Our Birth Names Are Not Germane To Telling Our Stories

Was having a conversation Saturday with my little sis from another mother Jordana in which we touched on the jacked up news coverage of Cemia's death and the AP Stylebook guidelines for covering trans people.

We noted how the Cleveland Plain Dealer seems to have adopted flipping the journalistic middle finger at the Cleveland trans community in their Cemia Dove Acoff coverage and also talked about the disrespectful reporting incidents in New York with Lorena Escalera and Los Angeles with Cassidy Vickers that pissed off people in those trans communities as well.

By the way, here's what the AP Stylebook currently states about covering transpeople  . 

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.

Fortunately I'm seeing a lot less instances of media outlets putting a trans persons chosen or new name in quotation marks.  But with the way some of the media outlets have been backsliding on or straight up ignoring the AP Stylebook guidelines lately, I won't be surprised to see that odious news article tendency make a comeback.

What I and a lot of transpeople are also concerned about is seeing in far too many stories about us lately adding the line 'born as ___________'  or 'legal name is __________'.

I'm proposing that since many transpeople find this problematic, another line be added to the AP Stylebook guidelines or the NGLJA and GLAAD stylebooks that state that we find this problematic and they not do it.

You already know by stating the person is transgender is sufficient enough for the average reader of your story to know that the person you're writing about wasn't born with the gender characteristics they currently have.  So why add the birth name of that person unless you're deliberately trying to be disrespectful or salacious?   

I also can't stress this point enough that transpeople consider you using the name that matches their current gender presentation as a sign of respect of their lives.   

I've had a longstanding policy in any interview I do that my birth name is none of your business.   I've noticed that other trans people are also doing the same thing these days.  When Kylan Wentzel declined to give her old name to a reporter, I noted the tone of the article tuned pissy when she did so.  

Reporters, don't get mad when we insist in only giving you the names that correspond with the way we live our lives now.  I'd advise my trans younglings who are fortunate enough to get the opportunity to be interviewed from this day forward to decline to answer that question.  Far too often what I've observed is that your old name gets used to attack and misgender you. 

If we can respect Cher, Sir Elton John, Tina Turner and Sting and a long list of celebrities and politicians by not pointing out their birth names are Cherilyn Sarkisian, Reginald Dwight, Anna Mae Bullock and Gordon Sumner, why do we insist that somehow it's different for trans people and we MUST know their old names they no longer identify with?  Are we not worthy of the same media respect that a cis person gets? 

My birth name or the birth name of any trans person you're writing about in many instances is not only not germane to the story, it's a derailing distraction. 

So if you're concerned about writing a story respectful to our community and the trans person in question, how about simply focusing on our lives in their current manifestation? 

Lorena Escalera-One Year Later

Today marks the one year anniversary of the day that 25 year old Lorena Escalera was found dead in her Brooklyn apartment following a suspicious fire.   The model and member of the House of Xtravaganza was found during the subsequent investigation to have died by strangulation and suffocation suffered BEFORE the fire started at approximately 4 AM.  

However, the New York Times and the rest of the New York media decided to engage in an all too familiar pattern in media coverage of the deaths of POC trans women and sensationalize it. 

As Janet Mock stated about the coverage of Lorena at the time:

“As my city's and our nation's paper of record, I would expect the New York Times to treat any subject, regardless of their path in life, with dignity.”

"In Lorena Escalera's life she was so much more than the demeaning, sexist portrait they painted of girls like us. It goes beyond a ‘choice of words.’ According to the Times' limiting, harmful portrait of Lorena, she was nothing more than a ‘curvaceous’ bombshell for men to gawk at. That is not the ‘personal’ story of any woman, and until we treat trans women like human beings - in life and death - with dignity, families and struggles, our society will never see us beyond pariahs in our communities."
.

It's now a year later and her killer or killers still haven't been brought to justice and the murder remains unsolved.   Lorena's friends and family want NYPD to move forward on the investigation.  

They want justice for Lorena.   So do we as her trans brothers and trans sisters.  And as the Good Doctor says, justice delayed is justice denied.   It's past time for the process to begin so that the wastes of DNA who killed her can be punished for it and justice can finally happen for Lorena and all the people who loved her.

Mr T: Treat Your Mother Right Video

Well, since it's Mother's Day and I'm going to be spending it with my mother and grandmother, definitely thought this is the day this video needed to be posted.

