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. 

The Bold And Beautiful Maya Watch-Week Of April 6-10

Since the reveal of supermodel and fashion executive Maya Avant as the first major trans character on a network soap last month, I've been watching this  The Bold And The  Beautiful storyline unfold with keen interest as one of the peeps that Karla Mosley is playing.

As a TransGriot public service, I'm going to do a weekly recap of all things Maya related during the week on The Bold and the Beautiful.   For those of you who haven't gotten your B&B fix, this post will contain spoilers.

***

The week started with Maya and Nicole getting into another argument as she attempted to use her knowledge of Maya's trans status to extort her way into a modeling shoot.   Maya's ex fiance Carter overheard the conversation, and after Nicole left the office, angrily confronted her about what he overheard as he flashes back to memories of their two year relationship.  

He is pushing Maya to tell current boyfriend and Forrester Creations CEO Rick to tell him, which Maya doesn't want to do until she is ready to do so.   Rick walks into the office during their argument, but Carter decided not to spill her trans status to Rick and walks out.

Carter tries once again to get Maya to tell Rick that she's trans, pointing out that it's not just her personal business, but because Rick needs to know and it could affect Forrester Creations.   She replies to Carter that she'll tell him after she get engaged to him.

Carter confronts Nicole about extorting her way to a modeling shoot, and points out Maya is scared of what might happen if she reveals she's trans.

Rick notices that Maya is agitated about the confrontations and asks her what is wrong, but she tries to play it off and declines to tell him.   He professes his love to her and tells her he admires her integrity as she professes her love to him.

Maya later defends Rick with his mother Brooke at her side as Ridge once again throws barbs at him because in his mind Rick is unqualified to be Forrester Creations CEO.   Maya's defense of Rick impresses Brooke, who has resumed working for Forrester.

As Rick and Maya once more profess their love for each other, as she walks into the office she fails to realize she dropped the  package that contains her estrogen tablets. 


Rick finds the bottle on the floor, reads it and asks her the question why she would need to be taking conjugated estrogen.

Tune in Monday to find out the answer.

ET Interview With Karla Mosley

For some of y'all who aren't soap fans, the long running CBS soap The Bold and the Beautiful has been running a storyline with a major and historic twist in which Maya Avant, played by actress Karla Mosley is revealed to be a trans woman.

It's historic and vitally important because for the first time we have a major character on a network soap who is a trans woman of color.

Entertainment Tonight recently interviewed Ms. Mosley about her groundbreaking character.

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!

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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CBS' Bold And The Beautiful Soap Reveals A Trans Feminine Character

African-American trans characters on TV shows are a rare phenomenon. 

The last time a CBS broadcast television series had a serious African-American trans feminine character that wasn't a stereotype, you have to go all the way back to 1977 and Edith Stokes on The Jeffersons 'Just A Friend' episode to find her.

Now that Orange Is the New Black and Transparent have proven it's okay to put trans characters on TV and surprise surprise, if you do them right get ratings and Emmy nominations for the actors that portray them, it seems as though the networks are finally coming to the trans character party late as usual.

Seems as though CBS has decided to continue to break ground when it comes to creating African-American trans characters.   Laverne Cox will debut as the lead character in a legal drama slated to air this fall called Doubt, and now comes word that yesterday the CBS soap opera The Bold and The Beautiful shocked its viewers with an unexpected cliff hanger that involves a trans character.

Actress Karla Mosley has played model Maya Avant on the soap for the last two year.s   Yesterday the bomb was dropped by Nicole Avant (played by Reign Edwards) that Maya was once her brother with the dead name Myron.

“You’re not my sister, Maya. You’re not Maya at all,” said Nicole (Reign Edwards) during an emotional argument. “You’re Myron, my brother.”




That bombshell lit up the Twitterverse as a trending topic for several hours, and now has me scrambling to catch up on some back Bold and The Beautiful episodes, since I've been on a soap hiatus ever since ABC took my beloved All My Children off the air.

“My first reaction was surprise, because 10 or 20 years ago, this is not a story we would be telling, and not in a way that’s truthful and not sensational,” said Mosley in a USA Today interview about her trans feminine character. “My second reaction was, ‘Thank you.’ It’s a gift. It’s a privilege,” she told the newspaper. “It’s a real opportunity to educate our viewers here and all over the world.”

“It is about people respecting other people’s differences and their uniqueness,” said Bradley Bell, executive producer and head writer for B&B in a statement obtained by USA Today. “In the end, we all want to be loved, and in order to love someone else you first have to love yourself,” Bell added. “If you are transgender, gay, straight, it doesn’t matter. It’s about finding love in life. This is a love story.”

