Transgender Lobby Day In DC Today and Tomorrow

Today and tomorrow my transpeeps are going to be walking the halls of Congress visiting congressional and senatorial offices engaging in exercising their constitutional right to petition their lawmakers for redress of trans grievances.

Translation: they'll be lobbying.  

Contrary to public opinion, lobbying isn't just for high dollar corporate backed K St pros or former congressmembers, it is also for citizens from various states and congressional districts across the country who are taking their time to visit their congressmembers and let them know their thoughts about various issues 

My trans peeps will be visiting offices in the Cannon, Longworth and Rayburn House Office Buildings and the Hart, Dirksen and Russell Senate Office Buildings to talk to staffers and if their lucky, a few congressmembers and senators about the issues of importance to our community. 

The Transgender Lobby Day is a joint project of the Trans People of Color Coalition (TPOCC), Trans Latin@ Coalition, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, PFLAG National, Black Transmen, Inc., Black Transwomen, Inc and NCTE.

And nope, not in DC for this one despite the fact I've been there, done that numerous times  since 1998.

Several of the coalition orgs let me know last week when I was in DC how much they would have rather had me there inside I-495 helping train the neophyte lobbyists instead of being in Houston.

But there are enough vets there to where my presence isn't necessary this time.   Besides, I can do a better job of lobbying when I come to DC unannounced.    

A welcome reception was held last night for all attendees of the event and on tap today at the Meeting House of the Friends, at 2111 Florida Ave, NW. is a policy conference.   After some lobby training on Tuesday in the same location our trans citizen lobbyists will head to the Hill. 

For those of you in DC for the event, here's some other tips they may or may not cover.  

*There's an app for your phones you may wish to download that tells you the House or Senate office building and office number for your congresscritter, the phone numbers for that congressional office and several staffers, and will dial that office number once you find the congressional office you wish to visit.

*Street parking is almost non existent in that area due to heightened security, so do what 'errbody' else does in DC and take Metrorail.  If you're staying near a CVS you can buy a reloadable SmartTrip card there or get it at a Metro subway station.  Catch the Orange or Blue lines to the Capitol South Station, which is a easy one block walk to the Cannon House Office Building.   You can access the Longworth and Rayburn HOB's via tunnel once you clear security at Cannon HOB.

Unfortunately, since the 9-11 terror attacks, the subway between the House and Senate office buildings has been restricted to congressmembers and staffers, so you will have to exit one of the house office buildings and walk past the Supreme Court Building plaza and Capitol Visitors Center to get to the Senate office buildings.

*The Senate HOB's have electronic video boards to make it easier for visitors to find Senatorial offices.   Unfortunately the House doesn't yet (probably because it's GOP controlled).  The House directories are near stairwells and elevators in a font size that can be hard to read at times. There are some in various House office buildings located in spots where even my tall behind had to tiptoe to read them or have a small flashlight to do so because of the darkness of the corridor.

*The offices will have the nameplate of the member plus the state flag outside the door to further help you find your member as you wander the House and Senate office buildings in search of those offices..

*The cool thing about visiting your own congressmember is as a district constituent, the staff will take time to talk to you even if you don't have an appointment. 

I salute and thank you for taking the valuable time out of your schedules to represent yourselves and our community in Washington DC. Enjoy your time in our nation's capital, have fun and I know you will represent our community well.

Diamond Williams Case Update: Sargent Mental Competency Hearing

Here's the latest update in the Diamond Williams case.

I was advised by Gloria Casarez about an upcoming Wednesday July 16 mental competency hearing in the case of Charles N. Sargent, Diamond's accused killer. 

The 44 year old Sargent was arrested for murdering and dismembering Williams last July after luring her to his Strawberry Mansion home. 

He faces charges of murder, abuse of a corpse and other related charges to this case.  Due to concerns about his mental state, he has not had a preliminary hearing


For those of you in the Philadelphia metro area wishing to attend this hearing in a show of support to for Diamond, her family and the local trans community, it will be held at 9 AM EDT on July 16 in Courtroom 1103 of the Criminal Justice Center, 1301 Filbert St. in Philadelphia.   Municipal Court Judge Marsha H. Neifield will preside over the hearing. 

Here's hoping that this is the first step to Sargent being held accountable for his heinous crime and our fallen sister receives justice.

TransGriot Update:  Sargent was found COMPETENT to stand trial!

Not Supporting Lauren Scott Or ANY Trans Republican

In the wake of me writing about Paula Sophia being poised to make trans history and possibly get elected to the Oklahoma Legislature on August 26 if she prevails in her runoff election, I had a Republican leaning trans person contact me and ask why I hadn't written a similar post about Lauren Scott's candidacy in Nevada. 

As I wrote in this 2010 post, and will expand on it as we head to the 2014 midterms, the right trans candidate for public office at any level of government is NOT a right-wing one. 

As far as I and other non-white voters are concerned, the Republican Party is nothing more than the political arm of white supremacy, and they gleefully make that clear to us every day. 

If you're a libertarian, we non-white peeps don't have much love for you either because all we see you as is the flip side to the same white supremacist political coin.

It's also laughable to me when we have daily examples of Republican politicians at ALL levels of government being bigoted, racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, misogynistic, (fill in the blank) that ANY politically savvy and thoughtful trans person would want to join, much less be a member of a party that oppresses them and their trans brothers and sisters.

At first glance Ms. Scott's record is one that would make you gravitate toward supporting her legislative candidacy.  She's an Air Force Desert Storm vet, small business owner, has participated in an NCTE sponsored lobby day in 2007, is the founding Executive Director of Equality Nevada since 2009, was appointed by Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) to sit on the Nevada Equal Rights Commission until her term expires October 31 and unsuccessfully ran for an open Nevada Assembly seat in 2012.

While I commend Ms Scott for stepping up to run for office, it's the choice of party affiliation that is raising red flags with me and other big picture thinking trans people.  When the Nevada Assembly currently has a 26-15 Democratic majority and the Nevada Senate a precarious 11-10 Democratic majority, why in Hades would you run for office in that party? 

