Speech For Britney And Crystal Memorial Vigil

Here's the text of the speech I'm delivering at tonight's memorial candlelight vigil for Britney Cosby and Crystal Jackson

Giving honor to God, Pastor Turney, the families of Britney Cosby and Crystal Jackson, civic leaders, my fellow Cougars, my SGL and LGBT family, friends and allies. 

Despite the reason we are gathered in this space this evening,  I am honored to be here this evening at the invitation of Laila Khalili, the Student Feminist Organization at UH , Texas Freedom Network Student Chapter at UH, Global at UH, the UH LGBT Resource Center, the NAACP UH Chapter and the UH Women's Resource Center

I sincerely thank you for the opportunity to say a few words at this vigil as an ally and a member of the Houston transgender community.  

Normally when I get the opportunity to come back to the UH campus as a proud alum, I'm elated and happy to do so.   But unfortunately, this is not one of those times my heart is filled with joy to be on my Cougar stomping grounds, but a moment tinged with sadness.   It is a feeling that is far too familiar to me as a longtime member of the trans community when I walk into this same AD Bruce chapel and remember the brutal and excessively numerous deaths of my trans sisters here and around the world every November 20.

We are gathered here tonight to honor the memory of two 24 year old women who had barely begun the journey of living their lives and experiencing all the world has to offer.   Britney and Crystal had barely begun the evolutionary process of determining the type of women they wanted to project to the world before they were called home to be with the ancestors.  

And just like in November when I have to contemplate that so many of the transwomen we memorialize during TDOR are Black, Latina and under 30,  I'm pissed off about it.

And why am I angry about that?   Because we will never know how the rest of Britney and Crystal's lives would have turned out.  We won't get the opportunity to discover what kind of contributions these young women would have made to their families, our society or our community.   We won't get to see with the passage of time how they would have evolved as young women and fellow human beings.  

I'm also pissed off because it plays into a longtime problem of violence being directed at LGBT women of color.   On May 11, 2003, Sakia Gunn was with a group of friends returning to Newark from a night of hanging out in New York City.  She was murdered because she didn't respond to the advances of two African-American men, and was just 15 years old.when she died.

Three months later Shani Baraka, the daughter of the late poet Amiri Baraka and her partner Rayshon Holmes were murdered by an African-American male who disapproved of their relationship  

According to a 2012 National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) study on Hate Violence, 73% of the anti-LGBT murder victims that year were people of color, and 53% of those murder victims were African-American.   

I bring up those stats because it's time for a little telling it like it T-I-S is truth telling in this AD Bruce house tonight.  I'm tired of seeing the homophobia, transphobia, misogyny and hypermasculinity in Black community ranks manifesting itself into us burying our kids and more distressingly, African-American women be they cis or transgender. 

That disgusting pattern needs to stop.  If you claim to love all Black people, then that includes those of us in the LGBT community ranks as well.  The bottom line is that none of us in the African American SGL, bi and trans communities gave up our Black cards or our humanity simply because we are living our authentic lives.   Neither is living our authentic lives a crime punishable by the sentence of death. 

And as Audre Lorde eloquently said, "Black women sharing close ties with each other, politically or emotionally are not the enemies of Black men."

So my fellow Houstonians, what would be the best way to honor Britney and Crystal's memory this evening?   We start that process by driving home the point that the 628 square miles of Texas territory that we call Houston is home to all of us, be we same gender loving, bi, trans or cisgender.

We honor Britney and Crystal by teaching our young men that violence against women no matter what their age is wrong, and there are better ways to project your masculinity to the world than imitating media created crotch-grabbing sagging pants wearing cartoon characters.

We honor Britney and Crystal by working diligently towards permanently eradicating the foul stench of anti-LGBT attitudes and hate speech that have the deleterious effects of ending the lives of LGBT young people either by their own hand via suicide or by the misguided hands of someone else.
We honor Britney and Crystal by committing to have an ongoing dialogue with the goal of coming up with concrete solutions to end the off the charts violence aimed against women in the LGBT community

I'm going to close with the words of one of our great Houstonians in Barbara Jordan,who once stated, "One thing is clear to me: We, as human beings, must be willing to accept people who are different from ourselves'.
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And in memory of Britney and Crystal, we need to get busy not only accepting people who are different from ourselves, but unconditionally loving them, too.

Charlotte Trans College Student Harassed, Detained For Using The Bathroom

While I was busy focusing on a developing situation on the WSSU campus in Winston-Salem, just down the road in Charlotte more TBLG injustice has been brewing on the campus of Central Piedmont Community College.

Meet Andraya Williams.  She's a 22 year old student at Central Piedmont Community College who is handling her academic business there.  She has been transitioning since age 18 and started the medical part of it two years ago.  

On March 18 she was exiting the women's restroom and according to an article by QNotes Matt Comer ran into transphobic security officers who detained, disrespected her, informed her she was suspended and escorted her off campus.

CPCC does not have a non-discrimination policy that covers sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, and Williams and her attorney Sarah Demarest of Charlotte’s LGBTQ Law Center have been trying to resolve the issue since then in the face of intransigent stonewalling by CPCC officials.

