La Feria ISD Trans Student Will Have Pic In Yearbook

"But based on what happened in 2013 and previous school years over the life of this blog, I'm betting I'll be writing a few posts during the 2013-14 school year chronicling your attempts to fight the power, express your trans selves and live your lives."
  
--TransGriot  Trans Class of 2014, Start Planning Now To Beat Your Trans Oppressors  June 8, 2013

It's not even Thanksgiving Day yet and I've already been busy writing up on this blog drama already happening across the country with trans students fighting against their trans oppressors to be themselves as they navigate this school year. 

And you can bet that prom season and graduation days will bring even more resistance, transphobic ignorance and anti-trans bigotry from school administrators. 

Have been keeping my eye on along with other trans Texans the unnecessary drama going on in the Rio Grande Valley with La Feria High School trans teen Jeydon Loredo.

The La Feria High senior received some transphobic resistance from newly installed La Feria ISD superintendent Rey Villarreal concerning his picture that is slated to appear in the school yearbook.  

Villarreal has only been in the LFISD supenintendent's chair for four months andl stated that due to nebulous 'community standards'  Jeydon's yearbook picture of him in a tuxedo would not be allowed to be placed in the yearbook unless he wore traditional feminine attire.





That got the Southern Poverty Law Center involved.   They threatened to file a federal lawsuit on Jeydon's behalf if the anti-trans bigotry didn't cease and desist.  It set the stage for a November 11 LaFeria ISD board meeting in which Jeydon addressed the board along with his SPLC attorney Alesdair Ittelson.

“As school board members, you don’t get to decide whether transgender students receive the same rights as students who are not transgender, ” Ittelson told the LFISD board. “You must treat Jeydon equally and with the respect he deserves. The fact is, you must allow the tuxedo photo in the yearbook in order to remain in compliance with the law.” 

“Please allow my community to remember me, and to remember me the way I truly am, in the clothes that reflect me: Jeydon Loredo,” he asked the board.

The La Feria ISD school board subsequently went into closed session but made no decision on the photo.  They also closed ranks, refusing to comment on the issue or make a final decision probably in a vain attempt to stonewall and hope the story and the negative attention it was focusing on the town and school district near the Mexican border would fade away.

The SPLC wasn't amused.  They threatened to file the promised legal action if the LFISD didn't make a decision in Jeydon's case by November 21.  After a November 15 meeting between the interested parties, the La Feria ISD reversed itself. 

Jeydon's photo will now be included in the yearbook (as it should have been in the first place).  The La Feria ISD agreed to follow its own policies for cases of gender discrimination and provide training for the persons involved.

They also agreed to do a comprehensive education program for the La Feria school community in addition to adding gender identity and expression language in its district anti-discrimination policies.  

“We are very pleased that the school district has recognized Jeydon for who he is and will allow his photo in the yearbook along with all his classmates,” said Ittelson.

"This is a signal to other school districts that transgender students should be recognized as important members of their communities rather than ostracized and subjected to discrimination. We applaud Jeydon’s courage in standing up for his rights.” he continued.

And Jeydon's Lone Star State trans brothers and trans sisters second that sentiment.  

Another Reason Why Non Discrimination Laws To Protect Trans People MUST Have Public Accomodations Language In Them

Those of you who have read this blog know that I will go straight the hell off if I hear any hint of a suggestion that in order to pass a non-discrimination law that protects trans people, we trans folks must drop public accommodations language from them.  

Bull feces.  You gay and lesbian peeps didn't drop public accommodations language from the local and state non-discrimination laws that cover sexual orientation only, so not no, but hell no will I even entertain that thought or publicly support a trans rights bill with no public accommodations language.   

If you want to know why I'm so militant about that point, ask the folks in Massachusetts who are honest enough to do so about the problems they are having adding that missing public accommodations language into their no prize winning public accommodations language free trans rights law elements of their community  trumpeted as a win back in 2011.

Hate to say I told you so, but ....

The reason why public accommodations language is a must for any trans human rights law and I'm so insistent upon it was demonstrated once again in this videotape of a November 8 incident outside an ATL Latino bar.

Alissah Brooks was denied entrance because of her trans status, and the manager ignorantly asserting that since it was a private club they had the right to do so. 

FYI, the City of Atlanta's non-discrimination ordinance passed in 2000 and updated by a unanimous vote back in July covers trans people.  But you'll find that out soon enough Don Pollo when y'all either get hauled into municipal court or in front of the Atlanta Human Rights Commission.

In the meantime, this video is evidence why public accommodations language is necessary in non-discrimination laws with this disturbing video taken by Alissah Brooks of Don Pollo personnel engaging in anti-trans discrimination.

Miss Universe 2013 Lets Her Transphobic Slip Show

It didn't take long for the newly crowned Miss Universe 2013 pageant queen to let her mouth get her embroiled in a little controversy.

Gabriela Isler revealed during a HuffPost Live interview that she believed transwomen shouldn't be allowed to compete in the Miss Universe pageant but should compete in their own pageants.

"They should have their own pageant, I think, and maybe they can realize in this pageant, Miss Universe, or the other pageants [were] made for women," she said. "They are... they have the opportunity, but I think that they have to compete with the same... the same team. Right?"

Ah, the old separate but unequal solution rears its head again.  It's also not surprising that as the former Miss Venezuela she comes from one of the few Miss Universe national pageant systems that still bars transwomen from competing. 

And Gabriela, in case you weren't aware of it, and obviously you aren't, trans women have had since the 80's pageants we can compete in.  The Miss International Queen one has been happening for nearly a decade along with national ones like Miss Amazing Philippine Beauties, Miss Tiffany Universe in Thailand and the recently started Miss T Brazil.

But those trans women specific pageants pale in comparison to the international prestige and prize money available to a pageant winner in the Miss Universe or Miss World pageant systems.

Her fellow trans Venezuelans who competed in Miss International Queen 2013, Chanel and Nohemi Montilla will probably cosign that last paragraph. 

