Meeting Sylvia Rivera

When I took a vacation trip to New York back in May 2000, little did I realize that I would get a chance to meet a historic figure at the same time.

It was back during my NTAC days and the same weekend as the Millennium March. I had no intention of going to DC because the trans community was dissed and ignored in the planning for the march, then made extremely late additions of Riki Wilchins and Jamison Green to the list of speakers when other transpeeps griped about HRC's 'bidness' as usual 'ignore the trannies' approach to community event planning.

That's a story for a later post

Since I was in the Big Apple I was invited by the denizens of Transy House to meet some of the peeps living there.

One of those peeps as I discovered two hours into the visit was Sylvia Rivera.

Thanks to my dad's job and my then airline one I was used to meeting historical figures, celebrities, public/political figures and icons. It really didn't faze me that I was meeting the Mother of the Transgender Rights movement.

After I received a big hug from her and she had a chance to eat something, we started talking. Sylvia carried herself with a regal elegance, and she was ever the activist. We discussed in a long conversation the state of the trans movement, especially after she discovered I wasn't bamboozled by HRC either and couldn't stand Jim Fouratt's transphobic behind.

We had a long conversation about her Gay Liberation Front days, STAR (the first political organization for transgender rights in the world), the chopping of transpeople from New York City's gay rights bill in 1971 that failed to pass, some of the drama and hateraid that was directed her way when the gay community ejected her, Marsha P. Johnson and our transsisters out of the GLF in order to appear more 'mainstream', and her adamant belief that we needed to do more as transpeople to fight for our rights and ensure we weren't erased from GLBT history.

When Sylvia discovered I was a proud Texan, she started criticizing President Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War.

I politely pointed out that as an African-American transperson from the Lone Star State I have a much higher opinion of LBJ. I also pointed out that an Austin high school and NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston are named for him, an Austin radio station bears his initials in addition to his presidential library (which I've visited) being ensconced on the University of Texas campus.

We agreed to disagree on that subject.

It was a little past midnight before we wrapped up the conversation. I ended up staying overnight at Transy House because I was staying in Yonkers with a friend and would have had a long crosstown subway and commuter rail ride there from Brooklyn through Manhattan in the wee hours of the morning. Once I arrived at the Yonkers train station, it would be a 30 minute walk to my friend's condo from the station unless there was a cab parked there. I also wasn't sure if the commuter rail trains were still running all the way to Yonkers that late either.

I was planning to return to expand on our conversations, but my life took a different direction several months later. Sylvia died way too soon in 2002 from lung cancer at age 50. I smiled when I heard that even on her deathbed, she was giving the powers that be hell.

One thing I've regretted over the years is that I didn't have a tape recorder or a notepad with me to record for posterity everything we talked about or I didn't get to see her again. But then again I wasn't expecting to meet a legend either.

I think about the things we discussed when we approach the Stonewall anniversary or when I'm looking at some situation that crops up between the transgender and gay communities that illustrates perfectly the points Sylvia warned me about almost a decade earlier.

I'm also a firm believer in listening to the wisdom of my elders. Some of what Sylvia divulged to me has served me well over the years. I'm also aware of the fact that I'm walking in Sylvia's pumps.

The conversation at times felt like she was passing a torch to me that night. It's my job as I see it, to hold that torch aloft and keep the transgender rights flame lit until it's time for me to pass it on to the next generation.

Jena 6 Free!

After more than two years of protesting, writing phone calls and thousands of people descending on Jena, LA to protest this outrageous retro Jim Crow case, the Jena 6, Jesse Ray Beard, Carwin Jones, Robert Bailey, Theo Shaw, Bryant Purvis and Mychal Bell are all free to move ahead with their lives.

The five remaining Jena 6 cases were brought to a conclusion Friday when Beard, Jones, Bailey, Shaw, and Purvis pleaded 'no contest' to misdemeanor simple battery charges.

They will spend no time in jail, serve seven unsupervised days on probation, and fined $500 and court fees.

