Janet To Be Interviewed By Oprah May 3

One of the things I've asked for on this blog in two open letters in 2007 and 2010 was for Oprah to interview a Black trans person on her show.  

Her talk show ended before that happened, but now it looks like that is finally going to happen.

Janet Mock will be on the May 3 episode of Oprah's Super Soul Sunday being interviewed about her New York Times best selling book Redefining Realness.

Better late than never, but so happy for my sis Janet.   It's also interesting the timing of this broadcast, since it comes a week after the Jenner interview that drew 19 million people to view it.

Super Soul Sunday is broadcast on OWN  at 11 AM, and I'll be tuned in for it.

Moni's Thoughts On The 20/20 Jenner Interview

I turned it off a Houston Rockets playoff game against the Dallas NBA franchise (that they won) at 8 PM CDT to do what 17 million other Americans did and watched the Bruce Jenner interview.

I had reservations along with many people in Trans World because of the hype and past media fumbles when it comes to covering trans issues how this was going to turn out.  

But as the interview played out over then next two hours with me flipping to the Rockets playoff game during commercial breaks, outside of a few WTF moments, the interview was handled by Diane Sawyer quite well.  

If I had to grade it, I'd give it a B+.   They did a great job of letting Jenner tell her personal story and mixing it with stats and other interviews that  point out just how tough it is to be trans in America.

When it was over, we had an interview on KTRK-TV (ABC13, my local ABC affiliate station) with trans woman Veronika Simms..   Yep I know her, she is one intelligent and obviously attractive woman, and have much love and respect for her.  

While it was an excellent interview, I was bothered by the focus on surgery.  Not everyone can afford $60K in facial feminization surgery or much less GRS.   Some trans women don't feel it's necessary to have genital surgery or can't for medical or fiscal reasons, and that needs to be talked about at some point.

Trans women are women.  Trans men are men.   Gender identity and expression of it is between your ears, not your legs.  We also  need to deal with the realities of trans life like the GOP pushing anti-trans legislation to criminalize our lives, and in 32 states we have no discrimination protections  

That's the reality that many trans women of color deal with, and I hope that while we're in this moment in which America is celebrating Jenner's coming our, the reality is much different for TWOC.

Eden's On CNN Tonight!

Been telling y'all for years how amazing my Denver media maven homegirl is.  Looks like the rest of the world is finally paying attention.

Got home just in time from my TSU panel discussion to see Eden Lane's appearance on CNN.

After being named the best non-network personality in Denver, she was invited to appear on CNN Tonight for a segment discussing the upcoming interview of Bruce Jenner tomorrow night on ABC's 20//20 with Diane Sawyer in which a possible trans declaration may happen.

As soon as I find the video, I'll post it.

It's Sweeps Month-Brace Yourselves For The Trans Themed Programming

When I was in trans info collection mode, my VCR was taping as much trans themed programming as I could find in the run up to my eventual 1994 physical transition.

One of the things I noticed as I taped those talk shows, documentaries and other programs of interest is that they always seemed to pop up during February, May, June and the November  sweeps months.

So what's the 'sweeps months'?   It refers to the Nielsen television ratings system that has dictated whether your fave programs stay on the air or are cancelled.

The sweeps term dates back from 1954, when Nielsen would collect the paper diaries sent to selected homes in the eastern US first, then 'sweep across the country toward the west coast.   The diaries are then aggregated to get the ratings that television programs scheduling decisions and advertising dollars for local television stations, cable systems, and advertisers.  

The November, February and May sweeps months are considered important for programming, while the July sweeps tend to be important for personnel decisions.

The May 2015 sweeps month is starting today, and will run until May 20,   The July sweeps period will be from July 2-29 and the October one will commence on October 29 and run through November 25.

It's probably why ABC's 20/20 scheduled the Bruce Jenner interview for Friday, and you've had interviews all week on MSNBC of trans kids.   While I was flipping channels last night I stumbled across a MTV Catfish show that involved a Houston area trans woman.

And naw, I haven't met the Houston trans woman featured in that show (yet).

And yes, it's always the time when the talk show circuit would schedule their trans themed programming.   Maury would run his infamous Man Or Woman shows during sweeps periods, and Jerry Springer would stick the outrageous trans themed topics on during that time as well..



