Shut Up Fool Awards- Memorial Day Weekend 2014 Edition

It's Friday, and once again we move toward the last Monday in May and Memorial Day weekend. 

It's the day we remember the people who gave their lives on battlefields around the world to protect our nation from foreign and domestic enemies and defend the freedoms enshrined in our Constitution.  

It's a Constitution I wonder if the conservafools have even read beyond the First, Second and Tenth amendments.   It's also apropos that we are heading into this Memorial Day weekend embroiled in a fierce debate inside Loop 610 in which many of us are engaged in the civil rights battle of our time in trying to pass the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance against the same group of segregationists who think their white privilege and specious religious beliefs trump our human rights.  

And it's a fight we are determined to win against the Houston Division of the Forces of Intolerance.
 

It has been a busy and contentious week leading into today, and I am compiling HERO related news posts that will pop up at noon CDT every day except on Fridays because I have other 'bidness' to handle first

And that 'bidness' as y'all long time TransGriot readers know is my weekly Shut Up Fool Awards. 

I get the pleasure of sorting out after y'all nominate them on Wednesdays what fool, fools or group of fools deserve to get called out on Friday. 

This Memorial Day weekend I had a lot of SUF award worthy fools to wade through, so let's get busy doing so. 

Honorable mention number one is the now unemployed duo of Kimberly Ray and Barry Beck, who engaged in a 12 minute transphobic rant on their Rochester, NY radio show that got the pair swiftly terminated.  

Another media personality that had to learn the hard way the trans community and our allies are not tolerating fact free attacks on us anymore. 

Honorable mention number two is Pat Sajak.  The conservafool host of Wheel of Fortune posted this tweet: "I now believe global warming alarmists are unpatriotic racists knowingly misleading for their own ends. Good night."   When the swift and sure reaction came from the Twitterverse Sajak tried to claim it was 'a joke' 

Yo Pat  FYI for you, racism is bigotry/prejudice plus systemic power, not an epithet for you vanillacentric privileged fools to throw around.   Global warming is no joke either as 97% of climate scientists will tell you.  

Honorable mention number three, RuPaul for once again disrespecting the trans community and trying to defend a word we're already said ad nauseum is a slur.   

Honorable mention number five is Dr Ben Carson, who continues to coon it up for the conservafools

Physician, please heal thyself from the sickness of conservatism. 

Honorable mention number five is Vice magazine co-founder Gavin McInnes, who opened mouth and inserted foot to say that the 'myth of racism' is crippling for Blacks.

And you would know this how Oh Almighty White Male?   'Myth of Racism' my azz.   You got it twisted. More like the reality of racism is crippling to Blacks and other non-white people in this country.   It irks me that you and other conservative white males rush to deny its existence, your deep seated pathological hatred of Black people and failure to acknowledge you benefit immensely from it.

It is a major reason why racism hasn't been eliminated from American society .  .

This week's Shut Up Fool winner is Allen West.   This conservaidiot who dishonored the uniform and tortured an Iraqi detainee and should be in jail for it had the nerve to attack Rep Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) because she agreed to serve on the Bengazipalooza Witch Hunt Committee.

West remarked of Duckworth: "I just don't know where her loyalties lie. You know, for her to have been a veteran, a wounded warrior for the United States Army, she should know that this is not the right thing. And hopefully, you know, she will remember the oath of office that she took as an Army officer and not the allegiance I guess she believes she has to the liberal progressives of the Democrat Party."

I just don’t know where her loyalties lie. You know, for her to have been a veteran, a wounded warrior for the United States Army, she should know that this is not the right thing. And hopefully, you know, she will remember the oath of office that she took as an Army officer and not the allegiance I guess she believes she has to the liberal progressives of the Democrat Party.
Read more at http://wonkette.com/549881/torture-hero-allen-west-just-asking-if-legless-vet-congresswoman-tammy-duckworth-is-loyal-is-all#TzcYIkHGCg2Rbb67.99

I just don’t know where her loyalties lie. You know, for her to have been a veteran, a wounded warrior for the United States Army, she should know that this is not the right thing. And hopefully, you know, she will remember the oath of office that she took as an Army officer and not the allegiance I guess she believes she has to the liberal progressives of the Democrat Party.
Read more at http://wonkette.com/549881/torture-hero-allen-west-just-asking-if-legless-vet-congresswoman-tammy-duckworth-is-loyal-is-all#TzcYIkHGCg2Rbb67.99

Conservanegro, please.  What body parts did you leave behind in Iraq?  

The oath Rep Duckworth took as an Army officer who is still serving BTW as a Lt. Colonel in the Illinois National Guard states that she will defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic".

You fit that 'domestic enemies' part to perfection.

Allen West, shut the HELL up fool




.

HERO Haters Threaten Recall Elections

The fun continues during the coming Memorial Day weekend over the HERO, and the faith-based haters have now resorted to threats and intimidation in order to try to get their way and defeat the HERO on May 28.

According to a KHOU-TV report, in addition to threatening to collect signatures to force a repeal referendum on the HERO, they are now going as far as threatening to target the mayor and any other council member who votes YES on this needed human rights ordinance.

The Houston city charter lays out the criteria for which an elected official can be recalled – incompetence, misconduct, malfeasance or unfitness for office, so it would probably be a stretch for the haters to be able to do so in the first place. 

But assuming they went to a GOP state judge and got a ruling allowing them to do so, you'd have the task of  getting 1/4 of the number of voters in the last city election that cast ballots in a particular race to sign off on petitions, and you have only 30 days to collect them.   There were 170,000 votes cast in the last mayoral race, so that translates to about 42,500 signatures the anti-HERO peeps would have to gather to recall Mayor Parker, assuming this threat is even credible.

