If Politics Isn’t Child’s Play, Why Should Sarah Palin Get the Kid-Gloves Treatment?

Wednesday, September 03, 2008
by Tonyaa Weathersbee, BlackAmericaWeb.com

It seems there’s a lot more drama tucked into Sarah Palin’s resume than rank-and-file Republicans were led to believe.

So it’s not surprising that the same moral-values zealots who were counting on her story to inject some perkiness into John McCain’s campaign for the White House would be trying to flip the script.

They are, after all, used to doing that; to using their arrogance, the media’s timidity and the public’s fickleness and short memory to obscure the real issues.

It would be a shame if they got away with it again.

The weekend had barely passed when Palin, the Alaska governor and former beauty queen who the 72-year-old McCain tapped as his running mate, was forced to out a family secret: Her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, was five months pregnant.

Had it been Michelle Obama announcing that one of her daughters was pregnant, the same zealots that questioned her patriotism over a slip of the tongue and Barack Obama’s patriotism for not wearing a flag pin would be lambasting their parenting skills and their lack of moral guidance.

They’d be quoting Bill Cosby and salivating at the chance to plant another seed of skepticism about Obama into the minds of Americans; if he can’t manage his family, they’d say, how can he manage the country?

Oh, but they’re demanding that everyone cut Palin a break.

Reporters and pundits who dare infer that the 44-year-old Palin, who not only has a pregnant teenage daughter but an infant son with Down’s Syndrome, might have too many family issues brewing to be a heartbeat away from the presidency should McCain win, are quickly dismissed as sexist. No matter that it’s a legitimate concern -- and a concern that I would have if Palin were a man.

I’d have that concern because children with special needs tend to need more attention than other children. Add a pregnant teenager to that mix who is on track to becoming a child bride, and the possibility for more family drama is upped exponentially.

That’s a common sense concern, not a sexist one. Because if McCain wins and dies in office -- which would be a real possibility considering his age and his numerous bouts with skin cancer -- this woman would be in charge.

Ironically, many of the people who are playing the gender card to defend Palin’s working mother bona fides are some of the same people who are the most hostile when it comes to supporting things that impact the lives of average working mothers; things like subsidized day care and equal pay.

On top of that, the moral values crowd that is praising Palin for being true to her “pro-life” values because Bristol “chose” to have and keep her baby are the same ones who continue to push saying no to sex instead of pushing safe sex.

They are also the same ones who talk forgiveness and mercy for girls like Bristol who engage in sex outside of marriage, but who elevated Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” at the 2004 Super Bowl to a national symbol of moral decay.

And, eerily enough, it helped get George W. Bush -- perhaps the worst president in history -- re-elected.

I hope that people won’t be cowed by the machinations of the zealots and pundits who now, all of a sudden, are demanding that everyone treat Palin’s issue with her pregnant teenage daughter as a private family matter -- especially when they cared little about the privacy of former President Bill Clinton’s family as they waved a sperm-stained blue dress at him.

And while I’m certainly not suggesting that people condemn Sarah or Bristol Palin, or that the press stalk and harass them, I do believe that the media shouldn’t back off on airing legitimate concerns as to whether any parent with a special needs infant, a pregnant teenager, a thin intellectual resume and little exposure to international issues is best suited to be a heartbeat away from the toughest job in the world.

Most of all, I hope people don’t fall into that same line of thinking that cursed us with another four years of George W. Bush -- that because Palin is going through what a “normal” family might go through, that means she’s qualified to run the country.

A lot of people voted for Bush because they believed that he was an average Joe; a guy they could sit down and have a beer with.

And look at what happened.

Open Mic Reveals True Feelings Of GOP Operatives

Ah, those pesky open microphones. They have taken down many candidates with loose lips. I can think of two memorable ones in Texas that changed campaign outcomes like Jim McConn's 'Shoot the queers' remark that cost him the 1985 mayoral race against Kathy Whitmire, and GOP gubernatorial candidate Clayton Williams 1990 one that handed Ann Richards the governor's mansion (thank God) hot on the heels of his 'relax and enjoy it' rape comment.

Politicians aren't the only peeps who fear open mics. Just ask Jesse Jackson Sr.

So I found the open mic comments of Wall Street Journal conservapundit Peggy Noonan enlightening despite all the nauseating happy talk spin over Sarah 'Get Your Gun' Palin

Goodbye Nikki

Hey TransGriot readers,
As y'all know I've been dealing with the untimely death of a friend over the last few days and just got back home an hour ago from Nikki's service.

I was pleased to not only see the overflow crowd of Nikki's friends and family, we even had besides yours truly, the Louisville transgender and GLB community there in full effect.

It was hard looking at Nikki peacefully sleeping in that white casket realizing she died a few months short of her 30th birthday. There were more than a few tears shed, but simmering under the surface this morning was anger. Anger over the way she was taken from us and anger over the disrespectful way the story was covered by the local media.

