Never Demetria

The late Maya Angelou once said that when somebody shows you who they are the first time, believe them.   One of the candidates in the 2019 Houston mayoral race has a long ugly history of showing us exactly who she is as an unrepentant transphobe and a homophobe.

That would be Demetria Smith.     And Moni has receipts.

Yep, the same Demetria Smith who has run for since 2013 a District D city council seat, Texas governor in 2018 and now twice for mayor in 2015 and this year.

The same Demetria Smith who is anti-HERO and still futilely trying to gaslight you into believing she isn't.

The same Demetria Smith that threw a hissy fit at a January 2018 Houston GLBT caucus meeting when her time ran out to speak at that meeting, then took to her social media in the wake of that public meltdown to falsely claim "the GLBT's are trying to silence me."

The same Demetria Smith that can't spell her own name right on her own campaign material.

She is the same Demetria Smith whose $3,750 filing fee check for the governor's race bounced, leading the Texas Secretary of State to declare her ineligible to run for the governor's office. 

It's not like she would have gotten any support had she been able to stay on the ballot in that Blue tsunami wave election year.   She got less than 1% of the vote the last time she ran for mayor in 2015, and is well on her way thanks to her unrepentant homophobia and transphobia to failing spectacularly again.

Oh yeah, almost forgot.  Don't you still owe the state of Texas $22,000 in delinquent filing fees?

The last few days have found Smith on social media once again letting her anti-gay and anti-trans flags fly.  She has attacked At Large 5 city council candidate Ashton P. Woods, Kandice Webber, Eric Edward Schell, Nick Arvizu-Hutchinson  and an increasingly lengthy list of other peeps in the Houston TBLGQ community tired of her bull feces and calling her on it.

It's reading time    But let me hydrate first.

(Moni cracks knuckles)

I am personally tired of your ignorant mentally constipated transphobic behind pushing the bathroom predator myth as your weak as well water excuse to hate on HERO.   And yes Demetria, you ARE a transphobe and homophobe who is unfit to hold any public elective office in Houston, Harris County or the state of Texas.

You don't like people calling you out about being a homophobe and transphobe?   Then stop saying homophobic and transphobic crap.   It's that breathtakingly simple.

But tragically, you can't help yourself, and I'm not expecting that miracle to happen.

News flash for you Miss Thang.   It ain't the trans folks you need to worry about.  It's Baptist preachers, deacons, Catholic priests, Republican politicians and creepy uncles.

It's also pissing me off you're flapping those loud and wrong gums about 'predators' when we have predators who have declared open season on Black trans women.   Where's your concern about that? 
Don't their lives mater?

These are dangerous times in America, and we need intelligent leaders at all levels of government who stand up for everyone, not just heterosexuals.   If my rights as a trans Houstonian aren't secure, nobody's are.

HERO 2.0 without public accommodations language or coverage for trans people is a non starter.

Your beliefs as you call them are not grounded in anything but sheer ignorance, and as an award winning blogger and journalist, my job is to speak truth to power, call crap out and stamp out ignorance inside and outside my community.

You are batting .1000 when it comes to spreading that ignorance. 

And let me get something straight with your reprehensible behind..  Gaybaiting is not a good look on you sweetheart.  Neither is willful ignorance or transphobia, and it's time for a makeover and a trip to the library.

It's also quite obvious that you desperately need education about LGBTQ issues but are unwilling to learn.   You also keep doubling and tripling down on your homophobia and transphobia and posting it on social media for the world to peruse as if that is something to be proud of. 

That's why you continue to fail whenever you run for office.   This 2019 election cycle will be another one in which you fail to learn from past mistakes, and you will get less than 1% of the vote in this upcoming election.

You have made it quite clear since 2013 that you are NOT that person we need at City Hall, and it's why I and an increasing majority of Houstonians are on Team #NeverDemetria

What I'm Looking For In A Houston Mayoral Candidate

The wonderful thing for me about living in my hometown is that ever since I moved back home in May 2010, Annise Parker has been my mayor.    If it weren't for term limits, I'd bet you my last dollar she would easily win reelection to the mayor's chair for a fourth term if she could run again.

And this is why I hate term limits people, but that's a discussion for another day.

