Happy Birthday Monica!

Just in case you're wondering, I celebrated my birthday a month ago. The Monica I'm wishing a Happy Birthday to is one who is no longer with us, but is still very special to me in my heart.

Her name is Monica Monet Holloway-Barrett and she was born on this date in 1962 in Mobile, AL.

So how did a native Houstonian get to meet this Alabama girl? Her grandparents lived in Houston and during her spring break in 1980 she traveled to H-town to visit them. HISD was still in session at the time and my classmate and her friend Virginia Tucker lived next door to Monica's grandparents.

Virginia invited Monica to hang out with her for the day at Jones and Virginia was in my trig class. When she and Monica walked through the door she had my undivided attention that day instead of my math teacher Mr. Stevenson.

Intelligent people tend to gravitate to other intelligent people and I picked up on that. My 'twin' liked smart sistahs. Monica was about 5'6", had a flawless light caramel colored skin tone and shoulder length jet black hair framing her face.

We exchanged contact data and I was even more smitten with her after I discovered her birthday was June 4, which also happens to be my late Grandmother Tama's birthday as well.

Through the summer of 1980 we traded letters but as the demands of my census enumerator job increased and her summer classes at Rensselear Polytechnic Institute demanded more of her attention we gradually lost contact with each other. When my own freshman year at UH approached and subsequently my transgender issues demanded resolution during the spring semester she faded from my memory for a while.

Over the years I wondered what happened to the girl I met during the last months of my senior year and developed a serious crush on. One day I was flipping through the Houston Chronicle and stumbled across her wedding announcement that her grandparents had placed.

It caught me up on her life up until that time. She'd graduated from Duke in 1984, pledged AKA and had become a doctor after graduating from medical school in 1990. I also discovered that she was now living in Houston. I'd seen the announcement too late to attend the wedding, was a little jealous of the guy she was marrying, but at the same time was pleased to know that things were going well for Monica. I was also happy to know that she'd found someone special to spend the rest of her life with.

In April 1998 I was once again perusing the Houston Chronicle when I was shocked to see something I didn't expect.

Monica's obituary

It didn't mention how she died, but Dr. Monica Holloway-Barrett had become nonetheless an Ivy Beyond The Wall. That obituary also updated me on the final chapter of her life before she was called home April 9. She'd given birth to a daughter in 1993, was teaching classes at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and was involved in a long list of local organizations at the point of her untimely passing.

I cried for a few moments after reading it and realizing that she was only 35 when she died. Once again I was seeing it too late to attend and pay my last respects and I was a little upset about that. It's also ironic and frustrating to me that our paths could have crossed before she passed away. One of the schools that we used to do Trans 101 seminars at was Baylor College of Medicine and the first one I was part of took place in February 1998.

I took some time to remember the beautiful girl I met in my math class that day who'd become an outstanding woman. I clipped that obituary, scanned the picture (which is on my other computer, darn it) and stored it in my high school memory book.

She's one of the reasons that when it came time for me to choose a feminine name when I transitioned in 1994, I chose Monica.

My name today is a reminder to myself on multiple levels. I wanted to honor her memory, so I strive to carry myself in the same way that I remember her as a classy, beautiful and intelligent woman. It's also a reminder to myself to make every moment count and make quality use of the time that you're allotted.

Unlike the Cylons of Battlestar Galactica, we only get one shot at living our lives and you don't get multiple practice runs until it's perfect.

Happy birthday, Monica. Say hello to my grandmother Tama for me.

Black Music Month

photos-Duke Ellington, Denyce Graves, 'Jimmy Jam' Harris and Terry Lewis

Since 1979 the month of June has been celebrated as Black Music Month in the United States. At the urging of legendary songwriter and record producer Kenny Gamble, President Jimmy Carter designated June as Black Music Month.

A quarter century later, President Bush like all American presidents since then have issued an annual Black Music Month proclamation to celebrate the occasion.

It's a time when we look back at the various forms of music that we either created, such as jazz, the blues, gospel music, rap, and hip-hop.

There are music genres that we've enhanced with our talents such as disco and the opera world with singers such as Leontyne Price, Denyce Graves and Kathleen Battle.

We also celebrate our rich musical tradition that we brought with us from the African continent.

We remember our legendary artists like Mahalia Jackson, Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Little Richard, Luther Vandross, James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, B.B. King and Duke Ellington just to name a few.

We also celebrate the heirs to their legacy in our current artists like Alicia Keys, John Legend, Jill Scott and others.

