Trans Flight Attendant Elected To Presidency Of Her Union Local

When I was in the airline business, there were rumors that we had four trans flight attendants working for our carrier at the time I was becoming the first out Black trans person working at Continental Airlines in 1994.

One of those flight attendants was allegedly based in Honolulu, while the other three were alleged to be flying routes out of our other domestic bases besides Houston.  Depending on where they were based, they may have crossed my path because I worked the departure gates at IAH and I have no idea if they worked my flights or not because they didn't reveal their status to my very out self.   

So as a former airline person I was happy to hear about the groundbreaking and historic win of girl like us flight attendant Audrey Gauthier.   Back on November 1 she was elected president of CUPE Local 4041, and represents Air Transat flight attendants based in Montreal

With that win she became the first open trans person to elected to lead a union local in Canada and possibly the world.   But Gauthier downplayed the historic achievement. 
l
“I’m proud to be the first transsexual member elected president of a local, and for LGBTTI rights it’s something that’s important, but our members don’t really see me as different. They just see me as a woman, period,” she said.  

Gauthier.added, “I was elected to unite people. My goal is to build a strong relationship between the local and our component.”

Congratulations and may you have much success in accoplishing that goal as you fly the friendly Canadian skies. 
    

I Like Sports And I Need To Write About Sports

When I'm out and about in our community and the subject turns to what I write about on TransGriot, I have people tell me that they love it when the Shut Up Fool Awards pop up every Friday.  They are appreciative of the hard work I put in and long hours to keep up with all things trans here and around the world.

They enjoy my Ten Questions interviews and love it that I break down politics and how it impacts this community as well.  They love my Black trans history posts and for the most part me discussing race and class and how it affects our TBLG community.   They love my motivational posts and also want to hear my views and analysis on whatever subject I feel like talking about.   

But every now and then I get some pushback as to why I discuss sports on this blog.  

Well, frankly, because it's my blog and if I want to talk sports on it, I can.   Second, because TBLG sports fans exist, I'm one of them and they need love and content to read, too.  I write about my local Houston teams.   I have opinions I want to express about developments in the collegiate and professional ranks from time to time.   And because female athletes don't get much ink or love in an arena dominated by male sports writers, I'll comment on developments in women's sports that pique my interest.

Far too often female athletes and their athletic achievements are belittled by male sports writers and male sports fans.  Women's sports leagues like the WNBA, women's international sports and women's collegiate sports are seen as not deserving of media attention like 'the menz.' until some controversy pops up. 

If we don't talk about female athletes, their accomplishments and the issues that impact them, who will?  

I like discussing my fave tennis playing siblings the Williams Sisters, who get far too much disrespect from the media, their fellow players and knuckle dragging racist idiots in comment threads despite having Tennis Hall of Fame level careers. 

Serena and Venus will always get love here and when deserved, some WTF's.  And yes, the 2014 Australian Open starts January 13-26.      

Third, keeping up with all things trans means that I need to be talking about trans athletes, our history and how developments in the sports world like the LGBT Sports Coalition and Nike LGBT Sports Summits affect our community. 

As Kye Allums, Fallon Fox, Michelle Dumaresq, Christina Kahrl, Keelin Godsey  and others prove, trans people are also breaking ground and making history in the sports world as Renee Richards once did when she sued the USTA in 1976 for the right to play in the US open and won.  

As a blog that seeks to chronicle trans people making history, that means you readers need to see their stories.  They are also trailblazing leaders and pioneers in the sports world that are busting stereotypes about us and they deserve our community's love, understanding, appreciation and support.

Speaking of stereotypes, just as we do so as a community when it comes to doing Trans 101 mythbusting about transpeople in the rest of society, there is just as much disinformation, mythbusting and Trans 101 that needs to be done about transpeople in the sports world.  

There are also sports related issues that we need as a community to be paying attention to and be able to discuss authoritatively like the NCAA rules for trans athletes.  We need to be able to talk about the International Olympic Committee's Stockholm Consensus that allow trans people to compete in the Olympic Games.   We need to be aware about Jazz's successful two year fight with the US Soccer Association to allow trans kids to play and be working on getting FIFA to allow trans athletes to play on international soccer teams like cis people can.  

We also need to as a community need to be keeping up with the states that allow trans kids to compete at the high school level in the gender they present to the world and fight for their right to compete.   

I also see the parallels between transpeople making groundbreaking strides in athletic competition and the African-American human rights struggle.   It's no accident that with the successes of Jesse Owens in the 1936 Olympic Games, boxer Joe Louis, and Jackie Robinson smashing baseball's color line in 1947 among our countless other sporting achievements that African-Americans also gained increased acceptance of our humanity and advancement in our human rights struggle. 

I submit that as more out trans athletes make their mark in the sporting world, we'll see less hatred and drama directed at us as a community as a result of their athletic competition success, and it will pave the way for other trans athletes to exceed what the pioneers accomplished. 


We transpeeps not only increasingly play the games, we have people like Christina Kahrl, who is breaking ground by writing about the athletes who play them as an ESPN.com columnist and a member of the Baseball Writers Hall of Fame.  

I have TBLG sports fans and trans athletes who thank me for writing about them, standing up for their humanity against the transphobic haters and using my TransGriot platform to talk about being a sports personality who happens to be trans.   That will continue because trans athletes have an important role to play in our ongoing trans human rights struggle.

Trans athletes not only excel on the field of play to prove we can do so just like any other cis person, we love the various games we play.   As they play the games they love, they demolish stereotypes and advance trans human rights at the same time for all of us, even for you trans peeps who hate sports.   

So yeah, I like sports, I write about sports and need to continue doing so.   

Trans Younglings, Imagine Growing Old, Not Dying Young

Was perusing my Facebook wall and noticed a post from a young African-American trans person in which she expressed her joy about turning 24 next month.  What saddened me and motivated me to write this post is that she admitted that if you'd asked her ten years ago, she didn't think she would live to see that age.

