Six Is The Magic Number For Team USA Olympic Hockey

Both the Team USA men and women stayed perfect in Olympic today by scoring six goals in their respective pool play hockey games.

The Team USA women scored four first period goals enroute to a 6-0 shutout win Thursday over Finland at the UBC Thunderbird Arena. It helped Team USA clinch the top spot in Group B and put them in the medal round.

They will face Sweden on Monday at Canada Hockey Place with a chance to gain redemption. The Swedish team shocked the women's hockey world in 2006 by derailing the expected gold medal hockey showdown between the USA and Canada by upsetting Team USA 3-2 in a shootout.

It's obvious from the 13-1 shellacking Team Canada put on them Wednesday that this is a far different Swedish team than the Torino bronze medalists.

But anything can happen when you play the games, and it's still too early to count gold medals before they're awarded.

Over at Canada Hockey Place, the Team USA men also scored six goals in their 6-1 Group A victory over Norway.

Their next game promises to be much tougher since it will be a Sunday showdown against Team Canada that will decide who wins Group A. The Canadians warmed up for the showdown by taking a hard-fought 3-2 shootout win against Switzerland.

We'll see if both the men's and women's teams will have golden results.

Transwoman and ACLU-NJ File Lawsuit Against Newark Po-Po's

As I have stated repeatedly over the years that this blog has been around, we African descended transpeople face some of the same issues our cis brothers and sisters do.

One of those issues is harassment by the po-po's. African-American transpeople are no different from our cisgender counterparts in that regard as Duanna Johnson getting assaulted in a Memphis police station made quite clear.

The news coming out of Newark that adds an exclamation point to what I'm stating here is transwoman Diana Taylor and the ACLU New Jersey chapter filing a lawsuit against the Newark Police Department.

The six count lawsuit alleges two officers stopped Diana Taylor on March 23, 2009 for no reason, mocked her gender identity and threatened her with retaliation if she filed a complaint.

“I kept asking, ‘What did I do? What did I do?’” Taylor said at a news conference today. “I’m coming forward now because this shouldn’t have happened to me.”

The incident unfolded while Taylor she was walking near Broad and Elliott streets. Two officers stopped her, making derogatory comments about her wig and alluding to a bet they had made about her gender, she said.

Taylor said one cop told her he didn't want to touch her "because I might have AIDS."

She said when she was initially stopped and asked to hand over her identification, one of the officer's yelled to the other "it's a man. You were right. I owe you $10!"

He said the officers began calling her a string of discriminatory names including "chick with a d---k," and "f----t."

Taylor was taken to a police station and frisked in a sexually intrusive manner, she said.

Finding no reason to detain her, two officers drove Taylor to her home and said they knew gang members in the neighborhood who would harm her if she filed a complaint against them, according to the lawsuit.

About a month later, Taylor was charged with littering and disorderly conduct, she said. The charges were eventually dismissed in court.

The lawsuit is the third the ACLU has filed against the police force in as many years, said Deborah Jacobs, the executive director of the ACLU’s New Jersey chapter. She called for a slew of department changes, including a way to submit civilian complaints online and an independent monitor to review the internal affairs division.

“(The administration) came in saying internal affairs was important, but we expect it to be run better than it is,” Jacobs said.

According to nj.com The Newark Police Department did not respond to requests for comments.

Taylor also filed an internal affairs complaint with the police, but it was not thoroughly investigated, said her lawyer, Neil Mullin, who added two eyewitnesses to the incident were never contacted.

Newark Police Director Garry McCarthy has previously said reforms have been put in place to improve the process of gathering and responding to complaints.

It seems as though this is a recurring problem in the Newark Police Department. Albert Cunningham, a member of the Newark Pride Alliance, said members of the local gay community routinely complain to him about police abuse. “We hear only the tip of the iceberg with filed cases,” he said.

It's also a issue that Amnesty International highlighted in a report entitled Stonewalled: Police Abuse and Misconduct Against Lesbian, Gay and Transgender People in the U.S. that was compiled about police harassment of transwomen. And as you probably guessed, transpeople of color have taken the brunt of the police harassment.

