'Caprica' Trailer

Battlestar fans like myself have been impatiently waiting for the final ten episodes of our favorite show to come on next month.

We're anxious to find out who, what, how, and what time period Earth got fried to a nuked out crisp, but who the final Cylon model is among all the other questions raised during the four season run of the reimagined BSG.

In the interim, the news for BSG's spin off prequel show Caprica is beginning to trickle out.

I posted a few months ago about Caprica being greenlighted as a two hour pilot and a series with 18 one hour episodes for the first season. The casting for the various roles has begun or been completed and the trailer has finally been released.



It looks interesting to say the least. The show will kick off with a two hour special, then the series will go into production for a projected debut of 2010.

Unlike BSG, the Caprica action is going to be planet based. More details of the basic storyline have been divulged

It will follow the lives of the Graystone and Adama families 51 years before the events of BSG. Wealthy technologist Dr. Daniel Graystone (played by Eric Stoltz) and civil rights attorney Joseph Adama (played by Esai Morales) cross paths when their daughters die in a religious terrorist attack initiated by Zoe's boyfriend Ben.

Zoe Graystone inherited her dad's technological smarts and as kids do, one upped them. Before she died stored some of her rudimentary personality elements and DNA into an avatar of herself called Zoe-A. The grief-stricken Graystone discovers them, takes these basic building locks, some stolen technology from a Tauron rival and uses cybernetic breakthroughs to create a robotic copy of his daughter called Zoe-R, the first Cylon.

Joseph Adama has overcome his Tauron roots and Caprican prejudice against non-Capricans to become a hugely successful civil rights attorney. He lost his wife and daughter Tamara in the same attack, and Graystone creates a robotic copy of Tamara for him as well.

But ethical and moral concerns about the questionable directions Graystone is taking these cybernetic experiments lead Adama to become a vehement critic of the Cylons.

It is a sentiment passed down to his son, William, the future commander of the Galactica.

As many sci-fi fans know, today's science fiction sometimes becomes tomorrow's science fact. The ethical and moral questions raised on Caprica will probably be some of the same ones our own society will have to sort out soon.

Thanks to ongoing research in robotics and the increasing exponential knowledge gained about our DNA from the Human Genome Project, we are probably close to or soon will have the ability to create our own versions of Cylons.

But we'll get the pleasure of watching it being hashed out on a weekly basis thanks to the executive producing team that brought us Battlestar Galactica, Ron Moore and David Eick with 24 writer Remi Aubuchon.

Why I Can't Stand The 'Gay Is The New Black' Slogan

When I hear or see that 'Gay is the New Black' slogan, it just irks me, especially considering what I've observed over the last decade as a African-American transgender activist.

When we hear people say that, I and other African-Americans, both GLBT and non GLBT, see a movement comprised predominately with a leadership of white moneyed gay men who wish to compare themselves to the Civil Rights Movement but consistently ignore or fail to apply the fundamental lessons of that movement.

What are those lessons? Coalition building, composing civil rights law as broadly as possible to cover the most people, and doing so and dealing with others in a morally ethical manner.

Unfortunately some of our gay white brothers and sisters do that only when it is advantageous or critical for them to do so, like when an anti gay referendum is on the ballot, then they come calling.

Any other time, except when they need melanin in a photo op, they ignore us.

When I look at those documentaries, movies and photos of the Civil Rights Movement, I see most of the signs carried by marchers have something to do with jobs, equal rights, voting and stopping lynching, not marriage issues.

To be honest, short of the obvious one involving the trans Atlantic slave trade, the transgender community has more similarities with the African-American struggle at its inception than the gay one does.

How you may ask? Before y'all start tripping like one gay person did (so far) when I made this statement in a Bilerico comment thread, let me school y'all on some of the things I've observed, and if you disagree, that's what the comment thread at the end of this post is for.

*Once we transition, there's no hiding for us. We are reviled by some members of the general public simply for being who we are.

