Open Letter To Zaya

Dear Zaya,
As one of your Black trans elders, I am pleased and proud to hear that  you are taking the steps you need to make to become your true self.    I am also happy that your parents are unconditionally loving and supporting you as you embark on this challenging at times journey.

One of the things about this trans journey you need to know is that you're not alone.  There are other amazing kids like you that share your ethnic bcackground like Trinity Neal.   There's also something else that you probably didn't know in that when you transition, you family expands to include trans people from here and around the world.

Black trans people have existed as long as humanity has.   We have a proud history and take no crap people who have been fighting since before you were born to make the world better for trans people inside and outside the community.  I'm proud to be one of those people.

Many times I and other elders who fight tooth and nail for trans people's right to exist without drama are doing so for our kids.   You are the living embodement of the future we fight like hell for.

Your transition has also jumpstarted a long needed conversation in Black America about Black trans people and our community's need to embrace their trans siblings.

So why am I wrting this open letter?  Because I thought it was important for you to see some words online from someone who is a proud unapologetic Black trans adult who transitioned 25 years ago.  While I have accomplished much since 1994 and I'm proud of the person I have become, I still wish at times that I could have transitioned as early as you have been able to do.

When I finally did so, my life, challenging as it has been at times, is still better that it was before transition.  I've gotten to do some great things and meet many amazing people I probably wouldn't  have been able to meet if it weren't for me being this amazing, unapologetically Black trans woman

You still have yours to live and I hope you'll go on to do some great things.  Hopefully some of the great things you do will also benefit our community. .

I can't wait to see how you evolve to become the fabulous Black woman of trans experience I know you are.

Sincerely yours,
Monica

Open Letter To Trinity About Relationships

Dear Trini,
I understand from your mom that you are concerned that because you are a young Black trans girl blossoming into an awesome woman, that you will not find love because you are Black and trans.

Little Sis, I definitely feel you and understand why you're concerned about this subject.  While it hasn't been easy for me and some of your Black trans feminine elders when it comes to us finding that forever love., know that being Black and trans is not an impediment or insurmountable barrier for eventually finding the right person to love, be they cisgender or transgender. 

I know Black trans women that have not only managed to date successfully, they have found their life partners in the process.

And as someone who has been single for a while, I'm deliriously happy that they are.

Who are they, you're probably asking?   Let me pull out the receipts and show you who some of your Black trans elders who have found love are. 

I'll start with Precious Brady Davis.   She not only has been happily married to her husband Myles,  we call then in Black Trans World the Trans Obamas.

In addition, Precious' search for the perfect wedding gown was broadcast on the show Say Yes To The Dress: Atlanta

Need more proof?   Janet Mock.     She has been happily married to her man Aaron for several years now.  She got married back in November 2015.

As for Black trans women who are in relationships, my homegirl Jessica Zyrie has been in a relationship for several months with her boyfriend Alexander Lane Miller.   

Myself and everyone observing them can see they are both in love with each other.

All of us who love Alexander and Jessica are rooting for them to also jump the broom should their relationship develop to that level.

Laverne Cox has recently revealed that she is dating her boyfriend Kyle and has been doing so for a year.   She has been upfront about her dating struggles, and it's nice to know that someone finally has noted the quality woman she is and stepped to her. 

That's before I even mention some of my Black trans girlfriends who are non disclosed, and either were or still are married.   The other point I want to make is that those people I'm shouting out  were (or still are) married for a decade or longer.

I also have to mention some of our trailblazing Black trans feminine transcestors.   Lucy Hicks Anderson got married twice in her fascinating life.

Same with Georgia Black.   She got married twice in her life in large part because she outlived both her husbands.

Every year that I go to BTAC in Dallas, I see romance blooming at that unapologetically Black trans conference.   Some of the relationships that started there have eventually led to marriage, while other relationships went on and then fizzled out for a wide variety of reasons. 

That's life.  Some people are in your relationship life to teach you specific lessons or show you what you DON'T want in a relationship or life partner.   That happens so that when your soulmate does come into your life, you'll know it. 

So Trini, the best advice I can give you is to focus on being the best Trini you can be.  The relationship will come. 

And whoever that wise person is that eventually hooks up with you in a relationship will be extremely blessed to have you.

Love you,
Aunt Monica

Paige's Open Letter To Charlotte City Council

Was not happy to hear that yesterday the Charlotte City Council, after resisting a so-called 'deal' in September to  repeal their NDO in exchange for the Republican controlled North Carolina legislature subsequently repealing the unjust HB2, the Charlotte City Council on a surprise 10-0 vote threw the Charlotte trans community under the bus and repealed the trans protective NDO as part of a 'deal' brokered by Roy Cooper that allegedly will result in the repeal of the unjust HB2.

