Smith College, Don't Assume The Trans Community Forgot About What Happened To Calliope

With the 2013-14 academic school year about to commence either this month or in September on many college campuses, I not only wanted to take a moment to give an early salute to the transpeople in the Class of 2014 that will be beginning their senior years on many campuses, but salute the class of 2017 that will be starting their freshman year on campuses across the nation.

I also wanted to make sure that as the summer vacation season winds down and fall approaches in several weeks, that we don't forget about a college freshman named Calliope Wong that will not be walking the campus of Smith College where she wanted to go.  She is matriculating elsewhere on another college campus due to hypocritical transphobia in their application process. 

In the wake of the drama that Smith College's rejection of Wong caused including this Change.org petition that has accumulated almost 5,000 signatures, the Northampton, MA based college stated they would put together a panel in the Fall 2013 semester to look at the issue.   

Smith's dean of admissions, Debra Shaver, announced a committee would form to address the needs of prospective trans students at Smith. The committee will begin meeting in September, and in the interim, Smith will stop denying admissions to trans girls and women listed as male on their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms, which is what happened to Wong.

Well, the start of the Fall 2013 semester classes on September 3 is rapidly approaching, and don't think for a moment the trans community, Smith students, Smith alums who support trans feminine inclusion, transpeople in Western Mass and our allies forgot what happened to Calliope or what was said back in May. .

Our eyes will definitely be upon you starting September 3, and do not doubt for a moment we won't be paying attention to what does (or doesn't) happen on your campus on the issue of trans feminine inclusion on your campus.

The trans community is deadly serious in wanting this issue affirmatively resolved.  We will be paying attention to whether the committee Dean of Admissions Debra Shaver alluded to in May will actually be formed and do the hard solid thinking and work to solve the problem.

Or is it as we suspect you were simply engaged in selling woof tickets in order to ratchet down the increasing negative publicity Smith College was getting at the time concerning the issue. 

We trans bloggers will be paying attention, too to see which scenario plays out this fall. 


TransGriot Note: This post is also up at Original Plumbing.

WMATA Silver Line Service Start Delayed Until 2014

Houston area folks aren't the only ones having to wait for eagerly anticipated transit rail service to commence.   So are the peeps in the Washington DC metro area and Northern Virginia.

One of the things I have long loved about DC is flying into DCA, making a beeline to the train station platform just outside the terminal and jumping on the Metrorail trains to get me around town while I'm there.

The city traffic can be a pain in the butt at times to navigate, especially on the infamous Capital Beltway and near the federal buildings.  Parking in DC is at a premium, hard to find and expensive so I rarely rent a car there because of Metrorail. 

I don't like flying into Dulles or BWI when I need to travel to Washington DC because it necessitates a bus ride before I can connect to the WMATA rail system.   In BWI's case you also have the option of taking an $11 one way train ride to Union Station before connecting with the rail system.  But when I fly Southwest, until recently the only service they had into the Washington area airports out of Houston Hobby was either into Dulles or BWI.

I keep a WMATA SmarTrip electronic transit pass with me with funds on it for that purpose since I frequently find myself in DC for various events.   

I was happy to hear as a rail transit enthusiast that the long talked about Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project was way beyond the chatter stage. WMATA finally started construction in 2008 on the first phase of the long talked about Silver Line that would eventually include a stop at Dulles airport.


Phase 1 of the Silver Line is 11.7 miles from East Falls Church, VA and the Orange Line to Wiehle Ave in Reston, VA. with four stations in Tyson's Corner, VA.in the median of the Dulles Toll Road that connects to I-66.  Some of the sections of the Silver Line are elevated and above ground while a section of it is running underground through a 2100 foot tunnel in Tyson's Corner. 

Phase 2 will be a 11.5 mile section with six stations running from Reston through Dulles Airport in the median of the the Dulles Toll Road to just west of Ashburn, VA with a rail storage yard near Dulles Airport.   The Dulles International Airport Station will be an aerial one across the parking bowl from the world renowned Eero Saarinen designed terminal building.

The first construction contracts for Phase 2 were awarded May 14 with actual construction starting after the initial surveying work in spring 2014.  The long awaited section of the line to Dulles Airport is projected to start WMATA revenue service in 2018.  

While the Silver Line train tests are happening now for the Phase 1 part of the line and the fare service was supposed to start later this year, reports are that it is being delayed until January 1, 2014 according to the Washington Examiner due to construction delays on the West Falls Church Rail Yard critical to storage and operation of the Silver Line's rail cars.

There is a chance that Silver Line service could start in December.

But the end result is that despite the delay in the startup of WMATA revenue service, when it finally does crank up the opening of the Metrorail Silver Line puts the dream since 1962 of having a rail transit link between Dulles and our nation's capital much closer to being a reality.   

