Leiomy Maldonado Interview

This one was shot during Week 3 of America's Best Dance Crew which sadly, Vogue Evolution didn't win.

I'm still proud of sis and Vogue Evolution.

Uruguay Congress Approves Gender Change Law

Uruguay is considered the most liberal-progressive country on the South American continent, and yesterday they lived up to their progressive reputation.

On Monday Uruguay's Senate approved a gender change law that sets the legal guidelines for men and women who want to change from one gender to the other. It was already approved last month by the Chamber of Deputies,

An early draft of the legislation allowed people to choose a different gender starting at age 12. The text of the passed law reads, "Every person has the right to freely develop their personality in accordance with the proper identity of their gender, independent of their biological, genetic, anatomic... identity."

The measure authorizes gender reassignment surgeries starting at age 18 and allows people to change their name and gender codes on identification documents.

It now awaits President Tabare Vazquez's signature to become law.

Diego Sempol of the pressure group Ovejas Negras (Black Sheep), told BBC Mundo its approval was a "big step forward for transsexuals" and said it would ease their integration into the education and health systems, as well as the labor market .

The new gender change law comes only a month after Uruguay became the first Latin American country to allow gay couples the chance to adopt. Same-sex civil unions were legalized in 2008.

Earlier this year, the Uruguayan Congress also cleared the way for gay candidates to enter military schools by lifting the ban imposed under the 1973-85 military dictatorship.

However, the Catholic Church is hatin' as always, and made it clear that they would support candidates in the upcoming October 25 elections in Uruguay that promoted laws with 'Christian values.'

I submit the current center-left government reflects Christian values moreso than the old military dictatorship or center-right governments did.

We'll get the people of Uruguay's verdict on how they feel about their government on October 25.

Yes, There Are Black Mounties

Living Single is one of my favorite shows. One of my favorite episodes was broadcast in its third season and entitled 'Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow... Dammit.'

Overton takes the gang to the Jones family cabin in Canada for what he thinks will be a old fashioned Christmas similar to the idyllic ones he had in his childhood.

He not only finds that things have radically changed in the town since he was a kid, it's now a tourist mecca. The trip is turning into a nightmare for Overton as his cherished Santa suit gets accidentally washed and turned pink by Synclaire and he destroys the gingerbread house when he accidentally sits on it.,

He also keeps running into and getting ticketed by an overzealous Constable Robeson.

When the gang first meets Cst. Robeson, they stare at the brother in the Mountie uniform as he wearily replies, "Yes, there are Black mounties."

So watching that episode again drove me to ponder the question, who was the first Black member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police?

The first Black Mountie was Constable Hartley Gosline from Saint John's, New Brunswick.

As the first African Canadian recruit, he didn't have it easy. As documented in the Cpl. Craig Smith book You Better Be White by Six A.M: The African-Canadian Experience in the RCMP, Smith recounts an incident from early in Gosline's training.

He was the only Black in a lineup of young white men, and his drill corporal noted it as he marched in for morning parade.

The drill corporal looked over his troop, stopped in front of him and said: ‘Gosline, you stick out. You make your troop look bad and you better be white by 6 a.m. the next morning.’ "

After graduation from the RCMP Training academy in Regina, SK in 1969 he was posted to New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Cst. Gosline was later transferred to the Dartmouth detachment and other locations during his career including the Security Service Division (now CSIS) in Toronto, as well as postings in both Jasper and Edmonton, Alberta. Cst. Gosline left the force in 1978 and currently resides in New Brunswick.

In 1970, the first mountie from Nova Scotia joined in RCMP in Yarmouth resident Clarence Bodden. When it comes to Black Canadian representation in the RCMP, Nova Scotia is the runaway leader with over 40 officers hailing from that province.

Women joined the RCMP ranks in 1973, but it wasn't until 1992 that Christine MacDonald became the first Black female recruit.

If you're wondering who the highest ranking African Canadians are in the RCMP, it's Ted Upshaw, who was promoted to the rank of Inspector in 1999. He was followed by Craig Gibson in 2001.

Today, out of the 17,000 members of the RCMP, 225 of them are African descended Canadians. They are blazing a historic path that they hope future generations of African Canadians will follow.

Blog Donate Buttons

One of the things I didn't put on this site for a long time on this blog was a DONATE button in my sidebar.

I wasn't really concerned about it even though I saw sites much larger than my own not only put them on their blogs, but in some cases aggressively solicit donations to it.

