Happy 50th Birthday Jevon Martin!

He doesn't look a day over 25, but Jevon Martin is celebrating his 50th birthday today.

I first met Jevon at the 2013 BTAC, when he and his trans brothers were spoiling me rotten to the point that he sent my butt away from the Doubletree Campbell Center host hotel to get a mani-pedi before the Awards Gala on the night in which I received the BTAC Advocacy award that is now named for me.

A year later he brought his wife Christina to meet the BTAC fam, and she and I have become great friends.   Christina and I usually do the Sisterhood discussion at BTAC in addition to both of them organizing to trains running on time perfection the BTAC Black Diamond Ball.

Speaking of running thangs, Jevon is  the founding CEO of Princess Janae Place

Princess Janae Place is New York State's only trans led organization that since 2015 has helped trans and gender non conforming people transition from homelessness to housing.

Y'all might wish to drop a donation or two as a birthday gift to support the important and life changing work they do there. .

But I can talk about PJP anytime.   You only turn 50 once.

So happy milestone birthday Jevon!   It has been (and still is) a blessing to have you and Christina in my life.   You are also a blessing to all of us as a leader in our community.

And yes, have much love, admiration, and respect for you.

Happy birthday Jevon!  Hope this 50th birthday is an amazing and blessings filled one for you, and you get to celebrate many more of them .


  .   

Sade's Child Comes Out As Trans

Peeps who have known me for a while know that I have mad love for Sade, and I own every CD she's ever produced.  Even got a chance to see her in concert in Houston back in 1988.

Some other interesting news that has come out this week is that Sade's 21 year old child has recently come out on his Instagram page as a trans man.

There's also no word yet about what his masculine name will be, and hopefully he'll let us know that soon, especially since the usual reprehensible transphobes in Black gossip blog world (cough, cough 'Sandra' Rose) have already started throwing facts free shade.

No reaction from his Grammy winning mom yet, but we're happy to welcome him to our international trans family.

Houston Black Trans Men, Time For Y'all To Step Up And Lead

A few days ago Dee Dee and I were discussing an e-mail she had received in which a local magazine was looking for Black trans masculine men to highlight in an upcoming issue that was going to discuss local LGBT leaders.

While there are several out Houston trans masculine leaders we thought of immediately such as Lou Weaver and Dr. Colt Keo-Meier, we were hard pressed between the two of us to come up with any unapologetically out H-town African-American trans men.  Of the two we came up in Tye West and Tajir Hawkins, Tye has moved away.

Besides myself and Dee Dee, there are others here in H-town like video blogger Diamond Stylz and Atlantis Capri.   While Dee Dee and I are probably the most recognizable H-town Black trans feminine faces because of the HERO fight and our frequent appearances at City Hall, collegiate and civic panel discussions and other events, what she, I and other Houston Black trans women are irritated about is the lack of visibility of Houston's Black trans men.

The education of the Houston Black community about trans issues can't be just the sole responsibility of me, Dee Dee and other Houston Black trans feminine people.  While I understand some of you brothers may not wish to get involved in politics, or wish to stay nondisclosed about your trans status, the bottom line is that the Republican Party and their assorted faith-based haters are coming for you and our entire community just like they tried and failed to do in the 2015 Texas Legislative session.

Don't think for a nanosecond if Rep. Debbie Riddle (R) and her Teabagging legislative buds get their way in 2017 and succeed in criminalizing Texas trans people's ability to live our lives, that by hiding y'all won't be negatively affected by that unjust legislation.

Just like us, you are currently affected by the HERO repeal that the suburban Forces of Intolerance and Texas GOP relentlessly demonized trans women to bamboozle 61% of Houston voters into voting against their own human rights and ours.

And we could have used your help my trans brothers in fighting that.

Just a warning my H-town trans brothers.  We are getting fed up with repeatedly and unapologetically putting our butts on the line for the human rights of our community while many of you hide in the shadows.

As the Rev Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr once stated, "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

Well, we're at one of those moments of challenge and controversy.  Where do you Houston trans brothers stand?

Yes, there are things you Houston Black transmasculine peeps can do to support the efforts of your trans feminine sisters while remaining nondisclosed.   But the one thing your Black trans sisters really need you to do at some point is have one or several of you trans brothers who call Houston home to consistently step up and be the unapologetically visible Black trans masculine leaders we need inside Beltway 8 like Carter Brown and the men of BTMI are in their cities across the country.

It is past time for you, my Houston area Black trans brothers, to do your part in standing up for the human rights of all trans Houstonians. We need that to happen now more than ever, especially when the discussion cranks up again at Houston City Hall to pass HERO 2.0 in the near future.

