Bloomberg Protest At The 2020 JRR

Just arrived from the JRR dinner, and y'all might have heard about a silent protest I did in which I stood up,  turned my back to Bloomberg  when he started speaking,  and remained standing for the duration of his horrible JRR speech.

Naw player, couldn't let you waltz into my hometown without doing something to express my displeasure at his candidacy.  And yeah, these are just some of the reasons why I'm not feeling Bloomberg.

There were a few other attendees in that Marriot Marquis room that also weren't feeling Bloomberg either, and expressed themselves during his horrid speech in which there was no mention of stop and frisk or his transphobia.   Amelie Haydel and Aicilef Gnuoy started chanting during the speech and were detained by police.

Bloomberg eventually stops droning and i get to sit down.   My beind wasn't in the chair for a minute when some random Becky walks up to be and starts ranting about she's supporting bllomberg because  get this, her daughter was sexually assaulted by a Black man.

WTF?   She also had the nerve to try to claim she was Latina. 

I got up out of my seat, and she now had to face an extremely pissed off  6' 5" moi with heels on towering over her petite self.   I then began to channel my inner Elektra Wintour and read the tramp for filth before she was mericfully escorted away from me by one of my tablemates. 

Amazing how a silent protest triggers peeps with privilege so much. 

Just to give you an example of the level of read homegirl got, here's Elektra shutting down a disrespectful Becky like I had to unexpoectedly do tonight.



For those of you who have been asking me on social media if I'm okay.  yeah, I'm good.
The Becky I read for filth, not so much.

Nats Fans Give Trump A Not So Warm World Series Welcome

While I was already having a very enjoyable evening watching my beloved Astros take a 3-2 lead in the 2019 World Series after beating the Nationals 7-1, the game was even more enjoyable because of Dolt 45 getting dissed by Washington Nationals fans

Trump and his GOP posse decided to show up for Game 5 of the World Series.  As his smirking orange mug was shown on the Nationals Park jumbotron screen, loud lusty sustained boos arose from the sellout crowd along with chants of 'Lock Him Up!'

Think this is fake news?    Here's the video receipts.



In addition to the beautiful sight of Nats fans exercising their First Amendment rights to demonstrate their disgust for him, Veterans for Impeachment displayed a blue sign in view of the behind the plate camera. 

A red  Impeach Trump banner was also unfurled during the game from the right field upper deck.

Nope Dolt 45, this was not your carefully curated MAGA rally crowds or the supine GOP pols kissing your orange behind.  There are the overwhelming majority of Americans who despise you with every fiber of their being.

These are the real Americans who let you know last night they aren't happy about you occupying the Oval Office, and you can't dismiss it as inside I-495 peeps.

They reflect the feeling of a sizable majority of Americans who will eagerly demonstrate at the ballot box in 13 months jst how much we want you to be a one term POTUS.

'Trans People Deserve To Live' Banner Displayed During World Series Game

I wasn't watching Game 5 of the 2018 World Series in Los Angeles because I'm still salty about what happened to my Astros.   But when chatter started popping up online about something happening at the game, I took a few moments from the writing assignment I was working on to check it out.

My online social media search was rewarded with the glorious sight of a trans flag themed banner being unfurled in Dodger Stadium with the words 'Trans People Deserve To Live' on it.

The question that crossed my mind when I saw it was,"I wonder if the trans Latinas were behind this?" It didn't take long to have my hunch confirmed that it was indeed the Trans Latina Coalition handling their Dodger Stadium protest business.

Bamby Salcedo and Maria Roman were at the Red Sox- Dodgers game and during the fifth inning, dropped the banner from the left field upper deck seats of the stadium.

Even if I had been watching the game, would have found out about it until later because the banner according to multiple reports, wasn't shown during the FOX broadcast of the game.

It did hang for a few minutes before security personnel intervened, removed the banner and escorted Salcedo and Roman out of the ballpark without incident and without being arrested .

“I felt my heart was dropping along with it,” said Salcedo,  the president of the Trans Latina Coalition in an interview with INTO. “I was kind of exploding because of the adrenaline. You don’t know what’s going to happen with the police and security and all of that.”

Even though the banner drop didn't make it on the FOX broadcast of what turned out to be the final game of the World Series, it is blowing up on social media.

Salcedo is calling for trans people in other communities to take up space in mainstream community events and replicate the action just conducted in Los Angeles as a show of resistance to the anti-trans actions being aimed at us.

