HERO Updates, Notes and News-May 27

We are now 24 hours from what we hope will be a historic city council meeting in which Houston removes itself from the short list of cities that don't cover the human rights of all their citizens.

These HERO discussions are being held all over the city in groups large and small.   One of them took place in last weekend's Houston Oasis group meeting on May 25 in which activist Amanda Hernandez made this speech in favor of HERO passage.

   


The anti-HERO haters are working hard to try to address the fact that we have not only held the council chamber, we have outgunned them in pro-HERO speakers 247-78.     We have had pro-HERO ministers speaking in a 2-1 ratio vs anti-HERO ones.    Of the 78 anti-HERO speakers, hey have been predominately ministers beating the anti-trans talking points into hamburger.

We've already concocted our double secret plan to ensure that council chambers are a predominate sea of red tomorrow for the vote. 

We are also pushing back hard against the faith based anti-trans hate.


But one thing they have had an advantage in is the number of anti-HERO vs pro- HERO calls because they went national early, so we could use some help in that area.   Need y'all to call Councilmembers Brenda Stardig, Jack Christie, Dwight Boykins, and C.O. Bradford for us at the numbers listed in the infographic.

But to point out how out of step the haters are, here's a message from Bob Harvey, the president of the Greater Houston Partnership.  It's the influential 2000 member local business org that employs 20% of the Houston area's workforce, and they have sway over pro-business councilmembers.

"Houston is an extraordinarily welcoming city that embraces diversity and inclusivity – this was true even before this ordinance was conceived. We are certainly not a city that condones discrimination. We believe that a properly constructed ordinance that enshrines our values, protects the rights of our citizens, is fair in its treatment of businesses, and signals to the world that we are, indeed, a city that welcomes and respects diversity is a proper step at this time." -- Bob Harvey, President, Greater Houston Partnership.

Boom.

And yes, going to bed early tonight.  It's going to be a long but hopefully positively historic day tomorrow. 

The struggle continues to pass the HERO.   

'The New Black' H-town Screening Tomorrow

I have been waiting for this award winning documentary to come to Houston for months, and it is driving me crazy to discover that it is scheduled to be screened on the same day I'll be at City Council awaiting the HERO vote.

That film I've been anxious to see is Yoruba Richen's The New Black, which is being screened tomorrow at the Houston Public Library location downtown right across the street from City Hall at 6:00 PM.

The New Black details the successful 2012 marriage equality referendum fight to preserve it that happened in Maryland, and features two very familiar faces to me in Sharon Lettman-Hicks, the ED and CEO of the National Black Justice Coalition and Samantha Master.   




The Houston Public Library downtown location address is 500 McKinney Street.  The screening is free and seating for it is first come first served.   I doubt that City Council will be finished with their HERO 'bidness' by the time this film starts, so I'd encourage those of you who can't be in council chambers to check it out.

But if by some miracle they are, it'll be a wonderful way for me to celebrate what I hope will be an H-town  human rights win.
 
 

HERO Updates, Notes and News-May 23

This one is thirty minutes later because I had to do my usual Friday noon CDT Shut Up Fool post, but the commitment I made to keep you peeps updated with the latest HERO news continues.

Amelia and I had an enjoyable early afternoon at KPRC-TV 2 taping our segment of Houston Newsmakers with host Khambrel Marshall.   That show we taped will air at 10 AM on Sunday. 

The Houston Stonewall Young Democrats will be hosting a phone banking effort at the Harris County Democratic Party Headquarters in which several council districts will be targeted.  It's designed to mobilize supporters in those respective communities to contact their Council Members and also urge them show up next Wednesday in support of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.

May 28 is going to be a historic day in H-town that you'll want to be there for.

Received an interesting phone call yesterday evening from an SGL community source that confirmed what I suspected about Houston NAACP President James H. Lilley. 

Lilley cryptically expressed 'concerns' during his May 13 testimony about the HERO and dodged questions from Councilmember C.O. Bradford when he tried to find out what those concerns were.    What were those 'concerns' he was reluctant to say in the council comment session?   

Give you one guess what they were.  Those concerns were inclusion of trans people in the HERO ordinance.

 
Seems as though elements of the local NAACP and possibly President Lilley have bought the right wing anti-trans Kool-Aid Rev. Max Miller and his hate pastors are pouring on behalf of their conservative controllers Dave Welch and Dave Wilson.   The local NAACP's silence about the ongoing attacks on the trans community is also pissing us and our allies off inside and outside the Houston LGBT community

And hello Houston NAACP, some of the transpeople being attacked by this rhetoric are survey says, Black trans people. 

Rev. Miller, you and your Bible thumping homeboys in the Baptist Ministers Association of Houston and Vicinity are in violation of two commandments when it comes to the Houston trans community.   Thou shalt not lie, and thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

I don't like the transphobic hate speech you and your fellow faith-based bigots have continually engaged in since this HERO passage effort ramped up, and nether does the Houston African-American trans community and our allies.    You don't like what I have to say or being called faith based bigots. tough.   Stop palling around with white conservative bigots and oppressors who are playing you for the useful fools you are and you won't be called bigots or oppressors.

Back to talking about the Houston NAACP.  

Here's my TransGriot proposition to you Houston NAACP.   Since that knowledge of the real lived lives of trans people is obviously missing, why don't you talk to some living, breathing transpeople, starting at 3-5 this Saturday at Grace Lutheran Church?   It'll be the start of a much needed conversation at the local level and beyond the one on May 24, I and other Houston trans African-Americans are willing to do Trans 101.

Just say the word, and we'll make it happen.   And Black SGL, trans and Bi community, think it's past time we started signing up for memberships in the local NAACP and getting involved. .   

But I want to ensure before we Black trans folks do so we'll be welcomed into the organization and the transphobia the ministers 'fear and trans smear' tactics introduced is squashed.
   

HERO Updates, Notes and News -May 22

It's Thursday and we're creeping closer to the May 28 session that will hopefully result in a historic human rights win.  I'm enroute to the KPRC-TV 2 studios to tape an interview for the Houston Newsmakers show that will be broadcast on Sunday.

