Jackie Robinson Breaking The Baseball Color Line Anniversary

Some historians consider the second most important day in the history of the African-American Civil Rights movement to be the April 15, 1947 day that  Jackie Robinson broke the major league baseball color line.

I wrote about it during the 60th anniversary of that date in 2007.

In that first season he endured racial epithets, flying cleats, pitchers throwing at his head and legs, catchers spitting on his shoes, hate mail and death threats but let his on the field play speak for him. He won over his teammates and his opponents with his unselfish team play and was named Rookie of the Year. Two years later he was the National League MVP. He compiled a lifetime batting average of .311 and was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

A new movie '42', was released over the weekend retelling the story to join with tthe others already made. 

Jackie Robinson was such an iconic figure at that time Count Basie wrote a song entitled 'Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball' to extoll his baseball prowess and the pride Black America had for him..




Today every current baseball player in the majors wore the retired number 42 in honor of him and this landmark event on the road to human rights coverage for all African-Americans.

Join The NBJC On Give OUT Day!

One of the things I talked about in my BTMI keynote speech was that organizations such as BTMI/BTWI, TPOCC and the NBJC not only need you show up at their events like OUT on the Hill (and I've cleared my schedule for that September 18-22 weekend) but they also need for you to break them off some cash every now and then.

It costs money to keep the lights on, pay salaries and get people to DC for congressional hearings, et cetera.  Grants alone aren't enough.  If you value these organizations like NBJC and think the work they do in terms of being the voice for Black LGBT America is valuable, then drop them some money in their Early Bird Campaign in advance of Give OUT Day.  . 

But I'll let NBJC tell you what they've been up to in their 10th Anniversary year, especially with this Emerging Leaders Campaign.      







The National Black Justice Coalition is also one of the many organizations joining the Give OUT Day on May 9.  It is a nationwide effort to mobilize individuals to give to LGBT nonprofit orgs on a single day of the year. 

So for those of you who would like to ensure that your donation dollars go to local organizations that do the grassroots work, here's your opportunity to give to an LGBT non-profit org that will plow your dollars back into the work they do.

Proceeds from NBJC's Give OUT Day campaign will go towards their Black LGBT Emerging Leaders Initiative. This program is purposed with identifying young, rising stars (ages 18-30) in the Black LGBT movement as well as providing a platform and a space for standout leaders to use their voice, build networks, and take action in their communities.

So please consider donating some of your cash to NBJC on Give OUT Day or if it's burning a hole in your pocket, do so right now.

Dr. Z-Uses Of Black Trans Male Anger

One of the highlights of my recent trip to Dallas for the Black Trans Men, Inc. conference (and I'm so looking forward to making that happen in 2014) was getting to finally meet my fellow blogger and filmmaker Dr. Kortney Ryan Ziegler.

He has this blac (k) ademic post that has found its way to HuffPo entitled Uses Of Black Trans Male Anger  that I definitely needed to share with my TransGriot readers. 

Although I had already learned that as a black male, I had little room to express anger, for fear of the potentially harmful repercussions, what became even clearer to me is that as a black transgender male, I have even less room to be angry. Simply put, thanks to unfortunate societal assumptions of brute masculinity and the damaging myth of aggression as a result of synthetic hormone use, others sometimes interpret our expressions of anger and frustration as inauthentic, in effect preventing potentially healthy and constructive uses of anger in our ongoing process of self-fashioning.

In order for black trans men to move past the limitations of this binary, it is important for us to recognize that our anger is indeed real and is possible to manage within a society that breeds hostility toward our existence. The angry black male that we are perceived to be should not disavow the reality that is our personhood and humanity, and we must seek out healthy ways to reject this distorted image of our identity. This means being aware of our feelings of frustration, rage and resentment and understanding the situations that can provoke those emotions. In other words, use your anger to discover yourself.

You can read the rest of it at blac (k) ademic
 

Moni's Heading Downtown On Wednesday

To UH-Downtown that is.

I get to spend a little time on the UHD campus April 17 as part of a panel discussion after a viewing of the documentary film Trans.

The screening is taking place on the 4th floor of the North side of the UHD campus main building starting at 2:00 PM CDT. The UH-Downtown METRORail station provides easy access to it.





After the 90 minute screening the panel discussion will take place.    Should be an interesting event so if you want to see me and my fellow panelists, UHD is the place to be on Wednesday.

Draconian Anti-Prostitution Law Proposed In The ATL

'The City Too Busy to Hate' as the ATL likes to call itself sometimes forgets that motto when it comes to trans women.