Black Music Month is a chance to celebrate the huge imprint that we have left on American music and indeed, the world musically since we arrived on these shores in 1619. We get reconnected with some of our pioneers, such as Thomas A. Dorsey, the 'Father of Gospel Music.'

We give props to the legendary producers such as Motown's Holland Dozier Holland, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Gamble and Huff and the folks following in their giant footsteps.



We also marvel at how our music gave up hope in dark times for our people, celebrated our successes, helped us dance on Saturday nights and get our praise on during Sunday morning worship services.

It was the soundtrack for our youth, our love making, instilled pride in our heritage and motivated us (and the South Africans) to fight for our civil rights.

It even inspires athletes to perform at championship levels. Ask the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates or Sister Sledge if you think I'm kidding about that.

Black music is a powerful, multigenerational, creative force.



Every now and then George W. Bush gets something right. Here are his words from the May 31, 2002 proclamation declaring Black Music Month in the USA.



I call on Americans of all backgrounds to learn more about the rich heritage of black music and how it has shaped our culture and our way of life, and urge them to take the opportunity to enjoy the great musical experiences available through the contributions of African American music.

I plan to help y'all out this month in exploring Black music. As far as I'm concerned, EVERY month is Black Music Month.

Now where's my Parliament-Funkadelic CD?

June 2007 TransGriot Column

Chuck Knipp + SQL + Minstrel Show = Racism
Copyright 2007, THE LETTER

Just in time for pride I’m calling out all you GLBT racism enablers.

Racism enabler? Moi? Yes, you!

You peeps who silently sit through racist rants that would make the local KKK Grand Wizard proud. It also includes you peeps who paid good American money to see and support a racist minstrel show like some of y’all did on May 5 during Derby.

A minstrel show mind you that perpetuates stereotypes dating back to the 1830’s and has as much humor in it as Don Imus’ April 4 ‘nappy headed garden tool’ comments that got him canned from his multimillion dollar radio gig.

Stop rolling your eyes and muttering under your breath ‘there she goes again.’ I’m just as sick and tired of ‘splaining to y’all why Chuck’s minstrel show is offensive to the African-American SGL community. For the record, it’s disrespectful on multiple levels to single mothers, economically disadvantaged peeps, women and African-Americans.

Spare me your latest ‘It’s free speech’ SQL defense line. With free speech comes responsibility and consequences as well. Free speech cuts both ways. Just as Chuck has the right to say things and insult my people in his ‘act’ I have a reciprocal right to protest and call him out for performing a 'show’ with stereotypes rooted in slavery.

And no, Chuck doesn’t get a ‘dodge criticism’ free pass because he’s gay. Isaiah Washington and Tim Hardaway didn’t (and still don’t) get them from the gay community for their one-time comments, so a serial offender like Chuck doesn’t get one either.

Let me also put an end to Chuck’s disingenuously fallacious statement that by performing SQL he’s fostering a discussion on race relations by getting us to laugh at them.

Bull feces.

Chuck is exacerbating racial tensions, not healing them. Using a blackface image with 400 years of negativity associated with it doesn’t exactly lend itself in African-American eyes as a starting point for a civil discourse on race relations. In 2002 we African-Americans had a major problem with those blackface images in Spike Lee’s ‘Bamboozled’ movie. You know we’re gonna be highly perturbed with someone standing on stage in blackface who is not only gay and should know better, but comes from the same ethnic group and gender that enslaved our great-great grandparents.

That little ‘12 Days of Kwanzaa’ ditty Chuck composed that’s posted on every white supremacist website on the Net also puts an abrupt end to that ‘I’m a racial healer' fallacy as well.

Finally, let’s get one thing straight (pardon the pun). The white community gay or straight doesn’t get to determine what we African-Americans should or shouldn't be offended by. The African-American community collectively does and it’s the height of arrogance for you to think that you do. Trotting out RuPaul, the mysterious African-American ‘friend’ who’s allegedly an SQL fan (yeah, right) or anyone else for Chuck to hide behind ain’t gonna work either. RuPaul has less credibility in the African-American SGL community nowadays than Condoleezza Rice.

It should be obvious after 5 years of protests, show cancellations, denunciations from African-American activists, African-American GLBT columnists and bloggers, GLBT organizations, our gay and straight allies and other concerned citizens of various ethnic backgrounds where we stand on the SQL issue. The more intransigent you get about SQL, the more you risk losing the African-American GLBT community as an ally
in the GLBT rights struggle.

Yes peeps, it’s that serious.

