My Sisters, I Want You To Grow Old

It's a subject I've talked about twice in the over 10K posts on the blog, and the deaths of two thirtysomething Black trans women just days apart from each other has me thinking about it again.

Growing old and celebrating birthdays  beyond your 35th one as a Black trans feminine person..

We've heard that statistic about the average age of a Black trans person being age 35, and much of it has to do with the unacceptable levels of anti-trans violence aimed at us.

While there are some things that we can do on our end to help ensure we reach advanced birthdays, much of the heavy lifting in this case is going to have to be done by our society.

It is past time for people to stop attacking the humanity and existence of trans people.   We're not going anywhere, so y'all need to get over it.   Our trans lives are not subject to political or theological debate.

We exist.  Deal with it.  We are part of the diverse mosaic of human life.

That means that it's not acceptable behavior for you as a cis male to hurt maim or kill us if you happen to find out that the attractive woman that you got a hard on for in the club or as she was minding her own damned business and going about her day is transgender.   .

It also means cis women, that it is not acceptable behavior,just because you are jealous of that trans woman who is getting more male attention than you, to set her up for a hate crime by shadily whispering 'that's a man' in some brother's ear.

My sisters, I want you to know what it's like to be my age, Tracie Jada O'Brien's, Justina Williams', Gloria Allen's or Miss Major's age.   I would love to see some of y'all with gray hair. or how fab you will look when you hit 35, 40 or 50.   I want to see how your fab trans lives evolve,   I can't be a mentor to you if I don't have you around to pass down your history and some of my life experiences to.as was done for me by my trans elders

I want my Black trans sisters to be able to age gracefully, have and experience the amazing lives I know they are capable of having.

I want to see you grow old.   Is that too much to ask for, society?    

Why Laverne's Cameron Wirth Character Is Important

One of the things I had a chance to talk about with young trans advocates during this just completed Transgender Leadership Institute in Dallas was the upcoming February 15 debut of the CBS legal drama Doubt and why Laverne's Cameron Wirth character to me has the same social and societal importance as Nichelle Nichols Uhura character was to Star Trek.

We are now in a moment in which the visibility of trans characters is increasing, and even better, they are increasingly being played by trans people,   As much as I love Karla Mosley, love her as a cis woman and standup trans ally playing Maya Avant on The Bold and the Beautiful and talked about how groundbreaking and important her character was in Soap World, one problem I see with Maya Avant is that the longtime major character on the soap didn't originally start out as a Black transgender woman.

In Doubt, Cameron Wirth is not only a major character that happens to be trans from the outset of the show, but is also played by a girl like us who can bring those subtle nuances of being a trans woman in real life to this character.  .

"Yes, she's trans. But now what?" Cox told a small group of reporters during the Television Critics Association's winter meetings. "It's sort of like a who cares, really. And I think having something like that on television, it helps the public to become familiar with that, to become comfortable with that. ... Years before we saw a Black president in real life, we saw Black presidents on television."

In a Hollywood in which far too often trans characters of color have either been killed off in the first fifteen seconds, are riddled with stereotypes, or played for comic relief, it is nice to see a girl like us dramatic character that is reflective of the segment of the trans community that is blessed to have advanced degrees and professional careers.

That character being Black and Ivy League educated is also a bonus. It's also nice to hear this close to Valentine's Day that Cameron will have a love life on the show.

It's also coming at this critical time not only for this country, but for my own people in all the group I intersectionally interact with.. We all need to see Cameron Wirth for various reasons on our respective television screens.
 
Black folks have been far too reluctant to have this necessary ongoing honest discussions about transgender issues and the undeniable fact that African descended trans peeps are an interwoven part of the kente cloth fabric of the Black community.

As much as the right wing haters would love to force us back in the closet aided and abetted by preening kneegrow ministers spouting cherry picked scriptures designed to drive a wedge in our community between Black trans and cis folks, I'm happy to tell them that we exist, and we aren't going away.

Cameron is reflective of a segment of the Black trans community my people and others need to see.far more often instead of the Jerry Springer stereotype or 'tragic transsexual' narrative playing in an endless loop in their brains.  

