Tom DeLay Sentenced To 3 Years In Jail

You've probably read posts of mine about Texas politics in which I have mentioned the Delaymandering, the (illegal) midyear redistricting of Texas that happened after the Pest Control Man and two associates solicited $190,000 in corporate contributions in the 2002 election cycle to get control of the Texas House.


His Texans For A Republican Majority political pac then sent the corporate cash to an inside I-495 arm of the Republican National Committee. The RNC then sent the same amount to seven Republican Texas House candidates. Under Texas law it is illegal for corporate money to go directly to political campaigns.

Once the GOP got control of the Texas Legislature for the first time in modern Texas history, they pushed through in 2003 what I call the Delaymandering, the Tom DeLay engineered midyear redistricting plan that not only radically altered Texas congressional districts to send more Republicans to Congress, it also redrew the state legislative and state senate lines to produce Republican supermajorities.

And of course, the GW Bush controlled DOJ looked the other way at the obvious Section V violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

DeLay was found guilty in a Travis County courtroom in 2010 and was facing two to 20 years in prison on the felony conspiracy charge and five to 99 years or life on the money laundering charge

The sentence got handed down, and Dick DeGuerin is worth every dime he paid him.   DeLay got sentenced to three years in the slammer for the felony conspiracy charge and five years for the money laundering.

The folks in heavily blue Travis County are still dealing with the fallout of his political handiwork and would probably disagree with this sentence.  The city of Austin has 750,000 people and deserves its own congressional district.  In DeLay and the Texas Republican Party's zeal to draw Rep Lloyd Doggett (D) out of Congress, the city is split between five separate congressional districts, four of which are held by Republicans that don't live there.

The other people glad to see justice prevailing in this case are the legions of liberal-progressive and moderate Texans.  We're still politically paying for the 2002 DeLay engineered political shenanigans that unleashed fools like Rep. Louie Gohmert on the nation. 

Facing Race 2012 Panel-Race And Gender In The 21st Century

Definitely wish I could have been a part of this panel discussion at the Facing race Conference that was held in Baltimore.  The panel tackled the subject of race and gender in the 21st Century and included Janat Mock.  

113th Congress Starts Today

The 113th Congress starts today with the Democrats gaining ground thanks to the 2012 election.  There will be 200 Democrats and 233 Republicans in this Congress with the seat of resigned Illinois Democrat Jesse Jackson, Jr to be determined in an April 9 special election.

The 113th Congress will run from today until January 3, 2015 with the eagerly anticipated on our side November 2014 midterm election at the end of it. 

As always, there's history being made with the opening session of the most diverse so far Congress in US history.

There are 84 freshmen in the 113th Congress, 49 Democrats (33 men, 16 women) and 35 Republicans (32 men, 3 women). This year's Freshman House class includes the first Hindu elected to Congress in Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), and the first openly bisexual person elected to Congress in the person of Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ)

Speaking of women, in the House, the 113th Congress will have the most female officeholders ever with 100 women in both parties serving in the House and Senate.  In addition to the 80 female House members of both parties serving their various districts there will be a record 20 women serving in the US Senate..  

The Democrats will be the first party ever to have more women and non-white members serving in their caucus than white males.  There will be 43 African-American members of Congress pending what happens in the Illinois special election and one* in the Senate    There will also be a record number of 30 Latinos coming to Capitol Hill as well with 3 serving in the Senate.

There are seven total LGBT members of Congress including for the first time ever a senator in the person of  Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI).  Hopefully one day I'll be writing about the first trans member of Congress, but for now the 'T' isn't part of the LGBT congressional delegation.

On the Senate side, the Democrats retained control of the Senate and thanks to two independent senators caucusing with them in Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Angus King (I-ME) will have a 55-45 edge 

As far as the 113th Congress leadership goes, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) will remain Senate Majority Leader, Sen Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will remain as Senate Minority Leader.   In the House Rep Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will remain the House Minority Leader but as to who will claim the Speaker of the House gavel is questionable on the GOP side with current speaker John Boehner (R-OH) being in serious trouble with he conservative movement and his rebellious caucus.

It also remains to be seen if the Democrats take their opportunity to change the filibuster rule today.  hope they do after the way the GOP has been abusing it for the last few years.  

Will definitely be tuned into the political drama inside I-495 when this 113th Congress starts.

Stand Your Ground Law Needs To Die, Not Our Kids

Jet magazine in its nearly six decades of publication has had many prominent African-Americans in the worlds of business, politics, sports and the entertainment world on its covers. 

It has had a long proud history of chronicling the inhumanity aimed at our people and especially our children..  Jet published in September 1955 the pictures of Emmitt Till's swollen, disfigured body lying in his open casket during his funeral.   Those photos are credited with galvanizing our community around the Civil Rights Movement and fueling our determination to see it through. 

