The Ah Kua Show Comes To America

Leona Lo is bringing her sold out Ah Kua Show from Singapore to the bright lights of Broadway.

Off Broadway that is.

The Ah Kua Show written by Leona will be one of the plays performed during the New York International Fringe Festival, the largest multi-arts festival in North America.

The shows will be performed from August 21 to August 26 at The Club at LaMaMa. Tickets are $15-18 dollars and go on sale beginning July 23.

For those of you in the New York metro area, please consider patronizing this show and helping our Singaporean sister out.

Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit-Day Two

After a very interesting and informative first day on the Rice University campus seeing old friends, making new ones and discussing how we're going to protect the rights of trans people matriculating on and off Texas college campuses, we're back for Day Two of the TTNS.

When we called it a day, we were in our group breakout sessions. We'll pick up where we left off in terms of strategizing to ensure that trans Texans have safe environments to get their education.

See y'all there.

And oh yeah, happy birthday, Vanessa!

Texas Has Transpeeps Marrying In It

TransGriot Note: It was past time to pen this song rewrite. I'm more than a little pissed over the fact that ever since the push for same gender marriage started, transgender ones which were once done with no problems, have come under increased attack.

Now we have another Texas marriage case in which another trans woman faces not only getting over her husband's untimely death, but having her gender identity questioned, put through media scrutiny and legally stripped away a la Christie Lee Littleton for fiscal reasons.

So, time to whip out those iPod's and sing along to Moni's remixed lyrics.



Texas Has Transpeeps Marrying In It
(sung to the tune of 'Texas Has a Whorehouse In It' from the musical 'Best Little Whorehouse In Texas'

Texas has transpeeps marrying in it.
Lord have mercy on our souls!
Texas has transpeeps marrying in it
Lord have mercy on our souls!

I'll expose the facts because they fill me with disgust
Tripping because of your genitalia and carnal lust

(your genitalia and carnal lust)

A Transwoman has got married and you fools have gone plumb wild
Yep she's hitched, didn't deny it, now you Reichers are getting riled
Bodies close together arms and legs all rearranged
Wingers want to stop it but nothing 'bout all of that is strange.

(nothing 'bout all of that is strange)

girl-girl boy-boy boy-girl girl-boy couples (oh no!)
Mixing with transgirl transboy all transgender couples (oh no!)
Transpeeps are getting married, that much is very clear
The latest one only happened just 55 miles from here

And now our own GOP Singers

(Texas has transpeeps marrying in it)

I'll put an end to this charade

(Texas has transpeeps marrying in it)

Stopping them is our crusade.
This is just disgusting and I'll fight it till I drop
Love filled copulation going on.
And it must stop

Stop that copulation!
Love filled copulation!
Stop that copulation!
Love filled copulation!

Texas has transpeeps marrying in it
Lord have mercy on our souls
Texas has transpeeps marrying in it
Lord have mercy on our souls.
Ministers hatin' on us and they'll fight us till they drop
Love filled copulation going on, going on, going on, going
on, going on, going on.

Don't touch that browser!
This is the Party of No saying we'll be back, with new and
revealing information about this and other cases.
Cause right wing haters never sleep

(Chorus) And it must stop.
Haters going to get you
Going to shine their light on you
Haters going to get you
Going to shine their light on you.

Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit-Day One Recap

I wanted to get this up earlier, but I laid down for a short nap that lasted until almost 10 PM CDT.

Better late than never with my report concerning Day One of the second annual 2010 Texas Transgender Non Discrimination Summit.

It was scheduled to kick off at 10 AM CDT on the Rice University campus and I decided to avoid the parking hassles and take METRO and MetroRail to the event.

My morning did not get off to a great start. I just missed my first bus at 8:45 AM and the next one ran a little late. I have railroad tracks up the street from the house and I presume it got delayed on its southbound leg by the early morning freight train that rumbled by waking my butt up with its whistle at 7 AM.

Speaking of trains, when I arrived at the downtown transit center at Main and Pierce streets I sprinted off the bus to the train station platform and got there just in time to watch my southbound Red Line train depart that I needed to catch to the Rice U campus. Had to wait a few minutes for the next one to arrive and got off it at the Hermann Park/Rice U station at 9:54 AM.

