GOP Homobigot Attacking Texas Collegiate LGBT Centers Again With Unjust Amendment

Back in the 2011 session former State Rep Wayne Christian (R-Center) wasn't living up to his name and tried to pass an amendment in the state education funding bill that attempted to kill the GLBT centers on the Texas A&M, University of Houston, and University of Texas campuses by defunding them and banning them from being housed on campus. 

That amendment was dropped after Democrats threatened to scuttle the bill the hate amendment was attached to. 

Fast forward to this session of the Lege.   While Wayne Christian is (thank God) no longer in Austin, his idea unfortunately remains alive.  State Rep Bill Zedler (R-Arlington) has picked up the GLBT hating torch left by Christian and filed an amendment to SB1, the Texas general appropriations bill that would cut state funding from universities that have 'Gender and Sexuality Centers and Related Student Centers' on the grounds that they 'support, promote, or encourage any behavior that would lead to high risk behavior for AIDS, HIV, Hepatitis B, or any sexually transmitted disease.'

The conservacowards in Zedler's office wouldn't return phone calls to the Dallas Voice for comment    Why am I not surprised?

And in related news in College Station, the future homohaters in the Texas A&M student Senate continued their years long attack on the GLBT Center.  A vote may be taken later this week on a measure that would allow Aggie students to opt out of funding the GLBT Resource Center with their activity fees if they have 'religious objections'.

While Zedler's unjust amendment is aimed at the GLBT centers at UH, A&M and UT, in their zeal to legislatively bash the Texas TBLG community the women's centers on various Texas university campus may also be negatively affected by this unjust amendment along with the LGBT program at the University of Texas at Arlington in Zedler's district.    

So for you peeps living in the Lone Star State and our allies, you may wish to get busy calling your state rep and letting them know you want that amendment to die..
 

The Pageant and Ballroom Community Girls Are #GirlsLikeUs, Too

One of the subjects that I talked with Jahaira at length about yesterday was the need to recognize that #girlslikeus also includes the crossdressers who have the gender epiphany, start making the move toward the transitioned full time end of the spectrum but the girls in the pageant and ballroom community.

We're not all middle class, college educated peeps that get to congregate at the increasing palette of wonderful conferences like OUT on the Hill and BTMI/BWMI.   For some of our sisters who fit that middle class collegiate description their ultimate goal is to spend a Labor Day weekend in Chicago competing for the Miss Continental title or striving for legendary status in their various categories in the ballroom community.

What some people (I'm looking side-eyed at you TS Separatists) fail to realize is that for many non-white transkids, the pageant and ballroom communities ARE their transition pathway and support system if their families reject them.   They use the prize money they win from the pageants and balls to pay for their transitions and the work they need to do to feminize their bodies.

As they gain prestige, affirmation and legendary status in the pageant and ballroom communities our sisters begin to overcome the shame, fear and guilt issues that plague all girls like us at times and have a support system in place for those moments when they need to talk to someone about the issues we all deal with.

For example, if you are a young person competing n the Fem Queen Realness category in which you must be as close to feminine perfection as possible in the judges minds, you get 10's across the board from them, and get affirmation and love from the ballroom patrons and the competitors from other houses, you begin to build up the confidence that you can actually become the woman of your dreams and successfully interact with the world outside the ballroom community.

If you think I'm kidding about that, just check out the examples of  Leiomy Maldonado and Isis King who have parlayed their time in the ballroom community in their respective categories to mainstream success. 

Just as in the ballroom community, the lessons you learn from competing in pageants also carry over into your life as well.  In addition to learning how to stand tall, speak clearly and concisely and make sure your feminine presentation is on point,  you also learn you can do all that and still not win. You learn to be a classy winner and a gracious loser.  You learn that it's going to take a lot of hard work through stiff competition to reach your goals.  You also learn that a beautiful face isn't everything.  You also have to have a beautiful heart and keen mind to go with it.        

There are some thoughtful, intelligent voices in the pageant and ballroom communities who are ready, willing and able to do what they can to advance trans human rights if we activists peeps humbly ask them for their help.  One example of that is my homegirl Amirage back in Louisville who is not only a major figure in the pageant world, but was part of the efforts to get the Fairness Ordinance passed in the late 90's. 

There are proud girls like us in the both the pageant and ballroom community who have donated their time, talents and efforts to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS in not only their respective circles, but the African-American community as well. 

It's past time we started including our trans sisters in those sectors of our trans community into the discussions about owning our power.  We need to chat with our pageant and ballroom sisters about what they need, how they see the world and what policies they would like to see happen.  They need some love, respect and media light shined on their sectors of the community.

And if we're going to craft solid trans specific policies that will shape how Trans World will look in the rest of this decade and beyond, representatives from the pageant and ballroom communities need to be at the table when we have those ongoing policy discussions.

