Acoff Murder Updates

As I continue to get details about this senseless killing from people in the area, I'll post them to the blog.

Thanks to several readers, have discovered that the femme name for our fallen Cleveland sister that will be used in TransGriot stories from now on was Cemia Dove.  Cemia was also called Ce Ce by her friends and the people whose lives she touched in her all to brief 20 years on this planet.

Cleveland DJ Zoe Renee Lapin (and girl like us) was in the process organizing a rally in memory of Ce Ce.   The rally will be tomorrow May 1 at Willard Park in Cleveland at 3 PM EDT, so for any further details about this event get in contact with Zoe. 

I'm asking if anyone has nice pictures of Ce Ce, please send them to me or post them somewhere like Facebook so we trans bloggers can use something other than a mug shot for her.   That article was bad enough.   I don't want to participate (and neither do my fellow trans bloggers) in indirectly heaping more disprect on her by having the only photo of her be a fracking mug shot.

And for you peeps in the Cleveland area still pissed about not only the murder but the journalistic hate crime that happened after it, what you may wish to do is what the New York and Los Angeles trans communities did after their papers of record printed jacked up articles about deceased transpeople and refused or were recalcitrant about retracting or correcting them.

New York and Los Angeles are media centers that have GLAAD offices in both cities, so meetings were set up with their local papers of record to express their displeasure with their trans news coverage in New York and Los Angeles and suggest concrete steps to correct them.  

My suggestion to you trans peeps and allies in the Cleveland area since you don't have a GLAAD office there like the New York and LA trans communities did to help coordinate the meetings is you get in contact with your local and statewide TBLG orgs, the local NAACP chapter, your Cleveland city councilmembers, Ohio state reps and Ohio state senators, US Congressmember Marcia Fudge (D), your US Senator Sherrod Brown (D) over Ce Ce's murder and have them help you get that meeting with the Plain Dealer.  

Once you get the meeting to discuss with the Plain Dealer's managers, editors and the stenographers Caniglia and Corrigan the horrible coverage of the Ce Ce Acoff story, you point out the problems and how hurtful and triggering it was to the local, national and international trans community. 

You also get the Plain Dealer to commit to from this day forward to making immediate and long term corrections in the way they write trans stories up to and including hiring an openly trans reporter.  

Following the AP Stylebook guidelines on covering transpeople would be a mandatory minimum standard so that journalistic hate crimes like the Acoff story don't happen again to another Cleveland area trans person.  

That would be one way to honor Ce Ce's memory and ensure something positive comes out of this for the Cleveland area and Ohio trans community.

Brandy Martell Memorial Vigil Held In Oakland

As I mentioned in one of my posts, a memorial candlelight vigil was held in Oakland to mark the one year anniversary of the date that Brandy Martell was killed.   The 37 year old Martell was fatally shot while sitting in her car through the door an window of it at the corner of 13th and Franklin Streets.

Martell was a peer advocate for TransVision, a Fremont, CA based organization for trans women. Martell worked there from February 2007 to November 2011, offering health information and outreach to other transgender women.

Last night Brandy's friends and colleagues gathered at that location to remember her and also point out the perpetrator of this crime has yet to be brought to justice.  They lit candle and movingly spoke of her TransVision work  

Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan was also there urging folks with information on this case to come forward and help OPD solve the crime.

Anyone with information on Brandy Martell’s murder can send the Oakland Police Department tips anonymously by texting TIP OAKLANDPD to 888777, calling the toll-free hotline at (855) 847-7247, or by calling (510) 535-4867.

“If you saw something, say something,” said Police Chief Howard Jordan at the vigil. “We know there were a lot of people out there that night who saw what happened. Don’t let Brandy’s death go in vain.”

Don't let the wastes of DNA who committed that crime go free.   If they killed Brandy so callously, they could possibly kill someone else you're acquainted with, too.

They need to be rotting in jail.  Let's do what we can to ensure the crime gets solved and Brandy can rest in peace.

Three More April African-American Transwomen Deaths

I'm beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of the near genocidal levels of anti-trans violence that are taking away far too many under 30 transwomen of color before they've had a chance to live their lives.  We are not only losing them, but their potential contributions and talents toward building all the communities we intersect and interact with.   TransGriot  April 5, 2013

29 year old Kelly Young, 30 year old Ashley Sinclair and 20 year old Ce Ce Acoff until this month were living their trans lives.  Now they are all dead because they were fighting the just battle for self determination of their own identities.