Since she is term limited, that has set off a mufti-candidate scramble for her soon to be vacated seat.  The declared candidates include the man Annise beat in 2013 in Ben Hall, TX State Rep. Sylvester Turner, former Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia, Councilman Stephen Costello, Bill King, the former mayor of Kemah, TX and retired United Airlines executive Joe Ferreira.

There are others considering it, but the clock is ticking toward the date they can officially file in August for the seat and fundraise for what is sure to be an interesting campaign when it kicks off around the tradition start for Houston civic elections around Labor Day

And this is your not so gentle reminder to get registered to vote if you aren't already so that you can take part in the November 3 election.

The largest city in Texas since 1930 is continuing to grow, and will pass Chicago probably before the end of this decade to become the third largest in the United States. But with that growth comes other issues that I am concerned about as a unapologetic African-American trans Houstonian

One is affordable housing.   There are a lot of units being built with more high rises dotting our skyline.   Many of those new units are being built alongside the METRORail light rail line of which two more will be opening for revenue service on May 23.   But those units being built are unaffordable to many people in this city.   

That needs to change to where we have provisions for mixed income housing and possibly incentives for building housing for low income people.  Not all area of Houston have shared in its prosperity, so we need to come up with ways so that prosperity and development positively impact neighborhoods like South Park and 5th Ward and eliminate food deserts.

Speaking of light rail, it not only needs to be expanded and extended to Hobby and IAH, we need to add commuter rail to the mix.   We can no longer build freeways to deal with the increasing traffic loads in the Houston metro area.  

The light rail needs the east west Blue line built toward the Galleria and the Gold Line through the Galleria area is currently being done as a BRT (bus rapid transit) that can be converted to light rail when needed.

Transportation and infrastructure is also an issue in a city that covers 599.6 square miles and three counties, and I'm interested to hear what the candidates have to say about it, especially in a regional context.

And yes, HERO not only needs to continue to be implemented, I would add a category to it in terms of formerly incarcerated folks who have done their time and are trying to restart their lives.

One thing that will be a deal breaker for any Houston mayoral candidate (Ben Hall) seeking my vote is non-support of the current HERO or pledging to kill it.  TBLG Houstonians are part of this community's over 2.2 million people, and we aren't going away.  

You must respect and protect our human rights and any candidate that wants to demonize me to curry favor with the Baptist Ministers Assn of Houston and Vicinity, Ed Young, Dave Wilson or suburban haters like Steve Riggle and Dave Welch will not get my vote.

I have a few months to decide before I hit the polling place which  person deserves my vote as my hometown's  next mayor, but you can bet as the mayor's race intensifies, the commercials start appearing on TV and radio, I'll have a lot to say about it on these electronic pages.

Moni Goes To An H-town Mayoral Forum

Since I was in no mood to watch Monday Night Football last night, decided to head to the Near Northside and the Leonel Castillo Community Center for a mayoral candidate forum moderated by Cynthia Cisneros, the KTRK-TV Community Affairs Director.   

On my way out there from the Downtown Transit Center I got a firsthand look at the completed and soon to be opened METRORail Red Line extension and the Quitman-Near Northside station when I got off my bus.  Since there was limited parking at the Castillo Community Center, there was a community center shuttle bus running from a nearby elementary school to take people from the school parking lot to the center a few blocks away that I happily boarded. 

I arrived at 5:50 PM with the forum scheduled to start at 6:00 PM and run until 7:30 PM.  After signing in and filling out two question cards, I went to the room where the forum was going to take place and was pleased to look around and see a nice turnout for it.  

The staff was setting up additional chairs for people to sit on and watch the political fun along with the television cameras from three TV stations, assorted photographers and reporters. 

The candidates were milling about with either their groups of supporters or pressing the flesh with constituents before they answered the call to take their seats for the timely start of the event.

I saw Kristopher Sharp come in and he hugged me before he went off to talk to some other candidates, and as I got in my seat and pulled out my trusty WNBA notebook to begin taking notes, I spotted HISD Board President Anna Eastman walk in.  She spotted me and the empty seat next to me and after we exchanged greetings settled in to watch the forum.  

The Jeff Davis High School color guard presented the colors and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.  After that was completed along with an opening prayer by an African-American minister the forum began. 

There wee five candidates at the start of it,  Mayor Parker and her main challenger Ben Hall, Keryl Douglas, Don Cook, and Eric Dick.  Victoria Lane came in after the candidate had all given their two minute opening statements and when they were answering the first of their three prepared questions before taking selected ones from the audience.  

