Maya Angelou Meets The Ancestors

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel
-Maya Angelou

One of the things I was saddened to hear about as we settled into City Hall to deal with a long day of HERO testimony was finding out that award-winning author, renowned poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou passed away at age 86 after a brief illness.

It was especially sad for us in Houston because she was scheduled to come here to accept an award Saturday.  

Her trailblazing life was an inspiration to me as well as several generations of women.   I have a Phenomenal Transwoman poem I wrote in the early days of TransGriot inspired by her Phenomenal Woman one, and I do from time to time draw upon her inspiring quotes, wisdom and words, do some hard solid thing about them to serve as inspiration for my own writing.

She made us all feel human anytime we were in her presence.  And that's why we will never forget her. 

Rest in power, Sister Maya!  

Houston, We Have HERO Passage!

By a 11-6 margin, Houston City Council passed the Equal Rights Ordinance after a month of contentious hearings and a marathon session that included public comments from over 200 citizens pro and con and  many of the councilmembers.

It may have been one small step in the human rights evolution for many cis and straight Houstonians, but for those of us in LGBT Houston, it was a giant leap in our human rights 30 years in the making.

And as you TransGriot readers have noted, I've done my part for Team Pass The HERO and put the sweat equity in to make it happen. 

I am so proud of my hometown today and all the people who put in the work to make this day a reality. 

Despite the nonstop anti-trans attacks, jaw dropping ignorance and straight up lies peddled by the faith-based haters, reason and logic prevailed.

And yeah, it was personal.

The best part of this whole day is my hometown is no longer on the list of cities that don't protect the human rights of their citizens.

And I have a smile as wide as the Lone Star State about that.

HERO Updates, Notes and News-May 28

It's the big day in H-town, and I'm in City Council chambers awaiting my turn to speak and waiting to see if my beloved hometown joins the rest of the cities of Texas in passing a non-discrimination ordinance that protects all her citizens.

I've been up since 6 AM to make sure I was in line when City Hall opened at 8 AM to get my visitor's badge and a seat in the council chambers.

Besides waiting to see how this HERO vote and wading through all the one minute public comment speeches pro and con,  the ACLU of Texas legal and policy director Rebecca Robertson weighed in on this HERO battle with an op-ed in the Sunday Houston Chronicle and here were the money quotes in it.

But a law that conflicts with a personal religious belief, no matter how deeply held, is not a violation of religious liberty. Nothing in our Constitution gives people of faith a special exemption from following laws meant to protect everyone. Nor could it. In a country with as many diverse religious traditions as ours, imagine what would happen if each of us could choose, according to our individual beliefs, which laws to follow and which to ignore.

The proposed Houston Equal Rights Ordinance creates no conflict between equality and religious liberty. The ordinance claims no power to compel any of us to relinquish a sincerely held religious belief, to endorse something we believe profoundly to be immoral or to offer services of which we disapprove. That is not the province of law.

Boom.

Okay, time to remind 'errbody' where we are outside of Beltway 8 in this process.  Takes nine votes to pass anything on our 16 member city council and Mayor Parker gets a vote for a total of 17 votes..

As far as the HERO whip count goes, we already have three declared solid NO votes in CM Stardig, Kubosh and Pennington.

Rumors are Kubosh may be on the Leaning NO fence, but I doubt that after his appearance at the Grace KKKommunity Church hate rally.  

Leaning NO is CM Boykins.

The solid YES votes are Mayor Parker and CM Cohen, Gallegos, Gonzales, Laster and Robinson
Leaning YES are CM Bradford, Christie, Costello, Davis, Green, and Nguyen,
Undecided is CM Martin

CM Martin has the Grace KKKommunity Church haters in his backyard.  Boykins has me (that's my council member) and the liberal progressive community leaning on him on one side and Rev. Miller and his sellout haters on the other.  Hope he chooses wisely because Moni has a long memory and won't forget in November 2015. .

We'll find out how the votes shake out in this HERO battle in a few hours..

The Historic Houston HERO Hearing And Vote

The combined city council meeting today starts in mere moments with the HERO on the agenda.   There will be a public comment session followed by a Houston City Council vote. 

