Houston Public Library Hosts “SpeakOUT!”, A Free Spoken Word Poetry Event Tomorrow

Houston Public Library (HPL) invites the community to its 'SpeakOUT' event, focusing on the unique experiences within the LGBT community that can be expressed through spoken word poetry.

A reception will be followed by presentations from local performers and activists Tye West, Scott Chalupa, and Ranma Kumayama. The program will include audience participation. 

The event will take place tomorrow, December 14, 2013 from 12 noon -5 PM at Clayton Library, part of the Houston Public Library system.

It will be held in the Guest House, located at 5300 Caroline, Houston, Texas, 77004. This event is free and open to the public. Further information can be obtained by visiting www.houstonlibrary.org or calling 832-393-1313.

This spoken word poetry event is part of an ongoing LGBT event series hosted by the Houston Public Library.

About the Performers

Ranma Kumayama

Ranma Kumayama, also known as Koomah, is an intersex-bodied multidisciplinary grassroots artist whose art covers an eclectic range from visual art, performance art, drag, burlesque & cabaret, genderbending sideshow acts, and film. Koomah’s work challenges audiences to ask questions, see from new perspectives, be vulnerable, and ponder social norms. Koomah has performed, showcased artwork, screened films, participated speaking on educational panels, and presented workshops on topics of intersex, transgender, gender, and sexuality nationwide.

Tye West

Tye West is a man of Trans experience. He is co-director for the non-profit Transcending Men Inc. and is a representative of Black Transman Inc., where he mentors and helps other transgender men in the community. He is Co-founder/Director of People Empowering People, as well as being a volunteer for HRC’s diversity and outreach committee and for MCC Resurrection. Tye has performed at MCCR’s Kwanza program and Gospel Ensemble, and the Transgender Unity Banquet. He will soon be appearing in the Vagina Monologues and the TRUTH Houston Project, an organization that seeks to give voice to the African American LGBT community. He’s participated in 3 panel discussions for Transgender 101, or the "T" in LGBTQ, and a presentation at MHMRA for Trans youth and family dynamics.

Scott Chalupa

Scott Chalupa is a queer poet working on his BA in creative writing at the University of Houston. His poetry has appeared in “Nexus,” “The Alitheia,” and “The Front Row” on 88.7 KUHF-FM. Scott is a featured writer in the 2013 Houston Public Poetry Series. He is a winner of the Howard Moss Prize for Poetry and an Honorable Mention for the Brian Lawrence Prize for Poetry. For the last year he has served as Co-Editor of “Glass Mountain,” the undergraduate literary journal at UH, which won the 2013 Program Director’s Prize for Content at AWP. So many years back it seems impossible, he helped establish the HATCH radio segment, now in its 15^th year, on KPFT-FM “After Hours. “

About the Houston Public Library

The Houston Public Library (HPL) operates 35 neighborhood libraries, three HPL Express Libraries, a Central Library, the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research, The African American Library at the Gregory School, and the Parent Resource Library, located in the Children’s Museum of Houston. Serving more than 4 million customers per year, HPL is committed to excellent customer service and equitable access to information and programs by providing library customers with free use of a diverse collection of printed materials, and electronic resources, Internet, laptop and computer use, and a variety of database and reference resources with live assistance online 24/7. 

For further information, visit the Houston Public Library at www.houstonlibrary.org  or call 832-393-1313.

See Ya, San Antonio

This was a quick in and out trip to the Alamo City for their TDOR, and I do thank them and my gracious host Lauryn Farris for the invite to participate in it and their brand of Texas hospitality.  

It was also a blast getting to see my Dallas area homegirl Carmarion Anderson and meet and see all the wonderful people in the San Antonio trans community.  

Promise y'all it won't take me 32 years to come back to San Antonio for another visit. 

Now it's time for me to get back on the Megabus and figure out what fool, fool or fools deserve to win this week's edition of the Shut Up Fool Awards

If it left on schedule, I should be headed eastbound on I-10 and back to my semi-boring Houston life about noon.

Moni's Busy TDOR 2013 Week

The 15th annual observance of the Transgender Day of Remembrance officially happens on November 20, but the trend over the last few years has been to build informational programs around the observance of the day especially if that date doesn't fall on a weekend. 

With the official TDOR date falling on Wednesday this year, that has been the case with many locales having events starting last week and continuing through this Sunday.

Because of my status in Trans World, I do get the honor and privilege of being invited from time to time to take part in a wide variety of TDOR events including keynote speeches.  

