One Down,Three To Go In LA

One of the wastes of DNA suspected of being involved in the brutal May 31 transphobic hate assault on Vivian Diego was arrested by LAPD Hollywood Division detectives in the San Fernando Valley

21 year old Nicol Shakhnazaryan, was arrested Thursday night on felony battery charges for the May 31 attack and is being held on a $1.05 million bond.  LAPD with an assist from the FBI are searching for the other three suspects and the $25,000 reward for information leading to their capture is still in effect.

One down, three to go.

I AM YOU Trans Ally Campaign Launched In Malaysia

Was nice to hear that TBLG activists in that Pacific Rim nation launched last month a campaign designed to get people in Malaysia to be better allies to trans people there. 

We've seen Muslim transwomen be frequently arrested, charged under Sharia law with 'impersonating a woman' and fined or imprisoned for up to six months for just living their trans lives.  

While transwomen are the more well known and visible faces of the Malaysian trans community and targets for the anti-trans harassment aimed at them, trans men are increasingly being targeted for harassment if their status is discovered.

A political climate in which the various political parties trying to capture votes from the Muslim majority attempt to show righteous they are by hating on transpeople and repressing their human rights also has been problematic for the Malaysian trans community


The I AM YOU campaign launched with a screening of the three campaign videos followed by a question and answer session with several trans men and trans women complete with a mock trial demonstrating what happens when transpeople go to court to do their name changes.    

And here are the I AM YOU campaign videos.

Shut Up Fool Awards-First Day Of Summer Edition

It's the first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere (Winter for my readers south of the Equator.) and it's the longest day of the year for us.   From now until September, especially in Houston the temperature and the humidity percentages will be battling to see which one goes higher.

The classic summer anthems like Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince's 'Summertime', Sly and the Family Stone's 'Hot Fun In The Summertime', WAR's 'Summer'  are getting more frequent airplay and triggering memories as you hop in the car and drive or fly to family reunions around the country or just cruise to the local park with your windows down and the he volume of your car stereo up.

And you savor the smell of roasting mesquite flavored burgers, brisket, ribs, pork chops and sausage permeate the air either in your neighborhoods or in the local parks. 

We interrupt these pleasant summertime thoughts to introduce something foul smelling in the air, stupidity and ignorance. 

Sorry I had to do that, but I must do my solemn Friday duty and get on with the TransGriot 'bidness' of selecting this week's Shut Up Fool Award winner.

Y'all know that's what y'all surfed over here to check out at noon CDT anyway, so don't even front.

Ahem, and now, it time to shine our spotlight on this week's group of fools.

Honorable Mention Number One this week is Jim Allen, the head of the Montgomery County, IL Republican Party.  He put his misogynist white hood on as he aimed a racist e-mail at former Miss America 2003 Erika Harold, who is running for Congress in 2014 as a Republican.

Way to do that minority outreach, Jim.

Honorable Mention Number two goes to Catherine 'Bug' Brennan,  who got (snicker, snicker) tossed out of the Royal Vauxhall Tavern in London and tried to pimp it as an example of 'anti-lesbian hate'. 

Naw Bug, tell the entire story.  They kicked her butt to the curb because she's an internationally renowned trans oppressor and she tried to enter that pub on the very night they were doing a popular trans themed night called Bar Wotever.  Lesibilicious also chimed in on this and basically summed it up in the title of their post. 

'If you’re going to trash trans people online, don’t be surprised when they kick you out of their club.'
Got that right.  The Bug can continue to cry her White Women's Tears outside and in TERF world.    

Honorable mention number three goes to Rep. Jeff Duncan (Teabagger-SC) who is calling for another invesitgation of the POTUS on ho hum, the birther issue

This week's SUF winner is Paula Deen, who was revealed to be on Juneteenth no less to be cooking up something other than tasty Southern dishes.  Deen was revealed in a May 17 deposition in response to a discrimination lawsuit filed by the former general mamager of hr Savanna, GA restaurant to be a Confederate flag waving bigot and Black Twitter wasted no time putting its collective foot in her antebellum loving behind with two Twitter hashtags that went viral after the news broke.


She put a half azzed apology-non apology out there and canceled a Today show TV appearance scheduled for this morning in the wake of the still brewing controversy

And oh yeah, Paula Deen, kiss my grits, er Shut Up Fool!  

