Dunn Trial Moved to Early 2014

I was wondering why the news cycle was so quiet about the other Florida 'Stand Your Ground' case hauntingly similar to and up the road from the Trayvon Martin one in which another Black teenage male died. 

Michael Dunn, the man accused of killing 17 year old Jordan Dunn in the parking lot of a Jacksonville, FL convenience store in a dispute over loud music was supposed to go on trial starting September 23.   The trial has been postponed until January or early February 2014.

The other similarity in this trial and the Zimmerman one is State Attorney Angela Corey is handling it, which in the wake of the jacked up Zimmerman one and the the Marissa Alexander ones has sparked calls by a citizen's group for her removal from prosecuting the Dunn case.

So stay tuned, we'll see if justice prevails or as some people fear is going to happen, Dunn walks.

Shut Up Fool Awards-Marissa's New Trial Edition

Heard the wonderful news that Marissa Alexander, who has served three years of a 20 year sentence for 'standing her ground' by firing a warning shot during an argument with her estranged husband, will be getting a new trial.  

As NAACP president Ben Jealous said in statement, "From the streets to the courthouse, race continues to influence the judicial process, and it certainly seemed to have played a role here."

She should have never gone to jail in the first place, but better late than never for justice to hopefully be served in this case.  Angela Corey just needs to drop it and let Marissa go free since she's been punished enough for what happened.

It's Friday, and time for us to handle our usual business of determining what fool fools or group of fools deserve to have the the TransGriot spotlight shined upon them for their idiocy.

Honorable mention number one goes to Chuck Todd for parting his lips to say on MSNBC's Morning Joe that it wasn't his job to point out and debunk Republican lies.

Um dude, that's EXACTLY what you get paid to do as NBC's Political Director.  Even collegiate journalism students can tell you that it is a reporter's/journalist's responsibility to report the news, without bias or subjectivity.   Hell, it is the ENTIRE media's job to call out disinformation and lies from politicians, big business, law enforcement, academia, sports, entertainment....

If you won't do it, give me your job and I will because a functioning democracy requires journalists to do their jobs.

Honorable mention number two goes to Nevada Assembly minority leader Pat Hickey, who crowed in a recent radio interview that 2014 will be a big year for the GOP because 'minority and younger voters will not turn out'.    Yeah, that what y'all thought in 2012 and you saw what happened.

And you wonder why your party is headed in the Whig Party's direction.    

Honorable mention number three is for Sen. Ted Cruz (Teabagger-TX) for wasting the country's valuable time running his mouth on the Senate floor to so called filibuster a bill that he eventually voted for.   


Honorable mention number four goes to a person who shall remain nameless who posted a comment thread on my Facebook page discussing a The Root.com article about the racist BS that President Obama has had to deal with said this in dismissing the racism:

Using race as an excuse to do ANYTHING - is still racism. 

No racism = a dominant majority group using their prejudice and systemic power to retard or roll back the societal progress and upward mobility of a minority group.

But Jamie Jeans also was on point in his rebuttal.

"What he just said, since the coward just up and left, translated to dismissing any claim of racism as racism itself, so any claim of racism is racist, which is such stupid, toilet flushing circular logic that only the willfully blind and ignorant can proclaim."

Amen, Jamie.

Honorable mention number five is for Bryan Fischer and all the transphobic fools who engaged in internet bullying of Cassidy Campbell after she became the first ever out trans feminine homecoming queen.

Would love to see what your attitudes would be if it were one of your own kids that was transgender. 

The SUF winner this week is a joint award for former Coatesville (PA) Area School Superintendent Richard Como and former Director of Athletics and Activities Jim Donato.  Both of them let their inner bigots run wild and get themselves in serious trouble.  They both are facing a criminal investigation over shocking racist and sexist text messages that were found on their work cell phonesi

They run the gamut from all one of the men suggests that all African-Americans should have the N-word for their last name.to racist and sexist rants while watching the Miss USA beauty pageant.  

Richard Como and Jim Donato, shut up fools! 
  

Yes, Kevin You Do Need To Know Something About Trans Issues To INTELLIGENTLY Discuss Them

I received an interesting link from Bryanna Aeon Jenkins last night concerning YouTube's The 'Skorpion Show' host Kevin Simmons and his broadcast partner Makael McLendon problematic take on trans issues.

I saw the two videos in which these openly gay men clumsily tried to discuss the Mister Cee controversy and the trans feminine dimension of it.  They said some problematically ignorant things about trans women that video bloggers Kat Blacque and Bryanna Aeon Jenkins tried to correct Kevin on.

