'YMCA' Is Not A Gay Anthem? Really?

I am a huge disco fan, and one of the groups I used to listen to and liked was the Village People back in the day.

And yeah, I was quite aware of the impression amongst my high school peers that it was LGBT-family friendly music.

One of the comedians in my high school classes used to sarcastically call the 'Macho Man' Village People song 'Montrose Man' to make it very clear what he thought the heterosexuality quotient of the tune was.    

So I laughed my azz off when I recently heard Village People frontman Victor Willis try to claim that the monster Village People hit song 'YMCA' is not a gay anthem.  

Seems that some gay activists keen on having some kind of show of support for the TBLG Russian population for the rapidly approaching Sochi Winter Olympic Games suggested that the USA Olympic team march into the stadium as it is being played.  That's not gonna happen since the host nation has wide latitude in how they want the Olympic opening ceremony to unfold, but nice sentiment.

But here was Willis' reaction to that idea.    

“If they want to use the song that way, go right ahead, but I think it's silly because the lyrics were written by me as an expression of urban youths having fun at the YMCA,” Willis said. 

“The words were crafted by me to be taken any number of ways but not specific to gays. It's much broader than that. The song is universal.

Umm hmm.  And what say you Blaine and Antoine to that comment?

The Village People had to be the most in your face with the gay archetypes band ever put together.  The late Village people producer Jacques Morali got the name of the group from New York's Greenwich Village gayborhood and was designed to be aimed at and marketing to disco's gay demographic. 

And let's go down the list of songs shall we?   'Village People', 'San Francisco (You Got Me)', 'Key West', 'Go West', 'Macho Man', 'In The Navy'. 

Two album titles were Cruisin'  (1978) and Go West (1979) and Village People songs were played in Black, Latino and gay underground nightclubs before getting radio airplay on R&B, Top 40 and disco formatted stations .

I'll concede your point since you wrote the lyrics to it that YMCA has become part of universal pop culture.  But it also a universal pop culture touchstone that flies the rainbow flag. 

You may not have intended for 'YMCA' to become a gay anthem, and we know not everyone in the Village People was family, but like Diana Ross' 'I'm Coming Out', that is exactly what the song has become.

So yeah Victor, keep tellin' yourself that YMCA is not a gay anthem.   The rest of the world, and especially those of us in the GLBT community beg to differ with your assessment.

TransGriot International Top Ten-December 2013

One of the things I've resolved to do a better job of this year is do posts in which I track where my international readers are coming from. 

I take great pride in being a widely read international blog.  That information helps me do a better job of balancing out my international content so it isn't as North American, North Hemisphere or Western Hemisphere centric.

Of course, I'm always going to focus on events TBLG wise in the African Diaspora regardless of pageviews or location because that's part of my blog's mission statement.

So with this post I'm going to start doing on a monthly basis tracking my Top 10 nations where my blog traffic came from for that preceding month.

So let's get busy revealing those ten nations for December 2013.

10. Poland               729           
9.   China                 734
8.   Russia                2020
7.   France                2348
6.   Australia             2651
5.   Germany             3813
4.   Malaysia             4097
3.   Canada               6261
2.   Great Britain        8339
1.   United States      83897  

That was a surprise in terms of Poland sneaking into the Top Ten.  Malaysia jumping into the number 4 one since I complied the last post in April.   Maybe it's because I mentioned MP Anna Grodzka in that year end international trans year in review post.    No surprise who my top three are although Canada and Great Britain flip flop between the number 2 and 3 spot.

We'll see if there are any changes when I report the numbers for January. 
 

2013 TransGriot NFL Predictions- Wildcard Weekend

2013 was my worst ever  NFL prognostication season.   Like my hometown team I had high hopes of defending my title, but multiple .sub 500 weeks killed that for me. 

Like the Texans, i"m looking forward to the start of the 2014 NFL season and May's NFL Draft in which we have the first pick after a 2-14 meltdown.  We'll have a new coach in Bill O'Brien and a new quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater. .

The winter of my NFL discontent could be worse.  I could be hearing it from the Harris County Arlington Cowchip Fifth Column about this revolting development.   But they won't go there.  All I have to do is ask them is what time does their playoff game start at Jerryworld, point out the fact they've now missed the playoffs for three straight seasons and that should be enough to shut them up about the Texans going 2-14.   Even better, our interconference division opponent next season is the NFC East.

Ahem, focus Moni.

Enough jibber-jabber about my Texans, the 2013-14 NFL playoffs have arrived. While it won't be as much fun for me because my hometown team isn't in the running to play in Super Bowl XLVIII in Met Life Stadium (why) on February 2, I need to get my NFL prediction skills recalibrated.   Mike and Eli's picks are here.

So it's time to dive into NFL Wildcard Weekend

Saturday NFL Wildcard Weekend Games

Kansas City (11-5) at Indianapolis (11-5)

This AFC wildcard game is a rematch of a December 22 NFL Week 16 matchup in which the AFC South champion (yuck) Colts forced four turnovers and scored 23 unanswered points after exiting the first quarter trailing 7-0 enroute to beat the Chefs 23-7 at Arrowhead Stadium.

This time the rematch game is at Lucas Oil Stadium, and the trendlines aren't looking good for the Chiefs.

They enter this game having lost five of their last six games against Indianapolis. After starting the season 9-0, KC was 2-5 down the stretch including the 27-24 overtime loss against San Diego in which they rested 20 of their 22 starters, blew a 10 point fourth quarter lead and Ryan Succup missed a 41 yard field goal with :04 seconds left in regulation that would have secured the win. 

Meanwhile Indianapolis comes into the playoff game at Lucas Oil Stadium on somewhat of a roll, having won their last three games.  So what if they were against the Texans, the Chiefs and Jacksonville, they still handled their NFL business. 

The Colts are determined to not only go deeper into this season's playoffs than they did last year, but win their first ever home playoff game for their sophomore quarterback (and Houston homeboy) Andrew Luck and the out for the season Reggie Wayne.

We'll also get to see tomorrow how well Andy Reid making the call to rest his starters in that final regular season game against San Diego game worked out.  

Be afraid KC, be very afraid.  

Indianapolis wins this one.

New Orleans (11-5) at Philadelphia (10-6)

This intriguing NFC wildcard nightcap game features a pair of offenses and (ahem) a pair of former Texas HS quarterbacks that can light up the scoreboard when they get rolling in the Saints' Drew Brees and Philly's Nick Foles.

Brees and Foles played for Texas 5A HS football power school Austin Westlake, but a decade apart.  Brees led Westlake to their only state title in 1996 while Foles is responsible for breaking Brees' high school passing records.   This will be only the second playoff game in NFL history in which QB's from the same high school confronted each other and the first time ever two from the Texas high school ranks have done so.