“I hope that this action will motivate members of the trans community, our allies and our comrades to really activate and to really understand that we have power,” Salcedo said. “We can demonstrate our power anywhere and everywhere.”

Yes, we can.    What it also demonstrates is that we will not be erased, either. 

Denny's LA Trans Fail

One of the questions still resonating from Jazmina Saavedra's gleeful harassing of a trans woman using the restroom in a Los Angeles Denny's is what was Denny's reaction to it?

Here's their statement about the incident:

We are extremely disturbed by the incident that took place at our Los Angeles restaurant this week. At Denny’s, we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind, inclusive of gender identity and sexual orientation.

We are dedicated to providing a welcoming dining environment for all our guests and believe that our transgender guests and team members should be allowed to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with. Our restaurant teams attend training which covers our policies against discrimination and promotes respect for all guests. 

In this case, the video of this incident does not tell the full story. Our manager was approached by a guest complaining that a man was in the women’s restroom. Once a female team member checked that no one else was in there, the manager entered. 

Before seeing the guest, the manager observed drug paraphernalia on the floor near the guest and asked the guest to leave based on that observation, and not on her gender identity.

 There is no place for discrimination of any kind in our restaurants. We apologize to our transgender guest and others in the restaurant that had to endure another customer’s disrespectful behavior.

-Denny's

Yeah right,  Denny's.   I am skeptical about the all too convenient allegation that the trans woman was being thrown out for 'using drugs' in the restroom. 

What about your failure in throwing the person out (Saavedra) who instigated the incident, possibly committed several crimes and violated the human rights of this trans person peacefully using the restroom while doing so? 

Why wasn't Saavedra thrown out as well?

And naw Jazmina, you have a long ugly history as the spokessellout for Latinos For Trump of parroting anti-LGBT slurs, so spare us the 'I'm not a transphobe' rhetoric, because you ARE what we say you are and happily demonstrated it for the world to see.  In addition, your reputation as an unrepentant homophobe and transphobe precedes you. 

So don't get mad conservasnowflake because we are expressing as a trans community our First Amendment rights to call out your reprehensible behavior.

We're tired of peeps like you dehumanizing us.   Our humanity and human rights are not up for debate or discussion.  Neither are we tolerating anti trans bigotry being aimed at us.  We have no problem calling it and you out for being a transphobic jerk.

Hoping that Saavedra will be punished at the ballot box June 5 for her behavior.  The LA trans and gender non conforming community will have their say tomorrow at a peaceful protest being organized and sponsored by the Transgender Rights Movement from 11 AM -5 PM PDT at the Denny's located at 635 S Vermont Ave. 

It appears to me that some trans sensitivity training is needed and necessary so that Denny's actions match the lofty words in this statement.

Black Community Anger Explodes At HISD Board Meeting

Not surprised about hearing that the almost two decade long pissivity that Houston's Black community has with the HISD school board finally boiled over last night.

Since 2000, many of the school campuses that HISD has been closing or selling off to charter school outfits have been in Black and Latinx neighborhoods. 

There has also been over the last two decades in HISD  the stripping of or killing of successful magnet programs housed in  Black and Latinx schools, like my high school alma mater Jesse H. Jones which used to host until 2002 the district's Vanguard gifted and talented magnet high school.

Black and Latinx HISD have also chafted as they see HISD schools in predominantly white neighborhoods not only stay open, but get funded, new magnet programs and new school buildings built as Houston Black and brown neighborhoods increasingly get charter schools or see longtime neighborhood schools close..

That pissivity with an HISD school board that ironically is primarily nonwhite and female led boiled over as a proposal to let a charter school outfit, Energized for STEM came up for a vote.

Energized for STEM has some controversial leadership in NAACP Houston President James Douglas and former HISD board member Paula Harris, in whose former HISD trustee district many Black schools were closed

That plus a Black community fed up with our school being the ones repeatedly put on the chopping block led to HISD school board president Rhonda Skillern Jones ordering HISD and HPD officers to clear the packed auditorium at the Hattie Mae White Education Center.   One woman was dragged out of the room while Houston Rising';s Kandice Webber was arrested for as observers claimed merely clapping her approval at what another person said.

Haven't heard as of this writing if she has been released, and after the board went into a closed door session, the decided not to vote on the controversial proposal to hand over 10 low performing predominately Black schools to the charter outfit.

Stay tumed because this saga isn't quite over yet.