But one thing we should never forget is the pageant and ballroom community girls are also girls like us, we all have being trans women as a common thread, and we have people that irrationally hate on ALL of us simply for having the courage to honestly live our lives.

So let's get busy focusing on what unites us and doing what's best for the entire trans community human rights wise rather than what divides us.  
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Jahaira's Mission Video Blog

I like checking out some of the trans video bloggers and shining the TransGriot spotlight on either their blogs or various video posts that I believe have a message that needs to be signal boosted and shared with my readers.

Introducing Jahaira.  She sent me an e-mail concerning the post I wrote in which I discussed my desire to start forging links with people in the ballroom and pageant community and have consistent, substantive conversations with them.

Jahaira has reached legendary status in the Fem Queen Realness ranks of the ballroom community, and it was a long, interesting and wonderful conversation.

We discussed the intersection of trans issues with the pageant and ballroom communities along with other just shooting the breeze girl talk.  Her Jahaira's Mission video blog has been around since 2010 and has 256 videos and counting. 

Jahaira was recently featured on the WE Happy Trans blog, which has a feature similar to my TransGriot Ten Questions on that asks seven questions of the people they interview.  In order to introduce you to her, here's her video in which she answers the We Happy Trans 7 Questions.

 

HRC, You STILL Have A Problem

“It is not true to suggest that any person or organization was told their flag was less important than another – this did not occur and no HRC staff member would ever tolerate such behavior. To be clear, it is the position of the Human Rights Campaign that marriage is an issue that affects everyone in the LGBT community.   Michael Cole-Schwartz HRC Communications Director

After declaring to the world the incident at the SCOTUS rally didn't happen, circling the wagons and basically calling National Stonewall Democrats Executive Director Jerame Davis and John Becker liars, The  Human Rights Campaign flip flopped faster than Mitt Romney in 2012 campaign mode and released a statement admitting what Trans and Bi World believes happened and a plurality of LG World suspects did by issuing an apology    

Human Rights Campaign Statement on March 27 Events
From Fred Sainz

In the midst of a tremendously historic week for our community, two unfortunate incidents at the United for Marriage event at the Supreme Court last week have caused pain in the community. In one case, a trans activist was asked to remove the trans pride flag from behind the podium, and in another, a queer undocumented speaker was asked to remove reference to his immigration status in his remarks.

HRC joined in a coalition statement on Friday apologizing for these incidents and the individuals involved have personally offered their apologies to those affected. But to be perfectly clear, HRC regrets the incidents and offers our apologies to those who were hurt by our actions. We failed to live up to the high standard to which we hold ourselves accountable and we will strive to do better in the future.

Yeah, right.  I have some waterfront property along I-10 between Breaux Bridge and Baton Rouge I'd like to sell you if you believe that statement was sincere.   It's an apology that Kat Rose at ENDA Blog 2.0 noted comes on April Fool's Day.

You STILL have a problem HRC, and this time I'm just going to spell out what your problems are with the trans community that have led to the extremely low level of confidence in your organization from the trans community.  

Your shady past transphobic history plays a major part in this.   It is also the fact you have had only two trans people sit on your board, which is the exact number of out transpeople that you have hired to work for you in your entire existence.  Your penchant (when you deign to do so) to hire transpeople who have no grassroots organizing experience or background with the history of the trans rights movement is also troubling to us..

That plays into the already negative perception that elements of the trans community have of HRC that you don't care about us or our issues.  It is also a trans community perception that it's in your organizational DNA to treat transpeople as less than equal.

It was interesting to read the press release bragging about the support you mustered and the millions spent to get marriage equality passed in Maryland, but couldn't (or wouldn't) commit to the same level of support and effort to pass a statewide trans rights bill pending in the Maryland state legislature at the same time.

Actions speak louder than words.  The SCOTUS rally flag kerfluffle said to the trans community that you really don't think of trans people as equals and you don't consider our issues important despite the fact we transpeople are fighting tooth and nail for the same basic human rights that you gay and lesbian peeps already enjoy.

And too many times you gay and lesbian folks gained those rights by repeatedly throwing trans people under the human rights bus.  We saw our stories appropriated, us getting cut out of legislation in the name of 'incremental progress' that eventually passed and protects GL people.

And it infuriates us when you euphemistically call GL only rights laws 'equality'.

Yep HRC, that's the hole that you're trying to climb out of, and March 27 only restarted the ossification of those beliefs held by the trans community.   As I said in that March 29 post, you had zero room for errors, misspeaking, or mistakes, and this one is a doozy.

What we're going to need to see this time is a concrete plan to permanently fix the internal HRC issues with transpeople so that you DON'T have another incident like this again.   I would suggest hiring talented transpeople across the board in all ethnic and age demographics in our community and keep them there a minimum of five years as a first step.

