All Hail King Ray!

The 2013-14 school year is poised to be a great one for trans students.  

First we had the first ever out trans homecoming queen in California's Cassidy Campbell.  Now we turn our attention to Concord, NH and say hello to a trans homecoming king.

Congratulations to 17 year old Ray Ramsey, who was elected homecoming king at Concord High School 

Ramsey is the first trans student in the history of the school to be bestowed with that honor, and according to senior class adviser Lisa Lamb, the popular senior was elected in a landslide. 

And what a wonderful moment for the trans community to have a trans homecoming king and queen in the same academic year.

All Hail Queen Cassidy!

Trans history was made last night in Huntington Beach, CA as Cassidy Lynn Campbell was elected by the student body of Marina High School as their homecoming queen.

Earlier in the school day Cassidy was announced as one of the five finalists for the title to the cheers of her fellow students with the final announcement made at last night's homecoming football game. 

"I'm so proud to win this not just for me but for everyone out there and for every kid -- transgender, gay, straight, black or Mexican. It doesn't matter, you can be yourself," she said after her win.

She becomes the first out trans feminine student ever in the United States to hold that distinction and I couldn't be happier for her.   But if it weren't for a transphobic principal at North Dallas High School that historic distinction could have happened in Texas three years ago.  



All hail Queen Cassidy and congratulations!

Ohio High School Lets Trans Latina Student Graduate Wearing Correct Gown

This was the way Damian Garcia and Isaak Wolfe's cases should have gone.down and it's nice to see common sense prevail.

In a scenario that has become far too familiar in this 2013 graduation season,  17 year old Fostoria, OH high school senior Chris Calderon-Perez has been transitioning for the last two years, but was initially told by principal Tom Grine she would have to dress as a male and wear the black male graduation gown instead of the red female one that matches her current gender presentation.  

However, the dress code policy that Grine was trying to enforce runs counter to the Fostoria school board non-discrimination policy that had just been updated in March to include gay and transgender students as protected classes.   Forcing Calderon-Perez to dress as male for her graduation would have been in violation of that newly minted non-discrimination policy.

"All I want to see is my mom proud of me, to see me walking — because I deserve it," Calderon-Perez said. "My academic achievement has nothing to do with my appearance."

Exactly.  So when Calderon-Perez's graduation happened yesterday, she was wearing the red female gown and following the female dress code.

No fuss, no muss, everybody's happy and you peeps in Fostoria avoided the transphobe instigated drama that happened in Pennsylvania and New Mexico.

Congratulations Chris, and may you have much sucecess in your future endeavors.

Damian Skips His HS Graduation

In case you're wondering how the situation with Albuquerque transteen Damian Garcia played out, when the ceremony kicked off at 10 AM MDT yesterday the Class of 2013 of St Pius X HS was one member short.  

While his classmates left a seat open for him in protest,  Damian decided to skip his graduation after the archdiocese of Santa Fe and the school refused to budge on letting him wear a black gown to the ceremony.

“I’m fully respecting this and myself by not walking and/or attending the ceremony at all,” he said on his Facebook page.

Meanwhile at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho, NM where the ceremony was held, Michael J. Sheehan, the archbishop of Santa Fe, tried to make it sound like he was being persecuted as the Roman Catholic Church tends to do when they get caught in their public displays of transphobia. 

In his address to the nearly 200 graduates Sheehan talked about discrimination and standing up for what’s right, warning students that sometimes in life they will be persecuted for standing up for their Christian values.

Archbishop Sheehan, discrimination against and persecuting trans people is not a Christian value.  You know you were wrong on the issue, especially when you wouldn't show your cowardly face to the local media to defend your bigotry.   

Damian probably won't be the last trans student to go through St Pius X High, so you may as well get ready to have this conversation again.

Damian has been accepted to the University of New Mexico, and they along with the University of New Mexico's LGBT Resource Center will welcome their newest Lobo to the fold by holding a graduation ceremony for him on May 30 from 5 to 7 PM MDT  in a courtyard next to Scholes Hall on their main campus.

