Transphobic RadFem 2012 Hatemongers Booted From London's Conway Hall

The transphobic RadFem 2012 hatefest may take place in another double secret location (or on The Land in Hart, MI) but it ain't happening at London's Conway Hall

In consultation with the organisers of RadFem 2012 and our legal advisors, Conway Hall has decided not to allow the booking in July 2012 to proceed. This is because it does not conform to our Terms and Conditions for hiring rooms at Conway Hall. In addition, we are not satisfied it conforms with the Equality Act (2010), or reflects our ethos regarding issues of discrimination.


We had sought assurances that the organisers would allow access to all, in order to enable the event to proceed at the venue. We also expressed concern that particular speakers would need to be made aware that whilst welcoming progressive thinking and debate, Conway Hall seeks to uphold inclusivity in respect of both legal obligations and as a principle.

In the absence of the assurances we sought, the event in its proposed form could not proceed at Conway Hall.

The July 2012 conference ran into trouble because it specifically sought to exclude transwomen from the venue in violation of Britain's Equality Act and is featuring longtime transphobic hatemonger Sheila Jeffreys as a keynote speaker. 

RadFem2012 has stirred up not only trans people, womanists, cis allies and trans feminists in opposition to it, but cis feminists tired of the over four decades of rampant transphobia pimped by the radfems are finally calling them out about it and pushing back against the madness. 

So naw, don't blame 'the trans conspiracy' for y'all losing your venue, your out of control transphobia did.

If you're looking for someone to blame, take a long look in the fracking mirror.  

2012 Hurricane Season Starts Today

June 1 is also the day that we Gulf Coast residents start paying close attention to our local weathercasters when their weather discussions turn to the topics of tropical thunderstorms or tropical waves forming up off the West African coast or in the Caribbean.   

It's the start of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season which lasts until November 30.  We have already had two named storms in Alberto and Beryl, of which Beryl made landfall during Memorial Day weekend along the North Florida-Georgia coastline. .  

Speaking of hurricane names, here they are for the 2012 season.

Alberto, Beryl, Chris, Debby, Ernesto, Florence, Gordon, Helene, Isaac, Joyce, Kirk, Leslie, Michael, Nadine, Oscar, Patty, Rafael, Sandy, Tony, Valerie, William.

Note the hurricane name list has no Q, X, Y, U or Z names on it.   If we have a year like 2005 in which we have a bunch of named storms that exhausts the list, they resort to the Greek alphabet to name them. 

If you're wondering why I'm talking about hurricanes on a trans blog, it's because I've lived on the Gulf Coast for the majority of my life and frankly because the trans issue comes up even in ways you don't traditionally associate it with like a hurricane evacuation. 

We Houston area transpeeps had that lesson reinforced in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the evacuations from the city of New Orleans it triggered.

New Orleans is a mecca for transpeople, so logically some of the thousands of people evacuated from the city in the wake of the storm were trans. 

We also heard some disturbing stories of trans and GLB evacuees who were housed in suburban and exurban evacuation centers that didn't get the hospitality we Texans are world renowned for and were mistreated by transphobic and homophobic shelter workers.  

It's also a heightened concern of mine about how TBLG hurricane evacuees are treated because Sharli'e Dominique, one of those New Orleans trans evacuees who got grossly mistreated in 2005 shared my ethnic background.

Since some of us don't have contact with our families or are estranged from them, we transpeeps may not have places to evacuate to when the call goes out to leave an area threated by an approaching Category 2, Cat 3, Cat 4 or Cat 5 hurricane.

It's why the TFA here in Houston collects a list of names so that if that situation occurs again and we're not in the bullseye of one like we were with Rita or Ike, we know who the TBLG peeps in the Houston metro area who have indicated their willingness to host a trans or GLB evacuee.

So yes, from now until November 30 we'll be gathering supplies for our hurricane emergency kits at our local stores while casting nervous eyes out at the Gulf and satellite photos of circulating storms off the West African coast, in the mid Atlantic or the Caribbean..

2012 International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia

Today is IDAHOT Day, and the acronym stands for International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

It happens every May 17 and is marked with events around the world that call attention to homophobia and transphobia, salute those who work tirelessly to fight for TBLG rights in our various nations  from our planet and give our allies an opportunity to express their support for the trans, bi, lesbian and gay brothers and sisters.. 

It's a lofty goal but is one that sadly the human race is a long way from achieving as evidenced in the United States.

In just the first five months of this year alone we've witnessed the passage of the unjust Amendment One in North Carolina, a Republican congressman openly stating it should be legal to discriminate against TBLG people, transwomen of color being murdered at alarming rates and no one really caring about it and a major newspaper in the New York Times ignoring the AP Stylebook guidelines on respectfully reporting about trans people and refusing to retract a transphobic story penned about Lorena Escalera's tragic death in a suspicious fire.

While my nation hasn't been living up to the words of the Constitution as it applies to trans and GL Americans, I and others will continue to insist that they do and will not rest until the words 'We the People' also include trans, bi, gay and lesbian people too. 

