We Are Not Being Sensitive, You're Being Obtuse .

TransGriot Note:  I like to from time to time signal boost commentary from other thought leaders in the community  in this space.   I liked this one from my Chicago based sis Channyn Parker, and believe that it is a message y'all needed to see, read and hear. 

Guest Post by Channyn Lynne Parker

I don’t really know where to begin, except to say for those of you who champion, defend, and continue to support trans women, thank you.

Honestly, I don’t think any trans person here expects a cis-person to understand what it’s like to have a body that expresses itself incongruently to one’s internal reality. However, what you can understand is the importance and recognition of our humanity.

None of us are blind to the fact there are fractures, rifts and subgrouping within our community along feigned notions of superiority.   But know this, there would be no community unless we trans women had not stood up first.

I hear the word “sensitive” being thrown around a lot, as if to gaslight us into believing that we  somehow are at fault for not recognizing the humor you find in our pain.

I wouldn’t be so quick to call a trans woman sensitive.  Remember, due to our daily existence, we trans women in fact have very tough skins.   What you are witnessing however, is heartbreak.

You can’t be sensitive while screaming in the face of a politician, to give you your right to be legally wed.

You can’t be sensitive while holding the hands of your dying, and burying your dead, and still muster up the strength to stand in the front lines demanding an end to the epidemic.

You can’t be sensitive when sitting in front of the young man who is hungry and tired with no place to go, and all you have to offer him is a little bit of comfort and something warm to fill his belly.

So, if to call us “sensitive” is your way of averting the need for or somehow directing at us a coded non-apology apology, it’s an apology that we do not accept.

We trans women were the wet nurses to this movement when “Gay Rights” was in its infancy. So again, what you’re your seeing and hearing from us is not sensitivity, it is a mother's grief. It is a daughter's abandonment, and a sister's rejection from her very own sons and brothers.

I feel no need to tarry any further as I have made myself abundantly clear with this soliloquy.

Again, I love you all with a love that is divinely mandated, and that love, is the love of respect.

Precious and Myles Are Having A Baby!

Y'all know I have mad love for Myles and Precious Brady-Davis, and the last time I spent any quality time with the both of them was back during #CC16 in Chicago.

We jjokingly call them in the community the 'Trans Obamas' because this amazing Chicago based trans power couple are both doing trailblazing advocacy work.   He's the communications director for Equality Illinois, while Precious is communications manager for the Sierra Club.

You may also remember Precious' apperance on the show Say Yes To The Dress in the runup to her and Myles' wedding.

While Myles has always wanted to have children, Precious initially wasn't feeeling parenthood but got onboard with the idea after being convinced by Myles.

It was a two year journey for them to get to this point.   Their initial attempt at IVF failed, and both had to go off their respecttive masculinizing and feminizing hormone regimens in order to give themselves the best possible chance for parenthood to happen.   It did, and now they are on a countdown to their child's December due date.

Congratulations Precious and Myles, and may your child be healthy, happy and surrounded with love!. .

The Tea About Princess Janae Place

"Never ever let somebody tell you what you cannot do or who you cannot be"
-Princess Janae Banks, October 2010

One of the excuses I hear when I make the repeated call for Black trans led organizations to get more significant levels of funding to do their needed and necessary work in our community is funders claiming they don't know of any Black trans led orgs or aren't aware of what they do.

Time to fix that problem. 

Princess Janae Place in New York's Bronx borough is named for the late Princess Janae Banks. 

She was born On February 8, 1970 in Brooklyn, New York and was tossed out of her home at age 19 when she came out as transgender to her family.   Banks was an iconic entertainer, pageant and ballroom performer for nearly 25 years in the New York tri-state region who died from lymphoma cancer after a long battle to beat it on September 16, 2013.

Banks was also a fierce advocate for the TBLGQ community.   Probably because of her experiences with being homeless and housing insecure, she focused her advocacy  on trans individuals at risk of becoming homeless or facing housing insecurity.

Princess Janae Place was founded in 2015 by its Executive Director Jevon Martin to continue Banks' advocacy around tackling the issues of housing affecting transgender and gender non conforming people.

Princess Janae Place, Inc is located at 2526 Wallace Ave in the Bronx, and is New York State's first and only community based housing organization led by and for people of trans experience.   With the motto of  'Housing is Healthcare',  Princess Janae Place, seeks to not only continue to make a dent in that problem. but provide a safe and welcoming space to the New York transgender and GNC community.