I'm quickly walking to the shuttle bus stop from the train station and as befitting the pattern I've already established, I missed that one as well. Fortunately there was another one that arrived moments later and I got dropped off by the friendly neighborhood driver in front of the library at 10:00 AM.

I was afraid the TTNS had started, but my pissivity over my transit buzzard's luck eased as I finally sauntered inside the Fondren Library and headed up to the third floor and pick up my badge and registration packet.

I've done this numerous times, but surprisingly in this case I was a little nervous, probably because this was the first TBLG conference I've attended in the home state since I came back.

Of course I bump into Phyllis Frye five seconds after I arrive in the Kyle Morrow Room. She gives me a big bear hug, tells me 'It's about time you came back home' and we talk for a few moments before I start circulating around the room.

I wave at Josephine Tittsworth, who is doing yeoman's work attending to all the last minute details of running a conference as part of the host committee, a position I know all too well.

The TTNS starts a few minutes later with some opening remarks from Jo. It then segues to Phyllis who talks about her law firm for a few moments, then drops the welcome news that she's been hired by Nikki Araguz to represent her.

Vanessa Edwards Foster then steps up to the podium wearing her Hollyfield Foundation board member hat. She talked about the history of the foundation that fully funded the conference so that people could attend it gratis.

Katy Stewart from Equality Texas spoke for a few moments before yielding the mic to Rosemary Hennessey from the host institution. Rosemary mentioned some upcoming events and speakers the Rice Women and Gender studies program has in store for the upcoming fall semester.

As of yet, I'm not one of them. But I may be doing speaking engagements soon at my alma mater and Texas A&M. Will keep you Aggies and Cougars posted on those developments.

We start with a moderated discussion by Katy on the trans umbrella and just how vast the definitions and terminology within it is.

We then move on to where various schools in the Lone Star State are in term of their non discrimination statements. It ranges from Texas A&M fighting their students on the issue to total inclusion and implementation by Rice and Houston Community College.

LaKeia Spady spoke about the developments at HCC, Phyllis for South Texas College of Law, Jo for the University of Houston (eat 'em up!), Brian Riedel for Rice University and Shane Whalley for the University of Texas.

We move on to our keynote speech from Randall Terrell, who talked about the political developments in Texas. It was one I was paying extremely close attention to since I'm getting back up to speed on Texas politics.

We took a break at that point for lunch, and I got a reminder of just how popular and widely read TransGriot is, especially with college students. Most of the time I have the attitude that I'm not an 'A' List blogger, but people who read the blog that I have the pleasure of interacting with say otherwise.

Several of the collegiate younglings approached me and told me how much they loved the blog and read it on a daily basis. (Thanks!) Katy Stewart remarked that she didn't realize I was 'THE' TransGriot until she overheard a few people talking about how cool it was that the TransGriot was in the house covering this TTNS.

Had other peeps from my early transition days such as Jenifer Rene Pool in the room hugging me. I was told by more than a few people they were glad I was back in the state and the Houston area.

After lunch, there was a change in the program so Phyllis could present her segment and bounce so she could prep for a critical 10 AM CDT hearing in the Araguz case. A jar was passed around to collect funds to help with the case since Nikki Araguz's finances have been frozen pending the outcome.

Phyllis took us through a history of trans law at the state and national levels and pointed out why we're starting to get court wins lately.

Phyllis' presentation dovetailed nicely into a case law presentation by the TX ACLU Houston Regional office director Maida Asofsky and law students Crystal Haly and Benedicte Nielsen before we had our chocolate break.

Yes, chocolate break. It's exactly what it sounds like. We had our choice of our fave chocolate treats to savor before heading into our small group sessions.

FYI, I had a regular Hershey bar and Reese's peanut butter cups.

It was also announced that the host institution for the 2011 summit would be Texas A&M University.

Before the break we were separated into groups, and returned to the Kyle Morrow room to discuss various subjects within those groups. My first one as a member of Group 5 was on a subject that's near and dear to my heart, transgender inclusion.

That group was moderated by Katy, and after 30 minutes were up we moved on to our next topic, Safe Zones, moderated by UH-Clear Lake's Julie Smith.

This was one I learned a lot on. I'd seen the signs outside various professor's offices at the schools I've been blessed to speak at, but until today I didn't understand the significance of them. Not surprisingly professors from the humanities departments have been more willing to be Safe Zone counselors than ones in engineering or computer science. Julie noted that at UH-Clear Lake they have several campus police command staff as part of the program.

