NBJC Emancipation Campaign

You know that I have been down with the mission of the National Black Justice Coalition throughout the life of this blog and have much love for the organization.. 

I have met and talked with Executive Director Sharon Lettman-Hicks on different occasions, met with many of the NBJC board members past and present, had the pleasure of attending, chronicling   and taking part in the 2011 and 2012 OUT on the Hill events and was honored to be a participant in their all day NBJC Black Institute at this year's Creating Change Conference in my hometown. 

And I'm hoping I can make it back to DC for this year's 5th annual edition of OUT on the Hill September 24-27

Now that NBJC is moving into its second decade of service to our community since its 2003 founding, it is seeking to become more self sufficient and rely more on the people they serve to fund it instead of foundations.

The NBJC Emancipation Campaign is seeking to raise $500,000 in order to do precisely that.

While they will continue to seek out grants, NBJC believes that in order to truly own our power and emancipate ourselves, the organization needs to be funded predominately by the African-American LGBT people and allies it serves, with the grants acting as supplements to the money they raise from the community and supporters.. 

NBJC in the last ten plus years has been on Capitol Hill and in movement leadership circles serving our Black LGBTQ/SGL community. 

They are unapologetically pointing out because of the way the forces of bias based on race, sexual orientation, and gender identity intersect in our community, it makes Black LGBTQ/SGL people and their families one of the most marginalized groups in America.

NBJC has been grooming our emerging LGBT leaders, pushing economic empowerment issues and laser focused on issues from our perspective such as HIV/AIDS, employment non-discrimination, safe and inclusive schools, transgender equality, Don't Ask Don't Tell, HBCU's and marriage equality

And NBJC has not hesitated to call out injustice aimed at our Black TBLGQ/SGL community

As far as the transgender equality portion of their mission goes, NBJC has been one of the few inside the beltway organizations to capitalize the 'T and seek our input on the issues and problems that plague our community.

The NBJC is worth the investment, and I hope you believe in their work as much as I do to invest in it as I will happily do once again because I want and would like for this Emancipation Campaign to be successful. 

HERO Show On HMS-TV

As many of you readers may be aware of, I was invited to participate in a televised discussion concerning the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) with Christina Gorczynski, Daniel Williams and Noel Freeman. 

It was hosted by Fran Watson and Durrel Douglas on Houston Media Source TV, our local municipal access cable channel.

The first half of the show was us proving information about our nearly two month old ordinance, the 15 categories it covers, and doing some mythbusting about it. 

The second half of the show featured me and Christina facing off against two HERO opponents, who turned out to be King HERO Hater Dave Welch and Kathy Blueford-Daniels.

Enjoy.    

45th Anniversary Of Apollo 11 Moon Landing

After blasting off from Pad 39A in Florida and a three day journey to enter lunar orbit, the world is waiting as astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin leave Columbia pilot Michael Collins behind to orbit the Moon as they climb into the lunar module Eagle.

It's on them to fulfill the challenge that President John F. Kennedy laid down to the nation and Congress in 1961 of landing on the moon and safely returning to earth .

As the Eagle descends toward its landing area in the Sea of Tranquility, Armstrong has to improvise to manually pilot the ship past an area of rocky boulders with the Eagle's onboard computers signaling alarms as he's doing so. 

Finally at 3:18 PM CDT  the lunar module is on the surface of the moon with 30 seconds of fuel left and Armstrong radios, "Houston, Tranquility Base here,  The Eagle has landed." as cheers and the tension breaks in Mission Control. 

At 9:56 PM CDT Armstrong is ready to begin the EVA and plant his foot on the lunar surface as half a billion people watch on television screens around the globe.   As he climbs down the ladder from Eagle and steps onto the surface he proclaims: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." (› Play Audio)



He's joined by Aldrin as the duo explore the lunar surface for two and a half hours.  They collect rock samples, take photographs, and leave behind an American flag, a patch honoring the fallen Apollo 1 crew members, leave their footprints in the lunar soil and a plaque on one of Eagle's legs before blasting off to dock with Collins in Columbia and head back to Earth.   

With the splashdown in the North Pacific on July 24, President Kennedy's challenge to the nation had been successfully fulfilled.  

Over the next three and a half years I'd get to witness ten more Americans land on the moon and safely return.  

I'd also in April 1970 agonize and pray with the rest of the world for the safe return of the Apollo 13 astronauts after a service module oxygen tank explosion enroute to the moon cancelled the landing at Fra Mauro and they had the use the lunar module Aquarius as a 'lifeboat' to get home.