It takes nine votes to pass anything on our 16 member city council, and Mayor Parker also gets a vote in our strong-mayor system.  Since there are over 100 plus speakers signed up (and the TransGriot is one of them) it's going to be a long time before we get to the actual vote.

We've outgunned them 247-78 in terms of pro-HERO speakers vs the anti-HERO speakers, out pastored them by a 2-1 margin and we are determined to maintain those advantages in addition to packing our art-deco era council chambers with red clad supporters. 

I'm not usually a morning person, but in order to accomplish our Houston human rights goals for today I'll do whatever is necessary to make HERO passage happen.   If it means I get my behind up at 4 AM CDT like I did this morning, so be it.   

It'll be a story I can tell my soon to be three year old niece when she asks me what I did to protect and expand her human rights.    We'll also need your prayers, wam thoughts and best wishes because the hate will be flowing from the anti-HERO side.   We will have counselors  standing by to deal with that issue and doughnuts (Shipley's of course) lunch and dinner for the marathon session to come. .

But if you peeps inside and outside Beltway 8, around the Internet and the world want to check in and see what's transpiring, you can watch the proceedings at this link     We will also be Tweeting updates at #HERO and #HOUequality.  I'll also be bringing my laptop today.    

Whip counts are leaning our way, so we should have good news to report later this afternoon or evening.

We're looking forward to saying this afternoon or evening, Discrimination, I'm sorry, but your time has expired.

OUT On The Hill 2014 Dates Set

I've had the opportunity to go and participate as a panelist during the 2011 and 2012 editions of the National Black Justice Coalition's OUT on the Hill conference, and we're now less than four months away from the 2014 edition of it.

OUT on the Hill is NBJC's annual leadership conference.  It gives us a chance in the Black LGBT community to come to Washington DC for several days of networking, lobbying, meetings and learning best how to Own Our Power

This year's 5th annual event is set for September 24-27, and if you're interested in attending you can e-mail OOTH2014@nbjc.org

2014 Williams Watch-On To The Second Round

The 2014 edition of the French Open is underway, and there's good news and bad news for my fave tennis playing siblings at Stade Roland Garros.

The good news is that Big and Little Sis are through to the second round of the women's singles.  Number one seeded Serena took 79 minutes to spank French homegirl Alize Lim 6-2, 6-1 in straight sets and move on to play Spain's Garbine Muguruza.

Number 29 seeded Venus took less time (77 minutes) to beat Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.6-4, 6-1 in straight sets, and will play Anna Schmiedlova of Slovakia in the second round.

Now comes the bad news.  Should both advance to the third round, their next opponents will be each other.

It would be the first time since the 2002 French Open final the Williams sisters have played against each other with Little Sis holding a 14-10 edge in those matchups.

Who fell asleep during the women's singles draw setup last Friday to let that happen?  

Serena is playing for the repeat and tying Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for fourth on the all time Grand Slam titles list, while Venus is playing for her first ever French Open singles title.

Good luck in the second round ladies.

'Hit The Floor' Season 2 Premiere

Took a writing break Monday night to watch the Season 2 premiere of VH1's addictive scripted series Hit The Floor.  

I was drawn to it initially last season because Kimberly Elise, Dean Cain and Rick Fox were in it and it focused on a dance team for the fictional Los Angeles Devils pro basketball team called the Devil Girls.

But I quickly fell in love with the charmingly sweet Ahsha Hayes played by Taylour Paige, Raquel Saldana, the drama plague single mom who moves from the Devil Girls to managing the Devil's Playground lounge played by Valery Ortiz and Jelena Howard, the shadily evil captain of the Devil Girls played by Logan Browning.

And y'all know I love well written, scripted series.  Hit The Floor delivers the goods.

In the Season 2 premiere Hit The Floor picked up where it left off in the Season One finale with Sloane Hayes taking over as the new director of the Devil Girls, but the rift remains with her and Ahsha for now.  German gets hired as a Devils assistant coach after Pete clears it with Ahsha, and Ahsha ramps up her relationship with Derek.  Jelena is already working to try to get Sloane fired as Devil Girls director, and make Terrence jealous by accepting a date with new Devil Zero.

