Number 1- Rest In Power Dustin Parker

Damn, the confetti wasn't even swept up off of the streets in New York's Times Square before the news broke that we have already lost a trans person in 2020 to violence.

We head to McAlester, OK for the news concerning 25 year old Dustin Parker.   His body was found in the drivers seat of his Rover electric Taxi at 6:30 AM CST on New Years Day in the 200 block of West Delaware Avenue.   The vehicle had been hit by multiple gunshots and he was deceased when police arrived at the scene. 

Investigators recovered shell casings at the scene, and interviewed people in the area who head gunshots, but dismissed it as celebratory gunfire until McAlester PD cars started arriving on the scene. 

Parker leaves behind his wife Regina and four children.   He was a founding member of Oklahomans For Equality.   His employer, Rover Taxi, has set up a Facebook fundraising page to help benefit Parker's family.

“Rover Taxi is devastated at the loss of a member of our Rover family,” said Rover Taxi owner Brian West in a post on its site.   Parker served as a manager for the company.

“Dustin was a steadfast friend, an amazing husband and father, and generous to a fault. He loved fiercely, worked tirelessly, and took on life with so much hope and enthusiasm that his presence brightened all of our lives. His bright, young life was taken far too early. Please keep his loved ones in your thoughts as we all try to pull together to get through these difficult times. Dustin will be missed, but never forgotten.”

As of this writing, there are no suspects in this case. Capt  Kevin Hearod of the McAlester Police Department stated that while there is as of yet no evidence that Parker was killed because he was trans, they are not taking that possibility off the table in terms of a possible motive.

"We've still got investigators out running down leads right now," Hearod said to the Tulsa World. "(Parker was) just a working man, making a living for his family, and he didn't get to come home."
No word as of yet concerning a memorial service.

Rest in power and peace Dustin.   You got to see the dawn of the 2020's, but unfortunately you will not see more of this new decade.   Pondering that thought pisses me off.  .   

Your trans sibs in Oklahoma and around the country will not rest until justice is served in your case. 

Meet Our Newest Trans TV Character, Dr Casey Parker

While we have seen the number of trans feminine characters increase on our nation's television and movie screens in the last few years, with some of those characters being played by actual trans actors, what we haven't seen is a corresponding increase in trans masculine characters played by actual trans masculine actors .

We've had my Texas homeboy Scott Turner Schofield 's historic recurring role on the CBS soap The Bold and the Beautiful playing Nick in conjunction with the Maya Avant Forrester character played by a cis feminine actress.

We've had Toine Wilkins, a Black trans masculine character on the OWN network show Queen Sugar played by Brian Michael Smith

Now gracing your television screens is Dr. Casey Parker, who made his debut Thursday night on the long running ABC show Grey's Anatomy played by Alex Blue Davis.

"What's cool about the show, the episode and Krista's vision for this character is he's about way more than being trans," Davis said.   "I cried at the table read, it was very moving for me.  I've been waiting for a moment like this on TV my whole life.  I'm so honored I got to say that line on TV because it's a long time coming."

Alex's previous television acting credits include episodes on 2 Broke Girls and NCIS: Los Angeles before getting this role



"TV is opening up to a greater range of roles (for trans characters); laverne played a lawyer on Doubt, and I'm playing a doctor-- both roles haven't really been seen before (for trans characters), Davis says.

"People can see trans folks in a new light: these are people who walk among us and are human beings  who have lives.  They're not defined by being trans."   

That's precisely what we want, be we trans actors or trans folks getting to watch a guy or girl like us on screen.  We want to see characters that are like the peeps we know in Trans World and that are in our our everyday lives..

Congrats Alex for getting that role and also realizing the importance of it, especially in light of the act it's coming during a time when we have to fight a hostile administration and its fundamentalist allies seeking to eviscerate us from public life and discourse. 

Two Perps In Amos Beede Murder Facing Justice

Here's the update in the Amos Beede murder case.

Beede was the trans man killed in a Burlington VT homeless camp back in May 2016.   Five people, Erik Averill, Allison Gee, Myia Barber , Jordan Paul and Amber Dennis were arrested and charged with second degree murder for his death.