It not only makes a dent in our unemployment numbers, but it's painfully obvious you need to have some transpeople at Rhode Island Ave.  You don't know, are unaware or clueless on how to talk to us.  You don't have intimate knowledge of the issues that affect our diverse trans community and it ain't going to get any easier as time passes and the country becomes more diverse.   

And the second thing that needs to happen now is you need to start treating the trans community as a respected partner because our power is only going to continue to grow.   That means you are going to need to get used to having honest communications with us and the people we designate as our leaders, not the ones you choose to talk to.

HRC, you STILL have a problem.  The onus is on you to decide whether you wish to solve it. 

MMA World Still Hatin' On Fallon Fox

Still keeping an eye on the drama surrounding trans MMA fighter Fallon Fox. 

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which oversees the Florida Boxing Commission, is expected to conclude an investigation into Fox's license on April 5.  

In the meantime life goes on for Fox since her license is not frozen or suspended and she has an upcoming May 24 bout with Allana Jones that could possibly be televised..

In the wake of Miesha Tate going on the record as saying she would refuse to fight Fox, she made an appearance on the Inside MMA show and asserted that any fighter who refused to face her was doing so out of fear. 

Fox has a valid point.  They are refusing to fight her out of fear and stereotypes about trans feminine athletes, but the comment incensed Peggy Morgan and her trainer.  They released a transphobic video declaring that she wouldn't fight Fox as trainer John Fain disrespected her. 

Morgan appears to be backing away from some of the inflammatory transphobic statements her trainer John Fain made, but they still are ignorant and skating close to the edge of transphobia. 

I am not an expert in gender reassignment, but I have a hard time believing that there is no correlation between Fallon’s success in the cage and the fact that she lived as a man for thirty-one years."

And that's the key point Peggy. Neither you or the transphobes commenting on the Net are experts on trans issues or trans athletes, much less have experienced living your lives as a trans woman.

Fox, meanwhile, blasted Morgan and Fain's video in a posting on her official Facebook page, saying they were mostly worried about losing the $20,000 offered to the tourney's winner.

"I wonder if I should argue that her long bone structure is an unfair advantage to all the female competitors in the tournament? Nah, I won't do that," Fox said in response to the transphobic video. "Because I realize that her advantage is something that I must overcome. It is a challenge and I welcome it!"

Medical evidence is on Fallon Fox's side.  Whatever advantage Fox had experiencing muscle and body development growing up as male is gone after her first year on hormone replacement therapy. That muscle development becomes FEMININE in character and strength level under the continued influence of estrogen.

I know that firsthand because I discovered when I played tennis post transition I can't hit my serve as hard as I used to. 

To assume that Fox has a natural advantage because she was born male is sexist and a disrespectful commentary concerning the abilities and talents of cis female athletes. Frankly, if Fallon Fox were 0-5 not one of you cis women or you transphobes would have anything to say about the issue of her being in MMA.

But since she's kicking butt and excelling in the sport it's let's try to find whatever excuse we can use to kick her out of MMA or frustrate her to the point that maybe she'll quit and we won't have to deal with the t----y kicking our azzes anymore.

But did anyone in their rush to hate on Fallon Fox think about the possibility that hey, maybe Fallon Fox IS  that good and we have to step up our athletic game to compete with her?

No Joke- I've Been Named To The Inaugural Trans 100 List!

The kickoff event for the inaugural Trans 100 list took place at the Mayne Stage in Chicago last night.  The sold out event was streamed live online.  

So for those of you who had other business this Easter weekend and are wondering what's this Trans 100 List Moni is talking about,  it's an annual listing of 100 Trans individuals from all over the country who are currently alive and active in the work of making the lives of Trans people better. It is a curated listing, with nominations solicited from the general public.

The kickoff event was emceed by KOKUMO, and in addition to the stellar entertainment lineup that featured Namoli Brennet, Joe Stevens and the show's emcee KOKUMO singing a song from her EP, it also featured inspiring speeches from Dr. Kortney Ryan Ziegler, Laverne Cox and a closing event one from Janet Mock

But the highlight of the historic evening was the unveiling of the inaugural Trans 100 list of people doing the work to advance trans human rights in the United States.

Heard a lot of familiar names as the lists were read in alphabetical order by first name and some I had to go 'who's that?' on.   And as the sixth list of ten names was read, just after Miss Major came yours truly.

While there were some trans pioneers, trans elders and long time activists like Andy Marra, Dr. Kelley Winters, Dr Susan Stryker, Cecilia Chung, Dragosani Renteria,  Dr. Marisa Richmond,  Kylar Broadus, S. Bear Bergman, Diego Sanchez, Pauline Park, Paisley Currah, Bamby Salcedo, Ruby Corado, Earline Budd just to name a few on the list, we also had Kokumo, Dr Kortney Ryan Ziegler, Laverne Cox, Janet Mock, Namoli Brennet, CeCe McDonald and many up and coming activists on this diverse national list.