Houston civic elections are non-partisan, but Dick through his literature and stances has made it quite clear he's the Republican running for mayor.  It also means he has as much chance of getting that chair in Blue Houston as Janice Raymond is of getting an invite to do a keynote speech at Southern Comfort.

They started with two minute opening statements followed by three prepared question from the moderator the candidates had one minute to answer, then as many audience questions as they could fit in with the one minute candidate answer time limit before the candidates launched into their two minute closing statements to end the event..

It also didn't take Ben Hall long to start attacking Mayor Parker, which is what he has done the entire campaign.

What were the two questions I submitted?  One asked where the candidates stood in terms of adding gender identity and sexual orientation to the Houston non-discrimination ordinance and the second was a transit related question concerning future METRORail expansion to both airports and what we could do to make that expeditiously happen  

As you probably guessed, they managed to get four audience questions in, and neither of mine were asked. But as it concluded, I was determined to ask as many of the candidates that question as possible before they bounced, starting with Ben Hall.

As I mentioned in the post I compiled about the KUHT-TV televised forum, I was not happy about the evasive answer that he gave about the subject, and got the opportunity to ask him point blank where he stood on the issue. 

Hall told me that he was NOT in favor of adding sexual orientation and gender identity language to the city non-discrimination ordinance, and cited the 2001 domestic partners benefits ban ordinance as his reason.
(which is BS). 

I must have given him a facial expression that let him know I thought his answer was full of toro poo-poo, so he quickly shifted gears and told me that once the citizens of Houston repealed that ordinance, then he would be in favor of doing so.

You should have stopped with the first answer.  Putting my human rights up for a vote is unacceptable.  It also undercut you message that Houstonians should be able to engage in the pursuit of happiness.

Well, Mr. Hall, trans people live in Houston, too.  It's hard for us to pursue happiness when we're being discriminated against when we apply for jobs and other idiots deputizing themselves as gender police are starting crap over bathrooms.

So yeah, it confirmed what I suspected was Hall's position about the ordinance.  I already had a problem with him only moving into the city from Piney Point Village just before he started his predominately self financed campaign. 

Keryl Douglas gave me a different answer from Ben Hall in terms of she supports the addition of the gender identity and sexual orientation language addition to the non-discrimination ordinance and we chatted for a few minutes before another forum attendee approached her to ask a question.    

I knew Eric Dick's answer on that question already (not a supporter) and decided not to waste my time or breath asking him so I decided to catch up with Mayor Parker and thank her for stating she's in favor of it, and her longtime support of the Houston trans community.

Mission accomplished, and it was time for me to head back to the south side of town.  As I headed toward the Castillo Community Center to get to the shuttle bus ran into Dr Carolyn Evans-Shabazz, who is running for the Houston City Council At-Large Position 5 seat.  

She commented on my supermodel height and after talking about her candidacy for a moment I asked her the question about where she stood on the proposed ordinance.  

She told me she is in favor of adding that language in the non-discrimination ordinance as a long time NAACP Houston member.  We had a nice chat about some of the discrimination trans folks face and her perception of how her campaign was going before I noted the time for my southbound METRO bus arriving at the Quitman St was approaching and I needed to bounce.

So now I'm waiting for October 21 to get here so I can early vote. I'm more convinced than ever we Houstonians already have the right person in the mayor's chair already.  So is the Houston Chronicle and a long list of organizations that gave Mayor Parker their endorsement..  

2013 Houston Mayoral Debate-What I Learned From Watching It

Tuesday night the one and only televised mayoral debate between all the candidates was on KUHT-TV, our local PBS station and hosted by our local chapter of the League of Women Voters..

Over the two hours of this forum style debate moderated by Linda Lorelle (which sadly is the only one for this campaign) I heard Mayor Annise Parker, who is vying for her third and final term, her top challenger in former city attorney Ben Hall, and four other candidates, Keryl Burgess Douglass, Eric Dick, Don Cook and Michael Fitzsimmons attack either Mayor Parker, Ben Hall or each other.  

I was looking to hear their views over the issues that I and many Houstonians deem important so I and my fellow Houstonians can have more information to cast our votes when we go to the polls starting October 21 for the early voting period that ends November 1 and Election Day itself on November 5..