And us rail transit enthusiasts in DC and around the country couldn't be happier to have that happen.  

Hazreen Shaik Daud Video Update

I talked about Hazreen Shaik Daud, the Malaysian trans girl like us who was appointed the political secretary to Tanjung Bungah state assemblyman Teh Yee Cheu of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) in Malaysia.

In Penang state a Transgender committee headed by Teh has been approved and will be formed in two months.  The objectives of this legislative transgender committee is to collect data and alleviate the status and social stigma associated with the transgender community. 

Some of their activities will include holding public forums to spread awareness on the issue.

Here's a video that discusses Hazreen's appointment

Wendy And Ignacio Visit America

The Wendy and Ignacio in this case are our Cuban transsister Wendy Iriepa Diaz and her hubby Ignacio Estrada Cepero who had a very public wedding in Havana back in 2011

The Cuban dissidents arrived here in the States back on June 26 and are spending three months visiting our country before heading back to Cuba in the fall.

They also have some very interesting things to say about what life is really like for our TBLG brothers and sisters on the island.

Mariela Castro was given an award by Equality Forum in May for being a trans rights and gay rights advocate, but Iriepa has a different opinion of the woman she once worked for at CENESEX, the Cuban gender clinic that Castro runs.

“Mariela totally manipulates the LGBT community,” Iriepa said.


“Everything is fake, it’s false,” Iriepa said of Castro’s portrayal of the current status of the Cuban LGBT community.  “The gays still feel repression. When the police come, they say you have to leave here. Mariela sells to the world the same image the Cuban government does. Everything from the outside looks beautiful, but when you go inside, everything is not.” 

Iriepa said that for years she sought sex reassignment surgery, but didn’t get it until she pledged loyalty to the Castro regime.   In 2007 she became the first person on the island to have the surgery as part of the government-run CENESEX program.and was its public face until she and Castro came into conflict in 2011 over her blossoming relationship with Ignacio and his self described status as an 'opponent of the Castro government'. 

until she and Castro came into conflict over her blossoming relationship with ignaio Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2013/07/cuban-lgbt-dissidents-visiting-miami-dont-believe-mariela-castro-about-gay-rights-on-the-island.html#storylink=cpy

 
After participating in a Spanish language panel discussion at Miami-Dade College's Wolfson Campus and having events at other venues in the area, they have arrived in Washington DC. 

The couple toured Casa Ruby and the Us Helping Us HIV/AIDS service agency and are scheduled to visit with Congressmember Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) today before heading back to Miami and eventually departing back to Cuba. 

Jamaican Justice Minister Condemns Jones Killing.

Was wondering if anyone from the Jamaican government would condemn the brutal July 22 mob violence killing of Jamaican gender variant kid D. Jones.

My musings were answered according to the Jamaica Observer.  Justice Minister Senator Mark Golding has done just that and commented on the senseless killing of the 17 year old.teen.

Given our our country's history of brutality and the pluralistic nature of our society, all well-thinking Jamaicans must embrace the principle of respect for the basic human rights of all persons," Golding said.

"This principle requires tolerance towards minority groups, and non-violence in our dealings with those who manifest a lifestyle that differs from the majority of us".

"Depraved acts of violence against individuals such as Dwayne Jones have to cease. The police must spare no effort in bringing the perpetrators to justice, so that any persons who may be inclined to indulge in such vile brutality will know that they cannot do so with impunity," the Justice Minister added.

I agree.  They need to find the wastes of DNA who did this and bring them to justice as soon as possible because the world is watching.

Still Sick Of Hearing The Term 'Race Card'

'It wouldn't be necessary to 'play the race card' as you peeps so derisively put it if you Euro-descended Americans ancestors hadn't set up a system that demonizes non- whites, maximizes benefits to your ethnic group, stacks the deck to maintain that advantage, marks the biggest face cards in the American cultural card deck for themselves and passes them on to their children.'
--TransGriot August 6, 2007 'Sick Of Hearing The Term 'Race Card'

And once again I'm having to write a post about the insulting to the Black community conservaterm 'race card'.

We non-white folks are more than sick and tired of being sick and tired of hearing that insulting conservaterm deployed every time a discussion pops up about race in mixed company either online or in the media. 

Last time I checked that race card or my government slavery reparations check for $150,000 hadn't hit my mailbox yet. 

Non-white people are fed up of hearing from vanillacentric privileged conservative white people that having POC organizations tasked with addressing our lack of representation in the larger communities we interact with or pointing out how race, class white privilege and white supremacy negatively affect us is 'playing the race card'.

It's even more infuriating when that same conservalanguage and rhetoric comes out of the mouths of our liberal-progressive white allies. 

