Indiana Presidential Primary Election Today

The Hoosier State gets a chance today to weigh in on the contentious Democratic Primary race between former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders.

And just as a reminder who I'm supporting in this Democratic presidential primary race and why I made that decision, it's the real Democrat, not the DINO..

But back to the post concerning this Indiana primary that kicks off in a few hours.

There are 92 delegates up for grabs on the Democratic side, and after Clinton took four out of five Northeastern states last week to pump up her already sizable delegate lead, she needs only 221 more delegates to reach the 2394 delegates necessary to clinch the 2016 Democratic Party presidential nomination and sing the 'It's over' aria for the Sanders campaign..

She's more than ready to pivot to the general election and get to whacking on the presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, but Sanders is still trying to hang on until the June 7 California primary.

But first we have to handle our electoral business in Indiana, and the Democratic race is close Clinton leads by 4% points over Sanders, but that is within the margin of poll error in a state that not only has an open primary, but is predominately white (72%). but has a 17% Latino population and a 13% Black one.

Handle your electoral business Indiana, and we'll check out the results later tonight.

Danni Askini Running For Washington State Legislature Seat

The last time a trans woman was elected to a state legislature in the US was back in 1992 when Althea Garrison accomplished it during the legislative 'Year Of The Woman'.  She was nondisclosed when she was elected to a seat in the Massachusetts House, but only lasted one term as she was outed days after her win.

Over the last few election cycles several out trans women have attempted to get elected to state legislatures in Arizona (Amanda Simpson) Maryland (Dana Beyer), Nevada (Lauren Scott) and twice in Oklahoma (Brittany Novotny & Paula Sophia) all to fall just short of doing so.

Stacie Laughton was elected in New Hampshire in 2012, but never served because of undisclosed legal issues.

>With the exponential increase in anti-trans legislation pushed by our right wing enemies, the time has never been more imperative to have trans people in state legislatures helping to not only write good legislation, but be in the position to kill bad bills instead of begging for inclusion or to kill it from the outside.

And if we ever wish to see a trans person elected to the US Congress, viable congressional candidates come from big city councils, judicial benches and state legislatures, and we have to win some of those races to even get political party attention..

Yesterday Danni Askini announced she was going to run for an open Seattle seat in the Washington State legislature in its 43rd house district.   Current state rep Brady Walkinshaw is moving on to attempt a run for a US congressional seat

Danni has been and advocate for 15 years, and was busy in Olympia killing this year's unjust anti-trans bills in the GOP controlled Washington Senate.

Askini is vying to become the first out trans person in Washington state and nationally elected to a state legislative seat.

Hopefully, this will be the breakthrough year that happens, and if it does, it will be right on time for that piece of trans history to occur.

Best of luck to you Danni, and when November 8 comes, hope I'll be writing about a history making moment.

Why Many Black Voters Aren't 'Feeling The Bern'

The New Hampshire primary election is happening as I write this post, and while the Sanders folks are gleeful about the expected win in this state that is 98% white and next door to Vermont, what the Sanders folks fail to acknowledge is that many Black voters, who are a critical election bloc in the series of election contests leading up to Super Tuesday on March 1, aren't 'Feeling The Bern'.

And as we saw in 2008, never count out a Clinton in New Hampshire. Texas is one of the Super Tuesday states, and we will start casting ballots for it when early voting starts next Tuesday.

While Black millennials may be 'feeling the Bern', the group of Black voters you have to convince to go to the polls for you is my Baby Boomer, Generation X and Generation Y group of voters who show up at every election.   Voters over 30 make up 67% of the electorate.

Black elders like myself who voted and supported Bill Clinton twice back in the 90's and reaped the benefits of the economic boom his policies ushered in aren't buying the attack lines the Sanders campaign is selling about the former Secretary of State.



We saw her as the First Lady in 1993 leading the charge to get universal single payer health care passed against tremendous Republican opposition.

The last time I decided to waste time watching that ongoing reality TV show called the 2016 GOP presidential debates, it didn't go unnoticed to me that the only person they were attacking on that clown car stage was Hillary Clinton, not Bernie Sanders.

