Moni's Speaking At SUNY-Oneonta

At this moment the TransGriot is conducting her African American Trans 101 presentation in the Morris Conference Center - Le Cafe.

I'd like to thank Dr. Bambi Lobdell, the Women's and Gender Studies Department at SUNY-Oneonta, an all the people who made it possible for me to be up there today to discuss trans issues from an African descended perspective.

It will run until 9 PM EDT.

Hangin' At SUNY-Oneonta

Well good people, finally made it to the SUNY-Oneonta campus after my flight through Philly, a two hour layover, and an enjoyable one hour drive from Binghamton, NY and dinner with Dr. Bambi Lobdell.

I'm coming to you live from the Milne Library on campus now and about to head to one of Dr. Lobdell's classes to talk about a few issues.

Will chat about that experience later. But for now gotta head over there.

Leaving On A Jet Plane...To SUNY-Oneonta

After a busy Saturday in the Ville that started for me at 8 AM EDT and ended at the Fairness/ ACLU of Kentucky dinner that evening, the TransGriot is once again boarding a flight headed northeast to New York via Philadelphia. This time I'm headed to upstate New York instead of Long Island like I was back in November.

I'm actually traveling to Binghamton, NY, the closest airport to the SUNY-Oneonta campus for my presentation on the campus tomorrow night at 7 PM.

I'm looking forward to finally meeting Dr. Lobdell after months of e-mails and phone conversations and all the SUNY-Oneonta students on campus as well.

I'm planning an interesting, entertaining and informative Trans 101 discussion from a chocolate flavored viewpoint. Of course I'll be leaving plenty of time for questions and answers afterward.

If I can get to a computer while I'm up there, will tell you what's going on during my latest road trip. (No peeps, still haven't purchased a laptop yet)

See you in a few hours, Red Dragons!

Teen Arrested In NJ Wal-Mart PA Incident

It didn't take long to find the perp in last Sunday's racial PA incident at a New Jersey Wal-Mart. The suspect is a 16 year old boy who was arrested Friday in Atlantic County on bias intimidation and harassment charges.

The teen was released to the custody of his parents and is from Atlantic County, NJ according to deputy police chief John Dalesandro of the Washington Township Police Department.

Wal-Mart officials condemned the incident, saying the behavior was "unacceptable."

Authorities haven't determined as of yet whether the 'all Black must leave' announcement was ad-libbed or premeditated. They are investigating a second youth who accompanied the arrested teen to the store.

Going To Dinner

I'm heading out the door to go to dinner...At the Muhammad Ali Center

Will be hanging out with politicos and progressive Louisville once again at the Fairness ACLU of Kentucky dinner.

Should be a lot of fun and an interesting night watching the various candidates working the room and searching for support in a very tight and crowded mayoral primary on the Democratic side.

And there will probably be a lot of people crowded around whoever is watching the UK-Wake Forest NCAA game as well.

Hey, this is still basketball country!

If anything interesting transpires, you know I'll post about it.

Teabaggers Hate On Man With Parkinson's At Protest

This infuriating video is one reason why I have little to zero tolerance for teabaggers and conservafools in general.

All I can say about the heartless fools mocking this man with Parkinson's disease is that when the karmic wheel comes around, I'd hate to be you.

This is the true face of the GOP, the Tea Klux Klan and the conservative movement.

Did it make you angry seeing that? Good!

Now channel that anger into positive action to preserve our majority. Our best revenge for this gentleman is to get busy registering voters and planning to bumrush the polling places in November.

You can bet that these wastes of DNA who disrespected this man will damned sure be there to vote GOP as soon as the polls open. We need to working even harder to give these people an electoral beatdown they'll never forget.

Shut Up Fool! Awards-Showing Some Love To My Coogs Edition

It's March Madness, and while the Democrats scramble to get the votes necessary to pass health care legislation, the 2010 NCAA Men's and Women's tournaments get underway along with the NIT and WNIT.

My Coogs are playing Maryland later. Unfortunately my Lady Coogs season is over after dropping a tough game in Lubbock last night to the Texas Tech Lady Raiders 80-77 in their WNIT opener.