I never forgot it when in 1991 trans pioneer Caroline Cossey, who lives in the ATL area, had a key to the city rescinded by then mayor Maynard Jackson after her trans status was revealed.

Jackson said in a statement at the time he would not have granted the honor had he known her "claim to fame" was being transsexual. 

That incident came back to haunt him a decade later when Jackson tried to become the chair of the Democratic National Committee in 2001.  Now another ATL mayor in Kasim Reed has to grapple with a contentious issue that has a trans flavor to it.

Cheryl Courtney-Evans in this guest post talks about a draconian proposed anti-prostitution ordinance spearheaded by trans bigot Peggy Denby, the 'Queen of Mean' president of the Midtown-Ponce Security Alliance (MPSA) that calls for banishment from the city of Atlanta for a second prostitution arrest. 

The group of prostitutes that this ordinance is aimed at just happens to be predominately made up of girls like us. 

In addition to the straight up problematic constitutional questions about this proposed ordinance, a better way to address the prostitution issue would be to spend some of the money you'd be wasting trying to enforce this and target it into a jobs program so these women wouldn't have to walk a Midtown Atlanta street in the first place to get paid.   

Here's a sample of the post.

Ms. Denby, on two occasions, made it a point to tell the gathering that her main "issue" was with "male prostitutes in the Midtown area" and that "there are no longer any female prostitutes in Midtown; they're all males"...this despite the fact that we all know that the majority of the street trade in this area is conducted by transgender women [and we know from previous experience that Ms. Denby has referred to ALL transgenders as "men in dresses" and "transvestitutes"]...so after her second reference to us in this manner (saying all of  Midtown's prostitutes are men), I had to speak up before she could finish putting on her jacket to leave the meeting (and give the rest something to think about for the next meeting) and urge everyone to "evolve past a state of mind that fuel such statements that 'all of Midtown's prostitutes are male', when we know that population is a transgender woman majority...this state of mind is the same one that's results in their presence there in the first place, as it pushes the discrimination that keeps them out of the workplace" (of course, every time I mentioned this "state of mind", I looked pointedly at Ms. Denby, who definitely did not meet my eye).

You can read the rest of Cheryl's post at her abitchforjustice blog.

Phil Donahue Trans Shows

Phil Donahue's talk show based out of Chicago started in 1970 and was the gold standard in that genre for years.  Phil had the number one rated talk show in the 80's and early 90's before Oprah took that title away and his show canceled in 1996. 

He was one of the first talk show hosts to discuss trans issues and for the most part did so without sensationalizing it. 

These shows were a huge assist in terms of me and other trans people during that time trying to gather information on trans issues during the pre-Internet era.   However, watching them with our second decade of the 21st century evolution on these issues and terms we use in the community now can be grating on your nerves at times.

But peeps, this is what we had to work with at the time  .

This show on trans people and their families was broadcast in 1987



One with trans teen Angie Roberts



Phil's 20th anniversary show with clips starting at the :25 mark of transpeople being interviews.

Bullying and Where Are the Parents?

Guest post from Renee of Womanist Musings

I have come to hate the term where are the parents because it ignores that parents can dedicate every waking minute to fighting for their kids and not make any progress because the system is not designed to be helpful.  I have also come to hate the term zero tolerance policy in reference to bullying because it's a lie. When my children were born, I promised to love them unconditionally, to support them and fight for them whenever necessary.  I have kept this vow but it has not been easy. The first time my oldest son was bullied, he was five years old and he was being called "brown boy." Today, the taunts have escalated and now he is being called the N word.

For the last two years, one boy on my son's bus has delighted in being a bully.  My son hasn't been his only victim but being Black, he is the only one being called a racial slur. I have talked to the school bus company and the principal and the best I have managed is to get the child booted off the bus for a week at a time.  This means my son gets a week of safety and comfort but as soon as the boy starts riding on the bus again, the process starts all over. In desperation, I called the NRP (Niagara Regional Police), hoping to push the idea that this amounted to harassment, but they wouldn't even take a report, let alone go out to the school and talk to the child in question or investigate.  They advised me to tell my son to just ignore the racial slurs and to tell him that the bully was simply maladjusted.  Apparently, what the bully is doing is not a crime.  I suggested that this situation was going to end up with my son seriously hurting this kid, the kid seriously hurting my son, or my son in a body bag, because this is what happens when bullying is ignored. The cop was quiet for a moment and simply said these things happen.  Apparently, someone has to be hurt or die for this to be taken seriously.