27,072 People (And Counting) Say Let Damian Walk In Black Robes

The pressure is mounting on Archbishop Michael Sheehan and Superintendent Murphy in this now viral story of Albuquerque, NM St. Pius High School senior Damian Garcia's simple request to walk in his graduation in a black cap and gown being denied. 

Received an e-mail from Torrey Moorman who spearheaded the MoveOn.org petition on Damian's behalf that has now garnered as of the moment I'm compiling this post 27,072 signatures toward their new goal of 30,000 signatures. 

Monica;

We have called Superintendent Murphy's phone and said: "We want you to know that we hold you and the entire Archdiocese in the Light. We are fully aware of how difficult this must be for Archbishop Sheehan who grew up being taught if you have a penis you are a boy, and if you have a vagina you are a girl."

"Unfortunately, just as the human genome project has proven unequivocally that there is no genetic variation between the races, science is proving gender and sexuality are not so simply defined. We fully appreciate that growth is uncomfortable and extremely difficult."

"William posted a photo stating: If you want to change, you have to be willing to be uncomfortable. All growth is uncomfortable, whether it is the growing pains of bones growing faster than muscle, or the pain of accepting a new definition of human sexuality. We respect your difficulties and hold you in love and Light as you go through this difficult time. We have faith that Archbishop Sheehan will make the right decision in Christ's love: To allow Damian to walk with his graduating class in black robes."

We encourage everyone to give Archbishop Sheehan and Superintendent Murphy this message. The message that decisions made out of love, instead of fear, pave the way to a loving and peaceful planet.

Sincerely,
The Moorman family, Cat Provost, and the Garcia family

All the school and the Archdiocese of Santa Fe had to do was simply let Damian walk.  To prevent such drama in the future they need to consider the possibility of having every future graduate of St. Pius High wear the same color cap and gowns.

But nope, since the Roman Catholic Church has been conducting a decade long holy war aimed at trans people and the transphobia injected into the Vatican by Paul McHugh has now filtered down the chain of command from Rome, they now have a PR mess on their hands. 

It also makes them look like bigoted and petty faith based trans oppressors to Albuquerque and the rest of the world and reinforces the disturbing decade long pattern of the Roman Catholic Church being hostile to trans people.

As I said in the comment I posted when I signed the petition: 

This is a no brainer situation.   Damian identifies as a male, has been presenting as one for over a year, and his classmates, faculty and family recognize him as one.

You only graduate from high school once, so why not let Damian walk in the black male gown?

You still have time to change that negative perception by letting Damian walk in a black cap and gown.

But the clock's ticking..

Albuquerque Catholic HS Forcing Transman To Wear Female Graduation Gown

In our latest episode of School Administrators Being Transphobic Jerks, we head west to Albuquerque, NM and Saint Pius High.

Damian Garcia is a senior at the Catholic run high school who transitioned and had a legal name change last year.  He is recognized as a male student by his parents, family, fellow students, faculty and teachers. 

“I look at him and I call him my son. That's how he wishes to be acknowledged is as a male,” said father Luis Garcia in a KRQE-TV 13 interview.  .

But Damian's birth certificate still has the wrong gender code on it despite the name change.  The superintendent of the school, reflecting the decade old anti-trans hate injected into the Catholic Church by Dr. Paul McHugh, is seizing on that to force Damian to walk in his graduation in a white robe.  

For some reason Saint Pius HS in its graduation ceremony has male students wear black gowns and female students wear white ones.  Of course Damian wants to wear the gender appropriate gown for him, the black one.

Graduation gown a problem for transgender student

“I just want to walk in my black robe, nice and proud and have that memory to look back on with my family and friends,” said Damian. “I would rather not walk than to embarrass myself by wearing a female robe.”

His father agreed with him. “All you want in life is to see your kids happy and healthy. You never want to see them suffer or being ridiculed or be made fun of,” Luis said.