Amelia Miller will also be in the studio with me representing our community along with show host Khambrel Marshall 

We are still having meeting across the city and gearing up for the big day.    There's an upcoming trans town hall on Saturday afternoon and the unveiling of the Rev. Dr MLK Jr. statue that will bring out the Houston Black politicos and allies.

Interesting poling numbers to note in this update.  Despite the faith based hate sermons of pastor Ed Young and Steve Riggle, 78% of Houstonians support the HERO.   In the African-American community despite Rev. Max Miller's best efforts to unleash the anti-trans hate at the behest of his controllers Dave Welch and Dave 'Fake Black Man' Wilson, that number is 85% support in the African-American community.

Yep boys, you're still on the wrong side of this human rights issue, and bussing in more peeps from The Woodlands, Tomball and whatever other Houston exurbs won't help.  

I also needed to show y'all me and other Houston trans peeps handling our HERO business at last Tuesday's hearings.




Interestingly enough, Dee Dee Watters and I have been mysteriously paired up to where we end up speaking immediately behind each other.    That happened last Tuesday, but in this case Dee Dee took everybody to church.   She is a POD deaconess, so I wasn't surprised when this happened.




Lou Weaver's testimony.



and I'll end it with the person I'll be sharing the KPRC-TV stage with in Amelia Miller.


 
  

HERO Updates, Notes and News-May 21

In our latest edition of HERO updates, notes and news we discovered that the Riggles weren't the only ones sowing transphobic hate speech from the pulpit on Sunday.   Pastor Ed Young of the Second Baptist megachurch was also stooping to that level to torpedo the HERO

Councilmember Michael Kubosh came out of the closet to declare he was a NO vote and while at the Sunday Riggle hate rally at Grace KKKommunity Church declared 'God put him in that council seat to oppose the HERO'. 

Silly me, thought it was a majority of the city of Houston's voters. Guess the Michael Kubosh campaign slogan next year will be: 'Fighting AGAINST You LGBT Houstonians'.


For those of you needing ammo to destroy the bathroom meme the haters are beating into hamburger, here's a Media Matters story that points out what we already know.  Laws like the HERO don't lead to the parade of horribles the christopimps are pushing to their low information sheeple. 

As a matter of fact Dave Welch and his Pastor's Council fools already tried to go there in April 2010 when Mayor Parker signed the executive order extending protections to trans* city workers

They lied then, and they are lying now.

Because I got so fed up with all the anti-trans hatred being pushed by the anti-HERO pastors, wrote this post to push back against it.   And speaking of pushback, I got asked along with Amelia because of all that off the charts faith based trans hate to do an interview on KPRC-TV 2 to discuss our local trans community uninterrupted by the haters.  The show will tape tomorrow and air Sunday.

Keep those calls coming to City Hall.

HERO Updates, Notes and News-May 20

Due to repeated requests from my readers locally and around the country hungry for information about our historic human rights fight, I'm going to do a daily series of posts from now until the Houston Equal Rights Amendment passes and the Forces of Intolerance leave it alone with news and information about what's happening with it.

Today's HERO update starts with the advocacy training event for people scheduled to speak at the May 28 combined city council meeting held at Legacy Health Services building last night.

The two hour training was attended by a standing room crowd of over 80 people and facilitated by Ryan Leach and Januari Leo.  Attendees were given presentations concerning the current political situation surrounding the HERO, what to expect when attending the May 28 meeting and tips and tricks for surviving what is going to be a long marathon session.

I was happy to be able to give an example of how to do one minute of testimony for this meeting.  My loquacious behind actually concluded the timed example I gave with nine seconds to spare.  

Then again I've had plenty of practice lately.

I was also tempted to go over the one minute to see if Ryan would do his dead on impression of Houston City Council Secretary Anna Russell and her famous line 'I'm sorry, your time has expired."


If there is a desire from the community to have another one of these trainings by the folks who missed yesterday's event, there is a possibility another one will happen before the 28th .  Watch this TransGriot space for info as to date and time.

In yesterday's update I posted some of the speakers stats, but neglected to mention the stats concerning the ministers.   Ministers speaking in favor of the HERO have been running 2-1 over the anti-HERO ones, which is why you saw the anti-HERO councilmembers moving the hate ministers up the speakers lists to give the impression to the news cameras there's widespread opposition to the HERO's passage.

There isn't.  The opposition is being bussed in from the exurbs.   Even with all the loud and wrong African-American ministers speaking, public opinion is still running 85% in the Houston African-American community in favor of HERO passage, and many of our elected African-American officials support it.

My state Senator Rodney Ellis is one of them.    From the May 13 HERO press conference at City Hall.

   

In the previous video and in my testimony last Tuesday,  Senator Ellis and I both referenced the 1984 attempt to pass a sexual orientation only non discrimination law that was rolled back in a referendum.

Here's a DailyKos post discussing that series of H-town events 30 years ago, the 'Straight Slate', and Louie Welch's Shoot The Queers remark that cost him (thank God) the 1985 mayoral election against incumbent mayor Kathy Whitmire.

This Saturday a trans town hall concerning the HERO will be held at Grace Lutheran Church from 3-5 PM.  I'll pass out more details as the date gets closer for it and the final panelist list is firmed up..

As you probably suspected I'm one of the people who have been asked to participate.     

Where Will You Be On The 28th?

'A man who will not labor to gain his right is a man who would not, if he had them, prize and defend them' --Frederick Douglass

That quote came to mind during a conversation I was having with Meghan Stabler yesterday about this HERO fight.in which we talked about the optics and the importance of this fight, especially for the trans community. 

Meghan used to live inside Loop 610 before moving to North Texas, and while here she served as the President of the Pride Houston board.   She lamented during our conversation updating her about the HERO political situation that Pride Houston draws over 250,000 people to party and grab the trinkets  She wondered aloud how many of those people who will be attending Pride Events next month are involved in this fight for their H-town human rights, much less will show up at 901 Bagby Street.