Translation from Jordana's eloquent quote: they died because somebody hated the fact they were trans and arrogantly presumed they had the power to erase them from this plane of existence. 

Kelly died on April 3 in Baltimore, MD.  48 hours later Ashley was killed in Orlando, FL and now we discover that Ce Ce Acoff's body was found with multiple stab wounds on April 17.

Right now I'm angry, and it's not just because of the jacked up Cleveland Plain Dealer article in Ms. Acoff's case. I'm pissed off because this is the third African-American transwoman we have lost this month. 

What's making me even more upset right now is the latest girl like us to die was only 20 years old. 

I hear the news about this latest April 2013 death on the very night in Oakland they are having a memorial candlelight vigil for Brandy Martell who was killed one year ago today.

The three deja vu trans deaths of April 2013 eerily replicates the deadly trifecta of African American trans murders that happened just 12 months ago last April.  So you can understand why I went nuclear over that transphobic Acoff article and mad that history repeated itself . 

The painful reality we're dealing with is that three more African-American transwomen will never reach their 40th birthdays.   In Ce Ce Acoff's case,she like Chicago's Paige Clay will never see her 30th, much less her 25th birthday.  It's three more names we will have to read through blurry, tear soaked eyes on November 20 on a Transgender Day of Remembrance list that will probably be adding more names to it before the cutoff date for the 2013 TDOR memorials take place all over the world.

A TDOR names list that once again will be overflowing with the names of Black and Latina transwomen.    

Once again I'll be headed to another birthday thinking about the transwomen that won't get the opportunity to grow a year older and celebrate it like I'll hopefully be doing on Saturday.  

TransGriot Update:  Thanks to tips from readers Lilith and Jahaira discovered Ms Acoff's femme name is Cemia Dove.  Her friends called her Ce Ce.
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Another Black Transwoman Dies In Ohio And Is Disrespected In The Local Media

First the details of the third African-American transwoman this month to die too soon at the hands of a murderer, then I go Maya Wilkes concerning the over the top transphobic 'reporting' of  Cleveland Plain Dealer stenographers (they don't deserve the title of reporter) John Caniglia and Jo Ellen Corrigan

20 year old C. Acoff (I refuse to use the old name because this sistah has been disrespected enough) from Cleveland was found April 17 in a retention pond on MacKenzie Road, north of Cook Road, in Olmsted Township, OH nude from the waist down.  She was stabbed multiple times tied with a rope to a block of concrete

The body was found at 3:30 PM EDT by a renter living in an apartment building on the 20 acre property in the township. Acoff had been missing since March 27 and the body did match a previously filed missing person's report with the Cleveland Police Department.on April 19. 


Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's office positively identified through DNA on Monday

Police are looking for the wastes of DNA who committed the crime.

Now that I've gotten the basics out of the way, lets talk about the journalistic hate crime that was just committed against Ms. Acoff.  Caniglia and Corrigan must have read this TransGriot post because this is the worst piece of alleged reporting on a trans murder I've seen in a while.  

Misgender the person at every opportunity?  Check
Use police mugshot?  Check
Drag old criminal record into the story?  Check
'Deception meme' injected into story?    Check
'Tragic transsexual' meme injected into this story?   Check
Use salacious and sensationalist headlines?  Check
Not give a rats anus about the victim's dignity and their femme presentation?  Check
Disrespecting another African-American transwoman?   Check.

I am so fracking sick of African-American transwomen who have unfortunately been killed repeatedly being disrespected by predominately white reporters.  Would you have done a story on a white cis female murder victim that way?   Would you have used a mug shot or plastered her criminal record all through a story reporting on her death?

No John Caniglia and Jo Ellen Corrigan, you damned sure would not have disrespected a white cis female murder victim that way even if she had a criminal record.  You probably would have left it out of the story or your editor would have done so before publication.

But you (and your editor) felt it was okay to disrespect Ms Acoff  in that jacked up manner. Is it because you and your editor actually hate transwomen?   If you don't, the two articles you wrote sure do leave readers (especially in the trans community) with the impression that you don't care about or think transwomen, and especially African-American transwomen don't deserve dignity even in death.

