Black Butterfly

I talked about the significance and the symbolism of the butterfly to the transgender community in a previous post.

As I compiled it I immediately thought about one of my favorite songs by Deniece Williams called 'Black Butterfly'..

When I reread the lyrics to it and listened to Deniece sing it again, I realized that the song perfectly encapsulates the melding of pride for our heritage as Black trans people and pride in being trans people.

It's something we need to think about as we 21st century transpeople of African descent are trying to build lasting community along with TPOCC, the Trans People of Color Coalition and countless others.

Frankly, I could see this becoming an unofficial inspirational theme song for our African descended trans community (with Deniece Williams' permission of course). 

***

Morning light, silken dreams take flight
As the darkness gives way to the dawn
You’ve survived, now your moment has arrived
Now your dream has finally been born

Black butterfly, sail across the waters
Tell your sons and daughters what the struggle brings
Black butterfly, set the skies on fire
Rise up even higher so the ageless winds of time can catch your wings

While you slept the promise was unkept
But your faith was as sure as the stars
Now you’re free and the world has come to see
Just how proud and beautiful you are

Black butterfly, sail across the waters
Tell your sons and daughters what the struggle brings
Black butterfly, set the skies on fire
Rise up even higher so the wind can catch your wings

Let the current lift your heart and send it soaring
Write your timeless message clear across the skies
So that all of us can read it and remember when we heed it
That a dream conceived in truth can never die, butterfly

'Cause now you’re free and the world has come to see
Just how proud and beautiful you are

Black butterfly, sail across the waters
Tell your sons and your daughters what the struggle brings
Black butterfly, set the skies, set them on fire
Rise up even higher so the ageless winds of time can catch your wings
Fly butterfly, yeah, yeah



Fly Black butterflies.  Spread your wings with pride, dream big dreams, show the world how beautiful you are and then take flight.  Never let the world forget how beautiful and talented you are either.  

Something else we should never forget is our transsisters who only had a short time to spread their wings and fly as the people they were born to be before those lives were tragically cut short.

2012 TTNS- Day One Recap

Ever since I returned home to the Lone Star State, I've made certain that one of the activism events I attend is the Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit.  

This year's event is being hosted by the wonderful folks at UH-Clear Lake's Intercultural and International Student Services and Women and LGBT Services.   It's the first time since 1979 that I'd been on their picturesque campus..

There was a traveling exhibit of Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party  that year and the Houston stop for that tour was on the UH-CL campus.  My high school Vanguard English class got the opportunity to do a field trip to see it.  I also looked a little different the last time I was on this campus as well.

But back to compiling the TTNS Day One report.

I told a few friends about this event and one of them was Antrece Baggett, my homegirl who also happens to be the Africana and Women and Gender Studies director at HCC-Southeast. 

She decided to join me for the fun this year and after we arrived at the Bayou Building, greeted a few people including some of her HCC colleagues, picked up our info packets and partook of our continental breakfast  before we got started in the Garden Room a little after 9 AM with Josephine Tittsworth introduced  Dr Darlene Biggers, who welcomed us to the UH-Clear Lake campus.

After Dr Biggers speech, Josephine gave an overview of the progress that has been made since the first TTNS occurred in 2009.  She pointed out the three large Texas school districts (HISD, DISD and FWISD) , increasing numbers of colleges and universities in the Lone Star State and around the country that have added 'gender identity' or 'expression' language in their non-discrimination policies or non-discrimination statements, with examples of them in our registration packet.

Lorraine Schroeder of the UH LGBT Center got a chance to update us on additional progress that was happening at my alma mater policy wise beyond the Izza Lopez Letter, and we also discussed the recent positive news that happened at Texas A&M.

Josephine also relayed some news from Rafael McDonnell (who couldn't make it this year) about an interesting development in the Tarrant County College District.  They had been resistant in adding that gender identity and expression language in their non-discrimination policy,.  As you probably guessed TransGriot readers, some transphobic discrimination happened on that campus to a former employee, the TCCD was  sued, ended up embroiled in a discrimination lawsuit they lost and cost them and the Tarrant County taxpayers $160,000 to fight that losing legal battle..

Josephine yielded the mic to our TTNS MC Jenifer Rene Pool and after some housekeeping duty, brought Julie Smith front and center to lead us in an icebreaker exercise for a few minutes that called for us to move around The Garden Room tables from the people we knew and take ten minutes trying to find common threads between you and the new peeps you sat down with.   We all got good laughs out of that exercise before the floor was yielded to Jenifer.

She introduced our keynote speaker Dr. Jean Latting, the author of the book 'Reframing Change'   Ironically in one of those small world moments, Dr. Latting had sent m an e-mail yesterday asking for permission to use a TransGriot blog post.