And when the public is getting most of the news and information about trans people from television, and sweeps month sees higher levels of trans themed programming good, bad or indifferent, it''s always a concern that the programming in question if it's good gets praised by us, and the bad stuff gets called out. 

Eden Lane Honored As 'Best Non-Network TV Personality'

And now, time for some much needed good news .
My Denver based sis Eden Lane recently received a wonderful surprise from Westworld, the local alternative weekly newspaper

Every year the editors of Westworld along with their readers select 'Best Of' winners in various categories.  And guess who won 'Best Non-Network TV Personality''?

Here is what they had to say about our hard working media sis.:

Since 2009, Eden Lane has been hoofing her heels all over Denver to cover the burgeoning performing-arts and media beats, using a scant crew to grab an interview with new talents and introduce them to the world via her weekly, self-produced In Focus show on Colorado Public Television (Channel 12 to those in Denver). Always professional, effervescent, creative and dressed to kill, Lane's recent openness on living life as a trans woman just might bring her to national eyes as a role model for how journalism should be done.

Take note of that underlined last sentence.

Hey, I've seen In Touch, and you can also watch the show on YouTube.  I'm still wondering why some network or local station hasn't hired her yet..   But nice to see quality work and a quality person recognized!

Congrats Eden!   Hope this is just one of many awards you'll get and it results in more positive attention for you!

Why Maya Avant Is More Important Than You Think

On Wednesday morning while I was rolling toward Austin to fight some anti-trans bills at the Pink Dome, the CBS soap opera Bold and The Beautiful was dropping a cliffhanger that would light up the Twitterverse for several hours in terms of the Maya Avant character, played by actress Karla Mosley, being revealed to be a trans woman. 

Seven years ago I wrote about the importance of Rebecca Romijn playing Alexis Meade on the ABC show Ugly Betty.   I compared it at the time to Nichelle Nichols playing Lt. Uhura on Star Trek in terms of the groundbreaking nature of it.

Now for the first time ever, we have a soap with a trans African-American character.   You know I not only have wanted to see a regular trans character that reflects my ethnic background for years now, I have also expressed my frustration at the ignorance level of elements of my people when it comes to trans issues.

The Maya Avant character has the potential if handled correctly by Bold and the Beautiful writers, to finally bust some myths about what a trans person of African descent is like, and educate about many of the issues we deal with.

And while we African-American trans women have had amazing possibility models in Janet Mock and Laverne Cox capture the country's and the world's attention, and are an immense source of pride in our ranks, we now have a fictional character gracing the nation's television screens and the TV screens of the 100 nations where this soap is broadcast.

So when Bold and the Beautiful returns following the weekend's March Madness games, we'll see what happens with this unfolding storyline that suddenly has a lot of people inside and outside the trans community talking and  paying attention to the exploits of Maya Avant..

Kerry Washington To Receive GLAAD Vanguard Award Tonight

The 26th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, LA Division will kick off in a few hours at the Beverly Hilton and I'm pleased to hear that one of my fave actresses in Kerry Washington will be honored with this year's Vanguard Award.

The GLAAD Vanguard Award is presented to the media professional who have made a significant difference in promoting equality.

Some of the previous Vanguard Award recipients have been Janet Jackson, Charlize Theron, Kristen Chenoweth, drew Barrymore, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Taylor, Antonio Banderas and Sharon Stone.

In addition to appearing in LGBT-inclusive projects like Scandal, Peeples, She Hate Me, The Dead Girl, and Life is Hot in Cracktown (in which she played a trans woman),Washington has tirelessly spoken out in support of full equality and human rights for TBLGQ people. She has has participated in GLAAD's annual anti-bullying campaign, Spirit Day, by wearing purple to show her support for BTLGQ youth, and talked about the importance of stopping bullying on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Congrats to Kerry, and looking forward to seeing her later tonight along with her acceptance speech.

We Lost A Media Friend When 'Ronan Farrow Daily' Was Cancelled

Was pissed when Ronan Farrow Daily and Joy Reid's The Reid Report shows were cancelled on MSNBC for two reasons.   In addition to the fact I loved Joy's show, I was in talks with the Farrow folks to do a show talking about the off the charts murders of African-American trans women that had spiked at that time.