The arrival of TDOR 2013 means as usual I'm going to be a little busy during this runup to November 20.  

I have a TDOR themed article I'm writing that's due Tuesday.  I woke up this morning to do a radio interview on Canadian radio station CHRW 94.9 FM that I'll post to the blog when it's available.  There's a local TDOR event in Houston I'm participating in near the TSU campus that starts at 7 PM on Wednesday, then I  get up early to travel to San Antonio for a TDOR event in San Antonio I'm speaking at Thursday evening . 

So if I'm going to see The Best Man Holiday this week, better be an early morning matinee.

TDOR Unite! Online TDOR Ceremony Tomorrow

The official Transgender Day Of Remembrance observance happens on Wednesday, but tomorrow starting at at 9 PM Eastern / 8 PM Central / 7 PM Mountain / 6 PM Pacific time (US) the first annual online Transgender Day of Remembrance memorial service will take place.

The theme this year is Our Lives Are Valuable and the goals of this service are to remember the lives we lost to anti-trans violence this past year, comfort and support each other and affirm that our lives as trans human beings are valuable.

The event was created by the TDOR Unite! coalition and hosted by the Church of the Larger Fellowship, a Unitarian Universalist congregation without walls, in partnership with Standing on the Side of Love.

The groundbreaking livestreaming event will also be available to those of you who have mobile devices as well.  www.livestream.com/questformeaning

Mobile devices link:
www.livestream.com/questformeaning2

The Opening Invocation for the online TDOR event will be by Lynn Young with reflections offered by Ignacio Rivera, Carter Brown, Pauline Park, and Bamby Salcedo

The Artistic Expressions during this first annual event will be provided by KOKUMO, Tona Brown, Arjuna Greist, Christian Axavier Lovehall, Cherno Biko, Monica Stevens Yorkman, and others.

So mark your calendars and check out this first annual online event tomorrow in your time zone.
  

Moni's CC14 Interview

In the runup to our upcoming Creating Change conference in Houston January 29-February 2, in addition to yours truly writing the series of TransGriot diary posts about our Host Committee putting together the CC14 event, we have different members of our Houston Host Committee like myself who have attended past Creating Change conferences being interviewed about our experiences at this major LGBT community event.

The interview that I recently did was posted on the CC14 website today.  Here's a taste of it.

***

Creating Change: What are the 3 biggest learnings/discoveries/takeaways you have gleaned from the Creating Change Conference(s) you’ve attended?

Monica Roberts: The first discovery is that Creating Change is an amazingly diverse event with people there from 18-80.

It is the place to be if you want to meet people in the LGBT movement and acquire the knowledge base and skills necessary to become an effective activist.

The worst time to commit a discriminatory act against a member of the LGBT community is when Creating Change is in town.   The transphobic disrespecting of a transfeminine Creating Change attendee and her friends by the Oakland Police Department  in front of our convention hotel led to a protest march and use of the advocacy tactics we’d been learning in a real world situation.

Creating Change: What motivated you to volunteer to serve on the Creating Change Organizing committee?

Monica Roberts: I’m very proud of my hometown and wanted to be part of the team organizing the first Creating Change to take place in Houston.   I also believed it was important for me to do so as a past attendee and a longtime African-American trans leader from this city.

***

You can read the rest of what I had to say by following this link to the Creating Change 2014 website.

Trials Of LGBT Out Vs.Not Out Panel Discussion Event At UH Tonight

It's National Coming Out Week, and I've been invited to take part in a panel discussion on the University of Houston campus later this evening. 

It's part of the on campus series of events conducted to enlighten the UH community on LGBT issues in the runup to National Coming Out Day on Friday.

The event I've been invited to take part in is hosted by Gamma Rho Lambda Sorority's Kappa Chapter and is a panel discussion entitled 'Trials of LGBT: Out Vs. Not Out'.    I'm excited to not only be back on the campus of my alma mater, but be part of a panel of people who have either had the experience of either coming out or are unable to do so due to extenuating circumstances.

It'll be at the Agnes Arnold Building on the UH main campus tonight, October 8 in Room 30 and starts at 6:30 PM   

Hope you folks in the Houston area and on or near the UH campus can make it for what should be an interesting discussion.

T.G.I.F. 2013 Happening Tomorrow

Last July  T.G.I.F., spearheaded by local trans activist KOKUMO brought over 350 people to a first of its kind event in Chicago celebrating the trans, gender variant and intersex communities that featured a rally, musical performances, a picnic and a community expo. 

