Dwight DeLee has been found guilty of 1st degree manslaughter as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon.
So somebody finally got legally whacked for killing an African-American transperson.
But I can't get too happy. He wasn't found guilty of 1st degree murder. The sentencing phase has yet to be completed. I'm also bothered about the attempts to intimidate witnesses that need to be investigated and prosecuted.
But what I'm upset about is that TruTV didn't bother to cover this trial like they did the Zapata one.
It's not quite over yet, but Dwight DeLee will be getting jail time for kill Lateisha Green. How much of the 10-25 years he's facing is up to Judge Walsh.
TLDEF released a statement following the verdict, and thanks to Andy Marra, Laura Vogel and the TLDEF team who monitored the trial and supported the Green family.
Without them, this trial would have been invisible.
"Today, justice has been delivered for Lateisha Green with DeLee's conviction for committing a hateful act of violence," said TLDEF Executive Director and attorney Michael Silverman. "The jury's verdict provides Teish's family with the closure that they deserve and need, and sends a clear message that hate violence targeted at transgender people will not be tolerated."
Today's verdict is the first hate crime conviction for the slaying of a transgender person in New York State. It is only the second such conviction in the United States.
TLDEF Executive Director Michael Silverman has been working with the family since Lateisha's death in November. Silverman was on the ground in Syracuse, NY throughout this week's court trial working closely with the family. TLDEF collaborated with its sister organizations including the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the Empire State Pride Agenda and the Rainbow Alliance of Central New York.
"Despite this legal victory, transgender New Yorkers still face a serious risk of violence and discrimination," added Silverman. "New York State law does not include gender identity or expression in its hate crime law and that sends a dangerous message that it is acceptable to leave part of our community vulnerable to hateful acts of violence simply because of who they are. We call upon the New York State Senate and the United States Senate to pass transgender-inclusive legislation that will protect everyone regardless of gender identity and gender expression."
TLDEF will also be attending DeLee's sentencing on August 18th at the Onondaga County Courthouse in Syracuse, NY.
Lateisha Green's family released this statement following the verdict:
"Teish, a beautiful girl. A wonderful daughter. A brave soul. Teish was all of these things despite the adversity that regularly tried to weigh her down and overshadow her love of life. She was taken away from us too soon. All it took was one bullet.
"A bullet from a rifle that pierced her lungs and heart. And it took this one mere bullet to end Teish's life because she happened to be a transgender woman. We have spent months waiting for this day to come.
"8 long months that have kept our family captive to our fears, sadness and anger. Afraid to leave our homes, sad to have lost Teish and angry that we couldn't prevent this from happening to our little girl. But today, the jury delivered a verdict that will end most of the horrors experienced by our family and friends.
"The jury convicted Dwight DeLee of killing Teish in cold blood. They found him guilty of targeting Teish simply because of her difference. And the jury has made it clear that any loss of life in our city and county because of anti-gay and anti-transgender bias is unacceptable and wrong. Justice has been done.
"But we will never get to see Teish ever again. She will forever live in our hearts and minds. And it is our duty to share her story so that Teish's memory will be kept alive. We do this so this series of painful events will never happen again to any other person because they are different.
"Our family and friends will continue to talk about Teish so others may know the love and support that every child deserves regardless of their differences. We want to thank everyone who stood behind us and gave our family strength during such difficult times. The overwhelming amount of support has meant so much to us. We want to close by saying life is precious. Teish knew that and that's why she would tell everyone here to be brave. To be authentic and true to yourself. And Teish would give a beautiful and bright smile to everyone here. Thank you."
The prosecution and the defense in the DeLee trial, the accused killer of Teish Green, rested their cases Wednesday.
After instructions from the judge they retired to deliberate the case. There have also been disturbing reports of attempts at witness intimidation as well.
You can read TLDEF intern Laura Vogel's blog entry for Thursday here.
As of this writing there was no word of a verdict in this trial, and lets hope and pray that the Green-Cannon family receives justice.
This weekend marks the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landings. I remember breathlessly watching the television coverage of the mission from its July 16 blastoff from then Cape Kennedy to the moon landing itself and the subsequent EVA from astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin that occurred after it.
Speaking of watching things, time for me to do what I do on a weekly basis. Find the fools who are on this planet making one small misstep away from man, and one giant leap for foolkind.
There were once again, many worthy candidates this week. Pat BuKKKanan, Jeff Sessions and other GOP senators grilling judge Sonia Sotomayor, Zell Miller, Philly's Valley Swim Club, and the spokeswomyn for the Lu's womyn-born-womyn pharmacy in Vancouver, BC.
Our runaway winners this week were the peeps at Free Republic.
The Freepers went crazy over First Daughter Malia Obama wearing a t-shirt with a peace symbol on it at the recent G-8 summit in Italy and responded with over the top racist psychobabble that was so nasty newspapers in other nations picked it up before the admins climbed out of their white sheets and shut down the disgusting thread.
TransGriot Note: Since the 25th anniversary of the release of Prince's Purple Rain movie is fast approaching, and I'm more than a little pissed about the latest 'womyn born womyn' shenanigans playing out over the Vancouver pharmacy, thought it was time for another of my infamous song rewrites.
Grab your iPods or your Prince Purple Rain CD and sing along.
