Civil Rights Icon Rep. John Lewis Calls Out Trump Racist Comment

I haven't commented on 45's comment because I told y'all during the 2016 campaign he was a racist POS and some of y'all were too caught up in hatin' on Hillary to listen.

Can you hear my azz now?

Here's civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) commenting on Trump's s***hole comment in a recent MSNBC interview 

Charles Blow Calls Out Trump Racism

I  had the opportunity to meet CNN commentator Charles Blow during one of the LGBT Media Journalists Convenings I attended n Baltimore, and I love his NY Times columns and takes on many issues. 

Of course, he was called in when in the wake of Trump's comment about Haiti and other African nations as s***hole countries, and here's what he had to say about Trump,his base and his enablers at FOX Noise. 

Omarosa, You're Fired!

This week's news just keeps getting better.

In the wake of the massive rebuke of Roy Moore by Alabama Black voters that led to the historic election of Doug Jones to the US Senate, now comes the news broken by April Ryan from inside I-495 that the Trump Misadministration's kneegroid spokesellout Omarosa Manigault Newman has been kicked to the WH  curb.

Y'all know how much I love CNN pundit and commentator Angela Rye, and she of course gleefully had fun with the news.



And now it's time for me, like Angela Rye, to be gleefully petty to a community sellout whose Black card is under review.

#ByeOmarosa

I love it when sellouts to our community get the karmic kick in their ample posteriors they deserve, and I'm also pleased as a taxpayer we are no longer paying $180,000 of our tax dollars for her to do nothing but provide melanin for Trump Administration photo ops.

And now, to end this post, let's let 45 sum it up

Dale Hansen- Anthem Protests Not About Disrespecting The Flag

"Maybe we all need to read our Constitution again. There has never been a better use of pen to paper. Our forefathers made freedom of speech the First Amendment. They listed 10, and not one of them says you have to stand during the anthem."
-Dale Hansen 

Whenever I spend time in Dallas, I'm watching WFAA-TV news and their legendary sportscaster and journalist Dale Hansen hoping to catch one of his Hansen Unplugged commentaries about topics from sports to politics.

It's time to post another video of his most recent one, in which he calls out folks who have a problem with Black NFL players protesting police brutality and the shoddy treatment of Black Americans during the national anthem. 

A Houston Harvey Mass Evacuation Would Have Been A Disaster

Been hearing chatter critical of the decision that Mayor Sylvester Turner, Harris County Judge Ed Emmett and other Houston and Harris County leaders made to not call for an evacuation of Houston with Hurricane Harvey's Category 4 storm self bearing down on the Texas coast.

There are two major reasons why they probably called for Houstonians to shelter in place.

The first is speed in the storm development.

Harvey went from being a disorganized tropical depression on the verge of dissipating as it crossed the Yucatan Peninsula to a Cat 4 hurricane in two days after it reached the Bay of Campeche. .

This storm caught everyone, myself included by surprise in terms of how fast it developed, and there simply wasn't enough time to plan an evacuation.

Reason number two was everyone remembers what happened during the 2005 evacuation of Houston as a then Category 5 Hurricane Rita was bearing down on the Houston area and people tried to get out of its way mere weeks after Katrina devastated the New Orleans area and Mississippi Gulf coast.

That evacuation caused the worst traffic jam in Houston history and resulted in 100+ deaths

And that was in 95+ degree heat.   That traffic jam was so bad it took my family, who was trying to reach our relatives in Dallas, 13 hours just to get to Huntsville, TX a mere 100 miles away.  When they reached Huntsville they basically gave up, exited I-45  and successfully found a hotel room there to wait out the storm.  Rita eventually veered away from the Houston-Galveston area, weakened to a Category 3 hurricane before making landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border.

I still hear horror stories today about what a disaster it was and how long it took people to get to San Antonio, Austin or Dallas. .

Houston is now in 2017 way larger than it was in 2005, with over 6 million people living in our metro area.   The city of Houston itself is 627 square miles, which makes it larger than New York and Los Angeles in area

So to expect a smooth evacuation with a Cat 4 hurricane bearing down on the city that was projected to drop 25 to 30 inches of rain on the area was about as likely as Dolt 45 being accepted into Mensa.

Based on the flooding those same evacuation roads and freeways are currently experiencing, there would have been people who probably would have drowned in their cars because of that fast rising water that is nine to ten feet deep in some spots.

And it's why when this is over, the decision to have Houstonians shelter in place may have turned out to be the right call this time.

Laverne's 'The View' Suggestion As To Why Trump Hasn't Done A Pride Proclamation

Had to chuckle when I saw this video of Laverne Cox's recent appearance on ABC's The View and Joy Behar asked her for her thoughts on Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) Orange Is The New Black, transgender rights issues, trans people in the media and why 45 hasn't issued a pride proclamation like his predecessor President Obama did.

Laverne as usual does a fantastic job in driving home the point that TBLGQ Americans are also Americans, then slides a comment aimed at 45 you'll have to watch.