Yep, she loves my blog.   

During her speech, she discussed how we get to the point of creating the conditions on college and university campuses for advancing inclusionary policies.   She discussed it in terms of the 'jaguar vs educator' advocacy models, with a jaguar representing pounce and destroy emotional mode.

She pointed out in the university and collegiate setting, if we want long term systemic change, it was going to have to be more of of the educator mode that would carry the human rights day.

We broke for lunch (yep, they feed us people) before heading into the first of our concurrent sessions at 1:20 PM.   TTNS participants had the choice of Transgender Legal Issues, presented by Sal Benavidez and Tracy Jackson of  Frye, Steidley, Oaks and Benavidez  or UH-CL's Safe Zone Ally Program Ethics, Successes and Limitations presented by IISS's Julie Smith.

I went for the legal presentation while Antrece attended the UH-CL Safe Zone.

The legal presentation had Benavidez handling the first half of it, and he discussed the 6 essential legal documents that everyone should have

1.  Will
2.  Statutory Durably Power of Attorney
3.  Medical Power of Attorney
4.  Directive to Physicians, Family or Surrogates
5.  Declaration of Guardian
6.  Appointment of Agent to Control Disposition of Remains

He pointed out why they were important for LGBT people to have these documents, and if you're single, not only do you need those documents as well, make sure they are updated and leave a copy with a trusted friend or relative who you have discussed this with.

Ms. Jackson discussed employment and labor law, and focused on Title IX, Section 1893 of the Equal Protection Act, the EEOC trans ruling and how they impacted the community.

That hour ended much too soon, and after our snack and chocolate break it was time for Concurrent Session 2 with three seminars to hoose from in this 2:40-3:40 PM block  

There was Transgender Legal Issues with Judge Phyllis Frye,  Josephine's Understanding Ethical Engagement Strategies, and Intersex 101 by Kimberly Jorgenson 

Antrece and I both attended the Intersex 101 seminar and we weren't disappointed because it was an hour packed with information.   It covered the history of the intersex moment, pointed out there are a variety of conditions that fall under the intersex label that in many cases aren't discovered until later in life

It was one of those seminars we needed more than a hour for and it still wouldn't have been enough time to cover it.

We returned to the Garden Room to wrap up TTNS Day 1 with the Closing Remarks in which TTNS attendees get to make announcements and ask questions about the TTNS past, present and future.  One question that came up was about why the move of the 2011 TTNS from the Texas A&M campus back to UH which she and another TTNS board member addressed.

We called it a day on the UH-CL campus and headed back to Houston for the BBQ at the the TG Center.  Antrece had other commitments, so she dropped me off at my undisclosed location before I headed back to the Center with the Netroots Nation memorabilia from the June panel discussion. 

I'd promised Cristan I'd donate that Netroots Nation panel stuff to our history archive and we'd been missing each other with our hectic schedules   Killed a few hours at the TG Center before I headed back home to compile this post so you'd have the record of TTNS Day One to peruse.

And yes Lowell Kane, you are missed.  

Time for me to get some sleep because 9 AM will be here before I know it.  

Shut Up Fool Awards-2012 TTNS Edition

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I'm with my Houston and Texas rainbow crew and our allies getting my learn on at the UH-Clear Lake campus and reporting on the happenings for the 4th Annual Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit.

That post will come later today

But you longtime TransGriot readers know what happens at 12 PM CDT every Friday without fail.  It's Shut Up Fool! Awards time.   I take a moment to shine a bright spotlight on the fool fool or group of fools that have said or done something so monumentally stupid that I got to call them out on it

This week's SUF nominees are in our group category, the Republican Party, The Texas Republican Party, Fox Noise, The Drudge Report, Chik Reicher-Fil-A, the NRA and the NFL's Arizona Cardinals. 

Our individual nominees are Dan Cathy, Cathy Brennan, Mitt Romney, Sean Hannity, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Rep Eric Cantor (R-OH), Ron Paul, Jimmie JJ Walker, John Sununu, Joe Arpaio, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, Megyn Kelly, James O'Keefe, Greta Van Susteren and Ed Gillsepie

Honorable mention goes to Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll (R) who has never heard of the term lipstick lesbian and seems to think that attractive Black women don't engage in 'relationships like that'  that in many cases are longer than her 29 year marriage.  

Honorable mention number two goes to Rep. Michele Bachmann  (R-MN) , who I had to pull out of 2011 SUF Lifetime Achievement Award hibernation for her attempt to smear Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's top aide Huma Abedin that she's apparently doubled down on.  

Oh well, being a vanillacentric privileged conservafool means you never back down on the Islamophobic bigotry, no matter how stupid and ignorant it makes you look.   It's so bad even Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is crying foul on this.

