Our Black trans masculine elders have done much to advance the human rights of our trans community, but unfortunately don't get the props and praise they deserve for it.
Dr Kortney Ziegler is raising $100K to split between three amazing trans masculine leaders in Ethan Thomas Young, Rev Louis Mitchell and Kylar Broadus.
While I'm not familiar with Ethan or his work (and that's the impetus for me to get familiar with it) , I am however quite aware of Louis and Kylar, I have known both for over a decade, and I am proud to call them friends and colleagues in the struggle.
I have witnessed both Louis and Kylar contribute their time, talents and sweat equity into building out community and organizations like the Trans Persons Of Color Coalition that Kylar founded in 2010. Louis has been involved in faith leadership in our community and being a mentor to our trans masculine community.
All three of our elders deserve your support, and if you can contribute something, please do so. .
Here's the link to donate to the fundraiser. You can also hit Kortney up on Cash App if you wish to do so that way at $fakerapper
Thanks to Kortney for organizing it, and please show our trans masculine elders some love and help Kortney reach that $100K goal .
"My message to every trans and gender non-conforming person is this: God is love and you were made in the image of perfect Love. There is space for you in this world. There is space at your church, in your desired career, in your family, on sports teams...and it is time to take your space. Show up! In large number or in small...your presence is valued and necessary. So what, they stare or ask questions, answer them. Look them in the eyes proudly with your beautiful, handsome, artsy, brilliant, capable, transgender self. Claim your space. Rearrange the seating to make room at the table. Correct people when they use the wrong pronouns. Hang up your own sign on the bathroom door. Tell them who you are and who you are not. Be bold. No one is going to understand what they cannot see, cannot hear or cannot know. " -Rev Lawrence T, Richardson, 2013
One of the best things about being a advocate over 20 years is that you get to meet some amazing people along the way.
I met Rev. Lawrence T. Richardson during a BTAC conference back in 2013, and saw him again during my recent April trip to Minneapolis and on the University of Minnesota campus.
For the last five years he has been the associate pastor at Linden Hills United Church of Christ in Minneapolis under the Rev Eliot Howard, who has been the senior pastor at Linden Hills UCC for the last 26 years.
Rev Howard, along with everyone else Rev. Lawrence has encountered, has recognized that he is an amazing leader who is well respected not only in the local and national faith communities, but in the trans one as well.
Rev. Howard has decided to retire, and in an overwhelming affirmative vote by the membership of Linden Hills on October 27, chose Rev Richardson to be their next leader. It makes him the first out Black trans cleric in his home state of Minnesota
Rev Richardson is excited about the new opportunity, and one of his his missions will be to have Linden Hills UCC continue to be a welcoming church community, just as it was when he encountered it.
Congratulations Rev. Richardson! I'm extremely proud of you and the history you're making! I hope that I'll get a chance to visit Linden Hills the next time my travels bring me to the Twin Cities.
Before transition, he fought in the 2012 US Olympic trials. He's endured physical rehab, chest surgery, the fight to cut through red tape and get licensed as a boxer, and a multiyear journey to get to this point.
But tomorrow night, 33 year old Pat Manuel will step into a ring in Indio, CA and make history.
"We keep being told that to be a high level successful athlete, you have to be born in a man's body." says Cyd Zeigler of Outsports. "and that anyone born in a man's body has an automatic advantage over anyone born in a female body. People like Pat are showing that transgender men can compete at the highest levels against cisgender men."
"It is not just powerful for the trans community, but it really should open our eyes to the foolishness of the stereotypes we've always had about gender in sports." Zeigler continues.
"I'm not the type of person that is just going in there for a participation trophy, my goal is to win,"said Manuel. "My mindset isn't really thinking about the history of this. It's more thinking about going in there and performing as an athlete."
He's correct about that point. It isn't his job to think about the historic trailblazing nature of this bout. Thinking and talking about the history of this event is my job.
He'll become the first out trans masculine person to box professionally when he takes on Mexico's Hugo Aguilar tomorrow night. Manuel has already fought an amateur bout as a trans masculine person back in 2016, which he won by decision in three rounds.
It'll be interesting to see what happens in his first professional bout.
I hope that debut as a professional boxer is a successful one.
We've lost another of our trans elders and pioneers in Stanford University neuroscientist Dr. Ben Barres.
Dr Barres passed away at age 63 on December 27, 20 months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer
Dr Barres focused his research on the cells in the brain that aren't nerve cells, called glia cells. That research would revolutionize the field of neurobiology
He authored over 167 peer reviewed papers during his career and waselected to membership in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine.
If we eventually find a cure for Alzheimer's and other neurological conditions, Dr Barres' research into glial cells will be indispensable in putting scientists on the path for doing so.
As a trans masculine person, he was a champion for marginalized groups in academia and society, and will be missed by his colleges and all who loved him.
'I have to tell you as an African-American transgender man of faith that it is crucially important that the dignity of every citizen not only be provided for, but affirmed." -Bishop S.F. Makalani-MaHee , 2014
I first met Bishop S.F Makalani MaHee when I was tapped to deliver the keynote speech for the TransSaints Conference in Charlotte, NC in 2012. We were connected on Facebook, and he, like myself was a contributor to the Bilerico Project. I kept up with him as one of the amazing people speaking up for the trans community of South Florida and being a transgender man of faith .
