Road To Creating Change Houston 2014 Diary

Ever wondered what it was like or what goes on to not only plan a convention, but make them run smoothly?   Well, it takes a lot of work from dozens of committed people to plan it in the year before the event date and hundreds of volunteers during the event to make it happen.

In the world of large conventions, especially in the GLBT community, one of the largest is Creating Change.   I think you've read in these electronic pages how excited and thrilled I am along with the Houston LGBT community to have the premiere TBLG conference coming to Houston in 2014 for the first time on our end of I-45. 

Some little city on the northern end of I-45 has held it twice.  Gratuitous civic rivalry shade thrown at Dallas over, back to post.

I'm excited that many of you will be coming to my hometown and the Hilton Americas Hotel because it'll be the first Creating Change I've been able to attend since 1999.  That's way too long. 

I've been to several interest meetings since the rumors started flying that we were going to possibly get Creating Change last June.   But now the reality is sinking in that we are a mere nine months away from the January 29-February 2 dates we have scheduled for it. 

At 7 PM CDT in the Montrose Center the work began to organize the massive task of putting together Creating Change 2014, Houston style.

Our co-chairs for the 2014 event have already been selected.  They are Bryan Hlavinka, Christina Gorczynski, Augie Augustine and Lou Weaver.  They are not only the faces of our convention,  they have the task of overseeing the 15 subcommittees that are going to do the nuts and bolts work of helping to assemble CC14.

Those subcommittees are Development and Fundraising, Local Promotion and Outreach, Volunteers, Programming, Youth Support, Elders Support, Disability Hospitality, Bisexual Hospitality, Community Housing, Local Hospitality and Information, 12-Step Recovery, Spiritual Needs, People of Color Hospitality, Transgender Hospitality, and Media/Public Relations.  

The four subcommittees I was interested in were People of Color Hospitality, Transgender Hospitality, Media/Public Relations, and Programming.  

However out of the four that appealed to me, I could only pick one to focus my primary efforts on.  I was concerned about what would happen when my fall speaking schedule cranked up.  I didn't want to spread myself too thin or take leadership in one and my speaking schedule started pulling me all over the country to the point that the subcommittee's work would suffer.   So I decided to focus on People of Color Hospitality and I'd offer my help to the others I was interested in if it was wanted or needed.  

Of course, Media and Programming filled up fast along with.Transgender Hospitality.   I decided to join People of Color Hospitality as the one I'd focus my efforts on and signed up for that one.   

After a few minutes I met the people who I would be spending the next several months ensuring that our piece of Creating Change 2014 is well organized and run.   We're responsible for ensuring the People of Color Hospitality suite would have the Houston flavor we're all seeking to project to the world when y'all come here and ensuring that it and CC14 reflects our diverse community. 

After we selected our chair (Melissa) and co-chair (Ryan) (nope, was too slow on the draw so I'm the admin for it) we didn't waste any time trading contact information, setting up a meeting date and agreeing to a time that fits all our schedules for our subcommittee meetings.   We got started bouncing initial ideas and visions off each other as to the collective result we wanted to achieve.

The same thing was happening with the other 14 subcommittees the people in attendance at last night's meeting were committing themselves to in that room and the one next door. 

You can follow our efforts on Twitter @CC14Houston, we have a Facebook and Google groups set up. And yeah people, the $25,000 record fundraising target for a Creating Change is in serious danger of falling.  We ain't playing about obliterating that record.   We're also shooting for 4000 conference attendees for CC14.

For those of you in the Houston area who missed last night's meeting, it's not too late for you to join in the fun of planning this event.  The next meeting is happening on June 4 at the Montrose Center starting at 6:30 PM CDT and we have them scheduled through January 2014.   You can also get in contact with the co-chairs and they can plug you into one of the committees they oversee.

And I'll be keeping y'all posted through my window on the process.

Seattle And Portland Screenings Of 'Still Black' This Weekend

In the interest of journalistic integrity I do wish to disclose that I'm proud to know one of the transmen featured in it and the director of this award winning documentary.

But for those of you in the Portland and Seattle areas, Dr Kortney Ryan Ziegler is headed your way with his groundbreaking film 'Still Black A Portrait of Black Transmen'.

The screening is a collaborative effort of Gender Odyssey and Sister Sinema  with partial proceeds going to the Gender Odyssey Scholarship Fund.