Well, what better time than today to get started than on IDAHOT doing the work necessary towards  achieving that goal?  Because it's glaringly evident in the United States and elsewhere around this planet we have a lot of work to do to eliminate the scourges of homophobia and transphobia from our planet.

Happy IDAHOT 2012 people.

Friday ABC 'What Would You Do' Episode' To Tackle Transphobia

The ABC show What Would You Do? uses actors and actresses to set up moral dilemma situations and as the hidden cameras roll, we viewers get to see what the people who witness those staged situation do (or don't do) in reaction to what is transpiring in front of them

There was an interesting one I posted on the blog a while back as my home state peeps in Farmers Branch, TX probably to the surprise of many of you who like to knee jerk hate on red states rose to the defense of gay families in a diner and passed with flying colors..

On Friday's latest edition of the show they are going to tackle transphobia by using trans actress Carmen Carrera to play a waitress in a New Jersey diner.

Carrera plays a longtime waiter at the diner who transitions and has her trans status revealed by a longtime male customer played by another actor  who has a major problem with her transition. 

As he subjects her to transphobic slurs, the hidden camera is on the scene to record what happens next with the diner patrons.

Frankly, I and much of the trans community will be interested observers watching to see what happens as well.

Gee, Tell Me Something I Didn't Know Already

I chuckled when I saw this post at Addictinginfo.com that stated people who are adamantly opposed to TBLG rights have same sex attractions they are repressing.

Gee, tell me something I didn't know already.

I've seen a long list of right-wing pink elephants over the years getting yanked out of the closet after being pulled over for DUI's outside or close to gay bars, being caught in bathrooms with 'wide stances', or in male prostitution stings in public parks or motels close to known strolls like a former anti-gay minister was in Oklahoma City..

You get the picture. 

The same dynamic applies to the many peeps who oppose trans human rights.  They are themselves either attracted to transpeople sexually or want to transition.  They are hiding behind conservatism, fundamentalist religious or radfem hatred of transwomen to avoid dealing with the issue that will not go away.

So gee, tell me something I didn't know already in terms of in many cases, the people rabidly hating us either want to emulate us or date us.

University Of Pittsburgh Imposes A Transphobic Gendered Facilities Policy

When the 2012-13 school year rolls around, I'll be joining much of the Big East Conference in hatin' on the University of Pittsburgh for a different reason other than their upcoming 2013 departure from the Big East for the ACC.

In a step that would make transphobic rad fems and the Exterminationalist Twins proud, the University of Pittsburgh took a transphobic step backwards in regards to campus gendered facility policy for trans students.

Last month the Pitt Anti-Discrimination Policies committee, one of the standing advisory committees of the University Senate, unanimously passed a resolution that would allow students to use bathrooms allocated to the gender they identify with, not their birth one. .The ADP committee includes Pitt faculty, staff and two Pitt students who do not have voting power: Board member Julie Halinan and Rainbow Alliance President Tricia Dougherty.  .  

On Tuesday an unidentified Pitt spokesperson stated that students must use the gendered facilities that correspond with gender on their birth certificate, not how they currently present.

That's problematic on several levels.  Pennsylvania is one of the states that only allows birth certificate changes if the person in question undergoes SRS.   That's an out of the question expense for many trans college students.  It also doesn't take into account some states like Tennessee will not allow or offer new or amended birth certificates under any circumstances.  

Pitt's transphobic policy is also in conflict with the recently adopted NCAA competition policies for trans student athletes, the non-discrimination laws in the city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County and could open trans students to anti-trans violence if forced to use a gender facility that doesn't correspond with their gender presentation.

And as trans Pitt student Alice Haas pointed out, "“I find it absolutely barbaric and appalling that the University of Pittsburgh requires forced castration in order for me to be considered female, especially when my driver’s license and passport both state otherwise,” Haas said. “It is in no way just or appropriate to force me to provide information on my genitals or my birth certificate.”

Pennsylvania was also one of the states in which the Republifools got control of the state legislature in 2010, so peeps who don't pay attention to politics, this is another fine example of how lack of attention to what's happening politically can bite you in the behind.

Stay tuned, this battle in the Keystone State and on the Pitt campus is going to get interesting.

Detroit Fox Noise Affiliate Compares Murdered Transwoman To Trash

Black transwomen have to do battle with the 'unwoman' meme that is hurled at them on an almost daily basis along with disrespect in the media that I've documented on this blog ad nauseum.  

But even I am stunned and shaking my head at how low the reporting of Fox 2 in Detroit went in the wake of the murder of 35 year old transwoman Coko Williams and their reporting of it.

No attempts to get a photo of the victim, just a picture of random trash and attempting to plant the usual streetwalker stereotypes about Black transwomen.

Body of Person in Woman's Clothes Found Near 6 Mile & Woodward: MyFoxDETROIT.com

Williams was found shot to death in the 100 block of Parkhurst Street in Palmer Park, near the intersection of Woodward Avenue and McNichols (Six Mile) Road at about 5:30 AM EDT Tuesday morning.