*At the time the major push of the Civil Rights Movement started in 1954, African-Americans had no elected political representation at the major city, county, and state government or legislative levels. There were only two congressmen, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr (D-NY) and William L. Dawson (D-IL) representing us at the federal level and zero senators of African-American heritage.

Transpeople have ZERO representatives at the federal level, have only one elected statewide rep in the person of Hawaii State Board of Education member Kim Coco Iwamoto, no elected representatives in state legislatures or state governments, no elected county commissioners and no elected city council representatives in any major US city.

*We have an average of two people a month being killed simply for being transgender, and that's the ones we know about.

*Amnesty International has documented the abuse of transgender citizens at the hands of law enforcement.

*A transgender person's rights are still subject to judicial interpretation in the judicial system, are not codified yet at the federal level, and any attempts to do so at any governmental level are met with resistance by the same hostile white fundamentalist anti-civil rights coalition that dogged the Civil Rights Movement. Infuriatingly enough, sometimes that resistance as demonstrated by last year's ENDA debacle comes from our own erstwhile allies.

I agree with the assertion that all oppressions and 'isms' are linked. However, while there are some similarities and some convergence at certain points in our twin civil rights struggles as the life of Bayard Rustin and the late Coretta Scott King so eloquently pointed out, there are fundamental differences as well in how the two movements evolved.

The African-American civil rights movement at its core was a church based, church led one while the gay rights one at its core is secular in nature.

But the major reason why the 'Gay is the new Black' slogan raises African-American hackles is not because as some GLBT peeps have surmised the homophobia within our community's midst.

Many GLBT African-Americans like myself can't stand it because we see it as another example of our history being appropriated and trivialized for your own purposes while excluding or erasing the gay and straight African-Americans that helped make that history.

Dr. Ousterhout Planning To Retire In 2011

If you're thinking about getting facial feminization surgery from Dr. Douglas Ousterhout, better do it before 2011.

The pioneer of facial feminization surgery is planning to retire, according to comments posted on the Transsexual Road Map website attributed to his office manager Mira Coluccio.

Dr. O as he's affectionately known in the transgender community, is the author of the book Aesthetic Contouring of the Craniofacial Skeleton. He's penning an upcoming book about FFS written for a lay audience and holds an MD as well as a DDS degree.

He is a great friend and a wonderful ally to our community, and his surgical skills have been utilized by many in our community to help them not only look better, but feel better about themselves.

Hopefully, he'll pass on his knowledge to another colleague or younger doctor willing to take on the challenge.

The IFGE-TransEvents Split

For several years the IFGE convention was managed by a group called TransEvents. While IFGE focused on its nuts and bolts educational mission, TransEvents, founded by S. Kristine James and Alison Laing organized and ran the convention.

IFGE is the International Foundation for Gender Education, one of the oldest national gender groups in existence. It publishes Transgender Tapestry magazine and is the creator and presenter of the Trinity and Virgina Prince Awards honoring the transgender community heroes and sheroes.

It has come to my attention thanks to a Phyllabuster I recently received that a split occurred a few months ago between IFGE and TransEvents. As of yet no one knows why, but I'll have to contact my sources inside IFGE to get their side of it and hopefully hear from someone representing TransEvents as well.

The official IFGE convention has already been scheduled for February 2-8 2009 in Washington, D.C.

But that split will lead to an additional transgender convention in 2009. The TransEvents folks are putting on what they are entitling Transgender 2009-The Liberty Conference that will take place in Philadelphia from April 30-May 2.

If I had to pick one, the IFGE event appeals to me on multiple levels. I am a Trinity Award winner who enthusiastically supports the education mission of IFGE, and I occasionally write pieces for publishing in the pages of Transgender Tapestry magazine. Supporting this conference helps IFGE continue that mission.

Being in the Washington DC metro area gives me the opportunity to hit Capital Hill while I'm there to lobby the new 110th Congress on an inclusive ENDA and hare crimes issues. But conversely, since those bills haven't been filed yet, until I get a bill number and actually see how it's worded, it's hard to lobby for a bill you haven't seen yet.

The Philly event would allow me another opportunity to visit the city, hang out with Dionne, engage in more stimulating discussions with her and chat with Alison Laing again.