PJP's mission is to help people of trans experience maximize their full potential by providing residential, educational, clinical, and recreational services that create and nurture connections to the community and the world.

Since Princess Janae Place sees safe and affordable housing as a human right, it provides housing navigation services that include:

*Referrals to public, state and city housing vouchers
*Assistance in completing housing application
*Support in navigating the housing market
*General education on housing rights
*Referrals to a prescreened group of landlords and realtors with experience working with trans and gender non conforming individuals
*Referrals to non profit partners that provide housing.

PJP It also along with its partner organizations provides a wide array of case management services that include:

*GED preparedness and continuing education opportunities,
*Culturally competent health care, HIV prevention and testing
*Job readiness and preparedness programs that include resume review, access to professional clothing , job interview preparation and job referrals
*Mental health and counseling services
*Substance abuse treatment and support groups

PJP also has an ongoing peep led support and social networking group entitled 'Let's Talk' that covers a wide array of topics such as transitioning, medical care  and surgery resources, harassment, discrimination  and violence, and housing homelessness.

PJP participates in many events and functions in the New York Tri State area, and also conducts a Princess Pageant.    On October 6 it will hold a benefit show featuring the PJP Pageant court from 6;30-8:30 PM EDT at Zambo Aroma in the Bronx.

You can get your tickets for it at this link.

It can use you help to keep these services essential to the New York and tri state trans and GNC community operating and free to PJP members.   

If you need any further information concerning Princess Janae Place's programs or events, the address is 2526 Wallace Ave,  Bronx, NY 10467.   Their phone number is (718) 684-1688 and you can also access and like their Facebook page here.   

If You Can't (Or Won't) Unapologetically Love A Black Trans Woman, Step

This cartoon has been making the rounds in Black trans feminine world probably because it has struck a nerve to the point it motivated me to write this post about relationships.

Far too often we have some trans attracted men who wish to date us, but only if we keep it a secret. Many are too scared to live in their truth about declaring their desire to openly date trans women without judgment from society.   Some demand relationship secrecy out of concern for their own egos, concerns about what other cisgender women or their homies will say, or fear they will have their manhood questioned for openly dating us.

That social and political shaming of cis men who date trans women is a factor in what is killing us.

So hear me on this fellas and my trans sisters.  Time for a new game plan.  If you can't or won't publicly date me or my trans sisters, don't need your cowardly behind. We'll go to someone else who ain't 'scurred' to unapologetically date us and is ready to do so.

We Black trans women want to be taken out during daylight and early evening hours to public places. We wish to be occasionally spoiled and treated like the regal queens we are.

And if the relationship progresses to another level, we wish to be proudly introduced by you as your girlfriend to your family and friends.

We are not your secret lovers, hit it and quit it sloppy seconds, your punching bags because life is frakking with you or your after 2 AM booty call. We are women of quality and substance who scratch, fight and claw with every fiber of our being daily to be recognized by society as the women we know we are.

We are women who know they deserve better in relationships and aren't afraid to demand our suitors meet or exceed those high LTR standards.

Being in a relationship with a Black trans woman requires you to step your relationship game up. The world at times is unrelentingly cruel to us, and there are days we just need a hug, an empathetic ear, chocolate, an "I love you" whispered into our ear as were cuddling or all of the above.

We need you to be a best friend and a lover.

If you can't handle the challenge of loving a Black trans woman, then step. If you can, like the Marines, we're looking for a few good men, be they cis or trans.

Black trans women are their unapologetic selves 24-7-365, and 366 days in a leap year. We need LTR partners who not only recognize that, but are confident and secure in their own personhood to do the same.

Ginuwine Is NOT Into You, India

And note to all you peeps bitching about it,  that doesn't make him transphobic.

If he has followed his comment to India up with anti-transgender rhetoric and ignorance like  Lil Duval did on The Breakfast Club radio show a few months ago, then we would have a legitimate case to complain about transphobia.

The Net it tripping and erroneously calling R&B singer Ginuwine transphobic because he stated to British television presenter India Willoughby that he wasn't into trans women, and resisted when she tried to kiss him.

Then there's also the problematic look of a TransBecky getting mad because the handsome brother isn't into her cougar behind.

Who you like sexually and are attracted to is a matter of personal preference.   Some people are down with interracial relationships, some prefer intraracial relationships.   Some people prefer same gender loving relationships, some don't.  .Some people are into dating and having an intimate relationship with trans people and others aren't.

