BSG: Blood And Chrome Webisodes 3 and 4

here are the latest webisodes of BSG: Blood and Chrome.     SyFy needs to turn this into a series.  

Houston Remembering Our Own TDOR Event Tomorrow

I was not a happy camper after Saturday's Houston Transgender Day of Remembrance Event concluded.

An incident happened to moi during that event that incensed me to the point I almost left (and I'm still pissed off about)  but was talked out of leaving the UH TDOR event by a friend who was also there.  

Needless to say I was not happy with another HRC rep getting to speak at a Houston TDOR once again (and frankly I'm tired of that)   I believe that since it is one of the few trans centered events that the community created and one of the few that does get media attention, we need to spotlighting trans leaders and transpeople at it in addition to having trans voice front and center in running thangs. 

I was also not happy that we had no African-American transperson out of the eight selected to do so reading the list of 173 names that were predominately survey says Black and Latina

That vanillacentric Houston TDOR once again reminded me that the trans (and GLB one) community in this town is far too vanillacentric and too eager to kiss up to HRC.  The lack of non-white transpeople in attendance Saturday night at the AD Bruce Religion Center was telling in terms of the racial divide that is ominously opening up between the non-white and white trans community.  

I want to help bridge that divide and have done so in multiple ways since 1993 such as serving on the board of TATS and participating in several Texas lobby days in 1999 and 2001.  I'm contemplating participating in a Texas Lobby Day in 2013.   

But if I keep getting disrespected like I was Saturday night, I'm eventually going to have to say frack it and work towards building Houston POC transpeople and our SGL community the same level of community support and infrastructure that they desperately need and white transpeople in the Houston area currently enjoy.  That includes doing our own POC oriented TDOR ceremony in Houston to honor our fallen sisters.

Enough venting.  Time to discuss what this post is about. 

I was contemplating organizing one as I stewed this weekend and was glad to hear that a local group of African-American transpeople did precisely that and organized a TDOR event that will be taking place tomorrow 

The 'Remembering Our Own' TDOR event will happen starting at 6 PM CST and will take place at the MSociety building, 1116 Jackson St.  Houston TX,  77006.  

Hope people come and show their support for it.   I know I'm definitely planning on attending this one to compare and contrast the observances.    

2012 Texans Watch-Whew!

When the Texans played and easily beat down the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-7 back on September 16 they were laser beam focused on that game because they knew the Jags always play them tough and they wanted to get a win in the young season against a divisional opponent .

Afterr the hard fought win against the Chicago Bears, this had all the makings of a trap game.  The Texans first ever Thanksgiving Day appearance in Detroit looming and they were playing a Jacksonville Jaguars team they had beaten four straight times and who hadn't won in Houston since 2009. 

After the Texans efficiently torched the Jaguars on their opening drive to lead 7-0 and the Bulls on Parade defense knocked Jacksonville QB Blaine Gabbert out of the game on the Jags initial drive, it looked like this one was going to be over by halftime.  

The Jaguars had other ideas. Chad Henne came off the Jags bench to spark what turned out to be an entertaining but anxiety producing game for Texans fans.   They matched the Texans score for score as the Texans missed opportunities such as a 50 yard field goal clanking off the left upright that would have put the Texans ahead 20-17 at halftime.

But Jacksonville stormed out of the locker room and made some big plays of their own to forge a 34-20 lead with less than 6 minutes to go in regulation time. 

The Texans finally woke up and Matt Schaub hit 16 straight passes to erase the 14 point deficit.   The Texans defense also decided to join the party, forced a three and out late in the fourth quarter and Schaub guided the offense in position for Shayne Graham to kick the game winning field goal with 5 seconds left in regulation time.  A false start penalty and a badly shanked 47 yard field goal try later sent the game into overtime and sent Texans fans reaching for the Maalox.    

After the teams traded field goals it was Andre Johnson to the rescue.  A flanker screen turned into a 48 yard TD that ended the game, capped a 14 catch 273 yard career day and gave the Texans a thrilling but nerve wracking 43-37 win.  

Matt Schaub also had a career day with 527 yards and give touchdowns, falling just short of Norm Van Brocklin's NFL passing record of 551 yards but tying the Houston Oilers Warren Moon for second on the all time passing yardage list. .