The Seattle screening is scheduled for Saturday, May 11 and the Portland one on Sunday, May 12, so use this link to purchase tickets for one excellent film spotlighting the lives of six transmen.

here's hoping for sold out screenings on both nights and y'all show Dr. KRZ some love.

Race And Class Still Matter In The Trans Community

Got this comment from Jacqueline in response to the Transwomen Must Work Four Times As Hard To Be Considered Half As Good post.

I am tired of hearing about violence against trans folks in general. I have to say that it upsets me that "of color" is being added to create a divisional line between trans people. We are all already the most marginalized group of folks possibly on the planet, do we really need to add the race card to the mix?

I am pretty certain (being a transwoman myself) that I do not have any sort of "white privilege" or any extra safety and security because I am not "of color".

We need to unify and understand that the trans experience is unique on to itself and WE are all it together. This "of color" shit is BS.

Jacqueline, I'm just as tired of hearing the conservawords 'race card' deployed on posts that didn't start out as being ones specifically about that topic.  Denials of 'I don't have any sort of white privilege' upset me, especially when they are uttered by white transpeople who refuse to acknowledge that white skin matters even in transworld.  

Your assertion that mentioning the reality transpeople of color catch increased levels of hell during a gender transition is BS pretty much hips us POC transpeeps to the fact you haven't pondered our lived reality that race and class affect a gender transition or dealt with the fact you do exist with white privilege.

If the trans community were really, 'all in this together', I wouldn't have needed to start this Afrocentric trans blog seven years ago to address the concerns of African-American trans people that weren't being heard, our history whitewashed, or our issues simply not addressed.   If the trans community were 'all in this together', our community wouldn't need the Trans Latin@ Coalition, the Trans Persons Of Color Coalition, Black Transmen Incorporated or a growing slate of POC trans organized national and regional conferences.

It wouldn't have taken me or other POC girls like us to repeatedly get the party started on just how jacked up it is for a media outlet to demonize, diss and misgender murdered non white transwomen

70% of the people whose names are read during every TDOR are Black and Latina transwomen and that pattern is sadly continuing in 2013.   Last month we had three African-American and a Latina transwoman killed.   According to the NTDS Latin@ transpeople face a 20% unemployment rate.  African-American transpeople face a 26% unemployment rate compared to just an overall 14% rate for transpeople in general.

Jacqueline, your being trans is the first time in your life that you've had to deal with someone hating you because of who you are.   I and other transpeople of color have had to deal with that issue since we came out of the birth canal.  Being trans just added another layer of oppression to what we already have to deal with in addition to walking on Planet Earth as a non-white male or female.

And ironically, even though I wrote that post for a predominately POC audience, it's still in a generally inclusive tone.  But you still objected to it.  You need to ask yourself why it bugged you that speaking the truth about a non-white transperson's lived experiences bugs you so much that you insultingly label it as 'playing the race card'.

So yes Jacqueline, I really do need to talk about race and class in the trans community on a regular basis and I'm saddened to hear that you think it is BS to do so.   I don't because I and other transpeople of color do not have the luxury of separating our race from our trans status.  They are inextricably linked, affect how we transition, impacts the issues that crop up in our gender transitions and how we navigate them.

And to paraphrase Ralph Ellison, We are invisible because you not only refuse to see and hear me, you refuse to acknowledge our existence.

If you don't like me discussing race and class on my Afrocentric blog, you are always free to surf over to a vanillacentric privileged trans blog where they will have the luxury to do what they always do and ignore issues of race and class in this community.  

As an award winning trans leader of African descent and an inaugural Trans 100 honoree, I can't afford to do that.

It is not only a denial of my own existence and heritage, it is a disservice to the trans people I represent and the community at large to NOT to have an honest discussion about race and class issues and how they affect the trans community.  

You can stick your head in the sand, cover you ears and yell 'La la la, can't hear you' at the top of your lungs, that still won't change the fact that I and non-white trans people and our SGL and cis allies will still be pointing out race matters in the trans community.

Evon Young Case Update

The last time I posted on the murder of Milwaukee trans man and rapper Evon Young five suspects, 37 year old Ron Allen, 23 year old Devin Seaberry, 26 year old Billy Griffin, 18 year old Ashanti Mcalister, and 27 year old Victor Stewart had been arrested and charged with Young's murder. 