But congrats to both the Cougar men and women B-ballers. We UH alums and H-town are so proud of you.

And now, since it's Friday, let's continue the basketball theme and see who will exhibit championship level ignorance and stupidity to win this week's Shut Up Fool! Award.

As I mentioned, the health care debate is going on and this week's winner got it for attacking an 11 year old child who lost his mother due to lack of health care.

Marcelus Owens mother Tiffany died in June 2007 of pulmonary hypertension. It's a rare condition described as high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs that can lead to heart failure. It has no cure, but is treatable with consistent medical care that can cost up to $100,000 a year.

Owens was an assistant manager at a fast food restaurant when she became sick in September 2006. As she became sicker, she missed work and was eventually fired, leaving her without health insurance. She was treated twice in an emergency room and died at age 27 after a week of unconsciousness. His grandmother Gina Owens has custody of Marcelas and his two younger sisters.

His story has been championed by Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) as more prima facie evidence as to why we need health care reformj now in this country.

But as usual the conservafools, led by Limbaugh and Beck went on the attack and the SUF winner got it for piling on.

Michelle Malkin wins for attacking 11 year old Marcelus Owens.

Malkin called him "one of Obama's youngest lobbyists" who has been "goaded by a left-wing activist grandmother," promoted by Murray and has become a regular on the "pro-Obamacare circuit."

Malkin also suggested there were other programs that could have helped Tiffany Owens , adding, "It's not clear that additional doctors' visits in the subsequent months would have prevented her death."

Gee Michelle, didn't know you were a medical doctor as well as a batshit crazy bully.

Michelle Malkin, shut the hell up fool!

Confessions Of A Chocoholic

I have an addition I'm not ever going to get treated for.

I'm addicted to chocolate.

Be it light, dark, white, whatever, the TransGriot like any estrogen based lifeform loves her some chocolate.

I have inhaled entire bags of Hershey's Kisses in two hours or less. Chocolate bars are not safe anywhere around me and neither are plain M&M's.

That love of chocolate extends to chocolate cake, chocolate cheesecake or any cheesecake with chocolate swirled in it, chocolate ice cream and chocolate shakes.

Hmm, just talking about chocolate is making me fiend for it.

And on that note, it's time to go get some. Have a feeling I'll be consuming mass quantities of it tonight.

Moni's Coming To The ATL

Next week will be a busy one for the TransGriot. I not only have the upcoming event at SUNY-Oneonta, I've been invited to participate in a discussion at the 2010 National Black Herstory Conference in Atlanta as well.

The National Black Herstory Task Force, Inc. is an award winning nonprofit providing vehicles to chronicle and celebrate the lives of women of African descent and their alliances world wide.

As was expressed to me in the ongoing conversations I've had with Mozella Galloway, President and Co-Founder of the National Black Herstory Task Force, women of African descent includes transwomen as well.

I'm honored and proud to be taking part in this March 26 discussion. It will another opportunity to discuss trans issues in front of an audience composed primarily of African descended people.

The event is free and runs from 2-8 PM EDT on the Emory University campus.

The theme for this 13th Annual conference is “Empowering Our Communities: Self-Determined, Unified, Resourceful and Educated”. My panel discussion on 'The Basics of Gender Identity and Expression' will take place in the Whitehead Biomedical Auditorium.

The address is 615 Michael Street in the ATL, so if you wish to say hello to the TransGriot, this will be your chance to do so.

Looking forward to seeing you ATL peeps there.

Call Speaker Pelosi-Respectfully Demand Vote On ENDA

As you read this, activists are sitting in Speaker Nancy Pelosi's offices in San Francisco and Washington DC refusing to move until a vote happens on ENDA or they are arrested.

To support those activists engaged in civil disobedience tactics, can you call Speaker Pelosi's office right now and demand that ENDA (HR 3017) come to the floor for a vote?

ENDA is important because studies show that LGBT workers endure high unemployment, underemployment and harassment. We have to lie and hide in order to get and keep a job. In 30 states across America, there is no law against firing someone based on his or her sexual orientation, and the same is true in 38 states for gender identity.