I remind you that predominately POC organizations such as the NAACP, La Raza, LULAC, MALDEF, the Urban League, the National Bar Association, the Congressional Black, Latino and Asian-Pacific Islander caucuses, the National Black Journalists Association, the Divine Nine historically Black fraternities and sororities in the National Pan Hellenic Council, HBCU's and countless other organizations founded by people of color during the 20th century didn't just pop up in a vacuum.  

They exist because of a need for communities of color to band together to fight a persistent four century old pattern of racial discrimination aimed at non-white communities by white America and indifference or outright denials from vanillacentric privilege addled whites not affected by that discrimination it exists or they benefit from it.  

Sadly, because the TBLG community is a subset of the parent society infected with those same problems, isms and ills, it has become necessary in the last two decades to create predominately POC organizations to address the same lack of representation issue just as we had to do in the parent society. 

The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), the Trans Persons of Color Coalition (TPOCC), the Trans Latin@ Coalition, the International Federation of Black Prides (now the Center For Black Progress), Black Transmen Inc/Black Transwomen Inc (BTMI/BTWI), along with corresponding conferences, seminars, the Honor 41 list and events these organizations sponsor such as TransFaith In Color, various Black prides across the country and NBJC's upcoming September 18-22  OUT on the Hill conference in Washington DC are necessary in order to close ranks, help us own our power and become part of the greater BTLG and other communities we intersect and interact with.
   
If a 'race card' truly exists, it's the White Privilege Rewards Card which gets played every time any person of color begins to excel despite the barriers strewn in their path.  As the Zimmerman case demonstrated, it also get deployed when whites get in legal trouble.  And yes, it comes with a rainbow sticker on it as well.

We are a long way from the colorblind society Dr. King envisioned.  But at the same time colorblind does not mean ignore race or not have thoughtful discussions about it.

Frankly, not having serious discussions about the issue of how America's original sin of slavery still impacts this country's race relations 150 years later and how its foul stench still permeates American society is why race and the color line are still major dissension causing problems in 21st century American society. 

But one point I need to emphatically make once again is there is no such thing as a 'race card'.  White peeps, especially on the liberal-progressive side need to eviscerate those insulting conservawords from their vocabulary so that we can at least on our side of the political aisle have a thoughtful and civil discourse on it.

Dr KRZ-Commentary On The New Black Trans Narrative On OITNB

I just spent Sunday evening and early Monday morning watch the Netflix series Orange Is The New Black mainly to check out my homegirl Laverne Cox's performance as Sophia Burset and see what kind of job the writers did on this trans character.

I had some reservations about the role before the series started in whether it would be playing into stereotypes of Black transwomen, but because Laverne was playing this character, I was confident that whatever flaws were in the original script she'd be able to point out and correct.

I was blown away by not only by Laverne's performance throughout the first season, but how three dimensional a character Sophia has turned out to be.

Orange Is The New Black was renewed on June 27 for a second season.

.Dr Kortney Ryan Ziegler in his latest post discussed OITNB and the Sophia character.

Sophia’s choice to rely on strategy and intellect instead of her body to get what she needs, is not the limit of her sexual agency. As a trans woman who is married to a cisgender woman, the portrayal of their relationship explodes overarching myths that have positioned trans women of color as sexually undesirable outside of pornographic imagery. At the same time, their union also calls attention to the nuances of marriage equality in relation to trans individuals who are victims of the prison industrial complex–an issue that has yet to gain traction in the marriage equality debate.

Please click this link to read the rest of Dr. Z's post entitled 'Orange Is The New Black and the New Black Trans Narrative'.

The 4 Year Old African-American Genius

Anala Beevers of New Orleans is just a precocious four years old, but at just 4 months of age she was learning the alphabet, counting in Spanish at eighteen months, knows the location and capital of all 50 US states and many of the world's nations and can identify the planets and dinosaurs.

Hmm, that makes her way smarter than 47 US senators, 234 US congressmen, 4 US Supreme Court justices and her state's current governor.

Anala also has an invitation to join MENSA, the international organization for super smart individuals that requires a comprehensive standardized Q test and a 130 or better IQ to get in.  .

MENSA menbership is much older than Anala and claims people with intelligence that are in the top 2% of the world's population.  Anala is in the top 1% with a 145 IQ.   I'm a slacker compared to her, because the last time I took one a few years ago I tested out at a mere 118. 

But raising an exceptionally smart child can be a challenge.  Her mom Sabrina says that Anala is 'always correcting their grammar' and dad Landon says 'she keeps us on our toes'.

At a time when African-Americans are once again getting bashed in the conservamedia, this child genius is a breath of fresh air in a stale racist conversation of negativity about us as African-descended people.

And sadly, note in the various articles about her on the Net the racist comments in the threads . 
. 
She's aware of her intellectual gifts and when you ask her she wants to be when she grows up, her answer is a nurse.  While the nursing profession may be happy to hear that, I think as she gets older that career choice might be subject to amendment.