But this week's winner is George Zimmerman, who went on Fox Noise to proclaim that it was 'God's plan for me to kill Trayvon Martin", and he wouldn't do anything differently if he had a do over.

Really?  God's plan?   What god condones the killing of an unarmed 17 year old African-American teenager?  Conservagod?

Hope it's in God's plan to have a jury of your peers convict your trifling ass and send it to prison where you'll be ducking and dodging a bunch of incarcerated pissed off brothers who would like to do unto you what you did to Trayvon Martin.

And the possibility you may be an alleged child molester on top of that only will heightens their desire to hand jailhouse justice to you. 

All together TransGriot readers:  George Zimmerman, shut up fool!

4th Annual TTNS Starting Today

At this moment I'm on the beautiful UH-Clear Lake campus getting my learn on and covering the 4th annual Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit.  As usual, I'll be chronicling the proceedings over the next two days and getting feedback about the pre-conference event that took place yesterday.

Had blog related and other person stuff to take care of that prevented me for being there and reposting on what happened in conjunction with TENT's  Trans Health Summit.

So check back on the blog a little later this evening for the recap of the day one TTNS events, and if you have time on your hands you can still join us for day two of the Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit tomorrow.

Why The Butterfly To Represent Trans People?

As you've seen on these electronic pages, you've seen the trans flag, the trans symbol and the trans symbol with a butterfly flying from or near it   So what's the meaning of the butterfly and its connection to the trans community? 

Glad you asked inquisitive TransGriot reader.

What the butterfly symbolizes is transformation or metamorphosis.

Basically a butterfly starts life in one stage, cocoons itself and while in that cocoon transforms into the beautiful insect that breaks out of it and becomes the winged creature you see fluttering around.

In a sense the transitions of transpeople are analogous.  We start our lives in our birth gender presentation and body configuration, go through transition, and then exit the other side of our transitions as the beautiful people we always were with the gender identification and body finally matching.for us to happily live our lives.

Many times you will see those butterflies in the trans community publications being pink, blue or purple with pink being the color. that symbolizes femininity and blue for masculinity and purple being a blending of the two.

Semenya To Carry South African Flag During Olympic Opening Ceremony

When the 2012 Summer Olympic Games kick off on July 27, one of the parts of the ceremony I look forward to is the Parade of Nations and which athletes have been given the honor of carrying their nation's flag into the Olympic Stadium.

When the South African team marches into London's Olympic Stadium, the South African flag will be carried by now 21 year old Caster Semenya, who beat out double amputee 400 meter runner Oscar Pistorius for the honor. 

"It's such a privilege for me to do such a big thing like that," Semenya said in an audio message. "To carry the flag for the team, it's such a big thing."

Yes, it is considering the drama she went through three years ago when she exploded onto the world scene and won the 800 meter world championship in the fifth fastest time ever run in Berlin.

She was sidelined for 11 months as the IAAF ran controversial gender tests on her, and she fought through injuries to win silver at the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Daegu last year.  

She's considered one of the favorites to take home a gold medal from these games, and after all the drama she went through, I'll be rooting for her to do just that.

Trans Pride Event In Chicago Next Week

TGIF (Trans, Gender Non-Conforming Intersex Freedom) , the first ever trans pride event in the Midwest according to its founders will take place on July 29 at Union Park in Chicago. 

It was put together by KOKUMOMEDIA in collaboration with other local Windy City organizations such as the Dyke March, Affinity, Southwest Youth Collaborative, the Center on Halsted, the Broadway Youth Center, About Face Youth Theater, and YEPP with financial support from the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Berlin Nightclub, Queerer Park, the University of Chicago, and Lambda Legal.

TGIF will feature music, performances, speak outs, poetry, skits, beauty parlors and more in addition to a keynote speech from Kylar Broadus, the executive director of TPOCC, the Trans Persons Of Color Coalition.

KOKUMOMEDIA is the entrepreneurial company founded by KOKUMO, a 23 year old African descended transwoman whose 'artivism' includes a one act play I talked about on the blog last April called 'The Faggot Who Could Fly'.   She was recently honored with a 2012 Esteem Award.in the Outstanding Service Youth category. and her name translates to literally mean 'this one will not die'

She wants to create the world she didn't grow up in and has noticed like all non-white trans people do the progress disparity between us and our white trans counterparts.
“[Transgender, gender non-conforming, and intersex] people are definitely making strides, but when it comes to black and brown TGI people, we’ve got a long way to go,” said KOKUMO. 

For those of you TransGriot readers in the Chicago area, you may wish to observe history in the making by checking out and supporting the first annual TGIF event and give my TPOCC brother some love.

