Iconic Actress Diahann Carroll Joins The Ancestors

I was saddened to hear the news that iconic actress Diahann Carroll has joined the ancestors at age 84 after losing her battle with breast cancer..

Carroll was a trailblazer in the acting world, and her big break came when she was just 18 years old.

She appeared on the TV show Chance of a Lifetime, and won the top prize of $1000.  She won for four consecutive weeks, and the show led to engagements at the Cafe Society and Latin Quarter nightclubs in Manhattan.    Carroll was in the movie Carmen Jones playing the best friend to Dorothy Dandridge's  Carmen.

She became the first Black actress to win a Tony Award in 1962 for her role in the play No Strings. 

In 1968 she became the first Black actress to star in a hit TV show in a non stereotypical role when Julia debuted on NBC and ran for three season on that network.   She won a Golden Globe award in 1969 for that role and was also the first Black actress nominated for a comedic-lead Emmy

In 1974 she was nominated for an Oscar for her role in the movie Claudine.

In 1984 she joined the cast of Dynasty, playing Dominique Deveraux, the half sister of Blake Carrington and nemesis of Alexis Colby Carrington.  Her Music and Arts HS classmate, Billy Dee Williams, played her husband ex husband Brady on that show



A few years later she played Marion Gilbert, the mother of Whitley Gilbert in a recurring role on the NBC show A Different World in which she received a third Emmy nomination in 1989. 



She was not only a trailblazer for many people in Black Hollywood and Broadway, the native New Yorker was also revered by many as the epitome of style, grace and class.   I and many Black trans women of my generation considered her as one of our feminine role models.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997 and beat it after nine weeks of radiation treatments .  That led her to become a spokesperson urging early detection and treatment for cancer.

Diahann Carroll's place in history is secure, and we will miss her as she joins the ancestors.   But hers was a trailblazing life well lived, and she paved the way for our current generation of actors on the stage and silver screen to soar.

And she looked damned good doing it. 

Rest in power and peace Queen.   You've earned it.

Marisa Richmond To Receive Fan Fair's Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award!

"While I may be the first African-American trans person honored with this Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award, I emphatically believe I won't be the last one to be so honored. 

We have some people who have been and still are trailblazing African-American leaders such as Marisa Richmond, Kylar Broadus, Dawn Wilson, Miss Major and Louis Mitchell just to name a few who could have easily been standing here today instead of me."
Monica Roberts,
Virginia Price Transgender Pioneer Award Acceptance Speech 
October, 2015 

In 2015 I became the first African American trans person to receive the Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award from Fantasia Fair as Marisa Richmond congratulated me for doing so.

Now, four years later, Marisa Richmond will become the second African American trans person to win this prestigious award when Fantasia Fair kicks off in Provincetown. MA October 20-27.

And I couldn't be happier for her.   She has been blazing trails in our trans rights movement since 1992, and I'm pleased and proud to call her a friend.

In 1992 she founded the Tennessee Vals gender group that is still in existence.  She was a board member of NTAC, AEGIS and NCTE.   She founded the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition.  In 2008 she became the first African American trans delegate to the Democratic National Convention that was held in Denver.  In 2008 she also became the first openly trans person to win an election in Tennessee when she was elected to the Davidson County Democratic Party Executive Committee. 

Marisa was also the 2016 Democratic National Convention's official timekeeper
She is also a sought after speaker on trans issues in addition to being a college history professor

Congratulations Marisa!   It's well deserved, and hopefully I can get to FanFair 2019 and be in the room when she accepts her award

MJ Rodriguez To Receive Trailblazer Hispanic Heritage Award

You know MJ Rodriguez as Blanca Rodriguez Evangelista from the hit FX show POSE that will kick off Season 2 in 2019.   
MJ Rodriguez, the actress who plays Blanca, is poised to make history when the 31st annual Hispanic Heritage Awards take place in Washington DC at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

The 27 year old Rodriguez will be honored by the Hispanic Heritage Foundation with the Trailblazer Hispanic Heritage Award. 

It is a prestigious one in the Latinx community that has previously gone to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Gloria Estefan, Rita Moreno, Celia Cruz, America Ferrera, Gael Garcia Bernal, Zoe Saldana, Ricky Martin and Placido Domino just to name some of the recipients of that award. 

Congratulations to MJ as her name joins that distinguished list of honorees.

Rodriguez is being recognized for her “talent, courage and social impact,” according to Jose Antonio Tijerino, President and CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation. “Her story is a journey of triumph as she leads the way for transgender representation in Hollywood and beyond,” he said in a statement.