First point of this post Kevin, is that if you're going to talk about trans issues on your show, you do need to educate yourself on trans issues if you're going to attempt to talk INTELLIGENTLY about them.  Our trans feminine lives are not a joke or a punchline to boost your hit counts, especially when Black trans women are getting killed for daring to openly live their lives.  .

Google and Bing are your friends.  Utilizing them can help you acquire a Trans 101 level of knowledge that will be sufficient enough for us trans women to not to have to school your ass when you frack up like you did in those two videos in the wake of the Mr. Cee mess.  

Janet Mock and Laverne Cox are just two of the many people in the trans feminine community who have either written about or discussed trans relationships.  Both recently made an appearance on HuffPo lLive.  I've been talking about a wide range of transgender issues on this award winning Afrocentric trans blog and elsewhere since 2006.  Diamond Stylz is another major transfeminine blogger who has commented on the Mr Cee issue.  

And when we trans women, be we from the blogosphere, academia or video blog world inevitably call you on your loud and wrong opinions about our lives, don't get huffy and dismissive like you did with Bryanna when we do.   We have had for far too long cisgender gay and straight people mischaracterizing our lives and we're tired of it.  We cannot and will not let it go when a video blog with a large viewership like The Skorpion Show is putting misinformation out there about us and the creator of the show claims 'he doesn't need to know anything about our lives'.

Yeah, you do need to know something about our lives since we are an intertwined part of the Black TBLG community . When it comes to our lives, we trans women are the experts when it comes to talking about them because we are the ones dealing with the challenges and issues inherent with negotiating life in our trans feminine bodies.

Trans women are not as you erroneously put it, 'just like a gay person.'    Sexual orientation and gender identity are two entirely different discussions.  The only way that trans people and gay people are alike is that the world hates on both groups for violating the gender binary.  

And speaking of sexual orientation, a cis man who sleeps with a trans woman is straight, not gay.   Gay men as you and Makael know are attracted to other gay men.  Trans attracted men are attracted to our femininity first, then we sort out the issues on what particular combination of genitalia and sexual activity a trans attracted man likes in the bedroom who desires a long term relationship with us. 

Video bloggers like Troy have also had much to say about this Mr Cee controversy.  He has done yeoman's work at his YouTube video channel in giving people thought-provoking 411 commentary about trans attracted men as well.

But let's get back to discussing gender identity vs sexual orientation.

Gender identity is who you are, your perception of who you are and how you perform your gender roles to correspond with that perception.  Sexual orientation is who you like to sleep with when your bedroom door is closed.  Trans people can be straight, gay, lesbian, bi, or poly just like the rest of you cisgender people.

Another point you and your broadcast partner need to burn into your brains is that a trans woman is a woman period regardless of what genitalia is between her legs.  You focus on the person she is and projecting to the world in 2013 and beyond, not the body she came into the world with out of her mother's womb on her birthday. 

And if you wish to have that conversation you claim on you want to have with trans women, there are basic rules of respect for us you need to remember.  One is to STFU and listen when we are schooling you about aspects of our trans lives you are ignorant about.   

You do not EVER call us 'trannies'.  That is now considered a slur word by a majority of the American trans feminine community, so expunge it from your vocabulary.  

Disrespecting our femininity by calling us 'men' or using the wrong pronouns when we have spent time, money, psychological-emotional work, hormone therapy and sweat equity into becoming the persons on the outside that we are on the inside is also not acceptable.   

And that's real talk for you.

Kat Blacque-Why I'm NOT A Feminist

Kat Blacque, don't let the idiots drive you off of YouTube.   If you need to take a break for a minute, do that.   Your eloquent voice and your thoughts about the issues affecting our community are needed.     

Kat speaks in this video why she doesn't call herself a feminist.

2013 TransGriot NFL Predictions-Week 4

NFL Week 3 was ugly as I had a sub-500 week no thanks to all the upsets.  While I still have time to get back into this contest, I'd better do it fast because we're now a quarter of the way into the season and Eli is showing no signs of cooling off form his hot start.   I can't afford any more 7-9 weeks.

And yeah the Texans return to cha-cha football on offense against the Ravens didn't help me avoid a sub.500 week either. What do I mean by cha-cha football on offense? 

One, two, three, kick.  One, two, three, kick.

Moving the ball at will until you get to the red zone and you come away with field goals instead of touchdowns will get you beat against upper echelon NFL teams.  If the Texans consider themselves an upper echelon Super Bowl contending club, better start scoring TD's when they get it in the red zone especially since their schedule for the next two weeks ain't no picnic.

This NFL Week 4 we see the first two teams get their bye week as Carolina and Green Bay get to watch 'errbody' else play while they chill on the couch. 

