Two Trans POC Involved Events This Weekend

As I've stated more than a few times on this blog, intersectionality is an important value for trans people of color.   We are keenly aware of the fact that our skin color makes our transitions different from our white trans counterparts and we can't (nor do we wish to) separate our ethnicity from our trans status. 

We are also quite aware of the fact that issues that affect our Black and Latino communities also affect us.as trans people who also are members of those communities.    

There are two events happening on different coasts that involve elements of our diverse trans community. 

Here in H-town members of the Trans Latin@ coalition will be in full effect at the FLAS 20th Anniversary Gala that will take place tonight starting at 6 PM CDT at the Hilton Southwest Hotel. 

FLAS stands for Fundacion Latinamericano de Accion Social, a Houston based organization that provides health services and social programs for the Latin American community.

FLAS has provided education, HIV counseling and testing and treatment referrals for Latinos affected by HIV/AIDS, as well as STD referrals. Throughout the community, we host education seminars and health fairs at a variety of locations, including churches, civic organizations, consulates and even on-street corners
 
For those of you in the Houston area that may wish to join the TransLatin@ coalition and attend this event, the hotel is located at 6780 Southwest Fwy.  If you need more information call Elia Chino at 713-772-2366.

In Boston, the transbrothers are there and in full effect for the LGBTQ Health and Wellness Weekend that is running through tomorrow.  It started last night with a dinner in honor of birthday boy Rev. Louis Mitchell.

The event is sponsored by Body Image 4 Justice, TPOCC and long list of orgs.  It will feature a keynote speech from Fallon Fox, our fave MMA fighter and trans human rights warrior in keeping with this year's theme of LGBTQ Athletes And Sports.

The Health And Wellness Weekend features seminars, panel discussions, live demos and more at two venues.  Emerson College's Max Mutchnick Campus Center will host Saturday events, and the Holmes Sports Center on the Simmons College Residential Campus will be the venue hosting Sunday events. .

For those of you in those areas, hope you can attend and support these events orgs that are also supporting our community.

The 2014 Honor 41 List Honorees Are...

The Honor 41 list founded by Alberto B. Mendoza celebrates  LGBTQ Latin@ role models, and last year we were excited to learn that the inaugural 2013 class of Honor 41 List honorees included 5 trans people.

The Honor 41 list takes its name from a 1901 Mexico City hate crime in which a clandestine party was raided and the 41 people in attendance were beaten, arrested, and disappeared from society because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.   In Mexico, the number 41 became a slang term to refer to someone with a different sexual orientation

Honor 41 confronts this history and reclaims it to honor inspirational individuals and LGBTQ leaders of Latina/o heritage who are blazing the trail toward acceptance and equality. 

The Honor 41 2014 Class was announced this morning, and the trans representation is up to nine people.   As you probably guessed I do know a few of them.   Ruby Corado is one of the nine people honored this year!




"Everyone has a story, so having the opportunity to capture the stories of these amazing role models and share them with others is incredible, said Alberto B. Mendoza, founder of Honor 41 and the producer of the Honor 41 List.  "I know by sharing these stories, we are making it easier for Latino LGBTQ individuals to come out and live their lives with honor and pride."  

In the coming weeks as they are released and I get them from Alberto, I'll be posting the links to all the Honor 41 trans honoree videos.

Congratulations to all the Honor 41 class of 2014 honorees for all they do to advance our human rights struggle and understanding of LGBTQ people inside and outside the Latino/a community. 

2014 Edition Of The Honor 41 List Coming Soon!

Last year Alberto Mendoza unveiled the inaugural version of the Honor 41 List, which serves to honor and highlight the contributions of LGBTQ Latin@ people.  

I was thrilled to see there was trans masculine and transfeminine representation on the inaugural list, with 5 trans people, Bamby Salcedo, Arianna Inurritegui Lint, Maria Roman, Danielle Castro and Isaac Gomez.being honored in 2013.  