Of course I'm pissed about it along with trans folks in Charlotte and North Carolina who don't trust the NC GOP to follow through on their end of it.   But what has them even more incensed is that they weren't consulted, and are livid that the Charlotte City Council would take this step without consulting them.

Local trans leader Paige Dula composed an open letter to the Charlotte City Council that expresses the feeling of trans folks in the Queen City, and I'm posting it as a guest op-ed because the voices of the local trans community needed to be signal boosted.

And now, here's Paige Dula's open letter..

***

As a member of the local LGBTQ community I must say I was totally taken aback by the sudden repeal of Charlotte's NDO on the condition of the NCGA lifting HB2. I have been personally contacted by a couple of you privately and I appreciate you reaching out as you have. But I have to ask why didn't you reach out to our community sooner to discuss this course of action? We worked together very hard over several years to make the NDO happen. So many people in the local LGBT community have a LOT of skin in that game. It's not safe or easy to be out as a transgender woman but I and a few others did so the past couple years to put a face to why the protections are important. We sacrificed our personal safety and privacy for the betterment of our whole LGBT community. In one meeting you rendered that as worthless. I understand the state and Charlotte in particular is really taking on the chin financially in the wake of HB2 and the boycotts. But why give in NOW? Why when you said you wouldn't in September?

I've been assured that in the future Charlotte will pass another NDO, once Roy Cooper is in office. The problem is the NCGA still has a Republican super majority that will just be able to do a repeat of HB2. That is, unless Charlotte passes an NDO the NCGA finds palatable. That would entail stripping transgender protections in the public accommodations area. That would be unacceptable as that is the area where transgender people experience the most harassment and discrimination.

The other option would be to hope the redistricting and subsequent re-election of the NCGA next year results in there no longer being a republican super majority and a fully inclusive NDO could go in and stand unchallenged at least as long as we have a Democratic governor. In that case we have at minimum a year before a new ordinance can go in. And let me tell you that at least for the Trans community the incidences of harassment have done nothing but increase thanks to HB2 and the Trump campaign. Bigots feel emboldened now and we need protection now more than ever. Next year transgender people are likely to lose a ton of protections that Obama put in place for us: Affordable Care Act requiring medical treatment for Trans patients... GONE, Title IX protections for Trans students... GONE, DOJ case against HB2... GONE, transgender people serving openly in the military... GONE.

So pardon me if I don't have a lot of trust that you all are doing what is best for me, my community, Charlotte, and NC. What good is a government who doesn't stand beside the least of their constituents? We fought hard to make sure you were elected because we were assured you had our backs. All I see now is your back turned against us.

Dear Texas Trans Kids

Dear Texas Trans Kids,

When I, your parents and all the people who love you went to the polls during the first day of early voting in our state back on October 25 and all the way through the conclusion of the early voting phase of this election on November 4, one of the things on my mind as I waited in line 40 minutes to get to the machine on that warm fall day to vote my straight Democratic ticket was you.

I have not been happy about the Republican leadership of this state in Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, Gov. Greg Abbott, and Attorney General Ken Paxton gleefully working to one up each other in terms of being transphobic legislative bullies.

I have been particularly incensed along with other reality based progressive Texans to see that a few superintendents in some Texas school districts are following their reprehensible transphobic lead.

We'll deal with Abbott, Patrick. Paxton and the transphobic bullies in his party in the next legislative session and the 2018 election cycle.

But for now we are grappling with the immediate threat to you trans kids at the federal level if Donald Trump becomes president.  You Texas trans kids are why we are fighting with every fiber of our beings to make this a better Texas, a better America and a better world for you.

There is no way I, your parents and our allies are going to support political candidates that deny your existence and wish to make your lives harder.  We are quite aware of the stakes in this 2016 presidential election and do not want to see Donald Trump become the Trans Bully in Chief.

Neither do we wish to see Rudy Giuliani become the next Attorney General, four anti-trans Supreme Court justices, more anti trans federal judges like Reed O'Connor or professional anti-trans bigots like Tony Perkins getting policy making jobs in a Trump administration.

That's why we are fighting to ensure that Hillary Clinton becomes our next and 45th president of the United States and we're trying to help make it easier for her to enact her policy agenda that will benefit you by trying mightily to elect a Democratic Senate and House.  

One of the vital tools in us accomplishing that mission is our ballots and voting in each and every election cycle and it's why you have seen record breaking turnout across the state.  

Will it help us turn Texas blue tomorrow?   Odds and pundits say it won't, but what we do know from the 2014 election cycle is that 25% turnout definitely won't turn Texas blue, so we must vote in increasing numbers starting in this cycle and every election cycle from now on until until it does.

We love you, Texas trans kids.   I, your parents, your trans elders and allies want you to grow up in an inclusive Lone Star State in which all you will need to do is just concentrate on your studies, dream big dreams and work hard to accomplish them.

