What's LGBTI Mean?

I've been writing about TBLG issues for over seven years here at TransGriot and looking at them in many cases from a chococentric perspective because frankly, it's one that is sorely needed in the trans community discourse..

But for those of you who may be new to this who are wondering what the heck does LGBTI mean, just thought it was time to give you a handy guide to what the letters in the rainbow community alphabet mean.

The first thing that you need to understand which is critical to this is sexuality and sexual orientation (who you like to sleep with behind closed doors) and gender identity (who you are, your sense of who you are, the gender role you perform and project to the word) are two distinct and separate issues.

So let's get started.

Lesbian (L) describes a woman who is sexually attracted to other women.
Gay (G) describes a man who is sexually attracted to other men
Bisexual (B) describes a person who is sexually attracted to other male or female persons
Transgender (T) describes a person whose gender identity and sense of self doesn't correspond to the genitalia they arrived with at birth.
Intersex (I) describes someone who is born with genital anatomy, reproductive organs, and/or chromosomal patterns that don't fit the general definition of male and female.

In some sectors of the African-American community and in this blog, you will see at times the term SGL (same gender loving) as a substitute for the lesbian, bisexual and gay ones that was created by activist Cleo Manago in the 1990s as an Afrocentric alternative..

You will also see transgender shortened to trans or trans*  because there are some people in this community that prefer being called by the medical term transsexual while others prefer the transgender umbrella term or interchange them. On this blog I increasingly use the term trans in my writing to avoid the drama.

While LGBTI is increasingly used internationally, in many parts and regions of the world, other local terms may be used to convey these concepts.

So hope that helps clarify some things as you read the posts on this blog.
    

George Duke Passes Away

Was stunned to hear the news via the TJMS that another fave musician I grew up with passed away August 5, a year after his wife Corine died of cancer on July 18.

Legendary keyboardist, composer, producer, jazz artist, R&B and soul funkmeister and versatile musician across a wide variety of musical genres George Duke passed away in Los Angeles at age 67.  

As a matter of fact, Duke had recently released a new album called DreamWeaver on July 13 that was a tribute to his departed wife.

The Grammy award winning artist was born in San Rafael, CA on January 12, 1946 and starting from his 1967 graduation from the San Francisco Conservatory he played with a who's who of legendary musicians from a number of genres including Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, Cannonball Adderley, Michael Jackson, Jean-Luc Ponty, Billy Cobham, Jill Scott, his cousin Dianne Reeves, Anita Baker,  Deniece Williams, George Clinton, Jeffrey Osborne, Joe Sample, Rachelle Farrell and Sheila E. over his six decades in the music business.

I was introduced to him via the 1977 album Reach For It but it was his chart topping song 'Dukey Stick' on his 1978 LP 'Don't Let Go' and the 1981 release of The Clarke/Duke Project album that permanently solidified my love for his music and made him a 'must buy' artist for me when I wanted to add to my expansive music collection.   I still love the songs 'Sweet Baby' and 'Winners' from that album and 'Dukey Stick' to this day.

Cause of death as of this writing hasn't been determined, but to borrow the words of jazz flutist Bobbi Humphrey, "Heaven just got a little funkier."

Rest in peace and power, George Duke.

Pulling Up Saggin' Pants Won't Fix What Ails Our Community

Like much of the Black blogosphere I'm majorly pissed off at Don Lemon for co-signing with a longtime race-baiting bigoted detractor of our community in Bill O'Reilly and giving him cover, not for what was said.

Hell, to be honest, I've trashed saggin' pants on this blog in a song rewrite back in 2009.

But at the same time it is logic defying ridiculous on its face to state that pullin' up saggin' pants as JSmooth eloquently pointed out will magically erase the systemic centuries old racism that negatively impacts the African-American community. 

It is also disingenuous of white conservatives to lecture my community about Black-on Black crime when you don't do the same hand wringing over white on whit crime or have control of your own hoodlums as evidenced by the recent Huntington Beach Riot.

Neither do I see white conservatives stepping up to do something about the far too numerous instances of white males shooting up schools, movie theaters and other places with automatic weapons because of your fetishistic attachment to guns, or vigorously calling out the terrorists who look like you in your own midst.

Shoot, from where I sit, y'all need to take a look in the mirror before you even part your lips to insultingly spit the words 'criminal culture' at my people in a sentence ever again.

The things that will fix what ails Black America is long term investments in public and secondary education, making secondary education affordable like it was for my generation, having good manufacturing jobs at living wages, fixing the broken justice system, unhindered and fair participation in the political system and treating African-Americans with respect instead of like suspects.

That's going to take money and sustained government action to make a reality, and we know you conservafools are more like the Star Trek Ferengis than patriotic Americans concerned about the long term health and stability of this country. 