At present, I am trying to get in touch with the superintendent and getting the run around.  This recent incident isn't even a case of my son's word against the bully, because not only did other children confirm his story, so did the bus driver.  When I spoke to the bus company this morning, they admitted that the child in question has a history of this behaviour and promised to have the bus driver try to look out for my son.  How exactly can he look out for my son when he has to pay attention to the road? They cannot even institute a seating arrangement to force the child to sit up front, so that he is away from other children because that apparently would be too stigmatizing. My son has been hurt for two years by this bully but apparently, the bully's fee fees are more important.


So, where are the parents? Well, this parent is fighting to try and protect my child and it is the system that is failing our family.  I don't want to hear condolences after something serious happens, I want my baby boy to go to school in a safe environment and get a good education.  That is what my tax dollars pay for and what I have every right to expect as a Canadian citizen. A parent can call the schools, interact with the school board and even call the cops, but unless the system meets them halfway nothing changes.  Bullying continues to happen because despite their mediocre diversity classes and seminars on bullying, school officials don't give a damn and are not interested in substantive change.

It disgusts me that our story is not unique.  Across North America, there are families just like ours fighting.  We have had parents send their kids to school with stun guns, we have had a mother show up at the bus stop to beat up their child's bully, and we have had a father get on a school bus to cuss out their child's bullies and nothing changes. The parent gets into trouble and even in some cases arrested and charged, but what choice did they have?  There have been movies made about bullying and despite all of the lipservice being paid to ending bullying nothing has changed.  Yet, when a child dies, the refrain is always, "where are the parents?" More fool me, for teaching my son that the right answer is to trust the system to do its job and faithfully report these incidents. Every time there is a PSA on television, they advise children to speak to an adult and promise them that the bullying will stop, if they just manage to build up the courage to tell someone.  It's a lie and they are giving children false hope because it won't stop, even if they have parents dedicated to fighting for them.

So where do I go now? Yes the little ass is banned from the school bus for a week and it will give my son a small reprieve but given his history, it will simply happen again. I also have to worry about my youngest son who rides that same bus everyday.  He has heard the taunts and sees his brothers pain.  Bullying doesn't just effect one person but entire families.  I have demanded that he be removed from the bus or be forced to sit at the front and I don't think that this is asking too much.  I'm tired of being encouraged to have sympathy for the bully.  I was even asked how I would feel if the child had a disability, as though being disabled gives one license to be a bigoted asshole.  This is what they mean when they say zero tolerance - have tolerance and pity for the bully.  Our education system is broken because it is failing in its responsibility to protect marginalized or otherwise vulnerable kids. In short, the parents are here and we are fighting but nothing is changing and our kids remain vulnerable each and everyday this allowed to continue on unchecked.

Tamala Savage Show Interview (Part 1)

Last night I taped an interview on the Tamala Savage show that got rather interesting. It originally was supposed to be a single episode.  But as with any discussion on trans issues there's a lot of ground to cover and discuss and not enough time to cover the issues, so I have been invited back on for an additional show.

We also had two fools call in that showed their anuses, and a freshly out gay teen that was being bullied and needed counseling. 

FYI peeps, if you're a trans or SGL teen that needs help, someone to talk to or are contemplating suicide, call the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386

While you're waiting for that next show, you can listen to Part 1 by clicking on this link. 

Jazz Huff Post Live Interview

It's one of my fave award winning trans teens in the community again doing what she does best, telling her story and being positive about it.    Here's Jazz's latest interview on Huff Post Live with Alicia Menendez

This Week In The 2013 Texas Lege-Weeks Ending April 5 & 12

Time for all you Texas TransGriot readers and interested political junkies to get the scoop on what's happening in our GOP controlled legislature with the latest scoop from Equality Texas Field Organizer and Legislative Specialist Daniel Williams.

Week ending April 5  (Part 1)



Week Ending April 5 (Part 2)




Week ending April 12

TransGriot Nuke A Troll 29-You Were Saying?

Another day, another person I need to drop 50 megatons of knowledge on

This time it's Johan Baumeister, who seemed to have a problem with the March 28 guest post that Denny wrote called 'What Gay Marriage WON'T Do' that expressed his concerns about the overemphasis of the LGBT movement on marriage equality to the detriment of everything else. 

I understand that there is justification for criticism of the marriage-centric "equality" movement.

But a few points for you:

1) Don't eat your allies. It makes them not want to be our allies in the first place.

2) Don't assume you know what someone else's oppression is (like you did in your second-to-last paragraph) and then simultaneously (and justifiably) criticize them for assuming what your oppression is. It undermines all the actual, reality-based points of your argument.