At the newsstands this week will be the latest issue of Jet with Jordan Davis on the cover and an interview with his distraught parents

We're probably on the cusp of seeing the 21st century's 'Emmit Till moment' in the African-American community in terms of being sick and tired of being sick and tired of our kids dying at the hands of another proud accomplishment of the National Rifle Association, the Kill Black People With Impunity Stand Your Ground Laws.

The latest incident in Florida in which a Black teenager died at the hands of a white male assailant now claiming the 'stand your ground' defense is transpiring in Jacksonville, FL.

17 year old Jordan Davis was on his way home minding his own business along with two friends in their SUV outside a Jacksonville gas station November 23 listening to rap music after shopping at the mall during the after Thanksgiving Black Friday sales.  

46 year old Michael Dunn parked in the space next to the vehicle along with his fiance Rhonda Rouer to attend a wedding when they stopped at the store to buy a bottle of wine before returning to their hotel.  They parked next to the SUV containing Davis and his three friends as Rouer went into the store to buy wine to take back to their hotel room.. 

Dunn confronted the teens about their music and demanded they turn it down.   The teens responded by cranking up the volume and according to Dunn's attorney threatened him.   Dunn grabbed his gun out of his glove compartment, claimed he saw a shotgun in the SUV and fired eight to nine shots at the SUV that struck Davis who was sitting in the backseat before driving off. 

Police found no weapon in the teen's vehicle and Dunn was arrested a day later, charged and indicted on December 13 for the first degree murder of Jordan Davis.   Dunn of course is hiding behind the 2005 Stand Your Ground law that Florida Governor Rick Scott (R) and his task force claim there's nothing wrong with.

Tell that bull feces to the parents of Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis.  70% of the people who claimed the Stand Your Ground defense went free despite the fact that in 200 cases that were analyzed by the Tampa Bay Times, the defendants initiated the fight, shot an unarmed person or pursued their victim — and still went free.

And I guess Stand Your Ground doesn't work for Black people.  Marissa Alexander is doing 20 years in a Florida jail because she fired a warning shot at an abusive husband who admitted he has a domestic violence history and threatened to kill her during an altercation. 

And bottom line, loud music is no reason to whip out your gun and kill a 17 year old kid.  But as Jason Whitlock correctly stated when he commented on the Belcher-Perkins murder-suicide last month,

"Handguns do not enhance our safety. They exacerbate our flaws, tempt us to escalate arguments, and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it."

 And as Melissa Harris Perry pointed out, when you're a Black male, being who are is threat enough.  

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

It's obvious to everyone but the fetishistic vanillacentric privileged gun sales pimps of the NRA that their Kill A POC Kid With Impunity law has got to go.  Jordan's parents Lucia McBath and Ron Davis now know what Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin are going through.   They are vowing to lead the effort to push for federal action to take down the Stand Your Ground Laws in Florida (and 25 other states) that took his life, and we need to join them in that crusade before someone you love is the next victim of it.

The Stand Your Ground Law needs to die, not our kids.  

May Be A While Before We See A Trans Miss Universe

While trans women aged 18-27 now have the opportunity starting this year in the Miss Universe pageant system to enter the pageant and become Miss Universe (and those of us beyond competition age are happy for you) bear in mind it may take a few years before you not only see a trans Miss USA crowned, but a trans Miss Universe.

The Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants have been around since 1952, but it took until 1977 for an African descended woman to win Miss Universe (Janelle Commissiong of Trinidad and Tobago) and an African-American woman until 1995 (Chelsi Smith) to win both the Miss USA and Miss Universe titles.

And Texas bragging alert, Chelsi was from the Houston metro area as well.

As far as the Miss USA color line goes, Jayne Harrison made it to the top 15 as Miss Ohio in 1970.  Future Oscar winning actress and another Miss Ohio Halle Berry fell just short of making that history as a first runner up for the Miss USA crown in 1986. 

Four years later Carole Gist achieved that historic breakthrough win as the first ever African-American Miss USA.  She was also the first ever African-American Miss Michigan USA and nearly made it a clean sweep as the first ever African-American Miss Universe. 

Gist finished first runner up in the 1990 Miss Universe competition later that year in Los Angeles.  

So American trans family, be prepared for a possibly long wait until we see a trans woman crowned Miss USA or Miss Universe.  While many of the national Miss Universe pageants will accept the new open competition rules, there are some notable transphobic holdouts such as Mexico and Venezuela. 

But the bottom line as Jenna Talackova proved last year, to have a chance to win your national crown and be in the Miss Universe mix you have to be in the competition in the first place. 

For an American trans woman, first she would have to win her statewide pageant to get to the Miss USA stage, then win that pageant to get to Miss Universe.  If you live in competitive and populous pageant states like California or Texas that's a tall order. 

Those two states combined have won it 15 times with the Texas rep winning it 9 times.  If that transwoman is a Texan, she will find herself in a pageant that has more contestants in it than Miss USA (51) or Miss Universe (70-90 on average).  There have been years in which the Miss Texas USA pageant has had over 100 women competing in it.

