George Takei Talks About Trans Rights Rollback

I have much love for George Takei, and was happy to see this MSNBC interview that Ali Velshi conducted with him concerning the Trump misadministration attack on our human rights

Takei called trans rights 'fundamental human rights' (which is what they are) that should travel across state lines.  My human rights shouldn't depend on what zip code I live in.

But that's another post.   Here's the Takei interview

 

Laverne on 'Hardball'

Guess someone at MSNBC was reading the tweet I put up in the wake of the HBO Milo disaster and yesterday when I said that transpeople needed to be in the studio when discussions were being had by network pundits about the issues that affect us.

I also said that trans people of color also need to be in those studios discussing the issues that affect us as well because being trans is not just a 'white thang' as elements of people in communities of color seem to think. .

So here's Laverne Cox talking to MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Hardball about the Trump revocation of  trans student protections and eloquently stating the case again that this is a human rights issue.

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And later on the show, she and Mara Keisling shut down a conservafool

Kimberle Crenshaw -The Urgency Of Intersectionality TED Talk

Dr Kimberle Crenshaw is the person who coined the term intersectionality to describe the double bind of race and gender bias and how they can combine to create even more harm for a marginalized community

As she so eloquently puts it, if you're standing in the path of multiple forms of exclusion, you're like to get hit by both.

In this TEDtalk that took place in San Francisco that was published on December 7, she calls for us to speak up for those who are victimized by prejudice.

Tschan Andrews' TedX Talk

Tschan Andrews is a former model, activist, writer and former model who in this TedX talk tells her story and experience as a Black trans woman, and how these two facets of her identity intersect.

She is also one of our international trans sisters based in London, and talks about the trans experience from a much needed Black international perspective.   She is willing to use any platform to campaign for the inclusivity,  awareness and human rights for not just that group of the population, but for all. 

This is her TedX talk at University College London that was posted on January 18 entitled 'Transploitation: The Reality of Being A Black Trans Woman'

Texas Orgs Launch 'I Pee With LGBT' Campaign

The pressure is mounting as an increasingly broad coalition of Texans are gearing up to stop the Texas Transgender Oppression Bill, AKA SB 6.   Lt. Governor Dan Patrick's office has received over 10,000 calls against it as opposed to just 200 in favor of the unjust bill (keep 'em coming).

Texas businesses, the NBA, NCAA and NFL and organizations have warned their events will not be coming to Texas if they pass it.

Send some of those calls against SB 6 Sen. Lois Kolkhorst's (R-Brenham) way too.   The bill was filed back in January, but as of yet there hasn't been a hearing date set for this unjust and unnecessary bill.

It is already illegal under Texas law to harm or harass someone in a Texas bathroom.  What the right wingers also won't tell you is there has been no increase in public safety incidents in Texas cities that currently allow people to use the bathroom of the gender with which they identify.

Passing the unjust bill would harm Texas business and our state's economy to the tune of billions of dollars. Just ask North Carolina.

A bathroom is not where women and children are at risk. Where our public bathrooms are concerned, it is transgender people who are the real targets:

70% of transgender men and women report having been verbally or physically attacked while using a restroom.

As part of the ongoing campaign to flush SB 6, the Texas ACLU in conjunction with Legacy Community Health Care have joined forces to launch this 60 second video highlighting the discriminatory nature of SB 6 entitled 'Taking A Seat, Making A Stand'  as part of their 'I Pee With LGBT' Campaign.

 

There's also an I Pee With LGBT website that is part of this campaign, and I hope it along with efforts of thousands of Texans combine to finally flush discrimination aimed at the trans community from the state of Texas.

TransGriot Update:  Discovered the intersting factoid after I posted this that there are two trans people in this commercial.   Can you spot those trans folks?  
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Don Lemon Shuts Down Trump Spokesliar

I've had my issues with CNN's Don Lemon at times, but lately he and his network have grown a backbone when it comes to confronting and pushing back against Trump misadministration spokespeople who come on their network to lie or spin.

