Jazz Is Having Her GRS!

On a day filled with bad news from the SCOTUS to the White House, some good news to report.

One of our favorite trans teens is finally having her gender confirmation surgery today!

We've not only had the pleasure of watching her grow up, but thanks to the I Am Jazz reality TV show share some of her adventures, advocacy and family life.

Best of luck to Jazz Jennings as she undergoes surgery.   May she come through it without any complications, and she be blessed with speedy healing and recovery after it. 

ConGRADulations Trans Class of 2017

It's not easy getting an education while trans, and our haters are trying to make it harder for you to do so. You deserve the utmost love and respect for making the investment in yourselves to do so.
-TransGriot, May 3, 2016

Me attending a graduation potluck celebration in Emily Chambers' UH dorm room last night reminded me that I haven't written my annual post congratulating the Trans Class of 2017 and showing y'all some love like I have done for trans classes in previous years.

Congratulations indeed on getting your 'ejumacations' while trans, because the right wing transphobic haters are trying to make it harder for you to do so from grade school to graduate school.

But the bottom line is that you persevered.  You are making the jump from elementary to middle school;.  From middle school to high school.  From high school to college.  From college undergrad to graduate school or to that off campus real world life.

Each jump to the next level of your educational journey has its challenges,.  But if you can successfully navigate a gender transition, school is easy compared to that.  

By doing so, you are committing a revolutionary and evolutionary act at the same time.  You are being revolutionary by being your out and proud selves in those academic spaces and excelling in them.  You are becoming indispensable parts of your various campuses.  many of you have evolved become leaders because you have had to fight to defend your very humanity and right to exist from ignorant transphobes.

And most importantly, you are stepping across those stages at either the main or lavender graduation ceremonies that will happen across the country with diplomas (or diploma covers) in hand.

You also did so while also dealing with the challenges of being a trans masculine, trans feminine or gender non conforming person in a classroom or collegiate setting, and that makes us trans elders and hopefully your families, be they blood or chosen, smile.

Congratulations Trans Class of 2017!    Looking forward to see what happens in your lives over the next few years.

  .

US 4th Circuit Court Of Appeals Rules In Favor Of Gavin Grimm!

In a closely watched case that will possibly have an effect on North Carolina's Hate Bill 2,  a federal appeals court ruled today that a policy barring Virginia trans masculine student Gavin Grimm from using the bathroom matching his current gender presentation at his high school is unconstitutional!

The three judge panel of the US 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, VA  overturned the Gloucester County School Board's unjust policy in a 2-1 decision.

US District Court Judge Robert G. Doumar  (Reagan appointee) last year had previously sided with the Gloucester County School Board in the GG vs Gloucester County Schools case, denying Grimm's sex discrimination claim because in his words, 'Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex and not on the basis of other concepts such as gender, gender identity or sexual orientation."

The three judge panel said otherwise   Judges Henry Floyd and Andre Davis (Obama appointees) ruled in favor, judge Paul Niemeyer (GHW Bush appointee) was the dissenting judge.

'Because we conclude the district court did not accord appropriate deference to the relevant Department of Education regulations, we reverse its dismissal of G.G.'s Title IX claim. Because we conclude that the district court used the wrong evidentiary standard in assessing G.G.'s motion for a preliminary injunction, we vacate its denial and remand for consideration under the correct standard.  We therefore reverse in part, vacate in part, and remade the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.'  

The Justice Department filed a 'statement of interest' in this case declaring that failure to allow transgender students to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity was sex discrimination. .

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling establishes legal precedent in every state in the circuit that includes, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina and North Carolina.

"I feel so relieved and vindicated by the court's ruling,' said Grimm in a statement released from the ACLU. "today's ruling gives me hope that my fight with help other kids avoid discriminatory treatment at school."

Stay tuned, because we trans folks may have just gotten another legal hammer to whack HB 2 with  

This case also emphatically points out that elections not only matter, the person sitting in the Oval Office selecting who goes onto these federal judicial benches matters, too.