The winless Steelers and Vikings are in London to play their regular season game at Wembley Stadium with the loser facing a long depressing plane ride back across The Pond pondering an 0-4 start and increasing chances of missing the 2013 NFL playoffs. 

We are starting to get a feel for which teams look like Super Bowl contenders, which ones look like pretenders, and which ones will be playing for the number one pick in the 2014 NFL Draft next May.

So I have some work to do to get back into this prognostication contest and only 15 games to select due to the bye week.  My picks as usual are in underlined bold print while Eli's and Mike's are here.

Week 3 Results
TransGriot    7-9
Eli Blake     12-4
Mike Watts   9-7

2013 Season Record
TransGriot      28-20
Eli                  37-11
Mike              30-18

NFL Week 4
Bye Week  Carolina, Green Bay

Thursday Night Game
San Francisco at St Louis 

Sunday Noon Games
Seattle at Houston
NY Giants at Kansas City
Baltimore at Buffalo
Arizona at Tampa Bay
Indianapolis at Jacksonville
Cincinnati at Cleveland
Chicago at Detroit
Pittsburgh at Minnesota (London)
NY Jets at Tennessee

Sunday Afternoon Games
Dallas at San Diego
Washington at Oakland
Philadelphia at Denver

Sunday Night Game
New England at Atlanta

Monday Night Game
Miami at New Orleans

 

Another Day, Another Dead Black Transwoman Misgendered By The Media

So tired of this bull feces on multiple levels.  

First up, it is my sad duty to inform you that thanks to Lexie Cannes, I was alerted to the unfortunate demise of another Black trans woman who will not live to see her 30th birthday. 

Time for me to let loose my inner Florida Evans before I continue.

26 year old Eyricka Morgan was fatally stabbed Tuesday night in a boarding house in New Brunswick, NJ.  

Police were called at 8:17 PM to the boarding house on Baldwin Street where they found Ms. Morgan injured. She was rushed to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital where she died at 9 PM EDT. 

21 year old Devonte Scott was charged with murder, unlawful possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose in Eyricka's death and is being held in the Middlesex County Jail on $1 million bond according to Acting Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey.

The investigation into the murder is continuing, and anyone with information is asked to call Detectives Kenneth Adobe or Jose Rodriguez of the New Brunswick PD at  (732)-745-5200 for Det. Abode or Det.  Rodriguez at (732) 745-3300.

Now for part two of what's pissing me off.   Once again a dead African-American transwoman has been misgendered in the media because Sue Epstein, the Star-Ledger reporter in question either failed to do her job or as I suspect, the New Brunswick Po-Po's information officers misidentified and misgendered Ms. Morgan for whatever reason. 

By the way Sue and NBPD media officers, this is what the AP Stylebook guidelines are and have stated since 2001 concerning reporting about transgender people..

transgender-Use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth.

If that preference is not expressed, use the pronoun consistent with the individuals live publicly.

Okay, New Brunswick PD, if your officers on the scene knew they were dealing with a transgender female,. they need to accurately pass that info on to you so it can be properly reported and you get the information you need to solve the case.  

Every time you law enforcement or media peeps misgender a murdered trans female as a 'man', you are not only pissing our community off with your insensitivity because this crap happens far too often around the country to transwomen of color, you are sabotaging the wheels of justice in the case by misgendering that person. 

In many cases we in the trans community only know trans women by their feminine names, so hearing their old male names will only register blank stares to the people who currently know them as the female bodied person they interact with.

So get busy correcting the stories about Eyricka.

And rest in peace, sis.

TransGriot Update:  Missed this story that quotes a 23 year old Eyricka when I wrote the initial post:

DR. KRZ Named To 2013 The Root 100 List!

As I said when I was congratulating him in a previous post for the award he's getting from the Transgender Law Center October 3, at the rate he's collecting accolades, awards and honors  he's probably going to need to build a trophy case.

The Root announced its list of 100 influencers and achievers, and in addition to people like Danielle Moodie-Mills, Jay Z, Serena Williams, Benjamin Jealous, and Corey Booker is our brother Dr. Kortney Ryan Ziegler.

This is a big deal to be named to the Root 100 list and I couldn't be happier and more proud of him as a fellow African descended trans person..

Congratulations again Kortney!

Lets Talk About Shame And Guilt Again

If you are a woman, if you’re a person of colour, if you are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, if you are a person of size, if you are a person of intelligence, if you are a person of integrity, then you are considered a minority in this world.

