The Black Texan Free Vice News Beto-Cruz Discussion

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

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

What's up with that?

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

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

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

Dewey's Historical Marker Erases and Gaywashes Black Trans History

'It's always sad to me when a historic site closes,   Here's hoping that someone in the Philly LGBT community will work to have a historical marker placed at that spot where Black trans history was made once the new hotel is completed.'

-TransGriot, April 25, 2017 
One of the trans themed protests that I have talked about on this blog was the 1965 Dewey's Lunch Counter Sit In and Protest, in which gender variant African Americans led a weeklong protest starting on April 25 at the diner that led to the owners rescinding a transphobic policy.

Because Dewey's was a 24 hour eatery near the Philly gayborhood, it was a hangout for trans and gender nonconforming people.  The owners, afraid they would lose cis customer business, announced a policy that anyone who was dressed in attire at odds with their birth gender would not be served.

After getting protested for a week, they dropped that policy.

Dewey's, operating since 1978 at 219 S. 17th St, as a 24 hour restaurant called Little Pete's, permanently closed last year and was subsequently demolished to make room for a new Hyatt Hotel on the site. 

During the 2015 LGBT Media Journalists Convening, the hotel we were using for the convening was directly across the street from the restaurant.   When I was told during the opening mixer event by local Philly community folks that we were across the street from this trans historical spot,  all of the trans journalists in attendance that year quickly agreed after I told them that we would take a photo in front of Dewey's.

During a break in the convening action, we  along with NLGJA executive director Adam Pawlus went across the street to take that photo.

While I was happy someone read my blog post about the Dewey's closure last year and started the process to get a Pennsylvania historical marker placed at the former Dewey's site that I suggested in the post, what I'm not happy about, and neither is the Philadelphia Black trans community, is that the marker gaywashed and erased us out of history we made.

The marker was dedicated on October 1, and there is no mention on the historical marker that it was Black trans gender variant people who sparked, led and executed this event. 

The text of the marker states: “Activists led one of the nation’s first LGBT sit-ins here in 1965 after homosexuals were denied service at Dewey’s restaurant. Inspired by African-American lunch-counter sit-ins, this event prompted Dewey’s to stop its discriminatory policy, an early victory for LGBT rights.”

Frankly, I'm not surprised it happened.   I've had Philly based Black TBLGQ advocates candidly talk to me about the disturbing undercurrent of anti-Blackness in the Philly TBLGQ community. 

 I've been worried that because of that Philly area anti-Blackness, erasure of the involvement of Black trans people in the the text of the marker for the Dewey's sit in would happen if we weren't involved in the process while it was being created to emphatically insist that the marker reflect that. 

I also suspected it might happen because ever since I've started talking about Dewey's on this blog and on the Bilerico Project that I used to write for, I got pushback from white gays trying to whitewash the event, or assert there wasn't any African American or trans involvement in it. 

Here's hoping that the Philly activist community can get the gaywashed marker corrected so it tells the real story for future generations who read it about what happened on that spot where it stands over 60 years ago

The PA Commission of LGBT Affairs Is Black Trans Free

Governor Tom Wolf (D) signed an executive order yesterday that created the Pennsylvania Commission of LGBT Affairs.  It is the only one like it in the entire nation.

But it has a seriously problematic omission as pointed out on his FB page by NABJ award winning journalist, CNN contributor and Philly Mag LGBT editor Ernest Owens.

***

Ernest Owens

2 hrs · 

THIS IS DISAPPOINTING. Finally getting back in the groove from a long week off and see a lot of things remain the same.

There is something very wrong with this list of 40 LGBTQ names chosen to take place in this historic moment for Pennsylvania.

THERE ARE NO BLACK TRANSGENDER PEOPLE ON THIS LGBTQ AFFAIRS COMMISSION. NONE. NOT A SINGLE ONE.

Looking even closer, I don't think there might be any trans people of color on board for that matter. THIS IS ERASURE. THIS IS A PROBLEM.

To make matters worse, out of the 40 people -- TWO DO NOT EVEN IDENTIFY AS LGBTQ -- State Rep Dan Frankel and State Senator Larry Farnese.

So in other words, two cis-gender straight white "allies" are taking up space in a position of leadership that could be designated by more of our people.