Enjoy

Dionne's Thoughts

TransGriot Note:  Guest post by A. Dionne Stallworth.

All hate is wrong. Discrimination is wrong. One can’t call someone out for hate and discrimination on one day and return it people on the next.  I can only hope that Bill Shakespeare won’t mind my taking a few liberties with his words.

“I am an (add race, gender expression/presentation/identity, class, religious or spiritual identity (or lack of one), sexual orientation, political affiliations, country of citizenship, species or anything that makes a living being different from one another). Have we not eyes? Have we hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same summer and winter as each other? If you cut us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, do we not revenge or avenge?”

We all differ in many ways – some obvious and in others, not so much. This is the only planet we have, the only corporeal existence we know, and the only time we have. Given the finite resources The One has given to us, shouldn’t we learn to share them for the betterment of all concerned? Our very survival as living beings depends on how we answer that question.

I will end this with another hackneyed movie quote: “There are many ways to The One, my child.  I hope that yours is not too difficult.” Enjoy life, enjoy our gifts, our faults, our dreams, our nightmares and each other. Each of us has less time than we may think.


Have a great day and enjoy all that surrounds you and share it with someone – family, a friend or stranger.  Heed the words of this song.

None of us are Free (as recorded by Ray Charles)

Well you better listen, my sisters and brothers
'Cause if you do you can hear
There are voices still calling across the years
And they're all crying across the ocean
And they're crying across the land
And they will till we all come to understand
None of us are free
None of us are free
None of us are free, one of us are chained
None of us are free
And there are people still in darkness
And they just can't see the light
If you don't say it's wrong then that says it right
We got try to feel for each other
Let our brothers know that we care
Got to get the message, send it out loud and clear
None of us are free
None of us are free
None of us are free, one of us are chained
None of us are free
It's a simple truth we all need, just to hear and to see
None of us are free, one of us is chained
None of us are free, now I swear your salvation isn't too hard to find
None of us can find it on our own
We've got to join together in spirit, heart, and mind
So that every soul who's suffering will know they're not alone
None of us are free
None of us are free
None of us are free, one of us are chained
None of us are free
If you just look around you
You're gonna see what I say
'Cause the world is getting smaller each passing day
Now it's time to start making changes
And it's time for us all to realize
That the truth is shining real bright right before our eyes
None of us are free
None of us are free
None of us are free, one of us are chained
None of us are free
None of us are free
None of us are free
None of us are free, one of us are chained
None of us are free
None of us are free
None of us are free
None of us are free, one of us are chained
None of us are free

Does My Black Trans Life Matter, Pageant and Ballroom Community?

TransGriot Note: The deaths of five Black trans women during the month of February and three during the weekend without  much outcry or chatter from many of the organizations that we intersect and interact with has many of us in Black Trans World doing some hard solid thinking about our place in Black TBLGQ World.

This is a guest commentary from Erica Christian articulating her thoughts about the silence of the pageant and ballroom community about the sisters we've lost and how it's making her feel as a trans woman who has been in and repeatedly shown up for that community

It was originally on her Facebook page, but needed to be signal boosted as a example of the across the board sentiment in Black Trans Feminine World that no one gives a rat's anus about us being slaughtered.

And now,  here's our guest commentator Erica Christian
***

I have decided to be silent and see exactly what my so called LGBTQ national pageantry systems, and ball systems community are going to decide to do about our trans women of color being killed in numbers within a matter of days.

I guess we are nothing to you but a show queen for entertaining you.  An extra letter in the community acronym.  A soft skinned, natural, unclockable piece of fishy/cunty/pussy/woman

What was l thinking?   I'm so f***ing stupid for thinking my life matters in this LGB Community.
At this point, at this very moment, l'm mad as hell and l can't stop crying.  I get up every morning and report to work, advocating, outreaching, connecting, supporting and giving everything of myself to take care of and make a difference in my community that's stricken with poverty, homelessness, HIV/STD infections, without any biases or regret because l love you, and it will always be my purpose in my lifetime.

Yet still l don't matter, nor do the rest of my beautiful transgender sisters of color matter..

How am l supposed to feel? .We are being slaughtered and this is okay for you?

I guess l will continue to do what l have had to do for the past 50 years  Survive the best way possible and continue to live with no expectations, no disappointments.

If you are offended by my statements, please unfriend me.  Oh wait, like it even matters that I'm still alive for now.   Does my Black trans life even matter to you, pageant and ballroom community?
I wonder, would it matter if l was killed or slaughtered because l am a trans woman of color?

God, l ask for guidance on dealing with this pain and sadness.

***

Yes Erica, it does matter.   Your life matters to me, your trans siblings, and all who love you.  But I am interested in hearing and seeing the answer to the question you posed.  

Dale Hansen Unplugged- Mack Beggs

Whenever I'm in the Dallas-Ft Worth area and have time to watch the local news there, I tune into WFAA-TV 8 so I can watch Dale Hansen's sports reports and his 'Hansen Unplugged' commentary.  