The Rad Fem Ones sung to the tune of 'The Beautiful Ones' by Prince and the Revolution
Rad fems, rad fems, rad fems Why you hate on me? Rad fems, rad fems, rad fems I'm a she don't call me he U make me waste my time Your dogma warps your minds, rad fems
Rad fems, rad fems, rad fems Chill with the trans hate alright? Oh rad fems, rad fems, rad fems Don't tread on my civil rights Transition was a hard grind The rad fem ones they hurt us everytime
Finished my transition Brought harmony to my body and my mind The rad fem ones Always hate transpeople Always everytime
If I told u rad fems That I have rights f u Oh rad fems, rad fems, rad fems If I came to The Land Would that be cool?
No peeps we're not confused The rad fem ones We're tired of being abused
Baby, baby, Baby, baby, Baby, baby, Baby, What's it gonna be rad fems?
I'm not a him I'm just she Cause I am boo Said I am boo Tell me, rad fems Do u hate me? I gotta know, I gotta know Do u hate me? Rad fems, rad fems, rad fems Listen 2 me I know where I'm going baby) I said I know what I need One thing, one thing's 4 certain baby I know what I want, yeah and it won't please u baby please u, baby I'm not going down on my knees Not for u Not me boo Baby, baby, baby, Not for u
TransGriot Note: My latest piece for Global Comment.
When I was growing up, the space race between NASA and the Soviet space program was a major topic of conversation.
The race to the moon between the United States and Russia was a major avenue of Cold War competition that NASA lagged in during the early days.
The Russian space program piled up history making achievement after achievement during the late 50's and 60's while the United States struggled just to get a rocket off the launch pad.
From its Baikonur Cosmodrome Russia launched the world's first ICBM, the world's first orbiting satellite in Sputnik 1, the first satellite to reach the moon in Luna 1, the first manned orbital flight in 1961 with Yuri Gagarin, and the 1963 flight of Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space.
Under the Interkosmos program 14 cosmonauts from 13 nations such as Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Cuba and France were paired up with a Russian cosmonaut and blasted into space.
Eventually the United States got its space act together during the 60's, spurred on by President John F. Kennedy bold declaration of putting a man on the moon before the end of the decade. Thanks to NASA's Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs the goal was accomplished when Apollo 11 landed on the moon July 20, 1969.
In the United States we're about to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Our onetime Russian Cold War rivals are one of our major international partners helping to assemble and staff the International Space Station.
Just as our space program has slipped from the heady days of the Apollo era, the Russian one has fallen a bit as well due to tight budgets. The breakup of the Soviet Union also put the Russians in the position of having to lease the historic Baikonur Cosmodrome until 2050 since it now sits in Kazakhstan.
As the Russians upgrade the Plesetsk Cosmodrome and NASA prepares to retire its aging space shuttle fleet in 2010, China has made moves over the last few years to challenge both nations in a bid to become the leading space-farer on earth.
China launched its first satellite in 1970, but didn't conduct a manned space mission until the Shenzhou 5 mission was launched October 15, 2003. Taikonaut Yang Liwei made 15 orbits of the Earth before touching down in Inner Mongolia.
They quickly followed it up with the Shenzhou 6 two-man mission almost two years later. It was launched October 12, 2005 with taikonauts Nie Haisheng and Fei Junlong making 76 earth orbits over nearly five days before touching down.
Well well, seems like we had some drama outside the courtroom yesterday. It seems there was an altercation outside the courthouse that Judge Walsh had to comment on prior to starting the courtroom proceedings today.
Judge William Walsh stated that he saw the altercation, or “melee,” on film and found it “appalling.” He said that the altercation, which resulted from threats made by friends and members of accused shooter DeLee's family, “disgraced the life and legacy of" the victim and that the case would not be decided on the streets of Syracuse, but in the courtroom. He warned the individuals in the gallery to behave properly and respectfully, and expressed absolutely no tolerance for improper behavior.
In the meantime, the prosecution and the defense both rested today. That means jury deliberations for the panel of six men and six women will start tomorrow after closing arguments from lawyers and legal instructions from Judge Walsh.
TLDEF legal intern Laura Vogel has the 411 about today's events.
Back in the day when transpeople were advised to keep their transitions secret and never let anyone know their status, one strategy for doing so was relocating to another city or state far from your birthplace.
Today, many transpeople reject that and are opting to stay right in their hometowns and transition.
What drove me to write this post was an e-mail I received from a young person who is starting the transition journey. In that e-mail she asked me the question that is the title of this post.
Well, it varies depending on where you live.
If you're born and raised in a small, conservative rural community, you may have to move to a larger, more accepting city for your own safety and peace of mind. You also have to bear in mind you may even have to relocate to another state or even emigrate to another country because some cities aren't as tolerant or welcoming as others.
As someone who transitioned in her hometown, it's an interesting and challenging experience at times. For the most part you're going to be around the people and family members that knew the old person. Sometimes it's harder for them to make the mental shift and see you as the person you've evolved to rather than the person they remember.
It leads to the maddening at times tendency to use incorrect pronouns or the old name in your presence. Sometimes when they slip up, they inadvertently out you by doing so in front of people who didn't know your trans business.