Furthermore, the majority of this list is most of the same ole' respectable token LGBTQ leaders who dominate the conversation within the state all the time.

The fact that none of them spoke out about this glaring omission speaks volumes. The fact that they felt comfortable being in a room that ignored a subset of our community that lead the call for LGBTQ equality long before any of their cis-gender, non-diverse assess says a lot.

I'm disappointed by this list and by the fact that in 2018, we are still acting like transgender people of color aren't out here putting in that work.

To the 40 people on this list, including the two straight white cis-gender men, change this ASAP.

***

Once again, out of the 40 Pennsylvanians that have been named to this groundbreaking commision, none of them are part of the most marginalized group in the commonwealth, Black trans people.

And it's not like you don't have Black trans people that could have been picked to serve on it. 

I do know of one who has national respect in Black trans circles who was not only a 2016 DNC delegate for Pennsylvania, but would be an excellent addition to that commission in Sharron Cooks. 

She is probably the most high profile Black trans leader in Pennsylvania, and she's not on this LGBT commission?   But I guess Sharron is 'too Black' and 'too woke' for y'all, huh? 

And before you go there, Amber Hikes is a Black cisgender woman.   While she's part of the LGBT fam, I've met her during one of my trips to Philly and personally like her, that's not the same as having a Black trans person who deals with the daily microaggressive slights of living life in Pennsylvania while being unapologetically Black and trans.

We need Black trans people like Sharron, who are well versed in the issues that affect Pennsylvania Black trans people, to be on that Pennsylvania LGBT commision to unapologetically talk about them.

It also occurred to me there are no Latinx trans people on this commission either.   Where's Naiymah A.Sanchez's name?   Was she even extended an invitation to join it?   Latinx trans voices are needed as well if you're going to craft effective policy that helps the Pennsylvania trans Latinx community.   

But I see you had no problem putting Tyler Titus on it, and doing so as a co-chair.   Congrats to him for being tapped as a co-chair of this LGBT commission, but I still have to call out the fact that it looks like so far he's the only trans person on this commission, and as usual, the interests of white trans people will be repped and articulated on it from the outset.

And yes, there are also Black trans masculine leaders in Pennsylvania.  Where are they on this list?

The bottom line is that Black, Latinx and other trans persons of color live in Pennsylvania and deserve representation on this statewide LGBT commission. 

If you're going to create this commission, Gov Wolf, in order to craft policy that improves the lives of trans Pennsylvanians, the voices of trans people of color must be at the table at the outself to help shape equitable policies and procedures that come out of it.


TransGriot update:  Not long after writing this post, discovered a Latinx trans man was part of the original list of members of this commission.   Ciora Thomas was added the next day  

Why The Erasure of Black Texans Voices In SB 3 Coverage?

One of the things I thought about on the plane ride home and has been bothering me as I observe the media coverage in this fight to kill SB 3 is that as of yet, I have not seen ANY media outlet attempt to talk to Texas Black trans people, the Dallas based Black Trans Advocacy or even Black legislators in Austin concerning their thoughts about this unjust legislation.

And why is that Texas media?   Have you bought into the myth that the only time mine or the opinions of Black trans people are valid is when we are murdered, and that only white TBLGQ people or leaders of white led organizations are qualified to talk about pending legislation?

As Kandice Webber, a BLM-Houston organizer said to me in a recent conversation about the start of the Special Oppression Session and the anti-trans legislation, "I am not surprised at all. They create these horrible bills that rip our lives apart and then talk to everyone but us about it." "They talk around us as if our blackness doesn't matter. Black trans women are under full scale attack by Dan Patrick. SB3 threatens black lives too but all we see is white trans women I've never heard of and the occasional Latino person. This state constantly reinforces what we already know. They do not care about Black people. That's why it's so important for us to care about ourselves and stand together against this legislative oppression, " she continued.


And yes, Texas media, did you also not consider or even think about the fact that 18 members of the Texas Legislature share my ethnic heritage?  