While she cried about the prospect of reaching her upcoming 24th birthday on December 7,  I was saddened to hear that to the point of shedding tears that too many of our young people believe they won't reach that age.   

And that dynamic needs to change.

Growing up I looked forward to milestone birthdays.  I eagerly looked forward to turning 18 because you were not only considered to legally be an adult, it signified that I could finally vote in elections.  You could also at the time of my 18th birthday in 1980 legally drink at the time in Texas.

I also looked forward to my 21st birthday as well.  

There was also a meme going around at the time that one in four Black male children would not live to see their 30th birthday.  Maybe it was my Taurus stubborn streak talking, but I was determined to not give in to such defeatist thinking. 

I not only made it my mission to be around God willing for my 30th birthday in 1992, but wanted to see the dawn of the 21st century and the year 2000 eight years later.  

I wanted to make it to my 40th, 50th, 60th and 70th birthdays in addition to being the best Moni I can be.  

As someone who works hard to push trans human rights forward, I want to see the results of this hard work I and countless others are doing to plant those civil rights trees for you trans younglings.  I have to be alive to not only do the work, but see those trans civil rights trees take root and grow as a result of that work. 

I make the choices and attempt to do my best to not put myself in negative situations that could result in a premature end to my life.  Sometimes stuff and life events happen that are beyond your control and you have to make snap decisions as you're in the moment that could have an impact positively or negatively on your life.  But the things I can control, I try my best to do so.
 

But that doesn't mean I cut all fun out of my life either.  Ask the peeps who were at the 2012 OUT on the Hill how good my dancing abilities are.    I did my share of partying back in the day and mass consumption of alcohol.  But I also strove to never put myself in the position of being so drunk that I didn't know what zip code I was in.  If I did get drunk, I either slept it off at a trusted friend's house or did so with a designated driver beside me in the club to drive my drunk behind home when we left.


I'm also cognizant of my surroundings, a quality that's even more important as someone navigating society in a feminine body.  I learned once that failure to be aware of that at all times or an ill timed lapse in judgment can result in bodily injury, sexual assault or death.   TDOR's remind me every year that we do have people who irrationally hate us enough to kill us.

Trans younglings, all the slings and arrows and trans hate we expose ourselves to is ultimately for your benefit.  Hell, it does me or no one else any good to fight for the trans human rights laws and policies this community needs if you second decade of the 21st century transwomen or the ones behind you aren't around to enjoy their benefits because you have this misguided belief you won't live to see 30. 

We want you to be able to live your lives to their full potential and make your most expansive dreams come true. But that can't happen if you're not walking on this plane of existence to do so or you robbed this community of your future greatness and talents because you took your life while going through a depressingly rough patch in it.

Getting to be my age is a wonderful, constantly evolving experience.  I enjoy being the mentor for you I didn't have.  There is life beyond age 24.  Life for transpeople is getting better.  It many not be changing as fast as we'd like, but there is ample visible evidence the arc of the moral universe is bending towards justice for trans people. Some of the things you're seeing today were in our wildest dreams territory for trans people when I transitioned in 1994 and we pushed this in conditions far more hostile than you see today.

And don't forget what we did trans human rights warriors did in the 90's-early 2k's was based on the struggles and work our sisters did like Christine Jorgensen, April Ashley, Coccinelle, and Phyllis Frye who put themselves in the public eye in the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's.   They built on the work of the trans women who were at the Cooper's Donuts riots in LA, the 1965 Dewey's Lunch Counter Sit-In that occurred in Philly, the 1966 Compton's Cafeteria Riot and Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P Johnson at Stonewall in 1969.

What will life be like for transpeople in 2024?  2034?  2044?  2054?  Some of you reading this post may have the answer to that question. 

You may become the first trans governor of a state.  The trans doctor who comes up with a cure for cancer.  An astronaut who walks on Mars.   Perform at Carnegie Hall.   The next trans state legislator or first trans mayor of a major city.  Come up with the next great business idea that creates jobs for all of us.  Become the first trans Olympian.  When the medical technology develops to that point you may even be able to give birth to your own children should you desire that or even come up with the breakthroughs that make it happen.  You may even become the first trans president of the US, a US senator, a federal judge or congressmember.

You may witness the time when the TDOR's are no longer needed. 

But just like Cheryl Courtney-Evans, Miss Major, Tracie Jada O'Brien, Sharyn Grayson, Gloria Allen and others are around to be mentors to me and trans women of my Baby Boomer and beyond trans generations, and I am proudly mentoring your generation of trans women, you will inevitably get older and eventually be the mentors of the mid and late 21st century trans women now transitioning in the elementary, middle, high schools and colleges right now or just being born.    

But you have to be alive to live long enough to be able to properly mentor those trans younglings when the time comes for you to take on that role.   
 
So please trans younglings, be determined to live long fabulous lives.   Imagine growing old, not dying young.  It's also your best revenge to all the people who reviled you when you were younger to have a more happy and successful life than their miserable ones. 

TransGriot Note: Pics are Cheryl Courtney-Evans, me with Miss Major, Tracie Jada O'Brien, and Sylvia Rivera.

Two Texas TDOR's In 24 Hours

I'm usually pretty busy when November 20th approaches and it's time for the Transgender Day Of Remembrance memorial events to take place here and elsewhere around the world.   Between the radio interviews, op-ed posts and articles, panel discussions and keynote speech requests it can and does get hectic and potentially overwhelming for me during this and any TDOR period

But I had never tried to pull off participating in two TDOR events in the same cycle until this year.

I had gotten the invitation to come to the San Antonio TDOR when Lauryn Farris came to Houston for the Texas Transgender Non Discrimination Summit (TTNS) last summer.  I already knew Rev. Carmarion Anderson was their keynote speaker and it was scheduled for November 21, so no big deal.   I always enjoy spending quality time around her and definitely wanted to be there to see her speak. 

