Dynamo In MLS Eastern Conference Finals

While I'm waiting for the Texans to play Da Bears later tonight, I'll be rooting for our other football team that wears the orange jerseys, kicks a round ball around the soccer pitch and is trying to get to the MLS Cup final for the second consecutive year.

They knocked off Sporting Kansas City in their MLS Eastern Conference semifinal two leg playoff matchup by beating SKC 2-1 at BBVA Compass stadium last Sunday and then withstanding a furious SKC assault on their goal in the return leg match on Wednesday.  

SKC won the game in their park 1-0, but the Dynamo won the playoff series with a cumulative 2-1 score. 

That earned them a Eastern Conference finals matchup against one of the more storied teams in MLS in DC United, who have won four MLS cups but are in their playoffs for the first time in five seasons.   They are also on a little bit of a roll in terms of going 6-0-3 in their last nine matches and knocking off the New York Red Bulls in their semifinal series.  . 

But DC United faces a Dynamo squad that has been unbeatable at BBVA Compass Stadium (12-0-6) and has one of the best goalkeepers in MLS in Tally Hall.   DC United is also playing this game without goalkeeper Bill Hamid, who received a red card in the second leg against New York and the suspended for this series Andy Najar.

The Men In Orange also want a return trip to MLS Cup and if they win this series will face either the defending champion LA Galaxy or the Seattle Sounders.  

The league changed the format this year so that the team with the best record would host the MLS Cup game, and unfortunately should the Dynamo win, they would have to travel to either LA or Seattle in the attempt to win their third MLS title.

Either way, the Dynamo won't care where they have to go as long as they have the opportunity to win the MLS Cup       

Happy Veterans Day 2012 Trans Vets!

Today is Veterans Day in the US in which we remember the service of all our men and women who served or are currently serving in our nations military

I wanted to particularly remember a segment of the tran population that doesn't get much love shown their way, but will always get it on the TransGriot pages in terms of our trans vets.

The trans vets I have had the pleasure of meeting in the years I've been involved in the trans human rights fight have served in every conflict from the Korean and Vietnam Wars to Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Many has moved on from their military service to become leaders in our trans human rights movement and our communities such as Monica Helms and Angela Brightfeather of TAVA, Dionne Stallworth, Dawn Wilson, Angelica Ross, Autumn Sandeen, Phyllis Frye and now Allyson Robinson as the Executive Director of the newly merged Out Serve-SLDN.

Trans veterans not only served our nation, they have and continue to provide principled and solid leadership for our community.   They have not only helped to fight for human rights laws for all Americans, but things that help make the lives of the trans community and veterans like themselves better. 

Trans veterans are also front and center in the fight to ensure that the DADT repeal that they worked for but didn't include us will be expanded.   They want transpeople who wish to openly serve our country to have the ability to do so.

If it's not acceptable for LGB military personnel to have to hide who they are to serve our nation's military, it damned sure isn't acceptable for transpeople to have to hide to serve in the military either.  Neither is it okay for those transpeople who wish to join our nation's military to automatically be excluded from doing so when they walk into an armed forces recruiting center to do so. 

It's why I not only have much love for trans vets, but support their fight to openly serve our country. like transpeople in eight nations including Canada can do right now. 

Happy Veterans Day transvets!   Thank you for you service to our nation and our community.  

Diamond Stylz: They Are Mad, Angry, Livid, Etc.

My Houston homegirl's latest video blog in which she discusses the recent election and the unhinged reaction of the conservasheeple who were told by their media and believed Romney would win until reality shattered and splattered their presidential pipe dreams

But I'll let y'all hear Diamond's take on it.

2012 Houston TDOR Next Saturday

Well, you folks in the Houston area will know where to find me from 7-9:30 PM next Saturday. 

I'll be on the University of Houston campus joining my fellow transpeeps and our allies in memorializing the trans sisters here and around the world we lost in 2012 to anti-trans violence.

The Houston Transgender Day of Remembrance event will happen November 17  It is sponsored by the UH LGBT Resource Center and will take place on the University of Houston main campus in the AD Bruce Religion Center.

If you're in the Houston metro area and can make it, hope you do so.   

Thank You Readers For TransGriot's Fifth Highest All-Time Traffic Day!

If you surfed by here on November 6, you were part of my fifth largest traffic day of all time at TransGriot.

I didn't write much on that day except a post exhorting people to vote , a post thanking you for my fourth highest traffic day of all time , a short one noting a local trans feminine leader who was running for US Congress and when I got the word that President Obama won, I reposted the video of Ann Coulter's 2011 CPAC prediction about what would happen if Romney was selected as their nominee.