BTW, had a chat with GLAAD about that. Will keep y'all updated as to what they're hearing from WLKY and WDRB about it.

The service was a combined wake and funeral that started at 9 AM EDT with the funeral portion starting precisely at 11 AM EDT. They kept the service on a tight schedule, so unfortunately people weren't allowed to speak.

During Rev. Barry Washington's eulogy he talked about love and how it is the binding force that keeps this world from tearing itself apart. He also talked about the love that was in that room.

I was struck by the fact that we had an interesting contrast of people in there. Nikki's family and friends, the GLBT community, and her mother's U of L coworkers.

It was also interesting to note that the transwomen were dressed conservatively church service stylish, while some of the biowomen in the room were wearing jeans and t-shirts.

After the service I went home. I decided not to go to the cemetery. I'd had a rough night trying to get to sleep and Nikki not only was on my mind all day yesterday, she's even moreso in my thoughts today.

But no more pain and suffering for our sister. She's doing her painting and writing her poetry in heaven now.

It's funny, but just as I wrote this line, the cloud cover that has cast an appropriately gloomy start to the day here suddenly parted to allow some rays of sunshine to beam through my window. It was predicted to be sunny and 83 today, so maybe it'll help lighten the sense of loss I and everybody who knew and loved Nikki feels.

What will really help me is for LMPD to find, arrest, convict and permanently send to Eddyville the wastes of DNA who committed the crime.

Nikki, say hello to Tyra, Channelle, Gabrielle, Kellie, Ukea, Stephanie, Saneshia, Ebony and all our other fallen sisters for us.

We'll see you again soon.

'You're No Leader'

TransGriot Note-If the MSM had done their jobs and grilled Junior this way in 2000, he would have never been elected. If they'd done the same thing in 2002, we wouldn't be in Iraqinam.

They need to do the same damn thing to Sarah 'Get Your Gun' Palin on her skimpy record as Alaska's governor, and frack the GOP whining about 'sexism'. They don't have any problem being sexist and racist when it comes to Faux News or right wing talk radio spreading disinformation on Democrats.

This gives me hope that some the youth of our country aren't buying the GOP snake oil.

High School Student to McCain: You're No Leader


September 04, 2007 11:32 AM
ABC News' Bret Hovell and Matt Stuart Report:

Senator John McCain had a testy exchange with a high school student in Concord, NH, Tuesday, but one that McCain himself characterized as “what America is supposed to be about.”

William Sleaster, a student at Concord High School rose to ask McCain a question about gay rights and, ultimately dissatisfied by the answer he received from McCain, told the Republican presidential contender that he'd come looking to see a leader and didn't.

McCain first answered the high school student by talking about his support for Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the military’s policy regarding gays, and about his belief in the sanctity of marriage.

“Discrimination in any form is unacceptable in America today,” McCain said.

“I understand the controversy that continues to swirl around this issue,” McCain said. “That debate needs to be continued.”

Sleaster pressed on. “Do you support civil unions or gay marriage?”

“I do not,” McCain answered. “I think that they impinge on the status and the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman.”

“So you believe in taking away someone’s rights because you believe it’s wrong?”

“I wouldn’t put that interpretation on my position, but I understand yours,” McCain said diplomatically.

Sleaster went on to ask another question about how to help the working class in America, which McCain fielded by talking about the country’s need to figure out education and health care, and to secure the environment.

Sleaster indicated that he wanted to follow up again.

“You have one more? Go ahead you’re doing good,” McCain encouraged.

“I came here looking to see a leader,” Sleaster said. “I don’t.”

The assembled students murmured, and a teacher started to step in.

“I understand,” McCain said. “I thank you. That’s what America is all about.”

See Ya ShaRaun

I've commented about the ignorance that some of my people have when it comes to transgender issues, and some of it played out on the very first night of America's Next Top Model.

ShaRaun was quoted as saying "America's Next Top Model isn't going to be a drag queen." She needs not only a lesson in definitions but some washcloths to wipe the egg off her face since she was introducing herself as the next 'America's Next Top Model'

As they say in the ballroom community, you've been chopped.



Maybe you need to spend some time hanging out at The Baton when you get back to Chitown. While you're at it, 'ejumacate' yourself on transgender issues.

But she ain't the only Cycle 11 contestant (or in ShaRaun's case former contestant) that needs some education on transgender issues. Clark is quoted as saying, "Isis has no place in this competition."

Well, it's all about how well you can model, not whether you were born with ovaries and a vagina. Hopefully the photo shoots over time will prove me correct.

And since Clark is throwing shade, you better have game to back up your mouth. I will be cracking up laughing and writing about it on TransGriot if in a subsequent show I see you packing your stuff because you 'have no place in this competition' except a one way ticket home.