Will be keeping an eye on this case to see if Ms. Taylor receives justice for what was done to her.

It's incidents like this that negate the hard work of LGBT police liaison officers across the country and continue to reinforce the perception that when it comes to African-Americans and other people of color, Officer Friendly ain't so friendly after all.

Miyia's Interview

This is a interview featuring my little sis Miyia that appeared on Fox41 News in Da Ville yesterday.
It was nice learning a little bit more about one classy young lady.



Being trans is not as easy or effortless as some of us make it. There's a lot of gut wrenching pain, drama and that we go through to become the happy, well adjusted people you see on the other side of the trans crucible.

And sometimes it tests your faith in many ways, but if you hang on, the tough times don't last as the saying goes, tough people do.

Shani Repeats!

Shani Davis had to wait a while before he took the ice at the Richmond Olympic Oval in the last pair of the 1000m event.

But once he did Davis sped through his race in 1:08:94 to make history none again as the first skater to repeat as the 1000m gold medalist.

And he was ecstatic about it.

"I would say it's probably No. 1," he said. "Once you become world champion or Olympic champion, you get this nice little thing on your back -- it's called a target. People usually shoot for you. Just to be able to go out there today and defend my 1,000-meter title is truly amazing. I'm very satisfied that I was able to stay true to myself and defend my title."

This win makes him the second most decorated male long track speedskater behind Dr. Eric Heiden, who is the USA speedskating team physician for these Games.

Davis has another shot of adding to his medal collection with the 1500m event coming on Saturday

Dear Oprah II

TransGriot Note: I wrote an open letter to Oprah back in 2007 asking when she was going to interview an African American trans person on her show. Time for another one.

Dear Oprah,
When you began to cover transgender issues on your show back in 2007, I along with the African descended trans community were excited that you were beginning to train your attention on the issues of transgender people.

The trans community in general deeply appreciates any opportunity we have been granted to educate the public. The sizable viewing audience exposed to your shows highlighting trans issues has been invaluable as well.

But once again, I have to ask on behalf of the African American trans community, when are you going to show us the same love you have shown the white trans community when we need the media exposure far more than they do?

We in the African descended trans community have been disappointed to see that our media blackout continues, even on Oprah.

The problem has and continues to be in the 57 years since Christine Jorgenson stepped off her flight from Denmark into the glare of media publicity in New York that the narrative of transgender exposure and experience has been predominately driven by white trans lives.

I wrote an open letter respectfully asking for equal time for transpeople who share your ethnic heritage. In the almost three years that have passed since then, I and the African American trans community have watched shows featuring Thomas Beattie and other white transpeople up to and including your recent show focusing on trans filmmaker Kimberly Reed.

But what still stands out for us is the glaring lack of African descended transpeople on your show.

The fact that your Emmy award winning talk show will be ending September 9, 2011 has added to the increased sense of disappointment myself and other African descended people feel as we fail to see ourselves and our lives represented in these shows.

That disappointment is heightened by the fact that we disproportionately continue to bear the brunt of anti-transgender hate violence.

Since your first 2007 trans themed show we have witnessed the late Duanna Johnson's beating by a Memphis police officer caught on videotape. We have had dozens of African descended transpeople such as Taysia Elzy, Ebony Whitaker, and Lateisha Green murdered, and far too often, the perpetrators of these heinous crimes against African descended transpeople share our ethnic heritage.

And frankly, our transitions are different from our white trans counterparts.

Your audience as you are keenly aware of consists of cis and trans African-Americans. It is inside and outside our African American community that we African American trans people struggle against violence, invisibility, faith based ignorance and rejection of our lives. The predominately Caucasian lens that transgender experiences have been framed in has led to a misguided perception in our community that being transgender 'is a white thang.'

Isis King is just one example of trans African Americans of all ages who are blowing away that myth. We're talented, proudly living our lives and wish to make greater contributions to uplift our people.

Like any other persons, we want unconditional equality and acceptance in our society and a fair chance to make that happen.

An appearance on your show by an African descended transperson or transpersons would not only be deeply appreciated by us, it could go a long way towards breaking down those barriers of ignorance about trans issues on the African-American community and who we are to the world at large.