Rodriguez will become the first trans feminine woman ever to win this award, and the Hispanic Heritage Awards can be seen on PBS later this month.
 

Ines Rau Becomes First Trans Playmate

Caroline Cossey appeared on Playboy's pages after she was outed back in 1991 and before she was public about her trans status in 1981.  But it took until 2017 for a trans woman to make this history and grace the magazine's pages as the first ever out trans Playmate.

Meet Ines Rau, the trans woman who is making that history.

The Paris native is no stranger to Playboy readers.  Rau appeared in a steamy photo shoot with Tyson Beckford back in May 2014.

She was motivated to come out as trans ironically after reading Cossey's book I Am Woman twice. 

Rau said to Playboy about coming out:  "It's a salvation to speak the truth about yourself, whether it's your gender, sexuality, whatever.  The people who reject you aren't worth it.  It's not about being loved by others; it's about loving yourself."

As you probably guessed  the transphobic haters came out to play in social media, and former porn start Jenna Jameson also has something nasty to say about it.

But bump the haters, because she's still going to be a groundbreaking Playmate, and will appear in Playboy's November.December issue that hits newsstands on October 31

Groundbreaking PBS Journalist Gwen Ifill Dies

As if this week couldn't get any worse, now comes the sad news that groundbreaking journalist, longtime host of PBS' Washington Week' and cohost of the PBS News Hour has died after a months long battle with cancer

Ifill was one of my journalist possibility models, and I admired her for being a White House correspondent, a two time vice presidential debate moderator and just simply being the type of authoritative journalist I want to emulate every day.

We will need journalists like her over the next four years.

Rest in power and peace, Sister Ifill.   You blazed an award winning trail for other journalists to follow and set high standards that those of us who wish to enter journalism would do well to become.

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Not Liking The Shady Comments Being Directed At Laverne Over 'Rocky Horror'

 I was parked in front of the television Thursday night watching Laverne Cox play the iconic role of Dr. Frank-n-Furter in the FOX reimagining of the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

I was shocked, but shouldn't have been surprised to hear some shady sniping coming once again from elements of trans community about the show.

I guess the only thing that would have made y'all happy is if a white trans actress had played that role instead of Laverne, huh?  

Well boo boo kitties, Black trans people are also actors in Hollywood, so burn that fact into your brains.   Laverne is the one they chose for the role, she has the talent to play it, has a BA in dance, and when the legal drama Doubt finally premieres on CBS I have the utmost confidence she will slay that Cameron Wirth role as well

Damn, here we have the historic moment of a trans person, and even more important to Black Trans World, a Black trans woman playing an iconic movie role in a prime time network television slot, and some of y'all wanna throw shade and be salty about that?  

#StopTheShade, have some seats at your local multiplex and miss me with that BS, okay?  

White trans women have been the center of trans attention ever since Christine Jorgensen stepped off the airplane at JFK in February 1953.

It's not only past time for trans women of color to get some of that spotlight, it's also past time for you vanillacentric privileged malcontents sniping at Laverne for Rocky Horror to realize and burn into your brains there is room for all of us to shine.

I'm appreciating the fact that Laverne once again is making history, and sadly the disappointing shady chatter is proving to me once again why Afrocentric trans events like BTAC are necessary

It's alo proving to me once again that some haters are gonna hate even when it's a trans person of color making that positive history.

Four Black Trans Women Breaking Barriers

Just now getting around to it, but was notified by a few peeps that I'm paired up with three amazing trans women that were mentioned in a story written by Heather Jones at Wear Your Voice.

Tona Brown, Elle Hearns, Janet Mock and I were featured in a story written by Jones highlighting Black trans women breaking barriers.

Thanks for the shout out Heather, and thanks for the recognition of my sisters profiled in it.   I'm just one of the amazing trans women around the country who are doing what they can to use their talents to educate, inform and make human rights a reality for all trans people.

It also helps us drive home the message that trans women are women, and get us a step closer to the day that we get our cis counterparts to realize we have talents we wish to contribute to the greater society to make it better.

Trans Flight Attendant Elected To Presidency Of Her Union Local

When I was in the airline business, there were rumors that we had four trans flight attendants working for our carrier at the time I was becoming the first out Black trans person working at Continental Airlines in 1994.

One of those flight attendants was allegedly based in Honolulu, while the other three were alleged to be flying routes out of our other domestic bases besides Houston.  Depending on where they were based, they may have crossed my path because I worked the departure gates at IAH and I have no idea if they worked my flights or not because they didn't reveal their status to my very out self.   