The odds get a little longer if that transwoman in question also happens to be a transwoman of color. 

If that is your dream trans woman of color, go for it.  Prove me wrong.   Nothing would make me happier than to write the post announcing you to the world as a Miss Universe pageant winner and seeing current Miss Universe Olivia Culpo or a future one crown you.. And don't forget, they offer you a college scholarship along with all those cool prizes and that one year contract.  

And as Crystle Stewart and others former titleholders can tell you, it can lead to other media opportunities as well.

I'm hearing that some transwomen in various countries may attempt to enter their national pageants in order to qualify for Miss Universe 2013 and I wish them the best of luck in doing so.  

But seeing a transwoman wear that crown may take a while.     


TransGriot Note: First photo is Janelle Commissiong  middle one is Halle Berry, and the last photo is of former Miss USA and Miss Texas USA Crystle Stewart wearing her Miss Texas crown.  .

African And Transgender

One of the things I want to do a better job of this year on TransGriot is get the stories of continental trans Africans out there.

Stumbled across this video from a YouTube video blogger who was born here in New York but whose parents are from the Mother Continent.   He discusses being African and trans.

150th Anniversary Of The Emancipation Proclamation

And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.
And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.
And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.

150 years ago today on January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln and took effect.  


The Emancipation Proclamation proclaimed all those enslaved in Confederate territory to be forever free, and ordered the Army and all of the Executive branch of the US government  to treat as free all those enslaved in the ten states that were still in rebellion.

At that moment, 3.1 million of the 4 million slaves in the US according to the 1860 census were freed, but it did not apply to the five slave states that remained in the union nor to most regions already controlled by the Union army.

Of course, the Confederates reacted with predictable outrage.  They pointed to the Emancipation Proclamation as proof they were justified in seceding and launching their armed rebellion against the federal government to preserve slavery because in their minds Lincoln would have abolished it anyway.

But conversely, Lincoln probably would have had a tougher time doing so had all the Confederate states not seceded and stayed in the union.  

The Emancipation Proclamation had been discussed in the Lincoln Administration as early as the summer of 1862 as a way to cripple the Confederacy, who was dependent upon slave labor to drive their engine of war and agreed to, but Lincoln felt he needed to do so after a Union battlefield victory.

The strategic Union victory at Antietam in September 1862 gave President Lincoln an opportunity to announce his plans to issue the Emancipation Proclamation and hinder the Confederacy's efforts to gain international recognition and aid from Great Britain and France.   Five days after Antietam, on September 22 1862 the preliminary proclamation was announced that ordered the emancipation of any slaves in the CSA states that didn't return to federal control by January 1, 1863.  When none did so, it took effect on that date.

There have been spirited arguments from 20th century African-American scholars such as W.E.B.Du Bois, James Baldwin, Julius Lester and Lerone Bennett over just how effective the Emancipation Proclamation was in terms of emancipating our ancestors.   Some called it a worthless piece of paper, while Bennett went even farther in his criticisms in this 2000 book Forced Into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's White Dream.  Bennett asserted in the book that Lincoln was a white supremacist who issued the Emancipation Proclamation in lieu of the real racial reforms the radical abolitionists were pushing for.

In the short term it had several effects.  It converted the Civil War into not only a cause to reunify the country, but added the moral component of ending slavery.  

It put a permanent halt into Confederate efforts to get Great Britain and France, nations that had abolished slavery, into recognizing a treasonous group of American states trying to form a nation based on the principle of perpetuating slavery.

As Lincoln had hoped, as word of the Emancipation Proclamation spread throughout the South, slaves began to escape and headed to the Union lines in anticipation of freedom.  They enlisted in the US Colored Troops, providing a brand new source of manpower for the Union efforts while depleting the manpower of the slave labor dependent Confederacy. 

As the Union armies advanced into formerly CSA held territory, they were also freed.  Unfortunately in my home state of Texas, freedom didn't come for my ancestors until June 19, 1865, two months after the War To Perpetuate Slavery was over. 

The Emancipation Proclamation did not make slavery illegal in the United States.  It merely provided the legal framework for emancipation of slaves as the Union armies successfully advanced.  It also created the political conditions that led to the passage in Congress and ratification of the 13th Amendment that abolished slavery in the United States.

President Johnson referenced this during the 100th anniversary commemoration of the Emancipation Proclamation's issuance during a Memorial Day 1963 speech at Gettysburg, PA and connected it to the ongoing Civil Rights movement activity.

"One hundred years ago, the slave was freed. One hundred years later, the Negro remains in bondage to the color of his skin. ...In this hour, it is not our respective races which are at stake--it is our nation. Let those who care for their country come forward, North and South, white and Negro, to lead the way through this moment of challenge and decision....Until justice is blind to color, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is unconcerned with color of men's skins, emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact. To the extent that the proclamation of emancipation is not fulfilled in fact, to that extent we shall have fallen short of assuring freedom to the free.
 
