Houston GLBT Caucus Hosts 2nd Annual Advocacy Day

If you are in the Houston area, and looking for an opportunity to chat with your state legislators, your opportunity to do so will take place on (no joke) April 1.

The Houston GLBT Caucus along with their partner organizations United We Dream, Transform Houston, Your Houston PAC, the New Leaders Council and Indivisible Houston will head to Austin on April 1 for their second annual Houston's Advocacy Day at The Capitol

If you're wishing to register for the lobby day and be in the ATX for it, here's the link to register.

Bus will leave the Montrose Center at 6 AM on Monday from the Montrose Center at 401 Branard St to head to the Pink Dome, and return to H-town at 8 PM

So if you wish to lobby your state reps, register now, because the Caucus and all these amazing orgs would love to have you there in Austin with them and your fellow citizen lobbyists,

TENT Trans Lobby Day Today

I'm chilling with my peeps in Austin after a relatively uneventful travel day.  I did have to wait two hours before I got into my hotel room.  I got here at 11 AM, and like my hotel, many of the ATX hotels are packed not only because of the legislative session, but also because SXSW is about to kick off this weekend

So after I grabbed something to eat, I had to kill two hours wandering the downtown streets of Austin.   I happily discovered during my wandering to familiarize myself with the general hotel vicinity there's a 7 Eleven near the hotel.

I'm halfway to my free Slurpee.

I'm here for the TENT Lobby Day, and I'll be speaking before we start heading into the Pink Dome to talk to our legislators.   The registration for the event closed on March 4 with 276 people signaling their intention to be here, so looking forward to seeing if we get more than that.

Also looking forward to seeing our trans family from across the Lone Star State

Our legislators know we're here because we've already made the local ATX news.   It's also interesting for me because it's exactly 20 years to the day I first made the trip to Austin as a rookie citizen lobbyist to participate in my maiden trans lobby day. 

I'm also doing so with a heavy heart because back home in Houston, the private memorial service for Sarah DePalma, the founding executive director of the Texas Gender Advocacy Information Network (TGAIN), and the proto org of TENT, takes place today. 

Our trans elder and my activist mentor died several weeks ago at age 67.

Here's the schedule for today's TENT Lobby Day

8-9 AM - Check in at FUMC Family Life Center (1300 Lavaca St), parking is available in the Capitol garage and will be within walking distance of all events. It is also handicap accessible and so is the FUMC Family Life Center)

9-10:00 AM - Lobby Day Training

10:35 AM - Pick up lunch, walk over to south steps of the Capitol

11:00 AM - TENT Rally

12 PM - Join NASW Rally

1 PM - Lobby Day Visits begin

5 PM - Lobby Day Ends

Hope I'll see as many of you peeps and allies handling your trans human rights business.

Heading To The ATX Again

If you're saying to yourself, 'weren't you just in Austin last week?', you would be correct.   I was there for a quick in an out trip to speak during an Equality Texas press conference on the south steps of the Texas Capitol.

And yeah, got my Slurpee before I headed back to H-town.

This time I'm heading back to Austin to take part in the Trans Education Network of Texas (TENT) trans lobby day that is also cosponsored with the Texas chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW).

This lobby day is happening nearly 20 years to the day I made my first ever Texas lege trans lobby trip in 1999 organized by TGAIN, the forerunner org of TENT.

Same Pink Dome, but a different Texas legislative configuration.   Even Austin is way larger population wise than when I first started coming to lobby the Lege.

We have a long list of good bills to support, but are also concerned about the bad ones like SB 15, that would kill already passed non discrimination ordinances in Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Plano, Carrollton and El Paso and prevent cities from enacting those laws

We also for the first time have an official Texas LGBTQ Legislative Caucus this session, and looking forward to talking to the members of it in addition to my own state rep and state senator.

My behind is already in bed as you read this because I have a 7:35 AM Megabus departure from downtown Houston to get to our state capitol, and the alarm is set for 5 AM CST

I sure hope the route we're going to take to Austin is via I-10 west to TX 71 because I despise going there via US 290.

Despite our schizophrenic weather lately, the bluebonnets are starting to bloom along TX 71 as well

My ETA there is 10:40 AM, so hope we get there on time.   Once I get there, I'll have the opportunity to catch up with what the Texas Lege is doing and on Thursday see my Texas trans fam from across the Lone Star State. 