I was planning at the time to just go, chill and be in the San Antonio TDOR audience watching Carmarion and keeping my butt in the background.  I wanted to let others get their well deserved recognition and attention.    
But when Dee Dee Watters approached me in early October about participating in the first ever African-American trans organized TDOR event in Houston, I wanted to be part of that historic event but I was already committed to being in San Antonio on November 21 for their TDOR.  I'd also backed it up by as soon as the booking window opened up for it by purchasing the round trip Megabus ticket (for $2.50) to San Antonio.  

No TransGriot readers, that's not a typo.  I got that San Antonio Megabus roundtrip for $2.50. It got even more interesting when Lauryn asked me to take a more active role in their TDOR since I was already headed there and speak at their event. 

Dee Dee wasn't giving up either. She asked me again to participate in the TDOR she was planning, and once I found out she'd scheduled the Houston African-American TDOR event for November 20, it set up the interesting situation for me of literally participating in two Texas TDOR's 24 hours apart on opposite ends of I-10.

Part one of this two TDOR's in 24 hours scenario started on Wednesday night as I approached St. Luke the Evangelist Episcopal Church in the shadows of the Texas Southern University campus.

It was a perfect venue for this first ever African-American trans organized TDOR event.  For a first time TDOR it drew 40 people which I was extremely pleased about.  I had a role in it as a reader, but the major credit for pulling this off goes to Dee Dee Watters who organized it.

Dee Dee also had as part of the program a monologue she performed along with the musicians, poetry readings, spoken word and commentary that comprised the programming for this inaugural event.

I've already been told this African-American organized TDOR is going to happen next year and hope people in the Houston African-American trans community and our allies come out in even larger numbers next year to support it because frankly, they need to.   

The next morning I was up bright and early to catch my 8:15 AM Megabus heading west on I-10 to San Antonio to attend and take part in their TDOR for the first time.   My homegirl Rev. Carmarion Anderson was coming down I-35 to be the keynote speaker for this year's event and I would get to close out the programming part of it as the final speaker of the evening, behind her and legendary local activist Graciela Sanchez.. 

I spent an enjoyable day after I arrived with Lauryn Farris and Carmarion before we headed over to the MCC San Antonio church to handle out TDOR business San Antonio style.

I was surprised to see the globetrotting Cristan Williams there, who had literally just come back from the Left Coast after leading a protest against the transphobic hatemongers of the Pacific Justice Institute and drove to the Alamo City for their event.   I was also happy to finally meet another member of the 'Can We Talk For Real' radio team in Ina Anthony, who spent the event seated next to me.

The interesting thing about the San Antonio TDOR event is they start with the reading of the names, then go into their programming.   So after the reading of the names of the departed, the tribute to the beloved on both ends of I-10 late Michelle Myers (which was why Cristan was there to represent herself and the Houston community), Carmarion's rousing keynote and Graciela's equally moving speech, I had to close it out. 

I got to discuss moving forward past this day, and I focused on politics and what we needed to do as a community after we left that church.   It was a well received speech as I discovered during the reception afterwards which I was happy about.  



I also got to meet with many people in the San Antonio trans and LGB community, allies, activists and politicians.  One interesting situation occurred in which I was talking to a woman who has a trans child.  While we were in the middle of that conversation a member of the local PFLAG chapter took the opportunity to introduce herself to me.  I took that moment and introduced her to the mother of the trans child.  That jump started a conversation about what she needed to know between the two and connected the mom to San Antonio PFLAG.  

I also had a serious chat with San Antonio city councilmember Diego Bernal.  I thanked him for his support of our community and his YES votes during their recent contentious non-discrimination ordinance fight.  
He gave me a message to take back to the peeps here in Houston, since we're about to embark on our own what promises to be contentious non-discrimination ordinance fight.    

And sorry, that message Councilmember Bernal asked me to pass on to my Houston peeps is in 'the trans revolution will not be televised or written about' territory.   Some things have to stay secret in order for them to become a reality.`   And yeah, I'm quite aware of the possibility that our loud and wrong enemies read this blog, too.

The temperature dropped 30 degrees after a cold front blew through town around 3 AM and fortunately I packed a long sleeved turtleneck shirt in my bag for the trip home.  I dozed off after we passed Seguin and after I awakened from my nap around Columbus got a chance to talk to San Antonio resident Mary Lozano.  When she discovered I had just spoken at the SATDOR, she asked me why there was such hateful rhetoric thrown around in that ordinance fight by alleged Christians because the anti-TBLG rhetoric bothered her as a Christian who lives her faith.

Since we had a hour until we arrived in Houston, I had enough time to do an impromptu Trans 101 and make a friend. I have her number and definitely will be staying in touch with her.

So now that this TDOR season is over, time to rest, reflect and recharge the batteries for the battles ahead and in the new year.  Sadly enough we may already have the first name for the 2014 TDOR list in the person of Jacqui Cowdrey. 

And I may need to consider going to the Dallas TDOR next year.  

Zoe's 2013 Cleveland TDOR Speech

Cleveland's TDOR memorial ceremony had the added sorrow of remembering one of their own this year in the person of Cemia 'CeCe' Dove Acoff.
  
In addition to mourning her death when the news broke of it back in March, the Cleveland trans community then had to deal with their paper of record in the Cleveland Plain Dealer subsequently committing a journalistic hate crime against Cemia by grossly disrespecting her.

When people complained about it including me, instead of listening to what people from the community were pointing out and correcting their mistakes, the Plain Dealer took the opposite combative path and defiantly doubled down on the transphobic disrespect aimed at Cemia.

Andrey Bridges, the waste of DNA who committed the senseless crime was quickly arrested, subsequently convicted of murder, felonious assault, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse.   He will be serving a life sentence for it. 