That 30 minutes ended far too soon, and after getting chance to chat with Jo, I headed home.

See y'all tomorrow.


TransGriot Note; 2010 TTNS photos courtesy of Angela Hon Photography.

Every Transwoman Needs Sistafriends In Her Life

One of the things I've discovered in this ongoing feminine journey is that every transwoman needs a group of sistahfriends in her life.

Roberta Angela Dee, one of my trans mentors once said, "I'm a woman in mind, heart and spirit. That's all that matters. They can cut things off, paste things on, or reconfigure my body parts. If you're a woman, you're a woman. Period."

But the problem becomes getting to that point in your life in which you get to that level of confidence that Roberta expressed in that quote.

And that's where your sistahfriends enter the equation.

Your cis and trans sistahfriends can not only help you learn, grow and deal with some of the issues currently affecting your life, they can give you a comforting hug when you need it or that swift motivational kick in the butt to get you going when you feel down.

They are your mutual support system. They help you celebrate your triumphs and are there to console you when life hands you momentary defeats. They help you confidently get through this journey we call life.

Your trans sistahfriends not only help kick knowledge to you about dealing with some of the issues we have to grapple with inside and outside the community as transwomen, but help us avoid situations that could get us severely beat down or killed if we're not cognizant about it at all times.

If you are fortunate enough as a transwoman to have a group of ciswomen as your friends, they are invaluable in helping you to understand what it's like to grow up female with a developing female body in a male dominated society.

They can explain or clue you in on the drama you missed growing up, share some of the good and bad times of their early feminine journeys, and help you make sense of various issues that crop up in your own life in terms of dealing with sexism, misogyny, and sexual harassment issues.

It's also crucial to get you to the point of understanding that the feminine journey is a lifelong and constantly evolving one.

A transwoman that has a network of sistahfriends around her made up of cis and trans women not only gets untold benefits from it, she emerges from that stronger in spirit and better equipped to take on a hostile world arrayed against her.

Moni's In The Middle Of The Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit

At this moment I'm on Rice University's tree shaded campus sitting in the Kyle Morrow Room of the Fondren Library. This is one of the few times you're going to see me as a UH alum write something nice about Rice University.

Anyway, back to the post.

I'm here in learning and reporter mode for the second annual Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit.

The event will focus on changing policies on college campuses to protect transgender faculty, staff, and students. We're listening to the opening speech now and the TTNS will be going on until 5 PM CDT.

There's a 6 PM CDT dinner at the Houston TG Center, but I won't be able to attend that event. I'm also interested to discover if anyone will show up for the TTNS from our local HBCU's Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M.

If you miss today's events, you'll still have tomorrow to check it out starting at 10 AM CDT.

Damn- Here We Go Again With The Invalidating Our Marriages For Money Crap

Many of us here in the Lone Star State and nationally remember the 1999 Littleton v. Prange case and the 2000 J'Noel Gardiner case in Kansas in which transpeople had DOMA used against them to invalidate their legal marriages as the spouses of their deceased husbands who stood to gain large sums of money.

In Christie Lee Littleton's case, DOMA was applied retroactively to do so and keep her from collecting a multimillion dollar malpractice judgment in a case she filed on behalf of her late husband.

Now comes word of another Texas case in which the relatives of the deceased are seeking to invalidate the legal marriage of a couple so they can get control of a substantial chunk of cash.

Nikki Araguz married Wharton Fire Capt. Thomas Araguz III in August 2008. He died fighting a major egg farm fire in Wharton, TX, just southwest of Houston on July 3.

Nikki Araguz's gender business was leaked during a custody dispute with Thomas Araguz's ex wife Heather Delgado, who is the mother of their two children.

Since Capt. Araguz was killed while on duty, the estate will be substantial. He also died without a will.

Drawing on the odious precedent set in Littleton, Araguz's parents have filed a lawsuit that will be heard in Wharton County court on Friday. The parents are seeking to keep Nikki Araguz from receiving death benefits as his widow by annulling her marriage.

If that happens, they would become executors of their son's estate and designate those benefits go to his surviving kids.

The kids deserve some of that cash, but this is an ugly no-win way to go about getting it.