It's a remarkable outcome considering the Jena Six were originally and outrageously charged with attempted murder in this small Louisiana town with a racist past for what basically was a schoolyard fight.

Thanks to the efforts of Black bloggers, the Jena Six got the attention of Tom Joyner, the African-American community, our civil rights orgs and later the rest of the MSM. They began to get attention about their plight, funding and high profile legal representation.

It culminated in 50,000 people coming from all over the United States to peacefully descend on Jena in a televised September 20, 2007 protest.

Because people stood up, these six young men are not rotting in a Louisiana jail for basically BS charges. While Judge JP Mauffray was removed from the case because of the appearance of bias, unfortunately the person largely responsible for the drama in the first place, LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters, still has his job.

Nevertheless, justice prevailed. It's now up to the Jena 6 to ensure that they take advantage of the opportunity the African-American community and our allies collectively fought to give them and ensure they never do.

Sierra Broussard Trans Discrimination Case Going To Trial

I've posted about 28 year old biracial transwoman Sierra Broussard and the discrimination she faced while trying to enter the Park Central nightclub in Appleton, WI.

Sierra filed a civil lawsuit against the nightclub a few months ago. The latest news out of Appleton, WI is that Outagamie County Judge Mitch Metropulos has finally set the trial dates.

Broussard's suit alleges the Park Central nightclub denied entrance based on race and her transgender status.

The civil complaint says one employee told Broussard that using either bathroom "would cause confusion for the other patrons."

Broussard is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, but does not indicate an amount in the lawsuit.

The club owner, Concepts Unlimited, denies that Broussard was denied admission based on race or trans-gender.

Judge Metropulos has scheduled the trial for November 17-18.

Well, we'll find out what transpired a few months from now. What is undeniable is the transphobia that ran rampant in the local paper's comment sections accompanying the story.

Stonewall 40th Anniversary

Today is the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots that jumped off the modern GLBT rights movement.

It is a day we celebrate and take stock in where the movement is now, visualize the type of America we would wish to live in, then do whatever is necessary to make it happen.

It's also the day to remember the people who got tired of being jacked with by the po-po's enough to where they did get pissed off enough to do something, like Sylvia Rivera.

Yes, we transpeeps are the heirs of Sylvia's legacy. It has been a rocky road for us filled with challenges and opportunities. We've had spectacular successes over the last 40 years and some spirit crushing defeats, but to paraphrase Maya Angelou, 'and still we rise'.

As a transperson of color I have mixed emotions about this day. Yes, I'm proud of the major role transpeople of color like Sylvia and Miss Major played played in helping jump start the Stonewall Riots.

But at the same time I'm concerned about the fact we have been shut out of the GLBT movement leadership ranks and systematically erased from its history.

As Stonewall veteran Raymond Castro reminds us, "It wasn't just gays. It wasn't just white gays. You had straight people sympathetic to gays. People of the arts. You had people who had had enough (of the police). You had Latinos, you had blacks, you had whites, Chinese, you had everything. It was a melting pot. Young, old. Fems, butches."

While its been amazing to see the progress that the GLBT community not only nationally but here in Kentucky and other locales has made over the last 40 years, we still have a long road yet to travel.

But I'm cautiously optimistic about where we'll be when we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Stonewall in 2019.

Blogtalk Radio Show-Remembering Michael Jackson

We're doing a special Womanist Musings show tonight at 9 PM EDT in honor of the legendary Michael Jackson.

You can check out our show page at Blogtalkradio, or if you miss it, check out and download the podcast once it uploads. If you wish to join in the live conversation, the call in number is (347) 326-9452

We'll be back with another show next week on July 4. Since we'll be celebrating Canada Day on Renee's side of the border (July 1) and Independence day on mine, our topic we'll be discussing is why are people of color in Canada and the United States considered less patriotic than white citizens of both countries.

It should be a fascinating conversation.