Your high school graduation should be one of the happiest times in your young life, and the Saint Pius school  superintendent is sapping the joy out of this occasion for Damian by being a transphobic jerk.

Maybe it's time for Saint Pius to consider having everyone wear the same color graduation gown so this doesn't happen again.

ConGRADulations Class of 2013!

Seems like I just wrote that post a few months ago that ushered in the start of the 2012-13 school year. 

It's now May, and that means it's not only prom season, but time for kids all over the country to make that walk across the stage to get their high school or collegiate diplomas.  

For others it signals that promotion to the next elementary, middle or high school grade.   There are other students eagerly awaiting making the jump from elementary to middle/intermediate or junior high school, or from middle school to high school that awaits at the end of this month. 

Wanted to take a moment to salute the members of the Class of 2013 and give a special shout out to my transpeeps who are making that high school commencement walk such as Issak Wolfe in Pennsylvania, Calliope Wong in Connecticut and my Houston area homegirl Toni Zamazal. 

You made it!   You're leaving high school and moving on to the next big step in your lives.   Also sending love to my trans, same gender loving (SGL) and allied readers who are graduating this year as well.  


I also want to give a shout out to all my readers who are graduating from their various college campuses and taking that step into a world far different than the one you've gotten intimately familiar with when you first entered your various campuses as eager freshmen.

For you high schoolers about to make that jump from your beloved high school campus to a collegiate one, enjoy the experience.  Once it's over you'll be talking about it for the next thirty to forty years of your life good, bad and indifferent.  

For those of you who are trans, lesbian, bi or gay, as soon as you get your collegiate class schedules and finish orientation, find out where your campus LGBT center is located if they have one.  It'll help you navigate the tricky waters of going through college as an TBLG student.

And yes HBCU's, haven't forgotten about (and neither has the National Black Justice Coalition) the issues that pertain to LGBT students on your campuses.  There are 300,000 students matriculating on the 105 historically Black Colleges and University (HBCU) campuses and you can bet that Black trans and SGL students are part of that mix. 

It's either get with the program and add inclusive gender identity and sexual orientation language in your non-discrimination and employment policies along with policies that make their on campus lives better or lose those students to predominately white campuses.  Their top 20 scores on the Campus Pride Index and being proud of it will trump family and cultural ties to your institution if you continue to have hostile climates for Black trans and SGL students.

I also want to thank those colleges and universities who invited me to their campuses during this 2012-13 school year to speak about or participate in panel discussions about trans issues, and hope I get the opportunity and invitation to do more of them inside and outside Loop 610 in the 2013-14 school year. 

ConGRADulations Class of 2013!   May you have much success in whatever you plan to do with the rest of your lives . 

Issak Gets To Go To His Prom With His Date

The Red Lion Area Senior High School prom in Red Lion, PA was last night, and senior Issak Oliver Wolfe was in attendance with his date Taylor Thomas last night.

The reason we're aware this happened is because of the transphobic events leading up to last night's prom that prompted the ACLU to get involved.

Issak has been transitioning since ninth grade even though his paper trail hasn't yet caught up to where he is in his physical transformation.


But a nasty cup of transphobia was dipped in his transition Kool-Aid by Red Lion High School principal Mark Shue when he listed Issak as a candidate on the prom queen side under his old name because he was 'uncomfortable'.  

Never mind the fact that Issak was running for prom king.

When a stunned Issak went to find out why, Shue and his assistant principals were conveniently out of the building for a meeting.   Then Shue continued to dig the transphobic hole he was in by barring Wolfe's 19 year old girlfreind from being able to attend the prom with him because she exercised her First Amendment rights and called out Red Lion High School on a Facebook page.

The ACLU got involved at this point and threatened a lawsuit if Shue not only didn't cease and desist with the prom shenanigans, but allow Issak to wear the black cap and gown male Red Lion students wear.on May 3.  Why they don't have all students wear the school color cap and gowns is a mystery, but back to the story.


.The ACLU is also demanding an apology from Shue for the hurt and unnecessary drama he caused Wolfe with his initial transphobic stunt.