It's why we're supporting Hillary Clinton for president and other pro-trans candidates all the way down the 2016 election ballot from POTUS to dogcatcher. We want you to be able to become the best people you can be, and have your lives, liberty, freedoms and constitutional rights respected and protected.

Also know that your Aunt Monica is proud of you, wherever you are on your transition journey.

I, your trans elders and a host of people will have your backs here in the Lone Star State, the country and around the globe as you grow up to become the amazing people God created you to be,

While many of us elders are worried about how this election will turn out, we also have infinite faith and hope that we will see something wonderful happen for our nation tomorrow.

So know that we got this, Texas trans kids.  We will do our part to ensure that you see some positive American history being made tomorrow, so that you can make some positive history of your own in the future.

Love,
Monica

Jenna's Open Letter To A PISD Transphobe

On my Facebook page, we had a discussion on National Coming Out Day about the importance of cisgender allies coming out in support of their trans siblings.   The parents of trans kids also need your support since the Mama and Papa Bears are also along with their kids being demonized by right wingers.

Well, here's an example of what I'm talking about in terms of cis people supporting trans people.

Jenna Hammond is a recent 2016 graduate of Pearland ISD's Dawson High School in Houston's southern suburbs.  Yes, it's the same Pearland ISD whose current transphobic Superintendent Dr. John Kelly made some horrible remarks back in May about one of the transkids I have mad love for in Kai Shappley, who started kindergarten in PISD back on August 22

PISD made it clear at their last board meeting bfore the 2016-17 school year started they were going to ignore for now the DOE/DOJ Dear Colleague Letter and oppress Kai.

Guess y'all want to waste PISD taxpayer money on a anti-trans discrimination lawsuit you're going to lose.

Jenna wrote an open letter to Dr. Kelly taking him to task for his faux faith based transphobia and reminding him that as the Pearland ISD superintendent, his job is not to demonize and oppress the kids like Kai in his district, but to create the best conditions in PISD so that all kids can learn, grow and thrive as individuals and eventually adults once they graduate.

Here's the text of Jenna's letter.

***

Dear Dr. Kelly:

I attended Pearland ISD schools for most of my life and I have always felt and displayed pride in the resources and opportunities I was able to receive throughout my education. I graduated from Dawson High School this year, and I had hoped to leave Pearland with that pride and fondness intact.

However, your words and actions as superintendent, a representative of the district as a whole, have single-handedly shattered that perception. I am frankly shocked and appalled by your response to Kai Shappley, a fellow student in PISD, simply wishing to use the correct bathroom for her identity. The fact that the district that raised me could display such callous bigotry to a child is…upsetting, to say the very least. It genuinely hurts me to even think about it, this hateful precedent that you have set.

I was proud of the fact that I graduated from a school that gave me truly life-changing lessons and unique opportunities, with no consideration of the fact that I was openly gay. I think many of Dawson’s LGBT+ students would say the same. I believed that this district was solely invested in the success and happiness of me and my fellow students, that there was a conscious effort to put aside political and religious differences in order to focus purely on the betterment and education of our youth. I wish I could still allow myself to believe this. But you, with a single declaration, have irreparably damaged this perception.

You may want to write me off immediately because of my admission that I am a lesbian. I would hope that you at least respect and care about your constituents and students enough to listen to my words, regardless of your personal religious beliefs about my “lifestyle.” Honestly, I am not writing you to climb on my soapbox and try to force you to embrace my beliefs.   I am writing you with the hope that you will listen and understand, empathize with the students whose lives you have a great impact upon.

I recognize and understand that you are an adult and my senior, so I will not try to combat your personal beliefs, which you are clearly devoted to.  If we were to argue about bible verses and the relevance of religion, it would only be a rehashing of a debate that has been had a million times, and it would only leave us both exasperated, with neither side having budged and no solution found. I respect that your beliefs are your own, and you have a right to have them, regardless of whether or not I agree. So again, I ask: please listen to what I have to say.

I would like to begin by stating a simple fact: Kai Shappley is a child. First and foremost, above all else, she is a child. It is your duty as superintendent to do what is best for the children in this district. Your statement on transgenderism in May is callous at best, and the clear hatred lingering behind your words accomplishes the exact opposite of what you are meant to accomplish. In this statement, you compared the presence of transgender people in public restrooms to pedophilia and polygamy. I ask that you take a moment to consider these words once more. You have compared Kai’s very existence to abuse and sexual deviancy committed by malicious adults. This is a child, only 5 years old.