You damned sure left no room for doubt to local, national and international trans readers and our allies how you felt or whether you even cared about the victim.   It's also apparent you weren't concerned how these stories would be perceived by a community who is beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of being dissed in the media.  

I'm even more pissed off about this journalistic hate crime because this is the third African-American transwoman who has been killed this month and the second who was disrespected by her local media outlet.

It's obvious you haven't heard of the AP Stylebook guidelines on how to RESPECTFULLY report on transgender people, so let's go over them shall we?

Transgender: Use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth.   

If that preference is not expressed, use the pronoun consistent with the way the individuals live publicly.

These guidelines have been in effect since 2001, so I'd love to hear your excuses for how not one but TWO transphobic stories you signed your name to (and your editor allowed) got published. 

Better yet, talk to GLAAD about why you did it.  I'm sure they'll be calling soon to ask why.


TransGriot Update.  Thanks to TransGriot readers Jahaira, Zoe and Lilith found out Ms Acoff's femme name is Cemia Dove.  Friends called her Ce Ce.   Found the new picture of Ce Ce gracing this article on Ce Ce's Facebook page.

Tamala Jones Comes Out As An Ally

I've always loved Tamala Jones as a actress.   She has an extensive body of work and has played characters in many of my fave movies and television series over the years from The Wood to Two Can Play That Game and The Brothers.  

She now has a role on the ABC series Castle as medical examiner Dr. Lanie Parish..

But Tamala is coming out of the closet.  

She's part of a GLAAD PSA series entitled 'Coming Out for Equality’.  It features a diverse group of straight celebrities and athletes “coming out of the closet” as supporters of equality and calling for others to speak out in favor of the issues of human rights for TBLG people




The campaign also includes PSA's from L Word actress Sarah Shahi, Kristen Johnson and actor Jackie Chan.   


H/T Elixher

Ask A Trans Attracted Man Latest Video

Troy's latest video in the Ask A Trans Attracted Man series.   In this fifth video in the series Troy touches on people not loving themselves on either the trans attracted male end or the trans woman end can lead to negative consequences.

Love yourself first before you put yourself out there to love somebody else. 

Being Trans Affects Everything

It's not a lifestyle (and I hate that conservaterm).  When you swallow those hormones or take those first shots of testosterone or estrogen, it causes seismic shifts in your life that mere cis people can't begin to comprehend.

But if we're going to gain trans human rights coverage and make transphobia as unpalatable as racism, homophobia or sexism are, we're going to have to do our best to make them understand.

The day I swallowed my first hormone I no longer had access to male privilege contrary to the ignorant lie the white privileged TERF's try to pimp.  Once my body morphed into the feminine form I will have for the rest of my life, I not only had to get used to navigating the world in it, I had to get used to becoming a moving target for sexual assault, sexism, and all the other not so fun crap aimed at women in our society. 

And I also had to get used to doing so as a Black woman, which has its own set of challenges in addition to the girl like us issues.

As Jamison Green's quote states, being trans affects everything.  It affects the paper trails in our lives.  It affects familial relationships. It affect romantic relationships.  It has a ripple effect on your friendships that you established prior to transition.  It affects your health and wellness and how you approach it.  It affects how you look at your body.  It even affects your politics and the trajectory of your own life depending on when you transition.  

While being trans hasn't been good for my bank account and purse at times, in terms of the quality of my life it has vastly improved.

There's no way in Hades I'd go back to being 'The Twin' as I call the old me.  

I have an exciting life in which I get to do public speaking, panel discussions at various conferences and colleges across the nation, radio and podcast interviews and hope to one day do international trans conferences.

I'm looked at as a respected role model and leader for this community.  I was honored with inclusion on the inaugural Trans 100 list.  I have an award winning blog that is read internationally, is considered an authoritative source of info I'm working hard to keep that way and has attracted over 4.8 million hits.

I'm way happier and more comfortable in my skin being Moni and the folks who knew me prior to 1994 can tell you the same thing. The only thing I'd change about my life is starting transition earlier. 

Being trans does affect everything, and there is more upside to that change than there is a negative downside.  And I like being a constantly evolving girl like me.