It's Mr. T doing his 'Treat Your Mother Right' video from the 80's.  (God I miss that decade and the 70's).

 

NBJC-A Celebration Of Motherhood

TransGriot Note: From The National Black Justice Coalition

A true celebration of motherhood encompasses mothers from all walks of life. As we celebrate Mother's Day, we must remember the many mothers in the Black lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, because motherhood transcends categories such as sexual orientation, gender, and gender identity.

The history of motherhood in the Black LGBT community is replete with many women mothering against the odds. Disparities that mothers often face like equal pay for equal work, providing safe environments for themselves and their children, and finding good schools for their children are all exacerbated by issues like homophobia, biphobia and transphobia.

"When I had my first son, I kept hearing that I was going to fail my son due to my sexual orientation," says NBJC Leadership Advisory Council Member Kamora Herrington. "I'm currently raising my second son, a 15-month old, and I can now say with confidence that Black lesbian moms raise amazing sons."

We salute our lesbian, bisexual and trans mothers. Women like Alice Walker, June Jordan, and Miss Major are all mothers who dared to raise their children in spite of the oppression they encountered. These women challenged stereotypical notions of what it means to be a provider and expanded the narrative around motherhood. In our community, motherhood is not just having children, but it is also a matter of providing a space for our youth to find safety, support and love.

"The Mother in the House Ball culture plays an integral part in the lives of LGBT people who often times have been disinherited from their biological families based solely on their gender identity or sexual orientation," says Icon Mother Ayana Christian of Royal House of Christian.  "I have had the privilege and honor of nurturing the spirit and souls of so many adolescents and young adults over the last 14 years. The most amazing thing about it for me is knowing that, despite the fact that I have not birthed them from my own womb, their lives have my distinct imprint of motherhood."

  

The National Black Justice Coalition believes that the celebration of motherhood should be more than a symbolic gesture. That is why we are committed to supporting legislation that strengthens Black families. We are proud to support the Every Child Deserves a Family Act (ECDF), a bill that would empower Black LGBT parents to provide homes to the nation's hundreds of thousands of kids in our foster care and adoption system by denying federal funds to states that discriminate against adoptive and foster parents on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. However, even amidst these challenges, resilient Black LGBT people have continued to raise families and give love.

Mother's Day is not only a celebration, but a reminder of the hard work that our lesbian, bisexual and trans mothers undertake daily.

We salute all those who mother to make this world a better place for our community.

Happy Mother's Day

A Labor Of Love

TransGriot Note: Shakira wrote this on April 20 and posted it in our The Tea Spot Facebook  group just a few days before she passed away.  It was penned to mark the occasion of her mother's April 19 birthday.   I promised I'd give it some visibility in the wake of her death and I can't think of a better day than Mother's Day to share this with the rest of the world.

A LABOR OF LOVE
by Shakira Daneshia Gordon Garr

As each day passed with the setting of the sun, although your work seemed tedious, it was strength, courage, faith, that moved you to get it done. Flying high above adversity, as if GOD gave you wings of a dove. Nothing could stop the unconditional feeling presented to you by A LABOR OF LOVE.

It was your hope of the future of this generation,that motivated you to complete your task. Given the gift of the opportunity to instill our Heritage without being asked. The innocence you carried became the gardens you would tend, nothing would keep you from your farming, it was determination of your nurturing technique, that would help you see the seed you planted grow to the end.

Even though the weeds did come to destroy your path, Your motherly instincts taught you, that those weeds could not stay long or last. So you pressed forward with protection and prayers to the above. For like the others who had come before you, this was your time to have A LABOR OF LOVE.

Like a warrior you stayed, battles you fought, victories were made. Joy overshadowed sorrow and the foundation had finally been laid. Now its time to reap the salvation of your bountiful harvest of that nurturing heart. The seeds stand grateful of your journey, because you refused not to do your part. I celebrate your love, teachings, knowledge, and time you put into an unknown abyss. For without your tenacity, strength, courage, and faith our bloodline would not continue to exist.

Your irreplaceable wisdom still grows to this day, As each and every harvest passes and the sun moves to set in the same way. You are priceless, a blessing to the earth from the heavens above. For I know without a shadow of doubt. My legacy would not be, without you taking A LABOR OF LOVE.