I asked the same question about the peeps who attended the just concluded Houston Splash.   How many of them are involved, signed up to speak and ready to prize and fight for their human rights?

This is the human rights fight of our 21st century time.   This is the moment we've waited 30 years for in terms of taking Houston off that short list of cities that don't protect the human rights of their TBLG citizens.  

We are on the correct and moral side of the arc of the human rights universe and it's bending toward justice for us.  So what's stopping you from joining the fight to pass the HERO?   
 

For my trans brothers and sisters, it's even more important we show up and show out.  We Houston trans people have a long and proud history of struggle against oppression.   Whether it was Toni Mayes filing a successful lawsuit against HPD in 1975 to get them to stop harassing her,  Judge Phyllis Frye who helped kill the anti-crossdressing ordinance in 1980 among her many accomplishments as the Godmother of the Trans Rights Movement, the late Dee McKellar, Sarah DePalma, myself and Vanessa Edwards Foster being part of the team that founded NTAC,  we've been fighters not only for our own human rights but the human rights of the communities we intersect and interact with.  

And we have another generation stepping up to lead and build on our work.. 

So where will you be on the 28th?   I know where I'll be and I'd like you to be, but if you can't make it to City Hall, make those phone calls to city council members.   If you happen to hear people badmouthing the HERO as you're out and about in your daily Houston lives, correct the disinformation as I did on my bus ride yesterday by pointing out the HERO would expand their human rights.

And if you're not ready to tell your story in front of city council or one on one, you can at least wear red on that day to silently support it.

HERO Update, Notes and News

As many of you following our quest to pass the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance are aware of, City Council voted on Wednesday to delay the vote until May 28. 

We aren't happy in H-town about having to wait another two weeks for the inevitable passage of the HERO and giving the Forces of Intolerance hatemongers like Grace KKKommunity Church and the Baptist Ministers Association of Houston and Vicinity more time to whip up anti-TBLG animus in their next two Sunday services.

But the silver lining is it gives us time to get better organized as well.   Yesterday the leadership team working to pass the HERO held a two and half hour strategy meeting in which I'm sworn to secrecy on some of the tactics we will roll out over this final push to passage.  What I can tell you is that it happened, and to stay tuned to these TransGriot pages for the latest information and action alerts as I get them.

We also had some of our allies in the crowd infiltrate Riggle World checking out yesterday's 'Hate on LGBT Peeps in the name of Conservajesus' Rally.

In case you're wondering who Steve and Becky Riggle are in addition to being last week's Shut Up Fool Award winners, she's the woman who showed up at last Tuesday's public comment hearing asserting that she and her fellow modern day Pharisees and Sadducees had the special right to discriminate against Jews and the LGBT community.   Her husband who followed a few speakers later dug an even deeper hole trying to defend his wife's logic defying comments.

They also bussed in people from the Houston exurbs of Tomball and the Woodlands for their hate rally they held at City Hall opposing the HERO.

Interesting to note many of the rally haters were people who claim they don't want to live in Houston, but yet want to stick their unwanted noses in H-town human rights 'bidness'. 

And I'm really disgusted with the Black pastors who are selling out our community to pal around with the longtime purveyors of oppression in Dave Welch and Dave Wilson.   

Final tally of the number of pro-HERO vs anti-HERO speakers at last Tuesday's HERO hearing in case you're keeping score was 120 people for, 40 against.   The total for the two previous hearings was 127 pro-HERO, 38 anti-HERO.    Grand total so far is 247 people speaking for HERO passage, 78 against with an overwhelming majority of the anti HERO speakers being ministers. 

City Council is off this week, which is why the opponents were fighting so hard to delay the vote.   The next meeting on May 28 will be a combined public comment session followed by a vote.  It is shaping up to be a historic marathon session that we will endure.

We will also emerge victorious from because passing the HERO is the moral and correct thing to do.   If Dallas, Austin, El Paso and New Orleans can pass a human rights ordinance along with small cities like Shreveport, LA. and Boise, ID. then I know the city of Houston can do so.  
     

Houston Black Pastors, Sick Of You Denying Our Humanity

One of the things that has really been disheartening to me and other African-American trans Houstonians in this fight to pass the HERO is seeing people that share our ethnic background and our common history engaging in demonizing us, erasing our humanity and our Blackness at the behest of their white fundamentalist controllers.

Leading the charge to demonize and erase the Houston African-American trans community is a cadre of Black ministers led by Rev. Max Miller, president of the Baptist Ministers Association of Houston and Vicinity.

His was the voice on the robocall that invaded mine and my mother's lives on the afternoon of May 10 and called me and other trans people sexual predators.  He and his like minded acolytes have been misquoting scripture and ignorantly bearing false witness against me and the Houston trans community, and I and other Black trans Houstonians are beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of it.

Our eloquent Houston sister in the human rights struggle Barbara Jordan once stated, "One thing is clear to me: We, as human beings, must be willing to accept people who are different from ourselves." 

That willingness to accept transpeople has definitely not been evident by their misguided side in this battle to pass the HERO.   

Note I said accept, not tolerate.   It has especially been hurtful and at times depressing to see leaders and institutions from my community I once had much respect for engage in 'fear and smear' attacks designed to demonize me and my trans community.

They are based on falsehoods, lies and the easily debunked bathroom predator meme that was once used to justify Jim Crow segregation.  It's past time you started talking to actual trans people in the African-American community about what our lives are really like instead of Dave Welch, Dave Wilson and the other white conservafool ministers you're trying to curry favor with.  