Everything from crime to METRO was discussed in that two hour event, and I was looking at it from the prospect of which one of the people on that stage would be the best person to lead my hometown over the next two years.   

Mayor Parker also walked into the KUHT-TV studios with a sizable 34.1%-13.1% lead over Ben Hal in a poll conducted last month with Eric Dick getting 2%.  

But the poll also showed that as of the time they conducted it 48% of Houstonians haven't made up their mind as to which candidate they would support when the polls open.

If you wanted to put money on this race, odds are that Mayor Parker will be handling her electoral business and be taking the oath of office at the Wortham Theater come January.     


One thing that is perfectly clear to me after watching that debate is that my early anxiety about Ben Hall is being justified.  And no, it isn't the fact I have been an unabashed supporter of Mayor Parker at times on this blog either that has led me to this conclusion.  

I'm bothered by the fact that up until the day Ben Hall filed to run for mayor, he lived in the wealthy west side enclave of Piney Point Village. 

I'm not hatin' on the fact Hall has a compelling rags to riches story or earned that big house out there, but to me a major prerequisite that all potential mayors of Houston must meet is they actually live in my hometown's city limits, be it inside or outside Loop 610.

And by live inside the city limits, I don't mean rent an apartment or buy a house inside the city limits just before you choose to run for mayor and start writing checks for your self funded campaign after you've spent over a decade living outside and not paying property taxes in my hometown.   And no Hall supporters, having your law office inside the city doesn't count.
  
Hall's claim to support public education while not paying the school district taxes he owed to the Spring Branch ISD until pressed on the issue by the local media is a hypocritical red flag.  When you're self funding your campaign but refuse to release your tax returns, what's up with that?  

I'm interested in hearing Hall's views on the expansion of METRORail to the airports, building the needed east-west University Line before 2025 and adding a commuter rail component to it when he's not busy running attack ads or sliming Mayor Parker. 

The final straw issue for me was Hall dancing around the subject of whether he supports adding gender identity and sexual orientation language in the city of Houston's non discrimination ordinance, which is a tipping point issue for me. 

Mayor Parker supports that issue.

As for Keryl Douglas, she previously ran for Harris County Democratic Party chair and may have potential.   As for the rest of the minor candidates.  Don Hall?  WTF were you smoking?   Eric Dick?   Not ready for political prime time. Michael Fitzsimmons?  Making public transportation free?   METRO already has the lowest base fare of any major city at $1.25.   

So what did I learn from watching the 2013 Houston Mayoral Debate?  That we already have the best person for the job and representing my hometown to the world in our current mayor Annise D. Parker 

Mayor Parker Gets A Second Term!

It was close, but all you need to do to win a political campaign is get more than 50% of the votes cast in that election, and that's exactly what Houston Mayor Annise Parker did.

She had five minor opponents in this race and used some of that campaign war chest she'd built up.  

Mayor Parker spent $2.3 million to help ensure she got her message out there what she was doing for a city struggling with a tough economy.   She also reminded Houston citizens she was dealing with a $100 million budget shortfall when she took over at City Hall.


Mayor Parker had to lay off more than 750 city workers, consolidate departments, raise some fees and cut some deals to put off some of the city's bills until better times to do it. but the best part is she also managed to do so without raising taxes or laying off any firefighters or police officers.

And oh yeah, did I mention our resident wingnuts, conservafools, Reichers and hate preachers who tried their usual last minute gay baiting dirty political tricks but failed?. 

It's now the eighth straight citywide elections she's won since capturing an at large city council seat in 1997.
.

She'll get another two years before she faces the electorate one more time in 2013.   If she's successful, that will be her third and final term before she has to give up the mayor's chair due to term limits (which I fracking hate) on December 31, 2015.

But I'm very happy to know that when January 1, 2012 comes around she'll still be my hometown's mayor.

Congrats Mayor Parker!.

Contentious ESPN Discussion On Hank Williams,Jr.

The Hank Williams,Jr comment dissing President Obama on Fox Noise and subsequent controversy that led to ESPN dropping him as the singer for their opening ESPN Monday Night football song made for a contentious discussion on ESPN's Outside The Lines show. 

The Thursday discussion between Sirius Radio's Bomani Jones, Alabama based radio host Paul Finebaum and the Nation magazines Dave Zinn was rather heated.  

But see for yourselves.