The Saints march into this matchup at Lincoln Financial Field as the number four ranked team in the NFL in total offense, the number two ranked passing offense in the league and five Pro Bowlers.

The defense in their first year under defensive coordinator Rob Ryan wasn't too shabby either.  They were number four in the NFL in total defense and number two in passing defense.     

But the reason the Saints are playing this game in chilly Philly instead of the climate controlled raucous confines of the Mercedes Benz Superdome (where they were a spotless 8-0) is because they were 3-5 on the road.   As the Saints have been reminded all week, they have lost their last five road playoff games and Drew Brees is 0-3 in road playoff games.

The NFC East champion Eagles after starting 1-3 under new head coach Chip Kelly, caught fire and went 9-3 to capture the division crown.  

They were the number two team in the league in total offense and number one in rushing offense thanks to 2013 NFL rushing champion LeSean McCoy who finished the season with 1,607 yards.  Foles after taking over as the starter for Michael Vick threw for 27 TD's with only 2 picks.

The Eagles are the flipside of the Saints in terms of they did their best NFL work away from home.  They were 6-2 on the road, but only 4-4 at Lincoln Financial Field.   However, Philadelphia did win their last four consecutive home games as part of their 5-1 finishing kick in the second half of the season, including that 54-11 prime time Sunday Night Football blowout of the Chicago Bears.   
 
They also clinched the NFC East title by beating the hated in Philly (and everywhere else) Dallas Cowboys 24-22 at the Jerrydome
 
My pick for this game comes down to location, location, location.  It's also going to be cold with the predicted 8:10 PM EST kickoff time weather expecting a low temp of 21 degrees, 5-10 mph winds, and a 20 chance of precipitation. 

Not what Who Dat Nation wants to hear when they are already nervous about the Saints chances of winning this playoff game and overcoming their playoff road woes.

Since this game is not in Orleans Parish and the Eagles have already proven their offense works in bad weather conditions, going with Philadelphia.

Sunday NFL Wildcard Weekend Games

San Diego (9-7) at Cincinnati (11-5)

The AFC North champion Bengals for the first time in two seasons are playing somebody in January besides the Texans in a wild card playoff game. 

They are also doing so at home against a San Diego Chargers team that had to come back from a 10 point fourth quarter deficit to tie the game, then go deep into overtime in Week 17 to eke out a controversial 27-24 win against a Kansas City Chiefs squad that was resting their starters.

Another Texas HS quarterback from a perennial Class 5A championship powerhouse in Katy's Andy Dalton leads Cincinnati into this rematch of a Week 13 game in San Diego in which the Bengals came storming out of their bye week to beat the Chargers 17-10.courtesy of a late third quarter 21 yard TD pass to a wide open A.J. Green that turned out to be the winning score 

The Bengals come into this playoff tilt at Paul Brown Stadium on somewhat of a roll.  Including that December 1 win against the Chargers, they were 4-1 down the stretch.   Three of those wins were by blowout margins over the Colts (42-28), the Vikings (42-14) and the not so Angry Birds (34-17) with the only stumble being a 30-20 loss at Heinz Field against the Steelers.  The Bengals for the first time since 1988 were unbeaten at home, and the last time that happened they went all the way to Super Bowl XXIII   

The Cincinnati defense is ranked number three in the NFL in total defense, and number five in both rushing and passing defense.   But as the Bengals have been reminded all week, they haven't won a playoff game since 1991.   Despite this being the third straight season they have played January football, it has been one and done the last two years.

Despite San Diego barely getting into the AFC playoff party, after that loss to the Bengals, the Chargers come into this playoff game having won four straight pressure packed games, including a 27-20 upset win on December 12 over the number one AFC seeded Broncos in Denver. 

The Bolts are the number five ranked offense in the NFL and the number four ranked passing offense in the league. Philip Rivers is also no slouch in the quarterback slot.

They just hope it won't be as cold in Cincy as the last time they played January football there, the 1981 AFC Championship game that the Bengals won 27-7.  The wind chilled temp was minus 59 degrees and replaced the 1967 Ice Bowl as the coldest playoff game in NFL history. 

San Diego is also hoping that bad Andy Dalton shows up.  Not a likely occurrence. Andy Dalton's stats in The Jungle: 63.5 percent of his passes completed with 20 TD's, nine interceptions and a 98.4 passer rating with the weapons to exploit your number 12 ranked defense.

More bad news for you Charger fans to digest.  High temp for Sunday's game at The Jungle is forecast to be 36 degrees with rain and then snow.  You are catching a break becaus it is a noon CST kickoff, such as it is.

Looks like Polar down in Da Ville and the Bengals fans will be were happy and chanting "Who Dey" after this game is over.

Cincinnati to win this one.


San Francisco (12-4) at Green Bay (8-7-1)

The Sunday NFL wildcard afternoon playoff matchup is a rematch of their Week 1 opening game shootout at Candlestick Park. 

Colin Kaepernick flipped the script and lit them up for a career high 412 passing yards and three TD's enroute to a 34-28 victory eight months after the Niners and Kaepernick knocked the Packers out of the NFC Divisional round of the 2012-13 playoffs with his legs in a 45-31 win.

But this one is being hosted at Lambeau Field because Green Bay fans got both of the presents they wanted from Santa on Christmas Day  

They got the return of Aaron Rodgers to the Packer lineup after spending seven weeks on the sidelines with a broken left collarbone.

The other was the third straight NFC North title won in dramatic fashion in that Week 17 winner take all December 29 showdown at Soldier Field against the Bears.   Rodgers hit Randall Cobb on a 48 yard TD pass on fourth and eight with :38 seconds left in the game to erase a one point deficit.   An interception of a desperation Cutler pass in the waning seconds of the game preserved the 33-28 win.

The Packers are third in the NFL in total offense and because of Rodgers' injury were forced to lean on rookie Eddie Lacy more heavily than they probably would have their franchise QB been healthy.  

But major red flags going into this game is that despite winning three of their last four games down the stretch, none of their wins were against playoff teams this season, their defense has been getting worse as the season progressed, Clay Matthews is out with a thumb injury and the secondary has been getting toasted like Quizno's subs.

The Niners played in the best division in the NFL this year in the NFC West, closed the season winning six straight games including a 19-17 win at Candlestick Park over the eventual NFC number one seeded Seattle Seahawks and have the number three ranked rushing attack in the league.

They also bring into this game eight Pro Bowlers, the number five ranked defense in the NFL, and the number four ranked rushing defense in the league..

We might be looking on Sunday at a replay of the 1967 Ice Bowl. Aaron Rodgers on the field gives the Packers a chance to pull an upset along with a forecast kickoff high temp of minus 5 degrees with a low approaching minus 20.  If the 49ers can overcome the Arctic cold bearing down on Green Bay, Colin Kaepernick will prove once again he is no slouch either at QB and has a better supporting cast and team.