Nothing Fracking Funny Or Respectful About Tranny Alert

I checked my e-mail to see an alert from GLAAD and a post by Lisa Harney of Questioning Transphobia about a blog called Tranny Alert.

This disclaimer is on the homepage of the blog

This site is in no way meant to disparage or belittle any member of the LGBT community. We here at Tranny Alert are simply admirers of the bravery and uniqueness of the entire trans-community. While there is a comedic element to our site, under no circumstance do we condone any mistreatment of any member of the LGBT community and support full and equal rights for all.

And if you are thinking of using this site to try to locate and harm any perceived transgender individual, just remember, the girls WILL come for you. Just ask Mimi Plastique

And this is supposed to be humorous?

Yeah right, that’s about as funny as Chuck Knipp’s new jack minstrel show.

Mimi Plastique posts her videos on YouTube and is unapologetically open about her life and who she is. The problem is that much of the trans community contains people who for various reasons may not be as open as I, Mimi or other transgender people, bloggers/v-bloggers about their status.

The trans community has major concerns (for damned good reasons) about the possibility that your site could potentially open the door for our haters, armed with pictures from your site, to attack people.

So do you, otherwise you wouldn't have posted that disclaimer.

It could put a transperson who is in a relationship and has not yet told the person she's involved with her status in a position where she could be murdered.

It could potentially put people at risk of losing employment if they are NOT out at work, are employed by people or companies who are NOT trans friendly, or live in ares not covered by anti-transgender discrimination laws.

There are also cisgender women who have combinations of physical features that would be considered by the knuckle-dragging gender illiterate as putting them in the trans category.

There have already been cases of ciswomen falsely accused of being trans facing discrimination or physical violence because of people ASSUMING they were.

I find it disingenuous that you have a blog set up to out transpeople and you won't post or put up your own personal information on your site.

So if you won't put your own personal info on the Net, much less a picture of yourself on your site, what makes you think you can do so to transgender people?

If you respected our community as much as you claim you do, you wouldn't cavalierly dismiss our concerns, much less send huffy tweets on Twitter when people call you out on it.

Wow people really need to get a f*cking sense of humor.

Wow, spoken like someone who is cluelessly wallowing in cisgender privilege

I don't find it fracking humorous that trans people of color disproportionately make up 70% of the Remembering Our Dead list. Angie Zapata's killer was just recently convicted and sent to jail in Greeley, CO for killing her, with Lateisha Green's killer going on trial starting July 13.

I don't find it fracking humorous that a blog that ludicrously claims admiration for us and our struggle for first class citizenship in reality dehumanizes us and makes us even more vulnerable to assault or worse from our haters.

In addition, the 'tranny' term is a problematic one that is considered disrespectful to many people in this community. I'm sure GLAAD pointed you to the problematic and defamatory terminology section of their online Media Guide.

If you haven't read it, I'll make it easy for you and other peeps who don't get what descriptive language is and isn't respectful to my transgender community to get 'ejumacated' on the topic.

TRANSGENDER TERMINOLOGY TO AVOID

PROBLEMATIC TERMINOLOGY

PROBLEMATIC: "transgenders," "a transgender"
PREFERRED: "transgender people," "a transgender person"
Transgender should be used as an adjective, not as a noun. Do not say, "Tony is a transgender," or "The parade included many transgenders." Instead say, "Tony is a transgender person," or "The parade included many transgender people."

PROBLEMATIC: "transgendered"
PREFERRED: "transgender"
The word transgender never needs the extraneous "ed" at the end of the word. In fact, such a construction is grammatically incorrect. Only verbs can be transformed into participles by adding "-ed" to the end of the word, and transgender is an adjective, not a verb.

PROBLEMATIC: "sex change," "pre-operative," "post-operative"
PREFERRED: "transition"
Referring to a sex change operation, or using terms such as pre- or post-operative, inaccurately suggests that one must have surgery in order to truly change one's sex.