And naw, we Black voters haven't forgotten it was Bernie Sanders who called for a 2012 primary challenge of President Obama, which would have caused a civil war in the Democratic Party and probably led to the election of Mitt Romney as president.

He also has a problematic stance when it comes to guns in voting to give gun manufacturers legal immunity from mass shootings.

It's easy for white millennials to get hyped and think Sanders has a chance.  He did because the first two 2016 primary electoral contests were in Iowa, which is 90.2% white (vs 3.2% Black, 4.4% Latinx, and 2.6% Asian) and New Hampshire being 97% white and next door to Sanders' home state of Vermont.   And despite a late Sanders surge in Iowa, Hillary Clinton still won there, and New Hampshire's winner is yet to be determined.

But once these contests are over, the primaries head to states that have larger percentages of non-white voters like Nevada on February 20 (26% Latinx population)  and South Carolina on February 27 with Super Tuesday on March 1 looming.

South Carolina, where Black voters are 27% of the population and make up a sizable percentage of the electorate, is polling 62%-35%  for Clinton  

And in more bad news for Sanders supporters, the twelve states and territories conducting Super Tuesday primaries on March 1 in which 878 Democratic delegates will be up for grabs, six of them are in the South (TX, TN, GA, VA, AR, AL) and have sizable African-American populations.

And yes, I'm personally getting sick of the Berniebros sexist online dissing of women and belittling Black people who aren't feeling their candidate, and it's starting to push me and others out of the neutral camp to 'leaning Hillary'.   To Bernie's credit, recognizing the damage they are doing to his efforts to reach out to non-white voters, he also called them out.

Bernie's people and supporters have failed to realize it is Black voters who are the base that Democratic electoral majorities are built upon, and we must be wooed just like other liberal progressive blocs are.

As Houston United learned the hard way last year, you cannot come to my community hat in hand at the last minute and think you're going to win our support and our votes.

So if Sanders is going to win the Democratic nomination, he better solve the problem of why African-Americans aren't 'feeling the Bern' fast.

Houston Stonewall Young Democrats 2016 Primary Endorsement Meeting

Early voting for the March 1 Texas primary elections start next Tuesday, February 16 and runs until February 26, so organizations are rushing to get their endorsements done before the first ballots get cast for that primary election

Got the opportunity last night to be in the Little Bigs house in Montrose in reporter mode as the Houston Stonewall Young Democrats conducted their candidate endorsement meeting last night to a room packed full of candidates, campaign staffers and their supporters seeking the HSYD electoral stamp of approval

The Houston Stonewall Young Dems efficiently got through their relatively smooth and rancor free endorsement meeting in a little over an hour and thirty minutes, and it was fascinating as a political junkie to see it happen.

These are the people who received the 2016 HSYD primary endorsements:

Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Brandon Dudley
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg
State Representative District 126 Joy Dawson 
State Representative District 131 Hon. Alma Allen
State Representative District 134 Ben Rose
State Representative District 137 Hon. Gene Wu
State Representative District 139 Randy Bates
State Representative District 144 Hon. Cody Ray Wheeler
State Representative District 148 Hon. Jessica Farrar

Harris County Sheriff Hon. Ed Gonzalez

Constable, Precinct No. 1 Hon. Alan Rosen
Constable, Precinct No. 3 Ken Melancon
Constable, Precinct No. 4 Jeff McGowen
Constable, Precinct No. 6 Hon. Heliodoro Martinez Jr.
Constable, Precinct No. 7 Hon. May Walker
District Judge, 11th Judicial District Rabeea Collier
District Judge, 61st Judicial District Julie Countiss
District Judge, 129th Judicial District Hon. Michael Gomez
District Judge, 151st Judicial District Hon. Mike Engelhart
District Judge, 164th Judicial District Hon. Alexandra Smoots-Hogan
District Judge, 165th Judicial District Hon. Josefina Rendon
District Judge, 174th Judicial District Raul Rodriguez
District Judge, 176th Judicial District Shawna Reagin
District Judge, 179th Judicial District Hon. Randy Roll
District Judge, 177th Judicial District David Singer
District Judge, 215th Judicial District Joshua Verde
District Judge, 333rd Judicial District Daryl Moore
District Judge, 334th Judicial District Hon. Steve Kirkland
District Judge, 337th Judicial District Herb Ritchie
District Judge, 351st Judicial District Greg Glass

