Sylvia Speaks

As in Sylvia Rivera, the mother of the trans rights movement.

My Unexpected Participation In HCC Southeast's Gender Conference

Wanted to write this post earlier, but took a nap after I got home.

Had an interesting day that started early for me at the HCC Southeast campus.  I was there at the invite of Professor Antrece Baggett to witness the first annual Women of Color Conference that started at 8 AM in the Angela V. Morales building.   I had every intention of chilling out for the next several hours and being an interested spectator.

But you know what has been said about intentions.

The format for this first annual event was rather interesting.   The organizers asked for student submitted papers and Power Point presentations on various subjects.   Nine students eventually did so on subjects ranging from the challenges of .single motherhood to Madam CJ Walker, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and Dr. Angela Davis.

Because the organizers were concerned about the lack of trans content in this conference, since I was in the house I was asked to do a Trans 101 speech.  I was honored and willing to do so, however I only had a 20 minute window to fit the potential speech in.   Since I'd just come back from doing a presentation at the University of Arizona only two weeks ago, what I said then was still relatively fresh on my mind and this was a college environment I felt confident I could successfully handle that challenge.  

I basically did a 15 minute extemporaneous speech in which I hit the necessary Trans 101 informational points I wanted to leave with my audience, left five minutes to ask questions and had some fun while doing so.  

I also ended up picking up business cards from an attorney specializing in employment law and an EEOC rep who were in attendance to do their own presentation.    I was also approached by several students when the conference concluded a little after 2 PM  who asked me more questions about trans issues and shared their own stories, observations and concerns with me.

Just another day at the office for Moni.

Thanks to all the students who stood up in front of their fellow classmates and guests to do their presentations.  You did a wonderful job and that took some courage to do so.   I also thank the faculty of HCC Southeast for the opportunity to speak about trans issues and looking forward to doing so once again. 

First Annual Gender Conference Thursday At HCC-Southeast

Was advised about the inaugural Gender, Race and LGBT Student Conference conference on the HCC-Southeast campus this Thursday.    It'll run from 8-3 PM March 22 on the HCC-Southeast campus located at 6815 Rustic Street in Houston just off I-45..  

The panel discussions and Power Point presentations will cover those topics and I'm looking forward to being in the house and seeing some of my TransGriot readers who are HCC-Southeast students there.

One In Four Includes Us Transwomen, Too

I was perusing my Facebook feed this afternoon when this comment jumped out at me.  It's a short conversation TransGriot contributing writer Pamela Hayes had with another transwoman in which Pam gave her a liberal dose of Reality 101.

They were talking about the subject of transwomen getting attacked or murder by hatemongers  when the transwoman in question parted her lips to say to Pam  "We look pretty, so no one will mess with us."

Really?   Take it away, Pam

Could anybody be that fucking naive. I'm sure there are haters who would want to annihilate a trans woman for being attractive and poised; for living in a nice home, driving a new car, having more education. For daring to be who they are and make no apologies for it. Most people who assault and maim GLBT people are losers. They are angry, disenfranchished, on society's periphery. And for any trans woman to suggest that no one will attack her because she is pretty is talking gibberish to say the least. Boy, I'd like to say more on this subject, but I'm at work. She insisted that she never heard of an attractive t-woman getting attacked, that that always happens to girls that don't look good. Utterly preposterous!

And flies in the face of logic and reason to boot.   One in four women will experience a sexual assault within their lifetimes and it ain't about how they look.  This is a crime of opportunity, aggression and power.

That one in four figure includes us transwomen.   While Pam and I have both been fortunate enough thank God to have not experienced that situation, I am keenly aware of other transwomen who have experienced and are coping with the aftermath of a sexual assault or anti-trans violence aimed at them..

I have also experienced having a transwoman I'm personally acquainted with being added to the Remembering Our Dead list and having two others I knew before the list existed fall victim to anti-trans hate murders.

As my gender therapist Dr. Collier Cole and my endo Dr. Lee Emery once told me, you get the good and the bad with transition.  Being a walking target for sexual assault is part of the bad. 

So is some random fool wanting to kill you because you are happily living your life as a transwoman or whatever other reason invades their warped minds.

And to that ignorant transwoman who shall remain nameless, there are plenty of attractive transwomen who are unfortunately six feet underground because someone hated them enough to kill them.



TransGriot Note: Photo is of Stacy Blahnik Lee of Philadelphia, whose killer is still at large.

Still Pissed About Trayvon Martin

It's taken me a few days to calm down enough to write this post about the hate crime murder of 17 year old Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman   

That's right, I said 'hate crime murder'.  Not even going with the pretense of  'alleged killer' since the Sanford, FL po-po's so fracked up this investigation I only trust the Department of Justice to handle it properly

And you wanna know why it's possible for rap groups to come up with songs like NWA's back in the day hit that probably is getting downloaded at a prodigious clip these days.


Trayvon's killing is not only bringing a fresh round of anxiety for mothers of Black sons Trayvon's age or younger, it brought back all those memories of the list of ''don't do this'' my parents and grandparents told me and my siblings as we were growing up.  And even I forgot a time or two and lipped off to a cop or two after being justifiably angry about jacked up DWB traffic stops.  

I am sick of the War on Black People.  I'm beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of young Black kids simply minding their own damned business being presumed by racist white people to be engaged in criminal activity, high, or up to no good. 

Why isn't Zimmerman's ass in jail?   I'm willing to bet if the racial script was flipped Trayvon's behind would have been arrested and in the Seminole County Hilton Jail five seconds after the po-po's arrived at that gated community.

Once again, it reinforces the fact in the USA that no matter what we do, whether we are the president of the United States or some 17 year old kid just getting a late night snack, the lives of Black people don't mean jack to some people infected with vanillacentric privilege, ignorance and bigotry. 

And in some cases it's justification enough for these bigots to kill us.