ELIXHER Showing Their Trans Sisters Some Love

The Trans 100 List is definitely doing its job of facilitating positive conversations inside and outside the trans community in terms of our accomplishments, who we are as people and in the case of non-white trans folks, that we exist and are major contributors to the advancement of trans human rights.

We're also starting to see breakout stories like this one as a result of the publishing of the initial list. 

ELIXHER wrote this post focused on the 11 African-American girls like us who were named to the initial Trans 100 List.   Thanks ELIXHER for the love you've shown your trans sisters since your inception and may those bonds of sisterhood continue to strengthen and grow.

To BET, The Root, The Grio and any onther African-American outlet that publishes a chococentric TBLG list from now on, you have no excuse anymore NOT to include Black trans people and defend your trans-free list by making the weak excuse that you don't lknow of any Black trans transpeople. 

You do now.   


And oh yeah ELIXHER, congratulations on reaching your fundraising goal!

DC Comics To Introduce First Reality Based Trans Character

I've talked in the blog about the Archie Comics having storylines in which they have done 'what if' gender bending with their hero Archie and reimagined his life twice as a girl in issues 516 and 636.  In Archie 636 they took it a step further and gender swapped Betty and Veronica as well as Archie.      

Gender fluidity has been present in the comic world for decades but only through fantasy based methods such as magic, shape-shifting, brain-swapping, and cloning via adult or independent published comics or websites such as the adult-themed TG Comics.

But DC Comics, which has also done its share of fantasy based gender bending with its line of superheroes, and over the last few years has introduced not only ethnically diverse characters, but started adding ones who are gay or lesbian after once being banned by the Comics Code Authority.

DC is about to take a major leap forward and introduce a reality based trans character.

Introducing Alysia Yeoh, the roommate of Barbara Gordon, AKA Batgirl.   In the rebooted Batgirl series Barbara is a lesbian, and in Batgirl #19 Alysia will reveal to Barbara that she's a girl like us in a conversation with her roommate in the same conversation in which Barbara reveals she's Batgirl.  

Writer Gail Simone also revealed that Alysia's sexual orientation is bi.

She also attributes the idea of a trans character to a Wondercon convention conversation she had with comic writer Greg Ruska after a fan asked why there were fewer gay male superheroes than lesbian ones.

Rucka, who co-created (and rebooted) Batwoman as a lesbian character, replied that it would be a real sign of change for a gay male character to appear on a comic book cover — and an even bigger step for a transgender character to do the same.

While Simone is aware of the trans characters that exist in various comic book universes through fantasy based means, she wanted to create one that was reality based.  Alysia will be “a character, not a public service announcement … being trans is just part of her story. If someone loved her before, and doesn’t love her after, well — that’s a shame, but we can’t let that kind of thinking keep comics in the 1950s forever.”

She also talked to people in the trans community before creating Alysia. 

Simone suggested the Alysia Yeoh story to DC Comics Co-Publisher Dan DiDio at lunch one day, prepared to offer a passionate defense for the idea of a transgender character. ”I thought I might have to sell it, so to speak,” said Simone in the Wired interview. “But he just paused for a moment, asked how this would affect Barbara’s story, and immediately approved it. And we went back to our excellent nachos.”

Simone according to the Wired story will be adding another trans character to a story she's working on.   She also thinks it's time for a trans superhero character, especially since many of of the loyal comic book fans and people who attend comic conventions around the country also happen to be from the trans community.

“It’s time for a trans hero in a mainstream comic. I think it’s time to make that thing happen that Greg [Rucka] mentioned years ago. And it’s going to happen … I’m sure it’s controversial on some level to some people, but honest to God, I just could not care less about that. If someone gets upset, so be it; there are a thousand other comics out there for those people.”

And as a comic book fan, I couldn't agree more.

LA Times Meets With Local Trans Activists and GLAAD Over Transphobic Coverage

Been keeping an eye on Los Angeles and the unfolding story since February concerning the local trans community's outrage over a transphobic LA Times story featuring murdered transwoman Cassidy Vickers.

The story triggered a petition drive spearheaded by Gender Justice LA seeking a face to face meeting with LA Times officials to air grievances over the Vickers and  past misgendering articles.  They also wished to have the dialogue to suggest ways of improving coverage of the Los Angeles trans community and ensure transphobic reporting from their paper of record doesn't happen again.

The Times agreed to meet with the local activists, GJLA and GLAAD over the problematic coverage, and the meeting took place yesterday.  Hannah Howard was kind enough to send me a report of the meeting that she compiled.