And Jelena is still hatin' and scheming on Ahsha.

I'll let y'all watch the rest of the Season 2 debut on VH1 to find out what else happened.  You can also tune into VH1 on Monday nights for the new episodes.  You won't be disappointed.

 

HERO Updates, Notes and News-May 27

We are now 24 hours from what we hope will be a historic city council meeting in which Houston removes itself from the short list of cities that don't cover the human rights of all their citizens.

These HERO discussions are being held all over the city in groups large and small.   One of them took place in last weekend's Houston Oasis group meeting on May 25 in which activist Amanda Hernandez made this speech in favor of HERO passage.

   


The anti-HERO haters are working hard to try to address the fact that we have not only held the council chamber, we have outgunned them in pro-HERO speakers 247-78.     We have had pro-HERO ministers speaking in a 2-1 ratio vs anti-HERO ones.    Of the 78 anti-HERO speakers, hey have been predominately ministers beating the anti-trans talking points into hamburger.

We've already concocted our double secret plan to ensure that council chambers are a predominate sea of red tomorrow for the vote. 

We are also pushing back hard against the faith based anti-trans hate.


But one thing they have had an advantage in is the number of anti-HERO vs pro- HERO calls because they went national early, so we could use some help in that area.   Need y'all to call Councilmembers Brenda Stardig, Jack Christie, Dwight Boykins, and C.O. Bradford for us at the numbers listed in the infographic.

But to point out how out of step the haters are, here's a message from Bob Harvey, the president of the Greater Houston Partnership.  It's the influential 2000 member local business org that employs 20% of the Houston area's workforce, and they have sway over pro-business councilmembers.

"Houston is an extraordinarily welcoming city that embraces diversity and inclusivity – this was true even before this ordinance was conceived. We are certainly not a city that condones discrimination. We believe that a properly constructed ordinance that enshrines our values, protects the rights of our citizens, is fair in its treatment of businesses, and signals to the world that we are, indeed, a city that welcomes and respects diversity is a proper step at this time." -- Bob Harvey, President, Greater Houston Partnership.

Boom.

And yes, going to bed early tonight.  It's going to be a long but hopefully positively historic day tomorrow. 

The struggle continues to pass the HERO.   

The Confederate Flag Is A Racist Flag

Over the weekend a discussion started on the Facebook page of a Latino friend in which he expressed his disgust at seeing a Confederate flag in his neighborhood

He commented on it, and a white ally chimed in that maybe this person wasn't racist, but was expressing their Southern pride. 

That comment innocent as it was, still pissed off many of the non-white peeps on that thread who have experienced discrimination and hatred aimed at them from people who had it on their vehicles or as jacket patches. 

It led to me compiling this post and making the following comment in the thread.

***

'The Confederate States of America existed for one purpose: They were traitors who fought an armed rebellion against the United States government for the purpose of keeping my ancestors enslaved for perpetuity. Had they won the Civil War, my grandparents, parents and yours truly would probably be working on plantations and in big houses across the Confederacy   Texas would be under that flag, not the Stars and Stripes. 

That flag is as offensive to me as the Nazi swastika flag is to our Jewish friends. And it isn't an accident that the segregationists used that same confederate flag to symbolize their opposition to the Civil Rights movement of the 50's and 60's and it's making a comeback at Tea Klux Klan rallies.

So no, there is nothing noble or warm and fuzzy about the CSA or that reprehensible flag.'

***

This blog wouldn't exist either had the Confederacy won.  


There was nothing noble about the Confederate States of America because they were on the wrong side of history and willing participants in a monstrous crime against my ancestor's humanity.  Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens clearly spells out what the main reason was for the secession and initiation of the War To Perpetuate Slavery was all about in his March 1861 'Cornerstone Speech'. 

Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner- stone rests upon the great truth, that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery -- subordination to the superior race -- is his natural and normal condition. [Applause.] This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.