Some folks like certain body types.  Some like skinny, thin framed people.  Some like them curvy and full figured.  Some like petite, some like tall.   Some like people with athletic builds.  Some want their partners in a certain age range.   Some want intelligent ones. . 

We trans women cover that wide range of feminine bodies and personalities.  When you encounter as a trans woman somebody who isn't into you, all you can do is just say 'Thanks for letting me know your dating preferences", and then move on to find someone who is open to dating trans people in a short or long term relationships. .

So naw India, I'm not on #TeamTrans on this one.    Ginuwine is not into you, so stop tripping. 

The fact he;s not into you doesn't make him a transphobe..

You Are Beautiful, Black Trans Women

'I defy any doctor in the world to prove that I am not a woman.  I have lived, dressed, acted just what I am, a woman.'-Lucy Hicks Anderson

One of the things that we all struggle with at times as Black trans women is dealing with the dysphoria that whacks us from time to time.

Yes, we know that we are women, too, but whether you're pre, post or non op, there are times the 'that;s a man' insults that seems to come at you from all directions stings harder on some days than others.

And yes, we trans women can be some of our own harshest critics when it comes to scrutinizing ourselves and how we stack up with our trans sisters

You come in 24 different skin tones from light bright and damned near white to deepest darkest ebony.  Your fine brown frames come in all shapes and sizes.

It also doesn't help that we cis and trans Black women are also dealing with a beauty standard that never had us in mind when whiteness and white supremacy decided to elevate white women as the penultimate example of beauty, femininity and fertility that all women should aspire to. 

Deep breath, everyone.

I know it is a challenging time for us and the trans community.  We're under sustained attack by the Forces of Intolerance with a hostile Republican controlled federal government in place.   We have Black cis women in our own ranks sounding like white cis feminine TERF's.   You have days when your mood goes up and down with your hormones, and you feel like you can either conquer the world or wish you could just crawl back under the covers and not deal with crap today.

But remember, you are Black trans women.  You can accomplish anything you put your minds to.

You helped kick off a movement at Stonewall.  You stood up to oppression repeatedly at Compton's Cafeteria in 1966, Dewey's Lunch Counter in Philadelphia in 1965, and Cooper's Donuts in LA in 1959.  Sometimes you did it alone, sometime in coalition with others.

You have Black trans women who blazed trails and defiantly fought for your right to exist from Mary Jones to  Lucy Hicks Anderson  to Marsha P. Johnson    My generation picked up that leadership torch from and are now carrying it for you until it is time for y'all to accept it from us.

One of us got elected to a state legislature in 1990.   One of us is about to be featured in Playboy as their first ever playmate.   You are cutting edge thinkers, leaders, educators and trailblazers in this movement.   You stylishly rock fashion runways and red carpet.   You write New York Times best selling books like Janet.  You slay pageants and balls.  You grace our television screens like Amiyah and Laverne and you sing like angels all the way to Carnegie Hall like Tona Brown.

You have Black trans women who are not only running for office in Minneapolis, you are making trailblazing steps to shape the direction in which one of our major political parties will go as Marisa Richmond will do as a DNC member.   You are handling your business when it comes to getting your education, and you are desired and wanted as a life partner in a long term relationship.

You are all that and ten bags of barbeque chips.   And our Black trans feminine teens like Trinity will do even more amazing things as they grow to adulthood and I hope I'm around to see it. 

And yes, I need to say it, since Black trans women don't hear it enough.   You are beautiful, my Black trans sisters.   You are enough, to borrow your trans brother Kye Allums' words.

You are valid.  You are part of the diverse mosaic of human life.  You undeniably exist no matter how many times our right wing and TERF opposition try and fail to denigrate our humanity.

You are fabulous and you are my sister, no matter where you live across the Diaspora.  Whether you live in Brazil, the Caribbean, the USA, Europe, or on the African continent, we are connected through our DNA, history and being Black on a planet that universally reviles Blackness.

Never forget that.  Never forget  that you are beautiful, Black trans women.

You Mad Because You're Attracted To A Trans Woman?

One of the things I'm more than a little sick of is the meme floating around the Net denying the femininity and humanity of trans feminine women.  My sis Raquel Willis was sick of it too and tweeted that meme to counter a transphobic one that was floating around.

Just an FYI cis boys (and cis girls), trans women are women.  That's a far too simple concept for you to grasp.