And this is going to be a long term B&B storyline according to Mosley that unfolds over a long period of time, and the characters on the show will gradually find out about Maya's past.

"Everyone has a different reaction," she said. "So even if the audience can't necessarily be on board with Maya, or if they have [certain] feelings about Maya's experience now, hopefully they'll be able to see themselves in the reactions of the people around her and we can all sort of process it together."

Until yesterday, Bold and the Beautiful wasn't in my soap opera watching rotation.  Now it is Must See TV as I watch this historic television storyline unfold.

Another Day, Another Groundbreaking Moment For Laverne Cox

Was delighted to hear that my sis Laverne Cox will be gracing our network TV screen this fall and making more history in the process.

Our fave Emmy nominated actress has been cast in an upcoming CBS legal drama that will air this fall called Doubt

In it she will play an Ivy League educated openly  transgender attorney who is described as competitive as she is compassionate.

And because she's trans and has experienced discrimination and injustice, she fights even harder for her clients.  

Interestingly enough, this role was always envisioned at the outset by the show creators as a trans feminine character, and loving the fact she'll be playing that trans attorney.

And yep, know a couple of kick butt trans attorneys if you need to do some research in preparation to play this as of yet unnamed character.

Congratulations for getting this groundbreaking role in a dramatic series, and break a leg.

Waking Up With Aisha And Janet's Punditry

Woke up this morning on a weekend that I've been feeling less than 100% to two Sunday morning talk shows that made me feel much better when I saw them.

On the PBS To The Contrary show hosted by Bonnie Erbe, a diverse panel of four women pundits with diverse perspectives discuss the issues of the day.    I  was flipping channels when I stumbled across Aisha Moodie-Mills intelligently breaking down the issues as usual.

And when I discovered the next segment was discussing the Jamal case. I left my TV on that channel to watch her explain the issues at play in this case to her fellow panelists.

The Jamal case segment starts at the 10:40 mark




Speaking of watching, before I switched over to the PBS show, I was watching Melissa Harris-Perry and was pleased the discover when my TV powered up that Janet Mock was part of the conversation on this morning's show.  

There was also something else added to the graphic under her name:   MSNBC contributor!

Congrats Janet! 

Angelica Ross Named An MHP Foot Soldier!

I missed the broadcast on Saturday because of cable issues, but was excited to learn that my Chicago homegirl Angelica Ross was named one of the first Melissa Harris-Perry show Foot Soldiers of the Week for 2015!

Angelica is founding CEO of Trans Tech Social Services, and in this segment talks about how tech turned her life around and she's now reaching out to help others.

Congrats Angelica!   Here's the video for those of you who missed the original Nerdland broadcast.

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

Laverne Cox Presents: 'The T Word' Broadcast Tonight On MTV and LOGO

Just a programming reminder post alerting you peeps looking for television shows about trans people to tune in to MTV or LOGO if you have it on your cable system for Laverne Cox Presents; The T Word

It'll be broadcast ar 7 PM ET and 6 PM in my time zone, and I will be parked in front of the TV to watch it since I know two of the people being interviewed in L'lerrét Jazelle Ailith and Kye Allums

The show features the stories of seven trans people from 12-24, and I know I'm looking forward to hearing those stories and the voices of our trans youth.

They are part of the most educated generation of trans youth ever, and the next generation of trans leadership.

It's important to know what they are thinking and what their perceptions are concerning trans issues and their lives in general.  They also need to be assured of and reminded by their trans elders that they are loved by us, valued, and most importantly by us.

So take a moment to check the show out

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?

'Nikki's American Dream' Premieres Tomorrow On YouTube

I've known Nikki was working on this reality show project for at least a year and had completed 9 episodes of it, but it's finally ready and debuting on YouTube tomorrow.

Nikki's American Dream is focused on the life of Nikki Araguz Loyd,as she lives, loves, runs a business  raises a family and fights for her own and the Texas trans community's marriage rights.

The brainchild behind Nikki's American Dream is Lightning Strikes Entertainment, a content creation and branded entertainment company. 

"From the first moment I saw Nikki, I knew she was something special and a force to be reckoned with. She is a symbol of the kind of groundbreaking content Lightning Strikes Entertainment creates," says creative director Federico Traeger.

Here's a sneak peek trailer of it    




Nikki's American Dream premieres tomorrow at 11 AM EDT/10 AM CDT. and you can subscribe to see it at this link.  .   

'Girl Meets World' Debuts Friday

One of my back in the 90's guilty pleasure TV shows to watch was Boy Meets World, and I was one of the many fans of the show who were ecstatic to hear that a sequel to it had been greenlighted for 21 episodes to debut in 2014.