I ended that day with 7341 page views and the fifth highest TransGriot traffic day of all time..

As I said before, there are hundreds of trans blogs, but only one award winning one written from the perspective of an IFGE Trinity Award winning proud African descended trans activist.   Thank you for taking the time out of your day to surf by here and read what I have to say about various issues.  

I write to keep you apprised of what's going on inside and outside transworld and talk about it from a chococentric perspective.   I'm aware of how important that is because y'all tell me while I'm out and about how imprtant that is to you to have that perspective injected in th stories that impact our community, much less have someone talk about the issues that affect us that tend to get ignored

Thank you once again loyal TransGriot readers, and with your help and me continuing to focus on writing quality posts, I know I'll break those traffic records someday

Shut Up Fool Awards-Post Presidential Politics Edition

The 2012 elections happened earlier this week with President Obama winning a decisive electoral college victory and getting over 60 million votes to ours and the world's cheers.   That means on January 21, 2013 President Obama will be inaugurated for a second term

He and the First Family will be living at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave until January 20, 2017 to the disgust of Mitch McConnell and all his vanillacentric privileged GOP cohorts who wanted Mitt version whatever to win.  

I had too many contenders this week to list them all so I'll just get right to my SUF honorable mentions and the winner. 

Honorable mention number one goes to 2012 Shut up Fool of the Year contender Mitt Romney.            Just pick a reason.

Honorable mention number two goes to the entire conservafool movement for their ongoing post election freak out 

Honorable mention number three goes to the conservafool leaning Susan B Anthony List.  A female run PAC that is not only exhibiting a particularly acute case of Stockholm Syndrome, but president of the group Marjorie Dannenfelser claimed in a post election press conference that Mitt Romney lost because he wasn't conservative enough.

This week's Shut Up Foot winner is another contender for 2012 Shut Up Fool of the Year, Ted Nugent. 

Teddy took to Twitter and started another series of racist tweets in reaction to President Obama winning a second term in another blowout.

Ted, didn't you promise us you'd be dead or in jail if the POTUS was elected?   So far neither has happened to you yet.

All together now TransGrot readers.  Ted Nugent, shut up fool!

BSG: Blood & Chrome Webisodes Start Today

You longtime TransGriot readers know how much I loved the reimagined Battlestar Galactica and I'll admit I did shed a tear or two when it ended with the survivors of the Colonies ending up on our Earth.

Was pissed when Caprica was canceled after only one season, but now I'm happy to hear that the long rumored Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome series which focuses on a fresh out of the academy William Adama ten years into the First Cylon War is moving forward.  

It's being released starting today in a ten episode series of 12 minute webisodes on Machinima Prime leading up to the February 2013 two hour pilot movie on SyFy.

Whether that turns into a series probably depends on what kind of viewership the webisodes get and ratings the movie gets.

I'm loving this quote from the intial webisode.  "You looking for some action? There’s the girl who’s going to give it to you.”

Rep. Alan Grayson-Expand The Voting Rights Act

I'm so happy Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) is going to be back in Congress.   We have definitely missed his tell it like it T-I-S is voice inside I-495.  Welcome back, and this time hope you gt to stick around for a while.

In this video he talks about expanding the Voting Rights Act beyond just the South in light of the voting suppression shenanigans the GOP tried to execute there and elsewhere.in the country.

2012 TransGriot NFL Picks-Week 10

The Texans got their second half of the season started with a 21-9 win over the Buffalo Bills at Reliant last Sunday to keep the AFC's best record at 7-1.  

They now have an opportunity to atone for that disastrous debut on NBC's Sunday Night Football against the Green Bay Packers.  

In this Sunday's game they face another NFC North Division opponent in the Chicago Bears.  They are the other NFL squad they've never lost to in franchise history (Miami is the other at 7-0) and have beaten them both times they faced them.  But this 2012 edition of the Bears are 7-1 and will be a formidable challenge at Soldier Field.   And yep, they trashed the Tennessee Traitors 51-20.

You can bet the Texans will have the desire to show the national media they are serious contenders to be playing in the Super Bowl down I-10 east in February.

I had a wonderful Week 9 and missed my perfect week again with a 13-1 record.  Got the Redskins-Panthers game wrong while Mr. Watts went a respectable 11-3.   Thanks to moi getting the Seattle-Minnesota and Pittsburgh-NY Giants games correct that we disagreed on, with seven weeks left in the regular season my lead over my fellow Texan has grown to six games.   
 
