A Trans Woman Is Crowned Miss Universe Spain!

Transgender women have been eligible since 2012 to compete for the Miss Universe title.  It has taken a few years, but when the 2018 edition of the pageant takes place, it is going to have more attention than usual because there will finally be a trans contestant vying for the crown.

And nope, she won't be from the Philippines or Thailand.

25 year old Angela Ponce from Spain will be the trans woman making that history.   She captured the Miss Universe Spain crown Saturday night, beating 20 other beauties for the crown.

This isn't the first time Ponce has attempted to represent Spain by winning one of the Big Four international pageant titles. 

In 2015 she competed in the Miss World Spain pageant after capturing the title from her home region of Cadiz, Spain but was unsuccessful in doing so.

When Miss Universe 2018 finally happens later this year, there will probably be a larger than usual viewing audience checking it out. 

I can also guarantee that trans women from around the world, where we compete in the pageant world or not, will be tuned in to Miss Universe to cheer Angela on.

25th Anniversary Of The ICTLEP Conference

Today is the 25th anniversary of the first of eventually six ICTLEP conferences that took place in Houston from 1992 to 1997.

The International Conference on Transgender Law and Employment Policy (ICTLEP) was conceived by Phyllis Frye as an annual event that would focus on developing progressive legal strategies in employment and nondiscrimination law for the transgender population.

She had initially pitched the idea of the event to then International Foundation For Gender Education (IFGE) Executive Director Merissa Sherrill Lynn in the summer of 1991, as a traveling event under its auspices, but she told Frye that IFGE wasn't interested in hosting it.

Frye in the fall of 1991 ran for and won the vice presidency of the Houston based Gulf Coast Transgender Community (GCTC)  group on the platform of hosting a transgender law conference in Houston in 1992.

Planning then began with a group of local activists and GCTC members forming a committee that laid the groundwork for the historic conference to happen combined with Phyllis' attendance at the February 1992 Texas T Party and the March 1992 IFGE Convention.

Frye's attendance at those large trans conferences was crucial in those pre-Internet days to the success of the ICTLEP conference she and GCTC were planning.  It helped spread the word about the fledgling conference, and helped get attorneys who were interested in the different areas of the law that needed presenters to volunteer to do so

The organization of it gathered steam to the point that when the inaugural event kicked off at the Hilton Southwest Freeway in Southwest Houston on August 26-30, 1992, it did so with over 50 people in attendance.

The conference was a success, especially on the financial end, and led to the hosting of five more ICTLEP conferences.

The ICTLEP conferences from 1992-1997 were crucial for not only laying the groundwork for much of the subsequent transgender rights law and principles that we fight and lobby for in the modern trans rights movement, they also helped train my generation of trans rights activists and attorneys..

The International Bill of Gender Rights, Health Law Standards of Care, and policies for imprisoned transgender people came out of ICTLEP.   The Proceedings published after every ICTLEP conference documented for posterity what happened in those presentations on the different areas of law being discussed.

ICTLEP also led to the organization of the national trans rights org It's Time America, the second national trans lobby day in Washington DC in October 1994,  building working relationships between the legal and advocate wings of our newly emerging and energized modern trans rights movement, and more importantly led to the trans people who were in the legal profession becoming more out and open about who they were and forging working relationships with each other and the activist community.

It also led to trans folks becoming participating members in national gay legal organizations and conferences like Lavender Law.

And at a time in which the Trump misadministration is hell bent along with his fundamentalist anti-trans haters who advise him are getting orgasmic over the thought of eviscerating the human rights of transgender people in the US, the lessons learned and built upon over the last 25 years since the ICTLEP conferences took place here are going to be applied and tested as we fight 45's unjust policies in the federal courts.

But it all started on this day at a Houston Hilton hotel in the summer of 1992 thanks to the vision of Phyllis Frye and those early trans leaders in GCTC and elsewhere to make it happen. .

Happy Transgender Pride Flag Day!

Today is the anniversary of the day 18 years ago that Navy veteran Monica Helms came up with the design of the transgender pride flag that is increasingly coming into widespread use around the world.