The other reason why Cameron's characters is so important is like Nichols' Uhura character, it will expand in our trans kids and others minds the parameters of what is possible for trans people,

As a matter of fact, I know an amazing Black trans woman who is currently studying to become an attorney, and she is eager to see the show.

Just as seeing Uhura on television inspired a young girl growing up in Chicago named Mae Jemison to become an astronaut and another girl growing up in New York we know as Whoopi Goldberg to become an award winning actress, what impact will Laverne's portrayal of Cameron Wirth have on the next generations of trans kids?

That's a question I won't be able to definitely answer for a while, but in the interim, I'll enjoy watching Doubt starting Wednesday night at 9 PM EST while I do more hard solid thinking about the question I just posed to you. .

Gender Revolution: Working For Change

The National Geographic Katie Couric documentary Gender Revolution: A Journey With Katie Couric  later this evening at 8 PM CST, and I'm looking forward to watching it on the National Geographic Channel.

The show if you missed it will repeat at 11 PM CST and have an encore presentation on Friday

But if you do have it, I urge you to watch the documentary that will give you some Gender 101 education  

Hopefully Dan Patrick and Lois Kolkhorst will be watching it, too.

The January National Geographic 'Gender Revolution' January 2017 issue is also a fascinating read.

Here's the Working For Change segment of that documentary. It features one of my Houston homegirls who now lives in Los Angeles in Marie, who I met when she was a student at UHD.

It talks about a program that Michaela Mendelsohn has instituted in the six El Pollo Loco restaurants that she owns there in which she is hiring transpeople in her stores.

Say Hello To Texas' First Transgender Mayor

In order to move trans acceptance in red states, we have to have people who actually live in and love them as much as the right wing haters fighting them tooth and nail to do so.

It's also even more important that trans people get involved in politics so that we are helping to shape the laws that govern us, not be on the political menu.

While Texas gay and lesbian folks have been getting elected to political positions for decades from judge to the state legislature to even mayor of Houston,  it has been a steeper climb for Texas trans people to make those same political advances

Phyllis Frye after being appointed by Mayor Annise Parker in 2010 became the first transgender judge in the nation and the Lone Star State.   But we are still trying to get a trans person elected to public office in our state.

Was happy to hear that we had some unexpected Texas political history recently made.   You have seen me chronicle on these electronic pages Jenifer Rene Pool's efforts to get elected to the Houston City Council and in the last cycle in 2016 Harris Country Commissioner.   She made Texas political history along the way last spring by becoming the first out Texas trans person to win a political party primary election.

New Hope, Texas is a town of 670 residents 40 miles northeast of Dallas in the conservative bastion of Collin County,   58 year old Jess Herbst has lived in the town with her wife and two daughters since 1999 and in 2003, Herbst was elected as an alderman to the Town Council.

Herbst rose to become its road commissioner and mayor pro tem.   When New Hope Mayor Johnny Hamm passed away in May while seeking reelection for another two year term, it was too late to remove him from the ballot.   Hamm posthumously won reelection to the mayor's chair and Herbst, already serving as the mayor pro tem, was selected to fill his two year term.

Herbst subsequently came out in a letter to the residents of New Hope.  

Herbst has also been chronicling her trans journey and her life at her blog.

Congrats Mayor Herbst, Hope you can stay in that office, get elected for your own term and continue working for the people of New Hope to the best of your ability.

Boy Scouts To Allow Transmasculine Boys To Join

Some good news today from an unexpected source in the Boy Scouts of America.

The BSA has had a longstanding ban on transgender people joining the Cub and Boy Scouts by determining eligibility based on the gender listed on the birth certificate.  

They have announced that they will now base eligibility for joining the Cub and Boy Scouts on the gender listed on the application.

This is probably being driven by the case of transmasculine child Joe Maldonado.    He was expelled from a Cub Scout chapter in New Jersey because of his trans status, and his family is contemplating a lawsuit for violation of New Jersey's human rights law in which gender identity is a protected class.

Whatever made the BSA change their minds on their trans policy, it was overdue and necessary.