This was always more than just us complaining about a lousy minstrel show. This is being viewed by some in the African-American GLBT community as a litmus test to see just how serious the white GLBT community is about dealing with issues that we deem important.

And right now you’re in danger of failing that test.

Who Has The World's Most Beautiful Transwomen? Part 3

In this post I'm going to concentrate on transwomen inhabiting Europe.

We transpeeps need to give the Europeans major shout-outs. They have led the way in terms of the medical and scientific research, the generous medical plans that cover transitions in some countries and the groundbreaking legal statutes that protect our rights and make it easy to change documents to match presentations. Sweden passed TG laws back in 1972, followed by Germany in 1981, Italy in 1982, the Netherlands in 1985, Turkey in 1988, Britain and Spain in 2004.

The transpeople that garnered early media attention also came from this region of the world. Christine Jorgenson was the first transwoman to get international media attention, but her initial surgery was done in Denmark. After Christine, it was the European transwomen who dominated much of the international media attention through the 60s and 70's.

We'll start with the Dutch girls. They get to start early on hormones that are covered by national health plans. Romy Haag was one of the early Dutch transwomen who after transitioning at 33, has made a career for herself in Germany.

The current poster child for Dutch transwomen is Kelly van der Veer. She had her surgery at 19 and has been a fixture on Dutch TV and in Dutch popular culture ever since.

Britain not only has covered transgender issues and grappled with them since the 60's, their NHS granted Angel Paris-Jordan SRS at age 17.

Our British cousins have also had a few transwomen grab international headlines as well. April Ashley was the transgender poster girl in the 60's and was involved in a groundbreaking court case. Her divorce from Arthur Corbett led to an unfortunate ruling that hampered the ability of British transwomen until the 2004 passage of the Gender Recognition Act to have their marriages recognized and change their identity documents to match current gender presentation. The case also reared its ugly head here in the States in adverse marriage rulings in the 90's.

The British transgender it girl torch was passed to Caroline Cossey in the 70's and 80's, and it remains to be seen in the early 21st century who will be the next famous British transwoman.

You knew the French would not be outdone with Coccinelle and Amanda Lear to point to with Gallic pride in this beautiful transwoman debate. Coccinelle rivaled Christine Jorgensen back in the day in terms of world media attention and after her SRS in Morocco in 1958 became extremely popular in France. She was also an activist who fought for transgender rights in France as well.

Amanda Lear played the 'is-she-is-she-not-a-transwoman' coy role with the world media for decades even though she performed with Coccinelle and April Ashley at the same Paris transgender cabarets.


The Germans produce supermodels, so it would stand to reason that they would also have beautiful transgender frauleins to boast about. They did much of the early research in transsexuality under the world famous sexologist Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld that led to Lili Elbe's pioneering surgeries in 1931. It's also no accident at one of the Nazis first public book burnings happened outside of Hirschfeld's offices. Germany is also home to what some people believe is the youngest transwoman to transition in Kim, who began her transition at age 12.

Greek transwomen can point with Hellenic pride to their renowned poster girl Jenny Hiloudaki, who burst onto the world's radar screens in the 90's. She began her transition at age 13 and had SRS at age 20. She became one of Greece's top models complete with a jet setting high society lifestyle to go with it. She was even at the center of a Greek political scandal because of her 1997 affair with District Attorney George Sakelaropoulos which was eagerly followed in the Greek press, was named Greek Woman of the Year in 2000.

While Italy is one place the Brazilian transwomen call their home away from home, the Italians have some beautiful home grown transwomen as well, and Eva Robin's is their poster girl. Eva's story is interesting because she says she developed extremely feminine features and began developing breasts at a young age naturally, but that's been disputed, along with whether or not she's had SRS.

What isn't disputed is the fact that however it happened, she's got it going on in the beauty department and has parlayed it into a nice career as an actress model and commentator.

Spain is a relative newbie in terms of passing progressive legislation for transsexuals, having done so in 2004, but not in producing beautiful transwomen. Bibiana Fernandez also known by her stage name of Bibi Andersen, is a statuesque actress and model who has appeared in several films produced by world renowned director Pedro Almodovar.

The nations that were behind the Iron Curtain like Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Serbia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary and Romania have transpeople there, and as those communities emerge and more info comes out, they too will probably join in this debate as to who has the world's most beautiful transwomen.

Who Has The World's Most Beautiful Transwomen?-Part 2

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as the old saying goes. What I'm doing in this series of posts is trying to objectively ascertain what part of the world has the most beautiful transwomen. While that's an argument that will rage long after I finish this series, it'll definitely be a fun one as well.