“CPCC’s decision to apprehend [Ms. Williams] in the restroom was based on their visual assessment of her gender,” said Demarest in the QNotes interview. “While CPCC is allowed to maintain sex-segregated facilities for male and female students, they decided that Ms. Williams fell outside both categories and treated her differently than other students. Furthermore, the differential treatment occurred in front of other students, highlighting to her peers that she does not conform to gender stereotypes and outing her as transgender.”

Now that this campus transphobia story is getting national and international attention, Central Piedmont Community College comes out with a statement from CPCC Public Information Officer Jeff Lowrance claiming they are trying to 'balance the rights of transgender students with the rights of the rest of the student body.'  

Since when CPCC?   Don't even try to tell that lie. You have no policies that protect the rights of trans, SGL and gender variant students and were in no hurry to enact them until your campus security got caught harassing and disrespecting an African-American trans student. 


Demarest said to QNotes that CPCC needs to review their polices and practices immediately, and I concur with that assessment.

“There are many transgender students who need to know what their rights are and need to know how it is they are supposed to navigate this issue,” said Demarest. “The way CPCC has handled this situation was inadequate and allowed [Williams] to be humiliated and feeling like she was without recourse.”

Demarest also pointed out the school violated her client’s due process rights, CPCC’s actions were unlawful and constitute a violation of Title IX, the 1972 federal law that bans discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs and activities.   Federal courts, and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, she says, have held that unlawful sex discrimination extends to gender stereotyping.

The 2011 Glenn v. Brumby case found that discriminating against someone based on their gender nonconformity is sex based discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause 

discriminating against someone on the basis of his or her gender non-conformity constitutes sex-based discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause. - See more at: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-11th-circuit/1587416.html#sthash.RXe6VMwF.dpuf

discriminating against someone on the basis of his or her gender non-conformity constitutes sex-based discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause. - See more at: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-11th-circuit/1587416.html#sthash.RXe6VMwF.dpuf

Williams and Demarest are considering filing a federal civil rights complaint and I hope they do.  I and other trans people of color are sick and tired of being jacked with for going to the bathroom..   

There is a protest being organized by CPCC students outraged over this incident in support of Andraya that will take place Friday, April 4 starting at 11 AM EDT.

We will be holding a protest in response to the treatment of our fellow CPCC student Andraya Williams, who on March 19, was harassed, detained and eventually suspended and denied due process because CPCC staff is insufficiently educated on transgender inclusion. We are protesting to show that intolerance and the violation of student rights is not something we as students believe should be part of our school's values. We welcome community members and other allies to join us to show that we stand behind Andraya Williams and all transgender students at CPCC.

It will take place on the corner of Elizabeth and Kings Streets if you wish to attend.

Will be keeping an eye on this situation as well.

Thanks To My Cis Sistas

I'm rapidly approaching the April 4 day that I started the public phase of my transition 20 years ago. 

It was an exciting but anxiety filled few days as the calendar turned to April and the day I'd been emotionally building up to for years was finally arriving.

While I had feminine role models that I wanted to emulate, it's a big jump from imagining the person you wish to become and doing the hard work to make that person a reality.   
 
Becoming me was a team effort.  In addition to my medical team at the gender clinic ensuring that I stayed healthy as I morphed the body and navigated the dizzying emotional changes,  I also had a support team of my cis sistas.

They helped me understand what I was embarking on by sharing their own stories about their evolving feminine journeys.   Some of the things they told me were fascinating to hear, others were humorous, while others were raw, painful deeply personal stuff they had yet to share with anyone else but did so with me. 

Some of them took it to another level and became some of my first sistafriends.

My cis sistas who were in my corner were my swords and shields against the haters.   They gave me the motivational kick when I needed it, challenged me and helped me figure out my evolving fashion style.  They told me to pull up the big girl panties when I would complain about getting whacked by the sexism they've had to navigate their entire lives. 

My African-American cis sistas helped me understand the challenges of navigating the world in a Black female body.  They stayed on my butt to ensure that I would become the woman I promised them in our conversations post April 4 I wanted to be and wished to project to the world.   

Some have been there by my side since the beginning.  Others moved on or our lives took us in different paths after they taught me the lessons I needed to learn at a particular point in my evolutionary feminine journey.   Some have joined me at a certain points in that journey and been along for the ride dispensing their wisdom along the way.

For those of you in my sistacircle as I approach this anniversary date, thank you.   You not only have qualities that I admire and incorporated into my own life, your unconditional love and support made it a lot easier for me to tackle going from zero to femininity. 

You are all loved and deeply appreciated by me for doing so and helping me become the Phenomenal Transwoman you see standing before you today.

Houston Britney and Crystal Candelight Vigil Tomorrow

For those of you in the Houston area and can do so, hope you're planning on joining me in the chapel of the AD Bruce Religion Center on the University of Houston main campus tomorrow evening, April 2  for the candlelight vigil honoring our fallen sisters Britney Cosby and Crystal Jackson.

Both died on March 8 and were just 24 years old.

I will be speaking along with Tamira 'Augie' Augustine, Dr. Rachel Afi Quinn and Pastor Ernie Turney from Bering United Methodist Church.

The event starts at 6:30 PM CDT and is being sponsored by the UH Women's Resource Center , UH LGBT Resource Center, Global at UH, NAACP UH Chapter, Equality Texas, Texas Freedom Network, the Student Feminist Organization at UH and  The Montrose Center .