Judge, County Civil Court at Law No. 1 George Barnstone
Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 1 Tanya Makany-Rivera
Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 3, Place 1 Joe Stephens
Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 5, Place 1 William McLeod
Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 6, Place 1 Hon. Richard Vara
Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 7, Place 1 Cheryl Elliott Thornton
Justice, 14th Court of Appeals District, Place 2 Hon. Jim Sharp

County School Trustee Position 2, Precinct 4 Marilyn Burgess
State Board of Education, District 6 Dakota Carter

Congratulation to all the candidates receive the HSYD endorsements, and best of luck in the primary.

Fran Watson Elected Houston LGBT Caucus President At Historic Meeting

I was pleased to be at the Montrose Center last night to witness some Houston LGBT history Wednesday night.

The first LGBT Political Caucus meeting of the new year kicked off at 7 PM to a capacity crowd in Room 106 of the Montrose Center, and in addition to hearing the speeches of candidates wishing to walk away with the coveted endorsement of the Caucus for their 2016 primary campaigns, the caucus was also having their own elections to choose a new president and several new board members.

The people in the house seeking the Caucus endorsement for their various races included former Harris County sheriff Adrian Garcia, who is now running for the US congress, Kim Ogg, who narrowly lost her 2014 race for Harris County district attorney, current Precinct 1 constable Alan Rosen who is running for reelection, and numerous judicial candidates like Ramona Franklin.

CM Mike Laster, Harris county Democratic Party chair Lane Lewis and HISD trustee Anna Eastman were also in the house to thank the Caucus for their endorsements and their support.  

There was also a moment of silence for the late county commissioner El Franco Lee and

But what the overflow crowd was there to see in addition to who would get on the Caucus board was whether current board member Fran Watson would become the first African-American female elected to head the caucus.

I said the first African-American female caucus president because I was advised by Houston LGBT historian JD Doyle that an African American man has served, albeit briefly as the Caucus president

The first African-American MAN to serve as Caucus President was Jim Cotton, from late 1977 until April 1978...he was the 3rd Prez....this is per Scott Tillinghast, who is one of the few who was around and involved to remember...wish I could find a photo of Cotton, but apparently he did not make much of an impact.  

When the speeches were over, it was time to get to our historic business.  Once the call for candidates was opened, former CM and Caucus president Sue Lovell gave a moving and heartfelt nomination for Fran which was enthusiastically seconded by much of the crowd.  

A few minutes later, history was made and Fran Watson officially became the new and first ever African-American female president of the Houston GLBT Caucus.  And when the mayor is tweeting congratulations on your election, you know this is a BFD.  It's about time the organizations that lead our community also reflect its diversity.  When it comes to one like the influential Houston GLBT Caucus in which its endorsement can boost the credibility of a liberal progressive candidate despite its non-partisan status, it's past time it happened.  

Congratulations indeed Fran!  I have no doubts that you will successfully handle the Caucus business and whatever challenge comes your way as the Caucus president.

Tamara Adrian Elected To Venezuelan National Assembly

Since 2010, trans women in Colombia, Ecuador and Chile have attempted to run for their national legislatures and not only become the first out trans people in their various nations to do so, but the first in South America and the Western Hemisphere.

While the efforts of Shelcy Sanchez, Diana Rodriguez and Valentina Verbal fell short for various reasons to make that history, the historical breakthrough came last November when attorney Michelle Suarez Bertora was elected last year to Uruguay's senate.  

Latin America is leading the way when it comes to trans elected officials, with the most recent electoral breakthrough happening in October when trans woman Luisa Revilla Urcia was elected to local office in Peru.