Granted, you are running for the Nevada Assembly seat in District 30 currently occupied by incumbent Assemblyman Michael Sprinkle (D) that you didn't make it out of the primary fr in 2012.  

But should you make history and win that race, it puts the Republicans one seat closer to gaining control of the Nevada Assembly and possibly unleashing the flood of batturd crazy racist legislation that is the sadly all too common result of GOP control of a state legislature.

That hasn't happened in Nevada only because of Democratic control of both legislative chambers. 

Yes, I have repeatedly said that the next level of our trans human rights struggle is to actually get our people elected to public office.  And yes, it is important to have our folks involved in both political parties.

But let's be real about the fact that in this 2014 cycle, in many parts of the country the Republicans are nothing more than neo-Confederate anti-government trans oppressors, and any trans person in those GOP ranks is wasting their time. 

Nevada's GOP might be different, but after seeing Sharron Angle's 2010 US Senate campaign, Cliven Bundy tripping, and the damage that conservatism does when they get control of a state (or national) legislature, I would hate for Nevada voters to find out the hard way their Republicans are just as off the chain as the Arizona and Texas GOP.     

So no, I'm not voting for or supporting ANY transperson who is a member of the Republican Party, because as a trans person of color, neither I or my people can afford to have that trans GOP legislator, no matter how moderate they may seem at first glance, be the one vote that gets the Republican Party closer to or actually tips the balance of legislative control of a House or Senate chamber.

Doing A Moni Me Time Weekend

Been a busy few months for me, and I'm feeling the need for some downtime to recharge the creative batteries.

So yep, it's past time to take the weekend off for some Moni Me Time. 

In addition to recharging the creative and personal batteries,  I need to prep for a seminar at the Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit on the Texas State campus in San Marcos August 8-9 and another one later this month at an upcoming  convention I'm in final confirmation stages for 

Once I confirm that upcoming East Coast panel discussion, I'll let y'all know when, where, and what time it happens.

If I get some breaking news, an inspired thought that leads to a post before Monday, you'll see me post it.   Otherwise the game plan is just to take a mini writing break and get back to doing my usual TransGriot writing schedule on Monday 

Tiffany Edwards Case Update

Here's the latest news update in the Tiffany Edwards case courtesy of LGBTQ Nation. 

Quamar Edwards, the 25 year old waste of DNA arrested in the murder of our sister Tiffany after he turned himself in to Cincinnati Police on July 2, was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday on one count each of aggravated robbery, aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, having weapons under disability and tampering with evidence.

Investigators said Quamar Edwards solicited the victim for sex, and fatally shot her following an argument.   So much for his uncle trying to play the 'trans panic defense' card. 

Edwards is currently cooling his heels in the Hamilton County Jail under a $500,000 bond

And as always, I will keep you TransGriot readers posted concerning any new developments in this case.

Shut Up Fool Awards- No Fools Zone Edition

It's Friday, and you long time TransGriot readers know what that means.   It's my ongoing weekly effort to expose the fool, fools or group of fools in our societal midst who continue to exhibit mind numbing stupidity, jaw dropping ignorance and over the top hypocrisy.  

And I have fun calling their asses out, too

It's time for this week's edition of the TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards.  Since I know you're anxious to find out who won this week, I'll shut down the jibber-jabber get right to it.

Honorable mention number one is a joint one for Kanye West and Stacey Dash.   After Kanye went on a problematic 20 minute rant during a July 5 London concert comparing the paparazzi to rapists.   Stacey Dash, in her new gig as a Faux Noise pundit and who had appeared in Kanye's All Fall Down video, then suggested to he needed to spend some time at Riker's Island to know what rape really is.  

Both of them need to have several seats.  


Honorable mention number two is the Ugandan government for making the ludicrous claim that the Anti-Homosexuality Law 'is not meant to punish gays.   

Oh really?  In what delusional world did you come up with that conclusion when the bill call for lifetime imprisonment for repeat violators of it?    Own your homophobic bigotry and the consequences of letting white American homophobes bamboozle you into passing that draconian law. 


Honorable mention number three is Chicago disc jockey UB Rodriguez.   The WGCI-FM disk jockey let loose with this transphobic tweet while commenting on the video Laverne Cox appeared in for the John Legend song You & I.



After initially trying to defend the slur, Rodriguez deleted it.   

As I said in the post discussing the just launched Windy City trans respect billboard campaign,  

Ten of these billboards are being deployed on Chicago's South and West sides and like Channyn, I hope they convey the message to the rest of cis society what transwomen already know.  Transwomen are human.

We're also just trying to live our daily lives without added drama or BS.  

I also hope one of those ten billboards is across the street or near the WGCI-FM studios

Honorable mention number four to the Thanks A Million Corp. for their Add a Kid Line of t-shirts that includes a problematic monkey one.   To promote the line it has multiethnic headshots of kids, and one retailer paired the African-American kid headshot with a monkey t-shirt.

Thanks a Million Corp, did it not occur to you not to have a monkey shirt in the first place, being that African-Americans up to and including the POTUS and FLOTUS still have to deal with that racist imagery?  

Honorable mention number five is Joan Rivers, who refuses to part her collagen injected lips and apologize to the First Lady for her racist and transmisogynistic comment I blasted her for last week.

Honorable mention number six goes to Alex Jones, for doubling down on that transmisogyny that Rivers attacked the FLOTUS with and going even more off the chain with it.


This week's Shut Up Fool Awards winner is Southern Talabaptist President Richard Land, who declared that 'transgenderism is the ultimate rebellion against God' 

Seriously?   The 'ultimate rebellion against God' is you and your SBC fools claiming to speak for the Almighty while trying to erase the irrefutable fact transpeople exist. 

Here's some New Testament for you, from Jesus himself.  .

For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. Matthew 19:12
 
Trans people are part of the diverse mosaic of human life, and God loves us, too   So you and all your Southern Talabaptists can have several seats in those arena sized churches and have a tall sweet tea flavored glass of STFU.

So let me say this in terms easy for you to understand:   Richard Land, thou art a fool that needeth to shut  thine lying lips    

Lawdy Lawdy, Renee is 40!