It was not only ethnically diverse, it was also geographically diverse.  Not all of the peeps on the list reside on I-5, I-95 or inside the Capitol Beltway     

Speaking of geographic diversity, Lone Star bragging alert.  In addition to moi, there were three other Texans on this list.  The 'godmother of the trans rights movement' in Judge Phyllis Frye, BTMI (Black Trans Men Inc) founder Carter Brown and Katy Stewart of Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT).

Do I accept the honor of being on this inaugural Trans 100 List?   You damned skippy I do.  After all the times in this space I've griped about trans people being ignored when trans-free LGBT lists are put together and especially trans people of color, it was wonderful to see the community come together to create this event and the curators take time out of their busy schedules to make Antonia D'orsay's dream come to life that Jen Richards co-signed on.

Once it's finalized, the list will be posted at the Trans 100 website.   They are also working on getting the Trans 100 kickoff event video posted as well   Once both tasks are done I'll post it to TransGriot.

I hope to see more deserving trans Texans on next year's list such as Minister Carmarion Anderson, Lou Weaver, Meghan Stabler, Cristan Williams, Diamond Stylz, Josephine Tittsworth, Nell Gaither, and Dr Oliver Blumer.  

If there is someone you think should be on next year's list, nominate them.

Classic TransGriot April Fools' Day Posts

I started a blog tradition in 2008 when I was at the Bilerico Project of writing joke and spoof posts on April Fool's Day that I carried over to TransGriot . Here are some of my classics that have appeared on these TransGriot electronic pages.

I'm Sellin' Out

I'm Joining HRC

I'm Joining The NCTE Board


Dan Savage To Transition

RuPaul Hospitalized After Being DROP Squaded


I'm Joining The New Black Panthers


I'm Joining The TS Separatist Ranks


Chuck Knipp DROP Squaded


Drop Squad Strikes Again-Jimi Izrael Targeted

TransGriot To Debate Cathy Brennan At Smith College

I received an e-mail Friday afternoon from Cathy Brennan challenging me to a debate on the topic of the jacked up trans exclusionary admissions policies that kept Calliope Wong out of the elite women's school

I have accepted that debate challenge and we are finalizing the details and debate rules.   We have agreed on a location and it will take place on the Smith College campus in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Our gracious hosts at Smith College will be flying me up to participate in this important conversation about this issue.  I'm looking forward to it and vanquishing her on the debate stage. 

Home girl bit off more than she can chew in this one and I'm going to prove it when I eviscerate her weak azzed transphobic arguments for the whole world to see as soon as we can settle on a date and time that works with both our schedules.

Speaking of dates, check the one at the top of this post.  

April Fool!  I had to come up with something to keep up my annual TransGriot tradition of spoof posts, and thought this would do the trick.

Oh I would love to get her at a debate podium one on one.  But y'all know our  least favorite trans oppressor would never publicly debate me or ANY trans woman because she knows her positions are untenable and we'd intellectually chew her up and spit her out for breakfast.   She'd rather hide behind her computer terminal and fling transphobic insults all day.

But, we can dream, eh? 

Chicago Trans 100 Kickoff Event Live Feed

If you're in the TransGriot's shoes and couldn't be in Chicago (or Phoenix darn it), or couldn't get tickets for the sold out Trans 100 Launch Event featuring the talents of KOKUMO, Janet Mock, Dr Kortney Ryan Ziegler, Namoli Brennet and Joe Stevens, now you can be in the room.

When the Trans 100 event starts at 7 PM CDT it will have a live feed you can watch.  You knew Moni was going to make it easy on you TransGriot readers to find it, so just click on this link to watch the action LIVE from the Mayne Stage.

And yep, I'm wondering myself who will be the folks on the initial Trans 100 List.   Looking forward to the day when we get to see multiple national and international trans lists.

You can tune in tonight to find out the 100 trans people who were honored for the inaugural US list. 

Conversations With Tona Brown Video Series

The multi-talented Tona Brown has started posting interviews of various people in the trans community and others that pique her interest on her YouTube channel. 

She calls the segment 'Conversations With Tona Brown' and if you're wondering when your favorite blogger is scheduled to do one, it's going to happen the next time I'm in the Washington DC area.

These are wonderful interview which are not only shedding light on these two longtime Baltimore area activists, they are capturing a historical moment in time for future generations of trans people and frankly deserve a wider audience.    