Yesterday he commented on Euless Trinity trans wrestler Mack Beggs' Texas Class 6A girls wrestling state championship in his weight class and the stuck on stupid UIL trans athletic policy that led to it.

Beggs because of the lack of UIL vision and their transphobia, was forced to despite being on testosterone for his transition and he and his family asking he allowed to wrestle against boys, forced by UIL bureaucrats to wrestle against girls.

That lack of UIL vision led to Beggs undefeated 56-0 championship season that shined a glaring spotlight on how unfair the UIL policy was to all concerned.   It will hopefully lead the UIL idiots in Austin to change it to mirror the more progressive NCAA standards.  

Here's Dale Hansen's commentary on Mack Beggs..

 

Happy Valentine's Day 2017

Today is Valentine's Day and as usual I'm spending it by myself.   While I am blessed with many talents, finding myself in a long term relationship is not one of them.

So I'm buying my own chocolate, some ice cream and Hershey's chocolate syrup to go with it, and I'm perusing my stack of DVD's to for my Black romance movie marathon I will indulge myself with later today.

The ironic thing is when I started my transition in 1994, I put myself on a two year dating moratorium so that I could get adjusted to being me, deal with morphing into the new body an the second puberty issues that come with it,  and get a few years into the social transition before I attempted to tackle dating while trans.

And I'm still looking for that quality person to get in a relationship with

After witnessing several couples get married last year or seeing peeps I know who are in happy and healthy  relationships short and long term, that does allow me to keep hope alive that it will happen for me someday.  

We'll see.   But for those of you who are booed up, I ain't mad at you on this day that is for lovers.

Happy Valentine's Day people.   And now, time to hit the Blue Bell.and flip on the DVD player.

There's A Reason I Wasn't Feeling Gaga's Show Last Night

Watched the Super Bowl like 100 million plus other peeps last night, and know the chatter in Gay World was all about the halftime show and Lady Gaga.

Some of you marveled about how she mentioned the word transgender while singing 'Born This Way' and gushed about other points in the show that were frankly meh for me.

By the way, for those of you claiming this Gaga show was political, this Beyonce performance last year is the gold standard for a Super Bowl halftime show that is political.   When wingers are STILL complaining a year later, and people are still talking about it, you know the message was received..

The reaction from the conservafool media to Gaga's Super Bowl show was they were glad she didn't go political. That confirms my initial impression of it that is wasn't as political as some people in Gay World are desperately trying to make this out to be.

Because her mentioning the t-word in NRG Stadium during her show and people commenting about it in social media just reminded me of why I'm not a huge fan of hers.  

If you're wondering why, we need to go back to 2011 and the fight to pass marriage equality in New York.

While the New York state marriage equality push that year had the HRC, former president Bill Clinton, Gov Andrew Cuomo, then New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a host of politicians and celebs going gaga (pun intended) in pushing for its passage after passing the New York Assembly for the fourth consecutive time, ,GENDA, the trans rights bill had for then three consecutive years overwhelmingly passed the New York Assembly but was in an infuriating pattern of getting stuck in the Republican controlled NY senate.

GENDA if passed would amend the New York state non-discrimination laws to add gender identity and expression to the list of characteristics protected from discrimination in employment, education, public accommodations, housing and credit. It would also add gender identity and expression to the state hate crimes law. 

Currently there are seven cities in the Empire State, Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Ithaca, New York City, Rochester and Syracuse, and three counties, Suffolk, Tompkins and Westchester  that have legislatively enacted trans non discrimination protections. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has signed an executive order that prohibits discrimination against trans people in the Empire State.

But as we are witnessing in Washington DC right now, executive orders can be overturned, which is why passage of GENDA to secure the human rights of transpeople in New York State is needed and necessary.   It is also necessary in light of the fact that when SONDA was passed in 2002, New York gay and lesbian activists violated a deathbed promise to Sylvia Rivera and threw New York transpeople under the legislative bus to selfishly enact human rights protections for themselves.

In June 2011 GENDA overwhelmingly passed in the New York state assembly for the third consecutive time and was awaiting action in NY Senate just like the marriage bill was after it passed for the fourth consecutive session.  

But unlike the marriage bill, GENDA wasn't getting the attention it deserved and eventually died in the New York Senate without a hearing or a vote as gay peeps celebrated, claimed it was a 'victory for equality'  and planned their weddings when the marriage bill passed after that all out push for passage .

I note that Lady Gaga at that time was urging her 'Little Monsters' to call the NY Senate and urge passage of the marriage bill, but the word 'transgender'' didn't pass her lips at the time to have the same happen for GENDA.   Never mind the fact that some of her 'Little Monsters' as her fans are called are transgender peeps

I still believe that had she in 2011 made that same exhortation for her fans to call NY senators and demand GENDA's passage, that may have possibly been the publicity nudge GENDA needed at that time to get it attention during that 'all marriage all the time' media frenzy to get it passed in the New York Senate and to Gov. Cuomo's desk for his signature.