Just several hours ago I posted a story about a New York group documenting trans hiring discrimination.

Here's the number to Speaker Pelosi's DC office: 202-225-4965

Let's get this party started on ENDA.

No Trans Need Apply

If you're wondering why I and other trans people spend a lot of time griping about ENDA not moving toward becoming law as expeditiously as possible, this latest story out of New York is evidence why.

A group called Make the Road New York filed a complaint with the NY State Attorney General's office after testing 24 New York City retailers for discrimination.

The group sent a trans and cis person to each one of the targeted retailers to apply for jobs with matching resumes. The resumes matched in respects of age, race, and work experience.

42 percent net rate of discrimination for transgender job applicants... [and] 49 percent of transgender workers surveyed reported that they have never been offered a job in the time that they have lived openly as transgender."

J. Crew was singled out for blatantly violating the New York City Human Rights Law. According to Make The Road NY spokesperson Irene Tung, one of the transgender employment testers, Julian Brolaski, applied at the 5th Avenue J. Crew store and "was treated brusquely, told to fill out an application and was never called.

His testing partner, Leigh Cambre, who entered the store a few minutes later, described a very different experience, 'I filled out an application, was interviewed on the spot and offered a job soon after.'

A separate pair of testers also documented a similar situation.

You can click on the chart to see the distressing results.

Another Racial Incident At A Wal-Mart

I've never been a big fan of Wal-Mart due to some problematic racial and gender discrimination incidents in its recent past.

Black customers have complained of being treated unfairly at Wal-Mart stores or had jacked-up stuff happen to them there.

Sonya Matthews was shopping in a Georgia Wal-Mart with her irritable two year old daughter Paige when Roger Stevens walked up to her and slapped her child four to five times.

In another ugly incident that took place in a Kennett, MO Wal-Mart store, honor student Heather Ellis faced 15 years in prison for allegedly cutting in line until a plea deal was struck. It got so bad at one point the Klan stuck their pointy hoods in the mess and threatened Ellis' family.

The company faced lawsuits alleging that women were passed over in favor of men for pay raises and promotions.

In February 2009, Wal-mart paid $17.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging racial discrimination in its hiring of truck drivers.

It's currently facing a lawsuit filed in May 2009 by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of Latino/a employees that claims that employees at a Sam's Club subsidiary in California were subjected to a hostile work environment.

The suit alleges managers failed to stop repeated verbal harassment, including the use of derogatory words, against Latino/a descended employees.

But the latest one involves a Washington Township, New Jersey Wal-Mart in which a male voice came on the store PA system shortly before 7 PM EDT on Sunday and calmly announced, '"Attention, Wal-mart customers: All black people, leave the store now."

Shoppers in the store at the time reported a manager quickly got on the public-address system and apologized for the remark, but the damage was already done as customers expressed their anger to store management.

"I want to know why such statements are being made, because it flies in the face of what we teach our children about tolerance for all," said Sheila Ellington, who was in the store at the time with her friend Patricia Covington. "If this was meant to be a prank, there's only one person laughing, and it's not either one of us."

"We are just as appalled by this incident as our customers," Wal-Mart said in a statement. "Whoever did this is just wrong and acted in an inappropriate manner. Clearly, this is completely unacceptable to us and to our customers."

It's still unclear at this time whether it was a rogue shopper or an employee who was responsible for the comment and the store security tapes are being reviewed to find out the answer to that question.

But one thing that's clear is Wal-Mart has another racial PR headache on its hands.

Moni's 2010 Women's B-Ball Brackets

I'm going to show the women b-ballers some love as always and continue a TransGriot tradition for the third consecutive year in selecting an NCAA women's tournament bracket.

The UConn women's basketball juggernaut has won 72 consecutive games since they were last beaten in the semifinals of the 2008 NCAA tournament in Tampa by Stanford.

They are only six wins away from becoming the first women's team to complete back to back unbeaten NCAA title runs.

Will UConn be crowned the undefeated queens of NCAA women's basketball in San Antonio? Will there be another Tennessee vs Connecticut hatefest in this tournament? Or will someone pull off the upset for the ages?