More importantly, it moved the Texans to 9-1, allowed them to stay atop the AFC South Division, keep the best record in the AFC  and stay on track for home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

Dynamo 90 Minutes From Second Straight MLS Cup Final

The Men In Orange handled their playoff business last weekend at BBVA Compass Stadium and walked out of there with a 3-1 first leg MLS Eastern Conference Final win against DC United after trailing at the half 1-0.

The Dynamo head into this 3 PM CST second leg game at RFK Stadium in the enviable spot of needing only a win, draw or not losing by more than two goals in order to secure their second straight trip to the MLS Cup title game. 

If they do earn it, they will have to play in either Los Angeles or Seattle since MLS has changed the championship game format to where it is played at the home arena of the participating team with the highest seed.  And right now assuming things stay to form in the MLS Western Conference final it looks like the Dynamo will be getting a rematch against the LA Galaxy  

It's looking good for them right now, but they still have to play the and survive that match in front of DC United's rowdy fans before they can start making travel plans to either LA or Seattle and MLS Cup 2012.

 

Where Y'all At For TDOR And Beyond, GLB Community?

Cheryl Courtney-Evans at her abitchforjustice blog wrote a post entitled 'Paying REAL Homage to Our Transgender Fallen' that discusses a recurring problem in the rainbow community.

When events are centered (or supposed to be centered on) the "T" end of the community, far too often the people predominately in the room when said event is scheduled to happen are trans with little or minuscule representations from the GLB end of the community.

Even the Transgender Day of Remembrance is not immune from this phenomenon, and that's galling since it's an event the trans community created.  For those of you who profess to be our allies, the least you can do if you're able to do so is show your support for our community on a day we created that transpeople all over the world are memorializing the people we've lost due to anti-trans violence.

Even if the GLB allies are well intentioned, it can still leave the transpeople in attendance feeling left out, as Cheryl points out in this excerpt from her post.:.

I attended one such dinner two nights ago, presented by an LGBT HIV/AIDS prevention organization. While it was enjoyable, with a mime performance by a transman of my acquaintance, a beautiful rendition of "Wind Beneath My Wings" sung by a personable young gay man and a small local 3-piece band, I left it feeling entertained but empty. There was a great, entertaining presentation about "Stigma Surrounding HIV/AIDS Infection" given to us by a terribly charismatic transgender woman (she really "took us to church"), and the food was good.... Don't get me wrong, I had a good time, but at the bottom of it I still felt empty. 

I felt this way because I knew when all was said and done, the only reason we were 'entertained' so well was because this LGBT organization was getting funded by a  pharmaceutical company who paid for the dinner so as to give the presentation (no word of our fallen, past the fact that the event was titled "Transgender Day Of Remembrance Celebration"). No mention was made of what we're going to do about changing the position of the transgender  community in the future, although there was a "humanitarian award" given to a doctor known for her attendance to HIV positive transgender individuals, with a couple of honorable mentions for young gay men who worked with this organization (the young singer among them). I had to wonder, "What's the point?" and "Would this event even have taken place without the pharmaceutical company's funding?" as well as "Who is this helping?" Okay, so we got out for a couple of hours, ate some good food and chuckled for a minute...but what next? Out of an audience of maybe 50 people, I'd say 30 were transgender (including the presenter); nothing was learned, no future plans for transgender advancement made or real homage paid to those of us who have died due to murder, abuse or neglect.

We not only want and need you there as our allies during this emotional time, but as my trans elder Cheryl pointed out, we also need your support on the days of the calendar beyond November 20.

I'm going to echo Cheryl by stating that being a trans ally doesn't begin and end on that date.  It's a 24/7/365 journey and 366 days in a leap year like this one.   You honor our fallen trans sisters by resolving to be the type of GLB ally that doesn't pay lip service to the idea.  

We need you to stand with us and in some cases be front and center when we push for trans inclusive legislation and initiatives that help the trans community move forward.  Remember when we gain human rights coverage, your human rights expand as well. 

We need GLB people calling out and taking to task those in their ranks who spout the divisive words that trans people aren't part of 'their' community and calling out their fellow GLB people who actively work to oppress trans people.  We need lesbian and bisexual women pushing back against radical feminists and cis women who denigrate and disrespect the femininity of trans women.

We need GLB peeps to be just as fierce advocates for trans human rights and issues as we have been for your issue concerns for decades.  But most of all, we just need you GLB folks to show up and show out on our behalf.. 

.