In the meantime it's going to be a bumpy, ignorant and catty road that Isis will have to travel to fulfill her dream.

It's not like we transpeeps haven't dealt with people like them before. In this case the transphobes will be doing their thang with cameras rolling and their ignorance can be recorded for posterity like this.



If you're reading this Isis, bump them and handle your business with class, elegance and dignity.



For every one of those ignorant witches and smirking media empty heads making light of this situation, remember that you have an entire community cheering for you.

Another Transsistah Disrespected By The Media- In My Backyard

Here we go again with a media outlet NOT reading the AP Stylebook when it comes to reporting on transgender people of color.

This time, it's happening right here in my backyard in Da Ville.

I met Nikki when we held the 2005 Transsistahs-Transbrothas Conference here. Contrary to what the person writing up the report on WDRB Fox 41 thought, she ain't no man.

As per my policy on TransGriot when I come across these travesties of reporting I rewrite them using proper AP stylebook reporting procedures. We'll also be talking to WDRB Fox 41 about the shoddy reporting.

Those of us who knew Nikki will miss her. Tonight Terri Vanessa Coleman hosted a special show tonight at the Connection to help kick start a memorial fund being raised to aid the family with burial expenses.

Nikki's funeral will take place on Saturday starting with the wake at 9 AM EDT and the funeral at 11 AM EDT.

In the meantime, here's the contact info for WDRB-TV.

WDRB/WMYO TV
624 W Muhammad Ali Blvd
Louisville, KY 40203
(502) 584-6441

Fox 41 News Department 502-585-0811

***



This was the e-mail I sent to WDRB-TV

I'm writing this e-mail to point out that the story on Nakhia Williams violated the AP Stylebook guidelines on reporting on transgender persons.

The AP Stylebook states:

transgender-Use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth.

If that preference is not expressed, use the pronoun consistent with the way the individuals live publicly.

Nakhia was living as a woman, so feminine pronouns should have been used throughout the story.

Nakhia's untimely death was a tragic loss for her friends, family and all who knew and loved her. Was it that difficult for WDRB-TV to pick up the Stylebook and compile a report that stated the facts of the case and respected her as well?

****

Here's the rewrite of the story the way it SHOULD have been done per AP Stylebook rules


Transgender woman dies from gunshot wounds after home invasion

A transgender woman shot during a home invasion dies ten days later. Detectives, of course, are treating this case as a homicide. Neighbors were afraid to talk on camera because the attackers are still on the loose. But one man said he found 29-year old Nakhia Williams lying on the ground outside her apartment on West Market Street.

Police say Williams was rushed to the hospital the morning of August 20th and died this past Saturday, the 30th. The medical examiner says Williams died from a gunshot wound, which complicated a medical condition she already had. Police say another person was home with Williams during the home invasion.

"There was possibly four black males who had forced the victim and another occupant to the ground, a lot of commotion going on," said LMPD Detective Phil Russell.

No one is saying who this other occupant is and whether he or she was injured.

If you have any information that could help solve this case, you can call the anonymous police tipline at 574-LMPD.

Isis' History Making Debut

The highly anticipated debut of America's Next Top Model Cycle 11 premiered last night on the CW with all eyes on Isis, the show's first open transgender contestant.

She was featured in the background of a photo shoot in a previous cycle and is a legitimate contestant competing in this one. Y'all know I'm rooting for sis to win.

The fact that Isis is competing became big news to most of the world, but it's not a surprise to me. Top Model has long had rumors of possible stealth transwomen contestants and they decided to come out of the closet with a secret that fashion industry insiders have long known.

A few of the girls strutting their stuff on the catwalk are transwomen.

Top Model judge and noted fashion photographer Nigel Barker stated in a recent interview, "One of the things about the fashion industry, is that there have been many transgender models over the years. It's very legitimate in our industry. It's a bit shocking for prime-time TV, but it opens peoples' eyes."

During the 2003 Cricket World Cup that was hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe was allowed to compete despite its horrendous human rights record and some protests against human rights violations and homophobic statements by its president Robert Mugabe.

When the month long event opened with a globally televised Olympic style opening ceremony in Cape Town, each of the 14 participating teams was led into the stadium by a model. Zimbabwe was led onto the field by a Senegalese born model who worked in South Africa and Italy named Barbara Diop. During the first week of competition it got leaked to the press that Barbara was a transwoman. That prompted outrage from Zimbabwe's head homophobe and threats to pull out of the competition.

It's no shock to people who follow the ballroom community either. FYI, one of the ball categories is called runway, and as Isis Tsunami she was wrecking nerves and making a name for herself. It's been rumored for years that ballroom legend Tracy Africa went from walking balls in the 90's to getting paid walking the runways in New York and the fashion capitals of Europe.

Isis is the one who is fortunate enough and has the God given opportunity to break through to mainstream modeling success.