Yes, You Do Benefit From White Privilege

One of the things that is guaranteed to start drama in Internet and other discourse between the races is when the discussion turns to white privilege and persons of color describe how they have been victimized by it. .   

The fun starts when the non-POC person tries to claim that white privilege doesn't exist or is a figment of the POC's imagination.

For those of you who think that this is a post-racial society and you exist as an individual free of white privilege, no you don't..    When I run into people in the course of my Internet forays surfings that try to have this argument with me that they don't have white privilege and I call them on it, it takes less than 5 minutes for them to reveal that they do by the jacked up comments they say in response to being called on the WP that reveal for all to see that they are swimming in denial of its overpowering vanilla flavored scent.


The best way I can visually explain this is comparing WP to a moving sidewalk.  When you get on a moving sidewalk you have the option to stand to the right or if you're in a hurry or walk at a brisk pace to the left if you're not..

The people who actively revel in their white privilege are bigoted, et cetera for the purposes of this post are ones you can compare to the peeps who are walking briskly to the left on the moving WP sidewalk.   They act in concert with it, are aware of it, and do so in order to keep themselves and in their minds their people at the societal head of the line.     

Those of you who are cognizant of white privilege, try to eradicate it, are indifferent to it or try to ignore it are like the people on the right side of the moving sidewalk   You're not actively trying to move in concert with it or engaged with itt, but because it is ubiquitous and permeates society, the result is still the same.   You still get the benefit of being moved to the same spot at the head of the societal line by that moving WP sidewalk.

The point I'm making is that white privilege is so insidious that just by dint of having white skin in this country, you are afforded the benefits of white privilege.   What has made it so hard to eradicate is that whites are afraid of losing something (WP) that they claim doesn't exist, but gives them a societal advantage.

So yep, you do benefit from white privilege.

Congrats Mayor Fischer

One of the things I also missed with the move from Da Ville was how the 2010 mayoral election played out there.   I was part of the C-FAIR endorsement committee for the primary elections that vetted all the mayoral candidates on the Democratic side and the two GOP ones that sought our endorsement.

I missed the fun of the fall campaigns, but was happy to see Greg Fischer, who I'd met at various liberal-progressive events in Louisville during my time there beat Republican Hal Heiner and become the city's next mayor.

Yesterday was Inauguration Day for Mayor Fischer and the Louisville metro council, so I wanted to take a moment to congratulate him and all the peeps I got to meet during my time in Da Ville who took their oaths of office yesterday.  

May you serve the citizens of Louisville and the state to the best of your abilities. May you have continued success in winning elective office while upholding liberal progressive positions and policies that benefit all citizens and not just a narrow monoethnic slice of it.

What We Has Here Is A Fauxgressive Failure To Communicate

Because I talk about the issues of race, class and how they affect the TBLG community and perceptions of how we view the same events in American society, every now and then I get vitriolic stuff hurled at me by peeps inside and outside the community in online discourse.

When I break it down for them to the point they have no logical response their favorite tactic is either hurling insults or calling me a 'racist' for doing do.

People seem to have forgotten their Sociology 101. Every ethnic group has bigotry and prejudice prevalent in it. Racism is a dominant social group using its bigotry and prejudice infused with power (political, economic, social, sexual, military, or police) to act against a minority social group or an individual in that group in order to retard or roll back their societal progress.

Power is the key element in racism..

Thought I'd give you an example of what I deal with just so you know that Moni isn't sellin' you woof tickets about some of the Hateraid she gets from time to time.

It all started innocently enough when Ashley Love commented in a FB message about the lack of coverage in the trans and gayosphere about the Sunday reception to honor President Obama. It was held at the just concluded NBJC Out In DC event that coincided with the Annual Legislative Conference held by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

Ashley September 21 at 12:47pm Reply
i hear u. but I'm so frustrated. personal attacks is not the same as pressure. why dont we put more pressure on McCain and the republicans

September 21 at 12:50pm
Because many of the peeps in Gay Inc want to be just like the GOP. They want their WP back and see the only thing keeping them from it is their sexuality.

At that point the fun began.

Nataliya September 21 at 1:11pm Reply
the president has done very little of what he promised.
and how dare you Monica. stop being racist. black lgbt are ashamed because no one helps them, it's not the "white peoples" fault. by saying that you will do nothing but make racism in the lgbt sector, we don't need that.