I've correctly picked the women's final four teams twice and the eventual champion once in 2008 and 2009. Even though I saw most of their games last year and they had a phenomenal player in Angel McCoughtry, I did miss on Louisville playing in the title game against UConn when I picked Oklahoma.

Let's see if I can make it three for three in picking the NCAA women's Final Four teams that will eventually make it to San Antonio.


Dayton Region

1st Round
Connecticut, Temple, Virginia, Iowa State, St. John's, Florida State, Middle Tennessee, Ohio State

Sweet 16
Connecticut, Iowa State, Florida State, Ohio State

Elite 8
Connecticut, Ohio State

Dayton Region Champion
Connecticut

Memphis Region

1st Round
Tennessee, TCU, Georgetown, Baylor, Texas, W. Virginia, LSU, Duke

Sweet 16
Tennessee, Baylor, W. Virginia, Duke

Elite 8
Tennessee, Duke

Memphis Region Champion
Tennessee

Sacramento Region

1st Round
Stanford, Rutgers, Georgia, Oklahoma State, Vanderbilt, Xavier, North Carolina, Texas A&M

Sweet 16
Stanford, Georgia, Xavier, Texas A&M

Elite 8
Stanford, Texas A&M

Sacramento Region Champion
Stanford

Kansas City Region

1st Round
Nebraska, UCLA, Michigan State, Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Notre Dame

Sweet 16
Nebraska, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Notre Dame

Elite 8
Nebraska, Notre Dame

Kansas City Region Champion
Notre Dame


Final Four Teams
Connecticut, Tennessee, Stanford, Notre Dame


Championship Game
Connecticut, Stanford

2010 NCAA Champ
Connecticut

I Don't Have Anything To Be Ashamed Of...But You Do

One of the battles we transwomen constantly wage in order to be our authentic selves is the war against shame and guilt.

A portion of it is an internal struggle we wage in terms of getting over the negative programming of our youth and young adulthood. Another portion of the shame and guilt we battle is from society and people pimping a failed political philosophy.

And most maddening is the shame and guilt coming from the one institution that should be the most supportive of our struggle, the church.

Well, news flash for all you people peddling shame and guilt on one level or another. I don't have anything as a transperson to be ashamed of.

But you do.

All you gay and straight folks who are fighting trans civil rights need to be ashamed of yourselves, not me.

All you people who are hating on me and my transsisters because we go the extra mile to be the best people we can be while being true to our authentic selves need to be ashamed of yourselves, not me.

All you people who have actively participated in visiting violence upon transpeople need to be ashamed of yourselves, not me.

All of you 'religious' people who quote Bible verses out of context and are trying to spin them into an anti-transgender religious doctrine where none exists need to be ashamed of yourselves, not me.

All of you people who claim that I'm not part of the African American community because I transitioned need to be ashamed of yourselves, not me.

All of you gay and lesbian people who claim we are not part of the GLBT/SGL community need to be ashamed of yourselves, not me.

And all of you politicians who are working hard to keep transpeople from becoming contributing members of society just so that you can stay in elective office need to be ashamed of yourselves, not me.

It has been a long, hard pothole filled road to get to this point in my life where I love this Phenomenal Transwoman.

I stand tall in the morphed body I inhabit. I express my pride and joy in loving the reflection that stares back at me in the mirror. I revel in the life journey as an estrogen based lifeform and say 'bless them' to the 'christian' people that curse me.

I don't have anything to be ashamed of, but you do.

Application Period Open For Williams Institute Small Grants Program

The Williams Institute advances sexual orientation law and public policy through rigorous, independent research and scholarship, and disseminates it to judges, legislators, policymakers, media and the public. A national think tank at UCLA Law, the Williams Institute produces high quality research with real-world relevance.

The Williams Institute’s Small Research Grants Program is designed to encourage new empirical research focused on the LGBT population. Applicants from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, including social sciences like economics, sociology, demography, social psychology, law, and public policy are encouraged to apply.