Texas TDOR 2012 Events

As you TransGriot readers know, I am a huge long time supporter of the Transgender Day of Remembrance events and have had the honor and privilege of being the keynote speaker for TDOR's in Louisville (2002, 2003) and the Long Island TDOR in 2009. 

Just wondering when it will happen for me in my hometown and my home state (hint, hint)

This is the link to find a TDOR memorial near you in the US, Canada and around the world, but I'm focusing this post on Texas and when, where, what date and what time the Lone Star State TDOR's will take place.

Austin, Texas
Will be holding a Transgender Day of Remembrance event on Tuesday, November 20, 2012 at 6:30 PM CST at the Austin City Hall Plaza
—–
Dallas, Texas
Will be holding a Transgender Day of Remembrance event on November 18, 2012 from 6:00-8:30 PM CST at the Cathedral of Hope, 5910 Cedar Springs Road, Dallas,TX., 75235
For more information contact: Oliver at olblumerdc@aol.com
—–
Houston, Texas
Will be holding a Transgender Day of Remembrance event on Saturday, November 17, 2012 at 7:00-9:00 PM CST at the UH Main Campus, A.D. Bruce Religion Center
parking in lot 13A
website: https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/146252865521389/?fref=ts
—–
Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock's first Transgender Day of Remembrance to be held Thursday November 15, 2012 from 7-8:30 PM CST at Metropolitan Community Church  4501 University Ave, Lubbock, Texas 79413-3615
 —–
San Antonio, Texas
Will be holding a Transgender Day of Remembrance event on Thursday, November 15, 2012 at 6:00 p.m.
at the Metropolitan Community Church Sanctuary 611 E. Myrtle St.
San Antonio, TX 78212

Stop Hatin' On Dr. Susan Rice, Sen. John McCain

I've noted this racist pattern conservafools have of hatin' on African-American Obama Administration senior officials. 

First it was Van Jones and Desiree Rogers, then you tried to attack US Attorney General Eric Holder for doing his damned job and putting a halt to your voter suppression bull feces, and now you fools are coming after UN Ambassador Dr. Susan E. Rice.

By the way, happy birthday Dr Rice!   She was born in Washington DC on this date in 1964.  

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has been the point conservafool on this political smearing attack of Dr. Rice along with Sen Lindsey Graham (R-SC) whose pink elephant behind needs to come out of the closet.

Oops, did I say that?  

Back to riffing on Sen John McCain and his loud and wrong attacks on Ambassador Rice, who is a potential nominee to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she steps down. 

I know John McCain, the man who chose intellectually challenged Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate.didn't just part his lips to say that he would do everything in his power to stop that nomination if it happened, and in addition to that had the unmitigated gall to call her 'not very bright' 

Senator McCain is in no position to judge who is 'not very bright', since he graduated 894th out of 898 people in his Naval Academy class.  

Dr Rice on the other hand was valedictorian of her HS class, a Phi Beta Kappa history student at Stanford and a Rhodes Scholar.  

'Not very bright'?    Yeah, right.   I have three words for you Senator McCain.  Take it away, Mr. T.

And stop hatin' on Dr. Susan Rice.  She'll be a far better Secretary of State that the other non-related Republican Rice you supported. 

Shut Up Fool Awards- Hostess Dies Edition

Sad news for those of us who grew up chowing down on Hostess twinkies, cupcakes, Ho Ho's, Ding Dongs, Wonder Bread and the people who work hard to make those treats. 

Hostess was founded in 1930, and has been since September in the midst of a crippling strike after they tried to get workers to accept a contract that slashed wages and benefits. Never mind the fact management increased their own wages and benefits by 75-80% in July 2011.

The Irving, TX based corporation has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy since January and threatened to take the company into liquidation if the striking workers didn't return to work by yesterday's midnight deadline.   When that deadline passed without a deal, Hostess moved to liquidate the company and the 18,500 jobs that come with making those iconic treats.  

As to what will happen with those iconic brands, stay tuned.

Moving on from business Mitt Rommey style to our Friday Shut Up Fool Awards business.  Let's get right to this week's award winners..  

Honorable mention number one is a group award.  It goes to all the nekulturny fools who signed those petitions to 'secdee' from the United States in the wake of their continuing vanillacentric sour graping over the POTUS convincingly winning a second term.  

Honorable mention number two goes to Mitt Romney for once again disrespecting non-white voters, young voters and women by pimping the conservaline that the only reason he lost was because the Obama campaign gave out 'gifts'.  