Gene Cernan, commander of the Apollo 17 said as the Challenger prepared to leave the lunar surface on the final Apollo lunar mission in December 1972,"We leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace, and hope for all mankind."

It's past time this nation did so.

Belgium Has A Transgender Parliamentarian!

University of Ghent professor Petra De Sutter has become the second serving trans parlimentarian in Europe after recent elections in her nation. 

The head of the Reproductive Medicine Department at the University Hospital Ghent and associate professor of gynecology at the university ran for a European Parliament seat as a member of the Belgian Groen (Green) Party because she wanted to fight “for a more social and fairer Europe, where everyone feels at home” and against “an unpleasant mentality of everyone for themselves”.

De Sutter finished second in the May 25 balloting with 47,000 votes.   But the Greens were only able to secure one seat, and that went to current MEP Bart Staes.

Following reforms in Belgium this year, the 60 members of the Belgian Senate, the upper house of the Belgian federal Parliament are no longer elected but appointed.  50 of them come from regional and community parliaments, and the final ten are appointed by their political peers. 

De Sutter was sworn in July 10, and her appointment makes her not only the first transgender parliamentarian in Belgium, but the second currently serving one along with Anna Grodzka of Poland, the third overall in Europe, and the fourth ever internationally..  

Hopefully there will be more to come.

WMATA Will Finally Open Silver Line July 26

When I was up in DC for the LGBT Innovation Summit and took the Metrorail train to Capitol Hill, one of the things I noted was the directional signage in the existing stations adding information for the Silver Line.

After construction delays that have caused WMATA to postpone the start of Silver Line service several times, after five years of construction, the initial 11.7 mile $2.9 billion segment of the line from the Orange Line's East Falls Church station to the Wiehle Ave-East Reston station will open next Saturday, July 26.  Four of the five new Silver Line stations will be in Tysons Corner, VA with the other in Reston, VA. where the westbound Silver Line will terminate until Phase 2 expansion of the line is completed. 

After a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10 AM EDT for the line which will have Gov Terry McAuliffe (D) and other local officials, the first revenue service Silver Line train will roll eastward from the Wiehle Ave-East Reston station at 12 noon EDT.  

In preparation for the long awaited day in northern Virginia, WMATA will be running test trains and simulated service starting tomorrow along the entire length of the Silver Line to familiarize Washington Metro employees with the new route and finalize the train schedules under real time conditions.

Those Silver Line simulation trains going eastbound from the Wiehle-Reston East station until noon on July 26 will be marked as Orange Line trains with a destination of either East Falls Church or Largo Town Center.  They won't carry or pick up passengers from the six new stations until they reach the East Falls Church one that begins the portion of the Silver Line shared with the tracks of the existing Orange and Blue lines.

The Silver Line westbound simulation trains headed in the direction of Wiehle-Reston East once they reach East Falls Church station will offload all passengers, then continue on the new Silver Line tracks in Fairfax County, VA without passengers toward that new station.

As for what's transpiring with the Phase 2 construction of the Silver Line which will extend it from the Wiehle-Reston East station another 11.5 miles to Dulles airport (hallelujah) and eastern Loudoun County with six new stations, construction has already started on it with an estimated completion in 2018.

People in the DC metro area and visitors after next Saturday's opening will be one step closer to being able to ride Metrorail to Washington Dulles airport and Fairfax County.   Let's just hope Phase 2 of this massive public works project is built and opened on time..
 

Houston LGBT Community Needs To Be BETTER Black Community Allies

''Failure to engage my community means failure to win at the ballot box.' 
-TransGriot., March 23, 2009  Black People More Homophobic, You're Kidding, Right?


As many of you are aware, I spent an hour on Houston Media Source TV last night discussing the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance with show hosts Fran Watson and Durrell Douglas .

At least the first 30 minutes with Christina Gorczynski, Daniel Williams, and Noel Freeman were enjoyable.   The next thirty was a battle with King Hater Dave Welch and HERO opponent Kathy Blueford-Daniels, who shares my ethnic heritage.   

When it was over, he ran like Usain Bolt out of that studio because after the tag team demolition of him by me and Christina and the daggers I stared into him, he didn't want to hang around to see what was coming next from me.  I probably made it clear from the side eye I gave him off air that I have zero respect for him because he is a human rights oppressor.        