…And it’s going to be really hard to find messages of self-love and support anywhere. Especially women’s and gay men’s culture. It’s all about how you have to look a certain way or else you’re worthless. You know when you look in the mirror and you think ‘oh, I’m so fat, I’m so old, I’m so ugly’, don’t you know, that’s not your authentic self? But that is billions upon billions of dollars of advertising, magazines, movies, billboards, all geared to make you feel shitty about yourself so that you will take your hard earned money and spend it at the mall on some turn-around creme that doesn’t turn around shit.

When you don’t have self-esteem you will hesitate before you do anything in your life. You will hesitate to go for the job you really wanna go for, you will hesitate to ask for a raise, you will hesitate to call yourself an American, you will hesitate to report a rape, you will hesitate to defend yourself when you are discriminated against because of your race, your sexuality, your size, your gender. You will hesitate to vote, you will hesitate to dream. For us to have self-esteem is truly an act of revolution and our revolution is long overdue.

Margaret Cho

And she's absolutely on point about that.   To have self-esteem as a trans person (and a trans woman) is a revolutionary act because people seem to think they have a God given right to hate us and aim violence and vitriolic hate speech at us whenever they feel like it.   And if you dare show that you are a proud trans person, the haters take pride in trying to bring you down or sucking the joy out of your life.


To borrow a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.  I refuse to allow cisgender hatters to make me feel like I'm less than a human being or feel ashamed or guilty about being trans. 

I've been there and done that in terms of the hesitation that Cho talked about in the opening comment.  I hesitated to dream. I hesitated to go for my transition knowing it was what I needed to do to make me happy and be the person I needed to be.  And I was unhappy until I finally said enough and dealt with it

But once I did transition and was finally comfortable in my own body, the self-esteem increased, the fears lessened, the unfounded guilt melted away and I began to live my life.

We have to be consistently on guard about allowing shame and guilt to insidiously intrude upon our lives.  There is nothing wrong with being trans masculine or trans feminine people, and we are part of the diverse mosaic of human life.  If cis people can't deal with that reality, it's their problem to sort out, not yours.
   

April Ashley Museum Exhibit Opening September 27

April Ashley is one of our pioneering trans people and was honored last year with an MBE for her lifelong human rights advocacy. 

It's exiting and interesting to note that an exhibit about her life is opening Friday in her hometown of Liverpool.  

How cool is that? 

The Museum of Liverpool is hosting the exhibit entitled April Ashley: Portrait of a Lady that will run from September 27-September 14, 2014.

The year long exhibit is funded with a £78,000 ($125,371) grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and curated by Homotopia in partnership with National Museums Liverpool.   It draws upon April Ashley’s previously unseen photographic archive and personal documents to investigate the wider impact of changing social and legal conditions for all transgender, lesbian, gay and bisexual people from 1935 to today.

April was born in Liverpool in 1935, joined the Merchant Marine at age 14 to escape her unhappy home life, and after two suicide attempts and electroshock therapy to 'cure' her moved to Paris, transitioned, worked at the famed Le Carrousel trans cabaret and was the first person in Europe (and Dr. Georges Bourou's ninth) to undergo genital surgery with Dr Bourou at his clinic in Casablanca, Morocco in 1960. 

She returned to Britain after the surgery and became a successful Vogue model and actress until she was outed in 1961.  She was a plaintiff in the 1970 Corbett v Corbett divorce case that has had international legal ramifications on trans marriages (and negatively impacted Christie Lee Littleton in 1999 among others) in addition to the status of trans people in Great Britain that wasn't rectified until the 2004 Gender Recognition Act was passed.

Ashley has had a major impact on us as a trans pioneer and it's wonderful that her life is being spotlighted

The Museum of Liverpool opened in July 2011 and is the first national museum in Great Britain devoted to the history of a regional city.   It showcases popular culture while tackling social, historical and contemporary issues and is a fantastic, free family day out. It has attracted more than two million visitors since it opened and was awarded the prestigious Council of Europe Museum Prize for 2013 for its commitment to human rights as well as its work with children and families from all backgrounds.

The April Ashley exhibit is just another example of that human rights commitment.  If you live in Great Britain or are here on our side of The Pond planning to visit Great Britain, hope you take the opportunity to travel to Liverpool and see the April Ashley exhibit while it's there.   

Ask A Trans Atracted Man 7-Mr. Cee

I know 'errbody' except yours truly has commented on Mr Cee, and here's Troy's latest video from his Ask a Trans Attracted Man YouTube channel of him expressing his thoughts about the Mr Cee controversy.

I Don't Like Bryan Fischer Bullying Cassidy, Either

If you thought I was kidding about the christohaters shifting tactics and aiming their vitriol at the trans community in the wake of them losing their war against the gay community and same gender marriage, more irrefutable evidence is piling up that we're being targeted. 