Here are some of the interviews she's done already with Cydne Kimbrough. and Monica Stevens

Cydne Kimbrough Part 1

 


Cydne Kimbrough Part 2




Monica Stevens Part 1





Monica Stevens Part 2

This Week In The 2013 Texas Lege-Week Ending March 29

With our GOP controlled legislature in session and capable of much mischief until May, we much be vigilant and keep an eye on what the heck they are doing.  

Thank goodness we have Equality Texas' Daniel Williams doing all that hard work, breaking down what's happening and making it easier for us to stay informed .

And now, here's Daniel!

Smith College's Trans Hypocrisy

Transteen Calliope Wong being rejected for admission twice by the prestigious all women's* school Smith College located in Northampton, MA has blown up and caused conversation all over the Net.  It wasn't grades or her SAT scores that caused the collegiate application rejections for this high school senior, it was her trans feminine status. 

Smith's admissions office told Wong the FAFSA designation makes her ineligible based on Smith's policy that applications and supporting papers consistently reflect that the student is female.


Wong's paperwork to Smith, including transcripts and references, identifies her as female.  But the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form from the U.S. Department of Education marks her as male.   The state of Connecticut will not allow her to change the gender code on her birth certificate unless she has GRS, and she can't  change the gender code on the FAFSA form until her birth certificate is changed. 

Can you say Catch 22 boys and girls?  As Bet Power wrote in a March 20 Advocate comment thread on this story, "Trans people should not be compelled to undergo sexual reassignment surgery in order to change our gender ID legally to our proper gender! Our bodies are NOT the point. Our MINDS are."  


Needless to say the Whyte Womyn Gone Wyld trans oppressors are jumping up and down about it spouting their usual hateful claptrap.  In order to keep your blood pressure from rising when you read it I won't waste my time or yours linking to their hateosphere to highlight the usual vanillacentirc privileged potpourri of virulent transphobia. 

But the rejection of Wong by the college looks even more hypocritical in light of the fact that Smith College allows transmen to stay on campus if they transition after enrollment.

It's also galling in the fact that Smith has a social justice mission to educate women, but yet continues to deny that trans women are part of that mission and bar access to trans women who are qualified to go there.

"No one should have to go through what I went through, Wong told the NewYork Daily News via email. “Schools should be focused on building our next generation of leaders, not discriminating against them."

Smith has admitted only female students since it opened its doors in 1875 due to the lack of higher education opportunities for women.  Wong, elements of the trans community and our allies believe Smith seized on the FAFSA code as their excuse to deny Wong admission. 




Calliope published an email exchange on her Tumblr with Jon O’Bergh, Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of the US Department of Education, which appears to bolster her's and the trans community's perception of events and challenges Smith's decision.  It stated that “The FAFSA sex reported is only used for Selective Service purposes. Neither FAFSA nor the Department of Education cross-checks sex information with Social Security,”.

“Smith College could choose to accept me or at least process my application, if the administrators wanted to. Smith is not bound by any kind of federal mandate…Thus, Smith College’s decision not to process my application based on my FAFSA sex marker is at Smith’s sole discretion. Their hand was not forced; they chose this. Smith College is fully capable of reviewing my application and making an admissions decision for me based on my credentials. Just—it’s so simple, really. This is obvious discrimination on Smith’s part.”

Of course Smith says otherwise.   Laurie Fenlason, Smith's vice president for public affairs, said the school does not comment on the status or admissibility of individual applicants. But she added, "Every application to Smith is treated on a case-by-case basis, and application materials must reflect female identity."

Fenlason is claiming the school has legal concerns over changing its admissions policies and concerned they could lose federal funding under Title IX, a law that bans sexual discrimination in education but exempts single-sex institutions.

"Title IX is an important factor in our consideration but not the only one," she said. "Smith is focusing on the broader policy challenge of how to be inclusive and supportive of transgender students while being faithful to the mission of a women's college."

Yeah Smith, we get the point that applicants to Smith need to be female bodied and presenting as female.  That's not in dispute.  But for Smith to seize on the FAFSA form as your reason for twice denying Calliope Wong's application makes the school look hypocritical and shady not to mention transphobic.   It's also morally repugnant that Smith appears to be using the groundbreaking Title IX law as your excuse to exclude qualified transwomen admittance into the school.

Smith alums don't like it and neither do we trans women and our allies.  In addition to a supportive photo project that has popped up, a Facebook group has been created called Trans Women Belong At Smith College for supportive alums, trans people and allies who support the admission of trans women on campus.  .  

This issue isn't going away.  Trans people are transitioning as early as ages 5 and 6.   Those trans kids will grow up to become trans teens who one day will matriculate on someone's college campus.  Some of those trans teens may be trans feminine students who could be prospective students wishing to attend your campus one day.

Calliope, transwomen and our allies are determined to continue fighting to ensure those transkids if they have the grades and wish to do so when it's time to select a college have that option to attend a college such as Smith..