One thing that changed my thinking on it in addition to a certain Canadian blogger pointing out that fact about blogs larger than mine having them in a phone conversation one evening was visiting Pat Buchanan's blog.

I surfed over there to read his 'Brief For Whitey post and noted that his blog had a DONATE button on it. This is a man who makes ten times the money I do, but has a DONATE button Thirty minutes later I had one on my sidebar as well.

A goal of mine is to eventually get to the point where I can write full time and get paid for it.

I'm also thinking about future expansion. I'm weighing the pros and cons of moving to my own server. People have asked for transcripts for videos. Unlike some blogs that have a team of people to split the writing chores, it's moi wearing a lot of hats as editor in chief/correspondent/researcher/writer. I'd have to hire someone to produce that transcript.

Basically, it's there so that if you really like a post or feel moved enough to support what TransGriot does, you have the opportunity to drop a dollar (or two or three) if you wish.

Thanks to those of you if you choose to do so

Laramie Project-Ten Years Later In Louisville

I'm bouncing out of the house toward downtown Louisville in an hour to the Pamela Brown Theatre.

My purpose for my night out is to check out the performance of The Laramie Project-Ten Years Later at 8 PM EDT.

Laramie is the hometown of the late Matthew Shepard, whose gruesome 1998 murder galvanized support for hate crimes legislation that has yet to pass Congress.

The Tectonic Theater Project conducted a series of interviews with Laramie residents in the wake of Matthew Shepard's murder in order to better understand the community. Those interviews became the seeds in 2000 for the Laramie Project, one of the most performed plays in America.

Ten years after Matthew Shepard’s death, the Tectonic Theatre Project returned to Laramie to see how the community had changed since the murder.

“One of the things we found when we got there,” shared playwright Moisés Kaufman, “which greatly surprised us, was people in Laramie saying this was not a hate crime.”

“We found the people of Laramie still fighting their own history…their own story,” continued playwright Leigh Fondakowski.

Actors Theatre of Louisville is joining over 100 theatres in all 50 states and across the world premiering a stage reading of the Tectonic Theatre Project’s The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, an epilogue to the original theatre piece.

The evening will commence with a live Lincoln Center webcast address from Kaufman, followed by the Actors Theatre’s 2009/2010 Acting Apprentice Company reading of the piece.

The night concludes with a panel discussion led by the Fairness Campaign addressing the importance of Hate Crimes legislation protecting LGBTQ individuals, and what citizens can do to make the passage of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act a reality.

Birthday girl and C-FAIR Co-chair Dawn Wilson will be taking part in the post performance panel discussion along with Director Michael Legg, Chris Hartman, Director of the Fairness Campaign, Michael Aldridge, Director of the ACLU-KY and a student leader from the University of Louisville.

Should be an enjoyable and informative evening at Actor's Theatre.

Governator Vetoes California Bills Affecting Trans People

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) was busy yesterday signing and vetoing a pile of bills sent to him by the California State Assembly.

Two bills affecting and of concern to California trans people were ones that got sent to the veto pile by the Governator.

One of those was AB 1185, filed by Assembly Member Ted Lieu (D-Torrance). It's a bill that would have allowed better access to birth certificates for transgender people.

AB 1185 would have allowed qualified transgender people born in California to return to the county of their birth to obtain a new birth certificate reflecting the correct gender, as well as any accompanying name change.

It would have ensured that transgender people born in California can return to the county of their birth to obtain a corrected birth certificate. It would also have provided greater access to transgender persons living in the state, allowing them for first time to petition the court in their home counties. This legislation would have had no fiscal impact to the state.

Schwarzenegger also vetoed AB 382 which would have established protections for LGBT prisoners, which he said was “unnecessary.”

The measure was sponsored by openly gay Assembly Member Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) and would have amended the Sexual Abuse in Detention Elimination Act by adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the current list of factors that should be considered in the classification of prisoners for purposes of housing.

According to the Bay Area Reporter, during committee testimony for the bill Ammiano stated, "While anyone can be a victim of sexual violence in prison, typical victims are young, nonviolent, or first-time offenders. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender prisoners or those perceived to be LGBT are also exceptionally vulnerable to violence."

He cited a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation study that found 67 percent of LGBT prisoners report being sexually assaulted by another inmate, "a rate 15 times higher" than the overall population, explained Ammiano.

Miss Major also testified before the committee in her role as a community organizing director for the TGI Justice Project.