And since he was the losing quarterback in last year's Super Bowl, Kaepernick has a major incentive along with many of the Niners players who had to watch the Ravens hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy to handle their playoff business despite the temps.

San Francisco to win this one.   

Shut Up Fool Awards-First Fool For 2014 Edition

Happy New Year TransGriot readers!   We made it to the other side of another New Year's day, but so did the fools!

And you know I'll be right here to chronicle every fauxgressive misstep, evidence of mind blowing stupidity, jaw dropping hypocrisy, prevarication,  and straight up ignorance in 2014 as we approach the fifth anniversary this Shut Up Fool feature on January 30. 

In case you're wondering who was the first ever Shut Up Fool weekly award winner that begat the family of  TransGriot SUF awards such as the Shut Up Fool of the Year, the Shut Up Fool Lifetime Achievement Awards I pass out during Oscar Weekend, and fresh for the 2K14 the Shut Up Fool of the Month, it was FOX Noise sellout Juan Williams.

So let's get busy calling out our first set of 2014 fools shall we?

Honorable Mention number one is Tommy Christopher, whose whitesplaining Mediate piece defending Ani DiFranco if it was satire, was horribly done and read like vanillacentric privileged racist claptrap.

Y'all know I had to throw somebody from the home state in this mix, and Honorable Mention number two goes to christohater Pastor John Hagee.  He's trying to get his lost christohate cred back in the wake of San Antonio passing their comprehensive non-discrimination ordinance last September that included gender identity and sexual orientation language.  He parted his lips to say that atheists need to get on a plane and leave the country. 

Why don't you lead by example Pastor Hater, er Hagee?

Honorable Mention number three I have to go north of the border for in Toronto's crackhead Conservative mayor Rob Ford.   Homeboy has filed to run for reelection despite his disastrous and controversial year in office that saw him make a late bid for 2013 Shut Up Fool of the Year.. 

Just say no on October 27, Toronto.

Honorable Mention number four goes to Mandi Harrington, who in her zeal to defend Ani DiFranco for her plantation screwup, told Black women essentially to get over slavery, then donned virtual blackface in a failed and easily detected train wreck of an effort to masquerade as a black woman supporting DiFranco.   

Pro Tip: Next time you try to fake writing like a Black woman Mandi, try not to choose the name Laqueeta for starters and leave the Ebonics out of it.  Like fingerprints, writing styles are unique   It's a dead giveaway every time you vanillacentric privileged peeps try that crap online because you don't have a grasp of our cultural nuances and the way we internally think about issues. 

And yeah, IP addresses can easily be traced.   

FYI, we Black peeps are not going to get over talking about slavery anytime soon no matter how much you vanillacentric privileged peeps who wish to forget and ignore that reprehensible crime against humanity wish for it to happen.  The world and the USA we African-Americans live in circa 2014 is still shaped and affected by what happened during that time, and you're being intellectually dishonest if you think otherwise.   

2014's first weekly Shut up Fool award winner goes to Ani DiFranco, for cluelessly coming up with the idea of having a feminist music retreat on a plantation, getting a 'tude when she got righteously called out about it by Black feminists and this blogger, cancelling it and writing a fauxpology that pissed people off even more before finally saying the words 'I'm Sorry' in the one she wrote yesterday.

In the middle of all this unnecessary drama, the predictable white women's tears from her supporters flowed to heap more insults and injury to Black women and point out once again why many of us (myself included) have less than favorable opinions about feminism.        

Take it away Mr. T.

Moni's 2013 Year In Review

Well, 2013 was nothing like 2012 where I had two groundbreaking panel discussions at Netroots Nation and OUT on the Hill, but I did manage to do a few things that made this year memorable as well.

After celebrating the seventh anniversary of TransGriot on New Years Day, I moved right into blasting TERF's mode, but this time it was ones across The Pond.

I had my say about the POTUS not specifically mentioning trans peeps during his second inaugural speech.   That erasure caused a transkid to write a letter that I posted on TransGriot because I felt it needed wider exposure.   Boy did it ever get that exposure and then some.  Sadie's 'Letter To The World' became the most read post ever in TransGriot history.     

I celebrated Black History Month with another Black Trans History Quiz, wrote my State of the Black Trans Union post, recognized the 60th anniversary of Christine Jorgensen's return to New York after her transition, and took an enjoyable February trip to Philadelphia to attend the LGBT Media Journalist Convening. 

A month later I headed up I-45 to Dallas to deliver my first ever Texas keynote speech at the Black Trans Advocacy Conference with my dad's condition weighing heavily on my mind.  I was also surprised during that conference to receive an award named after me by BTMI/BTWI, the Monica Roberts Advocacy Award.   My father passed away a few days after I returned to Houston.  

I was named to the inaugural Trans 100 list and put my foot all up in the Cleveland Plain Dealer's behind over their over the top misgendering of Cemia Dove Acoff to the point that the 'journalistic hate crime' comment I used was picked up by Andy Humm and Ann Northrup on Gay USA.

I was also honored to spend a few hours on the beautiful campus of Rice University with Cristell Perez being interviewed as part of an oral history project featuring TBLG Houstonians. 

Every now and then I have to put my trolls and haters on blast to let them know upfront I'm not playing with them, and that happened a few times this year.   I also had fun blasting the transphobia in Bossip's jacked up comment threads

One of the ongoing projects I was part of this year was being part of the team putting together the rapidly approaching 2014 edition of Creating Change. 

I'm helping put together the Racial Diversity Suite and I have been documenting our Road To Creating Change as a series of diary posts and I was interviewed as part of that promotional effort for the conference as a past attendee.  

And for those of you headed to Creating Change, I'm now part of as of this writing two panel discussions.

I taught my first ever seminar at the 2013 Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit on the UH campus after being there for the last three TTNS events in reporter mode.

Took another trip to Oakland in September at Dr. Kortney Ryan Ziegler's invitation to be a judge for Trans* H4CK, a creative melding by him of a hackathon with trans social justice issues to create apps to solve real world trans problems. 

It was fascinating to watch the process of developing an app occur.  My judging team had some tough calls to make in terms of which team won.  It was also apropos that this was taking place at the Betti Ono Gallery, mere blocks from where our transsister Brandy Martell was killed.

After I wrote a September 2012 post calling out the transphobic writings of feminist icon Gloria Steinem, was surprised to hear her statement in October recanting those comments.   

Moni practices what she preaches when she talks about intersectionality.  I spoke at a March HISD board meeting as part of a successful effort to delay the merger of my old high school.  I vented about the BS Ani DiFranco plantation feminist retreat in solidarity with my Black cis feminine sisters and called out the senseless violence aimed at them.. I spoke at a local City Hall rally in the wake of the jacked up Zimmerman verdict.