Take A Knee Protest At NRG Stadium

If Bob McNair thought that the passage of time and ignoring it would eliminate the anger myself and many people had at him about his racist 'inmates running the prison' comment,, no it hasn't.

During the Texans game at NRG Stadium yesterday with the Arizona Cardinals, several groups led by the ACLU and the Texas Organizing Project 'took a knee' in solidarity with Houston Texans and other NFL players who continue to take a knee during the national anthem to protest injustice aimed at Black Americans.

The Texans were intially refraining from joining the protest out of respect for McNair, but once news of his infamous NFL meeting comments got out. took a knee before their October 29 game with the Seattle Seahawks..

Three buses full of protesters showed up yesterday actross the street from NRG Stadium to call on McNair to either step down as the Texans owner or make meaningful progress on his stated position of making progress on social,justice issues 

Some also called out his participation in the blackballing of free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick in light of the fact Texans starter Deshaun Watson has been lost for the season with a knee injury.

There was also a call during yesterday's rally for McNair and other NFL owners to respect the ability of players to exercise their First Amendment rights.   They also pushed back against the right wing lie that the NFL player protests were 'disrespecting the flag'  or 'disrespecting veterans'

The press conference was followed by a short march that ended with the protesters taking a knee in the right lane of Kirby Drive.

Hertha Berlin Takes A Knee In Germany

The NFL players taking a knee just got additional support from their fellow athletes across The Pond who play the other football.

The German soccer club Hertha Berlin took a knee yesterday before their Bundesliga match with Schalke which unfortunately for them was a 2-0 loss   The Hertha Berlin starters linked arms and took a knee on the pitch while their coach Pal Dardai, General Manager Michael Preetz and the rest of the Hertha team kneeled on the sidelines before kickoff in solidarity with NFL players.

"We wanted to take a stand against racism," said Hertha captain Per Skjelbred in an interview after their 2-0 loss

The symbolism of this 'take a knee' protest was magnified because Hertha Berlin plays its home games in the renovated Olympiastadion, which was built for the 1936 Olympic Games by Nazi Germany.

Germany in recent years post reunification has also had their problems with racism rearing its ugly head there as the country becomes more diverse.

The Olympiastadion stadium announcer said to the more that 50,000 fans in attendance, "Hertha Berlin stands for diversity and against violence.  For this reason we are joining the protest by American athletes and setting a sign against discrimination."

Hertha Berlin also said in a statement on the team's Twitter account "Hertha BSC stands for tolerance and responsibility!  For a tolerant Berlin and an open minded world now and forever."

Hertha Berlin's players were unanimous in their support for yesterday's action and admitted they were inspired to do so by the NFL protests. 'We stand against racists and that's our way of sharing that  We are always going to fight against this kind of behavior as a team and as a city," said Hertha Berlin forward Salomon Kalou.

This is just another undeniable sign that the NFL players are on the right side of history.  The rest of the world is watching the unjust things you do, and are commenting on it.

And in some cases, thy are doing so by taking a knee.

JT Brown Brings Racial Inequality Anthem Protests To NHL

There are only 30 Black players in the NHL despite many of the ways that the game is creatively played originated in the Black hockey leagues of Nova Scotia as the book Black Ice documents.

The NHL is overwhelmingly white (93%), and probably thought they were insulated from the controversy surrounding the anthem protests about police brutality and racial inequality aimed at Black citizens being conducted by NFL and NBA players and now spreading to the collegiate ranks.

Tampa Bay Lightning forward JT Brown changed all that with one clenched fist salute during a Saturday road came with the Florida Panthers.

And predictably their overwhelmingly white NHL fan base lost their collective minds.   He has reportedly had death threats aimed at him .

For those of you with melanin free skin who consistently bellow politics has no place in sports, let me remind you that politics and sports have always been intertwined, with the Olympics being the most salient example of that.

And your anti-Black white sheets are showing.

Black athletes have never been able to just 'shut up and play' because the 'woke' nature of our athletes compels up to use their sporting platforms to speak truth to power about the issues of the day 

Bravo to JT Brown for doing so in the NHL, and basically doing it alone. Thanks also for getting the social justice conversation started in the league.

Dale Hansen- Anthem Protests Not About Disrespecting The Flag

"Maybe we all need to read our Constitution again. There has never been a better use of pen to paper. Our forefathers made freedom of speech the First Amendment. They listed 10, and not one of them says you have to stand during the anthem."
-Dale Hansen 

Whenever I spend time in Dallas, I'm watching WFAA-TV news and their legendary sportscaster and journalist Dale Hansen hoping to catch one of his Hansen Unplugged commentaries about topics from sports to politics.

