E-Mail From Fredrikka

TransGriot note: It's nice to hear from people who not only appreciate your writing (a gentle hint for you TransGriot readers to leave comments from time to time), they take the time out of their busy schedules to tell you.

I deeply appreciate that. It's also a wake-up call as to just how much of a role model and inspiration others consider me, even if I don't feel like I am most days.

Fredrikka Maxwell, who's a TransGriot guest poster from time to time sent me this e-mail. Someone on the Dignity list (for GLBT Catholics) she's on sent her a link to my Destruction of the Black Transwoman Image post I wrote a few days ago that I crossposted to the Bilerico Project as well. It also underscores the point I was making that I'm not the only African-American transwoman who's beyond sick and tired of being saddled with the 'all Black transwomen are hookers' stereotype.

***

Marvin,
Monica Roberts is someone I have met, have high regard for, and count among my friends.

She has a clear insight into the black community and knows firsthand what it's like to be black and trans. And she's one of those women who have come through that drama and trauma and still holds her head high and walks tall like the regal daughter of kings of the Motherland.

Monica founded a thriving Yahoo list for black trans people, their friends, families, and allies, called Transsistahs-Transbrothas. And when she first thought of starting her list, then called Transsistahs, I was one of the charter members.

Monica is on target with her post. There is, among the mainstream media, the perception that all black transwomen are sex workers. Now I don't deny that some black transwomen may have taken to prostitution. It's not something I've ever encouraged. Here's my take on that.

I know from bitter firsthand experience that a lot of trans people are currently under or flat out unemployed. When you go to hunt for employment on the web, for example, you will usually find on most applications, a space for or a question about whether you've worked under another name. In a perfect world it would be OK to say yes to that. Bu in the real world that can out you and cause you to lose the job you thought you were going to be hired for.

Does the name Peter Oiler mean anything to you? Oiler was a truck driver for the Winn-Dixie grocery chain. They found out somehow that, away from work he was a cross dresser and fired him. He sued. He lost. The court seemed to think it was OK for the company to fire him even if the wasn't doing anything gender variant on company time. Now Oiler wasn't black. He was like mos of you, a white dude.

My reason for bringing him up is that black trans people have gone through that.

Does the name Susan Stanton mean anything to you? Just a person who worked for her city for 14 distinguished years only to get fired because it was learned she was beginning to transition.

There are thousands of black trans people who have gone though that. And what do some of them do since they can't find jobs anywhere? Some take to the streets in more ways than one. Some actually LIVE on the damn street.

And even if you have a decent job, your health insurance may have a specific exclusion for anything related to Gender Reassignment Surgery. That means hormones, or Facial Feminization Surgery, or finding a qualified gender therapist. And your therapists and endocrinologists, electrologist, and your surgeons all have one thing in common. THEY ALL WANT YOUR FREAKING MONEY.

So I'm not going to pass judgment on those who take to the streets. I just say a prayer of thanksgiving and realize that, there, but for the grace of God go I.

But I'm not now, never have, and never will encourage anyone to hit the streets. But I'm telling you that I understand how some people can feel like that's an option.

But, having said that, ALL BLACK TRANSWOMEN ARE NOT WHORES. Thank you. That's the truth from somebody who knows transwomen who run call centers, who are classical musicians, who are nurses, police officers, writers, and motivational speakers and even a minister or two. And that's just the transWOMEN, who include regal souls like my friend Monica Roberts.

Another Day, Another Event

Yesterday afternoon I rolled up to the historic Brennan House downtown for a Meet The Candidates event hosted by CFAIR, the Committee for Fairness and Individual Rights. It's the PAC for the Fairness Campaign and I was invited to attend.

I was rousted out of a sound sleep earlier that morning to round up the wine and sodas for the event. After taking one and a half hours of my day doing it and depositing everything at the Fairness Campaign office on Frankfort Ave I returned home to finish my NE Trans Pride March speech and e-mail it to Bet Power so the ASL interpreters could get to work on it.

The event wasn't starting until 5 PM, and I arrived at 5:45 PM in my black pantsuit. Joanne Lynch greeted me with "Our saviour is here!" a humorous reference to my earlier efforts that morning hitting three separate spread out stores for the wine, the multiple two liter sodas, the humongous bag of ice and saving CFAIR some cash in the process. I jokingly said as I hugged her and entered the Brennan House, "I'm not a saviour. I can't walk on water."

By the time I entered the three story Victorian home several of the CFAIR endorsees were there. Metro council members George Unseld (yes, he's the brother of NBA Hall of Famer Wes Unseld) and Rick Blackwell were there along with Metro council candidate Kungu Njuguna.

I was impressed by my Kenyan descended brother. He was born in the States and is a city attorney who prosecuted violations of Louisville's Human Rights ordnance. He's running in AC's district (the 18th) in the Hurstbourne Parkway/Taylorsville Rd. area. Shelley Santry, who's running in a judicial race was also there to thank CFAIR for the endorsement and chat with us for a few moments before jetting off to another event.