Despite not being able to vote because of it taking over 8 months for me to get my TDL swapped for my Kentucky one, I covered a northside mayoral campaign forum.  I was happy to see Mayor Parker earn her third and final term a few days later         

November saw me as part of my busy TDOR schedule not only be part of the first ever African American organized TDOR event here in Houston, 24 hours later I found myself in San Antonio speaking at their TDOR. 

And yes, I had my usual complement of radio and podcast interviews, including my debut one on Canadian radio.for CHRW 94.9 FM's Between The Margins show.  I participated in various community panel at different venues around town and quoted in a long list of articles..

So yeah, just another boring year for moi.    Wonder how 2014 is going to turn out?
  

Gay, Inc Needs A Trans Rooney Rule

With the close of the NFL season, five head coaches were fired for their teams 2013 performance or lack thereof.    Five teams, including my Houston Texans initiated searches for their new head coaches, with the Texans doing so before the season concluded. 

One of the very first interviews given for the vacant head coaching position of my fave NFL squad was to Lovie Smith, the former head coach of the Chicago Bears.  He has since been interviewed and hired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The reason the interview for Smith happened, and you will see that repeated for other non-white NFL coaching and GM candidates was to fulfill the requirements of the now decade old 'Rooney Rule'. 

The rule is named for Pittsburgh Steelers owner and chairman of the NFL's diversity committee Dan Rooney, due to the Steelers' long positive history of giving African Americans opportunities to serve in team leadership and coaching roles.  The Rooney's themselves before hiring Mike Tomlin as their head coach in 2007 interviewed current Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera for the job. 

Since 2003 the National Football League's Rooney Rule requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate for open head coaching and senior football operation jobs.  It started because of the sorry history that up until the hiring of Tom Flores by the Oakland Raiders in 1979, there had been in the entire history of the NFL only one non-white head coach, and that was African-American Fritz Pollard in 1920.


Tom Flores made history not only as the first Latino starting quarterback (for the 1960 AFL Raiders), but the first Latino NFL head coach.  He's also the first non-white head coach to make it to and win two Super Bowls (1980, 1983) and win one as an assistant (1976).   Why he's not in the NFL Hall of Fame is a travesty, but that's another post.

The institution of the Rooney Rule raised the percentage of African-Americans coaches by 2006 to 22% from 6% in the year prior to its implementation.  It was subsequently expanded in 2009 to all ethnic minority coaching and GM candidates and there are proposes to expand it to offensive and defensive coordinator jobs. 

The Rooney Rule is not a quota as its vanillacentric privileged detractors like to call it.  It simply says you must interview minority candidates for these positions.  Who you hire is still up to you as the owner.  But it is obvious that the Rooney Rule worked to promote diversity in the coaching and GM ranks until the 2012 season and it was tweaked again. 

This heavy dose of NFL history about the Rooney Rule has a point.  

What got me thinking about this in terms of TBLG community circles is a conversation ENDABlog 2.0 blogger Katrina Rose and I were having about the Rooney Rule and its implementation in the current NFL hiring cycle.

Katrina made a comment that Gay, Inc orgs need to have one and she has a point.   When it comes to their hiring record concerning the people they choose to lead their organizations, only white gay men need apply.  

When the leadership rannks of your Gay, Inc organizations resemble Republican party conventions, if you're transgender why even apply, especially if you're a trans woman of color? 

The only Gay, Inc organization that has bucked that trend so far is the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.   In its over three decades the Task Force has had multiple female executive directors in Jean O'Leary, Urvashi Vaid, Kerry Lobel just to name a few and since 2008 has been led by current Task Force executive director Rea Carey.


Even with the Task Force's remarkably consistent record when it comes to feminine leadership, they unfortunately have the same pattern as other Gay, Inc orgs in terms of the overall lack of hiring of trans people despite the September hiring of Kylar Broadus to helm their Transgender Civil Rights Project.   

The same project that was led for over a decade (2001-2013) by cis woman Lisa Mottet until moving on to NCTE..

Allyson Robinson is the only person who has ever headed a Gay, Inc org that doesn't have trans human rights as a primary focus, and OutServe-SLDN unfortunately imploded a few months later into her term.


Like Kylar and others prove, it's not like trams people, and especially trans people of color don't have the education, talent or innovative ideas that would serve this community and movement well at an organizational level.  

And yeah, would be nice to get a regular paycheck for fighting for the human rights of this community.   It would also make a small symbolic dent in the trans unemployment numbers, send the message you practice what you preach to Fortune 500 companies and to governmental bodies that you are trying to convince to pass non-discrimination legislation.

It would also send the message that as allies you do value the contributions of trans people to the movement.

But it is probably the all-marriage all the time agenda of these predominately gay white male run orgs that is a reason why a civil rights oriented non-white candidate to this point hasn't been allowed near the leadership ranks of these groups.

You can also add other possible reasons as to why the lack of trans leaders in these Gay, Inc orgs is the dearth of trans hiring at mid-management and senior management levels of these organizations like it routinely does for white gay and lesbian people, or inclusion on their boards of directors so they can get the experience to someday be considered to run the entire organization .  

And let's be real about this, racism and transphobia probably plays a role in this lack of Gay, Inc leadership diversity as well.

For that paradigm to change, we are going to have to see more trans people make it into the good old gay boy and girl networks so they are familiar to the people who can hire or make recommendations to hire.

And it may take Rooney Rule type efforts, or these Gay, Inc organizations realizing that diverse leadership leads to better policy development to do so.     
 

Mayor Annise Parker 2014 Inauguration Speech

Mayor Annise Parker did get elected to her third and final term as the head of our city, and earlier today at the Wortham Center the public inauguration ceremony for her and all the elected city council reps took place.

This was the text of her 2014 Inauguration speech.

***

I love this city!

Thank you for trusting me to continue in what I believe is the best job in America.  To serve you is my greatest honor.  I remain excited to go to work each and every day.

I congratulate our City Controller and our City Council Members. I know personally the duties they have assumed today, and I salute their service.  Each one of us worked diligently, passionately, (some over a period of years) to achieve these positions. We recognize the sacred trust we have assumed.  Whatever our differences in philosophy, in personality, in opinions, we will endeavor to reward your faith in us.

We are here today to affirm a contract with each other, one, in fact, that we on stage have formally sworn an oath to honor. Council will set policy for the city. They will gather the needs and wants, the problems and concerns of their constituents, and translate them into concrete goals.

As Mayor, I am the public face of our city. I celebrate the triumphs and articulate the pain. I calm protests and invite action.

I must have the big picture, knowing where our ship is sailing, the route we take, and the dangers we may face. I must be able to convey these to the dedicated men and women who make our city run, and to you, the Houstonians who depend upon our work, so that together we face the dangers as they come.

But the details matter as well, and here is where the nearly 21,000 women and men who are our city workforce perform the complex choreography that is a city in motion. All cities have challenges, and sometimes fail, but we wouldn’t be America’s 4th largest city unless, day in and day out, our city team gets the job done. Sometimes under great difficulties, and real danger. 