In a January 31 court hearing they defendants all plead not guilty to the first-degree intentional homicide charges they face. The charges come with a maximum life in prison sentence if they are convicted

Young was brutally killed and once the the murder was done one or more of the perpetrators took the body to a trash dumpster behind an apartment complex and set it on fire.  But by the time the police detectives investigating the case discovered that information, the dumpster in question had been picked up and emptied around January 8 at a transfer station before being taken to a massive landfill in Menomonee Falls, WI  

While the court pleas were happening, the police on January 28 began searching a 200 by 200 foot section of the landfill with cadaver dogs for Young's body which ended after 13 days.   Then on February 19 a body was discovered near a dumpster at 63rd and Kraul Streets where evidence in the Young murder was previously found.   It raised the hopes of Young's family that it was his body, but it turned out not to be.

Despite the lack of a body, police and prosecuotrs belive that they have collected enough crime scene evidence combined with the statements of the alleged killers to secure convictions in this case.

As for the projected trial dates for the defendants in tthe Young case, they are as follows.  Billy Griffin is first up on June 10.  Ron Joseph Allen and Ashanti Mcalister get their day in court on June 24.  Victor Stewart will start on July 1 and Devin L. Seaberry on July 8.    Those dates could change based on whether they change their initial 'not guilty' pleas and take plea bargains  or the trials get rescheduled.

Will Evon Young's family get justice?   That remains to be seen.  But you know I will keep you posted about any developments in this case as I get the information.

Ce Ce Acoff Case Links

Ce Ce Acoff's funeral was yesterday, and as you know I've been on this story since I first got the word about our fallen transsister and how she has been grossly disrespected by the Cleveland media. 

I'm going to make it easy for you to follow the TransGriot coverage of this ongoing story by putting the links to the posts I've already written here.

Another Black Transwoman Dies And Is Dissed In The Local Media

Three More April African-American Transwoman Deaths

Acoff Murder Updates

CeCe Acoff Rally Today At 3 PM

Rally For CeCe Acoff

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

Arrest Made In Acoff Case

Why The Negative Plain Dealer Coverage May Result In Cemia NOT Getting Justice

Transwomen Must Work Four Times As Hard To Be Considered Half As Good

Former Ottawa, ON mayor Charlotte Whitton once said 'Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought of half as good.'   For transwomen, it's triple that, and for transwomen of color it's four times as well as men to be considered half as good.

It's a concept that trans women of color are already bitterly familiar with. It isn't fair, but it's the hand we're dealt and it's what we have to overcome to be the best #girlslikeus we can be. 

I know we have some smart, talented and exceptional trans women out there who if given just half a chance, can not only excel at whatever they set their minds to do, they will thrive if given the support they need.

But we have to be given the opportunities to succeed or fail on our own merits, not you cis peeps gay and straight throwing barriers and obstacles in our path every chance you get and then chuckling to yourself when that person falls short.

But we transwomen relish a challenge.   We like it when you cis people engage in the hard bigotry of low trans expectations and presume we'll fail.  It makes it even sweeter when we spectacularly succeed and make you look foolish in the process.

But before we can get to that point of spectacular success, we have to be prepared and ready to take advantage of the opportunities when they present themselves.  It's why we need to make sure we have as much education as possible.   It's why we need to be networking, building sistahcircles, lifting each other up in transfeminine circles as we climb and reaching out to cis women friends and allies. 

It's why we need to be fighting tooth and nail to pass trans human rights legislation with airtight public accommodations language and reaching out to our trans younglings at every opportunity.

We knew it wasn't going to be easy to be girls like us.  We knew before we took our first estrogen shots we were going to have to be better than the average cis woman just to be included and accepted in the feminine ranks.  

There are some haters who will always be chomping Hater Tots fresh out the grease and make it their foaming at the mouth transphobic hate filled mission to never accept girls like us into the sorority. 

Frack 'em.   That doesn't mean we don't keep striving to be the best people we can be.  Our best revenge is to contribute our talents to the various communities we interact and intersect with and make the cis haters look bigoted and stupid for being the transphobic oppressors they are.

It's also why I and everybody else in trans femme world needs to be consistently striving to be the quality women we know we can be inside and outside.

Even if we have to work three or four times as hard to get to that point.

Thank You, NY Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell!

I mentioned GENDA passed the NY state General Assembly for the sixth straight time, and now the fun part begins of getting it through the Republican controlled NY state Senate.

While it was pending in the assembly the GENDA opponents had nothing to throw at it but the 'bathroom meme', and here's Assemblyman  Daniel O'Donnell properly eviscerating it.