This Week In The Texas Lege 2013-Weeks Ending May 3-11

It's May, and the Lege is still busy (or not busy) passing laws that will affect everyone in the Lone Star State.  That's good news for anti-LGBT issues but bad news for legislation that will positively benefit our community. 

Equality Texas Field Organizer and Legislative Specialist extraordinaire Daniel Williams breaks it all down for you.as the clock ticks down to crunch time in this 2013 Texas Legislative session.

Week Ending May 3




Week Ending May 10

Cleveland Plain Dealer STILL Hatin' On Cemia

Far from seeing the error of their transphobic ways and correcting them, the Cleveland Plain Dealer continues to flip the journalistic middle finger at the Cleveland trans community.

In their latest article, the stenographers at the Plain Dealer continue to conduct a journalism class case study in how not to report on Black trans people. 

They continue to misgender Cemia and demonize her by using the mug shot and problematic references that people found so odious in the first place.  

As a reminder, not that you care anyway Cleveland Plain Dealer, here's what the AP Stylebook says about covering transgender people:

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.

It's sad when a smaller local news outlet in Cleveland, out of town news media and bloggers show more respect for the victim of the crime than the local paper of record.

It's crystal clear at this point through this latest article they are defiantly obtuse about how offensive this is to the trans community and instead of making their corrections, have tripled down on the transphobia.So what can you TransGriot readers do to help our friends and allies in the Cleveland trans community? 

Help our Cleveland transpeeps and allies get that sorely needed meeting with the Plain Dealer editors and staff to discuss their fracked up coverage on Cemia.  Call them out in the comment threads on these pathetic stories.   And if that doesn't work, be civil and e-mail the reporters in question as you point out the continued blatant AP Stylebook violations.   

Alleged Ce Ce Acoff Killer Charged

In the latest development in the Cemia Ce Ce Acoff case, the alleged perpetrator of the killing, 36 year old Andrey Bridges of Parma, OH has been charged with aggravated murder, kidnapping, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse in his appearance before Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.  

Bridges has a long criminal history that includes felonious assault and four stints in prison.  He did not enter a plea, was assigned a public defender and his bail was set at $5 million.

That's the good news.  The bad news is that the Plain Dealer continues to stick their journalistic middle finger at the Cleveland and national trans community and obstinately traffic in transphobia.

And yes, I'm concerned that the relentless PD media negativity and demonization of CeCe may have a negative effect on this trial and the ability to get justice for her.

As long as I'm tracking this case, Cemia (and any other trans woman being disrespected in the media) will get the respect she deserves on these electronic pages.

Well, Andrey Bridges has now been charged for the murder of Cemia 'Ce Ce Acoff.   The question now becomes will he do time for it?

In my nearly twenty years of being transitioned and 15 years of activism, I have seen far too many killers of non-white transwomen walk or get ridiculously low sentences.  I'm not letting go of my skeptical cynicism or doing the happy dance until I hear the words 'guilty' come out of a jury foreperson's mouth.  

Shut Up Fool Awards-Mother's Day Weekend 2013 Edition

This Sunday is Mother's Day, in which we take time to recognize, celebrate and appreciate our mothers or the mother figures in our lives.   Without mom.you wouldn't be here on this planet.

And some people, like NBA star Kenneth Faried, are blessed enough to have two of them. 

It's Firday, and it's time for our weekly edition of the TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards.  Every week I shine a bright spotlight on the fool, fools or group of fools who are not only embarrassments to their mothers, but to themselves and our country as well.  

So let's get started calling this week's fools out.

Honorable mention number one goes to the Republican Party,  who keep trying and failing to turn Benghazi into a scandal and are getting pissy because nobody except Fox Noise is buying their bull feces.

Honorable mention number two goes to Pat Robertson who on yesterday's episode of the 700 Club advised people not to listen to false prophets.  I guess he forgot about his loud and wrong 2012 POTUS election prediction in which he told Benn Hinn that God informed him that “Romney will win” but that he will be a two-term president who presides over a huge economic boom.  The only thing Romney is presiding over is his California crib.with the car elevator.

Honorable mention number three goes to Governor Rick Perry (R-TX) for unleashing more stupidity out of his mouth.   Claimed that opposing LGBT rights is just like opposing slavery.

There's a reason why no Aggie occupied the Texas Governor's Mansion before Perry ascended to it in 2001 in the wake of Junior being elected selected by the Supreme Court. and with Governor Goodhair's  far too long performance in office, may be a long time before we see another Aggie in that chair.