Lady Gaga has been a champion for marriage equality, and I'd like to see her put the same level of effort into speaking out on behalf of trans human rights as she consistently did for marriage equality. My trans siblings could use her help and star power, especially in her home state of New York  to break that legislative logjam that GENDA seems to be in.

Her trans Little Monsters that idolize her would love to see that as well. especially the ones that call New York State home..

So Lady Gaga, ball is in your court.   Saying the trans word during your Super Bowl show isn't enough these days.  How about some action to back it up just like you did for marriage equality?

Malala's Statement About Trump's Racist Muslim Ban

I was at Houston Intercontinental Airport last night along with 2000 people in Terminal E's international arrivals hall protesting Trump's Muslim ban.

Sad that this man has only been in office 9 days and his mispresidency is already a massive fail on many fronts.

Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has commented on the Trump Muslim ban that the GOP has been cricket chirping silent about, and here's what she had to say about it.

"I am heartbroken that today President Trump is closing the door on children, mothers and fathers fleeing violence and war. I am heartbroken that America is turning its back on a proud history of welcoming refugees and immigrants — the people who helped build your country, ready to work hard in exchange for a fair chance at a new life.

I am heartbroken that Syrian refugee children, who have suffered through six years of war by no fault of their own, are singled-out for discrimination.I am heartbroken for girls like my friend Zaynab, who fled wars in three countries — Somalia, Yemen and Egypt — before she was even 17. Two years ago she received a visa to come to the United States. She learned English, graduated high school and is now in college studying to be a human rights lawyer.

Zaynab was separated from her little sister when she fled unrest in Egypt. Today her hope of being reunited with her precious sister dims.In this time of uncertainty and unrest around the world, I ask President Trump not to turn his back on the world’s most defenseless children and families."

Yes ma'am, it's sad that after all the hard work that President Obama has done to restore America's good name around the world after it was sullied by President GW Bush, that another Republican know nothing POTUS that is disliked around the world is once again racistly hell bent on ruining it again.

My #CC17 Post Convention Thoughts

I'm now back in the Houston area after spending a few days at this year's edition of the Task Force's Creating Change Conference in Philadelphia.  It was a 29th annual Creating Change that up until about two weeks before it happened, I was seriously thinking about after attending the last three consecutive Creating Change events in Houston, Denver and Chicago and being part of the Host Committee for #CC14 not coming to Philadelphia for #CC17.

Philadelphia also happens to be a city that is near and dear to my heart, because I received my 2006 IFGE Trinity Award  here and I've been since 2013 in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection for two LGBTMedia events (2013,2015) and two Philly Trans Health Conferences in 2012 and 2016.

The drama filled experience in Chicago along with the jacked up protest of the NBJC Black Institute I called out later (and I'm still pissed about) was part of the reason I was reluctant to come this year.

Because of the Trans United Fund event, the TUF leadership meeting scheduled during #CC17 and being asked by NBJC's Isaiah Wilson to participate in this year's The Black Institute, that finally pushed me into the 'I'm attending it 'ranks along with TUF Board Chair Hayden Mora telling me my voice, thoughts and attendance were needed and necessary.

And I'm glad I did.  I also got to destroy a few Slurpees in the process since there was a 7 Eleven right across the street from the convention hotel.

On my ATL-PHL flight I ran into Dee Dee Chamblee, who was seated ten rows from me.  I stepped off the Delta plane after our 5:35 PM arrival but lost track of her.  After collecting my checked bag I ran into a group of students from Portland who were eagerly here for CC17 at the Terminal D SEPTA train platform.

After getting off the train, I immediately headed to the hotel room that Angelica Ross and my Houston homegirl Nikki Loyd were sharing to drop off my bags before heading to the TUF meeting we were having at the host hotel to finalize some last minute planning or the fundraising event at Philadelphia City Hall.

When I walked into that Marriott Downtown meeting room with Angelica and Nikki and saw my trans siblings from around the country and as I found out the world in Mat and Tiana from Zimbabwe, it was a reminder why I come to conferences and events:. I go to see old friends like Danielle King and meet new ones like Daye Pope.

With me now going into my 19th year of award winning advocacy for trans people in addition to being the founding editor of a now 11 year old award winning blog, the days of me walking around any convention space for longer than ten minutes incognito are long gone.

I ran into Sunnivie Brydum and a friend of hers moments after taking that post meeting photo with the TUF peeps, and while trying to get to the DoubleTree to get my bags so I could go check into the Hilton Gardens where I was staying, immediately ran into Cecilia Chung.

After running into her, tried to tip past the bar area where folks were congregated and ran into many friends there like my fellow Texans Omar Narvaez, Ashton Woods and the lovely Geneva Musgrave, and ran into Isaiah at the exit door.  I also ran into several students who recognized me from different speeches or who were fans of TransGriot that night and over the next several days.  

While I was waiting to sort out a problem with my Hilton Gardens reservation, Louis Mitchell spotted me while walking past the hotel from a late night food run and kept me company until it was resolved.

The love I got enveloped in while walking the CC17 host hotel over those next several days didn't hurt either, especially in light of the fact that we were literally in the last two days of the Obama presidency and about to see the dawning of a Trump presidency hostile to us.