"We are saddened to hear of yet another life ended too soon," said Nusrat Ventimiglia, director of victim's services for Equality Michigan, in a statement. "Our thoughts go out to Ms. Williams' family and friends who have suffered a great loss. We urge anyone with information about Coko's killing to contact the Detroit Police."

Friends recalled Williams as a loner .   

"She was really a sweet, quiet girl," said Dada, who had known Williams for the past 15 years and told Between The Lines that she sometimes worked as a hair stylist. "She was never shady or nasty. She wasn't that type of girl at all. She was always respectful of herself and to other people. It's sad for her to go out the way she did."

It's even sadder that Fox 2 would disrespect Coko's  life like that, but that's par for the course for a FOX Noise affiliate.  Every day the affiliates are becoming more like their parent news organization.   

What's even more irritating is that this happened the day after Qasim Raqib was sentenced to 25-40 years for the murder of Shelley Hilliard but it seems like the Detroit media didn't learn anything about respectful reporting on trans people in that case.

Fox 2 and media peeps, in case it escaped your attention, transpeople are human beings too.  I know that concept is hard to grasp no thanks to the unhinged screeching of transphobic radical feminists and transphobic elements of the gay and lesbian community, but I sincerely doubt you would compare dead cis people to trash especially if they are of European ancestry. 

So don't think for one nanosecond that it's acceptable to compare Black trans people to garbage.

Okay GLAAD, where are you on this one?

The Talackova Press Conference

There was a press conference yesterday in Los Angeles as Canadian transwoman Jenna Talackova continued her fight along with her attorney Gloria Allred to take down the odiously transphobic 'natural born woman' rule that the Miss Universe pageant system has used since 2001 to bar trans contestants from competing in it.

Here's the money video from that press conference courtesy of CNN.

Adrienne Rich-Transphobe

One of the things the feminist blogosphere conveniently didn't talk about when feminist writer and poet Adrienne Rich died March 27 was her role in planting the seeds of transphobia that infect radical feminism today

In the acknowledgments section of the transphobic waste of trees Janice Raymond penned in 1979 called The Transsexual Empire,  Raymond said, "Adrienne Rich has been a very special friend and critic. She has read the manuscript through all its stages and provided resources, creative criticism, and constant encouragement."

In the chapter of The Transsexual Empire entitled "Sappho by Surgery", Raymond cites a conversation with Adrienne Rich in which Rich described trans women as "men who have given up the supposed ultimate possession of manhood in a patriarchal society by self-castration"

So why am I and other transpeople fired up about Adrienne Rich's transphobia being swept under the rug by feminists?  It's because that 1979 Raymond book that Rich provided creative criticism and constant encouragement for was the building block not only for trans hatred in radical feminism, it was also used to justify denial of medical coverage for low income transpeople and deny trans people access to basic public accommodations..

So yes, Adrienne Rich was an important, influential and inspirational writer.   But she also like Mary Daly never apologized for her transphobic words and actions.  She also played a role in helping Janice Raymond compile The Transsexual Empire book that has deleteriously affected trans women's lives for over three decades.    

May she rest in peace, but I'm not giving her a pass on her transphobia either.

Talackova Will Be Allowed To Compete In Miss Canada Universe Pageant

Amazing what a little international publicity, a Change.org pettition with over 40,000 signatures, social media outrage and hiring Gloria Allred as your attorney will do to overcome blatant anti-trans discrimination.

The Trump-owned Miss Universe organization bowed to the media firestorm and reversed their decision to bar Ms. Talackova from the Miss Universe Canada pageant because she was trans.   The 23 year old Vancouver born beauty was selected as one of the 65 contestants to participate in the May 19 event in Toronto.


“The Miss Universe Organization will allow Jenna Talackova to compete in the 2012 Miss Universe Canada pageant provided she meets the legal gender recognition requirements of Canada, and the standards established by other international competitions,” Michael D. Cohen, executive vice president and special counsel to Donald Trump, said in an email.

Talackova was scheduled to appear in a press conference in Los Angeles with Allred later today to outline why she should be allowed to compete and the steps Allred was preparing to take on behalf of her client if it didn't happen.

The Miss Universe Canada website states that to enter, women must be a Canadian citizen between the ages of 18 and 27.  If basic requirements are met, they are asked to fill out a longer application form.  The entry form does not mention any rules against sexual reassignment surgery or plastic surgery.

The nebulous 'natural born woman' rule they instituted in 2001 was bull feces to begin with.  Hopefully the Miss Universe organization will permanently do away with that discriminatory and transphobic rule so that transwomen who desire to compete in the Miss Universe national pageants around the world and meet the entrance requirements will no longer be barred from doing so. 

Good luck Jenna.  You're on your way to making some trans history when you step on the stage next month.   I and your transsisters around the world hope that you at least make the semifinalist round in the Miss Canada Universe pageant.

And if you're blessed enough to win the 2012 Miss Canada Universe title, we'll be cheering for you at the Miss Universe pageant in December