PROBLEMATIC: "hermaphrodite"
PREFERRED: "intersex person"
The word "hermaphrodite" is an outdated, stigmatizing and misleading word, usually used to sensationalize intersex people.

DEFAMATORY TERMINOLOGY

Defamatory: "deceptive," "fooling," "pretending," "posing," or "masquerading"
Gender identity is an integral part of a person's identity. Please do not characterize transgender people as "deceptive," as "fooling" other people, or as "pretending" to be, "posing" or "masquerading" as a man or a woman. Such descriptions are extremely insulting.

Defamatory: "she-male," "he-she," "it," "trannie," "tranny," "gender-bender"
These words only serve to dehumanize transgender people and should not be used

If someone is harmed or God forbid, killed because of being outed by your blog, the blood of those transpeople will not only be on your hands, you will have opened the door to legal complications for yourself as well.

As the people living trans lives, you can get pissed all you want, but we're the ones with the intimate knowledge of what the risks are for outed transpeople.

You not only don't have that right as a cisperson to unilaterally out a transperson against their will, you don't have the right to arrogantly tell my community what we can or can't find insulting.

As trans people, we deeply appreciate our allies, but we draw the line at being disrespected by people who claim that status, then cop an attitude when we call them out on their problematic behavior.

I Love The 70's Music

While I'm a huge fan of current R&B artists such as Alicia Keys, John Legend, Chrisette Michele, Beyonce, Jill Scott and others, my real musical passion lies with the music and artists of the 70's.

I am a Funkateer who possesses a Doctorate in Funkology, and love all things musically about the 70's.

Yes, that includes disco, and no disco didn't suck.

If you get the opportunity to peruse my massive CD collection (no I haven't broken down and bought an iPod yet and I still DJ from time to time) you'd find all things Parliament-Funkadelic and Bootsy's Rubber Band in it.

You'd also discover Stevie Wonder, The Jackson Five, Minnie Riperton, The Brothers Johnson, The Isley Brothers, The Bar-Kays, Cameo, Patrice Rushen, Prince, Donna Summer, Chic, Earth, Wind & Fire, War, Graham Central Station, Sly and The Family Stone, Natalie Cole, The O'Jays, Teddy Pendergrass, Angela Bofill, Phyllis Hyman...

Shall I continue?



Let's put it this way, If I were DJing a 70's themed party, I would have enough music on hand to go four hours without repeating a song.

To me, the 70's were just an unparalleled explosion of quality music. It was packed with cutting edge innovative musicians, powerhouse bands, legendary male and female singers, and unabashed musical creativity which those of us who were fortunate enough to witness it lament we'll probably never see again in our lifetimes.

And some of those artists, like Patrice Rushen and the late Michael Jackson went on to make more groundbreaking musical history or branch out to do movies, television and Broadway shows like the late Phyllis Hyman did.

I hope that some young musical prodigy somewhere proves me wrong, but the current state of the music industry combined with lack of music education in public schools doesn't leave me much hope that I'll be seeing the next Stevie Wonder or Minnie Riperton in my lifetime.

But a girl can dream can't she?

In the interim, time to pull out some of that great music I own and get busy with my next post. Time to play 'Aqua Boogie' and see if I remember how to spell psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop correctly.

We Want The Same Things You Do

"The ideals and ambitions which the Negro entertains for himself are precisely those which the white man entertains for himself. And this the white man foolishly resents."

NAACP founder Archibald Grimke spoke these words ninety years ago, and they still ring true for African descended people be they gay, straight, bi, cisgender or transgender.

All I or any African descended person wants in life is to have a decent job at a livable wage, a nice place to call our own and lay our heads, affordable health care, a quality primary and secondary education, love and marry the person we choose, raise happy, healthy, morally upright children, and live our lives free of unnecessary bull feces.

In other words, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Is that too much to ask?

Alas, for some people it is. Our 400 years in the Americas and across the Diaspora has been a long sorrowful tale filled with having to deal with unnecessary caca, violence and racist negativity in between the fleeting moments of spectacular forward progress as a people.

