My Birthday Horoscope

TransGriot Note: Just for fun I decided to pull this up and see how accurate it was: hmmmm....

May 4 Birthday Astrology
by Jill M. Phillips

A Taurus born on May 4 seeks to distill from life its purest essence. Where most people have a tendency to complicate events, these men and women want to enjoy life in a simple and unadorned fashion. Spiritually, these individuals set high standards for themselves.

Friends and Lovers

People born on May 4 have a charismatic personality that sets them apart. Because of this it is sometimes hard for May 4 people to know why people are drawn to them as friends. Love and romance bring a similar dilemma. They are easily swayed by flattery. May 4 men and women should use a great deal of discretion when choosing a life-mate.

Children and Family

The deep spiritual values possessed by May 4 people are generally the result of some profound experience during their childhood years. Their upbringing is likely to have been unusual or offbeat. They love children, and whether or not they have any of their own, they'll continually concern themselves with children's issues.

Health

May 4 people take an active interest in keeping themselves healthy. They eat well, exercise regularly, and rarely if ever have to worry about putting on excess weight. Frequent check-ups and the use of alternate remedies in addition to conventional ones can help ensure good health.

Career and Finances

With their dynamic personality and devotion to social causes, May 4 individuals prefer careers where they can make a difference in the world. They often choose politics, the law, social work, or family counseling. If they have considerable financial power they may use it to garner support for worthy causes. These people have simple tastes and seldom make a show of what they possess.

Dreams and Goals

May 4 individuals are philosophical types who ask "why not?" when contemplating a life change. They have a wildly optimistic view of life, believing that they can make the world a better place through their own efforts. No matter what kind of career they decide upon, these individuals are sure to favor humanitarian concerns.

Taurus Information for May 4

You should embrace: Interesting projects, joy, changes of venue
You should avoid: Anxiety, insecurity, drawing conclusions

May 4 Stuff

Today is my favorite day on the calendar next to payday and Christmas because at 10:45 PM in Houston's Third Ward yours truly was born. ;)

So in honor of my favorite day I'm posting all the events and peeps who share my birthday.

Events

1256 - Augustinian monastic order constituted at Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae
1415 - Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus were condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance.
1471 - Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Tewkesbury – Edward IV defeats a Lancastrian Army and kills Edward, Prince of Wales.
1493 - Pope Alexander VI divides the New World between Spain and Portugal along the Demarcation Line.
1494 - Christopher Columbus lands in Jamaica.
1626 - Dutch explorer Peter Minuit arrives in New Netherland (present day Manhattan Island) aboard the See Meeuw.
1675 - King Charles II of England orders the construction of the Royal Greenwich Observatory.
1686 - Municipality of Ilagan was founded in the Philippines.
1799 - Fourth Anglo-Mysore War: The Battle of Seringapatam – The siege of Seringapatam ends when the city is assaulted and the Tipu Sultan killed by the besieging British army, under the command of General George Harris.
1814 - Emperor Napoleon I of France arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile.
1814 - King Ferdinand VII of Spain signs the Decrete of the 4th of May, returning Spain to absolutism.
1855 - American adventurer William Walker departs from San Francisco with about 60 men to conquer Nicaragua.
1859 - Cornwall Railway opened across the Royal Albert Bridge linking the counties of Devon and Cornwall in England.
1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Chancellorsville – The battle ends with a Union retreat.
1869 - The Naval Battle of Hakodate takes place in Japan.
1871 - The National Association, the first professional baseball league, opens its first season in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
1886 - Haymarket Square Riot: A bomb is thrown at policemen trying to break up a labor rally in Chicago, Illinois, United States, killing eight and wounding 60. The police fire into the crowd.
1904 - Construction begins by the United States on the Panama Canal.
1904 - German football club FC Schalke 04 was founded
1904 - Charles Stewart Rolls met Frederick Henry Royce at the Midland Hotel in Manchester England.
1910 - The Royal Canadian Navy is created.
1912 - Italy occupies the Greek island of Rhodes.
1919 - May Fourth Movement: Student demonstrations take place in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, protesting the Treaty of Versailles, which transferred Chinese territory to Japan.
1924 - The 1924 Summer Olympics open in Paris, France.
1930 - British police arrest Mahatma Gandhi and place him in Yeravda Central Prison.
1932 - In Atlanta, Georgia, mobster Al Capone begins serving an eleven-year prison sentence for tax evasion.
1942 - World War II: Battle of the Coral Sea – The battle begins with an attack by aircraft from the United States aircraft carrier Yorktown on Japanese naval forces at Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands. The Japanese forces had invaded Tulagi the day before.
1945 - World War II: Liberation of the Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg by the British Army.
1945 - World War II: Surrender of the North Germany Army to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.
1946 - In San Francisco Bay, US Marines from the Treasure Island Marine Barracks stop a two-day riot at Alcatraz federal prison. Five people are killed in the riot.
1949 - The entire Torino football (soccer) team (except for one player who did not take the trip due to an injury) is killed in a plane crash at the Superga hill at the edge of Turin, Italy.
1953 - Ernest Hemingway is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea.
1961 - American civil rights movement: The "Freedom Riders" begin a bus trip through the South.
1970 - Vietnam War: Kent State shootings – The Ohio National Guard, sent to Kent State University after the ROTC building was burnt down, opens fire killing four students and wounding nine others. The students were protesting the United States' invasion of Cambodia.
1972 - The Don't Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to "Greenpeace Foundation".
1974 - An all-female Japanese team reaches the summit of Manaslu, becoming the first women to climb an 8,000-meter peak.
1979 - Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
1980 - President Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia dies in Ljubljana at the age of 87.
1982 - 20 sailors are killed when the British Type 42 destroyer HMS Sheffield (D80) is hit by an Argentinian Exocet missile during the Falklands War.
1988 - The PEPCON disaster rocked Henderson, Nevada, as tons of space shuttle fuel detonated during a fire.
1989 - Iran-Contra Affair: Former White House aide Oliver North is convicted of three crimes and was acquitted of nine other charges. The convictions, however, are later overturned on appeal.
1990 - Latvia proclaims renewal of its independence after the Soviet occupation.
1994 - Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign a peace accord regarding Palestinian autonomy granting self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.
1998 - A federal judge in Sacramento, California, gives "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski four life sentences plus 30 years after Kaczynski accepted a plea agreement sparing him from the death penalty.
2000 - Ken Livingstone becomes the first Mayor of London.
2001 - Pope John Paul II follows Saint Paul's footsteps across the Mediterranean, from Greece to Syria to Malta.
2001 - The Milwaukee Art Museum addition, the first Santiago Calatrava-designed structure in the United States, opens to the public.
2002 - An EAS Airlines BAC 1-11-500 crashes in a suburb of Kano, Nigeria shortly after takeoff killing more than 148 people.

