SD House Fails To Override HB 1008

If you thought the drama over HB 1008 was over when Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) vetoed the bill Tuesday, well it wasn't. 

Never underestimate the eager determination of Republicans and the outside groups pushing the unjust bills to oppress a downtrodden group.  They've made it clear that oppressing trans people is on the legislative agenda for their party in 2016. 

One of the reasons the anti-trans hate groups like the Liberty Counsel and the Alliance Defending Freedom chose South Dakota for this fight is because the Republicans in the Mount Rushmore State have had decades long supermajorities in both houses.  They have controlled the 70 member South Dakota House since 1976, and the 35 member South Dakota Senate since 1996.

The Republican controlled House attempted to jump start the process today of overriding the governor's veto.  They needed to get two-thirds of the House members to vote for the override resolution, and then do the same in the senate in order to successfully override Gov. Daugaard's veto and make HB 1008 law.

The vote to override in the SD House went 36-29 with five abstentions, which means it failed to get the necessary two-thirds support. to send it to the senate and turn this unjust bill attacking the humanity of SD trans kids into an unjust law.

Translation: HB 1008 is DEAD!

They failed thanks to the determined efforts of South Dakota based trans people, advocates at the local, state and national level and their allies. 

But there is still one more anti-trans bill, HB 1112 still percolating in the South Dakota legislature we have to keep our eyes on that is attacking our trans kids.

I hope the South Dakota legislature will see the wisdom of not attacking the humanity of trans kids and let that unjust bill suffer the same fate.

 

Caitlyn Wants To Be A Trans Ambassador For Trans Oppressor Ted Cruz

At first when I heard this, I thought this was a satire site headline, but unfortunately it's WTF inducing true.  Caitlyn Jenner, trans Republican, said in an The Advocate profile interview with Dawn Ennis that she wants to be the trans ambassador for my junior senator from Alberta, Ted Cruz.

Yeah, let me repeat that.   Caitlyn Jenner wants to be the trans ambassador for Ted Cruz, the same one who is running for the GOP nomination for president.   He is an unrepentant dominionist azzhole whose father and wife thinkz that Conservagod wants him to be POTUS.   Cruz has demonized trans people during this campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, but Caitlyn thinks he's 'very nice'.  

You're kidding me, right?   And some of y'all started tripping when I called her out two months ago.

That was a comment so breathtakingly clueless I have to wonder if she's officially joined the Log Cabin Republicans.

You're going to be should this country lose its collective mind and elect that Canadian as president, the trans ambassador for a guy who thinks that the Obama administration's support for trans kids is lunacy, has unleashed other anti-trans attacks while on the campaign trail. and denounced the HERO when we were fighting to keep our human rights law.

Keep on believing you'll be able to have any influence on your transphobic party as a trans Republican, especially since they basically declared war on us by calling for state GOP controlled legislatures to pass anti-trans measures.

Then again, don`t think, wake the f**k up.

The major reason I'm rooting for Donald Trump to get the GOP nomination is because this nation does not need another Texas Republican in the White House, especially at this critical time in our nation's history.

And Caitlyn, while you have every right to support whoever you wish in this 2016 presidential contest, I would suggest that you not support a presidential candidate who thinks it's sound political strategy and policy to demonize our trans younglings for political gain.

MAJOR! Coming To H-town!

Been looking forward to seeing the documentary about Miss Major, and was happy to hear that one of the upcoming screenings of MAJOR! will take place in Houston.

It's scheduled to happen on April 1 during the Queer Hippo LGBT International Film Festival that will be hosted by the Houston Museum of African American Culture and run from April1-3.

The museum is located at 4807 Caroline Street in the Museum District, and hoping that we in LGBT and Black Houston show up, show out and support this film about one of our trans elders and icons.


 

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TransGriot Perv Watch- The Case Of The GOP Legislative Ammosexual

In my latest episode of Perv Watch, we go to New Hampshire for the latest case of a predator endangering the safety of our children and they aren't transgender or dressed in femme attire.

According to RawStory and the New Hampshire Union Leader, 30 year old state rep Kyle Tasker (R) was busted for using the Net in an attempt to lure a 14 year old girl into having sex with him.

Rep. Tasker is in his third term, and serves in the New Hampshire Legislature on the House Committee on Children and Family Law that deals with the legal rights and protections for families and children.  He was alleged to have on January 20 sexually harassed an underage girl, and an agent with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force posed as a 14 year girl and set up a meeting via Facebook Messenger with him.  

When they arrived at that location in Nottingham, they found him with a loaded weapon.  Execution of a search warrant at Tasker's Nottingham home led to the discovery of an enormous quantity of controlled substances and several more weapons strategically placed throughout the home.