3) I don't think I've heard a single person say gay marriage will fix everything.

I've heard some racist, ignorant shit from twinky, privileged, white cis-boys in WeHo. I've also heard some ignorant shit here. I get you're hurt, and left behind or left out of a lot of what the "movement" talks about.

The solution isn't to tear others down.

5...4...3...2...1   launch

I'm going to give Denny his chance to respond to your comments in another guest post, but since it's my blog, I get first crack at you. 

I'm going to start this with the words of the Rev. Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, from his 'Letter From A Birmingham Jail' 

I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.  

I get so tired of hearing the assertion in predominately white LGBT circles that justified criticism of the strategies taken by this movement, especially when they come from people of color, is seen as 'eating your allies' or 'tearing others down'.

If it was good enough for Dr. King when he called out in 'Letter From a Birmingham Jail' the white moderate as the biggest impediment to Black human rights, we trans and SGL African-Americans are going to speak our minds and call it like we see it in terms of the civil rights movements of our times.  

What Denny did is in the traditional mold of  Black leadership (and is what I try to role model) in speaking truth to power and questioning the wisdom of policy stances.  It's going to be contentious, but needs to be done. in order for better policy more reflective of all the voices of the LGBT community to come out of the process.  

As the late Dr. Ronald Walters defined it:

The task of Black leadership is to provide the vision, resources, tactics, and strategies that facilitate the achievement of the objectives of Black people.

These objectives have been variously described as freedom, integration, equality, liberation, or defined in the terms of specific public policies. It is a role that often requires disturbing the peace. And we constantly carry on a dialogue about the fitness of various leaders and the qualities they bring to the table to fulfill this mission.

Denny's post is echoing the thoughts of many people in Black trans and SGL World concerning the wisdom of pursuing an 'all marriage all the time' strategy when many people in our community are reeling from double digit unemployment.   And as for your other point of you never heard anyone claim gay marriage will fix everything, as recently as August 22, 2011  Richard Socarides made the claim that the achievement of marriage equality would bring trans rights along in its wake.  

To quote Dr. Jillian Weiss, "The idea that marriage equality is going to help transgender rights is a theory that has no evidence to back it up.”

Um no it didn't in New York, where trans people are STILL waiting for SONDA to be passed over a decade after they were cut out of an inclusive bill in 2002 that protects only GL people.  The same reprehensible pattern is taking shape in Maryland in which the legislative session concluded April 8 with another trans rights bill dying in committee and GL people since 2001 having rights that they once again threw transpeople under the legislative bus to get.  

As for your comment that what Denny posted is 'ignorant'...Exactly which one of those points that he discussed in the post about what gay marriage won't do is 'ignorant' in your mind?

Gay Marriage will not end racism, or transphobia?    He's right on that one.  
Gay Marriage will not end queer teen homelessness?   
On target there, too.
Gay Marriage won’t stop me from being fired from my job? 
Sure won't, and especially true if your trans. 

Gay Marriage will not end bullying?
On point there as well. 

Looking forward to seeing Denny's response to your comment, but in the meantime, duck and cover and don't look at the flash when the troll nuke goes off.  
  

Battlestar Galactica UN Panel Discussion

December will mark the 10th anniversary of the broadcast of the rebooted Battlestar Galactica two part miniseries on Sci-Fi that led to the critically acclaimed television series. 

The reimagined Battlestar Galactica tackled many of the issues the United Nations deals with such as human rights; terrorism; children and armed conflict; and reconciliation and dialogue among civilizations and faiths.  

On March 17, 2009  Ronald Moore, David Eick, Mary McDonnell, and Edward James Olmos participated in a panel discussion co-hosted by the UN Public Information Department, the Sci- Fi Channel (I hate the SyFy it changed to) moderated by Whoopi Goldberg to help raise the profile of humanitarian concerns.and issues of importance to the United Nations

Here's that panel discussion that tackled many of the issues that the Battlestar Galactica series touched on during its four year run.  The UN panel rocked.   

So say we all. 

TransGriot Nuke A Troll 28-Stop Projecting

Been a while since the USS Monica left home port to sail the cyberseas in search of trolls to properly irradiate.  

We have our latest acquired target to have 50 megatons of knowledge dropped on him in this person calling himself 'a white guy'.

He left this one in my spam filter two weeks ago on a July 2010 post I wrote entitled 'Reverse Racism Are White Racist Words'.