The negativity toward African descended people has been directed at us by whites either wallowing in privilege or who foolishly refuse not only see our common humanity, but resent and resist any progress made toward first class citizenship.

Heaven help you if you are a member of the TBLG community. Your humanity is further diminished in their eyes.

As I will continue to repeat until I'm buried six feet under my native Texas soil, I didn't give up my Black Like Me card, my American citizenship, or my humanity when I transitioned, and you are sadly mistaken if you believe that.

The 'We the people' in the United States Constitution applies to me and my TBLG/SGL brothers and sisters as well.

President John F. Kennedy stated in a televised June 11, 1963 speech on civil rights that, "When you give rights to others, you expand them for yourself."



I want rights expanded not only for transpeople like myself, but you cisgender ones as well.

No delays, no bull feces, no excuses.

The beautiful thing about passing the just introduced ENDA and hate crimes legislation is as President Kennedy wisely pointed out, extending rights to the TBLG community expands them to the cisgender community at the same time.

So who in their right mind would have a problem with that?

The usual suspects on the wrong side of the arc of the moral universe.

Even if the laws are passed, it's signed into law by President Obama and the moral arc finally begins bending in the direction of justice for TLBG/SGL people, it will still take time for the heartless to get with the program and realize that it's no longer open season on the lives of TBLG people.

The sooner the haters realize that, the sooner we can all get to work building a better America we can be proud to pass on to our future descendants.

And for the first time in a long time, I'm hopeful of seeing that occur in my lifetime.

Shut Up Fool! Awards-End Of June Edition

Well peeps, this year is moving fast isn't it? Wimbledon is in full swing, summer started on Sunday in conjunction with Father's Day his year, and the Iranians are continuing their brave struggle for freedom.

As always, fools are everywhere, and it's time to call out our Fool of the Week.


This week's fool in a landslide is Missouri state rep Cynthia Davis. Give you one guess what party she represents after you read this commentary from her.

Who’s buying dinner? Who is getting paid to serve the meal? Churches and other non-profits can do this at no cost to the taxpayer if it is warranted. [...] Bigger governmental programs take away our connectedness to the human family, our brotherhood and our need for one another. [...] Anyone under 18 can be eligible? Can’t they get a job during the summer by the time they are 16? Hunger can be a positive motivator. What is wrong with the idea of getting a job so you can get better meals? Tip: If you work for McDonald’s, they will feed you for free during your break. [...] It really is all about increasing government spending, which means an increase in taxes for us to buy more free lunches and breakfasts.

Did you say Republicans? Thought you could.

This comment came from the person who chairs the Missouri House Special Standing Committee on Children and Families. There are also one in five children in her state that suffer from hunger.

Missouri Rep. Cynthia Davis, shut up fool!

Michael Jackson 1958-2009

They say deaths come in threes, and that is especially true of celebrity ones. Farrah Fawcett died this morning, Ed McMahon a day ago, and it was in the back of my mind who would be the third.

As of the time I'm writing this, the LA Times is confirming that Michael Jackson has died.

This is a sad on for me because I have a personal connection to it.

Michael Jackson's death is striking me a little harder than the average celeb death on many levels.

I and my brother got to tag along with my Dad when the station had a 'Meet The Jackson Five contest back in the day. We picked up the winner, and zipped off to the Sam Houston Coliseum for the concert. The show was the bomb until the crowd bumrushed the stage and put a quick end to it. I was backstage and barely avoided being trampled as the frenzied crowd chased the J5 to their waiting limos to the street.

At the rendezvous at the Galleria Oaks Hotel, I got to meet him along with the contest winner and my friend Ernest Carswell. Ernest and I used to win a lot of money off those photos in junior high school from peeps who assumed we were lying about doing so.

I still have the autographed pics at my parents house.

I like a lot of peeps of my generation and those like my sisters who grew up in the 80's was a big fan, and it was amplified by the fact I had met him.