This last year we lost 4 of our own in a devastating fire that also left a 5th permanently impaired.  This was the worst loss of life in the history of the Houston Fire Department. We continue to ask you to keep these families in your prayers.

That is a sacrifice beyond measure or understanding,  but I ask you to also recognize the Solid Waste employee who cleans an illegal dumpsite by hand, the Public Works employee who repairs a plugged sewer line in the freezing rain, or the Houston Police officer who patrols our streets on Christmas Eve.

Why do people gravitate to cities? Cities have people and possibilities. A city is a place where ideas can rub against each other, and perhaps strike a spark.

People come to cities seeking;

• Education,
• Entertainment,
• Employment.
• Emancipation,
• Companionship

For all the reasons someone may have come here, I believe that there are shared values that make us Houstonians, wherever we were born, whatever our native language, however we came to be here.  

My family taught me to accept responsibility.  To live with integrity.  To work hard.  To finish a job begun. To contribute time, talent and treasure to my community.

Those are the same values on which Houston was founded, and the values that continue to shape our future. But those values are wrapped in optimism that this is a city in which anything is achievable, shaped by men and women from every corner of the world who come believing  it is possible for anyone to succeed here, and imbedded in the shared truth that all are welcome in this most diverse of cities.

But diversity by itself is chaos. Diversity where ideas meet and those seeds germinate can be a garden of plenty.  To ensure the full participation of every Houstonian in the business and civic life of this great city, It is time to pass a comprehensive nondiscrimination ordinance that adds sexual orientation and gender identity to the protections most Houstonians take for granted.

Houston is a city in motion, an international city of energy and dreams, but dreams fueled by hard work and grounded in common sense.  A city where grand ideas take hold if they relate to the basic competencies of the city. We like to do big things… together.  We can always figure out a way to get it done. From creating America’s largest exporting port where once was only a muddy stream to putting a human being on the moon  to opening our arms to embrace the Katrina evacuees, it has always been about doing big things.  We can tackle any issue in this practical Houston fashion.

To protect the vast economic engine that sustains us, It is time for all of us in this region to come together and take concrete steps to create storm protections for our coastal communities, whether the Centennial Gate or the Ike Dike.

Houston is a city that works, blessed with a booming economy. Of the 100 largest world economies, the Houston metro area is #32.  We have a higher GDP that the state of Georgia. But not everyone benefits from that blessing of that strong economy,  Two years ago I announced that we would tackle homelessness in ways never done before.  Our success has been such that I say today that it is time for us to eliminate chronic homelessness within the next two years.

Houston is a city that invests in itself, so that business can flourish and families can build their lives.  We will continue to rebuild Houston.  It is time that you see real progress in the street and drainage system improvements.

Each time I have stood before you, I asked for your prayers.  I asked for your patience.  And I asked for your perseverance.  I ask this again, for all of us who serve you as your city workforce.

We rise or fall together.  We succeed or fail together.

The ordinary becomes extraordinary when you add something extra.

A great city imagines its own bright future—and sets about to make that happen.

Please join me as I continue to imagine all the possibilities of our great city.

Thank you.

Minister Bobbie Jean Baker 1962-2014

Many of us are still shocked and stunned about the news we received yesterday concerning our Left Coast sister Minister Bobbie Jean Baker.   She was killed in an auto accident by a hit and run driver after attending watch services. 

Word about the homegoing service, their location and date is still pending.   I will get that info to you TransGriot readers as soon as it is passed on to me.

In the interim, one of my readers, Oliver W. Martin III, sent me a link to a YouTube memorial montage revscott06 created about our dearly departed sister.

Hey Renee, USA 2014 Women's Olympic Hockey Team Is Set

The NHL's Winter Classic between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings happened yesterday at Michigan Stadium.

It was played in front of a record New Year's Day crowd of 105,591 fans who endured 13 degree temps and blowing snow that fell through the entire game at The Big House. 

It was the largest crowd to ever witness a hockey game be it collegiate or professional, and the Maple Leaf fans making the five hour drive to Ann Arbor, MI went back across the border to Toronto happy after the 3-2 shootout win over Detroit.   

But of more importance to moi was what occurred during the Winter Classic second intermission, the  introduction of the 2014 USA Women's Olympic hockey team.   These are the 21 women who will attempt to earn our first gold medal in women's hockey since the 1998 squad did so at Nagano. 

Ahem, here's the Team USA women's hockey roster. for Sochi. 

Forwards: Alex Carpenter, Kendall Coyne, Julie Chu, Brianna Decker, Meghan Duggan, Lyndsey Fry, Amanda Kessel, Hilary Knight, Jocelyne Lamoureux, Monique Lamoureux, Kelli Stack

Defensemen: Kacey Bellamy, Megan Bozek, Gigi Marvin, Michelle Picard, Josephine Pucci, Anne Schleper, Lee Stecklein

Goaltenders: Brianne McLaughlin-Bittle, Molly Schaus, Jessie Vetter

Julie Chu made it to her fourth USA Olympic squad and is one of the 11 Olympic vets on the 2014 team.  Chu is also their oldest player at age 31.  The other ten vets who join her are goaltenders: Jesse Vetter, Molly Schaus and Brianne McLaughlin-Bittle, Kacey Bellamy, Meghan Duggan, Hilary Knight, Jocelyne Lamoureux, Monique Lamoureux, Gigi Marvin and Kelli Stack. 

Amanda Kessel is the sister of Toronto Maple Leafs forward Phil Kessel (who made the men's squad) and is also on this Sochi Olympic team.  While this is her first USA Olympic team, she already knows the thrill of beating Canada in international hockey competition. 

The College Player of the Year, Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner (the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy in women's collegiate hockey) for unbeaten NCAA national champs Minnesota scored the winning goal in the IIHF championship game against Canada last April.  

Amanda Kessel, as y'all found out on your home soil last year is all that and four bags of chips. 

Speaking of world championship winning gold medalists, 18 of the 21 members of this Sochi squad were members of the IIHL World Championship team  in Ottawa, and all 21 have played in the IIHL championships for Team USA. 

And this time a woman will be large and in charge of coaching our Olympic squad in Katey Stone.  She is the most successful coach in our NCAA women's hockey ranks as the head coach at Harvard.  She was also the head coach of the 2013 IIHF World Championship squad.

So now that our team is set, can't wait for the Olympic women's ice hockey tournament to start on February 8.  And yes Renee, February 12 is already circled on my new 2014 calendar.  

That's the day we play y'all in the final Group A match in Sochi before it heads to the medal round..   