Births

1008 - Khajeh Abdollah Ansari, The Persian Sufi (d. 1088)
1008 - King Henry I of France (d. 1060)
1654 - Kangxi Emperor of China (d. 1722)
1655 - Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian maker of musical instruments (d. 1731)
1715 - Richard Graves, English writer (d. 1804)
1733 - Jean-Charles de Borda, French mathematician, physicist, political scientist, and sailor (d. 1799)
1752 - John Brooks, 11th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1825)
1767 - Tyagaraja, Composer of Indian classical Carnatic music (d. 1847)
1772 - Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus, German publisher (d. 1823)
1781 - Karl Christian Friedrich Krause, German philosopher (d. 1832)
1796 - Horace Mann, American educator (d. 1859)
1796 - William H. Prescott, American historian (d. 1859)
1820 - Julia Tyler, First Lady of the United States (d. 1889)
1822 - Charles Boucher de Boucherville, Quebec politician (d. 1915)
1825 - Thomas Henry Huxley, English scientist (d. 1895)
1825 - Augustus Le Plongeon, French antiquitarian (d. 1908)
1826 - Frederic Edwin Church, American painter (d. 1900)
1827 - John Hanning Speke, British explorer (d. 1864)
1852 - Alice Pleasance Liddell, English schoolgirl model for Alice in Wonderland (d. 1934)
1864 - Marie Booth, the third daughter of William and Catherine Booth (d. 1937)
1870 - Alexandre Benois, Russian artist (d. 1960)
1873 - Joe De Grasse, Canadian film director (d. 1940)
1889 - Francis Cardinal Spellman, American religious leader (d. 1967)
1903 - Luther Adler, American stage actor (d. 1984)
1904 - Umm Kulthum, Egyptian singer (official Date of Birth) (d. 1975)
1908 - Giovannino Guareschi, Italian journalist (d. 1968)
1913 - Lady Katherine Brandram, née Princess of Greece and Denmark
1916 - Jane Jacobs, Canadian author and activist (d. 2006)
1918 - Tanaka Kakuei, Japanese political leader (d. 1993)
1918 - Thomas Mead, Australian politician and journalist (d. 2004)
1919 - Dory Funk, Professional wrestler (d. 1973)
1921 - Edo Murtić, Croatian painter (d. 2005)
1923 - Ed Cassidy, American musician (Spirit)
1923 - Eric Sykes, British actor and comedian
1923 - Godfrey Quigley, British actor (d. 1994)
1923 - Assi Rahbani, Lebanese composer and author
1925 - Maurice R. Greenberg, American businessman
1928 - Maynard Ferguson, Canadian musician (d. 2006)
1928 - Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt
1928 - Wolfgang von Trips, German racing driver (d. 1961)
1929 - Audrey Hepburn, Anglo-Dutch actress (d. 1993)
1929 - Sidney Lamb, American linguist
1930 - Roberta Peters, American soprano
1931 - Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Russian conductor
1931 - Thomas Stuttaford, British doctor and writer
1933 - J. Fred Duckett, Texan sports announcer and teacher
1936 - El Cordobés, Spanish matador
1937 - Ron Carter, American jazz bassist
1937 - Dick Dale, American guitarist
1937 - Mr. Fuji, Former professional wrestler
1938 - Tyrone Davis, American soul singer (d. 2005)
1938 - Carlos Monsiváis, Mexican writer
1939 - Paul Gleason, American actor (d. 2006)
1939 - Amos Oz, Israeli writer, novelist, and journalist
1939 - Léon Rochefort, Quebec ice hockey player
1940 - Robin Cook, American novelist
1941 - George Will, American writer
1942 - Nickolas Ashford, American record producer, songwriter, and musician (Ashford and Simpson)
1943 - Mikhail Chemiakin, Russian painter
1944 - Roger Rees, British-born actor
1945 - Narasimhan Ram, Indian journalist
1946 - John Watson, Northern Irish racecar driver
1948 - Hurley Haywood, American race car driver, and three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
1949 - John Force, American race car driver
1949 - Stella Parton, American country music singer
1949 - Graham Swift, British author
1950 - Darryl Hunt, English musician (The Pogues)
1951 - Colin Bass, British bassist (Camel)
1951 - Jackie Jackson, American singer and musician (The Jackson 5)
1951 - Gérard Jugnot, French actor, film director, screenwriter and producer
1951 - Mick Mars, American guitarist (Mötley Crüe)
1952 - Michael Barrymore, English comedian, actor, quiz master and entertainer
1954 - Pia Zadora, American actress
1955 - Robert Ellis Orrall, American singer
1956 - David Guterson, American author
1956 - Ulrike Meyfarth, German athlete
1956 - Ken Oberkfell, American baseball player
1958 - Delbert Fowler, American and Canadian professional football player
1958 - Keith Haring, American graphical artist (d. 1990)
1959 - Scott Armstrong, American professional wrestling referee
1959 - Randy Travis, American musician
1961 - Luis Herrera, Colombian cyclist
1961 - Ishita Bhaduri, Indian (Bengali) Poet
1962 - Oleta Adams, American singer
1964 - Mónica Bardem, Spanish actress
1964 - Zsuzsa Mathe, Hungarian painter and visual artist, founder of transrealism
1964 - Rocco Siffredi, Italian porn actor
1967 - Ana Gasteyer, American actress
1968 - Julian Barratt, English comedian and musician, one half of The Mighty Boosh
1968 - Kate Garraway, English GMTV Presenter
1969 - Micah Aivazoff, Canadian ice hockey player
1969 - Ryan Shamrock, American wrestling valet
1970 - Gregg Alexander, American musician (New Radicals)
1971 - Joe Borowski, American baseball player
1971 - Luiz Garcia, Jr., Brazilian racing driver
1972 - Manny Aybar, Dominican baseball player
1972 - Mike Dirnt, American musician (Green Day)
1973 - Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Argentine footballer
1973 - John Madden, Canadian ice hockey player
1974 - Miguel Cairo, Venezuelan baseball player
1975 - Laci Peterson, American murder victim (d. 2002)
1976 - Ben Grieve, American baseball player
1976 - Jason Michaels, American baseball player
1977 - Emily Perkins, Canadian actress
1977 - Mariano Pernía, Argentine-Spanish footballer
1979 - Lance Bass, American singer (*NSYNC)
1979 - Wes Butters, British broadcaster
1979 - Lesley Vainikolo, Tongan born rugby union and rugby league player
1980 - Andrew Raycroft, NHL goalie
1981 - Eric Djemba-Djemba, Cameroon footballer
1982 - Kleopas Giannou, Greek footballer
1982 - Hector King, Mexican singer-songwriter
1982 - Markus Rogan, Austrian swimmer
1982 - Rasheeda,American hiphop singer
1983 - Trisha Krishnan, Indian actress
1983 - Derek Roy, Canadian ice hockey player
1984 - Manjural Islam, Bangladeshi test cricket player (d. 2007)
1984 - Kevin Slowey, American baseball player
1984 - Montell Owens, American football player
1985 - Anthony Fedorov, American singer
1985 - Ravinder Bopara, English cricketer
1987 - Cesc Fàbregas, Spanish footballer
1987 - Jorge Lorenzo, Spanish motorcycle racer
1987 - Anjeza Shahini, Albanian singer
1994 - Pauline Ducruet, daughter of HSH Princess Stéphanie of Monaco
1994 - Alexander Gould, American actor

Deaths

1975 - Moe Howard, American actor and comedian (b. 1897)
1980 - Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia (b. 1892)

Nothin' But A Derby Party

photos-Louisville Courier-Journal 'The Buzz' columnist Angie Fenton wearing a derby hat, Gabrielle Union and Shaun Robinson at the Derby, the Lady Chablis

One of the interesting things about life in Louisville is the two week period that this town throws itself a party in advance of its signature event, the Kentucky Derby. During that two weeks, Da Ville gets celebrities winging in on private jets from all over the planet to attend the numerous derby parties being thrown all over the area. It's also fun for me since Derby always falls either on or around my May 4 birthday.


