Happy Birthday Kim Coco!

Had to take a moment and give a birthday shout out to one of our pioneering transwomen, former Hawaii State Board of Education member Kim Coco Iwamoto.

She was reelected to a second four year term in the 2010 election cycle, but Hawaii voters approved a change that gives the governor the power to appoint the state Board of Education, and Governor Neil Abercrombie appointed 9 new members.


I have much love and respect for her and looking forward to the day I finally meet her.

Kim, thanks for all you have done and will continue to do for the people of the trans community and the citizens of the state of Hawaii.  

Oh yeah, happy birthday!    May you have many more!
 

Letter To Judge Clapp From Nikki's Mom

TransGriot Note:   The letter Nikki's mother sent to Judge Clapp in the wake of his ruling.

To: Honorable Judge Randy M. Clapp
329th Judicial District Court
100 S. Fulton, Suite 200
Wharton, TX 77488
Via email: Cassie Ritter, Court Administrator
cassie@329th.com

Re: Nikki Araguz

Dear Sir:

I am Nikki Araguz’s mother. It is with great distress that we learned FROM A TRUSTED REPORTER IN THE MEDIA about your judgment in the lawsuits against our daughter, Nikki Araguz – on Monday night, BEFORE you officially announced your decision. The Plaintiff’s attorney, FRANK MANN, continued his historical mal-practice of malicious, devious, and vindictive actions by releasing press releases in advance of court proceedings – his obvious motivation was to emotionally hurt Nikki and our family. Again.

Was he permitted to release this information prior to court proceedings on Tuesday? If not, will you, as Judge, find him in Contempt of Court, and sanction him for this abhorrent behavior? Are you aware that Mr. Mann had – while our beloved son-in-law was alive – maliciously released personal and HIPPA information about Nikki and Thomas to the general public that was politically and personally motivated? That Mr. Mann, while hired by Heather Delgado, had conflict of interest, as he had been an attorney for Nikki and Emilio Mata in a bankruptcy proceeding case, therefore had client/attorney knowledge which he used in distributing this harassing and hurtful email last year – intending to cause emotional, financial, psychological, professional and relationship harm to THOMAS and NIKKI. Heather Delgado obtained private, personal documents while seeking more MONEY – Thomas had NO income, as he had just finished 2 years of college, while Nikki paid child support for his two children, and her income supported Thomas and herself.

You never met my husband and I, although we wished we could have been with our daughter every time there was a court hearing. I am a stroke survivor, paralyzed in a wheelchair, diabetic, have seizures, and a colostomy. My husband has had 3 heart attacks, quintuple-bypass surgery last year, mini-strokes since Thomas died, and has COPD on oxygen. We are unable to travel, and I receive home nursing care. THOMAS WAS AN IMPORTANT MEMBER OF OUR FAMILY, WHO LOVED US AS PARENTS, was always here to help us, and we have suffered immeasurable grief and loss. THOMAS took my husband – his father-in-law – to the hospital on Feb. 1, 2010, the morning of bypass surgery. THOMAS and Nikki were with me in the ER of Methodist Hospital on June 3, 2010, when I had a seizure, and was taken unconscious to the Stroke Center with another traumatic brain injury. THOMAS stayed with me on June 21, 2010 – the day AFTER Father’s Day – with his two boys, our grandsons – while Nikki took her Dad to the doctor. (Yes, I have pictures of that day, of Thomas and the boys on my sofa.)