The Texas Legislative Black Caucus, chaired by Rep Helen Giddings, (D-Dallas) is comprised of 16 members of the Texas House representing Austin, Beaumont, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Houston, and two senators in Royce West (D-Dallas) and Borris Miles (D-Houston)

The Texas Legislative Black Caucus also has the longest serving member of the Texas House in Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston) as a member, and TLBC chair Rep Helen Giddings is vice chair of the House State Affairs Committee, where SB 3 will probably land once it has cleared the Texas Senate.

Translation:  Many of these Texas Black legislators are or will be key players in this special session.

So yes,  as a fourth generation transgender Texan, I'd like to know and believe Texans would like to know where the Texas Black community's legislative representatives in Austin stand, and what their thoughts and opinions are concerning SB 3.

We damned sure hear far too much from Dan Patrick, his assorted white evangelical haters and any unknown kneegrow sellout Black minister that agrees with them  

How about the novel approach of actually talking to Texas Black trans people like myself?  How about talking to our Black Texas state reps and senators?   How about interviewing the parents of Black trans children, the people of Black Transmen, Inc (BTMI) and Black Transwomen, Inc. (BTWI) who are in the crosshairs of this oppressive legislation?  

Last tome I checked, BTMI and BTWI were based in Dallas, and have an annual convention every April in Dallas.

How about ending the media erasure of Black Texans voices concerning this unjust legislation period?

The Voices Of Black Trans People Need To Be Heard At These Press Conferences & Rallies

There was a  #StopSB6 rally that Equality Texas organized starting at 11:45 AM to push back on SB 6 that I wanted to attend but after a few moments of observing it, the problem with it became glaringly apparent to me.

While I agreed with many of the comments that were expressed in the time that I did watch it, and I appreciated the fact you has a trans masculine and trans feminine person speaking it was problematic in the wake of the conclusion of a month is which we lost five Black trans women, not one Black trans person was tapped to speak at it.

And oh yeah, I was there in Austin to lobby against SB 6.

The reason I'm posting about is that I was pissed off having to watch a Black pastor from San Antonio earlier today violate several commandments while talking about the effects of their non discrimination ordinance, and thinking about the fact that so far, we haven't had anyone from my demographic group  being shown as speaking for the trans community and against SB 6.

Visibility matters.  It especially matters when we are fighting a pitched battle to educate and inform my African American community about trans issues.

It is important that we have Black TBLGIQ people and our allies vocal in this trans rights fight be seen and heard during these press conferences because there is this mistaken belief in elements of the Black community that being trans is a 'white thang' .  And why wouldn't they have that perception when the only people my people see speaking in the media in opposition to SB 6 that purport to rep all demographics of the community are overwhelmingly white?

May I also remind you that some of the people who share my ethnic background are Texas legislators that will be voting for or against this SB 6 bill.

Black trans people aren't just here to entertain you, provide melanin for your photo opps or be the 'tragic transsexuals'.  We're trans folks trying to live our lives to the best of our ability. We helped jump off Stonewall.   We're pioneers and innovative leaders in this movement.

We're also more than qualified to talk about trans human rights issues, especially when we show up for everyone's human rights fights in addition to the one our people have waged since 1619.

I'm disappointed that once again an opportunity was missed to send a message to the assembled media that Black trans people exist and their lives matter as well.

We Black trans people exist.  That message to my people, however in order to be received, sometimes has to be sent by people who look like me.

CDC Forgets The T In Their Infographic

Several of my readers sent this link to me of a Centers for Disease Control (CDC)  sponsored infographic campaign in which they are attempting to draw attention to the violence faced by our TBLGQ younglings.

So what's the problem with this poster?  They forgot to include the group of young people that is facing the most disproportionate level of violence in trans and gender nonconforming kids.

WTF CDC?   As of this moment a federal district court hearing is taking place in Wichita Falls in which transphobic federal judge Reed O'Connor is being asked to clarify his previous unjust ruling.  

We have Texas GOP state officials openly planning on targeting the trans community when the legislative session starts in January, Republicans across the country along with white fundamentalists attacking trans kids, an explosion of anti-trans bills and lawsuits that are feeding anti-trans hatred, bigotry and discrimination, and you ignore all of this when you put this campaign together?

I'll say it again.   WTF CDC?    The data exists pointing out trans and gender nonconforming kids are under attack and have disproportionate levels of violence being aimed at them..