Pat Robertson Has Another Broken Clock Trans Moment

You longtime TransGriot readers know I have gleefully pointed out that televangelist Pat Robertson, who has a long history of uttering racist and anti-gay remarks has actually said that 'transsexuality is not a sin'

Well, duh.  And nope, it's not April 1. 

Pat made that comment during a October 5, 1999 broadcast of his 700 Club show and has had other broken clock TBLG moments as to when this show happened a he was asked a question last year about Christians bullying BTLG kids that he had a surprising answer to.

And now, here's another broken clock Pat Robertson trans moment that comes in response to a question during his 'Bring It On-Line segment from David

"I work with two people who have decided that they are females. I know what the Bible says about homosexuality, but is it wrong to refer to them as females since they have had their gender status changed in the eyes of the law?"




Surprise surprise, Pat says NO.   While he take a swipe as SRS and transition as 'radical' and dangerous', he basically echoed the 1999 comment in saying transsexuality wasn't a sin. 

Better get busy people copying this before they delete the video along with the transcript of his remarks from the 700 Club website.
 

Houston Black Trans Community-Time To Step Up

One of the conversations I was engaged in as I attended a recent community event was one in which I was pulled aside by two of my African-American trans sisters and we discussed the state of the Black trans community here in Houston vis-a-vis our white counterparts.

I addressed some of their concerns as they saw it and have talked about the mounting frustrations about our invisibility and lack of visible local non-white trans leaders.


I have repeated my call for more visible diversity in the Houston (and Texas) trans communities and pointed out to the African-American community that Black trans issues are Black community issues.  .

But at the same time it would be intellectually dishonest to not point out this problem isn't just on Houston's white trans community.  Houston Black trans community, you have some internal things you need to do to fix this problem especially when white trans people of goodwill in the area are doing their part to reach out to us because they realize the importance of doing so.

We've got to step up, become visible and lead.   This situation isn't going to change unless people come out of the shadows to accentuate the point that trans African-American Houstonians exist.



I hear the commentary from elements of you stating 'there's nothing for the gurls' here in H-town, you don't feel comfortable at the TG Center, you feel left out or you would like to have trans events like (fill in the city) does. 

But when people have stepped up in the past to try to fulfill that FUBU need or organize those events, you either have an enthusiastic turnout of people at the first couple of meetings, then it fizzles out when it's time for the work to be done.

Or you don't support it for various reasons.  

Yes, I agree we could use some trans POC infrastructure geared toward our community and I understand a meeting was held in southwest Houston on July 22 to get that party started. 

But those chococentric trans organizations, events and support groups aren't going to create themselves.  They will take sustained organizational activity to get off the ground and need to be constructed with long term stability in mind.  They also need to be designed to benefit the entire community long after the founding members have left the scene.

If somebody wants to handle that task, I'll be happy to give them advice on what to do and the pitfalls to avoid.  I'll also provide moral support at whatever meeting you call that you make me aware of is happening.

But it's put up or shut up time.  The cohesive Houston Black trans community you tell me you want to build isn't going to happen organically.

Moni isn't going to be the one doing the heavy lifting on this project because I have others I'm involved with on a local, state and national level that need my undivided attention.    

But if 'having something for the gurls' is what you desire, time for those of you who desire it to step up, determine what it is you want, and exhibit the visionary leadership and drive to make it happen.

New TBLG Military Group SPARTA Emerges From OUTServe-SLDN Drama

In the wake of the contentious drama that ensued after the ugly implosion of OUTServe-SLDN last month and the drama in BTLG World concerning what exactly did happen with former director Allyson Robinson, a new TBLG military advocacy group has arisen from the smoldering ashes of OUTServe-SLDN.

The newly minted organization is called Servicemembers, Partners, and Allies for Respect and Tolerance for All (SPARTA) and formed July 22. 

SPARTA said in a statement they “are a membership organization, built by, for, and with members from all parts of our community.”   The trans community is represented in SPARTA's ranks following the decision of the Transgender chapter of OUTServe-SLDN to leave that organization to join SPARTA.

"Since the upheaval at OutServe-SLDN began on June 22, the transgender chapter of the organization has been working to determine where and how we can best fit within the movement," wrote Brynn Tannehill, the chapter spokeswoman for OutServe-SLDN's Military Transgender Group in a statement.

"This process has been painful, and strained personal and professional relationships that had previously been strong… The ultimate question we had to answer was where we need to be in order to most effectively move the issue of open service for transgender people forward. Unfortunately, it was the considered opinion of our members that OutServe-SLDN will not be able to represent our interests effectively for the foreseeable future."

Meanwhile the troubles continue to mount for OUTServe-SLDN with the announced July 31 closing of its Washington DC offices and reports it is near bankruptcy.