Sometimes you'll have your old and new lives clash at inopportune times. You may run into an old coworker or classmate who hasn't seen you in years at a local event or a store.
You'll have the awkward moments of running into an old lover. You'll pass by places and locations that trigger good and bad memories for you. You'll have those moments when you run into somebody from your past, but are unsure whether to reveal how you know them, how much you've changed since your last meeting, and how they'll react to the news.
And you won't have the excuse of distance or finances to prevent you from attending your high school reunion. (Go JJ Falcons!)
But those stress inducing dramas are mitigated by the fact that you are transitioning in familiar and comfortable surroundings. You already know the politics at the local, county and state levels. You are cognizant of the level of organization, support and activism in your local trans community. You're aware of who and where the trans friendly medical/legal/pharmaceutical professionals are and what the local GLB community support level for trans issues is.
Best of all, you don't have any moving expenses unless you're bouncing to another apartment.
So how hard is it to transition in your hometown? Depends on the intestinal fortitude of the person involved. I did so while working for an airline in an international hub airport. But I also realized because I did so back home, I acquired a mental toughness I probably wouldn't have if I'd simply moved and started over.
To transition in your hometown or not is just another thing that you have to factor into your transition related decisions.
But despite the headaches, it has its rewards as well.
You knew that EBONY was going to have to drop an issue celebrating the sistahs after their 25 Coolest Brothers issue generated much buzz, conversation in the blogosphere and arguments in beauty and barbershops across America last year.
The July/August 2009 issue of EBONY features 4 separate covers featuring Alicia Keys (the one I currently own) First Lady Michelle Obama, Tina Turner, and Halle Berry.
Of course I'm going to post the list of 25 women who as EBONY put it, made us sit up and take notice.
Alicia Keys Michelle Obama Tina Turner Halle Berry Naomi Campbell
Jennifer Hudson Aretha Franklin Serena Williams Condoleezza Rice Oprah Winfrey
Tyra Banks Angela Davis Erykah Badu Jill Scott Lil' Kim
Diana Ross Rihanna Grace Jones Mary J. Blige Beyonce
Okay, I already have problems with this list. No Lena Horne? No Dorothy Dandridge? No Phyllis Hyman? And you put Lil' Kim and Condoleezza Rice on it? I don't think so.
TLDEF's legal intern Laura Vogel is blogging about the trial developments. Since she's there in the courtroom and can give you a sense of what's happening better than I can from over 800 miles away in Syracuse, I'll send you to her blog post about today's courtroom events.
Video has surfaced as well from the memorial service for Teish that happened last Saturday.
I'm also a little irritated over the fact that TruTV (so far) isn't covering this trial at all. Speaks to the fact that once again, a Black person's life doesn't mean squat and a Black transperson's is even less valued.
Granted, the Sotomayor confirmation hearings are going on, but hell, if you can tear yourself away from the Sotomayor hearing to cover a Girl Scout Murder trial, surely you have hours in your programing day to cover this trial.
TransGriot Note: I was shocked and pleased to discover that in Dr. Susan Stryker's latest book Transgender History, I'm not only listed on Page 150 of it, this humble blog is listed as a resource for further transgender info.
It's an honor to be considered by Dr. Stryker, a person that I admire as a resource.
It also means I have to step up my blogging game another level and be a BETTER historical resource and repository of information.
Since the community seems hellbent on erasing the voices of our Black transleaders, and some of y'all don't know (or in come cases don't care) who they are, I'm going to take it upon myself and start an ongoing TransGriot project to invite those history making leaders to talk about whatever's on their minds on a regular basis.
First up is A. Dionne Stallworth. She's one of the original founders of GenderPac, and a longtime advocate and activist concerning issues of mental health, homelessness, people of color, and equality for all LGBTIQ people.
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Among her many accomplishments, Dionne was one of the original founding members of GenderPAC, a former officer and board member of the Pennsylvania Mental Health Consumers’ Association, founded and ran the first organization in Philadelphia dealing with the issues of transgender youth of color, and one of the founding members and original co-chair of the Philadelphia–based Transgender Health Action Coalition.
Lately, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to my own mortality. I guess that could be that Michael Jackson and I shared the same age when he died. It could be that in the past five years, I have lost 6 others who I loved – an ex, two brothers, and my father among them. With that being said, I have sat by and watched the same-sex marriage take over the equality discussion for all queer or LGBTIQ2S rights. I have watched Lt. Dan Choi, in a real “David and Goliath” moment, fighting for gays to serve openly in the military. I have watched in recent days as ENDA includes gender-variant people and is being seriously discussed on the Hill.
With all of these occurrences, I wonder what kind of legacy will we as queer people actually intend to leave behind for our families, the kids who seem to be coming out even earlier to a world that hasn’t figured out how to deal with them fairly, justly and with dignity. I begin to actually wonder what has happened to queer history and our leadership.
I had the pleasure of meeting Barbra Gittings before she left us, admittedly too soon. A very wise woman. At the Philadelphia Trans Health Conference, I met a woman who I had only heard whispers about. When I first saw her, I thought: “Naw, it couldn’t be her. Just couldn’t be.” But as sure as I breathe, it was her. It was Miss Major, one of the two transgender pioneers I knew who were at Stonewall in 1969. She was dressed comfortably, and was poised and elegant. I wonder how many people besides me even knew she was there.