Naw dufus, you lost because your arrogant azz changed your positions faster than you changed your undergarments and you lied repeatedly during the campaign.   Now you and Ann can unpack because 1600 Pennsylvania Ave is occupied until January 2017.  

Honorable mntion number three is Callista Gingrich.  She had the nerve to open her mouth and comment in the unfolding David Petraues sex scandal that 'affairs are painful and sad for the family.'

She should know because she was the other woman cheating with Newt Gingrich on his second wife Marianne, who took him from his first wife when she was battling illness.    

This week's winner is Dr Cornel West .  He and his homeboy Tavis Smiley have been hatin' on President Obama since the 2008 election cycle, and the once high regard the African-American community (and the TransGriot) had for both men has now sunk to the same disgust I have for Supreme Court (in)justice Uncle Clarence Thomas.

Cornel earned this week's award for his interview with Democracy Now host Amy Goodwin in which he not only slammed the POTUS by calling him a "Rockefeller Republican in blackface", he lashed out at MSNBC pundits Michael Eric Dyson, Melissa Harris-Perry and Rev. Al Sharpton by saying they were 'all for sale'.


Dude, you along with your boy Tavis were the front knee-grows trying to organize a left-wing third party challenge to the POTUS.   So don't expect any tickets to this inauguration either much less any invites to the White House during this second term.

And oh by the way, Dr Cornel West, shut the HELL up, fool  

Thanks Again TransGriot Readers For Another Record Traffic Day!

I just set on November 6 my fifth highest all-time TransGriot record traffic day, and now that just got eclipsed on November 13.

If you surfed by here on that day, you were part of the 7566 people who perused the content I posted on that day, so pat yourselves on the back.  One of them was a post with me musing about TDOR 2012, the other was about New York's Ali Forney Center being destroyed by Hurricane Sandy flooding.

But then again, you never really know what posts will go viral.  All I do is try to write quality ones, post it, and let it go from there.

While I'm justifiably popping my collar over my new fifth highest ever traffic day, once again I need to thank you TransGriot readers for surfing by and taking time out of your busy schedules to read what I write here.

Without you loyal readers I don't have the visibility, buzz and love y'all shower me with.  I enjoy having this electronic platform to tell it like it T-I-S is about being trans from an Afrocentric perspective and whatever other subject I wish to talk about, and I thank y'all for reading my posts and telling your friends about it.

All I can do is continue to live up to my TransGriot Mission Statement, keep writing the quality stuff you expect from me and see if I can beat my all time record of 9678 visitors I set back on April 3, 2012. 

Thanks again TransGriot readers.

2012 TransGriot NFL Picks-Week 11

Had a rough NFL Week 10 that included an unexpected 24-24 tie in the 49ers-Rams game. Thanks to the Steelers overtime win and my Texans handling their NFL business in Chicago Sunday night I still finished with an above .500 record for the week.

But as a result of the upsets and a 'what was I thinking' moment with the Chargers, my six game lead I had over Mr. Watts has dropped to a mere 4 games with six weeks to go.

Time to get back on the winning trail.  Clock is ticking toward the end of the season and as I said at the beginning of this 2012 NFL prognostication contest I was in it to win it this year.  I do not want to finish tied, nor do what i had to do to get that tie last year.   

The Vikings, Giants, Seahawks, and Titans Traitors are on their bye week, which means only 14 games to select.  Mike's picks are here.   Mine are in underlined bold print and I'm determined to do better than .500 this week.   


Week 10 records 
TransGriot  7-6-1
Mike Watts 9-4-1

2012 Season Records
TransGriot  93-52-1
Mike Watts 89-56-1

Week 11

Bye week
Vikings, Giants, Seahawks, Titans

Thursday, November 15
Dolphins at Bills,

Sunday, November 18
Jaguars at Texans
Eagles at Redskins
Packers at Lions
Cardinals at Falcons
Buccaneers at Panthers
Browns at Cowboys
Jets at Rams
Colts at Patriots

Bengals at Chiefs

Sunday Afternoon
Saints at Raiders
Chargers at Broncos

Sunday Night
Ravens at Steelers

Monday, November 19
Bears at 49ers

You Were Right: You ARE Just A Bunch Of Racist, Pathetic Sore Losers

Y'all told the truth about yourselves back in 2010 when you first started having those Tea Klux Klan meetings.  

Now, one week after your crushing loss to President Obama shattered and splattered your pipe dreams of making him a one term president,  you're now showing your infantile KKKolors and demonstrating for the whole world just how prophetic the above sign in the photo is.