Helms came up with the design in 1999, and first showed it at a pride parade in Phoenix, AZ in 2000.

The Helms trans pride flag is designed so that no matter which way it is held horizontally, it is always correct, signifying us finding correctness in our lives.   The blue stripes are for trans masculine persons, the pink for trans feminine persons, and the white center stripe is for those who are intersex, gender non conforming or don't consider themselves to have a gender..

The original trans pride flag she created was donated to the Smithsonian an August 19, 2014 as part of their American LGBTQ history collection, and was on display in the White House during the 2016 LGBT Pride reception hosted by President Obama

Happy Transgender Pride Flag Day!

Dallas' Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade Names First Ever Trans Grand Marshal

During our pride parade here in Houston history was made when Lou Weaver was elected to become our first ever trans masculine parade grand marshal.  

Trans history is also being made on the other end of I-45 in Dallas for their Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade.   While most cities in the Lone Star State celebrate TBLGQ pride near the traditional historic late June date that can get a tad warm down here, Dallas celebrates it in September.

When Dallas' pride parade takes place on September 17, it will have its first ever trans grand marshal of any gender in Nicole O'Hara Munro.  She's also making history as the first ever African American ever named Dallas parade grand marshal.

Born in NOLA, Nicole now lives in Dallas, and is a trans rights advocate who works with an TBLGQ youth group and A Nu Trans Movement in addition to being the show hostess at Marty's Live.

And it's so apropos that it happened for this year's parade.   Texas trans people are under GOP legislative attack, and 14 of the 16 people we've lost in 2017 have been Black trans women.

It's gratifying to see that Dallas has elected a Black trans woman as their grand marshal.

She will be joined by the parade's masculine grand marshal in newly elected District 6 Councilmember Omar Narvaez .  He is the first openly gay candidate elected to the Dallas City Council in over a decade.

I've already commented on Omar's awesomeness on this blog, and glad to see he's being recognized for the trailblazing work he has done in the DFW area

 Congrats to both of the 2017 parade grand marshals.   May need to check my schedule and see if I can be up there for this piece of modern Texas trans history.

Danica Roem Wins VA Dem Primary!

Danica Roem made a little political history in Virginia tonight.

She surprisingly bested three candidates, Steve Jansen, Andrew Adams and Mansimran Kahlon in the Democratic primary for the Virginia House of Delegates District 13 race to become the first out trans candidate in Virginia to win a primary race.

She now gets to take on the transphobic and homophobic Republican incumbent, Del. Bob Marshall in the general election that takes place on November 7.

Marshall has been in office since 1992 and has a long uganti-LGBTQ legislative history in the state.  He authored the Marshall-Newman Amendment to the Virginia constitution that banned same sex marriage in the Commonwealth of Virginia until it was overturned by a federal judge in 2014.  

Marshall also tried to pass unjust legislation similar to North carolina's HB 2 that would bar trans Virginians from using bathrooms in state owned government building consistent with their gender identity and presentation, but that bill was quickly killed by his fellow Republicans

Demographics in this 13th District in Prince William County and Manassas Park have increasingly been leaning more the Democrats way, and Hillary Clinton won this district last November by a 55%-40% margin.

So does she have a chance of making history and becoming the first elected out transgender state legislator and the first transperson elected to serve in a state legislature since Althea Garrison did so in Massachusetts in 1992?

She's captured the Democratic Party nomination, so she's halfway there.   As for will we be calling her Delegate-elect Roem on November 7, we'll see in a few months.

TDOR History Snapshot

We know that TDOR occurs on November 20, and has grown to become an international event.

But what is the history of it and why did it start?

It started in the wake of the November 28,1998 murder of Rita Hester and the transphobic media coverage of it in gay and mainstream media outlets that incensed the Boston area and national trans community.   Hester's killer as of this date has not been brought to justice.

On the one year anniversary of Hester's death, because we were starting to forget the names of the people who had been murdered at that time because it was happening so frequently and we had better information about it thanks to the Internet, San Francisco based trans advocate Gwen Smith founded the Remembering Our Dead web project to track and memorialize those folks we have lost to anti- trans violence.

