Maryland Trans Rights Bill Passes House!

Today, the Maryland House of Delegates righted a human rights travesty that took place in 2001. 

It was in that disgusting year a gay-only human rights law for the state passed that deliberately cut transpeople out of it. 

That human rights wrong was corrected today when the Maryland House of Delegates voted 82-57 to pass SB 212, the Fairness for All Marylanders Act!  This bill, unlike the unjust 2011 one I blasted all over these TransGriot pages at the time along with a coalition of trans people just as pissed off about the unjust bill, expand Maryland's anti-discrimination laws to protect transgender people in employment, housing, access to credit and public accommodations.

SB 212 passed the Maryland Senate on an overwhelming 32-15 vote. 

Of course the right wing haters stuck on the wrong side of history tried to get amendments passed to strip out the public accommodations language and gut the bill, but they all failed in the Democratically controlled chamber. 

Elections matter.   Remember that on November 4. 

"After more than 15 years of advocacy for trans Marylanders, the tremendous work by all our legislative champions, and the solid support of the leadership in Annapolis, history was made today.  The House of Delegates sent the same loud and clear message the Maryland Senate did:  Every Marylander deserves equal rights under the law.  We welcome the Governor's promised signature and the full and successful implementation of this bill," said Jenna Fischetti of TransMaryland, an MCTE coalition member.        

Congratulations Jenna, Maryland Coalition for Transgender Equality, the legislative sponsors, and everyone else in Maryland who busted their behinds to get this inclusive bill passed.   I couldn't be happier for you and all my trans family living there to see this day finally happen. 

Transgender Marylanders now have legal recourse if someone messes with their human rights in their home state.   Break out the crabcakes! 

The bill now heads to Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) desk for his signature, and when he does sign it, Maryland will become the 18th state plus the District of Columbia in which the trans population of it will have full human rights coverage.   

The haters aren't going to give up, and will attempt to force a referendum by collecting enough signatures to place it on the November ballot for repeal.  The Maryland Coalition for Transgender Equality anticipated the Force of Intolerance, Maryland Division would go there.  They are already shifting to the next phase and preparing to defend this hard won human rights bill.

Congrats Queen Of Swords!

Our #girllikeus WMMA warrior handled her business last Friday night during her bout against the previously unbeaten Heather Bassett at UIC Arena in Chicago. 

Fallon won by submission 40 seconds into the second round of her match.  

 The Queen of Swords is now 4-1, and when I find some video of the match I'll put it on this post. 

But Congrats Fallon!  Looking forward to your next match.

Happy Birthday Mr. Brown!

It's TransGriot birthday shoutout time!

Today is the birthday of the founding CEO of Black Transmen, Inc and one of my fellow Lone Star State Trans 100 travelers in Carter Brown.   

I'll let him disclose how old he is, but it's undeniable he has been doing some amazing and groundbreaking work in not only leading BTMI, but shepherding the amazing growth of the upcoming Black Trans Advocacy Conference that will be in Dallas April 29-May 4.

Happy birthday Mister Brown!   Hope it is overflowing with love, smiles as wide as our state, abundant blessings and you continue to be blessed to have many more of them.

Trans*H4CK Pre Hackathon Workshop Today

Trans*H4CK and its founder Dr. Kortney R.Ziegler are in Chitown for the unveiling weekend of the Trans 100, and later tonight as a prelude to the Trans H4CKing that will be getting started in earnest tomorrow, there will be a Pre-Hackathon Workshop taking place from 5:30-8:30 PM CDT.

So what will you see if you go to the Pre-Hackathon workshop at Dev Bootcamp?

First up is you'll get to hear the Trans*H4CK founder, Dr. Kortney Ziegler, share some of his story and discuss the importance of transgender advocacy, technology and collaboration.

Agenda

5:30pm - Kortney Ziegler gives a talk

6:15pm - Q&A with Kortney

6:30pm - Pre-hackathon Workshop

The Trans*H4CK Pre-Hackathon Workshop will include an overview of the weekend, as well as mini-workshops on tools and resources to help you build amazing and meaningful application prototypes.  Possible topics to be covered include:

• What is a “web app”?
• Intro to Design (HTML/CSS)
• Intro to Programming (Ruby, Python, Javascript, etc)
• Development environments (editors, testing, repositories, etc)

And no, you don't need to know how to code to participate in Trans*H4CK.  You may have expertise in other areas such as business, law, a subject matter expert that is critical to provide content to produce a successful app.    You may be a great writer, have business and marketing experience, et cetera.