I'm happy to hear that the 2014 edition of the Honor 41 list will be coming out soon, and I'm interested to see who will be honored this year.   TBLGQ Latin@ people are doing wonderful work across the country to move our community and our TBLG human rights struggle forward, in addition to contributing their talents to make our communities and our country better.   It's nice to see them get some recognition for doing so.

I'm also hoping when the 2014 Honor 41 List is revealed, we'll have even more deserving trans Latin@ trans folks honored this year.

When the Honor 41 list is finally revealed, I'll be honored to post the links to it.

Bamby's Liberty Awards Speech

I have much love and respect for my homegirl Bamby Salcedo, the founder of the TransLatin@ Coalition and a longtime Los Angeles based activist

She was recently honored at Lambda Legal's West Coast Liberty Awards ceremony, and had some emotional and stirring things to say about our ongoing trans human rights movement.

The Liberty Awards event took place under the somber backdrop of activist Zoraida Reyes' body being found just 24 hours before she was to accept the award.

Congratulations Bamby on the well deserved honor for all the work you have done on behalf of our community.  

Here's the speech. 



 

Trans Latinas Representing In Chicago

While much of Trans World was focused on the just concluded Philadelphia Trans Health Conference in Philly, some of our trans Latina sisters were in Chicago for the National Latin@ Network conference taking place that same week.  . 

Members of the TransLatin@ Coalition were in the house. They did a fabulous job as usual of representing themselves, our #girlslikeus community and looking flawless while presenting, networking  and getting their learn on.

One of the things we must keep doing is not only advocate for ourselves and our own human rights, but make it clear we trans folks also interact and intersect with other communities.

We are just as concerned about the other issues that affect the groups we intersect with, and the trans Latinas gave us a great example of role modeling this.

Thanks Trans Latin@ Coalition for stepping up and doing the Trans 101 educational work in the Latin@ community.  It's what we will need to happen for the entire trans human rights community to advance.    You also prove by doing so that trans people are an integral and intertwined part of the Latin@ community as well.

Lorena Escalera Plus Two

Today marks the second anniversary of the death of 25 year old New York girl like us Lorena Escalera.

The model and member of the House of Xtravaganza was found dead in her Brooklyn apartment after a suspicious fire.  It was discovered during the subsequent investigation Escalera died by strangulation and suffocation suffered BEFORE the fire started at approximately 4 AM EDT on May 12, 2012.

It also didn't help that in the wake of this murder Lorena was subjected to sensationalized media disrespect by the New York Times and other Big Apple news outlets that Laverne Cox, Janet Mock and other New York City based activists vehemently criticized at the time.

“As my city's and our nation's paper of record, I would expect the New York Times to treat any subject, regardless of their path in life, with dignity.”

"In Lorena Escalera's life she was so much more than the demeaning, sexist portrait they painted of girls like us. It goes beyond a ‘choice of words.’ According to the Times' limiting, harmful portrait of Lorena, she was nothing more than a ‘curvaceous’ bombshell for men to gawk at. That is not the ‘personal’ story of any woman, and until we treat trans women like human beings - in life and death - with dignity, families and struggles, our society will never see us beyond pariahs in our communities."
-Janet Mock

As of this date Lorena's killer has yet to be brought to justice, and the House of Xtravaganza, Lorena's friends and family and all who loved her are still hoping that justice will eventually be served in this murder

I will be checking with New York trans activists and other interested parties in this case to see what is transpiring in the NYPD investigation concerning Lorena's murder, and as you can expect, if there is any news that comes to light regarding this case, I will definitely pass it on to you.

If there is a memorial service or vigil planned, I'll also pass that information to you as quickly as I receive notification of it.

Lorena, we won't rest until the person or persons who took your life are rotting in a jail cell. 

Nor will we ever forget you.  Rest in power sis.

Congrats Consuella!

Needed to congratulate my DC homegirl Consuella Lopez for her recent appointment to the Mayor's Advisory Committee to the Office of GLBT Affairs in the District

She was appointed by Mayor Vincent Gray to joins the committee along with Damien Frierson for a term that expires in June 2015.