Transgender People Are Patriots,Too

TransGriot Note:  I used to write a column (called TransGriot BTW) for a monthly Louisville based GLBT paper called The Letter.  I just discovered a file in which I saved my copies of those final drafts of my columns before I sent them to my editor.    So from time to time I'll share with you those early TransGriot the Newspaper Column musings.    This one is circa July 2004. 

Since our country turned 228 this month, I wanted to say thank you to transgendered veterans for their service.  I have much love, respect and admiration for them as a student of history.  You haven't heard much about them, but they do exist and proudly served in all branches of our armed forces.

To give you an idea just how prevalent the transvet phenomenon is, the first internationally renowned transperson, Christine Jorgenson, was a World War II Army vet.  Phyllis Frye, my activist mentor back in Houston served in the Army.  I have T-friends who did tours of duty in Vietnam as combat pilots, tunnel rats, and Green Berets.  Monica Helms, the current president of the Transgender American Veterans Association is a former Navy submariner.  I have a T-girlfriend who was in the Air Force, and my best T-girlfriend was a Gulf War I carrier pilot. I have another T-friend who was in the special forces during that same conflict. Even Calpernia Addams, the T-girlfriend of slain Fort Campbell soldier Barry Winchell served in the Navy.
           

So why all the transvets?  Many transpeople try to escape their feminine gender traits by working in the most masculine profession that they can find, such as police officers or engineers. Military service tends to draw the lion's share of people to its testosterone charged ranks. The reality is that instead of resolving the suppressed gender conflict, the hyper masculine world of military service exacerbates it.

TAVA recently coordinated a May 1 march in which fifty transvets and their supporters traveled to the various Washington military memorials to honor their fallen comrades.  They were a multiethnic group ranging in age from 27 to 77, and they served during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Gulf War I, and the peacetime interludes between those conflicts. 

They started at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the Mall, traveled to the newly opened World War II Memorial, visited the Iwo Jima Memorial, and finished the day with a trip to Arlington National Cemetery. They participated in a tearful wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by an honor guard of TAVA members. Once the precisely structured ceremony concluded, they returned to the hotel for dinner and to share their insights about the historic day.

One person who shared her thoughts was NTAC Chair Vanessa Foster.  She stated that "Beyond the  historic implications of the laying of the wreath as well as the march itself, the ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was devastatingly touching. The irony of the moment with the current war in Iraq was not lost on one. What was truly heartwarming was the lack of snickers, remarks, double takes, and other reactions from the non-transgender crowd when the wreath laying occurred.  The reaction was no different, no less reverent than for any other enlisted person. That is exactly as it should be."   
 
You're absolutely right Ms. Foster.  The TAVA march allowed transvets the opportunity to show non-trans folks that they also put their lives on the line to defend our country in war and peace.  They are patriots who deserve our respect and support, and transvets took those leadership lessons learned in the military and became successful advocates for our community.

Thanks for everything you've done to make this country a better place to live.

POTUS Predicts Texas Will Soon Be A Battleground State

Somebody must be reading TransGriot at the White House, because I've been saying this for years that sooner or later Texas would become a battleground state. 

If someone inside I-495 or at DNC headquarters would get their heads out of their behinds and use some visionary thinking, they would realize it would be to their electoral college advantage to set up a situation in which Texas becomes a swing state in every presidential election cycle.

Once that swing state political party starts happening and you put those now 38 electoral votes in play every presidential election cycle, the GOP is screwed in terms of presidential politics.

And that's a major reason why the Republifools passed that racist voter suppression law during the 2011 Texas Legislative session because they know that as well.  They also know that Texas since 2000 has been a majority-minority population state.

President Obama made these swing state Texas remarks during a San Antonio fundraiser attended by San Antonio mayor Joaquin Castro (D) and Eva Longoria (yep, she's a native Texan).



From a selfish point of view, it would be nice to see presidential candidates from both parties have to fight over my home state in order to get to the magic 270 electoral vote mark.

We also need the national Democratic Party to stop using this state as a political ATM machine so we can use those local resources to build Democratic party infrastructure at the county level.  .We also have to get more white liberal progressive Texans to run for office and consistently win as Democrats so that we have even more diversity represented in our Democratic legislative officeholders.    

Frankly, I'm tired of my birth state, which once sent statesmen and stateswomen to Congress such as House Speaker Sam Rayburn, President Lyndon B. Johnson, Rep Albert Thomas, Sen Ralph Yarborough, Sen Lloyd Bentsen, Sen. John Tower (R), President George H.W. Bush (R), Rep Barbara Jordan and Rep. Mickey Leland now being represented on the national scene by nekulturny jerks jokes for leaders such as Sen. John Cornyn (R), Rep. Louie Gohmert (R), and Rep Jeb Hensarling (R).