A few minutes after I arrived my state rep Mary Lou Marzian showed up and showed us some love. I also got a hug from former metro council member Denise Bentley, who's looking good these days. I noted and mentioned to her that she's dropped a little weight, even though she didn't think so. I also ran into Dr. Story and Jaison Gardiner for the second time in 24 hours as well along with Mark England, who hosted the recent Derby benefit that was the day before my birthday. Dawn popped in after she got off work.

Since I drove, I wasn't partaking in any of the wine and stuck to the soda. The Louisville po-po's have been on the prowl lately pre and post Derby and I was in no mood to spend the night at the Jefferson County Hilton. I hung around chatting with many of the peeps who did show up like Christine and the gang from Sienna, our local transgender organization.

Christine's the prez of the group and congratulated me for my upcoming speaking slot at the NE Pride March. I told her I'd try to make a future Sienna meeting if it didn't conflict with what I had going on. Mark England also chatted with me for a few minutes and asked if I'd seen the photo I took with him and Russ at the Derby benefit. When I replied no, he asked for my e-mail address, input it into his PDA and sent it to me a few hours later.

I'd left my Obama button at home, and a young LGBT Hillary supporter approached me about supporting his candidate. I politely listened to his spiel before I told him I was supporting Senator Obama. When he mentioned that HRC endorsed Senator Clinton, I politely shot back,"That's a major reason why I'm supporting Sen. Obama."

That triggered a lively back and forth conversation in which every time he spouted a pro-Hillary talking point, I had an answer for it. I also pointed out that I'd sat across the table from numerous meetings/confrontations with HRC personnel over the last ten years and had a long, ugly history with them.

When he tried to claim that Obama hadn't stood up for GLBT peeps as an Illinois senator, I told him I had friends and relatives in Chicago who said otherwise. After a few minutes of amusing myself with him, I told him that on this subject we'd agree to disagree and I was still voting for Obama on Tuesday as Joanne and Jeff Rodgers grinned at me.

For you GLBT peeps that still believe that BS like my young friend, here's a quote from a Windy City News February 11, 2004 interview that y'all need to pay attention to.

We must be careful to keep our eyes on the prize-equal rights for every American. We must continue to fight for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. We must vigorously expand hate-crimes legislation and be vigilant about how these laws are enforced. We must continue to expand adoption rights and make them consistent and seamless throughout all 50 states, and we must repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military policy.

Just an FYI GLBT Hillary lovers, the Windy City Times is a GLBT publication. At the time he was quoted in this interview he was an Illinois state senator a few months away from making the historic keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic convention that catapulted him to national recognition.

Not long after that the event wound to a close. After we helped the staff put the tables and chairs up, I took a quick tour through the lovely Victorian era home before exiting the place and heading back home to Crescent Hill.

TLDEF Settles Landmark Farmer v. Caliente Cab Restaurant Lawsuit

I've talked from time to time about Khadijah Farmer, and I've received word from the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund that there's been a settlement in the case. The New York based TLDEF has been diligently working on her landmark lawsuit against Caliente Cab Restaurant Company.

As part of the settlement, Caliente has agreed to:

*Add gender, including gender identity and expression, to its corporate non-discrimination policy;

*Amend its employee handbook to state that "persons patronizing or employed at Caliente have the right to use the bathroom facilities consistent with their gender identity and expression;"

*Adopt a gender-neutral dress code for its employees;

*Institute personnel training programs regarding its new policies;

*Pay $35,000 in damages to Khadijah.

Just to refresh 'errbody's' memory banks about what happened, after the conclusion of the New York GLBT Pride March on June 24, 2007, Khadijah, her girlfriend and another friend went to dine at the Caliente Cab restaurant.

When Khadijah went to use the women's restroom, the restaurant's bouncer followed her in, pounded on the door of the stall she was using and proceeded to throw her out of the bathroom and the restaurant because of the bouncer's misguided perception because of her short haircut that she was either male or transgender. (are you listening HRC and Barney Frank?) She attempted to show him her NY state ID demonstrating that she is female, but was rebuffed.

This was a crystal clear example of why we transpeople have been arguing ad nauseum for over a decade that 'gender or perceived gender' language needs to remain in ENDA in order to protect ALL members of the GLBT community. Many transgender and gender non-conforming people experience harassment and discrimination when trying to access sex-segregated facilities such as bathrooms.

Khadijah's case highlights one of the major intersections between the transgender, GLB rights movements and our straight allies. Gender expression discrimination can affect anyone, be they transgender, lesbian, gay, bisexual or straight. The settlement also sends a message that discrimination on the basis of gender expression will not be tolerated.

"I'm very happy that the restaurant has taken appropriate steps to ensure that all patrons, regardless of how masculine or feminine they appear, are treated with dignity and respect," Khadijah said of the settlement. "People come in all shapes and sizes, and they shouldn't be discriminated against because they don't match someone's expectations of how masculine or feminine they should be."

Amen, sister. Now only if the Homosexual Rights Corporation and a certain congressman from Massachusetts would remember that and introduce an ENDA bill that not only protects everyone, the entire GLBT community can work together to get passed.