And before you throw that surgery shade at trans women, some of you so-called 'natural born women' have had snip and tuck work done to enhance your chances of walking away with a pageant crown on more than a few occasions.  I also know trans women who have the Coke bottle curves not because of the surgeon's knife or pumping but simply because HRT was very good to them. 

And we know next to Brazil, Venezuela is the plastic surgery capital of the South American continent.

I guess The Donald didn't make Gabriela aware of the fact than in the wake of the Jenna Talackova situation in which she had to prep a lawsuit to be able to compete in last year's Miss Canada Universe pageant, as of January 1 the Miss Universe system that she now is the reigning queen of allows post operative trans women to compete. 

Olivia Culpo, the previous Miss Universe who you succeeded had the opposite opinion. 

As for transfeminine contestants during this 2013 Miss Universe pageant cycle, unfortunately made it through their national pageants to make the Miss Universe stage in Moscow this year.  Kylan Wentzel, the only trans woman the international trans community is aware of who attempted to do so didn't win Miss California, and even if she had, she would have had to win Miss USA to get there.  

There were rumors in other nations such as the Philippines that Miriam Jimenez was contemplating entering their national pageant but as the entry deadlines approached it didn't happen.

Does the fact that Talackova finished in the Top 12 of Canada's national pageant last year and was one of four women who won Miss Congeniality 'scurr' y'all in Pageant World that one day you will lose a pageant crown to a trans woman?

That day is coming as little trans girls mature into trans teens who will someday hit that 18-27 age range that makes them eligible to compete for and one day hopefully win Miss Universe.

And that day is coming sooner than you think.  

Another Day, Another Trans Student Attacked In California

More evidence that so called blue states can have their nekulturny transphobes in their midst causing drama as well. 

As we wait to see if the haters gathered enough signatures to force a referendum on AB 1266, now comes news video of an incident at a Contra Costa, CA high school that shows why the law is needed and why it needs to win in November 2014.

A transfeminine student tired of being bullied by her tormentors confronted them, and that confrontation degenerated into a fight in which the trans student was attacked by three cis girls.

 

We Trans Peeps Make The Call Concerning Who We Are, Not You Cisgender Haters

This is just one of those days I was in a combative mood.  I got a message from one of my FB friends in Bermuda earlier today concerning a commentary from a cis woman purporting to be a professional counselor on the island that threw some ignorant transphobic shade at self proclaimed 'Hip Hop Transsexual' Sidney Starr.

The price you pay for being attracted to fakeness! And women..born females.. empty their bank accounts, starve themselves, inject themselves, etc to be able to look like this... smh.. all because our men have been conditioned to want what is not real.. to want what is not traditionally them. This is NOT our women.. this is our women.. oh and I guess now our men too... trying to look like hybrids. Trying to attain a false sense of ideal beauty. It is a REAL BIG problem when a race of men change themselves to look like what another race calls the ideal beauty... what MAN changes himself to be the vision of another race's WOman? Seriously????? This is getting out of hand! This was brought to my attention.. "Hip Hop Transexual" known as Sidney Star.. Nowadays you must really inspect the women that you're with, and also ask to see young child hood photos just to be on the safe side.... or better yet get real and be attracted to natural beauty which you will only find in real women. But first I guess you would have to actually love yourself and the physical features of your own race. siiigh smh

Shaking my head at the ignorance that was contained in that comment and the subsequent Facebook thread attached to Sidney's photo .

There was one fool who suggested the Buju Banton method for dealing with the issue.of what to do after discovering your date is trans as the Not So Good alleged Doctor wrote another comment that was the tired and wrong chromosomes meme that XX= female and XY= male.

Y'all knew I had to put that ignorance on blast.    

In your zeal to demonize Sidney Starr, guess you forgot about the women on this planet who are born with Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome and have XY chromosomes but feminine bodies.

And what about women who can't conceive or give birth to children or are born without a uterus? Does that make them 'men' in your opinion?

There are men and women who have XXY or XXXY or other combinations of chromosomes that you cant determine just by looking at them

And FYI, would love for you to put your money where your mouth is and take a chromosome test so we can know what your chromosomes turn out to be.

And wouldn't it be the height of irony if your test revealed them to be something other than XX?

I wasn't done yet.   I also tackled the deception meme that was also floating around unchecked in that transphobic thread.

The 'deception' meme is also problematic in this thread. It drives much of the anti-trans violence around the world that results in the untimely deaths of trans women and especially transwomen of color. How is a trans person being 'deceptive' by simply living their life?

The genitalia between a trans woman or a trans man's legs is nobody's business except the person they are potentially dating. It you don't like the fact that a trans woman you are attracted to for her FEMININITY possesses a penis in her panties and you aren't down with that, then simply step away.

You are not and never will be justified in hitting or killing a transwoman because you have a problem with the fact you were attracted to her.

And cis women, nether are you justified in telling a trans woman's business and setting her up for a potential hate crime because you're jealous that said transwoman is performing femininity BETTER than you are or getting more masculine romantic attention.

Trans women don't deserve beatdowns or death because of the internalized transphobia of cis people.

The TransGriot's work stamping out transphobia is never done.  That type of ignorance is dangerous, especially to a child or person who has gender issues they are trying to sort out and they go to this person as an alleged professional counselor who is supposed to help them.

It also didn't help that this comment thread popped up mere days after Bermuda's governor made the Throne Speech to open parliament and discussed in vague terms during the speech their National Gender Policy. 

But time to move this away from Bermuda's sunny shores and close this post.

This issue of transphobia in the African Diaspora isn't just a Bermuda problem.  It's one we have here in North America, Brazil, the Caribbean and continental Africa, too.  And as I've stated before, I didn't stop being Black when I transitioned, nor does being trans negate my being proud of my African heritage..      

We trans people not only get to make the final call on being the men and women we are, we demand acceptance for being the evolving persons we are now, not when we came out of the womb decades ago.      

The last thing we need is drama from cisgender people who have issues with their own bodies and being comfortable in their own skin.  If you arrogantly think you have the right to oppress or kill us for choosing to do what was necessary to make our bodies match our brains so we can navigate society more comfortably, you thought wrong.    
 