There was even resolution between the Cleveland TBLG community and the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  After a letter was submitted requesting they cover the TDOR and do so with honesty and respect, the Plain Dealer agreed to not only cover the local TDOR , but meet with area activists to ensure that such grossly disrespectful coverage of a trans person never happens again. 

During their 2013 Cleveland TDOR, Zoe Renee Lapin, who organized one of the rallies held for Cemia  during that time person spoke to the assembled people at the memorial service. 

Here's her speech.

***

Realness isn't seen in your physical beauty but it's revealed through your heart. It isn't your ability to use one hand to give yourself a pat on the back and use the other to hold down others going through the same journey. It is your ability to look beyond the surfaces and empower your community. To be the greatest you that YOU can be, and then when you do that, do it again-but even better. The reality that your work is never over. The reality that this list gets longer and longer every year and yet the respect grows smaller and smaller.

Realness is realizing that "oddly dressed man found in pond" or "brutal murder marks the end of the fight for acceptance" is not appropriate, not ever. That until all of us are accepted and respected, we are all destroyed and neglected. That every "he, him, his, sir" that a transwoman gets is a direct attack to all of us. That every "her, ms, she, ma'am" that a transman gets is a direct attack to all of us. That every "it and thing" that a non-identifying person gets is a direct attack to all of us. Every drop of blood spilled, every tear shed, cannot exist in vain. That the time for silence is over and that the time for action has never been more prevalent.

My reality is that I am beautiful, my reality is that you are beautiful, our reality is that we are beautiful. And that when we come together in the name of equality, in the name of respect, in the name of our fallen-our cries will not fall upon closed minds and empty hearts. Realness is our ability to empower and encourage everyone from the young person living in the streets because they were forced out of their homes for manifesting their reality, to our elders, to everyone along the way.

Realness is if one of us makes noise, we all make noise, if one of us falls, we all have fallen. Realness is leaving none of us behind, in life and in death. The deceased before us have paid the price for their truth. The living in front of them must never forget them, we carry their names in our hearts and their vindication through our actions. Realness is realizing that Islan, Ce Ce, Ashley, Kelly, the unmentioned and the unknown, cannot continue to live their truths because of the ignorance and fear that propelled so many of their lives to a tragic halt. Realness is healing our wounds and healing the wounds of those around us. Realness is knowing that many in the outside world, even within our own community do not care about us. That we are a threat to their vision of equality, that we are a "burden" that they do not wish to bear.

As much as the term gay isn't a modifier of the entire lgbtq population, the slurs that some see endearing are not signs for our acceptance and validation. That the blood that landed on our footsteps is met with silence, but the bruises met on another are somehow unequal. That in Cleveland, we care more about pandering than we do the pandemic of inequality many of us face everyday. That we are told to all stand up for one cause, but have a seat for another. Your time will come, just wait. Wait...

Realness is the fact that the time is up. That our community cannot afford one more loss. That our family will not fall victim to your hand nor your words. That we ARE family. We are not in competition with each other. We must remain in harmony with one another. Our journeys may not be the same, but we are all in this race together. Our histories, our realities could not have made us any further apart-but I feel so close to each and every single one of you. Our realness, together, is our realness, together. We are our truth, we have manifested our reality. We are united, we embody those fallen and we shape the road ahead, and when we fall together-we rise together.

Run Leticia Run!

If I had an inkling at the time I booked my trip to San Antonio for their TDOR I could have stayed through the weekend and this next historical event was going to happen, I probably would have eagerly done so.

Texas state Senator Wendy Davis is already running for the governors chair of the Lone Star State and if the political chatter I heard while I was in San Antonio is accurate, there is going to be an announcement made that will make me,  Wendy Davis and liberal-progressive Texans very happy.

State Senator Leticia Van De Putte is having an event this morning at San Antonio College starting at 10 AM CST to announce her what many people suspect (myself included) decision to run for Lt. Governor of Texas and set up the all female Dream Team at the top of the Democratic party ticket.

Senator Van De Putte has served in the Texas legisalture since 1990  and first elected to the Texas Senate in a special election in 1999 to State Senate District 26 based in downtown San Antonio.  

During the recently concluded 83rd regular session of the Texas Legislature, she was elected President Pro Tem of the Texas Senate by her colleagues and had the privilege of serving as Governor for a Day (on my birthday).  The other cool thing about her is that she has been a enthusiastic ally for the trans community and one of her representatives was at the San Antonio TDOR Thursday night.   

The best part of this no lose scenario is unlike Sen. Davis, because Sen. Van De Putte wasn't scheduled to run for her Senate District 26 seat until 2016, she would not have to leave the Texas Senate if she chose to run for a statewide office. 

So if she's going to take her first shot at a statewide office and attempt to become the first ever Latina Lt Governor, this is the best opportunity to do so. 

We'll know for sure after 10 AM and I'll have the link to the webcast on this post, but all I have to say about it is Run Leticia Run!..



TransGriot Update: Yes, Leticia's running for Lt. Governor!

Petition For SPLC To Monitor Gender Identity Watch As A Hate Group

One of the reasons that trans people have faced so much negativity in society is because the TERF's (trans exterminationalist radical feminists have been allowed until recently to spew their lies and disinformation unchecked.

And one of the most prolific and most dangerous of the bunch is The Bug, who I have had a few run ins with online myself and called out.for her reprehensible behavior.

Now the feminist community has finally had enough and are starting to condemn her as well. 

A Change.org petition is up asking that the Southern Poverty Law Center monitor the Bug's Gender Identity Watch as a hate site.   Hell, SPLC needs to go further and declare the entire TERF movement as a hate group but that's another post.

Anyway, if you peeps want to add your autographs to this petition that is seeking 1000 signatures for it,  here's the link to it.  International peeps are welcome to sign this one as well. 