Thank you Assemblyman O'Donnell for standing up for the human rights of trans New Yorkers.

Trans Francisco Documentary

This 2010 documentary by Glenn Davis delves into the lives of several transwomen in the San Francisco Bay Area.   It features Miss Major, Cecilia Chung, Kayla, Tiffany Woods and Theresa Sparks

Skip The Makeup's Gina Morvay wrote a review of it when it debuted back in July 2010. 

Since then Trans Francisco has been screened at LGBT and trans film festivals around the world, and you can get more information about the award winning film at its transfrancisco.com website. 

Trigger alert for discussions of graphic sexual assault and anti-trans violence

Trailer




Kayla discussing her relationship with her parents




Alexandra Cruz



Cecilia Chung



Miss Major

Hey Renee! 2013 Women's World Ice Hockey Championship Back On US Soil!

Told you Renee that the IIHF Women's World ice hockey title y'all won last year in Burlington, VT was only on loan.

Y'all spoiled our chance to fourpeat last year after winning three straight IIHF titles but it took y'all overtime to do it.   We only needed regulation time to bring it back to our side of the border.

Team USA stormed into the SBP Arena in Ottawa and took it back with a 3-2 win in the title game in front of 13,776 witnesses to claim their fourth championship in five years.

It was the usual hard fought game with Team USA outshooting Canada in this one 30-16.  It came down to the reigning NCAA women's player of the year Amanda Kessel firing the championship clinching goal, a wrist shot from the right wing just 3:09 into the final period.   

Team USA will get to hold the IIHF world title until the next tournament is conducted in Sweden in 2015.   The Olympics are happening in Sochi in February 2014 and the International Ice Hockey federation doesn't conduct the world championship tournament in Olympic years.

Speaking of the Olympics, the nations that have qualified for the women's Olympic hockey tournament are the 2010 defending Olympic gold medalists Canada, Japan, 2010 bronze medalists Finland, Switzerland, Sweden, the host nation Russia, Germany and the 2010 silver medalists United States.

It was so much fun winning that title in your nation's capital and on your soil.   It may be your game, but the women's world championship trophy is back on US soil again.   The Olympic gold medal is next.

USA! USA! USA!

Why The Negative Plain Dealer Coverage May Result In Cemia NOT Getting Justice

As I noted yesterday, the police in the Cleveland suburban hamlet of Olmsted Township have arrested 36 year old Andre L. Bridges,who is accused of the murder of 20 year old Cemia Dove Acoff.

Cemia's funeral is going to be this morning at 10 AM EDT at The Temple Baptist Church in East Cleveland, OH and there will also be a vigil held afterwards at the AIDS Taskforce of Cleveland.  It's a local organization in Cleveland according to Zoe Lapin that has heavy trans POC participation levels and significant POC trans involvement .

While the police and FBI capture of Bridges is a wonderful development in this case and as Olmsted Township Police Chief John Minek noted there is still an active investigation going on, I fear the damage has already been done that will ensure that Cemia may not get justice when this case finally goes to court.

While I hope and pray that when it goes to trial, it's proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Bridges did it and he spends the rest of his life getting three hots and a cot at the Ohio Iron Bar motel for what he's allegedly done, I fear that the Plain Dealer's transphobic coverage may have already poisoned the well and tainted the Cleveland area jury pool in the direction of Cemia NOT receiving justice for what was done to her.

If it happens that Andre L. Bridges gets a ridiculously low sentence or walks, you'll only need to look back to the day that the Plain Dealer's rabidly transphobic coverage of CeCe's death was unleashed upon the world..

For starters, the Plain Dealer went too far in ignoring the AP Stylebook guidelines and erasing Cemia trans feminine status.  Instead of reporting the murder of a trans feminine woman, you stripped her of any dignity by misgendering her, commenting on what she was wearing when the body was discovered, and categorizing her as 'it'  Then on top of that, you used her old name in the story, used mugshots of her and dragged her old criminal record into it   

Way to go in your first class efforts Cleveland Plain Dealer to dehumanize her.

Because you set the demonizing and dehumanizing framing of the story, that meant the other Cleveland area media outlets followed your transphobic lead to the point where the Lanigan and Malone morning team at Majic105.7 cracked jokes (around the 7:00 minute mark) about this killing. 

That initial negative framing led to a television interview with a family member that obviously wasn't down with Cemia's gender transition.  That family member constantly misgendered her as old male pictures were shot without balancing the story out with people who knew and loved her as CeCe and pictures reflecting that. 

