Y'all Must Think We're Stupid, Cleveland Plain Dealer

When GLAAD, HRC, a host of other allied LGBT organizations, people in the trans community from Cleveland, Ohio, around the nation and the world tell you that the two transphobic articles you wrote in the Cemia Acoff case are deeply offensive, it would stand to reason that you would at least change them. 

Here we are three days later and the offensive headlines and paragraphs in the two awful hate crime stories penned by John Caniglia are STILL there.

And no, these two stories aren't even close to meeting AP standards for reporting on trans people. If you think Cleveland Plain Dealer we didn't notice the little stunt you pulled, just advising you we transfolks have above average reading comprehension.

And it's why you're getting called out on this in the first place.  

Bloggers by simply talking to people in the Cleveland trans community quickly established that Ms Acoff's name is Cemia.   From that we found pictures on her Facebook page.   Another friend of Cemia's created the RIP Ce Ce graphic that is up on my blog so I don't need to put up the mug shots that you disrespectfully continue to keep up on those two jacked up posts.

And you think we didn't notice you:

* Still have those jacked up titles for both articles
* Still kept the mugshots in both articles
* Still refuse to excise the criminal record that is not germane to the story
* Still are refusing to refer to Cemia as she, with female pronouns or as a transgender female.
* Still refuse to use her chosen name as part of the AP Stylebook guidelines you claim to have followed. 

Digging your heels in and hoping this will blow over is only serving to piss off the Cleveland, Ohio, US and  international trans communities, along with our allies in the United States and around the world.  

With each passing hour you continue to look like transphobic jerks for not doing the right thing and simply making the edits to the stories that will treat Cemia with the dignity that you stripped her of.

And if you think posting at the bottom of the offending article that you 'amended' it to comply with AP Stylebook standards, I have waterfront property along I-10 between Breaux Bridge and Baton Rouge, LA in the Atchafalaya Swamp I'd like to sell you

I could go on, but I'll let Dr. Kelley Winters give you her take on your wastes of bandwith articles.

The barely edited article is not at all within the AP Stylebook guidelines.

It states, "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."

The language in Caniglia and Corrigan's article is only somewhat more gender neutral and nowhere respectful of Ms. Acoff as a woman who lived, died and publicly identified as a woman (a point the authors sensationalized, regarding her arrest because she affirmed herself as a woman to transit police).

Male pronouns remain in paragraph 3-- one in a quote and another not in a quoted statement. Hormonal transition care is maligned for all transgender and transsexual people as "dangerous drugs." The authors make a point to ridicule the underwear she wore when she died, a humiliation they would never inflict on a person of privilege. Ms. Acoff is described throughout the article as more criminal than her murderer(s).

The authors depict the victim with a mug shot, rather than a respectful photo of the young woman she was ( http://tinyurl.com/chgevw5 ).

While sensationalizing her past petty infractions, the authors neglect to mention whether the police have a suspect or are even investigating her death as a murder. This article typifies the victim bashing and stereotyping that so many transgender women, especially trans women of color, suffer in the media. It is a disgrace to journalism.

And hey, Dr. Winters was nice to you.   I called it a 'journalistic hate crime' and stand by what I wrote in light of seeing the 'frack you' half azzed edits you did. 

You can circle the wagons to shield yourselves from the caca storm your articles and disrespect of Ce Ce Acoff touched off all you want, but memo to you Cleveland Plain Dealer, John Caniglia and everybody else whose transphobic fingerprints are on this.  We aren't stupid, and the trans community isn't letting up or letting go on this blatant disrepect of a deceased transwoman. 

Neither am I until you address the problems in those articles because it's transpeeps who look like me that are taking the brunt of these hate crime killings along with trans Latinas.

It's fouled up stories like this that create the climate for people to think it's okay to kill transpeople in the first place.

Smith College Teach In Tonight

For those of you in Western Massachusetts, you may wish to roll over to Northampton and check out a teach in that's happening on the Smith College campus tonight from 6:30-7:30 PM EDT  outside the Smith Campus Center.

It's being hosted by Smith Q & A (Queers & Alliez)  in response to the issue of exclusion of trans women from being able to enroll and matriculate at one of the premiere women's colleges in the country.

A petition calling for the end of transphobic discrimination in Smith admissions policies has garnered over 4000 signatures.

One of the people who will be speaking is longtime activist and historian Bet Power, and I hope the video cameras are rolling for this one.

Hope you'll come and show your support for this event.

Ce Ce Acoff Rally Today At 3 PM

For those of you in the Cleveland metro area there will be a rally for our fallen trans sister Cemia Dove 'Ce Ce' Acoff  later today in Cleveland's Willard Park.

The rally is being organized by local DJ Zoe Renee Lapin and will start at 3 PM EDT.  If you need further information about it get in contact with Zoe for further details about the rally.  