If her name is vaguely familiar to you, it's because she was one of the people who was featured in the anti-trans discrimination poster campaign launched by the Dc office of Human Rights back in 2012.


Congratulations Consuella! 

I know she is excited about this appointment and looking forward to doing the best job humanly possible to represent the interests of the trans community of Washington DC.  

Christie Lee Van de Putte Dies

When I traveled to San Antonio for their TDOR last November, one of the people I was hoping to see but didn't that evening was Christie Lee Van de Putte

I was shocked and saddened to hear the news that Christie Lee Van de Putte passed away on March 15.

She was a San Antonio native born on March 29, 1952 and was a hairstylist for 35 years.   But what many of us in the community know her for was as the plaintiff in the 1999 Littleton v Prange case. 

As her obituary said, Christie Lee loved bringing out the beauty in everyone and she did.  She got remarried to Pierre Van de Putte who preceded her in death.   Christie Lee's funeral Mass was held on March 25 at Holy Family Catholic Church and she was laid to rest the same day at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.  

I had the pleasure of meeting her during a 1999 Texas Lobby day, and seeing her again on my end of I-10 for Houston Pride.  I stayed in touch with her even after my move to Da Ville until about 2005 and our lives went in different directions. 

I'm hearing community chatter there might be a memorial service, so if that turns out to be the case, I will pass that information along to you.

Nikki Araguz Loyd commented upon hearing the news, "Rest In Peace Christie Lee Littleton Van De Putte. I hope you knew your case had been overturned and I will always remember you, as our lives are forever intermingled in history."

So do I and everyone else who had the pleasure of knowing Christie Lee.  

Rest in power and Peace Christie Lee.  We will miss you.  

Nobody Wants To Hear Your Transphobic Bigotry, Mario

The slain Tejano singer Selena is well loved in the Latin@ community and especially here in Texas.

There have been more than a few times I've attended drag shows, pageants or club talent nights and witnessed either Latina transwomen or Latino drag illusionists perform to the Queen of Tejano's songs


With the painful 19th anniversary of her March 31, 1995  murder in Corpus Christi at the hands of her fan club president Yolanda Saldivar weeks before her 24th birthday looming, the city has marked that sad anniversary with an annual tribute event.  

For the last three years #girllikeus Honey Andrews has been performing at that tribute in addition to doing her Selena illusion in clubs and other events around the area and the state.   She performs as the Queen of Tejano in outfits custom made to resemble the ones Jennifer Lopez wore in the 1997 biopic on Selena's life. 

She's preformed at the tribute event in Corpus Christi with no problema until this year. 




Andrews was set to perform at this year's event scheduled for March 30 until she received this transphobic text message from promoter Mario Gomez stating she wasn't welcome, he'd have police deal with her if she did, and adding at the end of it 'nobody wants to see a male person dress up like a girl'

Oh really?   Guess you haven't heard about RuPaul's Drag Race, or the fact the movie To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar garnered a box office of $36.5 million     

Once the transphobic conversation was posted on Andrews' Facebook page it went viral Wednesday and triggered a backlash that prompted Gomez to backpedal and offer her a spot in his show. while spouting the usual comment of persons who have been caught doing and saying transphobic ish.

“If this person really wants to sing that bad, they are more than welcome,” Gomez told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. “This person shouldn’t be making such a big deal about it ... I’m not a bad person. I’m not discriminatory. There’s no need for this.”

 There was no need for the transphobic bigotry you unleashed upon Honey, either homes.. 

Of course, the disrespected Andrews declined it.  “He did this to clear his name up,” she said in an interview. 'That's not the way it works. He did something wrong. He needs to face the consequences.”


Andrews is already committed to performing at another Corpus Christi tribute on March 31

Jahaira's Mission- Let's (Not) Talk About My Crotch

Jahaira  in the first video of her Trans 101 series gives her take on the recent Katie Couric interview with Laverne and Carmen and why it's NOT appropriate to ask a transperson about their genitalia.