President Johnson also referenced the proclamation again during a March 15, 1965 congressional speech announcing the introduction of the 1965 Voting Rights Act one week after Bloody Sunday. 

It seems fitting that 150 years later, we have an African-American president who is also an Illinois resident  issuing a proclamation of his own commemorating what President Lincoln did back in 1863.


But the Emancipation Proclamation was the precursor for the 'new birth of freedom' as Lincoln called it in his Gettysburg Address, although it came for African-Americans at a bloody cost and a 'with all deliberate speed' pace.

Cheryl Courtney-Evans Needs Some Help

I've posted some of my Atlanta based trans elder Cheryl Courtney-Evans' writing from her abitchforjustice blog here and had the pleasure of meeting her at last year's TransFaith In Color Conference in Charlotte.

Cheryl just received some bad news concerning her only brother passing that she just relayed to me and others.  Her family is still finalizing the details for the homegoing service, and Cheryl needs some help getting to Kansas City for it since her funds are limited at this time.

I hope you TransGriot readers or anyone you forward this to can help Cheryl get there and back to the ATL so she can say goodbye to him. 

Happy 7th Anniversary TransGriot Blog!

January 1 also happens to be the anniversary date for TransGriot.  At midnight EST on January 1, 2006 the first post went up on this blog.  

You can also thank Jordana LeSesne for pushing me to get the blogging party started as well thanks to a phone conversation we had in November 2005.  I was griping about the dearth of transgender blogs at the time focused on trans issues from an Afrocentric perspective, and she said after patiently listening to my lament, "So when are you going to start it?"

She didn't leave it there.  Jordana also made me commit to a start date for the soon to be born blog and I chose January 1.      

This is the closing paragraph from that initial post.

One thing I can promise you dear reader is that you won't be disappointed. There will be times I'll make you laugh. Other times I'll touch your heart. Then there will be the occasional time or two when I piss you off. But my goal is to make you think and expose you to some of the drama that African-American transpeeps (and transpeople in general) deal with.

The mission statement and hit counter came later, but the humble beginnings of that first post have now led to several awards and me having over 4.5 million people around the world reading the over 6000 posts I've compiled in this electronic space.   

And what's the TransGriot Mission Statement you ask?

The TransGriot blog's mission is to become the griot of our community.  I will introduce you to and talk about your African descended transbrothers and transsisters across the Diaspora, reclaim and document our chocolate flavored trans history, speak truth to power, comment on the things that impact our trans community from an Afrocentric perspective and enlighten you about the general things that go on around me and in the communities that I am a member of.

Hopefully in the now seven years this blog has been in operation, I've lived up to that mission statement. 

I know I've lived up to everything I said in the closing paragraph of that January 1, 2006 post.

Happy anniversary, TransGriot! 

Happy New Year 2013!

Happy New Year TransGriot readers!

Well, we made it through that leap year and a contentious presidential election cycle to see January 1, 2013 and for my west of the International date Line folks they are getting over their party hangovers since it's January 2.  

January 1 also means that I've reached another blogiversary, so yay me and yay TransGriot blog.

As to what will happen in 2013, we don't know at this point how this year will play out on a personal scale or on the macro one,.but as always happens on the first day, it's one that is chock full of optimism and promise.  It's also one on a personal level that people make resolutions in the spirit of making a fresh start and embarking on creating changes in their lives so that 2013 does result in positive personal growth

And speaking of positive growth, I hope and pray that 2013 continues to see forward momentum in the United States, Canada and around the world when it comes to trans human rights issues.

And yes, hope to see some positive momentum in my own life and for my blog that now enters its seventh year of chococentric commentary on trans issues and how they impact me and my community. 

2012 Shut Up Fool Of The Year

It's New Year's Day for you folks on the other side of the International Date Line, but on my side of it we're 12 hours away in the US Central time zone from 2013's arrival..

One of the more popular features on my blog is the weekly Shut Up Fool Awards in which I shine a bright spotlight on the fool, fools or group of fools who deserve to be called out on their bull feces and jaw dropping unrepentant ignorance.

There are some folks however who did so repeatedly to the point they were consistently foolish over the calendar year.  Before y'all get your party on later tonight (or are recovering from your New Year's Eve partying) I want you to do so with the knowledge of who won the TransGriot 2012 Shut Up Fool of The Year Award.

Will it be former Rep. Allen West?  Mitt Romney?   Rep. Michele Bachmann?  Former Rep. Joe Walsh?  Rush Limbaugh?  Donald Chump Trump?  Rep Paul Ryan?  Rep Louie Gohmert?  Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL)?  Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ)?  Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX)?  Or will it be a group award for the first time for Fox Noise?  The Republican Party?   The Romney Campaign Team?

This year fool will join such winners as Michael Steele (2009), Sarah Palin (2010) and Herman Cain (2011).

The envelope please.



It was a tight race this year, but I have to give it to Willard Mitt Romney.  Thanks to you TransGriot readers for helping me sort it out and for the nominations.