The other reason I was not happy about the cancellation of the show besides my lost opportunity to talk to a national audience is because when it comes to media outlets, the Ronan Farrow Daily show was the gold standard when it came to respectful and diverse coverage of trans issues.

And they also did something groundbreaking that has only been replicated so far on Melissa Harris-Perry.  They brought trans people on their sets to talk about trans human rights issues.

It was Ronan Farrow Daily that along with Mel Wynore debunked the bathroom predator lies surrounding the Maryland trans rights law last May and forcefully called it a myth. 



It brought Allyson Robinson on to talk about trans military service.  Tiq has been on the show multiple times to discuss the TIME trans tipping point article and the detention of trans immigrants.  

And in the wake of the Leelah Alcorn suicide, Ronan Farrow Daily did a week of trans themed programming coveting a wide variety of issues that earned him a GLAAD Media Award nomination.

It remains to be seen whether we'll get the same level of coverage about issues of importance to our community on other MSNBC shows.  Lord knows we're still waiting for Rachel Maddow to even say the word 'transgender', much less cover our issues in depth on her show.

We lost a media friend and trans human rights ally when Ronan Farrow Daily was cancelled, and it will be interesting to see what MSNBC show picks up that torch and is willing to use its broadcast platform to discuss our issues.
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Black Media, I Expect Higher Standards From You When It Comes To Covering Black Trans People

When I traveled to Boston for last summer's National Association of Black Journalists conference (NABJ) to discuss with fellow panelists Kenyon Farrow, Kellee Terrell and moderator Tiq Milan how to cover Black trans folks, it was with the intent of not only fostering that discussion, but impressing upon the attendees of that panel how accurate reporting about Black trans people from our media peeps is critically important.

In the first two months of 2015, seems like some Black media peeps needed to have some seats in that panel discussion as well.

Been more than pissed off to see disrespectful reporting aimed at my transsisters who have tragically lost their lives.   I've been even more irritated to note that some of the culprits guilty of transphobic reporting and failing to read their AP Stylebooks have been African-American journalists.

I expect disrespectful reporting from non-Black cisgender journalists and media outlets.   But I have a severe problem with it when the disrespectful reporting happens on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, newspapers, my hometown television and radio stations and other Black controlled media outlets and blogs

I don't even waste my breath or bandwith calling out Bossip and Sandra Rose. They are unrepentant cesspools of media transphobia that couldn't spell journalistic integrity even with the help of spell check.  But I do have higher expectations and standards for Black journalists when it comes to respectfully reporting on Black trans people.  

And here is the money paragraph once again from the AP Stylebook that has been there since 2001.

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.

If you have questions, peruse those AP Stylebook pages.   There are also the styleguides from the NLGJA and GLAAD to help a journalistic brother or sister out and avoid the wrath of Moni, my chocolate transpeeps and our allies from coming down upon you for some fracked up reporting  that could have been easily avoided.

I'd like to also see as soon as possible an entry in the NABJ Styleguide about transgender people since it seems to have become necessary to request it expeditiously happen.

And yeah, here's the difference between a transgender man and a transgender woman since y'all media peeps have picked up that annoying conservatactic of conflating the two to be snarkily insulting.

A transgender man  (or trans man) is one who was born with female genitalia but has transitioned to and lives life as a male.  

A transgender woman (or trans woman) is one who was born with male genitalia, but has transitioned to and lives life as a female.

And one other thing Black media.  Focus on what's between our ears, not what genitalia may or may not be between our legs.

Also sick of the 'deception meme' being pushed in Black media stories about trans people.  We're living our authentic lives.   You need to deal with and approach us transpeeps as you would any other person you are writing or reporting on.

It's important because ignorance in African-American ranks about trans people is being pushed by sellout Black right wing pastors from their pulpits.

The bottom line Black media is that Black trans people are not only part of the diverse mosaic of human life, we have been and still are part of the kente cloth fabric of Black America.  We aren't going away, and as Laverne Cox, Janet Mock, Tona Brown, Tiq Milan and a host of Black transpeople prove on a regular basis, and still we rise.

We have abundant talents to contribute to our Black community.  Black journalists need to get with the program and take the lead in pointing out Black trans people are Black people and our issues are Black community issues.