One ray of hope in this case is that only the spouse has legal standing to file these types of suits, and that's Nikki. There's a possibility it could be thrown out on that basis.

I'm expecting this to not turn out well, but I'm keeping hope alive that I might be shocked by the outcome.

Sarah Palin's A Conservaidiot!

The right wing and Tea Klux Klan's favorite self proclaimed feminist was on the attack against the NAACP last week. Her beloved teabagging 'Real American' peeps got called out in a resolution voted on at last weeks NAACP convention in Kansas City.

Caribou Barbie's response was to go on Faux News and call on 'half-white' President Obama to 'refudiate' the NAACP resolution.

Yo Miss Right Wing Thang, 'refudiate' isn't even in the dictionary, much less doesn't exist for those of us who have an 'ejumacation' as a word.

She's now trying to spin it by saying she created a new word, and compare herself to Shakespeare at the same time.

That sound you hear coming from England is William Shakespeare turning over in his grave.

Please. I'm skeptical that somebody who went to five colleges to get a journalism degree is clever enough to do that.

But I do have a word I've been using on TransGriot that perfectly describes you and many of your followers, and it isn't 'racist', although that word does apply to you and it's in the dictionary.

Nope, my created word to describe you is 'Conservaidiot.'

Conservative + idiot = conservaidiot.

Come to think of it, it applies to a host of people in the right wing as well besides you.

It also reminds me of a comment I would say to people that tried to fake intelligence when they clearly were out of their intellectual league.

'Those of you who think you're intelligent, really annoy those of us who are.'

'Refudiate' that

When Are You Gonna Recognize Our Humanity?

'In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute' Justice Thurgood Marshall

One of the questions that we transpeople of color constantly are asking ourselves is when is society going to recognize our humanity?

When will you see that we are fellow travelers on Planet Earth who are part of the beautiful diversity of life?

When will our civil and human rights be respected, protected, and ensconced in the legal books of the various nations we reside in?

When will transwomen of color be considered just and beautiful as our white counterparts?

When will transmen of color be allowed to step up, use their talents and take leadership roles in the community?

When will you stop denigrating, disrespecting, and whitewashing us out of the transgender history narrative?

When are you going to pay yourselves the highest tribute and respect us as fellow human beings?

The CCSF TransLatinas Club

I recently joined the Trans Role Models Facebook page and it has been great to see the diversity of the trans rainbow playing out on that site.

It has been refreshing to read about some of our community's historic figures who are being added to the page on an almost hourly basis and people around the world who are out, proud to be trans and fighting for its human rights.

It's also exposing me to people and groups I previously wasn't aware existed or were doing things because it has been happening on the local level.

One of those things happening at the local level is the TransLatinas Club on the City College of San Francisco's Mission Campus.

You don't hear much about the groups and the accomplishments of non white trans people. Black transpeople barely get a mention, and when it comes to Asian and Latino/a transpeople, even less positive news is generated.

Too many times when we do get a mention, it's in conjunction with one of our peeps being killed due to a hate crime or murder or steeped in stereotypical negativity.

The TransLatinas club was founded earlier this year on the CCSF Mission campus with the twin goals of not only combating transphobia in the cis Latino community, but inspiring more trans people from the immigrant Latino population to attend college.

That education and breaking down of stereotypes in the Latino community includes seminars hosted by the group in addition to TransLatinas meetings.

Nice to see a positive story about my Latina sisters, and may the TransLatinas idea be replicated at other college campuses across the nation.

Moni's Guest Posting At The Rude Pundit

One of the highest compliments you can get or signs that people like your work (besides garnering awards for it) is when your blogging peers ask you to write posts in their spaces, or ask to use yours.

Earlier this week I was honored to be asked by the Rude Pundit to post at his blog as part of his LGBT Week.

I'm due up on Friday July 23, and I'm following some pretty heavy hitters in the LGBT gayposphere.

Will/Wolf of Back2Stonewall kick it off on Monday, Pam Spaulding (my blogging shero) of Pam's House Blend on Tuesday, Jim Burroway of Box Turtle Bulletin on Wednesday, and Michael Petrelis of The Petrelis Files on Thursday.

So surf on by the Rude Pundit on Friday or here and see what I come up with.

Rest In Peace, Angie

Today is the second anniversary of Angie Zapata's death.