First there is the increasing anti-trans rhetoric from Fox Noise followed by the resistance put up in August by Texas and national transphobes to San Antonio adding gender identity and sexual orientation to their non-discrimination ordinance earlier this month followed by the announcement of California transphobes that they are going after the groundbreaking AB 1266 by gathering signatures to force a referendum to overturn the law.    

Now in the wake of Cassidy's historic win as homecoming queen in Huntington Beach, CA, the transphobic haters have come out and launched vicious attacks on her.   One of those transphobic haters has a radio frequency as his bully pulpit in Bryan Fischer.

The spokesidiot of the SPLC-certified hate group the American Fascist Family Association took time on his radio show to bully a 16 year teen.   How pathetic is that? 

We trans people don't have a psychological problem, we exist and are part of the diverse mosaic of human life that God created.   It is you who needs psychological help for being a pathological liar and transphobe that violates every known standard of morality and decency. 

Keep it up Bryan and transphobes.  The more you scream and yell, the more you make our case for the swift enactment of ENDA, and more state and local non-discrimination laws to protect trans Americans from hatemongers like you.and your friends.

I Do Not Like Republicans

TransGriot Note: Because Sen. Ted Cruz (Teabagger-TX) was desecrating the Dr. Seuss classic children's book Green Eggs and Ham during his fake filibuster stunt last night, got the idea to rewrite the classic story to slam Ted and his party.

You won't need music or your iPod's for this rewrite.  Just read it out loud with your friends and enjoy.

***


I Do Not Like Republicans
Remixed from the original text of 'Green Eggs and Ham' by Dr. Seuss

I am Ted 

I am Ted
Ted I am

That Ted-I-am
That Ted-I-am!
I do not like
that Ted-I-am

Do you like
Republicans?

I do not like them,
Ted-I-am.
I do not like
Republicans.

Would you like them
Here or there?

I would not like them
here or there.
I would not like them
anywhere.
I do not like Republicans
I do not like them,
Ted-I-am

Would you like them
in the House?
Would you like them
with your spouse?

I do not like them
in the House.
I do not like them
hating my spouse.
I do not like them
here or there.
I do not like them
anywhere.
I do not like Republicans.
I do not like them,Ted-I-am.

Would you vote for them
in a ballot box?
Would you like them
after watching Fox?

Not in a ballot box.
Not watching Fox 
Not in the House.
Not with my spouse.
I would not like them here or there.
I would not like them anywhere.
I would not vote Republican 
I do not like them, Ted-I-am.

Would you? Could you?
in your car?
Here's Rush! Here's Reince!
Here they are.

I would not,
could not,
in my car

You may like them.
You will see.
You may like them
The GOP 
No, your party is not for me.
I would not, could not vote GOP.
Not in my car! You let me be.

I do not like them messing with the ballot box.
I do not like them televised on Fox
I do not like them in the House
I do not like them hating my spouse
I do not like them here or there.
I do not like them anywhere.
I do not like Republicans.
I do not like them, Ted-I-am.

A train! A train!
A train! A train!
Could you, would you
on a train?

Not on a train! Not on MSNBC!
Not in a car! Ted!  Let me be!
I would not, could not, mess with a ballot box.
I could not, would not, listen to Fox.
I will not like them hating my spouse
I will not like them controlling the House.
I will not like them here or there.
I will not like them anywhere.
I do not like them, Ted-I-am.

Say!
In the dark?
Here in the dark!
Would you, could you, in the dark?

I would not, could not,
in the dark.

Would you, could you,
in the rain?

I would not, could not, in the rain.
Not in the dark. Not on a train,
Not in a car, Not on MSNBC.
I do not like them, Ted, you see.
Not in a house. Not in a ballot box.
Not with my spouse. Not listening to Fox.
I will not like them here or there.
I do not like them anywhere!

You do not like
Republicans?

I do not
like them,
Ted-I-am.

Could you, would you,
give us your vote?

I would not,
could not.
give you my vote!

Would you, could you,
on a boat?

I could not, would not, on a boat.
I will not, will not, give you my vote.
I will not like them in the rain.
I will not like them on a train.
Not in the dark! Not on MSNBC!
Not in a car! You let me be!
I do not like them messing with the ballot box.
I do not like them televised on Fox.
I will not vote them in the House.
I do not like them hating my spouse.
I do not like them here or there.
I do not like them ANYWHERE!

I do not like
Republicans! 

I do not like them,
Ted-I-am.

You do not like them.
So you say.
Try them! Try them!
And you may.
Try them and you may I say.