'Transphobic' Is Officially A Word

The transphobic TERF's can attempt to deny the word doesn't exist, but the Oxford English Dictionary will say otherwise.

'Transphobic' ("hostile towards transsexual or transgender people") was one of 1200 words officially added to the 2013 edition of one of the most renowned dictionaries in the world.that was released last week.  

It caps a successful Change.org petition campaign which sought to have the word added to the Microsoft Office and Oxford English dictionaries that was signed by over 9000 people. 

It was added to the Microsoft Office dictionary when their latest update was released last month, and now the most respected and authoritative dictionary in the world has followed suit.

Nova Scotia To Cover GRS Surgeries

More evidence of the positive karmic momentum wave that trans human rights is on north of the 49th parallel.

After first saying they wouldn't cover GRS surgeries in the provincial health plan in the wake of passing trans human rights legislation in the province citing fiscal issues, after reviewing medical evidence and a chat with NSRAP, Nova Scotia's provincial health minister David Wilson reversed that decision and said they would do so.

With that decision Nova Scotia becomes the eight Canadian province to provide funding for genital realignment surgeries.

Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan are the others that offer varying levels of funding for GRS.   

Kevin Kindred, the chairman of the Rainbow Action Project, said he’s pleased Nova Scotia reversed its stance because for some people, the surgeries are medically necessary for mental health.

“This is the best and most effective method to return transgendered people to a good state of medical health,” Kindred said. "They’ll go from being a drain on the health system … to being positive, contributing members of society.”

Wilson said the province will “move as quickly as it can” to set up standards of care and negotiate funding levels for the treatment, adding that the section of the physician’s manual that prohibits funding for the surgery will be immediately removed. 

The Health Department will begin researching whether there are medical professionals in Nova Scotia who can do the operations, and if not, where they can be done, he added.

Vivian Diego Speaks

I posted recently about the vicious transphobic attack that was aimed at 22 year old Los Angeles girl like us Vivian Diego who was jumped by four wastes of DNA on May 31 while walking home after work between 2:15-2:30 AM PDT on Hollywood Boulevard near Vine Street. and the nekulturny transphobic reaction of Bossip to it..

Diego has not only gotten support from my fellow Texan Eva Longoria, the owner of the Beso restaurant where she works as a barista, the LAPD is offering a $25,000 reward for information that leads to the apprehension and conviction of the four thugs who committed this crime.

TRIGGER WARNING for the surveillance video of the attack on Vivian..




Vivian, who spent a week in the hospital recovering from the hate attack (yeah, that's exactly what it was) , suffered a cracked cheekbone, two broken ribs and has her jaw wired shut.  

She recently spoke to the LA CBS-TV affiliate there.




Here's hoping that the video and the reward lead to the arrest by LAPD of the four wastes of DNA who committed this hate crime.

Time's Running Out In NY State To Pass GENDA

While the trans community in Delaware woke up to the first day of having their human rights respected and protected, the trans citizens of New York woke up to a different reality.

They find themselves once again in the same frustrating situation of seeing GENDA pass their Assembly for the sixth straight time on an 84-46 vote back in April, but languish in the GOP controlled NY state Senate with the session ending for summer break at midnight EDT tonight .

What's pissing off trans people in the state, their trans community allies across the nation and the world who are also watching this play out is Gov. Andrew Cuomo's (D) cricket chirping silence about GENDA being stalled in the GOP-controlled Senate as trans New Yorkers watch a trans rights law be introduced May 31 in Delaware and become law and a Canadian federal trans rights one get tantalizingly closer to becoming law there.

Governor Cuomo, just a reminder that you claimed when you signed the marriage equality law in 2011 that New York was a beacon of social justice. 

I would submit that based on the treatment GENDA's been getting.your claim that New York is a beacon of social justice is specious when it comes to the human rights of trans New Yorkers and your record to this point is spotty on that.   

I'd also like to remind you Governor Cuomo that transpeople do vote not only in New York but elsewhere around the country.  If you are considering running for president in 2016 or 2020, we do have some influence on that presidential primary process and the national trans community will use GENDA as a litmus test to judge you on your leadership skills.   

We are also noting the vastly different reactions concerning what you did to pass gay marriage in 2011 versus what you're NOT doing to advance the human rights of transgender New Yorkers that have waited far too long for them after being cut out of SONDA in 2002.