Wow,transgriot,you really stereotype whites and don't seem to like them at all.You seem to have a lot of hate in your heart towards whites.Perhaps it is you who is racist.Whites are not the only race capable of being racist.Just look at the more modern day Black Panther party,you can find audio and video of some members in the street screaming about killing white babies.Grow up,quit associating who people are by what race they belong to.Your reply to Neo-prodigy already proves you're prejudice towards whites.You act as if it is somehow unfair to be white,as if whites have some sort of advantage in the world,and if you think that,then you are the definition of "Bigot."
5...4...3..2...1..launch.


Did you even bother to read that post, or are your reading comprehension skills that putrid? 

I despise whiteness, white privilege, white supremacy and the deleterious effect it has had on my people for over four centuries , so Strike One on that 'Monica is a racist' meme that y'all like to play because you know you're intellectually outgunned and have nothing to refute what I wrote in that post.

And since you missed it the first time in the post let me spell out what white guys like you conveniently want to ignore about racism.

Racism= systemic privilege + societal power.   The only people in American society that have the power to turn their bigoted thoughts into oppressive laws look like you, and the peeps who share your gender ID and ethnic background give me and other oppressed people in this country fresh examples every day to write about.   Strike Two. 

The New Black Panthers (all three of them) aren't even close to having the numbers much less the societal juice to even alter your life in any meaningful way.  They're also regarded as a joke by many people in the African-American community.    Strike Three.

I was forced to grow up a long time ago for my own safety and sanity in terms of coming to the realization that race matters in American society.  I also had to be cognizant of the fact there are elements of your ethnic group that truly can't stand the ground I and other non-white peeps stand and walk on.   It is you who needs to wake up and stop listening to Fox Noise or whatever right wing radio pundit you listen to 24-7-365.  

And dude let me break it down to you.  White males like you make up approximately 34% of the 2012 US voting population but hold 359 of the 535 seats (67%) in the 113th Congress. Peeps who look like you make up 93% of the CEO's of Fortune 500 companies and 74% of the college and university presidents just for starters. 

And I'll let Neo-Prodigy put you on blast for calling his name in vain. 

Since you hooked on phonics deficient behind missed it the first time in your zeal to try to label me as a 'racist' for speaking the truth and tellin' it like it T-I-S is , here we go again. 

Thanks to unacknowledged white privilege, too many whites either willfully or unwittingly confuse racism with bigotry and prejudice.

Criticism from persons of color calling attention to or talking about the systemic racism they face or the unfairness of the system doesn't add up to 'reverse racism' or the other infuriating conservaterm we hear far too often, 'playing the race card'.

Me telling hard truths about racism in this country and the nekulturny behavior of whites at times that you don't want to hear doesn't mean 'I hate white people', 'have a lot of hate in my heart toward whites' or I'm a 'racist' that you falsely accused me of   The people that have the pleasure of being in my company and have known me for decades know otherwise. 

Go peddle that bull feces to a right wing site who  cares. 

Duck and cover fool, and don't look at the flash when the troll nuke explodes. 
      

Thousands Call On Smith College To End Trans Applicant Discrimination

GLAAD, students, alumni voice support of trans-inclusive admissions policy

New York, April 11, 2013 - GLAAD, the nation's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy organization, today announced that it has joined more than 3,000 Change.org petition signers and student organizers at Smith College to call for an end to the school's policy that unfairly rejects the admission applications of some transgender women. That petition is available here: http://change.org/smithadmissions In March, Smith denied admission to Calliope Wong because the gender marker on her FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Financial Aid) form did not match her stated gender identity of female.  Despite Smith's reputation for being inclusive, this policy turns a blind eye to the many complications and challenges trans people - especially youth - sometimes face when attempting to correct gender markers on personal identification documents. "Through the pressure from this petition and the campaign in general, I hope that Smith College becomes a more responsible and transparent institution," said Wong. "What that means to me is that Smith College will no longer use arbitrary and legally dubious bars against transwomen in the application and admissions process." "Thousands of Smith's supporters are telling the school that it needs to end its policy of refusing to consider the applications of women whom they decide aren't 'woman enough' based on inconsistent documents," said GLAAD spokesperson Wilson Cruz. "Smith is setting a poor example to all of its students by not even accepting the applications of women like Calliope." "To me, the inclusion of trans women at women's colleges is a feminist issue. Trans women experience misogyny on multiple levels, making it all the more important that they have access to affirmative women's spaces like Smith," said Smith Q&A member and student Elli Palmer. Smith Q&A organizer Ollie Schwartz agreed, saying, "While Smith admissions policies remain muddled, one thing is becoming clear: our communities will not stand idly by while trans women are treated differently." Blogger and Yale student Sarah Giovanniello has been writing about Wong's story. She noted that, "the support the petition has received in just a few days is overwhelming. I hope that the widespread attention Calliope's case has gotten communicates to the Smith administration how important trans women's rights are and should be to the college's mission. Ideally, the college would commit providing trans women with the same level of support as any other applicants." For more information, visit http://glaad.org/smithadmissions ### About GLAAD: GLAAD amplifies the voice of the LGBT community by empowering real people to share their stories, holding the media accountable for the words and images they present, and helping grassroots organizations communicate effectively. By ensuring that the stories of LGBT people are heard through the media, GLAAD promotes understanding, increases acceptance, and advances equality. For more information, please visit www.glaad.org or connect with GLAAD on Facebook and Twitter.