Here's Lemon shutting down Trump spokesnegro Paris Dennard when he called a story in which they were discussing the cost of Trump's frequent trips to his Florida estate 'fake news'.

Watch Lemon calling Dennard's azz out

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Bravo for calling out Dennard's lying behind.

Larry Wilmore Puts Milo On Blast

I don't have HBO on my cable package, and this is one night I wish I did.

This week's episode of Bill Maher's HBO Real Time had Maher inviting that transphobic idiot Milo Yiannopoulos on as a guest.   It caused one of his regular panelists to remove himself from appearing on the show.  He did his usual transphobic shtick, that Maher pretty much ignored and let him rant unchallenged.

But when the Overtime segment of the show happens, Larry Wilmore, the former host of the Daily Show wasn't having it, especially after going on a five minute facts free anti-trans rant and calling a decorated intelligence office 'stupid'

Wilmore at that point had enough of Milo's bull feces and put him on blast.

It's ironic that we have this example of a cisgender heteronormative Black man calling out a white gay man who is demonizing the humanity and human rights of transgender people.

Milo is an glaring example of why there are ongoing tensions between elements of the white gay male community and the transfeminine community while the fauxgressive (Maher) sits there in mute silence.

Fro those of you who missed it, here's the video in which Wilmore put Milo's transphobic and racist behind on blast, told him to go pleasure himself, and points out to the British conservafool his hypocrisy of using the same arguments people used to demonize gay people back in the day to do the same to transgender people..



Enjoy!
 

Laverne Talks Trans Rights On The Stephen Colbert Show

You know I have much love for Laverne Cox and I'm eagerly anticipating the debut of the CBS legal drama Doubt tomorrow at 9 PM CST,

Last night she was on Stephen Colbert's show to not only discuss Doubt, but also talk about her meeting Beyonce at the Grammy and other subjects.

On of the subjects that Laverne talked about is the upcoming Gavin Grimm case, and you may wish to take notes about how she talked about it and the unjust trans bathroom oppression laws in less than two minutes.



This is also an excellent  example of how you use your visibility to advance our human rights.

Gender Revolution: Working For Change

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Raquel Willis DC Women's March Speech

Janet Mock wasn't the only trans woman speaking at the recent DC Women's March.  Raquel Willis was also on that stage to speak on that historic January 21 day, and she finally found and posted to YouTube the video from her speech.

As someone said on the YouTube comment thread, "Ms Cheryl (Courtney-Evans) is looking down and smiling."

I didn't like hearing that her mic was cut before she finished her remarks, but now I can share her Women's March speech video with you TransGriot readers

The full text of Raquel's speech entitled 'A Vision of Liberation' can be found at this link.

Julia's 'Designing Women' Candidate Rant

I loved the show Designing Women when it was on from 1986-1993, and Dixie Carter's Julia Sugarbaker character on the show never failed to put a smile on my face when she would get to a point where she would read someone for their ignorance, stupidity or hypocritical arrogance.

This  second season 'The Candidate' episode is one of my faves from Designing Women, and it was one in which Julia was recruited to run against a right wing councilmember . She had suppressed much of her outspoken personality to run this race, and finally had enough of it during a debate with Wilson Brickett and goes off.

This video from Designing Women 'The Candidate' perfectly encapsulates my feelings about the Trump regime and its supporters.

Enjoy

'This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous' Movie Trailer

One of the things we are going to need now more than ever during this Trump regime is trans people telling their stories in the media.

Gigi Gorgeous and I crossed paths when I was in San Francisco to accept the award I received at the GLAAD Gala last September.  While she was slaying the red carpet, I was quietly observing everything that was going on with a wine glass in my hand and Angelica Ross at my side for that moment knowing that my moment to shine was coming later.

Our opportunity to meet each other didn't happen because after my GLAAD Gala speech, it was my turn to have folks surrounding me to chat, congratulate me for the award and getting my thoughts about the looming election. so unfortunately an opportunity for me to meet, talk and get to know her was lost.

If it's meant to happen, we will cross paths again.