2015 US Trans Survey Results Being Released Today

The results from the largest transgender survey ever done are going to be released at noon CST today.

In an event that will be livestreamed from the National Press Club in Washington DC, the report and results from the 2015 US Trans Survey will be discussed as part of a launch panel discussion from 1-2 PM EST.

With 28,000 respondents ( and in case you're wondering, I was one of the people who took part in filling it out) , it is the largest trans survey compiled to date, and like its predecessor, the 2011 NTDS, will probably become the go to document for stats about the trans community.

If you want to peruse the report and executive summary from the 2015 US Trans Survey, it's available at this link in English and in Spanish.

2015 US Trans Survey Report Release Event Coming December 8

I'm eagerly anticipating an event that is going to take place at the National Press Club on December 8 .
The report from the 2015 US Trans Survey will be released on that date, and it is the larges trans survey ever conducted to date with over 28,000 participants  

While trans people have been getting increasing attention in the media, we still need data about our community to educate advocates, the media, policymakers, educators and legislators about our lives, and this USTS  is going to become like the 2011 'Injustice At Every Turn survey an important tool in backing up our policy concerns with data.

It is also being released at a crucial time in our community's history with an administration coming in that will be the polar opposite of the trans friendly Obama Administration.

The event will be livestreamed starting at 12 PM CST and you'll be able to  watch it courtesy of this link. 

The Humanity Of Trans People Is On The Ballot

One of the reasons that I have been so passionate about this upcoming election on Tuesday is because for me as a trans advocate, the choice couldn't be any more clearer about who should be the 45th president of the United States.

I am a political pragmatist.   While I want someone who is as progressive as possible leading our nation, I am also cognizant of the fact that you have to get ELECTED in order to implement your policy platform.

I don't care how progressive your platform is on paper.  If you can't get elected to office, you and your pie in the sky third party and its platform are useless to me and other marginalized groups.

I don't waste my vote on third party candidates in a presidential election because they have zero chance to be elected president, and third parties don't have their political act together enough to even have a chance at being viable now or in the near future.   See the Reform Party and their rise and fall in the 90's as an example of the internal third party dysfunction I'm alluding to.

That's why Jill Stein, who is far more unqualified for the presidency than Trump is, and Gary Johnson, who is basically a Republican ashamed to claim the GOP label, never had a chance with me or the majority of non-white voters

There are only two candidates left in this race with a legitimate shot of getting 270 electoral votes and be on January 20 standing on that inaguration platform they have been building since September on the west side of the Capitol.

Those persons who have that shot on November 8 of being elected the 45th president of the United States are Sec. Hillary Clinton and (eww) Donald Trump.

Who do I wish to see succeed the first African-American POTUS?  Definitely the first female POTUS.  

When you do the hard solid thinking about what the issues are that impact our country, Hillary Clinton hands down is the most qualified person and most prepared to handle the massive job of being president of the US immediately after being sworn in and having well thought out policies to tackle those problems.

I've been pointing out since 2012 that the next president will possibly get to select up to four Supreme Court justices and when they do so in conjunction with a Democratic Senate, they will set the course of the SCOTUS and the federal judiciary for the next 30-40 years.

With trans human rights cases starting to percolate through the federal court system and the Gavin Grimm case about to be heard by a SCOTUS that has a 4-4 split, having the right POTUS selecting the replacement for (in)Justice Antonin Scalia is one of the issues that led me to throw my early support to Clinton.

One of the other things I've been alarmed about the legion of professional TBLGQ haters that are Trump's senior policy advisors like Tony Perkins.  Trump has also committed himself to supporting a repressive Orwellian named 'First Amendment Defense Act'

Should the self destructive white privilege fueled racist tendencies of white voters prevail on Tuesday, we will be stuck with people who hate us having offices in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and the Justice Department gleefully making policy backed by the federal government that rolls back all the human rights games we have made since Stonewall. .  

I want to see them crying about a loss on Tuesday on Election Night like they were four years ago.  I also want to see Trump crushed in an Electoral College beatdown so that another Republican candidate never again will go there and use blatant racist appeals to white voters in an attempt to get elected to office at any level of government.