At the state level I went from governors like Dolph Briscoe, Mark White, and Ann Richards to GW Bush and Rick Perry. 

Now that Texas is worth 38 electoral votes, it's even more important that it happens, especially since the Lone Star State has been a majority-minority population one since 2000.. 

It's past time that the nation, the conservafool movement and the Lone Star State gets used to the reality that the Texas Democratic Party exists.   It's also past time the resources get invested in the TDP so they can build a Blue Texas that allows us Democrats to compete and win here.

Baylor Lady Bears Visit The White House

Y'all know how much I love my Houston hoopster homegirl Brittney Griner and her Baylor Lady Bear teammates who completed an unbeaten 40-0 run to a NCAA women's basketball title and made me look like a hoops genius in terms of picking my NCAA women's March Madness bracket..

They got to visit the White House and President Obama yesterday and present the POTUS with a Baylor jersey and autographed basketball. 



“I could not be prouder of this team,” President Obama said during this event. ”As the father of two daughters who are tall and beautiful just like them, it is great to have role models who can show that women can be strong and athletic and competitive, but also play as a team.”

And this Lady Bear team had a dominating and record setting season on the way to beating the Skylar Diggins led Notre Dame Fighting Irish for the championship.   They also kept the NCAA women's championship trophy in the Lone Star State for the second consecutive season.

Can they repeat?   We'll see starting in November.

Say Hello To We Happy Trans*

When I started TransGriot six years ago to give voices to the African-American trans community, I have the mission of not only talking about the good stuff that happens in our spaces and making trans people of color less invisible to the world, but also calling out and talking about the negative things that happen as well.  

Was pleased to discover this website called We Happy Trans* has popped up on the scene.   It was created by Jen and Noah  with the goal of highlighting the good news and info that is part of trans world, and I'm happy to signal boost them to my readers.

But here's what the founders have to say about We Happy Trans* , their mission and what their goals are for this site.:

We Happy Trans was created so that trans people could share stories of positive experiences, so the wider world could see that, like any other community, we too thrive, struggle, and overcome; to give further evidence that we too have writers magically shaping words to reflect and elevate shared human experience, and eloquent speakers calling to the better angels of our nature; that we too have bold, visible heroes, as well as quiet warriors or ordinary life; that we too laugh, cry, gossip and occasionally engage in petty squabbles; that we are Christians, Jews, Muslims, atheists, pagans, Buddhists, Hindus, Theosophists, magical panty wearing Mormons, and seekers; we read Shakespeare and watch reality t.v.; occupy queer neighborhoods, small towns, dance halls, local pubs, schools, offices, theaters, prisons, NPOs, nursing homes, hunting parties and coffee klatches in every conceivable place on earth, and possibly beyond; that we are parents, friends, children, second-cousins once-removed, neighbors, strangers, lovers and mortal enemies; that we too are every possible variation of X-sexual; are freaks, utter bores, hysterically funny, plain odd, droll, absurdist and everything between; that we contain multitudes.

We are you. We are here, now.

And I'm glad you are.  Welcome to the Transosphere and may you have a long, healthy, happy and productive run in it.

Chik-Fil-A Comes Out...

As an Anti-gay oppressor

For those of you who love their waffle fries, nuggets, and chicken sandwiches (and yeah I'm guilty as charged on that), consider this the next time you're making your choices of how to spend your hard earned rainbow dollars and t-bills at a local neighborhood fast food restaurant.

Chik-Fil-A president and COO Dan Cathy finally came out of the closet about the chain being anti-gay.

"Well, guilty as charged." Cathy flippantly said in an interview with the Baptist Press.

It was obvious there was a problem based on their WinShape Foundation donations to anti gay groups such as Exodus International ($1,000), The Family Fascist Research Council ($1,000) and $1,188,380 to the Marriage and Family Foundation

But the pushback from the rainbow community is just as strong. I suggested that Chik-Fil-A franchises be protested by rainbow community members for  their anti-same gender marriage stance.

Maybe the process can get started by having sit-ins, kiss-ins, pray-ins featuring liberal-progressive pastors and gay couples walking into their various locations dressed in wedding attire.

I'm just sayin'.

In addition to the scathing commentary coming from the rainbow blogosphere about Cathy's homobigoted comments, in February Northeastern University halted plans to open a Chik-Fil-A restaurant on its campus.

An online petition created by NYU freshman student Hillary Dworkowski has garnered over 5,000 signatures and calls for the school to close its Chik-Fil-A franchise that is reportedly the only one in Manhattan.