It is we trans people who are the final arbiters of who we are and what type of person we present to the world, not you cisgender haters.

And every time you forget that point, one of us will be around to remind you.
  

Persian Gulf States Seek To Bar Trans Workers

Remember the post I wrote in July asking where in the world I could travel on a US passport?   

Scratch the Persian Gulf States from that list if a proposed policy is approved to bar trans people from obtaining visas to work in the Persian Gulf States. 

The Gulf Cooperation Council according to the Saudi based Arab News is pondering a proposal by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health tightening genetic tests for immigrant workers in order to prevent transgender migrants from entering the GCC job market.

Tawfiq Khojah, director-general of the Executive Office at the GCC Health Council, said, “The health checklist for migrant workers now contains a mandatory examination to determine gender.”

These constrictions are necessary to 'preserve Islamic principles', he added and will be made in a meeting for the Central Committee for Foreign Workers’ at the Health Council to be held on November 11, Khojah told Arab News.

I don't doubt that part of what's motivating this Kuwaiti proposed policy is a reaction to the flood of trans sex workers entering the conservative leaning Gulf States combined with transphobic attitudes in that country leading to the persecution of Kuwaiti transpeople.

“Undergoing the test will become mandatory for an estimated 289 health centers across the GCC if the Health Council approves the proposal of tighter controls on gender tests for migrant workers. More than 2 million expatriate workers underwent the new gender tests in 2012,” Khojah said.

Youssef Mendkar, director of the Public Health Department at the Kuwait Ministry of Health, confirmed that the proposal aims to prevent transgender migrants from working in GCC countries. The tests determine the gender at birth.

The Kuwaiti backed anti-trans proposal before the GCC is a violation of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Yogyakarta Principles.

The transphobic proposal is getting denounced by LGBT human rights advocates such as London based Peter Tatchell and is only adding to the pressure FIFA is getting to pull the 2022 World Cup tournament from Qatar.

"Excluding expat workers because of their gender identity is immoral and doesn't make economic sense," said Tatchell to The Guardian. "People should be employed solely on the basis of their personal integrity and their ability to do the job. Trans people make perfectly good, reliable employees."

The new proposal would also violate FIFA's non-discrimination values and prompts questions about Qatar's hosting of the 2022 tournament, Tatchell said.

"The proposals to test and ban foreign trans employees from the Gulf Co-operation countries will include Qatar and will penalize World Cup construction and hospitality staff from overseas who are trans," he said.

"If these plans get the go-ahead, FIFA should cancel the 2022 World Cup contract on the grounds that Qatar has violated FIFA's non-discrimination values. It should find a new host city for the 2022 tournament. Discrimination against trans people is incompatible with FIFA's commitment to equality for all."

Indeed.  If the Kuwaitis insist on pushing this transphobic policy,, then FIFA needs to yank the 2022 World Cup from Qatar in order to stay true to their anti-discrimination policies.   Good luck on that happening. 

We'll find out what transpires at that November 11 meeting and see if transphobia prevails.. 

LA Fitness Hates On A Transwoman

One of my not so fond memories of one of my frequent non-rev trips to Los Angeles in the late 90's was when I flew out there as soon as my gate shift was over at 9 PM on Wednesday to spend two of my three consecutive off days hanging out with my homegirl Seni.

But unfortunately on that particular trip my flight got delayed due to a cold front passing through the Houston area.  It not only cooled the temps off in the IAH area, it created dense fog that dropped visibility enough to create lengthy ATC delays into and out of IAH because at that time it only had four runways  

By the time we finally took off  to do the 3 plus hour flight to Los Angeles my 12 AM Pacific time arrival in LAX became a 2 AM one.   Me thinking I'd be able to make up that sleep I lost on the trip to the Left Coast was cruelly shattered when Seni woke my peacefully slumbering butt up to accompany her to her nearby LA Fitness gym for a workout.  

I was so pissed off that when I hit the Stairmaster in that near Beverly Hills area location I was stomping my pissivity out on it for 20 minutes before I realized it was set to be much harder than I normally liked and my legs reminded me of it a few minutes later when they cramped up. 

That trip down Moni Memory Lane was generated because of the story that TransGriot reader Jazmine Brockington sent me concerning transwoman Yanel Valenzuela.  

She was allegedly told after she revealed her trans status to an LA Fitness employee in an effort to get workout advice specific to her situation she could no longer use the women's locker room.  

The cis female manager at the Montclair, CA location  (located at 9385 Monte Vista Ave in case anybody in the LA area wants to organize a picket of it)  told a stunned Valenzuela she could no longer use the women's locker room.   The manager was also unmoved when Valenzuela produced her carry letter from her gender therapist and herCalifornia DL with the F in the gender code area. 



“It gave me emotional stress,” Valenzuela told reporters. “I don’t think it was fair... I felt hurt because I don’t understand why she did it. She had no reason. She had no complaints from anyone."

According to news reports in the area LA Fitness is aware of the situation but has no comment   And note to that transphobic cis female manager:  In California trans people are a protected class under the state's anti-discrimination laws.

"I hope this never happens to anybody again because it’s not fair for me to be disrespected in front of clients and members that come here,” Valenzuela said. 

So do I Ms. Valenzuela.  And hope you give Lambda Legal's LA office a call while you're at it. 

And it is because of situations like this why I go straight the hell off when some cis person, especially from the GLB community tries to suggest we pass half-assed trans human rights laws (Massachusetts) that don't have public accommodations language in them. 
 

Yeah, The Conservafools Are Definitely Fighting Us Now

"Our human rights win is inevitable no matter how much money, time and propaganda the haters deploy to stop it.  We have a human rights win that is there for the taking.  But that win will become a reality only if we transpeople here in the United States and around the world are tough minded enough to push back even harder against all our trans oppressors lies." 
-TransGriot February 20, 2013  'First They Ignore You...'

Told you they were coming for us.   I fact, I've been warning y'all the conservafools would be coming for us on this blog since 2007.  

And now, more signs that the wingnuts are about to pull the plug on their lost culture war against the gay and lesbian community over marriage equality and shift their money and energy to fighting the trans community with their patented 'fear and smear' tactics. 

