Happy 236th Birthday USA!

Happy birthday USA!   Once again on my nation's 236th birthday I find myself asking the question I borrowed from the first 'Tuskegee Airmen movie. 

How do I feel about my country?   How does my country feel about me?   

While my feelings about my country sometimes approach the level that Frederick Douglass expressed when he delivered this 1852 speech,  I find myself on this Independence Day in a melancholy mood.

As I anticipate watching the red, white and blue fireworks light up the night sky above Eleanor Tinsley Park later this evening and see the endless shows reminding of our nation's birthday,  I'm nervous about the critical presidential election we have just 124 days away.  

I wonder about the future of our nation in light of the conservafools who are willing to destroy it just to make one Black man and his family move from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.   I worry about the conservavoters stupid or racist enough to vote against their own economic interests like they have done for 150 years just to put another rich boy who looks like them with unresolved daddy issues in who will rubber stamp their 1% plutocratic agenda unlike the 'uppity' Black POTUS.

We are just three days from hosting the 103rd annual NAACP convention in my beloved hometown.  But I wonder will there be another LGBT town hall meeting and if it's held, will there actually be a trans person on the panel this time or will it be a trans free event like last year?

But it's not all bad I'm pondering on this day.  I'm noting that trans human rights in my nation, like everywhere else in the world has been on a positive upward trend.  We are having not only more positive feedback and discussion about trans issues, I'm happy on this day to see more #girlslikeus standing up, being out and proud and helping to facilitate those trans human rights discussions in our various communities.       

The Affordable Care Act has been upheld by the SCOTUS and the economy is doing a slow recovery from the Great Recession despite Massive Resistance 2.0 from the Republifools.   And yes, NFL traning camps start opening in a few weeks along with the opening ceremonies of the London Olympic Games on the 27th.

While there's a lot of things that concern me about my country, there also a few things it does do right to the point that we sill have people still wanting to come here.  Like any other American who resides inside or outside of its borders or are in our nation's military defending it, I want it to be the best country it can be and I want to have a say in how it gets to that point.  

And for the sake of my nieces, I need to fight just as hard for my vision of America as the conservafools do for theirs.  And hear me conservafools, just because I won't fight dirty like you have done for the last 40 years doesn't mean I as a liberal won't stand up to y'all and fight like hell to make my vision of a fair America that works for everybody come to fruition.  .My nieces deserve to grow up and have that type of America I enjoyed around when they hit adulthood

Happy birthday USA!    May you have many more to come.

Happy 145th Birthday, Canada!

Today is Canada Day and I wanted to take a moment to wish all my TransGriot readers north of the 49th parallel a happy one.

Canada Day celebrates our northern neighbors birthday.   Specifically it commemorates the uniting of three colonies, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the Province of Canada (which split into the provinces of Ontario and Quebec) and creating a four province federation under the British North America Act in 1867.

The July 1 date is considered Canada's birthday, and that means it's a holiday weekend in the Great White North. I presume my homegirl in Niagara Falls will be marking the auspicious occasion of her nation's birth by indulging in a few Timmy's Ice Capp's or maybe some adult beverages.  

And yeah Renee, I'm waiting to see what Canada Day smack you write this year because you know the retaliatory post will be coming three days from now.

And don't overdo it on the ketchup flavored potato chips.

I suspect when the fireworks and parades happen to celebrate their nation's 145th birthday, trans Canadians, especially in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario will be singing 'O Canada' a little louder and be standing a little taller this year because of the positive direction that trans human rights have taken in their home and  native land. 

Happy Birthday, Canada!

Happy Father's Day, TransGriot Readers!

Today is Father's Day, and I wanted to take a few moments of your blog surfing time to give a shout to all the people who are dads, or who are father figures to some youngling in their lives.

It's a role that's vitally important in shaping the adults we grow up to be.

Happy Father's Day!

Remember Why We Celebrate Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day, in which we celebrate all of our fellow Americans who served in the armed forces to defend this nation and protect the freedoms we enjoy, and memorialize those who gave their lives in doing so.

I also need to point out as the Transgender American Veterans Association does on a regular basis that some of those Americans who proudly served our country in its various military branches are trans.

Christine Jorgenson, one of our pioneering trans women was a World War II vet who served in the Army. 

During my time in this community I have had the pleasure to meet trans people who served in the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marines and the Coast Guard.   I've met people who fought in the Korean War,  Vietnam and the first Gulf War, and have no doubts that during my future community travels and conversations I will eventually run into Iraq and Afghanistan vets.

Some of the people I met were people who did specialized duty such as Tunnel Rats, Navy Seals, aviators,   submariners, guarded nuke weapons depots, and some who can't even talk at length about what they did in their service days because it's still classified.   But the point is they served this nation proudly and to the best of their ability.

The repeal of DADT only worked for the GLB segment of the community.   It doesn't allow trans people to serve openly and be their true selves while wearing our country's uniform unlike what transpeople can do in six nations on this planet.  We can still be kicked out of the US military for being trans.

That's bull feces and it's why TAVA and myself are still pushing for the military to end the restrictions on transgender people openly serving in our country's military.  We have just as much right as any other American to fight and potentially die for our country.

But on this Memorial Day, let's once again take time to honor and contemplate all who have served, all who have died in service to our country and join the rest of our nation in observing a moment of silence at 12:01 PM EDT in honor of our fallen heroes and sheroes.

As we do so, let's also consider the fact there is a segment of the American family in the trans community who wish to like everyone else in this country want and need the opportunity to serve our country openly and proudly.
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Happy Easter, TransGriot Readers!

Wanted to take a moment to wish all you TransGriot readers a Happy Easter!.   

Whether you celebrate it by attending a church service, taking the kids to a candy or Easter egg hunt, spend the day with family at dinner, do all or none of the above, may this day be a peaceful and pleasant one for you.

It's President's Day 2012!

And I'm looking forward to reelecting Barack Hussein Obama II to a second term!

It should be crystal clear by now if you love this country and want to see it succeed, survive and thrive, you'll be doing the same as well on November 6.

TransGriot Valentine's Day 2012 Post Links

Today is the day in which the only chocolate candy I'll consume in heart shaped boxes, cards or flowers I'll receive are the ones I bought for myself.

Valentine's Day is a day that can be hard on single people.  For single transpeople it can especially be difficult as we are not only surrounded by cisgender couples gay and straight expressing their love of each other, we're also drowned in an avalanche of romantic movies, songs, radio and television commercials.

For those of you fortunate enough to find love, I ain't mad at y'all.   It's just I haven't been one of those lucky people.  But there's still hope for me yet.  

At any rate, here's some posts I've written on the subject of romance, relationships and being trans   Hope y'all enjoy them.

I'm Not Your Desperate Chocolate Exotic Fantasy Girl

Pam's Ponderings-Black Transwomen Need Love Too

Happy Valentine's Day Peeps!

Valentine's Day Posts

Loving Myself More

We Don't Want No Scrubs, Either

Damned If We Do, Damned If We Don't

Make Sure He Loves And Respects Your Azz

Loving A Transwoman Doesn't Make You Gay