Attorney, professor and trans human rights advocate Tamara Adrian became the next South American trans person to attempt to run and win public office when she announced in August she was running for Venezuela's National Assembly.

The Venezuelan national elections happened yesterday and history was made as Adrian was successful in breaking through that trans glass electoral ceiling in her nation.

The Popular Will Party announced that Adrian had been elected to the Venezuelan National Assembly and will represent Caracas, Venezuela's capital.

Adrian made history on multiple fronts because of this historic win.  She is not only the first out trans Venezuelan to be elected to their national legislature, she is the second trans person in South America, the second in the Western Hemisphere. the second in Latin American and only the fifth worldwide to accomplish the electoral feat of being elected to her national legislature.

So yes, Adrian's election to her national legislature is a Big Fracking Deal.  It's so much of a BFD that Luisa Revilla Urcia said to the Washington Blade "We are very pleased with another trans woman in power.  This is a great triumph."

So am I and all my trans brothers and sisters in the US.  It gives us hope that one day we will see one of our own elected to Congress and our various state legislatures.

Congratulations to Ms. Adrian, and hope we see more trans people follow in your footsteps and get elected to their national legislatures.


TransGriot Update:  Was advised by Andres Duque of Blabbeando about Michelle Suarez Bertora, and post corrected to reflect that new information  

Houston Runoff Election Early Voting Happening Until Tuesday

Early voting for our December 12 Houston runoff election is taking place through December 8, and I've already handled my election business.

We do have several races that still need to be settled including for mayor, city controller an HISD trustee seat and six city council seats.   The haters are backing the anti-human rights candidates, while we need to get off our behinds if we wish to have HERO 2.0 and other nice things in Houston

In case you're wondering if I compiled a TransGriot runoff election endorsement post, sure did, and I urge you to handle your H-town electoral business.

You have until Tuesday to early vote, and if you miss it, you'll have to go to your regular polling place on Saturday.

2015 TransGriot Houston Runoff Election Endorsements

For this 2015 Houston civic election, because of what was at stake in this election cycle,  for the first time in TransGriot blog history I compiled an endorsement post.

With the December 12 runoff election date fast approaching and early voting starting tomorrow, it's time for me to do my endorsement post for the 2015 runoff election

While HERO to my continuing disgust has gone down to defeat, if we are going to have a HERO 2.0 in H-town,  it is imperative as a community that we get the right candidates on city council and a mayoral candidate who is committed to bring it back up again instead of one backed by the Tea Klux Klan and endorsed by Ted Cruz who has made it clear he won't.

And now, the 2015 TransGriot Runoff Election endorsements

***

Mayor:  Sylvester Turner
Controller: Chris Brown

Houston City Council
District F:  Richard Nguyen
District H: Karla Cisneros
District J:  Mike Laster

At Large Position 1:  Georgia Provost
At Large Position 2:   David Robinson
At Large Position 4:   Amanda Edwards
At Large Position 5:    Jack Christie

HISD 
Trustee District II:  Rhonda Skillern-Jones
Trustee District III   Jose Leal

2015 TransGriot Houston Election Endorsements

As many of you longtime TransGriot readers are aware of, I am a serious political geek who lives for Election Day.

In the nearly ten years I have been writing posts for this blog, while I have written posts about various candidates and urged you TransGriot readers to get out and vote in each and every election cycle, I have yet to actually do a post in any election, local, state or national that put the TransGriot seal of approval for a slate of candidates until now.

Introducing the first ever TransGriot 2015 Election Endorsement post for the Houston city elections.