We already have seen it come to pass with the transphobic falsehoods that Fox Noise has been broadcasting against us.  Going on the attack against the San Antonio non-discrimination ordinance that sought to add gender identity and sexual orientation language that still overwhelmingly passed thanks in part to soon to be former San Antonio councilmember Elisa Chan's transphobic utterings.

Now they are going after our trans kids.  The most recent pathetic example was Bryan Fischer's disgusting bullying of Cassidy Campbell after her historic homecoming queen win.  The California conservafools are gearing up to gather signature to force a referendum to repeal AB 1266 backed by the California Republican Party.  

And now we have former South Carolina GOP chair Todd Kincannon letting fly with the transphobic remarks and stating trans people should be interned in camps. 

Surprised the TERF's haven't declared Kincannon an 'honorary woman' for that one.  

So transpeeps, if you thought I was selling you woof tickets about the two front War on Transwomen the right wing is about to ramp up on their front, the unmistakable evidence piling up leads no doubt to the conclusion that is exactly what's happening.  

And for those of you in the trans community who continue to vote for Republican candidates or claim you are 'proud conservatives', you are complicit in and contributing to enabling your own oppression.

So get ready trans peeps, we have a fight on our hands, and it's a war we must win.
.  

Transphobic Conversation In The Nail Salon-What Would You Do?

'If you're worried about people calling you 'angry' for speaking your mind, you'll be angry at yourself later for not doing so' -TransGriot October 9, 2013

This is a situation worthy of the ABC-TV show hosted by John Quinones entitled What Would You Do?  except there wasn't a hidden camera around to catch for posterity the transphobic bigotry being uttered. 

The inspiration for this post came from a member of one of the Facebook trans person of color groups I'm a member of.  It speaks to the everyday macroaggressive and microaggressive crap that we transpeople have to deal with sometimes when we're out and about navigating the world.  Sometimes we get hit with it when we least expect it. 

This trans feminine Facebook friend relayed the story to the group about being in her friendly neighborhood nail shop yesterday to get her nails done.  She found herself sitting next to two cis women who were shadily discussing a trans woman that was allegedly a friend of one of the cis women.

The conversation started off with the cis woman repeatedly misgendering her trans feminine 'friend' and transphobically discussing her business.  She went on to tell the other cis woman about the trans woman's boyfriend paying for her SRS while making disparaging and ignorant cis privilege filled remarks that angered the trans woman getting her nails done, even though she wasn't acquainted with the trans women they were gossiping about.. 


Here's what she had to say about the nail shop incident in our FB group.

All along they had no clue that I was a trans woman in the next chair overhearing this conversation.  I can't begin to tell you how upsetting it is to hear the degree of ignorance that utters out of the mouths of some people, and it's one of the reasons why (no shade) I do not hang out with many genetic women.  

Because no matter how feminine or whatever SRS or other surgeries we do to complete the physical transformation to match the mind, many of these genetic women still don't get with the program and continue to have the audacity to describe a transwoman whether they are friends or not as a he.  I am just over it!!!!!
I asked her the question in the group if this conversation was so upsetting to you, why didn't you call the cis women out about not only their transphobic behavior, but the other cis woman for betraying the trust and friendship of the trans woman who has no idea that her cis woman 'friend' stabbed her in the back? 


So what would you have done if confronted with that microaggressive nail shop situation?

I can tell you what the TransGriot would have done.  I would have not only called out the cis woman for hatin' on, betraying and stabbing her trans friend in the back, I would have called her out on her transphobic bigotry.  And yes, if you're concerned about maintaining your stealth status, there are easy ways for you to call the person out without revealing you're trans.

I would have done so (and have in a similar situation in my past) because that Trans 101 conversation was now necessary in order to debunk the bull feces and ignorant transphobic bigotry coming out of these cis women's mouths that cannot be (and shouldn't have been) left unchecked. 

It was an opportunity to not only 'ejumacate' these fools about our lives but everyone in that nail shop within earshot of that jacked up conversation.

After I was done thoroughly debunking their anti-trans bullshyt, they would have thought twice before they ever flapped their gums to ever negatively bash a trans woman in public again.

And yeah, I would have done so because in the interests of preserving my own mental and physical health in the face of this unexpected and unprovoked microaggressive assault, I've got to call your transphobic azz out.  

Because to paraphrase what I said at the beginning of this post, I'd rather you call me 'angry' for speaking my mind instead of being angry at myself later for not speaking out.


TransGriot Update:  Got an answer to my question after I completed the post.   She was so pissed off about what she'd just witnessed all she wanted to do was just get her nails done and get out of the shop.   Understandable.  Sometimes you have to pick your battles.  I just felt as though this was one that was worth fighting.. 

Naw Lauryn, I Ain't Feelin' 'Neurotic Society'

I became a big fan of Lauryn Hill's music when she released in 1998 the multiplatinum smash CD The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.  It earned her ten Grammy nominations, of which she took home five of them.  Hill also garnered lots of critical acclaim and accolades off her monster debut solo album.

Since then she's been on the Sade CD release schedule.  While she's popped up at various events to perform since 1998 and is always rumored to be writing songs or planning to release new music, a new CD full of music hasn't happened yet.

She released a song May 4 (my birthday) entitled 'Neurotic Society' (Compulsory Mix) that put her back in the musical spotlight for the wrong reason.  I ain't feeling because it has some questionable lyrics that appear to be slamming the trans* and SGL community 

Commerce and girl men
Run the whole world men
Bold, drunken debauchery
Old world brutality
Cold world killed softly
Whole world run savagely
Greedy men and pride fiends
Program TV screens
Quick scam and drag queens
Real likely to blast fiends 

The TERF's probably have it on their iPod playlists now and will be singing it at their next hate confab if they can find a place to host it. 

The song and its lyrics have her longtime fans like me going WTF and has triggered mounting criticism from inside and outside the trans* and SGL community.   It also didn't help that Hill spent three months in Club Fed and didn't address the issue before she went in to serve that tax evasion sentence.