So Smith College you have a choice.  Will you willingly work on changing your admissions policies so they aren't blatantly discriminatory to trans feminine students?  Or will you have to create them in the wake of losing a trans discrimination lawsuit?

It's your call.    

Rewriting The All-Time TransGriot Traffic Record Books

One of the things I've been happy about during this sometimes sad week for me was seeing my all time TransGriot traffic records spike to record levels.

My traffic is starting to recover from the hit it took when Computer Prime died last month and it has been fluctuating between the 3,500-5,000 hits per day range.

The 'Why The Transgender Community Hates HRC' post I wrote back in 2007 went viral this week and as a result of people and a few major blogs linking to it,  my traffic zoomed to unprecedented levels in the seven year history of this blog.  

And yes people, I am currently working on a sequel to that post.

Starting on March 25, the old one day all time traffic record of 9678 that was set on April 3 of last year was obliterated when 18,990 people surfed over to the blog on that day.  

The next day, March 26 saw that new standard fall when 39,027 peeps surfed by TransGriot.   Even with the Easter weekend approaching on March 27 I had a total of 28,893 people visit the blog that day and on March 28 another 14,756 people stopped by my cyberhome.  Even though yesterday was Good Friday, had 8,550 people surf by to check out my writing . 

So thanks TransGriot readers for an amazing record-breaking few days that has totally reshuffled my all time top five TransGriot traffic days.   And for those of you who are just being introduced to my blog during this period, I invite you to stop by more often.

Who Will Be On The Initial Trans 100 List?

The initial Trans 100 List will debut with kickoff events in Chicago and Phoenix, and after a tough week with trans people being attacked, HRC pissing off the trans community with the flag flap at the SCOTUS rally, an unjust bill advancing in Arizona and Whyte Womyn Going Wyld, it'll be nice to have some positive news concerning our community for a change.

Really looking forward to seeing who the curators finally chose to grace the initial list after sorting through the 500 nominations submitted. 

I understand I was one of the people nominated so we'll see if I made the final cut.

Thanks to This Is H.O.W. and We Happy Trans for bringing Antonia D'orsay's idea that Jen Richards liked to life and all the people who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to wade through those nominations and come up the final list.

I'm glad this is going to be an annual list, especially since we trans folks and our contributions tend to be ignored far too often when LGBT ones are put together that are heavily LG centric with a B thrown in as an afterthought.

I'm looking forward to the day when folks in other countries compile their own Trans 100 type lists so the people that do the trans human rights work in their nations get the recognition they deserve for it.

Looking forward to tomorrow when the Trans 100 List is revealed.

Shut Up Fool Awards-Let's Play Ball Edition

The 2013 Major League Baseball season is about to kick off this weekend, and for my hometown baseball team it's a season that will usher in many changes. 

The Astros will start the season with a new owner, new uniforms, a new logo and playing ball for the first time in their 51 year history as an American League franchise.  

They have been placed in the American League's West Division and will start their season off Sunday against the 2010 and 2011 American League champions and instate I-45 rival the Texas Rangers at Minute Maid Park.

So let's segue into what y'all really surfed over here for, to find out what fool, fools or group of fools earned this week's Shut Up Fool award nods.  

And in honor of the 2013 Major League Baseball season about to jump off, I'm going to do it baseball style this week.

Strike one goes to all the Whyte Womym Gone Wyld who posted their special brand of trans hate on SistersTalk radio site concerning MichFest and who attempted to hijack the #GirlsLikeUs Twitter hashtag.


Strike Two goes to Rep. Don Young (R-AK) who used an anti-Latino racial slur during a local radio interview.   Yep, that GOP outreach is really working for y'all isn't it?

Strike Three goes to Gov Rick Perry (R-TX) for referring to gay activists as intolerant during a Faith and family rally in Austin in support of keeping DOMA on the books.  Um dude, you've been in that chair since 2001   It';s past time for your butt to go next year.

Second Out of the inning goes to the homophobes and transphobes in the Texas A&M Student Senate for continuing their quest to kill the LGBT Center on campus.   Hate is NOT an Aggie value, but I guess y'all forgot that. 

Third Out of the inning goes to the Towson University leadership for not cracking sown on the White Students Union, their SPLC-certified hate group on campus who announced plans to do nighttime patrols on campus.    That's a lawsuit waiting to happen.

This week's Shut Up Fool winner is Robert Zimmerman, the brother of Goerge Zimmerman, who is awaiting the June 10 start of hios trial for killing Trayvon Martin.   He went on a racist Twitter rant calling Black teens 'killers'.

Um Robert, do the names Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold ring a bell? (Columbine HS shooters) Kip Kinkel? Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden?   These are the killer white teens involved in notorious high school shootings.

Robert Zimmerman, shut the hell up fool!