But our Shut Up Fool winner this week goes to Fox Noise's Eric Bolling.   In his networks desperate zeal to turn Benghazi into a scandal to flog before the midterm elections next year, home boy tried to drag the First Daughters into this shady political mess..




All together now, gang.  Eric Bolling, shut up fool!

Berlin Book Burning 80th Anniversary

"Where they burn books they will also ultimately burn people.'   Heinrich Heine

Today is the 80th anniversary of the day that 20,000 'un-German' books and 5000 images were burned in 1933 in what is now known as the Bebelplatz in Berlin. 

So what does that day have in common with us TBLG people? 

Many of those books that went up in flames that night as Nazi Propaganda Minster Joseph Goebbels spoke to a crowd of 40,000 that evening came from the recently raided sex institute of Magnus Hirschfeld.

Hirschfeld was fortunately out of the country on a lecture tour in the United States when it happened, but he was doing much of the pioneering transsexual research there at the Berlin based institute and it went up in flames.   It's also speculated that the client lists and names seized in that Institute raid led to the murderous Operation Hummingbird purge against the Ernst Rohm led SA by the Gestapo and the SS a year later. 

And as a trans person, you are also left to ponder the question had Hirschfeld's institute and those books and papers survived, how much futher along trans related medical care and research wpuld be if it hadn't been burned that night in the Bebelplatz?
 
 

Landmark Philadelphia LGBT Equality Bill Signed

Had the pleasure of meeting Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter during the February LGBT Media Journalists Convening when he addressed our group, laid out his vision for an inclusive Philadelphia and asked us to consider returning the media convening to the City of Brotherly Love .
And nope, he wasn't kidding about that vision of an inclusive Philadelphia.  

Today Mayor Nutter signed a groundbreaking LGBT Equality Bill pushed by Philadelphia Councilman Jim Kenney.  With this bill now law, Philadelphia can now proudly claim it has the most expansive LGBT protections in the United States.

This omnibus bill includes first in the nation tax credits to support life partner and transgender health benefits in the private sector and removes anti-transgender discrimination from the City employee health plan. Philadelphia is now the largest city to remove trans health care discrimination from its workforce and the only city on the east coast to do so. The bill also includes provisions for partner hospital visitation rights, voluntary single user gender neutral rest rooms and strongly delineates standards for employment and public accommodations standards for transgender individuals.

Many of the employment and public accommodations standards were included in the 2002 Fair Practices Ordinance Philly activists worked hard with allies to get pass, but are often misunderstood by the public and are under attack in other jurisdictions like Arizona as we speak.

With Philadelphia's unique place in America’s history, it felt it needed to clarify these standards for the public and had a responsibility to speak to the country at large regarding fairness for all citizens 

“As a City employee, I’m relieved to no longer have to worry over being denied care for necessary services like mammograms or, God forbid, treatment for breast cancer that are routinely denied trans people," said Kathy Padilla.  "I’m relieved to no longer have to worry over hiding parts of my medical history from providers for fear of it being entered into my file and then leading to denial of other needed services or being an inducement to discrimination. I’m overjoyed that medically necessary trans specific treatment supported by the American Medical Association will be available to people like myself on the same basis as medically necessary treatment for other conditions is available to all my coworkers. This coverage is part of my compensation package, I pay for it with my payroll deductions – I shouldn't be treated differently from other employees based solely upon gender identity."

"The City loses money when transgender people are denied mammograms or pelvic exams and early treatment does not occur," she continued.  "The City loses money when people are afraid and hide their full medical histories from physicians and the City loses money when people simply give up and don’t seek needed medical care until it becomes a crisis over fear of interacting with a system that devalues them.”

"I originally drafted the language that eventually added "gender identity"/"gender expression" to Philadelphia's Fair Practice Ordinance," said Michael Williams   "From the time we started working on this issue (2002) until today, my beloved friend and colleague Kathy Padilla and I have not rested until ALL of Philadelphia's LGBT community received the protections they enjoy after today's bill became law.  Kathy and I have had brilliant, passionate and committed LGBT community members and colleagues, LGBT community allies, elected officials, their staffs, folks from the religious, labor, human rights and many other communities and individuals work with us for over a decade to achieve this monumental goal - equality for ALL of Philadelphia's citizens."