After a long post from Dennis Repealdadt Veite about his take over what President Obama hasn't done, another comment pops up which attempts to microanalyze or derail what I said in the initial response to Ashley.

Wendy September 21 at 1:25pm Reply
I know what Monica is trying to say, but perhaps has too wide of net cast. I don't speak for HRC who is grossly underrepresented. There are many, many white and non-white LGBT's right now fighting hard for EQUAL privilege not WP, and the do not 'criticize the President' campaign runs the risk of alienating allies right now, of which I am one of, who reserve my right and duty to criticize ANY President regardless of nationality. I also defend Ashleys right to criticize the Tea Party freaks, but we are not them.

Monica Roberts September 21 at 1:37pm
Nobody in the AA TBLG community, myself included, has said you can't criticize the president, Wendy. The problem as POC's see and perceive it is the criticism of President Obama has gone TOO far in one direction, is coming primarily from one ethnic group, and the loudest critics are those who were Hillary supporters..

When we compare and contrast the virulent criticism of President Obama it to GLBT silence and lack of direct protest action toward your GOP oppressors, it pisses us and our allies in the AA community off.

That comment, as you see, was totally ignored

Wendy September 21 at 1:48pm Reply
So YOU are making the racist connections, not those accused. I personally been told I cannot criticize the black president because I am white by the above mentioned so you cannot really claim that. Obama is being criticized by progressives and GLBT progressives because he campaigned for their votes and cash and has since with the appointment of Rahm Emmanuel thrown their issues under the bus. To which they have valid criticisms. I'd recommend taking your racist assertions to the Tea Party where they belong, not gin up a race war in the community.

Wendy September 21 at 1:49pm Reply
And on that note, I'm done. I'm too busy taking the fight to my GOP and Dem oppressors to engage in a false and unproductive war with my own.

Dennis September 21 at 1:50pm Reply
Monica: What silence? We have and are protesting against the GOP officials. GetEQUAL just staged a protest to McCain's DADT stand just this past week. I'm not sure what you're seeing as silence and lack of direct action.

And I'm not sure if this has been noticed or not but some of Obama's loudest critics, aren't white.

I don't care if Hilary Clinton was in office; if she were doing the same crappy job, I'd be speaking just as loudly as I am right now. It doesn't have anything to do with race. Why does that keep getting brought up?

Monica Roberts September 21 at 1:54pm
Racism equals prejudice plus power, Wendy. It's interesting that when I point out a fact of life in America that race permeates everything in American society, people like you who are wallowing in 'whiteness' and unacknowledged privilege are quick to inaccurately call me 'racist' to deflect that reality..

The GLBT community as a subset of the greater society, is not immune to American's problems with race and dealing with the insidious nature of the doctrine of 'whiteness'

Dennis September 21 at 1:56pm Reply
This is not about race. It's truly sad that you can't see past that. And now I'm done to. This conversation is counterproductive. Good day everyone.

***

She'll be back in a few minutes. But a note to Dennis.

Bull feces Dennis, it most certainly is and does have an element of race in it. Even President Jimmy Carter acknowledged that the criticism of President Obama have racist elements in it.

Okay we now return you to you regularly scheduled post.

***

Then Wendy loses it...

Wendy September 21 at 1:58pm Reply
f**k you and your wallowing bulls**t. You have no knowledge of me or who and what I fight for. Tell that to my Ugandan LGBT's and they will laugh you off the planet, you fool.

Again with the fallback to Uganda. What's up with that? Uganda is not germane to this discussion

Then Nataliya piles on..

Nataliya September 21 at 2:01pm Reply
i second that, i help people in uganda write letters to embassies. i translate letters into many languages so they can seek asylum in the west. don't dare pull the race card.
i'm russian and tatar, people hate tatar because of OUR race, so don't act like only black people get the blunt of racism.
people like you make our country divided. when will you be satisfied? only a few years ago we would not even have a black president.

Ashley tried to play peacemaker here, but it was already on like Donkey Kong.

Ashley September 21 at 2:05pm Reply
Ladies let's be cordial. I doubt anyone on this thread is racist. You all are friends. I just wanted to hear your thoughts, and I appreciate them, and I have a lot to think about it. Let's just try to see where the MANY black (and non black) lgbt activists and leaders are saying about the personal attacks. MLK didn't attack Kennedy when things were going just as slow

Monica Roberts September 21 at 2:08pm
Dennis, many of us in the AA TBLG community sincerely doubt that 'If Hillary were in the WH we'd be protesting just as loudly' sentiment.

