Association of Transgender Professionals Statement About Allyson Robinson's OutServe/SLDN Dismissal

TransGriot Note: Told y'all we're pissed about what happened to Allyson Robinson.   Here's the statement from the Association of Transgender Professionals about it

Equality in the workplace for the transgender community was set back this week by the sudden dismissal of Allyson Robinson as Executive Director of OutServe-SLDN.


“Allyson’s role at OutServe-SLDN was a beacon to all by demonstrating that transgender was finally an equal partner in the struggle for LGBT equality,” according to ATP Executive Director Denise Norris.

There are an unknown number of Transgender men and woman proudly serving in our military forces, but they can only serve if they sacrifice the same authenticity of self that was recently granted to Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual service personal with the repeal of DADT.  Allyson’s role as Executive Director at OutServe-SLDN gave hope and inspiration all service personal who were required to remain in the military’s closet.

Autumn Sandeen, an ATP member and respected transgender military and veterans activist states, “Allyson Robinson is a strong leader that many prominent trans* veterans trust and deeply respect. I’m sure I’m not the only trans* veteran who is saddened that she’ll no longer be leading OutServe-SLDN.”   Ms Sandeen, Petty Officer First Class (retired), served twenty years in the US Navy.

Norris explains that many ATP members are veterans of military service and have expressed great concern at the loss of the strong positive role model which Ms Robinson represents.

“One cannot serve with Pride if one is commanded to do so in the closet,” Ms. Norris observed.
ATP salutes all Americans on active service during LGBT Pride Month 2013.


***

About the Association of Transgender Professionals

The Association of Transgender Professionals (ATP) is a not-for-profit organization advocating economic equality and workplace inclusion for people with non-conforming gender expressions and/or identities regardless of socioeconomic standing.

To learn more about the Association of Transgender Professionals and its vision and goals, please visit www.transgenderprofessionals.org

Its three-fold mission is:

• To promote inclusion and equality for Gender Expression Diversity in the workplace (Acceptance)
• To provide professional development services to accelerate the acquisition of workplace skills (Talent)
• To develop viable employer recruiting channels (Placement)

Nerve Wracking SCOTUS Watch Week

Good thing I'm going to be hitting the road in the middle of the week for a long interstate highway journey to Denver.  It'll keep me from not being stressed out reading SCOTUSblog about the potential results in several cases of importance to me and the various communities I'm a part of.  

I'm keenly interested in the Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder case which takes aim at Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the Fisher v UT Austin one and the ones the marriage equality peeps are sweating in Hollingsworth v Perry and United States v. Windsor.

Note to John Aravosis and the rest of you GL peeps pimping that tired Blacks are keeping us from getting gay marriage meme, let me drop another 50 megatons on knowledge on to you irradiate that lie. 

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund wrote friend of the court briefs in support of striking down DOMA and was part of the coalition of organizations filing in the Hollingsworth v perry care to take down Prop 8.

The LDF has been filing friend of the court briefs on behalf of the LGBT community since the 1996 Romer v Evans case. 

But back to the SCOTUS and these upcoming landmark cases.  The only thing we know about these cases is that there is no way of knowing which way they will go, and we can't even say for certain the vote will break down on 5-4 conservative-liberal lines as has been the pattern in the Roberts Court era.

For those of us who like to see human rights expand, all we can do is watch, hope and pray that justice prevails. 

These SCOTUS decisions will drop either sometime this week or next, and you will definitely know when it happens because the online chatter will be off the charts when it does.

Ask A Trans Attracted Man-Part 5

As I've stated more than a few times on the blog, we girls like us need to do a better job of being fierce advocates for and appreciating the cis men (and trans ones too) who genuinely love us and want to have long term relationships with us that may result in us getting rings put on our fingers 

And we trans women also need to tell the brothers cis and trans in no uncertain terms what we want, need and don't need as they are vying for our romantic attention.

To facilitate that conversation, I've stated posting the videos of Troy, a self identified trans attracted man who has started a YouTube video channel to do just that along with the other videos in that ongoing series.

Trans feminine video bloggers are also beginning to chime in with their thoughts and blog posts on the subject of romantic relationships..   So are our trans brothers.

In addition to having for your viewing pleasure Troy's latest video.