In March,  26 year old Allison Gee plead guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated assault in exchange for her testimony against the other four co-defendants.   She will serve five year in prison on a 15 year sentence, and be on indefinite probation for the remaining ten years of it.  If she violates probation, she goes back to jail to serve the remaining ten years of her sentence, 

On September 14  a plea deal was reached with 24 year old Myia Barber, who plead guilty to a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter for her role in Beede's death.   She hasn't been sentenced yet, but is expected to get 10-15 years in prison.

She was set to go to trial later in September.

Two down, three to go.

Rest In Power Jay Kallio

Was advised by Joshua Holiday that our community lost New York based trans man and longtime TBLGQ community activist Jay Kallio to cancer today at age 61.

Medical transphobia may have played a major role in Kallio's death

Kallio's activism began when he was fired from his job for being a lesbian in 1972 and angered about the lack of human rights protections for LGBT people   Kallio along with his late partner Eleanor Cooper provided critical compassion and care for terminally ill persons during the height of the AIDS crisis in the 80's, and the former EMT transitioned to male when he turned 50

He added action against medical transphobia and discrimination aimed at trans people in a medical setting to his activist platform when Kallio was not told during a checkup about a malignant tumor discovered during a 2008 mammogram.  

Dealing with the medical transphobia in the so called liberal blue oasis of New York unfortunately delayed the critical early treatment he needed to increase his odds of beating the cancer.  

Jay's story about fighting terminal cancer and medical transphobia was published in the New York Times in their Faces of Cancer series.

When I receive information from my New York area trans folks and allies concerning any memorial service for Kallio, I'll pass it along for you TransGriot readers in the area wishing to pay your respects to a longtime human rights warrior in out TBLGQ community ranks.

Rest in power and peace, Jay.   You will be missed by all who loved you.

RIP Amos Beede

One of the things we don't talk about often enough in Trans World is that trans men also are assaulted and attacked for being themselves, and from time to time they are fatal assaults.

An example of this happened May 22, in which 38 year old trans man Amos Beede, who wasn't homeless, but was staying with friends over the weekend in a homeless encampment in Burlington, VT because the local bus wasn't running.  Beede was viciously assaulted and kicked by four homeless people and suffered blunt force trauma to his brain, facial injuries and several broken ribs in what has been described as a 'possible bias incident'..  

He was taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center where Beede died seven days later as the four suspects in the case immediately fled Vermont in a Chevy Malibu and headed to California    They were briefly detained in Roswell, NM when 21 year old Erik Averill, was arrested and held on accusations of assaulting his intimate partner, 22 year old Myia Barber.

Once Averill was released, the four continued their journey to California, where they were arrested Thursday night at Dog Beach, a San Diego homeless encampment by San Diego PD officers after a nationwide manhunt..

Averill and Barber, 25 year old Alison Gee, and 21 year old Jordan Paul were all arrested and charged with second degree murder and are facing extradition back to Vermont to face the legal music there.

Rest in power and peace Amos.   We will be tracking this case to see if you receive justice.

Black Trans History: Wilmer 'Little Axe' M. Broadnax

Another proud moment of presenting more of your African-American trans history to you TransGriot readers.  This time I get to focus on one of my fellow Houstonians in gospel singer Wilmer M. 'Little Axe' Broadnax. 

The bespectacled, diminutive Broadnax was born in Houston on December 28, 1916 and performed in gospel quartets in the 40's, 50's and 60's. 



He and his brother William 'Big Axe' Broadnax performed with the St. Paul Gospel Singers in Houston before moving to Los Angeles to perform with the Southern Gospel Singers in 1939-1940.

The Southern Gospel singers all had day jobs that made it hard for Little Axe to get touring gigs, so Wilmer Broadnax formed his own group called the Golden Echoes.

The Golden Echoes became one of the top touring gospel quartet groups of the 40's, but William eventually left for Atlanta to join the Five Trumpets and Wilmer staying as the lead singer of the Golden Echoes.