She cited a 2007 University of California Irvine study that showed, "transgender women in California's prison system are 13 times more likely to be sexually assaulted in prison, and that half of all transgender women in prison in this state have been raped."

Um, Governator, seems to me the evidence is overwhelming that when there are cases of GLBT prisoners being raped in California jails at alarming levels, AB 382 was necessary.

UH Back In College Football Rankings

My favorite college football team has had an interesting season so far. They started 3-0 and knocked off Big 12 schools Oklahoma State and Texas Tech on national TV to get to and eventually climb to a No 12 ranking in the college football polls for the first time in a decade.

Then came the disastrous trip to El Paso for their C-USA opener. The Coogs played matador defense as the UTEP Miners ran over, around and through them while springing a 58-41 upset that made the Sun Bowl homecoming crowd very happy, knocked us completely out of the college football rankings and may have cost us a shot at a possible BCS bowl bid.

Saturday we got to play on the road against a tough SEC team for their homecoming. This time the Coogs played rude guests as Case Keenum passed for 434 yard and four touchdowns in their 31-24 win against a Mississippi State Bulldogs team in Starkville that came an inches short goal line play of knocking off LSU.

Not bad. 2-0 against the Big 12 and 1-0 against the SEC. If they won't let you join 'em, just beat them.

That victory put the Coogs back in the AP and USA Today Coaches poll rankings at Number 23 on both polls.

Now just handle your C-USA business so we can stay there for the rest of the season this time.

And will somebody at UH please sign Kevin Sumlin to a long term contract?

Happy Thanksgiving, Renee (And All My Canadian Trans Peeps and Readers)

One of the wonderful things about the Internet is that no wonder where you live, from the comfort of your home you can take an informational journey around the world.

I've been blessed to have a lot of readers from Canada who peruse this blog. It's a fact I'm very proud of since I do have a broad international view of the transgender rights struggle.

Our Canadian cousins celebrate Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October. So on the occasion of my Canadian cousins getting their grub on today and giving thanks for the blessings in their lives, I wanted to take a moment to say thanks to my Canadian readers for spending your valuable web surfing time reading TransGriot.

I wanted to say a special thanks on this day to a person who has become a close friend and homegirl in Renee and her family. You have been a blessing in my life this year, and I give thanks to the Creator on this day for you being in mine.

Unfortunately one of the things at your dinner table won't be me or the cornbread recipe I owe you.

I also thank you for being a staunch ally and being in mine and the rest of the trans community's corner.

I also give thanks to peeps like Mercedes Allen, Dr. Miqqi Alicia Gilbert, Michelle Dumaresq, Linus, Micheline Montreuil, Victoria Stuart, Veronique, Elizabeth Tyler and countless other Canadian trans peeps and their allies. You are all doing your parts to fight for the rights of transpeople who reside inside the Great White North.

By doing the education, breaking barriers in Canadian society, making history and fighting the Forces of Intolerance, you drive home the simple points that Canada is your home and you are human beings deserving of all it has to offer.

So Happy Thanksgiving to all of you peeps north of the border.

Try not to eat too much turkey, eh?

Blogtalkradio Show Tonight-'Yes, There Is A Rape Culture'

It's Thanksgiving weekend in Canada and Renee will be taking time from getting her grub on to do our Blogtalkradio podcast tonight at 8 PM EDT.

The topic is 'Yes, There Is A Rape Culture' and we will have Cara from the Curvature and Feministe and Melissa of Shakesville.

If you want to join in the conversation, here's the link to our show page.

Our Womanist Musings show call in number (347) 326-9452

We're Going To South Africa!

At least the US mens soccer team is.

They traveled to San Pedro Sula and beat Honduras 3-2 last night in a critical qualification match from the North and Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF) region to clinch a spot in next year's FIFA World Cup which will be held in South Africa.

Team USA had to work for it. After a scoreless first half, in the 47th minute the Hondurans jumped out to a 1-0 lead on the first of two goals by Julio Cesar De Leon. He scored again in the 78th minute to narrow the Catrachos deficit to 3-2.

Team USA erased the deficit by scoring 3 consecutive goals to take a 3-1 lead in the match. In the 55th minute Conor Casey scored the first of his two goals and added his second one in the 66th minute Team USA captain Landon Donovan added another in the 71st minute.

Honduras kept coming at them. They were 8-0 at home in qualifying and had been undefeated in 17 games at San Pedro Sula since June 2003.