This initiative is designed to foster sound empirical analyses focused on the LGBT population; and to develop a better understanding of the need for and impact of public policies that affect the LGBT population. Advanced-level graduate students are strongly encouraged to apply. Similarly, more senior scholars interested in expanding their research agenda to include LGBT-related issues are welcome.

Application deadline is April 15, 2010 with the awards being announced by April 30, 2010.

More information about the grants are available here.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St Patrick's Day TransGriot readers!

Louisville has a sizable Irish descended population that dates back to the 19th Century. And yes, as Skip Gates' DNA proves, there are some African descended peeps walking around that do have some Irish heritage.

The Irish and Irish for the day will be gathering at all the local Irish-themed restaurants, pubs on Bardstown Road and Fourth Street Live.

I may have to bounce out later and hit Molly Malone's for their fish and chips and Bailey's cheesecake if I can even get in the place today.

So Happy St. Patrick's Day! Make sure you have a designated driver if you decide to partake of mass quantities of green beer and other Irish spirits.

In Africa, A Step Backward On Human Rights

TransGriot Note: From a March 12 op-ed in the Washington Post

by Desmond Tutu

Hate has no place in the house of God. No one should be excluded from our love, our compassion or our concern because of race or gender, faith or ethnicity -- or because of their sexual orientation. Nor should anyone be excluded from health care on any of these grounds. In my country of South Africa, we struggled for years against the evil system of apartheid that divided human beings, children of the same God, by racial classification and then denied many of them fundamental human rights. We knew this was wrong. Thankfully, the world supported us in our struggle for freedom and dignity.

It is time to stand up against another wrong.

Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people are part of so many families. They are part of the human family. They are part of God's family. And of course they are part of the African family. But a wave of hate is spreading across my beloved continent. People are again being denied their fundamental rights and freedoms. Men have been falsely charged and imprisoned in Senegal, and health services for these men and their community have suffered. In Malawi, men have been jailed and humiliated for expressing their partnerships with other men. Just this month, mobs in Mtwapa Township, Kenya, attacked men they suspected of being gay. Kenyan religious leaders, I am ashamed to say, threatened an HIV clinic there for providing counseling services to all members of that community, because the clerics wanted gay men excluded.

Uganda's parliament is debating legislation that would make homosexuality punishable by life imprisonment, and more discriminatory legislation has been debated in Rwanda and Burundi.

These are terrible backward steps for human rights in Africa.

Our lesbian and gay brothers and sisters across Africa are living in fear.

And they are living in hiding -- away from care, away from the protection the state should offer to every citizen and away from health care in the AIDS era, when all of us, especially Africans, need access to essential HIV services. That this pandering to intolerance is being done by politicians looking for scapegoats for their failures is not surprising. But it is a great wrong. An even larger offense is that it is being done in the name of God. Show me where Christ said "Love thy fellow man, except for the gay ones." Gay people, too, are made in my God's image. I would never worship a homophobic God.

"But they are sinners," I can hear the preachers and politicians say. "They are choosing a life of sin for which they must be punished." My scientist and medical friends have shared with me a reality that so many gay people have confirmed, I now know it in my heart to be true. No one chooses to be gay. Sexual orientation, like skin color, is another feature of our diversity as a human family. Isn't it amazing that we are all made in God's image, and yet there is so much diversity among his people? Does God love his dark- or his light-skinned children less? The brave more than the timid? And does any of us know the mind of God so well that we can decide for him who is included, and who is excluded, from the circle of his love?

The wave of hate must stop. Politicians who profit from exploiting this hate, from fanning it, must not be tempted by this easy way to profit from fear and misunderstanding. And my fellow clerics, of all faiths, must stand up for the principles of universal dignity and fellowship. Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice


The writer is archbishop emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.

Moni's 2010 NCAA Men's B-Ball Bracket

Well, peeps. I'm still on Clouds 9-10 and 11 along with other University of Houston alumni about the Cougars making the NCAA tournament field for the first time in 18 years.

I shed a tear for North Carolina and UCLA not making the tournament for the first time since 1966.

Psyche.

While we didn't get assigned to the South regional, UH is in the Midwest and have a tough opening round assignment with Maryland.