Witness To History-Obama In Da Ville

Sen. Barack Obama was in Da Ville today for a campaign rally at the Kentucky International Convention Center. You know that I made sure yours truly was going to be inside the room and part of the 8,000 people that showed up to witness history. There were another 2,000 people that wanted to get in but were unfortunately turned away because the hall was at capacity.

I farted around a little too long and bounced out of the house clad in my Obama shirt and jeans at 4:30 PM. I arrived downtown and passed the convention center enroute to the parking lot I like to use four blocks away on Chestnut Street. I noted the line to get inside snaked around the building for several blocks.

The doors opened at 5 PM and even though I was at the back of the line where it started on the 4th Street side of the Convention Center complex, it moved fast. There were various politicians introducing themselves and shaking hands with people as we waited to get in. Campaign workers were passing out stickers for Greg Fischer, the other Democratic candidate for US Senate here in Kentucky. There are many Democrats in the state who have concerns about just how electable Bruce Lunsford will be if he gets in a race with Mitch McConnell (R-KY) with the Vencor mess lurking in his background.

Unfortunately the local chapter of the Forces of Intolerance was in full effect as well. The odious Dr. Frank Simon was there with several of his acolytes staging an anti-abortion protest. But despite the negative karma from Simon and company, the mood remained festive on this beautiful late afternoon spring day with vendors hawking bootleg Obama shirts and buttons as well. The official Obama campaign stands inside the convention center were doing a brisk business as well.

A few minutes later I was being directed into the building by the cheerfully efficient Obama campaign personnel. I quickly autographed an Obama campaign sign in sheet and headed in the direction of a nearby up escalator. I waited in a second line to walk through a metal detector while I was hand wanded by a Secret Service agent and my purse thoroughly searched by a TSA employee. The whole process from the time I hit the end of the long line to getting into a seat in the bleacher section was thirty minutes.

While I waited for the rally to start, I was having conversations with various people in the multicultural crowd that attended this rally. We were basically talking about the historic nature of this event, Barack's chances in the Kentucky primary next Tuesday (May 20) and eventually in the fall against John McCain.

I eventually ended up seated next to an African-American woman named Bessie. We hit it off immediately and while we were talking about our personal lives, she mentioned she has a college age son at Harvard who's a blogger. I told her about my blog and living life as a transgender woman. We ended up talking about a wide array of subjects before KY 6th District Rep. Ben Chandler stepped on stage at 6:40 PM to deliver the warm up stem-winder speech.

When he was done, he introduced a Ford plant worker who spoke for a few moments, then introduced Sen. Obama a little after 7 PM. The crowd began to roar in approval as flashbulbs from phones and cameras began popping all over the building and especially around Sen. Obama and his ring of Secret Service agents.



Sen. Obama took about ten minutes to shake hands before stepping on stage and getting into his speech. He had to stop twice because two peeps were feeling ill due to heat exhaustion and in one case tossed a liter sized bottle of water to one of them.

40 minutes later after directing his fire at Sen. McCain, his cousin Dick Cheney and George W. Bush, he departed the stage to wild, enthusiastic applause. Me made a loop around the stage to shake hands with the assembled masses before winding his way back to the green room area behind the VIP stands, flashbulbs and the media trailing him all the way.

I killed a few minutes watching people be interviewed by local television personalities and reporters, shaking hands and hugging friends and colleagues before I exited the convention center. I ran into Dr. Story and Jaison Gardiner and walked with them for a few blocks gauging their reactions to the rally before we went our separate ways to our cars.

I enjoyed my late afternoon witnessing political history. I was happy to see the multitudes of enthusiastic young people who were in attendance at this rally. I'm looking forward to being at the convention in Denver courtesy of the Project later this summer as well.

Lucas County, Ohio Leads The Way

TransGriot Note: A few years ago I flew up to Toledo, OH to take my friend Sonia Watson and her then one year old daughter Jasmine on one of my buddy passes to visit her mother. It was an interesting visit with her parents. Her mom is from Jamaica and Sonia jokingly calls herself a 'Jamerican', a term which expresses pride in her Jamaican and her American roots. I also got to see where Sonia got her flawless beauty from. She's the spitting image of her mother. She also teased me for a year after that trip about the Jamaican white rum I drank that knocked me on my azz.

Unfortunately I was only there on my three days off and burned two of them flying up and back to Houston via Cleveland. so I didn't get to spend more time there to see the city.

So knowing the state of Ohio's anti-GLBT rep thanks to ten years of GOP rule and hearing the stories of my transgender friends who used to live there, this recent news out of Toledo and Lucas County is underscoring the fact that the landscape is indeed changing for Ohio GLBT residents, and that Toledo and Lucas County are leading the way.

Lucas bans job bias for county workers
Commission joins Toledo council in backing state bill

by Anthony Glassman
Gay People's Chronicle - OH,USA
May 9, 2008

http://www.gaypeopl eschronicle. com/stories08/ may/0509081. htm

Toledo--Northwest Ohio has delivered a one-two punch for LGBT equality, with Lucas County extending nondiscrimination protections to its LGBT employees and joining the city of Toledo in supporting the state Equal Housing and Employment Act.