They had a bicycle kick by Mauricio Sabillon in the 82nd minute that would have tied the match sail over the crossbar. Another golden opportunity in the 87th minute to tie the game on a Carlos Pavon penalty kick, but it sailed over the crossbar.

“We’re very proud,” U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. “We understand the responsibility we have every time we step on the field for our fans, for our country.”

This is the sixth straight time the USA Mens team has qualified for the World Cup, but unlike our women, have no championships to show for it. They are eager for the opportunity to atone for the disappointing 2006 World Cup showing in Germany and show the world that our men can play quality football.

Esat Cleveland, OH Mayor Brewer Admits Photos Are His

Here's an update about East Cleveland, OH Mayor Eric Brewer. Last month he had photos allegedly of him crossdressed mysteriously appear and broadcast on local television stations several days before the primary election for mayor in that predominately African-American suburb of Cleveland.

Brewer lost that primary election by a 2-1 margin to his challenger Gary Norton, Jr.

Brewer was angry that Cleveland's NBC affiliate, WKYC Channel 3, broadcast the racy photos in a segment titled Picture Controversy just days before the primary election. He also alleges that Norton and the East Cleveland Police Department are responsible for the leaked photographs.

Of course both Norton, currently the East Cleveland City Council president and the ECPD have denied any involvement in leaking the photos.

Norton however did let it slip in a previous interview he was aware of the photos.

In the wake of that landslide loss, questions swirled around the bachelor mayor as to whether those pictures of him dressed in sexy lingerie and femme attire were actually his, but the mayor did so on a regular basis.

Well, we can drop the 'alleged' label off the pictures.

In a recent interview he granted to Inside Edition and conducted by reporter Les Trent, Brewer admitted the leaked photos are his and he posed for the pictures for a girlfriend.

While Brewer denies that he fits the definition of a cross dresser, he didn't reveal if he wears feminine clothing on a regular basis.

Not our business if the mayor does or doesn't, but thanks to a politrick, the whole planet is aware of at least one occasion that he did.

Trans Faith Links

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. -- Genesis 1:27

I talked about faith in a recent post. If you're wanting to get your praise on and be part of a welcoming and inclusive faith community, here are some links to find them.


TransChristians


DignityUSA- GLBT Catholic Group


More Light Presbyterians


TransEpiscopal


TransTorah- Transgender Jewish site


Whosoever- Online Magazine for GLBT Christians


Metropolitan Community Churches


As I discover more interesting links I'll post them here.

Obama HRC Speech

President Obama became the second president to speak to the Washington DC HRC dinner tonight, and here's the speech.








The sniping has already started amongst white gays and lesbians.

I'll give it a day before I comment on it.

Brittney Griner Named Preseason Big 12 Freshman Of The Year

Brittney Griner's birthday doesn't arrive until October 18, but she's already received an early birthday gift courtesy of the Big 12 women's basketball coaches.

The 6-8 center was voted the preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year.

If you need some reminders as to why she received that honor or was the most sought after female basketball player in the nation last spring, check out this link to a previous post chronicling Griner dunking on her competition enroute to leading Aldine Nimitz to the Texas Class 5A state finals.

Baylor's opening game November 7 and probably every other home game at the Ferrell Center this season is sold out in anticipation of seeing a player many people believe will take women's college basketball and eventually the WNBA to another evolutionary rim-rocking level.

It definitely will be fun this season watching to see if she can.

Archie Gets Married To Betty!

I've been following the Archie Gets Married storyline and all the developments so far that have transpired. I own Archie 601 and 602 which show the proposal and the subsequent wedding.

At the end of Archie 601, Veronica drops the news on Archie after a long day at Lodge Enterprises that she's pregnant.

In Archie 602 we discover that Archie and Veronica become parents of fraternal twins. This issue focuses on the travails of parenthood on the couple and all of the ancillary issues it brings.

I'll have to leave y'all hanging in terms of what names Archie and Veronica chose for the twins and who they named as the godparents.

But as many of us noted, Archie went down one fork of Memory Lane. We know how his life is transpiring by choosing to marry Veronica.

While it was an upgrade in social status for Archie, it comes at a cost. He's struggling to handle a job he feels he's over his head in, but doesn't want to disappoint his father in law or his wife.

But how would it have transpired if he had proposed and married Betty, and would he be happier in doing so?

Well, to the delight of Betty fans, we're about to find out.