I have been waiting for this day for two years now and it has finally arrived.   It's Renee's milestone birthday, and one in which I pay my Timmy's IceCapp drinking Coach purse loving homegirl back for this birthday post she unleashed on me in 2012. 


So, let's see, first off, who are some of the people who share Renee's birthday?    There's Lil Kim, Kellita Smith, Leon Spinks, Nadya Suleman, Lisa Rinna, Caroline Wozniacki, Giorgio Armani, the late actor Yul Brynner and Houston Texan WR Andre Johnson just to name a few. 

As for some of the things that are older than Renee on this day?    

The Toronto Maple Leafs last NHL championship banner in the Hangar.
Timmy's
The Skylon Tower
Terra Firma
Niagara Falls

I may have started this post by poking fun at my sis, but I  have to say that my life has been immensely enriched by having her as a major part of it for nearly a decade.  Renee and I have had some thought provoking conversations about many issues ever since I met her that I enjoy. 

The other thing I most appreciate about you besides your intellect, fashion sense, and your stories about being the only estrogen based lifeform in a house full of guys is that you not only talk the talk when it comes to sisterhood and being a standup trans ally, you role model it.         

And best of all, I'm proud to call you my friend.   Now if I can make that north of the border visit happen sometime this decade. 

Happy milestone birthday, Renee!    May you celebrate many more of them!

Laverne Cox Gets Historic Emmy Nomination

I'll have another reason to watch the August 25 Primetime Emmy Awards broadcast on NBC besides wondering if Kerry Washington and Joe Morton get the statues to go with their well deserved nominations for their respective Scandal acting roles

I'm still pissed off about Kerry getting screwed last year and y'all know how much I love her. 

But enough about Ms.Washington, this post is about another person I have mad love for in our fave possibility model Laverne Cox, who made more trailblazing history today.

When the nominations for the 2013-2014 Emmy's were announced today, Orange Is The New Black earned 12 Emmy nominations.  One of these nominations was for the Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series category, and Ms. Cox was nominated for her role as Sophia Burset on the smash hit series.

That nomination makes Laverne the first open transgender actress to be nominated for a primetime Emmy.

She's competing against two of her Orange Is The New Black castmates in Uzo Aduba (Suzanne 'Crazy Eyes' Warren) and Natasha Lyonne (Nicky Nichols) for this Emmy, but I'm hoping that it works out for her.  

Congratulations Laverne!  Well deserved nomination and I'll be tuned in at 7 PM CDT to see if you make more history and actually win it.    
  

Moni's In The Middle Of The WH LGBT Innovation Summit

It's been an amazing year so far for me and it still has five more months left in it before we flip the calendar page to 2015.

Another blessing came my way with an invitation courtesy of Dr Kortney Ryan Ziegler and Trans*H4CK to attend the first ever White House LGBT Innovation Summit.   You know as a history buff I love being at groundbreaking events, and definitely wanted to be in DC for this inaugural July 7 one.

So once again I found myself on a jet plane winging my way to DC via the ATL to be there.  

Since it was post-4th of July weekend, it was an interesting route to get there.  Normally I like going in and out of DCA (I refuse to call it Reagan National) because it's on the WMATA Metrorail Yellow and Blue lines.   But on this trip I was routed to go into BWI on Sunday and leave out of DCA on Tuesday.  In addition I had 3 hour layovers in Atlanta on both legs.  But hey, I'm still getting my frequent flyer miles.    

I got up at 4 AM CDT to head over to Hobby for my 7 AM departure to the ATL.  After Dee Dee Watters dropped me off, I'm thinking "Who is going to be traveling at 6 AM on Sunday to go somewhere?" as I entered the airport terminal..  But after I picked up my boarding passes in front of the Delta ticket counter and saw the line at TSA security I was jarred back into the reality I was traveling on the back side of the holiday weekend, as my 15 minute wait to clear security attested to. For once I didn't get some hands on attention from our TSA friends after I went through the body scanner .

It's a gorgeous flying weather day and I get to the ATL with no issues.  I've already eaten breakfast, I'm chilling at my BWI gate with my laptop playing my fave tunes from the 70s-90's on my Spotify account as I settle in to kill my three hours of Hartsfield-Jackson airport sit time.  I'm watching the world and the Delta flight personnel walk by and thinking about how much I miss the airline biz when I heard the announcement that my flight has gate changed due to a mechanical problem with my just arrived inbound aircraft.

We ended up leaving 20 minutes late on the ATL-BWI leg but my captain made up the time and we pulled into my BWI gate at 3:47 PM EDT, three minutes earlier than scheduled.    Samantha Master grabbed me a few minutes later and off we went in the direction of Washington DC and my Dupont Circle area hotel.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, because I know so many people in the DC area who would love to spend quality time with me (and it's a nice problem to have), they know to get it they have to grab me either when I land inside I-495 or on my way out of town back to DCA.  

So Samantha made sure she got first dibs on me before Ruby Corado did.
     
After taking me to lunch, doing a little shopping and discussing the current state of the movement, we eventually ended up at the Carlyle Suites hotel on New Hampshire Ave NW.   I noticed along with Samantha the Delta Sigma Theta Way sign underneath it as we turned onto New Hampshire Ave.  I discovered I would be staying less that two doors down from DST national headquarters which made me chuckle as a child of a proud AKA. 

That area also has many embassies, and the Grenadian embassy was on the corner of New Hampshire Ave and R St.  I also noticed something else in addition to the embassies sprinkled throughout the tree shaded neighborhood, a 7-Eleven.   That meant I was going to be able to destroy some Slurpees on this trip.    

I checked into my 7th floor art-deco style suite, made some calls, walked around the corner to that 7-Eleven to get my first Slurpee (lemonade) since my PTHC trip and after returning to the hotel settled in to get some rest for the big day.

Monday July 7 was another warm but beautiful clear weather day in which I debated when I woke up at 8 AM whether to go to Capitol Hill and see Yesenia Chavez or just head to the White House area for the Summit which was starting at 1 PM. 