As women, we not only come in all shapes, sizes and skin tones, some of us were blessed to have the right combinations of genetic material that also make us attractive to people who like attractive feminine bodies.  Some of u spent the extra cash to surgically enhance our bodies to get them where we wanted them in order to hake ourselves happy.

And if by doing so, we became more aesthetically pleasing to you, that's a bonus.

And if some of you transphobes are bothered by that last statement, too damned bad if you are.  Don't get mad if you saw a pic of a trans woman, you said to yourself "Damn she's fine!" and in response your junk starts stiffening as you ogle her picture.

Yeah, we know it happens.  Some of y'all are hitting those trans porn sites on the regular to see what my pre and non op sisters may or may not have in their panties, so don't even front.

Once again, a trans woman is a woman. If you are attracted to femininity, you are going to react to an attractive trans woman just as you would a cis woman, especially if you aren't prejudiced by knowing the trans woman's background before you scope out her pictures.

And not all of us are over 6 feet tall.  I repeat, just like cis women, we come in all shapes, sizes and body configurations, and I know more than a few trans women who are petite size 8 shoe wearing divas.

I ain't mad or jealous of my trans sisters who were blessed with that combination of traits that make them attractive to the male species.  Neither should you cis he-men be hating on that trans women either to the point that you wish to inflict unhinged levels of violence upon her..

So don't get mad if you're attracted to a trans woman.  If you actually take the time to get to know some of us, you'll find that many of us are smart, sexy, talented and make great friends.

And if you allow yourself to do so, you may even find yourself if you open your heart to doing so, taking her home to meet your family or eventually putting a ring on her finger.

Hey NBC, Will You Interview A Trans Brazilian During The Games?

When the Olympics kick off in Rio this August, we will see during the broadcast coverage in addition to seeing all the pageantry of the opening ceremonies,  the competition,  and the shots of the natural beauty of Brazil in and around the Rio area over the period of the XXXI Olympic Games from August 5-22.

There are also moments during the NBC coverage when they aren't updating the national medal counts, will take some time to address the news making issues that cropped up either during the runup to the Games or during the Olympiad itself.

And they will have a few non Olympic news stories to choose from.  From the Zika virus outbreak to the contentious attempt to impeach Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to wondering whether the Olympic venues would be ready on time, the NBC media team will have a lot to talk about that's non Rio Olympic competition related during the breaks between the competitions they wish to televise during their upcoming prime time broadcasts..

I also hope that one of the issues that will get discussed in a time in which we trans people are getting heightened attention is the off the charts violence aimed at my Brazilian trans sisters.  

While we are justifiably concerned about the 11 trans women we've lost this year, our Brazilian sisters look at our trans murder rate in the US with envy as they are sadly the runaway leaders when it comes to the near-genocidal slaughter of our trans siblings.

The anti-trans hate equation is in full effect in Brazil no thanks to a lethal cocktail of anti-trans hate peddled by the Roman Catholic Church and fundamentalist Christians, guns, anti-trans discrimination, no trans rights protections at the federal and state level,  and indifference by law enforcement to vigorously prosecute crimes committed against trans people.

Hope the NBC Olympic commentators take the time to discuss that ongoing human rights problem and give it the international visibility and attention it deserves while the entire world's eyes are trained on Brazil for the Olympics.

 

Happy Trans National Holiday 2015!

Today is Halloween, and for those of you who aren't getting rained on like we are in Houston right now, hope you will have a wonderful time taking to kids out to trick or treat, or at that costume party you're planning to attend later tonight.

And don't wear Blackface.   While I'm at it, don't wear yellowface, redface or think that you can put on a non white persons cultural traditions like some sort of costume.  Just say no and use that brain to come up with another idea for a Halloween costume.

Now that I've gotten that TransGriot public service announcement out of the way, Happy Trans National Holiday!

Halloween has been the night in which our people held elaborate drag balls in Chicago and New York that drew thousands on the South Side and the old Roseland Ballroom.

But it was also the night that we trans folks were free to if just for one day, be the everyday men and women we wanted to permanently be the other 364 days of the year.

I know that was the way I looked at it on those Halloween nights before I moved into my own place.  I'd head to a trusted friends apartment where I had my femme clothing stashed, take the time to gleefully get in femme mode and go to Studio 13 in Montrose as an everyday sister just getting off work.

And it's interesting to note that once transition happened for me and became a reality, Halloween wasn't a day I planned with the efficiency of the D-Day invasion, but became just another day on the calendar.