The initial SPARTA leadership team according to a post by The New Civil Right Movement's  David Badash includes:

Carl Able, USMC

Karl Alvarez, Air Force veteran

Jase Daniels, US Navy

Tanya Domi, Army veteran

Tania Dunbar, US Army

Christopher Hooper, US Navy

Jeremy Johnson, Navy veteran

Mark Mazzone, US Army

Beth Schissel, Air Force veteran

Julianne Sohn, Marine Corps veteran

Brynn Tannehill, Navy veteran

SPARTA has a Facebook page up and the website is being constructed. 

The other question being asked by many in the trans community is whether Allyson Robinson has been asked to join SPARTA or if she will have a role with the nascent organization.  

There also isn't word as to whether SPARTA will extend an invitation to TAVA, the decade old Transgender American Veterans Association to either join their ranks or work in partnership with them in future projects designed to speed up the day in which transperson can openly serve their country.  .

Welcome SPARTA.  May you live long, prosper and be wildly successful in your mission of advancing the cause of TBLG service members.

A Mother-Trans Daughter Femininity Dinner Discussion

Some of the Facebook trans groups I'm a member of have very interesting discussion threads at times that eventually trigger hard solid thinking by me to turn it into a post.

This was the case two weeks ago when Lotus, a member of a predominately African-American trans Facebook group I'm on that prides itself on thoughtful discussions of trans issues talked about the night she recently had  dinner with her mother. 

Their dinner discussion turned into a mother-daughter chat that discussed femininity and the perception difference between cis and trans women.

***

Lotus:  Over dinner, my mother and I began an open discussion about the perception of natal females as it pertains to Transgender women. I wanted to bring some of the points that came up during the conversation to the group and see how you all felt about them.

My mother's main point in the conversation was that there is no one SET STANDARD that defines what it means to be a woman. Women come in all shapes, sizes, class levels, and intellectual capabilities; nonetheless they are a woman. With this in mind she inquired as to why someone would assume that all girls like us should strive to be more than the average neighborhood hood rat. As transwomen why is it not okay for us to be the kind of woman we feel most comfortable being (even if that's a "Ratchet Ass Hoe").

I explained to her that as transwomen we should aspire to be a compliment to womanhood not a detriment. Her counter argument was that women are detrimental to themselves so why should a woman in transition feel burdened by the pressure of complimenting womanhood?

We are individuals embarking on a unique journey into what many would perceive as the unknown. We all must make decisions as to who we would like to be, much like any other woman.

All things considered I believe that all points are valid when viewed from that person's perspective. I still stand steadfast by my belief that as a young woman in transition I want to make natal females proud to accept me as the woman that I am, but her perspective opened up another gateway for dialog about the representation of transgender women in society; how we chose to present ourselves.

***

That dinner conversation most certainly did open up a dialog in that group we gleefully began to discuss.  Our trans elder Cheryl Courtney-Evans pointed out in the discussion thread that developed in the wake of Lotus' initial post:: 

I think that perhaps this concept may be simply explained by a sentence/attitude that accompanied the advance of the African American community in it's reach for parity with Whites..."You're a credit to your race." For many years that's what Blacks strove to be, in order to garner 'acceptance'.

Angel V. also pointed out:

When I started my transition, the last thing that was on my mind was acceptance from cis-women. As a matter of fact, the only acceptance that I will ever need is my own. You were not put on this planet to cater to everyone's wants and needs. None of us were. There are plenty of cis-women who will accept us and many who will not. Their opinions will not dictate or change who I am in any capacity.

That said, I like your mom, Lotus. She made some interesting points!! Some ladies will never strive to be better. Trans or otherwise.

What I would have said in response to Lotus' mom is I believe one of the reasons we Black trans women are so adamant about being considered compliments to Black womanhood is because after being stuck on the Black masculinity side where we were considered suspects and targets regardless of the content of our character, some of us don't want to fight that psychic battle again.

But what you come to realize is that Black women also have their own psychic battle they fight in which their femininity is demonized every day by whiteness and white supremacy.  They are depicted as the 'unwoman', 'ugly' and juxtaposed as the polar opposite to white women, who are held up as the penultimate form of feminine beauty and template of womanhood that women of non-white ethnic groups should aspire to be.

As Angel pointed out, some cis Black women don't care, do what they please, don't give a second thought about the historic and current images of Black women and never will. 

So why should we Black trans women care?   Because Black transwomen don't have the luxury to be that cavalier about the feminine images they project to the world.  We're already demonized, have few positive trans feminine role models to counteract the negative images already on the minds of people and fear that whatever negativity happens in our trans ranks will be unfairly projected back at cis African-American women.

But then again, trans women are damned if we do and damned if we don't live up to the standards of Black womanhood.   Even when we try to live our lives as complements to Black womanhood, we're demonized and hated on by many of those same cis Black women we desire sisterhood with and fell like that standarsd is a shifting goalpost. .
   