I was anxious to see who was going to be in attendance for the Summit, and started walking toward the Dupont Circle Metro station.   I discovered during that walk the embassies of Nicaragua, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Argentina were also in the vicinity along with the headquarters of the American Library Association.   That made me smile and think about my homegirl BiblioDiva, AKA Melissa Meadows as I made the turn onto Q St. near the Argentinian embassy and headed toward the station.  

When I arrived there I got my first pleasant surprise of the day when I tapped my WMATA SmarTrip card and discovered I had $9.60 on it.  That was more than enough to get me down there and back from Dupont Circle, so I added another $7 to it to cover any other Metrorail trips I would possibly do here before jumping onto my Red Line train to head to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House grounds.        
.            
After changing to a Orange Line train at Metro Center Station I get off at Farragut West and realize I didn't burn as much time as I thought I would and I'm way early.   Fortunately I spot a Mickey D's and decided to burn up an hour and grab lunch there before heading to the designated WH security gate since I knew it was going to be at least 4 hours before I'd get an opportunity to eat something.

I arrive at the security checkpoint outside of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at 11:40 AM and I'm met by a female intern ironically from Dallas who is waiting to escort another party into the WH complex.   After we exchanged Lone Star pleasantries a few minutes later I start seeing the peeps arriving for the Summit.   Michael David Battle arrives with his mom, then Geena Rocero, and Krys and Kin Folkz from Oakland who I'd met during the first Trans*H4CK 

We all start catching up on what has been transpiring in our lives as the clock ticks toward 12 noon and the point that security personnel are ready to begin checking our ID for the first stage of clearing the WH security gauntlet

After arriving in the auditorium I begin to see more familiar people like Kimberley McLeod from Elixher, Angelica Ross, Lourdes Hunter, Katrina Goodlett, and the man of the hour in Dr. KRZ complete with his patriotic flag pattern tie.  Introductions are coming fast and furiously, business cards are being exchanged and pictures and selfies are being snapped as the time ticks down toward the 1 PM start of the event. 

I even got an opportunity to talk to Tim Gill about politics and a few issues.    

One of the biggest questions I got asked once I revealed I'd come to the event from Houston is 'What's happening with the HERO?'   So yeah peeps, the world is watching H-town. 

Finally the program starts with the SRO crowd settling in for the welcome from WH Office of Public Engagement advisor Gautam Raghavan.

Following his remarks, the first armchair conversation with Google [x] VP Megan Smith moderated by Lesbians Who Tech founder Leanne Pittsford to start the four hour program begins.   

That conversation focused on women in the tech field and dropped the interesting historical note that the Duchess of Cambridge's (AKA Kate Middleton)  grandmother was one of the Bletchley Park duty officers that helped decode German military messages encrypted on the German Enigma coding machine for Allied use.  It moved to discussing other diversity issues before that conversation concluded with audience Q&A.

Before the next segment of the program happened, we were given the opportunity to line up at the two mikes on either side of the room and give a 30 second elevator  pitch discussing our innovative work on behalf of the community, ask for help or resources, or share your Big Idea.

Once the time allotted for the first round of elevator pitches expired, we moved to a panel discussion entitled Challenges And Opportunities Facing LGBT Communities.   The panel was comprised of USDA Special Assistant Ashlee Davis, WH National AIDS policy Director Douglas Brooks, Out2Enroll's Katie Keith and UCLA Williams Institute Senior Counsel Adam Romero.

After discussing HIV/AIDS and the problematic inclusion of transpeople in the MSM category, the problems of rural LGBT people, and the lack of inclusion of transpeople and especially transpeople of color in Gay Inc leadership ranks and organizations with the Black transfolks in attendance leading much of the conversation in that auditorium on many of those issues, it was time for the next round of elevator pitches.

When those concluded it was time for our sis Geena Rocero to take the stage. 

Taryn Miller-Stevens introduced her and Geena gracefully strode to the podium to talk about how the power of stories fused with technology is empowering trans people, helping us change lives and influencing public policy changes.  She also talked about the motivating reason why she founded GenderProud. 

I received an unexpected shoutout during her speech, along with Dr Z and some of the other trans POC leaders who have been pushing for systemic human rights change on behalf of our community.  

When she concluded her speech to a standing ovation, she and Taryn had an armchair conversation to answer more audience questions driven by her remarks before they stepped aside to make way for the next portion of the program. 

The Presidential Innovation section of the program was an interview conducted by Senior Advisor to the US Chief Technology Officer Erie Meyer with 18F Creative Director Hillary Hartley.

After their interview and Q&A, we took a short break before we heard Tim Gill's Call to Action speech to conclude the LGBT Innovation Summit. 

After some closing thoughts and next steps from Gautam, we moved to the Indian Treaty Room on the 4th floor for a Gill Foundation hosted reception that concluded a little after 6:30 PM to end our day on the White House grounds.

Some of us decided to continue the conversations at the nearby W Hotel and its patio bar with a gorgeous view of  the White House complex, the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, the Washington Monument and The Mall.   We were joined there by Kylar Broadus, Ruby Corado and Joanna Cifredo and engaged in debriefing conversations about what had just transpired on this historic day and discussed the lobby day taking place next week.  

We then took those conversations from that spot to another locale that lasted well into the wee hours of the morning before I had to bounce to my hotel and pack for my departure in a few hours.   

I woke up at 8 AM to another gorgeous but hot DC summer day.   Since my flight to Houston via Atlanta wasn't leaving until 3 PM, I decided before I had to check out of my room at 12 noon and because I didn't want to be schlepping my laptop and bag through Capitol Hill security, to bounce to Capitol Hill and attempt to keep my promise of seeing Yesenia before I left the Washington DC area.  

When I got to Rep Raul Grijalva's (D-AZ) office on the fifth floor of the Longworth Building a little before 10 AM, one of her coworkers advised me she'd just left for a training session and wasn't due back in until after 11 AM.  I decided after a few minutes of enjoying their hospitality to kill time by going to see my own congressmember. 