In The ATX Again To Lobby

The 85th Texas Legislative session doesn't end until May 29,  and that means until that sine die day our human rights and humanity will still be under attack by the Texas GOP majority in Austin literally until midnight CDT on that day.

So once again I'm up in Austin for a few days to support a good bill in HB 192 that prohibits housing discrimination in the Lone Star State on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, and fight the odious HB 2899, the bill born out of GOP frustrations that SB 6 is stuck in committee.

HB 192 gets a hearing today in the House Business and Industry Committee,  so let the member know you support that bill.

HB 2899, the latest anti-trans hate bill will get its hearing on Wednesday so I expect to spend a long day at the Capitol for that one.   We also need y'all calling the members of the House State Affairs Committee to express your opposition (politely)  to the bill.

But while I'm in the ATX, I'll catch up with friends and chosen family until I head back to Houston on Thursday.

Another Week, Another Lobby Day

If it seems like I was just in Austin two weeks ago, yeah I was up along with trans people from across the Lone Star State and our allies giving Lois Kolkhorst hell for pushing the Texas Transgender Oppression Act.

I was there for the Trans Texas Lobby day, but missed the GLBT Caucus one last Monday because frankly, still hadn't adjusted to the time change and was still a bit tired from last week's lobby day plus the marathon State Senate Affairs committee hearing and needed to rest a bit.

Now that I've done so, I'm ready to head back up to the ATX and talk to our reps about stopping SB 6 and other bad anti-TBLGQ bills in addition to explaining why they should support some good bills that will help our community.

Will also take the opportunity to thank in person the Terrific Ten Democratic senators who stood tall for the human rights of transgender Texans.

This one is the Equality Texas All In For Equality Lobby Day, and is also cosponsored by the Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT) , the ACLU of Texas and the Human Rights Campaign

There's over 900 people registered, and that makes it the largest EQTX lobby day ever.  Definitely beats the days when we would consider more than a dozen people showing up a great lobby event

We're scheduled to be there from 10-4 PM CDT, and proud to rep my hometown and my Black trans fam.

See y'all in a few hours..

Headed To ATX For Trans Texas Lobby Day & SB 6 Hearing

Seems like I've been doing this ever since my first one in the 1999 session, but when I arrive at the state capitol in a few hours, this lobbying foray at the Pink Dome will be for much higher stakes.

Trans folks and our allies from across the state will be converging on Autin to make their voices heard to their state legislators.  They will be urging them to #FlushSB6 and other unjust anti-TBLGQ bills and passing pro human rights bills.

The North Capitol steps will also be busy March 6 with a TENT press conference at 11 AM and one with a coalition of business groups at 1 PM condemning SB 6 as a preventable disaster for the Texas economy.

The Trans Texas Lobby is a joint production of TENT (Transgender Education Network of Texas), Equality Texas, ACLU-TX, Texas Freedom Network and HRC and run from 9 AM -6 PM CST on March 6.

SB 6, the unjust Texas Transgender Oppression Act being pushed by Dan Patrick and Lois Kolkhorst, will have a committee hearing tomorrow starting at 8 AM,    This is a job killing bill of the highest order in addition to being one that oppresses a segment of the Texas population.

Here's the Texas state data for the 2015 US Trans Survey has also been released with 1490 Texans recording their responses as part of the largest survey to date of transgender people in the US with 27,715 respondents

Since I'm planning to attend both the Lobby Day and the hearing, that means AX I'll be chilling there and won't leave until after the SB 6 hearing is concluded.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in the ATX a few hours.

Transgender Lobby Day In Austin Today

Heading back to my state capitol for an unprecedented for me third time this session to do what I can to help kill some bad anti-trans bills (HB 2801, HB 2802, HB 1748, HB 1749) and drum up support for the good bills like Rep. Garnet Coleman's HB 2058 

This effort is so important that I'm delaying my trip to Dallas for the BTAC Conference by 24 hours so I can participate.  Last night there was a caucus held in Austin to discuss issues of importance to the Texas transgender community.