Black journalists and bloggers also need to realize that coverage of trans people is not click bait for your blogs, a way for you to add salacious details to your radio broadcasts, newspaper or television stories, or 'scurr' or mislead people about the purpose of non-discrimination laws that cover you and whatever other category they happen to cover.

You also have a journalistic legacy to uphold of being fierce advocates for our community.  Black transpeople once again are part of your constituency.

It's also infuriating and mind blowing to contemplate that Black journalists in the pre-AP Stylebook days writing for JET,. EBONY, HUE and Sepia magazines did a better and more respectful job of writing about transpeople than their 21st century counterparts.

Unchecked anti-trans hate speech kills.   In the wake of the murders of  17 trans women since June with the vast majority of them being African-American trans feminine women under 40, it's past time for Black media and Black journalists to ponder if their media misgendering of African-American trans women is a contributing factor to the anti-trans hatred that leads to anti-trans violence and the far too frequent murders of Black trans women.

Janet's Got A Talk Show!

If you're wondering what Janet Mock has been up to lately, it's being a talk show host.

Janet's So Popular show is on the recently launched MSNBC Shift online network that was launched in December and is designed to appeal to the 16-34 demo in which television viewing has been dropping.

So Popular as you probably guessed is about popular culture, which Ms. Mock cut her teeth on as a former People.com editor.

The goal of her show as stated in the inaugural show broadcast?  

"To cover all things culture, from art and entertainment to literature and anything trending in the zeitgeist. Our goal is to discuss the things you pretend you're too smart to like, in an effort to expand the idea of what is considered political and worthy of analysis. Every Friday, we will have fun, we will be cheeky, we will mine the nuggets of truth from the cultural topics and experiences that consume our time and I will mess up the teleprompter often."

Knowing you Janet, I doubt that will happen very often, but I'll definitely be checking out So Popular and wish you much success with it.

FOX 26''s Damali Keith Lies On The HERO And The Houston Trans Community Again

My post about unchecked trans hate speech having deadly consequences is barely a little over 48 hours old and the FOX Noise affiliate here, KRIV-TV Fox26 has once again in their coverage of the HERO trial once again led with the discredited trans predator lie.

Damali Keith needs to read her AP Stylebook and focus on the section that covers reporting on trans people.

Just an FYI for you Damali, since journalism and balanced reporting doesn't seem to be a strong suit for your station that you've been at for over a decade or your station's parent so-called 'news' network on this subject, here's what it says:

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.

This is how you reported the story on the HERO trial on January 26:

Chances are you've heard of the fairly new Houston ordinance that allows transgender men to use women's restrooms among other things. Now a judge and jury will hear about the ordinance. Today is day one of a trial that names Mayor Annise Parker as a defendant.

You followed that lie about the  Houston Equal Rights Ordinance the very next day with this transphobic attack on my community, pushing the opponent's HERO lies that "transgendered men" would be allowed to enter women's restrooms:

The controversial equal rights ordinance came under fire when it was revealed as part of the measure transgendered men would be allowed to use women's restrooms. This petition is an effort to give Houstonians the right to vote on the ordinance.

It is a pattern of slanted stenography Ms. Keith that FOX26 has repeatedly engaged in ever since the HERO became an issue, and those of us in the Houston trans community are sick and tired of you and your station repeating the debunked lies of our opponents without giving us a chance to rebut them on air or talk about from our perspective why a HERO that protects our human rights is necessary.

And since it seems Ms. Keith that you don't know the difference between a transgender man and a transgender woman, time to break it down to you.

A transgender man  (or trans man) is one who was born with female genitalia but has transitioned to and lives life as a male.    A transgender woman (or trans woman) is one who was born with male genitalia, but has transitioned to and lives life as a female.

I can do more basic Trans 101 education later.   My eye is on the more important prize of calling out your recent lies and FOX 26's  consistent slandering of the Houston trans community.  Broadcasting that unchecked transphobia has consequences, and your report is only the latest fuel fanning the hell- fire flames of anti-trans bigotry, hatred and violence. 

I have no doubts and fear that the attack on Thailand Warr at her Southwest Houston apartment building back in November is only the beginning of violent attacks that are being fueled by you and your FOX26 colleagues inaccurate HERO reporting combined with anti-trans hate speech coming from the pulpits of the Baptist Ministers Assn of Houston and Vicinity.