Rev. Miller, you and your cadre of minsters aren't the only African-American Houstonians being discriminated against, and it's past time you stopped telling that bald faced lie.   Here are the numbers from the National Transgender Discrimination Survey based on Texas respondents:

• Workplace Discrimination -Rates of discrimination were alarming in Texas, indicating widespread discrimination based on gender identity/expression:
  • 79% reported experiencing harassment or mistreatment on the job
  • 26% lost a job
  • 22% were denied a promotion
  • 45% were not hired

• Harassment and Discrimination at School-Those who expressed a transgender identity or gender non-conformity while in grades K-12 reported alarming rates of harassment (85%), physical assault (46%) and sexual violence (9%)
• Harassment was so severe that it led 11% to leave a school in K-12 settings or leave higher education
• Economic Insecurity - Likely due to employment discrimination and discrimination in school, survey respondents experienced poverty and unemployment at higher rates than the general population:
  • 10% of respondents had a household income of $10,000 or less, compared to 4% of the general population, which is more than twice the rate of poverty
  • 10% were unemployed compared to 7% in the nation at the time of the survey

• Housing Discrimination and Instability - Survey respondents experienced blatant housing discrimination, as well as housing instability, much of which appears to stem from the challenges they face in employment.
  • 8% were evicted
  • 15% were denied a home/apartment
  • 17% had become homeless because of their gender identity/expression
  • 22% had to find temporary space to stay/sleep
  • 50% had to move back in with family or friends
  • 39% reported owning their home compared to 67% of the general U.S. population

• Harassment and Discrimination in Accommodations and Services-47% were verbally harassed or disrespected in a place of public accommodation or service,including hotels, restaurants, buses, airports and government agencies.
  • 23% were denied equal treatment by a government agency or official
  • 16% were denied equal treatment or harassed by judges or court officials.
  • 23% of those who have interacted with police reported harassment by officers
  • 41% reported being uncomfortable seeking police assistance

Health Care Discrimination and Health Outcomes-16% were refused medical care due to their gender identity/expression

• 1.9% were HIV positive, compared to the general population rate of 0.6%
• 19% postponed needed medical care, when they were sick or injured, due to discrimination
• Only 43% of the respondents had employer-based health insurance, compared to 59% of the general U.S. population at the time of the survey.
• 41% reported attempting suicide at some point in their life, 26 times the rate of the general population of 1.6%

We have told our stories.  We have patiently testified in front of council the anti-trans discrimination exists in H-town while enduring anti-LGBT animus you whipped up amongst your flocks.

And you are STILL on the wrong side of history.

It's sad to note that you and your cadre of ministers have been our best examples as to why gender identity needs to be part of the HERO. 

Guess you transphobic pastors forgot what civil rights legend Julian Bond said when he stated, “The humanity of all Americans is diminished when any group is denied rights granted to others.”

And it is disheartening to witness how fast you have stepped up to do Dave Welch and Dave Wilson's dirty work for them and be the figureheads for the continued oppression of the Houston LGBT community.  

You and your misguided friends are hypocritically siding with the same conservative oppressors that oppose the African-American community on human rights issues of importance to us such as voting rights and workplace fairness, and it's a disgusting spectacle to witness.  I'm praying that the transphobic hate speech you've already engaged in doesn't lead to a surge of anti-trans violence here in H-town.

I'm also tired of you and your misguided friends waving the Bible around as a shield for your transphobic bigotry.  The Bible is not the Code of Ordinances for the City of Houston, the Texas Constitution or the US Constitution, and 901 Bagby Street is not a church sanctuary.   Your faith, transphobia and beliefs do not trump my sincerely held beliefs, human rights or the human rights of my fellow transpeople who live in the 628 square miles of Texas territory we are all proud to call home. 

Contrary to the bovine feces the Right Wing Noise Machine has been feeding you, Black trans Houstonians are sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, parents, loyal friends and allies to those worthy of our support.  I nor any African-American trans person gave up our Black card when we transitioned, and how dare you even attempt to erase us from the Black community or deny we are a part of it.

I'm not just doing activism on behalf of the TBLG community.  I'm passionate about many issues that impact me and the Houston African-American community as an unapologetic African-American trans person.  I spoke at a Trayvon Martin rally in front of City Hall last summer.  I've been taking part in the community battle to protest HISD school closures in our neighborhoods.   Dee Dee Watters has given out toys to kids in the Third Ward area at Christmas time for years.  Other Black trans Houstonians are toiling away and involved in our churches and other organizations that improve the lives for all who call this city home.. 

Black trans community issues are Black community issues and it's past time you cisgender African-American peeps get that message.  Read my lips and this post:  We African-American transpeople are not going to put up with for one more nanosecond our humanity being denigrated and disrespected by you based on loud and wrong religious beliefs and your ignorance about transsexuality.   If Vice President Joe Biden and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay are clear that trans rights are a human rights issue, what's your chocolate covered malfunction in not getting that easy to grasp reality?  

I'm a proud African-American trans Houstonian with deep familial ties to this city.  I want a Houston better than its promise. I want to see it grow, prosper and have human rights coverage for all Houstonians.  

All Houstonians also includes my trans, SGL and bi brothers and sisters. 

I want African-American trans people to feel they have a stake in that happening as well.    But we have a hard time feeling that way when we see the constant attacks on our humanity, and even worse note those attacks are coming out of the mouths of people who share our ethnic background.

And you need in the name of Jesus to cease and desist with that. 
 

Happy IDAHOT 2014

Today is the 9th annual International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.   It has become one of the largest international solidarity events since its conception by Frenchman Louis-Georges Tin.

He acted as the IDAHOT Committee Chairperson until his resignation in September 2013 and was succeeded by internationally renowned Venezuelan trans* rights activist, lawyer and law professor Tamara Adrian.

IDAHOT was created to raise awareness of violence, discrimination, and repression of LGBT communities around the globe, provide an opportunity to take action and engage in dialogue with the media, policymakers, public opinion influencers, and wider civil society.

There are 120 countries in which some type of IDAHOT event is taking place today, and in addition to Vice President Joe Biden tweeting about the #IDAHOT, President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have also released statements in support of it. 

Here is President Obama's statement, released yesterday.

Tomorrow, as we commemorate the 10th annual International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, we recommit ourselves to the fundamental belief that all people should be treated equally, that they should have the opportunity to reach their fullest potential, and that no one should face violence or discrimination -- no matter who they are or whom they love
.
This year, the United States celebrates the 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, and the 45th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.  In doing so, we reflect on lessons learned from our own civil rights struggles and reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that the human rights of all people are universally protected.