Help Some Latina Trans Sisters Get To Creating Change 2014

As those of us on the Houston Host Committee already are keenly aware of, Creating Change 2014 will start January 29.  People will be coming from all over Texas, the country and the world to get to the Hilton Americas Hotel to enjoy our Houston hospitality and Creating Change Texas style. 

These ladies of the Trans Latin@ Coalition want to join the 4000 people we are anticipating will be there for Creating Change, but need a little help to get there.   Yours truly and my peeps on the Host Committee want to meet them.

We are trying to support 9 women from the national TransLatin@ Coalition to get to the Latino Institute at Creating Change. We have lodging for 9 women and 4 flights donated. Please make a donation to support these amazing women from local communities across the country who advocate for transgender Latin@ immigrants in the US. Donations will be matched by a donor up to $1,000 -

http://www.unionfuerza.org/home

We appreciate your support for our sisters attend this important national LGBT Latin@ day-long training.

Hope to see you in a few weeks, ladies. 

The Latin@ Trans Year In Review

TransGriot Note: I was hoping that someone from the Latino/a trans community or an ally would step up to compile a Latin@ Trans Year In Review post.  But after one didn't materialize, I received a few requests from my Latin@ readers to do so. I'm flattered that you have expressed confidence in me to write it, and I'm doing so with input from members of the Latin@ trans community.

The Latin@ Trans community, like their African American counterparts, also experienced a year.in which they received increasing attention, faced daunting challenges and expressed optimistic hope for the future

When the inaugural Trans 100 List was released, there were ten Latin@ trans persons, Alexis Martinez, Andre Perez, Bamby Salcedo, Diego Sanchez, Drago Renteria, Harmony Santana, Ignacio Rivera, Monika MHz, Ruby Corado and Yosenio V. Lewis recognized for their contributions to the community at large.      

The Latin@ community oriented Honor 41 List created by Alberto Mendoza to bring visibility to and highlight the accomplishments of Latina and Latino LGBT people made its debut with 5 total trans persons on it.   Salcedo made that inaugural list, along with Arianna Inurritegui Lint, Maria Roman, Danielle Castro and transman Isaac Gomez.   The 2014 edition of the Honor 41 list will be accepting nominations soon

One of those persons emerging as a major community leader this year was Bamby Salcedo, the founding president of the Trans Latin@ Coalition.   In addition to leading this growing organization, she helped focus attention on immigration issues and how they affect the Latina immigrant community. 

Ruby Corado continued to build her Washington DC based Casa Ruby Multicultural Center into one that while founded to primarily serve the Latin@ trans community, serves the entire DC community and region.  That expansive vision became even more important when the THE Center that had been open since 2004 closed its doors in October due to fiscal trouble.  Casa Ruby was also recently awarded a $25,000 one year grant in November by the DC Council of Latino Affairs.

Casa Ruby also received a visit from Cuban trans activist Wendy Iriepa Diaz and her husband Ignacio Estrada Cepero on July 26 during the Washington part of their three month visit to the United States.  While in DC the Cuban couple also took a trip to Capitol Hill to visit Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) before flying back to Miami and eventually returning home to Cuba. 

Another trans Latina getting national attention besides Salcedo and Corado as a national leader was Arianna Inurritegui Lint.   She is becoming a frequent presence on Spanish language media as the Eastern co-chair of the Trans Latin@ Coalition when they discuss trans issues.

Like Bamby, she was also presenting at major conferences and conventions discussing the immigration issue and other relevant ones to trans Latinas.  Arianna just recently became a Managing Director at SunServe overseeing their Transgender Services Department.     

Trans Latin@s were making their voices heard in media outlets besides print and television.  Consuella Lopez, whose lovely face you see on the Washington DC anti-trans discrimination posters, was part of a team of trans people hosting InsighT, a trans talk radio show.    Longtime advocate, musician and actor  Mark Angelo Cummings' Transistion Radio show is getting increased attention as well.