Smith also organized a vigil in San Francisco on the one year anniversary of Hester's death that grew into the Transgender Day of Remembrance event we are familiar with almost two decades later.  The TDOR was rapidly adopted elsewhere in the United States and the rest of the world.

The basic elements of a TDOR are the same no matter where the event happens.

A list of names of trans people murdered from November 21 of the previous year to the date of this year's TDOR is read an a candle is lit for that person.  Depending on where you are in the world and who is conducting it, there are other regional or local international touches added to the basic ceremony.

Some areas also do a week of educational events and panel discussions in the lead up to the TDOR. since in addition to now being an international trans event, it has now become part of Transgender Awareness Week and Transgender Awareness Month.

TDOR is at its core, a memorial service for the people we lost.  It's a reminder to friends, foes and frenemies that our lives mater.  our humanity matters and these are.lives lost we'll never get back

It's also a time that we collectively remind the cis community that the humanity and human rights of trans people here and around the world are not up for discussion or debate.

TDOR is also a time that we reflect on the people we lost, and rededicate ourselves to the task of ending anti-trans violence, .

Three 2016 Major Party Trans Candidates Trying To Make More Electoral History

Hillary Clinton isn't the only candidate on the ballot attempting to make American electoral history tonight.  There are three trans candidates on the ballot in Utah, Colorado and Texas also trying to make history and win their respective races.

We have two shots today at getting an American trans person in that exclusive international sorority of trans people who are elected national legislators  in Misty Snow and Misty Plowright.

In Utah, the 30 year old Snow became the first out transperson to win a major party US senate primary race and any political race in Utah when she overwhelmingly captured the Democratic US senate primary. over Jonathan Swinton.

Snow is now facing the daunting political task of trying to upset incumbent Sen. Mike Lee (R) in staunchly conservative Utah.

Next door in Colorado, the 33 year Plowright is running in Colorado's 5th Congressional District.   She became the first out trans person to win a Democratic Party nomination for a US congressional seat and any race in Colorado by handily defeating Donald Martinez.

The late Karen Kerin was the first out trans person to win a major party nomination for the US House.  In 2000 Kerin won the Republican nomination for Vermont's US House seat, then lost in the general election to independent Bernie Sanders.
Plowright also has a tough political task to accomplish in attempting to unseat five time incumbent Congressman Doug Lamborn (R) in this congressional district centered in conservative leaning Colorado Springs that is also the home of the transphobic Focus on the Family..

Here in my Houston backyard, Jenifer Rene Pool is attempting to make more trans political history. Back in March she became the first out trans person in Texas to win a major party primary race when she won the Democratic nomination in the Harris County Commissioners Court Precinct 3 race.

She now taking on longtime incumbent Republican commissioner Steve Radack, who has held this sprawling precinct that covers 400 square miles of western Harris County since 1980.

If Jenifer wins, she not only makes more Lone Star State political history, she will by winning that race flip political control of the Harris County Commissioners Court to the Democrats.  

Good luck later today, ladies.   Hope you are successful in your various races.      

Happy Transgender Pride Flag Day!

Happy Transgender Pride Flag Day!  

So why is today Transgender Pride Flag Day?   Time for another TransGriot trans history lesson concerning the Helms trans pride flag.

"August 19, 1999 is when I came up with the design and August 19, 2014 was when I donated it to the Smithsonian, " said Helms in a comment to me. "I'm humbled that it is being used all over the world. I thank the community for that."

The trans pride flag design that flag creator Monica Helms came up with was a light blue, pink and white striped flag that is designed so that even when turned upside down, the stripes are in the correct pattern.  

It first flew at a pride parade in Phoenix, AZ in April 2000 as part of the color guard, and since that initial appearance, it appeared at protests, trans themed conferences and events across the United States including the recent White House LGBT Pride Reception.  

The Helms transgender pride flag quickly grew in popularity even as variant designs of trans pride flags popped up in Canada and Israel.   The Helms trans pride flag since it was the first one, has increasingly been adopted by trans communities in various nations around the world as an internationally recognized symbol of our community.