In a few hours we hit the Capitol to lobby against the unjust bills by the Discrimination Duo of Pena and Riddle, and for Rep. Coleman's bill that will streamline the process for changing gender markers.

All of the bills in question are in the State Affairs Committee, and for those of you who can't make it to Austin, you can still be agents of your own trans liberation and make calls to your state legislators.

TransGriot Update:  Was trying to fit this Austin lobby trip in before I left for Dallas, and thought the shuttle was leaving from the Montrose Center at 6 AM.    I arrived at the Montrose Center at 5:40 AM.  When I didn't see anyone arrive by 6:30 AM headed to Austin left and returned home.   The shuttle left at 7 AM while I was enroute back home.

Oh well, little upset I'm not in Austin, but did my part to ensure I could be there to represent my community.

Texas Trans Lobby Day Next Week

Trans Texans and our allies will be headed to Austin next Monday for the TransTexas Caucus and Lobby Day to combat four unjust anti-trans bills.  

Two bills by Rep Gilbert Pena (R-Pasadena) seek to not only incentivize kids snitching on and bullying their trans classmates for using the restroom (HB 2801 and 2802), we also have to combat Debbie Does Discrimination Riddle's (R-Tomball) HB 1748 and HB 1749 that seek to criminalize the existence of transpeople in Texas by not only making it a crime for Moni and every trans Texan to go to the restroom, it will penalize organizations and companies that allow us to do so.

This is unacceptable, and all four of those unjust anti-trans bills need to die, especially since they were written in retaliation for Houston and Plano's passage of human rights legislation that protects trans Texans.

There is also a trans bill we can support, and that is Rep. Garnet Coleman's HB 2058. If passed, it would create a statewide standard process for correct gender markers across the Lone Star State.

Rep. Coleman's bill is also in the State Affairs committee.

That's why on Sunday April 26, there will be a caucus held in Austin prior to us hitting the state capitol to discuss issues of importance to the Texas transgender community.  The next day, April 27, we will head to the Pink Dome to lobby against those bills and tell our state legislators why it is a horrible idea and bad for business to legislate discrimination against trans Texans.

You can sign up for the caucus, lobby day or to attend both by clicking this link.

We will also be telling our state legislators why standardizing the process for changing gender markers as HB 2058 would do is good for all Texans.

All four of the anti-trans bills have been assigned to the State Affairs Committee, and HB 2801 has  an upcoming hearing on April 22 before we get to Austin.

So please take a moment to be an agent of our transkids liberation and call your state legislators to urge them to oppose HB 2801 and all the anti-trans bills by Pena and Riddle, and support Rep Coleman's HB 2058.

The lobby day is being organized by the Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT) and is being co-sponsored by Equality Texas, the Texas Freedom Network, the Transgender Law Center, HRC and several other orgs.

It is so important to me I'm delaying my trip to BTAC by a day so I can attend the lobby day. 

I will be in Austin for the third time this session to stand up for my human rights as a proud trans Texan.  If you can do so, I hope you will join me.   For those of you who live too far away in our ginormous state to make that trip, you can support us by calling or e-mailing your state legislator.

TPOCC, BTMI and BTWI Handling Their Capitol Hill Business

The Trans Persons of Color Coalition (TPOCC) , Black Transmen Inc (BTMI) and Black Transwomen Inc (BTWI) are part of the coalition of groups that are walking the House and Senate office buildings right now handling their Capitol Hill lobbying business on behalf of our community.

It's been past time that we New Black Transmen and New Black Transwomen handle our legislative business.  It's also been past time to let the Congressional Black Caucus and other congressional leaders know that trans people of color exist and are more than capable of speaking for ourselves, owning our power and talking about the issues that affect our community.

It's also time as grown ass POC trans people we determine who we will and will not ally ourselves with politically.   Far too many of the national LGBT orgs that allegedly represent us have NONE of us siting at their policy tables or in their workforces getting paid to advocate for us.

That needs to end now. 

Yeah, wish I was up on Capitol Hill with you, but I have every confidence those of you who are there inside I-495 will do an excellent job handling your citizen lobbying duties on behalf of our community.  

Next time I damned sure want to be there doing my part.  I want to help conduct training sessions, do briefings, give a little motivational speech, and pass on my accumulated knowledge to the current and next generation of trans leaders.