1. The LA Times acknowledged mistakes in terminology and pronoun usage in the article about Cassidy Vickers
2. They acknowledged and apologized for harm this caused the community
3. They also acknowledge the need to provide context about trans discrimination when writing about crimes involving trans victims.
4. They acknowledged the need to attribute any terminology used by family members that doesn't match a person's chosen gender identity as their perspective and not representative of a neutral viewpoint.
5. They acknowledged they need to learn more about the community to accurately report on it
6. They committed to a trans sensitivity training for their staff
7. They gave us their internal style guide for talking about transgender issues for us to review and edit. Following edits, they committed to distributing it to their entire staff
8. They committed to distributing GLAADs updated style guide for talking about transgender issues when it is released next month to their staff.
9. They committed to using Gender Justice LA, GLAAD, and the TEEP program as a resources to check in with before publishing articles about trans issues.
10. We pitched to them a number of stories they might also consider writing about the LA trans community, including writing about GJLA's Theatre Of The Oppressed program and Transgender Leadership Development Program, profiling Trans 100 members and LA residents Bamby Salcedo or Michelle Enfield, documenting the state of talks between the trans community and LA County Sheriffs and incorporating it into ongoing coverage on the sheriff's department, and writing about the success of the TEEP program that serves as a model for trans-employment programs around the country and the world. Although they didn't definitively say they would do each of these, they were very enthusiastic about the stories in general, and they eager for us to help them dissever more stories they could write about the trans community.

Overall, I think it was productive meeting and they seemed very receptive. As with all these types of meetings, it is only a start and hopefully dialogue will continue over the coming months and years. But I think was a good start, and there is no way it could have happened without the grassroots response of so many amazing activists and allies over the past couple months. Everyone who signed the petition, came to the delivery event, publicized the issue, or otherwise contributed should consider themselves a true trans hero!

GLAAD is also publishing an article about the meeting and I will send the link when they do.

Thanks Hannah.  Will be interested to hear GLAAD's perspective on what took place yesterday. 

Your community fight was also important because like the New York Times, the LA Times is read far beyond the boundaries of your city and is an opinion shaping paper of record .  It's also why I was keeping up with what was transpiring on the Left Coast in these electronic pages.

It's important for our trans stores to be told in the media.  But HOW they are told matters.


I hope the Times does stay committed to what they outlined in yesterday's meeting and it does result in better coverage for trans people in Southern California and nationally  

Janet's Back On The Melissa Harris-Perry Show!

Melissa Harris-Perry wasn't kidding when she tweeted that she needed to make Janet a #nerdland regular after making a stellar March 23 appearance.

And nope, Janet wasn't there to talk trans rights issues or LGBT politics.  She was back on the MHP show in a segment talking about our favorite hit show Scandal.  

Scandal by the way is the first show helmed by an African-American female lead actress (Kerry Washington) since I spent some of my teen years watching my Houston homegirl Teresa Graves on ABC's Get Christie Love.

And yeah, if you try to call me between 9-10 PM CDT on Thursdays, it's why you're not getting an answer because I'm watching the latest exploits of Olivia Carolyn Pope and her 'Gladiators In Suits'.  

For those of you who missed the #nerdland conversation about Scandal this morning, you can check out the video with one of our fave #girlslike us in it.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Karen Finney's New MSNBC Show Starts April 13

Y'all know how much I love MSNBC political analyst Karen Finney, and was happy to hear that she will be getting her own show on the cable network.

Finney has more than 20 years in national politics includes four presidential campaigns, the Clinton White House, a New York Senate race, and the first African American spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee.

Finney's show will air on the weekends for 4-5 PM and be a lead in to Ed Schultz's show that is moving to weekends from 5-7 PM   

Happy to see this smart,, talented sister get her own show and MSNBC continue to diversify their lineup of pundits on the network, unlike CNN which is going in the opposite vanillacentric direction and getting rid of Roland Martin and Soledad O'Brien.

What I would like to see MSNBC do besides broadcast 24 hours of news and ditch Lockup and Caught on Camera (and I'm surprised they haven't done so already) is give Maria Teresa Kumar or Victoria DeFrancesco Soto their own shows.   MSNBC does seriously need Latin@ commentators on this network, and these two ladies would do a wonderful job.

But anyway, congrats to Karen Finney (who is on my people I'd love to meet list) and have no doubts your new show will be successful when it airs.

TransGriot Update: The debut of Karen Finney's mew MSNBC show has been pushed back
 

'The Face' Model Devyn, Is Apparently So Light Skinned, She's International and Not Black

The latest guest post from Renee of Womanist Musings

Women of colour have always had a hard time in the modelling industry.  There have always been a few who have managed to have a successful career like Alec Wek, Naomi Campbell and Iman but by enlarge, despite their obvious beauty, their race has been a stumbling block rather than an asset.  The fact that population demographics are clearly changing, has not effected the fashion industries commitment to ensuring that White women, continue to be representative of womanhood.  This is not only racist but damaging to young women of colour.  Some cope with this racist treatment by internalizing negative concepts about their race.  The following is a clip from The Face, a reality show which appears on Oxygen.




transcript is below the fold

Wendy Williams: So, let's just get right into it, you guys are competing to the face of Alta. Devyn what do you have that Ebony doesn't have?