Frankly I didn't know much about the 24 year old Canadian YouTube star and model until that evening.  Once I returned home to Texas I hit Google and started doing the research about her and her transfeminine journey.   It was fascinating watching some of her videos and learning that she had a following of over 1 million subscribers on YouTube since she started her channel in 2008.

 

Now YouTube Red is about to release a documentary on her entitled This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous that tells the story of Giselle Lazzarato's trans journey, and here's the extended trailer for it.



In the movie she talks about how YouTube became her therapist and journal where she posted her thoughts, and also discussed her thoughts about being denied entry into Dubai last summer because of her trans status.

The documentary debuts in select theaters on February 3 and on YouTube Red February 8

Janet Mock's DC Women's March Speech

Our approach to freedom need not be identical but it must be intersectional and inclusive
-Janet Mack, January 21, 2017

While I wasn't there at the DC Women's March and was 139 miles up I-95 away from it in Philadelphia, we did have some trans participation there at it.  

I know Nikki Araguz Loyd attended it along with 500,000 other peeps, and the reports are still coming in from people there and around the country in Trans World who were in attendance or participating in their local events.

Here;s the video and the text of Janet's speech.

So we are here. We are here not merely to gather but to move, right? And our movements, our movements require us to do more than just show up and say the right words. It requires us to break out of our comfort zones and be confrontational. It requires us to defend one another when it is difficult and dangerous. It requires us to truly see ourselves and one another.

 I stand here today as the daughter of a native Hawaiian woman and a black veteran from Texas. I stand here as the first person in my family to go to college. I stand here as someone who has written herself onto this stage to unapologetically proclaim that I am a trans woman-writer-activist-revolutionary of color. And I stand here today because of the work of my forebears, from Sojourner to Sylvia, from Ella to Audre, from Harriet to Marsha.

I stand here today most of all because I am my sister’s keeper. My sisters and siblings are being beaten and brutalized, neglected and invisibilizied, extinguished and exiled. My sisters and siblings have been pushed out of hostel homes and intolerant schools. My sisters and siblings have been forced into detention facilities and prisons and deeper into poverty. And I hold these harsh truths close. They enrage me and fuel me. But I cannot survive on righteous anger alone. Today, by being here, it is my commitment to getting us free that keeps me marching.

Our approach to freedom need not be identical but it must be intersectional and inclusive. It must extend beyond ourselves. I know with surpassing certainty that my liberation is directly linked to the liberation of the undocumented trans Latina yearning for refuge. The disabled student seeking unequivocal access. The sex worker fighting to make her living safely.

Collective liberation and solidarity is difficult work, it is work that will find us struggling together and struggling with one another. Just because we are oppressed does not mean that we do not ourselves fall victim to enacting the same unconscious policing, shaming, and erasing. We must return to one another with greater accountability and commitment to the work today.

By being here you are making a commitment to this work. Together we are creating a resounding statement, a statement that stakes a claim on our lives and our loves, our bodies and our babies, our identities and our ideals. But a movement – a movement is so much more than a march. A movement is that difficult space between our reality and our vision. Our liberation depends on all of us, all of us returning to our homes and using this experience and all the experiences that have shaped us to act, to organize, to resist. Thank you.

***

Thank you Janet for the speech and repping us well (as usual) from the speaker's podium of this historic event.

President Obama's Farewell Speech

It was a moment that we knew would eventually come, but it still didn't make it any easier to watch.

President Barack Obama returned to Chicago last night and took the stage at McCormick Place to make his farewell address to the nation.

There were moments when I was in full ugly crying mode as I thought about the historic nature of this presidency and the fact that those of us in the trans community are losing a champion.

It's also irritating that our nation is going from Harvard Law to Hee Haw (or worse) in nine days/

Here's the video of it

Nike 'Unlimited Courage' Commercial Featuring Chris Mosier

Chris Mosier is a trans masculine triathlete who made history in 2015 when he qualified for the USA duathlon team for the 2016 World Championships.