Now that she's out, she's claiming in a Tumblr post she wasn't attacking the TBLG community when she wrote this song. 

“Neurotic Society is a song about people not being, or not being able to be, who and what they truly are, due to the current social construct. I am not targeting any particular group of people, but rather targeting everyone in our society who hides behind neurotic behavior, rather than deal with it.

To which many of us are saying bull feces, especially when you rant about 'social transvestism', 'girl men', 'drag queens' and 'pride fiends', we know your azz has spent time in Jamaica around its sometimes LGBT phobic music scene and you have Rastafarian influences on your life and work. 

We also are quite aware of the fact there are elements of the Rastafarian religion that are virulently transphobic and homophobic  

Dr. Monica Miller wrote in a BET op-ed this about the song: 

Neurotic Society” proclaims again that Babylon is falling — thanks in part to tricksters like ”girl men,” ”drag queens,” and the lies of ”social transvestism.” Whether or not Hill is merely using these comments as examples of the smokescreens and sleight-of-hands that pervade this “Neurotic Society” is unclear. Beyond intention, these sorts of statements suggest that society is in a shambles because it’s been taking too many cues from the LGBTQ community, acting like “girl men,” “drag queens” and “transvestites.” Is her beef with oppressive society or is her issue with people who don’t abide by a traditional family structure?

For those who don’t feel me, would it be okay if her song criticized “neurotic society” for acting like “N-----s,” ”mammies” and ”jezebels?” No! Then why does she think it’s cool to critique society by using stereotypes about a community that suggest the community isn’t as valuable as another?

I believe the Neurotic Society lyrics are problematic despite Hill's protestations.  They concern me as a leader in a trans community that has unacceptable levels of of anti-trans hate violence aimed at it.  

I would like to believe that Lauryn Hill isn't a transphobe.  But until she clarifies where she stands concerning the trans community and the issues we confront just trying to live our lives, all we have to judge her by are these problematic words from a song that I and much of my trans family ain't feeling.  

I Define Me: A Trans Movement for Awareness And Self-Validation

TransGriot Note: Guest post by Bryanna Aeon Jenkins.

How do I begin? I am a proud black woman of trans experience (24 Years Old) and I am not backing down anymore. Let me start off by saying that I am hurt, tired, and I am definitely ready to make a change. I am so tired of people getting to tell the world who I am, shout it from the mountain tops for everyone to hear and see, while I am told that I should just deal with it because I am deranged and crazy anyway, or the ever famous “that’s my opinion and I’m entitled to it.”

I am tired of people religiously believing the opinions of trans phobic black gay men and black lesbians, while what I say, which is based on factual knowledge, feeling, and personal experience is denied, diminished, and dismissed. I was under the false assumption that when I transitioned in the fall of 2008 I was in a LGBT community that loved me, accepted me, understood me, and would defend me when I didn’t have the strength to do it for myself.

What a foolish and misguided young girl I really was. 

It's is now on this day, Friday September 27, 2013, that I declare LGBT is not a community as we have all be conditioned to think. We have to be very mindful of the words that we use to define and call ourselves because the world will treat us as such, a very good friend had to remind me of that.

Community implies a group of people who are similar and who share common interests and beliefs. On this journey from 2008 to now I have found these things to be untrue of LGBT people, we are not the same nor were we ever meant to be. We are a coalition at best, a group of different factions of people who come together for the purpose of organizing and achieving a common goal, but that is simply where all similarities end.  We as trans people have got to stop hiding in the shadows of gay and lesbian people who are not our community and who do not have our best interests at heart. Only we know what is best for us. This is truly a matter of life and death.

To the transphobic gay and lesbian people who do not understand our struggle, nor want to for that matter because they see us a shame or burden, you do not have the permission to publicly spread untruths, misinformation, and stereotypes for the world to hear about who I am and about what I represent to the world.

I was enraged when I saw a video posting of the popular YouTube show “The Skorpion Show”, that is hosted by Kevin Simmons and Makael McLendon, say on a global platform that Trans-Women are all gay because we are born with penis’, as if they are the authorities on the subject of who we are. Then in a subsequent video they defended their myopic and detrimental views about what we are. The show's creator Kevin Simmons even when on to say that we (trans women) are still gay and are really men, but he will call us women just to respect us. NEWS FLASH: I don’t want your respect if it comes at the price of compromising the essence of what me and my trans brothers and sisters really are, and this goes beyond physically passing in society. When I tried to reach out to the show's creator I was blatantly told that he didn’t want any education on the subject of trans people and I can’t get mad at his opinions.

However let's be really clear.  When you're are at the forefront of a public platform where your viewers are watching your opinions and receiving them as fact then you have a social responsibility to put out accurate and correct information. Also if you have little knowledge about a topic, especially on one that is complex as the transgender spectrum, then it is up to you as the deliverer of this topic to be as educated as you possibly can be.

The fact is that you need a certain level of educational clarity in order to accurately discuss the issue of trans people. Making comments based off of ill formed opinions only works to further perpetuate stereotypes and misperceptions about the trans community. Many of these stereotypes and misperceptions are the basis for hate crimes against trans people, discrimination in the fields of healthcare, legal systems, and the workforce, and the misunderstanding from our familial bases.

I am not mad because of what they said  I have become accustomed to the worst treatment from trans phobic gay and lesbian people. It was the fact that the creator of the show did not want to invest the same time and energy into promoting the correct facts about trans people for the world to hear and receive. The bigger picture is that “The Skorpion Show” is a microcosm of Black gay and lesbian intolerance and Black societal intolerance as a whole when it comes to trans people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me4GA8ytQDg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Apknk5z-IRY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISYPMigh4bw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycJmEexXkdY

I partially have myself to blame for this situation because I should have addressed it when this issue of disrespecting trans women was a common theme throughout their show since 2008, but I foolishly remained passive and thought things would get better on their own because we were all one community.

There goes that damn word again, “COMMUNITY”. 