I do not understand WHY you could render a judgment that would dishonor our son-in-law’s love and commitment for Nikki when he proposed to her, and married her, lived as husband and wife with her until his tragic death. I cannot comprehend how you could conclude that their marriage was “invalid” when CLEARLY Thomas Araguz III knowingly, willingly, and without any reservations or conditions, married Nikki and held out with pride to EVERYONE that she was his wife. His parents had NO questions or issues with Nikki until 1. Frank Mann unethically violated their privacy with his venomous emails, 2. Heather in her attempt to squeeze more child support from Thomas (who had NO earned income) viciously shared Nikki’s HIPPA-protected and private information with Thomas’ family and 3. after Thomas’ death, when I SUSPECT attorneys (Frank Mann?) suggested to Heather Delgado and Simona Longoria that they could BENEFIT from HURTING NIKKI and DISHONORING THOMAS with these “frivolous” lawsuits. Apparently, their “idea” worked – they didn’t care about the children, or Thomas! They only wanted MONEY. And you ruled in their favor. I do not understand that.

 Our daughter was born with a birth defect. I am her mother. I cannot control what a doctor erroneously “checked” on a birth certificate form in 1975. Her biological father was in the military, and he received orders to go overseas on the day she was born. We moved from California to Texas so I could be near my parents – Nikki was only a few weeks old. Her brother was 2. Her father was a decorated Army Veteran, when he was killed in a car accident at age 21. That very day, I had called Fort Hood to discuss a birth defect that my baby had – Nikki. She was an infant.

It is beyond my comprehension why you, Sir, would find her marriage to Thomas “invalid” when Nikki had been married to Emilio Mata for ten years, and divorced him in Wharton, Texas – whose court granted that divorce? I ask, Your Honor, because obviously that means Nikki and Emilio’s marriage was legally recognized as “Valid” – in order for there to be a divorce to be granted.

Again, I find it interesting that the plaintiff attorney, FRANK MANN, had represented Nikki and Emilio Mata in their bankruptcy while THEY WERE MARRIED! Mr. Mann took their money for legal fees, never questioned whether Mr. and Mrs. Mata’s MARRIAGE was “valid” – so yet, he represents plaintiff in this lawsuit against our daughter, when she married Thomas, and he died? Besides Mr. Mann’s conflict of interest, and questionable motives, it seems a double-standard on his part to recognize Nikki’s marriage to Emilio Mata, but try to invalidate her marriage to Thomas Araguz. Money… Nikki did not file ANY actions – the plaintiffs brought this devastation on her, and ALL OF US with hurtful allegations and these lawsuits.

So please don’t tell me, Sir, who my child is – or that her marriage to Thomas Araguz III should be found “invalid”. She is and always has been affectionate, beautiful, ambitious, thoughtful, compassionate, proactive, and loving.

Besides the actual marriage ceremony, which should be recognized considering Nikki had already been married and divorced in Texas without legal entities questioning validity, Nikki and Thomas lived together, had joint bank accounts and jointly was known as husband and wife for almost two years, which in any other situation would be “common law” marriage – requiring a divorce if there were a conflict between two individuals in such a relationship.

I wish I could have been in your courtroom, Sir, to express my thoughts. I trust Nikki’s legal counsel will appeal your decision, as our entire family feel Nikki has been treated with disrespect, dehumanized, discriminated against, and used as a punching bag for others’ self-serving motivations.

Kindest Regards,
Sheri Taylor Bockelman

Former SAPD Po-Po Gets Jail Time For Trans Sexual Assualt

TransGriot Note: Post may be triggering for some readers

I talked about former San Antonio police officer Craig Nash, who last year was arrested and charged with sexual assault and official oppression of a transwoman

The victim claimed that Nash picked her up shortly after 3 AM CST at Guadalupe and Zarzamora streets on San Antonio's West Side. Nash handcuffed the victim in the back of a marked patrol car before taking her to an unknown location and forcing her to engage in multiple sexual acts.

The affidavit states Nash reportedly was wearing his police uniform at the time.  

Two days after his arrest, a second trans person came forward to report that she had been raped by Nash in 2008.   The transperson that made the initial complaint picked Nash out of a lineup, the GPS tracking of his patrol car was consistent with the witness testimony and the rape kit DNA linked Nash to the complainant.