After accomplishing that mission, I headed back to Longworth to see if Yesenia was back. She wasn't and because it was now 11:10 AM I had to head back to the Capitol South station to begin my journey back to the Dupont Circle area and check out of the hotel.   I discovered later when I checked my phone at DCA after I cleared TSA security and arrived at my departure gate I just missed Yesenia by five minutes. 

Oh well, I'll catch her next time. 

Ruby showed up a little after 12 to pick me up from the Carlyle Suites and hang out at Casa Ruby for a moment before we headed off in the direction of DCA to drop me off to start my return trip home. 

So once again I got to spend a little time inside the beltway, see some old friends, meet some new ones, talk about the Trans Revolution Will Not Be Televised business with my trans peeps and get my learn on at the same time.

The evaluation for this inaugural White House LGBT Innovation Summit should be hitting my e-mail soon, but so glad I had an opportunity to be in the house for the inaugural event.   

Hope next year's is even better.   

And for those of you who missed me on this latest trip inside I-495, I'll probably be back before the year is out, so just get ready to try to get me at DCA before Ruby or Samantha do.

Fallon Fox Being Inducted In National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall Of Fame!

So proud of my sis Fallon Fox, who was named to the 2014 class of inductees for the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame!

The National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame was the brainchild of Bill Gubrud and several other founders to celebrate the sporting achievements of LGBT people. 

The Chicago-based National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame is housed at the Center on Halsted and unveiled its inaugural class last year.  It has garnered letters of supports from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, MLB commissioner Bud Selig and NBA commissioner Adam Silver. 

In addition to Fox, the other 14 inductees in the Hall's Class of 2014 are my Houston homegirl and WNBA baller Brittney Griner, retired NBA player John Amaechi, retired MLB player Billy Bean, 2012 Olympic diving medalist Tom Daley, Executive Director of You Can Play and retired NFL player Wade Davis, endurance swimmer Diana Nyad, retired rugby player Gareth Thomas, retired NFL player Esera Tuaolo, triathlete and founder of transathlete.com Chris Mosier, Nike, and the Stand Up Foundation.

The persons in the 2014 Class being inducted posthumously are San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, NFL player Jerry Smith and rugby player Mark Bingham, who was one of the heroes of Flight 93.

The induction ceremony will take place Friday, July 11 with a VIP reception at 5:30 PM CDT, a general reception at 6:30 PM with the induction ceremony starting at 7:30 PM.

Price of admission includes hosted bar and hors d'oeuvres. Tickets are $30.

Congratulations Fallon!  Here's hoping we have more of our trans sporting heroes and sheroes inducted in the Hall's Class of 2015. 
 

Chicago TransLife Center Trans Respect Billboard Campaign Launched

I believe we have been given another opportunity to attack and destroy another meme deployed against us that feeds into the unjust treatment being aimed at us.

It's the 'all transwomen are sex workers' meme.

TransGriot, April 15, 2014, 'Attacking The All Trans Women Are Sex Workers' Meme  


Nice to see someone was paying attention to that post.

One of the things that is a microaggressive (and sometimes macroaggressive) irritant in the life of a trans woman of color is some idiot assuming that we are all turning tricks. 

It's an assumption that plays into triggering much of the anti-trans animus aimed at us and I suspect can be one of the precursors that leads to the anti-trans violence aimed at us.

That tired meme has also led to po-po's behaving badly when it comes to encountering us as the Kenneth Furr case in DC was an egregious example of, along with the Monica Jones 'Walking While Black Trans' case  in Phoenix.    That meme was why stop and frisk police stops were aimed at non-white transwomen simply minding their own damned business.  

So it was nice to hear about a billboard campaign TransLife Chicago launched July 2 with the simple but powerful message "She’s just walking, not working. Respect Transgender Women.”

It was needed especially in the wake of the Chicago Sun Times republishing the foul June article attacking the femininity of Laverne Cox they later apologized for.   There are also several transfeminine murder cases in the Windy City that have yet to be solved, much less see the perpetrators of them be arrested.   

TransLife Center Care Coordinator Channyn Parker said in a Windy City Times interview concerning the billboard launch, “Transgender people constantly live under the cloud of an assumption that us taking a simple walk down the street means that we’re actually out doing solicitation or prostitution.”


She said: “[It] couldn’t be further from the truth. I sincerely hope this message gets down at the base level that trans people are human.”

Ten of these billboards are being deployed on Chicago's South and West sides and like Channyn, I hope they convey the message to the rest of cis society what transwomen already know.  Transwomen are human.

We're also just trying to live our daily lives without added drama or BS.

Headed Back To H-Town From The Innovation Summit

This was a short but nice trip to our nation's capitol for the first ever White House LGBT Innovation Summit in which I got to see some old friends, make some new ones get some more frequent flyer miles and get my learn on at the same time.


And staying in the Dupont Circle area was the bomb.  I found a 7-11 around the corner from the hotel and some large Slurpees got demolished while I was there.

I even took a moment before I headed to Washington National (I refuse to call it Reagan National) to visit Capitol Hill and Casa Ruby.

But my time in DC has come to an end, and now here come the words my peeps in H-town like to see me write when I venture outside the Lone Star State on these trips:  I'm on my way back home.

I took notes and I'll definitely do a big recap post of the event, but right now I just want to get some sleep.

I'm also ready to get back to Hobby via Atlanta and destroy some Pappas barbecue as per my post-flight arrival tradition once I land.     

The Inaugural LGBT Innovation Summit

The reason I'm in Washington DC is for the first ever LGBT Innovation Summit.that is starting as you read this at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House. 

Over the next four hours me and my fellow Summit panelists will get to witness a program that features some dynamic speakers, a panel discussion, and some participation time carved out so we can share ideas, collaborate with fellow Summit attendees and ask questions. 

And I get to put my reporter hat on and witness the inaugural event.   While this isn't the LGBT White House Pride Reception with fancy presidential invites, an appearance from the POTUS and FLOTUS, it is a fascinating event that I'll get another opportunity to do some networking at and see at least two people I know in Dr Kortney Ryan Ziegler and Geena Rocero. 