TransGriot Update:  Gee, that was quick.   It hit its target before 10 PM CST last night, but the more signatures on the petition the merrier, so keep forwarding it to people and do your part to get SPLC to declare The Bug's scribbling there a hate site.

TDOR 2013 Message To My Houston Black Transpeeps

Since the 2013 Transgender Day of Remembrance events are rapidly coming to an end, basically had to say a few things to my African-American transpeeps in Houston as I pondered the historic happening Wednesday night of the first ever Houston TDOR event organized and executed by an African-American transgender Houstonian. 

It was a rousing success with over 40 people in attendance at this historic first time ever event.  And nope, that distinction does not belong to me.  The well deserved props for this historic feat belong to Dee Dee Watters.  

She was motivated to act after hearing me gripe during one of our conversations a few months ago about our lack of representation at TDOR events in Houston and across the country.   It was her tough minded determination and elbow grease that led to what happened Wednesday night and led to me when it was over having a wide as Texas smile.  

All I did was simply advise and offer my help and thoughts on how to proceed when she needed it. 

For those of you who missed the first ever Transgender Day of Remembrance event ever in Houston with soul that was planned by an African American trans Houstonian, all I have to say is you missed a groundbreaking historical event.

It was held in the 97 year old St. Luke the Evangelist Episcopal Church on Wheeler Street in the shadows of the Texas Southern University campus.  It's where the radically inclusive Progressive Open Door Christian Center holds its services.  That only added to the sense to me of just how appropriate this place was as the venue for this first ever Houston African-American TDOR event and I was proud on my small role in it. 

It had a kick butt monologue from Dee Dee entitled 'Love Who You Are'.   Spoken word readings from Tye West, Makai Bowie, Rev J. Nicole Mathis, and Latina transwoman Alexus Nicole Whitny.  A Maya Angelou poetry selection read by Lesa Jackson.  A dance selection to Beyonce's song 'Halo' by DePaul Cydney Norwood.   An acapella version of the 'Greatest Love of All' sung by Emanhi Fuqua, a musical selection by Nicolai Kirk      

And after the candle lighting, yes the Reading of the Names by AJ Bowie, Rev. Mathis, Darcy Mitchell and a certain award winning blogger y'all all know and we closed it by having the trans people who attended the event leading a march twice around the sanctuary singing a civil rights era freedom song.You know next year's TDOR with soul will be even better because that's just how we do things.

I hope during the 2014 Black TDOR event and subsequent ones we actually see some of our African American community and business leaders, Black Greek letter organization members, politicians, thought leaders, clergy, pundits, family members, straight cis and SGL allies be in the house at future ones to pay their respects and support our Black trans community.

Frankly, they need to be there.  This year alone there were 12 African-American transpeople who died because of anti-trans violence, with the overwhelming majority of them (11) being African-American trans women.  Many of those people also died at the hands of other African-Americans.

Another group of people who need to be there to support this event now that we have a home for it is you Black trans Houstonians who couldn't make it this year.   If your azzes can show up at a pageant, the club, a party or a drag show, you damned sure need to have your Black, trans and proud faces in the place showing up, showing out, and standing up to be counted in support of a TDOR event organized by another Black trans woman. .

You've claimed and complained for years Black trans women inside and around Loop 610 you wanted a Houston event 'for the gurls'.  Now one exists, so what 'cha gonna do?  It's  time for you to either put up or sit your azz down somewhere and have a nice tall sweet tea flavored glass of STFU. 

Time for y'all to support this Black TDOR event that is immersed in your cultural heritage.  Nurture it. Help it grow.  Share it with the rest of the Houston community.  And better yet, help Dee Dee plan next year's event.      

Houston Black trans men, here is your opportunity to step up, support your Houston trans sisters and emerging Houston, state and national leaders like Tye West and Dallas' Carter Brown .   

We need you Houston Black trans brothers getting busy developing and honing those leadership skills.  We Houston Black trans women need you to be in words, actions and deeds the fabulous brothers and leaders we know you are  

The Black cis community will also need you to step up to your A+ leadership game as well.  If you are serious about doing so and making that Black Trans Juneteenth happen, then I'm sure Carter and Tye would love to see your faces in the place in Dallas April 30-May 4 for BTAC 2014 and at other community events in H-town and beyond in 2014.

To borrow a phrase from my little sis Dee Dee, Real Talk time.   As people step up to lead this community, just letting y'all know upfront shade throwers and agent provocateurs need not apply.for the job of building the Houston African-American trans community.

We'll get enough of that from peeps outside of it.   As a trans elder in this community if I even sense a hint of it I WILL call your azzes out because it is Nation Time, not Throwing Shade Time.  As I said back on Juneteenth and will repeat for your edification and 'ejumaction' here, we African descended Texas transpeople can no longer afford to muddle around for another wasted decade isolated, invisible to the world at large, ignorant about what's going on around us, and feeling impotent socially, emotionally, politically and economically. 
 
We have the opportunity now to do something about that situation now that we are getting the attention of the Houston Black cis community SGL and straight.   We have a chance to build something lasting here and for the sake of our fallen brothers and sisters we need to be tough minded enough to make it happen.. 

I am determined along with Dee Dee and other visionary leaders to not waste this God given opportunity paid for with the blood of our fallen sisters to do just that.

With the upcoming effort to get gender identity and sexual orientation added to the Houston non discrimination ordinance, we Black trans folks will play a key role in helping it get passed because the opponents will us ignorance, fear and hatred of trans people to 'scurr' people into opposing it.. 

But to build that Houston Black trans community some of you have told me repeatedly you want, we have to come out of the shadows and stop hiding.  As my sis Rev. Carmarion Anderson said in her San Antonio TDOR keynote last night, we have to be naked to the world. 

Translation, we have to be our authentic selves and be that in every space we proudly enter.  And one of the spaces we long ago needed to enter was the room in which the African-American family table is placed with the kente cloth covering the table and the kinara at the center of it. 