AD Bruce Religion Center is on the Wheeler St/Cullen Blvd side of the campus with the closest entrance to AD Bruce and parking lot being Entrance 13 off of Cullen Blvd.    

Please consider joining us and the Houston community tomorrow  as we remember these young women and begin an open and honest dialogue about violence against the LGBT community.

And since it is being hosted on campus, I hope to see a strong UH Cougar presence at the vigil.

Mr. WSSU Election Wednesday

There's another election that has gotten my attention besides the mayoral one in Washington DC that is happening today.  

It's the one on the Winston-Salem State University campus Wednesday that will determine who wins Mr. WSSU.

We're about to find out whether using someone's personal information along with heaping helpings of transmisogyny and homophobia to smear them for an on campus election is a winning campaign strategy. 

I'm hoping the student body on the WSSU campus says no and they send a message with their ballots that they didn't like it either and Aaron emerges triumphant.

But it's in the students hands as to who they will elect as their Mr. WSSU representative and we'll have to respect the results.

But I don't have to respect the shady shenanigans that transpired over the last 48 hours.  

As Jane Vaughn said in her letter, 'Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for appalling silence of the good people." I refuse to stand in silence. I stand in active solidarity with Aaron McCorkle and others at WSSU who are marginalized and victimized for being their authentic selves.'


And I will stand in solidarity with you as well, in addition to using this blogging platform I have been blessed with to get the word out when people are being marginalized and victimized for being their authentic selves.

The Winston-Salem State University’s mission states, "Preparing diverse students for success in the 21st century..  In the 21st century a diverse student body also includes SGL, trans and bi students.

It's an example of why WSSU's short sighted removal of gender identity and expression language from their non-discrimination policies passed in 2008 was a mistake that needs to be rectified as soon as possible. 

This is also another prime example of why the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act is sorely needed.   It is a bill that Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) revived the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) introduced back in 2010 that would require colleges and universities receiving federal aid to establish anti-harassment policies and recognize cyberbullying as harassment.   She did so after hearing about Kristopher Sharp's story, who is now working as an intern in her office.

Good luck Aaron, and hope we're hearing good news from you Wednesday.. 


TransGriot Update: Discovered the Mr WSSU election is actually happening Wednesday from 8 AM-8 PM EDT.  Post has been corrected to reflect this.    

And unfortunately, appears the hate speech did have an effect.  Aaron lost.

30th Anniversary Of Marvin Gaye's Death

Now that I've gotten my April Fool's prank post out of the way, back to giving you readers what y'all surf over here for. 

This one is making me feel my age.  

It was 30 years ago today on April 1, 1984 when I and the rest of America learned that the story we were hearing about iconic soul singer Marvin Gaye being shot to death by his father on the eve of his 45th birthday was not an April Fool's Day joke, but was tragically true.  .

Marvin was just 44 years old when he was shot twice by his father at 11:38 AM PST after intervening in a argument his parents were having.   His wounds were fatal ones, and he was pronounced dead at 1:01 PM PST once he arrived at the hospital

It's 30 years later, and I find myself wondering what Marvin's music would sound like if he was still around and still writing songs today.   The ones he did write are still as relevant today as when he penned them back in the 60's and 70s'.    'Sexual Healing' is probably responsible for some of my readers being here today .

And he's one of the few singers who put their own spin on the national anthem as he did at the 1983 NBA All Star game in Los Angeles and made it a memorable. 




Rest in Power, Marvin.  You're still missed.   

Moni's Going On CNN

TransGriot readers, just wanted to let y'all know I'm going to be traveling to the ATL soon to talk about trans issues in the African-American community on CNN.

I'm going to be interviewed by Don Lemon and unfortunately that fool Ben Ferguson will be part of this discussion, but it's going to be an opportunity to not only get our message out there, but put those GLAAD media training skills to the test.

And boy will they be sorely tested in this situation.  

Y'all know I don't like the programming direction CNN is traveling and I 'm even more pissed off about the ethnic cleansing that happened there.   I've blasted Lemon in the past for his trans fails, and y'all know I have no love for conservafools like Ben Ferguson, so this could get contentious.    

But for the greater good of our trans community, I can put my pissivity on pause for a few moments and handle mine and the community's business. 

As to the date and time it's going to take place, check today's date.

Every year I do a prank post on April 1, and you just read it.  

This was last year's April Fool's Day post.  

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, time to return you to the news and commentary you expect when you surf here.  ;)

Jane's Letter Concerning The Attacks On Aaron

TransGriot Note:  Jane Vaughan is a former Winston-Salem State University student and past president of the WSSU Gay-Straight Student Alliance (now called Prism) .  She along with Chevara Orrin alerted me to the situation that is transpiring on the WSSU campus involving the homophobic hate being stirred up in social media and aimed at WSSU student Aaron McCorkle

This is her letter addressing it dated March 30th.

Good Afternoon:

Winston-Salem State University's LGBT community needs your help! In a vicious social media attack, WSSU junior, Aaron McCorkle is being bullied and harassed via Twitter because another student released a two-year old image of Aaron "dressed in drag." The trending Twitter topic, "Gay & Crossdressing Mr. WSSU Candidate Causing Major Controversy" has elicited numerous biased and bigoted comments from many in the campus community. While the university has been made aware of the release of the image, they are not proactively educating the campus body by providing sensitivity training or creating safer spaces for LGBT students who may be negatively impacted by this unfortunate incident.