You're not 'Real Americans'.  You are not even worthy of being called Americans because you're demanding to 'secdee' from this nation because of a lost election.

Naw, let's be real about this.  You're frothing at the mouth angry that our African American POTUS once again decisively won another election.  It also frosts you bigots that President Obama and his family will be residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in that nice white house my ancestors built with their unpaid labor through January 20, 2017.   

Why don't you hooked on phonics challenged losers do us a favor and self deport yourselves from those of us who wish to move the United States forward into the 21st century and not backwards into the 19th century vanillacentric privileged hell y'all wanted to take it?

News flash: The Canadians don't want you in their home and native land either.  

We liberal progressives were beyond pissed about the previous White House occupant stealing two elections.  But unlike y'all we worked to clean up the Bushit at the ballot box.

But if y'all do leave it'll make it easier to give John Boehner something to really cry about interms of having to hand his speaker's gavel back to Nancy Pelosi.

Alice Robb, Why You Tripping About The POTUS Calling His Daughters Beautiful?

One of my readers brought an article by Alice Robb of the Oxonian Globalist to my attention in which she criticized the part of President Obama's victory speech last week in which he said this about the First Daughters:

“Sasha and Malia, before our very eyes, you’re growing up to become two strong, smart, beautiful young women, just like your mom, and I’m so proud of you.”

While the rest of the world, the TransGriot and Black America loved this comment, check out what the third year Oxford University's Keble College student from NYC had to say about it

Obama’s comments beg the question of why a girl’s beauty should be source of pride for her father— and why beauty should be a value lauded alongside strength and intelligence.  The President may have been directing his comments at only two people, but he had the ears of the world, and on a day that should have been a triumph for women, his remarks stung.

Alice, since you didn't grow up as a Black female and don't interact with this world with a Black female body, allow me to break it down for you and demonstrate just how clueless and vanillacentric privileged your comment is.

The beauty standard you rail against is one that exalts women who look like you as the measuring stick that all women should aspire to.  

That same beauty standard that lifts white women and white girls like yourself up as the penultimate beauties is conversely the same one that is used to denigrate non-white women, and especially Black women and girls. 

Lets not pretend that the Black 'unwoman' demonization meme aimed at Black women and girls doesn't exist.  If you think I'm kidding about that, Exhibit A of it is the jacked up Satoshi Kanazawa May 2011 article entitled 'Why Black Women are Ugly.' that I had no problem putting on blast like I'm doing your comments right now.

Note that when you pick up any fashion magazine not named ESSENCE  that all you see in them are glamorous fashion photos of white women.   Same with television shows, movies, commercials, print ads or beauty products that predominately feature white women in them.  In your hometown of New York, one of the world modeling hubs, during the spring and fall Fashion Week shows the numbers of Black models strutting those runways are so minuscule you can count them on one hand.

President Obama is a parent of two daughters first and foremost.  The First Lady, Sasha and Malia have been attacked and had the Black unwoman meme frequently flung at them by a cavalcade of right wing idiots (something white feminists have been cricket chirping silent about).

You damned skippy he's going to do everything in his power like any Black father would do to push back against the negative forces working on the self esteem of his daughters by telling them (and his wife) at every opportunity, including his victory speech that they are strong, smart and beautiful young women.  . 

So Alice Robb, why you tripping about President Obama calling his daughters beautiful?  You mad because he took a few moments in a speech that went around the world to show his daughters some love? 

There is nothing wrong with what President Obama said about his daughters because, frankly, Sasha and Malia ARE strong, smart, beautiful young women that I'm happy will be residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for the next four years.

Laverne On Being Black And Trans

You hear my take on being Black and trans on a regular basis here at TransGriot.  Stumbled across this video of my sis Laverne Cox expressing herself on the topic.

Take it away Laverne

This Texas Conservafool Was Editing Your Child's Textbooks

I was already pissed off about Hardin County Republibigot Peter Morrison and his 'maggots' comment in reference to those of us who voted to give President Obama a well deserved second term.

But the more I find out about this waste of DNA, the more I go into Maya Wilkes mode concerning him.

Morrison is not only a Paulista (strike one), he edits a racist newsletter called the Morrison Report that is republished on Tea Klux Klan and fundie evangelical websites. (strike two).