Then again, who says the POTUS may not pop in to say hello?

So what's on tap for the LGBT Innovation Summit Program?  .

The Summit will include:

*An armchair conversation with Megan Smith, Vice President, Google[x], moderated by Leanne Pittsford , founder of Lesbians Who Tech
*Remarks by Geena Rocero, Founder, Gender Proud, on how technology is empowering trans people, introduced by Taryn Miller-Stevens, Founder, GET//OUT

*An interview with Hillary Hartley, Creative Director, 18F, by Erie Meyer, Senior Advisor to the U.S. Chief Technology Officer

*A Call to Action by Tim Gill, Entrepreneur & Founder, Gill Foundation

*Time for “Elevator Pitches” where YOU will have the opportunity (in less than 30 seconds!) to talk about your innovative work, ask for help or resources, or share your Big Idea. This is an opportunity to spark collaboration and harness the expertise and energy in the room. 

*A panel discussion on challenges and opportunities facing LGBT communities, featuring senior leaders from the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Out2Enroll, and UCLA's Williams Institute.

The Summit as I mentioned is starting at 1:00 PM EDT (now) and will conclude by 5:00 PM EDT, followed by a networking reception hosted by the Gill Foundation in the Indian Treaty Room.

So yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to meeting the folks I don't personally know and having a chance to network with them.

I'm In DC For The LGBT Innovation Summit

Assuming my flights are on time, should be walking off the airplane at BWI and headed to my hotel to chill out in preparation for my big day tomorrow at the inaugural LGBT Innovation Summit.

I'm thrilled to have an opportunity to once again represent my community and myself at this inaugural event and looking forward to it when it happens at 1 PM EDT tomorrow.

And yes, y'all know how much I love to travel. 

Anyway, chilling with my sis Samantha Master right now before I head to my hotel in the Dupont Circle area.  And since I've been to the Dupont Circle area more than a few times on previous DC trips , I know about the Krispy Krack (what I call Krispy Kreme Donuts) in easy walking distance of my hotel I'll be hitting tomorrow morning for breakfast before I get into diva mode to head over to the White House .

As usual, I'll have my reporter's hat on to let you TransGriot readers know what transpired on my latest inside the beltway trip. 

Air Marshal Taking Flight To DC Again

The Air Marshal (my old nickname in the trans human rights ranks) is going to be up at the crack of dawn headed to Hobby to make another trip to Washington DC via the ATL. 

Probably because this one is occurring on the backside of the 4th of July holiday weekend, I've have an interesting trip in store for me.   If I'm on schedule I should be airborne at 7 AM CDT enroute to the ATL.  I have a long 3 hour layover at Hartsfield-Jackson with my final destination being BWI-Thurgood Marshall    On the return leg back to Houston I leave out of DCA on the afternoon of the 8th and have another long 3 hour layover in Atlanta.    

I'm headed to our nation's capital for the inaugural LGBT Innovation Summit that's taking place at the White House complex tomorrow July 7 from 1-5 PM EDT.  There will be a reception immediately after that until 6:30 PM

So what's the LGBT Innovation Summit about? 

This event will bring together individuals who share a desire to tackle the major challenges faced by LGBT communities through new solutions using technology, partnerships, mentorship, media, networks, and creative, market-driven, scalable models. Attendees will engage with Obama Administration officials and national community leaders about current challenges, opportunities, and successful solutions. Attendees will be active participants throughout the day: sharing insights and observations during a group session, and collaborating and brainstorming in off-site workshops.

Since I am considered an LGBT innovator because of TransGriot and being an inaugural Trans*H4CK judge, I got the attention of the planning committee for this event and deeply appreciate the invite.   

So H-town and 'errbody' else, this a quick in and out trip inside I-495, so it's going to be tough for me to see everyone that would like to say howdy to me while I'm in Washington..

You might try hitting me up on my cell phone for those of you who have my number or swinging by my hotel Sunday evening for you inside the beltway residents trying to catch me. 

I guess peeps were paying attention on my last DC trip when Ruby Corado ensured she got her quality time with me in February by grabbing me at DCA and taking me back to the airport.   One person is already scooping me up at BWI to get her quality time in.

Looking forward to this latest trip to DC and seeing what happens at this inaugural LGBT Innovation Summit.  

Why Joan Rivers FLOTUS Comment Was Racistly Insulting

As an unapologetically proud Black trans woman, one of the cornerstones of this blog is working to build self esteem, confidence and pride amongst my sisters in being Black women of trans experience.

Joan Rivers'' transmisogynist comment aimed at First Lady Michelle Obama Wednesday pissed me the hell off on a lot of levels.  Here's why it wasn't humorous nor complimentary

There has been a determined effort by the conservafool slime machine and conspiracy conservawackos  to plant this meme in the media that the 5'11" FLOTUS is a transwoman.   While we in Black trans world would be proud to embrace her as one of our sisters if she was,  there is overwhelming evidence she showed up on this planet on January 17, 1964 in Chicago in a cis female body, has given birth to two beautiful daughters, and has spent the last 50 years of her life in that gender role.

Congratulations Joan, you just did the conservafools dirty work for them by taking that crap our of their cesspools of right wing crazy and injecting it in the mainstream media.

It's infuriating because this First Lady, even before her husband was elected to the Oval Office, has been subjected to unprecedented levels of disrespect up to and being compared to a simian, un-American, 'racist' , 'Stokely Carmichael in a dress', called ugly and having 'that's a man' shade thrown at her by comedian Jay Mohr in 2009. 

And yes, Rivers made a borderline racist 'Blackie O' comment in 2011, so this isn't the first time she's thrown shade at the First Lady.   Now she's weaponized 'transgender' and aimed it at the First Lady as an insult.

Another element of why I'm not happy about the comment is that it plays into the racist four century old pattern of whiteness and white supremacy pushing the unwoman meme that demonizes the femininity of Black women.

If you have a group of women that you put on a societal pedestal as the paragons of beauty, fertility and the femininity gold standard that all women should aspire to, then it stands to reason that you would set up a group of women as the ones to not emulate. 