Allyson Robinson Ousted As OutServe/SLDN Exec Director

Back in October I was happy to trumpet the news of Allyson Robinson's groundbreaking hiring as the executive director of the merged OutServe/SLDN.   Allyson also became at that time the first trans person ever to be hired as the head of a national Gay, Inc org whose primary focus is not centered on trans human rights issues. 

Today the trans community and our allies are stunned to hear the news via the Bilerico Project that after only nine months on the job Allyson Robinson has been ousted as the head of OutServe/SLDN after a board coup.  

A new executive director for an organization is usually given a year to immerse themselves in the culture of the organization and implement their policy and procedural direction, so this unexpected firing of Robinson triggered the resignations of OutServe/SLDN senior staff, several board members and growing outrage in the trans community. 

I've been wary of OutServe/SLDN based on how military transfolks got thrown under the Humvee in the runup to the 2010 DADT repeal and questions about their cultural competency to articulate the issues facing trans military personnel and veterans.  

It also revived the perception in the trans community that OutServe/SLDN only cares about GL military people and isn't on board with helping the trans community end the ban on trans military service so that we can openly serve in our country's military.

It also put a renewed spotlight on TAVA, the Transgender American Veterans Association and the status of the ten year old organization in the wake of founding president Monica Helms' recent retirement.

It also plays into the larger problem that Gay, Inc orgs are cricket chirping silent about in terms of the glaring lack of visible trans feminine leadership in their ranks and the suspicion of trans people that GL transphobia is playing a major role in that invisibility. 

Don't even get me started about the lack of trans women of color in Gay, Inc organizational ranks.

That perception is only going to ossify with this highly public dismissal of a groundbreaking trans leader and the ongoing turmoil and drama it has unleashed in its wake.

Robinson said at the time she was hired as the OutServe/SLDN executive director, "We cannot stop until we reach the day when all qualified Americans who wish to wear the uniform of our armed forces have the opportunity to do so with honor and integrity – and without fear of discrimination or harassment – whether they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.”

Their ouster of Robinson after only nine months on the job leads the trans community to legitimately ask if there is rampant transphobia in the organization.   It also leads us to ask the more pertinent policy question of just how committed OutServe/SLDN is to the mission of ensuring that like GLB Americans, transgender Americans can serve their country with honor and distinction.

TransGriot Update:  Denise Brogan Kator was the first transperson to ever be hired as the ED for a Gay, Inc org not focused on trans human rights issues when she became the head of Equality Michigan. 

Netroots Nation 2014 Is Headed To Detroit

I couldn't make it to Netroots Nation 2013 in San Jose, CA to my sorrow after being part of the fun last year in Providence and a historic first ever all trans panel discussion..  

I was busy with my own stuff during the June 20-23 period of Netroots Nation's San Jose run so I didn't get a chance to check out the news from the just concluded convention to see if what I wrote at the end of the Providence 2012 Netroots Nation event as to what I would like to see at #NN13 actually came to pass. 


They announced the city that will be hosting Netroots Nation 2014 a few moments ago and it will be in Detroit

It will take place July 17-20 at Cobo Hall in the Motor City and will be coming at a critical time.  The crucial 2014 midterms will be taking place a few months later on November 6 and the citizens of Michigan will be striving to throw off the yoke of Republifool oppression and toss Rick Snyder and their Tea Klux Klan dominated legislature out of power in addition to selecting a replacement for retiring US Senator Carl Levin (D).

So the peeps in Detroit are excited about this opportunity to show a different side of Detroit than the one that has been depicted on the national news lately and will be wanting to roll out the red carpet for the over 3000 progressive activists headed there next July.

And with a little luck, hope I'm one of them.

Renee's Medical Update

For those of you who are wondering how our fave north of the 49th parallel frequent guest blogger is doing in combating her recent health challenge, there's some positive news to report on that front.

Renee is on the mend, in good spirits, is determined to get better and the medical team is just as determined to help her get to that point. 

She is now in the rehabilitation hospital for the next three weeks and look out world, is still armed with her tablet.  

She wants to thank all of you who continue to send her get well soon messages on her blog and who lifted her and her family up in prayer during this challenging time.  

With continued progress she'll be unleashing her wit, wisdom and commentary on the world in no time..

Transpinay Jazz Vocalist

There are many talented people inside our  community who if just given a fair shot to show off their talents will excel when given that opportunity.