August 19, 2014 is also the date that the original trans pride flag was donated by Helms to the Smithsonian as part of their permanent LGBT history collection

So Happy Transgender Pride Flag Day!  Maybe I'll get some pink lemonade to celebrate this date in trans history.

'Doubt' Trailer

I've mentioned that Doubt was greenlighted by CBS back in May and is going to premiere during the 2016-17 television season,

One of the reasons you should be as excited about the show as I am is because it will be historic television in terms of having Laverne Cox play Cameron Wirth, the first scripted trans main character in a dramatic series played by a trans actor on broadcast television.

Doubt also stars Katherine Heigl, Dule Hill, Dreama Walker, Elliott Gould, Steven Pasquale, and Kobi Libii

Here's the trailer for the dramatic legal series that starts next month.

Lea T Makes Some Olympic Trans History

We don't know definitively is we have trans folks competing at the Rio Olympics even though trans people have been eligible to do so since 2004, and with the start of these Games, can do so without the requirement of genital surgery.

While we're still trying to confirm the rumor that two trans feminine athletes were considered for inclusion on the British Olympic team who have repeatedly represented their country on the international sporting stage, we do know for a fact that trans inclusion happened during the opening ceremony for the Rio Games on August 5.

During the Parade of Nations portion of the Opening Ceremonies, each of the national athletic delegations as they marched into the stadium was led by a cyclist that powered a rotating national name placard in Portuguese and English mounted on the cycle painted in the gold, green and blue colors of the Brazilian flag.

And some trans history transpired as you did so.  Brazilian supermodel Leandra Medeiros Cerezo, was the person on the cycle that led the host nation Brazil into Maracana Stadium.

If you're scratching your head and saying, "Who's that?", maybe you'll recognize who this 35 year old international supermodel and face of Redken cosmetics is when I say the name Lea T.

In addition to being a trailblazing presence in the fashion world, she also has a connection to the sporting world via her father, the legendary Brazilian soccer player Toninho Cerezo.

She is the first out trans person to do so in an Olympic ceremony, and she was definitely pleased to have had a role in the Olympic opening ceremony being hosted by her country

"We are all human beings and part of society.  My role in the ceremony will help send that message" she said.  "At this time in which Rio de Janeiro and Brazil are being presented to the world, it's essential that diversity is present. Brazil is a vast country, and all of its diversity should be represented in this event."

"Like any other transsexual I raise a flag," she continued. "I'm talking about transsexuality because it is part of my history, but I'm just another member of the community.  I know I have the privilege that the media listens to me, but the daily struggle of transexuals is equally important for LGBT people."

She's not kidding about that, since my Brazilian trans sisters have been catching hell because of the murderous trans hate on steroids aimed at them.    Brazilian trans women have for the last five years made up far too many of the names we read during TDOR ceremonies every November 20 around the world, and that needs to stop

And this Lea T Olympic moment shouldn't be dismissed, but celebrated.

Cnngrats to Lea T for being a historic part of this Olympic opening ceremony, and I hope that the next time I get to talk about a trans person making history on the Olympic stage is because they have made their national team and are competing for gold, silver or bronze medals  

Sarah McBride's Historic DNC Speech

Hillary Clinton wasn't the only woman making history last night at the Wells Fargo Center . When Sarah McBride stepped to the podium on the DNC convention stage, she became the first out trans person to deliver a speech at a major party political convention

It's apropos that she is making this history as we showed up at #DNCinPhilly with a record trans contingent of 28 people..

Srah standing on that stage helped fulfill something I was hoping along with the rest of the American trans community would happen, and emphatically points out that the Democratic party is the one what supports the humanity and human rights of trans Americans.

Here's Sarah's DNC speech..

Two Trans Presidential Electors For The 2016 Cycle!

I keep pointing out the fact that trans people are integrated into the fabric of American society, despite the best efforts of our right wing opponents to demonize and falsely claim we aren't.

One of the ways that we trans people are part of the greater society is in terms of our participation in politics. During the upcoming Democratic National Convention we'll have so far 24 trans people from across the country who will be participating at the convention in Philadelphia, including two of my fellow Texans.