Aaron is an openly gay student who is an active and respected member of the university student body. He was elected Mr. Freshman (2011-2012), Student Government Association Freshman Class Council (2011-2012), Mr. Sophomore (2012-2013), and Mr. Mass Communications (2013), and has served in numerous leadership roles within various student organizations including NAACP Student Representative, Campus Activities Board, and Prism (LGBT org). He is also a Thurgood Marshall College Fund Scholar. In addition, Aaron serves the broader community by volunteering with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and Second Harvest Food Bank.

The disparaging and violent tweets question the appropriateness of his candidacy for Mr. WSSU and some even call for physical harm against him. Most disturbing are the tweets from Brian "BDAHT" McLaughlin. According to his LinkedIn profile, he is the newest cast member to Season 6 of Nick Cannon's Wildn Out on MTV2, Comedian on 102 JAMZ Wild Out Wake Up Show (since August 2005) and the PA Announcer for WSSU Athletics (since August 2005). As a radio and television personality, BDAHT has a wide following. As a campus ambassador, it is most inappropriate for him to attack a student in this manner. He tweeted, "If y'all let a drag Queen be Mr. #WSSU, I quit. Straight up."; "#WSSU: y'all really letting a dude, that goes out in drag #nshit, run for Mr. Ram? Have y'all lost y'all mutha fuckin minds, man?!"; "Yes we ARE talking about this putrid shit. Y'all have completely lost it. The nigga dresses in drag, & HE will represent our school?"; and "...Get the fuck outta here. Ya turning the position into a fucking joke. Clowns."

Although, BDHAT states in his twitter bio that his views are not the views of 102 Jamz or MTV2,  I believe that it is reflective of his roles and responsibilities within these organizations. From my perspective, BDHAT's representation of MTV2, 102 Jamz, and Winston-Salem State University is far more questionable than an authentically openly gay young man who may occasionally express gender variance.

I have spoken with many current students (gay and straight allies) who belong to the LGBT student organization, Prism that say they are afraid to speak out or feel that this issue does not directly impact them. According to Campus Pride, the leading national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization for student leaders and campus groups working to create a safer college environment for LGBT students, "Like other forms of oppression, homophobia not only oppresses members of the target or minority groups (gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people), but also, on many levels, hurts members of the agent or dominant group (heterosexuals). As a result, everyone eventually loses, and more specifically, the negative effect of homophobia remains alive.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for appalling silence of the good people." I refuse to stand in silence. I stand in active solidarity with Aaron McCorkle and others at WSSU who are marginalized and victimized for being their authentic selves. 

As a former WSSU student and president of the WSSU Gay-Straight Student Alliance (now Prism), I am angered and saddened that people have stooped to such levels and caused dissension within the WSSU family while perpetuating stereotypes against the LGBT community in order to win an election. In 2013, at the University of Houston-Downtown, third-year social work major, student Kristopher Sharp was the victim of a vicious smear campaign that revealed his HIV-positive status in order to keep him from winning the student vice-presidency. Flyers and graffiti were plastered across the campus. Sharp ultimately won the election.

This is yet one example of on-going attacks against students at college campuses and schools across our nation. From the 2010 suicide of Tyler Clementi at Rutgers University because his roommate released a video of an intimate encounter with another man to this past week's report of eight year-old Sunnie Kahl in Lynchburg, VA being told by school administrators that "she’s not feminine enough," those of us that belong to the LGBT community are being targeted and singled out.

I know firsthand the pain of being alienated as an LGBT college student. While attending WSSU, I was “outed.”  My family rejected me after they discovered that I identified as a lesbian. Had it not been for the WSSU Gay-Straight Student Alliance, I would have had nowhere to turn. No support. No hope. Through the organization I was given a light of hope with the support structure, community leaders, career/job opportunities, and other endless possibilities!  The executive board of GSSA, including myself had the grand opportunity of being a part of the first LGBT panel at the Congressional Black Caucus, attended the OUT for Work conference and the Human Right Campaign’s HBCU LGBT Career and Leadership Summit. We also regularly participated in policy, advocacy and education discourse through our monthly organizational meetings. When I experienced discrimination from an instructor at WSSU, I was able to advocate for myself because of the leadership of our advisors and support they garnered from the broader community. I knew then that I would always be an active participant in addressing injustice against the LGBT community.

Those experiences, and others too numerous to name were life changing. We are all responsible should this matter escalate any further into an act of violence against Aaron or any other gender non-conforming WSSU student. This is our time to speak up and stand strong! I will not choose to stay in the closet with the door open enough for me to see the world and for the world to see me. I will not succumb to society’s discomfort by remaining silent. 

