The HLN 'Transgender In America' Interview

Well, the reviews from the Transosphere are coming in concerning the Don Lemon conducted interview on HLN's The Joy Behar Show with Isis King, Harmony Santana, Laverne Cox and Chaz Bono.

And it ain't pretty.  

Chaz Bono complained on air and later on Twitter about the Trans 101 line of questioning. 

The only thing I can give them a thumbs up concerning this panel was that it was a multiethnic one. Chaz got frustrated with the Trans 101 line of questioning and complained about it on air and on Twitter. 

You know, maybe Don needs to read the post I wrote in the wake of the trans free NAACP panel discussion at their recently concluded convention in LA..

I'll have to ponder it for another day since I wasn't happy when that interview was over either. 

Janet Mock has shared her thoughts about Monday's show in her Fish Food For Thought blog post entitled Trans in the Media: A Call to Elevate the Conversation.

And that’s the bigger issue here: Lemon symbolizes many of our gay brothers and lesbian sisters, who just don’t get us trans people. We inherently shake their own notions of what it means to be a man and a woman in our society to their core. Until we are able to actually be open to the gender-variancy that is in nature, naturally, we’ll never be able to move forward and not only demand gay and lesbian rights, but transgender rights; civil human rights.

The sad thing about it was that it was a wonderful opportunity to advance the conversation about trans issues, but it was mishandled and fumbled once again.

Family Worried About Transwoman's Transfer To Male Prison

Jovanie Saldana has been transitioning since she was 12.years old, but unfortunately has spent the last 14 months incarcerated in the Riverside Correctional Facility in the Philadelphia area.

The 23 year old Saldana was arrested and charged on June 11, 2010 according a Philadelphia Daily News story for several felonies including an armed robbery that she is facing a court date for next Monday..

As you can see by the photo in which her face is blurred out so that she isn't facing the prospect of sexual assault while being locked up with the 'menz', it's understandable how she ended in the RCF facility.

Saldana is in the news because the Riverside Correctional Facility people only discovered last week that she hasn't had SRS yet.   

She filed a complaint on a corrections officer that she alleges forced her to perform oral sex on him.  In the process of investigating that complaint, while eavesdropping on a three way phone conversation in Spanish between herself, her mother and an unnamed female cousin, her mother was overheard urging her to come clean about her trans status.  As a result she was transferred to a men's prison and an investigation has been launched into how she ended up at RCF.

"We're not quite sure how this mistake originated," said prison spokeswoman Shawn Hawes, adding that "the entire process" is now under investigation by prison and police officials.  Hawes declined comments about the investigation of the guard.

Saldana's mother believes that the transfer to a PPS male facility was a retaliatory and punitive measure because Jovanie filed charges against the corrections officer and her pre-operative status was a cover excuse for doing so.

She might be right.  And judging by previous developments elsewhere, when it comes to transwomen interacting with the penal system, she's got damned good reasons to be concerned about her trans daughter..
 
Will be keeping an eye on this, because long story short, despite the allegations that's she's had two fights in Riverside Correctional Facility in the 14 months she's been there, y'all should have left her in the female prison.   She's in even more danger of being sexually assaulted since y'all transferred her over to a male facility, and if I were Jovanie's mother, I'd be keeping an attorney on retainer if something bad does happen to her while she's there.

Happy Kwanzaa Black Trans Style-Compilation and Contemplation

Now that Kwanzaa is over,  I decided to compile this post that centralizes and makes it easy to find and read all the chocolate trans themed Kwanzaa posts I compiled for the recently completed 2010 celebration of it.

I hope you found them and this series enlightening and thought provoking.   Best of all I pray that you will do more than just ponder them, but make it a point to incorporate some if not all of those principles into your daily lives and in your interactions with other transpeople of African descent.

As for our African descended cis brothers and sisters, I hope it helped you realize that the African unity that is stressed during Kwanzaa means ALL of us, not just cis straight people.  We transpeeps are your brothers and sisters as well and I hope that instead of hating, disrespecting and directing violence against us, you will do a much better job this year and from now on of incorporating African descended transpeople into our shared African descended family.


Happy Kwanzaa-Black Trans Style

Happy Kwanzaa Black Trans Style-Umoja

Happy Kwanzaa Black Trans Style-Kujichagulia


Happy Kwanzaa Black Trans Style-Ujima

Happy Kwanzaa Black Trans Style-Ujamaa

Happy Kwanzaa Black Trans Style-Nia

Happy Kwanzaa Black Trans Style-Kuumba

Happy Kwanzaa Black Trans Style-Imani