It's time to post another video of his most recent one, in which he calls out folks who have a problem with Black NFL players protesting police brutality and the shoddy treatment of Black Americans during the national anthem. 

Moni's Excellent Memorial Day Weekend

So what did y'all do on Memorial Day weekend?

This year I didn't sit around the house waiting for a late invite to a barbecue or be bored out of my mind watching the Indy 500.  I accepted the invitation of Alice Serna-McDougald, Chris Valdez and United We Dream to join them and Latinx people from five states (AZ, NM, FL, NY and MD) plus Washington DC in Austin to protest SB 4.

After an enjoyable Sunday drive to the ATX with Alice to be there for the fun that was starting at 9:00 AM on Memorial Day,  I was sitting with Alice as we witnessed the silent filling of the House gallery by over 200 people clad in red Fight Back NO SB 4 T-shirts ruining the GOP House majority's self congratulatory back slapping as the clocked ticked toward the sine die moment of the 85th Texas Legislative session

At approximately 10:30 AM chants of 'SB 4 is hate! 'Hey hey ho ho, SB 4 has got to go' , 'Here to stay!' and 'This is what democracy looks like' erupted in the House gallery along with banners being unfurled stating 'See you in court' and 'SB 4 is hate' as simultaneous chanting from the assembled masses on all four floors of the Capital rotunda occurred at the same time.

It was fun watching the shocked, embarrassed and bewildered looks on the faces of the GOP legislators on the House floor who probably thought they were going to escape Austin and head back home without being held accountable for passing that racist law.

Um no, GOP boo boo kitties.  Y'all were not escaping facing the consequences for your racist act on behalf of your party.   I hope they have the same bewildered looks on their faces after the November 6, 2018 election.

Many of the legislators since it was sine die day, had their families with them and probably had to lie to their kids about why they passed the unjust and racist SB 4.

Pro tip to the Texas GOP:  If you don't want to face protests in the Texas capitol, them stop passing unjust and racist laws that will piss people off .

The Texas House leadership reacted by ordering the House gallery cleared as the chanting continued while being herded out of the chamber by DPS state troopers.

Once the gallery was cleared, Texas state Rep. Matt Rinaldi (R-Irving) let his inner bigot out by threatening to shoot a fellow Latinx legislator and telling a group of Latino legislators watching the demonstration from the House floor that he'd called ICE on the protestors.  

Um GOP dude. your pointed hood is showing.  Many of the protestors in that House gallery are American citizens.   You also proved a point I repeatedly make that the most dangerous bigots are the ones who have legislative power.

It's also a bad political move in a city that is 40% Latinx, and you barely won election to your Texas house seat in 2016 anyway.

I also received the honor of getting to make a little speech before the thousands of huddled masses yearning to breathe free from Texas GOP tyranny at the rally on the south steps of the Texas Capitol. .
I loved what Julieta Garibay, one of the co-founders of United We Dream had to say about the Memorial Day SB 4 protests:

“Today was a historic moment in Texas  as brown and Black freedom warriors took over the Capitol to make sure that as Republicans looked up into the gallery that they would forever remember every signal space filled with the beautiful and determined faces of Texans who refuse to be driven out and refuse to be intimidated. This is our state, this is our home and we are here to stay! Today is a turning point in Texas politics — from El Paso to McAllen to Dallas to Houston to Austin we are organizing to create spaces where all people of all backgrounds can survive and thrive. We will resist the Republican attack and we will win!”

Yes ma'am we will, if we work together across the Lone Star State to do so and bumrush the polls on November 6, 2018  to flush the TX GOP out of power.

Bethune-Cookman Students Are Part Of A Distinguished Heritage Of HBCU Protest

For those of you tripping because Secretary of (Miseducation  Betsy DeVos' megabucks couldn't save her from getting dragged by the Bethune-Cookman Class of 2017 not feeling having their graduation ruined by her WTF level appearance at the school, y'all need to back up off the younglings.

Moni is proud of you, Bethune-Cookman Class of 2017, for being just the latest examples of a long distinguished history of HBCU student activists fighting injustice that in many ways changed not only their campuses, but America for the better.