Carmen Carrera signed a modeling contract with Elite models and in addition to sashaying down fashion runways made it clear she'd like to be a Victoria's Secret Angel.   Her fans created a Change.org petition that amassed over 36,000 signatures in an attempt to make that happen.     


El/La Para TransLatinas is San Francisco was the recipient of $200,000 in anti-violence funding to address that issue in the San Francisco Latina community.  

That issue of violence directed at Latina trans women is not one limited to the San Francisco area.  The crushing unemployment-unemployment and lack of opportunities that plague Latina trans women drives high percentages to resort to survival sex work.   Because of the perception or actual belief they are undocumented leads to high levels of abuse at the hands of customers and the police. 

Like their African-American sisters, trans Latinas are also suffering from unacceptable levels of anti-trans murders directed at them, with the worst spots for it being in Mexico, Brazil, the US, and various countries across Latin America.  

This year marked the fifth anniversary of the death of Angie Zapata at the hands of Allen Andrade, who was convicted of her murder and is rotting in a Colorado jail cell.  The waste of DNA who killed Lorena Escalera is unfortunately still at large.  But when these people are captured and prosecuted, as did happen in the Zapata case, the perpetrators of these murders are finding that they are getting convicted and going to jail for them.  

That was evidenced when Rasheen Everett was convicted and sentenced December 5 to 29 years to life for killing Amanda Gonzalez Andujar back in 2010.   That was in spite of his defense attorney John Scarpa despicably arguing that her life wasn't as valuable as others.   Fortunately the judge said otherwise.

One of the law enforcement issues affecting the Latina trans community was stop and frisk.  87% of the stops by NYPD targeted non-white people, and in that 87% stat of targeted people were trans Latinas.   They were part of the multiethnic coalition of groups in New York who protested and spoke out against the unjust policy  .        

A Latin@ Trans Year In Review wouldn't be complete without discussion of the cruel and unjust treatment of Latina trans immigrants in ICE detention centers across the country.   They are being held up to 6-9 months on average in solitary confinement, have hormone replacement therapy (HRT) withheld from them and in many cases if they haven't had genital surgery are being confined with cisgender men.with sometimes disastrous results.

Lack of access to appropriate healthcare or healthcare at all in most low cost federal accredited health Latino centers across this country drives thousands of Latino trans people to access dangerous black market treatments for transition related and primary healthcare

So yes, it has been a mixed bag year for the Latin@ trans community.  While they face some serious challenges, there are transmasculine and transfeminine leaders either already there or emerging from their ranks who are gaining a national platform to address them.

As part of our nation's fastest growing minority community, I hope their cisgender brothers and sisters recognize that my trans Latino brothers and sisters are integral parts of their community.  

While some issues are unique to the Latino trans community that need to be resolved as expeditiously as possible, there are others they share with the Latino community at large

We also hope that 2014 is also a much brighter year for the Latin@ trans community.

California Trans Teen Tells Her Story To The School Board

Hercules High School sophomore student Jewelyes Gutierrez got fed up with the bullying and transphobic harassment being aimed at her on an almost daily basis.  She appealed to the school's vice principal for help in stopping it, who ignored her request.

That frustration finally boiled over in the on campus November 15 fight between her and three girls egged on by other students that was captured on video, went viral and they were all suspended for it.

Jewelyes told her story in a December 3 community meeting convened by the West Contra Costa School Board

"As I was telling her how she was being disrespectful and rude, she spits gum in her hand and throws it in my face," said Gutierrez. "It was just build up after build up after build up and no one was there to really, like, help me."

"I was just sticking up for myself," she said. "Because you're different, you'll get picked on, you'll get name calling, bullied, taunted, harassed -- all those."





The West Contra Costa School Board to their credit in the wake of this incident is working on a new anti-bullying policy they will vote on January 29.