Ted!
You need to let me be,
I already tried them.
They failed miserably.

Say!
I don't like Republicans!
I still don't like them, Ted-I-am!
And I still won't like them on a boat!
And I will never give them my precious vote.
And I will hate them in the rain.
And in the dark. And on a train.
And in a car. And on MSNBC.
They are so bad so bad you see!

So I will vote for Democrats at the ballot box.
And I won't watch the GOP televised on Fox.
And I will vote them out of the House
And I will vote against them with my spouse 
And I will dislike them here and there.
Say! I will vote against them ANYWHERE!

I do not like
Republicans!
Thank you!
Thank you,
Ted-I-am

Pennsylvania School Board Denies Trans Student Chance To Run For Homecoming King

Well Class of 2014, I guess y'all were paying attention when I wrote this post.   Too bad the adults running many of your schools and school districts aren't. 

While one trans student made history last week, another one won't even get the chance to become homecoming king at his school when they play their game on October 5.  

The Richland School Board let stand a decision by school administrators in the Johnstown, PA area district to deny 17 year old senior Kasey Caron to chance to run for homecoming king.

It's similar to the battle earlier this year that Isaak Wolfe fought in his administratively thwarted attempt to become prom king at Red Lion High     Kasey is being listed on the ballot for homecoming queen instead of homecoming king.

Kasey's mother Kathy Caron read a prepared statement seeling to not only reverse that school decision, but also asked the Richland board to address three issues:

• Allowing Kasey to wear a cap and gown of male color during graduation.

• Adding gender identity to the school’s protection under its bullying policies.

• Establishing a gay-straight alliance at the high school this year.

The board punted on the homecoming king issue and claimed they would need more time to study the other three.  

“No formal action is required due to the board agreeing with the previous decision of the administration,” Richland School Board Solicitor Timothy Leventry said from a prepared statement.

“Basically they’re leaving Kasey on the female ballot,” Kasey’s mother, Kathy Caron, said after the meeting. “I’m disappointed.”

Wondering if the ACLU is going to jump into this case.

What's Happening With C-279?

Well, so much from the Canadian Senate returning to work on September 17 and getting busy passing Bill C-279.  Prime Minister Stephen Harper decided on August 19 to ask Governor-General David Johnston to prorogue Parliament, a request that was granted a few days later. 

So what does that mean for us peeps south of the 49th parallel?   According to the Canadian Parliament’s website: “The principal effect of ending a session by prorogation is to end business. All government bills that have not received Royal Assent prior to prorogation cease to exist; committee activity also ceases. Thus, no committee can sit after a prorogation.”

Translation: Canadian MP's and Senators will not return to the business of legislating until after Canadian Thanksgiving on October 14.

So what effect does that have on Bill C-279, which was at Third Reading stage in the Senate before the Conservatives slowed down the legislative works long enough for them to get out of Ottawa for their summer break without it getting passed?

It basically resets the process for it in the Senate (which was probably the intent of the Conservatives when they stalled its passage) at First Stage, so C-279 has to go though the entire legislative process in the Senate again.

MP Randall Garrison is still hopeful C-279 will pass the Senate and become law, but we'll have to wait until after Thanksgiving to find out if the Canadian Senate thinks the human rights of its trans citizens are worth protecting.

Black Community Issues Are Black Trans Issues

I have repeatedly said on this blog that Black trans issues are Black community issues.  I'm going to flip the script in this post and point out that Black community issues are Black trans issues, too.

When the unjust Zimmerman verdict was read I like just about every African-American in this country was outraged about it and I showed up at the July 14 rally at City Hall along with other Houstonians pissed off about it as well.

While I was there I decided since the organizers of the rally were offering the people gathered there a chance to speak, I would do so not only on behalf of myself but for the Houston trans community.

The people gathered in front of Houston City Hall that day also needed to see a trans person who shared their heritage.  They now know because I stood up and proclaimed my trans status to that gathering and talked about the issues that united us that day that Black trans people are also concerned about the issues of the day that affect the Black community we are intertwined with.

It was interesting to note that when I was done, I had a few people buttonholing me afterward asking if I was going to run for office here in H-town.   We'll see.

Before anyone who doesn't know my trans history (unless they read this blog or see my Twitter feed or Facebook page) gets to the point of finding out about that part of my life, all they have to go on is my skin color and my gender presentation.   

My transition almost 20 years ago did not change the fact that I'm a proud African-American, nor does being trans mean I gave up my Black card.  I still have to deal with people hating me because of that Black skin with the anti-trans hatred being thrown in as a bonus.  

I also don't have the luxury of separating my trans status from my Blackness.  They are the same.  .