The clock's ticking Governor. 

New York Senate, it's past time for you to stop being the trans human rights oppressors you appear to the world to be and bring GENDA to a vote.

You claim New York is a beacon of social justice. It's past time for you to prove it and become the 18th state to pass trans human rights coverage for a community that has been waiting far too long for it. 

Black Twitter's Still Whacking Paula Deen

Yeah Paula, you seriously pissed us off.

Black Twitter still has its foot firmly planted in Paula Deen's antebellum behind.  It has moved on from the #PaulasBestDishes one that went viral yesterday and was the number one trending topic on Twitter for several hours to cooking up a new Twitter hasttag to highlight her Southern fried bigotry.

The latest Twitter hashtag is entitled #PaulaWontCookIt and was created by Dr. Brittney Cooper of Rutgers University and Crunk Feminist Collective after her friend Patrice Simpson suggested the idea. 

Some of the entries on that hashtag are just as hilarious as the sarcastic cuisine that was conjured up by the Black Twitterverse yesterday and yes, the TransGriot threw some in on the new #PaulaWontCookIt hashtag as well.

Trying to get to the 7500 tweet mark and I'm a few tweets short of it  ;) 

Number 17!

With the Delaware Senate on a 11-9 vote passing the House amended Gender Non Discrimination Act Wednesday afternoon and it getting Gov Jack Markell's signature that evening, Delaware became the 17th state to pass trans human rights legislation. 

The Gender Nondiscrimination Act adds gender identity to the existing list of protected nondiscrimination categories, including race, age, religion and sexual orientation. It also allows for enhanced penalties under Delaware's hate crimes law for targeting someone based on his or her gender identity.  

The amendment the House added to the passed Senate bill raised concerns with the national trans community breathlessly following SB 97's progress through the Delaware legislature.
 
It was supported by the bills' proponents in the First State and clarified how a trans person could establish his or her gender identity.  It also stated that the GENDA law would not protect a person attempting to use gender identity as an excuse to enter an opposite-sex changing area for an “improper purpose.”

The cool thing for me about the whole process besides my Delaware trans brothers and sisters getting their too long delayed human rights coverage was not only how fast it happened, but the law was lead sponsored by African-American senator Margaret Rose Henry (D-Wilmington)   

The bill was introduced on May 31 by Senator Henry, who is the Delaware Senate Majority Whip and as of 6 PM EDT yesterday with Gov Markell's signature affixed to it is now the law of the First State.  It's also a law that Attorney General Beau Biden (D) stated he would rigorously enforce. 

The other cool thing for me is that Sen. Henry has a Texas connection in that she graduated from Texas Southern University here in Houston.  .

But for my Delaware-born girls like us homegirl Sarah McBride, the cool thing for her was that her home state passed a trans rights law.

“I’ve never been prouder to be a Delawarean,'she said in an interview.  "There will be none of the doomsday scenarios that the opponents of this legislation said, and all Delawareans will see that in the coming months and years ahead. The only difference will be that transgender people will be safe and secure in this state.”

And Sarah, you should be proud of your home state   It is now one of 17 states in this country that protect the human rights of trans people.  That's something to be bursting at the seams proud of and I look forward to the day it happens in my home state of Texas.  

With the demographic changes happening in Texas blue state transpeople, that day may be coming sooner than you think. 

But congratulations Delaware!   Lets hope, pray and continue to work toward the inevitable day that trans human rights coverage becomes a reality in all our states. 

Reason Number Whatever Why I Don't Vote For Republicans

If your political party had a 33 year old African-American Harvard Law school graduate who was a former 2003 Miss America with a platform of advocating for abstinence and against school bullying, what would you do if she was announcing at her old high school she was running for Congress under your party banner? 

If you're the GOP, you call her a 'street walker', 'Miss Queen', and a 'love child'.  

In the latest example of  Republifool minority outreach gone wild, Erika Harold announced in her hometown of Urbana, IL on June 4 that she was going to run for Congress in Illinois 13th Congressional District and challenge first term congressman Rodney Davis (R), who barely won the seat in the 2012 election cycle.

And how was that news greeted by the GOP?   With this racist e-mail rant from Jim Allen, a Davis supporter and the chair of the Montgomery County, IL Republican Party that was sent to Republican News Watch’s Editor-in-Chief Doug Ibendahl.