Now for district councilmembers, in which there would be a lower signature threshold, that might be a different story. 

Let's assume you had a district council race in which 10,000 total ballots were cast.  It would take only 2,500 signatures to force a recall.

But seriously, do these conservafools really want to go there?  Did they not forget our side votes and can collect signatures to target council conservatives Michael Kubosh, Brenda Stardig and Oliver Pennington for removal from council?  

Stardig and Pennington are in district seats, so they would be subject to the low threshold.   Kubosh was elected citywide and would have a higher one, but there's enough of us in LGBT Houston pissed off at Kubosh to get the ball rolling on a recall effort targeting him, especially after that 'God put me on city council to oppose the HERO' remark he made at Sunday's Riggle hate rally.

Houston and Harris County provide 16% of the statewide votes in an election cycle.  Are the conservafools that pissed off about the HERO passing they would go there and give our liberal progressive voters another valid reason to bumrush the polls this November, especially in an election cycle in which Wendy Davis and Leticia Van de Putte sit at the top of our statewide Democratic ticket?  

And with that juiced up Harris County turnout showing up and showing out, we'd urge those same progressive voters to handle their electoral business and cast ballots for every Democrat in down ballot race like the judicial ones.  

So please, be that politically stupid and go there.   Make my political day.

Their nekulturny behavior and Becky Riggle's expressed belief in one of the council hearings they have a right to discriminate against gays and Jews is why the HERO needs to pass May 28.

Transphobic Rochester DJ's Fired

Media peeps, if you didn't get the message from Katie Couric's, Piers Morgan's, Wendy Williams' and RuPaul's recent publicized kerfluffles over disrespecting the trans community, can you hear us now?

Was not happy to hear about the former Rochester, NY  'The Breakfast Buzz' 98.9 FM morning team of Kimberly and Beck unleashing transphobic vitriol on WBZA-FM after that city enacted a historic policy that would extend trans health benefits to its employees.

During their Tuesday broadcast they unleashed a 12 minute transphobic tirade aimed at the local transgender community and a local trans feminine trans teen.   After that facts free transphobic rant, they poured gasoline on the fire by playing the Aerosmith song 'Dude Looks Like A Lady'

The rant earned Kimberly Ray and Barry Beck (any relation to Glenn?) an on-air suspension from the Entercom owned station that morphed into a termination.  

This from the station's Twitter feed:

"This morning Entercom fired Kimberly and Beck effective immediately. Their hateful comments against the transgender community do not represent our station or our company. We deeply apologize to the transgender community, the community of Rochester and anyone else who was offended by their comments. We are proud of our past work on behalf of the local LGBT community and we remain committed to that partnership."

The unemployed radio team will probably be getting a call from FOX Noise for an interview so they can be paraded around as the latest 'victims' of political correctness'.

Yeah, right.   Before her behind got fired, she defiantly doubled down on her vanilla scented privileged ignorance.

Freedom of Speech includes the freedom to offend others. You aren't granted a right to not be offended in this life #getoverit #ROC
— Kimberly (@Kimberly989buzz) May 21, 2014

Kimberly Ray, neither are you granted a right to be free from the consequences of your choice of using your First Amendment rights to offend people, especially when you have a 100,000 watt platform to do it from courtesy of your FCC licensed employer.

If you believe that, you've been watching too much FOX Noise. 

Free speech does not mean 'I get to say whatever hateful crap I wish about you and you STFU'.   Free speech has consequences.  You are free to say whatever negative crap you wish to say about my community, but you better be prepared to deal with the consequences because we have the same First Amendment rights to call your behinds out on it.  .

And if you haven't noticed, the trans community is not tolerating unwarranted fact free attacks on it any more. 

Ponder that while you're collecting your first unemployment check. 

HERO Updates, Notes and News -May 22

It's Thursday and we're creeping closer to the May 28 session that will hopefully result in a historic human rights win.  I'm enroute to the KPRC-TV 2 studios to tape an interview for the Houston Newsmakers show that will be broadcast on Sunday.

Amelia Miller will also be in the studio with me representing our community along with show host Khambrel Marshall 

We are still having meeting across the city and gearing up for the big day.    There's an upcoming trans town hall on Saturday afternoon and the unveiling of the Rev. Dr MLK Jr. statue that will bring out the Houston Black politicos and allies.

Interesting poling numbers to note in this update.  Despite the faith based hate sermons of pastor Ed Young and Steve Riggle, 78% of Houstonians support the HERO.   In the African-American community despite Rev. Max Miller's best efforts to unleash the anti-trans hate at the behest of his controllers Dave Welch and Dave 'Fake Black Man' Wilson, that number is 85% support in the African-American community.

Yep boys, you're still on the wrong side of this human rights issue, and bussing in more peeps from The Woodlands, Tomball and whatever other Houston exurbs won't help.  

I also needed to show y'all me and other Houston trans peeps handling our HERO business at last Tuesday's hearings.




Interestingly enough, Dee Dee Watters and I have been mysteriously paired up to where we end up speaking immediately behind each other.    That happened last Tuesday, but in this case Dee Dee took everybody to church.   She is a POD deaconess, so I wasn't surprised when this happened.




Lou Weaver's testimony.



and I'll end it with the person I'll be sharing the KPRC-TV stage with in Amelia Miller.


 
  

Tona's Carnegie Hall Concert Tickets Go On Sale Today!

Well, the historic day gets one step closer to reality with tickets going on sale for Tona's historic event at New York's famed Carnegie Hall.  .