It would also give our friends, supportive family members and allies a positive thing about us to point to.

Whether that happens before September 8, 2011 is up to you, and I pray it does.

Sincerely,

Monica Roberts
The TransGriot
2006 IFGE Trinity Award Winner

Shani's Best Event Coming Tonight

So far Shani Davis' attempt to win four gold medals in Vancouver has come up empty with a 12th place finish in the 5000m and withdrawing from the 500m Monday due to bad ice conditions.

I'll be parked in front of the TV to watch Shani Davis compete in his best long track speedskating event, the 1000m. It along with the 1500m are the two speedskating distances he has dominated.

Davis is the world champion and world record holder in the 1000m meters and the favorite to take gold in this event.

Here's hoping that tonight turns out to be a golden one for Shani Davis at the Richmond Olympic Oval.

Good Day For Team USA Hockey

Team USA men's and women's hockey players took to the ice today at their respective venues and won.

This is the youngest USA men's hockey team to take the ice since the 1998 Nagano squad. Unlike the women, they are also playing in the same group with Team Canada.

They got their Olympic tournament off to a promising start with a 3-1 victory over Switzerland at Canada Hockey Place.

Goaltender Ryan Miller faced on 14 Swiss shots as Team USA tallied goals by Bobby Ryan, David Backes and Ryan Malone. Switzerland avoided the shutout by scoring a power play goal at 9:45 of the third period.

Their toughest competition, the Russians and homestanding Canadians also won their opening round games with Russia beating Latvia 8-2 and the Canadians rolling to an 8-0 victory over Norway in front of a flag waving sellout crowd after being held to a scoreless first period.

The USA men's team will face a critical game on Thursday with Norway.

Meanwhile over at the UBC Thunderbird Arena, the Team USA women continued their domination of Group B with a US record setting victory over Russia.

Team USA tallied a record seven power play goals and Jenny Potter scored her second hat trick of this Olympic tournament enroute to the 13-0 win.

The Team USA women have scored 25 goals in their initial two games while surrendering only one. The win clinched their spot in the February 20-22 crossover round, and they will play Finland Thursday to decide the winner of Group B.

Albania Unanimously Bans TBLG Discrimination

One of the things tat has irritated me about the lack of action on ENDA is watching other countries pass laws banning TBLG discrimination while the so-called leading democracy on the planet can't do the right thing and pass employment discrimination bans.

On February 4 the Albanian parliament passed with a unanimous 71-0 vote banning discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The law's language guarantees every person "equality before the law and equal protection by law; equality of opportunities and possibilities to exercise rights, enjoy freedoms and take part in public life; and effective protection from discrimination and from every form of conduct that encourages discrimination."

The law also covers employment, housing, provision of goods and services, education and access to public places. It also specifically mentions health care, banking, transportation, entertainment and social protection.

What's The Transgender Day Of Visibility?

By now, most people are aware of the Transgender Day of Remembrance that happens every November 20 to memorialize the people we've lost.

Over the years, there have been calls by some trans people to make the TDOR a more happy-happy joy-joy event, to which the founders and others have resisted. TDOR does serve an important function in terms of focusing attention on anti-transgender violence.

Rachel Crandall, the head of Transgender Michigan is one of the people who asked why couldn't the trans community or someone start an event that celebrates who we are?

Then she asked the question that led to the formation of this event, 'Why isn't that someone me?'

Hence the first annual International Trans Day of Visibility was born.

Rachel's vision for the Trans Day of Visibility is to focus on all the good things in the trans community, instead of just remembering those who were lost.

"The day of remembrance is exactly what it is. It remembers people who died," she said. "This focuses on the living.

While the event she's organizing will be Michigan centric, thanks to her Facebook page the idea is quickly spreading around the world and other local observances are being organized.

When March 31 rolls around on the calendar, it will lead to an event that we hope will garner just as much or more attention than the TDOR has.

12-1, Renee: USA! USA! USA!

The back to back world champion and number one ranked Team USA played their first game in this 2010 women's Olympic hockey tournament versus China.