The script is going to get flipped and show Archie proposing marriage to Betty in front of a stunned Veronica.

The fans of the Archie comics (and the TransGriot) made it overwhelmingly clear across the Net that Betty was the girl they wanted to see Archie get married to.

Knowing Archie's history of not being able to make up his mind between the two, and that there were three comic books left in the series, it was inevitable they were going to give us fans what we wanted to see and show the other side of this eternal love triangle.

As the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for, you just might get it, When one online poll on the Archie website I saw noted that 80% of the respondents wanted Betty and Archie to get married, it was inevitable this was going to happen.

Beginning with Archie 603, we'll see the flip side of the eternal love triangle.

Archie takes another walk down Memory Lane and this time takes the other fork in the road. That sets up the rest of the story arc that will unfold over Archie issues 604, 605 and 606.

We'll get to see Archie's proposal to Betty, their subsequent marriage and life with her.

We'll also get to see if Veronica handles it with the class that Betty handled it when the pump was on the other foot.

I'm betting that Veronica's spoiled butt doesn't, but then again she may shock us.

But we'll see.

Hmm, this storyline is getting juicier by the minute. Looking forward to picking the rest of these issues up and seeing how this plays out.

2000 Posts!

You are looking at another TransGriot milestone.

This post is the 2000th one I have composed for this blog since I started it on January 1, 2006.

Wow, guess I had a lot to say about trans issues and many others from an African flavored perspective, huh?

It's awe inspiring to note that I get people all over the planet who take the time out of their busy days to surf over here to TransGriot and read what I have to say about trans and other issues in the world surrounding me.

I have been blessed with new friends since the start of this blog. I've seen my writing quoted by people, linked to by influential newspapers and even seen some of the catchphrases I came up like conservafool starting to appear elsewhere in the blogosphere and beyond.

I'm even starting to get awards for it.

But as I shoot for post 2500 and beyond, the basic mission of TransGriot hasn't changed.

That mission, dear readers, is to educate, inform and entertain you at the same time.

Thank you TransGriot readers for your support and coming along for the ride.

Bad Move-Somali Pirates Attack French Naval Ship

Now that monsoon season is over, the attacks of Somali pirates on vessels traversing the busy shipping lanes off the Horn of Africa, the Indian Ocean and the Somali coast has resumed.

Wednesday night two Somali pirate skiffs tried to roll up on an 18,000 ton ship cruising 250 miles off the Somali coast that they thought was a freighter.

After beginning their attack run by firing Kalashnikov rifles at the 525 foot ship in question, they noticed too late that the ship they were attempting to bumrush was a French naval vessel, the La Somme.

The La Somme just happens to be the French naval command vessel for the multinational naval task force working to suppress the pirate attacks.

The ship chased the pirates for an hour after they realized their mistake, turned and tried to run back to the Somali coast. The La Somme eventually caught one of the skiffs and arrested five buccaneers.

Score one for the multi-national anti-piracy task force this time.

But they still have a difficult job in trying to patrol two million square miles of ocean with just two dozen ships and a single patrol aircraft.

Advantage pirates. But not if they can't tell the difference between cargo ships and armed naval vessels.

Why There Were No WNBA Posts On TransGriot This Season

The 2009 WNBA Finals concluded Friday night with the Phoenix Mercury beating the Indiana Fever 94-86 in the decisive Game 5 to take their second WNBA championship in three years.

Congratulations Phoenix and bah humbug.

As you longtime TransGriot readers know I am a huge sports fan. I believe in supporting women's sports at all levels including the professional ranks. I also put my money where my big mouth is.

The WNBA for a decade was one of my passions. I was a Houston Comets season ticket holder from 1999-2001 and a enthusiastic fan of the team.

I was in a sold out Compaq Center to watch the 1997, 1999 and 2000 seasons end in championship glory for the hometown girls. I flew to LA and NY to watch Comet road games and talk trash to the Sparks and Liberty fans in the Forum and Madison Square Garden. After I moved to Da Ville I drove 1.5 hours to Indianapolis four times to watch the Comets play the Indiana Fever.

But I painfully watched from afar the piss poor way the WNBA leadership allowed my hometown team and the league's flagship franchise die last winter without giving local investors a chance to put an ownership group together to save it.

It angered me to the point where I couldn't even bring myself to watch a WNBA game on TV this summer, much less write about the league on this blog.