2013 Texans Watch-Texans Preseason Schedule

My fave NFL ballers have been in training camp preparing for a Super Bowl or Bust season and to add a third consecutive AFC South Division championship banner to the Reliant Stadium rafters as a starting point. 

The Texans will start playing their scheduled preseason games this week in Minnesota with the Texans traveling to the Twin Cities to play the Vikings on August 9.

They will then play their first preseason home game in Reliant Stadium against the Miami Dolphins on August 17 and a nationally televised one on FOX against the New Orleans Saints on August 25. 

The Texans close out their preseason by heading up I-45 to the Jerrydome to play the Arlington Cowchips.

And yep, gearing up to defend my 2012 NFL prognostication title as Michael Watts of the Michale Rant blog and I prepare to do battle for the third consecutive season 

Bu back to the Texans.  The road to East Rutherford, NJ starts Friday night.

Trans Assimilation

TransGriot readers, you have got to see this video of one of my trans brothers basically tellin' it like it T-I-S is about his masculine reality. 

Laverne Cox On MHP

Laverne Cox's highly anticipated debut appearance in #nerdland happened yesterday morning as she along with several castmates from Orange Is The New Black discussed the show and the issues revolving around incarcerated women highlighted by it.

Laverne not only discussed her groundbreaking OITNB Sophia Burset character, but also talked about some of the issues inherent in navigating the world as a Black trans woman. 

For those of you who missed her segment of the Melissa Harris-Perry Show,  here are the videos.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

Trans POC Speakers Need To Be Seen, Heard And Paid At TBLG Events

Had an enjoyable two hour conversation with Tona Brown late Sunday afternoon.   It eventually turned to discussing the appalling and frustrating to us topic of lack of opportunities to do keynote speeches on college campuses, at TDOR's, trans and SGL conventions, seminars, community dinners, awards shows, rallies,  marches or LGBT pride events.

I've been blessed to have the opportunity to do a few trans conference keynote speeches along with three TDOR keynotes, some collegiate ones and participate in major conferences such as the 2012 Netroots Nation and two NBJC OUT on the Hill events.  I enjoy doing them and I and my trans POC colleagues would respectfully like the opportunity to do more of them.

As I mentioned before, the trans narrative in this country for the last six decades has been told from an overwhelmingly white trans feminine perspective with slightly more ink in the last few years for the white trans masculine one.   Our Black, Asian and Latino trans brothers get little if no media love period.

But yet, it is our POC trans world stories that need the most telling   From CeCe McDonald to the 1965 Dewey's Lunch Counter Sit-In and Protest to present day trans leaders and icons simply expounding on our transmasculine and transfeminine journeys, the stories of trans people of color need to be added to this overwhelmingly monoracial conversation about trans issues that could stand after 60 years to have some fresh perspectives injected into it.

There is the need for views on various trans and non trans issues with flavor it to be expressed by trans POC's in order to break down the trans ignorance that still persist in gay and straight elements of our own communities of color.  Just as you get to do, we want the ability to tell our own histories and discuss how the issues of the day impact us.  

We trans people of color deserve the opportunity to point out to all the communities we intersect and interact with we exist, are intertwined with and part of the diverse mosaic of human life.

We also wish to point out that as people of color of trans experience, we are concerned about the success of the greater communities we intersect and interact with.  We strive to and want to be the role models and thought leaders providing the visionary leadership to inspire others to do just that.

Even when we do get the e-mail or the phone call, when we tell you what our fees are, it's upsetting to us to note that you balk at paying us what we're worth, but will pay the Dan Choi's and white trans women of the world large fees to do so without blinking.  

Black trans musicians and performers are also upset about Pride events that won't hesitate about paying the $50-60K it takes on average to get a well known cis female musician to perform at their event but haven't (or won't) consider having a trans musician or keynote speaker or color in order to keep that GLB cash or T-bills circulating in our own community.   

Black Pride orgs not only do the same thing, but infuriatingly will claim poverty or attempt to play the Black solidarity card when they call us to possibly perform and we ask for fair compensation of our time and the work we put in on our ends to make their event a successful one.  

They'll also claim poverty when they want trans activists to speak but we know and see it on their Pride promotion websites are charging covers of $15 a head or more to get into many Black Pride events.

That lack of trans POC speaker diversity is at its most infuriating best when it comes to Transgender Day of Remembrance Events.  The overwhelming number of people dying are Black and Latina transpeople, but when it comes time to have the events, you walk into a TDOR memorial venue and see an event that because of its glaring lack of diversity frustratingly reminds you of a Republican Party convention. 

And naw, it's not just Moni noticing that.  Our SGL and African-American cis allies are noticing it, too.

I don't know how others feel about TDOR's, but I'm willing for that event to forgo my speaking fee if you cover my transportation to get me there and back to H-town and I get a place to stay.  I am that serious about being willing to lead by example and have people from trans communities of color being part of the TDOR's helping memorialize our fallen sisters. 