Like I said I was foolish. I know that there is no such thing as an LGBT community, which is just a term by the hetero-normative community to put us all into one box that was never meant for us to be in initially. However, there is a trans community full of pride, full of dignity, and full of respect. When I publicly disavowed my support for “The Skorpion Show” and its creator Kevin Simmons, because of the show's lack of accurate depictions and discussion of trans people, many girls from my own sisterhood told me that I should let it go and wash my hands of the situation. I get where they come from because sometimes as a trans person you get so tired and weighed down by having to defend your worth to people who refuse to open their minds and ultimately their hearts.

Then I think what if those Black kids at the Woolworth’s lunch counter had simply kept walking past that “WHITES ONLY” counter and said. "Not today" or if those trans people like Miss Major, who was a part of the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion, said "Bitch, Imma just get locked, I don’t feel like fighting today". We young trans women have got to shake the foundation to create changes and put in transphobic people's faces exactly what they don’t want to see…trans people who are grounded, assertive, and comfortable with who they are and what they put out to the world.

Trans people are not a subset of anybody’s group. We are our own legitimate cause and until the day comes where there is no more breath in this body I will continue to fight for what fair and for what is right.

I don’t ever want to see another transphobic gay or lesbian person accept another dollar of government funding, accept LGBT media awards (http://blackweblogawards.com/past-winners/), or indulge in the fruits of the mainstream acceptance of gays and lesbians that was gained on the backs of the suffering and degrading of trans people, certainly those of color.

I do not want to go to another funeral of one my fallen sisters, where not only is she purposefully misgendered by societal media, but she is also misgendered by her family who refuses to accept the reality of her unique position in life and ultimately why she had to leave this earth in an all too common violent way. We are here, We are authentic, We exist, We can speak for ourselves and we will not remain silent anymore!

To the allies who fully understand the conversation, I want you to feel empowered to encourage us trans people to tell our own stories because WE have to be at the forefront of our own movement if things are to ever change

Open Letter To Queen Cassidy

Dear Cassidy,
I understand and I'm concerned as your trans elder that you're upset about the Hateraid that has come your way from the transphobically ignorant since your history making homecoming queen win Friday night.

I'm also concerned that you're feeling you can't live up to the pressure of being a role model for our community. 

You don't have to. All that you are responsible for right now is focusing on getting your education, enjoying your senior year of high school and being the best Cassidy you can be because that puts you in the best possible position to live up to the amazing potential we trans elders see for your life.

And to quote Eleanor Roosevelt, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. 

So bump the haters.  They're mad because you not only won, but you had the courage to do something that far too many of them are too petrified to do in terms of look in the mirror, realize things weren't working, and make the corrections necessary to take control of your life.   

You aren't alone Cassidy.  You have a worldwide family of trans brothers and sisters who love you and want nothing but the best for you along with the allies of the trans community.   There are trans folks in the Los Angeles metro area and elsewhere around the world ready, willing and eagerly waiting to reach out to you, envelop you in an oasis of love and help give you advice about your transition.   All you have to do to receive that love, wisdom and hard won knowledge from us is say the word.    

Cassidy, you're not only a beautiful young woman inside and out, your win inspired transkids of your generation.  It also put a smile on my face and the faces of the trans people of my generation and inspired us to work even harder to ensure the laws are in place to expand trans human rights coverage for all of us. 

Your trans elders know going through puberty is hard.  We also know that going through puberty in a body that doesn't match who you are inside ain't easy either.  Going through puberty as a trans female is an even more daunting task and you will have good and bad days as you do so. 

The point is to not to let the haters get you down as you evolve and learn who Cassidy is and what type of woman you wish to project to the world.  You must also remember that for every nasty and hateful comment you get, there are ten people who wish nothing but success for you

If you really want to get back at the haters, them seeing you standing tall, looking good and proudly walking the halls of Marina High and everywhere you go as if you own the place is the best way you can flip the script on them and own your feminine power. 

Success in everything you do from this day forward is also your best revenge.  You have already demonstrated the capacity to do that by making your desire to become your school's homecoming queen a reality that was trumpeted by news media around the world.  

So take your own advice.   Be true to yourself.  Dry those tears, stand tall, hold your head up high like the queen you are even before you won the sash and crown to prove it, and confidently tackle the challenges that come your way as the young woman of trans experience you are one day at a time.

I know you can do it, and I have every confidence that you will   

Sincerely yours with love,

Monica Roberts
The TransGriot

A Statement Of Trans Inclusive Feminism And Womanism

TransGriot Note:  As a womanist and a long-time trans human rights activist, I was asked by several people to be one of the original signatories to this statement.  I did so with a caveat. 

The title of this statement gives the false impression that womanism has the same four decade old problem of off the chain foaming at the mouth trans haters that feminism has when in reality it doesn't and womanists have worked diligently to keep it that way.  

No womanist at this time has ever openly worked to oppress me as a trans woman, called for my extermination, or opposed trans human rights legislation on a local, national or international level as predominately white feminists gleefully have done for over 40 years, so I have a problem with the potential false equivalency perception here. 

But I found this collective trans inclusion statement too important to NOT sign especially since I have been a target of racist TERF hate from time to time.

And now for your TransGriot reading pleasure, courtesy of the feministsfightingtransphobia blog, the Statement of Trans Inclusive Feminism and Womanism.

***

We are proud to present a collective statement that is, to our knowledge (and we would love to be wrong about this) the first of its kind.  In this post you’ll find a statement of feminist solidarity with trans* rights, signed by nearly 100  feminists/womanists from at least eleven different countries [it's now 383 individuals and 17 organizations -- exactly 400! -- from at least 15 countries] who wish to affirm that feminism/womanism can and should be a home for trans* people as well as cis. 

It has been signed by activists, bloggers, academics, and artists.  What we all have in common is the conviction that feminism should welcome trans* people, and that trans* people are essential to feminism’s mission to advocate for women and other people oppressed, exploited, and otherwise marginalized by patriarchal and misogynistic systems and people.

If you are a blogger/writer/academic/educator/artist/activist/otherwise in a position to affect feminist or womanist discourse or action and you would like to sign on to this statement, let us know!  You can use the form on the contact page or you can email us at feministsfightingtransphobia1@gmail.com.  We’d love to hear from you.