I'll repeat this one more time.  Trans and gender nonconforming kids are the ones being disproportionately targeted for violence and abuse.  

A 2013 study of middle and high school age students found that 74% of the respondents to that survey were verbally harassed for gender identity and 55% were harassed for gender expression

72% of the victims of anti-TBLGQ homicides were trans women, and 67% of those trans women murdered due to anti-trans violence are trans women of color.

And BTW, my sis Raquel Willis fixed your graphic to more correctly reflect the community

The CD did try to respond to why trans and gender non conforming youth were erased in this infographic campaign, and here is their weak response:.

This is inexcusable.  As a reminder, trans people are part of the over 300 million people that make up the American population, and our tax dollars we contribute every April 15 do go toward the CDC's budget

We don't need excuses CDC for erasure.  Erasure is deadly to our community, and especially for trans women of color.    Fix it CDC.


H/T Raquel Willis  

You Really Tried To Whitewash Stonewall Again, Roland Emmerich?

You would think that director Roland Emmerich, with the sequel to Independence Day coming out on Friday, would have learned his lesson last year to not piss me, the blogosphere, the Net and other TBLG people of color off.

Elizabeth Rivera e-mailed me the link to his interview in The Guardian, and was shocked when Emmerich's behind tried to go down the whitewashing route again.  When he was asked about his 2015 whitewashed Stonewall flop, he went there and said in the interview that 'Stonewall was a white event'.

"My movie was exactly what they said it wasn't it was politically correct.  It had black, transgender people in there.  We just got killed by one voice on the Internet who saw a trailer and said this is whitewashing Stonewall. Stonewall was a white event, let's be honest.  But nobody wanted to hear that any more."

Really?  During Pride Weekend you try this?   That waste of digital film was whitewashing the history of the 1969 Stonewall riots, and I'm proud of being one of many voices on the Net who called your ass out for trying to go there in the first place.

Stonewall was kicked off by people of color, and there's ample photographic evidence and interviews confirming the participation of trans and other people of color in that June 28, 1969.  You then compounded the mistake of relegating major Stonewall historical figures Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P/ Johnson to minor character status in your whitewashed Stonewall movie fantasy by adding a fictional white main character that you admitted was written into the story to appeal to a straight white audience.

So yeah boo boo kitty, not sorry I called that Stonewall movie whitewashing out in my TransGriot post that went megaviral.  I'm an unapologetic equal opportunity truth teller with a widely read blog and it would have been a crime against history for me to not do so.

If by doing so I may have been the spark that jumped off the backlash and protests that were the catalysts to the movie tanking, then that's all good.

The critics spotted the same whitewashing I noted, Mr Emmerich, so let's not go there trying to minimize the vocal opposition to your movie even though you already tried to.  Next time you do one of those movies based on a documented historical event, try grounding it in some historical truth and going from there.  You'll find it may be better for your box office receipts.

I see it has become necessary to school you again until you get it that the Stonewall Inn was the hangout for TBLG people of color and low income LGBT people in New York, not Fire Island closeted gays.  When faced with more NYPD oppression and harassment, those TBLG people of color, who had nothing to lose and were tired of being oppressed, jumped off a rebellion that subsequently led to the start of the modern TBLG rights movement.

And I got that info from not only reading the historical accounts of it, but people who were actually there like Miss Major and a Houston based Big Five gay leader i cross path with on a regular basis in Ray Hill.

I was going to move on from last year and spend some of my T-bills at my local multiplex to check out the Independence Day Resurgence sequel since I loved the original movie, but now I think I'll spend that money on something else like vendors at my local pride event.

You know, the weekend we have those parades and festivals around the country and the world to celebrate the 1969 riot jumped off by BTLG people of color that started the modern TBLG movement.

Whitewashed Stonewall Movie Tanks At Box Office

'So when Stonewall the whitewashed trans history erasing movie comes out, save your hard earned T-bills.   Just say no to erasure and whitewashing of the undeniable trans and person of color influence in what went down on a sultry June 1969 night that changed the course of American history and started a human rights movement,'
-TransGriot,  August 5, 2015

Roland Emmerich's Stonewall opened last weekend, and it not only received overwhelmingly negative reviews, it spectacularly tanked at the box office.  It made only a measly $112,414 from 127 theaters.