It's a collaborative effort and fascinating to watch it come together.     

If you're in the Chicagoland area and you're interested, you may wish to head to 351 W. Hubbard St. Suite 700 and check out the fascinating Trans* H4CK happenings

The workshop happens tonight, the actual Trans*H4CKing tomorrow.
 

Help Tona Get To Carnegie Hall

There's an old joke that asks the question how do you get to New York's Carnegie Hall?

Practice, practice, practice.

Well, our sis Tona Brown has more than put in the practice time and paid her dues to perform there.

Now the founder of the Aida Strings needs an assist from the community to raise the funds for the deposit to make that Carnegie Hall performance she's dreamed about happen.   

Carnegie Hall is one of the most prestigious venues for classical and popular music artists in the United States.  This summer the historic venue is sponsoring their first ever LGBT Pride music event and invited her to participate.   Tona needs to raise $3,500 to make her part of it happen.

So here's the link to the indiegogo campaign so you can do your part to support a #girllikeus artist and make what promises to be amazing night of musical entertainment happen.   Even $1 will help get her closer to her goal, so please consider doing so.  

I'd love to see her standing on the stage of this historic concert venue that opened over a century ago in 1891 this summer performing, making history once again and representing our community well while doing so. 

Trans Pride Flag History

One of my Facebook friends asked the question in one of our discussions, "Who came up with the design for the trans pride flag?"   She was referring to the pink, blue and white striped flag that has come into widespread adoption and usage by many trans communities around the world as a symbol of our community

Since it has been almost 15 years since its creation, and I know the person who created it, I thought this would be a great time for a history lesson on the trans pride flag.

That's your cue to have a seat, because TransGriot history class is now in session.   

The transgender pride flag was created in August 1999 by Monica Helms and has five horizontal stripes.  Two stripes are blue ones, two stripes are pink ones and a white center stripe.  

As for their meaning, Helms described it this way in an interview:  "The stripes at the top and bottom are light blue, the traditional color for baby boys. The stripes next to them are pink, the traditional color for baby girls. The stripe in the middle is white, for those who are intersex, transitioning or consider themselves having a neutral or undefined gender. The pattern is such that no matter which way you fly it, it is always correct, signifying us finding correctness in our lives"

The Helms trans pride flag was first publicly unfurled at a Phoenix, AZ pride parade in 2000.   It is not only the original flag, it is the one that is in widespread usage around the planet. 

When Equality House in Topeka, KS was painted in honor of TDOR last year, it was done in the colors of the Helms trans pride flag

A large version of it was recently unfurled and flown last year for the first time on the large public flagpole in San Francisco's Castro District for Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 19-20.

Trans pride flag variants have popped up in Ontario and in Israel, but the Helms trans pride flag was the first and is increasingly becoming the most widely used one around the world.

Trans*forming Communities Conference At CSU-Chico

Another day, another opportunity for those of you on the Left Coast to attend a trans conference

This one is taking place on the California State University-Chico campus and is sponsored by the Associated Students Gender and Sexuality Equity Center of CSU-Chico.

It is their first annual one, entitled TRANS*forming Communities and will be taking place on Saturday, March 29, 2014 from 12-5 PM PDT at the Bell Memorial Union Auditorium.   The conference will include a keynote address by Eli Erlick (Executive Director and founder of Trans Student Equality Resources), workshops by Lexi Adsit, Lynn Breedlove, Isa Noyola, and Marisa Boyce, and everything else they can pack into a single Friday. 

TRANS*forming Communities will consist of speakers, workshops, and panels dedicated to celebrating and honoring the diverse identities and experiences of trans* people. It will be a safe place for trans* people and allies to come together, share resources and knowledge, and create a community where people can flourish and live authentically. Anyone with a desire to learn and better our communities is welcome.

It's their first one, so show them some love if your schedule is free, you're in the Chico, CA and can attend and get your learn on.  Won't cost you anything since it's gratis and they're even feeding you lunch if you make the effort to show up and support the hardworking students who put this together. 

You can register for this free conference at this link: www.transformingcommunities.eventbrite.com

 

If you need any further information about the inaugural TRANS*forming Communities Conference, you can check out the blog or give Sarena Kirk a call at (530)-898-5724 

Houston Candelight Vigil For Britney and Crystal April 2

As many of you are aware, a young lesbian couple, Britney Cosby and Crystal Jackson were murdered in my hometown earlier this month by Britney's father.   Both were 24 years old and were laid to rest in separate services

There have been candlelight memorial vigils planned across the state in Austin, Corpus Christi and Dallas.
Equality Texas, the Student Feminist Organization at UH , Texas Freedom Network Student Chapter at UH, Global at UH, the UH LGBT Resource Center, and the UH Women's Resource Center
have teamed up to sponsor Houston's candlelight vigil.