This brings me to my point of the day, folks – if we were there at Stonewall and before, and even at the subsequent events, why does there seem to be no trace of us in populist queer history? I mean, some of us may have been Black, but I don’t think it was that dark all the time to miss all of us. What about the Asian leaders like Pauline Park or Sabina Neem? What about the Latino/a leaders like Gloria Casarez or David Acosta? What is with history or herstory when all the pages and accomplishments are all white? What does this say to the next generation of queer people of color? What does this say about the fight for inclusion and equality? Does it mean that people of color are expendable? Does it mean that transgenders and gender-variant people are less queer than their White counterparts? From what I see and hear, with very little exception, some people are more deserving of equality than others. I see and hear that my human rights, my very right to exist, are less deserving than the right of gay people to be married. I ask the people reading my words now – is that the legacy, the true legacy, you wish to pass on?
In my lifetime, I have witnessed the election of the first African-American President of the United States. To be perfectly honest, I had my doubts that he was gonna make it, but he did. However, I remember another candidacy that virtually was done before it started – the candidacy of Shirley Chisholm. Look that one up in your history books.
I have watched the constant refrain from the leadership to the mainstream media: “We don’t want special rights. We want equal rights.” They say the more things change, the more they stay the same. It would appear to our leadership in organizations like HRC and GLAAD, and to representatives like Barney Frank, some people are more equal than others. Are they right? Is this the legacy we want to send to queer families and the next generation of our leadership?
We are at a most crucial point in our history. We can begin to truly call into question the “isms” that in the past have separated and divided us and made us easy prey for the purveyors of hate and division. We can begin to really what is necessary to take care of our next generation of leaders by investing in adoption not only for gay and lesbian children, but for transkids as well.
We can say no more to the hundreds of thousands of kids and adults who die from suicide each year. We can learn and teach each other our true history, which includes everybody and I mean EVERYBODY! With all the pain, hate, injustice and intolerance, we’ve all seen and experienced, do we really have time for the whitewashing of our history? Do we really have time to be so myopic that our own legacy slips right through our fingers?
Here we go again with the 'scurred' of transwomen in the bathroom bull feces.
Thanks to the Toronto Sun and a tip from a reader I found out about this incident.
This time it was a north of the border incident that happened to 38 year old Meaford, ON resident Carol Ann Kotsopoulos.
She encountered some unwanted excitement at the Casino Rama in Orillia, ON back on March 27, 2008.
Kotsopoulos was with her roommate Glenda Killby handling her business in the women's restroom when a female security guard shouted at her. "Are you a woman or a man?'
Kotsopoulos jokingly shouted back to the guard from her locked stall, "I'm a transgendered woman, do you want to look?"
The guard according to her stated, "You cannot use this washroom, you'll have to use the unisex washroom."
Kotsopoulos stated the guard told her she was called there due to a complaint by another patron. "There is no unisex washroom that I have ever seen there."
The 5'8" 175 pound Kotsopoulos was escorted by the female guard to a public area of the casino, surrounded by four additional guards and escorted out the doors of the facility.
Kotsopoulos has filed a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario and is awaiting a mediation session in the fall with Casino Rama and an adjudicator.
Damn, can't we fracking pee in peace?
Frankly, I wouldn't have dignified that insulting question with an answer and finished handling my business. But I have to ask the questions percolating inside me about this incident.
The casino is not only owned by First Nations peeps, it sits on reserve land. You would think the last place a transperson would face such disrespect is in a First Nations owned casino due to the concept of two spirit people that is part of First nations culture.
The casino is managed by a US based company called Penn National Gaming in Wyomissing, PA. The Casino Rama is also the largest First Nations owned commercial casino in Canada and the only one in Ontario.
The other interesting thing is why they felt the need to bum rush her with five security guards?
Would Ms. Kotsopoulos gotten that type of disrespectful and humiliating treatment from the Casino Rama security staff if she was a high roller dropping big money instead of the smaller amounts she could afford based on her small monthly disability pension?
I know the answer to that question, I just had to ask it.
Inquiring minds wanna know, especially since no one from Casino Rama is parting their lips to say anything about the incident.
Well, maybe the upcoming mediation session with the Ontario Human Rights Commission will loosen their tongues.
Lost in the avalanche of news events such as the Sotomayor hearings and the scrubbed NASA shuttle launch was the start of the Dwight DeLee murder trial in Syracuse.
DeLee is the accused killer of Latisha Green and before the trial jumped off this morning TLDEF held a press conference on the steps of the Onondaga County courthouse.
During the press conference a statement was read by Teish's aunt Rhonda Gary calling for coverage of transpeople in hate crimes laws. The statement was originally supposed to be read by her mother Roxanne Green, but she was overcome with emotion over the moment and unable to do so.
News conference by the family of murder victim LaTeisha Green
Green's family supported her decision at age 16 to start transition
"But we couldn't shield her," Gary said. "She regularly received death threats and was beaten up by her peers in schools. We will never get to watch Teish achieve her goals, simply because someone was blinded by their bias against Teish and who she was."
"We call upon the lawmakers to be courageous and do the right thing by passing hate crime legislation that protects transgender people like Teish from violence and discrimination."