Devyn: I feel like I have the international look and I have a story that can relate to everyone.

Judge: She did good. She answered well

Wendy Wiliams: Ebony, you're only 21

Ebony: Yes Maam

Wendy Williams: And you have two children.

Ebony: yes

Wendy Williams: A 2 year old and a 4 year old and two babies fathers.

Ebony: Yes, I do. My children's fathers are the best dads ever.  They love their kids so much and they support me.

Wendy Williams: Are you still with either one of the babies fathers?

Ebony: I am not, but we're very close friends. It didn't work I was young

Wendy Williams: (laughs) Mercy

Ebony: and I am so glad that I went through it, because I know better now.

Judge: She's stirring it up

Judge 2: Wendy?

Judge: Yeah

Judge 3: Of course, that's her job.

Wendy Williams: Devyn, what's it like to be a black girl model?

Devyn: I don't really consider myself as a Black girl model. I know what my ethnicity is but I'm fair skinned and I feel like I have an international look.

Wendy Williams: You don't feel Black?

Devyn: No, that's not what I said whatsoever.

Naomi Campbell: What the fuck does she mean? That's a disgrace; she's a Black girl

Devyn: As soon as I finish answering my question, all I hear is Naomi bug out.  I'm scared out of my pants. I feel like I could have screwed it up for team Carolina.

Despite knowing her ethnicity, Devyn does not feel Black because she is light skinned.  Devyn is well aware that for the most part, light skin has a long history of providing opportunities for Black women which have long been denied darker skinned women.  This is not to say that light skinned women don't suffer from racism but that light skin functions as a privilege, thereby reducing the amount of racism that a Black woman has to face.  To be clear, this is not a case of someone who is bi-racial choosing to identify as both sets of her identity but a Black woman actively choosing to deny her Blackness because she thinks it will help her get ahead. It's misguided and clearly evidences the degree that she has internalized negative ideas about Blackness.

It clearly did not escape Devyn's notice that she was up against the dark skinned Ebony and this why she sought to engage in colorism to press an advantage.  Colorism has divided entire families, with darker skinned child made to feel less valued and loved. Colorism is a bane upon communities of colour and is a direct result of White supremacy.  Whiteness has falsely created a so-called elite definition of Blackness to encourage Blacks to fight for the scraps from it's table, even as it ensures that true equality is always out of reach.  Though Campbell is obviously a success in her chosen career, her reaction speaks volumes.  It was absolutely clear that through her comments, Devyn sought to place herself above her, despite Campbell's success and obvious achievement by nature of her lighter skin. She may have only intentionally meant her comments as an attack on Ebony, but the speak to a revulsion of all darker skinned women.  Just as White people can throw a slur to quickly change the dynamics of a conversation and assert power, light skinned people can do the same, though obviously with less personal profit because of a shared identity of Blackness.

The other matter I would like to address in this video, is the obvious slut shaming of Devyn by Wendy (you can't pay me enough to support a fellow Black woman) Williams.  Wendy of course shied away from using the word slut but by working hard to ensure that Ebony had to justify her reproductive choices, Williams might as well have.  In a world in which women's reproductive choices are always questioned (note: especially true when it comes to women of colour) Wendy sought to construct her as a hyper sexualized Jezebel.  At the end of the day, why does it matter how many children Ebony has, or who the father is?  Wendy's questions were not just "stirring things up", as the judge said, but directly designed to shame.  I can completely understand the shock and even disgust regarding Devyn's comments, but why are so few people speaking out about the inappropriate nature of Williams' questions?
 
The truth of the matter is that until Devyn defined herself as international and not Black, her light skinned body bought her an unspoken privilege.  It's not an accident that these to women were seated next to each other in competition.  It is also no accident that Devyn was given the clearly softball question and Williams sought to go for the jugular when she questioned Ebony.  The very nature of Williams' choice of questions reveals that she also has internalized patriarchal values of what constitutes a so-called good woman, as well as colourism.  Even in an interaction of all Black women, race and sexism are always omnipresent

Janet Mock Appearing On Sunday's Melissa Harris Perry Show!

So when will trans persons of color be invited to participate in a Melissa Harris Perry show discussion?  Will that happen sometime before this decade is over? 

TransGriot February 13, 2013 'When Will POC Transpeople Be Invited To MHP?' 