Cheryl basically dropped some more knowledge on us in this discussion with this sentence. 

Well, I'm sure you've heard the phrase, "Do you"...that's what you do; we must each do as we aspire...whatever that is.

She's right.  And I concur with her that's the point where we Black trans women need to be comfortable in our own minds of getting to.

As Lotus said in that thread, she wasn't aspiring to be hypersexualized by society, but some of her girls like us friends see that as their desired feminine presentation standard and set out to achieve it. 

In my case the elegant Diahann Carroll was one of my feminine role models along with my mother, sis and other cis and trans feminine role modes whose qualities I admired and wanted to role model in my feminine evolutionary path.  

Whatever type of woman we trans women are trying to project to the world, that's ultimately our decision.  Once we start down that path, we have to deal with whatever the consequences are of emulating the type of woman we wish to project to the world as we go through our lives.

But we transwomen also have to become comfortable with just simply being able to 'do you' and being allowed the space to 'do us' just like our cis feminine counterparts. 



TransGriot Note: Last graphic in the post created by Randi of TransMusePlanet.

Texas Drag Icon Whitney Paige Dies

We Texans have already dealt with the shocking death of Erica Andrews to a lung infection back in March. 

I'm unfortunately just now finding out the news that another one of our iconic female illusionists in Whitney Paige has passed away .

Whitney was born in Little Rock, AR raised in Tennessee and eventually moved to the DFW area and lived there for over two decades.  The Fort Worth based Paige was nicknamed 'The Eyes Of Texas' for those hypnotic grey eyes of hers. 

While I never met Whitney, I was aware of her as because her career started back in the 80's,   Paige was immensely popular in Dallas, Houston and other parts of the state and in the female illusionist world as the outpouring of grief that ensued after her death was a testament to how beloved she was. 

Paige held a long list of titles that included winning Miss Gay USofA at Large, Miss Gay USofA Classic and most recently Miss Continental Plus 2013 in addition to being a runner up for Entertainer of the Year twice.

Paige passed away June 25 after a valiant battle with pancreatic cancer.  A memorial service was held June 30 at Fort Worth's Rainbow Lounge and this memorial video popped up to pay tribute to her as well.

Rest in peace and power, Whitney.  You are going to be missed by all the people who loved you inside and outside the community  

I Repeat: Stop Looking At Being Trans As A Curse

I wrote the original post in reaction to seeing that tired meme expressed by a transperson in a discussion thread, and I've gotten some positive reactions and feedback from it.

So yep, I need to say this once again and keep repeating it until some of you get over your shame and guilt about being trans and stop wanting to hide. Stop looking at being trans as a curse 

As I stated in the closing paragraph of that December 2011 post:: 

It's past time that transpeople stop viewing being us as a curse.  If we want people to love and respect us, it may sound simplistic, but we have to start first with loving and respecting ourselves.  

Damn skippy.  And if you're going to love and respect yourself,  then we have to stop internalizing the shame, guilt and negativity that society has about being trans in the first place.

Hard to have or motivate yourself into having a positive life when you hate a God given characteristic of yourself you can't change. We are God's children and part of the diverse mosaic of human life. 

We are intelligent.  We are beautiful.  We are creative and talented.  Some of us just need to look in the mirror and like what you see staring back at you, have the faith to believe in our God given gifts and talents and use them to your own and the community's benefit.

Disciples Of Christ Church Officially Welcomes TBLG People To Its Churches

During the time I was a Texan in Exile in Louisville, Edenside Christian Church, the one I attended from 2001-2010 and was a proud member of was part of the Disciples of Christ (Christian) Church denomination.

I was even prouder to 'slliiiiiiide into Edenside' after the congregation voted in 2008 to become an open and affirming church. 

So I was ecstatic to read that at the recent yearly Disciples of Christ meeting that took place July 13-17 in Orlando they passed Resolution GA 1327 that stated:

“The General Assembly calls upon the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to affirm the faith, baptism and spiritual gifts of all Christians regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and that neither is grounds for exclusion from fellowship or service within the church, but we celebrate that all are part of God’s good creation.”

One of the sponsoring churches for this resolution was our larger and down Bardstown Road neighbor in Douglass Ave Christian Church. 

Translation: If you're a trans, bi or same gender loving person, you are welcome to attend, participate in and become a member of a Disciples of Christ congregation.

There was a July 19 letter from Rev Dr Sharon Watkins, the General Minister and President of the Disciples of Christ Church in the United States and Canada clarifying the intent of this resolution. 

*It is not a statement of “unwelcome” for Disciples who did not support the resolution. All who confess faith in Jesus Christ are welcome. All means all

*It is not a policy change. The congregation where you worship and serve will not be requested to establish (or change) a policy on gay or lesbian persons in the life of the Church. The region where your congregation is affiliated is not required to change its policies on ordination. Your pastor is not required to bless same-gender marriages.