So yep, it's on between the rainbow community and Chik-Fil-A and I'll have to get my chicken sandwiches from Mickey D's for the foreseeable future.

4th Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit Starting Tomorrow

The clock is ticking toward the start of the 4th Annual Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit that will be kicking off July 20-21 on the UH-Clear Lake campus.

A new addition to the TTNS this year is a July 19 pre-conference Trans Health event sponsored by the Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT)   It will run from 8:30 AM-5 PM and is an all day event designed to focus of the health policy concerns and needs of trans students on our Lone Star State colleges and universities.

The TTNS will start at 9 AM CDT on Friday and the University of Houston-Clear Lake campus is located at 2700 Bay Area Blvd in Clear Lake, near NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center.

The keynote speakers for TTNS 2012 will be on July 20; Dr. Jean Latting, author of Reframing Change and on July 21 Dr. Genny Beemyn, Director Stonewall Center, University of Massachusetts.

Registration is $10 for students and $20 for all other attendees.

4 Million Hits!

Another day, another TransGriot milestone moment.

At 3:09 AM I had the 4 millionth person come surf by and visit my blog.  

Once again I sincerely thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to do so.  From the feedback I get from you TransGriot readers I've been fortunate to meet you enjoy the posts and me telling it like it T-I-S is about many issues inside and outside the trans community.

As long as I'm blessed to keep this now six year old electronic forum operating, that's going to be the modus operandi of this blog.  It will also be unapologetically Black, trans and proud to be both.   

You readers unconditional love and respect for what I do keeps me motivated and focused on providing a quality blog that you'll want to come back to and recommend to your friends.

Thank you once again for helping me reach another milestone.  Now on to 5 million hits!

Black SGL Peeps, Don't Forget The T

Black SGL peeps have had it going on for a while and have been intertwined with the kente cloth life of African-Americans for generations.  

They were thinkers, leaders and creative forces in the Harlem Renaissance.  Bayard Rustin was a major leader in the civil rights and gay rights movements.  Lorraine Hansberry helped finance some of the activities of the civil rights movement.  They are advisers to presidents, members of our community legacy organizations from the NAACP to Divine Nine fraternities and sororities  and in some cases power players in gay and non-gay organizations

People such as LZ Granderson and Jonathan Capehart get air time on cable news shows as pundits on issues other than GLBT ones.  Others are getting themselves elected to major city councils, judgeships and state legislatures.  Others are actors, writers in major newspapers and magazines and even appear in popular culture on television shows, movies and book characters.

There is an old Greek proverb that states  "A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” 

Hey I ain't mad at y'all. You have worked hard to get to this early 21st century moment in which you are sipping sweet tea under the shade of those trees that people planted during the last century.   But as you sip your sweet tea, don't forget that your African descended trans brothers and sisters are sweltering, thirsty for that human rights blend of sweet tea and catching hell under the blazing hot sun of ignorance fueled intolerance.  

We chocolate transpeeps want to replicate the same accomplishments for our segment of the chocolate rainbow community.  We want our humanity respected and laws to protect our human rights.  We want realistic, balance portrayals of Black trans lives in popular culture.   We want our heroes and sheroes recognized and our transkids to be able to confidently believe they have a future as big as their dreams can make it and to make them happen..

We want to plant trees for our trans brothers and sisters to sit under as well.  

What I and other Black trans people are concerned about is that you Black SGL peeps, enjoying the fruits of this early 21st century power surge may be on the verge of replicating the same mistake white gays did in throwing the trans community under the human rights bus.

Time for a wake up call and a family conversation on a few points. 

Frankly, we're tired of being ignored, dissed and treated like afterthoughts in Black SGL circles. Black transpeople are busting their ample behinds just like y'all are to be respected and recognized.

Bear in mind Black GL community, that the equality trees you sit in the shade of and sip your sweet tea under are watered with the blood of Black transpeople that we cannot allow to die in vain.   

It offends me and my fellow transpeople that some of you are arrogant enough to think we don't deserve to sit under those human rights shade trees and share sweet tea with you. 

If this hasn't occurred to you yet, need to point out African descended transpeople and our allies are not going to let you Black SGL peeps throw us under the bus without a fight.  Neither are we going to allow Black SGL peeps that are inclined to do so to forget the T part of our chocolate rainbow community.

Elements of you  in our chocolate rainbow family can be just as transphobic as elements of our white gay and lesbian counterparts are and be just as clueless in terms of where transpeople fit in the TBLG community.  You need to recognize that some of us transpeeps identify with the LGB and are same gender loving folks like y'all.  

If we have transphobic SGL folks you will be put in check just as we will do the same to Black trans people who exhibit homophobic tendencies.   We don't have time for disunity when we have much more pressing problems to solve in the chocolate rainbow community..