Chris has also been one of the folks fighting for policies that will allow trans people to compete in sports on the local , national and international arena, and founded TransAthlete.com, which is a comprehensive website focused on trans inclusion in athletics.

Nike recently aired a commercial featuring Mosier entitled 'Unlimited Courage'

Pink Crayons

This is an amazing spoken word poem courtesy of the Asia Project.

The poet is talking about his transgender sister living her truth in a world that wants to deny she exists and hate on her for doing so.

Enjoy

Be Known For Your Flawless FDA Anti-Smoking Ad

One of the things I noticed when I first started hanging out in the Montrose gay clubs in June 1980 that was in stark comparison to the straight clubs I hung out in during the 80's was that there were far more people smoking in those gay nightclubs

It was so bad that when I went into those gay clubs, any clothes I wore smelled like cigarette smoke for several days after those visits.   After Houston passed its non-smoking ordinance, that abated somewhat,  but I ran into the same problem in Louisville when I moved there in 2001.

The clouds of cigarette smoke were so thick in The Connection, the largest and most popular bar there,  I would literally have to go outside for fresh air.  I quit going to it and clubs in Da Ville period until Louisville passed its non smoking ordinance in 2006.

The reason I'm going down Moni Memory Lane about LGBTQ smoking is this PSA ad campaign launched by the FDA to tackle the fact that the estimated 2 million TBLGQ youth ages 18-24 are twice as likely to smoke as their hetero counterparts   That translates to thousands of TBLGQ adults dying from smoking related causes and diseases later in their lives.

The $35.7 million The Free Life ad campaign features this groundbreaking 'Be Known For Your Flawless' ad  that features several drag queens, Shangela, Tammie, Trixie and Manila discussing why they don't smoke and urging BTLGQ youth to live 100% tobacco free.

Here is the ad.

Joy Reid Breaks Down What Trump Voters Won and Lost

 I love Joy Reid, her AM joy MSNBC show, and her on point commentary about many issues of the day.

She breaks it down what Trump voters won and lost and what you third party voters enabled on Tuesday.

Jenifer Lewis- Get Your Azz Out And Vote!

I have loved actress Jenifer Lewis ever since she played Dean Dorothy Davenport on A Different World.

She has a message concerning tomorrow's election y'all need to hear



If you haven't handled your electoral business yet, please do so.  This election is too important for you to stay home.

Hey Caitlyn, You Still Supporting Trump and the Transphobic GOP?

As y'all know, after giving Caitlyn Jenner time after her transition to try and fail to find a voice we could be proud of in our community as an advocate, I finally had enough of the numerous faux pas and ridiculous statements and called her out.

One of the statements out of her mouth that was ridiculous on its face was initially claiming that Republicans were leaders when it came to trans human rights at a time when they were legislatively attacking us in South Dakota and North Carolina and several other GOP controlled states.

She also claimed back in June that Donald Trump is a champion for women and LGBT people.  Yeah, right.  Donald's a champion groper and pervert

Oh the Republicans are leaders all right.  Leaders when it comes to oppressing trans people.  

See my lieutenant governor Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton, Caitlyn's fave senator Ted Cruz and right wing state and federal judges like Reed O'Connor for concrete example of being trans oppressors instead of trans human rights trailblazers like President Obama and soon to be POTUS Hillary Clinton.

Well, the reason I'm bringing Caitlyn's comments up again is that the North Carolina gubernatorial debate was held Monday night, and guess whose name came up in the debate discussion about Hate Bill 2?

And who said on stage that you needed to use the men's bathroom?   It sure wasn't Roy Cooper, the Democratic candidate for governor and the one who refused to defend as North Carolina's attorney general that unjust law.

It was that trans oppressor Gov Pat McCrory (R)



And what has been Caitlyn's response so far?

I hope you are waking up from the pink fog you're in and realizing that the party you wanted to be a 'trans ambassador' for has enshrined hatred of trans people in their 2016 platform.

I still have to ask since woke transpeople don't let friends vote GOP, if you are still supporting the anti-trans GOP presidential ticket and anti-trans Republicans?

Inquiring minds wanna know.