But judging by the separate conferences for this year, unless some behind the scenes conversations are taking place between the two parties I'm not cognizant of, it looks like the IFGE-TransEvents split may be a permanent one.

Houston Snow Day

For most cities, snowfall is a ho hum event that as the amounts of it increase, bring increased vitriol for it. But in my hometown, it's a big deal since we don't get it that often.



The only time during my childhood we got any significant snowfall was the four inches we received in January 1973 that earned us a snow day off. Me and my friends happily spent that day making snowmen and ambushing each other with snowball fights.

But twice in one decade is definitely a rarity. Just a few years ago on Christmas Eve 2004 a massive snowstorm dumped snow over a region stretching from Brownsville, TX along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast to New Orleans in addition to Houston. That was the first White Christmas in Houston's 140 plus year history

Yesterday's snowfall tied a record for the earliest ever recorded for the Bayou City. According to National Weather Service records dating back to 1894 the earliest snowfall on record for my hometown is December 10, 1944.

What Goes Around, Comes Around Longhorn Fans

As a UH Cougars fan I despise the University of Texas Longhorns and some of their fans almost as much as the Texas A&M Aggies and Oklahoma Sooners fans do.

I'll never forget a Southwest Conference football game versus Texas I attended in the Dome back during my freshman year in 1981. I had the misfortune of sitting next to a group of Orangebloods who not only were shouting the derisive 'Cougar High' sobriquet for most of the game, as they became more inebriated and infuriated that the game was headed to a 14-14 tie started uttering racial slurs at me and my homies dressed in Cougar red and white as well.

Those fans more than lived up to their reputation that many peeps across the Lone Star State and on the other side of the Red River that don't revere Forty Acres share about UT Longhorn football fans.

I discovered over the years I wasn't alone in telling my Horns Fans Gone Wild story. The boorish behavior exhibited inside and outside of Austin fuels much of the distaste many of us feel toward the Longhorns.

While some Longhorn fans conduct themselves with class and dignity and show the legendary hospitality we Texans are known for, others are pompous, arrogant, and nekulturny in addition to sometimes being straight up racist. Some of them are so spoiled they feel that if UT isn't in the Big 12 or BCS title game, then it was a lousy football season. That season becomes intolerable if they lose to the Sooners, on Thanksgiving Day to the Aggies or both teams in the same year.

The rumors persist despite heated denials from the UT camp, they were the ringleaders in keeping us out of the Southwest Conference until the 1970's because UH was actively recruiting African-American athletes in the late 60's. The perception that they worked diligently to keep the University of Houston out of the Big 12 when it formed in 1995 has not been forgotten or forgiven by Cougar fans either.

The Longhorns never forgot the 1976 season. Not only was it Darrell Royal's last year coaching the Horns, it was the first year UH was eligible to compete for the Southwest Conference football title.

The Coogs administered a 30-0 butt kicking in front of a then record Memorial Stadium crowd that jumpstarted a streak of four SWC football championships and four Cotton Bowl trips for my Cotton Pickin' Cougars in five years.

The Coogs also had a streak starting from 1987-1991 during the Run and Shoot era in which we beat down the Horns four out five times by lopsided scores. To add insult to injury during that streak we beat them in 1988 by a 66-15 score in DKR-Memorial Stadium.

That's probably why they made sure we didn't get invited to the Big 12 and came up with BS reasons to exclude us.


Hey, even as a card carrying member of the 'I Hate The Longhorns Club' I have to get real for a minute.

There's no doubt that UT got screwed in terms of the Big 12 South Division tiebreaker and even Stevie Wonder can see that. I'd be pissed too as a football fan if I had to suffer the indignity of watching two teams my school beat get into a championship game and play for the title.

But I see it as karma for the crap that was pulled on us and the rest of your Left Behind SWC brethren. How do you think we Cougar fans feel watching you peeps play in a conference we should have been a part of at its formation?

We also get the indignity of watching you recruit Houston area high school football talent to stock your Longhorn squads with that you'd have a much harder time hooking (pardon the pun) with the University of Houston as a Big 12 member.