Never mind the fact that Cemia was the victim in this and isn't the one that should be on trial.  And when the backlash started, instead of correcting the story, you started wallowing in white male cis privilege, circled the wagons and blamed everybody else but yourselves for the fracked up coverage you justifiably got called on and kept on digging that transphobic hole you started with. 

Even in the article you claimed was an apology, you are still using the jacked up photo of Cemia when there are more tasteful feminine photos of her and trying to stick to using her old male name which isn't germane to the story.

Tina Turner's old name is Anna Mae Bullock.  Do you call her by that name in any story you write?   See how fast you get another interview with Cher if you insist on repeatedly writing Cherilyn Sarkisian in that article or Reginald Dwight in one for Sir Elton John.   

 But back to focusing on the transphobic news coverage.   What it did was basically paint Cemia in a negative light, and it's something that Bridges' defense attorney will possibly exploit now that you media peeps did all their work in demonizing Cemia for them.

You've laid the groundwork for Bridges' defense attorney to possibly deploy the 'trans panic' defense and make the murderer look like a everyday and twice on Sunday church attending choirboy vis a vis the 'crazy tr---y' who 'deserved what she got'.  

Oh my bad, you refused to acknowledge that she was a trans woman.

And when that trial starts, we'll have an empaneled jury whose minds are already compromised by marinating in the anti-trans media negativity stirred up by that journalistic hate crime.   We already know the odds are going to be long (but not impossible) for obtaining a murder conviction of a cis person who kills a transperson.

Worst case is he walks, best case is he gets life in prison pending the evidence and skill of the prosecuting attorney.   What I wouldn't be surprised that happens in this case is we possibly get a plea deal for aggravated manslaughter.

Your transphobic reporting has pretty much framed this trial one it starts as a Black cisman kills 'deceptive' Black 'man' or in the minds of many people not well versed in the lives of trans people a 'freak who deserved to die for tricking an unsuspecting cis man'.

That's not me spouting over the top rhetoric, that's the gist of the comments running around in the comment threads on the various posts.  A mentality that may seep into the jury deciding Andre L Bridges fate.  

So Cleveland trans community, if Bridges walks or gets a ridiculously low sentence, you'll know where it started.

 

Arrest Made In Acoff Case

Thanks to Zoe Renee Lapin, I was happy to find out from her that the Olmsted Township, OH po-po's have made an arrest in the Cemia Dove Acoff case.   

What I'm NOT happy about is the continued blatant violations of the AP Stylebook trans reporting guidelines by the stenographers at the Cleveland Plain Dealer and their ongoing disrespect of my young trans sister that is setting the tone for the jacked up coverage of this case by the Cleveland area media.  

Since they have basically lapsed into a 'we don't care' attitude concerning how to write a story that properly reflects the AP Stylebook and respects Cemia without erasing her trans identity, I'm going to show the stenographers there how it's done 

(Moni cracks knuckles)

***
OLMSTED TOWNSHIP -- A Parma man was arrested this morning (May 4) for the murder of Cemia Dove Acoff, the 20-year-old transgender woman whose body was found in a pond on Mackenzie Road April 17.


Andre L. Bridges, 36, is being held in Olmsted Township jail following his arrest by Olmsted Township police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Fugitive Task Force.

Acoff was reported missing by her family in late March, and her body was found by a resident who lives in the apartment next to the retention pond. There were multiple stab wounds on her body, and a chain and a concrete block were attached to her waist.

There is still an active investigation going on with this case, according to Olmsted Township Police Chief John Minek.

***

See Cleveland Plain Dealer how easy that was?    If you had done that from the beginning, you would have saved yourself a lot of unnecessary drama unless that was your intention in the first place.

But at this point happy to see that the alleged perpetrator of this crime has been captured.   My Cleveland trans peeps and their allies will be keeping a close eye on this case and watching it to see that Cemia and her family gets justice.

Busy Media Week

With two radio interviews over the next three days.   Have one tomorrow with Holly Knight on her Prism Radio show starting at 5 PM CDT.   The topic will be 'Race in the TG Community' and I'll be on it along with Jaison Gardner, AKA to me as 'Nephew'.

He cohosts Strange Fruit on WFPL-FM, the public radio station in Louisville with Dr Kaila Story, AKA to me as 'Niece'. 

You can call 949-534-0761 to comment on what is sure to be a very interesting discussion..