So y'all know the drill for this season long prognostication contest.  Mike's picks are here.  Mine are in underlined bold print.  Once again we have only fourteen Week 10 games to sort through because the Cardinals, Browns, Packers, and the Redskins are on their bye week.  


Week 9 records 
TransGriot  13-1
Mike Watts 11-3

2012 Season Records
TransGriot  86-46
Mike Watts 80-52

Week 10

Bye week
Cardinals, Browns, Packers, Redskins

Thursday, November 8
Colts at Jaguars

Sunday, November 11
Broncos at Panthers
Chargers at Buccaneers
Titans at Dolphins
Bills at Patriots
Raiders at Ravens
Giants at Bengals
Falcons at Saints
Lions at Vikings

Afternoon Games
Jets at Seahawks
Cowboys at Eagles
Rams at 49ers

Sunday Night Game
Texans at Bears

Monday, November 12
Chiefs at Steelers

Stacie Laughton-New Hampshire Trans State Rep!

When the New Hampshire state legislature begins its session on January it will be only two seats shy of flipping control of the Senate back into Democratic hands at 13-11.   The 400 member New Hampshire House will have a 221 member Democratic majority under the leadership of Terrie Norelli as Speaker of the House.

The Democratic majority will also contain the first open trans person ever elected to a US state legislature. 

On Tuesday Democrat Stacie Laughton easily beat out two Republican candidates in the Ward 4 state legislative race in Nashua to become New Hampshire's first trans state representative.

In addition to being the first ever open trans legislator elected to a US state legislative seat, she also becomes the first elected trans state legislator since Althea Garrison accomplished that feat in neighboring Massachusetts 20 years ago

“I believe that at this point, the LGBT community will hopefully be inspired,” Laughton said Wednesday. “My hope is that now maybe we’ll see more people in the community running, maybe for alderman. Maybe in the next election, we’ll have a senator.”

Laughton said in an interview she also would like to work on legislation to make it easier for trans people to be recognized in the state, including measures that would make it easier for group members to change their gender on state-issued IDs and being able to use the restroom of their choice.

“The state needs to be welcoming and affirming and sending that message that we will be welcoming and you won’t be discriminated against in New Hampshire.” .

I sure hope so Rep-Elect Laughton, especially in light of the fact that just three years ago a trans rights bill was voted down 24-0 in a then Democratically controlled predominately female New Hampshire Senate after it passed by one vote in the New Hampshire House.   It was galling in light of the fact they had no problem passing a same gender marriage bill in the same session.  

Hopefully Rep-Elect Stacie Laughton can help change that.

Well Conservafools, When Are You Leaving?

To all the conservapeeps who claimed that they would leave the USA if President Obama was elected to a second term, what are you waiting for?   Time for y'all to improve our nation by y'all making good on your threats to leave. 

As a TransGriot public service, here are the links to help you get started on your journeys to self-deport yourselves from the USA. 

Canada

Australia

New Zealand

Great Britain

Ireland


Don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya..

It Doesn't Pay At The Ballot Box To Be A Misogynst

Guest post by Renee of Womanist Musings, who is all that and four bags of ketchup flavored potato chips.

One of the reasons that the GOP believed that Barack Obama was elected four years ago, is that they weren’t conservative enough.  This election cycle, several GOP candidates increased their misogynist rhetoric and engaged in what can only be described as a war against women.  Considering that women make up fifty percent of the electorate, this was hardly a smart decision, as the election results proved last night. 

Todd Akin who referred to doctors who provide abortions (which by the way is a perfectly legal medical procedure), as “terrorists,” didn’t fare well last night.  Apparently these doctors who have undergone years of medical training perform abortions on women who aren’t actually pregnant and scare women into making the decision to abort.  By his reasoning, women aren’t capable of making up their own minds about what to do with their bodies.  Todd Akin also at some point must have failed basic biology because he also believes that women cannot get pregnant from rape. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down, Akin said.”  Don’t feel sorry for Akin because he lost the election last night to the incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill because he now has time to go back to school and actually learn some basic biology.  Education should after all be a lifelong effort.

Tom Smith who tried to create distance between himself and Todd Akin compared pregnancy conceived through rape to being a single mother.  Someone should have advised him that you cannot run away from misogyny while sticking your foot in your mouth.  Tom Smith lost his election bid to democrat Bob Casey.  

Richard Mourdock  came under fire for saying, "I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize life is that gift from God and I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen."  I suppose this is a polite way of saying that when life gives lemons, make lemonade.  Well, Mourodock better get his lemonade stand ready because he lost his election bid to Democrat  Joe Donnelly in Indiana. 