We rush all over town trying to find that perfect hat or dress for Derby, getting hair done, and spend the day in the nail shop getting manicured and pedicured. If we're not checking out the various events connected with the Kentucky Derby Festival, or standing outside the Barstable house along with the paparazzi trying to get a glimpse of the celebs arriving for the Barnstable-Brown party, or feel like shelling out the big bucks for the African-American community's signature event the Grand Gala, we're watching the all day coverage of the Kentucky Oaks or Derby or making sure we've got other things to do.

The Louisville GLBT community gets in on the fun as well. If we're not attending the parties at a gay-centric nightclub or at a friend's place, we're getting ready for the Derby party that serves as a fundraiser for the Fairness Campaign along with our GLBT friends from Lexington and the rest of the state.


It hasn'r been around as long as the others, but it's one in which GLBT celebs or GLBT friendly ones pop in and show some love to our community. One that's definitely gonna be missed this year is Anna Nicole Smith, who made it a point to stop in and treat us to her over the top wild and crazy personality. She was arriving just as I was leaving the 2003 event. At that same 2003 one I ended up talking to the Lady Chablis, and made her night when I pulled out my copy of her autobiography for her petite self to autograph. Speaking of cute, petite women, Angie was sporting a pink derby hat to go with the pink suit she was rocking while reporting on the party for the C-J.

That one sticks in my memory for another reason besides the Lady Chablis. I got into a fascinating conversation with Tammy Faye about faith, and she told me something that has stuck with me ever since: Never let anyone tell you that God doesn't love you.

Damn, gotta go make a run to Walgreen's and pick up a disposable camera and another pair of hose for the party tonight.

Shame and Guilt

One of the things we transpeople fight a neverending battle with is shame and guilt issues. They are the result of the accumulation of things and events that we experienced growing up in mismatched bodies.

For example, if we held our schoolbooks the 'wrong' way, flopped around in mom's heels as a toddler or wanted to play with dolls instead of army men and trucks, we were quickly and firmly told that we couldn't do that because we were 'boys' and those were 'girls' things.

As you grow older and the defined gender roles become more rigid and the peer pressure to conform becomes more intense, you look for any outlet to relieve the growing pressure to release the girl inside and discover crossdressing as an outlet to do just that.

But as you do that you're bombarded by the negative cultural message that 'it's wrong' for boys to wear 'girls' clothes, but note the contradiction that girls not only can wear 'boys clothes' it's celebrated as a fashion statement. You're more troubled when you sit in your church on Sunday and hear your pastor spew forth an anti-gay sermon. Heaven help you if you get caught while in cross-dressed mode and get the beatdown of your life.

That forces you to retreat deep inside, resolve not to tell anyone about your issues out of fear, and you begin to feel guilt for not standing up and being honest about who and what you really are.

You struggle to do what your heart and your brain are telling you, but because you're in the opposite body are being slowly pushed to conform to the gender norms and expectations of being an inhabitant in that body.

If you're a person who thinks and plans long term, you end up not making those plans because you have a transgender issue that's the wild card in the deck of life that will upset whatever hopes and dreams you dare to have.

Relationships? If you're honest with yourself, you back out or sabotage them because you don't want to hurt the bioperson that is falling in love with you. You dread telling your parents and family members because you're afraid of not only being tossed out of the house, but being cut off from their love and affection forever.

And you're miserable because of it.

One of the first keys to beating shame and guilt is dealing with all those issues. You also must realize that it's not a crime to be transgender and live your life. You had no more control over being transgender than you have over your sexual orientation or other immutable characteristics.

What you do have control over is how you intelligently deal with the issues that resulted from the body-mind mismatch.

Tellin' Our Stories

One of the things that is desperately needed in the wake of the repeated attempts by the HRC-Frank neo-Mattachine cabal to cut transpeople out of ENDA is African-American transpeople willing to tell our stories to not only our community, but our legislative representatives as well.

Thanks to the Democrats regaining control of congress in the 2006 midterm elections and the addition of members, the Congressional Black caucus is not only larger than its ever been in its history, it is now wielding historic levels of power with several members chairing committees, Rep. Clyburn being majority whip and a certain senator from Illinois running for president.

That fact hasn't been lost on our white fundamentalist enemies in the Traditional Values Coalition and the Religious Reich. They have sent their faith-based flunkies in the Hi Impact Leadership Coalition to do their browbeating for them. They know from historical trends that any progressive legislation doesn't pass the House without the support of 'The Conscience of the Congress'.

While I don't mind telling our stories to our congressmembers, I can't be the only one. Our enemies are damnded sure firing up the buses full of faith-based sheeple to spread lies about us and rolling them to Washington. The Lo Impact 'ministers' are using their TVC provided talking points to convince them NOT to include us. But all their talking points with their carefully selected negative scriptures can't compare to a transgender constituent telling their story of how a lack of employment protections led to them losing a job.

Yes, now is not the time to burrow deeper into the closet, but to take bold, decisive action like our brothers and sisters did back in 1965. If you want an inclusive ENDA and Hhte crimes law passed and signed next year, then we're gonna have to fight tooth and nail for it.

Hey, we come from people who are used to fighting against long odds with the deck and the power structure stacked against them and prevailing. This battle is nothing different. The HRC-Frank 'incremental progress' cabal that opposes our inclusion or hollers 'wait your turn' is similar to Rev J.H. Jackson and his supporters.

We have the moral high ground on our side. For all the bluster coming from the sacreligious right, they are the ideological and spiritual heirs of the same anti-progressive forces of Intolerance that Dr. King an his contemporaries faced 40 years ago.

But we can't sit idly by and twiddle our thumbs, then gripe that our concerns aren't being addressed. We have to speak truth to power, talk to our legislators and tell them our stories.

Happy 75th Birthday James Brown

Today would have been the 75th birthday for the 'Godfather of Soul'. He unfortunately left us on Christmas Day 2006, but he's left behind a groundbreaking and colorful legacy of music and show stopping performances that will never be forgotten.

Soul Brother Number One on Soul Train singing my fave James Brown song Say It Loud (I'm Black And I'm Proud)




James at the Apollo in 1968 singing It's A Man's World medley



Get Up Offa That Thing




I Feel Good

Three More Superdelegates For Obama

To paraphrase my fellow Texan H. Ross Perot's famous line, that 'giant sucking sound' you hear is Hillary Clinton's superdelegate lead wasting away.

Many Dems like myself have been increasingly concerned about the nasty tone this race is taking while John McCain gets a free ride from the MSM and aren't happy about Hillary's nattering negative attacks of Sen. Obama. She's also been pissing people off in the party left, right and center and her once large lead in superdelegates has dwindled to just 18 with these key endorsements.