This video is a year old interview with jazz vocalist Angel Bonilla. 

Ni***r Isn't The Same As Honky

TransGriot Note: Guest post by Aletha Fields


Ni***r is the most electric racial slur between blacks and whites in America. No other word between the races carries that charge. That's why ni***r isn't the same as honky. No white person ever got enslaved, humiliated, dehumanized, raped, or sold as a part of one of the ugliest periods in American history.

Sooooooo. . . Everybody quit acting brand new and trying to justify the use of ni***r against the use of words like honky. You know it isn't the same no matter what you say. And for the record, how many black people do you honestly hear calling white people honky? Step out of the 70s please. Honky? Ni***r? Which one makes people turn their heads? Which one makes good white parents intentionally tell their children to NEVER say? Which one is often followed by actions the word ni***r provokes? Black isn't the same as ni***r.

Paula Deen knows the difference about when to not use the word. She isn't brand new. If it was actually a part of her inability to code switch, she would not have made it as far because she would have already used it publicly. No white person in America blatantly uses the word ni***r unless they mean to or want to. She needs to be punished for it. Her being honest about isn't a heroic act. That's a foolish notion in and of itself. She isn't living in a plantation culture and she isn't to be excused because she's a Southerner. She deserves every bit of public backlash for her private blacklash.

Fortunately for me, my social justice family, which includes many, many white do-gooders, taught me how very abnormal this behavior is amongst white people in America. It is THEIR honesty about anti-racist work that let me know white folks like Ms. Deen know exactly what they're doing and their intent around the use of words like ni***r.

The only thing people need to get over concerning racial slurs between whites and blacks is the notion that the use of the word ni***r by white people is not, has not been, and never will be anything than its ugly past intended.

You cannot submit to revisionist history. What happened during enslavement is not natural, is not just, is not a source of pride, is not an unintentional system of oppression, and is not passive. Get over THAT!

One Down,Three To Go In LA

One of the wastes of DNA suspected of being involved in the brutal May 31 transphobic hate assault on Vivian Diego was arrested by LAPD Hollywood Division detectives in the San Fernando Valley

21 year old Nicol Shakhnazaryan, was arrested Thursday night on felony battery charges for the May 31 attack and is being held on a $1.05 million bond.  LAPD with an assist from the FBI are searching for the other three suspects and the $25,000 reward for information leading to their capture is still in effect.

One down, three to go.

I AM YOU Trans Ally Campaign Launched In Malaysia

Was nice to hear that TBLG activists in that Pacific Rim nation launched last month a campaign designed to get people in Malaysia to be better allies to trans people there. 

We've seen Muslim transwomen be frequently arrested, charged under Sharia law with 'impersonating a woman' and fined or imprisoned for up to six months for just living their trans lives.  

While transwomen are the more well known and visible faces of the Malaysian trans community and targets for the anti-trans harassment aimed at them, trans men are increasingly being targeted for harassment if their status is discovered.

A political climate in which the various political parties trying to capture votes from the Muslim majority attempt to show righteous they are by hating on transpeople and repressing their human rights also has been problematic for the Malaysian trans community


The I AM YOU campaign launched with a screening of the three campaign videos followed by a question and answer session with several trans men and trans women complete with a mock trial demonstrating what happens when transpeople go to court to do their name changes.    

And here are the I AM YOU campaign videos.

Shut Up Fool Awards-First Day Of Summer Edition

It's the first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere (Winter for my readers south of the Equator.) and it's the longest day of the year for us.   From now until September, especially in Houston the temperature and the humidity percentages will be battling to see which one goes higher.

The classic summer anthems like Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince's 'Summertime', Sly and the Family Stone's 'Hot Fun In The Summertime', WAR's 'Summer'  are getting more frequent airplay and triggering memories as you hop in the car and drive or fly to family reunions around the country or just cruise to the local park with your windows down and the he volume of your car stereo up.

And you savor the smell of roasting mesquite flavored burgers, brisket, ribs, pork chops and sausage permeate the air either in your neighborhoods or in the local parks. 

We interrupt these pleasant summertime thoughts to introduce something foul smelling in the air, stupidity and ignorance. 

Sorry I had to do that, but I must do my solemn Friday duty and get on with the TransGriot 'bidness' of selecting this week's Shut Up Fool Award winner.