Ms Warr survived her attack.   The next trans person attacked by people motivated by your misguided reporting and the faith based trans hate of the Pastor's Council may not be so fortunate..

And when we have already have  had three trans people killed in Texas, Virginia and Kentucky because of anti-trans violence and we aren't even done with the first month of 2015 yet, you can understand why I'm pissed off along with the Houston trans community of your station's continued attacks on an ordinance that also benefits you as a cisgender African-American woman.

We are also angry about FOX 26's repeated loud and wrong attacks on the humanity of Houston area trans people

#TransLivesMatter  #BlackTransLivesMatter.  We're tired of FOX26 stenography that  has a deleterious effect upon our community

Chill with the anti-trans lies.    But based on your station's anti-trans track record, I have a better chance of seeing the Astros, Rockets, Dynamo, and Texans all winning championships in the same calendar year than FOX 26 ceasing and desisting with their trans baiting

Hour Magazine 1980 Trans Interview

While looking for something to watch on YouTube stumbled across this video of a 1980 Hour Magazine host Gary Collins interviewing trans women Heather Fontaine, Amanda Winters and Shalei Latrelle

Hour Magazine was one of the first national talk shows that discussed transsexuality, and Collins would later interview on his show Caroline 'Tula' Cossey and Christine Jorgensen.

This show also featured a few moments of their performances at the Queen Mary drag club in Studio City, CA.

It was a professional but very Trans 101 interview by Collins in what has a feel to be a conversational style.  And yes, some questions from the studio audience.

And I'm feeling old watching this.disco-era video.

But this show was a godsend to peeps like me in the pre-Internet era.


Part 1


Part 2

It's Important For Trans Women Of Color To See Peeps Like Themselves

Ever since Christine Jorgensen stepped off the plane at what is now JFK Airport from Denmark in February 1953, the discussions about trans femininity have been predominately focused on our white counterparts

While that has been wonderful for white trans women, and how wonderful is up for debate, that six decades of focus on white trans women has been detrimental to trans women of color.

Yeah,we all know that Sylvia Rivera is the mother of the trans rights movement, are getting to know about Miss Major's contributions, and every now and then a Roberta Close, Harisu, Ai Haruna and various Thai trans women would pop up in the media radar when they wanted to briefly focus on transgender issues.  

But the dominant focus stayed on white transfeminine women.   Trans women of color were only seen and heard about when it came to negative issues in the community like anti-trans violence, silicone pumping or HIV/AIDS.

Now that script is starting to flip, and a new generation of trans women of color are getting positive media coverage.   In addition to our lost history being unearthed and talked about, we are starting to get credit for being trailblazing leaders in this trans human rights movement.   We are being discussed as beauty icons, or seen making history and looking good while doing so.

Sadly, elements of the trans feminine  community ain't liking it.

Too bad, because it's been a long overdue development that needed to happen.  The voices of transfeminine women of color needed to be heard not only by Middle America, but by our own people as well.   A blow needed to be struck to take down the 'tragic  trans victim' meme that disproportionately centered trams women of color in it.

While trans women of color have disproportionately taken the brunt of the anti-trans violence casualties, those stories needed to be balanced out by trans women of color leading and doing positive things for our community.

It's also important that trans women of color also be seen as beautiful as well, vis a vis a beauty standard that idealizes white womanhood be you cis or trans 24/7/365.

Black trans women have to struggle with the same 'unwoman' meme that our cis Black sisters have dealt with for four centuries and battling a beauty paradigm not designed with us in mind..   

So yes, we African-American trans women and our cis feminine allies are reveling in the fact that we are seeing beautiful women like Janet Mock, Angelica Ross, Precious Davis, Tona Brown  and  Laverne Cox among others lead, intelligently discuss trans issues and look good doing so.

It has been wonderful to see trans Latinas like Bamby Salcedo, Arianna Lint, Maria Roman and others around the country also step up and take leadership roles in their community as well as inspiring others to do so.

The more diverse our trans human rights movement leadership is, the better.

As this country gets more diverse, the trans feminine leadership in this movement must diversify as well.   The ongoing discussions we have about trans femininity also need to add the perspectives of trans women of color.  