Mittens was a long running WTF when it came to his latest presidential campaign run.  From his 47% comment, shamelessly contorting himself and proving he would do and say (or not say) anything to live at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, liking being able to fire people, pissing off our British cousins on the eve of the London Games during his international tour; playing himself during the second debate with President Obama, claiming Russia was our Number One geopolitical foe, having surrogates from Hades like John Sununu and after he got his butt kicked November 6, his son claiming he didn't want to be POTUS despite spending over a billion of his and other people's money for it.

Mitt took being a fool to new levels, and he did so in front of billions of people.  

Our Shut Up Fool of the Year for 2012 is Mitt Romney.   Congratulations and Shut up Fool!


 

2012 International Trans Year In Review

Just as the African-American trans community  made some great strides in 2012, there was remarkable  progress made for trans human rights internationally and many of the folks making news were transgender people.

Let's get the bad news out of the way first.   We continue to see far too many transwomen die due to anti-trans violence, with the major hotspots being Latin America, the United States and Turkey.  We once again memorialized our fallen sisters during the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Where we saw major progress was politically.  In Poland Anna Grodzka became only the third transperson to be elected to her national legislative body in October 2011 and took her seat a month later.   In Thailand Yollada 'Nok' Suanyok on May 27 became the highest ranking trans politician in the 'Land of Smiles' when she won an election in her home province.   Adela Hernandez won office in Cuba.

Groundbreaking trans candidates ran for office in various countries in 2012 as well.  Diana Sanchez Barrios became the first ever to do so in Mexico when she filed to run for a seat in Mexico City's July 1 Municipal Assembly elections.

Argentina passed a groundbreaking Gender Identity Law in May by wide margins in both houses of its national legislature that was signed by President Cristina Fernandez and took effect on June 4.  Activists in Chile are trying to pass a similar law in their nation. 

There's also been positive movement on trans rights issues in Australia and the Philippines.  There was a UN vote that condemned extrajudicial killings that for the first time ever included ones based on sexual orientation and gender identity. 

Trans rights laws advanced on the Canadian provincial level in Ontario, Manitoba and Nova Scotia, while C-279, the federal trans rights law continues to make steady progress as it passed its second reading phase on a 150-132 vote despite determined opposition by some Conservative MP's. 

There was Canada's Jenna Talackova giving us an unexpected win when her fight to enter the Miss Canada Universe pageant resulted in the demise of the bogus 'natural born woman' rule and the Miss Universe pageant system despite transphobic resistance from national pageant holdouts like Mexico and Venezuela opening their competition to trans women in 2013.

Speaking of pageants, the Philippines finally got their long awaited triumph in the Miss International Queen trans one when Kevin Balot became the first transpinay to bring that title home after years of frustration. 

Trans models such as Brazil's trio of Lea T, Carol Marra and Felipa Tavares, Valentijn de Hingh of the Netherlands and gender bender Andrej Pejic are rocking runways, but the trans model is not a new phenomenon.  it's just the fashion world has rediscovered it in 2012.

We're still fighting for our trans marriage rights with Malta's Joanne Cassar's case going before the European Court of Human Rights, Ms W losing another round in Hong Kong, and Nikki Araguz still fighting in Texas.

The ruling in Cassar v Malta should be released sometime in 2013.

Speaking of trans court rulings, our Muslim Malaysian transsisters suffered an adverse ruling when four of them challenged Section 66 of the country's Islamic criminal law code.that bars Muslim men from dressing or posing as women.   It is being used to harass trans women  by Islamic fundamentalists and they unfortunately lost the suit.   

There was major concern expressed from the international trans community when Guatemalan trans activist Fernanda Milan was facing deportation from Denmark in September.   Her case is now being reviewed by Danish authorities after a wave of international protests. 

PC Air, the Thai startup airline famous for having trans flight attendants, hit some business turbulence in October.  It's lone Airbus 310-222 was stuck at Seoul's Incheon airport because the company has not paid its overdue airport charges and fuel fees due to a dispute with its South Korean agent.

The dispute stranded 400 people total at Incheon and in Bangkok, and PC Air was forced to suspend charter service until they can satisfy the Thai Transport Ministry that the incident won't be repeated.

There were some interesting developments in 2012 from continental Africa trans wise as well. 

There was the not so nice one of the Ugandan parliament's misguided attempts to pass an Anti-Homosexuality Act pimped by American based right wing fundie Christian zealots and fronted by David Bahati.   The bill does have a clause that would deleteriously affect transpeople living in Uganda.

It was nice to hear about the story of Titica, one of Angola's rising popular music stars who happens to be a girl like us.

She s a rising star in the Angolan music genre called kuduro, which is a fusion of rap and techno music.  She was named the best kuduro artist of 2011, is a regular on radio and television there and has performed at a Divas concert in front of Angolan president Jose Eduardo dos Santos

Nigerian Mia Nikasimo continues to speak out along with other African activists like Kenya's Audrey Mbugua and Uganda's Victor Mukasa about the plight of transpeople in the 66 nations on the second largest continent on our planet.