When will it end? Homophobia, transphobia and misogyny must be addressed at WSSU. We need to have honest discussions about black masculinity, hyper-masculinity, hyper-femininity and the impact on the LGBT community. We need honest, ongoing dialogue and training to combat discrimination against our students…our future leaders. We need honest dialogue to understand why the image of a man who does not conform to traditional clothing norms causes such immediate vitriol. We have created space in the black community for Tyler Perry as Madea, Martin Lawrence as Big Momma, Damon Wayans and David Alan Grier as Men on Film, Flip Wilson as Geraldine, and Wesley Snipes as Noxzema. Perhaps we are more comfortable with caricatures that continue to perpetuate gender biased and sexist stereotypes. We have created space for Prince, Lenny Kravitz and Janelle Monae. Why can't we create space for Aaron McCorkle and other students who may be gender variant?

Winston-Salem State University’s mission states, "Preparing diverse students for success in the 21st century...” Diversity on the campus is not limited to race, nationality, and religion but also includes sexual orientation. In 2008, former WSSU administrator Chevara Orrin and WSSU Student Services Specialist, Thomas Clark co-founded the first-ever WSSU GSSA. Seven months later the Board of Trustees unanimously voted to expand protections to include "sexual orientation" for the first time in the university's history. While we celebrated this triumph, it was clear that the journey for equality was far from over as the original language had been amended to exclude "gender identity" and "gender expression."

The recent chain of events highlights clearly the importance of broader protections that include gender non-conforming and transgender students. The university's mission also states, "As a comprehensive, historically Black constituent institution of the University of North Carolina, Winston-Salem State University contributes to the social, cultural, intellectual and economic growth of the region, North Carolina and beyond. " Now is time for WSSU to take action with those words. The University must address the issue of the bullying and harassment of Aaron McCorkle if it seeks to be a leader in our nation.

Join me in speaking for those who have no voice. Let us use this incident as an opportunity to educate, build bridges between the heterosexual and LGBT people and create a platform to expand the current discrimination policy and strengthen our campus community.

Homophobia has a cure: EDUCATION! 

**Attached, please find images of the twitter discussions.

Sincerely,

Jane Vaughan

Past President
Winston-Salem State University Gay Straight Student Alliance

Geena Rocero's Trans TED Talk

Geena Rocero is a name you're going to be hearing a lot of soon.  I had a long conversation with her Friday, and our transpinay sister is an activist and  model who was one of the presenters at last night's Trans 100 reveal event.

She is also the founder of a global trans rights organization called Gender Proud, which seeks to get legislation passed that will allow transgender people to change their identification to match their gender expression with having to undergo SRS or sterilization surgeries.  


This is the video of the amazing and highly praised TED talk that Geena did in Vancouver, in which she explains why she needed to come out as trans.  She received a standing ovation for it when she was done.

And how apropos it has been released on International TDOV Day.

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Happy International Transgender Day Of Visibility 2014!

For most of you on the eastern side of the International Date Line, it's Monday, March 31.   But today is also the International Transgender Day of Visibility.

Transgender Michigan Executive Director Rachel Crandall founded it on March 31, 2010 because she wanted to have a transgender community event that was the flipside of the TDOR memorials every November.   Rachel's vision for the Trans Day of Visibility when she founded it four years ago was to focus on all the good things in the trans community, instead of just remembering those who were lost.

It also gives our trans community allies another day and event in which they can show and express their support for our community.


"The day of remembrance is exactly what it is. It remembers people who died," Crandall said. "This focuses on the living.   

Since it's all about positive visibility of trans people, the TDOV is gaining traction in the trans community with a major assist from the Trans 100, which releases its list every March 31.

Happy International Transgender Day Of Visibility to you! 

SGL Hatin' Going On At Winston-Salem State U

Got a call early Saturday morning from Chevara Orrin and Jane Vaughan alerting me to a developing situation at North Carolina HBCU Winston-Salem State University 

Junior Aaron McCorkle is a Thurgood Marshall College Fund scholar, an out and proud SGL man and popular student on the WSSU campus.   During his time there 'Stacks' has walked away with the Mr. Freshman title in 2011-12, was elected to the Student Government Association Freshman Class council the same year, was elected Mr Sophomore in 2012-13, and Mr. Mass Communications in 2013.

He has also served in leadership roles at Winston-Salem State as a member of Prism, the WSSU on campus LGBT organization, the Campus Activities Board and as the NAACP student representative all while maintaining a 3.3 GPA.  

Now McCorkle has set his sights on winning the Mr. WSSU crown and based on his previous track record has a great chance of winning it.  

And some WSSU folks are not only 'scurred' about that possibly occurring, they aren't happy about it and are expressing their homophobic opinions on social media.




In addition to the haters expressing themselves on social media, with one person suggesting that all the former Mr WSSU's get together to 'whip his (McCorkle's) ass', as an eerie reminder to me of last year's ugly smear campaign aimed at openly gay UH-Downtown student Kristopher Sharp when he was running for student vice president, two year old photos of McCorkle in drag popped up just as his campaign for Mr. WSSU ramped up with the caption, 'Is this what you want representing the entire school community?' 

Adding to the divisive crap being stirred up by somebody who is desperate to win the Mr. WSSU title by any means necessary, are homophobic tweets by Brian 'B-DAHT' McLaughlin, a local radio hip-hop DJ on WJMH-FM 102 Jamz since 2005 who is a Winston-Salem State alum and an announcer at WSSU sporting events.    