I was shocked to hear that Bishop had suffered a heart attack on November 2 and after a valiant struggle to recover, passed away on November 20 at the age of 45.
Bishop Makalani-MaHee born in New York, and was the founder of Black Gay Pride South Florida in addition to his day job of being the Transgender Programs Coordinator for the Florida Department of Health in Broward County.
In addition to becoming the youngest commissioned pastor at Unity Fellowship Church, he was a strong voice for the empowerment of the South Florida transgender community and a strong critic of proposed policies and unjust laws that would harm it
.
A memorial service is being held for Bishop Makalani-MaHee later today starting at 4 PM EST at the Sunshine Cathedral, located at 1480 SW Ninth Avenue in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
But there is no denying the fact that we have lost one of our community's powerful soldiers for human rights, and he will be missed not only by all who loved him, but his trans family in South Florida and around the country.
The ESPN The Magazine's The Body Issue has been featuring since 2009 nude and semi nude photos of elite athletes for several years now
The 2016 edition is due out next month, and when it does hit the newsstands it will feature a little trans history. Chris Mosier is a trailblazing duathlete, advocate for trans athletes and the first out trans athlete to qualify for a US national team,
Now he is also the first out trans athlete to appear in the pages of the ESPN The Body Issue.
"There are a lot of people making history right now, and they just may not be as public as I am,"said Mosier.
'I think the reason I felt so inspired to do it is because I'm finally at a place that i fell very comfortable with my body. And as a trans person, being in a body that really didn't fit me for 29 years, now I feel very comfortable in my own skin," he added.
You can look for the 2016 The Body Issue featuring Chris and other elite athletes starting on July 8
My trans brothers have been asking me why I haven't been covering the news from their half of the community lately, and they have a point. I do need to do a better job of it since I have the only continuous publishing blog dealing with trans issues from an African-American trans perspective.
And covering trans issues from an African-American perspective means I not only need to cover the stuff that happens on the trans feminine end, it also means I need to cover the issues and developments on the trans masculine end, too.
But you trans brothers also need to step up and let Moni know what's happening, and what you think I need to be talking about that you think needs to be brought to our attention for a wider discussion across Trans World.
Commentary over, now let's segue to what this post is about.
This weekend in the ATL the FTM Fitness World Conference will be taking place October 1-3 at the Ramada Plaza -Downtown Atlanta (Capitol Park) with the 2015 theme of The Warrior Within You.
The event was founded by Neo Sandja with the goal of bringing the trans community and trans masculine men together who want more out of life through workshops, activities, exhibits, partnerships, networking and entertainment.
It also made a little history in the process. In 2014 The FTM Fitness Conference hosted the first ever bodybuilding competition for men of trans experience.
The FTM Fitness World Conference has two goals, The first one is to embrace diversity by focusing on what unites us instead of what separates us and bridging the gap between us based on age, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, religious affiliation and more.
The second one is to empower our community. It seeks to do so by inspiring attendees to push for excellence while rejecting mediocrity. It wishes to inspire attendees to be the change they wish to see in their local communities and realize they possess the tools to succeed in every area of their lives while focusing on what united the trans community.
The emcee of this year's event will be my lovely Houston homegirl Diamond Stylz, and keynote speakers will not only include FTM Fitness World Con founder Neo Sandja, but also Dr. Kortney Ziegler, Ryan Salinas, Tracee McDaniel, and Buck Angel,
And yes, the 2nd annual FTM Fitness World Bodybuilding Competition will be a part of this year's event.
If you wish to learn more about #FTMFitCon15 you can go to ftmfitnessconference.com for further information.
One of the ongoing truisms we'll say in the trans community that relates to bottom surgery for our trans brothers goes like this:
'Trans men got the blessing of instant passability, but their bottom surgery sucks.'
While medical science has long been able for decades to create aesthetically authentic looking genitalia for trans women, so far that has been problematic enough for our trans brothers to the point many forgo the genital surgery.
But that may be about to change thanks to news of a. medical technology breakthrough that may change that for trans men and cis men who have lost their genitalia for whatever reason.
In 2009 urological surgeon Dr. Anthony Atala the director of the Wake Forest University Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and his colleagues attached a bioengineered penis to 12 male rabbits. When those rabbits mated, 8 had successful ejaculations and 4 produced offspring.
With the successful animal trials completed, they have now moved up the evolutionary ladder and are working to do the same for human males
Atala's technique is to use a donor penis, soak it in enzymes that remove the donor cells, then use cells from the patient so they have a biologically functioning penis. Once the organ has grown strong enough, it is then attached to the patient.
What is needed is someone to do the first human transplant test to know if the technique is viable, and Atala's team expects that to happen in the next five years.
As for whether it would work for our trans brothers, there are pro and con arguments so far, but the only way we will know for sure is once the technique is perfected or medical science comes up with a better solution. And as fast as medical technology has been evolving lately, it may be sooner rather than later.
But a long held dream of the trans masculine community that wishes it in terms of realistic and functional penis may become a reality within the next ten to years.