Brandy Martell Candlelight Vigil Tonight

A reminder for those of you in the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Area of the candlelight vigil being held tonight to commemorate the one year anniversary of Brandy Martell's April 29 death.  

It will take place at the Franklin and 13th St. corner in Downtown Oakland where she was fatally shot from 7-8:30 PM PDT.   If you need further information about it you can e-mail her at twoods@tri-city health.org or call her at 510-456-3521

Hope there is a large turnout for this memorial vigil.  I also hope that the waste of DNA who killed her will soon be brought to justice to pay for his crime.

Does It Really Get Better?

There was a video I posted from a biracial transwoman back in February 2010 in which she launched a blistering takedown of white transsexuals who had the bigoted cojones (pun intended) to call Black transwomen ugly.

Well, she's back on these TransGriot pages, (and this time I subscribed to her YouTube feed so I can check out more of her videos) because she damned sure needs to be signal boosted.

In this October 2010 video she comments on the 'It Gets Better' campaign and her frustration with LGB folks dismissing or belittling trans folks.

POTUS Remarks At 2013 WH Correspondents Dinner

The 2013 edition of what's called 'Nerd Prom' in Washington DC, the White House Correspondents Dinner.

Issak Gets To Go To His Prom With His Date

The Red Lion Area Senior High School prom in Red Lion, PA was last night, and senior Issak Oliver Wolfe was in attendance with his date Taylor Thomas last night.

The reason we're aware this happened is because of the transphobic events leading up to last night's prom that prompted the ACLU to get involved.

Issak has been transitioning since ninth grade even though his paper trail hasn't yet caught up to where he is in his physical transformation.


But a nasty cup of transphobia was dipped in his transition Kool-Aid by Red Lion High School principal Mark Shue when he listed Issak as a candidate on the prom queen side under his old name because he was 'uncomfortable'.  

Never mind the fact that Issak was running for prom king.

When a stunned Issak went to find out why, Shue and his assistant principals were conveniently out of the building for a meeting.   Then Shue continued to dig the transphobic hole he was in by barring Wolfe's 19 year old girlfreind from being able to attend the prom with him because she exercised her First Amendment rights and called out Red Lion High School on a Facebook page.

The ACLU got involved at this point and threatened a lawsuit if Shue not only didn't cease and desist with the prom shenanigans, but allow Issak to wear the black cap and gown male Red Lion students wear.on May 3.  Why they don't have all students wear the school color cap and gowns is a mystery, but back to the story.


.The ACLU is also demanding an apology from Shue for the hurt and unnecessary drama he caused Wolfe with his initial transphobic stunt.

Will keep you updated as to if it happens.       
 

#BlackPrivilege Twitter Hashtag Going Viral

It started as a Black Twitter smackdown to a racist Tumblr page, but has raged on Twitter since Friday night and gone viral.   It was at one point a trending Twitter hashtag

It's the #BlackPrivilege Twitter hashtag, and it has struck a nerve on many levels with Black Tweeps including Toure of MSNBC's 'The Cycle'.

You know I had to jump in on this and was happy to see some of my comments have been retweeted.  We also had some peeps try to derail the feed as many Black Tweeps predicted would happen and claim the racism is a figment of our imaginations or we're 'perpetuating it' by talking about it.

The #BlackPrivilege hashtag is now going global with respondents from other parts of the African Diaspora such as Canada and Great Britain starting to check in.

It'll be interesting to see how long the momentum continues with this and if it even gets any mainstream media coverage.

Somehow I doubt that it will. 

More Than Just XX Or XY Chromosomes

One of the things that makes me laugh my butt off whenever I see it in a comments section I decide to peruse to gauge the ignorance in is when the scientifically illiterate trans bigots start braying that 'XX chromosomes equals female' and 'XY equals male'.

I'm hearing trans bigots spew that far too often in their attacks on Fallon Fox (and other trans women) and I'm sick of it.

FYI trans bigots.  As we transpeople are a living testament to, Mother Nature doesn't like nice neat gender binaries.   She likes to throw you curve balls, which is why I like to constantly remind people who spout that ignorant jibber-jabber that transpeople are part of the diverse mosaic of human life.