—– Original Message —–
From: Jim Allen <jimallen@consolidated.net>
Sent: 06/18/13 10:59 PM
To: dibendahl@mail.com
Subject: 13th Congressional District reply

Rodney Davis will win and the love child of the D.N.C. will be back in Shitcago by May of 2014 working for some law firm that needs to meet their quota for minority hires.
The truth is Nancy Pelosi and the DEMOCRAT party want this seat. So they called RINO Timmy Johnson to be their pack mule and get little queen to run.
Ann Callis gets a free ride through a primary and Rodney Davis has a battle.
The little queen touts her abstinence and she won the crown because she got bullied in school,,,boohoo..kids are cruel, life sucks and you move on..Now, miss queen is being used like a street walker and her pimps are the DEMOCRAT PARTY and RINO REPUBLICANS…These pimps want something they can’t get,,, the seat held by a conservative REPUBLICAN  Rodney Davis and Nancy Pelosi can’t stand it..

Little Queenie and Nancy Pelosi have so much in common but the one thing that stands out the most.. both are FORMER QUEENS, their crowns are tarnished and time has run out on the both of them..

Earth to Erika, the party you claim to be a member has a chair of a local party organization who supports your opponent and just publicly disrespected you.   It leads me to ask the question what's a smart woman like you doing even running for Congress as a Republican? 

It's clear these knuckle dragging misogynist troglodytes aren't going to change.  They are threatened by and still hate any woman who is  smarter than they are.  They have a special frothing at the mouth hatred as evidenced by their dislike of your fellow Illinoisian First Lady Michelle Obama for Black women who are smarter than they are.

So why contribute a seat to their House majority that is virulently anti-Black, racist to its rotten core and anti-woman should you win it?  If I were you I'd run, beat Davis' azz in the primary, and if I went on to win the November 2014 election immediately announce after it was certified that I'm switching to the Democratic Party just to spite them.

And yep, crap like this is exactly why Black folks can't stand the Republican Party and we justifiably look side eyed at any Black person who even runs as one.  If they're disrespecting  an obviously qualified candidate like Erika Harold, what do they say about the rest of us who aren't in their party?

Umm, never mind, I just remembered the comment Romney made about us wanting free stuff among other racist GOP bull feces in the aftermath of the 2012 election cycle. 

And it's why I continue to call the Republican Party the political arm of whiteness and white supremacy. 

Black Twitter Strikes Again On #PaulasBestDishes Hashtag

Paula Deen put her Southern fried foot in her mouth when she revealed her loyalties to all things Southern including that tired tradition of racism.

Deen is embroiled in a million dollar lawsuit over racist behavior with Lisa Jackson, the former general manager of Paula’s restaurant in Savannah, GA

Jackson claims that Deen used the N-word and was harassed and assaulted by her brother Bubba.  

The reason it probably hadn't gone viral until now is because the only paper covering the story was the National Enquirer.  But even they can have a broken clock moment of journalism every now and then and it looks like that is about to happen. 

Deen parted her lips during that videotaped May 17 deposition to reveal that she is not only a Confederate flag waving level racist, she's ignorantly dismissive about it as well.

The fact this news about Deen dropped on Juneteenth did not escape some peeps and as usual on Black Twitter, just as we did a few months ago with the #BlackPrivilege hashtag we gleefully took on the challenge of excoriating her in our own creative way. 

The  #PaulasBestDishes hashtag that has gone viral as I write this post and had me at one point rolling over and in tears laughing at some of the sarcastic cuisine on this list.  Y'all know I couldn't resist jumping in on the fun of roasting this bigot over the coals.

And you know TransGriot readers that Paula is a nominee for this week's Shut Up Fool Award.

It's Juneteenth, 2013 Edition!

Today is June 19 or Juneteenth as we call it in the Lone Star State and the 42 other states that recognize it

It commemorates the 1865 day that Union Major General Gordon Granger stood on the balcony at Ashton Villa in Galveston, TX and read General Order Number 3 that proclaimed that all Texas slaves were henceforth freed.

I wrote a post last year framing Juneteenth in the context of what the African-American trans community in my home state needed to do.  I called for African-American trans Texans to embark on a trans Juneteenth in which we step off the mental plantation of shame, guilt and fear and stride boldly toward a future of us owning our power.  