Toledo City Council unanimously approved a resolution endorsing EHEA on April 29. The bill, in the state legislature, would prohibit employment and housing discrimination by sexual orientation or gender identity. The Lucas County Commission followed on May 6 with a 3-0 vote to endorse the measure.

At the same meeting, commissioners unanimously passed the county worker non-discrimination measure.

During the meeting, Lucas commissioner Ben Konop pointed to Richard Florida's book Who's Your City. The follow-up to Florida's Rise of the Creative Class, it repeats the author's arguments that creativity bolsters economic development, and Florida firmly believes that protections for LGBT people help attract the "creative class" to an area.

"I think it was the right thing to do from two perspectives," Konop told the Gay People's Chronicle. "Number one, I think morally it's hard to argue. People should be judged for the job they're doing instead of their sexual orientation or gender identity, so it protects county employees from being judged unfairly."

"There's an economic benefit to our community from this, too," he ontinued. "There's been substantial social science research showing the more a community is diverse and accepting of sexual orientation and gender identities, the better the community does economically. We in Toledo are in very difficult economic times, so we need all
the help we can get."

"I think we need to establish ourselves as one of the premier communities in the country in terms of diversity and tolerance of people of all different views and backgrounds, " he concluded. "We going to take it very seriously and make sure it's abided by."

Michelle Stecker, interim executive director of Equality Toledo, noted that the welfare of the LGBT community is "tied to the economic development of northwest Ohio," but also said that the area enjoys an embarrassment of riches in terms of forward-thinking elected officials.

Franklin County, which includes Columbus, also protects county employees on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, while Cuyahoga and Summit counties (containing Cleveland and Akron) protect for sexual orientation alone, according to Kim Welter of Equality Ohio.

The four counties join 11 Ohio cities that include sexual orientation in their public worker job policies. Eight of these cities also protect private employees, and four of those include gender identity. The state of Ohio also bars discrimination in state employment by sexual orientation or gender identity.

Franklin County has also passed a resolution supporting EHEA, which was introduced in the Ohio House in March by Democrat Dan Stewart and Republican Jon Peterson, and in the Senate by Democrat Dale Miller.

Lucas County Commission president Tina Skeldon Wozniak told the Toledo Blade, "I don't believe we practice discrimination, but I think it's important to make it recognizable within the policy. I think it's the right thing to do, but I also believe communities that are progressive in their policies toward protection of people's rights have stronger communities. "

Stecker was pleased with the three unanimous decisions.

"We're so fortunate," she said. "In Toledo, our leaders are really supportive of LGBT civil rights, and Toledo has become a model city in Ohio in terms of reaching out to the LGBT community."

She enumerated the ways in which LGBT citizens are protected in Toledo.

"We have a domestic partnership registry, we have cutting-edge transgender protections, our large employers offer protections for LGBT employees," she said. "It came as no surprise that the county commissioners and city council were unanimous, because they are our allies."

"I'm thrilled they went on the record to support EHEA and I'm thankful for their leadership," she concluded. "It's because we have such wonderful political allies. When we go to them with our issues, we know they're going to say yes to us, we know they're going to be supportive."

"They don't just give it lip service, they show us by their actions that LGBT people are truly welcome here in northwest Ohio," she posited. "That's why Toledo is such a good place to live for LGBT people."

"We've been getting phone calls from people in other areas asking, tell us about Toledo, should we be moving there, and that's exciting as well," Stecker noted.

C 2008 KWIR Publications

Happy Mother's Day

(photo-painting Mother's Love by Kolongi)

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers (and 'errbody' else) who read TransGriot! I've already sent my cards and gifts to my mom and sister. Hope you've had a chance to call the favorite moms in your life, whether they are your biological ones or people who were like mothers to you.

And now, let me put my DJ hat on and post some Mother's Day music videos for you to enjoy.

The Intruders I'll Always Love My Mama extended version




Tupac's Dear Mama



Happy Mother's Day to all those special women everywhere!

Why A Transsistahs Convention?

TransGriot Note: This was written in February 2005 to explain to our Caucasian brothers and sisters why we were planning a convention of our own that took place later that year.


Why a Transsistahs Convention?
By Monica Roberts

Ever since the word got out that Dawn Wilson and I are helping a committee of young African-American transpeople to organize a convention for later this year, there has been much weeping and gnashing of teeth in the Caucasian transgender community. What does the Caucasian transgender community have to fear from a group of African-American transpeople getting together in Louisville to spend several days networking, learning and bonding with each other, just like you peeps have done at Southern Comfort, Gold Rush, IFGE, and various other events?

The simple fact is that we have cultural differences that aren’t being reflected in the current organizational setup of the Caucasian transgendered community. Our community is built with a belief in God as the central pillar of our daily lives. We don't see that reflected in the Caucasian trans community and we have issues and concerns that aren’t being addressed.