It's why we transwomen can come out of the womb with a masculine body and a female mind and gender ID.  The reverse is true for our trans brothers who have the masculine mind and gender ID but the body stayed female.

But back to the chromosome issue I wanted to shed some light on. 

There's XO, Turner Syndrome in which a female has only one X chromosome. A female bodied person can also be XY due to Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS).  Men can have an extra X chromosome due to Klinefelter's syndrome, which means they have an XXY.   

There are also some of you alleged cismasculine he-man transwoman haters who are walking around this planet with XX chromosomes.  There's also XXX, XYY, XXXX, XXYY....

Are your heads spinning yet?   Oh yeah, the only way you are going to find out what somebody's chromosomal makeup is damned sure not by looking at their outward gender presentation or the genitalia between their legs and making loud and wrong assumptions about it.   It requires you to do lab testing to find out for certain. 

Human beings are far more complex than the gender binary allows.  The existence of humans in all their biodiverse configurations is making that crystal clear as the mounting scientific research continues to point out. 

Love Is All You Need?

This is a short film in which the societal script is flipped and being gay or lesbian is considered the norm and heterosexuality is seen as 'sinful' or 'awful'.  It focuses on a young teen named Ashley who is growing up in that world as hetero and is being verbally and physically bullied for it. 

The film has won 19 film festival awards(and counting)  

There are some graphic scenes in this short film and trigger alerts, but it realistically simulates what gay and trans kids go through in terms of dealing with a world they are at odds with and feeling alone and unsupported in it.  

Seven Transphobic Tropes Debunked

I've discussed in the over 6500 posts on this blog (and had fun eviscerating ) these seven transphobic tropes that seem to constantly pop into articles about this community and radfem hate screeds.

Questioning Transphobia has a excellent series of articles that eviscerate the seven most common anti-trans arguments.  And you know as a TransGriot public service I'm going to make it easy for you to find them.

Thanks to Questioning Transphobia's Queen Emily and Lisa Harney for the hard solid thinking and work that went into this series of articles.

Trope 1 – “Really” a Man / Woman
Trope 2 – “Patriarchal Privilege”
Trope 3 – “Reifying Gender”
Trope 4 – “My Theories Are More Important Than Your Experience”
Trope 5 – The “Man in a Dress” / “Deceiver” Double Bind
Trope 6 – Mutilation
Trope 7 – Socialization As A Child

Shut Up Fool Awards-2013 NFL Draft Weekend Edition

The 2013 NFL Draft started last night in New York and will continue later tonight with Rounds 2 and 3 and Rounds 4-7 on  Saturday. 

The 1st round of this years NFL Draft was one in which teams loaded up on offensive and defensive line players and defensive backs.  My Texans grabbed DeAndre Hopkins of Clemson, the receiver they needed at number 27

I was also happy to see UH corner DJ Hayden make it from a near fatal practice injury last November to being drafted by the Oakland Raiders.

The Texans have eight more selections, and we'll see who else my fave NFL ballers and two time defending AFC South champs get tonight and tomorrow.

But I know today is Friday, the last one of this month.  Y'all surfed over here to find out who was the first round draft choice for stupidity and ignorance this week or what off the radar prospects turned themselves into first round draft choices capable of winning our weekly Shut Up Fool Award.

But I do need to find out who drafted who and what cut players ended up in new NFL homes. I plan on defending my NFL prognostication title this year.  But instead of just competing with Mike Watts, I also have new competition in blogger Eli Blake to contend with in 2013 as well.

Anybody else want some of this NFL prognostication fun, let me, Mike or Eli know now

Okay,okay.  I'll tear myself away from ESPN and the NFL and get to my usual Friday business.

As always, there are a few free agents that played their way into SUF contention. 

Free agent number one is Fox Noise fembot Katie Pavlich  continuing the conservafoool War on the Poor.   She thinks that all welfare recipients names should be publicized because they are getting tax dollars for it.    Well, using that specious line of reasoning, we should know the names of all CIA operatives, everyone who receives federal student aid, every business owned that receives any federal contract or grant.....

Free agent number two is Fox Noise...for their Islamic bashing, trying to spin Junior's disastrous presidency in the wake of the opening of his presidential library on the SMU campus, their hate on Obama rhetoric.