In 1949, now augmented by future Soul Stirrer Paul Foster (the group that produced future soul singers Sam Cooke and Johnnie Taylor) they recorded a version of "When the Saints Go Marching In".  But their record label head decided to drop them before they could record a second single and the group disbanded.  

Broadnax took his powerful tenor voice to the popular Spirit of Memphis gospel quartet that included legendary gospel singer Silas Steele.   The Spirit of Memphis was one of the top grossing gospel acts of the time and were getting paid as much as $200 a week, which was big money in that time period.  Broadnax recorded and performed with the Spirit of Memphis Quartet until 1952 when he began working with the Nashville, TN based Fairfield Four.

When Five Blind Boys of Mississippi lead singer Archie Brownlee died in 1960, Broadnax was tapped as his replacement while also until 1965 continuing to lead his own group called Little Axe and the Golden Voices.
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As the popularity and commercial viability of gospel quartets waned, Broadnax retired from touring, but did continue to record with the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi into the 70's and 80's.

There is a dispute as to when Wilmer Broadnax actually died.  Various sources claim it was 1994, but the Untitled Black Lesbian Elder Project website asserts that he met his untimely demise in Philadelphia in 1992.

He and his girlfriend Lavinia Richardson were engaged in a heated argument when she stabbed him on May 23, 1992 and he subsequently died on June 1, 1992.

But the fact that isn't in dispute is when he died, it was on the autopsy table the subsequent discovery was made that Wilmer Broadnax was a trans man.

Wilmer 'Little Axe' Broadnax is another fasicanting story from our Black trans history and another concrete example of Black trans people being an integral kente cloth part of our Black community.   
    

Let Damian Walk In Male Cap And Gown MoveOn.org Petition

A MoveOn.org petition has been created by Torrey Moorman in support of Albuquerque, NM transteen Damian Garcia.

The petition was created with the goal of getting St Pius High School to allow Damian to walk in his rapidly approaching May 22 graduation in the  black cap and gown for male students.

Here's what I posted when I signed the petition, which has over 20,000 signatures at the time I compiled this post
: 
This is a no brainer situation.   Damian identifies as a male, has been presenting as one for over a year,and his classmates, faculty and family recognize him as one.

You only graduate from high school once, so why not let Damian walk in the black male gown?

Why not indeed, St Pius High School?  Your transphobic resistance to doing the decent and right thing and trying to hide behind the policy excuse only makes you look more bigoted to the rest of the world and reinforces the disturbing decade long pattern of the Roman Catholic Church being hostile to trans people.

TransGriot Update: The petition reached its goal of 25,000 signatures and is now shooting for 30,000.

Albuquerque Catholic HS Forcing Transman To Wear Female Graduation Gown

In our latest episode of School Administrators Being Transphobic Jerks, we head west to Albuquerque, NM and Saint Pius High.

Damian Garcia is a senior at the Catholic run high school who transitioned and had a legal name change last year.  He is recognized as a male student by his parents, family, fellow students, faculty and teachers. 

“I look at him and I call him my son. That's how he wishes to be acknowledged is as a male,” said father Luis Garcia in a KRQE-TV 13 interview.  .

But Damian's birth certificate still has the wrong gender code on it despite the name change.  The superintendent of the school, reflecting the decade old anti-trans hate injected into the Catholic Church by Dr. Paul McHugh, is seizing on that to force Damian to walk in his graduation in a white robe.  

For some reason Saint Pius HS in its graduation ceremony has male students wear black gowns and female students wear white ones.  Of course Damian wants to wear the gender appropriate gown for him, the black one.

Graduation gown a problem for transgender student

“I just want to walk in my black robe, nice and proud and have that memory to look back on with my family and friends,” said Damian. “I would rather not walk than to embarrass myself by wearing a female robe.”

His father agreed with him. “All you want in life is to see your kids happy and healthy. You never want to see them suffer or being ridiculed or be made fun of,” Luis said.

Your high school graduation should be one of the happiest times in your young life, and the Saint Pius school  superintendent is sapping the joy out of this occasion for Damian by being a transphobic jerk.