What issues you ask? Issues such as HIV/AIDS, the disproportionate number of African-American and Latina transpeople that make up the Remembering our Dead list, socioeconomic issues, ignoring the roles that people of color have played in shaping transgender history, and the pervasive racism within the community. When African-American transactivists and other activists of color have tried to point them out they are dismissively told that their concerns ‘aren’t trans issues’ or ‘quit playing the race card’.

We have qualms about the Caucasian transgender political leadership continually trying to align itself with HRC. It’s a group that has a sorry history of being disrespectful to the African-American GLBT/SGL community and repeatedly sabotaging transgender lobby efforts. The Caucasian TG leadership even sabotaged a 2002 African-American transgender led initiative to the Congressional Black Caucus that would have benefited the entire trans community and boasted about it afterward.

A conservative administration is entrenched in Washington DC. Many African-American transpeople reside in areas run by conservative state and local governments. It was past time for us to build our own institutions so that we may better weather the storms of ‘compassionate conservatism’ and the backstabbing from our so-called allies.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the fact that there have been people and organizations within the Caucasian trans community who have tried to be inclusive and sounded the alarm that we needed to be welcomed into the fold or else. Their pleas and ours have fallen on deaf ears. I’ve noted the growing frustration within our community reflected in the posts on my Transsistahs Yahoo discussion list that I founded a year ago and other African-American GLBT/SGL lists. Those posts have repeatedly called for us to build institutions that will give African-American transkids something to be proud of and resources that they can tap into that reflect their cultural heritage. We’ve finally decided to act on that.

The gathering in Louisville is in the mold of our African-American cultural tradition. We have a proud heritage as African-American women of doing things that not only help us but also uplift the race at the same time. The sistahs are doing it for ourselves to paraphrase an old Aretha Franklin song. We’re not doing it to permanently separate ourselves from the Caucasian trans community, but so that we may work together with our mainstream African-American brothers and sisters. Kwame Toure (Stokely Carmichael to you folks who remember the Civil Rights Movement) stated, 'Before a group can enter the open society, it must first close ranks.'

Well, the African-American transcommunity is closing ranks. Louisville, here we come.

Destruction Of The Black Transwoman Image

One of the things that I and my transsisters have in common with our biosisters besides our shared cultural heritage is defending the images of Black women from constant assault inside and outside the community.

Ever since the advent of the slave trade, the Black female image has been subjected to a wide array of slights, outrageous comments, and bigoted or racist behavior.

Black women have dealt with everything from being sexually assaulted by slave masters who considered them less than human to being toured as carnival exhibits as Saartjie Baartman was in the early 19th century as the Hottentot Venus. We also have our wide-ranging skin tone palettes, full lips, curvaceous bodies and ample butts constantly derided as either 'exotic' or 'ugly' vis-a-vis the Eurocentric standard of beauty.



We African-American transwomen share like our biosisters the same problems in addition to others brought on by our transgender status. At least my biosisters don't have to contend with being disrespectfully called 'sir' or called a man.

Oops, check that. Any sistah who's 5'8" or taller, has short cropped hair, is an athlete, or full figured and tall with broad shoulders has had that shade thrown at them. I just remembered the Khadijah Farmer case now currently in litigation.

But I'm digressing. The transwomen division part of the Black female image destruction is in large part courtesy of the escort and porn worlds. We didn't start out with negative images. Over the latter half of the 20th century as coverage of transgender issues became more frequent on local, national, and international newscasts, there was a corresponding explosion in transgender themed adult material. One major irritant to me and many African-American transwomen (and the irritation is shared by our Latina and Asian transsisters as well) is that the images are predominately women of color.

While there are also white transwomen involved in those worlds, they have balance because John and Jane Q. Public have also seen news stories in which white transwomen are seen as businesspeople, politicians elected to office, et cetera. Since the stories are either ignored or aren't being told that transwomen of color are doing mainstream and remarkable things, the negatives get disproportionately shunted to and pile up for African-American transwomen.

Many of us take our transitions seriously. We are talented, intelligent, accomplished women in our own rights. But you wouldn't know that (and probably don't) know that based on the disproportionate attention focused on the subset of our transsistahs involved in the escort and adult entertainment world.

Unfortunately the tendency to judge African-Americans by the worst we produce, combined with our near invisibility in terms of the 55 year history of positive media coverage of transgender people vis-a-vis our white sisters have been devastating to our efforts to educate our fellow African-Americans on transgender issues. It's probably one of the factors in why we initially lost eight CBC votes in the ENDA debate last fall.

We also haven't been helped by Hollywood movie or television portrayals or fictional accounts that perpetuate the 'Black transwomen are hookers' myth. You only need look at two television characters to see what we African-American transwomen have to contend with.

On one hand, you have Rebecca Romijn's Ugly Betty character Alexis Meade, who plays a major role in running a magazine empire. Jazzmun gets to play Dontrelle, who is guess what?

What is a prostitute, Alex?



I'm a big fan of actress Kerry Washington, but in the upcoming movie Life Is Hot In Cracktown based on the novel of the same name, she gets to play a transwoman. While I'm not thrilled that she's playing a character who once again feeds into that 'Black transwomen are hookers' stereotype, I know based on her past work that she's a stickler for authenticity.