I've also noticed this sexist and misogynist bent to the opposition for Sec. Clinton.  I'm really tired of the men supporting Trump who deep down don't want a woman to be president of the United States and try to cover that up with whatever right wing anti-Clinton lie to do so. 

We have had 43 white men be POTUS. The last white male president was a disaster for the country. We can't afford that as a nation again.  As a trans person, I would see all the progress we have painstakingly made come to a screeching halt, all because some Trump voters don't want to see a qualified woman become the next president of the United States.  

I also see the danger of having a short tempered easy to provoke idiot like Trump in charge of our nuclear arsenal.  As a kid who grew up during the Cold War, that thought keeps me awake at night.

But the people I'm most concerned about are our trans kids.  They are facing a coordinated right wing attack that is being blunted in large part because the power of the federal government is pushing back against that unjust assault on our humanity combined with the trans community, its advocates and our allies fighting our oppressors tooth and nail

If the transphobes get control of the federal government, we will be the first folks to feel the negative human rights repercussions of a Trump presidency.   That repression of trans people will also disproportionately be felt by non-white and low income trans folks who can't afford to leave for other nations as the privileged trans folks say they will do..

It's why trans folks are predominantly voting for Clinton .

As a trans person , I don't want to see what progress we have made so far come to a screeching halt

If you are trans and supporting Trump, you are not only voting for your own oppression, you are voting for the oppression of our trans kids, the rolling back of your human rights, and increased attacks on your very humanity.   What logical reason can you come up with that isn't a right wing anti-Clinton lie to support someone that is massively unqualified for the presidency?  

I and the trans community have too much to lose on Tuesday if Trump wins. Our very movement and humanity is on the ballot , and a vote for Trump is a vote against the humanity and human rights of transgender Americans, and transgender people of color by extension who would bear the disproportionate brunt of that anti-trans oppression being aimed at us.

It's why I'm unapologetically with her, and want to see Hillary Clinton win on Tuesday and be inaugurated as the next president of the United States..

It's Trans Awareness Month 2016!

November 1 also means that it is the start of Trans Awareness Month.

Because the Transgender Day of Remembrance happens on November 20 that memorializes the people around the globe we have lost to anti-trans violence, what has happened is that in many locales, a week of activities leading up to that day have occurred with the mission of educating and informing people about our community.

We did something similar in Louisville while I lived there in advance of the TDOR, and in some places it has been two weeks of events leading up to that TDOR date.

Because TDOR also falls close to Thanksgiving, it sometimes tends to get overshadowed by that looming holiday as well.

The Trans Awareness Week concept has been supported by advocacy groups like GLAAD, NBJC, the Transgender Law Center and the Task Force just name a few along with local groups across the nation.

Because Trans Awareness Week tends to get overshadowed at times by the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US, it was expanded in Massachusetts by the Massachusetts Trans Political Coalition to a month of events focused on trans human rights.

With trans human rights and our very humanity being under attack by the Republican Party and the conservative movement, the time for a standardized Trans Awareness Month celebration is needed and necessary not only to educate people about our lives, but also to help drive the message that trans rights are international human rights

Happy Trans Awareness Month!.

2016 National Coming Out Day

In addition to today being a voter registration deadline day in Texas and several states, today is also National Coming Out Day

It was founded in 1988 and is based on the principle of the personal being political.  As much as people claim they don't want to be activists, your first and most powerful act of activism is coming out as a trans, bi, gay, or lesbian person.

Being yourself and comfortable in your skin matters.  Once you can do that, then your life begins.

If you're not ready to do that today, don't worry. Take your time.  Do so when you're comfortable with the coming out decision and have thought out the details for your life post coming out because it won't be the same afterwards.

Is coming out an easy process?  Depends on the individual and their life circumstances at the time.

Yes it can be challenging and bumpy at times.  I still have challenges from time to time even 22 years post my coming out April 4, 1994 date.  But what you gain after doing so far outweighs the drama you'll have to  navigate.