Maybe it's time for Saint Pius to consider having everyone wear the same color graduation gown so this doesn't happen again.

Dr. Ben Barres Elected To National Academy of Sciences!

It's one huge honor for him and one giant leap for transkind.

Meet neurobiologist Dr. Ben Barres, a professor and chair of the department of neurobiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine.   He is one of 84 new members elected to the 150 year old National Academy of Sciences.

It is a major accomplishment and one of the highest honors a scientist can achieve. There are 220 NAS members who have won Nobel prizes and potential NAS members are nominated and extensively vetted by their peers, “in recognition of distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.”

Dr. Barres joins a distinguished group of 2,200 American NAS members and 400 NAS members from other nations. While he was humbled and thrilled about his election to the NAS, he also recognized the significance of his achievement to the trans community.

“This was a total surprise,” Barres said. “I had heard last year that I was nominated but had no idea I had actually been elected.”  Barres said that personally, his election to the Academy was a “nice honor.”

“But the primary significance to me is that it matters for young people. It sends a strong message to them that our country really values science and that they should consider becoming scientists. And of particular importance to me is that this matters to young trans kids. I am the first transgendered person to be elected to the NAS. This helps them to have confidence that they can feel comfortable being who they are, including changing sex, and still be successful in their career, in this case science. They don't have to choose between the two (identity and career).

“Young people should never let anyone make them feel bad about who they are--their differences are often their greatest advantages in life! I have been contacted by so many talented young trans kids (and I meet with them at every Society for Neuroscience meeting and hear their personal stories) who tell me their parents strongly resist their changing sex because they will lose their careers. That they can point to me as an example that this is not true really matters.

“When I decided to change sex 15 years ago I didn't have role models to point to. I thought that I had to decide between identify and career. I changed sex thinking my career might be over. The alternative choice I seriously contemplated at the time was suicide, as I could not go on as Barbara. Very fortunately, my academic colleagues have been incredibly supportive and my fears were far worse than reality. I hope that my election to the academy will help young trans scientists (and LGBT folks in general) to see this.”

Congratulations Dr. Barres for your groundbreaking National Academy of Sciences election.  Thank you for being a strong voice criticizing the gender divide in science and being a role model to our kids who may be considering careers in science, education and technology fields.

Thank you for proving once again to our naysayers that transpeople, if given the opportunity, can excel in any field.

Evon Young Case Update

The last time I posted on the murder of Milwaukee trans man and rapper Evon Young five suspects, 37 year old Ron Allen, 23 year old Devin Seaberry, 26 year old Billy Griffin, 18 year old Ashanti Mcalister, and 27 year old Victor Stewart had been arrested and charged with Young's murder. 

In a January 31 court hearing they defendants all plead not guilty to the first-degree intentional homicide charges they face. The charges come with a maximum life in prison sentence if they are convicted

Young was brutally killed and once the the murder was done one or more of the perpetrators took the body to a trash dumpster behind an apartment complex and set it on fire.  But by the time the police detectives investigating the case discovered that information, the dumpster in question had been picked up and emptied around January 8 at a transfer station before being taken to a massive landfill in Menomonee Falls, WI  

While the court pleas were happening, the police on January 28 began searching a 200 by 200 foot section of the landfill with cadaver dogs for Young's body which ended after 13 days.   Then on February 19 a body was discovered near a dumpster at 63rd and Kraul Streets where evidence in the Young murder was previously found.   It raised the hopes of Young's family that it was his body, but it turned out not to be.

Despite the lack of a body, police and prosecuotrs belive that they have collected enough crime scene evidence combined with the statements of the alleged killers to secure convictions in this case.

As for the projected trial dates for the defendants in tthe Young case, they are as follows.  Billy Griffin is first up on June 10.  Ron Joseph Allen and Ashanti Mcalister get their day in court on June 24.  Victor Stewart will start on July 1 and Devin L. Seaberry on July 8.    Those dates could change based on whether they change their initial 'not guilty' pleas and take plea bargains  or the trials get rescheduled.

Will Evon Young's family get justice?   That remains to be seen.  But you know I will keep you posted about any developments in this case as I get the information.