Free Agent number three is .a group award for the Republican Party and their hijinks this week of Sen. Rand Paul (Teabagger-KY) contradicting himself on drones, Sen. Lindsey Graham say they should be allowed on US soil and other GOP fails too numerous to list in this post..

But this week's winner is Dean Saxton, or 'Brother Dean' as he's know on the University of Arizona campus.   This knuckle-dragging embarrassment to manhood who has a future in the Arizona Republican Party pissed off people on the picturesque UA campus earlier this week by holding up a sign espousing the jacked up view that women deserve to be raped. 

Saxton also has a Twitter page in which he regularly tweets insults about feminists, Islam, and the LGBT community.   And unless Saxton violates UA student policy, he has a First Amendment right to be an azzhole.    But we also have the same Fist Amendment right to tell this fool what we think about his jacked up views. 

Dean Saxton, Shut up Fool! 

The Battle For Self Determination Of One's Own Identity Is A Just One

I'm blessed to have some pretty smart people around me as you can tell by some of the conversations that get started on my Facebook page.  

Sometimes those profound conversations get cranked up by some post I've written.  There are times it happens because either I or somebody else starts doing some hard solid thinking about whatever subject we were tackling at the moment and a comment jump starts a thoughtful conversation.

I wrote a post about a Houston area trans community issue that has a pleasant conclusion in Toni Zamazul getting to be herself  for her upcoming May 11 prom.  

So as the comments started flowing  Jordana LeSesne (yes the same Jordana that challenged me to start TransGriot in the first place) had this to say about it.  

No fight is more just than the battle for self determination of one's own identity. 

And she's absolutely right about that.   When it comes to fighting for your right to self determine your own identity, it is not only a just battle, but it is one that must be waged.  

Only you should have the power to determine your self identity and you must zealously defend it. When others do it for you either because they did so by force or you ceded that power to do so willingly, you not only aren't going to like what they come up with, but you don't have the power to control and define your own humanity. 

It's why I refuse to allow anyone to define for me who I am as an African descended girl like us.   I am a New Black Transwoman whose femininity and womanhood is just as valid as someone who was fortunate to be born into a feminine body. 

My transbrothers are also becoming (or already are) more vocal not only in terms of how they define trans masculinity, but are doing hard solid thinking about masculinity in general and their roles in redefining it so it fits for them and their ongoing battle for self determination of their identity

We have made remarkable progress in terms of advancing trans human rights in our various locales.  We have begun to do the hard work of shifting the conversations about trans people into more positive territory.  We have even begun the herculean task of getting our stories told in a more positive way in the media.   
But we can't forget the work we still need to do between our ears to permanently banish the unholy trinity of shame, guilt and fear from our lives.   That starts with us never forgetting that we must fight and decisively win the battle for self determination of our own identity and remember as we engage in that just battle, we have the moral high ground when we do so.

Jazz At The GLAAD Media Awards

Shoot, Jazz is piling up more frequent flyer miles than I am so far this year.   If I can get to Philly from here for the upcoming Philadelphia Trans Health Conference I'll finally get an opportunity to meet her and her mom sionce they are scheduled to do a panel discussion there and I'm penciled in for one on Saturday.

Jazz's latest trip was to Los Angeles for the GLAAD Media Awards.   While she was on stage she made the call for Hollywood to do a better job of trans representation on the large and small screens.

She also had this MTV interview about her recent experience.

But back to riffing on the lack of trans visibility on the big and small screens.   Lord knows I've talked about that subject on the blog a few times and especially lack of realistic trans POC characters. 

There's also the irritating tendency of Hollywood producers to cast cis women or gay men to play trans women when there are trans women of all ethnic backgrounds and age ranges working in Hollywood and eager to play some realistic trans roles.

If y'all can't come up with them, e-mail me and I'll come up with some ideas for you to build realistic trans characters for a 10% cut of the profits for starters.   And with the reality that transkids are transitioning as early as 5 and 6 or in their early teen years, that adds more chances to tell trans stories. 

Jazz's mom Jeannette recently sent me a tweet congratulating me for being named to the inaugural Trans100 list and being an inspiration to many people.  I thanked her and noted that Jazz is one my inspirations and thanked her and jazz for being role models for trans teens and transkids that don't have a voice yet.  