McLaughlin poured gasoline on the fire being stirred up by tweeting the following comments:

"If y'all let a drag Queen be Mr. #WSSU, I quit. Straight up."; "#WSSU: y'all really letting a dude, that goes out in drag #nshit, run for Mr. Ram? Have y'all lost y'all mutha fuckin minds, man?!"; "Yes we ARE talking about this putrid shit. Y'all have completely lost it. The nigga dresses in drag, & HE will represent our school?"; and "...Get the fuck outta here. Ya turning the position into a fucking joke. Clowns."

At the same time McLaughlin tried to hypocritically say his anti-gay views didn't reflect 102 Jamz or MTV2, where according to his Linked In profile he is one of the cast members on the sixth season of Nick Cannon's Wild 'N Out improv show on that cable network 

Naw Brian, your homophobic views negatively reflect on you as a human being.  They are also dangerous because you have influence in the community because of your 100,000 watt radio station platform, television appearances and on the WSSU campus as the announcer for Ram athletics. 

Some of this phobic hatred being aimed at McCorkle is because the winner of the Mr. WSSU title goes on to face off against seven other HBCU's in the now ten year old Mr. HBCU contest held on the campus of Lincoln University (Missouri).   WSSU has been quite successful at that event, bringing back the crown once and placing in the first runner up spot twice.      

If the goal was to stir up enough anti-gay animus on campus to wreck McCorkle's Mr WSSU campaign, the perpetrator succeeded in stirring up the anti-gay animus part by also injecting a heaping helping of transmisogyny in the mix. 

Whether it will succeed in derailing McCorkle's chances to become Mr WSSU is still debatable, and may even backfire.  It may cause students on the WSSU campus to rally to defend the embattled student because he is being attacked.    

Will definitely be keeping an eye on this developing situation.


Update: Mr WSSU election is Wednesday.

5.5 Million Hits!

Another day, another milestone here at TransGriot.

Thanks to you loyal readers, I passed the 5.5 million hit milestone at 11:53 PM CDT today.    That's a lot of readers since I reached the 5 million hit milestone back on July 4 of last year..

And how apropos is it that I'm getting my 5.5.millionth visitor on the eve of the Transgender Day of Visibility for a blog that was founded to heighten the visibility of the trans communities of color?

I also get to find out the day before my May 4 birthday whether or not I can call TransGriot a GLAAD Media Award winning blog instead of just a GLAAD Media Award nominated one. 


Thank you once again for surfing by the blog to read my posts, and as long as y'all keep doing so and occasionally drop some change in the Tip Jar if you REALLY like what I do here, I'll keep cranking them out.  

Next stop 6 million hits!

The 2014 Trans 100: Initial Thoughts

I spent an enjoyable few hours watching the livestream feed of this year's second annual Trans 100 reveal show once again from a sold out Mayne Stage in Chicago.

This year's show opened with performances from 2004 Miss International Queen and Baton Show lounge performer Mimi Marks, Kelly Preston and mistress of ceremonies and 2014 Trans 100 honoree Angelica Ross.

After remarks from Trans 100 co-founder Jen Richards, 2014 Trans 100 honoree Fallon Fox and 2013 Trans 100 honoree Christina Kahrl took the stage to read the first group of 2014 Trans 100 honorees names that included Angelica and Fallon.

2014 Trans 100 honoree Kye Allums then took the stage to deliver his keynote speech, to be followed by 2014 Trans 100 honoree Tiq Milan reading the next group of names that included Kye.

After a break and musical performance, the new feature of the Trans 100 was introduced with 2013 Trans 100 honoree Janet Mock and 2014 Trans 100 honoree Precious Davis giving Gloria Allen the inaugural Trans 100 Living Legend Award.

Geena Rocero then took the stage to read the last group of 2014 Trans 100 honorees before the stage was yielded to 2013 Trans 100 honoree Dr. Kortney Ryan Ziegler.

Dr KRZ presented the winners of Trans*H4CK Chicago, and they proceeded to describe their winning project for a few moments before Laverne Cox took the stage to deliver her keynote speech.     
      
The night concluded with a performace from trans rapper KC Ortiz.

So what are my initial thoughts as someone who was named to the inaugural 2013 list? 

First, congratulations to everyone who was named to the 2014 Trans 100 list.   I know how I felt when my name was called last year.  I like the idea of opening it up to choose another 100 people to emphasize the fact we have a hell of a lot of people in our community who are out, proud and doing the work to uplift our community. 

Are there going to be people pissed because they didn't make this year's or the 2013 Trans100 list?  Probably.  

All I have to say is if you didn't make it or you are reading this post and think someone's contributions to your trans community were overlooked, when the nominations open for the 2015 Trans 100 List, nominate the people you think should be on it.because that's what I and other did when the nominations window opened for 2014..   Three of the five people I nominated were eventually selected.    The two I submitted that weren't were international trans persons.

The full list will be released to the rest of the world tomorrow,  but here's some of the people listed who jumped out at me.   My fellow Texans Cristan Williams, Lou Weaver, Tye West and Sharyn Grayson.   Veteran activists Jamison Green, Nancy Nangeroni, Valerie Spencer, Jazz (who also became the youngest Trans100 Honoree with her selection BTW), Kim Watson, Cheryl Courtney-Evans, Dee Dee Chamblee, Nikki 'Tita Aida' Calma, Tracy Garza and Lourdes Hunter.