Tona's upcoming concert on June 25 is entitled 'From Stonewall to Carnegie Hall' and will take place in the  Weill Recital Hall starting at 8 PM

The concert will feature our awesome girl like us mezzo-soprano violinist sister Tona Brown, and Charlie Gilmer on piano.

The guest artists are comedian Tammy Peay and Nathan James as the Emcee.

The tickets start going on sale at 11 AM EDT, so you may wish to get those tickets now because they are sure to sell out quickly for this historic night.   

Tyra Banks To Produce VH1 Trans Cable Series

This ought to be interesting..   Tyra Banks is set to executive produce a docuseries starring Carmen Carrera    

According to Hollywood Reporter, the eight episode docuseries entitled TransAmerica would be based in Chicago and focus on Carrera and five other trans feminine women as these millenials live, love and seek to establish their careers in the Windy City. 

"It would be easy to focus on the transgender aspect, but this series is about so much more," said Susan Levison, executive VP programming for VH1. "This is a show about a group of compelling, gorgeous young friends who are on a unique journey while staying true to their authentic selves. We believe that message resonates."

The show is set to air in late 2014-early 2015 on VH1.

Geena Goes Home

Geena Rocero is on a trip back home to the Philippines in which she is doing media appearances and interviews, speaking to local transpinay leaders and talking up Gender Proud, her international trans rights organization she founded that successfully raised over $15K in a recently concluded indiegogo campaign.

The New York based model came out as trans in a widely applauded TED talk and subsequently founded Gender Proud.

The nascent international trans organization has the mission of advocating for the ability of trans, intersex and gender variant people around the world to have legislation in their various nations allowing them to easily change documentation to reflect the persons they are now without surgical intervention .

And yeah, I get the pleasure of chatting with Geena from time to time. I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with this busy lady the next time I'm in the New York area or wherever our paths cross.. 

Before hitting the Philippines, Rocero spent some time in Hong Kong talking to local activists there who are also working hard to clean up the documentation laws there and build on the trans marriage win of Ms W.. 




She's handling her activist business.   And as you can see by the video, she's doing the trans education in her birth nation and looking fabulous while doing so. 

And thanks for giving Naomi Fontanos that hug for me.

HERO Updates, Notes and News-May 21

In our latest edition of HERO updates, notes and news we discovered that the Riggles weren't the only ones sowing transphobic hate speech from the pulpit on Sunday.   Pastor Ed Young of the Second Baptist megachurch was also stooping to that level to torpedo the HERO

Councilmember Michael Kubosh came out of the closet to declare he was a NO vote and while at the Sunday Riggle hate rally at Grace KKKommunity Church declared 'God put him in that council seat to oppose the HERO'. 

Silly me, thought it was a majority of the city of Houston's voters. Guess the Michael Kubosh campaign slogan next year will be: 'Fighting AGAINST You LGBT Houstonians'.


For those of you needing ammo to destroy the bathroom meme the haters are beating into hamburger, here's a Media Matters story that points out what we already know.  Laws like the HERO don't lead to the parade of horribles the christopimps are pushing to their low information sheeple. 

As a matter of fact Dave Welch and his Pastor's Council fools already tried to go there in April 2010 when Mayor Parker signed the executive order extending protections to trans* city workers

They lied then, and they are lying now.

Because I got so fed up with all the anti-trans hatred being pushed by the anti-HERO pastors, wrote this post to push back against it.   And speaking of pushback, I got asked along with Amelia because of all that off the charts faith based trans hate to do an interview on KPRC-TV 2 to discuss our local trans community uninterrupted by the haters.  The show will tape tomorrow and air Sunday.

Keep those calls coming to City Hall.

Time For Some Truth In This Houston Trans Narrative

One of the things that has pissed me and the Houston trans community off in this battle to pass the HERO is the opponents nonstop reliance on demonizing the trans community as their primary method for trying to defeat the much needed human rights ordinance.

And I'm tired of bald faced lies dominating this human rights discussion about our trans lives instead of logic and reason.  The thing that has most disheartened and upset Black trans Houstonians is the people squawking the loudest about it are ministers who share our ethnic heritage.  

It's time for some truth in this Houston trans narrative.

Bottom line is that at least 1%-3% of the 2.2 million people in the Houston area are gender variant folks on one level or another.   It's not a myth we are facing anti-trans violence and employment discrimination. 


And the one I really have been incensed about when I hear it is the ignorant attempt by the hate ministers to pimp the lie we don't as LGBT people face discrimination, because our Black skin ensures that we Black LGBT people most certainly do.  

Trans people have been here in the Houston metro area probably as long as this city has existed.  It's interesting to note the anti-crossdressing ordinance that was repealed in 1980 was enacted in 1904.

We have a proud history.  The ICTLEP conferences from 1992-1997 that set the stage for the modern trans rights movement took place here in Houston   Wilmer 'Little Axe' Broadnax was a transman and renowned gospel singer during the 40's-70's who was born here.   I'd need another post to talk about the accomplishments of Judge Phyllis Frye, the Godmother of the Trans Rights Movement. 

We have a history of producing human rights warriors.   From Toni Mayes who in 1975 sued HPD to get them to stop harassing her to the late Kathryn McGuire, Dee McKellar and Brenda Thomas who played major roles in shaping trans Houston history along with Sarah DePalma. 

Jenifer Rene Pool will hopefully finish what Kathryn McGuire started and sit on City Council.  A certain award winning Houston based blogger continues to blaze trails, tell our stories and fight for the increased visibility and empowerment of trans people of color.

Cristan Williams continues to do her thing and pick up where Brenda Thomas left off in fighting the spread of HIV in our community.  And we have some new school emerging leaders in Lou Weaver, Tye West, Dee Dee Watters, Dr. Colt Keo-Meier and Amelia Miller just to name a few. 