The Thursday Trans United Fund event at the Philadelphia City Hall on Thursday evening was chock full of symbolism.

I thought about the fact that we were owning our political power as trans people in the city in which the Declaration of Independence was crafted and signed at Independence Hall several blocks away from where our event was taking place with a trans pride flag on the flagpole outside the building.

We were comprised of amazing trailblazing leaders in their own rights like Melissa Sklarz, Sharron Cooks, Danni Askini, Andrea Jenkins, Bamby Salcedo, and Mama Bear DeShanna Neal with her lovely trans feminine daughter Trinity. Some of the brothers were also there in support like Sean Coleman and Rev. Yunus Coldman

It was also great seeing Philadelphia's LGBT Liaison Nellie Fitzpatrick, Cathy Renna and getting to have all those conversations with the attendees during that fundraising event.   It was also wonderful to finally meet and get to talk to Danni Askini in the flesh after years of doing so on FB.

TUF was also holding this event on the last night of the Obama Administration, who will go down in American and TBLGQ history as the best president ever on trans issues.

Since my job during CC14 in Houston was to be co chair of the committee helping put together the People of Color Hospitality suit, I'm always interested in seeing how other Creating Change host cities accomplished the task of setting up their hospitality suites in preparation for the next time Houston gets to host Creating Change.

Once I was done with my portion of the NBJC Black Institute morning programming, I headed to the POC, Bi-Panfluid, Transgender and Elder suites that were located on the sixth floor of the hotel.  

In the Bi suite I ran into Stacey Langley, new Bi-Net president Lynette McFadzen (who I met and roomed with during CC15), and other amazing folks in those Thursday and Friday excursions up to the suites.  

We aren't always talking politics in those hospitality suites.  The conversations can also be about pop culture discussions to blood family acceptance or lack thereof.   Some CC17 attendees are playing cards or board games as they wait for breakfast, lunch or dinner to be delivered to the suites.  

And yes, for you CC vets, they are still vegan.

Speaking of dishes, nice segue into moi dishing out in the Transgender Hospitality Suite a trash talking filled dominoes butt kicking to a New Jersey based activist who has promised me he'll be ready for me when #CC18 roll around.

Good luck with that Kwame.   Love ya and enjoyed our conversation, but Mama Moni still has dominoes skills that will be sharpened over the next 11 months.

You've been warned BTAC and every other conference I get to attend in 2017.  Be afraid.

The Elders suite had a TBLGQ Philadelphia history display set up.  I ran into during my visit to check it out Barbara, one of the trans elders I met during my LGBTMedia13 visit to Philly at the John C Anderson LGBT apartment building for low income LGBT seniors.

Barbara was one of the local volunteers staffing it, and it was wonderful reconnecting with her again..

But the best part of any Creating Change event is being able to not only talk to the elders that preceded me in paving the way for my generation of TBLGQ activists, but the young people for who this is their first Creating Change, who see you as their elder, and get the intergenerational conversations going that we need to have happen.

I had an interesting discussion on Friday with one CC17 attendee who let me know she'd been reading TransGriot since she was 12 years old.   I had more than a few people stop me in the halls during my time there who recognized me either from the blog, previous events, conferences or panels and tell me how much they loved TransGriot, dropping some knowledge in a panel, or appreciated me doing the necessary work to advance our shared human rights struggle.
 

Friday morning Rebecca Kling, Brynn Tannehill and I  talked to two of Bear Bergman's students about the trans rights movement and our parts in it.  Bear later sent me a message about how excited they were to meet us and went on about it for hours.

I was supposed to leave Saturday, but the fog at PHL airport that hugs the Delaware River killed that and forced me to stay an extra day at Creating Change, something I wasn't disappointed about.  But because of my travel back and forth from the host hotel to the airport, I missed the local Women's March that some of the CC17 attendees participated in and Sharron spoke at.

I also got to spend some more quality time with my Birmingham based sister Daroneshia Duncan, who graciously let me crash in her hotel room since I'd checked out of mine at the Hilton Gardens earlier that day..

After dinner at Chili's, swinging by the Boomers Dance with Daroneshia and sitting in the bar area chatting with various people until nearly 2 AM, I reluctantly left the Marriott Downtown host hotel for the last time to get a little sleep for my rebooked 7:35 AM departure back to Houston via the ATL

That meant no Sunday closing plenary or brunch for me this time.

Thanks Philadephia Host Committee for putting together a wonderful event.   I'm glad I came.  Coming to #CC17 helped me realize once again all the positive reasons why I have loved this conference ever since my first one in Oakland back in 1999.

I'm eagerly anticipating being at the 2018 edition of it in Washington DC. Hopefully by that time CC18 happens I'll be able to go to the African American History Museum in addition to seeing all of you peeps there again at our TBLGQ family reunion
.

About Kingian Love

This is another one of Toni D'orsay's commentaries from her Facebook page that needs to be shared with the world, especially on this last King Day celebration with Barack Obama as our president.