The transkids and transteens are one of the reasons I continue to fight for trans human rights coverage here and around the world. 

It's really about the kids like Jazz.  We trans adults and our allies not only need to be good role models for our trans younglings, we need to be fighting tooth and nail with every fiber of our beings to do what we can to leave a better world for them. 

Moni's stepping off her electronic soapbox now.   Enjoy the video

Toni Gets To Wear Her Prom Dress

As if there was going to be any doubt this was not going to happen, especially in light of the fact this same issue cropped up in the Waller ISD last year    

It seems like every year since I started TransGriot in 2006 this issue has cropped up over the last two decades.  Even if the students lose a round with school administrators, the court system (when it goes that far) usually rules in favor of the trans student.

When I stopped in last night to visit my homegirl Vanity (who owns a transformation studio inside the Loop) and attend her weekly Wednesday meet up I hadn't been to in a while, I walked in on Toni Zamazal and her family selecting her dress for the event and getting a makeover for the upcoming May 11 prom.

If you haven't heard, Toni is the trans student whose request to wear a dress at her Spring High School prom was initially rebuffed by an assistant principal and was told she must wear a tuxedo.   That was until the ACLU, her family and the angelic troublemakers in the Houston area trans community got involved. 


Spring High principal Donna Ullrich stated in a Houston Chronicle interview that she did not object to the request, but she needed to ask the school board because it was a "community decision."

After the ACLU sent a letter explaining the assistant principal's decision was unconstitutional, the Spring ISD attorney hammered out a deal with the ACLU and sent a March 26 letter to Zamazal stating she must meet the standards of the prom dress code for females, including dresses that reach at least mid-thigh and neatly kept hair.

I don't think that will be a problem.   Zamazal said in a statement she wanted to wear a dress to prom "because I wouldn't have felt comfortable at all showing up in a tux. I'm so grateful that my school has agreed to let me be myself on such an important night."

So are we Toni.. I noticed how happy you were last night as Vanity was applying and finally finished your makeup. You looked beautiful when she was done and I hope you have a fun and memorable prom night.

I know you will because you'll get to be yourself on May 11.  As for what color her dress is?  All I'm going to say is that Toni has narrowed it down to two tasteful selections that I'm going to keep a secret until she unveils them for you on prom night. 

But Toni will look gorgeous in either one of the tasteful dresses she selected.

May 1 Teach-In At Smith College

If you oppose discrimination and would like Smith College to admit trans women as undergraduate students, please come to this event. Bet Power will be speaking, and trans community members and allies are very much needed in this effort to press Smith College for change.

And if you haven't done so yet, here's the petition asking Smith to change its policies and admit qualified transwomen who wish to attend the school.

Smith Q & A (Queers & Alliez) is hosting a Teach-In next Wednesday, May 1 at 6:30-7:30 PM. EDT, outside the Smith Campus Center, in response to the issue of trans women's exclusion from Smith. It is an opportunity for coalition work between the larger queer community and Smith, as well as an opportunity for us to do education work around transmisogyny. It is not a protest, or a violent space -- but rather, a space to continue educating our communities.

Come learn about how and why excluding trans women from Smith is inexcusable, works against the mission of Smith as a women's college, and is not a Title IX issue. Hear students, faculty, and Northampton community members speak about historic exclusion of trans women, and the odds that trans women face trying to gain access to higher education.

The Smith College Campus Center is located at 100 Elm Street, Northampton, MA.

I'll repeat and expand on what I said in the Smith trans hypocrisy post.   This issue isn't going away because trans people now transition as early as ages 5 and 6.  More are transitioning in their teens.  Those 5 and 6 year old trans kids will grow up to become trans teens who one day will be looking to earn a degree on someone's college campus. 

Some of those trans teens will be trans feminine students who could be prospective students wishing to attend your campus.   You already allow transmasculine students on your campus after they transition, so why the problem with having transfeminine students on campus?  

Transfeminine students would not only benefit from matriculating at an all women's college with Smith's academic reputation, but we would bring something to the table in terms of educating you on our issues and having your students get to know the trans women who get to attend the school.

Hope you can attend, because Bet is an amazing speaker and you don't want to miss it.