It will be held on Wednesday, April 2 at 6:30 PM in the AD Bruce Religion Center at the University of Houston main campus.  

The list of speakers is still being finalized at this time but I can reveal at this moment that I'm one of the people who has been extended an invitation to do so along with Augie Augustine. 

I will keep you peeps updated and post the finalized details for the event as I discover them and as it gets closer to the April 2 vigil date.

But what I do hope is that you'll join us at AD Bruce that evening.

BTAC Needs Support, Too

We are rapidly closing on the April 29-May 4 dates for the third annual Black Trans Advocacy Conference in Dallas, and I'm looking forward to seeing my trans peeps and our allies there at the Doubletree Campbell Center.    But I was bothered by this e-mail that was shared on the BTAC page.

Email response to invitation to BTA Awards.
_______________________
"I don't know why I am receiving these e-mails. I am a transwoman, but I am white. I am sure that I wouldn't be welcome at you Gala in May." ________________________

You Are Sure of it?????My friends, racism exist. We are here to help end it! We get so much of this but on this one, we are sharing it so that we can grow from it together.

It is not racist to affirm black and trans identity. IT IS racist if you don't support it and exclude yourself from programming based on the affirmation of race. Please know that Affirming Black and Trans Identity, Black Trans Community Organizing, Black Trans Advocacy is a GREAT thing and takes us all to support for full equality to exist. Our goal is to obtain full equality and to become instruments of social change. If you support equality, make it a priority to get involved. It is counterproductive of our cause if you exclude yourself from our programming. All are invited, welcomed, needed and loved. One Earth. One People. One Love. #btac2014  

The point I'm going to make in this post is that the Black Trans Advocacy Conference needs support, too.  

Just as you would like for me and the rest of the non-white trans community to support events like Southern Comfort, First Event, and countless other regional conferences and panel discussions that you organize that don't reflect our culture or at times the issues of importance in our communities, we expect reciprocal treatment when we organize or host events such as BTAC that may not reflect yours. 

If we don't see your face in the Doubletree Campbell Center place because you incorrectly assumed as a white trans person you're not wanted at BTAC,  how else are you going to learn about the issues that affect my community, meet some of the people who are working to tackle and solve those problems, and have substantive conversations with the people who are our Black trans leaders? 

You're going to miss this year's keynote speeches from Dr. Kortney Ryan Ziegler and Cheryl Courtney Evans.  You'll miss the Black Diamond Ball in which awards to our community's heroes and sheroes will be handed out.  You'll miss the tell it like it T-I-S is commentary in our town halls and panel discussions.

And you'll miss a golden opportunity to network with not only people in our community, but our allies who do show up to support the BTAC and help us get our learn on.  

And you'll miss your chance to settle what is sure to be one of the big BTAC conference debates.  Which burger is better, In-N-Out or Whataburger? 

FYI, there's an In-N-Out burger location just up the North Central Expressway feeder from the hotel.    

I said in this post and will repeat and remix this salient point for your reading pleasure:  Having strong, confident, politically aware and vibrant Black, Latin@, Asian-Pacific trans communities telling our stories strengthens the entire pink, white and blue flag waving trans community as a whole.  It also strengthens our various non-white cis and SGL communities and any other one we choose to ally with. 

We trans people of color would rather work together to build community with our white trans brothers and sisters and our cis, bi  and SGL allies to advance our common goal of human rights for all.  But we are no longer doing so as disrespected, enfeebled junior partners   

It has become necessary for us in the second decade of the 21st century to have conferences like BTAC in order to discuss the issues that ail our community, learn, network, reconnect with each other, come up with solutions, and own our power so that we can permanently solve those problems.   

We're just doing the same thing the white trans community has done since the late 80's-early 90's.   The Black trans community didn't say you COULDN'T come, and neither did the BTAC organizers.   We want as many peeps at BTAC as possible because we are exceedingly proud of this now three year old conference, want it to grow and want to show it off to the world. 

The fact it's in a blue oasis in my red soon to be purple home state with a rich trans history makes it even more important it survive and thrive . So assuming you wouldn't be welcome at BTAC is not only asinine, but problematic.       