She hired Valerie Spencer as her advisor and had Valerie on set to ensure that her character was on point in terms of the emotions and drama that we deal with. I'd just like to see Kerry Washington, any sistah actress or Jazzmun one day get to play an African-American transgender character like Alexis Meade or the Edith Stokes character Veronica Redd played back in the 70's.

Unfortunately, the stereotype is overpowering whatever positive things we try to do as African-American transwomen. When the members of TSTB were in the process of organizing the first Transsistahs-Transbrothas Conference in 2005, the white transgender community was fearful we'd take that moment to permanently separate ourselves from them. I took pains as one of the organizers to write an open letter in February 2005 explaining why we were doing it and posted it to a few transgender oriented lists.

One of the responses that came back on the tgusarights list was from a person calling herself Brenda Jean, who stated that our conference 'would make it easier for us to service our tricks'. That negative image was revealed during the wrongful death trial of Tyra Hunter to have partly played a role in her untimely death from an auto accident. She was not only disrespected at the accident scene by the EMT, but was ignored after she arrived at DC General Hospital and administered a drug that they give to emergency patients they presume to be drug addicts.

There was one night back home when I was watching my friend Sivi Ross do a drag show in a predominately white GLBT club called Cousins. I ended up reading a patron the riot act after he disrespectfully propositioned yours truly by saying the words "How much?" to me.

We also have to contend with as African-American transwomen when we enter relationships with us being lumped on the 'exotic' end of the scale. In some men's minds, what could be more 'exotic' than a beautiful African-American woman with (or who used to have) daddy's equipment? (And you know the stereotype about African-American men)



Just as our biosisters have to constantly fight a never ending battle to debunk these stereotypes, African-American transwomen will be in the same fight on a different flank to combat the stereotypes unique to us.

Beautiful Daughters

If you've ever seen The Vagina Monologues, some of you may be aware that there was an all transgender version of it done in Los Angeles back in 2004. That production was videotaped in a documentary called Beautiful Daughters that's been repeatedly broadcast on LOGO (which my cable system doesn't carry yet no thanks to the local fundamentalist idiots).

During that February 2 performance, Eve Ensler, the creator of The Vagina Monologues wrote and debuted a transgender-themed monologue entitled 'They Beat The Girl Out Of My Boy..Or So They Tried. It's a monologue that my homegirl Lexi has performed in a local production of the play as well.



One of the people in the all-transgender production was transsister Valerie Spencer, who I've been pleased to get to know thanks to the Transsistahs-Transbrothas Yahoo Group I founded in 2004. In addition to doing some marvelous work out in the LA area as a social worker and activist, Valerie has been exploring the artistic side of her personality as well. (Hmm, sounds familiar)

I was also delighted to learn that Valerie was actress Kerry Washington's advisor for the soon to be released film Life Is Hot In Cracktown, based on Buddy Giovinazzo's 1993 novel of the same name. In the film Kerry will play a transgender character.

The V-Day show raised a lot of money and was an emotional experience for all involved. It's cool that transgender women's voices are now incorporated into this fabulous play as well.

Tired Of The 'F' Word

The 'F' word I'm talking about in this case is Minister Louis Farrakhan.

It never fails that when an African-American candidate is running in a political race in which they have to appeal to a broad sector of the electorate, are sucessfully doing so, and winning (see Barack Obama a few months ago) the 'F' word comes out to 'scurr' white voters. It's why many African-Americans were more than angry with Chris Matthews when he brought up Minister Farrakhan in the MSGOP debate a few months ago.

I have mixed emotions about Louis Farrakhan personally like many African-Americans do. Hu-ell naw I don't like some of his negative comments about our Jewish friends and some of the other over the top statements over the years. But you have to admire somebody who can get formerly incarcerated men and other assorted knuckleheads to not only turn their lives around, but become responsible citizens who do their fair share to live up to our community's historic uplift the race mission.

You also have to admire someone who can inspire a million African-American men from all sectors of the community and across the country to organize, plan and gather together for a peaceful day on the Washington Mall.

For those of you who were focused more on Rev. Jeremiah Wright's antics and the subsequent MSM spin intended to damage Sen. Obama's march to the Democratic nomination, you missed out on the nuggets of truth that were interspersed during that infamous National Press Club speech.

While it is uncomfortable for White America to hear, Rev. Wright wasn't kidding when he stated that when Minister Farrakhan speaks, Black America listens. Many of us listen, analyze what he has to say, sift out the truth and dismiss what we don't like.

Even Tavis Smiley has gotten criticism for having him on the stage during several State of the Black Union events, but Tavis realizes what I know as well. There are folks in the African-American community to whom Minister Farrakhan appeals to, and an honest dialogue on our issues in the Black community can't take place if all parties aren't represented.

But I'm sick of African-American candidates getting whacked with decades old statements, video and five second snippets of Farrakhan soundbites in an obvious attempt to paint an African-American candidate with broad based white electorate appeal as 'racist'.