We'll see if that happens.

TPOCC And NCTE Join Forces To Lobby For ENDA And Immigration Reform

With a trans inclusive Employment and Non Discrimination Act (ENDA) once again being introduced in the 113th Congress in both houses on April 25 and The Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act  currently being debated that will affect our community, the time has come for trans* people across the United States to let our voices be heard and for us to be seen exercising our constitutional rights to talk to our legislators about this important legislation.  

That's why the Trans People of Color Coalition and the National Center for Transgender Equality will team up today to ensure the voices of trans people across the country are represented and the diversity of our community is visible in the fight for justice.

"Immigration reform is equally important in addressing the concerns of transgender and gender non-conforming people. Many immigrants have lived here their whole life or were born here, we need to include the needs and voices of these people into this legislation," said Bamby Salcedo, the president of the Trans Latin@ Coalition.

“Both ENDA and comprehensive immigration reform allow us the opportunity to sustain ourselves and our communities. The experiences of Trans* and gender non-conforming communities of color highlight the reality that  these are not two separate issues. When we Lobby on Monday we will be working to secure legal protections for trans*, gender non-conforming, and immigrant individuals who are already working in our schools and our businesses. We are already here doing the work and deserve to be free from violence and discrimination while we help build this country,” stated Parker T. Hurley, deputy director of TPOCC.

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identity.   ENDA (H.R. 1755/ S. 815) would create explicit protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people similar to those available under existing federal anti-discrimination laws for other protected classes of workers.

“America prospers when all are given basic protections for economic and job security - and ENDA is a critical piece of legislation to help ensure job security for millions of people and families in the United States, particularly transgender people and people of color that suffer from pervasive discrimination due to societal misunderstandings and stigma. It’s important that the playing field be level for all.” said Kylar W. Broadus, executive director TPOCC. 

The Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744) is a bipartisan immigration reform bill with several components, including: (a) creating pathways to citizenship for undocumented youth and adults; (b) preserving family unity by clearing out green card backlogs; (c) expanding protections for asylum seekers and refugees; and (d) reforming immigration detention.

TPOCC and NCTE will gather in Washington D.C. at 8:30 AM EDT at the American Federation of Teachers - AFL-CIO headquarters building at 555 New Jersey Ave NW, 4th Floor, for a rally and briefing before heading to Capitol Hill to tell our stories to House and Senate legislators that will be voting on immigration reform and this much needed trans* human rights legislation.

“We hope this will be one of the most diverse lobby days for transgender Americans on Capitol Hill," added Broadus. "While we realize everyone cannot come to Washington D.C. it is important for us to be here. We will do follow up with those not able to make it here to ensure their voices are heard.”

We hope that you will join TPOCC today in lobbying for the passage of ENDA and immigration reform that takes into account the needs of trans" immigrants.  If you can't join us on Capitol Hill please call your congressional representatives offices and ask they do so.


TPOCC is an organization to inspire and nurture collaboration among communities of color dedicated to anti-racism, fighting transphobia and the empowerment of transgender persons of color. We work to strengthen and mobilize individuals, families, and communities by changing laws, educating the public, and building social and economic strength among all persons of color.

Moni Goes To Washington-Day 3

Our last day (May 8) in Washington was going to be spent on the senate side. I needed to talk to Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL) in addition to a few other peeps since SR 909, the senate version of the Hate Crimes bill had been introduced and was in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

I like being in DC so the days I have to pack my stuff in preparation for our departure from Washington are always bittersweet ones for me. It was also going to have time pressure because Polar and I had to hit the road and head back to the Bluegrass State and our lives here.

I can also say the DC newscasts are hardly ever boring. The first night we flip on the news we see the dustup over same gender marriage. Last night we watched a strip mall gas explosion caught on a security camera.

But back to your regularly scheduled post.

We arrived at the Dirksen Senate Office Building and after clearing security I checked the electronic info board to make sure we were in the right building for Sen. Burris' office. The app in Polar's iPhone stated that he was in Dirksen, but the board said that he was in the Russell Senate Office Building.

So we had to hoof it to the tunnel and head over to Russell. We arrived at his office a few moments later after I took a photo in the Russell building atrium. He wasn't in and the person who handled those issues was out of the office. We were advised by the person we did talk to at the desk that Sen. Burris was a cosponsor of SR 909 and dropped off the info packet before heading to our next office..