If Hillary were in the WH, I'd be willing to bet that the peeps in the GLBT community who supported her would be pointing out the facts that President Hillary Rodham Clinton inherited two wars, a crappy economy in free fall toward depression, and was being opposed by a GOP determined to make sure her presidency failed just for starters.

I find that interesting GetEqual is only doing so now in the face of criticism from the AA GLBT community of the imbalance.

but I'll be interested in seeing GetEqual or similar GLBT orgs disrupting speeches of GOP officials or their fundraising events like they did with President Obama's speech at a Cali fundraiser recently? When am I going to see on gayosphere blogs the same virulent rhetoric aimed at the GOP that you aim at President Obama in your posts and comments?

And is GOPProud and the Log Cabin Republicans closing the GayTM for GOP politicians and a party that has used you as a political punching bag for the last 20 years?

Nataliya September 21 at 2:10pm Reply
F**K ALL OF THE GROUPS!
we are queer, not black not white not republican not democrat, just get over it. lets just all agree we are queer and fight together and get common victory!.

Nataliya, if you were paying attention and it's obvious tat this point you aren't, Black GLBT peeps hate being described by the word 'queer'

Monica Roberts September 21 at 2:13pm
@Wendy...To quote the poet laureate Gwendolyn Brooks, 'Truth tellers are not always palatable..there's a preference for candy bars.'

Who is the person resorting to insults because she heard stuff that didn't fit neatly into her vanilla flavored viewpoint?

Wendy then posts this link from Robert F. Kennedy before sending this next message

Wendy September 21 at 2:17pm Reply
as apposed to your what, chocolate one? how utterly offensive. Don't take it as an insult, take it as a conviction.

Dennis September 21 at 2:19pm Reply
Monica: You are seriously misinformed. You make assumptions without facts and you pretend to know things that you do not (you have no idea who I am or what I fight for; you simply see a white person criticizing a black person regardless of the facts involved). If you want to make any real change, you should seriously rethink your approach. I'm dismissing you now as irrelevant because your statements have proven that you lack information and the desire to actually obtain that information and have a civilized conversation on the subject. I sincerely hope that someday you're able to overcome your barriers and join this fight. The LGBT community needs you.


Monica Roberts September 21 at 2:19pm
@Natalia,
People like me who tell the truth about race and race relations in this country aren't the ones who are 'keeping it divided' as you claim, it's the people wallowing in 'whiteness' and those of you who enable white privilege that do when you refuse or dismiss out of hand someone who is giving you an insight into a community and that they are thinking, and is freely sharing their thoughts on how they see things based on their lived experience.

Genia September 21 at 2:22pm Reply
This thread has gotten beyond ridiculous. When people learn how to debate without swearing at each other and acting like children perhaps THEN the LGBTQQIA (hope I didn't forget any letters!) community will get its shit together and start accomplishing something.

I have always been a very vocal critic of both parties - and I don't really care who's in charge at the White House.

I noticed that SOME people in the LGBT community will allow white folks to get away with a whole lot more than they would EVER allow Obama to get away with. Your precious Hillary Clinton gave us DOMA. Go yell at her! And Bill Clinton gave us DADT. Go yell at him! Bush tried writing discrimination AGAINST homosexuals into the Constitution with his stupid Federal Marriage Amendment Act. A whole lot of our white brothers and sisters have forgotten that. All they care about is the fact that a Black man is in the White House and he's taking his sweet time giving the white folks full equality. WHERE was GetEqual during the Clinton years? WHERE was GetEqual when Bush was trying to pass the Federal Marriage Amendment Act? I'll tell ya where: Sitting on their asses letting a white man screw 'em over - and doing absolutely nothing about it. But let a Black man do the same thing and all hell breaks loose.

You're an uneducated, whiney, childish brat if you DARE claim that the anti-Obama rhetoric isn't race-based. It most certainly is.


So after Genia called her out, Wendy resumed the Monica is a 'racist' attack

Wendy September 21 at 2:23pm Reply
people like you are todays racists Monica.

Monica Roberts September 21 at 2:25pm
Dennis, your opinion. And it is the height of arrogance for you to assume or presume what I am thinking when you don't know me either.