So for trans people and those contemplating transition, Halloween has a different meaning than it does for cis people.  It's only after we become our true selves that we transpeeps even begin to think about it in terms of 'what costume do I wear'?

Happy Trans National Holiday people!

National Coming Out Day 2015

"If you're trans*, it's even scarier and a much different dynamic from our LGB brothers and sisters because a gender transition is not easy.  After the initial coming out date, unlike our cis LGB brothers and sisters, we have to pay cash out of pocket, get trans specific medical care and counseling, and morph our bodies to be our kind of person we wish to project to the world. "  -TransGriot October 11, 2013,"National Coming Out Day 2013-It's STILL Different For A Trans Person

Today is National Coming Out Day, in which people in the trans, bi and SGL community are urged to on this October 11 date to be ourselves.   If you aren't ready to do so today, my best advice to to wait until you are emotionally ready to handle that challenging business of announcing to the world your true self and going forward from that date of making it happen.

But I'm also thinking about National Coming Out Day 2015 in the wake of us losing another young trans sister in Keisha Jenkins last week.   

Being girls and guys like us can be tough at times, but nothing beats the exhilaration and the happiness of knowing thyself and being on an evolving journey of living your life openly and honestly.

My coming out date wasn't on October 11, it was April 4, 1994 and I have not regretted making that move.   The only regret I really have that pops up at times is not being able to start it sooner.

But I did, and I have a higher quality and amazing life because of it.   I have some people in my life I probably wouldn't have gotten to know if I hadn't transitioned, get blessed with opportunities to talk about trans issues around the country and would like to have it happen more often. 

I get to pick up the phone and actually converse with trans people from around the country from my trans younglings to trans elders like Miss Major, occasionally make a little history like I did when I took part in a White House Trans Women of Color Briefing back in March;.  I have an awesome network of cis and trans sisters who keep me grounded and ensure that my azz doesn't get 'Big Head Syndrome' because of the awesome company I keep. 

I have also gotten to meet during my two decades in this community some trans brothers who are also doing some groundbreaking things for our community as well like Dr Kortney Ziegler, Kylar Broadus, Jevon Martin, Rev. Louis Mitchell and Carter Brown just to name a few that I am immensely proud of.

Has it been challenging and a pain in azz at times?  Yep, sure has.   I've also had my share of setbacks, especially in the romance department..  But facing those challenges and emerging victorious from them has made me the unapologetically Black trans person I am today.   

But it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't taken that preliminary first step out of the closet in 1994.

To those of you coming out today, at events tomorrow or whenever you choose to do so, welcome to the family.

Clock's Ticking On The 2015 US Trans Survey

If you haven't taken the 2015 US Trans Survey, are living in the US, and you are trans, non binary or genderqueer, you have until midnight September 21 to do so.

Over 6500 people nationally took the 2008-2009 survey, and the data it produced as compiled in the 2011 Injustice At Every Turn report not only painted a stark picture of the state of the trans community at that time, there were enough trans people of color who took it so that the data could be broken down by ethnicity and states.

I use it from time to time in my blog posts, and it has also helped trans advocates, advocacy organizations, our allies and people in academia push for policy changes and laws that have benefited all trans persons in the US.

So if you haven't done do, I'm encouraging you to do so before the deadline.  I'm also encouraging as many trans people of color as possible to also take the US Trans Survey so that we have more solid data about what ails our communities and frankly, so our voices are heard loud and clear when the compilation report for this survey comes out.

The survey is available in English and Spanish, so surf on over to US Trans Survey.org to complete it before the upcoming September 21 deadline.

'Her Story' Trailer

Been hearing about this new media series project that Jen Richards and Angelica Ross are involved and starring in along with Laura Zak for the last few months.

Now we finally get to see the trailer for this web series with a targeted Fall 2015 debut..

It's called Her Story and features Jen and Angelica playing two Los Angeles trans women who have given up on love until two chance encounters giver them hope.

Richards plays Violet, the new girl in town who is drawn to Allie, a reporter who has approached her for an interview.  Ross plays Paige, a career driven girl like us attorney who meets James, the first cis man she has considered opening up to in years.

Can both women get past their own issues in order to take a chance on letting someone love them for the beautifully human people they are?





One of the things I and other trans people have been saying for years is that since Hollywood isn't doing the job, we need to have transpeople telling our own stories so it gets done properly.  

This is a concrete example of what I have been talking about, and so looking forward to seeing it.,

The Fight To Keep HERO-September 11

Another question for you HERO haters.