The Greensboro Sit-In in 1960 was powered by students from HBCU's North Carolina A&T and the all women's Bennett College.   The Nashville Sit-in's by Fisk University students

The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)  in addition to being founded on the Shaw University campus in April 1960 as a result of a meeting of 125 students from 10 states organized by Ella Baker, was led by future DC mayor Marion Barry (1960-61) and future congressman John Lewis (1963-66) .

SNCC would go on, powered by HBCU trained student leaders, to initiate the most important and impactful campaigns of the African-American Civil Rights Movement.  In fact, when the March on Washington was held in August 1963, John Lewis spoke at the event because he was SNCC's chair at the time and the youngest speaker there.

The Freedom Rides, a concept pioneered by Bayard Rustin, was resurrected in May 1961 by CORE, and suspended after a Freedom Rider bus was firebombed in Birmingham, AL, thanks to the leadership of Diane Nash,  took over the project.

Nash had attended the conference that led to the founding of SNCC and at 22 was a veteran of the Nashville Student Movement and the leader of the Nashville Sit in Campaigns  .

Even in my hometown and home state of Texas HBCU student leadership at HBCU's Texas Southern University in Houston and Prairie View A&M University norwest of H-town have stood tall for our people and pushed change.

A series of sit-in's organized by TSU students led to Houston city fathers, fearful of the violence that happened elsewhere in the South and losing their bids for NASA Mission Control at JSC and the Major League Baseball expansion team that became the Houston Astros in 1962, cutting a series of deals with TSU administration, Black Houston business and religious leaders that not only resulted in the desegregation of Houston lunch counters, restaurants and hotels,  but led to African-American Houstonians being guaranteed 10% of the construction jobs, and post construction employment opportunities at the Astrodome,

When the Eighth Wonder of the World opened in April 1965, it did so as an integrated stadium thanks to those TSU student protesters.

Meanwhile, up US 290, Prairie View, A&M University students have been engaged since 1972 in a pitched with Waller County concerning their voting rights.  It is a predominately Black county even before we add the over 9000 students enrolled at PVAMU

It is predominately white (and GOP) Waller County officials who have long sought to suppress the ability of PVAMU students to exercise their right to vote by using whatever voter suppression tactic necessary including denial of an on campus polling place.

Waller County eventually lost voting rights lawsuits filed to ensure the voting rights of PVAMU students, and the students at Pantherland now enjoy an on campus polling place.  But they are still fighting Waller County and its repressive officials tooth and nail to ensure there is no slippage of the hard won rights they do enjoy.

The death of Sandra Bland near the PVAMU campus only heightens the urgency of that fight.with Waller County.

With the election of 45, it is the energy and passion of our youth, just like they did in the 60's and in subsequent decades fighting for human rights for themselves and our community, that will not only lead to those human rights gains for themselves but for our community as a whole.

And many of them will be continuing the proud tradition of HBCU's protesting injustice as they do so.

Protest Of Texas Transphobes Today

The Lone Star Transphobes are gathering for a Texas Pastors Policy Briefing starting around 10 AM at Hyde Park Baptist Church, and our reprehensible lieutenant governor. attorney general and Sen. Lois Kolkhorst are just some of the Texas GOP peeps scheduled to be in the hate house.

A protest and peaceful vigil is being coordinated starting at 8:45 AM.

So if you're in the ATX area, have some free time and want to just let your feelings be known about SB 6 and other unjust legislation that the Texas Republicans are trying to force upon our great state, have fun participating in this peaceful protest.on the sidewalk at Hyde Park Baptist Church.

It's located at 3901 Speedway in Austin, and if you can make it,, the organizers of this protest would love to have you there expressing to our state's leaders there will be no hate in the Lone Star State


 

Messages From Gender Infinity And Montrose Center Concerning The Phelps Phamily Protests

The Phelps Phamily is allegedly coming to Houston to spread their special brand of hate on Friday.   There's a 50% chance they won't show up since they frequently flake out like that, but if they do, they plan on targeting the Montrose Center and the Gender Infinity Conference with pickets.

The targets of their alleged pickets in the Montrose Center and the Gender Infinity Conference have a message for you Houstonians and peeps in the metro area outraged that these faux faith based fools are desecrating our city limits.

First, the message from Gender Infinity:

Gender Infinity is aware of a possible protest planned during our conference at the University of Houston on Friday, September 16th. Please respect our main focus to provide all conference attendees a wonderful experience. We have been working with community partners to make arrangements to ensure this goal.