And with trans kids transitioning at earlier ages, it is important for those kids and trans kids of color to see peeps like themselves.

It's also important for their parents, grandparents, our overall society and the communities that trans women of color inhabit to see positive instances of trans women of color contributing to the betterment of our communities as well
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'He Wanted To Erase Her Existence'

Mayang Prasetyo, another one of our transsisters was murdered in Australia.

Along with the media in Brisbane misgendering and sensationalizing the whole thing also came a Guardian post by Amy Gray that took the opposite angle. 

Gray's post asserted that it was masculine entitlement that led to Prasetyo's death.

That Guardian article generated some commentary on my FB page when  I posted it, and the most thought provoking one of all so far was from Troy, whose trans attracted man videos you see pop up on TransGriot from time to time.

In his comment on the article Troy remarked, "Think of the last few trans women that have been murdered, thrown on the streets, dumped in the garbage. It seems their killers wanted to erase them from existence."

"That's why I'm so adamant about language. When you dehumanize someone it's easier to justify killing them."

Exactly, Troy.  Ever since I transitioned 20 years ago and became aware of the horrific levels of anti-trans violence aimed at us, there have been times when I have been stunned by the extreme level of violence that was aimed at transfeminine murder victims. 

Yaz'min Shancez's killer shot her, then burned her body. Shellie Hilliard's body in Detroit was dismembered and burned by her convicted killer.  I remember reading about other trans murders on the Remembering Our Dead list in which extreme violence was part of it.

One of my suspicions as to why that happens is because of the virulent level anti-trans hate can reach at times with cisgender males, as Joanna Cifredo noted while recounting an incident that happened to her in her blog post Passing To Survive.

That night will forever be ingrained in my memory. It was the night that I looked straight into the eyes of transphobia. I don’t think “phobia” is even the right word, he wasn’t scared of me, just the opposite, I was scared of him, instead I came face to face with pure, undiluted, hatred. As I rode home I began to think about the paralyzing fear that engulfed every pore of my being, and I began to sob uncontrollably. I started to think of all of my sisters who came face to face with hatred and weren’t as lucky as I was to have someone there defending them and were met with their mortality

Joanna is describing an instance in which she came face to face with someone who literally wanted to erase her existence from the face of this Earth because of her trans feminine status.  That person probably would have eagerly done so if it hadn't been for the fact there was a door and another cis male keeping that from happening in the incident she describes in the post

It's the sudden nature in which a transwoman can go from having a pleasant day to fearing for her life that keeps us on edge as we navigate our lives. 

My transsisters, this is just one of the things that estrogen based lifeforms unfortunately have to deal with   It is dangerous at times to walk this planet in a feminine body.

It gets even more problematic when that feminine body is a trans feminine one.  You have cisgender males who mistakenly feel they have the right to violently harm or kill a trans woman simply because the transwoman's presence in their space at that given moment for whatever specious reason offends them.

And I suspect this unfortunately happened to our sis Mayang.   For whatever reason, the man who professed to love her, killed and dismembered her before killing himself. 

How much transphobia played a role in this domestic violence situation we will probably never know, but the bottom line is still the same.  

Our sis is dead at the hands of a man who appears to have wanted to erase her existence

Ricky Smiley Morning Show Transphobia

The war against media transphobia aimed at trans women of color seems like it's a never ending one.    Here's a FB commentary from TransGriot reader Sasha concerning the transphobic comments she heard aimed at Laverne Cox during one of the Rickey Smiley Morning Show segments yesterday.

***

Last night my sisters and I were watching Dish Nation/Rickey Smiley Morning Show. Laverne Cox was declared as one of the Emmy show's  best dressed women which I though was AMAZING...until one of the hosts yells "that's a man!"and they slightly go into the infamous shock factor, making her identity the center of a joke.

Gary and one of the shows guests, a cis woman of color, then came to Laverne's defense by stating her accomplishment and how major it is for the Transgender community. The young lady also corrected the misgendering and made sure she addressed the Laverne as a WOMAN.

I've been listening to Rickey Smiley Morning Show for YEARS, I'm a fan of the show but I think it's time to call the RSMS out on their consistent ignorance and insensitivity towards the trans community.