So as a former airline person I was happy to hear about the groundbreaking and historic win of girl like us flight attendant Audrey Gauthier.   Back on November 1 she was elected president of CUPE Local 4041, and represents Air Transat flight attendants based in Montreal

With that win she became the first open trans person to elected to lead a union local in Canada and possibly the world.   But Gauthier downplayed the historic achievement. 
l
“I’m proud to be the first transsexual member elected president of a local, and for LGBTTI rights it’s something that’s important, but our members don’t really see me as different. They just see me as a woman, period,” she said.  

Gauthier.added, “I was elected to unite people. My goal is to build a strong relationship between the local and our component.”

Congratulations and may you have much success in accoplishing that goal as you fly the friendly Canadian skies. 
    

Isis Appears In Trailblazing American Apparel Ad Campaign

This is turning out to be my little sis Isis King's year so far as well. 

She's got a role in an upcoming movie called Hello Forever and now she's making American Apparel's Legalize Gay clothing line look good.

Hey, I'll freely admit I'm biased.  But I spoke the truth as well.  She does look good in it.

Just to give you some background on this developing story, clothing giant American Apparel teamed up with GLAAD to produce a new line of equality tees in time for LGBT Pride Month.

As part of the launch for this new product line, in a company first, American Apparel is featuring an openly trans model in its ad campaign in which GLAAD worked alongside American Apparel in casting for the new ads that Isis was chosen for.  .

The online and print ads featuring Isis and four current and former GLAAD staff members donning the Pride shirts will appear across the nation.   In addition 15% of all proceeds from purchased American Apparel Pride shirts will go to GLAAD to support their work.

American Apparel employees will also join GLAAD staff in LGBT Pride marches across the country, including in Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. Participants will each receive an AA tee, courtesy of American Apparel. Here's how you can join up in those cities

“We're super proud to support LGBT Pride again this year and partner with GLAAD in these events. It’s time for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, to accept each other and thrive in harmony. We hope everyone comes out and joins us," said Marsha Brady, a creative director for American Apparel.

"American Apparel is showing bold leadership by being among just a few companies to include transgender people in its national ads,” said GLAAD President Herndon Graddick. “Additionally, the company's statement that 'Gay is OK' will reach millions and send an important message in support of equality.”


Congrats once again Isis for blazing another trail and doing so as always with class and dignity.  So looking forward to meeting you and giving you that big TransGriot hug when our paths finally do cross.

You're Still A Winner In Our Eyes, Jenna

With the eyes of the world focused on Toronto for a historic finals night for the 2012 Miss Canada Universe pageant, 23 year old Jenna Talackova was not only competing for the right to represent her nation in the Miss Universe event in December, but an entire worldwide community of transwomen.

She did make it to the 12 semifinalist round, but unfortunately not to the five finalists one.

But as I've said for a few days now, even if she didn't walk out with the Miss Canada Universe crown last night and I presume she's probably disappointed she didn't, she's still a winner.  

Talackova fought for her place in this pageant after being unjustly disqualified by the bogus and transphobic 'natural born womna' rule.  Because she did so she eventually broke through a glass ceiling that allowed her to be on stage with 64 other Canadian women and will make it  easier (we hope) for the next transwoman who wishes to compete in her Miss Universe system national pageant.

In the process of tenaciously fighting for her dream to happen, she gave transwomen around the world an opportunity to jump start educational conversations about who we are, how transphobic and wrong that rule was and what we are capable of doing if we're just given the opportunity to try.

It's never easy to be a trailblazer, and Jenna did so with class and dignity.   Her sister contestants agree with me since she was one of three women who tied for the Miss Congeniality award for this 2012 pageant. 

It'll be interesting moving forward from this date to see what transpires next for Jenna in the future and see if she makes come true her stated goals of becoming a Victoria's Secret model and getting the swimsuit cover of Sports Illustrated.

I have the feeling that this determined young woman somehow will make it happen and expand the boundaries of what is possible for #girlslikeus.

You're still a winner in our eyes, Jenna.   

Congratulations Denise!

One of the things we have griped about for a long time in the trans community is the fact that when it comes to the professional LGBT advocacy organizations that do the work, in their senior leadership positions they are heavy on the GL portion of it, rarely involve the B and when it comes to the T invisible.

Well, we finally have one of our own making a little history in that regard.  Attorney Denise Brogan-Kator, who has been the acting executive director of Equality Michigan for the last six months recently had the 'acting' part removed from her title.

"Denise is an excellent choice to lead Equality Michigan. She has a great understanding of Michigan's needs. Denise is a strategist and will be very thoughtful in leading us to equality." said former Executive Director Alicia Skillman, who stepped down from the role at the end of 2010.


Congratulations Denise on making some history and blazing a trail for us.   May you have much success in your new position.