It ain't Miami and the BCS Title game, but at least you're going to a BCS bowl. Most schools would kill to go to the Fiesta Bowl, much less ANY bowl and you're whining about it.

But while you're sitting in the air conditioned comfort of Glendale's University of Phoenix Stadium, you may wish to contemplate the possibility that the arc of the college football universe is starting to bend towards justice.

Stop Tripping Conservatives-Obama IS A US Citizen

You know, after eight years of an administration that had a president who called the Constitution 'just a scrap of paper' and showed their disdain for it at every opportunity, now they want to be sticklers for their specious interpretation of it now that an African-American who was once president of the Harvard Law Review is several weeks away from occupying the Oval Office

They've been loudly claiming that either President elect Obama isn't a US citizen because of his Kenyan father, has dual US and British citizenship, because he lived in Indonesia for a few years, the birth certificate isn't authentic or whatever lie du jour they come up with. The stories and conspiracy theories keep changing faster than their dirty drawers.

First, let's see what the Constitution has to say about qualifications for office.

Article II, section 1 US Constitution

No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

That's what Article II, section one says about who is eligible to be president of the United States. That's means you can't run Ah-nold (thank God) for the office.



Now, let's take a look at Amendment 14 to our Constitution.

Amendment 14

1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Did you catch that first sentence, conservaidiots? Let me repeat it for you if you didn't since I know you're used to having Faux News, your so called 'christian' pastor and right-wing talk radio tell you what and how to think and may not be used to actually reading and interpreting things for yourself.

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

Barack was born in Honolulu, HI. That, for you conservailliterates is a state, is United States territory and had been a state for two years at the time of his birth. That, and the fact that his mother S. Ann Dunham is an American citizen makes him an American under the 14th Amendment irregardless of his father being Kenyan or whatever other ancillary bull feces you wish to dredge up.

I guess Jeb Bush's children George P. 'I just remembered I was Latino in 2000' Bush, Jeb Junior and Noelle Bush based on that conservastandard aren't US citizens either because their mother Columba was born in Mexico and didn't become a naturalized United States citizen until 1987, after they were all born.

That birth announcement and the Hawaii secretary of state confirming that the president elect's 1961 birth certificate is authentic make that game, set and match in terms of swatting down this lame conservalie.

So y'all can stop hollering 'cover up', there isn't one. You were already discredited when you spent most of the 1990's foaming at the mouth and hissing that Bill and Hillary Clinton were serial murderers. You also spent most of this campaign cycle trying to paint the President elect and the First Lady elect as dangerous, militant angry radicals, so your 15 minutes has long ago expired.

Fortunately the Supreme Court (for once) and lower federal courts have dismissed the frivolous lawsuits filed by some of you sore loser Republicans and libertarians who are desperately trying to overturn the votes of 66 million people.

So stop drinking the right-wing red Kool-aid and get over it. You overwhelmingly lost in November and you will again if you send Sarah Palin's clueless Bible thumping behind our way in 2012.

The Muxe Of Mexico

TransGriot Note: The New York Times published this interesting story about the Muxe of the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. As I and other transgender people have pointed out, there are various cultures around the world that make room for either a third gender category or simply make room for those who feel from birth they are female to live their lives.


A Lifestyle Distinct: The Muxe of Mexico

By MARC LACEY
Published: December 6, 2008
Katie Orlinsky contributed reporting and photos from Juchitán, Mexico

Mexico City — Mexico can be intolerant of homosexuality; it can also be quite liberal. Gay-bashing incidents are not uncommon in the countryside, where many Mexicans consider homosexuality a sin. In Mexico City, meanwhile, same-sex domestic partnerships are legally recognized — and often celebrated lavishly in government offices as if they were marriages.

But nowhere are attitudes toward sex and gender quite as elastic as in the far reaches of the southern state of Oaxaca. There, in the indigenous communities around the town of Juchitán, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight. The local Zapotec people have made room for a third category, which they call “muxes” (pronounced MOO-shays) — men who consider themselves women and live in a socially sanctioned netherworld between the two genders.