We transpeople have much to contribute to make a Houston better than its promise. 

Transpeople are all around you.  We're the transmasculine and transfeminine people toiling hard at our various jobs when we have them.   We're studying at our local colleges and universities.   We're your hair stylists, blue and white collar workers, makeup artists, teachers, accountants, doctors, lawyers, office workers and entrepreneurs.  We're your artists, writers and musicians.  We're your leaders and worker bees in various organizations that strive to make life better for all who call Houston home.

We're the hell raisers standing up for the human rights of all the people and communities we intersect and interact with.   And we are voters who can not only determine the outcome of an election, but as Mayor Parker discovered will bust our butts to help you get elected.

We are your brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, parents, church congregants and neighbors to other cisgender Houstonians.  We're your homeboys and sistahgirls   We're interesting, diverse, and pretty cool people once you get to know us.   And if you're loyal to us, we'll be loyal to you. 

But piss us off...

I repeat: Houston trans people are part of the 2.2 million folks who call our city home.  Not having our human rights protected is causing many people in our community to trade one stifling closet for another one of anonymity. 

Anti-trans hate sermons like the one Pastor Ed Young unleashed on Sunday along with the Riggle hate rally are why many of us choose to non-disclose along with the lack of human rights protections. 

Trans people would like to play an even larger role in helping our city grow and prosper, but for that to happen, the hate speech, lies and falsehoods against us must end.  The passage of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance with gender identity language must happen so that we can reach our full potential. 

We have to win this HERO fight because it's not just for us.  It's for all those transkids from preschool to the collegiate ranks who are counting on us to handle our human rights business.   We need to win this HERO fight so all those present and future Houston trans kids will have to focus on is dreaming their dreams as big as the Lone Star State and working hard to make them a reality.

All we want as trans Houstonians is to be treated with dignity and respect, have our humanity acknowledged and have the same human rights coverage you take for granted. 

HERO Updates, Notes and News-May 20

Due to repeated requests from my readers locally and around the country hungry for information about our historic human rights fight, I'm going to do a daily series of posts from now until the Houston Equal Rights Amendment passes and the Forces of Intolerance leave it alone with news and information about what's happening with it.

Today's HERO update starts with the advocacy training event for people scheduled to speak at the May 28 combined city council meeting held at Legacy Health Services building last night.

The two hour training was attended by a standing room crowd of over 80 people and facilitated by Ryan Leach and Januari Leo.  Attendees were given presentations concerning the current political situation surrounding the HERO, what to expect when attending the May 28 meeting and tips and tricks for surviving what is going to be a long marathon session.

I was happy to be able to give an example of how to do one minute of testimony for this meeting.  My loquacious behind actually concluded the timed example I gave with nine seconds to spare.  

Then again I've had plenty of practice lately.

I was also tempted to go over the one minute to see if Ryan would do his dead on impression of Houston City Council Secretary Anna Russell and her famous line 'I'm sorry, your time has expired."


If there is a desire from the community to have another one of these trainings by the folks who missed yesterday's event, there is a possibility another one will happen before the 28th .  Watch this TransGriot space for info as to date and time.

In yesterday's update I posted some of the speakers stats, but neglected to mention the stats concerning the ministers.   Ministers speaking in favor of the HERO have been running 2-1 over the anti-HERO ones, which is why you saw the anti-HERO councilmembers moving the hate ministers up the speakers lists to give the impression to the news cameras there's widespread opposition to the HERO's passage.

There isn't.  The opposition is being bussed in from the exurbs.   Even with all the loud and wrong African-American ministers speaking, public opinion is still running 85% in the Houston African-American community in favor of HERO passage, and many of our elected African-American officials support it.

My state Senator Rodney Ellis is one of them.    From the May 13 HERO press conference at City Hall.

   

In the previous video and in my testimony last Tuesday,  Senator Ellis and I both referenced the 1984 attempt to pass a sexual orientation only non discrimination law that was rolled back in a referendum.

Here's a DailyKos post discussing that series of H-town events 30 years ago, the 'Straight Slate', and Louie Welch's Shoot The Queers remark that cost him (thank God) the 1985 mayoral election against incumbent mayor Kathy Whitmire.

This Saturday a trans town hall concerning the HERO will be held at Grace Lutheran Church from 3-5 PM.  I'll pass out more details as the date gets closer for it and the final panelist list is firmed up..

As you probably suspected I'm one of the people who have been asked to participate.     

Where Will You Be On The 28th?

'A man who will not labor to gain his right is a man who would not, if he had them, prize and defend them' --Frederick Douglass

That quote came to mind during a conversation I was having with Meghan Stabler yesterday about this HERO fight.in which we talked about the optics and the importance of this fight, especially for the trans community. 

Meghan used to live inside Loop 610 before moving to North Texas, and while here she served as the President of the Pride Houston board.   She lamented during our conversation updating her about the HERO political situation that Pride Houston draws over 250,000 people to party and grab the trinkets  She wondered aloud how many of those people who will be attending Pride Events next month are involved in this fight for their H-town human rights, much less will show up at 901 Bagby Street.

I asked the same question about the peeps who attended the just concluded Houston Splash.   How many of them are involved, signed up to speak and ready to prize and fight for their human rights?

This is the human rights fight of our 21st century time.   This is the moment we've waited 30 years for in terms of taking Houston off that short list of cities that don't protect the human rights of their TBLG citizens.  

We are on the correct and moral side of the arc of the human rights universe and it's bending toward justice for us.  So what's stopping you from joining the fight to pass the HERO?   
 