Autostraddle Salutes The Trans 100 List Women

The Trans 100 List is already getting the desired results of changing the conversation around trans people inside and outside our community.   They were introduced to 100 talented people who are not only doing things in their own ways to uplift the trans community, but in the process are making the communities they live in better places as well.


Check out this Autostraddle article in which they focused attention on the 51 people on the list that identify as girls like us and what they had to say about it.    

Buzzfeed offered some brief bios of each honoree, but other news outlets have mostly just published a list of names. We here at Autostraddle wanted to feature a bit more in-depth information and some actual words from the many inspirational humans on this list — more specifically, from the ladies. To that end, we've erred carefully to include only those who clearly identify as women, but there are heaps of genderqueer folks, trans men and non-binary-identified people on the list that you should check out, though, so GET ON IT!!!

This is the quote from me that appears on the Autostraddle post and it's from a TransGriot post I wrote for National Coming Out Day on October 11, 2012 .

"But as I’ve discovered ever since I began my own transition in 1993, my life not only began when I did so and got comfortable in my own skin, my family expanded. We have a proud history that is still unfolding every day. I have out and proud trans brothers and sisters all over the world now. I have trans elders who are eager to pass down their hard won knowledge to me so I can do the same for you. I love the fascinating journey of discovery I’ve been on."

Speaking of journeys of discovery, get to know the 51 diverse girls like us profiled in this post.

ELIXHER Showing Their Trans Sisters Some Love

The Trans 100 List is definitely doing its job of facilitating positive conversations inside and outside the trans community in terms of our accomplishments, who we are as people and in the case of non-white trans folks, that we exist and are major contributors to the advancement of trans human rights.

We're also starting to see breakout stories like this one as a result of the publishing of the initial list. 

ELIXHER wrote this post focused on the 11 African-American girls like us who were named to the initial Trans 100 List.   Thanks ELIXHER for the love you've shown your trans sisters since your inception and may those bonds of sisterhood continue to strengthen and grow.

To BET, The Root, The Grio and any onther African-American outlet that publishes a chococentric TBLG list from now on, you have no excuse anymore NOT to include Black trans people and defend your trans-free list by making the weak excuse that you don't lknow of any Black trans transpeople. 

You do now.   


And oh yeah ELIXHER, congratulations on reaching your fundraising goal!

Shut Up Fool Awards- Dr. King Jailed In Birmingham Anniversary Edition

April 12 is the 50th anniversary of the 1963 Good Friday arrest of the Rev. Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. while talking part in The Birmingham Campaign  

During the eight days he was incarcerated the 'Letter From Birmingham City Jail' was written and I'll post the entire letter on its 50th anniversary date Tuesday.    

It's also Friday, and you longtime TransGriot readers know what that means.  It's time to select this week's TransGriot Shut Up Fool winner and shine the spotlight on this week's bumper crop of fool, fools, or group of fools.

Our first honorable mention this week is to whoever came up with this year's predominately white, trans-free GL lineup for the Out 50 less than 48 hours after the multiethnic and diverse inaugural Trans 100 list was published.

Honorable mention number two goes to UFC fighter Matt Mitrione, whose transphobic bigotry eruption aimed at Fallon Fox earned him a well deserved suspension  

Honorable mention number three goes to Sen. Rand Paul (Teabagger-KY)  who desecrated the Howard University campus this week in the name of his party's African-American outreach efforts and tried to peddle the same GOP bull feces.  He forgot he was on a HBCU and we know our hisotry and the history with your party obviously better than you do.

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

This week's winner is Montana State Rep Dave Hagstrom (R-Billings) who wrote a letter to his tenants that wasn't an April Fool's Day joke that mocked single mothers, hungry kids and tell his tenants to 'die sooner'.  