Because you work for the district, I assume that you are invested in the wellbeing of the children attending Pearland’s schools. Aside from her gender, Kai is still a young, impressionable child; just like her peers, she wants to play around, watch cartoons, and learn about the world. Think of her not as a trans person, but as a person. Would you call any other child a deviant on the level of child molesters? You are telling this girl from a young age that she wrong simply for existing, that she does not deserve to feel comfortable in the environments that are meant to nurture her as she grows.  I know it is difficult to put yourself in the shoes of someone you are obviously prone to hating anyway, but I ask that you try, for the sake of a child under your care.

I know that this next statement is likely going to fall on deaf ears, but honestly, I find your usage of your religion in your argument wildly inappropriate.  Your religious beliefs are yours and yours alone, no matter how strong your faith is.  It is clear that you are quite passionate in your stalwart devotion to those beliefs.  Again, I realize that I cannot change this.  I cannot force you to stop your abhorrence of the identities and lifestyles of people such as me and Kai.  However, at the end of the day, these personal religious beliefs are not intended to be used to govern the citizens of the U.S., including Texas, including P.I.S.D. Religious freedom is something I learned in these very same schools, and I believe that applies to this situation.  Even if you maintain the belief that we are a Christian nation, based in biblical law, that is still a highly subjective concept.  Every person’s idea of Christianity is unique; how can you decide that yours is the correct one that every person should be compelled to follow?  You may argue that our basis of government is biblical, but is it not based on the concept of freedom as well?  Free practice of religion is a constitutional right; how is forcing your personal religious beliefs on others not a violation of that right? You stated that the government allowing transgender people into the restroom for the gender they identify with is “unconstitutional interference,” but is it not unconstitutional interference to interfere with the lives of others based on your religion, effectively stripping away their right to follow their own beliefs.

The fact is you are dealing with children here.  Kai Shappley is not a pedophile entering the restroom to prey upon her peers.  Kai Shappley is not holding the other children down and forcing them to abandon their religion.  Kai Shappley is trying to use the restroom comfortably.  That you would choose to overlook that and spout bigotry from your public platform deeply saddens me. No kindergartener should have to be taken to court and told by the people designated to help her grow that she does not deserve the basic human right of feeling safe and comfortable.

Kai is a child you are meant to help, not a criminal for you to condemn.  I sincerely hope you take any part of this letter to heart, because right now you are just a hateful disappointment from where I am standing.

Jenna C. Hammond

***

Thank you Jenna for supporting not only Kai, but Kimberly and our community as well.

Open Letter To My Young Trans Sister Trinity

Dear Trinity,
I had the pleasure of meeting you and your mother during the Philadelphia Trans Health Conference back in June.  She has expressed her concerns to me that you've been a little down lately because when you see these numerous social media lists compiled of transgender leaders, advocates and history makers, there are far too often those times when those lists don't have people on them who reflect your ethnic heritage.

Your mom is concerned that you have expressed the sentiment that if you wish to be an advocate for this community, you need to be a pretty white girl to do so.  That's alarming and a problem for me and every African-American trans person who has been on the front lines of this movement for decades to make the world better for you to grow up in just as it is a concern for your mother..

It's also one of the reasons why I founded TransGriot ten years ago so that young trans kids like yourself and our allies know beyond a shadow of a doubt that people like us were not only saying it loud we were Black and proud, we are also proud unapologetically Black trans people who made major contributions to building this trans movement and making trans history.

We Black trans people have been a major part of this trans rights movement ever since it kicked off with a Black trans woman by the name of Marsha P. Johnson throwing the shot glass that started the Stonewall Riots and Miss Major Griffin-Gracy being there as it happened.  Marsha stood side by side with Sylvia Rivera as early leaders standing up for the rights of trans people as that nascent TBLG rights movement took shape.

Just four years before that in April-May 1965, it was gender variant kids like you who told the owners of Dewey's Lunch Counter in Philly in a sit in and protest that lasted several days they wouldn't accept being treated like second class citizens.

One of the people who helped found GenderPac, that organized several Washington DC lobby days in the 90's was a Philadelphia based Black trans woman named Dionne Stallworth.   You have trailblazing Black trans feminine leaders who are history makers themselves in Dawn Wilson and Marisa Richmond based in Louisville and Nashville, and Lorrainne Sade Baskerville who was handling her human rights business on behalf of our community in Chicago.

And that's even before I talk about some of your trans masculine uncles who paved the way, blazed trails and helped pass trans rights legislation like Marcelle Cook-Daniels, Alexander John Goodrum, and Kylar Broadus.   Trans men are still making major contributions to our leadership ranks today like Carter Brown, Jevon Martin, Diwa Cain, Joshua Holiday, Vann Millhouse,  Mister Cris, BT in the Atlanta area, and Dr Kortney Ziegler just to name a few.

Even our trans cousins on the African continent and in the Caribbean like Audrey Mbugua of Kenya and Ashily Dior, and Tru Wilson in Canada have been fighting in their various nations across the Diaspora to advance the human rights of trans people in their respective nations and worldwide.