The bottom line is that stronger non-white trans communities benefit the ENTIRE pink, white and blue flag waving trans community.   The sooner you get that point, the sooner we can move trans human rights forward in our nation and around the world  

See you at the Doubletree Campbell Center next month.  

Drag Culture Is A Major Reason We Even HAVE A Trans Community

As I awakened from my slumber this morning I checked my Facebook page to see that I'd been tagged with a Bilerico Project article penned by Brynn Tannehill (who I have mad love and respect for)  asserting that drag culture hurts the trans community. 

While there are times the drag community has pissed me off, and I have had no problem sounding off  about it, I have to throw the penalty flag on this Tannehill post and bring a little historical context into this discussion. 

I wrote in this February 2013 post the obvious point that drag does not equal trans womanhood.   I have called out the Black cis community along with our allies for giving far more respect to Tyler Perry dressed as Madea than the average trans woman walking Black America's streets.  

But as someone with a deep appreciation and love of history,  I also have to admit the following point as a long time trans activist.   Without the drag community and pissed off trans women together fighting the po-po's fracking with them at the 1959 Cooper's Donuts, Compton's Cafeteria (1966), and Stonewall Rebellions (1969), the gender variant kids at Dewey's Lunch Counter protesting their oppression in April-May 1965 with a combo sit-in and protest, I submit it would have taken us a lot longer getting this trans rights movement party started.

Far too many trans women during that time period were in stealth because of the HBIGDA/WPATH transition standards in place at the time or in denial of their transness when they when questioned about it. The only visible ones were the illusionists, the trans women bold enough to openly live their lives and not care what people thought like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Christine Jorgensen, and Coccinelle just to name a few or outed ones like April Ashley. 

Remember it was a Black female illusionist in Lady Java who struck the initial blows against the LAPD's odious Rule Number 9 that eventually caused the whole rotten thing to go away 

There have been more than a few times in their various locales female illusionists like Lady Java have been the ones who put their asses on the line and stepped forward to fight for the human rights laws that benefit our entire community.   While they were doing so, the stealth trans women who were hiding and refusing to participate in the trans community because 'they are women now', were grousing online in their not so quiet Internet chat rooms ranting about that 'drag queen' speaking in front of that governmental body their 'I'm a woman now' selves didn't have the guts to speak in front of. 

And let's not forget it's the drag community that peeps in the LGBT ranks call on when it's time to raise some money for whatever SGL community cause needs to be fundraised for.  


Yes, there are problematic peeps in the drag community, and many of them are the gay males who blanch at the thought of having a surgeon's scalpel do GRS on their Almighty Phallus or have internalized hatred of femininity (and trans women by extension) for whatever reason.  

And we are justified in calling their asses out.  

But I submit it's not the drag community that is harming the trans community by itself.  I've observed this anti-drag argument far too often in white trans community ranks over the last decade and a half I've been a national trans activist of color.   Brynn's post also has the problematic flavor of 'respectability politics' baked into it.

I've also had to call my white transsisters out for making the problematic conflation of drag = blackface.   No, it doesn't.      

It also ignores the fact it is cis societal hatred for trans people fueled by ignorance of the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity that causes the problems the trans community is forced to navigate.

The trans exterminationalist radical feminists (TERF's) as a group have done far more damage to the trans human rights cause over the last four decades with their disco era transphobic hate they attempt to layer with the thin veneer of academic credibility than any drag performer. 

Elements of the gay and lesbian community who repeatedly threw us under the legislative bus since the 1970's to selfishly pass human rights legislation for themselves or misgendered us in their print outlets have done far more damage to the trans community than any drag performer.  

Neither was it the drag community that coined the Religious Reich's favorite anti-trans human rights talking point in terms of the 'bathroom panic' meme.  It was openly gay former Rep. Barney Frank talking about 'penises in showers' in a US House committee meeting. 

One of the reasons I and other POC trans people have mixed emotions about the drag community is because we know firsthand that for us historically and as Drag Race contestant Monica Beverly Hillz emphatically demonstrated last year, it is one of our pathways to begin our transitions in communities that are far more socially conservative.   

I've seen more than a few examples of today's femme queen walking a ballroom floor, standing on a pageant stage or performing at a gay club's Talent Night emerging a few years later after having their gender epiphany and using that community to hone their feminine presentations to become a #girllikeus.  