Heh, heh, heh.  Looks like the movie going public and the critics have spoken.  The disaster film king made a real life cinematic disaster, and Emmerich needs to stop trying to make excuses for it..

Note to Hollywood, next time don't be so quick to erase people of color and trans folks from an event we helped jump off.   If you had centered the movie around the real life history of it, the money you made would have been exponentially more than the paltry sum you did make on opening weekend.

The Stonewall Rebellion was not a planned Fire Island gay action as the movie tried to depict it as.  It was a spontaneous reaction by trans people, butch lesbians, drag queens and other denizens of the Stonewall Inn on that sultry June 1969 night fed up with repeated harassment from the NYPD as the Fire Island gays cowered in their closets.

The historical record backs that up.  

The gay rights revolution was jumped off by the peeps the Fire Island 'good homosexuals' reviled and who had nothing to lose by fighting the powers that be.

Deal with it.

Hollywood has done many movies based on historical events, most recently Selma. and for the most part they stayed true to the historical story while taking mild dramatic license with it.  

Stonewall was a straight up crime against history that could not be allowed to stand, because it sought to erase trans people and people of color from the seminal historical event they jumped off.  

It's also not an accident that white gay men like Larry Kramer rushed in to try to defend the indefensible erasure.   Who's crazy now, Larry?

As the child and godchild of historians and heir to that distinguished legacy of trans activism, I'm doing the happy dance because Stonewall tanked at the box office.

Next time you want to do a movie about an TBLG historical event Hollywood, ground it in the actual history of the event you're trying to put on the silver screen..  

Straight Outta Stonewall

One of the things that pissed me and many folks off last week was the release of a trailer for the upcoming Roland Emmerich directed crime against history Stonewall movie that centered the story around a fictional white gay man named Danny.

We all know who really kicked off the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion.  It damned sure wasn't the Fire Island  'good homosexuals' covering in their closets.  It was the trans peeps, butch lesbians, bi folks, drag queens and other LGBT people of color fed up with NYPD police harassment of them.

And the Stonewall Inn was their hangout.  

In honor of the 20th anniversary of the release of the classic NWA rap album Straight Outta Compton, Beats Audio created a meme maker in which you could upload a pic of yourself and add your 'hood or hometown to it.  Of course, their are mischievous pranksters who have gleefully taken it and ran with it and I'll be talking about that in another post late.

But thanks to La La Zannell, we have these reminders of who the real heroes and sheroes of Stonewall were in terms of Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson and Miss Major.

In light of the fact we have had far too many trans murders this year, these memes serve to remind usof the proud history we have as trans women of color, and that we are not just tragic victims.   We kicked off a human rights movement.  We are fighting not only to advance our own human rights cause but the human rights of all people.   We are providing  trailblazing and innovative leadership as we continue to make history in our 21st century time on Planet Earth.

It  is also vitally important for our trans younglings to know we existed before they were born, are part of the fabric of our communities, and they have possibility models they can look up to, be proud of and emulate.

We who benefit from the pioneering work of Sylvia, Marsha, Miss Major, the Dewey's Lunch Counter Sit In protestors, and the Compton's Cafeteria and Copper's Donuts riots must never forget that we all walk in their pumps, and it ain't about us.  It's about the next generation of transkids that we do this work for.  All we are simply doing is building on the foundation of resistance and struggle they have painstakingly laid down. 

Even though we may not live long enough to enjoy the fruits of that work, it's trans human rights work we must do.  At the same time we must tell our stories, work intersectionally to build allies, build community here and abroad while documenting our history.  We must pass it on to the next generation so they can know what we did in our late 20th-early 21st century time on Planet Earth did to make the world better for trans people than when we encountered it.

As the Stonewall movie whitewashing tells us,  we must also be vigilant in ensuring the historical record is correct when it comes to events we know beyond a shadow of a doubt were trans people of color productions.  We cannot allow POC contributions to building the LGBT rights movement to be erased by whiteness and white supremacy.   

We're Straight Outta Stonewall, and don't you ever let anyone try to tell you you're not.


TransGriot Mote:  Last two images courtesy of Elizabeth Rivera, previous three  LaLa Zannell.