And I've been pleased and happy to discover that when the presidential electors handle the business in December of picking our next president after the November 8 election, if their states go blue, we will have the historic moment as a trans community of having two out trans people doing that job.

One of the 2016 trans electors is Jack Schuler of Iowa, who was chosen as an elector last month at the Iowa Democratic convention..   He is the first out trans elector in Iowa and in the nation.

"I really didn't realize in the moment how much attention I would be getting  I still kind of overwhelmed,"said Schuler.  "As surreal as some of this feels, I think it's a great opportunity for me to represent, and also a huge responsibility  I feel like now I can be someone who can be a representative of the trans community."

The second trans elector is from deep in the heart of Texas. (stop hating).

She's Joy Eleanor Parks, and became the elector for Senate District 16 after Katherine Savers McGovern, one of two people along with Zach Rudner who ran and won at the recent Texas Democratic Convention in San Antonio for an elector spot in SD16, was also selected as a delegate for the 2016 DNC convention.

McGovern decided to take the delegate spot to the DNC convention, and since Parks finished third in that elector voting, she got moved up to replace McGovern as an elector for SD 16.  By moving up to replace McGovern in that elector spot, Parks became the first out trans Texan and probably the first out trans feminine person nationally to be a presidential elector.

Since she's one of my FB friends, I asked Joy what her thoughts were about this trans history making moment.

"It's very humbling being the first. I wouldn't be where I am without trailblazers like yourself and Melanie Pruitt who helped mentor me when I was young enough for YFT,"said Parks. "I'm overwhelmed with the outpouring of support I received from those who voted for me as well as those who congratulated me. The video Omar Narvaez Adam Medrano and Philip Kingston made to congratulate me was especially touching. They were at the MLK memorial when they did it," 

"I'm overwhelmed by the amount of support I've received from not only young people and activists but local elected officials as well like them," Parks added

The caveat for both trans electors is they get to fulfill their duty in December in Des Moines and Austin only if their respective states turn blue in the election November 8

While that's a plausible possibility for Jack in Iowa, which has gone blue in the last two election cycles, has leaned Democratic since 1988 and is a battleground state, Texas on the other hand hasn't gone blue for a Democrat since Jimmy Carter did so in 1976.  But with Donald Trump only polling in the single digits here, this may be the year it happens.  Joy is certainly hoping that it does so she can make that trip to Austin and make some more history.

Congratulations to Jack and Joy, and here's hoping they are both casting electoral votes in December

Will The Philippine's Geraldine Roman Become The World's Sixth Trans National Legislator?

In November 1999 Georgina Beyer made news that electrified trans kind and gave hope to trans people dreaming of holding elective office in their respective nations across the globe when she was elected to the New Zealand Parliament.   The Labour party member served until September 2005 representing the Wairarapa electorate, and was the world's first ever trans parliamentarian.

Beyer was followed by Italy's Vladimir Luxuria in 2006, Poland's Anna Grodzka in 2011, Uruguay's Michelle Suarez Bertora in 2014 and last year Tamara Adrian in Venezuela.

It's an exclusive sorority of trans national legislators, and we have news coming out of the Philippines that another trans feminine politician on the verge of making history in 49 year old Geraldine Roman..

National elections are taking place in the Philippines on Tuesday, May 10 (Monday, May 9 on our side of the IDL), and Roman is running for a congressional seat in the 1st district in Bataan where she grew up.

But Roman is not your average political candidate. Besides being a proud transpinay, she has some advantages that make her an odds on favorite to become the first trans person elected to national public office in the Philippines.   Roman is not only a member of current President Benigno Aquino's ruling Liberal Party, but she comes from a powerful dynastic political family.   Her mother has represented Bataan's 1st district in the Philippine Congress for nine years, and her father was a powerful politician in that predominately rural province.

Roman transitioned over two decades ago, speaks three European languages, holds two masters degrees and worked in Spain as senior editor of the Spanish News Agency before she returned home to the Philippines four years ago to care for her ailing father.