Tasker was arrested and charged with four felonies and is being held on $250,000 bail.  In addition to his current legal problems, he also dropped a gun on the House floor in 2012 that fortunately didn't discharge.  

Tasker also caught flak in 2014 for mocking sexual assault victims amongst other problematic statements.

New Hampshire Republican Party Chair Jennifer Horn and NH House Speaker Shawn Jasper have called for his immediate resignation.   He was immediately removed by Jasper from his committee assignment.

We'll see what happens in this latest case in the TransGriot Perv Watch files, but once again it drives home the point that transpeople aren't the perverts we've been slandered and falsely accused of being, it's the cisgender males leveling the accusations you must pay attention to..  

Congrats Jenifer On Your Historic Win!

While everyone was focused last night on the big Super Tuesday delegate fight between the presidential candidates from both parties, a little trans history was made in Houston on election night.

Jenifer Rene Pool, who has made three runs for Houston City Council, shifted gears and ran for the Democratic nomination in the Harris County Commissioners Court Precinct 3 race to see who would take on longtime Republican commissioner Steve Radack.

Pool racked up a decisive win against her Democratic primary challenger, racking up 78% of the vote.  She becomes the first out transperson to win a primary election contest in Harris County and the state of Texas, and now takes on the formidable challenge of unseating a longtime conservative incumbent on Harris County Commissioner's Court.

Congrats on your history making achievement Jenifer!   Now let's take it to the next step and get you that seat at the Harris County Commissioner's Court table!
 

Danni Askini Running For Washington State Legislature Seat

The last time a trans woman was elected to a state legislature in the US was back in 1992 when Althea Garrison accomplished it during the legislative 'Year Of The Woman'.  She was nondisclosed when she was elected to a seat in the Massachusetts House, but only lasted one term as she was outed days after her win.

Over the last few election cycles several out trans women have attempted to get elected to state legislatures in Arizona (Amanda Simpson) Maryland (Dana Beyer), Nevada (Lauren Scott) and twice in Oklahoma (Brittany Novotny & Paula Sophia) all to fall just short of doing so.

Stacie Laughton was elected in New Hampshire in 2012, but never served because of undisclosed legal issues.

>With the exponential increase in anti-trans legislation pushed by our right wing enemies, the time has never been more imperative to have trans people in state legislatures helping to not only write good legislation, but be in the position to kill bad bills instead of begging for inclusion or to kill it from the outside.

And if we ever wish to see a trans person elected to the US Congress, viable congressional candidates come from big city councils, judicial benches and state legislatures, and we have to win some of those races to even get political party attention..

Yesterday Danni Askini announced she was going to run for an open Seattle seat in the Washington State legislature in its 43rd house district.   Current state rep Brady Walkinshaw is moving on to attempt a run for a US congressional seat

Danni has been and advocate for 15 years, and was busy in Olympia killing this year's unjust anti-trans bills in the GOP controlled Washington Senate.

Askini is vying to become the first out trans person in Washington state and nationally elected to a state legislative seat.

Hopefully, this will be the breakthrough year that happens, and if it does, it will be right on time for that piece of trans history to occur.

Best of luck to you Danni, and when November 8 comes, hope I'll be writing about a history making moment.

The Democratic Super Tuesday Big Winner Is...

Hillary Clinton!

To the consternation of Sanders supporters, the momentum continued for Sec. Clinton as she captured seven states and the American Samoa caucus while Sanders won his home state of Vermont as expected, Oklahoma, and the caucus states of Colorado and Minnesota.

Just as in South Carolina, the power of the Black vote asserted itself as Clinton not only captured the big delegate prizes Tuesday night of Georgia (117) and my home state of Texas (252), she took Massachusetts out of Bernie's backyard.

Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia also went for Sec. Clinton, and her wins during her Super Tuesday victory march through the South and elsewhere have been fueled by overwhelming Black voter support.  Black voter support kept her close in Oklahoma.

Next up on the Democratic Party primary schedule are March 5 contests in Kansas, Louisiana and Nebraska, March 6 in Maine, and March 8 in Michigan and Mississippi.

There were also local primary races in the various Super Tuesday states for state legislature, judicial and other seats I'm still waiting for results on.

One result I very happy about was that state Rep. Jessica Farrar curb stomped homobigot Dave Wilson in the TX 148 Democratic primary race.

The shocker of the night locally was transphobic state Rep Debbie Riddle (R-Tomball), who pushed two anti-trans bills in the 2015 session we killed, was beaten in her TX 150 GOP primary race by Valoree Swanson for being in her opponent's words, "Not conservative enough'.

Karma is not only a you know what Rep Riddle, it wears a dress and stiletto heels.