And yes, the CSA states seceded over slavery and started the Civil War to keep my ancestors enslaved.  The causes of secession for the states of Georgia, Mississippi and Texas along with the comments of Southern politicians of the time clearly point that out.  

And I'm tired of people wanting to regurgitate that Southern revisionist 'happy darkie' bull feces, the war was about tariffs, the North started it, 'heritage not hate', or the lie that 'thousands of Black soldiers' fought for the CSA.  It's even more important the Southern revisionist history crap be debunked, especially as the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War continues through the rest of this year and through the April 9, 2015 date I may have to throw a party on.

What's that day you ask?  The day the CSA surrendered to end the Civil War. 

When I see the Confederate flag, I see the pain of 246 years of chattel slavery.  I see Jim Crow segregation.  I see a Freedom Rider bus burning.  I see the bombed 16th Street Baptist Church and four dead little girls who entered that building to attend church.  I see fire hoses and police dogs being unleashed on defenseless protestors in Birmingham.  I see 'Bloody Sunday' 

I see along with many African-Americans a racist flag from a failed nation state that fought a war to keep enslaving my ancestors, and there's no sanitizing that.   

Why The GOP Is 'Scurred' Of Losing Texas

One  thing I actually agree with Dan Patrick on.

And it's why the Teapublicans have been doing so much shady, illegal and unconstitutional stuff since 2000 to desperately try to keep this majority-minority population state in their red clutches. 

And it's why the DNC needs to be pumping more money into Texas to turn it blue or at least purple before 2020.

So think about that on your way to the polls for the runoff election here in the Lone Star State if you didn't do so during the early voting phase, and make sure you are ready to go in the general election on November 4.

Jahaira's Thoughts On The RuPaul Mess

I posted my latest comments on the RuPaul mess and that post not surprisingly is going viral.   Now the trans video bloggers are weighing in, and I'm happy to signal boost what they have to say.  . 

First up (or at least the first to get their video to me for signal boosting) is my hermana Jahaira DeAlto, of the Jahaira's Mission video blog.

She had much to say about it, and a few times she dropped some NSFW language.

So if you do listen to it there, make sure you have the ear buds on or wait until you get to da crib. 

'The New Black' H-town Screening Tomorrow

I have been waiting for this award winning documentary to come to Houston for months, and it is driving me crazy to discover that it is scheduled to be screened on the same day I'll be at City Council awaiting the HERO vote.

That film I've been anxious to see is Yoruba Richen's The New Black, which is being screened tomorrow at the Houston Public Library location downtown right across the street from City Hall at 6:00 PM.

The New Black details the successful 2012 marriage equality referendum fight to preserve it that happened in Maryland, and features two very familiar faces to me in Sharon Lettman-Hicks, the ED and CEO of the National Black Justice Coalition and Samantha Master.   




The Houston Public Library downtown location address is 500 McKinney Street.  The screening is free and seating for it is first come first served.   I doubt that City Council will be finished with their HERO 'bidness' by the time this film starts, so I'd encourage those of you who can't be in council chambers to check it out.

But if by some miracle they are, it'll be a wonderful way for me to celebrate what I hope will be an H-town  human rights win.
 
 

HERO Updates, Notes and News-May 26

Happy Memorial Day people!   Today means we are now down to 48 hours before the historic Houston City Council session happens on Wednesday in which the HERO will be voted on

Yesterday the Houston Newsmakers show on KPRC-TV 2 that Amelia and I taped Thursday was broadcast Sunday morning.   We felt good about that show when we left the studios, and our optimism about it was justified.

Megathanks to host Khambrel Marshall for the invitation to appear on Houston Newsmakers.   It gave the Houston trans community for the first time in this HERO debate an opportunity for peeps like us to actually get a chance to talk about our issues untainted by lies from our not so esteemed opponents.

Haven't heard yet if the conservafool megachurches like Second Baptist and Grace KKKommunity fueling the opposition preached any anti-HERO hate sermons yesterday.   We did have some folks go to services at both to keep an eye on them and they haven't reported back yet.  .   

Or maybe the haters tried to keep their christopimpin' of anti-trans hate on the down low knowing that were getting close to May 28.