Girl Meets World will bring back Cory and Topanga as parents of 12 year old tween Riley with her own mischievous friend in Maya Hart. 

While the show will center on Riley navigating her way through life, we already know that many of the characters from Boy Meets World will be reprising their roles and appearing on the show.

The show will also be set in New York instead of Philadelphia but what we didn't know was when the show would debut. 

Well, the wait is over BMW fans.   The first season of Girl Meets World will debut on the Disney Channel this Friday, June 27 at 9:45 PM EDT.

As to what BMW characters will show up in the new series, so far Rider Strong (Shawn Hunter), Lee Norris (Minkus), Danny McNulty (Harley), William Daniels (Mr. Feeny), and William Russ and Betsy Randle (Cory's parents) are for now.   Other BMW alums will pop up during this first season.  .




Cory is now a school teacher, and Minkus' son is in Cory's class along with his daughter Riley and Maya.  Topanga is now an entrepreneur running a popular hangout for the kids in Riley's school.

So yep, looking forward to watching Girl Meets World this Friday. 
      

Tiq and Laverne on Katie Today

Yesterday it was Laverne Cox making an appearance on the Wendy Williams Show. 

Today it's Tiq Milan and Laverne appearing on the Katie show to discuss  ‪#‎justiceforjane‬ and the criminal justice system, healthcare and healing in the trans community.

Check your local listings and the Katie website for time and station.

We remember what happened the last time Laverne was on Katie's show.   Let's hope the discussion goes a little better this time around. 

Laverne's On Wendy Williams Show Today

You may wish to check your local listings or the Wendy Williams Show website to find out when it comes on in your area, but a trans programming note for you.

Laverne Cox will be appearing on the show today to discuss the new season of Orange Is The New Black, her role as Sophia, and her thoughts about being the first trans person on the cover of TIME magazine.

And yep, after the last trans fail, I and the trans community will be watching to see how Wendy handles this interview.

Tyra Banks To Produce VH1 Trans Cable Series

This ought to be interesting..   Tyra Banks is set to executive produce a docuseries starring Carmen Carrera    

According to Hollywood Reporter, the eight episode docuseries entitled TransAmerica would be based in Chicago and focus on Carrera and five other trans feminine women as these millenials live, love and seek to establish their careers in the Windy City. 

"It would be easy to focus on the transgender aspect, but this series is about so much more," said Susan Levison, executive VP programming for VH1. "This is a show about a group of compelling, gorgeous young friends who are on a unique journey while staying true to their authentic selves. We believe that message resonates."

The show is set to air in late 2014-early 2015 on VH1.

Nobody Wanted To Answer The Jeopardy Black History Category Questions

I have been a fan of the show Jeopardy since my childhood, and still have dreams of appearing on the show someday.   When I watch it, I like to test my knowledge by trying to answer the questions as the players are trying to do so on air.  

I still laugh about one day in the ticket counter breakroom during my airline days when Jeopardy used to come on at 3:30 PM here and a group of us were huddled around the TV set to do precisely that.  

It got to the point where myself and my fellow CSR Rick Owen were nailing the questions in the categories broadcast on that particular day.   We were doing such a good job of it my coworkers started waiting for either me or Rick to answer before they would guess.

I bring you down Moni Memory Lane to set up an interesting and sad commentary on modern day race relations in the USA. 

From time to time Jeopardy does tournaments, and one of those is the collegiate one in which college students do battle on the show to be crowned the collegiate Jeopardy champion.

While the three collegiate semifinal contestants easily breezed through the question topics such as 'Kiwi Fauna', 'Talk Nerdy To Me' and 'Weather Verbs', the trio awkwardly left the African American history category alone until they were forced to answer questions in it, and those weren't really difficult.
They missed on the Rhode Island Regiment one (which I answered correctly because of the Ocean State reference) and the one on the Scottsboro Boys. 

Host Alex Trebek trying to bail out the young contestants after the silence on the Scottsboro Boys question by saying "That was before your time"  was awkwardly problematic as well.   Many of the questions in the other categories they cleared were 'before their time' as well.

The show was taped back in November, but it airing during Black History Month made the ignoring of the category until the last moment more glaring. 

It also points out in microcosm the Two Americas double standard we grapple with.   These colloge eduated white kids aren't requred to, nor do they need to know anything about my people's history, which is also American history by the way.

But before I or any person of color can walk out of high school, much less college with a diploma or a degree, I damned sure better have more than a working knowledge of theirs

The fun starts at the 15:50 mark