For my trans brothers and sisters, it's even more important we show up and show out.  We Houston trans people have a long and proud history of struggle against oppression.   Whether it was Toni Mayes filing a successful lawsuit against HPD in 1975 to get them to stop harassing her,  Judge Phyllis Frye who helped kill the anti-crossdressing ordinance in 1980 among her many accomplishments as the Godmother of the Trans Rights Movement, the late Dee McKellar, Sarah DePalma, myself and Vanessa Edwards Foster being part of the team that founded NTAC,  we've been fighters not only for our own human rights but the human rights of the communities we intersect and interact with.  

And we have another generation stepping up to lead and build on our work.. 

So where will you be on the 28th?   I know where I'll be and I'd like you to be, but if you can't make it to City Hall, make those phone calls to city council members.   If you happen to hear people badmouthing the HERO as you're out and about in your daily Houston lives, correct the disinformation as I did on my bus ride yesterday by pointing out the HERO would expand their human rights.

And if you're not ready to tell your story in front of city council or one on one, you can at least wear red on that day to silently support it.

Don't Vote For Kesha Rogers In This Runoff Election Either

Early voting started yesterday for the primary runoff elections in Texas yesterday.   While most of the media will be focused on GOP side and the nasty battles between Lt Governor David Dewhurst and Sen. Dan Patrick and the Paxton-Branch race for the Republican Attorney General nomination, we Dems also have an important choice to make.

And it's a no-brainer.

David Alameel is in the runoff for the Democratic nomination for US Senate to square off against Sen John Cornyn.  Unfortunately, so is LaRouchite Kesha Rogers.   Once again Texas Democrats, in that US Senate race, DON'T vote for Kesha Rogers. 

You have until Friday from 7 AM-7 PM to vote in the early voting phase.   If you voted in the March primary, you will not be able to crossover vote.  If you didn't, then you will be able to choose which party's runoff election you will participate in.

So handle you electoral business during the early voting phase while you have multiple locations to choose from.  On May 27 you will be restricted to the location designated for your precinct.

And yeah, the odious Texas voter suppression law will be in effect.

But go handle your electoral business.  It's the first step in having a Texas with nice things in it.

Matt Kailey 1955-2014

Was stunned to hear the news that one of my fellow bloggers and trans human rights activists in Matt Kailey passed away Saturday night-early Sunday morning of heart failure.

From Matt's sister: 

"I wanted to let you know that Matt Kailey, my brother, has passed away. He died of heart failure in his sleep Saturday night/early Sunday morning. His untimely and unexpected passing has been a shock. With the help of family and friends, I am currently working on processing this tragedy and making arrangements. I will post more information at a later time. Thank you for being Matt's friends."


Matt transitioned in 1997, and his Tranifesto blog was one of the destinations that people went to for information, advice and to get knowledge on the trans journey from the transmasculine point of view.

The Denver, CO based Kailey was the author of Just Add Hormones: An Insider's Guide to The Transsexual Experience (Beacon Press), a Lambda Literary Award finalist and Rocky Mountain News local bestseller, and Teeny Weenies and Other Short Subjects , a collection of humorous and heartfelt essays about his life before and after transition. In addition, his work has appeared in numerous publications, from anthologies to professional journals. Matt was also a media personality who appeared on local and national radio and television, in local and national print publications, and in five documentary films.

Mat Kailey will be missed in our trans human rights ranks and in our community.  Final arrangements are pending, and as soon as I'm aware of them the news will be posted to this blog. 

Rest in power and peace Matt. 

HERO Update, Notes and News

As many of you following our quest to pass the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance are aware of, City Council voted on Wednesday to delay the vote until May 28. 

We aren't happy in H-town about having to wait another two weeks for the inevitable passage of the HERO and giving the Forces of Intolerance hatemongers like Grace KKKommunity Church and the Baptist Ministers Association of Houston and Vicinity more time to whip up anti-TBLG animus in their next two Sunday services.

But the silver lining is it gives us time to get better organized as well.   Yesterday the leadership team working to pass the HERO held a two and half hour strategy meeting in which I'm sworn to secrecy on some of the tactics we will roll out over this final push to passage.  What I can tell you is that it happened, and to stay tuned to these TransGriot pages for the latest information and action alerts as I get them.

We also had some of our allies in the crowd infiltrate Riggle World checking out yesterday's 'Hate on LGBT Peeps in the name of Conservajesus' Rally.

In case you're wondering who Steve and Becky Riggle are in addition to being last week's Shut Up Fool Award winners, she's the woman who showed up at last Tuesday's public comment hearing asserting that she and her fellow modern day Pharisees and Sadducees had the special right to discriminate against Jews and the LGBT community.   Her husband who followed a few speakers later dug an even deeper hole trying to defend his wife's logic defying comments.

They also bussed in people from the Houston exurbs of Tomball and the Woodlands for their hate rally they held at City Hall opposing the HERO.

Interesting to note many of the rally haters were people who claim they don't want to live in Houston, but yet want to stick their unwanted noses in H-town human rights 'bidness'. 

And I'm really disgusted with the Black pastors who are selling out our community to pal around with the longtime purveyors of oppression in Dave Welch and Dave Wilson.   

Final tally of the number of pro-HERO vs anti-HERO speakers at last Tuesday's HERO hearing in case you're keeping score was 120 people for, 40 against.   The total for the two previous hearings was 127 pro-HERO, 38 anti-HERO.    Grand total so far is 247 people speaking for HERO passage, 78 against with an overwhelming majority of the anti HERO speakers being ministers. 