"For me personally, the protections in this bill for me and for my family (my husband Tony and I, officially married in Long Beach, CA in August 2008, will celebrate our 29-year anniversary on July 20th, 2013) are paramount.  We, our sons Kristopher and Robert, Robert's wife Jynea and Rob and Jynea's soon-to-be-delivered into this world baby girl (Miss Kaylee Rose Kneisler is expected to make her appearance in the next few weeks!) are a family that should and must be afforded protections that EACH and EVERY family in this City enjoys right now...and this bill makes this happen.."

Congratulations to the folks in Philadelphia.  Here's hoping the LGBT Equality Law that is now enacted there will become model legislation for the rest of the country to emulate.

It's Give Out Day-Send Some Cash To Your Fave Black LGBT Org

Today is Give Out Day, which is basically a one day blitz in which people in the LGBT community and our allies are urged to support your favorite local organizations or national ones doing grassroots work. 

I'm not just going to urge you to do so, I'm going to lead by example.  I received $51 from Mom for my birthday last Saturday, so I'm donating $10 of it to the National Black Justice Coalition.   I'm also going to be donating another $10 to Black Transmen, Inc.

Both these organizations do wonderful work in the community, but they can't live on grants alone.  They have to have people donate money to them from time to time to help fund their various programs and projects.  And as President Obama's last two presidential campaigns have shown, thousands and tens of thousands of people donating $5, $10, $20 or more can add up to a substantial sum quickly. 

The proceeds that NBJC raises today will go toward their Emerging Leaders program    They'll be the people we'll pass the torch to when it's time to keep the momentum of our human rights push moving in a forward direction.

If you value organizations like NBJC and think the work they do in terms of being the voice for Black LGBT America is valuable, then drop them some money 

Naw Nicole, You DIDN'T Unconditionally Accept Your Cousin

Interesting comment that hit my inbox yesterday from Nicole Cantie, who had something to say about my post Why The Negative Plain Dealer Coverage May Result In Cemia NOT Getting Justice

First off let me tell you something you don't know anything about me and how dare you make an accusation saying what I did and did not accept. I have always called my cousin by his given name and he never had a problem with it so why should you. I'm the 1 that watched him growing up not you. I love all of my family members and I don't give a damn about what their preference is. My cousin was a beautiful person inside and out and he took some beautiful pictures and looked damn good. I have to respect my aunt and her feelings. Do any of you know what it's like to bury not 1 but 2 of your children? You all don't know what our family has been through this is the second family member we have had to bury within a month's time. Cece wasn't treated different because he chose to live as a transgender woman. All we told him was to be careful because it's crazy people out here. Y'all have no idea how we are feeling

Now Nicole, it's my turn.  

First off, I do have an idea how your family is feeling, and my condolences by the way.  My father was buried the day before Easter Sunday.  There are also two other families in the Orlando area and Baltimore burying trans loved ones who were also killed in the month of April like Cemia..

But back to focusing on you since you stepped to me. 

I calls it as I sees it Nicole, and based on that interview, if you accepted and loved your cousin Cemia like you claim you do you wouldn't have misgendered your cousin in that interview and used the name she chose to reflect who she is now.   You may love your cousin and are proud of her, but misgendering her is what caused me to call your relationship with Cemia into question in the first place because to those of us in transworld, misgendering us IS disrespecting us. 

Unlike you Nicole, I'm a proud African descended trans girl like us just like Cemia and have been for almost 20 years.  I've been an activist for trans human rights issues for fifteen of those twenty transitioned years so I have intimate knowledge of what  does and doesn't bother girls and guys like me. 

So yeah, it is my business and pisses me off when transpeople, especially transpeople who share my ethnic heritage are killed and grossly disrespected in death like your cousin was by the media.  It's a pattern I've seen far too often going back to 1998 when Bay Windows disrespected Rita Hester of Black trans women being misgendered by media outlets inside and outside the LGBT community.

I'm beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of it.     

The one way I know for certain a cis person inside or outside my family respects me and the person who I am now is the use of feminine pronouns to address me and addressing me by my current name, not my birth one which I changed a long time ago.    

Nicole, you not only admitted to using Cemia's old birth name, you've misgendered someone you claim to respect FOUR times in this comment you fired off to me.  That's not acceptance or unconditional love, that reeks of conditional tolerance.    It's also a huge presumption on your part as a cisgender female to assume that Cemia DIDN'T have a problem with you calling her by her old male name or misgendering her. .