On May 8 I've been invited to make my second appearance on the 'Can We Talk For REAL' show.   It's a Blog Talk Radio Show geared toward discussing the important issues of the LGBTQ Community including many issues that are hard to discuss within the community.   I'll be on the air along with my fellow Lone Star state Trans 100 honoree Carter Brown, the Executive Director of Black Transmen, Inc to have a chat with the Can We Talk For Real radio team of Ina, Michelle and Terri Boi.

Carter and I will be talking about recent developments in the trans community and you can join in for that lively discussion by calling 347-215-8985.

And that's not including my ongoing complaints about the jacked up Cleveland Plain Dealer report over the disrespectful reporting in the Cemia Acoff murder.


TransGriot Update: Was just advised by Holly she wants to reschedule the show for May 13

Canadian Trans Woman Discriminated Against At Bridal Shop

All Rohit Singh wanted to do when she stepped into Jenny's Bridal Boutique in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan with her fiance was buy a dress for her upcoming wedding.

After perusing a few outfits she liked she asked to try one on.  Unfortunately Jenny Correia, the transbigoted owner of the shop refused to let her do so because of her impression that Singh was a man.

"She said, sorry we don't allow men to wear dresses here," Singh recalled. "I said I'm not a man, I'm transgender."

Correia was unrepentant according to a CBC article on the incident.

"To me it doesn't matter," Correia said. "He looked like a man. There was quite a few brides in the store. If you see a man trying on dresses, you're going to feel uncomfortable."

Um Jenny, it does matter, and you're going to find out soon enough when you get hit with that formal complaint about your nekulturny behavior Singh is filing with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission.

She did find a red bridal gown at the My Lynh Bridal shop in Saskatoon that did value her business and according to Singh, gave her excellent customer service on top of it.

She also now happily married and continuing her gender transition.

Now, what is the moral of this story trans people and allies?   Having airtight public accommodations language in your trans human rights laws matters.  This is why C-279 is needed and continued pressure needs to be put on the Conservative dominated Canadian Senate to pass it.

TransGriot Update: A protest and rally attended by Singh and dozens of supporters was held in front of the transphobic bridal shop May 4.

Happy Birthday To Me, Happy Birthday To Me...

Happy birthday dear Moni, happy birthday to me!

It's time to celebrate Cuatro de Mayo again and now officially being on the other side of the Big 50 birthday.  Thanks to everyone who has sent me birthday greetings, e-mails, cards, gave me gifts, or called.   It is deeply appreciated.  

Thanks to all of you who continue to surf by my blog and play an integral part in making it the success it is.


As Janet Mock reminded me last year, it's a blessing for me to have reached this age since far too many of our transwomen won't have that opportunity.   I'm at a point in my life where I can begin (if I'm not doing that already) to act as the mentor to younger trans women I wish I'd had.

So what did I wish for when I blew out the candles on this year's birthday cake?  Gotta keep it a secret so it will become a reality. 

But one thing I would like to see is GENDA pass in New York, ENDA pass at the federal level, the TERF's be declared by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group and continue to slouch along with their TS separatist allies toward increasingly bitter irrelevancy.   I'd also like to see in the wake of  the Trans100 unveiling the international Trans 100 lists of various countries and my trans brothers like Carter, Diwa, Sean Mekhi, Louis, Kortney and the rest of the BTMI brother continue to be recognized for their increasing leadership roles.

And finally, I just want to be a better person 365 days from now than I am on this date.  I want to continue my evolution toward being the quality Black woman I know I am but can always improve on.  

Help Eden Lane Get On 'The View'

One of the people I'm so looking forward to meeting one day is trailblazing Denver based journalist and girl like us Eden Lane.

She's the first trans on-air broadcast journalist with a major network and since 2009 has been the host of the KBDI-TV shows In Focus with Eden Lane, Colorado’s popular local arts and culture news magazine, and OUTSpoken, a prime time special series devoted to the LGBT community that has been on the air for 20 years.

She was also a reporter covering the historic 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver for PBS.

There is a campaign complete with a change.org petition that seeks to have ABC's popular daytime gabfest The View invite Eden Lane on the show.  It's a good time to do so seeing that Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck are leaving soon.  

ABC, why not give Eden a shot and help make a little broadcast history in the process as well? 

And yes, I enthusiastically signed the petition. This is what I added in the optional comment section when I signed it.