Bi Community Not Shown Any Love In #ThisIsLuv Campaign

The #ThisIsLuv Campaign was organized by Wade Davis, Tiq Milan and Darnell Moore in conjunction with GLAAD, National Black Justice Coalition, Politini Media, Feministing.com, HRC Foundation (HRCF) and EBONY.com to highlight and affirm “LGBT love in Black communities”.

While that's an effort that is needed in our community, I was concerned that not only are the goals of this campaign not clearly defined beyond the nebulous 'highlight and affirm LGBT love in Black communities', I was bothered that BiNet USA was not included in the list of organizations taking part in this much needed educational and affirmation of love effort in our African descended community ranks.

And the Bi community is not feeling the love in the #ThisIsLuv campaign.   They are feeling dissed.

Just like the trans community, the 'B' in the LGBT community has been marginalized and ignored as well by the LG end, and the bi community ain't having it any more as this petition is evidence of along with a statement from non-monosexual leaders concerning the #ThisIsLuv campaign.

And yes, African-American bi community members exist.  I've been in contact and friends with many of them for years.

With Kate Brown in Oregon set to become the first out bisexual governor in the US today in the wake of the resignation of scandal ridden Governor John Kitzhaber (D), a bi congressmember in US Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ),  BiNet USA president Faith Cheltenham last year becoming the first out bi person to witness a White House bill signing, and a long list of current celebrities and historical figures who are part of it, the  'B' in LGBT is anything but invisible, especially in the African-American community.

Neither are the bi community's leaders like Faith Cheltenham.

Cheltenham didn't mince any words on her Facebook page about another sad case of  bi erasure.

"It's weird, it's like one good thing happens for bi visibility and the ENTIRE LGBT WORLD tries to stuff all the bisexuals in a closet. In a 24hr period I've witnessed a "blah" response on openly bisexual Kate Brown from LGBT Media elite, seen biphobia MISSPELLED by Black LGBT activists like Tiq Milan and Wade Davis, seen myself utilized to showcase diversity at a not so diverse conference, been told by a ‪#‎CSUN‬ researcher that pansexual is not a bisexual community label...and to top it all off? The ‪#‎ThisisLuv‬ press release bandied about "gay and transgender' like it didn't just kill half a dozen bi+ activists. GODDESS? I DON'T HAVE MUCH LEFT, I JUST DON'T. I'm agreeing with Dr. Heru Khuti, it's time to call it a ‪#‎Bisexual‬ ‪#‎StateofEmergency‬.

Screw the petitions, I say we start suing. It's fraud plain and simple to utilize bisexual stats and deny bisexuals service. It's deception to claim you're doing LGBT work when the B is always silent, forgotten and erased. And honestly, it's just plain cruel to follow up your slights with comments like "it's not like bisexual activists are on every corner". Honey, with higher poverty rates than our gay, lesbian and heterosexual peers we really ARE on a lot of corners. And I agree again with Dr. Herukhuti, it's a misstep to neglect to amplify BLACK TRANS WOMEN during this epidemic of violence against them. Just like its a misstep to erase bi folks from #ThisisLuv when family acceptance for bi youth is lower than their gay and lesbian peers experience.

I would hope that the #ThisIsLuv campaign organizers would expeditiously correct their error and immediately include African-descended bi community leaders.  As much as I like the idea and it's critically needed in the Black community, I can't support it if it continues to erase the bi community in words and deeds.

You can't legitimately claim that this is an LGBT community campaign when the 'B' was not only ignored, but wasn't sitting at the table to craft it.

Yo Hallmark Channel, Next Year Can We Get More Diversity In Your Christmas Movies?

Yes, Black people fall in love, get married, buy  romance novels, and like watching romance movies, too.   It would be nice to see ourselves occasionally represented in your made for TV romances especially since we persons of colors are part of the 87 million homes that have Hallmark Channel as part of their cable package.
--TransGriot, October 15, 2012, "Yo Hallmark Channel, Black People Fall In Love, Too"

As an incurable romantic, I do like reading romance novels and love a good romantic movie from time to time as an escape because the topic I write about are serious in terms of human rights issues.