Speaking of someone who should have kept his loud and wrong ignorant HERO opposition on the down low but I'm glad he didn't, here's local activist Quanell X. 

He's another example of the cadre of Black people who fell for the white conservafool okey doke of anti-trans attitudes injected by the Daves (Dave Welch and Dave Wilson) into this HERO debate to bamboozle people into not supporting an ordinance that protects their own human rights.   

I find it mind boggling you and others who should know better, are kissing up to the same white conservatives in Dave Wilson and Dave Welch who are working diligently on the behalf of the Texas Republican Party to oppress our community and kill this much needed human rights ordinance. . 


FYI to you Quanell and anyone else who shares the ignorant opinions you spouted on FOX Noise 26:   I'm quite aware of who I am and damned sure ain't 'confused' about it.   I am an African-American transfeminine woman who is unapologetically Black, trans and proud.   The only thing I do in public bathrooms while out and about in H-town or wherever I roam in this country is poop, piss and wash my hands when I'm done. 

Quanell X, if you claim to love all African-American Houstonians, African-Americans also includes Trans, SGL and bi Houstonians, too

If you want to know what trans people actually do in the city of Houston, I suggest you hit Google or watch this TransGriot space.  I will also be happy to school you on basic Trans 101 so you never embarrass yourself like you did on the Houston television airwaves like you did that evening.  

I find it mind boggling, troubling and a problematic sign your cognitive abilities are questionable that you and the Baptist Ministers Association of Houston and Vicinity are kissing up to the same white conservatives in Dave Wilson and Dave Welch working diligently on the behalf of the Texas Republican Party to oppress our community. 

If you want a debate Quanell, we can make that happen, too.  But the one thing that is not subject to debate is the humanity of myself or my trans brothers and sisters.  

Every Houstonian living inside our expansive city limits deserves to be free from discrimination.  That also includes those of us in the Houston TBLG community ranks.  It's why the HERO needs to pass and if you claim to love human rights, then that includes everyone in the 628 square miles of Texas soil we call home. 

The struggle to pass the HERO continues.

Memorial Day 2014

Today is Memorial Day, in which we remember the people who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in our military's armed forces on battlefields around the world.  

It's significant to note that momentum for allowing transpeople to openly serve in the US military ranks is growing at this time, and that we may actually see it happen before the end of this decade. 

In the meantime, let's shift this back to the people who deserve the focus on this date, the people we have lost while honorably serving our country. 

They fought and died so you can have the constitutional freedoms that far too many people take for granted or ignorantly want to deny to others. 

So at 12:01 PM, take a moment to think about those fallen warriors, and resolve to do a better job in your own ways of fighting for the human rights and freedoms of all.

Tona Brown's Carnegie Hall Gofundme Campaign

Now that Tona Brown has secured the date to play at Carnegie Hall, and the tickets have gone on sale for it, she still needs to raise the funds to make this historic concert a truly memorable first class event and pay the remainder of the hall rental fees.    

She''s had to do the Gofundme route because some of the funding for this historic June 25 night that was promised by organizations and corporations has yet to materialize.   She can't wait for these organizations to do the right thing and make good on their promises since the clock is ticking towards that date.

Here's the link to the Gofundme campaign in which Tona is trying to raise the $25,000 she'll need.

Imagine hearing this on the Weill Recital Hall stage in a sold out Carnegie Hall in less than 30 days.




So can you help a sistah out and drop a $1,5,10, 20 or whatever you feel you can afford to get her closer to her goal?    Every donation, no matter how small helps.    

HERO Updates, Notes and News-May 25

We are in the middle of the Memorial Day weekend and counting down to that marathon May 28 council meeting that will hopefully result in us celebrating the addition of Houston to the long list of cities that protect the human rights of all their citizens.

The Houston Newsmakers show segment that Amelia and I taped Thursday aired this morning at 10 AM.   I'll post the video for it in a future HERO update when it becomes available. 