But back to Top Model. I applaud Tyra and the show for taking the bold step to include her. I haven't had a chance to look at the replay, so I'll judge later on whether the show is handling Isis with grace and sensitivity.

I know some of the transgender haters have already come out of the closet, and we'll probably see the same from some of Isis' fellow contestants. I hope she continues to handle this with style and grace even in the face of nasty and ignorant comments from some of her competitors and the Faux news masses.

But this is nothing less than a Jackie Robinson moment just as it was when various African-American models did things in the fashion industry that no one else had done before, including Ms. Banks.

Yeah, it's a reality TV show. But it's what we African-American transpeople have to work with until we get mainstream media to actually interview African-American transgender people who are opinion makers and leaders in this community.

Isis is breaking down stereotypes, and as any minority group member can tell you, old stereotypes die hard. It's an evolutionary step in our ongoing coming out process to first class citizenship and taking our rightful place at the African-American family table.

Even though Isis may look at it as if she's doing this alone, doing it for herself and fulfilling a dream to become a model, she's not.

Like Jackie Robinson fifty-one years ago, she's got the hopes and aspirations of many African-American transgender people and the ballroom community walking with her.

On Being T

Another day, another interesting transgender video discovered on YouTube. This one had a brief snippet from my girl Laverne Cox, who's hanging in there on I Want To Work For Diddy.



It's a trailer for a documentary called 'On Being T'. Looks interesting and here's the website with more information about it.

Where's the 'A Different World' Season 2-6 DVDs?

I love collecting my favorite Black shows on DVD. I already own the first three seasons of Girlfriends, own the first season of Living Single, and I'm working on acquiring the various Good Times seasons as well.

I'm a huge fan of A Different World, and even though I hated the first season, I bought the DVD set just to satisfy me in anticipation of purchasing Seasons 2-6. I'd even bought the Season 2 DVD online, but when Urbanworks got bought out, it delayed the release date twice and Season Two's release was eventually canceled.

Now I'm hearing that Viacom, who subsequently bought Ventura after it bought Urbanworks, will not only not release the Season 2 DVD of A Different World, it won't release Seasons 3-6 of the show either. Their excuse is that the poor sales of the Season One DVD is evidence that the show doesn't have a fan base.

Excuse me?

Umm, A Different World was a Top 5 show for five of the six years it was on the air from 1987-1993. Many HBCU's (historically Black college and university) credit this show with increasing enrollments at HBCU's by 25% during the 90's.

So the claim that this show doesn't have a fanbase is about as credible as Sarah Palin's claim to be more qualified for the presidency than Sen. Barack Obama.

Besides, the major reason the Season One DVD didn't sell well is how can I put this, season one sucked.

You had a writing team that had never attended, much less set foot on an HBCU campus try to recreate one on TV. Season One didn't even come close to having the authentic feel of an HBCU and it didn't happen until my Houston homegirl Debbie Allen took over as producer.



Under Debbie Allen, the show not only made a light years leap in quality, it actually began to have the flavor of an HBCU campus. Debbie was not only drawing from her experiences as a Howard University alum, she had the writing staff take an annual trip to Atlanta's Spelman College and talk to students, faculty and administrators about the issues they deal with.

The claim that there aren't enough A Different World fans to justify releasing seasons 2-6 of the show on DVD is crap. It's interesting to note that Seinfeld and Roseanne, Top 10 shows that were on during the same decade as A Different World have been fully released on DVD, but a quality show that tackled some interesting topics back in the day such as teen pregnancy, date rape, homelessness, divesting from South Africa, Black history, interracial dating, HIV/AIDS and the Gulf War isn't?

It's interesting to note that Living Single, another quality African-American show with Top 10 ratings, a loyal fanbase and topical shows hasn't been released beyond Season One either. But I'll save that debate for another post. A Different World's 2-6 seasons not being released on DVD is a travesty that needs to be corrected ASAP.

I'd love to see some of my favorite episodes again such as the battle for Dwayne's affections between Kinu and Whitley, Patti LaBelle's always humorous turns playing Adele Wayne, the always elegant Diahann Carroll playing Whitley's mom Marian, Sinbad's crazy self, Freddie and Ron's love-hate relationship, Jenifer Lewis playing Dean Dorothy Davenport and Debbie's recurring psychiatrist character Dr. Langhorne...well, you get the picture.



But what I'm really hoping to get is an opportunity to purchase and add to my television DVD collection season's 2-6 of A Different World.

On Being Transgender- An African's Viewpoint

TransGriot Note: One of my missions for TransGriot is to introduce you to the stories, viewpoints and voices on transgender issues from the African continent and across the Diaspora. From Sokari Ekine's blog Black Looks, check out the story of Nigerian transwoman Mia Nikasimo, originally published on the Transepiscopal blog.