Unfortunately Black women are the ones who have been saddled with that problematic situation for the last 400 years due to the toxic legacy of the Atlantic Slave Trade.  With Michelle Obama being the defacto public face of Black womanhood as the president's wife, her femininity has been under severe assault.

It also fit into an ongoing pattern of throwing transphobic shade at any Black woman you dislike whether that woman is Fantasia, Serena Williams, Brittney Griner or the FLOTUS.   Any woman who doesn't fit the critic's narrow designation of what a woman is get saddled with transmisogynistic insults or 'that's a man' shade to police her gender presentation.

The fact the comment came out of a white woman's mouth, and one of Jewish heritage who have struggled at times through their own  tortured history with being demonized, also heightened the insensitivity and offense level of Rivers' transmisogynistic comment when seen through the eyes of Black women.

It's also telling to note that Michelle Obama's documented 50 years of life on this space rock, delivering and raising two Black female children of her own and being the First Lady of the United States still didn't shield her from being attacked by the Black Unwoman Meme and having her femininity denigrated. 

And finally, when you look at it from my vantage point as a Black transwoman, I'm pissed off by the comment because it fauxgressively implied to the world by cattily weaponizing transgender as a insult you hurled at the First Lady, that being a transwoman is something to be ashamed of, or makes you less than you as a elderly white woman with multiple surgical enhancements.  

Let me emphatically state it is not insult to be called or something to be ashamed of to be a trans woman. Neither is it shameful to be a Black woman no matter how hard whiteness and white supremacy tries to sell those woof tickets to us. 

The only person that has anything to be ashamed of is Joan Rivers for parting her collagen enhanced lips to say something that jacked up in the first place.

New H-town Area Code Launched

When I was growing up, the area code synonymous with the city of Houston and Southeast Texas since 1947 was 713.  Ironically when the Los Angeles class attack sub the USS Houston was launched in 1975, it carried the hull number 713.   .   

But with the proliferation of fax machines, pagers, dedicated phone lines for home computers and cell phones in the rapidly growing Houston metro area threatening to exhaust the supply of phone numbers available, it just became a Houston area code in March 19, 1983 when the rest of Southeast Texas was assigned the 409 one. .  

That bought time until November 2, 1996, when the Houston area suburbs outside Beltway 8 were assigned the 281 area code and they thought the exhausting the phone numbers problem was solved for a while .  

Key words in that last sentence are 'they thought the problem was solved'. 

Continued rapid growth in the Houston area and proliferation of cell and smartphones meant that on January 16, 1999, another area code had to be created by the Texas Public Utility Commission. 

On that date the 832 overlay area code was created and the boundary between the 713 and 281 codes was erased.   Mandatory ten digit calling was instituted in the Houston area on that date as well. 

Now that we Houstonians were about to once again run out of numbers by September, on July 1 another overlay area code, 346 has been instituted.

With about 5 million people and counting in the Houston metro area, we'll see how long it takes before we pick up another area code. 
 

Shut Up Fool Awards-Fourth Of July 2014 Edition

Happy Independence Day!  Today is our nation's 238th birthday, and it is being celebrated across the country with parade, concerts, barbecues and after sunset, massive fireworks displays.

Well, except on those parts of the Eastern Seaboard where Hurricane Arthur is making a mess of things.

It's Friday, and y'all know that that means TransGriot readers.

It's that part of the week that y'all tell me you absolutely love in terms of me calling out this week's fool, fools or group of fools in the weekly TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards.  

So without further delay, let's get to me calling out with your help the hypocrisy, stupidity, and just WTF moments that made these people SUF award worthy. 

Honorable mention number one I stay local for in christopimp Rev. Max Miller, who is shilling for homobigot Dave Welch in their GOP sponsored attempt to roll back the HERO.  

Max during his gross violation of Exodus 20:16 stated that he and fellow gay baiting ministers weren't anti-gay because they had gat family members.

Um, yes you are, especially when you pushed a petition drive on behalf of white conservafools seeking to repeal Houston's newly passed a comprehensive human rights law that protects the human rights of everyone in our city limits.

Honorable mention number two goes to 2011 Shut Up Fool of the Year Herman Cain for making homophobic cracks about Burger King's 'Proud Whopper' they sold in a San Francisco arealocation during Pride.Weekend on his website.   

Honorable mention number three to Adam Richman, who engaged in fat shaming with a female critic and told her she should kill herself.  He lost his new show on the Travel Channel as a result.

Honorable mention number four is Bobbi Kristina Brown, who hurled transmisogyny at Angela Bassett because she was pissed off Bassett turned her down for the role of her mother in a biopic on Whitney Houston she is debut directing 

Bobbi Kris, you need to sit your ass down and have several seats.   Your mother was one of the 50 most beautiful women on the planet, a multiple Grammy Award winning singer, actress and a ground breaking teen fashion model.    The only thing your spoiled brat ass shares with your mother is her DNA. 

Honorable mention number five is Joan Rivers for her transmisogynist and racist comment that First Lady Michelle Obama is a transsexual.    It's not cool to attack the femininity of the FLOTUS by calling her a trans woman when there is ample evidence she isn't.  It's racist to do that when there is a 400 year history of the femininity of Black women being denigrated. 




This is also not the first time you've made a comment aimed at the First Lady that has gone flat.   We still haven't forgotten the offensive Blackie O 'joke'.  As someone of Jewish heritage who comes from a people who know firsthand what it is like to be dehumanized, you should know better.  


This week's shut up fool is a group award for the five conservative male justices of the SCOTUS for the Hobby Lobby decision.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says it best for me in her scathing dissent of the 5-4 decision.

I'm going to say this.  SCOTUS conservafool majority, shut up fools!

HERO Updates, Notes and News-July 4

Now that the faith-based haters have made their latest move to hate on the month old Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, it's time for me to do regular updates on the blog again of all the news and issues surrounding  the HERO.  

I'm still getting a lot of questions as I travel the nation about our HERO, and that's part of what's driving this decision to once again create a post consolidating all the HERO related news and my commentary about it in one spot.   