As you TransGriot readers are aware of I've been quite vocal about the lack of trans POC people appearing on this GLAAD award nominated show (and countless others) to talk about trans issues (and other issues of the day including LGBT community ones) from our perspective.

So I was beyond happy to read that Janet Mock will be in the #nerdland studios tomorrow morning taking part in the discussion on what lies beyond the marriage equality fight.

Alright Janet!   So deliriously happy that you'll be our POC trans community's first representative on the Melissa Harris Perry show   I know you'll do a wonderful job.  

Now MHP show, was that so hard?    All us trans POC folks were asking for is the visibility and the opportunity to show that trans persons of color are more than just 'tragic transsexuals'.

Trans masculine and trans feminine POC peeps are more than capable of holding our own in a policy discussion.    We trans persons of color not only needed to see ourselves represented on the MHP set and television screens across America, so did our LGBT peers and the cis people inside and outside our communities who don't believe that thoughtful, intelligent talking head trans persons of color exist..

Looking forward to tuning in tomorrow with the rest of America to check out the latest edition of #nerdland and see a beautiful and talented girl like me as part of the panel.  I also hope that we see more trans POC's on future #nerdland shows as well

Jada Pinkett-Smith Questions Whether White Women Should Grace the Covers of Magazines Aimed at WOC?

Guest post from Renee of Womanist Musings

Like many women of colour I grew up looking at magazine racks with row upon row of White faces staring at me.  I would be lying if I said that it didn't have an impact upon how I perceived my race and gender growing up.  Things have not changed much and now I find myself wondering how this exact same circumstance is going to effect my niece as she grows up.  As a woman of colour, I cannot divorce my race from my gender.  This is why the row upon row of White women staring back at me from magazine racks continues to impact me. Even when I look past it and validate my own self worth, it does not mean that those I interact with see me as an equal, let alone human.  There can be no doubt that Whiteness continues to represent the idealized form of womanhood.  Sojourner Truth's Ain't I a Woman speech, is still highly applicable today.

On her facebook page, Jada Pinkett-Smith wondered if the best path forward to deal with the ongoing equality in magazine covers, is for magazines created for POC to be more open about having White women grace their covers.

There is a question I want to ask today. I'm asking this question in the spirit of thinking outside of the box in order to open doors to new possibilities. These possibilities may be realistic or unrealistic. I also want to make it clear that there is no finger pointing here. I pose this question with the hope that it opens a discussion about how we can build a community for women based upon us all taking a deeper interest in one another. An interest where skin color, culture, and social class does not create barriers in sharing the commonality of being... women. With love and respect to all parties involved, my question is this...if we ask our white sisters, who tend to be the guardians of the covers of mainstream magazines, to consider women of color to grace these covers, should we not offer the same consideration to white women to grace our covers? Should women extend their power to other women simply because they are women? To my women of color, I am clear we must have something of our own, but is it possible to share in the spirit in which we ask our white sisters to share with us? I don't know the answer and would love to hear your thoughts.

What Jada fails to acknowledge is that these magazines were created specifically because of the erasure of our experiences in the mainstream media. While her approach is well intentioned by allowing White women to grace the covers of magazines that have been created for women of colour, it reinforces the idea that there isn't a single place where Whiteness does not belong.  Historically, people of colour have always been asked to turn the other cheek and hold out an olive branch to Whiteness, even as it works daily to ensure that we remain second class citizens.  This olive branch which Jada suggests, will not force Whiteness to be more inclusive; it will simply reduce already limited opportunities for women of colour.

The truth of the matter is that we cannot pretend that we are simply a community of women.  This is the same argument that feminists have used for years, even as they try to erase the effect that racism has on the lives of women of colour.  It is naive to expect the White owned and run media to suddenly capitulate and work towards more inclusive coverage.  No powerful force in history has ever just handed over power, or even consented to share power and why Jada thinks that this would suddenly be the case, if only people of colour would consent to share our spaces is beyond me.

We cannot treat Whiteness as though it is some benign force, when it wages war against people of colour across the globe daily. The sales of the all Black Italian Vogue show that there is a market for inclusion and still yet these magazines refuse to capitulate.  Clearly, maintaining White hegemony is far more important than the bottom line.  Since this is a fact, I must ask, what reasonable sense does it make to open up the few spaces reserved for WOC to White women? If they cannot be motivated by their own financial best interest, why would our sacrifice cause a moral quandary?

What we need to do is act from a position of strength.  It's already bad enough that in many ways businesses that target Black people, have either been bought out by White run companies, or controlled by White management.  How much of our power can we afford to give away?  We have already seen that as a result of these actions nothing has changed. It's a foolish person who keeps repeating the same action, while hoping for a different result.