As Chanel Winn-Decarlo pointed out in the Facebook comment that was shared with me: 

Drag is an artform and entertainment and actually something I enjoy.  I am often insulted and offended by drag queens but I don't want to blame the ignorance of people on entertainment
I think at this stage of the game even if you don't know it all, everyone, even a child can understand the difference between a transsexual (WOMAN) and a drag queen (ENTERTAINER)

And to piggyback on Chanel's point, right wing haters are gonna hate.   We know they are going to throw the 'bathroom bill' and 'drag queen' shade in their zeal to do their funders bidding and stop trans human rights advances.   They know they don't have any logic or reason based arguments to deny the implementation of much needed trans human rights laws, so 'fear and smear' is the only tactic they have left.  

We must be ready as trans advocates to debunk and utterly destroy those talking points until the conservafools are 'scurred' to open their mouths and say them for fear of being called out as the transphobic bigots they are. 

We trans folks can and should be able to accomplish that task without throwing the drag community under the bus, because without them being tired of the BS, we wouldn't HAVE a trans community.    


TransGriot Note:  Sahara Davenport is the lovely person in the color photo.

Vandalized UK National Trans Memorial Restored

We have some good news coming from across The Pond concerning the UK's National Transgender Memorial.    

Back during the UK's Sparkle Weekend last year, what is believed to be the world's first memorial built to commemorate the persons lost to anti-trans hate violence was dedicated in Manchester's Sackville Gardens.   But because some idiots didn't want the trans community to have nice things, the memorial was vandalized mere days after its dedication on or around August 6. 

Tony Cooper, Chair of The Friends of Sackville Gardens, said: “We worked closely with the Trans community to create a lasting memorial to those who have died because of prejudice and hate, and to then see that memorial vandalized within days was a true reflection of what many Trans people have to go through in daily life.

The vandals who desecrated the memorial haven't been brought to justice yet, but thanks to a police donation and SOCA funding secured by the City Centre Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT)., the damaged plaques were restored in advance of the 2014 edition of Sparkle Weekend, the national transgender celebration in the UK.  

The nearby Manchester College in addition to the Lesbian and Gay Foundation helped pay for lighting to illuminate the memorial and that section of the park to help reduce crime in the area. 

Glad to hear that the memorial has been restored and will be looking good when Sparkle Weekend happens.  Thanks to all the people who pulled together to make that a reality. 

Whose Beloved Community? Conference In ATL This Weekend

Those of you in the ATL will have the opportunity to attend this conference at Emory University  from March 27-29 entitled Whose Beloved Community? Black Civil and LGBT Rights..

It brings together TBLG and civil rights scholars activists and other community stakeholders as they spend what promises to be an interesting weekend advancing a more comprehensive and expansive view of justice.

The conference is sponsored by Emory University's  James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference, and the Emory Women's Center along with many other university divisions, and the Arcus and Ford Foundations.

Atlanta is the perfect venue for this conference because it is the historic cradle of the African-American civil rights movement combined with the fact that the ATL is considered the mecca of the Black SGL, trans and bi community.   More Black LGBT people live in the South than in any other region of the country, and Atlanta is the hub city for it.      

A keynote conversation to open the conference with longtime civil rights leader Julian Bond, African-American lesbian social-justice activist Mandy Carter, and activist Alexis Pauline Gumbs, co-founder of the Mobile Homecoming Project, will take place in Glenn Memorial Auditorium starting at 7:30 PM EDT on Thursday, March 27.   The location is 1660 N. Decatur Road and the keynote event is free and open to the public.

Conference sessions will be held at the Emory Conference Center beginning on Friday, March 28 at 9 AM and will feature panels on topics including religion, scholarship, LGBT and civil rights history, marriage equality, activism and literature. On Saturday, panel sessions begin at 8:30 AM and the conference will conclude with a closing reception from 4-7 PM.

The Kentucky Basketball Hatetrix Reloaded

When I lived in Kentucky from 2001-2010, one of the more entertaining events for me next to Derby Week was watching the annual December basketball hatefest between the Kentucky Wildcats and Louisville Cardinals.

From the time I moved there in September 2001 until I left in May 2010 to come back to Texas I had the rabid fanbases of Cats and Cards Nations trying to get me to publicly declare whether I was a UK or Louisville fan.

They wanted me to choose to take either the blue Wildcat pill or the red Cardinal pill, but I managed to stay neutral during that time.

To be honest, the wall to wall coverage of that annual rivalry game is one of the things about the state I miss.