Rep. Baron Hill, who represents Indiana's 9th Congressional District across the river from me (and includes Bloomington and Indiana University) announced his support yesterday in advance of the May 6 primary. He joins Rep. Andre Carson of Indianapolis, the grandson of the late Rep. Julia Carson in endorsing Sen Obama.

"We cannot continue to pursue the same politics of personal destruction we have engaged in for a generation," Hill said. "I believe Senator Obama has the capability to change the tone and tenor of politics in Washington. I believe that he can and will work with both parties and elevate the level of public discourse."

On my side of the Ohio River, Rep. Ben Chandler, who represents Kentucky's 6th District (Lexington and the area around it) also announced his support for Sen. Obama at a press conference here in Da Ville. My congressman, 3rd District Rep. John Yarmuth has already announced he's supporting Sen. Obama and introduced Rep Chandler at the press conference.

"I've listened to the man. I have met with him and, like many of you, I am excited by his message of change for the future."

Rep. Chandler did catch some flak from some constituents for committing before the May 20 primary here in the Bluegrass state. He's the grandson of former Kentucky governor, US senator and baseball commissioner A.B.'Happy' Chandler and ran for governor himself in 2003.

He praised Obama as "a man of great integrity and intellect" and of "quiet strength."

In another blow to Hillary, Joe Andrew, who led the Democratic Party during the Clinton administration from 1999-2001 has switched his allegiance to Barack Obama and is encouraging fellow Democrats to "heal the rift in our party" and unite behind the Illinois senator.

He's planning a news conference later today in Indianapolis to urge other Hoosiers to support Obama in Tuesday's May 6 primary and has written a lengthy letter explaining his decision that he plans to send to other superdelegates.

I'm Going To Denver!

To be precise, I'm going to Boulder, CO and the University of Colorado campus.

This has been an interesting year for me so far, and this morning I received an early birthday present. (BTW, TransGriot readers, my birthday is Sunday)

I received word from the wonderful folks who put on the TRANSforming Gender conference on the CU Boulder campus that yours truly has not only been invited to participate in the 2008 edition of this conference, I'll be the keynote speaker!

The speakers at the two previous conferences CU's GLBT Resource Center and other campus organizations host have included people such as my 2006 Trinity classmate Gordene MacKenzie, Pauline Park, Andrea James, Calpernia Addams, Thea Hillman, Jamison Green, Dean Spade, Anderson Toone, Diane Tor, Avy Skolnick, Helen Boyd, Julia Serano, Matt Kailey and Dylan Scholinski.

The third annual edition of this event will be taking place October 17-19, and as I get more details about it I'll be passing that info on to you. It'll give you peeps who live in the Denver metro area who wish to attend an opportunity to meet the TransGriot. It's been twenty years since I spent July 1988 in the Denver area taking a training class when I worked for CAL, and now it looks like thanks to the Project and CU I'll be back twice in the span of a few weeks.

I'm really excited to be participating in this conference and I'm looking forward to seeing some of you on the CU Boulder campus in October.

Don't Be Shy...Ask Me Questions

This morning I had the pleasure of corresponding with a young college student about a transgender related relationship issue. I hope that I was successful in resolving to her satisfaction and clearing up some questions in her mind. She was a little nervous at first, but as one of my college professors and my parents once told me, the only dumb question is the one that's never asked.

I presume that like the person I'm talking about in the previous paragraph, some of you may have stumbled upon TransGriot while web surfing, Googling a question or for myriad other reasons.

One of the reasons I blog is to kick knowledge out about transgender issues, with an emphasis on African-Americans and what we deal with when we transition. Some issues are similar to my transsisters ad transbrothers in general, while others are unique to the African-American experience.

So if you have some burning questions on something I may not have touched on in the 700 plus posts I have here, feel free to leave a comment in this thread or hit me at transgriot@yahoo.com. If it doesn't get too personal, I'll answer it.

It doesn't even have to be transgender related. ;)

If y'all hit me with some good ones, they may even show up in a future TransGriot post.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright Defending Himself, But Is He Hurting Barack Obama in the Process?

Monday, April 28, 2008
By: Jackie Jones, BlackAmericaWeb.com

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s recent schedule of public appearances, including a prime-time television interview with Bill Moyers Friday, either threaten to pose a major problem for Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign or is absolutely meaningless in the grand scheme of things, depending on to whom you talk.

“I don’t think it’s helpful for Obama at all,” said radio host, columnist and CNN contributor Roland Martin. “The story was dying down. Now, all of a sudden, with two critical primaries two weeks away, that could have an impact.”

Wright, former pastor at Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, Obama's church home, said that publicizing sound bites of sermons from several years ago in which he condemned U.S. policies was “unfair” and “devious,” and done by people who know nothing about his ministry, he told "Bill Moyers’ Journal" in a PBS interview.

As an activist, he is accustomed to being “at odds with the establishment,” but the response to the sermons has been “very, very unsettling,” Wright said.

In a major address on race on March 18 in Philadelphia, Obama described the history of injustice that fueled Wright's comments, acknowledged white resentment of being portrayed as privileged and/or bigoted and denounced his former pastor's remarks.

The interview broadcast Friday was the first Wright has given since video featuring brief, fiery excerpts of his preaching hit the national scene last month and forced Obama to defend his own spiritual and political views. Wright is scheduled to speak Monday at the National Press Club in Washington.

Sunday night, Wright told an audience of 10,000 at an NAACP dinner that despite what his critics say, he is descriptive, not divisive, when he speaks about racial injustices.

"I describe the conditions in this country," Wright said during the 53rd annual Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner held by the Detroit chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

"I'm not here for political reasons," Wright said. "I'm not a politician. I know that fact will surprise many of you because many in the corporate-owned media made it seem like I am running for the Oval Office. I am not running for the Oval Office. I've been running for Jesus a long, long time, and I'm not tired yet."

By speaking at the event, Wright was following in the footsteps of Obama and the senator's rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, as well as former President Bill Clinton. It's a $150-a-plate fundraiser billed as America's largest sit-down dinner.

"I am not one of the most divisive" black spiritual leaders, he said. "I'm one of the most descriptive."

Wright received a long, loud standing ovation.

“Rev. Wright has already been framed. Some people may get a greater understanding of him from what he has to say,” but a lot of people have already made up their minds about him, Martin told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

“Politically, you take the hit; you learn from it and move on,” Martin said, but for Obama, that has become more difficult because the issue, which took up most of March, has come back in April and threatens to roll into May.

Martin said the Obama campaign, however, has decided not to further engage the issue.

“They’re not going to comment on it because they don’t have to; (Obama has) already addressed it,” Martin said.

But Rev. Wright, lapel pins, “bitter” working-class white folks all mean bumpkiss to the average voter, said David Bositis, senior analyst for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a black think tank.

Bositis told BlackAmericaWeb.com he didn’t believe that Wright’s interview with Moyers really won’t have much of an impact.

“By and large, no, I don’t because there are real problems” that Americans are contending with, he said.

From Bositis' research, casual conversations and even listening to a recent radio talk show, he said, it is apparent voters “are tired of hearing about lapel pins and Rev. Wright," he said, "and what they are talking about is rice and Costco, how much gasoline costs, how much health care costs, the recession the country is in, people losing their homes and being in neighborhoods where lots of other people are losing their homes, increasing the risk of crime when you have abandoned homes. All this other stuff is a useless distraction to what other people are worried about.”