"We call upon the court to deliver justice for our beloved Teish." said Gary.
In the New York State hate crimes law transpeople were cut out of it (thank you Matt Foreman and New York GL incrementalists), the only reason this trial is being prosecuted as a hate crime is because DeLee's perception that Teish was gay opened the door for the hate crime statute to be applied.
GENDA, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, includes transpeople in hate crime protection laws. It passed the New York state assembly but is still languishing in the NY state senate.
Gov. Paterson has stated he would sign GENDA if it hits his desk.
The trial began with the jury selection phase. A panel of 8 women and 6 men was selected that included two POC, one man and one woman.
The first witness called later that afternoon by the DA was Teish's brother Mark Cannon, who was wounded in the same attack that killed his sister.
As the DA got various photos and items admitted into evidence, Mark gave emotional testimony about the events that unfolded outside that November 14, 2008 house party.
Judge Walsh then adjourned the trial for the day. It will resume tomorrow with Mark on the witness stand being questioned by DeLee's defense attorney.
The NAACP is celebrating its centennial year and in honor of that, they returned to New York, the city where the organization was founded in 1909.
The Centennial NAACP convention started July 11 and is running through July 16.
President Obama spoke to last year's convention in Cincinnati and will address this year's gathering on July 16. Given the history that he is making every day, that should be an interesting speech and I'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say.
It's interesting that as the NAACP is gathered in its birthplace for their centennial convention and eagerly anticipate the first African-American president's speech to it, we got not so friendly reminders that we still have much work to do.
With the president's own daughter being verbally attacked by people on the Free Republic website and a group of African-American kids being denied access to a suburban Philadelphia swimming pool, seems like we're still in the prehistoric racial and not the post-racial world.
Contrary to the people that complain and state that the NAACP isn't relevant anymore, these incidents point to the fact the NAACP is very much needed in the 21st Century.
Yeah, I'd like to see them take a more vocal stance against the violence directed at Black transpeople, among other issues I have with it. Like any organization, it's only as good as its members, the senior leadership and the board that runs it.
It's not perfect by any means, but neither am I willing to say they aren't 'relevant' as some of its critics do. I like what I see in NAACP president Benjamin Todd Jealous and I'm willing to give him time to show what he can do.
The Congressional Civil Rights Report Cards they do, along with the work of their their legal arm, the ACT-SO and other youth programs along with being forceful advocates for our people makes them very relevant.
My challenge to you peeps who don't think so is to join your local branches and do what you feel is necessary to make them 'relevant' in your eyes.
Congratulations to the NAACP in its centennial year. Thank you for all that you have done and will continue to do for our people in this century.
Today is the day the DeLee trial starts. TLDEF is having a press conference starting around 10 AM EDT in front of the Onondaga County Courthouse in Syracuse, NY.
It's also starting in the wake of what would have been Teish's birthday. She would have turned 23 on July 4.
The media's starting to improve somewhat. Here's a news report on the local NBC affiliate about the upcoming trial.
The jury selection is starting today. Don't forget you can keep up with the trial developments. TLDEF is tweeting the trial and you can follow them here.
In addition to Dwight DeLee's trial starting today in Syracuse, most of the media's unblinking eye will be focused inside the Beltway.
The confirmation hearings of Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court will be starting today.
Of course, you know I'm in favor of more diversity on the Supreme Court besides white male conservatives.
And yeah, I count Clarence Thomas as part of the white male conservatives. Uncle Thomas was declared by Pat Buchanan as an 'honorary white man' so y'all can have his sellout behind.
I'm hoping that before President Obama is done he gets to nominate an Asian justice and an African-American woman to counteract Clarence Thomas' self hatred.
The Republicans have been ironing their white sheets over the last few weeks and trying to paint a distorted picture of this eminently qualified nominee.
As usual when it comes to the GOP, they subscribe to the propaganda principles of the master Joseph Goebbels.
Tell a big lie long enough so it becomes the truth.
The truth is that Judge Sotomayor is far more qualified for the court than many of the current justices seated there. She's also served as a prosecutor at the district court level as well.
There will be an interesting side note to this developing drama. Newly sworn in Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) will get his first taste of the national spotlight as the newest member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
We'll also have to stay tuned to see just how far the GOP goes in terms of the race baiting that will surely ensue. They are in the no win position of having their rabid base demanding a nasty fight and alienating Latino voters more than they already have.
So political junkies, grab the popcorn and get ready. The latest chapter of 'As The Beltway Turns' is about to hit the air.
But the end result of it will hopefully be we liberal/progressives seeing Judge Sotomayor's smiling face in the Supreme Court group photo on October 5.
I love actress Kerry Washington so much I wanna be like her when I grow up.
She has the deadly combination of beauty and brains. I especially enjoyed the verbal butt kicking she gave future GOP chair Michael Steele on Bill Maher's HBO show during the closing stages of the victorious Obama presidential campaign.
But seriously though, this sister is a talented actress who I hope I'll get to see walking off the stage with an Oscar in her hands one day.
In the meantime, she's been doing the interview circuit while promoting the Life Is Hot In Cracktown movie which opened June 26 and is in limited release right now.
In the various interviews I'll post snippets of here she's been talking about her character Marybeth, a pre-op transwoman. You can click on the links I have to read the full interviews.