The second annual Trans*, Gender Non-Conforming, Intersex Freedom (T.G.I.F.) event happens tomorrow July 28 at Union Park from 12-4 PM CDT at 1501 W. Randolph St.   If you're living in the Chicago area and are looking for something to do on a Sunday afternoon that supports the local community, you may wish to show up for this one. 

The theme for this year's T.G.I.F. is "Transcending Pride, Evolving Movements," is hosted by Cyon Flare and will have performances by Angelica Ross, Dirty Grid, About Face Youth Theatre, Elias Karal, Jova Black, KOKUMO and more.  Local activists delivering keynote addresses are Alexis Martinez of the Chicago Dyke March Collective, gender nonconforming performance artist Nic Kay and intersex activist Pidgeon Pagonis.

There will also be organizations at T.G.I.F. 2013 with information booths and tables performing services such as SAGE Community Services, the Young Women's Empowerment Project and the Transformative Justice Law Project.

Should be a fun, interesting and informative event, so if you're in the Chicago area, go support it.

Speak Out and Vigil For Diamond Williams In Philly Tonight

Don't forget Philadelphia metro area trans peeps, there will be a Speak Out and Vigil for Diamond Williams at LOVE Park starting at 5:30 PM EDT.

Speaking tonight at this vigil are: Aamina Morrison– TIP Co-Director
Samantha Jo Dato – Trans* Wellness Project
Christian Axavier Lovehall – Philly Trans* March
Sade Ali –Philadelphia Deputy Commissioner Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services, Morris Home Founder
Gloria Casarez - Director of LGBT Affairs, Mayor's Office

LOVE Park is located at 1599 John F. Kennedy Blvd in Philadelphia, PA. and it will take place from 5:30-6:30 PM EDT. 

Hope you can attend it and pay your respects to the name and memory of Diamond Williams.

IDAHOT 2013 Happening Friday

IDAHOT stands for the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, which is an international event created in 2004 to draw the attention of policymakers, opinion leaders, social movements, the public and the media to this issue.  Transphobia was officially added to the campaign in 2009

It is not one centralized campaign under UN auspices, but coordinated by a Paris based IDAHOT committee founded and headed by French academic Louis-Georges Tin.   It is designed to be a day in which everyone can use it as a way to take action against the twin scourges of homophobia and transphobia.

As of this writing, biphobia has not been officially added to the campaign. 

The May 17 date was chosen by the IDAHOT creators to commemorate the World Health Organization’s 1990 decision to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder.    It something we transpeople around the world are seeking to replicate with the WHO in terms of getting GID declassified with this upcoming revision of the ICD-11 manual in 2015.

The IDAHOT is celebated in more than 100 countries and has gained official recognition in the European Union, Belgium, United Kingdom, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Mexico, and Costa Rica.

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Smith College Teach In Tonight

For those of you in Western Massachusetts, you may wish to roll over to Northampton and check out a teach in that's happening on the Smith College campus tonight from 6:30-7:30 PM EDT  outside the Smith Campus Center.

It's being hosted by Smith Q & A (Queers & Alliez)  in response to the issue of exclusion of trans women from being able to enroll and matriculate at one of the premiere women's colleges in the country.

A petition calling for the end of transphobic discrimination in Smith admissions policies has garnered over 4000 signatures.

One of the people who will be speaking is longtime activist and historian Bet Power, and I hope the video cameras are rolling for this one.

Hope you'll come and show your support for this event.

KOKUMO Performing This Weekend

TransGriot Note:  Photo of KOKUMO by Andy Karol

For you peeps in the Chicago area looking for something to do, y'all get the opportunity to check out a KOKUMO performance this weekend. 

Hot on the stiletto heels of the release of her debut EP, the 'artivist' KOKUMO will have her debut performance at Parlour On Clark.  KOKUMO LIVE is a benefit for T.G.I.F., the second annual Trans Intersex Gender Non-Conforming Freedom Rally and Picnic. 

The $3 donation at the door will go towards defraying the costs associated with putting together the T.G.I.F. event.   The address of the venue is 6341 N. Clark St, Chicago IL, 60660

Also performing will be Mister Junior, Kiam Marcelo Junio and the Northern Lights Go-Go Gothic Dancers.
Your host for this night of entertainment for a good cause will be Andy Siharath with DJ Erik Roldan on the wheels of steel

The performance starts at 11:00 PM CDT at Parlour on Clark, so here's an opportunity for you to see my fellow Trans 100 list sis, get a night of entertainment at a reasonable cost and support a good cause at the same time. 
 