At a time when, tragically, we are seeing increased efforts to criminalize or oppress LGBT persons, we call on partners everywhere to join us in defending the equal rights of our LGBT brothers and sisters, and in ensuring they are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon released a statement late on Thursday, May 15, affirming his support for the global commemorations. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, followed his statement, with her own IDAHOT op-ed, released Friday, May 16. UNDP, UNAIDS and other UN agencies have also released statements in support of the Day. - See more at: http://dayagainsthomophobia.org/buzz-worthy/may17-2014-welcome/#sthash.puX1djni.dpuf

UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon and UN High Commissioner For Human Rights Navi Pillay have also released statements and op-ed columns in support of IDAHOT.

Here in Houston, IDAHOT falls as the TBLG community here is involved in a pitched battle against the local Forces of Intolerance to pass a Houston Equal Rights Ordinance that includes sexual orientation and gender identity protections.

In a few hours I head to the Montrose Center to take part in an all day New Organizing Institute event starting at 9 AM and running until 4 PM entitled 'Public Narrative Training For Trans* and Gender Non-Conforming Gulf Coast Organizers'. 

Do you identify as trans* or gender non-conforming? Then this workshop is for you! Join us as we pull together some of the best organizers from throughout the Gulf Coast region to share stories, skills, and strategize!   Gain the confidence to tell your story of self, now and community.

Happy IDAHOT people!

HERO Vote Delayed Until May 28

After a late Tuesday night at 901 Bagby St. went back to City Hall Wednesday morning at 9:00 AM to watch what I hoped would be history being made with the passage of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.

Instead, it was history delayed.

Houston City Council after some discussion on another civic matter dove in an hour later into much of what many of us were there for in finding out the fate of the HERO.   

There were amendments on the table from Councilmembers Gonzales, Gallegos, Davis and Pennington.

But the ones that concerned the community the most were one addressing the reducing the number of employees in a small business affected from 50 to 15, and the one the Houston trans community requested striking the problematic language in Section 17-51 (b) from the HERO.

It passed by an overwhelming 13-4 margin the Gallegos amendment that reduces the number of employees a business has to have to be affected by the HERO from 50 to 15 over the next three years.

It will be 50 in the first year,. 25 in year two and 15 in year three and subsequent years.

Councilmember Oliver Pennington introduced six amendments designed to gut the HERO.  Four of them he withdrew, but the two that remained would have hampered enforcement of the HERO and were both soundly defeated by 17-2 margins.

Then came the moment we were waiting for with the HERO itself.   After discussion about the Section 17-51 (b), the controversial bathroom provision that Lou Weaver, Dee Dee Watters, I and other trans people and allies have argued needed to be pulled from the HERO, and has been the focus of the anti-HERO's 'fear and smear' efforts, was not done in this session.

Citing the need to have more time and 'bring more stakeholders to the discussions', City Council voted 12-5 to delay the HERO vote until May 28.

Translation: It  means TBLG Houstonians have to deal with another 2 weeks of not having their human rights respected and protected in this city we love and care about.   It means the anti-HERO ministers and their flocks get to fling another two weeks of 'fear and smear' tactics aimed squarely at the trans community they can deploy that were decried in the Houston Chronicle editorial urging passage of the HERO.

It's part of the legislative sausage making that comes with creating laws, but it's still frustrating to a Houston GLBT community that has waited 30 years to have the same human rights that everyone else takes for granted.  It's also aggravating to a Houston transgender community that has been vilified and feels beat up by the loud and scientifically illiterate faith based hate speech coming from our opponents.
 
It means that the next Houston City Council meeting on the HERO will be a combined one on May 28.  That one will be a marathon public comment session followed by a vote.

And yep, I'll definitely be there and ready for a long, contentious day at City Hall

As I said in a local interview,  "I'm a proud Houstonian. I'm sick and tired of our city being the only one out of the major metropolitan areas in this country that does not protect its LGBT citizens."

While I have to deal with the finite disappointment of the HERO not passing today, I still have infinite hope it WILL become a reality on May 28.   

The Last HERO Hearing

I'm at City Hall preparing to do battle with the Forces of Intolerance in our last public comment session before the vote happens tomorrow on our Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.  

We supporters of the HERO will be easy to spot in the crowd today.   We have been asked to wear red for the hearing and are hoping for another big turnout when it starts at 1:30 PM CDT. .

We have outgunned them 127-38 in pro-HERO vs anti-HERO speakers in the two previous hearings, and the haters are desperate to change that dynamic.

In addition to getting Mike Huckabee to try to fire up their stormtroopers,  the Forces of Intolerance are planning to have a rally on the steps of City Hall to juice their turnout.

But with the Houston area weather forecast calling for a 70% chance of rain and the rain starting and consistently falling since 1:00 AM , they may be forced to cancel it (snicker snicker). 

Hey, God don't like ugly, and they've been wallowing in it like pigs in slop over the last several weeks.

The battle between us and the haters will be on local cable and livestreamed for those of you not in the Houston city limits, and you can watch it here. 

The final vote on the HERO and the amendments to it will take place tomorrow and I'll be in the City Hall house tomorrow for that one as well..

Send us your prayers, warm thoughts and well wishes as we fight for truth, justice and human rights for my hometown..

TransGriot Update:  Houston City Council voted to delay to HERO vote two weeks to May 28.

The Anti-HERO's Last Gasp

Those of us advocating the long overdue passing of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance have had a pretty good run of success. 

When it was revealed it covered city and private employment.  There was a HERO town hall in the gayborhood held surprisingly by one of the councilmembers penciled in initially as a leaning NO vote in Michael Kubosh.  It covered sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations, albeit clunkily and the PA language in Section 17-51 (b) sucked as far as the trans community was concerned.