A certain blogger you met in Philadelphia also has done her share over the last 18 years to advance the human rights of our community in her home state of Texas and beyond, but that's a story I can tell you the next time we spend quality time together.

We also have some amazing Black trans people blazing trails today in various fields like Janet Mock, Laverne Cox, Tona Brown ,Valerie Spencer. Tracee McDaniel, Andrea Jenkins, Kim Watson, Cheryl Courtney- Evans and emerging trans feminine leaders like Raquel Willis, Tiommi Luckett, Bryanna Jenkins, Elle Hearns, Sharron Cooks, La La Zannell, Monica Jones, CeCe McDonald, and Precious Brady Davis just to name a few.

So my dearest Trinity, if you are wishing to contribute to advancing the human rights of our community, know this from me and all your Black trans elders that you have a proud history and legacy of leadership to build upon, and plenty of trans aunts and uncles who stand ready to help you become the best advocate for our community you can be if that is what you wish to do.

Love,
Monica    

Open Letter To President Obama Concerning WH Trans Movie Night

TransGriot Note:  An open letter to President Obama concerning the upcoming Trans Movie Night on Monday from Annalise Ophelian that needs to be signal boosted

Dear Mr. President,
 
On behalf of Miss Major and everyone on the MAJOR! production team, we’re excited about the upcoming transgender movie night at the White House, as part of your LGBT Artists Champions of Change campaign. But we can’t help but notice that your media selections, The Danish Girl and episodes of Transparent, don’t offer particularly robust representation of transgender people. In particular, we’re concerned that you’ve chosen two works about trans women who are played by cisgender men, and that they focus on a limited white European perspective.
 
To help correct for this imbalance, we’d love to offer the White House an advance screening of our own documentary, MAJOR!, which follows the life and campaigns of Miss Major Griffin-Gracy. Miss Major is a 74-year-old Black transgender elder and activist, a veteran of the Stonewall Uprising and a survivor of Attica State Prison, who has been advocating for trans women of color for over 40 years.
 
We’d also like to suggest you check out the following films, which were made by trans folks or feature trans actors and actresses playing trans characters, and focus on the stories of trans folks of color. It’s not an exhaustive list by any means, but it’s a place to start, and we get that you’ve got a busy schedule.
 
You’ll notice that a lot of these films are documentaries. We think this has something to do with the incredible need for authenticity and truth telling about transgender lives.
 
STILL BLACK: a portrait of black transmen, dir. Kortney Ziegler (2008)
Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria, dir. Susan Stryker & Victor Silverman  (2005)
Remember Me in Red, dir. Hector Ceballos (2010)
Tangerine, dir. Sean S. Baker (2015)
Pay it No Mind: Marsha P. Johnson, dir. Michael Kasino (2012)
The Believers, dir. Todd Holland (2006)
Gun Hill Road, dir. Rashaad Ernesto Green (2011)
Transgender Tuesdays: A Clinic in the Tenderloin, dir. Nathaniel Walters-Koh & Mark Freeman (2012)
 
And in 2016, we hope you have the opportunity to check out Happy Birthday, Marsha! and Free CeCe!, two amazing upcoming films that center Black trans women in their own narratives of survival and resilience.
 
With warm regards,
 
Annalise Ophelian, Psy.D.
Producer/Director: MAJOR!

Open Letter To My Cis Feminine HS Classmate Colleen

Dear Colleen,
I'm writing this open letter to you since you blocked me for rebutting this transphobic comment you unleashed on your personal Facebook page on Sunday night.

if you were not born a woman, you don't belong in a women's bathroom. i could care less what you identify as

So yeah, not gonna lie, that comment hurt.  It was also hurtful to see many of the cis women that I like, am proud of and admire on one level or another in The Class With Class cosign your transphobia.   But what pissed my unapologetically Black trans behind off was when you exercised your right since it was your page to delete my responses to it.

Fortunately as an internationally recognized award winning trans human rights advocate and writer, I have a big award winning platform I can use to turn this transphobic Facebook lemon of a comment into teachable moment lemonade you denied me the opportunity to do on your page Sunday morning.

I'm also reading your comment several days after becoming the first African-American trans person and the second Texan to be honored by my community with the Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award and several hours before I took three bumpy flights back home to Texas.   I was anxious to get back in the fight to keep the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance I fought hard last year along with other Houstonians to pass and cast my YES vote in favor of Prop 1.