And unfortunately, another Olympiad came and went in London without an open trans athlete as American Keelin Godsey fell just short of making the US Olympic team despite his lifetime best hammer throw.

Hopefully when the nations of the world gather in Sochi in 2014 and Rio in 2016, there will be a trans athlete proudly marching into the stadium during the opening ceremony.

Internationally, trans human rights are on the march and our visibility is increasing along with the positive public publicity.  There is still a lot of work to do in various areas of the world to eradicate anti-trans prejudice and anti-trans violence in 2013, but the international trans community is making it happen.

I hope I have more positive news to report when we get to the end of 2013.
 

Happy New Year 2013*

It's still New Year's Eve on my side of the International Date Line and we're a few hours away from the crystal ball drop in New York's Times Square and our local New Year's Eve event that happens at Discovery Green downtown.

KC and the Sunshine Band is the entertainment scheduled for it, but unfortunately rain is in our forecast for tonight, so I may end up watching it on television instead of standing in Discovery Green holding my umbrella and fighting off the chill. .

Speaking of television, New Year's Rocking Eve just won't be the same to me without Dick Clark.  But as my mascot for the Shut Up Fool Awards would say, enough jibber-jabber.   

Wanted to take a moment to thank y'all for reading TransGriot and wish you readers and all my friends and international trans family on the western side of the Date Line a Happy New Year!. 

Hope 2013 is a fantastic year for all of us and for the advancement of trans human rights in your respective nations.

2012 Texans Watch-Limping Into The Playoffs

When the Texans beat the Tennessee Traitors 24-10 in Nashville on December 2, they were 11-1 and looking like a dominating lock for the AFC's number one seed. 

But after today's 28-16 loss in Indy to the Colts and wins by New England and Denver they slid all the way to the number three seed and a NFL Wild Card weekend deja vu matchup at Reliant Stadium on Saturday with the Cincinnati Bengals.

And my hometown NFL ballers have no one to blame for it but themselves after failing to handle their NFL business down the stretch dropping a winnable game against the Vikings last week and going 1-3 to make their playoff trek harder.   To add to the bitterness of this loss Texans fans feel, the all time franchise losing streak in Indianapolis has grown to 0-11.   

The Colts got their head coach Chuck Pagano back after leaving to battle a treatable form of leukemia and were playing at a more determined energy level than the Texans.   My hometown NFL ballers just needed a win to clinch the number one seed throughout the entire AFC playoffs, end that futility streak at Lucas Oil Stadium and its now demolished predecessor the RCA Dome.

The Texans trailed at halftime 14-6, but took the opening kickoff and scored their lone TD of the day on a 13 yard Arian Foster run to narrow the deficit to 14-13.   After the Bulls on Parade defense forced a three and out and they drove for the field goal to give them a 16-14 lead with 5:50 left in the third quarter, the Texans promptly relinquished it after getting burned on a 101 kickoff return by Deji Karim to put the Colts up 21-16.

After putting the Colts in a 3rd and 23 hole,Andrew Luck dropped a deep ball between three Texan defenders to a streaking TY Hilton for a 70 yard TD strike to seal the Colts 28-16 win and make people in Denver and New England very happy and bring up bad memories and frustrating visions for longtime Houston NFL fans of failed Oilers playoff runs of the past. 

Oh well, at least the Cowboys will be watching us on TV in the playoffs again thanks to RG3 and the Redskins beating that butt.

The last NFL team to lose 3 out of their last 4 games but still make it to the Super Bowl was the 2009 New Orleans Saints.  We all know what happened once the playoffs started..    

This Texans team says they want to make positive Houston NFL history for this city.  We want to believe them and would love for it to happen.  

But if the Texans don't get their collective offensive and defensive acts together by Saturday and get back to being that dominating team we saw at the beginning of the season and know they have the talent to be, the only way they'll be watching the Super Bowl is on TV or buying a ticket to the Mercedes Benz Superdome despite their franchise record 12 wins.  

2012 TransGriot NFL Picks-Week 17

Last week of the 2012 NFL regular season and all of the games are being played on Sunday.   

Many of them have playoff ramifications.  Some teams are playing for NFL playoff seedings or just to make the playoffs.  Others have players and coaches trying to impress since it will be the last games in their current NFL locales. 

They are auditioning either for their own coaches and owners or the coaches and owners of other teams so they will be collecting a fat NFL paycheck for the 2013 season. 

All Kansas City and Jacksonville are playing for the number one and number two picks in the 2013 NFL draft and which team gets which pick.

Speaking of playing for NFL seedings, my hometown NFL ballers stunk up Reliant Stadium last week and now find themselves in a must win game against the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium to clinch the number one seed throughout the AFC playoffs and that precious week off.   If they lose to the Colts, they could potentially slide all the way to the number three seed.  I'd rather be playing Denver or New England at Reliant, not there in January.