And while the issue may be framed in terms of how Obama may fare against McCain in November, it is nothing more than a smokescreen to suggest that these issues could cost Obama the Democratic nomination, Bositis said.

“Obama has more delegates, and when everything is done, he’s going to have more delegates, who are going to decide whether to seat Michigan and Florida, and it’s their decision. It’s not the party’s decision; it’s up to the delegation at the Democratic convention. And as long as Obama is in control of the delegation to the convention, he will tell the delegates how to vote, and this is one of the things that Clinton has been sick over,” Bositis said.

The argument that pledged delegates don’t have to vote for the candidate to whom they are pledged is technically true, but virtually impossible to have happen, he said.

“It’s typical of Clinton that she wants to break the rules. Those delegates are not picked at random. They pick the most loyal people to be delegates, and it’s Obama loyalists” who are chosen, Bositis said. “She can make up all the fantasies she wants.”

Bositis said although Clinton won the Pennsylvania primary last Tuesday, she cut Obama’s lead by just three delegates. Superdelegates, he said, are still migrating to Obama’s side.

“She hasn’t gained any ground,” said Bositis.

Bositis and Martin also took political pundits and journalists to task for lazy reporting that has only served to confuse and misinform voters.

Martin, who said he viewed Wright’s sermon in its entirety and pointed out in several interviews that excerpts of Wright’s comments were taken out of context, said few in the media have sought to correct the record, but several commentators have accused him of being an apologist for the minister or a partisan player for Obama.

“I represent fact, I don’t represent factions,” Martin said. “So when somebody says that Wright called for God to damn America, I’ve got to correct them immediately, whether it’s on my radio show or on CNN. Nearly every one of these people coming on the air, none of them has heard the sermon in question. The question is have you heard it? Have you heard it? Have you heard it? And when they say no, you have to say ‘How can you speak with authority on the sermon that you have not heard? You can’t extrapolate.’”

Bositis said he has stopped watching television political pundits because their information is not reliable.

“I can get data on the Web without listening to a bunch of fools. If I want news, I get news from printed sources -- although there are plenty of print sources that are bull -- or on the Web,” he said. “It’s not even informed speculation. Those people are selling themselves. They’re playing roles. They haven’t been hired for analysis. Like local newscasters, (stations) always look for people who are attractive, who come across as trustworthy, who people like. Well, these people are hired to rant and rave.”

---

Associated Press contributed to this story.

'Tipping' Affects More Than Just Housing Markets

When I talk about 'tipping', I'm not talking about trying to figure out how much cash you give your server after you chow down at your local restaurant.

In the real estate world, 'tipping' refers to the point of no return in which 'white flight' is triggered from a neighborhood because of the perception that it's 'too Black' or 'too ethnic'

What is that point? According to some studies, white flight from some neighborhoods can be triggered if just 8% of the homes are bought by Black owners. Translation, in a 100 home subdivision, if just eight African-American families move in, the mass exodus begins. Other studies say if the percentage of white residents dips below 50%, 'white flight' begins.

I believe it's the 8% figure, and I remember a vivid example of it.

My friend Leighton Lindsey and his family moved from my neighborhood to their Hiram Clarke area neighborhood in 1976. That area and their block was majority white at the time and their new home was just two blocks up the street from Madison High School in southwest Houston.

Two months later when they got settled into their new home, my brother and I were invited to spend the weekend with him and his brother Todd. I noted when we got dropped off at his house that not only did the next door neighbors have a 'For Sale' sign on their home, but four other houses on that same block had them as well.

I'm bringing up this childhood memory in the wake of the comments of a Projector on Bilerico where I'm a contributing writer. This person complained that Bilerico was becoming 'too black', a comment in which I and Bil Browning went off on.

I'm also seeing and hearing the same whispers on other GLBT oriented lists that I peruse that Bilerico is 'too Black' or 'too transgender'. Is that your code word or whatever the frack excuse you're using for not only not wanting to read the posts of people that don't look like you, but don't want to engage in the frank discussions we have on various issues on the Project?

If that's your opinion, you're entitled to it. But basing those comments on a small portion of the generated comment of the Project being authored by African-American GLBT people is bigoted and asinine.

As I have repeatedly stated, I see things through an African-American prism. The way I look at and analyze issues does not always neatly line up with a predominately white GLBT community's views. There are some issues I will agree with you with on that put me at odds with the African-American community. There are others that I'll have a radically different point of view on that will have me standing in solidarity with my people.

When I'm commenting on issues, it's primarily based on what's right and wrong along with the moral and ethical implications. I'm also blunt about tellin' it like it T-I-S is as the late Jack 'The Rapper' Gibson would say.

So if you can't handle what I have to say and try to dismiss it as a 'transgender conspiracy theory' or 'rubbing my blackness in your face', you do so at your own intellectual peril.

HRC's Overdrawn At The Bank Of Trust

by Vanessa Edwards Foster
http://www.transpolitical.blogspot.com/


"You say it's fine -- keep your place in line
Keep biding your time but you talk in a vacuum.
Because you've been bought
I don't know what I want
But I know I don't want to be anything like you." — Interference, Cop Shoot Cop

While I watch the returns coming in from Pennsylvania’s primary, I’m going to keep things short. It appears Hillary’s found a way to keep her campaign alive and a lot of it is dependent upon keeping the gay and lesbian vote in tact and activated.

Regardless of how little I care for her candidacy, sending Chelsea out was a good strategy and well-played: use your strength to cover the one area you might be weakest in to neutralize your opponent’s strength – in this case, Obama’s dominance of the urban centers. A little master-stroke for Harold Ickes. However, I still plan on making his and his candidate’s life hell for their taking for granted our community. Just the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) repudiation factor in Trans America alone will play well with our base and those who still support full equality rather than the watered-down imitation.

While on the subject of HRC, a rumor came a few weeks back from a prominent activist in the community with ties to HRC that another of our community leaders was meeting with Joe Solmonese. I just took it with a grain of salt to see if another shoe dropped.

Well, the other shoe did drop. This time it came from a surprise return of one of my old contacts on the Hill who noted HRC’s reporting to him of a lunch meeting between Joe himself and the “transgender community’s leader” to smooth things out. Initially he thought that was me! He’s been off the hill since about 2002 and I assured him it was no one from NTAC (barely able to contain my laugh). I can also say it was not Donna Rose either, something I confirmed.

For now we’ll just narrow it down and leave it at that point. Until then, it’s “Mystery Trans” ….

But it does beg one question from either party: what the hell are they thinking?!?

No matter how stupid HRC presumes trans folks are how do they calculate that we haven’t figured out their notably consistent behavior patterns yet? Even dumb animals pick up on patterns after so many replays. Speaking for myself, I’m no worse than a dumb animal and I’ll wager that the trans community isn’t either. (For the record, I was onto them in the late 90’s). Yeah, most all have figured out the cheap trick.

We in the transgender community have never been afforded credibility in gay and lesbian America even when we were fully honest. After HRC’s record of trust betrayal, and further the manipulation afterwards for political cover, how do they feel they’ll warrant any trust? As the saying goes “there’s no fool like an old fool.” Well, we’re done with this. Stick a fork in it. They’re inexpiable.