***



Prop. 1  (HERO) : YES
Prop. 2:  YES

Mayor:  Sylvester Turner 
Controller:  Chris Brown

Houston City Council
District B:  Jerry Davis
District C:  Ellen Cohen
District D:  Dwight Boykins
District F:   Richard Nguyen
District H:  Roland Chavez
District I:    Robert Gallegos
District J:   Mike Laster
District K:  Larry Green

At Large Position 1:  Lane Lewis
At Large Position 2:  David Robinson 
At Large Position 3: Joseph McElligot
At Large Position 4: Amanda Edwards
At Large Position 5: Philippe Nassif

HISD
Trustee, District II:      Rhonda Skillern-Jones
Trustee, District III:     Ramiro Fonseca
Trustee District IV:      Jolanda Jones
Trustee, District VIII:  Juliet Stipeche

Houston Community College System
Trustee Position III:     Adriana Tamez
Trustee Position VIII:  Eva Loredo

Houston Election Day 2015!

In a few hours the polls will open for a Houston mayoral election the whole world will be watching.

The peeps who didn't early vote will be heading to their local precincts to cast ballots that will not only determine who sits in those nice leather chairs around The Horseshoe for the next two years, but who will become our next mayor succeeding the term limited Annise Parker.

And yeah, there's a proposition on the ballot to determine the fate of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance I've had a lot to say about over the last few months.

The polls open at 7 AM CST and will close 12 hours later at 7 PM.  If you don't know where you go to vote today, here's the link to find out.    

METRO is also providing free rides to the polls.   Just show your voter registration card to the operator as you board the bus or train to do so.

So how do I feel as the clock ticks to the 7 AM start of a critical election for the future of a human rights law I and a team of Houstonians fought to get passed last year?

Nervous, frustrated and angry right now.

No matter what the result of the election will be later today, and I hope the human rights progressive side of my hometown I'm proud of prevails, the bottom line is the Houston trans community is going to have to deal with the fallout from the anti-trans ignorance spread since April 2014 by the HERO haters.

So Houston peeps, handle your electoral business and not only vote YES on Prop 1, but for mayoral and city council candidates that will fight to improve the HERO and not kill it.

We'll see if I have a reason for my mood to change in a few hours.

The Fight To Keep HERO - October 31

'The bottom line is that the HERO opposition has been since last May disseminating lies about HERO unchallenged. This election will probably be decided in Black neighborhoods, and we must get accurate information to our people to counteract the right wing lies.' 
--TransGriot September 30, 2015

I hope that on November 3 I'm in the position to report some wonderful news when it comes to the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, but right now what I'm hearing is disturbing but something I and the Houston Black LGBT warned about months ago.

Early voting it over, and it's being reported that the anti-HERO forces have an edge going into Tuesday.  The thing that makes me have some shred of optimism about these reports is two of the three local political scientists reporting this have been wrong multiple times.

I hope I'm wrong on November 3, but as many of you longtime readers of this blog are aware of, I have this propensity of being correct about political and other stuff.

It's also a problematic sign of this Prop 8 2.0 campaign as I called it in my October 6 interview with political blogger Charles Kuffner when the Houston NAACP has their awards gala last night at the Hilton Americas Hotel and there is ZERO mention about a human rights ordinance that protects the entire populace, and was driven by discrimination aimed at African-American Houstonians.

Time for a Keeping It Real moment from Christina Gorczynski pointing out all these anti-HERO peeps who have 'concerns about women and children' have been all talk and no action.

Hey Houstonians: Just a quick ‪#‎HERO‬ observation and a little Houston history. Not long ago, Houston had years of backlogged untested rape kits-- and these anti-#HERO fear-mongering potty police were NOWHERE to be found. They were not running commercials advocating for safety for women and girls, and they were certainly not out protesting for justice for sexual assault victims in our city.

IN FACT, the person who took the lead, fought for funds and showed a drive for justice was our Mayor Annise Parker- the very person you are lying about and accusing of making women and children unsafe in bathrooms. She worked with our city council and our state and federal legislative delegations to get the funding necessary to successfully alleviate the untested rape kit backlog. She made it a mission to make sure that women and children in Houston were safer and that people who violated women and children were held accountable. Without much fanfare, she worked hard for us. And our city should be grateful for her leadership. (Olivia Benson would be proud.) 

