Happy 24th Birthday, Angie

Today would have been girl like us Angie Zapata's 24th birthday had she not been murdered by Allen Andrade five years ago on July 17, 2008. 

Andrade is rotting in a Colorado prison doing life plus 60 years after being found guilty for that crime while all the people who loved Angie are feeling her loss more keenly on her birthday.

Justice would have been Angie returning to her family, but unfortunately that's not going to happen. 

What would Angie's life be like now?   Would she be getting out of or going to college?  Would she be doing the typical things a twentysomething young woman would be doing?   Would she be dating or involved in another relationship?  Would she have a vast circle of friends and an active social life?  How would her life be evolving right now?

Sadly, those are questions we and Angie's family will never find out the answer to because of what happened on July 17, 2008.   Instead of being surrounded by her loving family and her best friends celebrating another birthday, she is amongst the trans angels we've lost far too many of.

Happy birthday, Angie.  

JSmooth On Don Lemon, Race and Respectability Politics

For those of you wondering why Black Twitter, legions of Black pundits and the Black blogosphere went off on Don Lemon (and I haven't put my foot in his azz yet), J Smooth breaks it down in this YouTube video about race and respectability politics.

Happy 52nd Birthday Mr. President!

Today is the 52nd birthday of President Barack Hussein Obama II who reality based peeps know was born on this date in Honolulu, HI back in 1961 

This birthday is one his legions of haters in the conservafool movement spent billions in a failed attempt to ensure he would be celebrating it in Chicago but the American people said otherwise.

Yep, he'll be in office from now until January 20, 2017 so he'll have three more he'll be celebrating as a resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue until that date.  

So hate on haters.

Happy birthday Mr. President.  You'll have to wait until next November before we can give you the birthday present I'm sure you'd like for this weekend.

A Democratically controlled House and Senate so you can get thing done on behalf of this country.

Laverne's On MHP Tomorrow

Laverne Cox will be hanging out in #nerdland with Melissa Harris-Perry tomorrow morning to talk about her role in Orange Is The New Black

Happy for my sis, who deserves all the media attention and love she can get for her groundbreaking role on this series and hope it leads to more acting work for her.

This is her first appearance on the Melissa Harris-Perry show and I'll definitely will be watching.  I also hope this is just the first of many more appearances in #nerdland for her.. 

Diamond Stylz-Am I A Dick?

I've needed to post another one of Diamond Stylz's videos for you TransGriot readers for a while. 

In this one she talks about gender roles, the importance of the body and the double standards the gender roles create.

Carmen And Koko Xtravaganza's Fascinating Lives

The cool thing about being the TransGriot is I do from time to time get to meet, talk to and even become friends with some of the peeps that I look up to and idolize.  

And some of them feel the same way about moi.  

When the Transsistahs-Transbrothas Yahoo group I started in 2004 was in its pre-Facebook prime, one of the people I met as a result of it was Koko Xtravaganza.  

Koko in addition to being a professional musician and choreographer is a member of New York's legendary house of Xtravaganza.

Koko also has a fascinating girls like us life story that I need to sit us both down for trans historical purposes and do a TransGriot Ten Questions interview about.    


Koko has recently started a blog to do just that in terms of documenting that life history for future generations.  She tells me at times how much she has admired me for standing up for our community's human rights for 15 years, and the feeling is mutual how much I admire her..  I'm just as impressed about her musical talents and when Koko talks about some of the tours she's done with groups like the Gap Band and The Isley Brothers.

You long time TransGriot readers know I how much love I've had for over two decades for Carmen Xtravaganza.  I first learned about her courtesy of a 1988 Village Voice article I stumbled across at a Houston newsstand.  

The legendary house mother of the House of Xtravaganza was one of my trans feminine role models when I was in info gathering mode, frustrated about my pre-transition 1980's life and pondering when to pull the trigger on my transition I was increasing cognizant of it needing to happen for my own peace of mind and happiness.