On Being Transgender

September 01, 2008
10:52 AM

My name is Mia Nikasimo. As a volunteer for Changing Attitudes at the Lambeth Conference I found myself in an opportune position to reflect from a translesbian (i.e. a transsexual woman who identifies as a lesbian not to be confused with above or beyond “lesbians,” or a transgender man) standpoint on the Anglican Communion and attempts to exclude the LGBTI.

I have purposely mentioned my trans status here because “transgender” as an umbrella term (for transsexual female, male, sister, brother, mothers, fathers any of the following might choose to cross dress, are intersexed, queer, kings, drag queens and more) can easily loose ones identity in the mix and because I can only share this reflection as a translesbian in the full awareness that some, like my LGBTI African brothers, sisters cannot. As the founder of an online support group call Transafro I aim to give voice to our various narratives Anglicans or otherwise, to promote, empower and raise consciousness in Africa, the Diaspora and allies.

Transgender, contrary to what is often believed to be the case, is not about sexual orientation. Rather it is about gender identity which, for instance, in the case of transsexuals (i.e. female or male), sexual orientation is something that gradually happens as birth sexuality goes through a sort of transformation and so on and so forth. Even some transsexual people do not fully understand this so I am not surprised that most members of the lesbian, gay, and bisexual community do not understand the “T” or transgender enough to change their attitudes towards us never mind the wider Anglican Communion of Bishops which is why education, dialogue and reflection is important.

The consensus will always be that: WE DO EXIST, WE ARE TRANSGENDER AND WE ARE PROUD!!!

Primarily, in conjunction with some members of Changing Attitudes, this stance is saying that I am here, a transsexual woman and a lesbian of African origin (Nigerian, in my case) but also as a member of the wider lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community here to reaffirm our identity in the face of attempts to erase our presence from the Anglican Communion. However, the organisation’s mission statement which states that we are: ‘working for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender affirmation in the Anglican Communion’ is well intentioned we need to be proactive in our efforts.

On reflection, I have found that one significant question in particular seemed to manage to escape our attention. Although we have raised the stakes immensely in changing the Bishops attitudes, what are we as attitude changers doing to bring the same rigour to bear on ourselves? Before we can change attitudes among the Bishops we have a lot of education, dialogue and reflection work to in our community (i.e. the LGBTI) especially with regard to bisexual (although I cannot speak for them I am aware that they have little or no representation) and transgender people. Simple definitions such as what is a transsexual woman/lesbian? still manage to confuse some lesbian and gay men who then amusingly or otherwise call a transwoman or a translesbian a gay man robbing her of her trans identity and or her sexual orientation simultaneously just for a laugh. Likewise, referring to a transgender/transsexual man as a woman denies him his status as a man. Attitudes within the Anglican Communion cannot be changed in an atmosphere of homophobia or transphobia because of deep rooted fear which is why there is a call for more education, dialogue and reflection.

Although my mother is an Anglican which meant I could easily have chosen Christianity I opted for Buddhism. This is not to say that Buddhists are without similar conditioning as the Anglicans but because it was a religion I chose with a full understanding of what I was doing. Rather than the impositions and guilt ridden disposition of the Anglican Communion towards gender identity (i.e. as a transsexual woman) and sexuality (i.e. as a lesbian) I left Christianity and became a Buddhist and found peace of mind albeit formative. With committed and concentrated practice of meditation I was more able to get on with my life.

This suited me. I read broadly about Buddhism finding solace in the stories of practitioners like Tenzin Palmo and Milarepa to mention just two. With meditation practise I also found a sort of peace of mind that meant I could let go of hatred, guilt and fear and approach the world from a position of compassion, love and understanding. I even wanted to become a Buddhist nun and spend the rest of my life in spiritual contemplation in a cave out in the wild somewhere but I quickly realised that that would be indulging my desire to escape it all. Somehow, the city became my cave practice based on Plato’s Cave allegory.

I began to see anew and in seeing saw the Anglican Communion and the human condition as both locked horns and wondered where all the compassion, love and understanding had gone. I followed the Anglican Communion as it observed its rituals I did mine with Buddhist ones evoking the essence of compassion, Tara and or the Boddhisattva of fearlessness, Amoghasiddhi and shared the experience at every opportunity in social engagement.

However, on a final note, I feel the service of the Bishops is not about celebrity or notoriety rather it is about the cultivation of the seeds of compassion, love and understanding in all the Anglican Communion and not just some. This must include lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people too or the shepherd fails in his duty to all his flock of sheep. But this mantle is not for them to bear alone. We have our part to play in the affirmation of the LGBT without excluding the “T” as can happen and continues too.

September 2008 Villager's Black Blog Rankings

Hotep!
It's that time of the month that all of us in the Black blogosphere breathlessly await. It's time to head on over to the Electronic Village and check out this month's edition of the Black Blog Rankings.