Allen Andrade, the waste of DNA who committed this heinous crime was convicted and is now rotting in a Colorado jail cell serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole.

Her brothers and sisters in the trans community and our allies can only hope and pray that as the years continue on, the pain of Angie's untimely departure lessens for her family, friends,and all who loved her.

Never forget this day, and keep Angie's memory alive

Moni's Short Stories

I'm taking time out this weekend to do some fiction writing.

No, I'm not going to apply for a job as a copy writer for Faux News, people.

But every now and then I like to let my creative juices flow and unleash some of these characters that are yearning to be released from the creative area of my brain and run free to live their lives in the context of a story.

If something newsworthy happens to transpire while I'm doing so, I'll definitely write it up and give you loyal TransGriot readers my chocolate flavored take on it.

But just in case you're curious as to whether not Moni has the fiction writing skills to pay her bills, here's a sample courtesy of some old short stories, song rewrites and poetic posts I've written throughout the years.

Gotta get back to work on that. My characters are calling.

Bathroom Issues

Transgender Heaven

It's a Wonderful Trans Life

The Recruiting Visit

The Sermon

Battlestar Galactica With Soul

Moni's Greatest Song Rewrite Hits-Volume I

One of the features on this blog that you TransGriot readers tell me you never get enough of are my satirical song rewrites.

I'll pen one when world events or newsworthy people inspire me to do.

Well, to make it easy for you (and me) to find them, I'm concentrating all of Moni's song rewrites so far in one post with links for you to peruse them.


The Rad Fem Ones

Saggin' Pants

Barack's The President Now

(You Gotta) Fight For Our Right To Potty

The Propaganda We'll Teach Y'all

Screwed By You

Everyday Sheeple

Grandma Just Got Busted In A Drug Deal

I'm The Sidekick John McCain

GOP Golddigger

They Hate Moni

HRC The Fake Civil Rights Org

You're A Mean One, Barney Frank

I'm The ENDA Bill

The new Barney Theme Song

The GOP Hates Science

Irreplacable

You Can Call Bush Crazy

Why We Hate On Gays

I Won't Vote For Republicans

In Iraqinam

Santa Baby (TG version)

You're Going Back To School

I Cheated In Argentina

Rappin' Rushbo

Teabag Lady

He's A Clown

Get Real

No, No, No (GOP Version)

Happy 75th Birthday Diahann Carroll!

Had to take a moment to salute the milestone birthday of one of my fave actresses and beauty role models, Diahann Carroll.

Carol Diahann Johnson was born on this day in New York (the Bronx) and as an infant moved to Harlem with her family. One of her high school classmates at the New York Music & Art High School was Billy Dee Williams and has had a long distinguished and trailblazing career in music, film, Broadway, and television.

In 1962 she won the first ever 'Best Actress' Tony Award given to an African American actress for her role in the Broadway musical No Strings. In 1963 she picked up her first Emmy nomination for the police drama Naked City.

In 1975 she picked up an Academy Award Best Actress nomination for the movie Claudine.

But the role just about everyone of my generation remembers her for besides Claudine is her groundbreaking 1968-71 NBC television series Julia.

She played widowed nurse Julia Baker, and picked up a 1968 Golden Globe Award for the role along with her second Emmy Award nomination in 1969. Carroll was the first African American actress to star in a TV show that cast her in a non-stereotypical role.

She joined the cast of Dynasty in 1984 as its first African American cast member and played the glamorous jetsetter Dominique Deveraux, the half sister of Blake Carrington. Dynasty reunited her with her high school classmate, who played her husband Brady Lloyd on the show.

My favorite role of hers besides Julia is A Different World's Marion Gilbert, the glamorous mother of Hillman College diva Whitley Gilbert. The recurring role earned her another Emmy Award nomination in 1989.

She had a recurring role of Aunt Ruthie on the HBO series Soul Food, for which she received two NAACP Image Award nominations

She was recently seen in 2006 on Grey's Anatomy playing Jane Burke, the demanding mother of Dr. Preston Burke.

You can also add author to this multitalented lady's resume thanks to her autobiography entitled 'The Legs Are The Last To Go'.

She's also a breast cancer survivor who has taken a leading role as a spokesperson in the African American community to heighten awareness of the disease.

Happy 75th birthday Diahann Carroll. May you continue to inspire and be a trailblazing role model for our community and age gracefully in the process.