City Council is off this week, which is why the opponents were fighting so hard to delay the vote.   The next meeting on May 28 will be a combined public comment session followed by a vote.  It is shaping up to be a historic marathon session that we will endure.

We will also emerge victorious from because passing the HERO is the moral and correct thing to do.   If Dallas, Austin, El Paso and New Orleans can pass a human rights ordinance along with small cities like Shreveport, LA. and Boise, ID. then I know the city of Houston can do so.  
     

Timmy's Turns 50

I have many Canadian readers of this blog, and could let this anniversary pass without mentioning it.

If you have traveled to Canada, you have seen, passed by or even stopped by a Canadian institution older than the maple leaf flag and beloved by Canadians everywhere.

It's Timmy's, AKA Tim Horton's, the quick service institution that expat Canadians in the States wax poetic about.    Tim Horton's is such a iconic part of Canadian life that a few years ago a Timmy's truck was sent to Afghanistan to serve its legendary coffee to Canadian Armed Forces personnel stationed there. 

No federal Canadian election cycle is complete unless you see the leaders of the major parties in the Great White North working the crowd at a Tim Horton's location of their choosing in various parts of the country or working behind the counter. 

And the love of a Canadian and Timmy's starts at birth. I still laugh about a 2011 conversation I had with Renee's son Mayhem in which he innocently asked me how do I survive in this world without Timmy's. 

I have a Tim Horton's coffee mug courtesy of Rafael McDonnell, who got it for me after his last Canadian vacation complete with tea and hot chocolate I have long since destroyed.  

Tim Horton's was founded on May 17, 1964 in Hamilton, ON by its namesake, former Toronto Maple Leafs hockey player Tim Horton and former police Ron Joyce as a quick service donut and coffee shop.   The concept took off to the point in which Joyce was made a full partner in 1967 and they were setting up franchises in southern Ontario.   Horton was killed in a car accident in 1974, but Tim Horton's grew to be a food service juggernaut that clocks $3 billion a year in sales and has 4304 worldwide restaurant locations as of June 30, 2013. 

3468 of those Timmy's locations are in Canada, 807 in the United States, and 29 locations are in the Gulf Cooperation Council states.  There are plans to open an additional 300 new U.S. locations by 2018 in various American cities including St. Louis, Youngstown, OH, Fort Wayne, IN and more in North Dakota.

To celebrate their 50th anniversary, Tim Horton's set up a replica of the original store in Yonge and Dundas Square and sent it back to the 60's, the decade of its birth.   There were people dressed in 60's clothing, cars from that era and a replica of the first store passing out Timmy's products and several of Horton's teammates on that Maple Leaf squad.

And yep, looking forward to the day I can buy my own Tim Horton's hot chocolate to take back to Baja Alberta.  FYI, if you're wondering where is Baja Alberta, it's what Renee calls Texas.   She still calls Alberta 'that wretched province'.

Happy anniversary Timmy's!   May you continue to grow, prosper and put some locations in Texas someday..

Enforcing The Gender Binary Is Killing Our Kids, Too

In 2010 when I wrote this post about the murder of 3 year old Ronnie Paris by his father because he in his words 'didn't want his son to grow up as a sissy or soft'., I said at the time it was hypermasculinity that was killing our kids. 

Looks like I'm going to have to expand my thinking about that point in the wake of the murder of Britney Cosby and her partner allegedly by her own father.

Enforcing the gender binary is killing our kids.  

Whether it was Larry Cosby's disapproval of his daughter's relationship that drove him to murder her and her partner, or Jessica Dotro getting 25 years to life for killing her 4 year old son because she thought he would be gay, it's happening far too often.  

If they are not being killed by their misguided parents, they are taking their lives by their own hands as they try to navigate a world hostile to them.   Sometimes those kids get so disheartened by the attempt to do so they feel they have no other option than to end their lives.

And that needs to end as well.  .  

So yes, it's past time to have a serious discussion about the gender binary and the deleterious effects of it on  our kids.  

Mayor Parker Is Helping Us Out, Not Selling Us Out

I need to address a loud and wrong conclusion jump that has been coming from certain quarters of the trans community over the last few days that is seriously annoying me and those of us fighting to pass the HERO despite the resistance of the Houston Division of the Forces of Faith-Based Intolerance.

There has been a meme developing not helped by erroneous reporting coming from some parts of the blogosphere not based in Houston that Mayor Annise Parker 'threw the trans community under the bus' when Section 17-51 (b) of the proposed Houston Equal Rights Act was targeted for removal. 

Umm, no.  Not even close.  Mayor Parker owes her first election in 1997 as an at-large council member to a dedicated cadre of trans people who busted their behinds, canvassed, block walked and donated hard earned T-bills to that first and subsequent council, controller and mayoral campaigns.   We know her from her Houston GLBT Caucus days when she led the organization.  She has supported and gone to the trans community Unity Dinners over the years and was given an Apogee Award at the 1998 Houston TG Unity Banquet for her leadership as a city council member on the 1998 non-discrimination ordinance.

And we have proudly voted for her.

Is our community finally getting comfortable with the final letter in GLBT? I hope so. But I know some of us still have a long way to go toward real understanding and acceptance. I still recall being advised by some people in those early campaigns to keep the transgenders out of sight! I can only hope that the year of films like Transamerica will mark a turning point for the transgender community
--Annise Parker, OutSmart magazine, November 1, 2009

One of the things she did as mayor was sign an executive order that added gender identity to Mayor Lee Brown's executive order that barred discrimination in city employment based on sexual orientation.  When the Tyjanae Moore bathroom gender policing situation popped up in 2010 along with the harassment of a trans staffer working for Councilmember Jolanda Jones, at Councilmember Jones' behest Mayor Parker signed an executive order clarifying that transpeople in city owned buildings can use the facility that matches current gender presentation and barred discrimination against us in city employment.