Issak Gets To Go To His Prom With His Date

The Red Lion Area Senior High School prom in Red Lion, PA was last night, and senior Issak Oliver Wolfe was in attendance with his date Taylor Thomas last night.

The reason we're aware this happened is because of the transphobic events leading up to last night's prom that prompted the ACLU to get involved.

Issak has been transitioning since ninth grade even though his paper trail hasn't yet caught up to where he is in his physical transformation.


But a nasty cup of transphobia was dipped in his transition Kool-Aid by Red Lion High School principal Mark Shue when he listed Issak as a candidate on the prom queen side under his old name because he was 'uncomfortable'.  

Never mind the fact that Issak was running for prom king.

When a stunned Issak went to find out why, Shue and his assistant principals were conveniently out of the building for a meeting.   Then Shue continued to dig the transphobic hole he was in by barring Wolfe's 19 year old girlfreind from being able to attend the prom with him because she exercised her First Amendment rights and called out Red Lion High School on a Facebook page.

The ACLU got involved at this point and threatened a lawsuit if Shue not only didn't cease and desist with the prom shenanigans, but allow Issak to wear the black cap and gown male Red Lion students wear.on May 3.  Why they don't have all students wear the school color cap and gowns is a mystery, but back to the story.


.The ACLU is also demanding an apology from Shue for the hurt and unnecessary drama he caused Wolfe with his initial transphobic stunt.

Will keep you updated as to if it happens.       
 

Five Arrested And Charged With Murder Of Black Transman

The case of Evon Young, a 22 year old transman who has been missing in Milwaukee, WI since January 1 has taken a horrifying turn.

Five men, one of them being Young's roommate, were arrested and charged with first degree intentional homicide.

Young, who was a local rapper known as 'Yung LT' was last seen on New Year's Day near North 52nd St and West Custer Avenue according to a Wisconsin Gazette.com report   

Young failed to report for work that day and his mother filed a missing person's report January 2 with the Milwaukee Police Department.

The criminal complaint states that investigators suspect Young was killed in the basement of the residence he shared with Griffin in what began as a gang re-initiation test for Griffin.

According to the complaint, Young and Griffin were home when the door bell rang. Stewart and Mcalister were at the door, along with Allen and Seaberry. The men entered and went into the kitchen, where an argument ensued.

Griffin allegedly told police that the men began to punch Young and said the victim could not be trusted. Young then was led to the basement, where the attackers choked Young with a chain. Then they placed a plastic bag over his head, rendering Young unconscious. The assailants beat and shot Young, possibly as many as three times. Mcalister allegedly fired the weapon.

Authorities allege the basement was cleaned with beach. Evidence collected in the crime includes DNA, blood, burned clothing and a chain. 

Both Griffin and Stewart allegedly made admissions to police, who were searching a landfill on January 23 for Young's body, which the men allegedly placed in a dumpster.

Charged in the case are Young's roommate Billy R. Griffin, 26, Victor Stewart, 27, Ashanti Mcalister, 19,   Ron Joseph Allen, 37, and Devin L. Seaberry, 23..

Below are the mugshots of the five individuals being charged in the death of Evon:

Devin Seaberry

Ron Allen

Billy Griffin

Ashanti McAlister

Victor Stewart

The defendants are scheduled for a preliminary hearing in this case on January 31.


H/T Lexie Cannes Guerrilla Angel Report

Alexander Goodrum-Gone Ten Years

I'd been in Louisville just over a year on this date when Dawn told me the shocking news that Alexander John Goodrum was dead a few days short of his 42nd birthday on October 3.  

I had the sincere pleasure of meeting him during the 1999 Creating Change conference that took place in Oakland, and it was one of the first times since becoming a national activist I'd met one of our African-descended trans brothers and had a chance to talk about trans life and issues from their perspective. 

Alexander was a Chicago native and had been an activist in GLBT organizing and social justice issues since 1980 in Chicago, San Francisco and after moving there in 1996 in Tucson.   He'd been doing some trailblazing work for the trans human rights community and he was one of my early role models.  He was also one of the first people I met who identified with the bi end of it.