*It is not a theological mandate. It does not say that we have the same biblical understanding of sexual orientation or gender identity. Disciples, prayerfully and with biblical study and other research, come to their own understanding on these matters.

Rev. Watkins' letter goes on to say:  It points out that within the broad membership of Disciples, among the many congregations in covenant with each other, there have always been gay and straight, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender persons who participate fully in the life and leadership of the church. It urges us to treat each other with gospel hospitality as we seek to understand each other better.”

And that's a point I think we can all agree on.   But this is also wonderful news to a TBLG community that has seen far too many efforts by religious denominations to exclude, dehumanize and denigrate it instead of opening their church doors wide to embrace them as fellow human beings and brothers and sisters in Christ.

T.G.I.F. 2013 Happening Tomorrow

Last July  T.G.I.F., spearheaded by local trans activist KOKUMO brought over 350 people to a first of its kind event in Chicago celebrating the trans, gender variant and intersex communities that featured a rally, musical performances, a picnic and a community expo. 

The second annual Trans*, Gender Non-Conforming, Intersex Freedom (T.G.I.F.) event happens tomorrow July 28 at Union Park from 12-4 PM CDT at 1501 W. Randolph St.   If you're living in the Chicago area and are looking for something to do on a Sunday afternoon that supports the local community, you may wish to show up for this one. 

The theme for this year's T.G.I.F. is "Transcending Pride, Evolving Movements," is hosted by Cyon Flare and will have performances by Angelica Ross, Dirty Grid, About Face Youth Theatre, Elias Karal, Jova Black, KOKUMO and more.  Local activists delivering keynote addresses are Alexis Martinez of the Chicago Dyke March Collective, gender nonconforming performance artist Nic Kay and intersex activist Pidgeon Pagonis.

There will also be organizations at T.G.I.F. 2013 with information booths and tables performing services such as SAGE Community Services, the Young Women's Empowerment Project and the Transformative Justice Law Project.

Should be a fun, interesting and informative event, so if you're in the Chicago area, go support it.

Laverne's 'Orange Is The New Black' HLN Interview

Laverne Cox is on HLN talking about her role on the Netflix series 'Orange Is The new Black' in which she plays (gasp) a transwoman.

Black Is The New Black

Denny Upkins weighs in on the Trayvon Martin tragedy and the ongoing drama that African-Americans endure in this country in this essay entitled 'Black Is The New Black'

Here's a taste of it:

Whether it’s Paula Deen, George Zimmerman, Ellen Sturtz, or the legions of other monsters, one thing I’ve come to realize is that most whites don’t defend these bigots and their actions because they believe it’s right. Whites defend these racists because they’re defending their white privilege. Whites like having the option of killing black children and getting off scot free. Whites like murdering their children and blaming it on the black guy. White women love the option of throwing acid on her face, blaming black women and knowing the story will be believed. Whites love blaming blacks and other POCs for homophobia despite what facts, and history states.

After all, why be equal when you can be superior, a supremacist even?

You can read the rest of his post here.

Road To Creating Change Houston 2014 Diary-Changes

I posted my initial Creating Change 2014 Diary back in May not long after we had our initial interest meeting with the goal in this ongoing series of posts being to give you readers a ringside seat what it's like to be part of the planning for one of the largest LGBT conventions in the nation.

It will be taking place in my hometown January 29-February 2 for the first time ever.  It's also my first Creating Change I'll be in the house for since 1999 and I can't wait.      

We have Host Committee meetings scheduled on the first Tuesday of every month at the Montrose Center in which we get together and review the overall progress of organizing Creating Change 2014 Houston style.

At the host committee meetings the 15 different subcommittees report on how they are progressing in organizing their respective portions of the CC14 conference.  We get updates from the Host Committee chairs about things CC National wants and needs us to know and what they are doing to support us on the various subcommittees so we're all on the same unified organizational page.  It also gives those of us on the various planning subcommittees an opportunity to ask questions directed at the convention co-chairs and get a big picture sense of where we are on our CC14 organizing journey at that particular point in time. 

The remaining Host Committee meetings in addition to the rapidly approaching August 6 one are scheduled for September 3, October 1, November 12, December 3, and January 7.  So if there are any of you peeps in the Houston area still wanting to do your part to help put CC14 together, there's still time for you to join us. 

The November 12 meeting is on the second Tuesday because we have a Houston city election happening on November 5 in which we'll be busy trying to ensure that Mayor Annise D. Parker will be speaking to you peeps as we roll out the rainbow carpet for you in January.   