I will point out and continue to do so as long as this blog lives and I am standing six feet above the ground that we have a shared history.   We African American trans people are intimately connected to many of the same issue concerns that African-American SGL people and African-American cis people are grappling with such as HIV/AIDS, ENDA, marriage equality,  economic empowerment, police harassment, education, and voter suppression just to name a few.   We have a wonderful almost decade old organization in the National Black Justice Coalition that is helping all of us own our power as our nascent TPOCC grows to become muscular enough to represent our interests.

That relationship needs to continue because in many ways transpeople are the keys to helping you SGL people reach your human rights goals as we simultaneously grow to own our power and shed the shackles of shame, guilt and fear in being proud trans African-Americans.

You also have a golden opportunity to be better than your white LGBT counterparts have been in terms of uplifting your Black trans brothers and sisters as you continue to climb to greatness.  We Black trans people want to make that journey with you and do our parts to uplift the African-American LGBT community and the greater ones we intersect with.

It's not only for our mutual benefit, but for future generations of BTLG people and the African-American community as well.

It's your call on whether that happens, but the first step in it is not forgetting the trans portion of the Black LGBT community.  

Annoy The GOP-Use Facts And Logic

Another graphic floating around the Net that is so dead on target in describing the unwashed masses of Republifools.  Your defense against the Fox Noise talking point spewing sheeple is burying their bull feces in an avalanche of facts and logic.

Seems like they have an aversion to facts and logic.   Just look at the 2012 Texas Republican Party platform with the plank in it that opposes teaching kids how to critically think.

That way they have good little conservafools and avoid the embarrassing situations of promoting little Jonathan Krohn's as the future of their movement and giving them CPAC speaking spots, only to see them three years later renounce conservatism after they turn off the conservative talk radio and begin to think for themselves.

Why are Republifools so averse to facts and logic?   Time for Moni to school y'all, so grab a chair.

Bottom line is that conservafools know that their political theory is designed to buttress white supremacy,  keep the superrich 1% paying as little in taxes as possible, destroy the New Deal, and return this country to the Robber Baron age of unfetter laissez-faire capitalism.

They need easily bamboozled people that will believe their conservamedia lies that it's the Black president's fault that their jobs went overseas.  The reality is that it's the so called 'job creators' who look like them that are closing down their plants.

The vulture capitalists offshore their manufacturing jobs to China and India, make mad loot as they do so and laugh all the way to Cayman Islands and Bermuda banks to deposit it.

They chuckle in their quiet rooms about how stupid the white working class conservafool voters are to continue a 150 year pattern of voting for economic policies that don't benefit them in the name of vanillacentric ethnic solidarity . .

Conservatism carries the stench of vanillacentric privilege and oppresses people of color.   If you think that I'm being harsh about that conservaracism point, then explain the voter suppression laws that conveniently sprang up in the wake of the election of Barack Obama to the presidency, the anti-immigration Juan Crow laws, or the rise of the Tea Klux Klan.

Racism=prejudice plus power, and the fact that 2040 and your minority status is rapidly approaching means that you conservafools are in panic mode to delay the inevitable.  Instead of pushing to mess with the Voting Rights Act and repeal affirmative action laws you better keep them in place for your grandkids and great grandkids.   

And let's be real for a moment.  If conservatism were so superior to liberalism, they why the need for Orwellian laws when you conservafools get into power, the outright distortions and lies by GOP politicians, voter suppression of non-whites, the hermetically sealed conervamedia environment, the hive mind conservamentality and the reluctance to have honest open debate with liberals in which we compare and contrast our visions for the America we wish to create?

You conservafools already know the answer to that question.  Your vision of trickle down economics and vulture capitalism doesn't work for the vast majority of the country and doesn't stand up to facts and rigorous scrutiny.   If conservatism benefited people of color, you'd have far more Black people at your Republican conventions than the 36 total you had in 2008.    It'll be interesting to see how many show up in Tampa.

But conservatism fails to lift people out of poverty because of your hatred of poor people and the government intervention and policies it will require to tackle the systemic economic inequality issues that cause poverty in our country.   All the GOP does is talk.  The Democrats since FDR have acted.   

That's why you conservafools must have a 24 hour propaganda network and loud talk radio Noise Machine to distract people from the facts and logic that conservatism is a racist, failed political and economic system.

So liberal progressives and Democrats, annoy a conservafool in your family and a GOP politician near you.   Continue to use facts and logic to blow up their talking points and lies.

And if you are a conservafool who really believes if you cut taxes for the wealthy it'll magically jump start the economy, I have some Louisiana waterfront property between Lafayette and Baton Rouge along I-10 to sell you in the Atchafalaya Swamp.