I also read your microaggressive comment after spending an amazing and empowering week here in Provincetown. MA enveloped in love and gratitude by Fantasia Fair attendees, townspeople and others for being my awesome self along with the repeated thanks for being a human rights warrior

Colleen, as you stated in your subsequent e-mail to me this morning, you have every right to express yourself on your Facebook page. You most certainly do.  I also have the reciprocal right and the duty to call your behind out on it and not let the foul stench of transphobic bigotry in my Houston Black community ranks go unchallenged because that has been happening far too much lately.

Black trans people exist in Houston and everywhere else on this planet, we aren't going back in the closet to make you feel better about yourselves and neither are we going to quietly whimper and cry in the corner as our humanity is attacked.

Just in case you and the preachers in the Baptist Ministers Association of Houston and Vicinity didn't notice or keep trying to ignore, I'm Black.  I did not lose my Black Like Me card when I transitioned, nor will I allow you or anyone else to police my femininity simply because you were fortunate enough to have your body and brain line up when you were born two months before me in 1962.

First off, I and my trans sisters have to poop and pee just like any other human beings on the planet. and have been doing so in bathrooms marked female for over 50 years    I and my trans sisters are not 'men' as you disrespectfully put it and increasing medical research will confirm for you that the organ that determines your gender identity and how you express it is between the ears, not your legs,

Medical science and increasing research is also pointing out that gender is not the rigid binary system it was assumed and taught when we were in school, but is a non-binary spectrum.

And if you don't like the fact I will be going to the bathroom marked 'female' at any future JJ class event I have the time to attend and pay my hard earned money to do so, too bad.   BTW, there are trans men who happen to possess the same genitalia you do, but damned sure aren't women.

The bathroom predator meme you and Ben Hall have recited has been widely debunked in Texas and elsewhere , and if any person goes into a bathroom for the purposes of committing a criminal act, they will be prosecuted for it.  The keeping of HERO will not change that as HPD Chief McClellan pointed out.
 
This bathroom predator meme is also derived from the same talking points used by the GOP oppressors you're siding with they aimed at our parents and grandparents to justify Jim Crow segregation.

The sad part Colleen, is that you are a prime example in just how successful the anti-HERO peeps were in getting transphobic attitudes implanted in elements of the cis Black community it will take us years to root out.

And just to make one more point, I don't live as you commented in our private conversation a 'trans life.'   I live a life period that is a much better quality one than when I was miserably walking the halls of JJ and sitting in my Vanguard classes in a body that didn't match the person inside.

It is a life in which I have been to the White House five times. It is a life in which I get to talk to college students here and across the country. It is a life in which I can pick up the phone and call Janet Mock, Laverne Cox, Dr Kortney Ryan Ziegler, Geena Rocero and countless others just to say hello.  It is a life in which Jazz Jennings and her amazing family and the founders of the Black Lives Matter movement are a small sample of the people I have been fortunate to meet in the 21 years and counting I have been me.

It is a life in which my cis and trans friends live around the world, I get to attend conferences, do panel discussions and talk to the attendees as I was doing last week during Fantasia Fair in Massachusetts.

It is a life in which I not only get blessed to make history, it is also one in which I practice the principles of my Christian faith rooted in Kingian love and Black liberation theology to fight and call out oppression wherever and whenever it pops up.

And I'm just not fighting for trans specific human rights issues.  I was speaking out at those hearings at Jones and HISD headquarters when they tried to close JJ.  I spoke at a Trayvon Martin rally on the Houston city hall steps in the wake of his 2013 murder.

And I was there in all three City Council hearings of pro and anti- HERO testimony enduring 10 plus hour days to get a human rights law that protects all Houstonians passed.   It is a law that provides ALL Houstonians in 15 categories a local remedy against discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations we all need that you wish to vote against because of a HERO opposition lie.

As for being blocked from your Facebook page, no big deal to me when I have other people who love, care about and respect the person I am now add me to theirs.

But what I do hope and pray happens for you is evolution and reevaluation of your current anti-trans position.

You don't have to like me.  You don't even have to speak to me ever again in life. Your loss.  You and other misguided folks can exercise your right to vote against the HERO and think you're sticking it to Mayor Parker, the Houston LGBT community, and me.

But before you do that, some food for thought.  54% of the complaints filed with the Houston OIG tasked with investigating HERO complaints before it was unjustly suspended by SCOTX were for RACIAL discrimination, followed by 17% for GENDER discrimination.

And the very people spreading the anti-trans lie at the behest of their Republican masters like Kendall Baker are guilty of sexual harassment or worse.  But those are the ignorant cis masculine folks you are listening to when you have a classmate who actually lives at this very moment as a trans feminine woman, has unapologetically done so for 21 years and who does seminars and panel discussions on these issues.

As the testimony of Judge Alexandra Smoots-Hogan and Dan Scarbrough points out, discrimination is still happening in H-town, and you would be voting to kill the HERO and against your own human rights based on a monstrous lie.

God bless you Colleen, and may you have ever increasing blessings in your life.