'My life has not been a secret. I grew up here. People know me. (Gender) only becomes an issue when you try to keep it a secret," Roman said in a recent interview.  "It's nothing bad. I never hurt anyone in the process. I'm so happy so why should I be ashamed?"

She hopes that her election if it happens, will send a powerful message that aids in the Philippine fight for TBLG human rights.  

"My loyalty is to the first district of Bataan.  But that somebody of my condition is going to enter Congress for the first time is a statement that even transgender people can serve our country and should not be discriminated against."

Should Roman win her race, she would not only become the first trans person elected to office in the Philippines and the sixth worldwide, she would be the second in the Asia-Pacific region after Georgina Beyer.

Best of luck to Ms. Roman, and hope she's successful in making Philippine and international trans history on Tuesday. (Monday our time)

Tamara Adrian Elected To Venezuelan National Assembly

Since 2010, trans women in Colombia, Ecuador and Chile have attempted to run for their national legislatures and not only become the first out trans people in their various nations to do so, but the first in South America and the Western Hemisphere.

While the efforts of Shelcy Sanchez, Diana Rodriguez and Valentina Verbal fell short for various reasons to make that history, the historical breakthrough came last November when attorney Michelle Suarez Bertora was elected last year to Uruguay's senate.  

Latin America is leading the way when it comes to trans elected officials, with the most recent electoral breakthrough happening in October when trans woman Luisa Revilla Urcia was elected to local office in Peru.

Attorney, professor and trans human rights advocate Tamara Adrian became the next South American trans person to attempt to run and win public office when she announced in August she was running for Venezuela's National Assembly.

The Venezuelan national elections happened yesterday and history was made as Adrian was successful in breaking through that trans glass electoral ceiling in her nation.

The Popular Will Party announced that Adrian had been elected to the Venezuelan National Assembly and will represent Caracas, Venezuela's capital.

Adrian made history on multiple fronts because of this historic win.  She is not only the first out trans Venezuelan to be elected to their national legislature, she is the second trans person in South America, the second in the Western Hemisphere. the second in Latin American and only the fifth worldwide to accomplish the electoral feat of being elected to her national legislature.

So yes, Adrian's election to her national legislature is a Big Fracking Deal.  It's so much of a BFD that Luisa Revilla Urcia said to the Washington Blade "We are very pleased with another trans woman in power.  This is a great triumph."

So am I and all my trans brothers and sisters in the US.  It gives us hope that one day we will see one of our own elected to Congress and our various state legislatures.

Congratulations to Ms. Adrian, and hope we see more trans people follow in your footsteps and get elected to their national legislatures.


TransGriot Update:  Was advised by Andres Duque of Blabbeando about Michelle Suarez Bertora, and post corrected to reflect that new information  

My Thoughts About 'The Danish Girl'

The Danish Girl movie about pioneering trans woman Lili Elbe is being released this Friday, and it is already getting some Oscar buzz for its star Eddie Redmayne.

There has been a lot of commentary in Trans World about our irritation over Hollywood once again using a male actor to play a trans woman, and I share that irritation.  I would like to see more trans actors getting roles, especially when it comes to a trans woman playing a trans role on the silver screen or the small screen.

I'd also like to see reciprocity in trans actors getting to play cis roles since the excuse justifying this that comes out of cis people's mouths is 'the best actor should get the role'.   Okay, if that is the case, when will we see more trans persons, when they are  best person for the role, playing cis people?

Bella Maddo proved that we can do it, if given the opportunity.

I do have to admit I'm also somewhat conflicted about The Danish Girl as the opening date for the movie is fast approaching.    I'm curious about how this movie about one of our historical figures will be received.  .



Based on the increasing Oscar chatter and it getting moved up from a January 1, 2016 release date to one on Thanksgiving weekend, it may potentially be a lucrative reception.

The societal one is to be determined.

Historic Day For Trans WOC At The White House

I've been coming to Washington DC since 1998 to lobby for trans human rights issues, policy meetings, board meetings, retreats, and panel discussions.  I've even been to the White House four times.