“Muxe” is a Zapotec word derived from the Spanish “mujer,” or woman; it is reserved for males who, from boyhood, have felt themselves drawn to living as a woman, anticipating roles set out for them by the community.

Anthropologists trace the acceptance of people of mixed gender to pre-Colombian Mexico, pointing to accounts of cross-dressing Aztec priests and Mayan gods who were male and female at the same time. Spanish colonizers wiped out most of those attitudes in the 1500s by forcing conversion to Catholicism. But mixed-gender identities managed to survive in the area around Juchitán, a place so traditional that many people speak ancient Zapotec instead of Spanish.

Not all muxes express their identities the same way. Some dress as women and take hormones to change their bodies. Others favor male clothes. What they share is that the community accepts them; many in it believe that muxes have special intellectual and artistic gifts.

Every November, muxes inundate the town for a grand ball that attracts local men, women and children as well as outsiders. A queen is selected; the mayor crowns her. “I don’t care what people say,” said Sebastian Sarmienta, the boyfriend of a muxe, Ninel Castillejo García. “There are some people who get uncomfortable. I don’t see a problem. What is so bad about it?”

Muxes are found in all walks of life in Juchitán, but most take on traditional female roles — selling in the market, embroidering traditional garments, cooking at home. Some also become sex workers, selling their services to men.

Acceptance of a child who feels he is a muxe is not unanimous; some parents force such children to fend for themselves. But the far more common sentiment appears to be that of a woman who takes care of her grandson, Carmelo, 13.

“It is how God sent him,” she said.

2008 Bardstown Aglow

Today marks the 23rd anniversary of one of Louisville favorite events, Bardstown Aglow. From dusk until 10 PM many of the merchants, restaurants and shops along Bardstown Rd in the Highlands neighborhood open their doors for holiday fun, discounts and other assorted events to celebrate the return of the Christmas season.

Some of the churches in that strip also have events as well, and for the second straight year my church, Edenside Christian, as part of their Bardstown Aglow program asked me to put on my DJ hat again and play Christmas songs with soul.

As always they had hot coffee, apple cider, lemonade and cookies for people to snack on. In the church basement it was set up so that people could create Christmas cards for us to send to our troops abroad.

Edenside will also be celebrating the 100th anniversary in March in that particular building.

So yesterday I walked into my fave music store, the Doo Wop Shop to rent my DJ equipment from them. They have a great rental rate and if I so choose, I can convert it if I like the DJ setup into a monthly payment plan until I pay it off.

This was however, my first visit since the fire a few months ago, and while it looks the same on the outside, I almost didn't recognize the place on the inside. The same friendly, helpful staff got me registered on their new computer system, helped me select the components I needed, tested them and got me on my way in just under an hour. Once I got the equipment home I set it up and started practicing to get familiar with the equipment setup and rehone my DJ skills.

My DJ turn actually got off to a rocky start. I had the equipment set up and plugged into my roomie's power strip I'd borrowed, but I didn't know it was about to die. It would pick that moment to give up the electronic ghost.

After coming up with an alternate solution and additional cords the power problem was resolved and music began playing until 10 PM EST. I've got the equipment until next Friday, so I'm going to play with it for a few days before I turn it in and get my deposit back.

I had fun once again spinning Christmas tunes and I'm looking forward to next year.

Gainesville, FL Anti-GLBT Amendment Wording Approved

TransGriot Note: Here we go again. Usually towns and cities that are homes to colleges are fairly progressive, but apparently Gainesville FL, home city for the University of Florida has a group of haters who feel it's their 'right' to deny civil rights protection for a minority. When will this lunacy stop?



Commissioners OK amendment wording

By Megan Rolland
Staff Writer

Published: Friday, December 5, 2008 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 11:04 p.m.

City commissioners unanimously approved language for a ballot amendment Thursday night, despite opposition from the political action committee that's behind the petition drive that would put civil rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals to a vote.