Hallmark Channel bills itself as 'The Heart of TV'  and built its cable brand on broadcasting made for TV romance movies it produces along with broadcasting classic TV shows like Frasier and The Golden Girls.  It is part of many cable TV packages and has 86 million viewers.

It also likes to do holiday themed programming.  Its popular and highly rated 'Countdown To Christmas' lasts from the first weekend in November to Christmas Day as the network broadcasts 24 hours of Christmas themed movies. 

From December 26 to January that shifts to the 'Countdown to New Year's Day' which ends with the broadcast of the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, CA.  In February it's all romance all the time leading up to Valentine's Day.

But no matter what the theme, there is one consistent, nagging issue about that themed programming that becomes glaringly obvious in 24 hour rotation.  

The overwhelming whiteness of it.

I noted that in my post last year about it, and I see that nothing's been done to correct the problem I noticed last year.   This year's 'Countdown to Christmas' themed movies probably made Fox Noise and Megyn Kelly smile because they had the diversity of a Republican Party convention.

Black folks meet, fall in love with each other and get married during the holidays, too. As a matter of fact that simple point is what keeps royalty checks consistently flowing into Kayla Perrin's and other Black romance writers bank accounts.

As The Best Man Holiday and its $69.8 million box office emphatically continues to prove, we African-Americans do have universal stories that will appeal to a wider audience and want to see ourselves represented on the small and silver screens..

The same is true of the Latino and Asian community and movies that are performed by an all-Latino or all- Asian cast.   They would like to see themselves represented in the media they watch, too 

In fact when I do discover movies such as Nothing Like The Holidays, which was a Christmas movie released in 2008 with a predominately Latino cast, I see them as a refreshing change, because romantic movies with all white casts are so been there, bored with that.

So next year Hallmark and into the foreseeable future, what I and many non-white viewers of your channel want is so deceptively simple when 'Countdown to Christmas' 2014 rolls around.

Can we get some holiday movies made by you that reflect the diversity of this country?

And when I say diversity of this country, I don't mean an all or predominately white cast with a token Black, Latino or Asian actor in the background for half a second as the white leads are making goo-goo eyes at each other. 

If you don't have the writers on hand to produce those scripts with the (and this is vitally important) cultural nuances of my people, then get writers to produce those Christmas romance scripts who are culturally competent to make it happen and hire directors well versed in those non-white cultures to make them.

So Hallmark, can you do that for your non-white viewers, who are part of the 86 million people who watch your channel?

Are Virgina's Transpeople About To Be Thrown Under The Civil Rights Bus?

While I'm happy that the next governor of the commonwealth of Virginia will be a Democrat, what I'm not happy about is that Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe is possibly about to throw the Virginia transpeople who helped get him elected under the human rights bus.

McAuliffe announced that one of his first acts as governor once he is inaugurated in January would be banning  discrimination in state workplaces based on sexual orientation.  

It's the same executive order that former Virginia governor Tim Kaine signed in 2006 that was rescinded four lears later when Republican Bob McDonnell succeeded him.

That's a problem because sexual orientation language alone will not cover trans people.  Gender identity or expression language needs to be added to that executive order to cover the trans community  

And for those of you in GL World who will throw the 'you transpeople are covered under Title VII and we're not' point to justify this, bigots aren't paying attention to Title VII, Glenn v Brumby or the EEOC Macy v Holder case until after they discriminate against trans people and get whacked by it.

What they do pay attention to is laws and the media telling them laws have been passed that make it illegal to discriminate against protected classes of people.

Bottom line is that favorable court and EEOC rulings and precedents aren't enough .  We need anti-trans discrimination laws on the books in our cities, counties, states and our nation that explicitly state anti-trans discrimination is unacceptable.  

If you GL people in Virginia and elsewhere don't think that it's important to have those laws on the books or transpeople pointing out the missing gender identity and expression language is 'attacking your allies', then let's see how secure you would feel your human rights are if all the anti-discrimination laws in this country that have sexual orientation only language in them to prohibit discrimination against you were suddenly no longer available and you had to depend on the court system or EEOC administrative rulings to enforce them. 

Bet you'd see it differently wouldn't you? 

So to ensure the executive order covers all LGBT Virginians in state employment, gender identity and expression language needs to be expeditiously added to that executive order. 

We'll see if it happens.