We headed to Sen. Evan Bayh's (D-IN) office and after patiently waiting a few moments were told that the person handling GLBT issues in that office had called in sick hat morning. So once again another packet dropoff without a chat.

We then headed to Sen. Richard Lugar's (R-IN) office in the Hart SOB. You'll note we didn't even bother trying to talk to our own Kentucky senators, Mitch McConnell (R-KY) or Jim Bunning (R-KY) who were in the Russell SOB.

It's been a longstanding congressional tradition that you give constituents who take their precious time to come to DC a few minutes, even if you disagree with them politically. In 2007 I got to see an LA in Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson's (R-TX) office even though I'm on the opposite end of the political galaxy from her.

But in McConnell's and Bunning's cases, if you ain't a foaming at the mouth winger, they won't see you. What I'd like to see is somebody with a 'D' behind their names replacing both of them. We'll get our chance to oust Bunning next year.

We arrived at Sen. Lugar's office and got 15 minutes chat time with one of the aides there. He advised us that the senator has 'small business issues' about ENDA, but dose support SR 909. After thanking the LA for his time, we bounced to the cafeteria for a meeting with the rest of our lobbyist and lunch since it was now approaching 1 PM.

We caught up with 'errbody' in the Dirksen cafeteria and spent an hour eating lunch, exchanging info, notes and stories as I handed off my remaining info packets to Ness and Toni. They were planning to hit a few more offices on both the House and Senate side while we hit the road.

We were already aware of the severe thunderstorms smacking Kentucky along the route we were planning to transit home and briefly considered rerouting further north through Columbus and Indy to get back home.

We decided to take our normal route back to Kentucky and wanted to be transiting West Virginia before dark. Polar still has bad memories about a 2002 DC trip in which a pregnant deer stepped in front of a Grand Am he'd lovingly restored. He and another passenger were on I-79 headed south near Weston, WV on the way back to Louisville and both the car and deer lost.

Batting mid-afternoon traffic on the Capital Beltway torpedoed that plan and we didn't arrive at Morgantown, WV until almost 7:30 PM, so we decided to stop there and eat my birthday dinner before resuming our trip. It also would give the heavy rain a chance to clear the area before we tackled the dreaded nighttime southward leg on I-79 toward Charleston.

We slogged through patches of heavy rain all the way to the Charleston area after getting our grub on. It finally cleared out as we intercepted I-64 west for the remaining five hour run home.

I crawled into bed at 4 AM early Saturday morning tired but hopeful that this time, after eleven years of lobbying efforts, that SR 909 and the impending ENDA bill will finally become the law of the land.

Moni Goes To Washington-Day 2

The heavy drenching rain ending Day 1 gave way to a beautiful clear, cool and sunny May 6 day in Washington.

After emerging from the Capitol South Metro station Polar and I arrived on the Hill and headed straight to the Longworth HOB cafeteria after dropping off some promised information packets to the offices I'd visited the previous day. I'd finally picked them up during our initial strategy meeting the night before.

My task was simple. I had the mission of hitting as many CBC offices as possible and I was going to have to do it with a rookie lobbyist in tow. Since I knew it was going to be next to impossible for me to cover all 43 offices in the limited amount of time I had, I just decided on the train ride in to hit CBC leadership and whatever offices I passed in the various House Office Buildings along the way.

We arrived in the cafeteria and waited to hook up with Ness and the rest of our party. Since we had two newbies, we decided to take 'errbody' as a group to Rep. Al Green's (D-TX) office to give them an idea of what and how to do it.

On the way there I started my training by explaining to my partner Ro some of the basics. Lobbying is more than just advocating yes or no for a bill and asking for its passage. You have to engage your active and passive listening skills in addition to your powers of observation. You have to build personal relationships. It's calling upon your lifetime accumulated knowledge base. It's having a good working grasp of civics and government and how it works.

Passion and idealism is fine and an excellent starting point, but it must be balanced with discerning 'the art of the politically possible'.

If you're planning on lobbying Congress or any governmental body on behalf of this community, one thing that must end is your detachment to politics or the news. You cannot be willfully politically ignorant and be an effective lobbyist.