Y'all know that's what y'all surfed over here to check out at noon CDT anyway, so don't even front.

Ahem, and now, it time to shine our spotlight on this week's group of fools.

Honorable Mention Number One this week is Jim Allen, the head of the Montgomery County, IL Republican Party.  He put his misogynist white hood on as he aimed a racist e-mail at former Miss America 2003 Erika Harold, who is running for Congress in 2014 as a Republican.

Way to do that minority outreach, Jim.

Honorable Mention Number two goes to Catherine 'Bug' Brennan,  who got (snicker, snicker) tossed out of the Royal Vauxhall Tavern in London and tried to pimp it as an example of 'anti-lesbian hate'. 

Naw Bug, tell the entire story.  They kicked her butt to the curb because she's an internationally renowned trans oppressor and she tried to enter that pub on the very night they were doing a popular trans themed night called Bar Wotever.  Lesibilicious also chimed in on this and basically summed it up in the title of their post. 

'If you’re going to trash trans people online, don’t be surprised when they kick you out of their club.'
Got that right.  The Bug can continue to cry her White Women's Tears outside and in TERF world.    

Honorable mention number three goes to Rep. Jeff Duncan (Teabagger-SC) who is calling for another invesitgation of the POTUS on ho hum, the birther issue

This week's SUF winner is Paula Deen, who was revealed to be on Juneteenth no less to be cooking up something other than tasty Southern dishes.  Deen was revealed in a May 17 deposition in response to a discrimination lawsuit filed by the former general mamager of hr Savanna, GA restaurant to be a Confederate flag waving bigot and Black Twitter wasted no time putting its collective foot in her antebellum loving behind with two Twitter hashtags that went viral after the news broke.


She put a half azzed apology-non apology out there and canceled a Today show TV appearance scheduled for this morning in the wake of the still brewing controversy

And oh yeah, Paula Deen, kiss my grits, er Shut Up Fool!  

'Transphobic' Is Officially A Word

The transphobic TERF's can attempt to deny the word doesn't exist, but the Oxford English Dictionary will say otherwise.

'Transphobic' ("hostile towards transsexual or transgender people") was one of 1200 words officially added to the 2013 edition of one of the most renowned dictionaries in the world.that was released last week.  

It caps a successful Change.org petition campaign which sought to have the word added to the Microsoft Office and Oxford English dictionaries that was signed by over 9000 people. 

It was added to the Microsoft Office dictionary when their latest update was released last month, and now the most respected and authoritative dictionary in the world has followed suit.

Nova Scotia To Cover GRS Surgeries

More evidence of the positive karmic momentum wave that trans human rights is on north of the 49th parallel.

After first saying they wouldn't cover GRS surgeries in the provincial health plan in the wake of passing trans human rights legislation in the province citing fiscal issues, after reviewing medical evidence and a chat with NSRAP, Nova Scotia's provincial health minister David Wilson reversed that decision and said they would do so.

With that decision Nova Scotia becomes the eight Canadian province to provide funding for genital realignment surgeries.

Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan are the others that offer varying levels of funding for GRS.   

Kevin Kindred, the chairman of the Rainbow Action Project, said he’s pleased Nova Scotia reversed its stance because for some people, the surgeries are medically necessary for mental health.

“This is the best and most effective method to return transgendered people to a good state of medical health,” Kindred said. "They’ll go from being a drain on the health system … to being positive, contributing members of society.”

Wilson said the province will “move as quickly as it can” to set up standards of care and negotiate funding levels for the treatment, adding that the section of the physician’s manual that prohibits funding for the surgery will be immediately removed. 

The Health Department will begin researching whether there are medical professionals in Nova Scotia who can do the operations, and if not, where they can be done, he added.

Vivian Diego Speaks

I posted recently about the vicious transphobic attack that was aimed at 22 year old Los Angeles girl like us Vivian Diego who was jumped by four wastes of DNA on May 31 while walking home after work between 2:15-2:30 AM PDT on Hollywood Boulevard near Vine Street. and the nekulturny transphobic reaction of Bossip to it..

Diego has not only gotten support from my fellow Texan Eva Longoria, the owner of the Beso restaurant where she works as a barista, the LAPD is offering a $25,000 reward for information that leads to the apprehension and conviction of the four thugs who committed this crime.