Eden's qualified and deserves the opportunity to do so.  It's past time to have transpeople appear on talk shows and be able to show America we can talk about a wide variety of subjects just like anyone else

Actually, she's more than qualified for it, and I hope it happens for her.  She not only deserves it, I'm also looking at the big picture long range implications of Eden sitting at that table with Whoopi, Barbara and Sherri.  

It not only gives us another chance to make a positive impression on Mr and Ms. Middle America, it also opens doors once Eden knocks that appearance out of the park. (as I have every confidence in her she would)   It gives other trans women a chance to be considered as guest hosts for The View and other television shows similar to it as well.  

Shut Up Fool Awards-Moni's Birthday Week Edition

Tomorrow is Cuatro de Mayo, which means I've managed to go through another 366 days of life on this space rock  (2012 was a leap year).

I may have inadvertently (or deliberately) started some of it, but for the most part I got through 2012 without encountering a lot of major drama.  And yes, there was evolution toward becoming a better person during those 366 days. 

Today is my birthday on the western side of the International Date Line, and I thank all my friends on that side of the world for all the birthday wishes you've sent me so far.   Looking forward to the day that I can finally meet y'all

So enough jibber-jabber about my rapidly approaching birthday tomorrow, let's get to why y'all surf over here every Friday at noon central time in the first place.   Y'all want to see what fool, fools or group of fools I put on blast for this week's TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards and it's time to give you loyal readers what you want.

First up, the honorable mentions. 

Honorable mention number one goes to former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who expressed regrets over the 2000 Bush v. Gore SCOTUS decision that installed Junior in the White House and negatively changed the course of US history.  

Gee, too late now.  Tell the families of over 5000 American military war dead and the 100,000 dead Iraqis that.  Those of us who voted for Vice President Al Gore know you made a partisan mistake that cost this country dearly in treasure and people.  We all knew Gore was the better man for the job and he won the election.  The 8 embarrassingly sorry years of the Bush mispresidency sadly proved to the rest of the country and the world what everyone already knew in Texas (except delusional Republifools) that Junior was not fit to be the POTUS.

Honorable mention number two goes to Sen. Kelly Ayotte (Teabagger-NH)  who admitted in a NH town hall meeting she voted against equal pay for women because 'we have enough laws on the books to enforce it'.




Yeah right, Kelly.   Okay New Hampshire, hope y'all are kicking this conservafool's butt to the curb when you get the opportunity to do so in 2016.

Honorable mention number three is a tie because its related to the same subject of NBA baller Jason Collins coming out.  It goes to former NBA player Larry Johnson and Chris Broussard.   While discussing the coming out story with L.Z. Granderson on Outside The Lines Broussard let his Christobigot flag fly and insinuated that Collins was 'not a Christian for being gay'.    LZ, I would have tore him a new anus for that one, .but we'll hopefully get a chance to discuss that at OUT on the Hill in September.    

Johnson opened his mouth and inserted foot in it by letting fly on Twitter with tweets stating 'homosexuality doesn't belong in a men's  locker room' and he'd be 'uncomfortable' with a gay teammate.

Dude, you put on a dress and a gray wig to sell Converse sneakers back in the day.   I'm just sayin'.

Honorable mention number four goes to The Cleveland Plain Dealer for their unrepentant journalistic hate crime they performed on Cemia Dove Acoff.

Honorable mention number five goes to Rep. Paul Broun (Teabagger-GA) who is now running for the US senate seat of the retiring Saxby Chambliss and decided to use transpeeps as a wedge issue.

This week's Shut Up Fool winner takes us north of the border..

Renee of Womanist Musings has told me a few times about conservafool Toronto Star columnist Christie Blatchford.   She's written a column that has set off many women in the Great White North in a case in which 17 year old Rehtaeh Parsons of Halifax was raped by four boys at a party and subsequently cyberbullied to the point she committed suicide last month  

To quote Renee on this one:

Claiming that it's questionable that a young girl who committed suicide was raped because she was naked with her rapist before hand is pure rape culture. 

Rehtaeh's father also put her on blast for victim blaming and I agree with him and Renee. 
No means no Christie Blatchford.  And shut up fool, eh?.  

Nobody Has The Right To Deny You Power Over Your Body Or Your Future

'Nobody has the right to deny you power over your body or your future'   Sandra Fluke

But it seems like when it comes to girls like us, a diverse group of transphobes seem to think they have the ability to do precisely that.   Whether it's the trans exterminationalist rad fems, the conservative elements of the Catholic Church and other faiths, elements of the gay and lesbian community or right wing legislators, they are united in their zeal to deny transpeople the power over their bodies and their futures. 