And now, here's Toni

***

So today I have been honoring a man who's life is, far too often, invoked as a condemnation of my efforts.

Of the efforts of any person of color, of any woman, of any disabled person, of any LGBT person.

"You are too vulgar, too confrontational, too angry, too egotistical, too masculine, too aggressive, too loud"

This is their words, their too and their much, and their too much of me in their head and in their eyes and in their face and space and I am just over and through and around and within them and that offends them into defends of their too and their much and their too much.

They start seeing me in my paleness, bleached by the dark and the hiding from the sun, and think me like them even as I call out my darkness and my difference and shed the things they put on me to reveal my many colored robe and all the truths within it.

Patchworked and frayed, like some country tune, my robe of many colors is cast in drab hue and cry and the then they see me only as the black one that deceives and lures and now they forget that I am more than one thing and so never so easily contained, oiled and slick from the failures of their own efforts to punish and silence me by drowning my brilliance in the darkness they concoct and convene and conveniently they tell themselves they can escape now.

"Be like King!" They extol and exhort and exhale and hex bring this marvel of a man as a shield for themselves, coopting and co-owning and appropriately appropriating the approximation of what they see as acceptable and allowable and apple pie a man with dark skin and a dream they breathe to lift themselves up and never my peoples, never my tribes, never my families.

They catch a drift and caricature the cacophony and complain about the noise like a short king to a wizard, hey man the peasants are revolting and you can say that again.

But hey, they are good and they are loving and you cannot grasp what love is without knowing what you are loving and like they have made me they are too thin and pale to grasp the color of love and the weight of it and burden of having to be the ones that love when all that is returned is hate.

Love is telling you that you are wrong, and love is you listening and asking and thinking and realizing that you are wrong.

If I say to you that need you need to step back and let that black or brown sister step up and you need to point to her and say hey, listen up, that is me being loving and me loving you and loving the work and yet you turn to me and you say that you cannot find a woman to lift up or that woman isn't deserving or good enough or useful enough or pretty enough or why don't you just say it plain and real that she ain't white enough you saltine looking piece of work.

Love does not mean you, with your newfound struggle, are better at this than we, for whom this struggle is as old as the blood and bone in our bodies, weaned on The Talk that you don't even have to have to have because to you the Talk is about sex and for us it is about living and how your code switching in your newfound world is stolen from we who have done it from the moment we learned that the world was out there.

If I tell you that rap is your poetry slam, your spoken word art and you roll your eyes at fuck tha police and can't tell a Run from a DMC and say yeah, but that ain't your jam I am gonna laugh.

Because who gave you your jam, but we?

You call it eggshells, correctness, politics, and what that is is you being careful not to be nonracist but to not show how fuckin racist you already are and how sleeping you are while we are woke and shaking in the middle of a long dark night you don't even know is there.

You think of me and you think of rambling lessons and crystalline posts that make you feel good or feel bad but make you feel without feeling it, and then I bust a piece of heart like this here and you blow it off and wonder why I don't just stick to shouting at windmills since my lance has been broken and my Pancho is a coffee bean you drink with a pretty label that says the right words even though we all sit in a nation where even a child makes more as an allowance than that coffee bean farmer does in a year.

I don't want your guilt. I want your blood, your sweat, your tears, your risking your job and family and hopes and dreams because that is what we risk walking down the street around you every day.

And now, no matter how many of you get this and cheer this and celebrate this know that it wasn't We who put hell in office.

It was you, and you are they, and we don't have the luxury and the privilege of saying but it was those bad ones.

Remember this on the Day of the King, and know that love never tears down, that love can sting, and that love sometimes means discipline to show you a better way.

 

Trans Community Things To Look Forward To In 2017

We are in Day 1 of the 365 that will make up 2017, and since we are in the afterglow (or getting over hangovers) from the New Year's Eve celebrations.

2016 is starting to fade into the historical rearview mirror, and it was as we all know a presidential election year in which the result wasn't one that we liberal progressives would have liked.

We are also not looking forward to seeing when a certain reprehensible orange tanned idiot get inaugurated on January 20.

There's also the upcoming April SCOTUS arguments in the Grimm vs Gloucester County case that will either turn out to be a huge win for transkind or a SCOTUS case negatively affecting out humanity and human rights like the odious 1857 Dred Scott v Sandford one for years to come..

But there are things in Trans World that we will get to look forward to that are positive.  For starters, the emergence of trans people of color that started two years ago will continue.

We'll also continue to see our trans kids get positive media coverage to the consternation of the right wing haters and their ignorati.

Personally in a matter of days I will have the 6.5 millionth visitor peruse my as of today 11 year old blog    In addition to seeing Amiyah Scott make television history on our television screens on the FOX show Star, we'll finally get to see Laverne Cox playing trans feminine attorney Cameron Wirth on the CBS legal drama Doubt on February 15.

We'll also have conferences like the Black Trans Advocacy one in Dallas April 24-30 and Philly Trans Health Conference  now taking place September 7-9 instead of its traditional early June date.