Team USA unleashed 61 shots on goal and took a 5-0 lead after the first period concluded enroute to tying an American Olympic record with their 12-1 victory.

The game was played in front of a flag waving crowd that included Vice President Joe Biden and his wife and 1980 USA Olympic hockey captain Mike Eruzione.

Jenny Potter scored three goals in only 22 minutes to become the all time leading scorer in US Olympic history male or female.

“You don’t ever like to beat a team, 12-1,” Natalie Darwitz, the American captain, said, adding, “I think we got a little sloppy there in the middle and the end. It’s kind of a tough game when you’re controlling the play and it gets to be about goals and points. You get away from doing the little things.”

Team USA's next Group B game will take place on Tuesday against the Russians, who lost to Finland 5-1 in their opener.

One down, four to go

So Canada Beat Slovakia 18-0: It's Still Early

The opening ceremonies are over, the Olympic flame has made it to its dual cauldrons in BC Place and downtown Vancouver and the competition is now underway.

A certain Canadian and I have been engaged in trash talking for several months over our respective world number one and two ranked women's hockey teams. When the opening ceremonies were over she wasted little time reminding me we were on Canadian soil and chanting 'feel the thunder', the Canadian Olympic slogan for these games.

The two time defending gold medallists opened Group A preliminary play against first timers Slovakia. The Canadians raced out to a 7-0 first period lead and never looked back in their record setting 18-0 blowout.

The previous record was a 2006 16-0 Canadian romp over Italy

But am I feeling the thunder? Nope.

If Team Canada rings up double digit goals to Sweden, the defending Torino silver medalists, then that's a cause for concern.

The Swedes are no women's hockey slouches. They upset Team USA during the 2006 Olympic semis in Torino enroute to the silver medal and won their opening Group A game against Switzerland 3-0.

Reminder to Renee and my other Canadian readers, they are in your group. Sweden wants to take a chunk out of both our squads and think they can.

The back to back world champions and number one ranked Team USA women make their Vancouver hockey debut versus China in Group A play.

Interesting note about Team USA is they are coached by Mark Johnson, who was a member of the 1980 Lake Placid 'Miracle on Ice' gold medal squad.

There are also several members of this team that remember the less than satisfying results in Salt Lake and Torino and want some redemption.

But the pressure is on Canada to defend their home turf and threepeat as Olympic champs.

So yeah, a lot of hockey has to be played before we get to the women's Olympic hockey final on February 25.

And as any sports fan can tell you, anything can happen when you play the games.

Happy Valentine's Day Y'all!

Today is Valentines Day.

For those of y'all who put a ring on it, are about to, or have hooked up with that special someone, it's a wonderful day filled with love and romance for you.

For people like myself who are still single, different story. We're buying our own chocolate and taking ourselves to dinner.

At any rate, I'm not hatin' on you coupled peeps, just envious that you were fortunate enough to find someone to share your lives with and I wish you the best.

Here's a link to some of my past Valentine's day musings as I continue to scarf up my chocolate and play my Luther CD's

Now where's that chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream?

There PETA Goes Again

PETA's at it again with their nekulturny behavior in terms of selecting their 2010 worst dressed celebrity list.

The same geniuses who brought you Klan hoods at the Westminster dog show and 'nekkid' women to protest fur couldn't stay away from disrespecting the sistahs for continuing to wear them.

They already been warned upfront what will happen if they even attempt to try to damage fur coats owned by Kelis or Mary J. Blige, and I see they haven't felt froggy enough to make that leap.

But back to the latest PeTA hijinks that will have me heading at warp speed to partake of some yardbird or whatever meat du jour I feel like scarfing up.

In the process of selecting their 2010 worst dressed list, they've added some disrespectful commentary toward the sistahs.

There's no love lost between Aretha Franklin and PeTA, and this is the comment they left under the picture of the Queen of Soul rocking her fur.

Finally: footage proving that Bigfoot really does exist!

They had this to say about Rihanna, who's been sporting an array of furs with increasing regularity. They had to go there and try to link her personal drama with their BS.