When I was setting up my 2014 NCAA men's tourney brackets, I noted the way they were set up, if both teams won their opening round games it would lead to a potential Sweet 16 clash between the current (Louisville) and last (Kentucky) NCAA champions to be played in Indianapolis. 

After the Wildcats narrow 78-76 tournament win yesterday over previously unbeaten Wichita State and defending NCAA champ Louisville knocking St. Louis out of the tournament with their 66-51 win to advance, we can take the word 'potential' out of that last paragraph and deal with the reality that the Kentucky basketball hatetrix has been reloaded.

It's Battle of the Bluegrass, Part II at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.  This time they are playing for higher stakes than just bragging rights as they did December 28 at Rupp Arena.  The Cats fans are already reminding the Cards fans of the 73-66 result of that December game, while the Cards fans are firing back it's all about what happens this Friday.   

And what it's all about is a trip to the NCAA tournament Elite Eight at their bitter basketball rival's expense. 

The bitterly disappointed loser will have a hour and a half long lament filled drive down I-65 south from Indianapolis back to Kentucky while the winner stays in Circle City and plays for a possible trip to the Jerrydome and the Final Four.

The Kentucky Basketball Hatetrix will ensure this is not going to be a quiet week along I-64 or at any job locations, homes, sports bars or churches in Louisville, Lexington or anywhere else in Kentucky this week.  

Upcoming TLC Transgender Leadership Summit

Contrary to what that graphic says, unless a miracle happens, I will be in Harris County when this event kicks off.   But that doesn't stop me from making you Left Coasters aware of it.   

For you folks on the Left Coast, if the weekend of April 11-13 is open on your calendar, you may wish to head down to the CSU-Northridge campus for the Transgender Leadership Summit

It's sponsored by the Transgender Law Center and is a leadership conference designed to build the foundation for community members to take action for trans* equality and justice through informative workshops ranging in topics from legal, health care, organizational development and much more

And you get to meet some cool people doing the work at the same time.

This year there will be a first ever preconference institute for trans and gender non conforming people of color on Friday April 11 from 9 AM-4 PM PDT entitled Our Intersecting Identities and Building A Movement Of Justice.

The institute seeks to broaden and build awareness of the issues POC communities face and discuss strategies and solutions toward building a broader movement that centers those experiences. 

So if you're interested in attending, you can click on this link for further information or to register for #TLS14.

2014 Trans 100 List Revealed Next Weekend

This time next weekend from the Mayne Stage in Chicago we will find out who made the 2014 edition of the Trans 100.

This year's event will be hosted by transgender artist and advocate Angelica Ross.  Actress and advocate Laverne Cox and I Am Enough founder Kye Allums will be in the house at the March 30 live event as keynote speakers.   Dr. Kortney Ryan Ziegler will also be partnering with the Trans 100 peeps and bringing Trans* H4CK to Chicago in conjunction with the Trans 100 reveal weekend.

“Considering that Trans* H4CK focuses on creating technology for trans* people with the input of trans* people, it makes sense to partner with the Trans 100 in an effort to further highlight transgender activists that are changing the world for the better,” said Dr. Ziegler.

Trans*H4CK Chicago will take place March 28-30

The Trans 100 list intends to shift the coverage of trans issues by focusing on the positive work being accomplished, and providing visibility to those typically underrepresented. The inaugural Trans 100 list was released in 2013 and can be viewed at www.thetrans100.org.

“We’re particularly excited that this year’s list will be an entirely different group than 2013, our way of further showing just how much work is being done, and of growing the Trans 100 into a living resource, not only for trans people, but also organizations the general public looking to better understand our needs,” said Trans 100 Co-Director, Antonia D’orsay.

For those of you who are in the Chicago area, next weekend's Trans 100 Live event is already sold out, but you can watch the live stream of it here from  7:00-9:00 PM CDT. 

So looking forward to seeing the 2014 edition of the Trans 100.

Arkansas Transwoman Fired For Using Correct Bathroom

If you wonder why I go ballistic every time I hear people who don't share my ethnic background ignorantly stating public accommodations language is not important when it comes to protecting the human rights of trans people, I call bull feces on that.

If you're a non-white transperson, that public accommodations language is critical, especially since we seem to find ourselves in situations far more frequently in which discrimination is aimed at us based on our ethnicity and our trans status..  

Meet 21 year old Kaye Bowens, a girl like us living in Star City, Arkansas.   It is a town 75 miles SSE of Little Rock and Bowers until recently was an employee at a local McDonald's.   