It was also a sense of immense pride to many African-Americans that an R&B artist blew up to become a household name around the world, thanks to Quincy Jones' composing genius and his immense talent.

You were a once in a generation performer, and you will be missed.

RIP Michael.

I Cheated In Argentina

TransGriot Note: Y'all knew I couldn't resist whacking Republican hypocrite Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC) with a song rewrite. This situation just practically begs for me to do it, so here goes. Enjoy it while Donna Summer sings the original lyrics.

I Cheated In Argentina
(Sung to the tune of 'Don't Cry For Me Argentina'



It won't be easy, you know it's strange
When I explain to South Carolina how I feel
That what I did was massively dumb

You won't believe me
Because I lied to you
You thought I went missing
But I went to be with my boo

I let it happen, I needed a change
This session wasn't particularly fun
I had to take the stimulus money and I'm bummed

So I needed a break
Running around on the Appalachian Trail
But was headed to the airport for fun
Didn't mean to scare everybody and never expected it to

(Chorus)
I cheated in Argentina
The truth is I up and left you
Flew to Buenos Aires
Straight to my mistress
Didn't keep my promise
Wife keeps her distance

And as for fortune, and as for love
I never invited them in
Though it's apparent to the world I want her skin

My affair was confusing
It's not the solution it promised to be
While my family was here all the time
I love you and hope you still love me

I cheated in Argentina
The truth is I up and left you
Flew to Buenos Aires
Straight to my mistress
Didn't keep my promise
Wife keeps her distance

Have I said too much?
There's nothing more I can think of to say to you.
But all you have to do is look at me to know
That every word is true

I cheated in Argentina
The truth is I up and left you
Flew to Buenos Aires
Straight to my mistress
Didn't keep my promise
Wife keeps her distance

I cheated in Argentina
The truth is I up and left you
Flew to Buenos Aires
Straight to my mistress
Didn't keep my promise
Wife keeps her distance

I cheated in Argentina

Trans Inclusive ENDA Introduced

“Today marks a critical milestone for our community and our country. Introduction of this important legislation signals the beginning of the end of a long-fought battle. For decades, a majority of people in this country have supported protecting their friends, family and neighbors from discrimination. Congress must act, at long last, this year." Rea Carey Executive Director, The Task Force

The day the transgender community has anxiously been awaiting this session has finally arrived. A trans inclusive ENDA was introduced in the House today by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) with bipartisan support.

The lead sponsors of the measure are Representatives Barney Frank (D-MA), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jared Polis (D-CO), Michael Castle (R-DE), George Miller (D-CA), Mark Kirk (R-IL), John Conyers (D-MI), Todd Platts (R-PA), Rob Andrews (D-NJ), and Leonard Lance (R-NJ).

I'm waiting for the text of the bill to appear on THOMAS, but what ENDA will do if passed and signed into law is would prohibit and protect TBLG peeps against workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity

The introduction of the bill is the easy part. We will now have to fight the lies of the Religious Reich, the GOP, Faux News, the conservative movement, and their negro sellouts in the Lo Impact Misleadership Coalition (the negro sellout version of the Traditional Values Coalition), their sheeple, and apathetic people in our own ranks.

You can do your part to pass this important legislation. Call, write or visit with your legislators in Washington DC if possible or back home during the August recess.

We need as Dr. Jillian T. Weiss calls it, a T-storm on this.

While there are rumors of shaky CBC support, I visited various offices of Congressional Black Caucus members and I was told by chiefs of staff and two congressmembers themselves they don't want a repeat of the 2007 ENDA fiasco.

I find those rumors specious and questionable, given that only one member voted against ENDA in '07, Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL) and also voted against this year's hate crimes bill. Hope the Black GLBT peeps in Alabama remember that when his azz is running in the Dem primary for governor next year.

Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) and Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY) voted against it in '07 because it wasn't trans inclusive.