I took some time before the Trans Town Hall to go attend the Rev. Dr. MLK, Jr statue and plaza unveiling and dedication that started at 11 AM.   Unfortunately the speechifying dragged on so long that when I left a little after 1 PM civil rights warrior Rev Dr. Joseph Lowery was just getting to the mic.

In addition to Rev. Lowery, Martin Luther King III was there along with Houston based US Reps Sheila Jackson-Lee and Rep Al Green, Councilmembers C.O. Bradford, Dwight Boykins and Michael Kubosh, and local civil rights legend Rev William Lawson.   Many of us from Team Pass The HERO were there in full effect to watch the historic event.

With the unveiling of the statue, Houston is now one of three US cities (Atlanta and Washington DC are the others) with statues and plazas dedicated to the memory of the Rev. Dr. MLK, Jr. 

I ended up at Grace Lutheran Church a little before 3 PM for the town hall in which we were graced with the presence of Councilmember Ellen Cohen and Councilmember Dwight Boykins.   Both were given  standing ovations by those of us in attendance and given an opportunity to speak    

Councilmember Cohen had just finished speaking on MSNBC about the HERO and took time out of her busy day to check out our event before she had to leave for another one.  

Councilmember Boykins answered the assembled crowd's questions and listened attentively to our concerns about the HERO.

We made the point that for the TBLG community, this is intensely personal and these are our very lives and human rights we are fighting for. 

I also let him know on behalf of the African-American community I was not happy about the continued demonization of trans people by Rev. Max Miller and friends that has now filtered down to street level.  I've also been bothered by the silence of many African-American leaders and the local NAACP about it. 

Since I mentioned it, here's the video of Councilmember Cohen's MSNBC appearance 



FYI  Councilmember Boykins, Houston NAACP and other African-American political/community leaders and institutions.  The offer I and others made to do Trans 101 for you and your orgs still stands.
 

The town hall was facilitated by Daniel Williams of Equality Texas and featured a trans historic first.  This town hall was the first event jointly sponsored by the Houston Chapters of Black Transmen, Inc and Black Transwomen, Inc  

And based on some of the chococentric anti-trans ignorance running rampant in the African-American community that was unleashed by the faith-based haters, BTMI-Houston and BTWI-Houston are going to be quite busy rolling it back and getting the truth of our trans lives out there..  

Speaking of chocolate flavored anti-trans ignorance, here's an example of the uphill battle that Tye and I as the chairs of the BTMI and BTWI Houston chapters will have combating the lies as we seek to build allies and educate our African-American community on trans issues.

This is a screenshot of a comment from Demetria Smith, who was one of the 12 candidates who ran in the recent 2013 city election cycle for the District D seat now occupied by Councilmember Boykins.    

Demetria, when you repeat ignorant statements that are proven transphobic lies about my trans community, that's a problem.    

Will be interesting to discover if we have more trans bigot eruptions and hate sermons epicentered on Second Baptist and Grace KKKomunity Church

The struggle the pass the HERO continues.
 

2014 Williams Watch-The French Open Starts

Today starts the 113th edition of the French Open at Stade Roland Garros in Paris through June 8.  The question I will have on my mind along with all international tennis fans is can Serena repeat?

I'd say it's likely after being upset in the Australian Open by Ana Ivanovic, so the French Open field needs to be very afraid after Little Sis warmed up for the French by capturing the Italian Open title which is a clay court tournament.

If Serena manages to win the French Open, she will tie Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for fourth on the all time titles list at 18 and be only one singles title away from tying Helen Wills Moody who sits in third place.

Number one seeded Serena starts the chase for her third French Open singles title with her first round match against French homegirl Alize Lim.  

Big Sis Venus is also playing in this tournament and is unfortunately on the same side of the draw as Little Sis.   She starts her French Open singles play against Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.

As to whether the Williams sisters will be playing doubles in this tournament, won't know until they post the women's doubles draw. 

Will this be another successful French business trip for Serena?  Will Venus make some noise in this one?   We'll begin to find out the answers to those questions in a few hours.

HERO Updates, Notes and News-May 24

We kick off today's HERO update with last night's phone bank at Harris County Democratic Party Headquarters.