Sarah McBride, Laura Jane Grace, Rocco 'Katastrophe' Kayiatos and Lana Wachowski made it this year, and so did Maria Roman, Brynn Tannehill, CeCe McDonald, Cherno Biko, Holiday Simmons, Kiara St. James, Bali White, Dr. Jillian T. Weiss, Dr. Ben Barres, Dr Van Bailey, Rev Dr Cameron Partridge, and Rev. Lawrence T Richardson.    
   
The Men of BTMI also were representing in Sean Coleman, Charley Burton, and Minister Louis Mitchell. 

Tobi Hill-Meyer, Danielle Askini, Morgan Robyn Collado, Trystan Reese, Octavia Hamlett and TPOCC's Parker T. Hurley also were named. 



The best part of the Trans 100 event is hearing the names of activists we aren't familiar with and getting to know their work because they now have heightened name recognition

Some of my fellow trans Texans I was surprised didn't make it this year were Rev. Carmarian Anderson, Lauryn Farris and Nikki Araguz Loyd.   Rev Anderson is South Regional minister for TransSaints and active in the DFW area.  Lauryn was part of the team that got the non-discrimination ordinance passed in San Antonio, and Nikki had that ground breaking legal win that may have broken the back of Littleton v. Prange.   Tracee McDaniel was another name I was surprised I didn't hear called along with Tona Brown, Monica Stevens, Arianna Lint, and Danielle Castro just to name a few.  

I'll post the full list when it's released tomorrow. 


   

The 2014 Trans 100 Revealed Tonight

At the Mayne Stage tonight in Chicago the second annual Trans 100 event hosted by Angelica Ross will take place starting at 7 PM CDT.   There will be keynote speeches by Laverne Cox and Kye Allums for this highly anticipated and sold out event.  

For those of you in the Chicago are who wanted to see it live, you still can, but you'll have to do what the rest of the US and the world is doing.   We'll be watching the live feed of it from 7-9 PM CDT.   

And for you international trans folks, I would love to see see future Trans 100 type events in your various nations, so please get busy forming your international teams so we can see that happen in 2015.

Who will be the 100 trans people that make the 2014 edition of the Trans 100? 

I know who 100 of them WON'T be.   Me and 'errbody' else who made the inaugural 2013 list will not be on this one because the co-founders of the Trans 100 wanted to highlight a new set of out and proud trans folks who are doing the work of the community. 

Looking forward to checking out the live feed later tonight with notepad in hand to write down this year's honorees.. 

Tona Plays Amazing Grace

Just a reminder of how awesome Tona Brown is and how such awesomeness needs to be on the stage of Carnegie Hall.  This video is from the Baltimore TDOR.   Tona is playing 'Amazing Grace' accompanied by cellist Kevin Jones of the Aida Strings

Tona is an advocate for transgender issues and the arts.  She founded the Aida Strings in 2005 with the goal of showcasing the talent of classical artists in African American and LGBT communities who have a harder time getting the same exposure or opportunities as others.

So enjoy this duet and pull out a dollar or two (or $5, $10, $20...) to help get Tona to New York.

In The 2014 BTAC Homestretch

I'm planning on being on the other end of I-45 April 29-May for the the third annual Black Trans Advocacy Conference which is shaping up to be even bigger than last years event at the Doubletree Campbell Center 

As many of you TransGriot readers are aware I had the honor of giving last year's keynote address along with Kylar Broadus, and this year that dual honor will go to Dr. Kortney Ryan Ziegler and Cheryl Courtney-Evans. 

The next night after the speech I along with Kylar Broadus, Dr. Kortney Ryan Ziegler and Minister Louis Mitchell were honored with awards that were named after us.   Another one was started this year, the Lawrence T. Richardson Humanitarian Award named for the Minnesota based pastor.  

With the dates for the 2014 of BTAC rapidly approaching, the nominations have already gone out for the BTAC Advocacy awards that will be given out during the May 2 Black Diamond Ball.   Of course I'm interested in seeing who will be this year's recipients of the Monica Roberts Advocacy Award.

And yeah I'll be doing a BTAC panel discussion or two. 


See you in Dallas next month. 

Kat Blacque Talks About' RuPaul's Drag Race'

I've had my say about the jacked up RuPaul show.   And now for your TransGriot pleasure video blogger Kat Blacque comments about that heinous Drag Race episode and the transphobia it enables.

Warning:  NSFW video.       

Happy Janet Mock Day!

As y'all are aware of, Janet's tour across the country in support of Redefining Realness continues, and tonight she is in San Francisco. 

She was given a proclamation at an event that is happening right now declaring today in San Francisco as 'Janet Mock Day'.  

I also found it deliciously ironic that it happened (snicker, snicker) on the very day the last Piers Morgan Tonight show is being broadcast on CNN.

Aww, my heart bleeds for him.  Psyche.  

Naw, I know I won't miss watching him berate guests and neither will America 

But back to the #girllikeus of the hour.  Congrats Janet for the well deserved honor!   



 And oh yeah, happy Janet Mock Day!

Moni Goes To Legacy

Spent a couple of hours this afternoon in the gayborhood at the invitation of Antonio Aguires speaking to a group of employees at Legacy Montrose Clinic.

My task for the hour was to discuss health issues, how they impact the trans community, and what we look for from the providers who wish to serve our community.  