TRIGGER WARNING for the surveillance video of the attack on Vivian..




Vivian, who spent a week in the hospital recovering from the hate attack (yeah, that's exactly what it was) , suffered a cracked cheekbone, two broken ribs and has her jaw wired shut.  

She recently spoke to the LA CBS-TV affiliate there.




Here's hoping that the video and the reward lead to the arrest by LAPD of the four wastes of DNA who committed this hate crime.

Time's Running Out In NY State To Pass GENDA

While the trans community in Delaware woke up to the first day of having their human rights respected and protected, the trans citizens of New York woke up to a different reality.

They find themselves once again in the same frustrating situation of seeing GENDA pass their Assembly for the sixth straight time on an 84-46 vote back in April, but languish in the GOP controlled NY state Senate with the session ending for summer break at midnight EDT tonight .

What's pissing off trans people in the state, their trans community allies across the nation and the world who are also watching this play out is Gov. Andrew Cuomo's (D) cricket chirping silence about GENDA being stalled in the GOP-controlled Senate as trans New Yorkers watch a trans rights law be introduced May 31 in Delaware and become law and a Canadian federal trans rights one get tantalizingly closer to becoming law there.

Governor Cuomo, just a reminder that you claimed when you signed the marriage equality law in 2011 that New York was a beacon of social justice. 

I would submit that based on the treatment GENDA's been getting.your claim that New York is a beacon of social justice is specious when it comes to the human rights of trans New Yorkers and your record to this point is spotty on that.   

I'd also like to remind you Governor Cuomo that transpeople do vote not only in New York but elsewhere around the country.  If you are considering running for president in 2016 or 2020, we do have some influence on that presidential primary process and the national trans community will use GENDA as a litmus test to judge you on your leadership skills.   

We are also noting the vastly different reactions concerning what you did to pass gay marriage in 2011 versus what you're NOT doing to advance the human rights of transgender New Yorkers that have waited far too long for them after being cut out of SONDA in 2002.

The clock's ticking Governor. 

New York Senate, it's past time for you to stop being the trans human rights oppressors you appear to the world to be and bring GENDA to a vote.

You claim New York is a beacon of social justice. It's past time for you to prove it and become the 18th state to pass trans human rights coverage for a community that has been waiting far too long for it. 

Black Twitter's Still Whacking Paula Deen

Yeah Paula, you seriously pissed us off.

Black Twitter still has its foot firmly planted in Paula Deen's antebellum behind.  It has moved on from the #PaulasBestDishes one that went viral yesterday and was the number one trending topic on Twitter for several hours to cooking up a new Twitter hasttag to highlight her Southern fried bigotry.

The latest Twitter hashtag is entitled #PaulaWontCookIt and was created by Dr. Brittney Cooper of Rutgers University and Crunk Feminist Collective after her friend Patrice Simpson suggested the idea. 

Some of the entries on that hashtag are just as hilarious as the sarcastic cuisine that was conjured up by the Black Twitterverse yesterday and yes, the TransGriot threw some in on the new #PaulaWontCookIt hashtag as well.

Trying to get to the 7500 tweet mark and I'm a few tweets short of it  ;) 

Number 17!

With the Delaware Senate on a 11-9 vote passing the House amended Gender Non Discrimination Act Wednesday afternoon and it getting Gov Jack Markell's signature that evening, Delaware became the 17th state to pass trans human rights legislation. 

The Gender Nondiscrimination Act adds gender identity to the existing list of protected nondiscrimination categories, including race, age, religion and sexual orientation. It also allows for enhanced penalties under Delaware's hate crimes law for targeting someone based on his or her gender identity.  

The amendment the House added to the passed Senate bill raised concerns with the national trans community breathlessly following SB 97's progress through the Delaware legislature.
 
It was supported by the bills' proponents in the First State and clarified how a trans person could establish his or her gender identity.  It also stated that the GENDA law would not protect a person attempting to use gender identity as an excuse to enter an opposite-sex changing area for an “improper purpose.”