The CBC is also chaired by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), who has been a consistent supporter of trans inclusion and the GLBT community.

Just in case the rumors are true that CBC is squishy, those of you who live in the districts of CBC congressmembers definitely need to call them ASAP, especially if that member has a large homophobic predominately Black megachurch in it. The Hi Impact ministers like Bishop Hater (oops Harry) Jackson have already received their marching orders from Massa Lou Sheldon to kill it.

So people, open those e-mail programs, and get those telephone dialing fingers ready to roll. We have work to do and a bill to pass.

Obama Press Conference On Health Care

"A government-run health insurance option is needed "to discipline insurance companies, If they can't compete, it's probably their fault. Many private insurers spend too much time thinking about profits instead of helping people."

President Barack Obama June 23, 2009

The Civil War WAS About Slavery

If I hear another Southern based (or non-Southern based) history revisionist claim that the American Civil War wasn't about slavery, I'm gonna scream.

I've been thinking about it in the wake of the recent news that the Senate passed a resolution apologizing to African Americans for slavery and Jim Crow segregation, but of course made sure that reparations wasn't part of the deal.

So let's take a trip on the way back machine to Savannah, GA. The date is March 21, 1861 and we're at the Athenaeum listening to Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens' infamous 'Cornerstone Speech'.

Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner- stone rests upon the great truth, that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery -- subordination to the superior race -- is his natural and normal condition. [Applause.] This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.

There's been this constant drone from Confederate apologists pimping the 'it wasn't about slavery' meme. It salves their realizations (or ignoring) of the facts:

* their ancestors fought a war to perpetuate the brutal oppression of my ancestors through slavery.
*they were fighting against their own economic interests in favor of the economic interests of the planter class.

Perusing the Declarations of the Causes of Secession for each of the Southern states that seceded from the Union to form the Confederacy makes a mockery of that meme.

Mississippi

Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery - the greatest material interest of the world.

Its labor supplies the product, which constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth. These products are peculiar to the climate verging on the tropical regions, and by an imperious law of nature, none but the black race can bear exposure to the tropical sun. These products have become necessities of the world, and a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization. That blow has been long aimed at the institution, and was at the point of reaching its consummation. There was no choice left us but submission to the mandates of abolition, or a dissolution of the Union, whose principles had been subverted to work out our ruin.

Georgia


The people of Georgia having dissolved their political connection with the Government of the United States of America, present to their confederates and the world the causes which have led to the separation. For the last ten years we have had numerous and serious causes of complaint against our non-slave-holding confederate States with reference to the subject of African slavery.




Texas

Texas abandoned her separate national existence and consented to become one of the Confederated Union to promote her welfare, insure domestic tranquility and secure more substantially the blessings of peace and liberty to her people. She was received into the confederacy with her own constitution, under the guarantee of the federal constitution and the compact of annexation, that she should enjoy these blessings.

She was received as a commonwealth holding, maintaining and protecting the institution known as negro slavery-- the servitude of the African to the white race within her limits-- a relation that had existed from the first settlement of her wilderness by the white race, and which her people intended should exist in all future time. Her institutions and geographical position established the strongest ties between her and other slave-holding States of the confederacy. Those ties have been strengthened by association. But what has been the course of the government of the United States, and of the people and authorities of the non-slave-holding States, since our connection with them?

The controlling majority of the Federal Government, under various pretences and disguises, has so administered the same as to exclude the citizens of the Southern States, unless under odious and unconstitutional restrictions, from all the immense territory owned in common by all the States on the Pacific Ocean, for the avowed purpose of acquiring sufficient power in the common government to use it as a means of destroying the institutions of Texas and her sister slaveholding States.


it's crystal clear that in perusing these declarations the issue that triggered the secession of Southern states from the Union and jumped off the Civil War was slavery.

So no, it wasn't the 'War of Northern Aggression' as you try to spin it, it was the 'War To Perpetuate Slavery'.