Nash was indefinitely suspended by SAPD police chief William McManus last march and stated at the time the accusation had arrived as a 'hard slap' to other SAPD officers

The case finally reached 437th state district Judge Lori Valenzuela's (R) court and on January 18 Nash was sentenced  as part of a plea agreement to one year in jail for the Class A misdemeanor of official oppression.   In exchange, prosecutors agreed not to pursue a felony charge of sexual assault by a police officer, which had a maximum sentence of life in prison.   Nash also agreed to never seek work again as a police officer in Texas.

“Officers should be held to a higher standard,” prosecutor Trey Banack said of his request for jail time. “A police officer who is a criminal does not deserve mercy from the system he serves to protect.”

If that's the case, should've pushed for the felony charge.

Texans Pass A 'What Would You Do' Test

There have been more than a few times either in the liberal progressive blogosphere or in various TransGriot blogposts I've had to remind people to chill with their anti-Texas hateraid

While some of our politicians here are straight up buttholes and haters, there are also some good politicians and good people here as well.

Oh yeah, need to remind you my hometown has a lesbian mayor who is unopposed (so far) for reelection.

There was a recent episode of the ABC-TV show called What Would You Do in which they set up a situation in a Farmers Branch, TX restaurant in which a gay couple with kids were being hounded by a waitress.

The What Would You Do crew wanted to see how the restaurant patrons would react at seeing the blatant bigotry.

Farmers Branch is a conservative leaning suburb in the Dallas area.    Before you start cursing Texas under your breath, you may wish to watch the video.  The results of this What Would You Do episode will probably surprise you.



It drives home my point that we TBLG peeps who are from and love our so-called red home states like Texas need to be willing to stand up for what we believe in.    We need to fight to make our states reflect our values as well.

Yes, we know the politicians can be inflexible.  We're aware we have much work to do to accomplish that and we will have far more disappointing setbacks.  We have to fight tooth and nail to not only get our rights, but even harder to avoid any slippage.    But when we win, the victory is even sweeter.

But when we fight, are out and proud about who we are and openly living our lives, we can and do change hearts and minds.   And as this video demonstrates, we may not have as much work ahead of us in that hearts and minds changing department as you non-Texans think we do.

Close Your Eyes And Hold Me

I recently stumbled across a movie that I'm planning to add to my DVD collection that was called Japan's The Crying Game.   It was also a 1997 selection of the Palms Springs International Film Festival

It's the 1996 Itsimuchi Isomura film entitled Me Wo Tojite Daite in Japanese.   It's known as Close Your Eyes And Hold Me in English and stars Kumiko Takeda, Kazuya Takahashi and Natsue Yoshimura.

The movie focuses on office worker Amane who has a good job and a steady girlfriend in Juri.   His predictably pedestrian work and personal life is turned upside down by accidentally running over a beautiful but mysterious stranger while fumbling around reaching for his cell phone while driving  .  

Amane is remorseful and apologetic about the accident as he vists her in the hospital.  He takes responsibility for her injuries and promises to do anything for her, but she refuses compensation and disappears. 

Concerned about how she's doing, he becomes obsessed with the beautiful stranger and tracks Hanabusa down to the night club where she works as a hostess.   Amane enters and is surprised to discover it's a night club in which the elegant and graceful hostesses working there are all trans women.   He sees her on stage singing, and curiosity about Hanabusa leads to conversation and a triangular relationship that will eventually involve Juri and impact all their lives.

If you're at work, may want to wait until you get home before you run that trailer





Let's just say the movie gets interesting   Script was obviously written by a cis person, because no trans woman no matter what her genital configuration refers to herself as a man.   Hanabusa is played by survey says, cis woman Kumiko Takeda, who lets be real, does have it going on in the beauty department. 

Unlike you Satoshi Kanazawa, I give credit where credit is due when it comes to beautiful women.  

But back to the post.   For the most part, Close Your Eyes And Hold Me lived up to its rep as the Far East version of The Crying Game.