But in some trans political news, Jenifer Rene Pool is handily beating her opponent in the Harris County Precinct 3 Democratic primary race.

I'll have a better idea when the rest of our Harris County results come in and I get a chance to peruse them in the morning

SD Gov. Daugaard's HB 1008 Veto Statement

Surprise, surprise!   South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) has vetoed the unjust HB 1008 bill that would have legislatively attacked trans kids in the state.

He did so on fiscal grounds, and note not a word written about how wrong and dehumanizing it was, but at this point I'll take the win..

Here's the veto statement.

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Gov. Daugaard Vetoes HB 1008

PIERRE, S.D. – Gov. Dennis Daugaard has vetoed the following bill:

                    

HB 1008 – An Act to restrict access to certain restrooms and locker rooms in public schools.

For more information about this bill and other bills, visit legis.sd.gov.          

                                                            -30-

Note: A copy of the Governor’s veto message follows:

March 1, 2016

The Honorable Dean Wink

Speaker of the House of Representatives

500 East Capitol Avenue

Pierre, SD 57501

Dear Mr. Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives,

I respectfully return to you House Bill 1008, with my VETO.

House Bill 1008 does not address any pressing issue concerning the school districts of South Dakota.  As policymakers in South Dakota, we often recite that the best government is the government closest to the people.  Local school districts can, and have, made necessary restroom and locker room accommodations that serve the best interests of all students, regardless of biological sex or gender identity. 

This bill seeks to impose statewide standards on “every restroom, locker room, and shower room located in a public elementary or secondary school.”  It removes the ability of local school districts to determine the most appropriate accommodations for their individual students and replaces that flexibility with a state mandate.

If and when these rare situations arise, I believe local school officials are best positioned to address them.  Instead of encouraging local solutions, this bill broadly regulates in a manner that invites conflict and litigation, diverting energy and resources from the education of the children of this state.

Preserving local control is particularly important because this bill would place every school district in the difficult position of following state law while knowing it openly invites federal litigation.  Although there have been promises by an outside entity to provide legal defense to a school district, this provision is not memorialized in the bill.  Nor would such defense eliminate the need for school or state legal counsel, nor avoid expenses relating to expert witnesses, depositions and travel, or other defense costs.  Nor does the commitment extend to coverage over settlement or damage expenses.  This law will create a certain liability for school districts and the state in an area where no such liability exists today.

For these reasons, I oppose this bill and ask that you sustain my veto.

Respectfully submitted,

Dennis Daugaard

Will SD Gov. Dennis Daugaard Be A Human Rights Hero Or Zero Today?

Today South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard (R) has a decision to make in regards to the unjust HB 1008 that targets transgender kids in the Mount Rushmore state for oppression.

Today is the deadline for him to act on this unjust bill.  He can either be a human rights hero and veto the bill, or he can go down in history as a human rights oppressor and sign it.   He can also take the coward's way out and decline to sign the bill, which because it is March 1, would become law without his signature.

My money is on him doing the cowardly thing and letting the bill become law without his signature. You know I have zero confidence in any Republican doing the right thing for any marginalized groups when it comes to the human rights of people that aren't conservative white males.

Hope he shocks me, but we'll see what happens today.

TransGriot Update:  Gov Daugaard has VETOED HB 1008

Another Trans Person Lost-RIP Demarkis Stansberry

It's sad for me to announce that we have lost another trans person to violence in 2016

30 year old Demarkis Stansberry was fatally shot in the head on Saturday in Baton Rouge by 24 year old Nicolas Matthews, who turned himself in to the police the day of the shooting and confessed to killing him.

And in case you're wondering if Stansberry was misgendered and deadnamed by the media as does routinely happens for trans feminine people who are killed, unfortunately it happened to Demarkis.

Once again media peeps, the AP Stylebook standards for reporting on trans people exist for a reason. How about you follow them?

Rest in power and peace, Demarkis

It's Super Tuesday!

In a few hours the polls are opening across eleven states for people to cast their ballots in the Democratic primary battle between Sec Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders.

After posting her own blowout win in South Carolina, Sec. Clinton is seeking to keep that momentum going in the Super Tuesday states and collect the lion's share of the 1017 delegates up for grabs with the help of the Black vote.

Voters in America Samoa, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and my home state of Texas will be headed to polling places and caucuses.

We'll see when the polls start closing at 7 PM ET which way the Democratic contest goes after voters in the 12 primarily Southern states have their say in who should be the person who gets our party's nomination in not only the presidential contests, but a long list of state and local races and judicial seats.

If early voting was available in your Super Tuesday state and you didn't get the opportunity to participate in it, hope you take the time to do so today.

In Texas. polls will be open from 7 AM-7 PM and I hope you exercise your right to vote.