But neither one of us can ask Cemia that question now because some waste of DNA took her life and she won't be taking any more pretty pictures. 

If you didn't care about Cemia's 'preference' as you called her gender presentation and claimed in this comment I'm responding to, I can't emphasize this enough, you would have respected your cousin by using feminine pronouns while describing her and calling her Cemia. 

I'm just sayin'

I'll concede the point you have the obligation to respect your aunt as your elder and inside her home.  But Nicole, once you are out and about in the world and in your own home you are your own woman. You aren't obligated to march lockstep with a loud and wrong position she may hold even if she is your elder or her feelings if they conflict with yours, much less defend them.

I don't have to respect someone who is being a transphobic bigot or who threw her trans child out of her home and put her in the position to be killed in the first place knowing how brutal the streets can be for a trans kid.

And yeah, your aunt throwing her trans child out of your home qualifies as 'treating them differently'. 

Speaking of homes, if you loved your cousin as you say you do and didn't care about 'her preference' which is a problematic conflating of sexual orientation and gender identity, why didn't you open your home to CeCe?  

One thing we can both agree with is that CeCe was taken away far too soon and I'm just as pissed off about that as your family is.  But y'all need to ponder the fact at your next family reunion that if y'all had shown CeCe more unconditional love, she'd still be in your lives.

Please Don't Let It Be One Of Us

Guest Post from Renee of Womanist Musings

If you are a member of a marginalized community, at some point a crime, or a ludicrous action will become public or go wildly viral and the first thought that will go through your head is, "please don't let it be one of us." We will follow up on the story, find out that it is indeed one of us, shake our heads and think about how the action of one individual will come to reflect upon us. If you are privileged, you have never had this experience.

The moment I heard about the Boston Bombing, I thought please don't let them be of colour and please don't let them be Muslim.  When I saw a headline about a man being arrested after calling 911 trying to order burgers and weed, I said, "please don't let him be Black." Certainly, whenever a mass murder happens, neurologically atypical people cringe because they are aware that the media will try to explain that the killer was "crazy" and that's why they acted in that fashion. Just look at the response to the Newton CT. shooting last December.  For many, the gun culture and the relative ease at which most can lay their hands on a weapon in the U.S. was not the problem but that a so-called crazy person had access to a gun. Tory MP Nigel Evans has been accused of rape but when you google his name, all you will find is article after article referring to the alleged incident as gay rape.  You better believe that there are members of the LGBT community who are cringing about this. This kind of thinking happens all the time.  It happens because if you are a marginalized person, though you are an individual, the world does not perceive you as such. Though we know it's a trap to think this way, it's impossible not to in a world determined to define us as a homogenous group with negative traits.

Privileged people don't know this feeling because they don't know what it is to be targeted for who they are. Even people who have privilege in one area and negotiate an ism in another, cannot always understand this feeling.  For instance, a White, straight, cisgender able bodied woman will be marginalized by gender but she cannot hope to understand what it feels like to feel concern that she will be universalized in this manner.  When a violent crime is committed by a woman, no one initially hears about the event and says please don't let it be a woman.  That is not to say that White, straight, cisgnder able bodied women aren't expected to conform to ridiculous gender expectations, or that they are not shamed for an inability, or a determined decision to thwart supposed norms. In fact, in the case of White, straight, cisgender able bodied  women, it specifically comes down to the fact that they are perceived as either delicate flowers who need protecting or as victims.  Certainly, this is damaging but it does not amount to the same universalizing pressure to be responsible for the actions of other women. This is particularly true if the criminal behaviour is performed by a WOC.


Sometimes this fear of being deemed a bad minority means that we consciously change our behavior.  For Blacks, it can involve something called code switching.  This means that when we are in mixed company, we censure ourselves and drop certain slangs or phrases from our vocabulary. The politics if respectability has long been a factor in organizing in the Black community.  A way to prove that we deserve equality and separate us from those in our supposed group who are bringing us down.

I often think about the term the Black community and what it implies.  You see, though I am a Black, straight, disabled woman because I am an individual, and have my particular frame of reference how I view the world is through a very specific lens and yet, I am part of the so-called Black community.  This term implies that because I share the same racial background as millions of people that we will think the same and react the same to similar stimuli.  The truth of the matter is that there is no real community and we are just a group of people who happen to share specific genetic traits.  Yet, I am subject to all of the racial stereotypes faced by Black women and this specifically erases my identity as an autonomous being.  Only certain groups are ever held responsible for the whole, or expected to pay for and at times apologise on behalf of people who we have never met.