For those of you who are trans and come out today, congratulations!  Thanks for taking that first courageous step on the road to living as your true self.   You are about to gain another set of family members not related to you by blood around the world.   You are about to join a community that has a proud history, some amazing people and allies who support us, and despite the haters, we have and will survive and thrive despite their loud and wrong rhetoric.

Welcome to the family!   Happy National Coming Out Day!

My #NotUpForGrabs Story

In the wake of Trump's reprehensible 2005 comments about groping women, I wanted to point out that trans women once our bodies morph to their feminine shape, are subject to the same drama and BS our cis sisters experience, up to and including groping and sexual assault.

In the wake of the Trump comments, women across the country have been telling their stories on social media about the first time they were groped by men.

To point out it happens to trans women as well, I'm sharing my #NotUpForGrabs story

***

I was two years into my gender transition, and  I was on the bus headed to work. Our CAL uniforms at that 1996 time had a walking shorts option, and I was wearing mine on that hot July summer day.

I was asleep against the window of the 65 Bissonnet bus on the first leg of my work commute when I was jolted out of it by a elderly Black male hand feeling the inside of my left thigh. When I woke up I saw him drawing his hand back, so I decided to fake going back to sleep to catch him in the act.

When he thought I was asleep again his hand once again started feeling the inside of my left thigh. He got closer to my crotch before I quickly looked in his direction and once again caught his hand moving back.

So I turned my head once again against the window to feign sleep, and this time he got a surprise when he got to my crotch area.

He was shocked because he was grabbing something he wasn't expecting. I leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Yes, that's 100% beef you're holding. And if you don't get your hands off my crotch you're about to find out how much testosterone I have left in my system when i kick your ass for touching me without my permission."

I was pissed off about it, but I consoled myself on the remaining part of my journey to IAH that it hopefully would make him think twice about doing it to some other woman.

Sadly I have the feeling it probably didn't

She's Your Sister, Not Your Competition

I was watching the interview on Sunday that Cheryl Courtney Evans gave with Raquel Willis in January.   During the third part of it she talked about an aspect of Black Transfeminine World that has bothered me and a few other woke trans women for a while in terms of the reluctance of elements of our transfeminine community to collectively work together in order to advance rights for all of us.

Cheryl's thoughts on it, and I agree with her, is that the problem stems in the different paths we used to evolve to be the people we are.  

While some of us had the gender epiphany and transitioned while out and about in the world at different times like I did, some of us came from the drag and pageantry world, some came from the ballroom community, and some of us came from the escort world.

I'm aware of those other paths that people took to become the people they are today and I ain't mad at them for doing what they felt they had to do at that moment to become the people they are today, but those paths have caused problems in our efforts to build sisterhood in our ranks.

The reason why I'm saying the drag, pageant, ballroom and escort worlds have caused a problem with building sisterhood is because the common thread in all of those worlds is competiton.

In the escort world you are trying to compete with other girls to make your money to keep a roof over your head and food in your belly.  In the drag world you're competing against other girls trying to make those tips to help pay your bills. In the pageant world you are competing to try to win that title and the cash prize that comes with it.

And in the ballroom community you are competing against each other to win categories for cash prizes and trophies.  The other common thread in all those competition scenarios is that every year, as girls transition at earlier ages, they are indistinguishable from cis females, which ratchets up the 'It's all about me' mindset another level as younger girls enter those worlds.

I'm not saying that sisterhood and friendships aren't formed in these worlds.  They are.  What I'm focused on, and I'm repeating this so there is no misunderstanding about where I'm going with this, is that the competition mindset elements of us have marinated in in those worlds has pitted us against each other far too often.  It can and has reared its ugly head at times to the point where outside observers of our Black transfeminine ranks have this impression that Black trans women can't work together.

That competition mindset we marinate in doesn't lend itself to a situation like building community and fighting for your human rights, in which cooperation is the name of the game and not competition.   It's something that we need to be conscious of and work diligently at to build trust among the various groups

And we need to do it quickly.  This community is in an situation in which we are taking on a coalition of transphobic haters comprised of the Republican Party, white fundamentalists, sellout kneegrow pastors, conservative media pundits, the TERFs, elements of the Roman Catholic Church and the Southern Baptists.