In The House At The 21st Annual Houston Unity Banquet

The 21st annual Houston Unity Banquet was held at the Sheraton Brookhollow Hotel April 20 to another diverse capacity crowd.

The program for the event featured Tye West doing a spoken word poem and Dr. Susan Stryker as the keynote speaker.

Had a nice mix of trans community members from here and around the state, our allies and politicians in the room this weekend breaking bread with the Houston trans community along with a nice goodie bag with the Houston trans community logo on it to take home. 

It was emceed this year by LA's and the Task Force's Trystan Reese, and Texas state rep Garnet Coleman was in the house to break down legislative developments in Austin.  We had HISD board member Juliet Stipeche, Houston City Councilmember Mike Laster and several judges in the room as well along with Equality Texas' Daniel Williams and Houston City Council candidate Jenifer Rene Pool.   

Some of the other notable faces in the banquet crowd were Precinct 1 constable Alan Rosen,  Ann Harris Bennett, Project GRAD's Ramiro Fonseca, and District 7 congressional candidate Lissa Squires.   

There were some nice door prizes donated such as tickets to the Houston symphony and ballet, men's and women's watches from I.W. Marks Jewelers and a dinner certificate at Niko Niko's just to name a few of the items that the winning ticket holders had a chance to choose from. 

And darn it, I was an agonizing three numbers away during one ticket drawing of claiming one of those prizes.

We also had the interesting occurrence of all four Texas members of the Trans 100 List in the same space since the list was unveiled back on March 31 and subsequently published..

In addition to dinner the Houston transgender community awards were handed out prior to Dr. Stryker's inspiring speech.

The Champion Award went to Becca Keo

Champions Award went to Lesbian Health Initiative

The Dee McKellar Award went to Katy Stewart

Horizon Award to Dana Hinton

The Brenda Thomas Award to Dallas' Carter Brown 

And this year's Lifetime Achievement Award (and a much deserved one) went to Judge Phyllis Frye.

An HTUC President's Award was given out this year to Monyque Starr.  

Congratulations to all the award winners.  I had a wonderful time meeting some of the new faces in the community, seeing old friends, talking to many of the local and statewide LGBT community leaders and allies, seeing Dr Stryker who made an exciting announcement during her speech that you peeps will hear about soon (and I'm sworn to secrecy on)  and having the honor and pleasure of sitting with the people of TENT (Transgender Education Network of Texas) during this event.

It was also nice seeing Kristopher Sharp, the UH-Downtown student government presidential candidate I met Wednesday during my panel discussion visit to the UHD campus.who was subjected to a vicious smear campaign.   I also enjoyed spending some quality time on this end of I-45 with Carter again.  

Photos will be going up on the Houston Transgender Unity Committee website at htuc.org as soon as they are available.  Congrats to the Unity Committee for putting on another successful Unity Banquet and hope it's even bigger and better next year.

2013 TG Social Series Kicks Off Today

Later this evening for those of you in the Houston area, the first Houston TG Center social of 2013 will happen starting around 7 PM.  

The TG Center socials happen on the first Friday of every month through the fall and usually have barbecue chicken, burgers, chips, dips and covered dishes for people to eat.   They even have stuff  for you vegan peeps to eat for a $10 donation to the cause.

I usually try to make a few of them during every TG social cycle and especially the first one of the year since it's a sure sign that spring is definitely here.  We're getting close the the next major event on our local calendar in terms of the Houston Transgender Unity Dinner. 

The TG Center is located in the Montrose gayborhood, and I love checking out the TG socials and getting to meet, greet and talk to some of the local peeps in the community and surrounding Houston metro area.    

So hope to see you there.

Chicago Trans 100 Kickoff Event Live Feed

If you're in the TransGriot's shoes and couldn't be in Chicago (or Phoenix darn it), or couldn't get tickets for the sold out Trans 100 Launch Event featuring the talents of KOKUMO, Janet Mock, Dr Kortney Ryan Ziegler, Namoli Brennet and Joe Stevens, now you can be in the room.

When the Trans 100 event starts at 7 PM CDT it will have a live feed you can watch.  You knew Moni was going to make it easy on you TransGriot readers to find it, so just click on this link to watch the action LIVE from the Mayne Stage.

And yep, I'm wondering myself who will be the folks on the initial Trans 100 List.   Looking forward to the day when we get to see multiple national and international trans lists.

You can tune in tonight to find out the 100 trans people who were honored for the inaugural US list. 