Thank You For Your Kind Words

As many of you are aware of, my family is going through a difficult time with the passing of  my father last week 

The funeral is set for tomorrow March 30, 2013 and for those of you in the Houston area, it will be held at the Christian Rescue Mission Community Church 3229-A Hadley St, Houston TX 77004  

(713) 659-7750 is the church phone number. 

Visitation will be from 9-11 AM CDT on Saturday with the service starting immediately afterwards from 11-12 noon

Thanks to those of you who have lifted me and my family up in prayer, expressed your condolences and continue to send warm thoughts our way.   I also thank those of you who have e-mailed me, called, sent me Facebook messages public and private, and sent cards.   It meant a lot to me to hear from you during this time, and I deeply appreciate it.  .

Moni's SistersTalk Radio Interview

Genia and I have tried to set up an interview on her and Andrea's SistersTalk Radio show on BlogTalkRadio for at least a year but haven't been able to make the timing work for both of us until last night  

With TERF's and transphobic comments running wild on her MichFest thread, she contacted me for my very definite opinions on MichFest.

During the interview I gave some of the historical context and backstory that expresses itself in the frequent transphobic eruptions and virulent hatred the white supremacist TERF's have for girls like us.

Enough jibber-jabber, here's the link to the SistersTalk Radio interview with Genia.

Hope you enjoy it.

HRC, You Have A Problem

I'm sure that the truth will come out about what really happened at that rally today, but note Human Rights Campaign, you still have a very long and tough road to travel before you even begin to get some positive cred back and you have zero room for errors, misspeaking, or mistakes.   TransGriot. 'What The Hell Happened In DC Today?'  March 27, 2013

Well, looks like we can take the 'alleged' label off the incident that was described in yesterday's post about the SCOTUS rally because someone has come forward to comment on it.

That someone who has come forward is a biggie.  It's Jerame Davis, the executive director of the National Stonewall Democrats.

Jerame wrote on his Facebook page Wednesday that he witnessed the incident, and the only flag out of the community affinity flags that was targeted for removal was the trans one.

HRC is mishandling this situation. While not directly, they are essentially calling me and John M. Becker liars when we were actually direct witnesses to all of this occurring, unlike the folks putting out the statement.

No other flags were asked to be removed from the shot. There were pride flags, American flags, and marriage equality flags all on display. I had a flag of my own. And at one point, organizers directed a person with a pride flag to block someone who was hijacking the media with pictures of dead young gays who were victims of discrimination.

It disappoints me greatly that HRC has chosen the circle-the-wagons-and-deny tactic once again when there were multiple witnesses to what happened. Shameful.

John M. Becker had this to say about it on his Facebook page.

Jerame and I attended the rally together and as he pointed out earlier today, both of us saw this happen. I cannot verify the word-for-word accuracy of the quote in this blog post as I was just out of earshot in that loud and exciting environment, but regardless of whether the words spoken were as blunt as the writer alleges or couched in nicer-sounding language, the sentiment and intent were unmistakable. This greatly dismayed me and others nearby, and we affirmed the flag holder and encouraged him to stand his ground. I'm so glad he did.

I'm sure the staffer was acting out of a misplaced sense of caution in that excruciatingly high-pressure environment -- and I'm equally sure it was not HRC's intent to exclude or deeply offend, but regardless of the circumstances, people *felt* excluded and *were* deeply offended. HRC really should apologize for this regrettable incident before it casts any larger a shadow on an otherwise beautiful event.

Instead, HRC is going into their standard playbook whenever they get caught dissing the trans community and it's witnessed by someone NOT from the trans community:  deny it

“It is a not true to suggest that any person or organization was told their flag was less important than another – this did not occur and no HRC staff member would ever tolerate such behavior. To be clear, it is the position of the Human Rights Campaign that marriage is an issue that affects everyone in the LGBT community.

QNotes published the full statement in this Matt Comer article.

So in effect, HRC Communications Director Michael Cole-Schwartz is basically calling Jerame and John liars.  Damn, I hope and pray somebody comes up with video from the rally for this.

But right now HRC, you have a problem.  As I said in yesterday's post, you had zero room for errors, misspeaking, or mistakes and this incident is the equivalent of pouring gasoline on a smoldering fire.  That white hot fire of anger, especially within the trans community with whom you had little to zero trust and credibility with anyway, is about to burn your organization in multiple ways.  

You may be about to witness the restarting of HRC gala protests a la 2007-2008 by trans community activists and our allies in a city near you and another dropoff in donations, and that's just the opening salvos in how this kerfluffle could probably play out.

Whyte Womyn Gone Wyld Hatin' On #Girlslikeus Twitter Tag

The #Girlslikeus Twitter hashtag created by Janet Mock celebrated its one year anniversary yesterday and as usual, any time we create something positive for our trans feminine community, the Whyte Women Gone Wyld as they have for the last 40 years have disco danced over to dip nasty cups of vanillacentric hate in our Kool-Aid.