So back to focusing on what's happening now in H-town.  The local trans community asked for Section 17-51 (b) to be pulled from the proposed ordinance.   I've written and testified it needed to go.  Lou, Dee Dee, and other Houston trans leaders have also been unanimous in our dislike of it.  

What we're pissed off about inside Beltway 8 is you peeps blasting Mayor Parker based on Frontiers LA writing a story and only posting a snippet of Section 17-51 (b) prior to their conclusion jump.  Neither did any of you outside of Houston critics know at the time because you weren't privy to it, we were working with council to get amendments done to clean up that problematic language in a way that would be satisfying to our community.

FYI, here's the full text of Section 17-51 (b)

(b) It shall be unlawful for any place of public accommodation or any employee or agent thereof to deny any person entry to any restroom, shower room, or similar facility if that facility is consistent with and appropriate to that person’s expression of gender identity. It shall be a defense to prosecution for discrimination on the basis of gender identity under this article, however, if the defendant had a good faith belief that the gender or gender identity of the person discriminated against was not consistent with the gender designation of the facility. For purposes of this section, a defendant has a good faith belief if the manner in which the person represented or expressed gender to others (e.g. behavior, clothing, hairstyles, activities, voice or mannerisms) is not consistent with the gender designation of the facility the person attempted to access. Nothing in this section shall require construction of a new bathroom, shower room, or similar facility.

The problematic section I underlined and put in bold print is why the Houston transgender community and our allies after consulting with us asked to have it pulled.   Leaving that as is would have allowed transphobes to engage in gender policing and we would have no recourse to it.

So did you stop to think before you knee-jerk conclusion jumped to ask me or any other transperson in Houston working to pass the HERO what was going on?  Did you peeps outside Loop 610 honestly think after I wrote this post that I or any other Houston trans leaders would support ANY HERO that didn't FIX the problems that ail the Houston trans community?

We're in what is going to be a long battle to get this passed.  There are times when we won't be able to tell you peeps outside the Houston city limits everything we're working on so that our opponents can't counterprogram it.   There are simply times when radio silence is necessary to get human rights stuff passed.

So the next time you have questions about what is going on in this HERO battle, ask us Houston peeps first okay? 

Mayor Parker is helping us out, not selling us out.

Houston Black Pastors, Sick Of You Denying Our Humanity

One of the things that has really been disheartening to me and other African-American trans Houstonians in this fight to pass the HERO is seeing people that share our ethnic background and our common history engaging in demonizing us, erasing our humanity and our Blackness at the behest of their white fundamentalist controllers.

Leading the charge to demonize and erase the Houston African-American trans community is a cadre of Black ministers led by Rev. Max Miller, president of the Baptist Ministers Association of Houston and Vicinity.

His was the voice on the robocall that invaded mine and my mother's lives on the afternoon of May 10 and called me and other trans people sexual predators.  He and his like minded acolytes have been misquoting scripture and ignorantly bearing false witness against me and the Houston trans community, and I and other Black trans Houstonians are beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of it.

Our eloquent Houston sister in the human rights struggle Barbara Jordan once stated, "One thing is clear to me: We, as human beings, must be willing to accept people who are different from ourselves." 

That willingness to accept transpeople has definitely not been evident by their misguided side in this battle to pass the HERO.   

Note I said accept, not tolerate.   It has especially been hurtful and at times depressing to see leaders and institutions from my community I once had much respect for engage in 'fear and smear' attacks designed to demonize me and my trans community.

They are based on falsehoods, lies and the easily debunked bathroom predator meme that was once used to justify Jim Crow segregation.  It's past time you started talking to actual trans people in the African-American community about what our lives are really like instead of Dave Welch, Dave Wilson and the other white conservafool ministers you're trying to curry favor with.  

Rev. Miller, you and your cadre of minsters aren't the only African-American Houstonians being discriminated against, and it's past time you stopped telling that bald faced lie.   Here are the numbers from the National Transgender Discrimination Survey based on Texas respondents:

• Workplace Discrimination -Rates of discrimination were alarming in Texas, indicating widespread discrimination based on gender identity/expression:
  • 79% reported experiencing harassment or mistreatment on the job
  • 26% lost a job
  • 22% were denied a promotion
  • 45% were not hired

• Harassment and Discrimination at School-Those who expressed a transgender identity or gender non-conformity while in grades K-12 reported alarming rates of harassment (85%), physical assault (46%) and sexual violence (9%)
• Harassment was so severe that it led 11% to leave a school in K-12 settings or leave higher education
• Economic Insecurity - Likely due to employment discrimination and discrimination in school, survey respondents experienced poverty and unemployment at higher rates than the general population:
  • 10% of respondents had a household income of $10,000 or less, compared to 4% of the general population, which is more than twice the rate of poverty
  • 10% were unemployed compared to 7% in the nation at the time of the survey

• Housing Discrimination and Instability - Survey respondents experienced blatant housing discrimination, as well as housing instability, much of which appears to stem from the challenges they face in employment.
  • 8% were evicted
  • 15% were denied a home/apartment
  • 17% had become homeless because of their gender identity/expression
  • 22% had to find temporary space to stay/sleep
  • 50% had to move back in with family or friends
  • 39% reported owning their home compared to 67% of the general U.S. population

• Harassment and Discrimination in Accommodations and Services-47% were verbally harassed or disrespected in a place of public accommodation or service,including hotels, restaurants, buses, airports and government agencies.
  • 23% were denied equal treatment by a government agency or official
  • 16% were denied equal treatment or harassed by judges or court officials.
  • 23% of those who have interacted with police reported harassment by officers
  • 41% reported being uncomfortable seeking police assistance

Health Care Discrimination and Health Outcomes-16% were refused medical care due to their gender identity/expression

• 1.9% were HIV positive, compared to the general population rate of 0.6%
• 19% postponed needed medical care, when they were sick or injured, due to discrimination
• Only 43% of the respondents had employer-based health insurance, compared to 59% of the general U.S. population at the time of the survey.
• 41% reported attempting suicide at some point in their life, 26 times the rate of the general population of 1.6%

We have told our stories.  We have patiently testified in front of council the anti-trans discrimination exists in H-town while enduring anti-LGBT animus you whipped up amongst your flocks.