Help Some Latina Trans Sisters Get To Creating Change 2014

As those of us on the Houston Host Committee already are keenly aware of, Creating Change 2014 will start January 29.  People will be coming from all over Texas, the country and the world to get to the Hilton Americas Hotel to enjoy our Houston hospitality and Creating Change Texas style. 

These ladies of the Trans Latin@ Coalition want to join the 4000 people we are anticipating will be there for Creating Change, but need a little help to get there.   Yours truly and my peeps on the Host Committee want to meet them.

We are trying to support 9 women from the national TransLatin@ Coalition to get to the Latino Institute at Creating Change. We have lodging for 9 women and 4 flights donated. Please make a donation to support these amazing women from local communities across the country who advocate for transgender Latin@ immigrants in the US. Donations will be matched by a donor up to $1,000 -

http://www.unionfuerza.org/home

We appreciate your support for our sisters attend this important national LGBT Latin@ day-long training.

Hope to see you in a few weeks, ladies. 

TransGriot Ten Question Interview-Kokumo Kinetic

Let's get 2014 started properly with another one of my  TransGriot Ten Questions Interviews.

Many of you have been asking me as I've been out and about in the community or e-mailed me requesting I do more of them.  Consider it a New Year's resolution to you dear readers I'm determined to make happen.

Here's the first one of many in 2014 featuring the beautiful and multitalented KOKUMO, the 'revolutionary artivist', CEO and Founder of KOKUMOMEDIA, Inc.  

She is the founding organizer of the T.G.I.F.(Trans, GNC, Intersex Freedom) Festival, the Midwest's first trans and intersex themed pride event, was one of the people named to the inaugural Trans100 List and part of the Chicago event revealing the initial names.  She's garnering well deserved attention and name recognition inside and outside our community as one of our dynamic young trans personalities. 

It's time for KOKUMO to answer the TransGriot's Ten Questions.

1. You're one of nine Chicagoans that was named to the inaugural 2013 Trans 100 List.  What is it about the Windy City that produces all these great trans activists?

KK- With all due respect, Chicago doesn't have the glamour of L.A., or pretense of New York City. We don't have Hollywood and the MTV Awards. We don't have these ostentatious industries that characterize our city or the Midwest. We just have each other. We just have our collective unmet needs and denied rights. We just have our work. Thus and such, we get busy! P.S. East and West coasters yawl know I fucks wit yawl!


2  You described yourself in one interview as an 'artivist'.  Can you elaborate on that for my readers what an 'artivist' does?

KK-There was a time in my development when I identified as an activist. That time was when I foolishly thought I could destroy the government by using government funds. That time was when I worked in the non-profit industrial complex. And that time has passed. If I have to identify as anything as of now, it will be a revolutionary. In regards to my pedagogy, an activist is concerned about a specific cause, whilst a revolutionary is concerned about all causes. Since I no longer identify as an activist, subsequently I don't identify as an "artivist". However, I do operate as a revolutionary artist. And as a revolutionary artist, my mission is to indict and dismantle racist capitalism via the mediums of music, film, and literature. Ultimately, I plan to leave a template for how to use art and entrepreneurship as tools for revolution for future generations via my production company, KOKUMOMEDIA INC.

3. When did you transition?
KK-At the age of 17 I began my mental transition. While it wasn't until I reached 21 did my physical transition begin.

4.  How did you choose you name and what's the symbolism behind it?

KK-Under the tyranny of racist capitalism, Black trans/cis women are not entitled to happiness. Still to this very day, whenever I am happy I feel an urge to see if someone is maneuvering to steal my joy. So when I finally was to rename myself, I had to give myself a name that didn't describe the person I was, but the person I wanted to become. And I want to become immortal. Not in a vainglorious way, but in a revolutionary way. After my flesh has rotted, I want the truth I believed and lived to be understood by the world. What is that you ask? I believe that as long as racist capitalism exist there will always be oppression. Why do I say that you ask? Because racist capitalism is so omnipotent that it broke the nose off the Sphinx, made Cleopatra white, Columbus a hero, Malcolm X a villain, and made Castro, satan. And racist capitalism even went so far as to make transwomen of color invisible and disposable. KOKUMO is Yoruba for, "This one will not die". I embrace and respect death, but I don't embrace or respect racist capitalism and it's history of erasure. Therefore, I named myself KOKUMO because I am determined to make sure my truth lives beyond the idiocracy that is racist capitalism. Our truths, must live beyond the idiocracies that are all oppressive governments.

5. Who were some of your transfeminine role models growing up and who are some of the people (both transmasculine and transfeminine) you look up to in our community?
KK-Sylvester! I was born the year Sylvester transitioned. I believe the universe sent me to further what Sylvester did, as it sent Sylvester to further the liberation work her fore bearers did, so forth and so on. Therefore, I believe when I transition the universe will send someone to continue the work it sent me to do. Aside from Sylvester, Angelica Ross was the first Black transwoman I saw who was a musician, and she was fly! I found out about her via Transgriot.com and couldn't comprehend her existence. She literally, was everything I was taught couldn't be. She was a transwoman musician, she's an entrepreneur, and she wasn't a show girl. And with the opportunities for transwomen in life being so limited all I had ever known were show girls. I respect and revere show girls but I had never seen an alternative. And I longed for an alternative. Drag is so widespread I thought that that was what I had to become because society wouldn't except a transwoman singing her own songs. White supremacy is interesting like that. I feel that the world will accept Madonna co-opting Black transwoman culture before it accepts an actual Black transwoman. And that's where Sylvester and Angelica Ross came into play for me. Sylvester and Angelica Ross taught me that being mainstream is relative and actually not needed in order to be successful or impactful. As a fat, Black, dark-skinned transwoman, the only way I could ever be palatable to mainstream (White America) would be if I completely nixed my pedagogy and existed for their entertainment and not my liberation. Sylvester and Angelica Ross were my biggest Black/transfeminine influences because they taught me that it's not about being mainstream to White America, but the people who look, live, and are oppressed just like you. But the most important thing that Sylvester taught me was that, "Nobody can conceptualize me, because I am the concept".

6.  As a beautiful and full figured dark skinned woman, do you believe we focus too much on how we look in the African American trans feminine community versus what's between our ears?