The cool thing for me about the whole process besides my Delaware trans brothers and sisters getting their too long delayed human rights coverage was not only how fast it happened, but the law was lead sponsored by African-American senator Margaret Rose Henry (D-Wilmington)   

The bill was introduced on May 31 by Senator Henry, who is the Delaware Senate Majority Whip and as of 6 PM EDT yesterday with Gov Markell's signature affixed to it is now the law of the First State.  It's also a law that Attorney General Beau Biden (D) stated he would rigorously enforce. 

The other cool thing for me is that Sen. Henry has a Texas connection in that she graduated from Texas Southern University here in Houston.  .

But for my Delaware-born girls like us homegirl Sarah McBride, the cool thing for her was that her home state passed a trans rights law.

“I’ve never been prouder to be a Delawarean,'she said in an interview.  "There will be none of the doomsday scenarios that the opponents of this legislation said, and all Delawareans will see that in the coming months and years ahead. The only difference will be that transgender people will be safe and secure in this state.”

And Sarah, you should be proud of your home state   It is now one of 17 states in this country that protect the human rights of trans people.  That's something to be bursting at the seams proud of and I look forward to the day it happens in my home state of Texas.  

With the demographic changes happening in Texas blue state transpeople, that day may be coming sooner than you think. 

But congratulations Delaware!   Lets hope, pray and continue to work toward the inevitable day that trans human rights coverage becomes a reality in all our states. 

Reason Number Whatever Why I Don't Vote For Republicans

If your political party had a 33 year old African-American Harvard Law school graduate who was a former 2003 Miss America with a platform of advocating for abstinence and against school bullying, what would you do if she was announcing at her old high school she was running for Congress under your party banner? 

If you're the GOP, you call her a 'street walker', 'Miss Queen', and a 'love child'.  

In the latest example of  Republifool minority outreach gone wild, Erika Harold announced in her hometown of Urbana, IL on June 4 that she was going to run for Congress in Illinois 13th Congressional District and challenge first term congressman Rodney Davis (R), who barely won the seat in the 2012 election cycle.

And how was that news greeted by the GOP?   With this racist e-mail rant from Jim Allen, a Davis supporter and the chair of the Montgomery County, IL Republican Party that was sent to Republican News Watch’s Editor-in-Chief Doug Ibendahl.

—– Original Message —–
From: Jim Allen <jimallen@consolidated.net>
Sent: 06/18/13 10:59 PM
To: dibendahl@mail.com
Subject: 13th Congressional District reply

Rodney Davis will win and the love child of the D.N.C. will be back in Shitcago by May of 2014 working for some law firm that needs to meet their quota for minority hires.
The truth is Nancy Pelosi and the DEMOCRAT party want this seat. So they called RINO Timmy Johnson to be their pack mule and get little queen to run.
Ann Callis gets a free ride through a primary and Rodney Davis has a battle.
The little queen touts her abstinence and she won the crown because she got bullied in school,,,boohoo..kids are cruel, life sucks and you move on..Now, miss queen is being used like a street walker and her pimps are the DEMOCRAT PARTY and RINO REPUBLICANS…These pimps want something they can’t get,,, the seat held by a conservative REPUBLICAN  Rodney Davis and Nancy Pelosi can’t stand it..

Little Queenie and Nancy Pelosi have so much in common but the one thing that stands out the most.. both are FORMER QUEENS, their crowns are tarnished and time has run out on the both of them..

Earth to Erika, the party you claim to be a member has a chair of a local party organization who supports your opponent and just publicly disrespected you.   It leads me to ask the question what's a smart woman like you doing even running for Congress as a Republican? 

It's clear these knuckle dragging misogynist troglodytes aren't going to change.  They are threatened by and still hate any woman who is  smarter than they are.  They have a special frothing at the mouth hatred as evidenced by their dislike of your fellow Illinoisian First Lady Michelle Obama for Black women who are smarter than they are.

So why contribute a seat to their House majority that is virulently anti-Black, racist to its rotten core and anti-woman should you win it?  If I were you I'd run, beat Davis' azz in the primary, and if I went on to win the November 2014 election immediately announce after it was certified that I'm switching to the Democratic Party just to spite them.

And yep, crap like this is exactly why Black folks can't stand the Republican Party and we justifiably look side eyed at any Black person who even runs as one.  If they're disrespecting  an obviously qualified candidate like Erika Harold, what do they say about the rest of us who aren't in their party?

Umm, never mind, I just remembered the comment Romney made about us wanting free stuff among other racist GOP bull feces in the aftermath of the 2012 election cycle. 