It's past time we claimed our seat at that table as visibly proud Black trans men and women. 

The only way we can do that is to be visible and say it loud, we are Black, trans and proud and don't care what you think about us living our truth and being the people God created us to be.

As Pastor Lawrence T. Richardson reminds us, "God is love and you were made in the image of perfect Love. There is space for you in this world. There is space at your church, in your desired career, in your family, on sports teams…and it is time to take your space."

It's past time Houston Black trans community for us to take our space. 

Because visibility will lead to victories in our professional, political and personal lives, and be good for not only us as Black trans people, but for all the communities we intersect and interact with.

November 22, 1963

Today is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas. 

Unlike my parents and others old enough to remember exactly where they were and what happened on that day, I was just a mere 18 months old. 

Whatever knowledge I have of what happened on that day comes from not only talking to family peeps and relatives old enough to live through that day, but watching newsreels, video, documentaries and reading the history books about the Kennedy presidency. 

Since I have relatives in Dallas and we frequently did vacation trips up I-45, I have actually seen Dealey Plaza, the Texas School Book Depository, the Grassy Knoll and the Kennedy memorial there.




That moment altered the American history timeline.   We know President Kennedy was in Dallas as part of a political tour to shore up Texas in advance of his presidential reelection bid in 1964.  

There's also been endless speculation about what a Kennedy second term might have looked like had the fateful decision to remove the bubble top on the presidential limo not been made.
 
One thing we can probably conclude would be correct is that the Civil Right Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 probably wouldn't have happened as quickly.

But then again, we'll never know, just like 50 years later we still don't have definitive answers on exactly what happened on this date to one beloved president and a Democratic party hero.

Shut Up Fool Awards-It's TDOR 2013 Edition

It's TDOR Week, and in the runup to the 15th Anniversary memorial events on November 20, I was honored to have had the opportunity to take part in two on opposite ends of I-10 in Houston and San Antonio exactly 24 hours apart.

While we took the time to mourn the 238 people we lost this tear to anti-trans violence, we also used this week to educate, build community, thank our allies, supportive family and friends and resolve to own our power and do what it takes to ensure we see some kind of reduction in that level of anti-trans violence sooner rather than later.|

It also meant a busy week for me with a radio interview, participation in two TDOR events 24 hours apart in Houston and San Antonio, and seeing two posts I wrote for this day go viral.

And that you for attending, participating in and or supporting the TDOR events near you.

And now, let's segue from remembering our people who died to remembering the people who did whatever it took to get our attention for this week's TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards.  

I get to shine a bright spotlight every Friday on the fool fool or goup of foold that display mind numbing stupidity, over the top hubris, and jaw dropping hypocrisy.

And let's get busy determining this week's winner that I pondered on the clouding wet and cold bus ride home.

Honorable Mention number one goes to cisfeminine WMMA fighter Ashlee Evans-Smith and sore winner who handed Fallon Fox her first loss in the octagon and still threw transphobic shade afterward. 

Honorable Mention number two goes to Greg Abbott, the GOP bote suppressing, tort reform for 'errbody except me' AG who tried to paint Sen Wendy Davis as "Satan".  

Keep flapping your gums and running that Clayton Williams GOP gubernatorial campaign playbook.  Cecile Richards can tell you how well that worked.     
 
Honorable Mention number three is Uncle Ruckus Jesse Lee Peterson.   That Oreo cookie chomping conservaknee-grow channelled his inner Stepin Fetchit and thanked white people for slavery.  

Where's the D.R.O.P Squad when you need them?     

Honorable Mention number four is Lorenzo Garcia, the president of the UT Young Conservafools.   He's proof positive that sellouts aren't just an African-American problem.  Garcia also has connections with the Abbott campaign and on the heel of the 'Affirmative Action Bake Sale, his racist organization were sponsoring a 'Catch an illegal Immigrant' game on the UT campus in order to 'foster discussion on the immigration issue.   He fostered a discussion alright, just not the one he expected.   He is now whining because the UT administration and the Latin@ community is righteously blasting his azz about it.

Honorable Mention number five is Hawaii State Rep. Tom Brower, whose solution to homelessness is to use a sledgehammer on the belongings of the homeless people on Honolulu's streets. 

Guess which party he belongs to?   If you said Republicans, psyche.   He's a DINO.

Somebody in the Hawaiian Democratic Party please primary challenge this fool.

The envelope please.   Thank you Mr. T.: 

This week's winner is freshman Rep. Trey Radel, (R-FL).  He voted to drug test all food stamp recipients in the GOP Farm Bill that died in the Senate, but got busted during a DC police sting for buying cocaine in DuPont Park   Never mind the Florida program this money wasting conservaidea is based on in his home state has been an utter failure there and everywhere else it's been tried.    

He claimed he was a Hip Hop Conservative (whatever the hell that is) and in his 2012 campaign ads claimed that he’d bring American values to Washington, “Values that come with integrity, especially when we talk about cuts.”  

Yeah dude,  seems like the only cuts you have been making is lines in a pile of cocaine.

Rep. Trey Radel, shut up fool!

See Ya, San Antonio

This was a quick in and out trip to the Alamo City for their TDOR, and I do thank them and my gracious host Lauryn Farris for the invite to participate in it and their brand of Texas hospitality.  

It was also a blast getting to see my Dallas area homegirl Carmarion Anderson and meet and see all the wonderful people in the San Antonio trans community.  

Promise y'all it won't take me 32 years to come back to San Antonio for another visit. 

Now it's time for me to get back on the Megabus and figure out what fool, fool or fools deserve to win this week's edition of the Shut Up Fool Awards

If it left on schedule, I should be headed eastbound on I-10 and back to my semi-boring Houston life about noon.