I recently hooked up with her via Facebook a few months ago and from time to time when neither of us are busy doing our own things we are chatting and getting to know each other.  I was also happy to discover she's launched a website in which she discusses some of her groundbreaking life as an actress, model and historical icon in the ballroom community. 

And yeah, speaking of that groundbreaking life, while she's discussing that book, I need to sit Carmen down and have her as the subject for a TransGriot Ten Questions interview.

Koko and Carmen have been friends for nearly 25 years and are jointly putting together a presentation that discusses both their unique girl like us lives in addition to having performance elements highlighting their talents.  Their target audience will be colleges and CBO's in the United States and around the world.  It will be comprised of both women speaking, videos and musical/theatrical performances by them.

Looking forward to seeing it when it finally happens for my sisters and also looking forward to finally meeting both of you and giving you one of my famous TransGriot hugs when our paths finally do cross.  

Did Raven-Symoné Just Come Out?

I wrote a post last May about about people in the Black SGL community needing to quit pressuring the Queen and Raven-Symoné about whether or nor they are part of our chocolate TBLG community because our coming out parameters are different from the white community. 

When the rumors started after she was seen with out lesbian ANTM contestant AzMarie Livingston and the National Liar Inquirer made the conclusion jump she was part of the chocolate SGL family, Raven addressed the rumors at the time by basically saying it was nobody's business who she shared her bedroom with or who she was attracted to.

But this following August 2 tweet occurring after the states of Minnesota and Rhode Island began allowing same gender couples to get legally married raised eyebrows and got those is-she-or-isn't-she rumors aimed at our 27 year old sister cranked up all over again.




She's also quoted in this CNN story as saying this about same gender marriage.

"I am very happy that gay marriage is opening up around the country and is being accepted," the actress said in a statement through her representatives. 

"I was excited to hear today that more states legalized gay marriage. I, however am not currently getting married, but it is great to know I can now, should I wish to," she said.

That was a 'things that make you go hmm' moment.  If that was her way of coming out while trying to keep some part of her private life private, I ain't mad at her. I still love me some Raven-Symoné and always will.

If she did come out, it will mean that our African descended kids have another role model to look up to that shares their ethnic background.

And it gives a whole 'nother interpretation to 'That's So Raven'!

Shut Up Fool Awards-Texans In Training Camp Edition

The Houston Texans have been in training camp for a week now at their facility across the street from Reliant Stadium in preparation for the 2013 NFL season which will start on September 5.  We're hoping in H-town that after two consecutive AFC South titles and two playoff runs that ended (boo, hiss) in the Divisional round our fave NFL ballers will be playing football until February 2, 2014. 

What's happening on that date besides it being the last day of the Creating Change conference in Houston?  Super Bowl XLVIII in East Rutherford, NJ.

In case you're wondering, Michael Watts of the Michael's Rant blog and I will once again be battling through the 2013 NFL regular season in our third edition of our NFL prognostication contest.  We may actually have another person that wishes to join us this season in Deep Thoughts blogger Eli Blake.  

I will be defending my 2012 NFL prognostication title I won with a 163-92-1 record on the last day and the last game (Cowboys-Redskins) of the season after Mike erased a seven game lead I'd built up.  Thank you RG3!

In 2011 Mike and I tied for the title with identical 164-92 records when I erased a four game deficit with two weeks to go in the season by going 24-8 in Weeks 16 and 17 .

But y'all didn't surf by here on the first Friday in August to hear me talk about the upcoming NFL season and my looming NFL prognostication battle.  Y'all want to find out what fool, fools or group of fools exhibited championship level stupidity, ignorance and arrogance to capture this week's TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards.

So let's kick off this week's fun filled edition of the TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards, shall we?

Honorable Mention Number One goes to Philadelphia Eagles receiver Riley Cooper, who let loose with the n-word at a Kenny Chesney concert in Philly when he wasn't allowed to go backstage without a pass.

Dude, all I have to say is don't go across the middle this season because there are going to be more than few pissed off corners and safeties of African descent ready to pound your azz for that remark.