[NEW: You can also just sign right on in the comments, particularly if you're wanting to sign in a personal, rather than professional capacity--this will be much quicker and also easier on our moderators!]
Note: this blog in general and this post in particular are places where trans* people can come and find welcome and support from feminists.  For this reason, all comments are moderated for now, and hateful or abusive or bigoted discourse directed against marginalized groups or their members will not be approved.  It will either be deleted or it will be replaced with mockery of that discourse, depending on what the moderators feel like doing.  To be clear, transphobia, misgendering, racism, misogyny, slut-shaming, etc. are unwelcome.

We particularly welcome comments regarding ways in which feminists and womanists, both cis and trans*, can organize to demonstrate solidarity with and support and acceptance of trans people.  Reading the names of prominent feminists on statements of transphobia is heartbreaking to many of us, but as Joe Hill said, “Don’t mourn; organize!”
– Moderators

A Statement of Trans-Inclusive Feminism and Womanism
We, the undersigned trans* and cis scholars, writers, artists, and educators, want to publicly and openly affirm our commitment to a trans*-inclusive feminism and womanism.

There has been a noticeable increase in transphobic feminist activity this summer: the forthcoming book by Sheila Jeffreys from Routledge; the hostile and threatening anonymous letter sent to Dallas Denny after she and Dr. Jamison Green wrote to Routledge regarding their concerns about that book; and the recent widely circulated statement entitled “Forbidden Discourse: The Silencing of Feminist Critique of ‘Gender,’” signed by a number of prominent, and we regret to say, misguided, feminists have been particularly noticeable.  And all this is taking place in the climate of virulent mainstream transphobia that has emerged following the coverage of Chelsea Manning’s trial and subsequent statement regarding her gender identity, and the recent murders of young trans women of color, including Islan Nettles and Domonique Newburn, the latest targets in a long history of violence against trans women of color.  Given these events, it is important that we speak out in support of feminism and womanism that support trans* people.

We are committed to recognizing and respecting the complex construction of sexual/gender identity; to recognizing trans* women as women and including them in all women’s spaces; to recognizing trans* men as men and rejecting accounts of manhood that exclude them; to recognizing the existence of genderqueer, non-binary identifying people and accepting their humanity; to rigorous, thoughtful, nuanced research and analysis of gender, sex, and sexuality that accept trans* people as authorities on their own experiences and understands that the legitimacy of their lives is not up for debate; and to fighting the twin ideologies of transphobia and patriarchy in all their guises.

Transphobic feminism ignores the identification of many trans* and genderqueer people as feminists or womanists and many cis feminists/womanists with their trans* sisters, brothers, friends, and lovers; it is feminism that has too often rejected them, and not the reverse. It ignores the historical pressures placed by the medical profession on trans* people to conform to rigid gender stereotypes in order to be “gifted” the medical aid to which they as human beings are entitled.  By positing “woman” as a coherent, stable identity whose boundaries they are authorized to police, transphobic feminists reject the insights of intersectional analysis, subordinating all other identities to womanhood and all other oppressions to patriarchy.  They are refusing to acknowledge their own power and privilege.

We recognize that transphobic feminists have used violence and threats of violence against trans* people and their partners and we condemn such behavior.  We recognize that transphobic rhetoric has deeply harmful effects on trans* people’s real lives; witness CeCe McDonald’s imprisonment in a facility for men.  We further recognize the particular harm transphobia causes to trans* people of color when it combines with racism, and the violence it encourages.

When feminists exclude trans* women from women’s shelters, trans* women are left vulnerable to the worst kinds of violent, abusive misogyny, whether in men’s shelters, on the streets, or in abusive homes.  When feminists demand that trans* women be excluded from women’s bathrooms and that genderqueer people choose a binary-marked bathroom, they make participation in the public sphere near-impossible, collaborate with a rigidity of gender identities that feminism has historically fought against, and erect yet another barrier to employment.  When feminists teach transphobia, they drive trans* students away from education and the opportunities it provides.

We also reject the notion that trans* activists’ critiques of transphobic bigotry “silence” anybody.  Criticism is not the same as silencing. We recognize that the recent emphasis on the so-called violent rhetoric and threats that transphobic feminists claim are coming from trans* women online ignores the 40+ – year history of violent and eliminationist rhetoric directed by prominent feminists against trans* women, trans* men, and genderqueer people.  It ignores the deliberate strategy of certain well-known anti-trans* feminists of engaging in gleeful and persistent harassment, baiting, and provocation of trans* people, particularly trans* women, in the hope of inciting angry responses, which are then utilized to paint a false portrayal of trans* women as oppressors and cis feminist women as victims. It ignores the public outing of trans* women that certain transphobic feminists have engaged in regardless of the damage it does to women’s lives and the danger in which it puts them.  And it relies upon the pernicious rhetoric of collective guilt, using any example of such violent rhetoric, no matter the source — and, just as much, the justified anger of any one trans* woman — to condemn all trans* women, and to justify their continued exclusion and the continued denial of their civil rights.

Whether we are cis, trans*, binary-identified, or genderqueer, we will not let feminist or womanist discourse regress or stagnate; we will push forward in our understandings of gender, sex, and sexuality across disciplines. 

While we respect the great achievements and hard battles fought by activists in the 1960s and 1970s, we know that those activists are not infallible and that progress cannot stop with them if we hope to remain intellectually honest, moral, and politically effective.  Most importantly, we recognize that theories are not more important than real people’s real lives; we reject any theory of gender, sex, or sexuality that calls on us to sacrifice the needs of any subjugated or marginalized group.  People are more important than theory.
We are committed to making our classrooms, our writing, and our research inclusive of trans* people’s lives.