What I didn't know at the time was that the seeds for what I was calling for were already being planted at the inaugural Black Transmen, Inc conference in Dallas and started to grow this past March.  A few weeks later I finally got a chance while I was in Charlotte for the TransFaith in Color Conference to meet in the flesh two Texas based transwomen I'd corresponded with online for several years in Dallas' Rev. Carmarion Anderson and Houston video blogger Diamond Stylz

At the BTMI conference in March I finally got to meet Carter Brown of Dallas and the men of BTMI who are all about being the change you wish to see in the world.   A month later it was emerging Houston transmasculine leader Tye West.

And yes, there are cis African-American allies and our trans family in Texas, around the nation and the world who stand ready to help us put into practice what I visualized last year.

We've stepped off the mental plantation of shame, fear and guilt and are taking those bold steps into being proud trans masculine and trans feminine Texans involved with and ensconced in the communities we intersect and interact with.  How that continues to evolve will be the source of constant communication. effort and sometimes 'The Texas Trans Revolution Will Not Be Televised' consultation, but I'm happy to see it's finally happening in my birth state.   

I'm also aware that the struggle for trans Texans human rights continues inside and outside of the African-American community.   We have to throw off the shackles of fourth class citizenship and plant trans civil rights trees here in our state as we fight off the oppressors who seek to chop those trees down.  We must nurture their growth even though we realize that as they grow tall enough to shelter transpeople from the blazing sun of anti-trans discrimination and bigotry, we may not live long enough to sit under them and drink strawberry soda or strawberry Kool-Aid in their human rights shade.

That shouldn't deter us from doing the hard solid thinking and work that must be done to build community amongst African-American trans Texans, our cis and trans allies here, across the US and around the world and all people of good will interested in helping us sit at our place at the family table. 

As I said in last year's post and it still applies 365 days later, we African descended Texas transpeople can no longer afford to muddle around for another wasted decade isolated, invisible to the world at large, ignorant about what's going on around us, and feeling impotent socially, emotionally, politically and economically. 

It is time for us to step up our leadership games and be the proud Black trans men and trans women we are, own our power and write our own proud chapter in Black Texas history in the process.

And I'm pleased and proud to see that we are finally on the road to doing all of the above.

Black Pride: What Does LGBT Pride Mean To You

TransGriot Note:  I was honored to be asked by Kellee Terrell along with other African-American TBLG folks as part of an EBONY.com feature story to say in 60 words or less what does TBLG pride mean to us?

June is LGBT Pride Month and we reached out to Black LGBT folks and asked, “What does pride mean to you?” Here is a taste of the inspiring and amazing things they had to say.—Kellee Terrell

Monica Roberts, Houston, Texas

“Pride reminds me I'm also part of and heir to a legacy of struggle for the human rights of transgender people that was kicked off one night in June 1969 by Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P Johnson.  And the struggle for trans human rights continues today.  It's even more important it be recognized by fellow African Americans in the face of the anti-trans violence and discrimination disproportionately aimed at us.”

There's also commentary in this initial group from Laverne Cox, Diamond Stylz, Tiq Milan, Dr. Kortney Ryan Ziegler, Christian Axavier Lovehall, and Sasha Alexander with more to come. 

Check out what the rest of my trans, bi and SGL peeps had to say about pride here.

Tom Joyner Morning Show Team Dips Into Transphobic 'Comedy' In Garner Case

I'm a huge fan of the syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show that has a national listening audience of 11 million African-Americans. 

But right now I'm a little pissed about them dipping into transphobic comedy this morning to talk about the ongoing Tracey Lynn Garner case unfolding in Jackson, MS. 

During the 7:00 AM CDT hour of today's TJMS show Joyner started reading the story about Garner on air and seized on something that I've complained about in terms of covering trans people.  I don't like it along with many people in the trans community news outlets or reporters printing the old names of transpeople in stories when they are not germane to it because it opens the floodgates for transphobia to happen.  What I feared would happen did when Joyner read her old male name on air.  

J. Anthony Brown, Sybil Wilkes and Joyner then seized on that aspect of it to crack jokes about not only Ms  Garner but the very serious issues of silicone pumping that have cost the lives of hundreds of people inside and outside the trans community over the last decade and have Tracey Lynn Garner facing life imprisonment for performing the silicone pumping buttocks injections that resulted in the deaths of Karima Gordon and Marilyn Hale.  