You'd think that being a victim of violence would have opened Rihanna's heart to the suffering of others—like the animals who were beaten, drowned, and electrocuted for her fur coats. Girl, you've got beautiful eyes: Use them to see the pain and suffering your wardrobe causes.

PETA, how about opening your clueless eyes to your insensitive, bigoted, racist, sexist, and (fill in the blank) commentary?

You also need to heed what Aretha told your clueless behinds a while ago.

please mind your own friggin business..... and then just maybe, when PETA gives an iota about the human race...maybe we can chat...

love and kisses, Aretha

The Vancouver Games Begin

They got off to a sad start with the unfortunate death of a Georgian luger during a practice run at the Whistler Sliding Centre Friday morning, but the XXI Winter Olympic Games are underway.

So is the athletic competition that we'll be enjoying for the next two weeks. As a matter of fact, the ski jumping prelims took place before the opening ceremony.

With the start of these games, Vancouver with a population of 2 million now has the distinction of being the largest city to ever host a Winter Olympic games. This is also the first time that an opening ceremony was held indoors as well.

Governor General Michaelle Jean declared the games opened as the honor of the lighting the cauldron fell to hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, NBA baller Steve Nash, and Olympians Catriona Le May Doan and Nancy Greene Raine.

The ceremony went flawlessly until it was time to light the indoor cauldron, and one of the four arms failed to lift, leaving Catriona Le May Doan holding her torch as the other three pillars were lit.

Today was a drama filled day, but let's hope that the only drama from now until the February 28 closing ceremony is focused on the competition.

Winter Olympics: Why Team USA Is Nearly White As Snow

TransGriot Note: My latest piece for Global Comment

With the Vancouver Games starting today and it also being Black History month, I have pondered why we haven’t had as many excellent African-American winter Olympians as we consistently produce for the Summer Games. The Olympics, after all, mean a lot to me.

Whether they take place in the summer or winter, I’m parked in front of the television during that fortnight of competition. I get excited when I see the torch lighting ceremony happen in Greece and eagerly count the days down to the opening ceremonies in the host nation. I get a little emotional when the closing ceremonies occur and see the flame extinguished until the next Olympiad.

There are many reasons why I love the Olympics. For that two to three week period the Games are occurring we are literally one planet cheering the athletes no matter what nation they are from.

It’s unpredictable and controversial at times. Just ask the Russians and Americans about the 1980 ‘Miracle on Ice’ or the 1972 USA-USSR basketball gold medal game in Munich. The Canadians, meanwhile, are still angry about Jamie Sale and David Pelletier being robbed of an 2002 pairs figure skating gold medal by shady judging.

You never know who the star athlete of that particular Games may be, which is why we have all been delighted by Michael Phelps in 2008, Nadia Comaneci in 1984, and Jean-Claude Killy in 1968.

The games are always a perfect blend of pageantry, history, high level sporting achievement, heartbreaking defeats, upsets, victory and high stakes drama all played out on an international athletic stage.

African-Americans have a long and distinguished history in Summer Games competition dating back to the 1904 St. Louis Games. George Poage not only was the first African-American competitor, he took two bronze medals in the 200m the 400m hurdles.

From Jesse Owens to Flo Jo to the Dream Team, it’s a long and proud history of sterling athletic achievement. But when it comes to the Winter Games, we’ve been invisible.

The Winter Olympics were first held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. It wasn’t until the 1980 Lake Placid Games that Willie Davenport and Jeff Gadley became the first African Americans ever to qualify for a US winter Olympic team. Davenport and Gadley were members of the USA 4 man bobsled team that finished 12th.

Davenport stated in a February 21, 1980 JET magazine interview,

“There is myth in this country that Blacks can’t make the American winter Olympic team. Jeff and I proved this to be wrong and that you don’t have to be rich and white to make it.”

The interesting footnote to this piece of sporting Black history is that Davenport was the 1968 gold medalist and 1972 bronze medalist in the 110m hurdles. He was also a five time Summer Olympian dating back to the 1964 Tokyo Games.