And oh yeah, he a Republican who works for the Affordable Housing Department in Billings, MT.  Compassionate conservatism at its finest once again.

Hagstrom was also one of three Montana Republicans who voted against a bill (that thankfully passed anyway) to assist returning veterans with affordable housing.

Here's hoping you get 'tossed out of office sooner' so you have plenty of time to read those Ayn Rand books your party loves so much.  

State Rep Dave Hagstrom, Shut up Fool!

METRORail Passes 100 Million Boardings Mark

I went downtown Tuesday to run some errands that required me to ride the METRORail to do so.  I was pleased to find out that my rail trip was free.

I missed the April 9 ceremony they had at METRO headquarters right next to the Red Line where it crosses under the Pierce Elevated (I-45) to celebrate achieving the 100 million METRORail boardings milestone 4 years ahead of schedule.

All trips on the METRORail were gratis for the entire day until midnight in celebration of achieving the milestone.

METRORail only has at the moment (no thanks to Tom DeLay and the Republicans obstructing the federal funding) the starter 7.5 mile long Red Line that opened for service in January 2004 just before the Super Bowl.   It runs from UH Downtown (where I'll be part of a panel discussion on the 17th) to the Fannin South Transit Center just past Reliant Park (the Dome, Reliant Arena and Reliant Stadium complex).  That line also passes Rice University, Hermann Park, the Texas Medical Center and through the Museum District as well.

METRORail accomplished the feat with 18 Siemens S70 rail cars (and no backup cars) that have traveled more than four million miles in their nine years of operation.  METRORail is now starting to take delivery through 2013 and work into service 19 additional Siemens S70 H2 rail cars in preparation for the opening of two new lines and the 5.3 mile Red Line extension to the Northline Transit Center.  

The two new lines under construction in addition to the Red Line extension are the 3.3 mile Green Line that starts in the Theater District and terminates at the Magnolia Park Station in the East End.  

The 6.1 mile long Purple Line terminates a mere six blocks from my house and passes the University of Houston, Minute Maid Park, Discovery Green, and joins with the Green Line at BBVA Compass Stadium to terminate on the west side of downtown in the Theater District.  

Been keeping close tabs on the construction of these new METRORail lines that supposed to be operational in 2014.  There are two additional lines, the Blue and Gold in the planning stages.  The Blue Line will be a much needed east-west one that will run from the Hillcroft Transit Center to the Eastwood Transit Center just past the University of Houston.  The Gold Line will run north-south from Bellaire through the Galleria area to the Northwest Transit Center 

We'll see if that promised 2014 start date happens, but the 100 million boardings in just 9 years of operation is a sign that Houstonians have no problem riding the rails if the trains quickly and safely take you where you need to go.

Still Striving To Be A Quality Black Woman

When I say 'quality Black woman', I wanted to be the type of woman that even if you knew or discovered after meting me I was a transwoman, you wouldn't care, you'd see me as an asset and not a liability on the balance sheet of femininity and you'd want me in your life as a friend.

TransGriot, January 8,2009   'Becoming A Quality Black Woman'

Had a wonderful conversation Wednesday with my BFF Maxine that I met during my time in the airline biz and who had a birthday March 30.  (Happy belated birthday Max!)   She congratulated me for making the Trans 100 and told me she was very proud of moi.  

That made me smile because she knew 'The Twin' before I began my very public transition in the middle of Terminals C and D in 1994 and having to deal with all the issues of having to go from zero to femininity in a year that go along with it.

Maxine's reaction after she saw me during that first nerve racking week of transitioning on the job was to walk her elegant self over to my gate as she was coming off her flight, hug me, say, 'What took you so long?" and tell me we needed to chat before she bounced to her next flight.    

We did have that frank conversation in the lobby of my gate area a few days later.  I valued her opinion about whether I'd make the feminine cut because I knew she was a model who was the face of major ad campaigns in the 70's and 80's.  Because she'd done time in the modeling world she read me as a girl like us and called me on it. 

One of the things I told her after she expressed her concerns is not only had I done a lot of hard solid thinking about the subject, done everything possible to try and play with the uniform I was issued (and still wasn't happy), I let her know one of my guiding transition principles (and still is) was wanting to be a compliment to Black womanhood, not a detriment to it.  

Maxine was one of the cadre of cis and trans women who stayed on my butt to make sure I never lost sight of that goal.  They also reminded me (amongst other things) there is a proud legacy and history of struggle attached to being a Black woman.  I had to reconcile that with being a Black trans leader and figuring out as part of my ongoing evolution into Black womanhood what type of Black woman I wanted to project to the world. 