'I Am Jazz' Renewed By TLC For Second Season

I have much love for Jazz Jennings and her family, and was pleased to hear that Jazz for the second straight year was named by TIME magazine as one of its 30 Most Influential Teens.

In other news about our fave trans feminine teen, TLC has finally decided to renew the I Am Jazz reality TV series for another season.

The show will get eight more episodes, and features now 15 year old Jazz trying to balance school, her family, athletics and her activist life and also features members of her amazing family.

Earlier this week, after the SPLC certified hate group the Liberty Counsel bullied a Wisconsin school district into cancelling a reading of her children's book entitled I Am Jazz, the town of Mount Horeb, WI responded with two well attended readings in support of the trans feminine child and her family.

And in an open letter concerning the situation, she wrote:

‘My book can help, I think, but I know from my own experience that it is adults like my parents and (Principal Rachael Johnson) who can make sure that transgender children are treated fairly at school and given the same opportunities to succeed in life.‘I have been sharing my story for almost a decade because I don’t want anyone else to feel alone or scared.’

Congrats again, Jazz, and continued success for you!  Looking forward to the next time I get to spend a little quality time with you and your family.

,

California Trans Teen Becomes Cheerleader

One of the things that really makes me proud to see as a trans elder is seeing our trans youngling not only getting to live their lives as their true selves at earlier ages, but getting to live their dreams at the same time.

Meet Anry Fuentes, who is not only transitioning during her senior year at Denair High School in Turlock, CA,, but is also living her dream to be a cheerleader.

“I was really good friends with this girl named Selena and she was a cheerleader with Denair Youth Football, so I would just go and watch her cheer for the football players and go to her practices,” said Fuentes.

“I was like, ‘wait, I want to be a cheerleader too!’” she laughed.

That childhood dream to become a cheerleader fueled by her friendship with Selena became a reality for her.  She has not only received support from cheerleader coach Robin Hilton, but her fellow cheerleaders and classmates.

Fuentes noted in her interview with the Turlock Journal that although her transition has had some bumpy moments, she has excelled in school and earned the Stanislaus County Seal of Multilingual Proficiency for her Spanish and English fluency.

“I’m not sugarcoating it, it was tough. But my life is given to me once and I’m going to make the most of it,” said Fuentes. “Everybody goes through that stage where they think ‘I’m never going to get out of this.’

“No—you are going to get out of it. I am living proof. I didn’t give up,” continued Fuentes.

Chase Gets Her Drivers License

Due to my housing drama that blew up in mid to late June and July, I missed some of these trans themed stories that occurred during that time period.

One of the stories that had a happy ending was of South Carolina trans teen Chase Culpepper.  You'll recall that Culpepper ran into a transphobic DMV employee in the Anderson. SC office that forced her to take off the makeup she was wearing for her license photo back in March 2014.  

She won a federal lawsuit that not only allowed her to take that license photo that more accurately reflects who she is, but changed DMV policy.

Culpepper also received an apology from the South Carolina DMV for the unnecessary transphobic drama they took her through.

She finally got the opportunity to take that correct license photo, and WYFF-TV news cameras were there to watch what transpired.



Happy for Chase.  It's also an example of our trans younglings showing us trans elders by example that they are not only won't back down in the face of transphobic discrimination, but will fight it tooth and nail.

Gotta love her for that.

'I Am Jazz' Starts July 15

I've had the pleasure of meeting Jazz, Jeanette, her grandparents and her big sis Ari last year at PTHC, and now the rest of America will on July 15.

TLC will launch the I Am Jazz reality TV show on that date ay 9 PM CDT, and while I'm not a huge fan of reality television, this is one show I'll definitely be tuning in to watch if I have cable installed by then

But for those of you who do, you may not want to miss this show about one of our amazing trans teen advocates and her wonderful family.

Here  are some of the promo videos to give you a taste of what's coming on July 15.