The 50 employee threshold was also too high.   Those concerns are being addressed in amendments offered by Councilmembers Gonzales, Gallegos and Davis. 

We have the support of LULAC, the NAACP, the Urban League, Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia (D), State Senators John Whitmire, Sylvia Garcia and Rodney Ellis, state Reps.Garnet Coleman, Jessica Farrar, and Carol Alvarado.  We have the support of the Greater Houston Partnership and other business groups.   The Houston Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, Equality Texas, TENT and BTMI/BTWI's Houston chapters have also been in this fight    They have been outgunned 127-38 in terms of pro-HERO speakers vs. anti-HERO speakers in the two hearings so far on the proposed ordinance.

The anti-HERO's?   They have the support of long time gay baiters Dave Wilson, Dave Welch, and Dr. Steven Hotze, the quixotic President Joseph Charles, a few misguided citizens and a gaggle of anti-gay sellout Black ministers.

Correction, to be more accurate, more like anti-trans Black ministers since all they've babbled about in the HERO hearings is the easily debunked bathroom predator lie.

We in Houston have waited 30 years for this opportunity to present itself again, and this is an all hands on deck human rights project   The world is watching us this time.   Time to pass the HERO with no excuses, no more delays.  Human rights for Houstonians can't wait.  

The anti-HERO's are on the wrong side of history (again), and hopefully that will become evident this Wednesday when City Council votes to pass the HERO.   But it didn't stop the anti-HERO's from making one last desperate play to try to turn the tsunami of public opinion and wave building for passage of the HERO.  
 
They spent this Mother's Day weekend deploying robocalls and on Sunday, transphobic radio commercials in heavy rotation.  They deployed Mike Huckabee, and are planning a noon anti-HERO rally on Tuesday in which I predict will be nothing more than a public Two Minute Hate aimed at the trans community

So we counter their frenzied activity this Tuesday by redoubling our efforts to ensure we have our butts in the seats at City Hall ready to speak.  Find more progressive ministers, diverse LGBT citizens, and stories of LGBT and non-LGBT H-town discrimination 

Call the City Secretary's office to sign up to speak in favor of the ordinance.  You do so by calling 832-393-1100 or e-mailing citysecretary@houstontx.gov and stating you would like to testify before City Council on Tuesday, May 13, at 1:30 PM.

The City Secretary will ask for your name, phone number, and home address.   You don't need to be a Houston resident to speak as the hater have taken advantage of.   The topic is the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance. Ask for 1 minute to speak because with the volume of speakers expected tomorrow, the normal 3 minutes will be cut down to 1  

It takes nine votes to pass ordinances on our 16 member city council, and Mayor Parker does get a vote.  However, these Houston council members have expressed uncertainty about whether they wish to support the HERO.  Give them a call to let them know how this vote affects you and countless other LGBT Houstonians (and future Houstonians):

Jerry Davis: 832-393-3009
Dave Martin: 832-393-3008
David Robinson: 832-393-3013
Michael Kubosh: 832-393-3005
C.O. 'Brad' Bradford: 832-393-3012
Jack Christie: 832-393-3017

Kubosh is especially important to reach out to because he has been getting major attention and grief from the hate ministers for daring to meet with us.   Davis and Bradford as African-Ameircans have been getting the ire of the hate minsters, too

If you're coming to 901 Bagby St (the address for Houston City Hall), get there early so you can sign in for your visitor's badge, get through security and get a seat in the 255 seat council chamber.  Wear red tomorrow in support of the HERO.  Call Council Members today through Wednesday and let them know you support passage of the HERO without the Pennington amendments designed to gut the HERO.   If we get the favorable vote we expect on Wednesday, call again later in the week to thank all of the councilmembers who supported us.

Let the anti-HERO's show their azzes as the faith based bigots and fools they try to deny they are, but have been role modeling for the last month.   We show us well dressed, low stressed, and exuding class and dignity because we have the moral and ethical high ground.   The anti-HERO's don't and they know it..  

We pro-HERO folks have made the case as to why the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance is needed and necessary, while all they have offered is 'fear and smear', obfuscations and blatant easily debunkable lies  

So don't panic, people.  The arc of the moral universe is bending toward justice for us, and the anti-HERO's can't stand it.  They are in the last gasp of desperately fighting us before we walk away with a long awaited Houston human rights victory.

You're STILL On The Wrong Side Of History, Houston Haters

Well, well, well.   The opponents of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance are getting desperate.  

Saturday afternoon they unleashed their robocalls in the 'hood voiced by one of the sellout ministers in which even yours truly and my mom received.  Later that night they rolled out their message from Mike Huckabee

Then I wake up this morning to an anti-HERO ad being broadcast on Majic 102 in heavy rotation, and I smiled.

The haters are getting desperate.  Not only is time not on their side, neither are the polling numbers.   People support the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.   Despite the robocalls and the radio ads on Black radio station 85% of my community supports the HERO despite the Pastor's Council cynically sticking Black pastors out there as their surrogates to unleash the anti-trans hate as Dave Welch and Dave Wilson smile from the background. 

Let's be real here, the people they have been attacking for the last two weeks are the Houston trans community.  They have no legitimate argument they can deploy to oppose the HERO, and all they have at this point is 'fear and smear'

In fact, your unbridled hate and lies are our best arguments for why the HERO needs to pass. 

Their last minute attacks, their Tuesday rally at City Hall won't change the fact that LULAC, the NAACP, the Urban League, the Greater Houston partnership and business community, Harris County's elected officials such as Sheriff Adrian Garcia, state Reps Garnet Coleman, Jessica Farrar,  state Senators Rodney Ellis and John Whitmire, progressive pastors,  and fair minded Houstonians are on our side.

In the words of Nelson Mandela, 'any man or institution that tries to rob me of my dignity will lose.'

The haters are well on their way to doing precisely that, and I hope to see something positively historic happen for my hometown on Wednesday with passage of the HERO.

Handling My HERO Business Again

Once again I made the trek to 901 Bagby Street and our art deco designed City Hall to speak at and attend another meeting concerning the HERO in front of the full council. 