Honorable Mention Number Two goes to Rep Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN) who on the heels of President Obama's visit to the Amazon.com facility in Chattanooga sent out a faux postcard with a hard to read font and three major spelling errors.   Yep, those bottom of the pack Tennessee schools are showing up again  

Get a brain, you moran moron.    Oops, I forgot, you Tea Klux Klan Republicans don't have any.

Honorable Mention Number Three goes to Hillsdale College (MI) president Thomas Arnn who used a derogatory slur to describe minority students in front of a Michigan state legislature committee

Honorable Mention Number Four is a tie between Anthony Weiner and embattled San Diego mayor Bob Filner.  A ninth woman has come forward with allegations of sexual harassment against him, and Weiner still won't drop out of the NYC mayor's race despite poll numbers that are cratering faster than the speed of light.   Do us both and the Democratic Party a favor, boys.   Resign now. 

Honorable Mention Number Five goes to George Will who sunk to the usual reprehensible conservafool dog whistle racism by stating on ABC News' This Week program on Sunday that Detroit's bankruptcy filing is the fault of 'cultural problems' and 'unwed mothers'.  

Ugh, I hate it that me and George Will share the same birthday. 

This week's SUF Award winner is CNN's Don Lemon.   After taking down a conservafool the previous week and getting props for it, he erased all that goodwill and cred he was starting to build up by cosigning Bill O'Reilly's racist statements on Fox Noise. 

Despite Black Twitter putting his ass on blast along with multiple pundits and people in the Black community for saying O'Reilly didn't go far enough with his bigoted diatribe, his clueless behind parted his lips anyway to double down on the frack up by saying he would get the 'Uncle Tom' Award.

Naw dude, you are beyond that status at this point.  You're beyond Uncle Tom-foolery and skirting dangerously close to Uncle Ruckus territory.  Frankly, I won't be shocked if I see your behind on Fox Noise when your Cable Conservative News Network contract expires.  .
 
Don Lemon, I'll let Mr. T say the rest of what needs to be said to you.

A Ray Hill Houston TBLG History Moment

TransGriot Note: Ray Hill is one of our iconic leaders here in the Houston area who has been in the BTLG rights fight locally, statewide and nationally since the 60's. 

He recently wrote a status update on his Facebook page in which he shared his thoughts about local LGBT history events that were transpiring when the TransGriot was a teenager. 

This is one of those moments in which when one of your iconic GLBT elders are speaking or writing down their thoughts for posterity, it's shut up and listen time. 

Ray also said this in the last sentence of it.  'Share this with your friends so we can celebrate today's victories in the context of where we came from and what we can do looking forward.'

I agree, which is why I'm posting it.   And now, here's Ray Hill.The GLBT movement(s) have come a long way since I began writing about the need of change in 1966: One could go to prison in all states if caught in gay/lesbian intimacy; If caught in the opposite gender's clothing; going to jail was a given; The suicide rate was the highest than among any other class of people and violence against us was rarely investigated and even more rarely prosecuted; The police themselves were frequently responsible for violence against us; Our jobs and educations could be rendered insecure after every raid on our gathering places; Our birth families more frequently rejected us than not.

I could go on because the list of oppression is endless. We had no defenses. No one except those genetically gender varied was out of the closets and they faced constant ridicule wherever they went.

In Houston a few of us began to talk about how to start an effort toward change. In 1967, The Promethean Society organized meetings. In 1968 three of us began to confront the authorities about policy changes. The authorities laughed at us even GLBT people objected to what we were doing because they had learned how to survive in the then current oppression and feared we would cause more.

In 1970 KPFT-FM went on air for the first time.  In 1973, the felony Sodomy Law was replaced by section 21.06 a misdemeanor.  In 1975 a handful us founded Houston Gay Political Caucus and Wilde N Stein began to give the community a broadcast home; In 1976 we had a Pride March on Main Street downtown (The mayor (Annise Parker) and I may be the only participants that remember that event) but in 1977 everyone remembers when Anita Bryant came to town and those of us who greeted her never returned to our closets; 1978 brought Town Meeting I, during which many of the enduring institutions that still serve our community were founded and the Transgender movement was born.