UH has a free speech zone where only a small number of people are allowed to gather at a time. If counter-protesters exceed that number, you will all be asked to leave and the protesters will remain. This is not what we want.

With that in mind, we ask the following:

1. Do not show up at UH to counter-protest unless you have coordinated with our point of contact, Rev. Troy Treash, a dedicated supporter at revtroy@resurrectionmcc.org. He will coordinate this effort.

2. Our community partners who have experience with these particular protesters advise that the best way to respond is not to engage them verbally or physically. Do not give this group the media or social media attention they crave (e.g., do not share their website on social media).

3. Instead, please come together as a community in other ways at this time to support each other and display a united, organized, peaceful, and collected front.

4. Alternative ways to support Gender Infinity at this time include liking our facebook page, following us on Twitter, or making a financial donation to our organization or any other local LGBTQI+ organization.http://support.genderinfinity.org/

We hope the response of our community, in solidarity, will show the world our commitment to advance justice and inclusion with and for transgender, gender diverse, and gender expansive persons.

Thank you,
The Gender Infinity Team

Next, the message from the Montrose Center"

We are asking that people not come to the Center on the 16th between 10:30 am and noon unless you have business here. We do not want to give them any media attention or assist them in their mission to disrupt our services and guests.

We have consulted with other Centers who have been protested and have been advised the best way to frustrate them is to not engage them. We have it covered and ask that there be no counter protest. We have made arrangements to protect our clients, staff and visitors and their privacy. Thanks everyone for respecting our plan.

We'll see if the Phelps Phamily actually backs up their words, drives down from Kansas and shows up at either event this Friday,

H-Town peeps, I know you're pissed.  I definitely am seeing that I will be at Gender Infinity supporting our trans kids and their families.   But the best way to support both these orgs is respect their wishes.  

It also doesn't hurt if you express your pissivity at the Phelpses by dropping both of the targeted organizations some donations.

Here's the link for the Montrose Center and the Gender Infinity Conference to do precisely that.

Florida Rally To Fight Unjust HB 583 Tomorrow

The anti-trans hate is flowing in Teapublican ranks as they gleefully pimp unjust bills aimed at oppressing trans people in Texas, Kentucky and Florida.

HB 583 is the unjust bill seeking to make Florida transpeople criminals for simply peeing in the bathroom.

On Tuesday, March 3rd, Trans Lives Matter Tallahassee and allied forces will gather on the steps of the old Florida Capitol around 2 PM EST to speak out against the new HB 583 introduced by Rep. Artilles.

The house bill introduced by Rep. Frank Artilles would criminalize Trans folk from using the bathroom and other public facilities that match their gender identity. It would charge them with a $1,000 fine, up to one year in jail, and even lawsuits for not using the bathroom that matches their birth assigned gender. It would severely endanger the very safety of Trans folk all over Florida on a day to day basis.

We call for this Transphobic HB 583 introduced by Rep. Frank Artiles to be immediately stopped. We want an end to legislation that endangers the livelihood of trans people. We call for an expansion of gender neutral bathroom across the state and want to see the legislation that protects Transgender folk from hate crimes.

This speakout will be hosted by Trans Lives Matter Tallahassee, The Dream Defenders, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), The Center for Participant Education (CPE) and The E-Word.

***

For more information, contact:

Trans Lives Matter Tallahassee

Lead Organizer, Shivaani Ehsaan

Phone : 508-615-8066

Trans Lives Matter Tallahassee

Lead Organizer , Naomi Bradley

Phone: 727-271-2557

#TransLivesMatter Protest Takes Center Stage At #CC15 Opening Plenary

One of the things about a diverse conference of over 3,500 activists from around the country, especially one that is dedicated to movement building, is that sometimes the lessons that are being taught in seminars to create change in our society are put into practice.

Minutes after a moment of silence was completed for slain teen Jessie Hernandez, who was shot and killed by the Denver Police on January 26, several members of the Trans Latina Coalition along with queer POC youth rushed the stage just as MC Kate Clinton was approaching the podium shouting "Trans Lives Matter"  and "Jessie, presente!"

After Clinton graciously yielded the podium to the protestors, Bamby Salcedo read a statement and a list of demands calling for more robust support for trans people and to end the obscene levels of anti-trans and police violence negatively impacting trans women of color from the LGB community as the capacity plenary crowd cheered.