When integration occurred, the Black community lost institutions that have been our backbone for a very long period of time. We have seen as a result, less cohesion and less forward movement. This is not to say that integration didn't have positive results, but that it came with a cost. It was a compromise that never should have been made because Whiteness has no interest in the dissolution of its social, or institutional power. While I agree that we need new ideas moving forward, making room for White women is a backward step and nothing good can come of it.

Responding To Transphobia Online

With trans folks popping up in the news more frequently and this being the Internet era, they haters have the ability to post foul comments and outright lies in the comment sections of these stories.   We not only need to do battle in the comment threads to get to correct information out their to debunk the lies an win hearts and minds, we need to do so in an intelligent way.  

This guest post is courtesy of Mark Snyder, the Communications Manager for the San Francisco based Transgender Law Center 

It entitled 'Responding to Transphobia Online' and gives you seven tips for doing so.

I prefer letting the USS Monica out of port from time to time to patrol the cyberseas and firing off troll nuke tipped Tomahawk cruise missiles myself for the peeps that deserve to have their ignorance exposed for the enire planet to see, but that's another post for another time. .
 

1. Do not comment when you are angry or heated.
Take some time to cool down and collect your thoughts. Typing out your comments in a word processor ahead of time helps you slow down, and comes with spell check!

2. Do not engage in “flame wars” or arguments.

Instead of engaging directly or replying to comments of people who are saying mean things, it’s best to post a new comment so that it is not hidden and so that you do not engage in a heated dialogue which would give the person more of a platform. Keep your comments informative, heartfelt, and succinct. Always refer back to the topic at hand in the news article or story.

3. Respond to general themes in the thread.
If there is a general transphobic theme happening in the thread of comments, you may want to find a neutralizing statement that would dispel the myth or misconception. Do not directly engage or reply with any commenter. Instead, post a new comment. It does not help to be seen as argumentative or defensive.
Example: Many commentators are saying it isn’t right to let a boy enter a girls room. Fresh blog comment: It is important to note that transgender boys are boys, and transgender girls are girls. No student should be excluded from programs and facilities, and every student should be treated fairly.

4. Be compassionate.

Let people know that you understand transgender issues can be difficult for some people, and that it is okay to come along with you on a journey of understanding.
Example Post: I know this issue is new for some people, and that is okay.  As a transgender person/As a friend /As a mom/ – I know that transgender people should have the same fair chance to participate in XXXX as anyone else. Discrimination and exclusion are painful for everyone.

5. Use evidence for added strength. You can use quotes and statistics from Injustice at Every Turn.

6. Stay positive, and give messages of support to youth who may be reading the comments.

7. In extreme cases, report or flag transphobic comments to the social network or news outlet for removal.

Goodbye Philly-Hello Houston

Well, I'm headed back home after spending a wonderful weekend..here at the 2013 LGBT Media Journalists Convening.

It was my first one, and the cool part was being in the same space with fellow bloggers whose work I've long admired for the first time. 

I got a chance to make some new friends and see old ones.   Talking to Cleve Jones, one of our history makers Friday night at the welcoming reception was priceless.

It was nice to see Philadelphia mayor Michael Nuitter, and have the opportunity to talk to Gloria Casarez, the director of the Philadelphia office of LGBT Affairs.  

Our tweets at #LGBTmedia13  were the number one trending topic of Twitter for a few hours on Saturday, so you my wish o check out what different peeps were saying.   

It was a wonderful experience that I hope I'm blessed the be in the position to take advantage of once again.

But it's time to head back home better able to talk about the issues of immigration, again, labor, and international issues and incorporate that knowledge into the blog posts I write.   It will hopefully lead to some opportunities to  collaborate with other fellow journalists

But it's time to reluctantly say goodbye to Philadelphia and come back home to Houston.

February 13, 1953

Today was the day 60 years ago that Christine Jorgenson stepped off a Scandinavian Airways flight from Copenhagen to Idlewild (now JFK) Airport in New York and into history as the first post World War II transperson. 

The news of her genital surgeries had already exploded into the international headlines in December 1952 It primed the pump for the media feeding frenzy that greeted the stylishly dressed 27 year old when she arrived on this side of The Pond.  


Some people argue that Christine Jorgensen's arrival in New York and her stylishly stepping off that SAS airplane are the opening moments of the sexual revolution in the United States.

What it did signify was that for transpeople, we now had a name for what was ailing us, a way to deal with it, and a person we could look up to as one of us who had successfully gone through the medical process.

So yes, we all walk in Christine Jorgensen's pumps. It was she who endured the stifling media scrutiny of being a transperson under the white hot glare of media publicity from the moment she stepped off the plane from Denmark on February 13, 1953 until she passed away in May 1989.

And because she did so, we exist today.   The ongoing education on trans issues began in the US at that moment and is still unfolding today. 