Will keep you updated as to if it happens.       
 

Toni Gets To Wear Her Prom Dress

As if there was going to be any doubt this was not going to happen, especially in light of the fact this same issue cropped up in the Waller ISD last year    

It seems like every year since I started TransGriot in 2006 this issue has cropped up over the last two decades.  Even if the students lose a round with school administrators, the court system (when it goes that far) usually rules in favor of the trans student.

When I stopped in last night to visit my homegirl Vanity (who owns a transformation studio inside the Loop) and attend her weekly Wednesday meet up I hadn't been to in a while, I walked in on Toni Zamazal and her family selecting her dress for the event and getting a makeover for the upcoming May 11 prom.

If you haven't heard, Toni is the trans student whose request to wear a dress at her Spring High School prom was initially rebuffed by an assistant principal and was told she must wear a tuxedo.   That was until the ACLU, her family and the angelic troublemakers in the Houston area trans community got involved. 


Spring High principal Donna Ullrich stated in a Houston Chronicle interview that she did not object to the request, but she needed to ask the school board because it was a "community decision."

After the ACLU sent a letter explaining the assistant principal's decision was unconstitutional, the Spring ISD attorney hammered out a deal with the ACLU and sent a March 26 letter to Zamazal stating she must meet the standards of the prom dress code for females, including dresses that reach at least mid-thigh and neatly kept hair.

I don't think that will be a problem.   Zamazal said in a statement she wanted to wear a dress to prom "because I wouldn't have felt comfortable at all showing up in a tux. I'm so grateful that my school has agreed to let me be myself on such an important night."

So are we Toni.. I noticed how happy you were last night as Vanity was applying and finally finished your makeup. You looked beautiful when she was done and I hope you have a fun and memorable prom night.

I know you will because you'll get to be yourself on May 11.  As for what color her dress is?  All I'm going to say is that Toni has narrowed it down to two tasteful selections that I'm going to keep a secret until she unveils them for you on prom night. 

But Toni will look gorgeous in either one of the tasteful dresses she selected.

Saving JJ

Figures that a bunch of stuff would blow up as I'm scrambling to replace my computer.

One of the things that has come up during the week my computer died is the shocking news that the HISD board wants to consolidate my alma mater Jesse H. Jones High ironically with the school I was zoned to in Ross S. Sterling.

Next to Jack Yates (which I still sarcastically refer to as Burger King High because BK's 1970's work uniforms were in Yates' gold and red school colors) Ross Sterling is our biggest rival.  

The district football game we played against each other was nicknamed the 'South Park Super Bowl' and I'm happy to note that during my time walking JJ's halls we Falcons never lost to to the Raiders.   I still bow to Galen Gillum every time I see him at our reunions for saving me from a year of trash talking from my neighborhood by kicking the school record 38 yard game winning field goal in the 1979 game that JJ won 22-20.

You've seen some of my JJ themed posts on the blog, read me bragging about my old school's athletic exploits, and discussing my reunion with the Class With Class, JJ's class of 1980 of which I am a proud member.

But my school which has been open since 1959, counts former HPD police chief Elizabeth Watson, actress JoBeth Williams, NFL all pros Darrell Green and Alfred Williams, NBA baller Daniel Gibson and countless doctors, attorneys, business people, and a human rights activist and blogger amongst its alumni is on the verge of of having its doors shut forever.

In the upcoming agenda meeting at 4:00 PM CST Monday and the HISD school board meeting on Thursday at 5 PM a proposal is being floated to consolidate the two high schools in the wake of the just passed bond issues that allocates $72 million to tear down and rebuild Sterling's campus that opened in 1965. 

The plan is to move the 888 students currently on the Sterling campus to Jones' campus in the fall while theirs is being rebuilt.  Once construction is complete, they and the 451 students currently on JJ's campus will be combined into a new school.


Of course, that plan is not sitting well with either alumni group and especially the parents in South Park who would have to send their kids several miles away from South Park to Sterling or whatever they rename the combined school.