As for this “transgender community leader,” if you think you’re being seen as doing anything beyond self-serving motivations by playing into HRC’s hands and helping fracture our already-fractured community even further, dream on! Waking up to reality will be exceedingly tough.

Truly we’re a cash-poor community. HRC’s ability to flash a little green and put stars in peoples’ eyes and attract the occasional myopically self-ambitious tranny to help them sink us from inside is well established. But if HRC is thinking they’re going to have us following these Manchurian trannies now or in the future, they’re out of their overconfident minds. It’s this combination of temerity and arrogance that’s going to smash them and their historical legacy, along with any Transidict Arnold they get to cling to their back like a baby possum while mama possum crosses the ten-lane midtown interstate during rush hour.

Their history is etched in stone, never to be revised away. Forgiveness is easy – forgetting is not. They already know that. They’ve never forgotten us and what umbrage they took from us – and we’ve never taken money from or opportunized upon their issues nor urged gay-exclusive legislation. Yet they’re still vindictive. All things considered, what do they realistically expect from us?

As in banking, trust is doled out on their history. Debts can be forgiven, but future loans are only given again once they’ve demonstrated enough to make those they’ve burned previously sufficiently overlook those old burn scars. In the bank and trust of queer equality, HRC is the most severely and consistently overdrawn.

If HRC really thinks solutions are as simple as finding or creating their new tranny shill to assist in the obfuscation and deceit, they’ll learn in short order that we’re no longer playing those games. And it will be yet one more brick in the wall between us.

“I don't need no walls around me.
And I don't need no drugs to calm me.
I have seen the writing on the wall.
Don't think I need any thing at all.
All in all it was all just the bricks in the wall.” — Another Brick In The Wall - Part III, Pink Floyd

“You're a total blank and you're as funny as a bank.” — Interference, Cop Shoot Cop

New England Trans Pride March Announces Rally Lineup, Seeks Support

The organizers of the first New England Transgender Pride March and Rally have announced the following lineup of speakers and performers for the event, scheduled for June 7, 2008 in Northampton, MA.

11:00 a.m. Assemble at Lampron Park

Noon March steps off

12:30 – 12:45 p.m. Marchers arrive at Armory Street Lot (behind Thornes Marketplace)

12:45 – 12:50 p.m. Welcome by MC Louis Mitchell and Proclamation by Mayor Clare Higgins

12:50 – 1:00 p.m Political official TBD

1:00 – 1:10 p.m. Miss Major (Grand Marshal; Transgender, Gender Variant, Intersex Justice Project)

1:10 – 1:20 p.m. Gunner Scott (Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition)

1:20 – 1:30 p.m. Jerimarie Liesegang (CT TransAdvocacy Coalition)

1:30 – 1:40 p.m. Jill Berlin (TransForming Families)

1:40 – 1:45 p.m. Elliot Halloway (Trans youth)

1:45 – 2:00 p.m. Ellen Wittlinger (Author reading from Parrotfish)

2:00 – 2:05 p.m. Alex Pangborn (Generation Q)

2:05 – 2:15 p.m. Lee Elder (FTM folksinger)

2:15 – 2:30 p.m. Joe Stevens (singer/songwriter of Coyote Grace)

2:30 – 2:40 p.m. Announcements / Intermission

2:40 – 2:50 p.m. Monica Roberts (Trans Griot blog, founding member of National Transgender Advocacy Coalition)

2:50 – 3:10 p.m. New England Transgender Pride Steering Committee members:

Bet Power, Marie Ali, Dru Levasseur, and Jacklyn Matts

3:10 – 3:25 p.m. Statement from Leslie Feinberg (Trans author and activist)

3:25 – 3:35 p.m. Moonhawk River Stone (Trans psychotherapist and activist)

3:35 – 3:40 p.m. Vickie Boisseau (Intersex activist)

3:40 – 3:50 p.m. Imani Henry (Trans activist and performance artist)

3:50 – 4:00 p.m. Dr. Enoch Page (Associate Professor of Anthropology, UMass Amherst)

4:00 – 4:10 p.m. Cathy Worthley (MTF folksinger)

4:10 – 4:20 p.m. Ethan St. Pierre (TransFM Radio)

4:20 – 4:30 p.m. Donna Rose (TransEducate, resigned from HRC board over ENDA)

4:30 – 4:45 p.m. Kate Bornstein (Trans author, playwright, and performance artist)

4:45 – 5:00 p.m. All The Kings Men: Boston’s Drag Troupe

“Presenting our foremost transgender authors, along with 1969 Stonewall Rebellion veteran Miss Major, and several prominent trans activists and musicians on one stage may be unprecedented,” said Bet Power, a Trans Pride steering committee member. “It will certainly be an historic event, a pivotal day that the national, regional, and local transgender community is very much looking forward to. Trans people and our allies will be traveling from both coasts and locations in-between to march for our civil rights and celebrate our pride in who we are.”

Trans ally and steering committee member Alicia Jay stated, “It has been a powerful experience organizing with the trans community, and I feel very honored to be part of this event. It is crucial for trans allies to get involved in the growing trans civil rights movement, and support the right of all communities to stand up and be heard.”

New England Transgender Pride is seeking sponsors, donations from organizations and individuals, and volunteers to help on the day of the march. For more information or to participate, visit www.transpridemarch.org.

#######

Note: Speaker and performer bios and photos are available upon request.


TransGriot Note: As many of you probably noted, I'm one of the speakers for this event. The logo in this post is designed by artist Yohah Ralph and is on the t-shirts available for purchase for this historic event.

Black Feminism and Transwomen-What's the 411?

From time to time I like stimulating my mind by engaging in hard, solid thinking as Dr. King eloquently called it.

One of the questions that's recently popped into my head since I read those jacked up comments on a Questioning Transphobia post about Black transwomen and Black women in general, is where do my African-American biosisters who consider themselves feminists stand when it comes to transgender issues?

There is a long-standing historical beef between transpeople and the radical feminist community thanks to the poisonous attitudes that Janice Raymond and Germaine Greer injected into the movement back in the 70's and 80's. Mention the Michigan Womyn's Music Fest to some of the transwomen of and before my generation and you'll see a level of bile and vitriol that's usually reserved for HRC. Don't even get me started on Janice Raymond's infamous book The Transsexual Empire. I'm also aware that many African-American and other women of color have major beefs with the feminist movement as well.

My question to those African-American women who call themselves feminists (or womanists) is what are your thoughts and beliefs in regards to your transgender sisters? Do you share the same negativity toward us as some white radical feminists do, or do you lean more toward the historical philosophy that we are all Black first, everything else second?

From what I've been able to read from some Black feminist writings, at first glance we share some similarities. Transsistahs share the experience of evolving, becoming and being Black women in a society that denigrates women of African descent. We also share as Black people the history and legacy of struggle that causes us to view issues through an African-American lens. We transwomen also share like you do the frustrations of being marginalized in a larger, white-dominated movement that doesn't speak to or is indifferent about our issues and historic agenda as African descended people in America.

In addition to that, Black transwomen are all too aware that the second we transition, we become moving targets for sexual assault and violence. You only need to look at the Remembering our Dead list and note that 70% of the people memorialized on that list are people of color to see that common thread.