KK-Thank you so much. And the feeling is mutual Mama Roberts! In nature, there is duality and equilibrium. In civilization and unfortunately, most movements, there is ultimatum and dichotomy. I posit that racist capitalism has taken enough of Black people's agency as it is. Therefore, Black people don't need any more ultimatums and dichotomies. Black people shoving ultimatums and dichotomies on other Black people can't possibly help revolution, because having said tools of oppression imposed on us is what necessitates revolution in the first place. Furthermore, I rebuke any notion that trivializes or attempts to dictate to femmes/women. Femininity may be an antiquated tradition to some but it's an act of resistance and a form of spirituality for others. And the sanctity of Black/POC customs should be respected. As a proud Black, dark-skindid, fat, femme transwoman I understand the urgency of having to carve out a niche for yourself, to develop traditions and culture for yourself. Especially when your original traditions/cultures were stolen and replaced. I understand the urgency of carving out a niche for your body and your identity in a world that holds your very antithesis as the axum of beauty and subsequent worth. I don't believe the work is for Black trans/cis/POC femmes to stop prioritizing the work of defining, comprehending, and harnessing their beauty. POC femmes reconstructing, and revering our own beauty constructs is an act of revolution. I believe the work is for the government to stop imposing its beauty pathos on the bodies of people of color. I would much rather see Black trans femmes engaging in radical acts of self-love than acquiescing acts of self-abandonment such as facilitating toxic relationships where we are abused due to our sequestered proximity to the beauty construct. I think the government efficiently tricks us into always blaming each other for the reason we're oppressed, when in reality it's the government's fault. I see this argument no different than the whole pull-up-yo-pants-and-racism-will-end disposition. Oppression isn't somewhere smoking a cigarette saying, "Why don't they realize dat I'll leave em alone as soon as they stop getting $200.00 sew-ins"? Black trans femmes/women, don't need to choose between being beautiful or revolutionary. We must realize that being revolutionary is beautiful.

7. What projects are you currently involved in?
KK- As the CEO/Founder of KOKUMOMEDIA INC a Black transwoman run and operated production company. I am overjoyed to announce the projects KOKUMOMEDIA INC. has coming in 2014. We will once again do the TGI State Of The Union Address, T.G.I.F (Trans, GNC, Intersex Freedom) in July. And in 2014 the theme for T.G.I.F. will be, "Unshackling My Body". We want to have a gathering where TGI people of color talk about what our freedom will look like since we already know how oppression does. Also, KOKUMOMEDIA INC. will release my sophomore EP, "After The End". After The Ends explores what would happen if God came back not as a cis white man, but fat, Black trans woman. After The End will be a multimedia project that'll culminate via an album, play, and short film. I'm elated to announce that I'll be doing a North American tour in support of After The End. The film will be released for free via Youtube but the album will be $10.00 via iTunes. The release and tour dates haven't been solidified but if you frequent KOKUMOMEDIA.COM you'll know everything. KOKUMOMEDIA INC will also finally release my 30 minute docuplay/visual memoir, "The Faggot Who Could Fly" exclusively for purchase and screening via KOKUMOMEDIA.COM in 2014. The Faggot Who Could Fly is my story of confronting sexual abuse and racist capitalism in order to actualize my Black transwomahood. And last but certainly not least, Summer 2014 is the launch of KOKUMOMEDIA INC.'s seasonal digital publication KOKUMO. KOKUMO magazine will be dedicated to all things black, trans, and revolutionary. KOKUMO magazine will offer original content from black, trans visionaries such as Dr. Kortney Ryan Ziegler, Laverne Cox, Louis Mitchell, and Janet Mock just to name a few. We even have gotten confirmation from the revolutionary Monica Roberts. I don't know if you've heard of her or not, but she's kind of a big deal. Stay tuned for updates for all KOKUMOMEDIA INC. is doing via KOKUMOMEDIA.COM. And thank you to everyone who supports what we do now!

8.  Since Chicago is producing all these great trans activists, who are some of the people you believe are up and coming trans activists we should be paying attention to?

KK- There are so many QPTOC doing great work across the country: Sasha Alexander, Sasha Kaye, Kylar Broadus, Laverne Cox, Dr. Kortney Ziegler, Trisha Lee Holloway, Shayden Gonzalez, Janet Mock and that's just to name a few. We are on the precipice of a QTPOC Trans Renaissance! And I'm happy to be alive to witness it!9. Now you get to flip the script on me and ask me a question you been dying to find out the answer to.

KK-What's next for you Goddess?

TransGriot-That's always an interesting question for me.  Besides continuing to expose the world to the news, views and history of the trans community from an Afrocentric perspective via TransGriot, do have Creating Change 2014 coming up and the first of what I hope are many panel discussions and speaking opportunities.  

Janet Mock and a few other t-community people have been gently nudging me to write my own book, and I may explore the possibility of doing that. 

Will probably be involved in helping my hometown finally pass a trans inclusive NDO then fight like hell to keep it on the legal books.  I'm slated to make an appearance at the BTMI conference in Dallas this April, at Houston Splash (our Black Pride event in H-town) have a keynote or two here internationally and make 2014 a better year for me fiscally.   

10  Where do you see the Black trans community 10 years from now? 


KK- In ten years black trans people will become the new Hollywood film stock character. And our lives will become generally interpreted by everybody accept us. The only way we can prevent this artistic genocide is by creating our own work, branding ourselves, launching businesses, and developing industries run, operated, and most importantly regulated by us. We must set the standard for what's acceptable in regards to our media depiction just as much as we are adamant our lot in the government. The mass media industrial complex is nothing more than a by-product of the government so we must understand this approach them in tandem since they work in tandem. We can no longer have everyone profit off of us, except us. Black trans revolutionary entrepreneurship is what I'd love to see.

Happy New Year!  Thank you KOKUMO for your time and answering the TransGriot's Ten Questions!

Minister Bobbie Jean Baker Passes Away

I was stunned to hear moments ago from Louis Mitchell of the sudden passing of Minister Bobbie Jean Baker.

She was born in Memphis, TN, and overcame some challenging circumstances in her life before moving to the Bay Area in 1992.   She became an ordained minister at the City of Refuge UCC in San Francisco and served as the West Coast Regional TransSaints Minister of the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, and Lay Minister at Transcending Transgender Ministries of CORUCC. 

She was the lead singer of the world renowned all transgender member Transcendence Gospel Choir for a decade

I had the pleasure of meeting Min. Baker during the TransFaith in Color conference in Charlotte in July 2012, and we touched base with each other from time to time via Miss Major.  . 

Min. Baker in addition to being a seminary student at the Pacific Religion School, was a sought after speaker and workshop leader.  She worked for several Bay Area non profits as a peer advocate, case manager, supportive housing manager, with certification as an HIV Risk Assessment Counselor and Domiestic Violence Specialist. 

Minster Bobbie Jean Baker will be missed by her ministerial colleagues in the trans faith ranks and all who loved and admired her in the Bay Area and beyond.

Rest in power and peace, sis.

As soon as I find out the details of what happened and the date, time and location of her homegoing service, I will pass them on to you.

TransGriot Update:  According to Bishop Yvette Flunder's FB page, she and Deacon Bobby Wiseman were struck by a hit and run driver after Watch Night service. Deacon Bobby is in the hospital at present and reasonably stable. Min. BobbieJean passed away at the scene of the accident.

New CDC Trans Feminine Breast Screening Policy Takes Effect

When I went to my Galveston, TX based gender clinic for my first transition medical checkup 20 years ago this April, my endocrinologist at the time Dr. Lee Emery said as I sat down in the chair at her desk, "I have good news and bad news for you. Which one do you want first?"