The first African-American Winter Games medalist was Dr. Debi Thomas, who won a bronze medal in the 1988 figure skating competition in Calgary. The first African-American winter gold medalist was Vonetta Flowers, who won it while competing in the 2 woman bobsled with Jill Bakken during the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

Four years later, in Torino, speedskater Shani Davis became the first African-American male ever to win a winter Olympic gold medal and the first to win an individual event Winter Olympic gold medal when he won the 1000m.

So why the imbalance of African-Americans in Winter and Summer Games participation?

There are several things factoring into the 84 year gap between the first medals awarded to African-American participants in the summer and winter Games.

One of the first is exposure. Many of the winter sports contested in the Olympics are dominated by Europeans and don’t get the type of television coverage in the States as they get overseas. If it’s not covered on TV in the States, that particular sport is virtually invisible to the casual US sports fan.

As Tiger Woods, Peter Westbrook and the Williams sisters have proven, if you see yourself represented on the screen in a non-traditional sport, kids will gravitate to it. There’s a wave of African American kids participating in golf, fencing and tennis as a result of the trailblazing efforts of those athletes. Since Shani Davis’ 2006 gold medal winning appearance in Torino, speedskating has witnessed an uptick in participation by African American kids wanting to be like Shani.

Contrary to Willie Davenport’s 1980 statement, money matters in making a winter Olympics team. Most winter sports require expensive outlays for equipment, training, and coaching. They also require access to facilities that are hundreds or thousands of miles from the urban areas where most African-Americans live.

Read the rest here.

Be Careful Who You Mess With

Transpeople as we are out and about in the world living our daily lives take a lot of crap. We suffer the slings and arrows from various institutions in society, our families, and sometimes even our own ostensibly friendly GL community.

That accumulated verbal and sometimes physical abuse takes a tool. We may not lash out at that moment, but when you least expect it, when we've had enough, we'll lash out at our tormentors no matter who they are.



We're only human in the fact that sooner or later, like a pot with a lid on it, those negative emotions will boil over and have to be released.

BTW, transgender don't mean punk. So for you peeps who think it's cool or you insecure ones who want to make yourselves feel more like a 'man' or woman' by jacking with transpeeeps, think again.

You never know what peeps have endured that day. If you think that transpeeps are going to meekly take your crap with minimal consequences to you, it may not turn out the way you expect.

Keep fracking with somebody that has a little more strength than the average cis female, is on estrogen, has had a bad day, and see what happens.

Shut Up Fool! Awards- Winter Olympic Opening Ceremonies Edition

Tonight the XXI Olympic Winter Games Opening ceremonies will take place in Vancouver's BC Place Stadium.

It's the day they've been waiting for since they beat out Salzburg, Austria and Pyeongchang, Korea on July 2, 2003 to become the host city for the games.

So from today until the closing ceremonies on February 28, Vancouver will be the center of the winter sports universe, and Renee will be watching my girls beat Team Canada in women's hockey.

USA! USA! USA!

Ahem, now back to our regularly scheduled post.

Since it's Friday, you know what means TransGriot readers. Time to discover which fool or fools won the gold medal for stupidity.

We're going to stick to an Olympic theme for the duration of the Games.

There were as usual too many fools in contention for this week's honors. Sarah Palin gets the bronze for mocking the president for using teleprompters, then getting caught with the old elementary school trick of writing notes on your hand during the Tea Klux Klan event in Nashville.

The silver goes to Tom Tancredo for his racist literacy test speech. If that were the case, most of the attendees at the Tea Party convention wouldn't pass it.

Our gold medallist this week? John Mayer.

Renee said all that need to be said about why in this Womanist Musings post.

But this line alone in the Playboy interview vaulted him to the gold medal for stupidity..

My dick is sort of like a white supremacist. I’ve got a Benetton heart and a fuckin’ David Duke cock.

John Mayer, shut the HELL up, fool.

Can Vancouver Top Beijing's Olympic Opener?

The Winter Olympics opening ceremonies will take place later tonight. The question that people around the world are asking is what will Vancouver do to top the awesome spectacle Beijing put on to open the 2008 Games.