Three council districts were targeted, and I'm still waiting for the final stats as to how many supporters were called and contacted as the folks participating urged them to contact their councilmembers and support the HERO.

One of the questions I'm getting from people is where do our Houston based US reps Gene Green,  Sheila Jackson-Lee and Al Green stand when it comes to supporting the HERO?

As of this writing, none of them have released statements indicating their support for the HERO.

Going to be a busy day for many of us as the Dr MLK Jr statue is unveiled.  Since it is right up the street from me at MacGregor Park I'm planning to check the event that starts at 11 AM before heading off to get ready for the Trans Town Hall taking place at Grace Lutheran Church from 3-5 PM.  

Invited panelists are Tye West, Katy Stewart, Cristan Williams and some blogger y'all know.  Address of the church is 2515 Waugh Dr in Montrose, and hope to see you there.  .

We're creeping closer to the big May 28 day in which the HERO will be voted on, and the faith based haters are getting more desperate as it gets closer.   They are now threatening to collect petitions to force recall elections on Mayor Parker and any council member who vote for the much needed human rights law. 

Whether they can actually do so is questionable, but it speaks to their level of desperation and it's typical conservafool crap.  If you can't beat 'em, bamboozle, bully and browbeat them.  

What they fail to realize is by their nekulturny actions they are our best arguments for passage of the HERO.
Swastika Cakes?    Seriously Steve Riggle? 

Ed Young, the pastor of the Second Baptist megachurch who threw stones at the trans community in his Sunday hate sermon, better be focused on what's going on in his own church instead of eagerly bearing false witness against the trans community.

I'll close with a quote from Harvey Milk, whose birthday was May 22 and is apropos to this HERO human rights struggle.    

“It takes no compromise to give people their rights...it takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no political deal to give people freedom. It takes no survey to remove repression.”  

RuPaul Still Clueless As Usual

I was hoping that clueless kneegrow RuPaul would finally get the point after the last time we called his behind out about his loud and wrong defense of the slur word 'tranny'..

But obviously he didn't according to a May 19 interview with Marc Maron.  

And sadly, once again elements of his white gay male fanbase are rushing to defend him and hypocritically letting their inner transphobes out while doing so. 

Let me say this one more time so that you can use your limited cognitive processing skills to get the point.  

You may love the word, but a majority of my trans community, which you are NOT a part of nor an expert on our trans lives, has determined via the evolving and increasingly derogatory use of the t-word you love it is a slur.   

As you said on June 2, 2013 when you criticized actress Amanda Bynes for her use of 'faggot': "Derogatory slurs are ALWAYS an outward projection of a person's own poisonous self-loathing."--RuPaul

So why are you and your fans so hypocritically determined to continue to use a word a majority of the trans community and three of your own Drag Race alumni have told you NOT to use because it is hurtful to us? 

What is it going to take for you to get it?  Cancellation of Drag Race?  

Or is you and your fans obstinate transphobic insistence on using and trying to justify the use of an anti-trans slur word an ALWAYS outward projection of your and your fan base engaged in your own poisonous self-loathing? 

It's sad when Jerry Springer, who the trans community has long complained about and reviled at times for his exploitative talk shows, loves and respects us enough to announce he will no longer use the t-word and your tired azz won't.

Then again you pal around with Shirley Q. Liquor, so why should I be surprised to discover you're incapable of recognizing when to call it a day and sashay away from this?

Bottom line is we have told you and the world the t-word is a slur.   If you claim to love and respect my community and its humanity, and if the majority of a marginalized community tells you a word is an offensive and hurtful slur word, then DON'T USE IT.

LOGO gets that simple to grasp concept.   Logo TV through a spokesperson told BuzzFeed in an interview, “These comments did not come from Logo. We are committed to supporting the entire LGBT community and will not feature any anti-trans rhetoric on our shows.”

And naw trick, since you went there, let me school your ignorant serial transphobic behind on the new 2K14 and beyond rules for interacting with the trans community since it has obviously escaped your ultra short attention span.

As grown ass transfeminine women, we are no longer taking misogynistic crap or transphobic disrespect of our humanity from friend, foe or frenemy.  We will push back against it.  We trans people will determine what is and isn't offensive to our community, not you and your fanbase. 