The Villager got to rank 1407 Black blogs this month, up 78 blogs from the 1329 ranked in August.

The BBR's are now celebrating their second anniversary this month and from the initial 75 blogs, this FUBU production has exponentially grown. If you are an African-American blogger and wish to be part of this, just drop the Villager a line so he can include you in next month's rankings.

Speaking of growth, I set some goals that I gave myself until January 1, 2009 (TransGriot's 3rd anniversary) to reach. I wanted to be in the BBR Top 50 blogs and be at a Technorati ranking of 150.

So how did I do? In August I'd just achieved a goal of cracking the BBR Top 100 blogs and was at Number 92 with a 113 Technorati ranking.

When this month's BBR rankings were compiled on September 1, TransGriot was at Number 67 with a 133 Technorati ranking.

So I jumped another 25 spots to put me in striking distance of the Top 50 and added 20 points to my Technorati ranking. Shoot, as fast as this blog is growing I will probably have to set a new goal in October of cracking the Top 25 BBR ranked blogs.

But I couldn't do this without you, my loyal readers. I thank you for taking the time out of your busy day (or night) to read what I post here. Please know that I deeply appreciate it.

I'm also grateful and humbled to note that some of my fellow bloggers are starting to ask me to write guest posts as well on various topics, so you'll probably in the near future start to see my writing in places other than TransGriot or The Bilerico Project.

We'll see where TransGriot ends up next month. With a historic presidential campaign to blog about, I think I can come up with some interesting things to talk about and keep you peeps happy between now and October 1.

What An Alaskan Has To Say About Sarah Palin

I've got a few choice words about Sarah 'Get Your Gun' Palin that I'll expound on later, but in the meantime let me send you to the Mudflats blog, written about Alaska politics by an Alaskan.

AK Muckraker has some interesting and some illuminating things to say about Sarah Palin that will help you cut through the GOP lies and spin.

Make no mistake about it, this woman isn't fit to shine Hillary's pumps, much less wear them. She's also the new jack intellectual heir to the Phyllis Schafly's of the GOP world and despite the bleating of the Log Cabin Sellouts (oops, Republicans) is no friend to the GLBT community as well.

Just Because I'm An Obama Supporter Doesn't Make Me A Zealot

Main Entry: zeal·ot
Function: noun
Etymology: Late Latin zelotes, from Greek zēlō tēs, from zēlos
Date: 1537

1: capitalized: a member of a fanatical sect arising in Judea during the first century a.d. and militantly opposing the Roman domination of Palestine

2: a zealous person; especially : a fanatical partisan a religious zealot

I've been an Obama supporter since January 1. I've liked him ever since I watched him deliver his prime time speech during the 2004 Democratic Convention. My Chicago relatives and friends I've talked to who know the man, have met him or lived in his Illinois senate district rave about him.

I've read his books, researched his policy stances and found much to like in them. I really love his thoughtful intelligence, his compelling life story, his teaching constitutional law, having a vision about where he wants to take this country, and wanting to fundamentally change the way politics is done in the United States.

I grew up during a time in which political campaigns were not always slash and burn, assassinate your opponent's character affairs. They actually used reason and logic based arguments to explain to the electorate why they and their particular set of policy stances made them the best candidate to be elected to that particular office.

Sen. Obama is the first candidate in a long time that actually has campaigned in an old school style. I'm excited about that, so are a lot of African-Americans and many Obama supporters of all colors.

I'm excited that I have a man as a presidential candidate for my party that unlike John McCain and his running mate, understands the Constitution and has taught constitutional law. I like the fact he understands the issues that working class people deal with because he was a community organizer. I'm thrilled about the fact that world leaders and people in various countries around the world see the same things I do. I'm intrigued by the knowledge that he spent time growing up in Indonesia. I like the fact he chose an intelligent statuesque sistah (and AKA) from Chicago's south side to spend his life with.

And yes, the thing I'm most excited about is this man shares my ethnic heritage.

Far too many times people judge African-Americans by the worst we produce. Here's a once in a lifetime opportunity for us to get behind as a community someone who represents the BEST we can produce.

It was beautiful seeing an African-American family similar to my own on stage in Denver waving to that Mile High Stadium crowd. It will be nice seeing that family live in the White House for the next four years assuming the election goes the way I hope it does.

But I'm a little sick of Republicans, Greens, some disgruntled Hillary supporters and some independents mischaracterizing the very real and logical reasons I and others chose to support Sen. Obama for president as being 'zealotry'.

Hillary supporters who had the very same reasons for supporting her candidacy aren't being tarred and feathered with that 'zealot' brush. Is it because they are predominately white women?

When you call me and other Obama supporters zealots, it's a 21st century remix of that old slur that is thrown at African-Americans during political campaigns that we can't make 'rational decisions' on who we support politically unlike white people, who use 'logic and reason' to do so.