Take a moment today to say words of thanks for Christine Jorgensen.  Let's also strive in this 60th anniversary year of her arrival back on US soil to honor her memory by doing what we can to pave the way for the trans younglings who are depending on us, their trans elders, to make it easier for them to live their trans lives to their fullest potential.
 

25th Anniversary of 'School Daze'

25 years ago on this date in 1988 Spike Lee's widely anticipated second feature movie release after his sleeper hit She's Gotta Have It hit the multiplexes.

It's one of my favorite movies, and School Daze starred a few people who have since gone on after filming this movie to be breakout movie and television stars such as Laurence Fishbourne, Giancarlo Esposito, Tisha Campbell-Martin, Jasmine Guy, Bill Nunn and Samuel L Jackson.

It featured a homecoming dance scene in which Phyllis Hyman sang, and a rousing halftime speech by the Mission College football coach played by Ossie Davis.

School Daze was set on a fictional HBCU college campus and tackled many of the issues of Black middle class life.   It took on colorism in our community.  It tackled hazing in the pledging process and the tensions on campus between Greek and non-Greek folks that in this movie exploded into an unscripted fight.in the step show scene.

The movie also explored the conflict between Black people getting their college educations and the townspeople who didn't have that opportunity for various reasons and are resentful of it.

That was illustrated in the scene with Fishbourne's and Jackson's characters outside the KFC.

It touched on the politics of hair between the folks who like to wear it natural vs. the peeps who perm and straighten it.  And yeah, had some interesting musical numbers in it for good measure.

Hard to believe that 25 years has blown by since it was first released.   Definitely going to have to pull out my School Daze DVD and watch it again.
.

When Will POC Transpeople Be Invited To MHP?

Bottom line is I along with POC transpeople are beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of being erased from another cable media discussion on trans issues once again. 

TransGriot, April 17, 2012   'Tired Of Me Complaining About Trans POC Erasure?  Sop Enabling It'.  

As much as I love watching MSNBC's Melissa Harris Perry show every weekend, I am getting a little frustrated with their lack of diversity in one demographic of its show viewers.

The trans community. 

When I tune in to MHP I can regularly see a diverse palette of people sitting behind the #nerdland desks chatting about the issues of the day.  That diverse palette of people also includes members of the GL community who are well represented and not there to simply talk about SGL and trans community issues. But it seems as though the only time transpeople get a call to appear on MHP is to discuss trans or GLBT related issues, and only white trans people get the opportunity to do so

FYI Nerdland staff, Mara Keisling or Kate Bornstein are not the only trans persons inside the borders of the United States that can talk about trans issues.  There are transpeople who are happen to be persons of color who are quite capable of discussing trans issues and other topics du jour as well. .  

For starters, there's Kylar Broadus, the ED of the Trans Persons of Color Coalition.. Cecilia Chung of the Transgender Law Center.  Andy Marra of GLSEN.  Diego Sanchez worked on Capitol Hill for former Rep Barney Frank.  Washington DC Human Rights commissioner Earline Budd.   Former Hawaii state board of education member Kim Coco Iwamoto.

There are our trans elders such as Gloria Allen in Chicago, Miss Major, Tracie Jada O'Brien, Sharyn Grayson, and Cheryl Courtney-Evans.  There's Janet Mock whose has made appearances on Thomas Roberts' show.  Tiq Milan, Dr. Kortney Ryan Ziegler, Kokumo Kinetic, Isis King, Leiomy Maldonado, Danielle King, Valerie Spencer, Laverne Cox, Antonia D'Orsay, Rev. Carmarion Anderson, Minster Louis Mitchell and oh yeah, some GLAAD media trained Houston based transwoman who has an award winning blog and been an activist since the late 90's. 

And that's just the short list   I'm sure there are more than a few others around the country who are more than capable of broadening the conversations on this GLAAD Media Award nominated show on a wide variety of issues.  

For 60 years, the narrative about trans issues has overwhelmingly been all about white transpeople and drivedn by them and their worldview.  It's past time that other trans stories get told.  If we can't get Nerdland to invite us on to do that, who will? 

We also need to see transpeople of color on these shows to blow up the myth in our community and elsewhere that successful trans persons or the only transpeople capable of speaking for this community and about other subjects of the day are white ones.

Melissa once made an eloquent speech on the show about the importance of diversity and how important it is that marginalized groups not be shut out of discussions and conversations. 
 
That's exactly what is happening right now to trans people of color, and after watching Oprah ignore us when she finally started doing trans themed shows, it's frustrating as hell for us to watch this pattern repeat itself once again..  

So when will trans persons of color be invited to participate in a Melissa Harris Perry show discussion?  Will that happen sometime before this decade is over? 

WWLT-TV, I Find Your Lack Of AP Stylebook Trans Understanding Disturbing

Why in Hades is it so hard for professional journalists to get this breathtakingly simple concept?