"Let's start with the good news," I said.
"The good news is that your chances for prostate cancer because of HRT have dropped to near zero.". 
"That's great!  What's the bad news?'
"Your chances for breast cancer just doubled," Dr. Emery said in a matter of fact tone.

So it was with that two decade old conversation in mind I hailed the December 20 CDC reversal of an old trans exclusionary policy in the wake of the October controversy stirred up after Colorado trans woman Jennifer Blair was denied a screening.

The federal early detection program offers preventive breast cancer screenings to low-income women, but had Raymondesque language in it limiting it to people who are genetically female. 

The 62 year old Blair had sought the screening after detecting an unusual growth in one of her her breasts that was found to be benign.   She subsequently filed a complaint under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act in October after being forced to leave the facility without having the mammogram that would have otherwise been covered under federal law.   

The medical studies concerning transwomen, HRT and breast cancer are ongoing, but we still need to be as estrogen based lifeforms doing regular breast self exams. 

Once you hit age 40, mammograms need to be done on a regular basis to save the boobies.  It's even more important for us African-American transwomen because we are susceptible to acquiring a type of breast cancer that is aggressive and fast growing, so it's even more important that we do so, especially if the cis women in our family have a history of breast cancer.

Cancer prevention expert Dr. Jacqueline Miller issued a memo stating "federal funds may be used to screen these transgender women."  

The memo specifies patients must be "transgender women (male-to-female) who have taken or are taking hormones and meet all program eligibility requirements."

The new CDC policy takes effect today, and will probably lead to one day saving someone's life.

Trans Community Things To Look Forward To In 2014

Many of you TransGriot readers either got dressed up to go party last night or brought in the New Year like I did.   I chilled quietly at home while nervously looking up at the ceiling hoping and praying the fools who were shooting their guns in the distance didn't prove to my detriment the Newtonian gravitational laws of physics.

What goes up (bullets) must come down.

Now that we are past the midnight hour, the ball dropped in Times Square or however you celebrated it around the world to signify that we are indeed in the early morning hours of 2014 east of the International Date Line, what do we have to look forward to as an international trans community this year as we build on 2013?

We are less than 30 days from the 2014 edition of Creating Change happening in H-town January 9-February 2.   I and my Creating Change Host Committee members are ready to roll our the pink, blue and white carpet for you estimated record breaking 4000 attendees and are looking forward to seeing those of you who can be at the Hilton Americas Hotel for the event.

The Trans 100 List is still taking nominations for the 2014 edition of the list.  Deadline to get them in is January 15, and this year nominations of international trans people are encouraged. 

While I'm on the subject of lists, the Latino LGBT oriented Honor 41 List will also be taking nominations soon, and it will be interesting to see if more than five trans Latin@s make the 2014 edition of it.

We finished 2013 with the early good news of our unjustly incarcerated sister CeCe McDonald's scheduled release from that Minnesota jail on January 13.   So we'll be anxiously watching to see if that happens along with the documentary that Laverne and Jac Gares are filming on her.

Speaking of anticipated documentaries, our community will be anxiously awaiting the release of MAJOR! that StormMiguel Florez and Annalise Ophelian are putting together.
   
We'll see the launch of Janet Mock's book Redefining Realness at bookstores near you on February 2 along with Laverne Cox's anticipated return in season two of the hit Netflix show Orange Is The New Black 

The third annual Black Trans Advocacy Conference will happen in Dallas on April 29-May 4.  The Cal for Proposals has already gone out along with asking the community for nominations for the awards that will be given out at BTAC 2014's dinner are being accepted.

On the international front, will my Kenyan sister Audrey Mbugua get the positive result she's seeking in her history making court case?  Will trans human rights on the African continent build forward momentum and wins despite meddling from US based fundie groups?

Will the Canadian Senate when they come off their extended holiday break January 28 finally do the right thing, pass Bill C-279 and finally join the list of nations that protect the human rights of its trans citizens?

And what Canadian province will be the next one that steps up to do so? 

What nation not on our radar will step up to the legislative plate and be the next one to make groundbreaking positive legislative progress on behalf of its trans citizens?  Will we see another trans MP or legislator join Poland's Anna Grodzka on that very short list of trans national legislators in 2014? 

Will we see a trans contestant in the Miss Universe pageant system in the US or elsewhere in the world during the 2014 cycle?   Another trans model rock the runway?  Another high profile trans coming out? Another trans societal breakthrough? 

We'll be watching to see if New York becomes the 18th US state plus the District of Columbia to pass a statewide law protecting the human rights of its trans citizens.  It has passed the NY State Assembly in lopsided numbers six consecutive times only to be stalled by the GOP controlled New York State Senate.  Will that finally change or will other states not on our trans human rights radar at the moment step up to the plate and do whats right for their trans citizens like Delaware did in 2013? 

We will be nervously watching to see if the California Forces of Intolerance haters were successful in forcing a statewide referendum vote on AB 1266.  If they did get enough signatures to force a November repeal vote, did the liberal progressive groups in Cali learn their lessons from the Prop 8 failure?  Do they actually have a plan and are they prepared to fight as hard as the trans community will to decisively win it?

Will my hometown chuck the embarrassing distinction of being the largest city in Texas and the US that doesn't protect the human rights of its trans citizens this year? 

It goes without saying that I'll be watching to ensure that any such ordinance should it happen will be trans inclusive.  

What cities will add their names to the lists of municipalities that value the rights of their trans citizens?

Texas trans peeps are waiting to hear the results of Nikki Araguz Loyd's appeal to the Texas 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in the Araguz v. Delgado case.  Speaking of legal cases we're watching in Texas, the nation and the world, will the trans people we lost in 2013 like Islan Nettles receive justice? 

Will the Black cis community, the Black Church and our legacy orgs step up and accept the challenge Carter Brown laid down?  Will they not only loudly proclaim this year that Black trans lives are just as valuable as their own but back it up with fierce urgency of now action?

Will the African-American and Latino trans communities continue to build on the progress they made in 2013?   Will our African American and Latino trans brothers finally get the media attention they deserve?

In the wake of Fallon Fox, Aeris Houlihan, and Miranda Itzayana running into loud, ignorant and transphobic resistance to them playing and participating in the sports they enjoy, will cis world finally get a grip in 2014 along with the international sporting governmental bodies and simply let us play? 

It also points out that trans human rights advances are and need to happen in the sports world, and why I unapologetically cover them.   

Finally, who will be the breakout trans personalities this year?   The surprises we didn't see coming?   The heartwarming stories we talk about and cover?

And yeah, what will the TransGriot do in 2014?

Those are the interesting things we'll get to see as we spend the next 364 days on this space rock watching the year 2014 unfold before our eyes.