Their mission is to eviscerate trans people from public life and must be resisted with every fiber of our beings and collective power we can muster.

So I and other woke trans women need to know that when we take these fools on, you're not looking side eyed at us out of jealousy or whatever issue you have with us and petulantly sitting out this round because you have an issue with a certain person.  We need you at that moment to have your sisters backs, not be stabbing us in the back.

We have bigger enemies to our existence in transphobic legislators, lying conservative pundits, faux faith based preachers or the kneegrow sellouts trying to throw us under the bus for their own selfish gain.   So you can hate on me and the woke trans women doing the human rights work all you want.

But when we are in Defcon 1 Fight The Power mode, we need 100% effort from you and your head in the game to defeat the existential threat to all of us.  When the crisis is passed, then you can go back to throwing shade if you wish.

As Janet Mock has said, there is room for all of us to shine.  There's also plenty of work that needs to be done across the country in different activism lanes for the collective advancement of our Black trans feminine community.   Your time will come to be in the spotlight, and when it does, I and your sisters will be cheering for you from the sidelines.  I will also be the first one to hug you and sing your praises in this blog when the time comes for you to get that deserved recognition.

It's past time we transitioned from a Darwinian survival mindset and into the cooperative sisterhood building mindset that we will need in order to successfully do our part in this trans human rights fight.

We are Black trans women.   When we put out minds to it and handle our business, we can accomplish anything we desire.  It's just we are more powerful when we do so together in a coordinated fashion.

Remember, she's your sister, not your competition.

Love Your Black Trans KIds

One of the things that I have been angry about in my Black community is the disturbing pattern of a cadre of Black parents when their child reveals to them they are trans, negatively react by throwing them out of their homes.

It is a problem so pervasive that 13% of homeless transgender kids in the US are African-American, and that needs to stop.  I was cognizant of in it the late 70's when I was a teen debating whether to tell my own parents about my desire to transition.

It's a pattern I prayerfully hope is finally changing thanks to Black parents of trans kids who believe the best way to deal with a transgender child is envelop them in love and raise them, not kick them out on the street.

Research shows that trans kids having supportive parents can have a profound positive effect on trans kids,and it stands to reason that if they are happier in childhood, they will grow up to become happier well adjusted adults.  

I have been pleased to see in the last few years more Black trans parents at events and conventions in which parents of trans kids gather.

I have much love and respect for DeShanna Neal, who is raising an amazing trans feminine teen daughter in Trinity, who is telling her story in this ESSENCE article.   I was also pleased to see J.R. Ford, one of the trans dads who is speaking out about raising a trans child in this video.

I was thrilled to discover during the recent Gender Infinity Conference I attended that more Black parents are supporting their trans kids and not throwing them on the streets and starting to step up to leadership roles.

I was introduced during Gender Infinity to Gail Levein Barnett, who sits on the Houston PFLAG board and has a trans daughter.

I also met during the conference Jodie Patterson, who is raising her trans son Penel and talked about it during her keynote speech.

I also met other Black parents of trans kids at Gender Infinity and others during this year who have told me they not only love and support them, it's past time for the transphobic ignorance aimed at them and trans people of all ages in our Black community to immediately end.

I agree with them on that point.  Black America, it's past time for you to stop listening to anti-trans talking points that came from white fundamentalists, being regurgitated by your ministers cooning it up for conservacash and conservative media attention and other ignorant know-nothings.

And yes, in a world in which right wing politicians are ramping up anti-trans hatred for their own political gain, it's even more imperative that we see more Black parents of trans kids and their allies on the front lines defending our trans youth from legislative and rhetorical attack.

It is past time for Black America to unconditionally love their trans children, not revile them.  It's also imperative that we Black trans adults shower our trans kids with love and support our Mama and Papa Bears raising those kids.   As the possibility models for those trans kids, if we don't love and support our trans kids or the parents raising those trans children, who will? 

I am willing to help my people accomplish that mission by working with the parents of trans kids to point out they exist, do what I can to support them, and relentlessly point out the humanity of our trans children is not up for debate or discussion.