TJMS, love y'all as a longtime fan on the show, haven't forgotten to your credit that Jacque Reid interviewed Laverne Cox back in March 2010, have mad respect for the 'Fly Jock' as a Black radio pioneer who also knew my late father, but got to put y'all on blast for this one.

Trans people and especially Black trans people are catching hell out there.  Back in April we had three African-American transwomen killed because elements of our community think it's okay to exterminate us for simply being who we are and far too often murderers of Black trans people have been fellow African-Americans.  Far more in our community think it's okay to make fun of or engage in transphobic rhetoric disparaging our lives.

That TJMS segment during the 7:00 AM CDT hour didn't rise to the level of what Lex and Terry recently did in actually calling on June 3 for the murder of trans people, but it's still harmful and hurtful to the transpeople of African descent who are like myself fans of your show.
 
It also give cover to the Fox News ongoing campaign to disparage the lives of American transpeople that fuels the disrespect and anti-trans violence aimed at us and disproportionately takes the lives of African-American and Latina transpeople.  

I like a good joke from time to time, enjoy some of the TJMS bits that happen on the show along with your commentators thought provoking commentary that sometimes inspires my TransGriot posts, but belittling or joking about trans peoples lives doesn't help especially when we are struggling to gain human rights coverage and have our humanity respected. 

That education on trans issues is especially needed in the African-American community and those efforts were set back this morning by the TJMS team's jokes about not only this individual transwoman who committed a crime that she (yes, she) will probably be punished for, but you reinforced a problematic pattern that it's okay to turn trans people's lives into a punchline of a joke.

Tracey Lynn Garner Facing Second Murder Charge In Silicone Pumping Death

Tracey Lynn Garner of Jackson, MS is now facing a second charge of depraved heart murder to add to the one she's facing concerning the death of Karima Gordon.   

Also charged in the Karima Gordon case is Natasha Stewart, an adult entertainer who goes by the name Pebbelz Da Model who accepted $200 for the pumping referral to Gordon.

Garner is now being accused of and charged with causing the January 2010 death of Selma, AL resident Marilyn Hale after another silicone butt injection that went horribly wrong.

The Jackson Clarion-Ledger story violates the AP Stylebook guidelines, but what else is new?

The new indictment issued by the Hinds County grand jury according to the in violation of the AP Stylebook guidelines story alleges that Garner, on or about Jan. 13, 2010, “did kill Marilyn Hale…by means of injecting a silicone substance into the body of Marilyn Hale, thereby committing an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved heart.”

Garner is under house arrest while awaiting a trial that has been postponed twice after being set to start on April 8 and June 10.  There is also an ongoing investigation in which the Attorney General's office is searching for more people who got pumped by Garner. 

If Garner is convicted in either case she is facing life imprisonment.   

Amended Trans Human Rights Bill Passes Delaware House

Yesterday in the Delaware House SB 97, the Gender Identity Nondiscrimination Act ran into a speed bump on its way to passage and out of the House for Gov. Jack Markell's signature.

After House Minority Leader Daniel Short (R) brought trans oppressor Nicole Theis of the Delaware Family Policy Transphobia Council into the debate on the House floor to spread her patented brand of 'bathroom bill' hate, an amendment to it was introduced by the House sponsor, Rep Bryon Short (D-Claymont).

The amendment passed on a 25-16 vote.  It clarifies the definition of gender identity and ensures a person cannot claim a gender identity that is not their own to access a locker room or other sex-segregated facility.

The amended trans rights bill then passed the House on a 24-17 vote.   Three Democrats voted NAY along with the  entire Republican House delegation against your human rights Delaware transpeople.

Reps. William Carson, John Mitchell, and W.Charles 'Trey' Paradee are the folks who will forever go down in trans infamy as the ones who stood on the wrong side of human rights history along with (surprise, surprise) the Republican Party, so punish them all accordingly at the polls next November. 

The amendment to the bill means that since there are now two different versions of SB 97 that passed,  the bill will return to the Delaware Senate for them to approve the amendment that passed in the Delaware House before it can go to Gov. Jack Markell (D) for his signature.

Aww, Pam's House Blend To Shut Down July 1

Sad and surprising news coming out of North Carolina as my blogging shero Pam Spaulding announced that after nine years, she is shutting down her groundbreaking and award winning Pam's House Blend blog July 1.