Per the AP Stylebook:

transgender-Use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth.

If that preference is not expressed, use the pronoun consistent with the individuals live publicly.

Once again (sigh), we have another example of media misgendering of a transperson.

This person is being sought by the New Orleans po-po's as a suspect in a French Quarter robbery.   BTW, if you have info in that regard, call New Orleans Crimestoppers

But back to riffing on the media again.   WWLT-TV's report was in violation of the AP Stylebook guidelines for reporting on trans people.  Since they have shown no aptitude for being able to read the English language version of the AP Stylebook  the TransGriot is going to have to go back to her earlier blog policy of showing them by example how it should have been done.

(Moni cracks knuckles)

NEW ORLEANS - Police are searching for a suspect they describe as a transgender female who they say robbed a man while walking on Bourbon St.

According to police, the robbery happened early Tuesday morning at around 5:25.

According to police spokesman, Frank Robertson, the suspect reportedly approached the victim and tried to start a conversation, then two other suspects appeared, and attacked the man. They then took his wallet and money.

Police say they are searching for a Transgender African American female, 5’07” to 6’00” tall, in her mid-20’s to early 30’s. If you have any information that could help police, call CRIMESTOPPERS at 822-1111.

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See, now that wasn't so hard was it WWLT-TV?    You might as well start now practicing how to get these descriptions of trans people consistently right since you have a large concentration of my trans peeps in the New Orleans metro area.    It will not be the first or last time you have to accurately report on a trans person in New Orleans, so get used to doing it. . 

And since it's more accurate, it might even lead to the capture of said suspect instead of the confusion you sowed when you wrote the aforementioned piece describing a person with a feminine gender presentation as a man.

IKEA Apologizes For Transphobic Thai Commercial

The Swedish based furniture giant IKEA is one of my fave places to shop for furniture, and it's where I bought much of my furniture for my first apartment back in the 90's.   One of those IKEA pieces I purchased back then at their Katy Freeway store is my current computer desk that has held up quite well through multiple moves.  

IKEA has had a positive reputation in the past for some positive trans inclusive commercials, so it was a shock to me when I read about this IKEA Thailand holiday one the Thai Transgender Alliance was protesting because of the stereotypical way the transwoman was portrayed. 

The commercial shows a couple strolling through an IKEA store when her voice suddenly goes into a masculine range that outs her as trans.  Her date then distances himself from her and eventually runs away from her as she continues to happily shop for IKEA products. 

As Reuters reported in terms of the brewing controversy, "The 20-second commercial shown on YouTube and on Bangkok's trains in December and January entitled 'Luem Aeb' ('Forget to Keep Hidden'), was disrespectful to transsexuals, according to the Thai Transgender Alliance and demanded an explanation from IKEA.





IKEA opened their first store in Thailand in November 2011 and the advertisement was part of a group of commercials for a holiday sale. 

The January 9 Thai Transgender Alliance complaint resulted in conversations with IKEA Thailand marketing officials that resulted in the apology letter the Thai Transgender Alliance posted on their Facebook page.

For those of you who are wondering why that commercial upset our Thai transisters and the international trans community, once again it played upon as the punchline for the humor in the ad the meme that trans women are people you are supposed to be fearful of or embarrassed to be around.  That is dehumanizing to Thai transwomen and their sisters around the globe.

And the dehumanization of transwomen is nothing to laugh at, especially in a commercial   .

Jazz 20/20 Show Supposed To Be Broadcast Tonight

Hopefully the third time is the charm and we finally get to see transkid Jazz Jennings do the 20/20 interview with Barbara Walters.   It has been postponed twice due to ABC's coverage of Hurricane Sandy and the December Sandy Hook mass school shooting





The show is supposed to be broadcast tonight at 8 PM ET/7 PM CT on your local ABC station.   Hopefully no major news story interrupts it this time.

'Can We Talk For Real' Show Appearance Tonight

Just a reminder that your favorite blogger along with TPOCC Executive Director Kylar Broadus and Chicago's Kokumo Kinetic will be discussing the Trans Human Rights Struggle with the 'Can We Talk for Real' broadcast team of Terry Boi, Michelle and Ina starting at 10:30 PM EST; 9:30PM CST; 8:30PM MST; 7:30PM PST. 

You can take part in the sure to be lively discussion tonight on the Can We Talk For REAL  podcast or listen to the show if you're not near your computer by calling 347-215-8985.

'Can We Talk For REAL' is a Blog Talk Radio Show geared toward discussing the important issues of the LGBTQ Community including many issues that are hard to discuss within the community

Looking forward to chatting with everyone tonight and having an informative discussion on trans issues.