If you fail to do so, I will tell y'all straight to your faces to STFU the next time I hear any complaints coming from a Houston based trans man, especially if he is a nondisclosed one. about how Black trans women get all the media attention and how 'nobody talks about their issues'.

The best way you ensure your voices are heard my brothers, is to be standing tall at the mike and talking about them.  But you can't do that from a closet.

It's nation time, Houston Black trans men.  Time for y'all to step up and answer the leadership call at this crucial point in our history.  Will you answer that call?  

FTM Fitness World Body Building Competition Video

I talked about the FTM Fitness World Conference in Atlanta in a previous post, and in addition to this Al Jazeera America story about the transmasculine body building world, while searching for video I stumbled across this CNN video with interviews by Neo Sandja and Shawn Stinson about this trans masculine bodybuilding competition.



I hope I get the opportunity to go to the 3rd annual FTM Fitness World event next year in the ATL, see it in person and write about it for the blog

'Things Trans Men Are Tired Of Hearing' Video

Since all of a sudden everyone wants to know or talk about trans people these days, time to take this conversation in a trans masculine direction.  

There are a lot of offensive and problematic things that you don't say to trans women that have been elaborated on a few times on this blog and elsewhere

And now, let me present courtesy of my thespian brother Tajir Hawkins, a video that covers some of the things you don't say to trans men if you wish to be considered a respectful ally to the transmasculine community.

The Reel Majik Productions video is entitled 'Things Trans Men Are Tired Of Hearing' .

'Passing' Trans Masculine Documentary

One of the things the world definitely needs to see and hear are the voices of trans men of color.

Just as the modern trans feminine narrative since 1953 has been dominated by the voices and stories of white trams women, the story is unfortunately the same for trans men of color.

Passing: A Short Documentary is a film by Lucah Rosenberg Lee and J. Mitchell Reed that focuses on the lives of three nondisclosed Black trams men.  The film explores what life is like living as a Black man when no one knows you are transgender and how each of them now perceives their own journey with gender after many years of being interacted with by the world as a biological man.

It will also explore how cultural attitudes towards race are central to how transgender men of color experience their maleness in today’s society because their experiences are different from the experiences of white trans-men.

The documentary film has been completed, and the Passing team is on a second Indiegogo campaign with a $3500 goal to raise funds to take it to multiple film festivals, pay for music licensing fees, and cover travel expenses for two of the actors to travel from Houston and New York to attend the premiere




Hope you hit that fundraising target, and hope I get to see it at my local H-town filmfests like Worldfest and QFest Houston..

Matt Kailey 1955-2014

Was stunned to hear the news that one of my fellow bloggers and trans human rights activists in Matt Kailey passed away Saturday night-early Sunday morning of heart failure.

From Matt's sister: 

"I wanted to let you know that Matt Kailey, my brother, has passed away. He died of heart failure in his sleep Saturday night/early Sunday morning. His untimely and unexpected passing has been a shock. With the help of family and friends, I am currently working on processing this tragedy and making arrangements. I will post more information at a later time. Thank you for being Matt's friends."


Matt transitioned in 1997, and his Tranifesto blog was one of the destinations that people went to for information, advice and to get knowledge on the trans journey from the transmasculine point of view.

The Denver, CO based Kailey was the author of Just Add Hormones: An Insider's Guide to The Transsexual Experience (Beacon Press), a Lambda Literary Award finalist and Rocky Mountain News local bestseller, and Teeny Weenies and Other Short Subjects , a collection of humorous and heartfelt essays about his life before and after transition. In addition, his work has appeared in numerous publications, from anthologies to professional journals. Matt was also a media personality who appeared on local and national radio and television, in local and national print publications, and in five documentary films.

Mat Kailey will be missed in our trans human rights ranks and in our community.  Final arrangements are pending, and as soon as I'm aware of them the news will be posted to this blog. 

Rest in power and peace Matt. 

Tiq Milan On Today's CNN"s 'Reliable Sources'

So yeah media peeps, how about trying harder in the 2K14 to broaden the transmasculine discussion to include transmen of color?  --TransGriot, 'When Are Transbrothers of Color Going To Get Their TV Closeups?  January 8, 2014  

I've been complaining for a few months that transmen of color also need their media face time to discuss not only transmasculine issues from their perspective, but trans issues in general.

Guess somebody was paying attention.

In addition to my sportswriting sis Christina Kahrl appearing on today's Reliable Sources episode on CNN, we will also get to witness Tiq Milan representing the community in his capacity as GLAAD's Senior Media Strategist on our cable TV screens at 10 AM CST. 

Congrats Tiq.  I couldn't be happier to see my fellow GLAAD POC Media Institute classmate doing his thing on my TV screen in a few hours.

I just hope this isn't the only time I see a transman of color on my TV screen discussing trans issues this year.