Loyal Comets fans got screwed in that deal. Allowing the Comets to fold was akin to the NBA leadership letting the Boston Celtics die. The Comets in conjunction with the Rockets have a display dedicated to their combined six years of NBA/WNBA titles from 1994-2000 in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

For the first time since the WNBA started in 1997, we didn't have the Comets around. For those of us in the Sea of Red whose Houston summers revolved around our beloved team, memories of the dynasty and the friendships we made with our fellow season ticket holders, it was a long, hot and joyless one.

Am I angry about the way it was handled? You betcha.

So when will I start watching, attending or much less commenting on WNBA games again? When a Houston franchise returns to the league.

And no, rooting for the San Antonio Silver Stars isn't going to cut it.

Saturday Sellout-Harry Jackson

Ralph Reed and his friends started the Samaritan Project back in the 90's to recruit Black ministers for the Forces of Faith based Intolerance.

Meet one of their superstars, Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr.

He's the senior pastor at the sprawling Hope Christian Church in Lanham, MD and runs the Hi Impact Leadership Coalition, a front organization for Lou Sheldon's Traditional Values Coalition.

He claims he's a 'registered Democrat', but his actions belie that. He's also admitted that’s basically a ploy to give him credibility when attacking President Obama or pushing Republicans for public office.

"I voted for President Bush, but here in Maryland—a primarily Democratic state—in order to vote in the primaries that affect the election, you need to be a Democrat. That’s where I started. Over time, however, I’ve found that I have very little in common with the Democratic Party in terms of national moral values issues. Still, being able to say I’m a registered Democrat disarms many of the people who want to write me off as an “Oreo” or an “Uncle Tom."

No it doesn't, Harry. You're an Oreo-chomping Uncle Tom.

So when the Christobigots need an Oreo-cookie chomping sellout to parrot their talking points and pet issues to a predominately African-American audience, or be the point negro for an anti-gay referendum, you can count on Bigot Harry Jackson being their man.

Check out his virtuoso performance at the recent Values Voters Summit.



He has a long history of Uncle Thomasin for the Religious Reich and a long paper trail as People For The American Way has documented.

He was the Reicher tool in the Prop 8 battle and other anti-gay referendums. He is also taking the lead role in fighting Washington DC's attempts to first recognize and now legalize marriage equality.

He has his hate on for President Obama and liberal-progressive Black leadership in general. He proudly boasts to predominately white evangelical audiences that I'm the “other Jackson.”

Harry, I have more respect for that 'other Jackson' than I ever will for you.

Sharon Franklin Brown's Story

Thanks to the archived pages of JET magazine, we'll get to take another trip on the way back machine and check out a little trans history with soul.

This time we're going to travel back to November 1995 and the North Carolina campus of Fayetteville State University. We're going to tell the story of transwoman Sharon Franklin Brown's brush with job discrimination.

Sharon grew up in a southern African-American community, feeling the usual angst about her gender issues and sensing her family's shame about them. After telling her parents she was going to make the physical changes to complete her transition, they disowned her for 18 years.

Fast forward to the Fayetteville State campus. The then 29 year old Sharon had been transitioning for seven years at the time was on hormones and working toward getting SRS.

She was attempting to switch from a part time position as a resident adviser in a women's dorm on this HBCU campus to a full time position.

Her supervisor, the late Iris Hunt-Smith said at the time in a Jet interview she was the best residence director she'd ever had.

But when Sharon's old male name popped up while checking her Social Security number, the administrators learned that she was a transwoman.

So what did they do? Bounced her out the door, citing misrepresentation on her application.

Sharon begs to differ. She said at time, "If I wasn't performing up to par I could understand. But the only decision was made according to gender. My being let go had nothing to do with performance. I would still be there today had they not found out."

That was cosigned by her boss Hunt-Smith, the then director of student housing. "She was an excellent residence director. She was doing a good job so I was very sad to see her go."

That experience galvanized her to become an activist and speak to GLBT organizations and groups at various North Carolina universities about her situation such as Duke and the University of North Carolina.

She's still an activist on GLBT employment issues, but now lives in Los Angeles and works for the LA Gay and Lesbian Center there.

You can check out this footage of Sharon speaking at a USC School of Social Work's All School Day on February 7, 2008.



Sharon Franklin Brown continues to remind us why ENDA is vitally important and needs to pressed far more aggressively to final passage than the community is currently doing.

I'm also happy to see that Sharon is still fighting for and representing the African descended trans community as well.