If some of y'all wanna fall for that okey-doke, that's on you. But if you let the bogus fear mongering from Faux News and the Right-Wing Noise Machine deter you from electing the best presidential candidate we've had since Bobby Kennedy for superficial reasons, that's a tragedy for the nation.

Belly of the Beast-The Atlanta HRC Dinner

TransGriot Note: The transgender community's protests of HRC dinners continue. Last weekend was the Atlanta HRC dinner, and Monica Helms in a post from her Trans Universe Blog tells us what went down in the ATL.

The "Belly of the Beast" – The Atlanta HRC Dinner
By Monica F. Helms


At the last minute, I didn’t know if I could attend the Atlanta HRC Dinner protest in front of the Hyatt Regency, May 3, 2008. Work had me signed up to do 2 hours of overtime right in the middle of when the protest was scheduled. Luckily, I was able to trade the hours to a co-worker.

On Saturday, I had to formulate a plan to talk with the most people I could at the dinner. But in order to do that, I needed to go inside the “Belly of the Beast.” Being a former submariner, I was familiar with submarine war tactics, which have helped me as an activist in the past. You sneak into an enemy’s port, lay a few torpedoes in the sides of their ships, then slip silently away. They never know what hit them.

For this dinner, I needed a disguise, in other words, a “duck blind.” When hunting ducks, the hunters have to blend into the environment, so they build a camouflage enclosure where they can see the ducks, but the ducks cannot see them. For this, I would wear my long evening gown that had no back. It’s also how spies blend into a fancy party. “My name is Bond. Jane Bond.” I was ready to do some shaking AND stirring. Of course, I probably blew my cover when I wore my “Trans and Proud” and “TAVA” buttons.

I knew that I would not get into the dinner without a ticket and I had no intention of buying one. However, they always had their Silent Auction before the dinner and you didn’t have to have a dinner ticket to go in there.

When I arrived at the Hyatt, two people were already handing out flyers and holding signs. Sir Jesse was outside and Anneliese was just inside the hotel door, handing out flyers as people came in. Others who arrived later were Jamie, Jae, Marisa, Dante, Betty and a friend of hers, Ghetto Gospel.

I heard earlier from Betty that on Thursday, May 1st, Joe Solmonese had a meeting with a half dozen transgender people here in Georgia . I wasn’t invited, nor was a few other transgender people who have worked at the national level, such as Dana Owings, Kristin Reichman and Cole Thaler from Lambda Legal. I’m willing to bet it was not accidental.

I was told that Joe “. . . apologized for misspeaking at Southern Comfort . . .” and that “. . . had he known what was going to have happen, he wouldn’t have said what he had said.” To me that translates to “HRC has no integrity when it comes to speaking to transgender people and I have the backbone of a jelly fish.” George Orwell would be so proud.

Once inside, I strolled into the Silent Auction like I belonged there. In reality, if HRC was more supportive of transgender people and their needs, then I would have indeed belonged there. But, I was nothing more than an interloper in the game of intrigue. Okay, so I’m getting a bit melodramatic.

The first thing that I noticed was that in a city that has a large population of African Americans, the crowd looked distinctly white and distinctly male. There were some attendees who were People of Color and there were attendees who were female, but where I saw the most diversity was with the “hired help” and the volunteers. Interesting enough, one of the dinner’s co-chairs (Ebonee Bradford) was an African American woman.

The theme for the evening was a Las Vegas casino, complete with the bright lights, Vegas showgirls and an Elvis impersonator. I mingled with the crowd, talking to various people there, some who openly admitted they were part of HRC’s organization. I spoke with one woman who touted HRC’s “wonderful” Corporate Equality Index, having no idea I would be the wrong person to try and convince their CEI was so “perfect.” I proceeded to point out that my 100% company screwed me over simply because I’m trans when I needed a medically necessary operation that others in the company can get.

I told the woman the bar for transgender medical issues was set so low that an ant could jump over it. HRC does that to falsely inflate the numbers on the 100% list and to placate the corporations by allowing them to medically mistreat their transgender employees, just as long as their gay and lesbian employees are treated fairly. Transgender people don’t need to be treated fairly, by HRC’s standards.

During my journey through “ Never-Never Land ,” I had a chance to speak to the Beast Master himself, Joe Solmonese. I was nice and I complimented him on how appropriate the casino theme for the dinner was. “This is such a perfect theme you have here, Joe. It’s all about gambling . . . and you’re gambling with people’s lives.” I suspect he didn’t appreciate that.

Of course, I wasn’t going to stop there. I informed him about the Transgender Veterans Survey, conducted by TAVA that had just ended and it had 827 responses to it. Besides the military and VA-related questions in the survey, we had a great deal of general questions. I said he needs to see how many of our transgender veterans were unemployed and under-employed, and how many have been discriminated on the job. It didn’t seem to faze him. Ask me if I’m surprised.

Interesting, the number of transgender veterans who took our survey far surpasses the number of responses on the questionable survey HRC conducted to see if transgender people should be in ENDA. Also, you have to factor in the small population our respondents came from to really get the impact.