So some REAL TALK: If all these anti-#HERO assholes really gave a flying fuck about the women and children in Houston, they would have given a damn then. If they actually cared about supporting women and children in crisis, they'd be giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Houston Area Women's Center or the women's ministries at their respective churches instead of buying TV ads to scare women and make us feel afraid in our own city, all under the guise of keeping us "safe."

Frankly, If these DUDES really wanted to protect women, they wouldn't be lying like dogs to each and every one of us with this nutjob shit about bathroom predators. And if they really respected women and children-- and I mean ALL WOMEN including trans women and ALL CHILDREN including trans children, they wouldn't be sitting around thinking of creative and completely dishonest ways to make us afraid of sexual violence every time we leave the house. 

#HERO protects women. Period. Anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is knowingly or unknowingly full of shit. ‪#‎hardstop‬

HERO also protects 14 other categories of Houstonians and it's worth fighting for.  Would be a shame if my fellow Houstonians allowed themselves to be hoodwinked and bamboozled into voting against their own human rights.

The Fight To Keep HERO-October 30

Today is the last day of early voting in H-town for the upcoming mayoral election and voting YES for Prop 1 and the ads are flying.   Another pro-Prop 1 ad rolled out this week as an anti-HERO ad featuring Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick hit the airwaves.



We have had in the runup to Election Day some political heavyweights comment on the HERO vote in President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

“While the Administration generally does not take a formal position on specific proposals or initiatives, the President and Vice President have been strong supporters of state and local efforts to protect Americans from being discriminated against based on who they are and who they love. We’re confident that the citizens of Houston will vote in favor of fairness and equality.

”Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has also weighed in on the HERO fight..



Hollywood has chimed in as well.  Native Texans Matt Bomer and Eva Longoria have also tweeted their support of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.

Eva Longoria ‏@EvaLongoria  Oct 27

I’m proud to join @HRC in support of #HERO in Texas. Join me in the fight #YesonProp1 http://www.whosay.com/l/piRbaPV  pic.twitter.com/AJqq5LSQiE 

We have had actress Sally Field, who has Texas family roots and is an award winning women's rights advocate, weigh in on the HERO at an event Wednesday night, and repeated her commentary Thursday morning at an event for women legislators at the Alley Theater.

News coverage on the local and national level about this fight continues.  The Houston Chronicle in another editorial called out Lt Governor Dan Patrick for outright lying about the ordinance.

But I'm still concerned along with the Houston Black LGBT community this late swell of positive endorsements may be too little, too late.   Polling has tightened up in the last few days, and you know I've expressed my dissatisfaction with the way the campaign to defend HERO was run.  I've been concerned about the failure to utterly crush the bathroom lie.and its lack of outreach to the Houston Black community and POC trans community of color in the face of an opposition side that will use fear and smear attacks on trans people as their only tactic.

And the HERO haters have been immensely helped by the lazy reporting of Fox 26,

You have until 7 PM to take advantage of early voting, otherwise you'll have to wait until November 3 to make your voice heard on this issue.

Got My Houston Vote On!

The second week of early voting started yesterday. and you know I wanted to make certain that I got to weigh in on this 2015 mayoral and Houston civic election because I was voter suppressed out of the 2013 one.

But it's now 2015, and with Texas driver's license in hand that doesn't expire until 2020 and current orange voter registration card in hand, I sauntered into my fave early voting location with Dee Dee Watters and cast my ballot for who I think should be sitting in The Horseshoe and those comfortable leather chairs in January running our city.

And yeah, there's some human rights ordinance you may have heard about called HERO that I voted on as well.

After we both handled our election business, Dee Dee and I decided to have some fun doing some Trans 101 'ejumacation' for the assembled poll workers handing out push cards, including one wearing a Women for Hall shirt.   We may have flipped some minds and hearts in the process, and if they haven't voted yet, changed some NO votes on HERO to YES ones.

Speaking of voting, if you haven't done so yet, need to get to an early voting center before Friday.  After that date, you will have to wait until November 3 to make your electoral voice heard.

Thinking About Two Elections

While I'm up here in Provincetown about to spend an enjoyable week here at Fantasia Fair that I am treating like a working vacation.  