If that's the case, then explain the logic and reason you used for overwhelmingly voting for an inarticulate ignoramus in the White House for a second term and are with McCain seriously considering electing a man who graduated 894th out of 898 people in his Naval Academy class?

Just as John F. Kennedy's election to the presidency in 1960 changed the way we look at Catholics in this country, the election of Barack Hussein Obama Jr. will change the way that African-Americans not only are viewed in this country, but abroad as well.

It will also fundamentally change the way we look at ourselves. No longer will an African-American kid be able to sarcastically respond to the 'you can be anything you want in the United States' line with 'I can't be president' as I once did in elementary school.

So just because I'm an Obama supporter does not make me a zealot. It makes me an American wanting to see an eminently qualified man who happens to share my ethnic heritage run this country for the first time in its 232 year history.

Hurricane Deja Vu?

Incredibly, three years after Katrina devastated the New Orleans area it faces another Category 3 storm bearing down on it in Hurricane Gustav. Gustav wreaked major havoc and took 68 lives as it whacked Haiti, Jamaica and the western tip of Cuba enroute to the Louisiana coast.

I lived on the West Bank in Marrero as a toddler for two years. My dad worked for a New Orleans radio station before we moved back to Houston in 1967. We were living there when Hurricane Betsy clobbered the New Orleans area back in 1965, taking a path similar to what Katrina would follow 40 years later. Betsy caused flooding in the New Orleans area when the levees were breached by storm surge.

Gustav is going to make landfall in the Houma-Grand Isle area sometime between 6 AM-12 Noon CDT, which will unfortunately put New Orleans on the 'dirty' or east side of the storm. It's also expected to make landfall around high tide, which will add to the storm surge as well.

With Gustav hitting that area, it means that the Harvey Canal, which is the eastern border of my old neighborhood in Marrero, could possibly get a storm surge that will overwhelm the Harvey Canal flood control gate and flood most of the West Bank like New Orleans got in 2005.

I'm also concerned because I haven't heard anything from my godsister Angela or her family yet. All I can do is pray they are all right and will call us soon.

Gas prices are going to get jacked with because Gustav is running through not only an area with a large concentration of refineries but there are a large concentration of offshore oil rigs in the area as well. One fifth of the United States' oil refining capability is concentrated between Houston and New Orleans.

Another problem is that the pipelines leading from the LOOP (the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port) come onshore in the Houma area.

Interestingly, we have evacuees from New Orleans being housed here in Louisville. As of the time I'm writing this 1500 people have arrived at the Fairgrounds Exposition Center and it has room for 3000 people.

I and others who have family and friends in the area will have some anxious moments over the next several hours until Gustav makes landfall. And hopefully this time, the GOP and Karl Rove will refrain from playing politics with people's lives like they did in 2005.

Eat 'Em Up!

The 2008 college football season kicked off yesterday and I spent the day channel surfing between a host of games. I got to watch the surprising Michigan-Utah game and saw Florida dismantle Hawaii. But the game I was most concerned about was the season opener for my alma mater, the University of Houston.

During the winter UH hired Kevin Sumlin to become the 11th head football coach of our program and the first African-American one. He is also the eighth African-American head football coach in the NCAA and the first to be hired to lead a Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision program in the state of Texas.

While I was there my Coogs not only dominated the old Southwest Conference under Bill Yeoman, it was a Top 20 football program. Our program is building back up to that level after being (deliberately) left out of the Big 12 when the SWC broke up.

Cougar alum Art Briles helped revive the program, leading UH to a C-USA title in 2006 but bolted for Baylor. Hopefully Kevin Sumlin can not only take the program to the next level, but help keep some of our homegrown talent in the area.

I was very happy to find out that Coach Sumlin's debut at UH head football coach went well back in H-town. They beat the Southern University Jaguars from the SWAC in their home opener at Robertson Stadium 55-3. The Jaguars will take out their frustrations on Texas Southern later this year.

Congrats Coach Sumlin. May you have a long and successful career here.

1000 Posts!

This is my 1000th post on TransGriot!

I didn't expect to hit this milestone so soon. I actually beat my projection for it by three weeks. There's been so much going on this month in terms of the Olympics, the just concluded historic Democratic convention, and various African-American transgender people either achieving milestones or being screwed by the judicial system that I had a lot to write about this month.

I had a few goals in mind when I started this blog on January 1, 2006. At the time I started it there weren't many African-American transgender people blogging about transgender and host of other issues through the eyes of a proud African-American transwoman.

I also wanted to look at things with an international view as well and include news about transpeople of African descent from across the Diaspora in order to broaden the conversation about transgender people. It made no sense to me that there was little or no news from the second largest continent on our planet about transgender issues. I wanted to point out that transgender people are not just concentrated in Europe, Asia, the Pacific islands or the Americas.