Answer this question for me Dennis, why is the lived experience of Whites considered 'more authoritative' that the lived experiences of POC? Why is it that we are are told repeatedly by whites that we're not supposed to be 'angry' over things that happen to us, but 'angry white people' are celebrated in this culture are exalted and praised?

Monica Roberts September 21 at 2:28pm
Wendy, racism equals prejudice plus power Wendy.. Racism is a majority group taking your prejudices, infusing them with power (social, political, economic, sexual, military, or police power) and using them to retard or hold back the progress of a minority group,

That's something you should have learned in Sociology 101

Nataliya September 21 at 2:34pm Reply
Monica, you are a racist.
and "white folks"? REALLY. wow. never have i met two racist people at once, bud damn, today i sure have.

Nataliya September 21 at 2:35pm Reply
i'm anti obama and i'm not racist! how dare you! how fucking dare you!
you sound like a gop tea party memeber.
if you don't like us, you're a communist.
but with you, if you don't like someone who happens to be black, you're a racists. hmmmm such ignorance.

Monica Roberts September 21 at 2:46pm
Didn't say you were Nataliya, you only presumed it.

You presumed that I was 'racist', without knowing anything about me other than my skin color, because I dare to point out the hypocrisy in the GLBT community's criticism of president Obama when they haven't exerted an equal or heightened amount of vitriol at their GOP oppressors in the same time frame that they've been loudly criticizing the Obama administration.

Genia September 21 at 2:49pm Reply
I'm definitely a racist. My half-white kids know it. My white ex-husband knows it, my white best friend knows it and my white fiancee knows it, too.

Have a great day, everyone!
- Genia

Wendy September 21 at 3:00pm Reply
not "presume", accuse. That seems to work for you Monica. You accuse all of us of doing nothing against Bush and his war criminal crew of neo-cons, without ANY facts or knowledge otherwise!!! Just accusation alone and the color of skin. How confederate is that. And Genia, duh!

Nataliya September 21 at 3:04pm Reply
hahah,
my african american boyfriend, he knows i'm racist too!
goodness Genia, we have so much in common.

Monica Roberts September 21 at 3:17pm
@Natalya And having an alleged AA boyfriend wont stop you from exercising that WP you're wallowing in either.

Nataliya September 21 at 3:22pm Reply
oh just go f***k yourself.
i don't need your support or believe of anything i say. i've made it this far, i will continue to move on, unlike you.

Once again Ashley tried to play peacemaker:

Ashley September 21 at 3:29pm Reply
Please refrain from swear words

Monica Roberts September 21 at 3:34pm
Seems like the only one having a problem with what I said and can't get past it is you, Nataliya. have a nice day....

Wendy September 21 at 3:45pm Reply
seems fair considering the diatribe and baseless accusations Ashley. You are picking a fight based on race with the wrong people you seem intent on having because you are not taking your fight to the correct people. I will no longer subject myself to it Ashley. Another ally bites the dust.

***

To Wendy and Nataliya, you promise?

And even after I started compiling this post, they STILL kept coming back to post on this thread.

As you can see here the smell of vanilla flavored privilege was overwhelming in this discourse. We weren't even two posts into this before I was getting slammed with the 'racist' epithet.

They tried to attack my intelligence, derail the thread, and do everything possible sidetrack the focus of the conversation from dealing with why my blog was the only one in the transosphere besides the IFGE website that posted about the Sunday NBJC Obama reception.

Then they got their noses out of joint about a comment I made about Gay, Inc. It's a sentiment hat is regularly expressed and said in internal chocolate GLBT community discourse. So if you don't like it, do something constructive to change our perceptions about it.

But this entire conversation reminded me of an Albert B. Cleage, Jr. quote:

Truth is that which serves the interests of a people. Two groups of people locked in combat cannot be expected to have the same truth.

The truth is the GLBT community has an unaddressed problem with race. Another truth is that even if we all see the same event, a white GLBT person is going to see it one way, I and my fellow TBLG/SGL people are going to see it another way, and a Latino/a or Asian GLBT person is going to have another take on it based on all our lived experiences, class, and other factors. Sometimes those of us in the same ethnic groups will have different takes on it.

But one piece of advice to get that long needed conversation on race in the GLBT community started. Do not under any circumstances use the conservafool definition of 'racism'.

Racism is prejudice plus power, and the power element is part and parcel to it.