Frankly it's past time we had more non-white transpeople participating in TDOR events and talking about the people we've lost.

Of course, if you slide me a down low check for that TDOR speech I'm not going to turn it down either.  Like I said, I have bills to pay and a blog y'all like to read to maintain.


As I said in a previous post on this subject and that point still remains true a year later, non-white transpeeps have bills to pay and need to replenish our bank accounts like just like our white trans community counterparts do.  

So for those of you in decision making positions, don't forget there exists a vast qualified pool of non-white trans and SGL people who can confidently and competently speak or perform at your various events.

You just need to take the initiative to call them and once you do, pay them for their time.

Trans Being Left Behind Rights Wise In Vietnam?

Since I posted the story of Cindy Thai Tai and her evolution, it's been interesting from these shores to watch the Vietnamese trans community begin to emerge from the shadows in that country.  

But there is still a long way to go.  Despite trailblazing people like singer Cindy Thai Tai, writer Nguyen Ngoc Thach, the author of the book Transgender, Tran Minh Ngoc, the host of the YouTube show Funny Family and Vietnamese Idol contestant Huong Giang, a pattern all too familiar to transpeople in the US is emerging in which the 'T' is thrown under the human rights bus and told to wait their turn while the L,G and B get their rights because they give a 'very bad image' of the TBLG community in Vietnam.

ABC (Australian Broadcasting Company) recently conducted a radio interview with Nguyen Ngoc Thach and Tran Minh Ngoc about the Vietnamese trans community.   You can click the link to hear it and here's the transcript of it.

***

A year ago, legislators decided to include gay people in a debate over revisions to the Marriage and Family Law.  Although the proposed revisions are unlikely to result in legalizing same-sex marriage, it is expected to give live-in gay couples property rights.

But where does the transgender community figure in all of this?

Presenter: Marianne Brown

Speaker: Tran Minh Ngoc, transgender TV show host; Nguyen Ngoc Thach, author of 'Transgender'

BROWN: Tran Minh Ngoc is a glamorous 33-year-old who turns heads as she walks through a crowded cafe to meet me. She's a heroine in the transgender community, founding the country's first online forum for transgenders and later, a talent competition.  Her online TV show Funny Family attracts hundreds of  thousands of hits on YouTube. There are ads too for a new biography about Ngoc called simply, 'Transgender'.

It tells the story of family ordeals, romance and friendship, without the emphasis on promiscuity which many Vietnamese readers associate with  homosexual relationships. Ngoc says it is the first biography about a  transgender person to be published in Vietnam. The book hit the shelves last  month.  They have nearly sold out of 2,000 copies and will print more soon.

Sex changes are not recognized legally, and the only socially acceptable jobs they can do are small entertainment gigs, often at weddings or funerals.

Author of Transgender, Nguyen Ngoc Thach, says taking part in these shows  can be degrading. When he was researching the book, he attended one funeral party where the audience demanded to see performers' breasts in exchange for  a few dollars.  While there are a few notable transgender celebrities like singer Cindy Thai Tai and Vietnam Idol contestant Huong Giang, off stage society is not so accepting.

NGUYEN NGOC THACH: When people look at a show that has a drag queen, it's just entertainment.  Maybe this guy is not a gay, he's not a transgender, but he just wears a skirt and makeup to perform. He's not gay or transgender. That's easy to accept. But when you come into a bank or come into an office, you see a  transgender walking there's a lot of people who can't accept that because  this is onstage only and on stage to perform we can do everything but in  real life, it's not.

BROWN:  Discrimination also comes from within the gay community, especially among  men. Thach cites one website for gay men which doesn't allow members to use female names. He says this is because transgenders are too visible, and gay men feel threatened by that. He says this is compounded by bigotry in the workplace, which creates a Catch-22 for many transgenders.

NGUYEN NGOC THACH: Transgenders often show that they don't have a chance to earn money, so they  do bad things, for example to be a prostitute, a robber, to be a thief. So they give a very bad image of LGBT community in Vietnam. So that's why the LG and B  don't like T.

BROWN: Unlike other countries in Southeast Asia, sodomy is not illegal in Vietnam.  Here there is no religious lobby to stall debate on advancing gay rights.  Some observers say this makes LGBT rights an easy way for Vietnam to improve  its human rights record, which is otherwise tainted by restrictions on  freedom of speech and jail sentences for social and religious activists.

Funny Family's Tran Minh Ngoc says she supports the discussion about  same-sex marriage, but she thinks it's too ambitious.. at least for now.

TRAN MINH NGOC: (voice fades) She says society may be ready to read about transgenders and watch them on television, but on the road to equality, campaigners still have to take baby steps.


TransGriot Note:  Photo is of trans masculine writer Nguyen Ngoc Thach.

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.