Happy Birthday Carmen Xtravaganza!

If you go deep into my archives you'll see this series of Women I Admire posts.  It was my way of paying homage to the women trans and non-trans who had qualities that I was looking for and admired and wanted to emulate in my own life in terms of the type of woman i wanted to project to the world.   

One of the persons I wrote a post about was Carmen Xtravaganza.   

She is strikingly beautiful (still is) and one of the many people I looked up to during that 80's time period I was in trans information gathering mode and weighing the decision to transition. 

In the wake of this post I wrote, I realized that I wanted to lead by example and get to know, have regular conversations with and hopefully form lasting friendships with my sisters in the ballroom and pageant worlds.  

I was thrilled to get a FB friends request from this ballroom legend recently, and we've been chatting from time to time.   It's been a blast getting to know her and I am so looking forward to meeting her the next time I'm in the New York area or wherever our paths cross. 

Anyway, she told me during our chat yesterday that April 9 is her birthday, so I'm giving her TransGriot birthday shoutout treatment .

Happy birthday Carmen!   May you have many more!.

Happy Birthday Kat!

Couldn't let today pass without giving my fave trans historian Katrina Rose a TransGriot shout out on her birthday.  I've known her since the late 90's and have much love and respect for her intellect and many talents.  

As I talked about in one of my blogposts about her our old gender group banned us from being on the same side in Trivial Pursuit because when we played together in one game we didn't miss a question for over two hours.

She was also one of the people who inspired me to tap into my own writing gift.  In addition to our love of baseball, she also has a low tolerance for bull feces and breathtaking ignorance like I do.

Anyway Kat, happy birthday!  May it be a blessed, low stress one for you and may you have many more to come.

Still Missing You Governor Ann!

Today would have been the 78th  birthday of Governor Dorothy Ann Willis Richards.  She was the second female governor in the Lone Star State and arguably one of our best despite serving only one term from 1991-1995.  


It was the last time we would have a budget surplus in Texas, a multicultural cabinet,  state government that reflected the state's population, and progressive policies that moved this state forward.

Do we miss Ann Richards?   Do you even have to ask that question?   Sure do.

Missing You Governor Ann

Today is the day that the best Texas governor we've had in my lifetime, Ann Richards, passed away.

We progressive Texans miss you more with each passing year.

Happy 50th Birthday Flo Jo

It's hard to believe she's been gone from us for eleven years, but today would have been Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner's 50th birthday. She was born in this date in south Los Angeles in 1959

Back in the day I loved me some Flo Jo.

She was known not only for her flashy form-fitting bodysuits and six-inch fingernails, but had world-record speed. The 100m record she set back in 1988 still hasn't been threatened by the current crop of female sprinters.

Florence Griffith Joyner was a triple gold medalist at the 1988 Seoul Olympics who captivated the world with her blistering speed, glamorous looks and flamboyant style.

She still holds the world records in the 100m and 200m dashes. She set the 100m mark of 10.49 seconds during the quarter finals of the 1988 US Olympic trials at Indianapolis.


At Seoul, she won the 100m gold medal in a wind-aided 10.54 seconds and won her 200m gold medal in a world record time of 21.34 seconds.

Because she had an unbelievable competitive year, as usual any sistah who excels in the international sports world is accused of cheating. In Flo Jo's case, because of her curvy and muscular build, she was dogged by accusations of steroid use even though she never failed a drug test.

She retired after the Seoul Games to pursue other interests, and died unexpectedly of heart failure at age thirty-eight on September 21, 1998.

Athletes like her only come along once in a generation. She is definitely missed by those of us who loved to watch her run and look good blowing away her competition at the same time.

Rest in peace, sis.

Happy Birthday Jayne Kennedy Overton!

I have much love for this statuesque trailblazing sister who was born on this date in Washington, DC.

Jayne Harrison grew up in the Cleveland area suburb of Wickliffe, OH, and began a string of trailblazing firsts. She was a member of the National Honor Society in high school and was her high school class president three consecutive years. In 1969 she became the first African American vice president of Girls State.

Just a year later, she became the first African American to win the Miss Ohio USA pageant and finished fourth runner up in the 1970 Miss USA Pageant.

She did a USO tour with Bob Hope at the close of the Vietnam War, was a dancer on the Dean Martin Show, and thanks to stints in television, movies, advertising contracts for Jovan and the Tab diet soft drink and numerous Ebony/Jet covers she was one of the more recognizable faces of the 70's.

In 1978 she became the first African-American network female sportscaster when she joined the anchor desk for 'The NFL Today' pregame show on CBS for two years. That CBS stint paved the way for the current wave of Black female sportscasters you see on the airwaves now.

She got remarried in 1985 to current husband Bill Overton and is the mother of three daughters. While she isn't in the limelight as much as she was during the 70's and 80's, I still love me some Jayne Kennedy Overton.

Happy birthday, Jayne. May you have many more.

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What Woman Would I Like To Be For A Week?

There was a recent CBS News poll taken that asked its respondents what woman would they most like to trade places with for a week.

The poll was based on a nationwide random sample of 1,097 respondents and conducted by phone between August 27-31.

In that poll First Lady Michelle Obama was the winner, chosen by 26 percent of respondents. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was picked by 16 percent of the poll respondents, followed by actress Angelina Jolie at 13 percent and singer Beyonce selected by 12 percent.

So that begs the question, what woman would I like to trade places with for a week?

That's a damned good question. During the time I have compiled this blog I've written about many of the cis and trans women I admire in various blog posts.

But the First Lady definitely would be at the top of my list. I also like actresses such as Kerry Washington for their combination of beauty, style and brains.

There are various congresswomen and other political women I'd love to be such as Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Canadian Governor General Michaelle Jean, and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

There's a long list of sistah newscasters and sportscasters locally and nationally such as Angie Fenton, Dawne Gee, Monica Hardin, Gina Gaston back in H-Town, Robin Roberts (not sure if were related), Carole Simpson, Suzanne Malveaux, Sage Steele and MSNBC's Tamryn Hall.

There are the musicians such as Alicia Keys and Beyonce.

My list includes writers such as Kayla Perrin and people such as Diahann Carroll and Nichelle Nichols.

There are also some athletes I wouldn't mind walking in their pumps for a week such as Candace Parker and the Williams sisters.

I would have liked to experience Crystle Stewart's life during the time she was the reigning Miss USA. Yep, even after her embarrassing fall during the 2008 Miss Universe Pageant that probably cost her the crown.

And yes, Maya Angelou, Oprah and Tyra are on my list as well as power sisters such as Desiree Rogers and Valerie Jarrett.

There are also transwomen on my personal list as well that I admire and wouldn't mind being in their pumps for a week as well.

Of course a few models make the cut such as Iman. There are also various female relatives, classmates, friends and co-workers past and present whose beauty, brains and style I admire.

There's even a long list of women who are no longer here such as Coretta Scott King, Phyllis Hyman, Octavia St. Laurent, Florence Griffith-Joyner and Rep. Barbara Jordan who I would have liked to experience their lives for a week as well.

There are so many that I admire for different reasons it's hard to pick just one.