If you believe that the children are our future, as the classic lyrics of the song 'The Greatest Love Of All' states, and claim you love our children, then by extension, Black trans kids are included.

Nicki Ramos-Transgender People Are Lying?!?!

While I'm flying to the West Coast, here's one of my fave video bloggers for you to enjoy.  

She had this to say back on August 25, 2015 about the claim that trans people are lying when we tell you that we are transgender women

My trans Tejana sis Nicole Ramos breaks it down

Scott Turner Schofield's 'Becoming A Man In 127 Easy Steps' Play Coming To Chicago September 12

I have much love for my fellow Texan Scott Turner Schofield (he was born in San Antonio), who last year made a little history by becoming the first out trans actor on daytime television as Maya Avant Forrester's friend Nick on the CBS soap the Bold And The Beautiful.

I had the pleasure of seeing Scott's humorous one act play Debutante Balls while I was in Provincetown, MA last year at Fantasia Fair to pick up the Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award, and understand Scott has another one act play he is preforming called Becoming A Man In 127 Easy Steps.

So what's it about?  It's irreverent and dynamic, graceful and playful, Becoming A Man In 127 EASY Steps engages the deep questions and the locker room jokes about what it means to "become" a man.

Moving beyond the transgender narrative that focuses on the experience of transition, Scott Turner Schofield’s 127 stories explore the drama and hilarity of living a new life in the "opposite" gender. 

Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps has toured the world for nearly a decade to rave reviews, making a deep impact in every community in which it plays. It is an award-winning glimpse into the real life of one transgender man whose artistry as a writer and performer has achieved the highest critical acclaim. 

Becoming a Man in 127 Easy Steps will be in Chicago at the Center on Halsted's Hoover-Leppen Theater on September 12 starting at 7 PM.  Tickets are $25,but no one will be turned away for lack of funds if you wish to see it because it's only going to be in the Windy City for one night only.

Check it out.  You'll be glad you did.  Registering for seats is highly recommended and you can do that at this link.

Hope you peeps in Chitown pack the theater for it, and tell Scott i said hello when you do..

Pearland ISD Oppressing A Trans Child

I was not happy to hear that while I was handling my Chautauqua business, the Pearland ISD has decided to be unapologetic trans human rights oppressors and ignore the guidelines contained in the DOE/DOJ 'Dear Colleague Letter.

Kimberly Shappley's five year old trans daughter Kai starts school on August 22, and Shappley appeared at the PISD school board meeting on Tuesday to appeal once again to PISD trustees.

The subject wasn't on their board meeting agenda, but Shappley was trying once again to get the district in Houston's booming southern suburbs to wake up and start treating transgender kids not as people to gleefully demonize but with the dignity and respect they deserve just like every other kid that is in the boundaries of their school district.

Looks like unfortunately at first glance that plea fell on deaf ears, and they are following the lead of their transphobic superintendent Dr. James Kelly.

Kelly back in May made a transphobic comment criticizing the Dear Colleague letter that alarmed Shappley, the Houston area trans community and allies living in PISD and the Houston area.  

Shappley has been told by PISD officials that when Kai begins kindergarten in a few weeks, that she will have to either use the boys bathroom or one in the nurses office.  It is a policy that runs counter to the DOE/DOJ Dear Colleague letter, that encourages districts to allow trans students to use the bathrooms that match their outward gender presentation .

It also violates Kai's civil and human rights.

Shappley said as she addressed the PISD board on Tuesday that the PISD policies create an intolerant atmosphere that promotes bullying and could put her daughter's life at risk.

"You are increasing the risk of suicide among these children.  "I am the mom of a little girl who I want to live." Shappley said to the board.  "I'm fighting for her happiness.  I'm fighting for her freedom."




Since the topic wasn't on the PISD board meeting agenda, the trustees declined to address Shappley's comments either at Tuesday's board meeting or in the media.

But it's increasingly clear that the Pearland ISD, despite their rhetoric that they care about the welfare of all their students, doesn't care about the happiness, lives, freedom and welfare of its transgender students.