Crimes committed by straight, cisgender, able bodied White men particularly send this message home to me.  The denial for instance that the Boston Bombers are indeed White, though they could not be more obviously so is one example.  Crimes committed by straight, cisgender, able bodied White men are culturally perceived as an aberration.  This separation between the group and the individual is absolutely a reflection of power and privilege. This group, regardless of the horrors that it has  committed are not viewed as a threat. This means that anger and or hyper masculinity are ignored or explained away as though they are harmless.  More than any other group, White, straight, cisgender, able bodied men are less likely to understand what it is to look at a large incident and hope that it was not committed by someone who looks like them. Having never been a member of an outgroup and encouraged to believe in their superiority, they are free to universalize, firm in the knowledge that such action will never be applied to them.  Who gets to be perceived as an individual comes down to the degree of social power they are able to access and wield. Ironically this is why we are silenced when we talk about our marginalizations and told that we are the ones with the problem.

Even though I know it's a trap to think, "please don't let it be one of us," I cannot help but to do so because I know that the actions of the individual reflect on the group.  There is no escaping the reality of this, even though I know that this is embracing the masters tools.  Yes, it's a defeatist approach because we should reject this universalizing treatment of us.  We should demand to be seen as individuals in every instance. Yes, we need some form of community for the purposes of support but at the same time, we need to be conscious of the times in which we are held responsible for these very same communities.  There is criminality in all groups and all are influenced by a myriad of social forces.  Please don't let it be one of us while a logical response to the oppressions we are forced to negotiate, only affirms that we can be defined by the actions of others.

TransGriot's Back On Can We Talk For Real Tonight

It was shaping up to be a busy media week and still is.   My interview on Holly's show Sunday has been rescheduled for May 13, and I'm honored to do my second appearance with Ina, Michelle, and Terri Boi, the hosts of CAN WE TALK FOR REAL

Cemia “CeCe” Acoff was another Black trans woman killed then victimized again in the media.  The Cleveland Plain Dealer leading the way with its offensive, insensitive, transphobic coverage of her death that was mimicked by the rest of the local and national media 

.CeCe sadly wasn’t the first and probably won’t be the last victim this year of anti-trans violence. Our transgender community continues to grapple with unacceptable levels of anti-trans violence, intimidation and discrimination. Trans women are disrespectfully misidentified in the media following violent attacks and trans men are often invisible in conversations about hate violence as the murder of rapper Evon 'Yung LT' Young in Milwaukee points out. 

The attacks on our transgender community aren't always by unidentified strangers in dark alleys and back streets..  It's also blatantly in their faces on a depressingly daily basis as the recent news of Arizona’s controversial SB 1045 'Transgender Bathroom Bill' is an example of.

It underscores the fact  anti-trans discrimination takes place in every area of trans people's lives in the areas of employment; housing; and public accommodations, even in our own LGB ranks. 

 

We acknowledge the “T” in our LGBT fight but unfortunately for political expediency, image, bigotry in our ranks or other unexplainable reasons when the going gets tough, the “T” has been left behind or thrown under the human rights bus. 

In 2007 LGBT advocacy organizations, most notably HRC and the LGBT community were divided over support of a modified ENDA that shadily excluded the transgender community.  As we showed our solidarity for marriage equality during the recent Supreme Court deliberations this spring, reports of exclusion of the trans pride flag ironically surfaced during the same week we celebrated transgender visibility with the unveiling of the first ever Trans 100 List

This week on CAN WE TALK FOR REAL I'm one of the two Trans 100 honorees along with , Monica Roberts, the TransGriot, and Carter Brown, director of Black Transmen, Inc. joining co-hosts Ina, Michelle and Terry Boi to talk about the “T” in the LGBT community.

We'll discuss the continued violence against our trans brothers and sisters, legislative battles facing the Trans community, and discuss why there is no room for division in our fight for equality.

 

Call 347-215-8985 at 10:30 PM Eastern time, 9:30 PM Central time, 8:30 PM Mountain time and at 7:30 PM Pacific time on Wednesday, May 8 for one dynamic conversation that I'm looking forward to.

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