My Chocolate Flavored Transition Is STILL Not Like Yours

One of the things I have repeatedly said in the 15 plus years I've been a part of the trans community is that mine and the transitions of African descended transpeople are not like our white counterparts.

For starters, class and income differences. A white transwoman comes from a background in which she has a higher income due to her prior status as a white male. For every dollar a white person earns, a Black person earns 70 cents, even if we have a well paying job.

That means it's going to take us longer to save up the money for any type of surgery, much less stuff like electrolysis/laser treatments, or SRS. So by necessity, we focus more on perfecting our femininity from the inside out.

Before we can even tackle the gender identity issues, we have to deal with on an almost daily basis race and racism inside and outside the GLBT community.

We also are affected by the same issues that afflict the African American community at large.

We have to deal with once we begin transition the added burdens of being considered the 'unwoman' just like our cisgender sisters and all the negative stereotypes that come with that.

We have to deal with the shame and guilt, negative stereotypes and negativity heaped upon transwomen of color in addition to taking the brunt of the anti-trans violence casualties along with our Latina transsisters.

Because we grew up in somebody's church, our spirituality is important to us. We are going to be sitting in the pews of somebody's church on Sundays on a regular basis. If we're fortunate to be in our home churches where we grew up and it's a 'whosoever will' one, instead of a prosperity gospel pimp the conservahate one, even better.

So no, while in some respects we have some similarities and shared issues, in others, my chocolate flavored transition is STILL not like yours.

See? Told Y'all The Tea Klux Klan ls Racist

We've all seen the hue and cry come for the Tea Klux Klan complaining that the NAACP and the 'liberal media' mischaracterizes their movement as racist.

They deployed numerous 'Black' conservafools and imitation Internet African Americans to swarm the Net and NAACP Internet sites to 'prove' they aren't.

Methinks y'all doth protest too much.

If it walks like a racist duck, talks like a racist duck, and quacks like a racist duck, it's a racist duck, baby.

QuacKKK! QuacKKK! QuacKKK!

Speaking of racist Tea Klux Klan ducks, right on cue comes Tea Party founder Mark Williams putting his webbed foot in his mouth and proving the NAACP's point behind the resolution passed at their convention Tuesday.

He posted this 'open letter' to Abraham Lincoln on his website, which Keith Olbermann and other peeps in the blogosphere called his azz on. Thanks to the Reid Report blog, we also have a copy of the letter and a screenshot of it just in case Mark Williams belatedly realizes just how badly he just fracked up and takes it down.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

***

And now, presenting Mark's July 16 post from his own blog entitled, 'Colored People Change minds About Emancipation'


Dear Mr. Lincoln

We Coloreds have taken a vote and decided that we don’t cotton to that whole emancipation thing. Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards. That is just far too much to ask of us Colored People and we demand that it stop!

In fact we held a big meeting and took a vote in Kansas City this week. We voted to condemn a political revival of that old abolitionist spirit called the ‘tea party movement’.

The tea party position to “end the bailouts” for example is just silly. Bailouts are just big money welfare and isn’t that what we want all Coloreds to strive for? What kind of racist would want to end big money welfare? What they need to do is start handing the bail outs directly to us coloreds! Of course, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is the only responsible party that should be granted the right to disperse the funds.

And the ridiculous idea of “reduce[ing] the size and intrusiveness of government.” What kind of massa would ever not want to control my life? As Coloreds we must have somebody care for us otherwise we would be on our own, have to think for ourselves and make decisions!

The racist tea parties also demand that the government “stop the out of control spending.” Again, they directly target coloreds. That means we Coloreds would have to compete for jobs like everybody else and that is just not right.

Perhaps the most racist point of all in the tea parties is their demand that government “stop raising our taxes.” That is outrageous! How will we coloreds ever get a wide screen TV in every room if non-coloreds get to keep what they earn? Totally racist! The tea party expects coloreds to be productive members of society?

Mr. Lincoln, you were the greatest racist ever. We had a great gig. Three squares, room and board, all our decisions made by the massa in the house. Please repeal the 13th and 14th Amendments and let us get back to where we belong.

Sincerely

Precious Ben Jealous, Tom’s Nephew NAACP Head Colored Person


***

QuacKKK, QuacKKK, QuacKKK, Mark.