In Part 2 I'm going to concentrate on the Americas, North, Central and South.

The Mexican transwomen have the same advantages as their Thai sisters. Over-the counter availability of hormones, petite body builds that translate well into feminine proportions, some androgynous biomale characteristics and a semi-tolerant culture despite being a Roman Catholic country.

They also have that delicious blend of Latin and indigenous Indian features. Some of the girls who were born there have emigrated to the United States. They congregate in the transgender meccas of LA, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Atlanta, Chicago and New York.

The Puerto Rican and Dominican transgirls combine the best aspects of being Latina with African influences. They are concentrated mostly in the New York and Miami areas.



Some people consider the Brazilians the most beautiful transwomen in the world, even over the Thais.

The Brazilians in addition to being a Roman Catholic country have the gender bending vibe running through their culture thanks to Carnaval. It is also the plastic surgery capital of South America. Because of economic and social conditions at home Brazilian transwomen also migrate to other parts of the world as well.



In the States, being that it's a large country we have various groups we can throw into this mix. The Hawaiian girls, African-Americans, Latinas, Asians and Caucasian ones from various parts of the country. Depending on the cultural group some get to start in their early to late teens while other end up starting transition in early adulthood. Even with that late start, we Americans and our Canadian cousins can still produce transwomen that rank up there with the world's best.



You do have girls that are increasingly coming from the Central American nations of Panama, who also share the African influences like their Brazilian and African-American counterparts, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala. There are also the girls of Chile, Argentina, Venezuela and Peru along with girls from the Caribbean island nations as well.

Who Has The World's Most Beautiful Transwomen?-Part 1

The Miss Tiffany Universe pageant that occurred earlier this month got me thinking about this question: Who does have the most beautiful transwomen on the planet?

When I first conceived this post it was just going to be a single one, but this has turned out to be a subject that's going to require multiple posts that I'm going to break up by regions. I'll start with Asia.


The Thais have argued for the last decade that they do and they have miles of video, the plastic surgeons, and pageants to back them up. Thai girls also start with the advantages of a culture that tolerates them and access to over-the-counter hormones that they can start in their early teens. They have the additional advantage of slight body builds that are enhanced after female hormones work their magic.

The end result is a transwoman that is so convincingly female that in some cases the only way you can tell them apart from bio Thai women is their voices if they didn't start HRT before testosterone impacted their vocal chords.



The girls from Korea, Japan and the Philippines would beg to differ with that assessment. They have the same advantages of slight body builds that morph into convincing feminine presentations as well and somewhat tolerant cultures.

Harisu is one of the more well known transwomen from Korea. She transitioned at 18 and in 2002 became the second person in South Korea to legally change her gender. She not only is a model and singer but has a few endorsements with several Asian companies as well. She recently got married to her longtime boyfriend May 19. You also have the Korean pop group Lady representing which is made up of four Korean transwomen. They were the four chosen from an audition of transwomen that numbered in the hundreds. The group's formation was inspired by Harisu's popularity.

The Chinese are also in this mix as well as their cousins in Taiwan and Hong Kong. In China transsexuality has ceased to be a taboo topic. 500 transwomen have had SRS since 2004 according to government statistics. There are also increasing numbers of Chinese transmen as well.Chen Lili is the unofficial poster girl for Chinese transwomen. She's a model who was the 2004 Miss Universe China and was set to compete in the Miss Universe Pageant being held in Quito, Ecuador. Although there was no rule at the time keeping transwomen from entering, the Miss Universe organization barred her and ruled that only biowomen can compete.



The Filipinas boast of a blend of Latin, Asian and Pacific island traits combined with a somewhat tolerant culture despite the fact it's a Roman Catholic country. Many Philippine transwomen also transition early as well.



From the 50's until the mid 80's the Asian capital for transgender women wasn't centered in Pattaya but Singapore's Bugis Street. Until it was torn down by Singaporean authorities it was world renowned as a tourist mecca and the place where beautiful transwomen hung out on a nightly basis.

It was also a popular R&R stop for British, American and Aussie military personnel. The construction of a rail station ended the carnival like culture that had built up around the area to the lament of locals and tourists. Singaporean officials tried to recreate it but the efforts failed. The 1995 movie Bugis Street captures that bygone era.