But I also noted that transgender issues and their place in feminist thought are contentious issues in both camps. One of the things I find abhorrent is the recent trend by some white post-operative transwomen to appropriate radical feminist language (the WBT's) and then fashion it into a rhetorical club to beat down other transpeople who don't share their narrow, classist, borderline racist, misguided, genitalia-centered and non-reality based agenda.


We have also grown up observing our mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters and female friends being raised to not only have pride in themselves, but be socialized as independent, self-reliant and resourceful people.

We have grown up in homes in which parents shared responsibilities or if it was a single parent one, mom raising children and sacrificing her needs for her kids. We have seen African-American women as leaders from the neighborhood associations to the halls of Congress. That is the model of womanhood that many African-American transwomen grew up with. It is the template some of us use for our own evolution into the Black women we were born to be.

This inquiring mind wants to know and is curious to hear what Black feminists have to say regarding their transsistahs.

Power of US Conference 2008

I'm a little bummed that I couldn't go to this event that's concluding in Baltimore today. I had the pleasure of being introduced to National Black Justice Coalition CEO H. Alexander Robinson at an event in Louisville a few years ago by Mandy Carter.

The Power of US conference in Baltimore combined their Black Church Summit event (the previous two were held in Atlanta and Philadelphia), a Health and Wellness Summit, and a leadership Development & Mobilization Summit.

I definitely wanted to be there for the leadership part of the conference. In addition to the folks I would have been met there through various networking opportunities, it's always nice to learn some new strategies, skills and tactics for passing progressive legislation. The bonus on this one is I would have gotten to meet fellow GLBT African-Americans from all over the country as well.

It would have also been nice to witness the Black Church Summit as well and see which sellout megachurch ministers (if any) showed up. Bishop Harry Jackson attended the Philly event, but less than 24 hours after he left Jackson was on conservative websites blasting it.

It also would have been interesting to check out the Health and Wellness part of it to see if they addressed health issues of concern to transgender peeps. Unlike a certain organization on Rhode Island Ave, the NJBC is part of United ENDA and is definitely worth donating some cash to if you feel inclined to do so.

Unfortunately my work schedule wouldn't allow me to attend this conference and I sincerely hope the NJBC is planning another one for next year.

Note To World- Black Transpeople Exist

"I never considered it to be a disadvantage to be a Black woman. I never wanted to be anything else. We have brains. We are beautiful. We can be anything we set our minds to." Diana Ross, ESSENCE magazine, October 1989

One of the reasons I don't like many radical feminists, and I'm saying it in the spirit of Kingian love and understanding, is because of the anti-transgender sentiments that were injected into the movement back in the 70's and early 80's by Janice Raymond, Germaine Greer and their acolytes.

In addition to that, most feminist theorizing doesn't take into account the way and the conditions that Black women and other women of color interact with the parent society.

So I wasn't surprised nor shocked when some feminist made the devoid of logic assumptions about Black transwomen or presumed that all we did was sex work for a living. Anybody who's read TransGriot or just opens their eyes can tell you otherwise. Even my transbrothers are beginning to get their well-deserved face time as well in print and film.



News flash: transpeople don't just come in vanilla only. They also come in chocolate, caramel and other flavors as well. And if you didn't notice, this blog is a FUBU production of an out and proud phenomenal African-American transwoman.


While we discuss and hear far more frequently about transpeople in Europe, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, it's illogical to ignore the reality that transpeople inhabit the second largest continent on this planet or aren't represented in the African Diaspora. In many parts of the African continent, unless they live in South Africa, transpeople struggle mightily just to have their basic human rights respected before they can even get to the point where they can deal with their gender identity issues.

Yes, Punk and 'errbody' else that doesn't get the point by now, Black transpeople do exist. You don't see us because for the most part we don't get the media face time that our white counterparts do. When we do get it, most of the time it beats to death the tired story of transwomen of color and prostitution.

Most of my transsisters are not only gainfully employed, but if fundamentalists weren't pushing their jacked up 'hate the trannies' agenda, in my opinion even more of us would be out and proud. Because of the negativity that we get even in our own community, and increasingly some of that negativity is coming from Black megachurches that have been infected with white fundamentalist 'christian' doctrine, many of my sisters and brothers are stealth.

For those of us who do come out and try to change the situation by speaking out, writing about the issues we face, working within the political system and the GLBT movement to pass laws so that it's easier for my transsistahs and transbrothers to live authentic lives and make legit paper, our efforts are belittled, our intelligence is denigrated and our voices ignored. If we express ideas or opinions that don't neatly line up with 'mainstream' thought, we are derided as 'racist'.

But to be honest, I can't be too mad at people like Punk. Some of this perception gap is our fault as well. Many Black transpeople look at the situation I described in the previous paragraph and say, 'why bother getting involved?'.

That attitude is even more prevalent among my peeps that have 'good jobs'. For my brothers and sisters who are working jobs paying close to minimum wage, you have to work far more hours at it just to pay the bills. It doesn't leave much time for non-reality based BS, activism, or doing as Dr. King called it, 'hard, solid thinking' about our situations.

But by opting out and going stealth, it leads to a perception vacuum that too easily lends itself to our opponents and ignorance defining us.

If we don't speak up for ourselves, tell the world that we Black transpeople not only exist, but are beautiful, intelligent, creative, talented, proud, successful, have a history, and give the world a wide palette of images and people to judge us by, then who will?



TransGriot Note: the transsistah in the photo is Valerie Spencer. She's speaking at the Los Angeles Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremony. The YouTube clip is of a film called Still Black-A Portrait of Black Transmen

Izza Lopez Case Settled

I wrote about the Izza Lopez case back home in which a transwoman had a 2005 job offer rescinded by River Oaks Imaging after they discovered she was a transwoman.

Lopez claimed the job was pulled when the employer found out she is transgender, something that she didn't hide during the application process. River Oaks Imaging said the offer was withdrawn because she presented herself as a woman and that was a lie because she 'really was a man'.

After going through court-ordered mediation, a settlement was reached on Wednesday.

"I can tell you the case has been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of both parties," said Lambda Legal spokesman Jason Howe. Lambda Legal (a GLBT organization that HRC could learn from) represented Lopez.

River Oaks Imaging lawyer Howard Dulmage said Thursday that he cannot discuss the settlement but that the parties agreed to mutually resolve their differences.

This case is a prime example of the fact that my hometown needs to step up to the plate and amend city ordinances to protect transgender Houstonians. It's an embarrassment to me as a native Houstonian that H-town doesn't protect transgender peeps rights except for city of Houston employment only, and Dallas and Austin are part of the ever expanding list of 90 cities and municipalities that do.

Hopefully Mayor White and the Houston City Council will do the right thing and take steps to rectify this situation.

Danger Zone

I'm a huge fan of the syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show and listen to it every day. Its combination of news, interviews, humor and insightful commentary from such peeps as Tavis Smiley, Michael Eric Dyson, and 'the Revs' routinely draws an audience of 11 million predominately African-American listeners.

IIf there's anyone who has their finger on the pulse of Black America, it's Tom Joyner.

During yesterday's show he conducted a For Real For Real poll that has me extremely nervous about the 2008 election should Hillary somehow get the nomination.