2013 TTNS Dates And Location

One of my favorite events I like attending that happens here is the Texas Transgender Non Discrimination Summit   Haven't missed one since I returned home in May 2010 and won't have any excuse this year either.

Been advised of the location and dates for the fifth annual TTNS, and it will be happening on the University of Houston campus July 19-21, 2013 at UH's Roy Cullen Bldg.

Last year's TTNS happened at UH-Clear Lake and included for the first time a Trans Health Summit pre-conference event conducted by TENT, the  Transgender Education Network of Texas.  

If you're wishing to help gain transgender human rights coverage at Texas colleges and universities in their institutional policies, or seeking to learn more about the Texas transgender community, this is the event for you to attend.

If you are a member of the trans community or one of our enthusiastic allies, the welcome mat is rolled out for you and you are cordially invited to attend this annual strategy sharing summit chock full of informative seminars, presentations and inspiring keynote speeches.

And oh yeah, can't forget the chocolate break.  

You'll also make connections with those persons in the Houston area and around the state already doing this work. Learn from their successes and experiences. Gain insight and create a supportive network of interested like-minded individuals,activists and academics. 

You'll learn what works and what doesn't in changing policy on campuses to protect transgender faculty, staff, students, and allies as was recently done at SMU, and what Texas schools currently have those policies.


The TTNS website is being updated and relaunched soon, so when it officially comes online I will post the link to it and other information.  I'll also keep you TransGriot readers updated as to keynote speakers and other TTNS related info as I receive it.

Trans Pride Event In Chicago Next Week

TGIF (Trans, Gender Non-Conforming Intersex Freedom) , the first ever trans pride event in the Midwest according to its founders will take place on July 29 at Union Park in Chicago. 

It was put together by KOKUMOMEDIA in collaboration with other local Windy City organizations such as the Dyke March, Affinity, Southwest Youth Collaborative, the Center on Halsted, the Broadway Youth Center, About Face Youth Theater, and YEPP with financial support from the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Berlin Nightclub, Queerer Park, the University of Chicago, and Lambda Legal.

TGIF will feature music, performances, speak outs, poetry, skits, beauty parlors and more in addition to a keynote speech from Kylar Broadus, the executive director of TPOCC, the Trans Persons Of Color Coalition.

KOKUMOMEDIA is the entrepreneurial company founded by KOKUMO, a 23 year old African descended transwoman whose 'artivism' includes a one act play I talked about on the blog last April called 'The Faggot Who Could Fly'.   She was recently honored with a 2012 Esteem Award.in the Outstanding Service Youth category. and her name translates to literally mean 'this one will not die'

She wants to create the world she didn't grow up in and has noticed like all non-white trans people do the progress disparity between us and our white trans counterparts.
“[Transgender, gender non-conforming, and intersex] people are definitely making strides, but when it comes to black and brown TGI people, we’ve got a long way to go,” said KOKUMO. 

For those of you TransGriot readers in the Chicago area, you may wish to observe history in the making by checking out and supporting the first annual TGIF event and give my TPOCC brother some love.

Upcoming Trans POC Picnic In Maryland

For all you trans POC peeps in the Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia area or you just want an excuse to go there, it's time for what has become an annual event in that area in the Trans POC picnic.

It's scheduled to be held on July 21 from 1 PM- 5 PM EDT at Wheaton Regional Park in Wheaton, MD. 

So this serves as your save the date post and please consider attending that event.  It's a wonderful way for you to get some fresh air, get to know your fellow transpeeps, make some new friends and get reacquainted with some old ones while y'all get your grub on, play cards and dominoes and have fun..

If I get any additional details I will definitely pass them on to you.

I Repeat-Diversity Is Sorely Needed In Our Houston Trans Community

I'm a native Houstonian proud of our Lone Star traditions, our trans community, its history and being one of the people who helped make some of that history.   I'm also exceedingly proud of the award winning leaders that we have produced locally that have in some cases achieved a statewide, national and international footprint and following.


I wrote a post last year discussing the hard, solid thinking I was engaged in about the state of the national Black trans community.  I pointed out more diversity was needed in our Houston and Texas trans community ranks and what I said back in March 2011 bears repeating once again.  

As I mentioned, I was blessed to get the opportunity of attending the 20th annual Houston Transgender Unity Banquet for the first time in over a decade last weekend. While I enjoyed seeing everyone who was at the Sheraton Brookhollow and meeting some new rainbow community folks and allies in the process, I was still concerned about the lack of diversity in the room. 