That was just so hilarious. Next time why don't you do it in blackface?

The more y'all flap your gums, the more the NAACP is proven right and the more your stock plummets amongst reality based white Americans and other people of good will who deplore your race baiting tactics.

And thank you for taking the hoods off and revealing the true nature of the 18% of you in that Astroturfed movement who proudly claim Tea Klux Klan membership.

TransForm New Hampshire Conference Coming Soon

Many of us remember last year, when the New Hampshire Senate, the only female led and dominated legislature in the country if not the world passed a marriage equality bill.

But that same legislative body couldn't, wouldn't or didn't want to expend the effort to open their minds and hearts to protect trans people in their state. On a 24-0 vote turned down at transgender rights bill because 'it had flaws' they never elaborated on.

It appears the New Hampshire trans community is mobilizing in the wake of that bitter loss. As part of that process, the TransForm New Hampshire Conference will take place July 23-25, 2010 in the state's capital city of Concord, NH.

There is a $25 registration fee for the event and during that period people from the Nutmeg State and beyond its borders will gather to watch films, performance artists, and workshops that will help educate people, formulate policy, get better organized and discuss ways to petition their legislators to pass laws so that transpeople can 'live free or die' in New Hampshire and beyond.

Here's a statement from Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire Gene Robinson concerning the event.

'Equal rights for Transgender People is the next front in the equal-rights-for-all effort. But more of our citizens need to understand the experiences, challenges and needs of their trans neighbors. This conference is an extraordinary opportunity to hear national leaders as well as local activists, speaking to the experience and needs of our trans citizens. Even gay and lesbian people are often uneducated and unfamiliar with the complexities of our trans brothers and sisters who have been so supportive of our efforts for full equality. Run, don't walk, to sign up for this great conference!

Featured speakers for the event include Anthony Baretto-Neto, Allyson Robinson, , Peterson Toscano, Kim Pearson, Executive Director and Co-Founder of TransYouth Family Allies, and many more.

The event is sponsored by TransMentors International, in partnership with the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union,

Shut Up Fool! Awards-NAACP Rocks Edition

The 101st annual NAACP convention closes in Kansas City, MO today and one of the big pieces of news that came out of it was the resolution passed on Tuesday condemning the extremist elements of the Tea Party.

Of course, the 'white' wing immediately cranked up the Noise Machine and riled up the conservasheeple. They swarmed the blogosphere and the NAACP's Facebook page armed with bogus talking points that were smacked back into reality by the posters there.

The conservasheeple also took time to bash the FLOTUS as well, who was the Monday keynote speaker.

All you fools did was prove the NAACP's point that there is a serious problem with racism within the Tea Party.

Now let's move on to find out which person, persons or group had a serious problem with stupidity this week. The Tea Party is an obvious candidate this week's illustrious award along with their queen Sarah Palin. Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) gets one, and of course the usual suspects of Beck, Hannity, and O'Reilly.

This week's Shut Up Fool! award goes to lame duck (thank God) Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY)

He took his crassness to new levels when he made this comment about former New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner during a recent Senate Finance Committee hearing, who passed away from a heart attack on Tuesday.

Bunning said, “because he was smart enough to die in 2010, there is zero liability on the estate tax.”

The man isn't even cold and in the ground yet and you're using him as a political football?

I can only hope that the state of Kentucky chooses wisely and replaces you with current attorney general Jack Conway instead of GOP nominee Rand Paul, who has already demonstrated he'll be even more crass and ignorant than you.

Sen. Jim Bunning, shut the HELL up fool!

Caster Wins!

800m world champion Caster Semenya finally got to run a race for the first time since her world championship run in Berlin 11 months ago. It was in a small Finnish town 135 miles (220 kilometers) east of Helsinki at the Lappeenranta Games.

She won it in 2:04.22 - not even close to the 1:55.45 she clocked while taking the gold at the IAAF World Championships, but Semenya was happy with it.

"To come and run a 2:04 is not easy, especially after what happened," Semenya said. "I was a little bit nervous because it has been a long time not competing."

"It's a new beginning," she added.

Her next race is at the Lapinlahti Games on Sunday before she heads back to South Africa to continue training. There's a possibility she may compete in the African Championships in Nairobi, Kenya in two weeks, but she's working toward being in championship form for the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India this October.