As I compose this 1000th post there are as of now four known African-American transgender blogs. I'm beginning to be frequently linked to and quoted in the blogosphere, even by organizations like the Evil Equal Sign one that I've castigated for years for their callous disregard of transgender people.

I've written about how critical ENDA is to us living a quality life. I'm starting to be presented with some speaking opportunities and people on other blogs have begun to ask me to compose guest posts. I'm shocked sometimes when I hear people tell me or put in writing not only how much they admire me, but see me as a role model. I'm humbled that people value my opinion that much to ask, and I feel honored and blessed by the opportunity to do so.

I'm a member of the AfroSphere, my Black Blog Ranking is exponentially climbing toward becoming one of the Top 50 Black Blogs and my Technorati ratings are rising. I've been a contributing writer for The Bilerico Project for almost a year.

I've even gained some wonderful friends here in the States and internationally as a result of starting TransGriot.

Wow, 1000 posts in just a little over three years. And I'm still not done yet.

Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs-Jones 1949-2008

I was saddened to hear that trailblazing congressmember Stephanie Tubbs-Jones died suddenly on August 20 of a brain aneurysm.

She was elected to Congress in 1998, representing the 11th Congressional District that was represented previously by Congressman Louis Stokes. She was serving her fifth term, was the first African-American woman to represent Ohio in the House, the first African-American woman in the history of Congress to be elected to the House Ways and Means Committee and was the chairwoman of the House Ethics Committee.


I'm watching on C-SPAN the memorial service that is happening in Cleveland as I write this. It's being attended by over 2,500 people that include the members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Delta Sigma Theta sorority, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, former president Bill Clinton, Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama, vice presidential nominee Joe Biden and a host of local and state officials.

She is definitely going to be missed on the national scene.

US Open 2008

Lost in the avalanche of news concerning the closing ceremonies of the Beijing Games and the Democratic convention news is the start of the US Open for us tennis junkies.

The last major tournament of the year is running through September 7, and my favorite golden tennis playing sisters unbelievably have been stuck on the same side of the women's singles draw.

They aren't playing doubles in this one, and so far Venus and Serena are on track to meet in the quarterfinals.

Big Sis hasn't dropped a set so far in beating Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-3, Rossana De Los Rios 6-0, 6-3 and Alona Bondarenko 6-2, 6-1.

Little Sis has played two matches at the time I'm writing this post, but also hasn't dropped a set in beating Alona's baby sis Kateryna Bondarenko 6-1, 6-4 and Elena Vesnina 6-1, 6-1. Little Sis has an upcoming third round match later today with Japan's Ai Sugiyama.

While I'm not happy about the draw, I'll be rooting for whichever Williams sister survives their quarterfinal clash

2008 Presidential Debates

For those of y'all wondering when and where the fall campaign presidential debates will take place, here's the schedule according to the Commission on Presidential Debates.


Friday, September 26, 2008
First Presidential Debate
University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS
Moderator- Jim Lehrer
Focus- domestic policy

Thursday, October 2, 2008:
Vice Presidential Debate
Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Moderator- Gwen Ifill
Focus- foreign and domestic policy topics

Tuesday, October 7, 2008:
Second Presidential Debate
Belmont University, Nashville, TN
Moderator-Tom Brokaw
Town hall meeting format with citizen questions to candidates

Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Third Presidential Debate
Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
Moderator-Bob Schieffer
Focus- foreign policy

All four debates will begin at 9pm ET and last for 90 minutes.

Format-
During the first and third presidential debates and the vice presidential debate, the time will be divided into eight ten-minute segments. The moderator will introduce each segment with an issue on which each candidate will comment, after which the moderator will facilitate further discussion of the issue, including direct exchange between the candidates for the balance of that segment.

Both campaigns agreed to accept the Commission on Public Debates participation rules for third-party candidate participation.

The participants in the town meeting will pose their questions to the candidates after reviewing their questions with the moderator for the sole purpose of avoiding duplication. The participants will be chosen by the Gallup Organization and will be undecided voters from the Nashville, Tenn. standard metropolitan statistical area. During the town meeting, the moderator has discretion to use questions submitted by Internet.

The two backup sites are Centre College in Danville, KY and Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC.

Happy Birthday Hometown!

Happy 172nd birthday to my hometown! On this date Houston was founded in 1836 by New York real estate entrepreneurs John K. and Augustus Allen.

The city has grown since then to become the fourth largest city in the United States with over 2 million residents and the largest in Texas.

It wouldn't be a Houston post without me doing a little bragging. (hey, I AM a Texan) These are just some of the African-American peeps born and raised in Houston as well.


Phylicia Rashad
Debbie Allen
Darrell Green
Yolanda Adams
Jennifer Holliday
Texas Battle
Terry Ellis
Roland Martin
Zina Garrison
Vince Young
Barbara Jordan
Mickey Leland
Beyonce Knowles
Solange Knowles