Two of the suggestions for the renamed school are Martin Luther King Jr HS and Barack H Obama HS.  Others have suggested it be named for an African-American Houstonian or Texan.

In case you're wondering TransGriot readers, Barbara Jordan's name already graces a Houston high school.

There were two meetings held Tuesday night at Jones and Sterling in which peeps voiced their less than enthusiastic response to the plan.    There's also a Facebook group of Jones and Sterling alums working together to put a third option on the table of keeping both schools open and enhancing the programs available at both schools.

Much of the hostility on the JJ end is the fact that popular programs like the Hotel and Restaurant management one, the International Baccalaureate one, and the Vanguard one that drew me to the school have been stripped away from the Jones campus.  The way the Vanguard programs was moved in 2002 despite opposition to it from the neighborhood and alums, the messing with Lawrence Allen, one of the schools popular principals (and a JJ Class of 80 alum) during the early 2K's that was the flimsy pretext used by predominately white Vanguard parents groups to force the program off campus also didn't engender warm and fuzzy feelings toward HISD.  

It has led to an air of justified side-eyed suspicion toward HISD's motives in all this especially since Jones alumni, students and parents have the attitude that once again, JJ is being screwed in all this..  It also doesn't help that since the retirement of our longtime principal Arthur L Pace, there has been instability in the principal's chair that has led to six people occupying it in a five year span and last year at a neighborhood meeting at Worthing HS when the question of asked of Superintendent Terry Grier of this possibility, the assembled crowd at that meeting was told there were no plans to merge the two schools. .

And they wonder why neighborhood parents have been sending their kids elsewhere? 

What the alumni and neighborhood parents are wanting from HISD is to invest the money in Jones they promised to get us to vote YES on that 2012 bond issue.   One of the other suggestions that has been floated, since they know we are still pissed off about the Vanguard program shadily being moved from JJ's campus back in 2002 to what is now called the Carnegie Vanguard campus is creating a second Vanguard campus, housing it at JJ and naming the school for Mr Pace, who was the first African-American principal of the school and the longest tenured one.

And you peeps can also hit up the HISD school board on this one as well.

Well, as many of us have asked, if you're going to do that, then why not keep Jones alive for the neighborhood kids since Vanguard was originally a 'school within a school' and until it was yanked off the campus functioned quite well in that role? 

I'll definitely be at the board meeting, and will keep y'all posted as to how this turned out.

Trans Athlete Playing On His HS Football Team

I've been saying that all the work of trans athletes coming out and breaking barriers would one day lead to a trans athlete wanting to play on their high school team if they desired to do so, getting the opportunity to make that team and nobody tripping when it happened.  .

That scenario I described has finally happened in Michigan.  Seth Knop is a varsity running back on the Grosse Pointe South High School football team who wanted to play last season but was afraid to try out. 

Since it was his senior year Seth took the 'why not' attitude and decided to go for it.  He approached both varsity coach Tim Brandon and junior varsity coach Brian Shelson about his desire to play football and was told that the school's athletic policy permitted coed sports teams.  He tried out and made the squad.

He's gotten respect from his classmates not only for his transition, but being a member of the team.

"The kids in my grade respect me a lot for it," said Knop of his being an out transgender athlete. "They treat me just like everybody else, which is what I wanted."

It's why the NCAA policies on trans athletes were enacted.   It's why the IOC has policies that allow trans athletes to compete in the Olympic Games. And it's also what those trans athletes who took those slings and arrows so that future generations of transkids could play their favorite sports without drama wanted for you as well.

Good luck this season Seth, and have a wonderful senior year. 

ConGRADulations Class of 2012

In addition to May being my birthday month, it's also the month in which commencement ceremonies are taking place all over the country.   

Not only is my cousin Cyril graduating from Alief Taylor High School this month and moving on to college, but I have some friends graduating from college this year as well.  

Chelsea, one of my Texas Aggie fam who was one of the peeps who spoiled me rotten during my November 2010 visit up there is getting her degree. 