The point is as a Black person, voter suppression laws aimed at the Black community affect me in two ways.  The first is voting while Black.  The second is mismatched ID because of laws (or the lack of them) making it difficult for trans people to easily change their documentation to match the person they are projecting to the world now.  That can affect mine and other trans people's ability to vote when the voter ID voter suppression laws are requiring state issued ID's to go with your voter registration cards and requiring forms of ID like passports that cost money to acquire for people facing 26% unemployment. 

Stop and Frisk is another issue that affects us.  Many of the people disproportionately messed with by the NYPD were trans African-American and trans Latina women who in the infallible wisdom of NYPD officers were soliciting for prostitution.  If they had more than one condom on them, were arrested for it.

Trayvon Martin being killed also affects the trans community.  It has me concerned that one day this scenario could play out and result in one of our trans men being killed or wounded because of some armed bigot who mistook him as 'a threat' instead of a fellow human being.

Because we trans people are an interconnected part of the Black community, the issues that affect the entire community in general also affect us.  The sooner the Black community recognizes that fact, the better it will be for all of us so we can collectively deal with what ails Black America.
  . 

Laverne And Janet On HuffPo Discussing #Girls Like Us Relationships

Two of my little sisters got together to give America the blessings of their collective wisdom on relationships while being #girlslikeus in the wake of the Mr. Cee mess.

Janet wrote this September 12 commentary on her blog, Diamond Stylz has already commented on it via her video blog, and I'm still debating if I need to wade into this mess after these ladies basically broke it down.

But enough jibber-jabber.  Here's the video from their recent HuffPo Live appearance with Marc Lamont Hill moderating.

Upcoming Race Relations In The GLBTIQ-SGL Community Discussion

Was advised about an interesting upcoming event that will take place on Sunday, September 29 at the Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church here in H-town.

It's a discussion on 'Race Relations in the Houston GLBTIQ-SGL Community' that is sponsored by Brother 2 Brother and will be facilitated by Dexter Williams.

We are calling ALL persons of the GLBTQ-SGL community! Let’s come together to discuss race. Let’s embrace our cultural differences and in the process gain a better understanding how we can move forward together as one community. We want to make sure everyone has a voice.

We in the Houston rainbow community are going to need to have a frank discussion about and deal with the issue of race in this community.  We need to ensure we're on the same page in preparation for the ugly and bruising knock down drag out fight we will have in the near future over adding gender identity and sexual orientation to our non-discrimination ordinance. 

When that ordinance passes, there will be an effort by the Forces of Intolerance to force a ballot referendum in an attempt to repeal it.  We will need to be working together in order to fight it and win..Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church is located at 2025 West 11th Street in Houston and the event is scheduled to run from 3-6 PM CDT.

I'm making plans to be there and check it out. 
 

Sistahs, Let's Stop Hatin' On Each Other

Guest post from Robin Bonner

Okay, so I walk in and you see me. You see that my hair is done, my outfit is fierce and I carry myself like a lady. I smile at you but you roll your eyes at me, then, turn your head and whisper something to your girl. Why you hatin'

Okay, so maybe I'm a new employee and this is my first day at work. I almost thought I would be the only sistah in the joint until someone introduced us to each other. I smile and extend my hand, happy to know I won't be here alone. You smile and shake my hand but there's insincerity in your eyes and your hand is limp. You seem guarded.

What's wrong Ma'?

Okay, so maybe my man and I have been having problems. And since you've been my best friend for years I confide in you that I think he's cheating on me. You offer your support. Until I find out that he's been cheating on cheating on me....with you! Why would you hurt me like that?

I found your knife, girl.....it's in my back!

As women we battle daily. We battle keeping our families together, keeping our men happy and maintaining our presence in the workforce. With all that battling going on why in the world should we have to battle each other?

Now I'm not saying every sistah has a knife but some of you do and you know who you are. Why is it that a woman can't get her glamour on without you having a problem? Why can't I get a blonde weave without you having something to say?  If I'm working myself to death in the office trying to climb the corporate ladder why am I suddenly a sellout?  If I leave the room for a minute why can't I trust you around my man? Smiling in my face, but gossiping all my personal business behind my back?

You now have permission to consider yourself trifling!

Inferiority Complex. It makes us feel that in order to be someone special we have to put everyone else beneath us. Are we so insecure in ourselves that we can't feel good until we pull someone else down?

There's something wrong here. We've come to envy those who've accomplished in their lives what we've only dreamed of having for ourselves. And when we fear we will never be able to get what we want - we steal it.

There is a serious self-worth issue going on here. We're in a day and age where we should be encouraging each other and holding each other up.