Well Duh, MSNBC Black Viewership Increased 60%

In the news that really didn't surprise me department, MSNBC president Phil Griffin proudly touted the fact his network grew its viewership amongst African-American viewers by an astounding 60% in 2012.

Well, duh!  When you see yourself reflected in the news, people like you delivering it, people who share your ethnic background pontificating on it, and stories that reflect your lived cultural experience, you will definitely have people in that particular demographic group tune in to your broadcasts.

One of the major reasons I started watching MSNBC was because I was tired of CNN trying to be Fox Lite and kiss conservative azz all the time.

I was also tired of the infuriating pattern of longtime CNN African-American journalists such as Roland S. Martin, Suzanne Malveaux and countless getting passed over to anchor weekday and prime time shows in favor of white journalists (and non-journalists in Eliot Spitzer's case) that would subsequently fail.

Campbell Brown ring a bell?   

And I am still perturbed with CNN over what happened with Rick Sanchez

MSNBC has three shows that are hosted by Tamron Hall, Rev. Al Sharpton and Melissa Harris-Perry on the weekends.  MSNBC has as commentators Karen Finney, Joy Reid, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, Jonathan Capehart, Eugene Robinson and Michael Steele to provide the conservative point of view. 

You also have guests such as Aisha Moodie-Mills who has been on Melissa Harris-Perry's show a few times and Janet Mock has appeared on Thomas Roberts' show.   On the various MSNBC news programs you'll see African-American academics such as Dr. Dorian Warren and Dr. James Peterson and longtime journalists such as Bob Herbert

And that's before I even start talking about the Latin@ and Asian commentators, academics, pundits and guests that routinely appear on MSNBC programs as well .

MSNBC looks like America, reports stories in depth, is diverse, treats its viewers like the intelligent people we are, ain't 'scurred' to tell the truth and shame the conservadevils, and gives us a wide variety of perspectives of the issues of the day. 

It's also nice to see members of Congress from the Congressional Black, Hispanic, Progressive, LGBT and Asian-American caucuses being interviewed about national political issues as well.

And if MSNBC gets a detail in a story wrong, they are quick to do corrections.

The hatred and dismissive comments the conservative movement aim at MSNBC tells me they're plucking conservanerves while they do so. 

You know what they say conservafools. Truth has a liberal bias.

So yep, no mystery why MSNBC is the number one cable news network amongst African-Americans and its ratings climbed an astonishing 60%.  

And yep, I watched them for convention coverage commentary when I wasn't watching C-SPAN and unlike Fox Noise, their 2012 Election Night calls were accurate.

I noted CNN is belatedly trying to catch up diversity wise in its host lineup by finally giving Soledad O'Brien and Suzanne Malveaux shows, and because they did, their ratings amongst African-Americans climbed 23%.

Megahint CNN to increase those ratings:  Give Roland S. Martin his own show.

Now if they'd just dump the prison show and go news and commentary all weekend, and have a show with a Latin@ host, that would be a happy-happy joy-joy moment for me as a news junkie. 

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Jemele Hill Gets Racist Letter

The latest episode of the 'Post Racial America My Azz' department involves ESPN columnist Jemele Hill.

I love watching her live up to the long, proud legacy of siatah sportscasters with her commentary on all things sports related on the various shows and platforms on the ESPN network .

In addition to her ESPN.com columns and appearances on ESPN Radio, she appears on the shows First Take and Around The Horn and just completed her first season appearing as a sideline reporter for college football broadcasts on ESPN and ESPN2. 

Was not to happy to find out some pointed hood wearing waste of DNA took his time to go old school with his hatred.   He took the time to write Jemele a racist letter that she shared with her Twitter followers.

She's shown her sense of humor about the whole incident, quipping that homeboy accomplished the feat of racially insulting her without resorting to the n-word.  But it's still no joke she even received that stank letter in the first place, much less homey felt vanillacentric empowered enough to write it in the first place. .

And as I like to say about a lot of my haters, he hates you because he wants to emulate you.

The Fake FOX Noise 'War On Christmas'

Happy Holidays y'all!!

The conservafools at FOX Noise don't believe in the 'War on Women', the 'War on Non White People' or the 'War on Planned Parenthood'' that the conservafool movement engages in, but they sure do want to bamboozle their propaganda network watching sheeple into believing there is a 'War on Christmas'

Yeah, right.   

Rev Al calls the GOP network mouthpiece out on their broadcasted BS






And no, as a Christian, I don't believe the conservahype about a 'War on Christmas'.   This is the USA, in which we have no national religion.   You have freedom to worship and freedom NOT to worship if you choose as well and I respect the faith of my Muslim and Jewish friends and even my friends who are agnostic or atheist as long as they reciprocate.

So Happy Holidays y'all! 
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