And as always, there will be stuff that happens in Trans World we didn't expect that will,be a pleasant surprise for us over the next 365 days.

2017 is here.  We just have to deal with it and all the challenges and opportunities it brings with it as they occur. .

Bishop Yvette Flunder's Post-Election Message

I had the honor and pleasure of finally meeting a few months ago the amazing Bishop Yvette Flunder when she came to Houston to speak at the PODCC.

She is an unapologetic part of the radically inclusive wing of Christianity that needs to be the rule and not the exception in our world instead of the radicalized hatemongering Pharisees and Sadducees that claim they are.

Love this message that was on her Facebook page that she asked to be shared.

Done, Bishop.

***

As I am receiving clarity about the recent political events in our nation, I am ready to fight for the soul of Christianity...not against other faiths, that I also respect and revere, but to take back what was been hijacked from Christianity by those who call themselves 'conservatives' . Jesus was not a conservative...by any means! Everything he taught flew in the face of the conservative religion of His time.

I am clear that a strong, fearful and controlling Christian conservative vote showed up in the recent election galvanized around the issues of abortion and marriage equality.This was the battle cry, but abortion rates were already declining.  "The overall rate of unintended pregnancies dropped 18 percent between 2008 and 2011—its lowest in 30 years,"according to the Guttmacher Institute, March 2, 2016.

Why? Contraceptive education, much of which was provided by Planned Parenthood. Babies that are not conceived will not be aborted!  Heterosexual marriage is on the increase according to Pew Research. 'The new data show that 4.32 million adults (ages 18 or older) were newlywed in 2012, a 3% percent increase over the 4.21 million adults newly married in 2011 and the numbers are climbing (The data does not include same-sex couples.) 

So what is the real issue? Too much public boldness for those who were at one time at least closeted about women's rights, LGBT rights and racial equality...the race issue was exacerbated by a Black President. These fears when added to the 'lie' that the 'coloreds' were taking jobs away justified the one real issue I want to lift up...the conservative Christian church got in bed with evil, under the guise of doing God's work and it's soul is in jeopardy.

Without a message of welcome, inclusion, resisting empire, love and peace, what is the purpose of the Church? God does not have to dance with the devil, to benefit the Church. None of the politicians were/are perfect, but how can "God's Champion" have to pay 25 million dollars because he is guilty of defrauding people? 
There are two distinct Christianity's in our atmosphere...I choose to be the disciple of the Radically Inclusive Jesus of Nazareth. 

Claiming 'You're Nor Racist' For Supporting Trump? Prove It!

“What challenges us is to ensure that none should enjoy lesser rights and none tormented because they are born different, hold contrary political views, or pray to God in a different manner.”
--Nelson Mandela

Over the last few days, I've been seeing defensive comments coming from the folks who admitted they voted for Il Douche that ;not all the people who voted for Trump are racist.

Um, no.  Actions speak louder than words.   By voting for Trump, you cosigned racism.

So I'll play along.  If you are a Trump supporter and you say you aren't racist, here is what you'll need to do to prove it courtesy of something I saw on my FB friend Cynthia Gill's page and added a few TBLGQ concerns to.

***

If you REALLY believe that this President-elect does not stand for racism, bigotry, and sexual assault on women, and if you REALLY are committed to ensuring that his presidency does not give rise to these forces, you will join me in activism against them. You will keep your eyes open EVERYWHERE, and you will use your privilege to step up and step out to protect our fellow Americans who have become the targets for the racists, bigots and sexual predators who DO feel vindicated.

* You will put your white body in between the Muslim woman and the person shouting at her in the grocery store.

*You will put your male (or otherwise) body in front of the woman being threatened and touched by men on the street, shouting "grab her by the pussy!"

* You will immediately begin cleaning the graffiti you see on a Black neighbor's car or house that says "n*gger go back to Africa"

* You will have harsh words with the school administration that allowed kids in your child's class to bring deportation letters to school for the Latinx students, even though your kid didn't get one.

*You will also have harsh words for the school administrators, students or parents bullying trans kids .  * You will shout louder than the asshole screaming at a Latinx person to leave the country.

*You will put yourself in between your child and the non-white, trans or gay kid they are bullying, and hold your child accountable for their behavior, even if you don't understand. *Especially* when you don't understand.

*You will immediately call out the people in your family and your influence circles who utter racist, Islamophobic, transphobic, biphobic or homophobic slurs

* You will actively and persistently use your safety and privilege in your white body to stand as a barrier in between the hateful and those they target.

* When you see these things on social media, you will VOCALLY oppose them. You will put your voice on that post and say no, this is not right. You will stand against your friends and family who share them and laugh.

*You will directly and personally address any of this that you see or hear in your friends and family.

This will challenge you. This will frighten you. This will push you WAY beyond your comfort zone. You will do it anyway, because you believe that this is not what we stand for in this country.  You will do this because you believe that all of us are equal and that human beings do not deserve to be abused and threatened and harmed because of the color of their skin, their religion, their gender or their ability.