[Laughs] What type of research did you do for the character?
I had an incredible woman named Valerie Spencer, who was my transgender authenticity consultant. [Laughs] She was a girl from the community and an incredible woman. I knew that I was going to need a lot of support on this. So, I worked with her and did a lot of reading, research and watched a lot of movies. I always work that way -- I feel my job in some ways is that of an anthropologist to immerse myself into the world of the character. I knew this world was so different than mine so I had Valerie on set everyday. I believe very strongly in a community of guidance. My job is to respect the community I am portraying.
You definitely look like a woman, but your character, Marybeth, looked like a transgender woman. So what look were you going for?
That's such an interesting question. One of the things I realized in approaching this role was that I actually figured out early on that I was going to learn a lot about being a woman -- period. Because, really, what a trans woman is, is somebody who is a woman but whose biology has betrayed them in someway. For me, I take for granted my identity as a woman. I take for granted my anatomy and physiology. I don't really think about those things. What if actually I was born with my body betraying me in some way? I would think about it differently. I go to the gym four times a week to get rid of my ass but what if instead I was paying thousands of dollars on the black market in hormone therapy to have an ass? [Laughs] I might walk differently, stand differently, dress differently -- I might think about celebrating my identity as a woman in a different way.
Were you concerned at all with getting any flack for playing a transsexual character?
I don’t really think my job as an actress is to be liked. I think my job as an actress is to tell stories about human beings; I felt like that is what was important. I went through similar things on "She Hate Me" -- people are going to say what they are going to say, but I think my work is about honoring humanity. For me, as an artist, I don’t think it's fair for me to say, "I’m going to tell honest stories about this segment of society and not this other segment." I respect other people's decisions to only tell certain stories and only portray certain characters. It might be different if I had kids, it might be different if I was just at a different point in my life, but right now I try not to shy away from things because it might not make people like me -- no matter what I do in life people are not going to like me for one reason or another. [Laughs]
There's a perception that Black people are more homophobic than White people. What's your reaction to that?
I think generalizations of any sort are dangerous. I'll say, if that is the case -- right now it's an American issue. We're dealing with Prop. 8 in California and it's scary, it's really scary. People don’t think about the fact that when Barack Obama's parents had him -- it was illegal for them to be married in several states in this country. So if we start making it okay that certain people can marry and other people can't, it's a slippery slope of civil rights. Who knows who is going to be allowed to marry or not marry next. I’m not interested in moving backward as a society. So whether it's more prevalent or not in the Black community, I think as a whole America is dealing with the issue of homophobia. We got to be really honest about whether we believe in civil rights for all people or not. As Black people we need to remember the moment that we say it's okay to disenfranchise one segment of society, we're opening the door to move backward on ourselves.
This character has sexuality about her, but she is in some rough circumstances. Did you feel sexy playing her?
Wow -- that is such an interesting question. It's always hard for me to watch my own work. Sometimes that's because I’m so in it that it's almost like when I see it, it's like somebody showing yourself video when you're drunk at a party. [Laughs] You're like, "I don't remember any of that!" I had a lot of that with Marybeth. I keep trying to wrap my head around it. It was kind of shocking for me to watch the movie because I was so immersed in it. Sometimes when I work, I do a movie like "Fantastic Four" for example, you are kind of more conscious of the result and what it all looks like. This was one of those movies where I was just in it. There's a lot about the process I don’t really remember. But, I do know when I was playing her I felt very connected to womaness, to what if my identity as a woman was something that was really important to me -- sensually, sexually, physically, emotionally. What if it was something that I could never take for granted any day of the week? I was really connected to women in energy in a different way. She is a woman who makes her living having sex so there is some of that, too. I was connected to my sexuality as commerce. It was complicated.
Washington received some very specific guidance while essaying the part of Marybeth in Cracktown. “I actually worked with an amazing transwoman named Valerie Spencer. Valerie is a phenomenal, incredible woman. I spent so much time with her and she really brought me into the trans community, whether it was going to church or just having dinner or hanging out, and she was with me onset a lot. We got a lot of women from the community to be in the film so whether it was the party scene or the scene where I was on the corner working, a lot of those girls were women that had lent their time to me for the purposes of discovering this character. In terms of the worlds blending, that was just a blast to have them on the set.”
Washington is stunning in the movie, making no special concessions to playing the role with any sense of masculinity. In fact, she makes a beautiful transgendered woman. When I mention this to her, Washington relates how her good looks almost cost her the role. “It was interesting. I have this beautiful email that Buddy wrote me because originally he rejected me. It’s the most beautiful rejection letter I’ve ever received. But he sent me this letter saying, ‘I just don’t think I can do it because I think it’s gonna be really distracting to have this beautiful woman play Marybeth.’”
When I ask her how she changed Giovinazzo’s opinion she responds: “I really encouraged him. He and I both did some research. And the reality is a lot of these girls are gorgeous. That’s just the truth of it. Transwomen are women. There are many of them that you would never know… ever, ever, ever. In playing the role what I realized very quickly in spending time in the transgender community was that these transwomen had much to teach me about being a woman. Many of them are much more of a woman than I will ever be because I take my gender for granted. And I don’t own my female identity in the same way. The real challenge in playing this woman was to be even more of a woman. How do I really swing my hips? It was really fun to go, ‘I am just gonna unabashedly be a woman. What does that feel like?’ I wanted to honor the trans community by embodying the true womanhood of Marybeth because that’s who she is. She’s a woman. Turns out she is more woman than I am.”