Joe Walsh wanted the world to know that he is pro birth no matter what the situation is. Apparently, modern medicine means that the life of the mother is never at risk.  He stated, “There is no such exception as life of the mother, and as far as health of the mother, same thing.” I wonder if he believes all of the science aired on Star Trek as well? Joe Walsh lost his re-election bid last night to Democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth in Illinois' 8th congressional district.

Last night’s election results was more than a win for President Barack Obama, it was a win for women; it was a win for reproductive freedom.  All of these straight cisgender white men will never be in a position to have to choose between carrying a pregnancy to term and having an abortion, yet for some reason, they believe that they have the right to legislate our wombs. There can be no other word to describe this than misogyny.   

Uniformly, they based their convictions on religious beliefs and by so doing, have forgotten that the U.S. has a separation between church and state for a reason. Christianity is far from the only religion in America and its place is most certainly not in government. Measures like sex education, access to free or low cost birth control, as well as lessening the income gap between men and women would go a long way to reducing the number of abortions but that is not something any of these men advocated for.  Instead their agenda was to control women and sympathise with rapists.  

As a woman, these decisions buoy my belief in the system.  Due to free speech laws, these men certainly had the right to say what they did but that does not mean that they should be free of consequences.  The people have spoken and advocating for a lessening of reproductive freedom is not a something the country is interested in.  Hopefully this will be a lesson to legislators that a woman’s womb belongs only to her and should not be subject to government intervention.  

Though the U.S. is still clearly very much a sexist society because women have yet to reach parity with men and this is especially true when it comes to marginalized women, these election results prove that we are willing to use the power we do have to our benefit.  Hopefully, it will serve to remind young women that the rights which our foremothers fought so valiantly for will always be under threat until we achieve true equality in all spheres of life with men. This is why there will never be an election that we can afford to sit home and pretend that what happens does not affect our lives.  Even if you personally believe that abortion is not something you would choose, women should have the right to decide individually.  Every vote matters when it comes to ensuring that women retain our right to choose.  

The Streak Is Over

In addition to seeing history being made with the reelection of President Barack Obama and the election of the first openly gay senator in Tammy Baldwin, there was another positive political development last night.

The losing streak for marriage equality ballot initiatives is halted at 32 straight losses.

For the first time ever, a ballot measure against same-sex marriage in Minnesota) was defeated and voters said yes to marriage-equality measures in Maine, Maryland and Washington state.

As Sharon Lettman-Hicks, the executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition said in a Washington Post interview, “It is clear that marriage-equality opponents are fighting a losing battle and our movement for full equality is at a tipping point.  More and more Americans are realizing that LGBT people deserve the same protections to care for the people they love.”

Damn skippy they do.   We also need to dispense with this played out conservative bull feces of putting people's human rights up for a majority vote and their political gain.

It's a tactic that the Forces of Intolerance may have used one time too many.

4 More Years! 4 More Years!

Well, I can finally say it.  Reelected and it feels so damn good!  

As of 10:18 PM EST President Obama was reelected for a second term.  He'll be at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue along with the First Family until January 20, 2017.

Ho hum.  Another presidential election, another electoral college blowout as Nate Silver predicted.  Pop your collar, Nate.    

For those of you conservafools who loudly stated if that happened you would move to Canada, what's taking you so long to leave? 

Mitch McConnell is probably eating a 20 piece bucket of original recipe Kentucky Fried Crow right now in addition to being pissed that once again the Tea Klux Klan extremists cost him another opportunity to pick up seats and become Senate Majority Leader

Aww, my bleeding liberal heart has no sympathy for the man who stated that the GOP's sole political goal should be to make Barack Obama a one term president.

Well, your azz is running for reelection in 2014.  It's Ditch Mitch time Kentucky!

Excuse me while I gloat discuss what happened last night.   The pundits claimed there was no enthusiasm on our side to reelect President Obama.   Y'all failed to ask African-Americans, Latinos, women and GLBT folks that question.   African-Americans voted in even higher numbers than we did in 2008, making Dr. King's prophetic statement about the Black vote a reality once again.  

While we held on to the US senate, expanded the majority and are adding more women to our Democratic Senate caucus, unfortunately the Crying Man will still be the House Majority Leader when the 113th Congress starts up in January.  However, Alan Grayson (D-FL) will be back and 2012 Shut Up Fool of the Year award contender Allen West (R-FL) won't.

Roll that beautiful POTUS victory speech video.





But this was definitely President Obama's night and I'm deliriously happy he won't be leaving the White House until January 20, 2017.  

Hmm, may have to see if I can get to DC for that second inauguration. 