According to this poll, 54 percent said they'd vote for Clinton if Barack is not the candidate. But a whopping 35 percent said they won't vote at all if Obama isn't in the race.

There are a few things you Hillary fans aren't seeing. Sen. Obama's campaign is bringing in large numbers of people who are either new voters or people haven't been engaged in the political process for a long time. It is also tapping into a shared dream that African-Americans have held since emancipation, seeing one of our own taking the oath of office as president.

It took a while for us to get emotionally invested since we've been down this road twice with Jesse Jackson, Sr. in 1984 and 1988. But this time we have a candidate who may actually make this dream a reality. We're beginning to have the audacity of hope that we may see him on January 20, 2009 standing on the capitol steps taking the oath of office while his lovely wife Michelle holds the Bible.

Now that we can conceive the dream and are tantalizingly close to seeing him secure the nomination, the continued negative race-baiting attacks by the Clinton camp is only suceeding in pissing off a constituency without which no Democratic candidate can win in November.

For me and many African-Americans sitting out the election or voting for John McCain is not an option. Hillary Clinton can't overtake Obama delegate wise even if she swept the remaining contests. That ain't happening because North Carolina is one of those remaining primary states with a significant African-American population that hasn't weighed in yet (By the way Hillary fans, Barack has a nine point lead in North Carolina) and because of proportional allocation rules, he'll continue to accumulate delegates..

But that 35% number scares me. I hope those peeps will take the time to think about the big picture and realize that we and the country cannot afford a McCain presidency.

But the point I'm making is that Democrats cannot afford to piss off your most loyal constituency and expect to win. Barack leads in the delegate count, has won double the amount of states, and him being on the ballot in the fall will continue to bring record numbers of new voters into the mix.

If Hillary pulls this out by using the superdelegates, and that's the only way she can remotely get the nomination at this point, it will be perceived in Black American circles as 'she stole the nomination' and the sitzkrieg will commence. Hillary will not get the historic turnout of African-American voters that Barack Obama's presence on the November ballot would generate. She would also have a frosty reception in terms of getting many of us motivated to come to the polls and support her.

So yeah, while I'm happy I get a chance to vote on May 20 for my candidate, I'm still going to be anxious until Barack finally closes out this nomination.


Crossposted to The Bilerico Project

Apologize, Shellie

It's taken her a few months, but I finally got a response from Ms. Shellie-Ann Anderson of May Pen, Jamaica a few days ago. Seems like Miss Thang wants me to take her picture off the post I wrote slamming her for her anti-GLBT comments she left on my blog. That post also renews my call for GLBT people and our allies to forgo tourism to Jamaica and boycott all Jamaican products until they mend their GLBT bashing ways.




Just to refresh 'errbodys' memory banks, here's what home girl posted to my blog in the comments section of the 'I'm Boycotting Jamaica' post

batty bwoy fi get buss ass fi true.
unnu too raasclaat nasty and friggin fool.

if unnu nuh waan nobody lick unnu dung unnu keep unnu homo self to unnu self and mek peace remain as much as possible.

The sad thing is that she has a great essay featured in an article in the Jamaica Gleaner entitled Internet Use Opportunities and Risks but at the same time chose to post that trifling anti-GLBT crap on my blog.

Now she wants me to pull her picture off my blog.

Not until I get an apology posted for your insulting comment.

I don't know if you thought posting that comment was funny or whatever was going through your teenage mind at the time, but my fellow GLBT peeps being beaten and killed in your country ain't no laughing matter. When your political leadership in Jamaica and various people interviewed about it are unrepentant, dismissive or defensive about it, all it does is piss people off who see the injustice even more.



So you're not liking your picture being plastered on this site and connected with your homophobic comments. How do you think your fellow GLBT Jamaicans feel who are living in exile in the UK, Canada, the US and various other countries and can't come home? Some of you Jamaicans may not see it that way, but for every GLBT person that leaves the island for other nations, we get the benefits of their talents.



Just because people disapprove of their same-gender love or they're transgender doesn't give them the right to verbally abuse, beat or kill somebody.

So roll your eyes, suck your teeth, cuss me out in Patois, whatever. The pictures don't come off this site until I get a sincere apology in the comments section of this post.

We're Trying To Make HRC Better, Not Tear It Down

HRC and its defenders has been on a furious spin offensive in the last several weeks.

They've been trying to paint its numerous critics like myself as 'transgender conspiracy theorists' and other nastier epithets in other corners of the GLBT blogosphere I won't waste bandwith repeating.

For the white transgender community, the dwindling ranks of HRC supporters have been trotting out the new jack spin line of that tired 'horizontal hostility' crap they used to peddle that states we HRC critics are trying to 'tear down HRC'.

Au contraire my HRC Kool-aid drinking friends.

As an African-American who is considered a major transgender leader and has the Trinity to prove it, I see this contentious debate as healthy and normal. I also subscribe to the African-American definition of leadership as set forth by Dr Ron Walters.

The task of Black leadership is to provide the vision, resources, tactics, and strategies that facilitate the achievement of the objectives of Black people.

These objectives have been variously described as freedom, integration, equality, liberation, or defined in the terms of specific public policies. It is a role that often requires disturbing the peace. And we constantly carry on a dialogue about the fitness of various leaders and the qualities they bring to the table to fulfill this mission.

The bottom line is that I not only subscribe to this definition of leadership and try to practice it, it is also one of the litmus tests I use to judge whether an organization is doing what it's supposed to do.

The flack that HRC is catching from me and other transgender leaders is because HRC for a decade has not lived up to their claim as being the leaders of the GLBT community. Their actions have been deceptive, dismissive and disrespectful of my community. They have continued to act in a manner devoid of moral authority and made decisions that are harmful to the transgender community. Their relentless pursuit of money over passing inclusive legislation that benefits all of us has caused major chasms in the GLBT community. What's even more infuriating about it, they are arrogantly unrepentant and alarmingly clueless about it.

Their arrogance in repeating the Republican strategy in regards to African-Americans of trying to create 'acceptable to HRC' transgender leaders, demanding that we only have one organization to negotiate with them, and ignoring the leaders that we have chose is also galling as well.

As an African-American, I have multiple organizations that speak on my behalf. So does the gay and lesbian community. Why would you egotistically demand of the transgender community something that you don't follow yourselves?

You have left us and our supporters no choice but to picket your dinners until some attitudes change at 1640 Rhode Island Ave, NW. We're human beings beyond sick and tired of being treated like bargaining chips in some game of congressional poker. We need legislative protection like yesterday, and if you are the 'leading civil rights organization' that your relentless PR claims it is, show some leadership by passing am inclusive ENDA that's a win-win situation for the entire community, not just wealthy straight-acting Caucasian gay men and women.

Nelson Mandela eloquently stated, 'no true alliance can be built on the shifting sands of evasion. illusions and opportunism.'

That quote describes the decades long history between HRC and the transgender community and the drama that goes back to Stonewall between the GLB and transgender communities. The choice is yours. It's either building a working partnership based on respect that treats us as equals, bust your asses to pass an inclusive ENDA in 2009 while beginning an honest dialogue with your harshest critics, or continue to face a long, hot no justice, no peace spring, summer and fall of protest at every event that has an equal sign attached to it.

Crossposted to the Bilerico project