When I balk at this suggestion Washington sets me straight.
“Really. Listen in some ways, yeah; I learned things about hair and make-up playing her. Playing Marybeth taught me how to walk in some really high heels. I have a new ability to walk in those platform pumps that I wasn’t going to get in my own life as a woman.”
When I ask Washington how the modern transgendered woman finds those incredible heels in men’s sizes, she giggles, “I think they have special connections with the shoe stores; when the shoes come in and who has first dibs on what. Again, I was like ‘My God, you guys are so much more of a girl than I am. I would never have a direct line to a shoe dealer. How fabulous.’”
From The Advocate Ross von Metzke interview
What drew you to playing Marybeth -- I have to say, that’s a challenging character, and one I think a lot of actors would likely run away from.
It’s one of those really funny, weird, I guess hopefully meant-to-be situations. I had an agent who fell in love with the project. She encouraged me to read it and I read it and was terrified. [Laughs] I sort of have a history of saying that I’m drawn to work that challenges me. I have, unfortunately, said that publicly a lot. So she sent me on this interview and I went to meet with Buddy [Giovinazzo, the director] feeling a bit nervous and ambivalent and not really sure what he wanted to do but knowing that I was really drawn to the writing. He was very honest with me and said that he wasn’t sure that I could do it. He really wanted for Marybeth to be a realistic trans woman and that he didn’t want to distract from the argument -- could this woman really be a trans woman? Having me play the role he thought might cost the film some of its authenticity, which clearly is the most important part of the film.
It’s very clear you’ve done a ton of research -- you speak very eloquently about the topic. Was this a crash-course education for you in trans issues, or were you familiar with the topic before?
It’s interesting -- when I was in high school, I was really, really lucky to be able to join this theater company in New York City ... and it still exists, actually, it’s called Nitestar. It’s affiliated with St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital. The company started really at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. We used to write these very open-ended scenes about safer-sex issues, drug abuse, homosexuality, living with HIV, loosing your virginity -- the full range of issues for teenagers to be working with around sexuality and safer sex. The company became the national model for this kind of theater in education work through the Centers for Disease Control. We used to go to different schools and community centers and perform these open-ended scenes and the audience would interact with these characters at the end of the show. First of all, I got the best training as an actor in those years because you have to know your character so thoroughly to be able to improvise with an audience of 300 after a performance.
But I also became a peer educator -- separate from the theater work, I used to work in the community and at the hospital. So I worked very closely with a lot of people in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. It wasn’t as if this was a community completely unknown to me, but the specifics of the transgender experience ... that was very new. I worked with a brilliant and beautiful woman by the name of Valerie Spencer who guided me through a lot of this and who was just fundamental to my ability to play this role. There’s also a great book that I read called Transparent, which is also a book about raising a transgender adolescent, that was really, really vital for me. I’m sort of a person who thrives with research.
Are you the one who lays out all of your paperwork on the floor and starts taking notes? I do [laughs]. And also, Buddy was great in allowing for Valerie to be a part of that process in terms of keeping things authentic. It was a very, very collaborative experience.
Tell me a little about the voice -- because clearly, hearing you on the phone right now and then watching the film, it’s significantly lower. I remember after seeing Transamerica and talking to Felicity Huffman, she said once she found her voice, she couldn’t get out of it because she didn’t know if she could find it again. Right, right, right.
Did that happen with you? I found that it changed a lot, actually, which -- and you’ll see in the film it changes a bit ... just in some of the work that I did, you’ll find that can happen to somebody who uses substances to that level ... there are different levels of awareness. The thing that I would say was similar to that for me, actually, was the walk [laughs]. It’s funny -- I feel like I learned so much about what it is to be a woman playing this character, because I think I take being a woman for granted, so I don’t think about walking in full appreciation and celebration of my femininity. I just don’t. But if I was born without the biological confirmation of what I know I am, I would be much more committed to celebrating my gender in my walk. There were all these ways of standing and walking and being that were more womanly than I had ever experienced in my life. It was great -- it was really amazing to just be a lady, because I’m sort of the result of this post feminist world where so much of what I do and think and feel is at least attempted to be done on a gender-neutral basis.
Absolutely. So he actually ended up writing me the most beautiful rejection letter I have ever received in my life. I forwarded it to my agent and thought, My God. If ever I have to hear no, this is the way to hear it. But it’s that thing -- when you can’t have it, then you really want it. I started doing a little research and started forcing him to do some research about trans women and really looking at these women. We both kind of realized that it’s more than realistic that I could play this role, because there are trans women in the community who are clearly women. What’s challenging about being a trans woman is that you’re born a woman yet there’s a section of one’s biology that betrays that truth. And so there are times when you meet and see trans women who have been graced with the ability to conquer that denial, where you’re just very aware of the truth of their identity as women. So we went for it.
Benjamin Franklin once stated that 'the definition of insanity is doing the same thing in the same way and expecting a different result.'