Coulterdamus Was Right

You know what they say about a broken clock being right twice a day, and this moment at CPAC 2011 was one of Ann Coulter's.rare instances of being right.

February 12, 2011...take it away, Ann.:

Good Luck, Ness!

In case you TransGriot peeps are wondering, we do have a trans candidate running for office on this Elecrion Day, and once again she's in my Lone Star backyard.

My homegirl Vanessa Edwards Foster is a Green Party candidate running for the US Congress and the District 9 seat currently occupied by Rep. Al Green (D-TX)

While she has some long odds in terms of being in that 113th Congress freshman congressmember photo they will take in January, the old saying is you gotta be in it to win it. 

Ness has been working on campaigns for other local politicians such as our current mayor Annise Parker, been active in precinct level politics since the late 90's in addition to lobbying multiple times on Capitol Hill as the former ED of NTAC.   We'd be lucky to have her in Washington DC representing us.

As I said during the NBJC trans town hall meeting I participated in back in September, the next level of the trans community is having increasing numbers of trans people running for and winning public office so we can be writing the laws instead of begging legislators to be included in them.

Good luck, Ness.

Thank You For My Fourth Highest All-Time TransGriot Traffic Day

If you surfed by TransGriot on October 28 to read my posts for that day, you were part of the fourth highest traffic day I've ever had on this blog since I started it on January 1, 2006.

I had 7,784 people surf by to check what I wrote concerning Roseanne Barr's transphobic tweets and the other content in this award winning blog, and I sincerely thank you for that.

In case you're wondering, my all time high was set back on April 3 when I had 9678 people check out the blog.  

Once again, thank you TransGriot readers for your support. 

It's POTUS Election Day! Handle Your Civic Business!

For those of you who had to wait until November 6 to cast your ballots in this critical and history altering 2012 presidential election, today is the day you finally get to have your say about who wins later tonight between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. 

In case you're wondering, Dixville Notch, NH and Hart's Location, NH traditionally cast the first ballots in the 2012 election at midnight EST.   In Dixville Notch it was a 5-5 tie between the POTUS and Romney. 

In Hart's Location it wasn't even close: Obama 23, Romney 9, Johnson 2.


This is the video of the POTUS' last rally in Des Moines, IA. 




Don't forget to make your selections in the down ballot races for your congressional representatives, state reps, state senators, judges, councilmembers, the other races on your ballot that are vitally important as well because they also impact the quality of your life.

Handle your civic business today, people.

Dr King Was Right About The Black Vote

One of the most basic weapons in the fight for social justice will be the cumulative political power of the Negro. I can foresee the Negro vote becoming consistently the decisive vote in national elections.'

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

He was right, as he was about many things he commented on back during his far too brief lifetime.

 FYI, you can bet that Dr. King wasn't voting for any Republicans when he cast those ballots in the 1960 and 1964 presidential elections.

The power of the Black vote is why conservatives have spent millions, colluded with each other, plotted, schemed, wrote voter suppression laws, litigated, violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act and unleashed every dirty trick possible to ensure the power of your vote doesn't decide tomorrow's election. 


Guess we should be flattered that the vanillacentric conservafool movement is so 'scurred' of the African-American vote that they would go to all that effort keep a Black man from getting another four years at a job he's done exceedingly well.

You also have to consider that despite their best Massive Resistance 2.0 efforts to frack with him and make him a one term president, President Obama is still standing and has compiled the best first term legislative record of achievement since FDR and LBJ. .

Well, we need to be tough minded enough as Dr King would say to do what we can to ensure they wasted their megamillions in that futile effort to fear and smear this POTUS, and they fail tomorrow.

And yes, the Black electorate is highly pissed about you conservafools trying to suppress our ability to vote and political payback will be a rhymes with itch. We can't let you take this country back to the 19th century and roll back our hard won civil rights without a fight.

And tomorrow, you will see what Dr. King presciently foresaw play itself out again at the ballot box.   

Piss Off A Conservafool-Vote

We have less than 24 hours until the polls open for an election in which we have two divergent paths for our nation with such stark clarity that even Stevie Wonder can see where they lead and what the ramifications are for the United States

We can either vote to continue the progress we've made under President Obama toward building an America that works for everybody, or you can vote for a lying political shape shifter who.in his own words doesn't care about 47% of the population.

Your call.   But the bottom line is that you need to get your azz out of bed on November 6 and handle your civic business.   You can damned sure bet that the people who want to bring the GW Bush policies of the last decade back will be in line tomorrow.

You need to be too so this country can move forward and not backwards to the 19th century.