In 1980 a few of us gathered at Bering Church to found the Kaposi's Sarcoma Committee in concern for dire health indications. That organization became the K.S./A.I.D.S. Foundation in 1982 when the term AIDS was chosen at the Paris Conference, it is now AIDS Foundation Houston. What followed was at once the most devastating and the most character building part of out history, Our collective caring and organizing against the greatest pandemic in recent Centuries is remarkable and say more about who we are and what we can do than anything in anyone's memory.

I have outlived all the others who have a memory of the scope of that progress and most of the community have no grasp of where we were and how we got to where we are.

Change comes rapidly now but without the foundation laid forty years ago none of this would be possible at all.

Will C-279 Ever Pass The Senate And Become Canadian Federal Law?

When we last checked in on Bill C-279's progress through the Conservative dominated Canadian Senate on its way to passage and Royal Assent it had come out of the Senate Committee on Human Rights and was at Third Stage before the Cons started showing their repressive behinds. 

The bill seeks to add gender identity as a prohibited grounds of discrimination in the Canadian Human Rights Act and amend the Criminal Code to forbid the promotion of hatred against trans people.

The Senate Conservatives stalled progress on C-279 long enough so they moved into the summer break that started on June 28 with it still at Third Stage status and an amendment to it proposed by Conservative Senator Nancy Ruth that if it passes will send the bill back to the House

And there's also the possibility that Prime Minister Stephen Harper will prorogue parliament when they return in the fall, which means that the entire Senate legislative process for C-279 would start at the beginning if that happens. 

It's this situation that has Liberal BC Senator Mobina Jaffer, the head of the Senate Committee on Human Rights expressing her concerns in a recent Straight.com interview that she's no longer confident that the bill can pass when the Canadian Senate returns to session on September 17 despite it getting through her committee with the support of Conservative senators.

“I can’t tell you that when it comes back to us that we will approve it,” Senator Jaffer said. “And this is a bill that we should approve; it’s unacceptable not to.”

If C-279 is sent back to the House, where it passed on a 149-137 vote with the help of 18 Con MP's with PM Harper voting against it and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau was a no show for the vote.  Jaffer is pessimistic about its chances of passage if that scenario happens.

NDP MP Randall Garrison, the sponsor of the private member's bill is still optimistic that C-279 will pass.  he noted that the Senate passes bills on First, Second and Third reading in one day if they wish to and see no reason why that can't happen for C-279.

“There’s no reason for the unelected Senate to block the bill,” Garrison told Straight.com “And nothing came up in the [Senate] committee that would suggest there was any reason for them to block the bill.”.  

We'll see who is correct when the calendar page turns to September.   But in the interim, I would suggest that you Canadian trans folks get busy becoming agents of you own liberation and lobbying and e-mailing your senators to defeat the Ruth amendment and pass C-279 on Third Reading.

You have a chance to have happen in your lifetimes with our gridlocked Congress your trans cousins south of the 49th Parallel won't see in terms of your national legislature passing a federal law that protects your human rights.

The Draconian ATL Anti-Prostitution Banishment Law Is Back

Back in April I signal boosted a post from Cheryl Courtney-Evans' A Bitch For Justice blog calling out the proposed draconian anti-prostitution law that has a controversial and probably unconstitutional banishment from the city of Atlanta provision  

It generated much outcry in the ATL and went away for a minute due to the intense scrutiny it got. 

Cheryl kept warning people that this unjust proposed ordinance wasn't dead yet and not allow the tranquilizing drug of complacency to divert their attention from what was going on with this unjust proposed ordinance. 

It turns out that Cheryl's repeated blog warnings were well founded, because the ATL's 'Queen of Mean' Peggy Denby along with some allies in the ATL's police force are making another attempt to galvanize support and put lipstick on this pig of an unjust ordinance.