It seems since 1992 the torch lighting ceremonies have gotten more spectacular from an archer being used to light the Olympic flame cauldron in Barcelona to Li Ning sky walking his way to the Beijing one.



That's the gold standard so far. Here's the one for Torino 2006.



So the big questions being asked are not only who will be the person or persons from Canadian Olympic history be who will light the Olympic flame, but how will they do it?

So I'm A 'Violent Racist', Eh?

I surfed over to Transadvocate and checked out an interesting post by Marti Abernathey.

She asserts that because Dr. Jillian Todd Weiss dares to speak the truth to power about the inaction on ENDA, the trans sellouts working with Gay, Inc to 'keep the trannies in line' and without civil rights coverage have already or will soon start a whisper campaign to discredit her inside the Beltway.

I rolled over on the floor laughing when I read what was said about moi in this whisper campaign:

Monica Roberts – violent racist

Yeah, right. Seems like I had no problem wandering into whatever congressional office I wanted to visit in 2007 and 2009.

As a matter of fact I got enough intel from the 2007 visits to the Hill that I sounded the alarm along with the people that were smeared about the disturbing news we'd heard that trans people were about to get cut out of the then-trans inclusive ENDA.

We dissenters were called 'crazy' by NCTE leadership and the claim went out that trans inclusion in ENDA was a 'slam dunk'.

Until October 2007 and that slam dunk clanged off the back of the Congressional rim.

To the person or persons who started that inside the beltway smear, this is what a 'violent racist' looks like:



Funny, they look like you and share YOUR ethnic heritage.

Just one point of correction on the whisper campaign as it pertains to moi, I’m also the ‘uppity n*****r’ as well as being labeled ‘racist’.

Better than being a vanilla flavored sellout to the Trans community any day.

By the way smearmongers, racism = prejudice plus power, and that's something you should have retained from Sociology 101.

I got better things to do than waste my valuable time and money trying to work with people who are kissing their oppressor's behinds and are too clueless, fearful, lazy and stupid to do anything about it.

When you're ready to pass some legislation that will help all segments of the GLBT community and not the 'we're just like you' neo-Mattachine crowd, call me.

Then again, maybe I should show up for an NCTE lobby day with an Afro, a black leather outfit and wear a black beret while I hold up a black gloved clenched fist and shout 'all power to the people' over a megaphone.

Yes, Jamaica Still Has A Bobsled Team

The Jamaican bobsled team made their competitive debut at the Calgary Games in 1988 and were immortalized in the movie Cool Runnings.

But what have they been up to since their auspicious turn on the Olympic competition world stage 22 years ago?

They made respectable showings in Calgary, the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville and are still competing on the World Cup circuit. Despite having little funding and substandard equipment, the Jamaicans still managed to get into the world Top 50 4 man sled rankings and give their longshot hopes of competing in Vancouver life.

They dearly wanted to return to the country where their program debuted in Olympic competition, but unfortunately when the competition gets underway that won't happen.

"We've been in battles for many, many years," Chris Stokes, a founding member of the Jamaican bobsled team more than 20 years ago, told The AP in a phone interview. "This is one more. But it's disappointing, no question about that. The guys worked really hard and did well. Not qualifying, it's by no means a failure. It's a step going forward.

They failed to qualify for the Vancouver Games, but they are still planning to be at the Whistler Sliding Centre if for no other reason than to give the team a taste of what an Olympics is like.

"It's very important for them to go and see," Stokes said. "They'll remember what the games are like and watch the start line of a four-man Olympic race and feel that adrenaline. I hope it acts as a motivation for them."

Jamaica is already setting their sights on competing in the 2014 Games in Sochi.

They are hopeful of adding more sleds and drivers and intend to offer retired US bobsled pilot and 2002 silver medalist Todd Hays a coaching position.

The three time Olympian was recently forced to retire after suffering a concussion following a December crash during a 4 man training run at a World Cup event in Winterberg, Germany.

Hays has lent the Jamaican federation equipment and his expertise in the sport.

"There are many things we can, and we will, do to improve our chances," Stokes said.

And hopefully we'll see the Jamaicans back at the 2014 Games as well.