Article 3 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.   When it comes to transpeople, that right to life, liberty and security of person has been under sustained attack.

And it's past time we transpeople in the United States and around the world fight for our human right to exist/ Because for us to have a future, we must change our bodies as the first step towards us beginning to acquire the confidence, strength and will to do what is necessary to have positive outcomes in our lives..

So what is it about the simple demand of transpeople wanting to peacefully live our lives just like anyone else on the planet that scares the crap out of people?   Is it because we strive to be our authentic selves and in that gender metamorphosis it forces us to sort out issues that most cispeople refuse to contemplate much less deal with over their lifetimes?

Is it because it forces cis people who uncomfortable in their own skins to think about gender identity characteristics that people once thought were immutable?  Are cis people bothered by the realization that a little more or less testosterone in vitro would have them either walking in our trans shoes or on the other side of the gender divide in a body opposite the one they arrived out of the birth canal with? 

Or is it because transpeople make cisfolks realize that the dividing line between masculine and feminine is not the rigid Berlin Wall binary many people envision it as but a thin line segment that we all fall along somewhere along?  

All we transpeople is around the world want is to proudly live our lives in our various nations just like any other cis person.  We want to get a good education, good jobs, be the best people we can be, have the ability to marry the people we find are worthy of our love, start families, and do our part to build up the nations we inhabit.  We also want to live our lives free from fear, discrimination and transphobic bigotry as we do so.

Owning our bodies and the power to determine what happens to them is a major step towards making the other things happen.  The international fight to make trans human rights a reality puts us on the correct side of the arc of the moral universe that is always bending toward justice.

Even if it seems that inevitable day is slow in arriving at times for transpeople.

This is the second decade of the 21st century.  The medical means to help transpeople because the men and women they were born to be exists. The science is on our side, the laws are catching up to where we've always been.

The only people that should ever have the power over our trans bodies is us.   We trans people are becoming more cognizant that control of our bodies and what to do with them is not only worth fighting for, it's imperative we do so if we're going to have futures to look forward to.

And it's a fight that we must win for the sake of our trans younglings following in our footsteps. 

Isaac and Kris Win!

Score one for the karnic wheel quickly working!

Congratulations to the new UH-Downtown student body president and vice president Isaac Valdez and Kristopher Sharp!

Sharp during the campaign was subjected to a vicious smear attack by some fool who has a future in the Texas Republican Party.  Fliers popped up on the UH-D campus disclosing Sharp's medical information on the back and urging students not to vote for the Valdez-Sharp ticket.

Those flyers seemed to have the opposite effect.  It not only pissed off people on campus, it galvanized the Houston LGBT community to help the ticket get elected and donations came pouring in.  The election was held last week with the Valdez-Sharp ticket romping to victory.

Glad to see that reprehensible tactic of using homophobic bigotry to win elections  failed this time and know that Isaac and Kris will be two wonderful student leaders at the head of UH-Downtown's student government ..

Now if they can catch the fool (or fools) who spread those flyers on campus in the first place.

Rally For CeCe Acoff

The rally for Ce Ce Acoff in Cleveland that was organized by Zoe Lapin got moved to the steps of Cleveland 's City Hall yesterday on a gorgeous spring day with the trans flag flying from the City hall flag post.  

The rally was covered by several news stations who sadly continue to use the mug shot and other unflattering photo of Cemia and misgender her.

In addition to Zoe being one of the speakers for the rally that started at 3 PM EDT, another one was Cleveland City Council member Joe Cimperman, who has called the murder a hate crime.. 

Cemia lived a trouble life of acceptance,” said Councilmember Cimperman in a

news release on Wednesday. “While Cemia struggled, she did not deserve to die as what is likely a hate crime. Too often we lose loved ones because of fear or hate. Violence should not be tolerated against anyone regardless of race, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation.”

If I find any video of the event I'll add it to the post...

On Set With Arisce

Arisce Wanzer is a girl like us working as a fashion model in New York City.   She's part of the long, proud and stylish line of trans fashion models.  I'm even happier to find out in light of the trying month that can't recede in the 2013 rear view mirror fast enough that she's African-American.

Buzzfeed followed her to find out what a day on the job is like for her.  It also has a nice interview in which she talks about her life and her work.