While I'm hoping my boys go a long way, gotta put sentimentality aside and put on the tournament prognosticator hat.

Unlike President Obama, I didn't pick North Carolina last year to win it but on my 2009 bracket I did have them in my Final Four.

You can peruse my 2007 and 2008 brackets as we see if I can improve on last year's results.

Play In Game
Winthrop

Midwest Region

1st Round
Kansas, UNLV, Michigan State, Maryland, Tennessee, Georgetown, Oklahoma State, Ohio State

Sweet 16
Kansas, Michigan State, Georgetown, Ohio State

Elite 8
Kansas, Ohio State

Midwest Champion
Kansas

West Region

1st Round
Syracuse, Gonzaga, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Xavier, Pittsburgh, Florida, Kansas State

Sweet 16
Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Pittsburgh, Kansas State

Elite 8
Syracuse, Kansas State

West Champion
Syracuse


East Regional

1st Round
Kentucky, Texas, Temple, Marquette, New Mexico, Missouri, West Virginia

Sweet 16
Kentucky, Temple, Marquette, West Virginia

Elite 8
Kentucky, West Virginia

East Champion
Kentucky

South Regional

1st Round
Duke, Louisville, Texas A&M, Siena, Notre Dame, Baylor, Richmond, Villanova

Sweet 16
Louisville, Texas A&M, Baylor, Villanova

Elite 8
Texas A&M, Villanova

South Champion
Villanova


Final Four Teams
Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky, Villanova

Championship Game
Kansas, Kentucky

2010 NCAA Champion
Kansas

Theta Beta Chi Anniversary Conference In Winston-Salem, NC

Theta Beta Chi Fraternity, Inc. is a non collegiate Greek letter fraternity of unique men that was founded in 2008.

Theta Beta Chi in conjunction with Church of the Holy Spirit Fellowship will be sponsoring their Unity and Understanding conference in Winston-Salem NC from April 22-25.

The event will include a Black tie awards dinner, workshops, and a Greek party along with on-site vendors.

The theme for the event is 'Recovering The Spirit That Is Within Me' and will also serve as a celebration of Transgendered People of Color.

I've been asked by one of the organizers to attend and I'd love to be there if my schedule allows me to get down to North Carolina.

One of the scheduled presenters is Kylar Broadus, the board chair of the National Black Justice Coalition. There's also another person I'm interested in meeting whose name I'd heard of thanks to one of my Dallas cousins, Min. Carmarion D. Anderson.

Should be an interesting weekend down in Winston-Salem

If you need further information you can also dial 336-833-6435

Trans Does Not Equal White

One of the things that continues to fascinate the public is documentaries and interviews with trans people.

Last weekend CNN rolled out the Anderson Cooper Chaz Bono interview and the Susan Stanton documentary to boost those television ratings and clock those advertising dollars.

Can you guess what group was NOT represented in this smorgasbord of transgender programming?

Can you say trans people of color?

While people are fond of saying the trans community is a diverse bunch, you couldn't back that statement up by the monochromatic programming that was being offered last weekend,

White transpeople were once again predominant as the faces of the transgender community while prominent transwomen of color's phones continue to remain silent or they fail to receive e-mail from the producers of these shows.

Maybe it escaped you documentary or news feature producers that 13% of the United States population is African American, 15% of it is Latino/a and 4% of it is Asian. The 2010 census that's currently being conducted will confirm that our shares of the US population are increasing.

Contrary to all the vanilla flavored trans programming that dominated your television sets last weekend, there are African descended, Latino/a and Asian transpeeps successfully living their lives inside the United States.

If you bother to look or even talk to us, we too have compelling stories to tell beyond the stereotypical or the tragic trans victim.

But as has been the case for the last 50 plus years, when there's a documentary to be done on transpeople and you tune in, you can almost bet without even looking at anything but the preview for it that it will involve a white, middle to upper middle class transperson.

Attention media. Trans people come in all shapes, sizes, classes and ethnic groups. How about taking a moment to broaden the trans narrative to reflect that?

I doubt that the situation will improve before the May and July sweeps period either.