The Demands:

*Funders and organizations, especially LGBT organizations to intentionally invest in the Trans Community

*Support and acknowledge trans leadership to build and foster strength in our power.

*Meaningful equity of resources in order to eradicate the economic and  health crisis our brothers and sisters face.

*LGBT and ally organizations to hire trans people for leadership positions.  We demand for these organizations to be intentionally inclusive and truly provide leadership opportunities for the trans community.  If you serve us, you must include us.
*Investments in new and upcoming trans specific organizations and support their works in underserved areas.

*Big tent and anchor organizations to leverage their access to policy makers and funders and use their privilege to support trans-led efforts in eradicating the ongoing structural violence that our community faces.

Stay tuned to see if the protest results in an improved quality of life for trans people. I certainly hope it's successful in that regard.

Latest Turkish Trans Murder Fueling Protests

Next to Brazil, the most dangerous place to be a trans person is in Turkey.  

It has the deleterious combination of rampant transphobia, no hate crimes or anti-trans discrimination laws on their national legal books to combat it and police in some cases indifferent to bringing the perpetrators of these killings to justice. .  

According to Transgender Europe, between January 2008 and December 2012 there were 30 murders of Turkish trans persons.  It pales in comparison to the trans bloodletting going on in Brazil but one murdered transperson is one too damned many.   

But despite being number two in terms of those reprehensible rankings, the Turkish government persists in its obstinate refusal to pass those obviously needed laws.

But with the murder of 24 year old Dora Özer, our Turkish transsisters may have finally hit their sick and tired of being sick and tired of this jacked up situation tipping point.

Özer was found brutally stabbed to death by her roommate in the apartment they shared in the town of Kudadasi.

In the wake of her senseless murder, the Turkish trans community launched a wave of coordinated protests across the nation yesterday in the cities of Adana, Ankara, Diyarbakir, Eskişehir, İstanbul and İzmir.  There was also a protest in the German capital of Berlin where there is a sizable Turkish expat community. 

During the marches our Turkish trans cousins and allies condemned the rampant transphobia in their nation that fuels the violent anti-trans hatred aimed at them, protested government inaction on the issue and demanded justice for Dora.  

Here's hoping the march was successful and it accomplishes all of its goals, including getting justice for Dora.

GetEqual Activists Arrested Protesting John Boehner's Office

Hmm.   Seems like GetEqual heard the comments coming from moi and other Black LGBT peeps who correctly noted their far too frequent penchant for protest actions aimed at the POTUS and FLOTUS. 

They pale in comparison to any similar ones aimed at their ongoing and unrepentant oppressors in the Republican Party. 

Right on cue after taking a major negative publicity hit for another protest gone bad, we have eight GetEqual activists show up in House Speaker John Boehner's (R-OH) office demanding a vote on ENDA and getting busted for it.

See this broken clock moment for yourselves.






Still doesn't erase the negative optics of what Ellen Sturtz did, but it's a start. 

Naw China, We STILL Haven't Forgotten What Today Is

June 4, 1989, the 24th anniversary of the crushing of the Tiananmen Square student led protests with PLA tanks and troops. 

Since somebody thought it would be a cute stunt to remove the link to the original TransGriot June 4, 1989 post and reroute it to some game site, bad move.  All you did was piss me off and ensure I'd circle the date on the calendar to make sure I'd write another post reminding my readers here in the States and around the world about the day Chinese tanks and troops slaughtered their own citizens participating in a peaceful protest.  

Besides, I don't ever forget that June 4 date because it happens to be my late grandmother Tama's birthday. 

It was a five week protest by students and concerned citizens simply asking for government reform and an end to corruption in their government that captured the world's attention.




The Chinese government answer to those demands came in the late evening of June 3 and the early morning hours of June 4.  The plug was pulled on the television feed for the international foreign news networks broadcasting the event and PLA troops backed up by tanks began firing on and running over the people in the square to break up the demonstration.    Casualties were estimated between 200-1000 people dead. 


As I said in last year's post, those PLA tanks and troops may have crushed the demonstration, and the Chinese government may continue to try to erase and deny what happened, but the video, photographic and written evidence is still out there and it's always going to be a part of world history. 

Neither can you crush the root of freedom from which democracy will inevitably flower once it has taken root.

So on this day international community, remember the people who died in the name of freedom and democracy in their homeland's capitol city.


We also need to on this day in the United States, remember that freedom requires eternal vigilance from the enemies inside and outside our borders who seek to exterminate it.