Your Classmate,
Monica
 

Open Letter To Tona Brown

Dear Tona,
In a few hours you will make one of your lifelong dreams come true and perform at Carnegie Hall, and I couldn't be more proud of you.   I know you went through some drama and challenging moments just to make it happen, but happen it will. 

When you step onto the stage of the Weill Recital Hall later tonight at 7:30 PM EDT, to borrow and remix the words of astronaut Neill Armstrong, it'll be one small but significant step for you, but one giant leap for transkind.

You'll also be once again, just as you did when you sang for President Obama, be making history.   It's history I wanted to be in New York to watch unfold, but unfortunately things didn't work out for me this time. 

But back to focusing this letter on you.  You have worked long and hard to make this day a reality, and I  hope and pray it turns out better than the way you dreamed it would play out.  I have no doubts your 'From Stonewall to Carnegie Hall' show featuring the works of African-American composers will be an amazing evening worthy of that hallowed stage.

You are not only a wonderful role model and advocate for our community, you are one talented musician.  The world will discover that in a few hours.  You are also a living embodiment of the power of dreams and how they can be a motivating factor for positive change personally and professionally. 

You are sending a message through your historic concert to our own African-American community that if given the opportunity and the chance to do so, we trans African-Americans can accomplish some amazing things.  You are also through this concert sending a message to the trans community for us to never give up on our own personal dreams, whatever they are. 

Now that you have made this Carnegie Hall performance dream of yours come true, you take that final bow and the bravas are reverberating around that venue as you exit the stage, can't wait to see what you accomplish next.   

I'm certain it will be even more amazing than this night will be.


Sincerely yours,
Monica  

Jane's Letter Concerning The Attacks On Aaron

TransGriot Note:  Jane Vaughan is a former Winston-Salem State University student and past president of the WSSU Gay-Straight Student Alliance (now called Prism) .  She along with Chevara Orrin alerted me to the situation that is transpiring on the WSSU campus involving the homophobic hate being stirred up in social media and aimed at WSSU student Aaron McCorkle

This is her letter addressing it dated March 30th.

Good Afternoon:

Winston-Salem State University's LGBT community needs your help! In a vicious social media attack, WSSU junior, Aaron McCorkle is being bullied and harassed via Twitter because another student released a two-year old image of Aaron "dressed in drag." The trending Twitter topic, "Gay & Crossdressing Mr. WSSU Candidate Causing Major Controversy" has elicited numerous biased and bigoted comments from many in the campus community. While the university has been made aware of the release of the image, they are not proactively educating the campus body by providing sensitivity training or creating safer spaces for LGBT students who may be negatively impacted by this unfortunate incident.

Aaron is an openly gay student who is an active and respected member of the university student body. He was elected Mr. Freshman (2011-2012), Student Government Association Freshman Class Council (2011-2012), Mr. Sophomore (2012-2013), and Mr. Mass Communications (2013), and has served in numerous leadership roles within various student organizations including NAACP Student Representative, Campus Activities Board, and Prism (LGBT org). He is also a Thurgood Marshall College Fund Scholar. In addition, Aaron serves the broader community by volunteering with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and Second Harvest Food Bank.

The disparaging and violent tweets question the appropriateness of his candidacy for Mr. WSSU and some even call for physical harm against him. Most disturbing are the tweets from Brian "BDAHT" McLaughlin. According to his LinkedIn profile, he is the newest cast member to Season 6 of Nick Cannon's Wildn Out on MTV2, Comedian on 102 JAMZ Wild Out Wake Up Show (since August 2005) and the PA Announcer for WSSU Athletics (since August 2005). As a radio and television personality, BDAHT has a wide following. As a campus ambassador, it is most inappropriate for him to attack a student in this manner. He tweeted, "If y'all let a drag Queen be Mr. #WSSU, I quit. Straight up."; "#WSSU: y'all really letting a dude, that goes out in drag #nshit, run for Mr. Ram? Have y'all lost y'all mutha fuckin minds, man?!"; "Yes we ARE talking about this putrid shit. Y'all have completely lost it. The nigga dresses in drag, & HE will represent our school?"; and "...Get the fuck outta here. Ya turning the position into a fucking joke. Clowns."

Although, BDHAT states in his twitter bio that his views are not the views of 102 Jamz or MTV2,  I believe that it is reflective of his roles and responsibilities within these organizations. From my perspective, BDHAT's representation of MTV2, 102 Jamz, and Winston-Salem State University is far more questionable than an authentically openly gay young man who may occasionally express gender variance.