Bu the most alarming thing about this 33 year old bigot is that he was tapped by the former chair of the Texas State Board of Indoctrination Education Don McLeroy to screen Texas public school textbooks.. (strike three)

yep, a man who has called other Texans 'maggots' and who angrily accused Asian-Americans and Hispanics who backed Obama of voting on an "ethnic basis" was editing your kids textbooks.

Peter, stop projecting because your white hood is showing.  The only reason you peeps voted for Mitt Romney's clearly unqualified behind for POTUS is because you share the same 'ethnic basis' with him..  

Liberal progressive Texans, we need to get busy with the project of turning Texas blue ASAP.

And yeah, you're definitely a nominee for this week's Shut Up Fool award..

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/11/08/4399621/hardin-county-gop-official-wants.html#storylink=cpy

       

Rev Louis Mitchell TransPride 2012 Speech

Here's another one of my fave trans men in our community speaking to the people assembled at the 2012 Trans Pride March and Rally that I had the pleasure of doing in 2008 and 2010.

Texas Secede? Yeah, Right

As many of you long time TransGriot readers are aware of I'm a proud fourth generation Texan and native Houstonian. 

I've been amused and concerned to see in the wake of President Obama's overwhelming reelection victory last week pissed off white peepul rioting at the University of Mississippi, letting their inner Klansmen out on Facebook and Twitter, and Republican leaning 'bidnessmen' using the excuse of the Obama victory and expansion of the Democratic Senate majority to lay off workers.   

Now we have so called 'Real Americans' showing their love of this country by sticking petitions on the White House website asking to secede from the United States with the one from my beloved home state getting 80,000 nekulturny people to sign it.

Um people, we're in the middle of observing the 150th anniversary of the War To Perpetuate Slavery (AKA the Civil War) your ancestors jumped off because of that 'states rights' bull feces.  

The question of whether a state could secede or not was not only settled on the battlefield 150 years ago (and y'all lost that war) but was settled by an 1869 US Supreme Court ruling in the Texas v. White case that says no state has the right to unilaterally secede.  

I also find it ironic that the racist failed nation state you continue to romanticize that your ancestors founded that you claim was founded on that 'states rights' principle but was actually of and about perpetuating slavery, was a four year failure in nation building.   The CSA was never recognized by any other world power and hypocritically barred a proposed constitutional provision preserving the right of a state to secede.

So I'm chuckling over this post- election rhetoric from predominately white Texans who were asleep in their Texas history classes wanting to secede and reestablish the Republic of Texas.

If you were paying attention, the Republic of Texas that existed from 1836-1846 and whose capital for two years (1837-1839) was Houston had a tough time fending off Mexican Army and Comanche incursions, and racked up a $10 million debt that the US government agreed to assume once annexation of Texas was complete

So let's get to the real reason why the Tea Klux Klan is pushing this secession talk.   They have like everyone one else who is paying attention to current political developments in the Lone Star State known that Texas has become since 2009 a majority minority state population wise.   The four other majority-minority US states politically have become Democratic in political orientation and the only reason Texas hasn't gone that way is because of the 2003 Delaymandering and the gerrymandering of districts by the GOP legislative majority following the 2010 midterms 

It's inevitable that Texas will once again revert to being a progressive political state, and Republicans have pissed off Latino, African-American and Asian communities to the point that it's just a matter of time before the Texas Republican Party resembles the California one.   

President Obama carried four of the five largest Texas counties population wise in Harris (Houston), Dallas, Travis (Austin), and Bexar (San Antonio).  Tarrant County (Ft. Worth) went to Romney.    In addition to carrying those counties, he carried Jefferson County (Beaumont-Port Arthur), El Paso, heavily Latino South Texas and many of the counties along the Rio Grande.

A blue or even Purple Texas would be a disaster for the Republicans because they heavily rely in their presidential electoral vote calculations of having Texas' 38 electoral votes in their column.   If they were forced to compete for Texas, this state is bigger than France size wise and has expensive media markets in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio.

We non Anglo Texans already know what's driving this need to secede.  Racism.  

In addition to the vanillacentric panic in conservacircles over the fact the United States will be a majority-minority population nation by 2050, that reality was driven home by the election of President Obama in 2008 and his reelection to another four year term last week.

Don't think we non-white Texans weren't paying attention when  Hardin County Republican treasurer Peter Morrison (who is also a  Ron Paul supporter) and author of a race-baiting Tea Party newsletter wrote this bigoted drivel:   

"Let each go her own way," Morrison wrote, demanding an "amicable divorce" from the U.S. and from the "maggots" who re-elected President Obama.