I hope you peeps in the area spread the word and can attend it, and here's hoping that we'll have allies and respectful media coverage there as well 

And speaking of respectful media coverage, still pushing for that to happen in this case, so stay on the Plain Dealer and the local TV stations and demand it.  They exist to serve the people in the Cleveland area, not the other way around.

TransGriot Update:  Rally was moved to the step of Cleveland's City Hall

ConGRADulations Class of 2013!

Seems like I just wrote that post a few months ago that ushered in the start of the 2012-13 school year. 

It's now May, and that means it's not only prom season, but time for kids all over the country to make that walk across the stage to get their high school or collegiate diplomas.  

For others it signals that promotion to the next elementary, middle or high school grade.   There are other students eagerly awaiting making the jump from elementary to middle/intermediate or junior high school, or from middle school to high school that awaits at the end of this month. 

Wanted to take a moment to salute the members of the Class of 2013 and give a special shout out to my transpeeps who are making that high school commencement walk such as Issak Wolfe in Pennsylvania, Calliope Wong in Connecticut and my Houston area homegirl Toni Zamazal. 

You made it!   You're leaving high school and moving on to the next big step in your lives.   Also sending love to my trans, same gender loving (SGL) and allied readers who are graduating this year as well.  


I also want to give a shout out to all my readers who are graduating from their various college campuses and taking that step into a world far different than the one you've gotten intimately familiar with when you first entered your various campuses as eager freshmen.

For you high schoolers about to make that jump from your beloved high school campus to a collegiate one, enjoy the experience.  Once it's over you'll be talking about it for the next thirty to forty years of your life good, bad and indifferent.  

For those of you who are trans, lesbian, bi or gay, as soon as you get your collegiate class schedules and finish orientation, find out where your campus LGBT center is located if they have one.  It'll help you navigate the tricky waters of going through college as an TBLG student.

And yes HBCU's, haven't forgotten about (and neither has the National Black Justice Coalition) the issues that pertain to LGBT students on your campuses.  There are 300,000 students matriculating on the 105 historically Black Colleges and University (HBCU) campuses and you can bet that Black trans and SGL students are part of that mix. 

It's either get with the program and add inclusive gender identity and sexual orientation language in your non-discrimination and employment policies along with policies that make their on campus lives better or lose those students to predominately white campuses.  Their top 20 scores on the Campus Pride Index and being proud of it will trump family and cultural ties to your institution if you continue to have hostile climates for Black trans and SGL students.

I also want to thank those colleges and universities who invited me to their campuses during this 2012-13 school year to speak about or participate in panel discussions about trans issues, and hope I get the opportunity and invitation to do more of them inside and outside Loop 610 in the 2013-14 school year. 

ConGRADulations Class of 2013!   May you have much success in whatever you plan to do with the rest of your lives . 

GENDA Passes NY Assembly For Sixth Straight Time

Back on April 19 I asked the question if GENDA would finally pass in New York State this year.  

Well, it's off t a great start.  For the sixth straight time GENDA, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act passed the NY state Assembly on a 84-46 vote Tuesday. 

GENDA (A.4226)(S.0195) ensures that all New Yorkers, including those who identify as transgender or present their gender in a way that differs from what is traditionally associated with their birth sex, are protected from discrimination in housing, employment, credit, public accommodations, and other areas of everyday life under the Human Rights Law. The measure also expands the state's hate crime protections to explicitly include crimes against transgender people.

And yes, as you probably guessed opponents of the bill threw the bathroom meme into the debate in their attempts to block it but failed.

Assemblymember Deborah J. Glick said about its passage, "GENDA appropriately extends long overdue civil rights protections to the transgender community. I am confident that fairness and justice will result in passage, and I call on the NYS Senate to embrace the 21st Century and approve this crucial bill.
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Tuesday also saw 700 people descend upon Albany to lobby for passage of GENDA and work on the senators in the Republican controlled New York Senate.  The bill has gone from being passed in the Assembly to dying in the Senate for the last five sessions without ever getting a floor vote.

Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Nathan Schaefer is hopeful this time will be different  and congratulated the Assembly for standing up for the rights of trans New Yorkers.

"LGBT New Yorkers have made significant strides towards equality with legislative victories on hate crimes, bullying, and most recently, marriage equality. And yet, we have work to do. In many places across New York, people can be fired from their jobs, evicted from their homes, and experience discrimination just because of their gender identity or expression. The time to extend basic civil rights to transgender New Yorkers is long overdue. We commend the Assembly for recognizing this need and passing GENDA for the 6th time.

Senate Sponsor Daniel Squadron will lead the charge to pass GENDA through the Investigations and Government Operations Committee and the full Senate.  If that happens, it will then go to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's desk for his signature.

Transgender New Yorkers have been waiting far too long to have their home state cover them in anti-discrimination and hate crime laws, and it's past time it happened .

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