Here's what Cheryl had to say about it:

This is such a ridiculous plan! First, it would not solve the "problem", but merely shift it to other parts of the city. Secondly, it would quite probably create another "crime", in that someone who actually lives in an "area of prostitution", could be arrested again JUST FOR GOING HOME (if they've been banned)...or are they expected to have found the money to just up and move outside of the "banned area"?? And finally, when the rubber meets the road, if individuals have been made to feel [experience] no other alternatives to survival, banishment or no banishment, arrest or no arrest, they will be back...what do they plan to do, build a wall or erect a fence around these areas [or Atlanta]? This will not solve anything; an improved system with services would be more logical, positive AND progressive.

You can read the rest of Cheryl's post along with her action suggestions to kill the unjust proposed ordinance here.

Do Transpeople Need A '2nd Amendment Remedy' To The Anti-Trans Violence Problem?

"It doesn't mean that I advocate violence, but at the same time, I am not against using violence in self-defense. I don't call it violence when it's self-defense, I call it intelligence."-Malcolm X

I'm pondering this quote and the gun debate in the wake of more infuriating news out of Philadelphia of another anti-trans violence incident. 

A gunman forced his way into a trans woman's third floor apartment, pistol-whipped her and shot her in the head.  She fortunately survived it and is recovering at Hahnemann University Hospital.

I stumbled across a January 2009 TransGriot post that I wrote during another wave of anti-trans violence incidents and began to examine once again the question of whether we should consider '2nd Amendment Remedies' to deal with the problem of the out of control anti-trans violence.

I live in Texas which along with 32 other states has an ALEC sponsored Stand Your Ground law I hated before the Trayvon Martin killing and I despise even more today.  My personal philosophy about guns is a mixed one.  

On one hand Malcolm X has a point in the quote I posted at the beginning of this essay.  When you are being repeatedly subjected to near genocidal levels of unprovoked violence, then it is a viable option for the people that unprovoked violence is being aimed at to intelligently consider using violence in self-defense 

Translation:  Bust a cap in 'em, but only in self defense.

But that conflicts with my personal philosophy on guns that primarily mirrors what FoxSports.com columnist Jason Whitlock wrote in a December 2012 column in the wake of the Kasandra Perkins-Jovan Belcher murder-suicide last December. 

"Handguns do not enhance our safety. They exacerbate our flaws, tempt us to escalate arguments, and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it."

I'm quite aware that something has to be done about the unacceptable levels of anti-trans violence disproportionately affecting Latina and African-American trans women.  But I'm also not keen on additions to the over 300 plus million handguns already causing havoc on American streets.

I'm also concerned if we have an instance in which an armed trans woman found herself in a situation in which she shot and killed someone that instigated an unprovoked attack on her and then claimed the Stand Your Ground defense because of justified fear her life was in jeopardy, I submit that jacked up law would work no better for us than it did for Marissa Alexander.

Anti-trans violence is a multifaceted problem requiring a multifaceted solution.   While the gun manufacturers and their NRA shills might be happy to see more trans customers parting with their precious T-bills to buy their instruments of death in designer colors, I'm not. 

But at the same time I'm beyond sick and tired of the long lists of names we read at TDOR's around the world every November.   If the trans-haters out there know there is a possibility their desire to bash or kill a transperson may end up with them taking the long dirt nap instead of the transperson, that's a point in the favor of the trans folks packing heat in whatever color and caliber they desire. 

I'm not going to criticize trans people who believe that 2nd Amendment remedies need to be part of the discussion in terms of the measures we employ in putting a dent in and eventually ending anti-trans violence or who paraphrase the Pink Pistols slogan in that armed transpeople don't get jacked with.

But as I said at the conclusion of the 2009 post and will restate and remix here, I'd much rather see a resolution to the problem of anti-trans violence that doesn't involve busting caps in people and getting concealed carry permits.

But since the trans haters aren't going to renounce violence aimed at us anytime soon, it would be wise for us in the trans community to consider the intelligent use of violence in self defense.

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 . 
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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.