On March 24, registered voters in the city of Gainesville will decide whether the city's anti-discrimination ordinance should be the same as Florida state anti-discrimination statute.

If local law were altered to mirror the state statute, the change would eliminate the words "sexual preference" and "gender identity" from the classes of people in Gainesville who are granted equal access to housing, employment, public accommodation and credit.

Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan emphasized Thursday that without the city's added protections, it is perfectly legal for a business owner to refuse to serve a gay person or for a landlord to deny housing to a transgender individual.

She said the city has chosen to protect these people from discrimination.

"If you take away your community's right to do that and cede that right to the state, then you defacto say, that, 'OK, we are willing to allow those discriminations.' "

Earlier in the evening, the commission voted to adopt a resolution opposing the amendment.

Members of Citizens for Good Public Policy said the adopted ballot language was a clear attempt to bias the focus of the amendment.

"You clearly wish to slant the wording of the amendment in such a way as to create prejudice about it," said Jim Gilbert, who worked with the organization in collecting more than 6,000 valid signatures. "I ask the commission to drop its double standard and admit that you got this one wrong."

Gilbert and Cain Davis, president of the citizen organization, both approved the ballot language initially brought before the City Commission.

Initially, the amendment merely stated what the protected classes were in the Florida civil rights statute.

The language adopted Thursday night lists those classes that are currently protected by the city but would no longer be if this amendment passes.

"I think there are some very misleading things going on here tonight," Davis said.

In collecting petition signatures, Citizens for Good Public Policy was accused of using misleading tactics by portraying the issue as one of men using women's restrooms.

The group organized in opposition to a City Commission vote in January putting "gender identity" into the list of protected classes.

Davis has argued that because transgender individuals are now guaranteed access to public accommodation, men can use women's restrooms, a right that would be abused by sexual predators.

"Sexual orientation" has been in the city's ordinance since 1998.

City Attorney Marion Radson said it is the duty of the city to ensure that the ballot language "be fair and advise the voter sufficiently to enable him or her to cast an appropriate ballot."

Radson said that the language commissioners adopted Thursday night passed that test.

A Crossdresser's Story

While there are many African-American transpeople like myself whose stories are just beginning to be told, I can't forget the African-American peeps who are crossdressers silently in some cases sorting through their issues.

Unlike some transpeople who wish to forget they ever were and even hate on crossdressers, I and others don't. It was that period in my life that helped me sort out that I was truly transgender and it wasn't a passing phase.

While crossdressing and transsexualism may seem similar on the surface in terms of the clothing issues, the reasons we wear them are separate and distinct.

The major difference between a crossdresser and a transperson is that many enjoy their birth gender and wish to remain card carrying members in it, we don't.

But just as there are many flavors of transpeople, there are also variances in the crossdressing community as well.

I stumbled across an interesting site belonging to Zoe, who tells her story.

Genevieve has been telling her continually evolving story in her blog The D Line since June 2005.

Past Miss International Queen Pageant Highlights

Since Thailand's recent political turmoil postponed Miss International Queen 2008, thought I'd post some video from the past pageants to give y'all an idea what we pageant fanatics missed this year.

I'm happy to hear that some of the Thai political turmoil is starting to fade a bit since the Thai constitutional courts weighed in on the issue that triggered the crisis and led to the opposition group's boycott and occupation of Bangkok's two airports.

The shutdown stranded over 300,000 international tourists in Thailand and is estimated to have cost the country $2 billion USD in tourist revenue.

Now that they're on the road to sorting out the political problems, let's hope political stability reigns in the 'Land of Smiles' for a while, people resume visiting Asia's best beaches and my Thai transsisters can get back to work dazzling tourists at the various cabarets they're famous for along with the other 1.8 million Thais the tourism industry employs..

It'll also be cool to see those two highly anticipated transgender pageants take place there in 2009.


The 2004 Pageant


The 2005 Pageant


The 2006 Pageant

Top 100 American Speeches of the 20th Century

As evidenced in several places here on TransGriot, I've given a few speeches here and there at various times for various reasons before and since I started this transition journey. I love reading the website American Rhetoric sometimes for inspiration when I'm asked to compile one for delivery.