I was expecting it to be as contentious as the Quality of Life Committee hearing last week,  but those expectations died because many of the misguided African-American pastors who loudly expressed their opposition to it along with some of their not so righteous flock at that hearing were MIA yesterday. 

It's probably because they realize that the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance has momentum, it's the right and morally correct thing to do, and they might be coming to the realization they were played for suckers by the Pastor's Council.

In addition to myself, 77 other multiethnic speakers from our TBLG community and our allies took to the podium in front of our city council members to declare they were in favor of HERO passage   19 were against it including the usual haters like Dave 'Temporary Black Man For Electoral Purposes' Wilson and perennial council gadfly President Joseph Charles.

The local chapters of the NAACP and the Urban League also announced their support at this council hearing for the HERO. 84% of the Houston African-American community supports it.   State legislators like Sen. Rodney Ellis, Rep Garnet Coleman support it.   And in my capacity as the head of the Houston chapter of Black Transwomen, Inc., my org supports passage of the HERO

So those ministers who unleashed their faith based bigotry last Wednesday look even more foolish as this effort to pass the HERO moves forward and they realize they are on the wrong side of history. 

One of the other interesting and tear jerking moments of the HERO council hearing yesterday is that a Latino and African-American man both came out during their testimony.

The trans community was also there.   In addition to myself testifying in front of city council,  Nikki Araguz Loyd , Dr Colt Keo-Meier and Amelia Miller also did their part  to ensure the 'T' was represented. 

Another council meeting is happening today, in which we expect it will be tabled until next week.   Amendments are being offered, including to the problematic Section 17 51 (b) I expressed my concerns about in my testimony. 

We are one step closer to adding Houston to the long list of cities that protect its citizens from discrimination, and I couldn't be happier as a native Houstonian for that. 

City Council HERO Hearing Today

After dealing with the hate preachers last Wednesday, the HERO now goes before the full Houston City Council and another public comment meeting.that promises to be just as contentious as the April 30 committee meeting was.

Round Two of the battle to pass the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance kicks off at 1:30 PM CDT today and it promises to be just as contentious and ugly as it was last week during the Quality of Life committee hearing.

It's clear the strategy of the Pastor's Council haters is to let the Black ministers and other sellout people of color do their dirty work, and we need Houston SGL, trans and bi people of color to stand up and speak out against this cynical racist play.


You know I'm already in council chambers to watch the fun and do battle with the faith based haters, and will talk about it later.

And if you want to watch the proceedings, Moni's going to make it easy for you to do and just click on this link.

I Find That HERO Bathroom Language Disturbing

We have had 15 drafts, a standing room only contentious Quality of Life committee hearing which was several hours of attacks on the trans community and an upcoming session before the full city council tomorrow.  

But they still haven't fixed in the HERO that problematic bathroom language in Article IV, Section 17-51 

Sec. 17-51. Prohibition against discrimination in public accommodations.

(a) It shall be unlawful for any place of public accommodation or any employee or agent thereof to discriminate against any person on the basis of any protected characteristic, except as required by federal or state law or court order.

(b) It shall be unlawful for any place of public accommodation or any employee or agent thereof to deny any person entry to any restroom, shower room, or similar facility if that facility is consistent with and appropriate to that person’s expression of gender identity. It shall be a defense to prosecution for discrimination on the basis of gender identity under this article, however, if the defendant had a good faith belief that the gender or gender identity of the person discriminated against was not consistent with the gender designation of the facility. For purposes of this section, a defendant has a good faith belief if the manner in which the person represented or expressed gender to others (e.g. behavior, clothing, hairstyles, activities, voice or mannerisms) is not consistent with the gender designation of the facility the person attempted to access. Nothing in this section shall require construction of a new bathroom, shower room, or similar facility.

(c) It shall be a defense to prosecution for discrimination on the basis of disability under this article that the alleged discrimination resulted from a condition or structural feature for which a variance had been received. It shall also be a defense to prosecution for discrimination on the basis of accessibility that the place of public accommodation is in compliance with applicable state or federal law relating to accessibility.

Translation, if this is allowed to stand, it would allow gender policing to happen and the trans community in Tyjanae Moore type situations would have no recourse or way to punish people for harassing us.

Not no but HELL NO on this. That language in Section 17-51 (b) needs to go. 

The Dallas ordinance passed in 2002 doesn't have any bathroom language and as of this writing 12 years later hasn't had any increase in bathroom predators dressed in drag.    
 
Once again I have to call out the fact to Mayor Parker and Councilmember Ellen Cohen that the bathroom language in this HERO sucks and they need to forcefully tell the Pastor's Council where to go with their bathroom predator lies.

Just a gentle reminder to Mayor Parker that members of the Houston trans community were the foot soldiers and worker bees for many of your citywide campaigns for council, controller and mayor. We honored you with an Apogee Award at the 1998 Houston TG Unity Banquet for your leadership as a city council member on the 1998 non-discrimination ordinance.

We had your back when you needed us.  Now that we trans Houstonians need you to lead again on our issues since we don't have one of our own trans people on council yet, you want someone else on council to offer an amendment? 

Mayor Parker, we trans Houstonians need you and Councilmember Cohen to be the drum majorettes for justice we thought we elected to those positions.   Lead from the front and kill the HERO Section 17-51 (b) bathroom language.

It says above the doors to the entrance to council chambers 'The People Are The City'.  Transgender Houstonians are part of the 2.2 million people who live here and make up our sprawling southeast Texas metropolis.   It's way past time the ordinances in the city we love protected us from anti-trans discrimination.  We're tired of being demonized and humiliated for using the bathroom and there is no justification for it.

I and my fellow trans Houstonians want the same first class human rights you demand for yourselves with no excuses, no obfuscations and no delays.  We've waited long enough for the HERO to pass.

But before it possibly does, that odious bathroom language in Section 17-51 (b) must go.

'The People' Includes LGBT Houstonians, Too

Over the entrance to the city council chambers in our art deco designed Houston City Hall are the words 'The People Are The City'.