Me and Mr. Watts are still tied after 16 weeks of picking games.  I thought the 49ers would play a more competitive game than they actually did but correctly picked the Saints taking out the Cowboys even if they did need overtime and a holy roller style fumble recovery to do so .  Mike changed his pick in time for the Jets-Chargers game otherwise I'd have a one game lead on him going into today.

This it is.  Drama once again in the final week of our 2012 NFL prognostication contest just like last year..  Which one of us will be the winner?  Or will we tie for it once again?

Mike's Week 17 picks are here, mine are in underlined bold print.  . 

Week 16 records 
TransGriot  12-4
Mike Watts 12-4

2012 Season Records
TransGriot  152-87-1
Mike Watts 152-87-1

Week 17

Sunday, December 30

Jets at Bills
Ravens at Bengals
Browns at Steelers
Texans at Colts
Jaguars at Titans
Eagles at Giants
Bears at Lions
Buccaneers at Falcons
Panthers at Saints

Sunday Afternoon

Dolphins at Patriots
Packers at Vikings
Chiefs at Broncos
Raiders at Chargers
Cardinals at 49ers
Rams at Seahawks

Sunday Night
Cowboys at Redskins

BBC Documentary- Ladyboys

The Land of Smiles best looking girls it is said are the ones that were born as boys.  This BBC documentary follows some of the girls like us who live their lives there and a behind the scenes look at last year's miss International Queen Pageant in Episode 2.. 



Episode 1




Episode 2




Episode 3



Episode 4



Episode 5



Episode 6

Trans Teen, Beauty Queen

I posted in the wake of Jenna Talackova's attempt to win Miss Canada Universe and make it to Miss Universe 2012 the story of Jackie Green's attempt to win Miss England. 

Documentary cameras were following her quest to do so, and here it is.

Live Long And Prosper, Nichelle Nichols!

Today is the 80th birthday of iconic actress and space enthusiast Nichelle Nichols who was born on this date in Robbins, IL in 1932.

All us Trekkies know of her most famous role as Lt. Nyota Uhura of Star Trek and have heard the story of how she nearly quit the show after the first season but was convinced to stay by a Star Trek fan by the name of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. 

In addition to making American television history with th first interracial kiss, in the later Star Trek movies her character was subsequently promoted to Commander in the movies involving the original cast.

She has been an inspiration for people of my generation and subsequent ones to not only follow their dreams, but reach for the stars.  

She was Dr. Mae Jemison's inspiration to become a NASA astronaut and was recruited by her during the 70's when Nichols worked for NASA as part of a program to not only encourage African-American youth to consider math and science careers but recruit women and minority astronauts.

Two of the people she recruited, Charles Bolden and Lori Garver are the current administrator and Deputy Administrators of NASA.

She also recruited Dr. Sally Ride, Col Guion Bluford, Dr Ronald McNair and Dr Judith Resnik

She has served since the 1980's on the Board of Governors for the National Space Society and is considered part of the NASA family.    She and many of her Star Trek castmates were on hand when the space shuttle Enterprise was christened.

Whoopi Goldberg was inspired to become an actress because of her and there are numerous women born in the late 60's and 70's who are named Nichelle or have it as a middle name.

Live long and prosper Nichelle, and happy milestone birthday!

Black Trans Year In Review 2012

Transpeople were in the news in 2012, and Black transpeople played major roles in not only making it but  also making some trans history in the process.

Our year did get off to a negative start with the murders during the 2011 holiday season of two of our young transsisters. Shellie Hilliard in Detroit was brutally killed in late October and Dee Dee Pearson was shot to death on Christmas Eve in Kansas City.   The new year was barely five weeks old when Washington DC's Deoni Jones was stabbed at a bus stop in February.    The murderers of Hilliard and Pearson were caught and eventually brought to justice during 2012 while Deoni Jones' killer Gary Niles Montgomery's trial will start June 10..  

Hilliard's killer Qasim Raqib was sentenced to 25-40 years March 26 and Pearson's killer Kenyan Jones got 30 years.  Unfortunately the persons who killed Chicago's Paige Clay and Tiffany Gooden, Detroit's Coko Williams and Oakland's Brandy Martell have yet to be brought to justice.

Speaking of justice, CeCe McDonald stood her ground against transphobic Minnesota white supremacist Jonathan Schmitz and friends who unfortunately died in the incident they started.  She was until May 2012 the only person facing charges and received a plea bargained 41 months in jail for it.   Molly Shannon Flaherty, who instigated the incident still has yet to be punished for it.

The Marsha P. Johnson case was reopened by the Manhattan DA's office 20 years after her death was controversially ruled a suicide.

Victoria Carmen White's alleged killer Alrashim Chambers got away with murdering her when an Essex County jury acquitted him May 25.   A few months later I posted an article from Chambers trial foreman Dennis Heffernan explaining their reasons for doing so.