We're bursting at the seams proud of the fact that since 2009 Houston has the distinction of being the largest city in the US to have elected an openly gay mayor.  If things break right, Mayor Parker will not only be standing in front of you CC14 attendees for her third term, we TBLG Houstonians hope we'll have another distinction to brag about in terms of being the largest city to elect an openly trans city councilmember  

 
We've held our June 4 and July 2 Host Committee meetings since my last diary post with the next one scheduled for August 6.  The 15 subcommittees are starting to solidify in terms of their leadership ranks, membership, getting zeroed in on their tasks now that Pride Month is over and all the organizing that revolves around that event is done.  We've gone through the initial brainstorming phase of our CC14 planning and are discussing and fleshing those ideas out.in the various subcommittees

We even have a website and Facebook page to keep you abreast of what's happening and did some get the word out 'CC14 is coming' events during Houston Pride. 

How much organizing is done around Houston Pride we got an unexpected taste of when we discovered our June 4 Host Committee meeting at the Montrose Center was scheduled for the same day as one the Houston Pride Committee was having.  The room we normally hold our committee meeting in was double booked and we got bumped to another smaller one around to corner on the same floor.   

It was an interesting dilemma because some of our CC14 folks were also committed to representing at that meeting the various community organizations planning to take part in Pride.  It set up the situation where many of them, including my committee chair Melissa were rushing back and forth down the hall in order to attend both. 

As the POC Hospitality committee admin I was taking notes during this meeting anyway and was not only keeping her updated as to what was transpiring in our host committee meeting, but was prepared to give our committee report if she happened to be out of the room when Bryan or Christina called on us to do our report which is exactly what happened.

Speaking of the POC Hospitality committee, that chaotic June 4 Host Committee meeting also exposed the major weakness in us trying to trying to hold our POC Hospitality committee meetings just before the main Host Committee meeting.  Good idea, just didn't work, so we decided to find a different night and spot in order to conduct our business which turned out to be a Cafe Express location on Kirby Drive.  It's not far from the Montrose gayborhood and the Southwest Freeway.  It's fairly quiet, has food and drinks in case we get hungry and is centrally located enough for all of us on the committee in this ginormously spread out city to get to. 

Our committee also increased in size to 10 members and I got elevated to become the vice chair of it.  I'm handling both the vice chair responsibilities and the admin duties for now, but when we have that next meeting I'll need to hand that job off to someone else.  

The name of the POC Hospitality committee also changed to the Racial Diversity Committee.  Augie Augustine, our supervising co-chair pointed out to CC National last month in response to some complaints about it that the term 'person of color' gets erroneously interpreted to mean only Black people.  In some quarters, especially in the South there's a negative connotation to it.   I don't have a problem with the POC term, but others did to the point where a name change was suggested to either the "Diversity" Committee or "Multicultural" Committee.

The name change was approved by CC National, and now we're running with it because that uncertainty about the committee name did have us in a slight promotional holding pattern.   Now that we know it's officially the Racial Diversity Committee, we can continue to move forward on our outreach plans, programming, and get laser beam focused on getting our budget submitted with our next meeting scheduled for July 31.

Remember when I told y'all that the Creating Change all time fundraising record of $25,000 was in serious danger?  Fundraising has been handling their business since May and already hit that target.   We 're shooting to have 4000 people in attendance at this event with at least 500 of that record number of people from Texas.

The call has also gone out for Creating Change 2014 Workshop proposals.  Submission deadline is September 30 and you can click this link for more info about how to do so if you're interested. . 

The Houston Creating Change 2014 team realizes the clock is ticking and January will be here before we know it.   We're still focused on our overarching goal of making Creating Change 2014 a memorable, Houston flavored experience that reflects the diversity of our wonderful city and LGBT community and I hope you join me and our team at the Hilton Americas Hotel for it. 

We have a lot of work still to do to make that vision a reality. 

J-FLAG Condemns Jones Murder

In the wake of the violent murder on Monday of gender variant teen Dwayne Jones, J-FLAG, the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians All-Sexuals And Gays released a statement dated July 23 condemning the killing. 

***

J-FLAG notes with deep concern the recent mob killing of Dwayne Jones, a teenager in St James who is gender non-conforming; the recent murder of two gay men at an anti-gay religious rally organized by a coalition of evangelical churches in Haiti; and the continued misuse of medical data by some members of the faith-based community to fuel anti-gay animus in society.

We send our sincere condolences to the family and friends of the teenager who was slain as well as to our friends in Haiti. We call for a thorough investigation into the murder of the teenager in Montego Bay and hope that the family and loved ones of the slained teen will find the justice they deserve. We encourage persons in the Irwin community of St. James to support the police with any information that could lead to the arrest of the perpetrators.

It is time that these murders, beatings, and evictions are seen and treated as an affront to democracy, peace, justice, harmony, and freedom of our society.

Jamaica cannot become the place of choice to raise families if we continue killing our children, expelling our most productive, and perpetuating a divisive atmosphere through the skewing of objective truth to suit subjective prejudices.

Read the entire statement here.