Sisterhood should not end when Oprah goes off. Truth be told, there will always be someone prettier, sexier, stronger, and smarter. I'm sorry Boo - that's just the way it is. But that's ok.....just do you!

I don't care how good Beyonce' looks - if she walks into the same room I'm in, it doesn't make me any less of the diva I already am! I love admiring hairstyles...but there's no need to be jealous. Honey, nowadays there's enough hair for 'err-body'.

I have goals in life. There are things I strive to attain. Yet I seek out successful sisters because they keep me motivated.

Life is so much more than who looks the best, who dresses the best and who makes more money. So when you see your sister going for hers let it inspire you .... To do you

40th Anniversary of 'The Battle Of The Sexes' Tennis Match

There was a huge tennis match that took place in my hometown on September 20, 1973 that had major implications for women's sports. 

40 years ago Billie Jean King in front of what is still the largest crowd to ever witness a tennis match in the United States, beat 55 year old Bobby Riggs at the Astrodome in front of 30, 472 people and a worldwide television audience of 90 million people. (50 million in the US who watched the ABC-TV broadcast with Howard Cosell as the lead announcer). 

Unfortunately the broadcast was blacked out here in Houston at the time and I had to see the tape delay later.   

What led up to this seriously hyped tennis match was Bobby Riggs flapping his gums and denigrating the game of women's tennis.   He claimed it was inferior to the men's game (oink, oink), his 55 year old self could beat the top ranked women's player in the world and challenged Billie Jean King to a match. 

When the then 29 year old King declined to take him on, then 30 year old Australian Margaret Court, the top ranked women's player at the time accepted the challenge.  They played the US televised match on May 13, 1973 (which happened to be Mother's Day) in Ramona, CA.  Riggs used lobs and drop shots to keep Court off balance and beat her in straight sets 6-2, 6-1.

It's also alleged that Court considered the match an exhibition and didn't take it seriously, but the male dominated media sure did. .The win over Margaret Court got Riggs on the covers of Sports Illustrated and Time magazines and he resumed his male chauvinist taunting of all female tennis players.  

After founding the Women's Tennis Association in June, King accepted a lucrative offer to play a winner take all best three of five set nationally televised match at the Astrodome that was dubbed by promoters as 'The Battle of The Sexes'.

And yes, the young TransGriot took the opportunity to put her allowance where her mouth in terms of my belief that King would win.  I made a few bets with my skeptical male classmates who believed Riggs' hype. 
 
On that September night before the match started King entered the Dome Cleopatra-style carried by four bodybuilders and Riggs followed in a rickshaw pulled by scantily clad models. The exchanged gifts, with Riggs giving her a large Sugar Daddy sucker and King presenting him with a piglet before they began playing the  match.

King had also prepared herself to counter the drop shot tactics Riggs used to great effect against Court.

Instead of her usual aggressive style of play, she stayed at the baseline and gave Riggs a taste of his own tennis medicine. She made him run all over the court and forced him to change tactics to a serve and volley style of game. 

King beat him in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 to claim the $100,000 prize for winning the match and defended the honor of professional women's tennis players everywhere.  

And the next day at school I collected the money I won with Billie Jean King's victory


King's win in addition to being profitable for teenage me also gave women's tennis the critical early credibility it needed and has used to grow the sport.   Women's tennis grew from that point to eventually garner its own television contracts and see women players like King, Chris Evert and countless others earning six and seven figure amounts in prize money.  They later won the battle to secure equal prize money for female tennis players.

And that happened in the wake of a tennis match played at the Astrodome. 

Another California Transwoman Murdered

Sad to report about another trans woman being murdered on the Left Coast.

26 year old Melony Smith was found dead in her Baldwin Park, CA motel room back on September 9.   The reason it took so long to find out is because once again, the trans person was misgendered by the po-po's.

Note to police: Pronouns are not necessarily pegged to the genitalia between the person's legs.  If you have a female bodied person with a penis, that's a hint an a half that you are dealing with a trans person and you need to ID her as a female or announce in your press releases the murder of a transgender female'.   It makes it much easier for the trans community or someone who knows her as that female bodied person to identify her. 

You also slow down your own investigations and lengthen your odds of arresting the perpetrators who committed the crimes by not doing so.

The alleged perp in this case, 28 year old Stephen Gonzales was already in jail on another charge, and was charged with murder and robbery in the Smith case, according to a felony complaint filed in Pomona Superior Court and a report in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.  Gonzales was also accused of the special, sentence-enhancing allegation of committing murder during the course of a robbery.

Rest in peace, Melony.  Let's hope that justice is served in this case.