We also observed the ten year anniversaries of the execution style killing of transteens Stephanie Thomas and Ukea Davis in Washington DC (whose killers still haven't been brought to justice) and the mysterious death of Nizah Morris in Philadelphia. 

We also marked ten years since the passing of pioneering trans man Alexander John Goodrum on October 3.

There was also an ugly New York incident that garnered headlines in September in which the boyfriend of transwoman Jalisa Griffen was slashed by a transphobe at a Greenwich Village McDonald's.  

Former DC police officer Kenneth Furr was convicted in October for an ugly August 2011 incident in which he fired his service weapon at three trans women and their companions in NW Washington.  He is due to be sentenced in January 2013.  


While the infuriating pattern of trans women of color being messed with, disproportionately killed due to anti-trans violence or not receiving justice continues, major strides happened for the Black trans community in 2012.  

Janet Mock made TheGrio's 100 People Making History Today list in January among some of the other awards and accolades she's garnered. 
Janet also started the #girlslikeus Twitter campaign as well as continuing work on her eagerly anticipated autobiography.

The inaugural March 29-April 1 Black Transmen's conference happened in Dallas with Rev. Louis Mitchell as its keynote speaker.  The second one will take place March 13-18 in Dallas. 

That wasn't Rev. Mitchell's only keynote.  He was also at the Philadelphia Trans Health Conference in June giving their keynote address as well.

Earline Budd was nominated for and sworn in to a seat on the Washington DC Commission on Human Rights along with another trans woman.  DC also began an anti-trans discrimination campaign with posters featuring a Black trans woman and Black trans man. 

A first in the Midwest trans pride event was organized by Kokumo in July. 

The Trans Persons of Color Coalition (TPOCC) continued its rise as the national organization representing the interests of transpeople of color. It was visible at events such as the PTHC, the TransFaith In Color conference in Charlotte that I keynoted and OUT on the Hill.

TPOCC executive director Kylar Broadus was making a lot of history in a busy 2012 for him. He because the first transperson of any ethnicity to testify at a US Senate hearing in June.  He was part of the DNC's platform committee and also became the first African-American trans man to attend a Democratic National Convention in September.   Dr Marisa Richmond was also in the house in Charlotte for her second DNC convention along with 11 other trans people.  

Kylar also was at the White House along with Dr Richmond and Washington DC Human rights Commissioner Earline Budd for a meeting with White House staffers on trans issues that took place during the TDOR.

Isis King blazed another groundbreaking trail as the first transwoman to appear in an American Apparel ad.

And yes, your favorite blogger did her part to make some trans history as well.   I got published in EBONY.com in March.  In June I was part of the first ever trans themed panel at Netroots Nation in Providence, RI.   In September I was honored to be one of the four trans women (the others were Danielle King, Rev. Carmarion Anderson and Valerie Spencer) taking part in a first ever town hall discussion during the 2012 OUT on the Hill that was moderated by Laverne Cox.  

A few hours later Laverne was part of a CBC-ALC panel discussing media.    

By the way, the upcoming 2013 OUT on the Hill  in September will have a trans masculine panel.

And unfortunately we're ending this year with our young transsister Sage Smith still missing.

Those were just some of the stories that were part of our Black trans year in review for 2012.   I hope this post is even longer and chock full of even more groundbreaking achievements for our community in the twelve months ahead.

Shut Up Fool Awards-Last Friday of 2012 Edition

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas Day and as you're aware of, we are rapidly cruising to the end of 2012.  On balance this was a not so bad year for me and I hope 2013 is an even better one.

Speaking of end of the year, this is the last Friday of 2012 and the last weekly Shut Up Fool award I will pass out.   Wow, seems like it was just yesterday I was writing the post welcoming everyone to 2012 and announcing our first Shut Up Fool weekly award winner for the year just 52 weeks ago. 

As for who will win the 2012 Shut Up Fool of the Year Award?  Check back with me on December 31. 

Now, let's get to work revealing what fool, fools or group of fools won this week's award spotlighting their rank ignorance, jaw dropping stupidity, and mind blowing hypocrisy.

Honorable mention number one is Pope Benedict XVI for continuing to hate on same gender marriage and now claiming that it's a wait for it, 'socialst plot'.  Lawrence O'Donnell blows that argument up.  

Honorable mention number two is a group award for the GOP.   I'd need another post to list their idiocy that earned them a group award this week.

Honorable mention number three goes to the NRA's Wayne LaPierre.  His solution to stop mass shootings is to arm teachers.   He said during an appearance on NBC's Meet The Press that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is have a good guy with a gun.   

Umm Wayne, how about making it harder for the bad guy to get the damned gun in the first place?

This week's winner is Italian Catholic priest Fr. Piero Corsi.    During his Christmas message posted to the door of his parish church in San Terenzo, Italy he asserted that women bring sexual violence and physical violence upon themselves.   

And y'all wonder why membership has been dripping in catholic congregations? 

Fr. Piero Corsi, shut up Fool!