Recent incidents of erasure and disrespect combined with the current state of the African-American trans community are causing us either at individual or group levels to reexamine and reevaluate our relationship with the white transgender community.
Trans community, you are dangerously close to approaching the point that feminism did in the early 90’s.
Black women got so fed up of repeatedly dealing with the same issues of racism, erasure, and disrespect in feminist circles that are similar to the issues that Black transwomen currently deal with in the white-dominated trans community, they permanently split from feminism and became womanists.
The point is Black transpeople have problems in the trans community with lack of exposure, leadership ranks that resemble a Republican party convention, and the blase, hostile or dismissive attitude that comes out when we Black transpeople attempt to discuss them with our so-called allies.
This isn't a new problem, nor is it an issue unique to the 2K's. I and others have been talking about these issues since I became an activist in 1998. The Task Force's 2002 'Say It Loud' report on the Black GLBT highlighted racism in our interactions with the white GLBT community as an issue.
While there has been some progress, it has been glacially slow as we continue to watch our sisters take the brunt of the cisgender community's virulent and sometimes violent reaction to the push for transgender civil rights.
We need to see tangible, positive evidence that the partnership works for the Black trans community. Right now, the cost-benefit analysis doesn't add up. We are paying in blood for transgender rights and not seeing positive returns out of it.
We definitely aren't happy about the state of our section of the trans community. While we have some individuals doing well, others aren't.
We're also saddled with a negative public image while trying to negotiate the pothole filled road of our own gender transitions chock full of issues unique to being African-Americans.
It's why every slight hurts and is keenly felt by African descended transpeople.
In response to the latest DC dissing, in which a historic White House GLBT meeting had a transgender contingent with no African-Americans in it, a summit has been proposed.
However, a summit without an aggressive action plan to permanently cure the problem will only put a Band-Aid on the festering wound of transgender community racism that feeds into many of the problems we are experiencing with the white transgender community.
Many Black transpeople are skeptical and pessimistic about the results of a summit.
Our take on the proposed summit is while it is needed, all that will come out of it is that it will only be a feel good moment for those involved in said summit and elements of the transgender community.
We also feel the summit will be used as cover for people to point to it and say, "See, we addressed the problem," then the white transgender leadership will go right back to repeating the same privileged fueled crap that got us to this critical juncture in the first place.
But despite this skepticism that I share with my African descended transbrothers and transsisters, I'm putting it on the record that I'm willing to try and would attend such a meeting if it's called.
But if I show up, it's with the understanding that the summit be a prelude to finding permanent solutions to the problems we face.
The summit will need to break the cycle of negativity. It needs to hammer out specific remedies to cure the illness, not a panacea or a 'get out of jail free card' for the transgender leaders who created the mess in the first place.
So what are some of those bold steps?
*Transgender leadership ranks that reflect this community's diversity.
*Input at the outset in formulating policy for the community that doesn't just benefit middle/upper middle class transpeople.
*Transgender orgs aggressively looking for transpeople of color.
That last point is an irritant as well. Too many white run trans orgs are hiring just young white transmen and calling it 'diversity' when there are talented transpeeps of color who are just as qualified or even more so.
That also means you may need to hire some thirty and forty somethings to address that avalanche of snowfall in the leadership ranks.
*When this community holds up people as transgender role models, it needs to have as diverse a lineup as possible.
As this blog demonstrates, African-American transpeople and other transpeople of color are perfectly capable of speaking for and about issues in this community. It's past time to see us on news and information shows.
*When we discuss and compile our history, it must include the contributions of transpeople of color.
*When you have the media opportunity, start talking about the contributions of transpeople of color.
To help you out, I'm planning to do a series of interviews with Black transgender leaders and will be talking about the history that I'm aware of.
All you'll have to do it use it and give me proper kudos for the work.
And I can't stress this last one enough: *A serious effort must be mounted to PERMANENTLY eradicate racism in the transgender community ranks.
This can't be a hit it and quit it when no one is looking effort. To overcome the racial tension in this community will take consistent sustained action, bold leadership and constant vigilance.
It has to be a consistent, sustained multi-year undertaking with regular reviews as to how it is (or isn't) progressing with immediate follow-up action to correct the problems.
In conclusion, the various dissings over time have caused the simmering anger of the Black transgender community over the ongoing inaction to boil over.
If you cavalierly dismiss this, think this will blow over, go right back to 'bidness' as usual and don't take decisive action to fix the problem, you're going to inch closer to the day that our pissivity with the white transgender community will boil over and we say "Enough!"
Black transpeople will walk away and do our own thing like our cisgender sisters did from feminism and won't look back.
And you'll be sitting there with a dumbfounded look on your faces asking why.
Dwight DeLee has been found guilty of 1st degree manslaughter as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon.
"Today, justice has been delivered for Lateisha Green with DeLee's conviction for committing a hateful act of violence," said TLDEF Executive Director and attorney Michael Silverman. "The jury's verdict provides Teish's family with the closure that they deserve and need, and sends a clear message that hate violence targeted at transgender people will not be tolerated."
"Teish, a beautiful girl. A wonderful daughter. A brave soul. Teish was all of these things despite the adversity that regularly tried to weigh her down and overshadow her love of life. She was taken away from us too soon. All it took was one bullet.