The big news yesterday was the anti-HERO haters 3 PM CDT press conference in which they turned in their alleged 50,000 signatures to the City Secretary's office and claimed they verified 30,000 of them..

Yeah right.  We'll see in 30 days.  I received a copy of an e-mail in which you urged your hate pastors to pump up the petition in their sermons and get signatures in your June 29 Sunday services.

It was also interesting to note that just nine days ago (June 24) , according to our intel sources, the haters only had 8100 signatures.  So how did that morph to 50K in 9 days?   I'm also aware of the fact you haters hired an outside firm to boost your flagging signature collection effort in addition to one of your repeal petition signature takers getting busted committing election fraud while doing so.  

Meanwhile over at the City Hall annex across the street Dave Welch was getting Rev. Max Miller to do his dirty work for him and be the useful fool fronting the anti-HERO effort. 

Had to laugh when he claimed at their anti-HERO press conference he and his little cadre of hate ministers aren't anti-gay because they have gay family members.

Um, yes you are.   You are a homophobe when you are pushing a repeal effort that would take human rights coverage away from your gay relatives and the other 14 categories of Houstonians protected by HERO at the behest of right wing conservatives.

You also earned an SUF nomination for your repeated violations of Exodus 20:16 yesterday.

I also noticed that Rev. Kendall Baker was in the house, but nowhere to be seen in the photo ops.  What, was he the man cruising women's restrooms y'all falsely claimed to have four instances of occurring since the May 28 HERO passage?    Police reports proving it, please since y'all faith based haters have a proven propensity for prevarication.

And yeah, no Houston bakers have reported being forced to make Steve Riggle's swastika cakes. 


Max, one other thing I have to say before I move on.   If you're shamelessly christopimping for conservative white people a repeal effort that rolls back the human rights of everyone in Houston, you and your friends in the Baptist Ministers Association of Houston and Vicinity are bigots and even worse, cookie chomping sellouts to our people who are survey says, protected by the HERO.

Another question I have.  If y'all have so much support to repeal HERO, why is it when you faith-based haters have events, nobody shows up for them, or you have to bus them in from The Woodlands and Grace KKKommunity church? 

Those gross violations of Exodus 20:16 and several other commandments were countered at the HERO press conference Mayor Annise Parker held in the City Hall rotunda.   An enthusiastic Team HERO was there in full effect to hear our mayor bust lies and point out that the Houston we know and love doesn't discriminate.

"I have every expectation that this petition drive will be defeated, if they have sufficient signatures, in November, then we will have shown that Houston does not support discrimination.  I have every expectation that this is an ordinance that will live in Houston for many years to come and make Houston a better place in which to live."
--Mayor Annise Parker

All eyes in H-town will be turned to the City Secretary's office this month.  We'll find out if Max, Dave and the gang were selling woof tickets (which I suspect) about their petitions.   If they have enough signatures to force a vote, we are prepared and confident that once we lay out the facts about the HERO and debunk the lies, we will win.    

Stopping James Crow III

Guest Post By Dawn Wilson

Happy Independence Day, and welcome to the James Crow III Era.  .

Within weeks of the SCOTUS desecration of the US Constitution with the Hobby Lobby decision we are seeing new efforts to demonize and marginalize people in this country.

If you think I'm being alarmist about this, just ponder these examples.

A new bill was introduced this week in the Tennessee State Legislature that if passed, would allow people and businesses to refuse to provide goods and services to homosexuals. The bill was filed by Republican State Sen. Brian Kelsey, who represents parts of Memphis and Germantown.

A Republican in Idaho, has proposed a bill which would protect professionals like doctors or police officers from being forced to render aid to a gay or lesbian persons.

Fourteen prominent faith leaders — including some of President Obama’s closest advisers — want the White House to create a religious exemption from his planned executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against gays and lesbians in hiring.

This week in a small Southern California town, angry crowds stopped detained migrants from entering their community.

Recently, the Southern Baptists at its convention passed a resolution on June 10 that condemned and demonized transgendered persons. After reading about this unwarranted, adversarial attack on the humanity of a marginalized minority group, I was deeply saddened and angry.

Much of that anger was driven by the fact that the people pushing this James Crow III hate are wrapping their bigotry in Scripture.   But bigotry wrapped in scripture is still bigotry, regardless of what the proponents of it claim.

Why is this happening? Fear  Fear is a control mechanism. Fear is a killer of rational thought. Fear is the prohibitor of action.

Remember what Yoda said in The Empire Strikes Back about fear. 
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”

Stoking fear of others for the conservative movement has been the pathway to political power, and the policies in conservative dominated Red states and elsewhere in our country sadly are echoing Yoda’s words.   
We are seeing this depressing effect now of fear on our culture and our country.  It seems the more negative the news, the more fearful and sheeplike we become.

So what can we do to combat this steady push to a James Crow III era? Here are some suggestions.

Educate yourself and be knowledgeable on the issues of the day by consulting multiple news sources. Understanding the issues will help you see what is at stake in our communities, our states and our nation. 

Volunteer, lobby, speak up and out about issues you are passionate about and affect you directly and indirectly. 

Don’t be afraid to form an opinion.  When you do, be prepared to defend it with logic and reason. 

Finally, and I can’t stress this enough, VOTE.   Voting is your political voice in our 238 year old democracy.  You not only need to exercise your right to vote, but encourage others to register and do so as well  

On Election Day 2014, take you soul to the polls, bring others to the polling place with you, and do so in every Election Day from now on until the day you depart this world.

As Barbara Jordan once said, “The stakes are too high for government to be a spectator sport.”   So stop being a spectator and get in the political game by participating in each and every election from now on until you pass away. 

Jim Crow and James Crow, Esquire were reprehensible moral failures of this country then, and James Crow III continuing in their despicable footsteps won’t be any more  respectable in the second decade of the 21^st century either..

If we do this, we will be able to stop James Crow III.  We will also put the brakes on the mad rush to a dead, bygone era of demonization and hatred of our fellow Americans that needs to stay in the past