In addition to being a dynamic speaker, Goodrum also founded TGNet Arizona, was a board member on the Tucson GLBT Commission, and the Funding Exchange's OUT Fund, which allocates an annual grant named after Goodrum to LGBT community organizing projects.

Goodrum was instrumental in getting Tuscon to include gender identity in their non discrimination law in 1999, and wrote this paper that appears on the Southern Arizona Gender Alliance (SAGA)  website entitled Gender Identity 101-A Transgender Primer  

But what I and many folks in the national community didn't know about Alexander was he was dealing with some major personal issues that would unfortunately drive him to take his life on the morning of Saturday, September 28, 2002 while under observation at La Frontera Psychiatric Hospital in Tucson.

I couldn't make it to that October 5 memorial service that day, but there isn't a time when I don't think about that handsome smiling guy I met in Oakland that people called 'Bear' and wonder where our community would be on our human rights march if he were still around. 

It's been ten years since his untimely passing, and I definitely want to make sure we never forget this African descended trans man who was a major player in our Black trans history 

Keelin's Olympic Quest Is A Big Fracking Deal

I was disappointed about hearing the news that Keelin didn't qualify for the Olympic team in hammer throw despite his lifetime best throw of 231 feet 11 inches and finished fifth in the US Olympic Trials. 

So unless a trans athlete somewhere else on the planet makes their nation's Olympic team, we will not see a trans athlete marching into London's Olympic Stadium in a few weeks.

When I started writing about Keelin Godsey's quest to make the US Olympic team in the hammer throw, I got conflicting comments from elements of the trans community people about it.  Some were bothered by the fact he was a transman competing in a women's hammer throw event.  Others I don't know what their problem was but I suspect was jealousy.

"I've still done more than many people who are trans have," Godsey said in an interview. "I've competed at the highest level. I couldn't be prouder."

And I'm proud of you as well Keelin along with other trans people who see the big picture.

Bottom line is that Olympians are considered elite athletes and the dedication and hard work required just to make an Olympic team is nothing to be dismissed.  Keelin came 11 agonizing inches from making his Olympic dream come true and making trans and sporting history in the process.   

So yes haters, Keelin's attempt to compete in the Olympics is a big fracking deal.

When my people were fighting for their human rights coverage in the last century, it was Jesse Owens quadruple gold medal 1936 Berlin Olympic performance and continued success of black athletes in Olympic competition that was a building block in the eventual breaking down of Jim Crow segregation in the United States and garnering support for African Americans from people fence sitting on the issue.

You also have to take note of the fact that when Keelin began his transition, the NCAA had no policies in place concerning trans athletes.   Thanks to Godsey coming out at the Division III level in 2005 and later Kye Allums at the Division I athletic level, the NCAA now has implemented policies covering transitioning athletes.  

In addition, various international athletic governing bodies such as the International Olympic Committee and countless others are adapting their policies so that they open the doors for transpeople who wish to compete in their sports.

That's important for our trans younglings who are now entering middle and high school and would like to play sports like their peers or have Olympic dreams of their own.   Because the various state high school athletic governing bodies are in sync with or mirror NCAA rules, these trans younglings who have sporting dreams now have the ability to pursue them.

They also have role models in Keelin, Kye and others to look up to as well.   I also see participation in sports by transpeople as a way to help us get over those shame and guilt issues we struggle with.

Transpeople are on the verge of a tremendous wave of human rights success as the decades old smear and fear tactics and lies of our opponents are debunked and discredited.   The more we are seen doing ordinary things, as part of the culture, and doing what we can to uplift ourselves, our communities and the countries we inhabit as we strive to participate in the greater society, the better. 

Athletic participation has been the road other marginalized groups have used as a pathway to greater visibility and human rights coverage, and it's past time we transfolks did so as well.  

I'm Sorry For Killing Your Daughter

Better grab some tissues before hitting play on this video.

This is an emotional, heartstring tugging video featuring a transman explaining his feelings to his minister father and why he transitioned.




H/T Abitchforjustice