Isaak Still Standing, Still Getting Dissed On His Way To Graduation Day

Needed to give you TransGriot readers an update as to how transman Isaak Wolfe is faring in his senior year Pennsylvania battle against transphobia with the Red Lion Area School District.

Isaak's graduation ceremony from Red Lion HS was today, and as you know his story hit the news back in April when he wasn't allowed to run for prom king  

Without his knowledge he was entered into the candidates for prom queen under his old name because his transphobic principal was 'uncomfortable' with the idea of him running for prom king.   When his girlfriend Taylor Thomas expressed her displeasure with the transphobic shade that Red Lion HS was aiming at Isaak she was barred from attending the prom with him.

That's when the ACLU legal guns got involved.   The prom situation got resolved, Taylor was allowed to attend with him, but his chance to run for prom king was thwarted (which was probably the intent in the first place).   

Then it was the issue of Red Lion High having separate cap and gown colors for male and females students. Frankly, I don't understand the reasoning for it because at my high school and many in this area male and female students wear the same cap and gown in the school colors.

Isaak of course like Damian Garcia in Albuquerque wanted to wear the gender appropriate black gown other male students at the school wore, but the administration was demanding he wear the female one which was gold.

That issue got resolved as well, but one that didn't was having his male name read as he graduated with the other 380 members of his class.  He wouldn't be able at this time to have it placed on his diploma, but had asked to be announced as he crossed the stage as Isaak.   It's a reasonable request and something that could easily be done. 

Of course, the transphobic Red Lion HS administration took the shady road, refused to do so and spitefully read his old name.

Despite that, on his graduation day Isaak received flowers and a binder from the Pennsylvania Student Equality Coalition.containing the news stories about his trans human rights fight and a graduation card signed by over 1,300 people

He was also upbeat and optimistic about his special day despite the trying last few weeks.
 
Wolfe said in an interview it would have been "fantastic" to have his preferred name read at graduation, but "they're going to go down in history as doing the wrong thing, and I think that hits them harder than they even know."

"I think we're going to go on to have bright and amazing futures that no one could ever imagine for us," he said.

And that's the one thing your trans family wants for you and all our graduates the most.  Have the type of future that even we can't see right now because we're busy fighting the haters and planting trans human rights trees for you and the next generation of trans kids. 

Congratulations and best of luck in your future endeavors, Isaak!

Damian's Graduation Ceremony At UNM

Despite the efforts of thousands of people around the world who attempted to get transphobic Archbishop Michael Sheehan to defer to common sense and allow Damian Garcia to walk with his Albuquerque St Pius X HS classmates in a black gown, it unfortunately didn't happen and Damian skipped the ceremony.

On May 30 the University of New Mexico welcomed their newest Lobo to the fold by hosting a special graduation event for him at the UNM LGBT Resource Center attended by several dozen people in which Damian was the keynote speaker and got to wear his black graduation robe.

One of the people in attendance was Hawaii Human Rights Commissioner and recent Harvey Milk Champion of Change honoree Kim Coco Iwamoto, who received her law degree from the University of New Mexico's law school

“For me it’s amazing for young people like Damien take a stand for him being his authentic self,” she said.

Damien was emotional as he spoke about seeing a community come together on his behalf. "“I’ve seen a community, the LGBT community come to the rescue, so to speak, of a fellow member,” Garcia said. “Because of this and all the support, I’ve grown as a person as well as the community growing as a whole.”

He starts school at UNM in the fall and plans to become an attorney.

South Korean Court Rules Trans People Can Change Gender Markers Without SRS

Some positive news on the international trans human rights front coming out of South Korea.  

On March 15 the Seoul Western District Court ruled in a case brought by five trans masculine individuals that trans individuals could change their legal gender status without undergoing genital surgery

The Seoul Western District Court ruled in favor of accepting the requests from the five trans men to have their family register listing altered to be classified as male. None of the five has undergone operations to surgically alter their genitalia.

The five trans men filed their request in December, arguing that the demand for surgery to conform to the changed gender status constituted the main barrier to approvals and violated the spirit of the legal gender modification system, which is to guarantee the Constitutional rights of transgender people.

Of course the five transmen were thrilled about the landmark ruling.

Despite the South Korean Supreme Court ruling in June 2006 that transpeople in that nation have the right to alter their legal gender status, in the guidelines they subsequently drafted one of the requirements was that individuals have to possess 'external genitalia of the opposite sex from their biological one' in order to do so.

Last January, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health sent an opinion to Seoul Western District Court arguing that genital surgery should not be a requirement because it is not medically necessary and is a difficult procedure with a strong risk of side effects and other negative consequences.

It's another good day for the advancement of trans human rights not only in South Korea, but internationally as well. 

Good Luck Keelin!