Presentation On Trans Latina Immigrants Today

For you folks on the Left Coast looking for Trans Awareness Week stuff to attend or get your learn on about our community, there will be a presentation at the UCLA Downtown Labor Center lead sponsored by the TransLatin@ Coalition entitled TransVisible: Transgender Latina Immigrants In US Society'.

Everyone's transition is different, and transitions and how they happen are also affected and experienced differently when race and class enter the mix. 

This Transgender Latina immigrants event will be presented by Karla Padron and it will start at 2:00 PM Pacific time. 2.5 CEU's will also be available for this event if you register in advance. 

The UCLA Downtown Labor Center is located at 675 S. Park View Street in Los Angeles, CA 90057.  I hope people will consider attending what should be an interesting discussion about the issues our trans Latina immigrant sisters face.    

Diamond Stylz's TDOR 2013 Message

My Houston homegirl Diamond Stylz is my counterpart in the video blogging world, and peeps need to recognize that she's all that and five bags of mesquite barbecue chips if they haven't already.

Here's Diamond's commentary concerning the 2013 edition of the Transgender Day of Remembrance that needs to be seen

2013 TransGriot NFL Predictions Week 12

Well, I ended my two game losing streak, but the Texans streak has now reached eight games and tensions are high in their locker room as witnessed by Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson jawing at each out after that fourth down red zone play to win the game failed  

Gary Kubiak returned from his mini stroke to coach the Raiders game from the press box under doctor's orders and like us, some of the things that happened in this surreal loss made us wonder if Kubiak would have another stoke watching them make stupid mistakes that cost them another game.   

That coaches chair is also getting warm under Gary Kubiak's behind, too.

Even though I'm in San Antonio right now to speak at their TDOR event tonight , the NFL prognostication contest between me, Eli and Mike continues as we all endure this unpredictable rollercoaster called the 2013 NFL season.

Mike and I both rebounded from lousy Week 10 results to have a better Week 11 and Eli kept pace as we all ended up with 9-6 records

So let's get to Week 12.  Four teams on their bye week, so only fourteen games  to select.  My picks are in underlined bold print     Mike's and Eli's are here.


Week 11 Results
TransGriot      9-6
Eli Blake        9-6
Mike Watts    9-6

2013 Season Record
TransGriot      90-72
Eli                  104-58
Mike              100-62 

NFL Week 12
Bye Teams: Buffalo, Cincinnati, Philadelphia,  Seattle 

Thursday Night Game
New Orleans at Atlanta

Sunday Noon Games
Tampa Bay at Detroit
Minnesota at Green Bay
Jacksonville at Houston
San Diego at Kansas City
Carolina at Miami
Pittsburgh at Cleveland
Chicago at St. Louis
NY Jets at Baltimore

Sunday Afternoon Games
Tennessee at Oakland
Indianapolis at Arizona
Dallas at NY Giants

Sunday Night Game
Denver at New England

Monday Night Game
San Francisco at Washington

Moni's Getting On The Bus-To San Antonio

Moni's doing another road trip, and this time I'm hitting I-10 west for the first time in a long time to San Antonio. 

This will be the first time I've spent time inside Bexar County and the San Antonio city limits since 1981

However, I did drive through the Alamo City on my way to and from California in 1988 and 1992

The reason I'm on the Megabus this time is I'm headed to San Antonio to speak at their Transgender Day of Remembrance event that's taking place at MCC San Antonio. 

MCC San Antonio is located at 611 E. Myrtle St and the event will start at 7 PM 

Like the Dallas bus trip a few months ago, looking forward to seeing how much the scenery's changed since I last made that journey between Houston and San Antonio and it's safe to say a lot since I was last there.

Besides the Alamodome and the AT&T Center, another thing that will be different from the last time I was in San Antonio in April 1981 is that instead of losing to the NBA Finals bound 40-42 Rockets in seven games (and me and my collegiate friends were loudly cheering that development in our hotel room), the Spurs have morphed into a perennial championship caliber squad with 4 NBA championship trophies of their own and should have had a fifth.   They are favorites to get to the NBA Finals again, but we'll see how that plays out over the 2013-14 NBA season.    

San Antonio is also the second largest city in Texas with over 1.3 million people population wise and a recently passed non-discrimination ordinance that covers gender identity and sexual orientation on the books.

But one of the things that hasn't changed is that San Antonio has a vibrant trans community with a proud history of activism, achievement, beloved icons and up and coming activists.  One of those icons I knew personally in former TATS president Michelle C. Myers, died this year on June 17 and part of their ceremony will take time to remember her. 

I also used to talk to on a regular basis Christie Lee Littleton before I moved to Da Ville and eventually lost contact with her.  Hope she's coming to the memorial tonight so I can give her a big hug and catch up on what's new in her life. 

I'm also looking forward to meeting many of the members of the San Antonio trans community and their allies while I'm in the Alamo City and hope to see you at the TDOR memorial tonight  

If the bus leaves on schedule, see y'all in a few hours, San Antonio.
.

Choose Life, Not Suicide!

Iris Sahhara Henson is my across The Pond African Diaspora trans sister from Nigeria who left her homeland to move to London and live her life.  But she had a few challenges getting to that point of being comfortable in her skin and being the remarkable woman she is now. 

She has an important message to share with our young trans persons (and trans persons of any age) to choose life and not suicide. 

Happy Birthday Arianna!

When I went to New York for the GLAAD POC Media Institute training last year, little did I realize I was going to depart from it not only better equipped to do media appearances on behalf of our community, but I left it with a few new friends and allies.  

One of the people I met during that training was a lovely Latina from Florida via Peru named Arianna Inurritegui Lint. 

Arianna is VP of the TransLatin@ Coalition and pops up regularly on Spanish language media to talk about trans issues from a Latina perspective.  This accomplished lady was also one of the five trans people named to the inaugural Honor 41 list that spotlights the contributions of TBLG Latin@ people.  

And today is her birthday.  

Happy birthday sis, and may you celebrate many more of them!.   