Signed by:

Individuals
Hailey K. Alves (blogger and transfeminist activist, Brazil)
Luma Andrade  (Federal University of Ceará, Brazil)
Leiliane Assunção (Federal University of the Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil)
Talia Bettcher (California State University, Los Angeles)
Lauren Beukes (novelist)
Lindsay Beyerstein (journalist)
Jamie “Skye” Bianco (New York University)
Hanne Blank (writer and historian)
Kate Bornstein (writer and activist)
danah boyd (Microsoft research and New York University)
Helen Boyd (author and activist)
Sarah Brown (LGBT+ Liberal Democrats)
Christine Burns (equalities consultant, blogger and campaigner)
Liliane Anderson Reis Caldeira (Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil)
Gloria Careaga (UNAM/National Autonomous University of Mexico)
Avedon Carol (activist and writer; Feminists Against Censorship)
Wendy Chapkis (University of Southern Maine) – “I don’t love the punch line ‘people are more important than theory.’  More to the point, it seems to me, is that feminist theories that fail to recognize the lived experiences and revolutionary potential of gender diversity are willfully inadequate.”
Jan Clausen (writer, MFAW faculty, Goddard College)
Darrah Cloud (playwright and screenwriter; Goddard College)
Alyson Cole (Queens College – CUNY)
Arrianna Marie Coleman (writer and activist)
Suzan Cooke (writer and photographer)
Sonia Onufer Correa  (feminist research associate at ABIA, co-chair of Sexuality Policy Watch)
Molly Crabapple (artist and writer)

Petra Davis (writer and activist)

Elizabeth Dearnley (University College London)
Jaqueline Gomes de Jesus (University of Brasilia, Brazil)
Sady Doyle (writer and blogger)
L. Timmel Duchamp (publisher, Aqueduct Press)
Flavia Dzodan (writer and media maker)
Reni Eddo-Lodge (writer and activist)
Finn Enke (University of Wisconsin, Madison)
Hugh English (Queens College – CUNY)
Jane Fae (writer and activist)
Roderick Ferguson (University of Minnesota)
Jill Filipovic (writer and blogger)
Rose Fox (editor and activist)
Jaclyn Friedman (author, activist, and executive director of Women, Action, & the Media)
Sasha Garwood (University College, London)
Jen Jack Gieseking (Bowdoin College)
Dominique Grisard (CUNY Graduate Center/Columbia University/University of Basel)
Deborah Gussman (Richard Stockton College of New Jersey)
Dr Sally Hines (University of Leeds)
Claire House (International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, Brazil)
Astrid Idlewild (editor, urban historian)
Sarah Hoem Iversen (Bergen University College, Norway)
Sarah Jaffe (columnist)
Roz Kaveney (author and critic)
Zahira Kelly (artist and writer)
Mikki Kendall (writer and occasional feminist)
Natacha Kennedy (Goldsmiths College, University of London)
Alison Kilkenny (journalist and activist)
Matthew Knip (Hunter College – CUNY)
Letícia Lanz (writer and psychoanalyst, Brazil)
April Lidinsky (Indiana University South Bend)
Erika Lin (George Mason University)
Marilee Lindemann (University of Maryland)
Heather Love (University of Pennsylvania)
Jessica W. Luther (writer and activist)
Jen Manion (Connecticut College)
Ruth McClelland-Nugent (Georgia Regents University Augusta)
Melissa McEwan (Editor-in-Chief, Shakesville)
Farah Mendlesohn (Anglia Ruskin University)
Mireille Miller-Young (University of California, Santa Barbara)
Lyndsey Moon (University of Roehampton and University of Warwick)
Surya Monro (University of Huddersfield)
Cheryl Morgan (publisher and blogger)
Kenne Mwikya (writer and activist, Nairobi)
Zenita Nicholson (Secretary on the Board of Trustees, Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination, Guyana)
Anne Ogborn (frightening sex change)
Sally Outen (performer and activist)
Ruth Pearce (University of Warwick)
Laurie Penny (journalist and activist)
Rosalind Petchesky (Hunter College and the Graduate Center, CUNY, and Sexuality Policy Watch)
Rachel Pollack (writer, Goddard College)
Claire Bond Potter (The New School for Public Engagement)
Nina Power (University of Roehampton)
Marina Riedel (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)
Mark Rifkin (University of North Carolina – Greensboro)
Monica Roberts (Transgriot)
Dr. Judy Rohrer (Western Kentucky University)
Diana Salles (independent scholar)
Veronica Schanoes (Queens College – CUNY)
Sarah Schulman, in principle (College of Staten Island – CUNY)
Donald M. Scott (Queens College – CUNY)
Lynne Segal (Birkbeck, University of London)
Julia Serano (author and activist)
Carrie D. Shanafelt (Grinnell College)
Rebekah Sheldon (Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis)
Barbara Simerka (Queens College – CUNY)
Gwendolyn Ann Smith (columnist and Transgender Day of Remembrance founder)
Kari Sperring (K L Maund) (writer and historian)
Zoe Stavri (writer and activist)
Tristan Taormino (Sex Out Loud Radio, New York, NY)
Jemma Tosh (University of Chester)
Viviane V. (Federal University of Bahia, Brazil)
Catherynne M. Valente (author)
Jessica Valenti (author and columnist)
Genevieve Valentine (writer)
Barbra Wangare (S.H.E and Transitioning Africa, Kenya)
Thijs Witty (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Groups:
Bishkek Feminist Collective SQ (Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia)
House of Najafgarh (Najafgarh, India)
House of Kola Bhagan (Kolkatta, India)
Transgender Nation San Francisco

TransGriot Update: These are additional individuals and groups who have signed on to this statement.

[See http://feministsfightingtransphobia.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/welcome-to-our-most-recent-signatories/ for our newest signatories, as of the end of the day on September 16, 2013]
[See http://feministsfightingtransphobia.wordpress.com/2013/09/18/six-hours-later-we-have-a-new-signatory-list/ for our newest signatories, as of the end of the day on September 17, 2013]

[See http://feministsfightingtransphobia.wordpress.com/2013/09/19/welcome-to-our-our-newest-signatories-update-3/ for our newest signatories, as of the end of the day on September 18, 2013]

[See http://feministsfightingtransphobia.wordpress.com/2013/09/21/better-late-than-never-update-4/ for our newest signatories, as of the end of the day on September 20, 2013]