It's a reminder to the councilmembers and the mayor sitting at that curved desk with those nice green leather chairs who they are ultimately accountable to.

And the people in that slogan also includes the Houston TBLG community.

We trans, bi and SGL people are part of the 2.2 million denizens who live, work and play in the 628 square miles of Texas soil we call Houston.

It is past time our human rights are respected and protected in the city we love just as much as the haters.  I and my fellow LGBT Houstonians want the same first class human rights you demand for yourselves with no excuses, no obfuscations and no delays.   We've waited long enough.   Your specious religious beliefs do not trump my human rights. 

This Houston Equal Rights Ordinance is needed and long overdue. to combat the discrimination we face as LGBT people.   That discrimination is even more pronounced for trans people, and worse for trans, bi and SGL people of color who face anti-LGBT discrimination combined with racism.

Yes, the people are the city of Houston.  As we will continue to emphatically point out as our opponents resort to fear and smear tactics to oppose the HERO, 'the people' includes trans, bi, lesbian and gay Houstonians, too.

Handling My HERO Business

For the longest time one of my fondest wishes as a Houston based activist was that one day I would get to be part of the team that would help wipe Houston's name off the human rights list of shame and pass a trans inclusive human rights act.

Well, be careful what you wish for, because it can happen and sooner than you expect.

That moment of participating in the Houston human rights fight that I've been thinking about since 1998 is here. 

The TransGriot,  Dee Dee Watters and many of our  Houston LGBT community members, activists, clergy, friends and supporters showed up at City Hall in force for the 2 PM CDT hearing on our proposed Houston Equal Rights Ordinance that spilled over into adjacent viewing rooms.  

It was a hearing of the Quality of Life Committee chaired by Councilmember Ellen Cohen in which the only item on the menu was the HERO and it took place in a packed City Council chamber.  

After City Attorney Dave Feldman laid out the case for the HERO and city council members had the chance to comment on it pro and con, the fun began around 3:20 PM.    I knew I was going to have a long wait because by the time I got to City Hall and signed in to speak the list was up to five pages.

This is what I said in a earlier post about my assessment of what I thought the haters were going to do before I even left the house for City Hall:

I'm expecting our Pastor's Council haters to be there in full effect bearing false witness and pimping their usual lies of how this will 'stifle their free speech',  'suppress their religious freedom' and fling the bathroom meme for good measure.

Can I call it or what?   They went to City Hall in full 'fear and smear' mode.  But I did forgot one of their attack lines.  They also threw the 'sexual predator' meme out there while whining about being called haters and bigots. 


Well, Houston Pastor's Council conservafools and kneegrow auxiliaries, read my lips:  If you don't want to be called haters, oppressors and bigots the cure for it is simple.  Stop acting like haters, oppressors and bigots and we'll stop calling you out on that inconvenient for you truth.       

But what really disappointed me today (but wasn't surprising) was seeing that cluster of African-American pastors eagerly playing the role of oppressors and bearing false witness on an oppressed community as some of the women mouthed not so silent amens.  

The thing also pissing me off today was the erasure of me and LGBT African-American Houstonians as they were throwing their 'smear and fear' attacks and their selective memories concerning the history of the Civil Rights Movement.  I have two words for you faith based know nothings trying to pimp the lie we don't have any claim as African-American LGBT people to the legacy of our civil rights movement:  Bayard Rustin .  

The Civil Rights Movement history is MY history too, and how dare you try to lie and say it isn't as you tried to do in city council chambers today.  . 

And there were times I had to literally leave the chamber and vent because I was so pissed off at those crimes against history. 

Note to the Houston African-American haters.  BTLG people of African descent exist who get discrimination aimed at them from multiple intersections.   We are also just as down with fighting for the issues that impact our community as my appearance at HISD headquarters to fight the closure of schools in our neighborhoods and last summer's Trayvon Martin rally on the steps of City Hall are ample testament to.  

You can deny it all you want, but African-American LGBT people are part of the kente cloth fabric of our community, and it's past time you stopped slumming with the children and grandchildren of segregationists and recognize that.   

It was close to 6 PM before I got the chance to finally approach the podium for the third time this year and speak.   Since I only had 90 seconds, all I had time to do was call out the hate pastors and point out that trans, bi and SGL African-American exist with multiple oppressions aimed at our bodies.  

The hearing concluded after 7 PM, but this was just the warm up.  

The battle to pass the HERO is about to ratchet up another level with two more public hearings before we get to the final city council vote sometime in mid May.

TransGriot Update: Final tally of the speakers at yesterday's HERO hearing was 49 in favor and 19 against.  That means we also had more human rights minsters than hate minsters speaking..  

HERO Rally and Quality of Life Committee Hearing Today

The battle to pass the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance continues as we have a public hearing on the HERO at 2 PM CDT today.

The Houston LGBT community and our supporters will gather on the steps of Houston City Hall for a rally that will start at 1:15 PM prior to the start of the Quality of Life Committee that will be conducting the hearing in city council chambers.

After this committee hearing, the HERO will go before the full council on May 7.

and for consideration by the full council on May 7. If approved, the ordinance would go into effect immediately. - See more at: http://txvalues.org/2014/04/25/religious-freedom-free-speech-threatened-by-houstons-lgbt-ordinance/#sthash.HiuT4HJU.dpuf

and for consideration by the full council on May 7. If approved, the ordinance would go into effect immediately. - See more at: http://txvalues.org/2014/04/25/religious-freedom-free-speech-threatened-by-houstons-lgbt-ordinance/#sthash.HiuT4HJU.dpuf

I'm expecting our Pastor's Council haters to be there in full in effect bearing false witness and pimping their usual lies of how this will 'stifle their free speech',  'suppress their religious freedom' and fling the bathroom meme for good measure.   

Naw conservafools, you don't get the special right to discriminate.   I'm already mad you peeps are exempted from the provisions of this ordinance, so don't even try to go there.


Should be fun to watch the haters squirm.