And as Audre Lorde said, 'If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive.'

As I approach the 20 year anniversary next year of me taking the transition plunge,  I'm confident enough to say I'm continuing to strive towards becoming that quality Black woman even if some of you think I'm already there.

There is however, always room for improvement.

Let My People Participate In Sports Without Drama

One of the other issues that been blowing up over the last few years and especially in the women's sports ranks is trans people participating in the sport they like as the person they are and project to the world and some cis people having a problem with that.

The latest example is all the hateraid and drama blowing up around Fallon Fox, but this is nothing new.  It goes back to when Renee Richards sued the USTA in 1976 and won a year later in order to play in the US Open as a female.   

Jazz was barred for two years from playing youth soccer because of the irrational fears about her playing with cis girls that plague Fallon Fox and other trans feminine athletes.  She ended up fighting her local youth soccer association and taking that fight all the way to the US Soccer Federation for her right to play soccer.   The USSF unanimously voted to allow her to play, then subsequently crafted a policy that allows future trans athletes to do so as well.

Unfortunately as currently constructed, it would not allow Jazz or any trans person who has the talent to do so to play on US national or Olympic teams unless they have genital surgery.


Transpeople since 2004 have been able to compete in the Olympic Games thanks to the Stockholm Consensus.   It requires surgery, being on hormones for at least two years before the Olympiad you wish to compete in and consistent gender presentation and legal recognition of your gender.   As of yet three summer Olympiads (2004, 2008 and 2012) and two winter ones (2006, 2010) have come and gone without a girl or guy like us proudly representing their nation in Olympic competition and worldwide trans community will be watching to see if a trans athlete marches into Sochi next February with their national team..

But it wasn't without trying from our side. Canadian cyclist Kristin Worley attempted to qualify for the Beijing Games and had to battle not only her fellow cyclists for a spot on the team but the Canadian Cycling Association as well.  

Keelin Godsey made the 2011 Pan Am Games team and has come agonizingly close twice to qualifying for Beijing and London. 

He is debating whether he'll make another attempt to realize his Olympic dream and attempt to qualify to go to Rio in 2016 or retire from elite athletics and move on with his life.   

The IOC's Stockholm Consensus is used by many international sporting authorities as their guideline to setting rules for trans people competing in sport but the NCAA took a different path.  

In the wake of an October 2009 think tank on the issues of transgender athletes conducted by the NCAA, the National High School Federation, The Women's Sports Foundation, the National Center For Lesbian Rights, Dr. Pat Griffin, the former director of It Takes a Team!, trans athletes and experts on transgender issues from the legal, medical, advocacy groups and athletics, a report was generated a year later that led to the 2011 adoption of NCAA policies on trans athletic participation that don't require genital surgery.  

But one of the problems we still have to overcome is widespread transphobic ignorance and people ignoring the science involved with transition. 

Those peeps who've forgotten (or conveniently ignore) their science courses continue to ignore the fact that there are more than just the XX and XY chromosome combinations the haters cite, there are women on this planet who are XY and men who are XX (there are also peeps with XO, XXY...).  

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) works rather expeditiously in terms of how it affects trans women.   No matter how long a trans woman was on the masculine side on the gender fence, once she starts taking estrogen, she loses whatever strength advantage she had from teenage development of muscles under the influence of testosterone in less than a year.  Once that transwoman has SRS and has the testes removes, she is no longer producing testosterone.  

Now that trans kids are transitioning earlier and using puberty blockers to do so, that argument will become even more specious than it already is.

The myth that a trans woman is a better athlete than a cis woman is off the mark, erases our femininity and is blatantly disrespectful and insulting to the abilities of a cis female athlete.  It also doesn't take into account the wide variances in talent, body builds and athletic ability of those trans and cis athletes.

Renee Richards' highest ranking on the WTA tour was 21 and she won the same number of Grand Slam tournaments as Anna Kournikova: zero.

Mianne Bagger hasn't exactly dominated the women's golf tour ranks as was feared when she was allowed to play.  I played varsity tennis in high school, but there is no way in Hades that if you put me on the court right now with an elite cis female tennis player and Olympian like Serena Williams, she wouldn't beat me in straight sets and yawn in boredom while doing so. 

All trans people want is when we show the desire, ability and talent to play a sport, we get an equal and fair opportunity to play it and test ourselves with the people in the gender we identify with and are a part of. 


So let my people participate in sports without drama.