Happy Easter, TransGriot Readers!

Wanted to take a moment to wish all you TransGriot readers a Happy Easter!.   

Whether you celebrate it by attending a church service, taking the kids to a candy or Easter egg hunt, spend the day with family at dinner, do all or none of the above, may this day be a peaceful and pleasant one for you.

Detroit Fox Noise Affiliate Compares Murdered Transwoman To Trash

Black transwomen have to do battle with the 'unwoman' meme that is hurled at them on an almost daily basis along with disrespect in the media that I've documented on this blog ad nauseum.  

But even I am stunned and shaking my head at how low the reporting of Fox 2 in Detroit went in the wake of the murder of 35 year old transwoman Coko Williams and their reporting of it.

No attempts to get a photo of the victim, just a picture of random trash and attempting to plant the usual streetwalker stereotypes about Black transwomen.

Body of Person in Woman's Clothes Found Near 6 Mile & Woodward: MyFoxDETROIT.com

Williams was found shot to death in the 100 block of Parkhurst Street in Palmer Park, near the intersection of Woodward Avenue and McNichols (Six Mile) Road at about 5:30 AM EDT Tuesday morning.

"We are saddened to hear of yet another life ended too soon," said Nusrat Ventimiglia, director of victim's services for Equality Michigan, in a statement. "Our thoughts go out to Ms. Williams' family and friends who have suffered a great loss. We urge anyone with information about Coko's killing to contact the Detroit Police."

Friends recalled Williams as a loner .   

"She was really a sweet, quiet girl," said Dada, who had known Williams for the past 15 years and told Between The Lines that she sometimes worked as a hair stylist. "She was never shady or nasty. She wasn't that type of girl at all. She was always respectful of herself and to other people. It's sad for her to go out the way she did."

It's even sadder that Fox 2 would disrespect Coko's  life like that, but that's par for the course for a FOX Noise affiliate.  Every day the affiliates are becoming more like their parent news organization.   

What's even more irritating is that this happened the day after Qasim Raqib was sentenced to 25-40 years for the murder of Shelley Hilliard but it seems like the Detroit media didn't learn anything about respectful reporting on trans people in that case.

Fox 2 and media peeps, in case it escaped your attention, transpeople are human beings too.  I know that concept is hard to grasp no thanks to the unhinged screeching of transphobic radical feminists and transphobic elements of the gay and lesbian community, but I sincerely doubt you would compare dead cis people to trash especially if they are of European ancestry. 

So don't think for one nanosecond that it's acceptable to compare Black trans people to garbage.

Okay GLAAD, where are you on this one?

TBLG Groups Stand For Justice For Trayvon Martin

I have griped over the years about the TBLG community sitting on the sidelines when it comes to issues of importance to the African-American community and the one sided out of context appropriation of our civil rights heroes and sheroes to highlight gaycentric issues.  

Have to say I was shocked and surprised to see this joint letter come out from a coalition of national BTLG groups.   Some of the members of this coalition who signed this joint letter, like the National Black Justice Coalition, the International Federation of Black Prides, the Task Force, Lambda Legal, NCLR and Unid@s weren't a surprise to me, but others were.

Anyway, here's the open letter.

National LGBT groups issued the following joint open letter on the killing of Trayvon Martin:

The tragic killing of Trayvon Martin is a national call to action. Our hearts go out to Trayvon’s family and friends for the loss they have experienced. We stand in solidarity with them as they demand answers and justice. We represent organizations with diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender constituencies.

Many in our community have been targets of bigotry and bias. We have a great deal of experience grappling with the role bias plays in violent crimes against our communities. We well know the stories of young people targeted for violence just because of who they are: Rashawn Brazell, Lawrence King, Ali Forney, Deoni Jones, Brandon White, Matthew Shepard, Angie Zapata, Sean Kennedy and countless others.

Trayvon’s killing is a wakeup call to the enduring cancer of racism and racial profiling. The pain his family continues to endure transcends communities and unites us all. Every person, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, must be able to walk the streets without fear for their safety.

Trayvon’s killing is tragic and the stark reality that racial bias played a role in his death has alarmed our nation. Questions must be asked. Answers must be sought. And justice must be served. We join our voices to the chorus of so many others to demand that local and federal authorities find those answers. We stand in solidarity with Trayvon’s family and friends as they seek justice for his killing. In the timeless words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Signatories:

CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers
Equality Federation
Family Equality Council
Freedom to Marry
GLAAD
Human Rights Campaign
Immigration Equality
International Federation of Black Prides
Lambda Legal
LGBT Progress at the Center for American Progress
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)
National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE)
National Coalition for LGBT Health
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
National Stonewall Democrats
Out & Equal Workplace Advocates
PFLAG National
Pride at Work
Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE)
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN)
The Trevor Project
UNID@S

First 2012 Houston TG Center Social

Last night I took a moment to get out of the house and check out the first Houston TG Center social of 2012.  I had a blast getting to meet and greet some of my Houston TransGriot readers who attended the event.

Hey, I had to show up since I posted it on my Facebook page I was going and didn't want to disappoint anyone.  

The TG Center socials happen on the first Friday of every month through the fall and usually have barbecue chicken, burgers, chips, dips and covered dishes for people to eat.   They even have stuff to eat for you vegan peeps for a $10 donation to the cause.

I had a great time and many wonderful conversations on a wide variety of subjects with the folks who did show up.   It's one of the ways we build community here in H-town, and I hope you'll consider attending the next TG social next month if your schedule allows it or a subsequent one.

The May social is scheduled to happen on my birthday.   Hmm...

Tona's Been Busy

What Tona's been up to lately