Bowens made it clear when she was hired in December that she was trans and had begun her transition three years ago..  She used the bathroom appropriate to her outward gender presentation and had no trans status related job problems until two weeks ago.  

Obviously either a coworker or somebody in the area had a transphobic problem with her and complained.   Bowens found herself being confronted in the women's restroom by the store's shift manager who told her she should be using the men's room.    

The very next day she was called into the general manager's office and terminated.   When she threatened to file a lawsuit over the obvious gender discrimination,  she was offered her job back later that day provided she agreed to the dehumanizing demand of using the men's restroom. 

Bowens description of the events was corroborated by two fellow employees who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retribution. 

If I'm a good worker for you, what does it matter where I use the restroom?" said Bowens. 

Bowens has now filed an EEOC discrimination complaint against the Mickey D's in question to which Michael Retzer, the owner of the McDonald's franchise in Star City issued the following statement on Wednesday:

“We believe in the value of a diverse workforce, equal opportunity and a workplace free from all forms of unlawful discrimination and harassment.  As such, we continue to do our best to meet the needs of our employees and customers, and we are reviewing this situation carefully. It is important for us to share that the employee in question is a current employee and has not been terminated. We have asked the employee to discuss this issue with us, but we have not received a response.”

Yeah, right.  Now that your rumps are in the legal wringer, and you have made national and international news for your transphobic bigotry, now you wanna talk. 

Here's hoping the situation does end in a satisfactory conclusion for Ms. Bowens. 

This is also another concrete example of why the federal ENDA law needs to be passed ASAP and the gender identity language needs to stay in it.  

Shut Up Fool Awards-Playing NCAA Basketball Edition

March Madness is upon us, with the men's NCAA tournament kicking off with action Tuesday  and the women set to tip off their action tomorrow.  

And as per TransGriot tradition, I have my 2014 men's and women's NCAA tournament brackets up on the blog to see how accurate I was in picking the teams that will end up in Arlington and Nashville being crowned NCAA champions. 

Well, it's Friday, and you know what we do here on Fridays.   We get to find out who exhibited championship level hypocrisy, discover who made it to the Sweet Sixteen of stupidity, the Elite Eight of ignorance, and the Final Four of fools

And until the NCAA tournaments conclude, I'll do it in an NCAA tournament format 

Final Four Fool number one is a group award for all the Illinois GOP primary voters who made Suzanne Atanus their nominee to run against Democratic incumbent congresswoman Rep. Jan Schakowsky.  

In case you needed a reminder of how off the rails Atanus is: 

"I am a conservative Republican and I believe in God first," Atanus said. She said she believes God controls the weather and has put tornadoes and diseases such as autism and dementia on earth as punishment for gay rights and legalized abortions.

"God is angry. We are provoking him with abortions and same-sex marriage and civil unions," she said. "Same-sex activity is going to increase AIDS. If it's in our military it will weaken our military. We need to respect God."

The Stupid Party strikes again.   The Schakowsky campaign team has got to be doing the happy dance that Atanus is the GOP nominee. 

Final Four Fool Number two I have to come back to the home state for in Cari Christman. 

During a WFAA-TV interview the Greg Abbott ally and head of the newly formed Red State Women PAC did the obligatory slam of Democratic gubernatorial nominee Sen Wendy Davis in response to a question about the Lone Star equal pay legislation that Gov. Goodhair (Rick Perry) vetoed and the Texas GOP opposes. 

Then Christman put her pumps in her mouth and said with the cameras rolling that women were 'too busy' for equal pay legislation.

Keep running that Clayton Williams 2.0 campaign, Greg.   

Final Four Fool number three is RuPaul Andre Charles, who once again let his transphobia fly on RuPaul's Drag Race.  I've already vented about that one.

Final Four Fool number four is South Dakota state senator Phil Jensen.   Jensen let his bigotry fly and stated that businesses should be able to deny services to anyone they wish on the basis of their religious beliefs and introduced a bill that would have allowed you to do that.

There y'all go again wanting those 'special rights' for white male Christofascists. 

Senate Bill 128, which was characterized by South Dakota TBLG advocates and even some Republicans as “a mean, nasty, hateful, vindictive bill” fortunately died in committee  

And Phi, that magical 'free market will shut down bigoted store owners' argument that you and other conservaidiots keep using to push these bigot bills has already been proven false.  Do the words 'Jim Crow segregation' ring a bell?   


Our SUF winners this week we travel all the way to Israel for.  