Watching CNN, C-SPAN, MSNBC, FOX (to know what The Enemy is up to) The Hill newspaper/website is a must and reading various newspapers becomes necessary as well.

You must also acquire a broad based knowledge as to what's transpiring in the transgender community so that you can converse intelligently and authoritatively about it. You never know if you'll be called on in an office or to give bill testimony about a hate crime that happened in California, a discrimination case that occurred in Texas, a police beatdown in Tennessee or an ID case in Illinois.

We arrived at the office a few moments later in the Rayburn building. One thing I also noted is that the CBC members, now reflecting the increased clout of seniority and the important leadership roles many have in the 110th Congress aren't clustered in the Cannon HOB. They now have offices in the Rayburn and Longworth buildings where the House power players are.

While Ness was talking to the LA in Rep. Green's office, I poked my head in to see his Chief of Staff Jacqueline Ellis. The last time I was there in 2007 she was catching hell on the phone from a local minister who was expressing in not so Christian terms his opposition to the hate crimes bill. We had a wonderful conversation in the aftermath of that.

When I poked my head in, I said to her "I see you aren't getting screamed at on the phone today." She looked up, saw my smiling face and gave me a big hug as we talked for a few minutes about the office move.

I stopped in Rep. Bobby Scott's (D-VA) office, and had wonderful conversations in Rep. Keith Ellison's (D-MN) and Rep. Gwen Moore's (D-WI) offices. I advised Rep. Moore's LA about the Sierra Broussard discrimination lawsuit that's about to kick off in Appleton, WI. I also asked them to convey my appreciation for their hate crime votes and hoped they would do the same for ENDA.

I ended up cutting my day short because my partner had finals to study for. After dropping off some promised information packets in a few offices I'd visited the previous day, it was off to the Capitol South Metro station and dinner at a Fuddruckers near our hotel. I haven't eaten at one since I moved from Houston and I was eagerly awaiting to opportunity to chow down there once again.

Two days down, one to go.

Back To The Hill-The Lobby Day Report

Got back yesterday evening after spending two days in Washington DC taking part in NTAC's portion of Transgender Lobby Week.

AC, Dawn and I shoved off from Louisville at 6:30 AM Tuesday morning. We arrived in Washington DC about 4:30 PM after driving eastward across Kentucky, West Virginia and Maryland. Had a lobby training session at IFGE headquarters a few hours after we arrived at our Silver Spring, MD area hotel. We were also stunned to hear after we flipped the XM to the Randi Rhodes Show about Jerry Falwell's death followed by Yolanda King's the next day. We also found it interesting that the Newsweek article on gender was published just before we left for DC.

At IFGE headquarters I was reunited with my fellow Houstonians Vanessa Edwards-Foster, Jackie Thorne and Josephine Tittsworth along with a few other peeps in the community. Dawn, Vanessa and I had a blast acting out various lobbying scenarios and listening to AC's briefing laying out our strategy for the upcoming two days of lobbying. We were concentrating on HR 1592, the Hate Crimes Bill which passed the House before we arrived, HR 2015, The Employment Non-Discrimination Act or ENDA for short, and HR 1117, the Real ID Repeal Act that removes Title II from it. It's an issue of major importance to transpeeps because Real ID reverts our gender codes on licenses back to birth gender irregardless of how long we've been transitioned.

My task along with Dawn's was to hit as many of the 43 Congressional Black Caucus offices as we could visit, with priority on the CBC leadership, those holding committee chairmanships and subcommittee chairmanships. The other lobbyists were also told not to hit a CBC office without us. Too many times over the years we've had instances of non-African Americans hitting CBC offices and saying stupid crap like African-American transpeople don't exist. NTAC also targeted other key members of the House and Senate delegations as well. While we didn't have the numbers or star power that the NCTE peeps had for their one day event, we had far more experienced and politically savvy people who'd done multiple lobby days to pair our newbies up with.

Over the next two days (Wednesday and Thursday) we hit many of the CBC offices and a few others in the House and Senate. We had substantive conversations with many staffers concerning the issues important to transpeeps. I even got to take a photo with my birth state senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) along with Vanessa and Jo. We also talked to Senator Hutchinson's staffers about the reason I'm living in Louisville now along with a few other issues.