The US Olympic Track and Field Trials (called Athletics to the rest of the world) will kick off today and run through July 1 in Eugene, OR to determine who gets those coveted all expense paid spots on the US Olympic team we're sending to London.

I've talked about transman Keelin Godsey, who has been pursuing his dream of competing in the Olympics since 2008.

Starting at 2:15 PM EDT 28 year old Godsey will take the first steps toward sporting history when he competes in the hammer throw prelims competition with 23 other athletes at Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, OR.  If everything goes well for Godsey he'll be in the finals that start at 4:15 PM EDT.  

Keelin was a 16 time All-American athlete at Bates College and the Division III national champion in 2005 in the hammer throw before transitioning during his senior year.

Godsey has continued post college to excel in the event and has already passed the Olympic qualifying standard of 68 meters.   He long ago socially transitioned to male, but will compete in the women's hammer throw and is considered by IOC and IAAF rules as a female competitor.  He is forgoing taking testosterone until either after the trials or the London Olympics so that he could make his Olympic competition dream come true.    

If Keelin places in the top three finishers, he not only will make the team, he will become the first open trans athlete ever to quality for their national Olympic team and the US Olympic team.   Keelin already has the distinction of being the first open trans athlete to make a US Pan Am Games squad and competed in the 2011 Pan Am Games, finishing fifth in the hammer throw competition in Guadalajara. 

Keelin, good luck and hope you make your Olympic dream come true.

TransGriot Update:  Sadly, Keelin failed to qualify.   Finished fifth despite a personal best throw of 231 feet 3 inches. Missed a trip to London by 11 inches.

First Black Transmen Conference Fading Into History

I was bummed that some issues here in H-town kept me from traveling up I-45 north to check out the first annual Black Transmen Empowerment Retreat Conference & Dinner that just concluded up in Dallas last weekend.

The post event reports I'm getting is that Rev. Louis Mitchell's keynote speech was a powerful and inspiring one, the workshops were informative and the people who were witnesses and participants in this March 29-April1 historic event felt inspired, empowered, had a blast and were sad when it concluded.

But as several participants and attendees told me, start saving your money because there will be another one next year.  If I get any information about the dates and location for the 2013 event, I'll post it on TransGriot as soon as I receive that information.

Congrats transbrothers for making history and for what I'm hearing was a two thumbs up event.

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Message From Black Transmen Conference

Black Transmen, Inc Founder-Director Carter Brown has a YouTube video welcome message for folks who are coming to (or considering coming to) the first annual Black Transmen Advocacy Retreat Conference & Dinner being held in Dallas, TX March 29-April 1.  

One of the keynote speakers will be Minister Louis Mitchell and the TransGriot may have to make that run up I-45 for this event.to support her transbrothers at this historic conference. 

     

Tona's Shout Out To The TransMen!

It can't be overstated enough how much we African descended transwomen love and support our transmen, and Tona's video puts an exclamation point on that sentiment.

Kye's Not Playing This NCAA Basketball Season

The 2011-12 NCAA collegiate basketball season is getting underway at collegiate arenas and gyms near you.

But if you surfed by the George Washington University athletic website and perused the 2011-12 lineups for the GWU women's or men's basketball teams, you will not see Kye Allums' name listed on either roster or in the team photos.

GWU announced that Kye Allums "has decided that it is in his best interest to no longer participate in intercollegiate athletics."

Allums had last year's historic season cut short by two early concussions he suffered early in the season that limited his playing time to a mere eight games and announced in May he wasn't going to play his senior season.

"I alone came to this conclusion," Allums said in a statement released by GWU, "and I thank the athletic department for respecting my wishes."

He's enrolled in classes at GWU for the fall semester, and was asked in an interview back in March what he would do if he couldn't play ball again.

"I'll just be trying to make some kind of difference in the world," he said at the time."Try to get into grad school and look forward to my life."

You're off to a great start in terms of making a difference in the world already, Kye. Your visibility as a trans athlete opened the door to have those serious discussions that needed to happen on the issue of trans participation in sports and led to NCAA rules that will make it easier or future trans student athletes to compete at the collegiate level.

Best of luck this semester, in the future and much success in whatever you choose to do with the rest of your life.

Upcoming 1st Annual Black Transmen Empowerment Retreat Conference & Dinner

I am so happy to see my transmen stepping up their leadership game and owning their power.

Just up I-45 from me from March 29-April 1 will be the 1st Annual Black Transmen Empowerment Retreat Conference & Dinner at the Dallas Marriott Suites Market Center Hotel.  

Address of the hotel is 2493 North Stemmons Fwy in Dallas, TX 75207


The theme of the event will be "Stepping Up - Stepping OUT"  Men Uniting and Impacting The World.and is sponsored by Black Transmen, Inc.

Hope this conference is a mega successful event and it just gets bigger and better.