You have been beating the bathroom issue into the ground because you refuse to have a rational discussion about the merits of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance because you know you'll lose if that happens.

That's why we've had, helped by the collusion of lazy Houston media stenographers (they don't deserve to be called journalists) an overdose since last year of right wing fear and smear anti-HERO tactics centered on the potty.

So as tired as I and Houston Trans World is (and trans peeps around the country) of the debunked bathroom issue and you cis people's obsession over what genitalia is between our legs, I'm going to post on it for the last time in this run to the November 3 election.

I keep hearing this line being thrown out by the HERO haters about people needing to use the bathroom based on their genitalia.  But the reality these days is that genitalia does not equal to gender identity or outward gender presentation.

So here goes with my question: Do you HERO haters wish to require that people use the bathroom based on their genitalia?  

You may wish to think long and hard about this question before you answer it.

If your answer is yes, then you would be forcing trans masculine guys like Sgt. Shane Ortega to go to the bathroom with your wives, nieces and daughters.

So the next time you start insultingly calling trans women 'men,' because you willfully refuse to accept their lived experiences and their lives, better consider the fact that trans masculine people exist, and in your zeal to keep 'men out of the women's restrooms', you'll be karmically setting up the exact scenario you've been using to demonize trans feminine people with and scaremonger about in this HERO debate.

And we'll be laughing our azzes off about it.

Trans people have been using the restrooms that correspond to our gender presentation for five decades without incident.

So no, we are not going to meekly accept or be forced by the tyranny of the majority to potentially be placed in dangerous situations for us to use a restroom that doesn't correspond to our outward appearance based on a right wing lie.

We are tired of being dehumanized by people who have no clue about what we deal with, refuse to educate themselves about trans people, or sit in smug faux faith based judgment of our lives

Bottom line is we need to poop and pee just like everyone else on Planet Earth. . If you're looking to stop those predators you're so concerned about, start in your own homes, neighborhoods or churches

And besides, a law already exists to punish peeps who enter restrooms to commit crimes.  It's Section 28.20 in the Houston City Code of Ordinances and it's still very much in effect.  You commit a crime in a Houston bathroom, you're still going to jail and getting prosecuted for it.

Our HERO opponents have yet to (and will not be able to) produce any police report from now and over the last five decades that backs up the lie they have been gleefully spreading about trans people for the last year

We are the prey, not the predator. We have had 19 transwomen killed in 2015 because of anti-trans violence in the US this year.  Trans people face 26% unemployment.because of the anti-trans hatred stirred up by FOX Noise, sellout kneegrow ministers, conservative activists and the GOP.

If transpeople like Sgt Shane Ortega and the 15,000 others in our armed forces are good enough to fight and die in America's military, then we are good enough to have our human rights respected and protected.

We are tired of being harassed by non-trans people based on a debunked right wing spin line when we poop and pee.   We go to the bathroom for the same reasons you do, to handle a natural bodily function, and you need to Houston media stop lying about it.  .  

Trans people are part of the diverse mosaic of human life on Planet Earth, and we're tired of waiting on you cis peeps to recognize that.

That's why I and every reality based Houston area trans person who is registered to vote and our allies will be voting YES on Proposition 1 to keep the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.

Maya and Rick's Bold And Beautiful Wedding

While I was working on escaping from Casa de Slumlord, I didn't have cable during that time period, and I missed some of the groundbreaking episodes in the Rick and Maya trans story line on the Bold and the Beautiful leading up to their wedding.

While that was going on, Maya was trying to repair the relationship between herself and her father Julius Avant that had become contentious between them when she transitioned in her teen years .

First her younger sister Nicole, and now her mother Vivienne relationships with Maya have been improving to the point that Nicole accepts and loves her unconditionally as her big sister, and the relationship between her and her mother Vivienne was improving during that time period she was visiting her in LA.

But Julius is still transphobically unrepentant concerning his feelings for Maya, she overheard him during the run up to the wedding, and it came to a head as Maya was about to get married to Rick Forrester

This is a groundbreaking story line that not only features a major character who is trans, but that character also happens to be African-American.

This wedding may also be the first for a soap opera in terms of it involving a trans feminine character marrying a cisgender male.

It has also been groundbreaking (and emotional at times for me) to see how the issues surrounding Maya's transition have played out in an African-American family


Well, speaking of those episodes, here they are for your perusal TransGriot readers.