It wasn't all hard work. We did get to make our traditional lobbying pilgrimage to the place where NTAC was born in 1999, Bethesda's La Panetteria Italian restaurant. We also chowed down at a Tex-Mex styled place in Silver Spring. We spent a lot of time in between lobby appointments and drop ins talking to various peeps on Capitol Hill and each other. AC and I also hopped into the van and took a mini-tour of DC. We drove past the Howard U campus, parts of downtown, Chinatown, the Smithsonian, the Spy Museum and The Mall. They've also finally broken ground for the construction of the Martin Luther King Memorial as well and I'm looking forward to seeing that when it's completed.

I also noted the major change that has happened since my 1999 visit to Capitol Hill besides the new Visitor's Center under construction: the ramped up security. Capitol Police armed with M-16's patrolling the grounds and armed Capitol police officers at the checkpoints and crash barriers. If you're riding the subway repetitive messages remind you to immediately report to Metro Transit police if you see someone leave something behind on a train or in the stations.

I got a firsthand taste of why former rep Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) went off on the Capitol Police officers last year. I had several packets in hand as I entered the security checkpoint in the Longworth Building and I was held up at security. After they took down my name and had me identify who I was with I was told moments later I'd have to throw them away.

When I asked when this policy had been changed and wanted to know under what statute they had the authority to order that the officer produced a white folder. I was pissed off after having to not only throw those packets away but embarrassed about being profiled like that in front of a bunch of white peeps also trying to enter the building. The thing that also upset me was that it was an African-American officer jacking me up at security. He apologized for it and I told him he was only doing his job but it didn't get my lobbying day off to a great start.

I was just calming down from the leftover pissivity I had about being profiled at the checkpoint when Dawn came back from her forays in two offices and reported that the senate version of the ENDA bill Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) was about to introduce didn't include transpeople. That caused us to immediately shift our Senate talking points to deal with this possibility. We'll see in a few days whether the Kennedy bill (S.717) gets introduced without the House ENDA bill language.

Despite the bull feces at the checkpoint, I did enjoy my trip back to the Hill even though I didn't get to see my own congressmember John Yarmuth (D-KY). I'll have to rectify that on my next trip. I hope that while I was in the various offices the staffers and members saw me as just another fellow American exercising her constitutional rights. I also hope that the first timers who were lobbying with us enjoyed the experience and reveled in the self-esteem boost that it gives you.

Now I'm just finishing up the rest of my lobbying reports and waiting for my photo to hit the mailbox from Sen. Hutchinson's office.

On The Road Again

Well peeps, in less than 12 hours I'll be rolling toward our nation's capital to lobby in favor of ENDA and hate crimes.

So why am I taking a few days out of my schedule to lobby for these bills? Well, one of my guiding principles is to leave the world in a better position than when I arrived on the scene. I want the transkids who are now six and seven years old to have it better than we did. I don't want them having to wade through all the intolerance, ignorance and bull that we've have to endure. It's up to my generation to make sure that happens.

To borrow Dr. King's eloquent words, I want them to be judged on the content of their character. I want them to be able to achieve their dreams. I don't want them to be afraid to dream or live their lives like I was because I was fearful of what would happen if my gender issues were discovered. I want them to be able to contribute to American society without facing the resistance and limits that we've struggled to overcome. It's also another way I use my talents to give back and help build the community.

As much as I'm eagerly looking forward to lobbying on a Capitol Hill in which the Democrats are in control, it's the road trip I'm really psyched for. I've always liked road trips as I've stated on numerous occasions. In addition I relish the opportunity to see some old friends from around the nation and meet some new ones.

II think every American needs to get to Washington D.C. at least once in their lifetime. You need to see for yourselves how the legislative process works. There's nothing like being in DC and sitting in a hearing or a House or Senate session, watching the debates or talking to your congreessmember or senator. I've done that at the state and city council level but I really need to try to do it for the federal government level as well.

If I get access to a computer I'll try to update the blog and report to you TransGriot readers what's happening during Transgender Lobby Week. I'll be putting on my journalist cap and conducting a few interviews while I'm there as well.

Now I need to finish washing this last load of clothes and get some sleep. Got a long drive ahead of me.