Pam's blog along with the November 2005 kick in the butt from Jordana LeSesne were some of the motivating reasons I decided to get off the fence about it and found TransGriot back in January 2006.  One of the first blogs to link to the neophyte TransGriot and give it an initial traffic and signal boost was Pam's House Blend. 

As a fellow red stater and African-American I appreciated her thought provoking views and perspectives on the LGBT movement and other subjects and loved the fact she wasn't 'scurred' to talk about race and class issues inside the community either.

During the life of the Black Blog Rankings that Wayne Hicks of Electronic Villager compiled, Pam's House Blend quickly rose to the number one spot in them and stayed there for 15 months until the Villager shut it down in October 2009.

People marvel and talk about when I meet them the pace that I crank out posts here at TransGriot but Pam made me look like a slacker. There were days where she would have as many as ten posts up in a single day to my mere three or more as the news cycle dictates and many of them were long form ones. 

Pam was running the Blend, up late writing and traveling to conferences across the country while holding down a full time non LGBT activism related job and battling ongoing health issues.   

I had the pleasure of finally meeting her and one of her baristas Alvin McEwen during Netroots Nation in Providence last year and spent an enjoyable and hilarious at times few days hanging with them.   

She said in her post she's not disappearing from the scene entirely, and that good news. “I’ll continue to be active on social media and make time to mentor folks as I can. It’s just time for someone else to pick up the ball and run with the daily activist grind, and forge new ground in an ever-shifting new media.”

Pam, while I'm going to miss surfing over to the Blend on a regular basis, best of luck and megasuccess in whatever you decide to do from this point forward. 

Also looking forward to the next time I get to spend some quality time in your presence.

Diamond Stylz-The Middle Ground

Another thoughtful video by Diamond Stylz

Delaware House To Vote On Trans Rights Bill Today

All eyes in the trans community will be turned towards Dover, DE and the First State today as the 41 members of the Delaware House are poised to debate and vote on SB 97.
The bill sponsored by African-American state Sen. Margaret Rose Henry (D-Wilmington) passed the Delaware Senate June 6 on an 11-7 vote and favorably out of the House Administration Committee last Tuesday on a 4-1 vote.

The Gender Identity Nondiscrimination Bill would add gender identity to the existing list of protected nondiscrimination categories, including race, age, religion and sexual orientation. It also allows for enhanced penalties under Delaware's hate crimes law for targeting someone based on his or her gender identity.

The Democrats have a 27-14 edge in the Delaware House, and the bill also has the support of Atty General Beau Biden (D) and Gov. Jack Markell (D), who has indicated he would sign SB 97 if it passes.

If the bill passes, Delaware would become the 17th state to pass a statewide trans rights law.

21 votes is the magic number were looking for today, and I'm crossing my fingers and saying my prayers along with trans Delawareans in hopes that there will be more good news to celebrate trans human rights wise before the end of the day.

Petition: Lift The US Ban On Trans Military Service

The dirty secret about the 2010 DADT repeal is it only applied to the GLB portion of the community.

Trans people were not included and were thrown under the civil rights bus (surprise, surprise) in the rush to get that passed during the 2010 Congressional lame duck session. 

Trans people not only have to still hide who they are if they are in the military already, if they transition they are banned from joining the United States armed forces.

Transpeople who wish to do so should have the same option to join the military as cispeople do. 

There are ten nations, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, New Zealand, the Czech Republic, Spain, Norway, the Netherlands, Thailand and Israel that allow transpeople to serve in some capacity their armed forces and it's past time the United States joined that list.

Here is a Change.org petition attempting to gather 50,000 signatures that seeks to get the ban on trans military service lifted.   Not only should that bad disappear, by allowing transpeople to join the military it would help make a dent in our unacceptably high unemployment numbers and give us access to benefits we are locked out of by not being able to serve.

Some of our trans leaders and trans icons like Christine Jorgensen spent time in the military.  The leadership lessons they learned in those various branches were translated in trans civilian life to help us organize and provide leadership to all the communities those veterans interacted and intersected with.

And as the coming out former SEAL Team 6 member Kristin Beck points out, transpeople have been part of our military for years, fought for our country and are part of it right now.

We shouldn't have to hide who we are to serve our country.