To be precise we go to the Jerusalem suburb of Mevasseret Zion to give out a group Shut Up Fool award to the 17 Israeli students at Harel High School who thought it would be great fun on Purim to dress up as Klan terrorists complete with the robes and pointed hoods.  

But they didn't stop there.   Three of those students also were in blackface. 

What, the costume store was out of Nazi SS uniforms?    

Why am I not surprised?   Some of the stomach turning tactics the Israelis have used in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank against the Palestinians remind me at times of apartheid and Jim Crow segregation.

You need to expeditiously print the word DUNCE across those pointed hoods in English and Hebrew because if your parents, grandparents or relatives in the US haven't told you, the Klan, like the Nazis and the Aryan Nation,  hate you Jewish peeps too.   Two of the people memorialized at the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, AL are Jews Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner

Harel HS students, shut up fools 

Erika Harold Loses Illinois GOP Congressional Primary Bid

A few months ago I wrote about on these electronic pages former 2003 Miss America Erika Harold running for Congress in the Illinois Republican primary against current 13th District US Rep. Rodney Davis and getting racistly dissed for her trouble. 

In addition to that racist email from a GOP county chairman calling Harold “a streetwalker.” that led to his resignation, Harold according to Politico endured a bizarre snub at the Illinois state fair, flat out rejection when she asked the Illinois Republican Party to use GOP voter data and was denied, and constantly heard the frequent suggestion she would be better off running for some other office besides a Congressional seat.

You let bizarro world conservafools like Suzanne Atanus run for Congress, and she's your nominee against Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D).   So why do you Republicans have a problem with a 33 year old Illinois born mixed race former Miss America who spoke at your 2004 convention, at CPAC, got the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune and is a Harvard Law graduate? 

Oops, never mind.  I withdraw the question. 

She's an American citizen who can run for any office she wishes.  While I don't care for her conservative political stances, the only thing we see eye to eye on is that she's anti-death penalty.   But those conservative stances still didn't help her in this race. 

The Illinois primary election was held on Tuesday night and her challenge to Rep Rodney Davis fell short.   She did however serve notice that she has a bright political future in Illinois by garnering an impressive 41.2% of the votes (20,921)  in this primary to the incumbent Davis' 54.6% (27,773).

This race is a real world example of why Republicans don't have a snowball's chance in Hades of making themselves attractive to African-Americans. 

While I'm no fan of her politics because I'm aligned politically with 90% of the rest of the African-American community, I still didn't appreciate along with many left of center Black peeps seeing the sistah get dissed like she did in the GOP ranks.  

And if she's not "Republican enough' for you, who is?   You continue to reinforce what I have unflinchingly said about the GOP when I call it the political arm of white supremacy.  You have also reinforced by your treatment of her the well deserved reputation that you don't like women, and especially women of color.

She's also managed to do what all your cookie chomping kneegrow sellouts haven't been able to do in the history of the blog--get me to write a post about a Republican in which I'm not slamming them from the first syllable of it..   

This latest GOP rebranding effort will fail just like the previous ones when you continue to diss thoughtful people like Harold.  It's people like her you should be running to embrace and putting out there as your standard bearers, not batturd wing sellouts like Mia Love, Sen. Tim Scott and Allen West who have zero chance of getting our votes or our community's respect..   

But as a Democrat I thank you for continuing to be the stupid party. 

Anti-Trans Human Rights Conservalies Debunked

I've known for years the anti-trans human rights talking points of the conservafools and their TERF allies are a lie, but Media Matters has put them in this nice big easy to read graphic debunking the lies..

It'll be quite handy to show to my city councilmembers when we finally make the big push to get our non-discrimination ordinance in Houston. 

Fallon Fights On Friday!

Well peeps, our favorite WMMA warrior Fallon Fox steps into the cage tomorrow night March 21 in Chicago's UIC Pavilion to take on the unbeaten Heather Bassett

Still not too late for you to get your tickets Chicagoland area peeps and cheer the Queen of Swords on to victory.   The UIC Pavilion is located at 525 S. Racine Street and will be rocking starting at 5:00 PM  for this 50th Xtreme Fighting Organization (XFO)  MMA fight card 

Y'all know I have much love for Fallon and want to not only see our sis do well and win this one, but get paid while doing so. 

Handle your WMMA business Queen of Swords! 

TransGriot Update:  And the Queen of Swords did beat Heather Bassett.   She's now 4-1 while Bassett took her first loss.