It was one of the reasons I asked that question on my FB page in order to have a wide sampling of community opinions to do some hard, solid thinking about before I walked into the building Friday afternoon to discuss this issue. 

After a problematic incident with a trans patient a few months ago, Legacy is trying to address the problem that occurred by doing more training with its staff and the people who work there about our community and the issues we face. 

I started the talk a little after 1 PM CDT with this quote from the late Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D-NY) in which she stated during a 1970 congressional speech, "Health is a human right, not a privilege to be purchased."

I touched on some of the history of trans medicine.   I discussed Dr Magnus Hirschfeld and his Berlin institute for Sexual Research that was raided by the Nazis in 1933 and had its books and archives burned, touched briefly on Christine Jorgensen, the local gender clinic in Galveston that was founded in the early 1970's before shifting gears and tying all of this to the current day state of trans medicine and our expectations as the community Legacy seeks to respectfully serve. 

The point I wanted to drive home with the people in attendance is we trans people not only want to be seen as the men and women we are, when we come to you for medical services, we want to be treated with the same dignity and respect you'd demand for yourselves . 

I pointed out in addition to local advocates, there were also emerging online links about the subject of respectful trans medical care they could peruse as well from various organizations like WPATH, Lambda Legal, Transgender Education Network of Texas  (TENT),  TransHealth Coordinators,  and the Center of Excellence for Transgender Health just to name a few. 

I spoke for 45 minutes, then allowed another 15 minutes for questions before it concluded. 

Haven't gotten any feedback yet from Legacy in terms of the reactions from the people in attendance for this lunchtime conversation.  But I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did, took away from it something about my trans community they may not have been aware of before and it leads to the goal we all want of better health outcomes and delivery of respectful medical care for the Houston area trans community.   

Shut Up Fool Awards-Sweet Sixteen Edition

The men's and women's NCAA tournaments enter the Sweet Sixteen round this weekend as they whittle it down to the Elite Eight and the Final Four teams that will fight for the 2014 men's and women's NCAA titles in Arlington and Nashville.

So far my men's and women's 2014 NCAA Final Four teams are still intact, but we'll see if that's the case after this weekend's games are played.

And yes, I'm quite aware of what day it is on the calendar.   It's Friday, and time to slam dunk four more Final Four Fools.  So let's get to it.


Final Four Fool number one is a SUF Lifetime Achievement Award winner in Bill O'Reilly.  I had to call this fool out for aiming the 'race hustler' insult at Rep Barbara Lee (D-CA) during FOX Noise interview with Rep. Paul  Ryan on his show for justifiably calling out Rep Paul Ryan for his racist remarks.

Stop projecting Bill.  You and your friends at Fox Noise along with your Fox Fembots are the masters at 'race hustling'.  Your network and your movement never miss an opportunity to race bait.h

Final Four Fool Number two goes to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell  (R-KY) and his campaign,  The person who made it his political goal to make President Obama a one term president is deliciously in the fight of his political life to hold on to his senate seat.  

Either he or someone on his staff thought it would be a great idea to take advantage of the Kentucky Wildcats run through the NCAA tournament in this basketball crazy state and use them in an ad.   The finished product was a pic of the hated Duke Blue Devils winning the 2010 NCAA title. 

They compounded that error by trying to use the image of Wildcat Julius Randle in a replacement ad to which UK and the NCAA sent his campaign cease and desist letters in doing so because it violates NCAA rules to use the images of current NCAA student athletes in advertising.

Final Four Fool Number three is Washington NFL franchise owner Daniel Snyder,  who is catching major heat for not changing the offensive nickname of his NFL team and tried to deflect criticism of his refusal to do so by starting the Original Americans Foundation.   

Dave Zirin of The Nation dissects his open letter.   


Final Four Fool Number four is Alaska state senator Pete Kelly (R) who continues the conservafool War on Women by trying to push a bill that would mandate state funded pregnancy tests before women are allowed to drink in bars.   As you probably guessed because of the (R) behind his name, the troglodyte also hates on birth control, too

Caribou Barbie desecrating our television screens to deny there's no Republican War on Women in 5...4...3...2...1...

This is why you need to be running to the polls on November 4.

This week's Shut Up fool winner is Timberlake 'Christian' School of Forest, VA, who kicked out 8 year old Sunnie Kahle because she wasn't 'feminine enough'  for them. 

"You're probably aware that Timberlake Christian School is a religious, Bible believing institution providing education in a distinctly Christian environment,"Doris Thompson, Sunnie's grandmother, read from the letter to ABC 27. "We believe that unless Sunnie as well as her family clearly understand that God has made her female and her dress and behavior need to follow suit with her God-ordained identity, that TCS is not the best place for her future education."

Sunnie is in her tomboy phase and had a 4.0 average before her grandparents pulled her out of the school.

Incidents like this are why I am opposed to ANY public tax money school going to private schools like this.one.  But then again, TCS is near Lynchburg, VA, the old stomping grounds of the late fundie preacher, bigot and homophobe Jerry Falwell, so I'm not surprised to hear this story coming from that neck of the woods either.

Lte's do this.   Timberlake Christian School, thou fools need to stop flapping thy lips

If you didn't get that, here's the translation:   take it away Mr. T