Will definitely be keeping an eye on this situation.

Presentation On Trans Latina Immigrants Today

For you folks on the Left Coast looking for Trans Awareness Week stuff to attend or get your learn on about our community, there will be a presentation at the UCLA Downtown Labor Center lead sponsored by the TransLatin@ Coalition entitled TransVisible: Transgender Latina Immigrants In US Society'.

Everyone's transition is different, and transitions and how they happen are also affected and experienced differently when race and class enter the mix. 

This Transgender Latina immigrants event will be presented by Karla Padron and it will start at 2:00 PM Pacific time. 2.5 CEU's will also be available for this event if you register in advance. 

The UCLA Downtown Labor Center is located at 675 S. Park View Street in Los Angeles, CA 90057.  I hope people will consider attending what should be an interesting discussion about the issues our trans Latina immigrant sisters face.    

Happy Birthday Arianna!

When I went to New York for the GLAAD POC Media Institute training last year, little did I realize I was going to depart from it not only better equipped to do media appearances on behalf of our community, but I left it with a few new friends and allies.  

One of the people I met during that training was a lovely Latina from Florida via Peru named Arianna Inurritegui Lint. 

Arianna is VP of the TransLatin@ Coalition and pops up regularly on Spanish language media to talk about trans issues from a Latina perspective.  This accomplished lady was also one of the five trans people named to the inaugural Honor 41 list that spotlights the contributions of TBLG Latin@ people.  

And today is her birthday.  

Happy birthday sis, and may you celebrate many more of them!.   

LA Fitness Hates On A Transwoman

One of my not so fond memories of one of my frequent non-rev trips to Los Angeles in the late 90's was when I flew out there as soon as my gate shift was over at 9 PM on Wednesday to spend two of my three consecutive off days hanging out with my homegirl Seni.

But unfortunately on that particular trip my flight got delayed due to a cold front passing through the Houston area.  It not only cooled the temps off in the IAH area, it created dense fog that dropped visibility enough to create lengthy ATC delays into and out of IAH because at that time it only had four runways  

By the time we finally took off  to do the 3 plus hour flight to Los Angeles my 12 AM Pacific time arrival in LAX became a 2 AM one.   Me thinking I'd be able to make up that sleep I lost on the trip to the Left Coast was cruelly shattered when Seni woke my peacefully slumbering butt up to accompany her to her nearby LA Fitness gym for a workout.  

I was so pissed off that when I hit the Stairmaster in that near Beverly Hills area location I was stomping my pissivity out on it for 20 minutes before I realized it was set to be much harder than I normally liked and my legs reminded me of it a few minutes later when they cramped up. 

That trip down Moni Memory Lane was generated because of the story that TransGriot reader Jazmine Brockington sent me concerning transwoman Yanel Valenzuela.  

She was allegedly told after she revealed her trans status to an LA Fitness employee in an effort to get workout advice specific to her situation she could no longer use the women's locker room.  

The cis female manager at the Montclair, CA location  (located at 9385 Monte Vista Ave in case anybody in the LA area wants to organize a picket of it)  told a stunned Valenzuela she could no longer use the women's locker room.   The manager was also unmoved when Valenzuela produced her carry letter from her gender therapist and herCalifornia DL with the F in the gender code area. 



“It gave me emotional stress,” Valenzuela told reporters. “I don’t think it was fair... I felt hurt because I don’t understand why she did it. She had no reason. She had no complaints from anyone."

According to news reports in the area LA Fitness is aware of the situation but has no comment   And note to that transphobic cis female manager:  In California trans people are a protected class under the state's anti-discrimination laws.

"I hope this never happens to anybody again because it’s not fair for me to be disrespected in front of clients and members that come here,” Valenzuela said. 

So do I Ms. Valenzuela.  And hope you give Lambda Legal's LA office a call while you're at it. 

And it is because of situations like this why I go straight the hell off when some cis person, especially from the GLB community tries to suggest we pass half-assed trans human rights laws (Massachusetts) that don't have public accommodations language in them. 
 