This is the Houston trans community's signature event and the Unity Banquet reminded me once again how monochromatic and vanillacentric in outlook my hometown trans community leadership ranks have become in terms of the folks who are out there representing its public face.  I also believe the 'pay to play' activism model has had the deleterious result of creating a fiscal participation barrier and shutting out low income GLBT people from shaping the Houston GLBT community and the policies it advocates.   

In non-white communities there is already the ossifying impression that the GLBT community is an overwhelmingly white one, and that perception plays into some of the pushback and resistance the entire  rainbow community gets in its human rights fights.  That perception problem is one our right wing opponents are increasingly trying to exploit and use as a wedge issue as they oppose our human rights push. 

In a multicultural city of over 2 million people such as Houston, when we are contemplating fighting for a rainbow community human rights city charter referendum that will require the votes of a multicultural coalition of progressive Houston voters in order to pass it, that's a problem that needs to be fixed now before that ballot initiative gets rolled out and taken to the voters if we wish to win that fight.   Failure to seriously address this problem will result in another electoral loss for this community and I don't want to see that happen to legislation we desperately need.   .

Frustration is brewing among Houston's non-white transpeople.   It's fueled by not only the ongoing killing of our transsisters and the feeling that no one cares about it, it's also the lack of visibility and seeing trans role models who look like them.  Visibility matters and is necessary, especially to the people who don't see themselves represented in the organizations that are purported to represent them and speak for them.

If you think this status quo situation is okay, or you think that identity politics shouldn't be part of this rainbow community rights movement, you're naive or being obtuse about the fact that race matters, even in our little trans subset of society.   We get microaggressive behavior aimed at us every day by the parent society and our rainbow community subset of it, and just because we transitioned doesn't mean it stopped. 


But back to what I was discussing.   Diversity is sorely needed in our Houston trans ranks and it's sad I have to repeatedly state what is so no-brainer obvious.  

It's on you peeps that make up the leadership of these groups to ensure there is representation in them that reflects the ethnic diversity of Houston, the state of Texas and its TBLG community and but your behinds working to make that a reality.   

And yeah, y'all ain't the only people I'm going to call out on this state of affairs.  I'm going to put the non-white Houston trans community on blast too in a separate post. 

Here's the first suggestion as to how to create that diverse community.  Ask us.   But you'd better do it fast because the clock is rapidly ticking on your opportunity to do so with a fed up non-white trans community.    
What I can tell you is that if the diversity problem isn't dealt with, you will find yourself staring at a situation in which non-white transpeople will say frack it and form their own trans organizations designed to represent their interests and won't look back.

2012 White House Correspondents Dinner

While I was attending our local Unity Dinner, in 'Hollywood For Ugly People' AKA Washington DC  the annual White house Correspondents Dinner was taking place.    I got to see it after I came home, but for those of you who missed it, here's the POTUS poking fun at himself and various people inside the bltway and the media who cover them.

TDOR 2011 Update

Will be keeping you TransGriot readers up to date on the latest information for the upcoming 13th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance on Sunday, November 20.

The list of people we are memorializing for 2011 was updated on September 16, with Gaurav Gopalan of Washington DC added to it. Information for upcoming TDOR events is also starting to be added to the event location lists. 

For you Texans, the Austin TDOR will be held on November 20 at Austin City Hall starting at 6 PM.

The Dallas TDOR will be held on November 20 from 6 PM to 7:30 PM at the at the Interfaith Peace Chapel.   The address of the chapel is 5910 Cedar Springs Road in Dallas, Texas 75235. For more info on it you can check out the Dallas TDOR webpage or their Facebook event page for updates.

San Antonio will have a TDOR event at the MCC San Antonio church on Thursday, November 17 at 6:30 PM.  Nikki Araguz will be the keynote speaker.  MCC San Antonio is located at 611 East Myrtle, San Antonio, TX 78212.   There will also be another TDOR event on November 20 at 6:00 PM in front of the San Antonio City Hall.

As for Houston, nothing posted yet on the event list, but when I get that info I most certainly will pass it along to you.

If you have any info concerning a TDOR event you are planning please e-mail Ethan St. Pierre at transgenderdor@gmail.com to expeditiously get that information to him for inclusion on the TDOR Events list.  You can also follow the updates on Twitter at:: http://twitter.com/Transgenderdor

TransGriot Update:
Houston TDOR will take place on Saturday, November 19 at Farish Hall's KIVA Room on the UH Campus from 7:00-9::30 PM.