But this fifth trip to the White House was special and historic, because for the first time trans women of color, fittingly on the Transgender Day of Visibility, were gathering from around the country for the inaugural White House Trans Women Of Color Women's History Month Briefing.

It was organized by the National LGBTQ Task Force's Kylar Broadus and kicked off at 9:00 AM in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building's South Auditorium with opening remarks from Aditi Hardikar from the White House Office of Public Engagement.

She was quickly followed by Tina Tchen from the White House Council For Women and Girls and Stacey Long Simmons from the Task Force before we dove into the policy remarks part of the program.

Cecilia Chung started the policy portion of it with some framing remarks before yielding the platform to my fellow TPOCC board member Mattee Jim and LaLa Zannell from the National Anti Violence Project.

Mattee's commentary focused on the issues that Native American and rural trans women face, while LaLa focused on discussing how many of the women we have lost to anti-trans violence were actually intimate partner violence (IPV) cases.

Zannell also pointed out that trans women are less likely to be protected from IPV and some recommendations to change that negative paradigm.

When those ladies were done with their presentations, Ruby Corado of Casa Ruby and Bamby Salcedo of the Trans Latina Coalition were up next.

Corado's presentation concentrated on HIV status, how it affects trans women and the issues that revolve around that but reminded us that 'action solves problems.' 

Salcedo talked about our trans Latina sisters an the issues they face in ICE detention including sexual assault and HIV infection and pointed out "It's important for us to understand how structural violence plays into us getting killed.".

Tracee McDaniel from the Juxtaposed Center for Transformation, Inc in Atlanta and Kylar Broadus from the National LGBTQ Task Force talked about the employment discrimination that trans women of color face on the micro and macro levels..

The final two person info panelists were Dr. Ayana Elliott, FNP and Raffi Friedman-Gurspan from the National Center for Transgender Equality.  Dr Elliott got our attention by stating 'Transgender women are an endangered species," then broke down the statistics across various health categories to back that sobering statement up.   

Raffi's presentation also contained some suggested policy recommendations for the assembled White House staffers and trans women of color from across the country nodding their heads in agreement.

When their panel was finished, Roy Austin, the Deputy Assistant to the President for the Office of Urban Affairs  Justice and Opportunity, took a few moments in his remarks to update us on where things stood on trans issues inside the Obama Administration.

In addition to informing us that Title VII the Civil Rights Act of 1964 covers  transpeople, Austin also discussed a Task Force on 21st Century Policing report that urged in its recommendations that police departments and law enforcement personnel across the US improve their relations with their local trans communities (which probably explains the invite I got from Harris County DA Devon Anderson last week to talk about issues of importance to the Houston trans community).

He opened it up for questions, and I asked about the possibility of getting mandated national standards for ID.  I pointed out that much of the discrimination we face is triggered by mismatched identification that in many cases the states throw up multiple barriers for us to correct.

After taking a few questions, Mr Austin departed, and a super info panel was convened in which audience members received a few moments of the remaining time left in the event to ask the info panelists questions.

After remarks from Aditi, Kylar and Stacey and a poem from Cherno Biko, the briefing ended at 12 noon EDT.

We then headed to the National LGBTQ Task Force headquarters on Massachusetts Ave for lunch and remarks from Stacey Long Simmons, outgoing deputy director Darlene Nipper, and incoming deputy director Russell Roybal.. 

It was my first visit to Task Force headquarters since the 2000 National Transgender Policy Meeting they facilitated at their old NE Washington DC digs.  It was fun reconnecting with all my friends in the Task Force from the Creating Change team (and yes H-town, I let them know we want to host it again), and was happy to see Kathleen Campisano and Sarah Reece from my days of causing angelic trouble in Louisville with both of them.

We also were in the building on Nipper's last official day as deputy director, and we gave her a standing ovation when she was finished.

Major thanks to Kylar and Stacey for the invitation to be there for this historic briefing, lunch, and to super intern Dominique Chamely who did a wonderful job on the logistical end getting me and my trans sisters to DC from our various spots around the country.

And thanks to all my transsisters who made this historic day at the White House and this 6th annual Trans Day of Visibility a memorable one for me.