In Muslim Malaysia and Indonesia you have the warias. The term is a blend of the Indonesian words for man and woman. They too have beauty contests and back in 2005 one of them in Jakarta was interrupted by hardline fundie Muslims who crashed the party. The winners of the 2004 and 2005 Miss Waria International pagenat moved on to compete in the Miss International Queen.


The debate continues in Part 2

Gender Musings

One of the things I've been thinking about recently is why some people get so bent out of shape when someone is perceived as not being in conformity with the binary gender system.

According to the almighty binary gender system there are only two genders, male and female. Males are supposed to have short hair, XY chromosomes, muscular bodies, big hands, narrow waists, rough skin, big feet and a penis. Females are supposed to have shorter hourglass shaped bodies with wide hips, small feet and hands, smooth skin, long hair, XX chromosomes and a vagina. The societal roles are organized based on those physical traits.

But as nature continues to demonstrate and science continues to inexorably point out, it is not as clear-cut and rigid as some humans wish it to be.

There are genetic men walking around on this planet right now who probably don't realize they have XX chromosomes and genetic women with XY chromosomes. Oh by the way, did I mention the peeps with three chromosomes? And just to make your head spin a little more let's add intersex peeps to this gender stew.

But let me take it back to the social gender aspects. What's up with the intense negative reaction to anything that doesn't fit the binary gender mode?

My thoughts on it is because over the last century and the early years of the 21st century we have seen rapid social changes and technological breakthroughs in our lifetimes. Those changes have sometimes altered our society in profound ways and people are grasping for something that has remained constant over time.

Gender used to be one of those things that peeps assumed was constant. Penis=male, vagina=female. Transgender peeps like myself and intersex peeps throw major curve balls into that assumption.

Gender-cued roles have also morphed as well in conjunction with the emergence of transgender people from society's shadows. You now have female CEO's, female bodybuilders, stay at home dads and beauty queens that were born male. Some peeps are having a hard time adjusting to these changes while others lash out at them using religion as their cover to do so. Some are unfortunately using violence to express their frothing anger over these events.

Transgender peeps are not a 20th century phenomenon. It's been occurring since human history has been documented and is even part of our folklore, stories and myths. We are just in an age where transgender peeps are getting more news coverage and more research is coming on line to ascertain how and why it happens.

The Human Genome Project and similar ongoing scientific research will only continue to help us answer society's most fundamental question: what is a man and what is a woman? It is something that we need to know and doesn't need to be feared.

Miss Universe 2007 Wrapup

I thoroughly enjoyed the Miss Universe broadcast last night. While I was disappointed that Miss USA Rachel Smith didn't win, it was nice to see Miss Japan Riyo Mori break through and win the Miss Universe crown. It's the first time since 1959 that the delegate from the Land of the Rising Sun has won the title.

I was also surprised and pleased to see Miss Angola Micaela Reis and Miss Tanzania Flaviana Matata make it to the semifinal rounds. I didn't think the judges would be feeling Flaviana's shaved head but her height and confidence helped her work the look. Miss Angola is also a tall and stunning looking woman. The evening gown competition is where she fell off scorewise and out of the competition.

Speaking of falling, I believe that the fall cost Rachel the crown. She was on track to probably win it up until that point. She had things lining up for her. No Miss Puerto Rico, and even if she had made it, Miss Puerto Rico would have had to battle the fact that there have never been back-to-back winners from the same country in the history of the pageant. Her other major rival in Miss Venezuela, the betting favorite going into the finals to me didn't have that wow factor that I've observed in other former Miss Venezuelas who have taken the Miss Universe title.

It probably didn't help that Rachel made the 5 finalists despite the fall and the homegirl from Mexico was eliminated. I'm amazed that she scored an 8.75 after that. It's why I say that she lost the competition right there. I could easily see her scoring in the 8.9-low 9 range if she hadn't.

The Mexico City home crowd booing during her interview probably didn't help either. Had she won there would've probably been a little controversy about that. I also didn't like the weak softball questions they asked the delegates.

If you want to showcase a woman's intelligence as the Miss Universe organization tells its critics and claims they're serious about that, then ask the delegates some challenging and intelligent questions. I'd also make the interview 60% of your score.

Even though Rachel won't be globetrotting for the next year as Miss Universe 2007, she still is the fourth runner up and she will continue to carry out her duties as Miss USA 2007 until she relinquishes her crown. I doubt that it will be the last time you see this sistah.

Miss International Queen 2006

Since I mentioned the Miss International Queen Pageant in conjunction with the post I just composed about the 2007 Miss Tiffany Universe Pageant, thought I'd take a moment to drop some knowledge about it.