Devastating Obama Campaign Ad Whacks Mitt v 2012

When I finally got around to catching up on what I missed while traveling back to Houston after my double secret weekend in Washington DC, noted the inside I-495 Sunday talk show chatter over this devastating Obama campaign attack ad.   

It  pimp slaps Mitt v. 2012 over his propensity of being Bain Capital's Outsourcer In Chief and making mad loot for it that Romney shelters in offshore bank accounts in exotic island locales.

The most delicious part of the ad is it uses Romney's dreadful January off key singing of 'America the Beautiful' while doing so.




The Romney campaign tried to respond with their own ad attacking the POTUS with the backdrop of the POTUS singing Al Green's 'Lets Stay Together', but had to yank it after a copyright infringement claim was filed.  

(snicker snicker) That's what y'all Republicans get for hatin' on the liberal progressive peeps in the music industry.

And to apologize to you TransGriot readers for assaulting your ears with such horrid singing, let hme post so video that shows you how it should properly be done.

4th Anniversary Of Angie Zapata's Murder

Four years ago today we were beginning to hear the story about a young Latina transwoman who was found dead in her Greeley, CO apartment and how a reporter initially got the pronouns wrong.

Her name was Angie Zapata.    

She's no longer with us, and the waste of DNA who took her life was convicted and is still getting 'three hots and a cot' in a Colorado prison.   The national media that descended upon Greeley for the trial has long since dispersed to cover other issues.

But we can't forget Angie.   We know her family and those who loved her won't.   But the rest of us in the rainbow community cannot forget there is a War on Transwomen, especially in light of the fact there have been more Latina and African-American transwomen who have lost their lives to anti-trans violence. 

Angie's case was solved and Allen Andrade is doing jail time for it.   But another murder of young trans women is approaching its ten year anniversary next month and crying out for resolution in the persons of Stephanie Thomas and Ukea Davis in Washington DC.    The Chicago po-po's have been glacially slow in trying to apprehend Paige Clay's killers.  

And another November 20 Transgender Day of Remembrance is rapidly approaching.

But today is about remembering what happened to Angie and how her life tragically ended before she even had an opportunity to begin living it.  

Yo Jennifer, Attractive Black Women Do Engage in 'Relationships Like That'

Had to say something about Florida Lt. Governor and conservafool Jennifer Carroll (R), who is embroiled in a Sunshine State sex scandal and made this jacked up comment. 

"The problem is that when you have these accusations that come out, it's not just one person you're attacking. It's an entire family. My husband doesn't want to hear that. He knows the type of woman I am. I mean, my kids know the type of woman I am. For twenty-nine years - I'm the one that's married for twenty-nine years. The accuser is the one that's been single for a long time. So usually black women that look like me don't engage in relationships like that."

Oh really, Jennifer?   You don't get out much do you?   Guess you haven't heard of the term 'lipstick lesbian'.

I've been around the rainbow community since 1980, and I have seen, met and count as friends more than a few femme Black women with jaw-dropping beauty and Coke bottle shaped bodies capable of launching erections on any man or non-op lesbian transwoman, but prefer relationships with other women.

Women who look like you damned sure have engaged in 'relationships like that' for decades and will continue to do so whether your 49 year old clueless behind believes that or not.   Some of them have been in relationships far longer than your 29 year marriage.  

You don't (or won't) know about Black women who engage in 'relationships like that' because as they so eloquently put it at times, it isn't anyone's business who shares their bed or who they choose to be intimate with.

Hmm, is she the first closeted female Republican that has been busted?   Stay tuned to how this scandal develops especially since Carroll is the lieutenant governor under the very unpopular Rick Scott and she's been used as a shield to deflect racism charges.

And yeah, you know she's in the running for this week's Shut Up Fool! Award
..

Cristan's Take On Chloe Sevigny's Hit and Miss

The BBC is now several episodes into broadcasting a show called Hit and Miss about Mia, a pre-op trans assassin who discovers she has a child from a previous relationship.

The character is played by Chloe Sevigny.  Hit and Miss has gotten some buzz based on the premise of the show and I even heard about the show during my double secret weekend trip.

Cristan Williams had this to say on her Ehipassiko blog about it.

I decided to see for myself what all the fuss was about and watched the 6 available episodes. If you like assassin shows, it’s your standard fare. Now, about Sevigny’s portrayal of a pre-op transwoman… It’s good. At times my reaction to her portrayal of gender dysphoria is visceral and may be a trigger for some. At other times, I rolled my eyes at some aspects of the scripted portrayal. Having said that, the good outweighs the bad.

Here's the rest of Cristan's thoughts about the show .