Speaking of compilations, an Electronic Village post about Professor Anita Hill's opening statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee during the 1991 Uncle Thomas confirmation hearing making the list of 100 Greatest Speeches of the 20th Century led me to wonder not only who else made the overall list, but with our tradition for oratory, how many African-Americans did.

It's a fascinating journey through the last century of American oratory, and it speaks to why President elect Obama's recent campaign resonated with so many people. The list reads like a Who's Who of oratory with familiar names such as John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.



The Number 1 speech is of course, Dr. King's 1963 'I Have a Dream' speech which beat out John F. Kennedy's 1961 Inaugural address for the top spot. But clocking in at Number 5 is Barbara Jordan's 1976 DNC Keynote Address and at Number 7 is Malcolm X's 'The Ballot or the Bullet'.

In the Top 25 speeches, Rev Jesse Jackson, Sr. is at number 12 in the speech hit parade with his 1984 DNC Address in San Francisco and Dr. King at number 15 with the April 3, 1968 'I've Been to the Mountaintop' speech.



Dr. King makes an appearance again at Number 43 with his April 4, 1967 Riverside Church speech blasting the Vietnam War entitled 'Beyond Vietnam- A Time To Break Silence', followed closely behind by Mary Church Terrell's October 10, 1906 speech 'What It Means To Be Colored in the Capital of the U.S.' to close out African-American speech makers in the Top 50.


Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. is at Number 51 with his 1988 DNC Address delivered from the Democratic convention in Atlanta in the wake of his presidential nomination run that fell just short. Kwame Toure's (Stokely Carmichael) 1966 'Black Power' speech in Berkeley, CA made it at Number 65, and I already mentioned Professor Anita Hill at Number 71.



Malcolm X makes another appearance at Number 91 with the November 10, 1963 'Message To The Grass Roots' speech and at Number 94 Rep. Shirley Chisholm's eloquent August 10, 1970 speech 'For The Equal Rights Amendment'.

Never 'misunderestimate' the power of a great speech.

Chic Nominated Again For Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Pardon Nile Rodgers and the rest of Chic if they're starting to feel like All my Children's Susan Lucci. Susan was nominated 18 times for a Daytime Emmy Best Actress Award before she finally won it in 1999.

They've been nominated in 2003, 2006, 2007, and now 2008 for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and when the votes are counted, they fall just short of becoming one of the five inductees in that year's class.

Chic is one of my my fave groups from my high school days (and still are). For those of you with knee-jerk reactions to disco, you can stop right now because this band was cutting edge.





Ask the Sugarhill Gang, because without Chic's Good Times song, Rapper's Delight, the song that catapulted hip hop into prominence doesn't happen.



Ask Sister Sledge, who thanks to Nile and 'Nard's production talents, created a song that became a championship anthem for the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.



Once again Chic has been nominated along with Jeff Beck, Wanda Jackson, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Metallica, Run-D.M.C., the Stooges, War and Bobby Womack, but only five of these outstanding nominees will get in. After the votes are tabulated, the announcement will be made next month as to who will comprise the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2009.

The induction ceremony will take place in April, and this time I'm hoping along with other Chic fans that they'll FINALLY get in.

Transwomen And The Great Pantyhose Debate

When it comes to pantyhose, women are in two camps.

They either are ambivalent about them or despise them, and that attitude only begins to shift when the weather turns cold.

Where do transwomen fit into the Great Pantyhose Debate? Depends on the transwoman and what generation she belongs to.

Personally, I like wearing hose. I think they add an extra polished touch to whatever outfit I'm wearing. When it comes to what I wear to church, whether it's dress suits, pant suits or dresses, pantyhose are a must with them even if the temps are climbing for me.

Yeah, they can be uncomfortable when the waistband rolls on you or they slide down your legs if they're not quite the right size for us long legged people. But they also add extra insurance for pre-ops against neoclits popping out at inopportune times as well as improve the looks of my legs.

So what side are you on in the Great Pantyhose Debate?