This is NOT the first time I've encountered this type of madness from them. Not too long ago they were throwing shade towards Cee Lo after his affair with a transwoman. Not to mention the jokes that very often seem to revolve around #GirlsLikeUs.
We need to hold them accountable.  It is not the guest's job to educate them LIVE on the radio about transgender terminology. As much as they talk and joke about us, they should be well informed on the issue. Rickey Smiley has a huge platform in the black community and instead of all the shade, he could be using that platform for the good of ALL as well as being held accountable for repetitive transphobia.

It's time to call them out!

***

I agree, Sasha . GLAAD and NGLJA Rapid Response team, it's time to handle your media business. 

Laverne's On The Cover Of ESSENCE

To understand the significance of this ESSENCE magazine cover, I have to take you back to the late 80's

Tracy Africa Norman was in the process of shooting her sixth ESSENCE magazine cover for an upcoming Christmas issue.  At the time Tracy worked for the third largest modeling agency in New York, and she was a hot model with major contracts like Avon, Ultra Sheen and Clairol.

But Tracy was also an undisclosed transwoman, and her cover was about to be blown to ESSENCE editor-in-chief Susan L. Taylor by a shady individual from Tracy's old neighborhood who recognized her.

Tracy was outed, and the sixth cover shoot abruptly ended along with much of Tracy's US modeling career.  

So you can imagine my surprise when knowing this history, I saw this ESSENCE cover of Laverne with Alfre Woodard, Nicole Bahari and Dinai Gurira.   I'll have to admit I did shed a tear or two when I saw the cover because I thought about what happened to Tracy and just how far the African-American transfeminine ranks have come since then.  

But congratulations Laverne.   Looking forward to the day that ESSENCE gives a trans woman a solo cover be it you, Ines Rau or some other trans woman or trans model. 

Looks like that day may be coming sooner than I thought it would.  

Read Your AP Stylebook, JIm Kiertzner And WXYZ-TV

When I took a trip up to Boston recently for the National Association of Black Journalists convention to discuss the coverage of Black transwomen, one of the things I implored them to do was make sure they got it right the first time because white run media consistently screws up when it coves to covering us.

And right on cue, thanks to Can We Talk 4 Real  podcast host 'Michelle Brown bringing it to my attention, here's another example of messed up media coverage courtesy of WXYZ-TV and reporter Jim Kiertzner..

In the process of reporting on a string of attacks on trans women in Detroit's Palmer Park, one fatal, Kiertzner got it horribly wrong.

Let me do your job for you and write the story properly before I put you on blast for failing to read your AP Stylebook.

(WXYZ) - Detroit Police say they are investigating three hate crimes that may be related.

All three targets were transgender men women. One was killed in Palmer Park last Friday.  In that case, the killer drove off, crashed into another car and ran away on foot, but a gun was left behind.

Another shooting on Sunday and another last week were not fatal, but the victims were also transgender men women. Police are not releasing any identities of the victims.  No one is in custody but police say they have a person of interest.

Palmer Park is located along Woodward Avenue between 6 and 7 Mile.    The area east to John R and up to 8 Mile is also a well known Detroit "red light" district.  Many in the LGBT community live here and some work the streets for sex.

For now, in this area, a killer is on the loose.

***

Now, let's get to discussing the problematic August 20 video report.    Jim, a male to female transperson is a transgender woman, NOT a 'transgender man'.   You also use FEMININE pronouns when referring to that person.

And using 'lifestyle' in the context of a report on a transgender person is problematic and offensive.

But you would have known that Jim had you referred to the AP Stylebook, The National Gay And Lesbian Journalism Assn (NGLJA) guide or GLAAD's guides

The way this story was reported was not only confusing to those of us in the trans community and our allies, but has raised questions of just how committed you and your station are to respecting the humanity of transpeople and reporting accurately on our lives.

This won't be the first or last time you encounter trans people in the Detroit area.  Past time for WXYZ-TV and other Detroit media outlets to get it right in reporting on us.

TransGriot Update:  Looks like the story has been cleaned up to remove the misgendering language. 

Tiq Discusses Trans Detainee On MSNBC

Got to spend some quality time with him last week during an NABJ panel, but always good to see my trans brother Tiq Milan handling his business on behalf of the community repping the 'T'.