Janette Tovar Murder Anniversary Update

On October 16 we passed the one year anniversary of the death of 43 year old Janette Tovar of Dallas, who died of blunt force trauma to the head after she was assaulted by her then 26 year old partner Jonathan Scott Kenney.

Kenney was arrested and charged for the murder of Tovar, but I haven't as of this writing found any evidence of a trial date being set for Kenney in this case or if he has been convicted of it.

I'll have to talk to my sources in the Dallas area to find out what's going on in the Tovar case since it's been a year and I'd like to know myself what's going on.  

The Facebook page set up in her memory by her niece Layla was updated on what would have been Janette's birthday on August 31 and has a recent post dated September 15.

It points out what I've stated before.  Trans murders have impacts far beyond just the individual whose life was taken.  It has ripple effects in the lives of countless other people who knew and loved the person as well. 

RIP Janette, and may you expeditiosly receive justice. 

Happy Anniversary Wendy and Ignacio

Today is the second wedding anniversary of our Cuban trans sister Wendy Iriepa and her activist hubby Ignacio Estrada, and wanted to wish our Cuban girl like us and her hubby a happy one.

Wendy got married back on August 13, 2011 to her hubby in a very public wedding in Havana in front of the unblinking eye of the world's media with Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez as a witness.

Iriepa is the first person in that island nation to get a state sanctioned SRS through the CENESEX program run by Mariela Castro.

Iriepa worked for it and was the public face of CENESEX until she and Castro had a public falling out over her attacking her activist hubby, who is the self proclaimed 'number one opponent of the Castro government'. 

She and her hubby have been visiting the US for three months and in addition to being in Miami and taking part in panel discussions and events in the area traveled to Washington DC and met with Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) whose district covers Miami along with touring Casa Ruby.

Happy anniversary Wendy and Ignacio!  May you continue to speak truth to power in your homeland and your marriage be a long, happy and healthy one.

Happy 24th Birthday, Angie

Today would have been girl like us Angie Zapata's 24th birthday had she not been murdered by Allen Andrade five years ago on July 17, 2008. 

Andrade is rotting in a Colorado prison doing life plus 60 years after being found guilty for that crime while all the people who loved Angie are feeling her loss more keenly on her birthday.

Justice would have been Angie returning to her family, but unfortunately that's not going to happen. 

What would Angie's life be like now?   Would she be getting out of or going to college?  Would she be doing the typical things a twentysomething young woman would be doing?   Would she be dating or involved in another relationship?  Would she have a vast circle of friends and an active social life?  How would her life be evolving right now?

Sadly, those are questions we and Angie's family will never find out the answer to because of what happened on July 17, 2008.   Instead of being surrounded by her loving family and her best friends celebrating another birthday, she is amongst the trans angels we've lost far too many of.

Happy birthday, Angie.  

Honor 41 List Trans Honoree Videos

The Honor 41 list was created by Alberto Mendoza to bring visibility to and honor the contributions of Latina and Latino TBLGQ people.

On the inaugural Honor 41 list we have five transpeople represented on it in the persons of Bamby Salcedo, Arianna Inurritegui Lint, Maria Roman, Danielle Castro and Isaac Gomez.

Nominations will open soon for the 2014 edition of the Honor 41 list, so if there are BTLGQ Latina/o folks you think deserve to be on the next list, when Alberto sends me the word, you TransGriot readers will also know when, where and how to send those nominations in. 

I have a few peeps I'm definitely going to suggest for next year's list.  And naw, they are not all Texans either.

As part of the process of being named to the Honor 41 List, the honorees also submitted videos.  So take the time to get to know our trans Latino/a brothers and sisters who were honored on this inaugural list and hope to see many more Honor 41 trans honorees in future editions of it.


Bamby Salcedo




Arianna Inurritegui Lint





Maria Roman






Danielle Castro




Isaac Gomez