Then I asked Solmonese why I didn’t get an E-mail inviting me to the meeting on Thursday. He said, “I don’t know who put that together.” Ah, really? Does he expect me to believe he’s that clueless on something as important as a meeting? He then asked me, “What did you hear of the meeting?” I responded by saying, “That it took place and I wasn’t invited.” Also, the media wasn’t invited. I guess he doesn’t want to take a chance of going on record with what he says to transgender people. I wonder why.

The one thing that really set me off was when I had a chance to speak with a person I thought was a friend. He is an effeminate gay man who is the partner of a lawyer who I know through SLDN and the American Veterans for Equal Rights. He proceeded to tell me about his four-hour session at the spa to get ready for the event. I told him I was there to educate people on the need for a fully inclusive ENDA.

He said, “Oh, I don’t support that at all. They said there aren’t enough votes with transgender people in the bill. Besides, we need a win.”

I was pissed. “So, you want a win on the backs of millions of transgender people?” He tried to say something, but I continued. “You are an effeminate gay man and without Gender Identity and Gender Expression in ENDA, you’re just as fucked as transgender people. You and butch lesbians will be screwed, just like me.” He didn’t respond to that. Besides, he had his sugar daddy, so to hell with everyone else. I walked away.

The best thing I found out was when I went back outside to join the protest. Betty, a member of the Atlanta Pride Committee, informed me that they just had a vote that day to turn down HRC’s offer to be a sponsor for this year’s Pride. In a year where the expenses have increased in putting on Atlanta Pride, they turned down $5000 from HRC because of their stance on ENDA. I always knew I loved the people on the Atlanta Pride Committee, but this made me love them even more. I hope others will take that stance with HRC at their pride events. Betty also informed me that a trans man will be the Grand Marshall for the Pride Parade.

So much for the Atlanta HRC Dinner. I may not have made an impact on many people, but a friend reminded me that every little bit helps. I want to express my appreciation to Jamie Roberts and Sir Jesse McNulty for putting this together. It’s people like them and the Atlanta Pride Committee who make me proud to live in Georgia.

Today Was A Good B-Day

I still have a few minutes left in another Cuatro De Mayo celebration, AKA my birthday. As usual its been an interesting weekend.

I was born during the Kennedy Administration at 10:45 PM CDT on this day in H-town's Third Ward. At this point in my life I look at every birthday I reach as the blessing that it is, especially when you factor in that it took me awhile to evolve (and I'm STILL evolving) into the person I am today.

One of the neat things about living in Da Ville is that my birthday falls either just before, on or just after Derby Day. The two week period leading up to the Kentucky Derby is a smorgasbord of events, parties and festivals all leading up to the Derby and Kentucky Oaks. The Oaks is held the day before at Churchill Downs and the races that day including the Oaks have fillies running in them.

When I first moved up here in 2001, my big 4-0 birthday actually fell during Derby 128 in 2002. I still have memorabilia stashed from that one..

Of course, the GLBT community gets in on the fun as well. One of the parties I attended last night was sponsored by our local GLBT civil rights organization, the Fairness Campaign. It's a fundraiser for Fairness and an opportunity for our community to show some love to all the local, state and national political peeps and others who support us. It's also a chance for GLBT friendly celebs who are attending other Derby events around town to interface with their local GLBT fans. And hey, i get to dress up for it as well.

But that party made for a short night. I'd already agreed to roll up to Columbus this morning with Dawn to catch another fencing tournament with her, and we shoved off bright and early up I-71 north at 10 AM EDT to do so. A few hours later we were in Columbus, but not after a little Mapquest drama.

For those of you who Mapquest trips, you're probably aware of the quirks that sometimes pop up that have you taking counterintuitive routes to your destination point. Nine times out of ten it's on target, but every now and then you get one of those head scratching routings

Well, our target destination was a high school in Dublin, OH where the Great Lakes Regional Tournament was being held. We should have been routed off I-71 WESTWARD onto I-270. Instead, it gave us directions a few minutes into it I realized had us going EASTWARD away from Dublin. I ended up catching I-70 west, cutting through downtown Columbus and intersecting I-270 a few moments later and getting Dawn there 35 minutes before check in time at 3 PM EDT.

Well, despite that glitch, I did enjoy the tournament, have a pleasant trip up and back on a beautiful spring day through the Kentucky and Ohio countryside while blasting Janet Jackson's new CD and a host of old school R&B favorites on my system.

I also had the opportunity at various moments during that drive to reflect on some of the blessings I've received this year. Being invited to become a contributing writer to the Project. Speaking at the upcoming inaugural New England Transgender Pride March on June 7. Having people in my life who love and care about me in addition to the calls, e-mails, e-cards and well wishes I received from people who consider me an important part of their lives. I deeply appreciate all the love you've showered on me today.

When I blew out the candles on the cake, one of the things I wished for will hopefully take place on May 20, November 4 and January 20, 2009.

So yeah, today was a good day. And I hope to be blessed with another similar one like it or better 365 days from now.

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)