And you are STILL on the wrong side of history.

It's sad to note that you and your cadre of ministers have been our best examples as to why gender identity needs to be part of the HERO. 

Guess you transphobic pastors forgot what civil rights legend Julian Bond said when he stated, “The humanity of all Americans is diminished when any group is denied rights granted to others.”

And it is disheartening to witness how fast you have stepped up to do Dave Welch and Dave Wilson's dirty work for them and be the figureheads for the continued oppression of the Houston LGBT community.  

You and your misguided friends are hypocritically siding with the same conservative oppressors that oppose the African-American community on human rights issues of importance to us such as voting rights and workplace fairness, and it's a disgusting spectacle to witness.  I'm praying that the transphobic hate speech you've already engaged in doesn't lead to a surge of anti-trans violence here in H-town.

I'm also tired of you and your misguided friends waving the Bible around as a shield for your transphobic bigotry.  The Bible is not the Code of Ordinances for the City of Houston, the Texas Constitution or the US Constitution, and 901 Bagby Street is not a church sanctuary.   Your faith, transphobia and beliefs do not trump my sincerely held beliefs, human rights or the human rights of my fellow transpeople who live in the 628 square miles of Texas territory we are all proud to call home. 

Contrary to the bovine feces the Right Wing Noise Machine has been feeding you, Black trans Houstonians are sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, parents, loyal friends and allies to those worthy of our support.  I nor any African-American trans person gave up our Black card when we transitioned, and how dare you even attempt to erase us from the Black community or deny we are a part of it.

I'm not just doing activism on behalf of the TBLG community.  I'm passionate about many issues that impact me and the Houston African-American community as an unapologetic African-American trans person.  I spoke at a Trayvon Martin rally in front of City Hall last summer.  I've been taking part in the community battle to protest HISD school closures in our neighborhoods.   Dee Dee Watters has given out toys to kids in the Third Ward area at Christmas time for years.  Other Black trans Houstonians are toiling away and involved in our churches and other organizations that improve the lives for all who call this city home.. 

Black trans community issues are Black community issues and it's past time you cisgender African-American peeps get that message.  Read my lips and this post:  We African-American transpeople are not going to put up with for one more nanosecond our humanity being denigrated and disrespected by you based on loud and wrong religious beliefs and your ignorance about transsexuality.   If Vice President Joe Biden and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay are clear that trans rights are a human rights issue, what's your chocolate covered malfunction in not getting that easy to grasp reality?  

I'm a proud African-American trans Houstonian with deep familial ties to this city.  I want a Houston better than its promise. I want to see it grow, prosper and have human rights coverage for all Houstonians.  

All Houstonians also includes my trans, SGL and bi brothers and sisters. 

I want African-American trans people to feel they have a stake in that happening as well.    But we have a hard time feeling that way when we see the constant attacks on our humanity, and even worse note those attacks are coming out of the mouths of people who share our ethnic background.

And you need in the name of Jesus to cease and desist with that. 
 

Tona's Historic Concert

This is the Weill Recital Hall at New York City's  Carnegie Hall, where on June 25 Tona Brown will make trans history when she steps onto the stage to fulfill her dream of playing there.

I'm sure when she does it will be an emotional and powerful moment no only for her, but all of us.

She's put in the practice for it.  She's raised the funds thanks to many of you to help pay the deposit on that space to lock in that June 25 date. 

The concert is scheduled to start at 7:30 PM EDT and falls during New York City's Pride Week.

The show is entitled 'From Stonewall to Carnegie Hall' and will feature works of African-American composers.   It will also discuss the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion and the positive effects the transgender community have had on the TBLG human rights movement.

In addition to Tona headlining the show, it will feature Tammy Peay hosting it and Nathan James.

So when the tickets start going on sale May 25, better move fast on them because this historic event is sure to sell out quickly because there aren't a lot of seats in this elegant recital hall. 
 

Houston MLK Plaza And Statue Unveiling Next Week

This time next week there will be a party going on at MacGregor Park.

The memorial plaza and statue of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that was supposed to be dedicated across from the soon to be opened METRORail Purple Line MacGregor Park-MLK Station back in April . 

The statue was damaged just as it was about to be shipped to Houston for the initial unveiling, and the Black Heritage Society was forced to delay the event as the 8 foot tall statue was repaired.

Well, the repairs have been completed, the statue has arrived in Houston without further mishap and a May 24 date has been set by the BHS for its unveiling. 

The rescheduled events sponsored by the Black Heritage Society include a Victory Parade that kicks off at 9 AM, the statue and plaza dedication from 11 AM-1 PM followed by a Cultural Heritage Festival in MacGregor Park that begins at 1 PM  

When that happens Houston would join Atlanta and Washington D.C. as cities which have statues and memorial plazas dedicated to the memory of Dr. King.

Looking forward to checking out that event, and hope we have the nice weather it deserves for an event that has been 35 years in the making..