For whatever reason, they're mad because nobody wants to see them on TV, interview them on the radio or they can't get vacation time to go to MichFest, the TERF's (trans exclusionary exterminationalist radical feminists) are hustling over to their computers, dipping into their white supremacist heritage and posting nasty messages on the #girlslikeus Twitter hashtag aimed at Janet Mock. 

They are going to their tired tactics of attempting to provoke a trans community response they'll trumpet on their (should have been declared by the Southern Poverty Law Center as hate sites) low hit count hive mind websites as 'proof' they are the 'innocent victims' being attacked.

Yeah, you're 'innocent victims' all right. Y'all been watching too much Fox Noise.  It has also not escaped my attention how you're resorting to aiming racist comments at Janet as well, a woman who has far more dignity and class in her pinky fingers than the whole rotten rabble of you.  

Hey TERF's don't start none, won't be none. You crying white women's tears because I'm publicly calling your asses out (ho hum, again) about your nekulturny behavior won't work in this situation because y'all started it. 

And y'all know how much I gleefully enjoy nuking trolls, especially passive-aggressive racist ones spouting trans exterminationalist claptrap. 

Duck and cover, fools.    

It's also hilarious to me that despite all your hatred, misgendering slanderous speech, quasi-scientific papers designed to deny us human rights, demonizing us, lying to politicians with the goal of cutting us out of human rights legislation and the other foul crap you've done over the last 40 years in the name of feminism, and still we trans women rise as the arc of the moral universe continues to bend toward justice for trans women everywhere.

And what's even more hilarious to me is that even your own fellow haters like Julie Bindel are calling y'all 'rabid maniacs' and distancing themselves from you.

So what we need our trans allies and transpeople around the world to do is take a moment out of your day to piss off a TERF and tweet something positive on the #girlslikeus Twitter hashtag in support of trans women. 

What Gay Marriage WON'T Do

TransGriot Note: Elements of us in the Black trans and same gender loving communities are lukewarm about 'marriage equality' for many of the reasons being articulated here in this guest post by Denny Upkins.
I truly hate Gay Marriage.

Not because I don’t agree with it because I do believe in Marriage Equality or any other form of equality but because it never fails to bring the WORST out of white peepul as we’ve witnessed by some of the people on my “friends list.

If it’s not white LGBTQs falsely blaming blacks and Latinos and playing Lynch the Coloreds over that Prop 8 fallout, it’s the Straight White Allies who now think they are experts on social justice, homophobia, and Civil Rights in the span of 3 minutes simply because they reposted a meme and changed a Facebook pic.

Most of them also fail to realize that the dynamics facing queer POC's and trans people and the dynamics facing cis white queers is as different as night and day.

And yet they feel qualified to whitesplain to me how Gay Marriage is the End All Be All Cure All and that once it passes, all of my issues will be a distant memory.

Let me be clear, I want Gay Marriage to happen one day. Hell I wouldn’t mind getting married. But even on my most optimistic day, there are some things I realize Gay Marriage WILL NOT do for me or you or anyone else.

Gay Marriage will not make you look edgy and hip

Gay Marriage will not bring about sunny days of spring

Gay Marriage will not go better with Coke

Gay Marriage will not make you look five pounds thinner

Gay Marriage will not repopulate the planet with unicorns

Gay Marriage will not put a tiger in your tank

Gay Marriage will not taste better than Green Eggs and Ham

Gay Marriage will not fight germs that cause bad breath

Gay Marriage will not fight unemployment

Gay Marriage will not repair our economy

Gay Marriage will not end racism, or transphobia.

Gay Marriage will not save you a lot of money on your car insurance. Okay maybe a little but not that much anyway.

Gay Marriage will not bring about world peace.

Gay Marriage will not end bullying.

Gay Marriage will not teach you how to properly do the Harlem Shake. In fact, let it go.

Gay Marriage won’t stop me from being fired from my job.

Gay Marriage won’t protect me from getting bashed and murdered. My Smith & Weston on the other hand, is another story entirely.

Gay Marriage will not win you the lottery.

Gay Marriage won’t stop us from being viewed as pedophiles.

Gay Marriage will not end queer teen suicide

Gay Marriage will not end queer teen homelessness

Gay Marriage will not make you look progressive

And if not being able to register at Neiman-Marcus is the worst oppression you have to deal with in your day to day, you’ll forgive me if I don’t have a single fuck to give about you or your “oppression.”

Gay Marriage will not teach the breeders to accept the queers. Because the sad reality is at the end of the day, no matter how much they smile and claim they’re down for the cause, most of them still want us dead.