And you wonder why I can't stand the Republican Party, Ron Paul supporters, the Tea Klux Klan and libertarians azzholes like him not necessarily in that order and people outside of this state think we're all nekulturny yahoos. .

 more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/11/12/3908795/commentary-politician-wants-texas.html#storylink=cpy

Bottom line is 75% of the 25,145,561 people in this state like being American citizens just fine, and I submit the 13,582,879 of us who aren't Anglo like saying the Pledge of Allegiance and singing our national anthem.  We are quite aware that as long as the Stars and Stripes flies on flagpoles throughout the 268,601 square miles of  Texas turf, our human rights are protected under the laws of this country and the United States Constitution.

All bets are off on that in a white dominated Republic of Texas.  

Besides, without Texas as part of the United States, you conservafoools have no chance of ever regaining the White House, so chill with that secession talk.  You also by expressing your racist selves let us know through your actions just how much you really love this country and our state.. 

And yeah, you tried that secession thang already in 1861.  It was a miserable failure.
 

TDOR 2012 Musings

The Transgender Day of remembrance has become an international event observed by trans people around the world and the 2012 event is no different. 

We're adding another 173 names to a depressingly long 2012 list of people who were murdered around the world between the conclusion of the last TDOR in November 2011 and this year's event.   

Perusing the list reveals events happening in the United Kingdom, Greece, France, Italy, Ireland, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Romania, Scotland, and Sweden in addition to the ones occurring across the United States and Canada.   Hope there will be others somewhere on the continents of Africa, South America to go along with the ones taking place in North America Europe and the Asian-Pacific Rim.

I also hope that somewhere in the Caribbean, the Middle East and Latin America there will also be a TDOR held, even if it's just a few people gathered at a friends house or in a double secret location and prayers are said for the people we lost.

Texas will be well represented on the US TDOR memorial event list with events taking place in Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and possibly Lubbock.

If you have information regarding your 2012 event please send an email to Ethan St. Pierre and Marti Abernathey transgenderdor@gmail.com and follow updates on twitter: http://twitter.com/Transgenderdor

When you considering the persecution that our sisters are battling in Malaysia and Russia, it's cool to note that TDOR's are still happening in Kuala Lumpur and St. Petersburg.   I was hoping to see an event taking place in Brazil considering there has been far too much anti-trans violence visited upon my sisters who live here. .

There's also been far too much trans feminine blood shed in Turkey, Honduras, Mexico and Guatemala. 

In Guatemala the anti-trans hatred had gotten so bad trans activist Fernanda Milan had to flee her homeland for Denmark where she endured even more suffering and is facing deportation back to Guatemala    

And yes, hope the Transgender Day of Remembrance events are as diverse as the lost trans sisters we'll be memorializing in them.  

When you contemplate the fact the TDOR was created to honor Rita Hester, a Black Boston metro area transwoman whose 1998 murder still is unsolved, and 70% of the Remembering Our Dead list is comprised of Black and Latina trans women I shouldn't have to say this every year.

I also hope and pray that someday it won't be necessary to have TDOR's to remind the world of the obscene levels of violence aimed at us.

But until the world considers a transperson's life to be as valuable as any cisperson's life, circling November 20 on the calendar every year and remembering our lost sisters will sadly be something we engage in as part of our trans human rights struggle.

Ali Forney Center Destroyed By Sandy Flooding

One of the casualties of Hurricane Sandy's landfall in the New Jersey-New York region was the Ali Forney Center in New York's Chelsea neighborhood. 

The Ali Forney Center (AFC) started in June 2002 in response to fulfilling a need for a safe shelter for LGBTIQ kids in the New York Area.  It has grown to become the nation's largest organization of its kind serving homeless LGBT youth.  It provides food, shelter, education, HIV testing and treatment, mental health and substance abuse services.and other medical attention for them.

The center's location was in Chelsea half a block from the Hudson River.  The Hurricane Sandy storm surge driven flooding left four feet of water in the center and destroyed their phones, computers, refrigerator, food and supplies.  Complicating matters is the flooding left the space uninhabitable. 

The AFC takes care of 300 people a month and 1000 people a year.  While they were planning to move to a new 24 hour center in Harlem, that space won't be ready for the full services this vulnerable population needs for several months.