If your transphobic behind doesn't like the fact we are pushing back hard against your disrespect of us, especially when we have made it clear to an increasingly long list of media personalities we will not tolerate it, too damned bad.    

We don't care whether the word was being used in a derogatory way or not, it's STILL a slur.   RuPaul has been told by myself and various people in the trans community numerous times it is, and we're beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of telling you the same stuff repeatedly and you arrogantly ignoring it.   So until you get it, we'll keep calling your ass out on it everytime you screw up.
 
 
We're also tired of people, and especially white gay men rushing to RuPaul's defense to continue agitating to use a word a majority of our community has told him (and the world) is offensive.   We're tired of them getting vanillacentric privileged noses out of joint when we trans folks tell them to back the frack up because you don't get to gaysplain to us how offended we should be about a word we told you repeatedly is a slur to us.

And it ain't just a majority of American based transpeople that consider the t-word a slur.  So do our international transfeminine sisters as well.

You can continue to be clueless about it all you want.   You can say it if you wish, too.   Just be prepared for the blowback from the trans community when you do so.

HERO Updates, Notes and News-May 23

This one is thirty minutes later because I had to do my usual Friday noon CDT Shut Up Fool post, but the commitment I made to keep you peeps updated with the latest HERO news continues.

Amelia and I had an enjoyable early afternoon at KPRC-TV 2 taping our segment of Houston Newsmakers with host Khambrel Marshall.   That show we taped will air at 10 AM on Sunday. 

The Houston Stonewall Young Democrats will be hosting a phone banking effort at the Harris County Democratic Party Headquarters in which several council districts will be targeted.  It's designed to mobilize supporters in those respective communities to contact their Council Members and also urge them show up next Wednesday in support of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.

May 28 is going to be a historic day in H-town that you'll want to be there for.

Received an interesting phone call yesterday evening from an SGL community source that confirmed what I suspected about Houston NAACP President James H. Lilley. 

Lilley cryptically expressed 'concerns' during his May 13 testimony about the HERO and dodged questions from Councilmember C.O. Bradford when he tried to find out what those concerns were.    What were those 'concerns' he was reluctant to say in the council comment session?   

Give you one guess what they were.  Those concerns were inclusion of trans people in the HERO ordinance.

 
Seems as though elements of the local NAACP and possibly President Lilley have bought the right wing anti-trans Kool-Aid Rev. Max Miller and his hate pastors are pouring on behalf of their conservative controllers Dave Welch and Dave Wilson.   The local NAACP's silence about the ongoing attacks on the trans community is also pissing us and our allies off inside and outside the Houston LGBT community

And hello Houston NAACP, some of the transpeople being attacked by this rhetoric are survey says, Black trans people. 

Rev. Miller, you and your Bible thumping homeboys in the Baptist Ministers Association of Houston and Vicinity are in violation of two commandments when it comes to the Houston trans community.   Thou shalt not lie, and thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

I don't like the transphobic hate speech you and your fellow faith-based bigots have continually engaged in since this HERO passage effort ramped up, and nether does the Houston African-American trans community and our allies.    You don't like what I have to say or being called faith based bigots. tough.   Stop palling around with white conservative bigots and oppressors who are playing you for the useful fools you are and you won't be called bigots or oppressors.

Back to talking about the Houston NAACP.  

Here's my TransGriot proposition to you Houston NAACP.   Since that knowledge of the real lived lives of trans people is obviously missing, why don't you talk to some living, breathing transpeople, starting at 3-5 this Saturday at Grace Lutheran Church?   It'll be the start of a much needed conversation at the local level and beyond the one on May 24, I and other Houston trans African-Americans are willing to do Trans 101.

Just say the word, and we'll make it happen.   And Black SGL, trans and Bi community, think it's past time we started signing up for memberships in the local NAACP and getting involved. .   

But I want to ensure before we Black trans folks do so we'll be welcomed into the organization and the transphobia the ministers 'fear and trans smear' tactics introduced is squashed.