Equality House Gets A Makeover For TDOR

The Equality House is a home across the street from the Westboro Baptist Hate Church in Topeka, KS that was purchased by and is run by the organization Planting Peace.   

It's a 501c3 organization that challenges the hateful rhetoric of the Phelps Phamily and is usually painted in the colors of the rainbow flag.   Equality House has in the past sponsored events such as a gay wedding, a drag show and hosted a child's lemonade stand for peace in shouting distance of Phelps and his church hate clan.

On Tuesday, in honor of today's Transgender day of Remembrance, the Rainbow House got a makeover and was painted in the colors of the trans pride flag..  

“The reason we’re painting the house is to send a positive message” of acceptance and equality, said Davis Hammet, director of operations for Planting Peace.

To mark TDOR, at 6:30 PM CST Equality House along with the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Topeka, the Kansas Statewide Transgender Education Project, or K-STEP, and Equality Kansas will hold a candlelight vigil tonight. 

Stephanie Mott, executive director of K-STEP, said in a Topeka Capital-Journal report that Kansas needs more awareness of transgender issues, and people should take the time to get to know each other rather than making judgments based on gender identity.

“What I want people to understand is, who I am is in here,” she said, gesturing to her heart. “My body is what carries me around.”

And the Equality House looks good in its fresh for TDOR paint job.

No Justice For Islan, For Now

To remind everyone that sometimes we don't get justice when our haters kill us (which fuels the anti-trans violence because the perps believe they can get away with it)) we had the concrete example of the Islan Nettles case. 

20 year old Paris Wilson, who was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault in the savage fatal beating of 21 year old Nettles in Harlem that put her in a coma for several days before she died, walked out of Manhattan Criminal Court yesterday a free man for now.  The Manhattan DA's were forced to drop the charges because the case was older than 90 days and the speedy trial clock had run out

According to a report in the New York Daily News,  Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Viorst said "we would concede that speedy trial time has run with regard to the misdemeanor with which the defendant is charged and therefore the case must be dismissed," but said the probe into Nettles' tragic death remains active.

While the New York trans community and Islan's mother Delores Nettles are obviously disappointed and upset about what transpired in the courtroom yesterday, they remain resolute and hopeful that justice will be served in this case. 

And you know I'll be keep an eye on it along with the New York trans community. 

Thinking About The Girls Like Us Who Didn't Get A TDOR Memorial

I had a nice conversation with Gwendolyn Smith yesterday evening (yes, THE Gwen Smith who conceived the TDOR memorial ceremonies and the Remembering Our Dead List).

We talked about a few issues including what it is like being the iconic legendary leaders instead of the wide eyed neophytes we once were back in the 90's.


For a moment our conversation turned to the state of the Transgender Day of Remembrance memorial 15 years later.   After we had that conversation about how we're still doing these events a decade and a half later and marveled at the progress of our human rights movement, she complimented me on the 238 Names post.  

After thanking her, I made the comment about how I wish I'd mentioned something in that post about the trans women who died pre-TDOR.

So I'm going to do that right now. And yeah, there's some trigger warning worthy stuff in this post.

I'm going to talk about a few trans women who were killed and didn't get their names read at a TDOR memorial.  In some cases their murders were just as graphic, just as filled with mind-numbing rage, over the top violence and transphobic hatred.   They were also murders in which the victims left behind people who loved them unconditionally and cared about them. 

There was the 1980 murder of Georgette Hart.   She was born in Charlestown, and was called 'the most beautiful drag queen in Boston'.

After leaving a bar in the Charlestown area, she was found dead with her throat slashed. But the waste (or wastes) of DNA didn't stop there.  The perpetrator also found the time to mutilate her by cutting off her penis and stuffing it in her mouth before running over her with a car.

There's Terri Williams Moore, who was shot in the head and back by her husband Richard in Lynnville, Iowa on the way back from their honeymoon in May 1976.  She revealed during their honeymoon she'd had SRS and was trans.

I've talked on the blog about Chanelle Pickett's murder 18 years ago today on November 20,1995 in which her killer, William Palmer basically got a slap on the wrist for it.   Her twin sister Gabrielle, who she appeared with on Jenny Jones to discuss being a trans twin, was herself murdered in March 2003.

Speaking of trans twin sisters, Cynthia and Felicia Coffman of Nashville, TN. were both shot to death on July 24, 1977 by Dan Edward Jones.

Leslie Rejeanne, the south side Chicago girl and co-host of the female illusionist shows at The Baton who was one of the first African-American transpeople I saw publicly talk on television about transgender issues.  She appeared on Donahue, Oprah and countless other talk shows during the late 80's-early 90's and  was killed by a hit and run driver.


Debra Forte, the aunt of Ethan St Pierre, who for several years helped maintain the Remembering Our Dead List stats and the list. 

Debra was stabbed by Michael Thompson multiple times with six inch deep wounds in her chest along with being beaten around the head and shoulders on May 15, 1995.   How Ethan did that for all those years I still commend him for considering the circumstances.


Dianne Aubert, who was stabbed 121 times in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada on February 16, 1982.

Crystal Sanchez-Reyes, who died on Christmas Day 1987 because the man who shot her six times at point blank range, Daniel Montenegro Delgado, was upset she was dancing with his brother. 

There was an unnamed transwoman bludgeoned to death in San Antonio in 1991 who body was found partially burned.

Those of you who have seen Paris Is Burning know about the death of Venus Xtravaganza Pellagatti, who was found strangled and stuffed under the bed of a New York City hotel room on December 21, 1988 before the filming of the documentary was completed.     

It's just a small sample of long list of names of people who paid the ultimate price for simply wanting to be their true selves.

And on this day when we will be reading the names and memorializing the people who died due to anti-trans violence in 2013,  I also wanted us to take a moment to think about and never forget the back in the day  girls like us who were killed and didn't get the benefit of a TDOR memorial service.