I thank God the South lost. It's past time the apologists get over it and the racist attitudes it still engenders almost 150 years later.

The Gay Marriage Push Is Negatively Affecting Legal Transgender Marriages

One of the Prime Directives of being trans is to live our lives just like any cisgender person does. But one complication that has cropped up is when transpeople get married.

In 1960, Jacqueline-Charlotte Dufresnoy married her first husband at Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral. If she were attempting that today, because of the Roman Catholic Church's faith based hateraid of trans people, she probably wouldn't even be able to book Notre Dame Cathedral, much less get a Catholic priest to marry her.

Some areas of the world and faiths are more enlightened about transgender people getting married than others. But in the United States, marriage has been a major Culture War issue.

There has always been tension when it comes to the legal interests of transpeople vis-a-vis the interests of the gay community. On some subjects such as hate crimes and employment discrimination law, the GLBT community for the most part tends to be in agreement that the laws need to be passed as soon as possible.

The contentious arguments in the GLBT community on this issue have centered on how inclusive these laws need to be.

But when it comes to marriage, transpeople already possessed those rights. Transphobia, homophobia and ignorance have combined with adverse legal cases and conservative blowback over the 2003 Massachusetts court case legalizing gay marriage to mess with or restrict those rights.

And one of the motivations for invalidating transgender marriages centered on denying the transwomen monetary settlements or in Michael Kantaras' case, custody of his children.

One early case which set a disastrous legal precedent for the British trans community until the 2004 passage of the Gender Recognition Act was Corbett v Corbett. It also had negative legal implications for transpeople in the rest of the world whose national legal systems are descended from English common law.

Arthur Corbett had his marriage to transwoman April Ashley annulled in 1971. Corbett argued that his marriage was illegal because April was born male, she should be treated as such in perpetuity despite her gender surgery.

It also didn't help that at the time medical opinions on transsexuality hadn't evolved to the current point, and no consensus was reached on whether Ms. Ashley should be legally seen as male or female.

Lord Justice Ormrod, the judge in the case who was himself a medical man created a medical 'test' and definition to determine the legal status of April Ashley.

The result of this test defined Ms. Ashley as male despite a career as a successful model. It was unfortunately used in the UK to define the gender of transsexual people for many purposes until the passage of the Gender Recognition Act in 2004.

The Gender Recognition Act ultimately defined the sex of transsexual people as whatever is on their birth certificate.

The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act was enacted to keep same gender couples from marrying, but the unintended effects of it have been on the marriages of transgender people.

We witnessed the double whammy of Corbett being cited and DOMA being used retroactively to invalidate Christie Lee Littleton's seven year marriage.

Why? So an insurance company could deny her a multimillion dollar wrongful death lawsuit she filed on behalf of her late husband Mark Littleton.

The conservative push to ban gay marriage has resulted as of November 2008 30 states passing constitutional amendments by lopsided margins. In some cases several of the same gender marriage bans go a step further and ban domestic partnerships as well.

Those amendments have had a deleterious effect on transgender marriages. Although our marriages are not specifically mentioned in them, foes and 'friends' have ignorantly asserted that trans marriages are 'same-sex' ones, and subject to these odious amendments. The gay community is guilty of doing so in order to push its marriage agenda.

The clash between the divergent issues of the trans and gay communities on marriage issues was illustrated in the recent case of Kimah Nelson and Jason Stenson's May 26 marriage being invalidated at the hands of New York City Clerk office.

The point is gay community, no matter what the genital configuration, it's a simple concept to grasp. If a transwoman marries a cisgender man, or a transman marries a cisgender woman, it is a opposite sex marriage, not a same gender one.

If you have a transman and a cisman trying to get married or a transwoman and a ciswoman getting married, it is a same gender one. Genitalia combinations and situations will determine whether it's a legal one or not based on jurisdiction.

But it bears repeating that in the zeal of the gay community to get married, it's the transgender community that once again, disproportionately gets the negative fallout from it.