And it's why I continue to call the Republican Party the political arm of whiteness and white supremacy. 

Black Twitter Strikes Again On #PaulasBestDishes Hashtag

Paula Deen put her Southern fried foot in her mouth when she revealed her loyalties to all things Southern including that tired tradition of racism.

Deen is embroiled in a million dollar lawsuit over racist behavior with Lisa Jackson, the former general manager of Paula’s restaurant in Savannah, GA

Jackson claims that Deen used the N-word and was harassed and assaulted by her brother Bubba.  

The reason it probably hadn't gone viral until now is because the only paper covering the story was the National Enquirer.  But even they can have a broken clock moment of journalism every now and then and it looks like that is about to happen. 

Deen parted her lips during that videotaped May 17 deposition to reveal that she is not only a Confederate flag waving level racist, she's ignorantly dismissive about it as well.

The fact this news about Deen dropped on Juneteenth did not escape some peeps and as usual on Black Twitter, just as we did a few months ago with the #BlackPrivilege hashtag we gleefully took on the challenge of excoriating her in our own creative way. 

The  #PaulasBestDishes hashtag that has gone viral as I write this post and had me at one point rolling over and in tears laughing at some of the sarcastic cuisine on this list.  Y'all know I couldn't resist jumping in on the fun of roasting this bigot over the coals.

And you know TransGriot readers that Paula is a nominee for this week's Shut Up Fool Award.

It's Juneteenth, 2013 Edition!

Today is June 19 or Juneteenth as we call it in the Lone Star State and the 42 other states that recognize it

It commemorates the 1865 day that Union Major General Gordon Granger stood on the balcony at Ashton Villa in Galveston, TX and read General Order Number 3 that proclaimed that all Texas slaves were henceforth freed.

I wrote a post last year framing Juneteenth in the context of what the African-American trans community in my home state needed to do.  I called for African-American trans Texans to embark on a trans Juneteenth in which we step off the mental plantation of shame, guilt and fear and stride boldly toward a future of us owning our power.  

What I didn't know at the time was that the seeds for what I was calling for were already being planted at the inaugural Black Transmen, Inc conference in Dallas and started to grow this past March.  A few weeks later I finally got a chance while I was in Charlotte for the TransFaith in Color Conference to meet in the flesh two Texas based transwomen I'd corresponded with online for several years in Dallas' Rev. Carmarion Anderson and Houston video blogger Diamond Stylz

At the BTMI conference in March I finally got to meet Carter Brown of Dallas and the men of BTMI who are all about being the change you wish to see in the world.   A month later it was emerging Houston transmasculine leader Tye West.

And yes, there are cis African-American allies and our trans family in Texas, around the nation and the world who stand ready to help us put into practice what I visualized last year.

We've stepped off the mental plantation of shame, fear and guilt and are taking those bold steps into being proud trans masculine and trans feminine Texans involved with and ensconced in the communities we intersect and interact with.  How that continues to evolve will be the source of constant communication. effort and sometimes 'The Texas Trans Revolution Will Not Be Televised' consultation, but I'm happy to see it's finally happening in my birth state.   

I'm also aware that the struggle for trans Texans human rights continues inside and outside of the African-American community.   We have to throw off the shackles of fourth class citizenship and plant trans civil rights trees here in our state as we fight off the oppressors who seek to chop those trees down.  We must nurture their growth even though we realize that as they grow tall enough to shelter transpeople from the blazing sun of anti-trans discrimination and bigotry, we may not live long enough to sit under them and drink strawberry soda or strawberry Kool-Aid in their human rights shade.

That shouldn't deter us from doing the hard solid thinking and work that must be done to build community amongst African-American trans Texans, our cis and trans allies here, across the US and around the world and all people of good will interested in helping us sit at our place at the family table. 

As I said in last year's post and it still applies 365 days later, we African descended Texas transpeople can no longer afford to muddle around for another wasted decade isolated, invisible to the world at large, ignorant about what's going on around us, and feeling impotent socially, emotionally, politically and economically. 

It is time for us to step up our leadership games and be the proud Black trans men and trans women we are, own our power and write our own proud chapter in Black Texas history in the process.

And I'm pleased and proud to see that we are finally on the road to doing all of the above.