They are hell bent on being trans human rights oppressors and unfortunately are willing to continue violating Title VII and Title IX at the behest of bad advice from our indicted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.   PISD probably won't care about the human rights of Kai and other trans kids in their district until they lose a federal human rights lawsuit.

And that's sad because PISD should be embracing Kai and doing what they can to educate her.  Instead they are taking the path of gleefully oppressing Kai and greasing the skids for her cisgender classmates and adults who should know better at her elementary school to bully her.

Preliminary US Trans Survey Data On Trans Bathroom Experiences

The US Trans Survey (USTS) was conducted in English and Spanish over four weeks in August-September 2015.  It is the follow up to the 2008-2009 National Transgender Discrimination Survey (NTDS) in which 6,456 people responded to the questions in it. and the data from the often quoted survey was released in 2011.

The NTDS because it has been quoted by media sources (including this blog) over 15,000 times has been a game changer in terms of how the public and policymakers understand the challenges that US transgender people face.

The USTS, with 27,715 adult respondents is now the largest survey of transgender Americans ever conducted.  While the full results of the survey will be released later this year, enough of it has been compiled so that we can get snapshots of the data.

Seeing that our conservafool opponents are attacking our community based on the debunked bathroom predator lie, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) is releasing the preliminary data covering the experiences of trans people in the bathrooms to highlight how critical and necessary it is for trans people to use bathrooms that match their gender identity.

The link to it is here.  The rest of the USTS data will be released later this year.

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59% of respondents reported they have in the last year avoided bathrooms because they feared confrontations in public restrooms at work, schools or in other places.

12% reported they have been attacked, harassed or sexually assaulted in a bathroom in the last year.

31% have avoided drinking or eating so that they did not need to use the restroom in the last year.

24% reported that someone told them they were using the wrong restroom or questioned their presence in the restroom in the past year.

 9% reported being denied access to the appropriate restroom in the past year.

9% reported having a kidney or urinary tract infection, or another kidney related medical issue from avoiding restrooms in the last year.

Meagan Taylor's Iowa Discrimination Case Settled

You TransGriot readers may recall last July when girl like us Meagan Taylor and a trans friend's stay at a West Des Moines, Iowa Drury Inn on their way to Kansas City for a funeral turned ugly after a transphobic hotel employee called the police with a false claim of prostitution on the premises..

It resulted in Taylor spending 8 days in the Polk County, Iowa jail, missing the funeral, and becoming a real time example of why public accommodations language is critical in any non discrimination ordinance that aims to cover trans people.

Taylor and the ACLU-Iowa sued in November, and I'm pleased to report that with the help of the ACLU, Taylor's case was settled to the mutual satisfaction of the hotel and herself.

"What happened to Meagan was simply unacceptable and un-Iowan," said Rita Bettis, the legal director of the ACLU-Iowa. "Iowans have long valued the importance of treating every person fairly, and Iowa law has expressly protected against this sort of harmful discrimination by businesses against their transgender customers since 2007."

Thank you Meagan for standing up for your human rights, and glad the case was successfully resolved to your satisfaction.

US Trans Military Service Ban Repealed!

"Effective immediately, transgender Americans can serve openly, and they no longer can be discharged...just for being transgender.”
Defense Secretary Ash Carter

After a year of study, a historic moment for American trans people happened today as Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced moments ago that the longstanding DOD policy ban on trans people serving openly in the biggest baddest military force on our planet has been repealed.

Of course we will hear the conservafool movement freak out about the military not being 'a place for social engineering', but they said the same thing back in 1947 after Harry Truman desegregated the military and in the aftermath of DADT repeal in 2010.

This announcement by Sec. Carter comes as a major relief to the estimated 15,500 trans people currently serving in our armed forces. It also allows trans people who wish to join and serve in our military to be able to do so.

There are 18 nations, including several NATO allies like Great Britain that have allowed trans people to openly serve in their nation's military forces without incident, and Canada has allowed it for over 20 years.

"Americans who want to serve and meet our standards should be afforded the opportunity to do so," said Secretary Carter. "Implementation will begin today."

That implementation of the policy will take place over the next year, and it is a day that we in Trans World who have served, are serving or wish to serve in our nation's military have been awaiting for a while..