While I was rolling west Thursday on I-10 towards San Marcos, Tiq was on MSNBC's Ronan Farrow Daily discussing 23 year old Marichuy, a trans detainee who was being mistreated and subsequently sexually assaulted in an immigration detention center. 

Why Isn't Gwen Ifill Being Suggested To Host 'Meet The Press' ?

The iconic NBC Sunday morning interview show Meet The Press under current host David Gregory has slid to a distant third in recent ratings for the Sunday morning news talk shows, and rumors are flying amongst the chatterrati that Gregory is about to get canned for it.

The rumored replacements for Gregory should this turn out to be true are Joe Scarborough and Chuck Todd.

Time for me to go into Maya Wilkes mode at the thought of either of them in that iconic Meet The Press chair. 

If NBC thought their ratings are bad now with Gregory, if they make that colossal programming mistake, wait until they tank still further with either of those two in the Meet the Press anchor chair.

Instead of putting another conservative leaning white male in the chair, I submit NBC needs to do something bold since they are bringing up the ratings rear anyway.

Those Sunday morning talk shows are highly influential programs and set the tone for political inside the beltway discussions and Capitol Hill debates.  Those shows have been dominated for far too long by white male 50+ conservative Republicans, and it's past time to clear the stagnant vanillacentric privileged air and add the thoughts and opinions of other people who live in this diverse country of ours. 

It's past time to put a journalist of color or a female one in that chair to break up the Washington Conservative Boys Club and bring perspectives and questions into these discussions that white male journalists because of their privilege and other societal blind spots wouldn't think to ask.  .  

Rachel Maddow seems to be the person that chattering class peeps are frequently thinking and talking about as a possible candidate to replace Gregory in that chair should NBC execs pull the trigger and fire him.  

I have another suggestion for a possible replacement that people are ignoring:  Gwen Ifill. 

Gwen Ifill is a longtime journalist and political analyst who moderates and is the managing editor of Washington Week on PBS.  She a Simmons College grad who has worked for NBC, the Washington Post and the New York Times.  She is the co-anchor with Judy Woodruff of the PBS NewsHour.   She has also been the moderator of the 2004 and 2008 Vice Presidential debates.and has appeared on Meet The Press herself.

So with that pedigree, why hasn't she been suggested to take over the hosting duties for Meet The Press?

Do I have to state the obvious here? 

As for the two rumored leading candidates to take over the Meet The Press spot, neither Chuck Todd or Joe Scarborough moderated TWO Vice presidential debates as Ifill has.  Neither have worked for the Washington Post (1984-91), the New York Times (1991-94) and NBC (94-99) as Ifill has in addition to hosting two PBS news shows?  

And if NBC did name Ifill, it's a win-win on multiple levels.  They get to make history, take a bold step toward diversifying one of the whitest hours of television, bring one of their former journalists back, and are guaranteed to get a ratings bump because liberal-progressive peeps like me who got tired of Gregory and the conservative white men he panders to will come back to the show, especially if Ifill is hosting it.  

Ifill hosting it will also draw new non-white viewers who turn past Meet the Press to watch the more diverse Melissa Harris- Perry show on MSNBC

So NBC programming execs, what are you waiting for?

Laverne Cox Gets Historic Emmy Nomination

I'll have another reason to watch the August 25 Primetime Emmy Awards broadcast on NBC besides wondering if Kerry Washington and Joe Morton get the statues to go with their well deserved nominations for their respective Scandal acting roles

I'm still pissed off about Kerry getting screwed last year and y'all know how much I love her. 

But enough about Ms.Washington, this post is about another person I have mad love for in our fave possibility model Laverne Cox, who made more trailblazing history today.

When the nominations for the 2013-2014 Emmy's were announced today, Orange Is The New Black earned 12 Emmy nominations.  One of these nominations was for the Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series category, and Ms. Cox was nominated for her role as Sophia Burset on the smash hit series.

That nomination makes Laverne the first open transgender actress to be nominated for a primetime Emmy.

She's competing against two of her Orange Is The New Black castmates in Uzo Aduba (Suzanne 'Crazy Eyes' Warren) and Natasha Lyonne (Nicky Nichols) for this Emmy, but I'm hoping that it works out for her.  

Congratulations Laverne!  Well deserved nomination and I'll be tuned in at 7 PM CDT to see if you make more history and actually win it.