her advocacy work on behalf of the trans community including most recently the National LGBTQ Task Force's Susan J. Hyde Award For Longevity in the Movement and Lambda Legal's Liberty Award

Happy birthday to two outstanding leaders in our community.   I'm proud to call both of you my colleagues and more importantly, my friends.   

May you continue to be sterling examples of the leadership that is necessary to lead our community forward, and you receive the blessing of celebrating many more birthdays to come.

Happy Birthday Wendy Davis!

Today is the 51st birthday for who I hope will become in six months the next governor of the Lone Star State in Texas state Senator Wendy Davis.

She was born on this date in 1963 in Warwick, R.I but got to the Lone Star State at age 11 when her family moved to Fort Worth.

Can't wait until early voting happens in October so I can proudly cast my ballot for her. and 'errbody' else with a 'D' behind their names.  

But we still have a few months and a lot of campaign left before we can get the casting ballots part of the 2014 political cycle, so you might wish to send some campaign donation cash to her as a birthday gift.

Happy Birthday Sen. Davis!   Hope to see you on the steps of the state capitol in January giving your inaguration speech..

It's Tona's Birthday Today

And I wasn't letting this day pass without at least giving her a TransGriot blog shoutout.

Tona Brown continues to be an inspiration to not only her generation of trans people, but mine as well.  Her talents as a classically trained professional musician and vocalist have given her a career spanning North America and Europe.   In 2011 this Virginia native became the first trans person to sing for a sitting US president.  I hope one day she realizes one of her big dreams of singing in a major concert hall. 

She's the founder of the AIDA String Ensemble, is a motivational speaker and host of the YouTube show 'Conversations With Tona Brown', of which from time to time I post her videos here. 

And the cool thing Tona is you made it through another busy year!

Happy birthday Sis!   May your birthday be filled with abundant blessings, smiles as wide as Texas and 2014 see every dream you've ever had realized.  
 

Double Birthday Shout Out To Josephine and Lowell!

Two of my fave people in our community are celebrating birthdays today, and I'm not letting this date pass without giving both of them the TransGriot birthday treatment they deserve

Since beauty and wisdom goes first, my first birthday shout out goes to Josephine Tittsworth.  

I've known her for over a decade, am proud to call this fellow Cougar my friend, and she has done much to help advance the cause of trans human rights in Texas and across the nation..

And oh yeah, happy birthday Jo!

She's the creative force behind the two day Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summits that I've been reporting from for the last three years.

The TTNS not only helps focus attention on getting trans friendly non-discrimination policies enacted at Texas colleges and universities and school districts, it also has trans related policy discussions, keynote speakers and programming about our lives.

And oh yeah, I can't forget to mention the TTNS chocolate break.

Since the Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit started in 2009 it has grown to become an event coveted by area universities to host.  Josephine has the vision and desire to not only take it statewide, but wants to host it someday on one of our Texas HBCU campuses.

The other person I'm giving a TransGriot birthday shoutout is Lowell Kane.  I met this handsome Aggie during the 2010 TTNS that was held on the Rice University campus along with a few of his Aggie students in his capacity as the coordinator of the LGBT Center on Texas A&M's campus that he helped found in 2007. 

The campus climate toward LGBT students improved dramatically on the A&M campus during his time there and he's now moved on to become the founding director of the new LGBTQ Center on the Purdue University campus.

He's now busy in the Hoosier state building their LGBTQ center and I have little doubt he'll have the same success up there that he did at Aggieland.

We already miss him in the Houston area (and so do I), but our loss was Purdue's gain.   At least they sell Blue Bell ice cream in West Lafayette to go with that cake he gets to eat for his big 3-0 birthday.

Happy birthday to both of you.   Love you both, thanks for all you do on behalf of our rainbow community, may you have continued success in your personal and professional lives and may you continue to celebrate many more birthdays to come. 

Happy Birthday Malia!

At the White House, there's another reason they celebrate July 4 besisdes it being Independence Day.   Today also happens to be the birthday of Malia Ann Obama, the eldest daughter of the POTUS and FLOTUS.

Malia was born in Chicago on this date in 1998 and hope she's had a wonderful 13th birthday..

Happy birthday to the First Daughter.   If everything goes right for her father next year electorally, hope Malia gets to celebrate a few more at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as well.