When I see you doing this, when you join me actively in doing this, then and only then will we be on the same side."

I suspect that many Trump voters will gleefully continue their present racist course.

Jen Richards Speaks About The 'Anything' Movie Controversy

I've had my say about the current controversy surrounding Matt Bomer and the Anything movie perpetuating the tired and frustrating pattern of cisgender male actors playing trans women and me being fed up with it along with others in Trans World.

And as a reminder, cisgender women playing is not always ideal either.  Some of them are subject to the same transphobic biases that the parent culture has been pushing about trans people and can say some jacked up mess about us as well

But with the controversy about the movie heating up, I linked to a post quoting Jen Richards' Twitter feed and tweet string on that controversy and her thoughts about it when I was compiling my post.

Since Jen has now posted a video adding more clarity on where her thought process was when she wrote that tweet string the other day, I need to post that for you to TransGriot readers to view and ponder.

2016 Olympics Watch- Watching Legends Win

I've been watching the Olympics since the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico City, and have been fortunate to be around to see some legendary athletes and performances on the Olympic stage along with all the drama as well.

From Jim Hines breaking the 10 second barrier in the 100m to Edwin Moses dominating the 400m hurdles in 1976, (1980 we boycotted the Moscow Games) 1984 and winning 122 straight international races along the way to Flo Jo in 1988, I've gotten to see some amazing legendary athletes in not just athletics (track and field to us Americans) but across all sports.

The Rio Games hasn't been any different, because we have gotten to witness Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt cement his legacy as one of the greatest of all time with threepeats in the 100m, 200m and can tonight with a threepeat win in the 4x100m relay to capture his ninth gold medal since his world record setting 2008 Olympic debut in Beijing.

Michael Phelps has done the same thing in the pool by bumping up his gold medal total to an incredible 23 golds (3 silvers, 2 bronze medals) 28 medals won over an Olympic career that started with him winning zero medals in Sydney in 2000 but being they youngest qualifier for an Olympic team at age 15 in 68 years.

He is now the most decorated Olympic athlete ever, and one of the greatest US swimmers since Mark Spitz in 1972.

There is also the sustained excellence of the USA women in basketball, who are FIBA's number one ranked squad and the defending world and Olympic champions.  

The Team USA women ballers have won five straight gold medals since the 1996 Atlanta Games and will play for their sixth consecutive gold medal tomorrow against a Spanish team they demolished in pool play 103-63.

They beat FIBA fourth ranked France in the semis 86-67 to advance to the gold medal match and win their 48th consecutive game in Olympic play since the 1992 Barcelona Games bronze medal game.

But since Team USA played Spain already in pool play and blew them out, I'm thinking that with much higher stakes in this match, Spain will step up their level of play.  Hopefully Sue Bird will be back in the Team USA lineup after missing the semifinal game with a strained knee

There was also a surprise medal from another legendary athlete in Venus Williams.  After shocking losses in the Rio Olympic singles and doubles tournament, Venus made it to the mixed doubles gold medal final with her partner Rajeev Ram, but fell to fellow Americans Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock.

The silver medal she earned with Ram was Venus' fifth medal in Olympic tennis competition dating back to the 2000 Sydney Games.  Williams won gold in the singles and in the doubles competition with little sis Serena in Sydney, Beijing (2008) and in London (2012).  

But it's also a time to watch potential Olympic stars and legends emerge as well.  One of those is Ashton Eaton, who became the first man to repeat as the Olympic decathlon champion since Daley Thompson of Great Britain won back to back decathlons in 1980 and 1984.   Will he attempt the decathlon threepeat that no one has ever accomplished in Tokyo?

We'll have to wait until 2020 to find out.   But it sure has been fun to watch legends win.

Dale Hansen Calls Out Lt Gov. Dan Patrick In Dallas Shooting

Since I have many of my relatives on my mother's side of the family in Dallas and my mom grew up there, I spent a lot of time on that northern end of  I-45, and still do because of my annual BTAC trip.

One of the joys of being on that end of Dallas is being able to watch longtime WFAA-TV 8 sportscaster and journalist Dale Hansen call it like he sees it about sports and other pertinent issues.   I've posted some of his Hansen Unplugged commentaries on the blog, and this one calling out my reprehensible Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) is one that definitely needs to be signal boosted.

Hansen calls him out for blaming everyone but himself and his Texas Republican colleagues for passing the open carry law that allowed Micah Johnson the ability to buy the automatic weapon that he used to kill 5 DPD and DART police officers and leave 10 other people wounded.

And he calls him what I would have called him had his remarks come in time for last week's SUF Awards.

Hansen also drops this truth bomb during his commentary while calling the shooting 'an attack on our basic humanity.'

"A white man in America doesn't die for selling cigarettes on the street corner, he gets a ticket.  A white man in America doesn't die for driving with a broken tail light, he gets a ticket, too.  And the officers who abuse the badge and the power they have should be punished, but too many times they are not.'
But I'll let you hear and see once I find the video for it his eloquent takedown of Patrick and his commentary about the Dallas shooting..