I also discovered that Amirage, one of my Louisville sisters is getting her bachelors in social work from U of L

So to all of my readers who happen to be in the Class of 2012 be it at the middle, high school, collegiate or post-graduate level, conGRADulations 

Best of luck in your future academic or life endeavors and keep me posted.  

Dave Campbell's Texas Football Is Out

One of the iconic signs that fall will soon be upon us in the Lone Star State is Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine hitting the newsstands.

It has been published since 1960 and is considered the football bible in this state.  I've been a regular reader of it since 1978 and it includes in addition to the feature article on the cover boys, in depth coverage of all aspects of football in the state from high school to the colleges.  It even included features on our two NFL franchises, the Texans and Cowchips.

On the high school level it covers all the classifications and teams in them from Six-Man to Class 5A and the private schools.  It also compiles a preseason high school Top Ten for each conference.

It not only covers all the college teams in the state, it predicts their records for the upcoming season.   The DCTF staff is predicting UH will go 11-1 probably because Case Keenum is back for a medical redshirt season, so we'll see.if that comes to pass.


Now if we can get the NFL lockout ended, everything will be alright for us Lone Star football fans.

Meet Andii Viveros-Prom Queen

I posted a story back in 2007 about Fresno trans teen Crystal Vera becoming the first trans prom queen.  

In light of the drama that Andy Moreno went through in trying to become homecoming queen at North Dallas High, was happy to hear about what just transpired (pardon the pun) at McFatter Technical High School in Davie, FL.

17 year old Andii Viveros beat out 14 candidates to  become the second trans teen nationally to become the prom queen at her school.  To make it even more interesting, the prom king is 17 year old gay male student Juan Macias.


Andi is two years into her transition, and at times it has been rough for her despite the support from her family.  She had to deal with bullying and taunting behavior from students along with a less than supportive administration until this year.   She also had to deal with a faction of students who started a petition to get her removed from the ballot.

Andii told the Miami Herald in an interview this year the school got a new principal who was supportive of her.  She even encouraged Andii to run for prom queen.

Andii is planning to attend Broward College in the fall and get a degree in culinary arts management.

Congrats sis, and best of luck in your future endeavors.


 

Congrats JJ Falcon Boys Ballers!

Back in the 2003-04 season my high school alma mater won the Texas Class 4A state basketball title for the first time since the 1964-65 season with a squad that included current NBA baller Daniel Gibson.

One of the things me and some of the guys talked about during our 30 year reunion a few months ago was that painful 1978-79 District 20-4A championship game showdown against state ranked Wheatley at Barnett Fieldhouse in which our state ranked Falcon squad lost on a slam dunk at the buzzer.     We finished 32-5 that year but didn't make the Class 4A playoffs because of a brutal district that not only included those Jackie Carr coached Wildcats, but had future Cougars Michael Young at Yates, Clyde Drexler at Sterling, and Rob Williams at Milby.

Many of us Falcons believed that if that team which had future NCAA high jump Rickie Thompson on it had made the playoffs, they had the talent to go all the way to Austin.  

I was pleased to read that my now 27-5 Jones Falcons have reclaimed the District 22-4A basketball title with a resounding 92-75 win Wednesday night over our longtime Wheatley Wildcat rivals to finish with a perfect 12-0 district mark  

The last time they won district was in the 2007-08 season, and they shared that title with guess who?

Now comes the Class 4A playoffs, and one thing that hasn't changed from my high school days is that the UIL's Region III (Southeast Texas) no matter what the classification is still a brutally competitive playoff route to navigate to get to the state championship game at the Erwin Center. 

Galveston Ball, Wheatley, Yates, La Marque, Humble and Terry are just some of the state ranked teams the Falcons will have to go through to get another bus ride to Austin and potentially play for our third state basketball championship.

But congrats Falcons!   Here's hoping you make a long run in this year's Region III-4A playoff and I get to see y'all hoisting the trophy in Austin again.