I have spoken with many current students (gay and straight allies) who belong to the LGBT student organization, Prism that say they are afraid to speak out or feel that this issue does not directly impact them. According to Campus Pride, the leading national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization for student leaders and campus groups working to create a safer college environment for LGBT students, "Like other forms of oppression, homophobia not only oppresses members of the target or minority groups (gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people), but also, on many levels, hurts members of the agent or dominant group (heterosexuals). As a result, everyone eventually loses, and more specifically, the negative effect of homophobia remains alive.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for appalling silence of the good people." I refuse to stand in silence. I stand in active solidarity with Aaron McCorkle and others at WSSU who are marginalized and victimized for being their authentic selves. 

As a former WSSU student and president of the WSSU Gay-Straight Student Alliance (now Prism), I am angered and saddened that people have stooped to such levels and caused dissension within the WSSU family while perpetuating stereotypes against the LGBT community in order to win an election. In 2013, at the University of Houston-Downtown, third-year social work major, student Kristopher Sharp was the victim of a vicious smear campaign that revealed his HIV-positive status in order to keep him from winning the student vice-presidency. Flyers and graffiti were plastered across the campus. Sharp ultimately won the election.

This is yet one example of on-going attacks against students at college campuses and schools across our nation. From the 2010 suicide of Tyler Clementi at Rutgers University because his roommate released a video of an intimate encounter with another man to this past week's report of eight year-old Sunnie Kahl in Lynchburg, VA being told by school administrators that "she’s not feminine enough," those of us that belong to the LGBT community are being targeted and singled out.

I know firsthand the pain of being alienated as an LGBT college student. While attending WSSU, I was “outed.”  My family rejected me after they discovered that I identified as a lesbian. Had it not been for the WSSU Gay-Straight Student Alliance, I would have had nowhere to turn. No support. No hope. Through the organization I was given a light of hope with the support structure, community leaders, career/job opportunities, and other endless possibilities!  The executive board of GSSA, including myself had the grand opportunity of being a part of the first LGBT panel at the Congressional Black Caucus, attended the OUT for Work conference and the Human Right Campaign’s HBCU LGBT Career and Leadership Summit. We also regularly participated in policy, advocacy and education discourse through our monthly organizational meetings. When I experienced discrimination from an instructor at WSSU, I was able to advocate for myself because of the leadership of our advisors and support they garnered from the broader community. I knew then that I would always be an active participant in addressing injustice against the LGBT community.

Those experiences, and others too numerous to name were life changing. We are all responsible should this matter escalate any further into an act of violence against Aaron or any other gender non-conforming WSSU student. This is our time to speak up and stand strong! I will not choose to stay in the closet with the door open enough for me to see the world and for the world to see me. I will not succumb to society’s discomfort by remaining silent. 

When will it end? Homophobia, transphobia and misogyny must be addressed at WSSU. We need to have honest discussions about black masculinity, hyper-masculinity, hyper-femininity and the impact on the LGBT community. We need honest, ongoing dialogue and training to combat discrimination against our students…our future leaders. We need honest dialogue to understand why the image of a man who does not conform to traditional clothing norms causes such immediate vitriol. We have created space in the black community for Tyler Perry as Madea, Martin Lawrence as Big Momma, Damon Wayans and David Alan Grier as Men on Film, Flip Wilson as Geraldine, and Wesley Snipes as Noxzema. Perhaps we are more comfortable with caricatures that continue to perpetuate gender biased and sexist stereotypes. We have created space for Prince, Lenny Kravitz and Janelle Monae. Why can't we create space for Aaron McCorkle and other students who may be gender variant?

Winston-Salem State University’s mission states, "Preparing diverse students for success in the 21st century...” Diversity on the campus is not limited to race, nationality, and religion but also includes sexual orientation. In 2008, former WSSU administrator Chevara Orrin and WSSU Student Services Specialist, Thomas Clark co-founded the first-ever WSSU GSSA. Seven months later the Board of Trustees unanimously voted to expand protections to include "sexual orientation" for the first time in the university's history. While we celebrated this triumph, it was clear that the journey for equality was far from over as the original language had been amended to exclude "gender identity" and "gender expression."

The recent chain of events highlights clearly the importance of broader protections that include gender non-conforming and transgender students. The university's mission also states, "As a comprehensive, historically Black constituent institution of the University of North Carolina, Winston-Salem State University contributes to the social, cultural, intellectual and economic growth of the region, North Carolina and beyond. " Now is time for WSSU to take action with those words. The University must address the issue of the bullying and harassment of Aaron McCorkle if it seeks to be a leader in our nation.

Join me in speaking for those who have no voice. Let us use this incident as an opportunity to educate, build bridges between the heterosexual and LGBT people and create a platform to expand the current discrimination policy and strengthen our campus community.

Homophobia has a cure: EDUCATION! 

**Attached, please find images of the twitter discussions.

Sincerely,

Jane Vaughan

Past President
Winston-Salem State University Gay Straight Student Alliance