I'm also thinking about two elections today

Back home early voting is starting in our mayoral election, and will continue until October 30 in advance of the big day on November 3.  I will be handling my electoral business when I return to H-town to vote YES for Prop 1 and the best candidates to lead my hometown for the next two years.

The one back home is high stakes and will remain contentious until November 3,

But just to the north of me is another high stakes election.  Canadians will be heading to the polls for their federal election today to determine who will get the lion's share of the 338 seats up for grabs in ridings across our northern neighbor and get control of the House of Commons.  Magic number to form a majority government is 170 seats

The polling over the last week seems to indicate that the Liberals and their leader Justin Trudeau are poised to make a historic comeback and either take enough seats to form a majority government or enough to form a minority one.

That was after the polls were showing a virtual tie between the NDP, Grits and Tories back in early August   That's also assuming the polling is accurate.

It is also fortuitous for me that while I am here at Fantasia Fair I will get a chance to discuss the election resullts and the current state of Canadian politics with Miqqi Gilbert.

But you can't count the Conservatives out, especially since they dominate Alberta and Saskatchewan. Nor can you count out the NDP, who are the current Official Opposition thanks to Quebec going NDP in the 2011 cycle and being the beneficiaries of the Liberal and Bloc Quebecois collapse in that cycle.
 

What is clear in 2015 is that Canadians are sick of PM Harper and his Conservative party.   Quebec is a battleground province this time, along with Ontario and the GTA.

The GTA for you Yanks not paying attention to our north of the border neighbors, is the acronym referring to the Greater Toronto Area, in which the Conservatives surprisingly picked up seats in during the 2011 election on their way to collecting enough seats for their majority government.  

The other wild card in this election cycle is this is the first Canadian federal election since 38 seats were added to Parliament.  The new seats added were in British Columbia (6), Alberta (6), Ontario (15) and Quebec (3).

As a result, 87% of the boundary lines for previously existing ridings changed.  We'll have to see what happens politically in not only the 38 new ridings, but the ridings that experienced boundary changes.

And the interesting question that will be answered later tonight is how many people in the respective Canadian major parties will join those party leaders in Parliament?    

The Fight To Keep HERO- October 6

The deadline to register for this year's mayoral election passed at midnight, and if you didn't handle that business, it's too late for the upcoming election for you to participate.   However, if you haven't done so, not too late for you to register fo next years presidential election.

Time to blow up another lie the HERO haters have been telling in terms of the ordinance applies to them.

While I'm of the opinion it should apply to churches and religious institutions, especially since there have ben far too many pastors bearing false witness against the Houston trans community, and another HERO opponent revealed to be a serial sexual harasser, the facts are there is a general exemption in our non-discrimination ordinance for religious organizations.

Anyone telling you otherwise is lying to you.

Two weeks ago I was interviewed by Houston political blogger Charles Kuffner, whose Off the Kuff blog is the go to one for Houston and Texas political news. . I expressed my thoughts about how the HERO defense campaign was going at the time along with a few other subjects we discussed..

Here's the link to that interview.

The financial reports were released recently, and Houston unites has raised $1,292,893 for the campaign so far, spent $597, 299 and has $521,462 on hand.   The HERO haters have yet to file their report. 

Just need y'all to spend some of that money on radio commercials on Black radio stations over the next several weeks and canvassing in Districts B, D, J and K .

We've had a few organizations and news outlets starting to get off their behinds and get behind the passage of Proposition 1.

The Houston Chronicle got the ball rolling by urging a YES vote on Prop1. KPRC-TV2, our local NBC station unleashed an editorial urging a YES vote for Prop 1

In Sunday's Houston Chronicle, several groups that had already expressed their support for our local human rights ordinance took out a full page ad to remind people once again they support the law..

We're one day closer to early voting on October 19.

The Fight To Keep HERO-September 11

Another question for you HERO haters.

You have been beating the bathroom issue into the ground because you refuse to have a rational discussion about the merits of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance because you know you'll lose if that happens.