Thais, like Texans, Venezuelans and Puerto Ricans love pageants and take them seriously. Because of the increasing popularity and attention the Miss Tiffany's Universe pageant garnered across Asia Japanese and Korean transwomen entered the competition. The language barriers they encountered inspired the sponsors of the Miss Tiffany Universe Pageant to create the Miss International Queen one in 2004 and restrict the Miss Tiffany Universe to Thai contestants only.

For a three year old pageant, it has rapidly become a sought after title. It offers a $10,000 USD first place prize in addition to the trophy, crown and other prizes. Like its sister pageant Miss Tiffany International the finals are televised live on Thai television.

A similar four year old transgender beauty pageant in Manila, the Amazing Phillipines Beauty Contest sent its winner to the Miss International Queen.

The first Miss International Queen in 2004 was won by a Thai, Treechada Petcharat. In 2005 Mimi Marks from Chicago's Baton club and a former 1992 Miss Continental winnerwon over the Thai and Korean runners-up in what was considered by the Thais an upset.

In last year's Miss International Pageant held October 23-28 San Antonio based Erica Andrews, representing Mexico beat out Patricia Montecarlo from the Phillipines and the Thai rep Ratravee Jiraprapakul to take the crown.

The Donald may want to reconsider the 2004 decision made by the Miss Universe organization banning transwomen from participating. It was done in the wake of transwoman Chen Lili winning the Miss China pageant that qualified her to compete in Miss Universe several yers ago. Transgender pageants have not only grown and proliferated around the world since the 1980's, they are beginning to garner attention and stature that used to be reserved for the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss America systems.

Dallas Goes From Red To Pink

-As a native Houstonian I've had a good-natured love-hate relationship with the third largest city in Texas. I can't hate on it that much because my mom and uncle grew up there and a large chunk of my relatives on my mother's side of the family still call it home.

So I was intrigued to read a recent May 17 Time Magazine article that basically lets America and the world in on a little secret. Dallas has quietly become a gay-friendly city and is battling Austin for the title of most liberal city in Texas.

It's been a remarkable shift to watch. I only recently returned to Dallas last November to attend my cousin William's wedding and I was amazed by how much the city had grown and changed since my last visit in 1984. I remember riding past JR's when Oak Lawn was in the infant stages of quietly becoming a gayborhood.

Back when I was consistently running up and down I-45 on a regular basis during the 70's to mid-80's Dallas ran on the four C's of Capitalism, Christianity (the fundie kind), Conservatism and Cowboys football. Dallas was staunchly Republican before the rest of the state succumbed to that temporary insanity.

I used to rub it in my cousin's face every time he started bragging about the Irving Cowchips that we'd been represented in the Lege since 1966 and congress by an African-American since 1972 (Barbara Jordan). I'd also point out that Houston is the historical center of African-American history, achievement and culture in Texas.

But Dallas has been gaining fast and shutting down my pro-Houston bragging points one by one. Eddie Bernice Johnson joined the congressional ranks from the Texas state senate when the 30th Congressional District was created in 1990.

It was a mild source of irritation to me that Dallas elected the first African-American mayor of a major Texas city when they chose Ron Kirk in 1995, beating us Houstonians to that milestone distinction by two years. I was also a little irritated that despite being one of five Houstonians who have earned IFGE Trinity Awards for our advocacy and service to the GLBT community, it was Dallas that became the first large Texas city to pass GLBT job protections. In 2004 they elected Latina lesbian Lupe Valdez as Dallas County sheriff. Dallas may also beat us to the distinction of having the first openly gay person elected mayor of a large Texas city if Ed Oakley wins the upcoming June 16 runoff election.

Dallas has a transwoman by the name of Monica Barros-Greene who owns a popular restaurant in Big D. In 2005 she ran for city council, received the endorsement of the Dallas Morning News but lost a close race to Pauline Medrano.

Now that I've finished digesting my Hater Tots, as much as it pains me to say it, Dallas has it going on. In the 2006 midterm elections they raised eyebrows among Texans when the former Republican bastion saw Democrats sweep every city, county and judicial race in Dallas County. Dallas has according to the 2000 census the 9th largest concentration of same-sex couples residing in its metro area.

As the Time article pointed out, Dallas knows like Louisville and Lexington a fundamental truth about American urban life. Urban sophistication requires gay civilization.

Oh well, I can still tease my cousin about living in the ONLY Texas city without an NBA (or WNBA) title.