The Ali Forney Center team is asking for help.   They have temporarily relocated to the NYC LGBT center located at 208 W. 13th St  (between 7th and 8th Avenues)  with operation hours from 10 AM-5:30 PM EST.  Phone number is 646-358-1755

They are also asking for cash donations or checks only at this time.  

Ali Forney Center/ATTN: Andria Ottley
224 West 35th St, Suite 1500
New York, NY 10001

They have no place to store food, supplies,  clothing or utilize extra volunteers and when they have that capability or need that type of assistance, they will reach out to supporters of the AFC at that time.

Black Trans Women Became Visible Because We Had To Be

Was sent a link by reader Segmoh Hareema Akinak to a Clutch magazine story by Ella Vincent discussing how Black LGBT women became visible.  

Was surprised to note that it included me and Janet Mock in it since when they discuss women in these online heteronormative and cisgender oriented spaces, far too often trans women get left out of the discussion or dissed when people try to include us in it..

I appreciate the shout out, but I do need to expand on the #girlslikeus portion of Vincent's piece.

Black trans women are visible because we had to be for our own survival, political evolution and our sanity.  We face anti-trans violence aimed at us that we will sadly be memorializing this week in TDOR events here in the States and around the world.  We were getting ignored not only by our own transpeople and our African-American family inside and outside the community, but being erased from the trans and LGBT history we helped make.

Don't even get me started about the Black unwoman meme that is magnified when it focuses its negativity on African descended trans women and slaps us with a definition of Black trans femininity that is not who we see when we look in the mirror. 

In the face of that, it amazed me when I read about the Gallup survey that noted that 4.6 percent of African-Americans identify as LGBT along with 4 percent of Latinos and 4.3 percent of Asian-Americans while only  3.2 percent of white Americans say they are LGBT.   But the media faces representing the LGBT community and dominating the leadership ranks of professional TBLG rights organizations lobbying for it are far too often white ones.  The minuscule numbers of transpeople involved in those Gay, Inc organizations far too often aren't transwomen of color either. 

It's been glaringly obvious to me since the 90's that we desperately needed out and proud Black transwomen telling our stories and offsetting the disco era hate speech pushed by radical feminists about trans women. 

I've been part of that effort since 1998 and I'm happy I now have help in this vital visibility project from a new generation of out and proud trans women such as Janet Mock, Isis King, Laverne Cox, Rev. Carmarion Anderson, Bali White, Danielle King, KOKUMO, Dee Dee Chamblee and countless others around the country.

It's also wonderful that in addition to the new attitude we Black trans women have about fearlessly telling our chococentric truths about our transfeminine lives and stepping up to leadership roles in the various communities we intersect and interact with, we also have our trans elders such as Cheryl Courtney-Evans, Gloria Allen, Miss Major, Tracie Jada O'Brien, and Sharyn Grayson passing on their hard won knowledge and community history to us so we can pass on that history to future generations of African descended trans kids and our allies.

As New Black Transwomen, we not only had to become visible to attack the shame, guilt and fear that deleteriously impact our lives, we needed to do so in order to own our political and personal power, love ourselves and build pride in becoming and being who we are as proud African descended women. 

Black transwomen have become and are visible in this second decade of the 21st century because for the sake of the transkids wishing to walk in our pumps, we had to be.  

 

2012 Texans Watch-Texans Win Soggy Defensive Showdown

My fave NFL squad took their AFC best 7-1 record into a prime time televised showdown last night with the 7-1 NFC North leading Chicago Bears at a rain soaked Soldier Field that not many pundits gave them a chance to win.  

The sports media chatter before kickoff was talking about how great the Bears defense was and ignoring my Houston NFL homeboys, but when this game was over the Texans were the team that emerged victorious.

The Texans Bulls on Parade defense sent a message they are pretty good as well.  They forced four Chicago turnovers, knocked Jay Cutler out of the game with a second quarter concussion and held the Bears to two field goals.  The Texans generated enough offense thanks to Arian Foster's 102 yards on 29 carries to score the game's only touchdown in the second quarter that lifted the Texans to a 10-3 lead and on the path to ending the Bears six game winning streak.  

And oh yeah, with the 13-6 win the Texans moved to 8-1 on the season, bumped their all time franchise record against Da Bears to a spotless 3-0 and stayed unbeaten on the road in the 2012 season.  

Next up for the Texans is another AFC South Division game at Reliant Stadium with the Jacksonville Jaguars