That's why we've had, helped by the collusion of lazy Houston media stenographers (they don't deserve to be called journalists) an overdose since last year of right wing fear and smear anti-HERO tactics centered on the potty.

So as tired as I and Houston Trans World is (and trans peeps around the country) of the debunked bathroom issue and you cis people's obsession over what genitalia is between our legs, I'm going to post on it for the last time in this run to the November 3 election.

I keep hearing this line being thrown out by the HERO haters about people needing to use the bathroom based on their genitalia.  But the reality these days is that genitalia does not equal to gender identity or outward gender presentation.

So here goes with my question: Do you HERO haters wish to require that people use the bathroom based on their genitalia?  

You may wish to think long and hard about this question before you answer it.

If your answer is yes, then you would be forcing trans masculine guys like Sgt. Shane Ortega to go to the bathroom with your wives, nieces and daughters.

So the next time you start insultingly calling trans women 'men,' because you willfully refuse to accept their lived experiences and their lives, better consider the fact that trans masculine people exist, and in your zeal to keep 'men out of the women's restrooms', you'll be karmically setting up the exact scenario you've been using to demonize trans feminine people with and scaremonger about in this HERO debate.

And we'll be laughing our azzes off about it.

Trans people have been using the restrooms that correspond to our gender presentation for five decades without incident.

So no, we are not going to meekly accept or be forced by the tyranny of the majority to potentially be placed in dangerous situations for us to use a restroom that doesn't correspond to our outward appearance based on a right wing lie.

We are tired of being dehumanized by people who have no clue about what we deal with, refuse to educate themselves about trans people, or sit in smug faux faith based judgment of our lives

Bottom line is we need to poop and pee just like everyone else on Planet Earth. . If you're looking to stop those predators you're so concerned about, start in your own homes, neighborhoods or churches

And besides, a law already exists to punish peeps who enter restrooms to commit crimes.  It's Section 28.20 in the Houston City Code of Ordinances and it's still very much in effect.  You commit a crime in a Houston bathroom, you're still going to jail and getting prosecuted for it.

Our HERO opponents have yet to (and will not be able to) produce any police report from now and over the last five decades that backs up the lie they have been gleefully spreading about trans people for the last year

We are the prey, not the predator. We have had 19 transwomen killed in 2015 because of anti-trans violence in the US this year.  Trans people face 26% unemployment.because of the anti-trans hatred stirred up by FOX Noise, sellout kneegrow ministers, conservative activists and the GOP.

If transpeople like Sgt Shane Ortega and the 15,000 others in our armed forces are good enough to fight and die in America's military, then we are good enough to have our human rights respected and protected.

We are tired of being harassed by non-trans people based on a debunked right wing spin line when we poop and pee.   We go to the bathroom for the same reasons you do, to handle a natural bodily function, and you need to Houston media stop lying about it.  .  

Trans people are part of the diverse mosaic of human life on Planet Earth, and we're tired of waiting on you cis peeps to recognize that.

That's why I and every reality based Houston area trans person who is registered to vote and our allies will be voting YES on Proposition 1 to keep the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.

Fayetteville, AR Passes Trans Inclusive Rights Law!

Good news coming out of Fayetteville, AR last night.

In the reverse of what happened last December no thanks to the Duggars, the citizens of that city passed Ordinance 5781!

“Today the people of Fayetteville voted for acceptance over fear and showed that cities can ensure religious freedom while protecting the rights of each and every citizen,"  the Northwest Arkansas Center for Equality said in a statement. "People from all walks of life chose to lead Fayetteville and Arkansas toward a more inclusive future. History will remember this as a proud moment when businesses, religious leaders and everyday citizens worked together to unite our community, grow our economy and finally move Fayetteville forward.

Wooo Pig Sooie!   According to the final but unofficial results from the Washington County Election Commission, the vote was  7,666 in favor,  6,860 against  with 29% of  the electorate voting in this special election.

And unlike last time, the Duggars noses weren't in Fayetteville human rights business since they have their own problems they have to deal with besides hating on trans people .

Hope we in Houston can report similar good news in November