But Kathy and Christina struck up a conversation which I joined because she and the other woman there with her wanted to know more about the trans community.    

After I gave her some Trans 101, the four of us as women of color moved on to some other issues of discussion.   Kathy didn't like my calling the anti-HERO folks haters, and  my response to that was if you are in a coalition with people who want to roll back my human rights, you're a hater.   If you lie down with right wing dogs, don't get mad when their fleas bite you and I call you on it.

Kathy explained the reason she is part of the anti-HERO coalition is because she is part of the section of the African-American community that gets bent out of shape with any mention by white LGBT peeps that LGBT rights are a civil rights issue.  In her mind and the minds of a segment of our community, when you say that, you are conflating the African-American civil rights movement with the LGBT one.  

No matter how many historical examples I gave her that Black LGBT peeps like Lorraine Hansberry, Bayard Rustin, and James Baldwin were indeed part of the Civil Rights movement and as fellow African Americans I and other Black LGBT people can make that claim because it is part of our shared heritage, she wouldn't budge from that ossified in her mind perception.   


And she was very pissed off when Mayor Parker stated the HERO was a civil rights ordinance.  It most certainly is.  But in her mind and the mind of like minded African-American Houstonians they had a major problem with her saying it.

Kathy is active in many issues in the Houston African-American community and is a super neighborhood leader.  One thing she asked me was where was the Houston LGBT community when it came to fighting for issues besides marriage and their own human rights ones?

Hey, she's not the only person who has asked me that question.  So have other leaders in the African-American community.   I've asked the same question myself about the.repeated failures in the TBLG ranks to spell the word intersectionality..

She remembered me after I told her I have been involved in fighting against the closure of Black schools in HISD for two years now.  I spoke to the HISD school board in 2013 and back in March about those issues in addition to speaking in favor of the TBLG friendly HISD non discrimination policy.    I was also front and center last July speaking at a Trayvon Martin protest rally at City Hall.  

That's what I have done, mainly because I have consistently preached that Black trans issues are Black community issues and vice versa.  Dee Dee Watters' has an annual toy drive she holds every Christmas as her way of giving back to the Houston Black community.  Other Black LGBT people do their part to give back to our community in myriad ways.   . 

But Kathy's question is a valid one.  When has the Houston TBLG community stood up and played a visible, vocal or fiscally supportive role when it comes to the issue concerns of other ethnic groups here in Houston?    Where is the Houston LGBT community when it comes to other issue concerns besides marriage and other LGBT oriented ones? 

African-American Houstonians ask where was the Houston GLBT Caucus voice when we were complaining about and fighting those HISD school closures?  The Houston Latin@ and Asian communities ask where are you when it comes to immigration issues that don't involve bi-national same sex married couples or other issues specific to their community? 

And all of us non white H-town peeps ask, where were you LGBT community when our voting rights were being attacked by the Texas GOP?

As Kathy stated to me, if that intersectional cooperation had been happening in H-town prior to May 28, we would have had additional support from the Black community for HERO, and Dave Welch and his hater collective's attempts to collect signatures would have been a non-starter.


But these HERO opponents see a predominately monoracial Houston GLBT community leadership.  They don't see people who look like them highlighted as leaders in it and one glaring example of that is Houston Pride.   There has to my knowledge NEVER been in the history of the Houston pride parade an African-American male or female grand marshal.  Don't think that hasn't been noticed by our straight and SGL African-American brothers and sisters.

There also the myth that wealthy white gays are trying to 'piggyback on OUR civil rights movement' that Welch, Miller and their cadre of his hate ministers are gleefully exploiting.   The perception the Houston LGBT community is selfish and pushed this ordinance when we have pressing needs of fixing potholes and streets is another factor fueling elements of the anti-HERO opposition. 

And yeah, let's be real, a major chunk of this is homophobia and transphobia.  

Many of these POC peeps are quite aware that Dave Welch and his pastors are Teapublican  homophobes and are being played as 'useful fools', but don't care as long as they can stick it to the LGBT community.

Even if it takes down a HERO ordinance that benefits them.

So what can we do to change this perception?

Short term, use the term 'human rights' or 'international human rights' Councilmember C.O Bradford did to describe the HERO and make it clear this ordinance protects 13 other characteristics besides sexual orientation and gender identity. 

Other things on the to-do list will have to be long term ones like highlighting and elevating BTLG leaders of color in our Houston LGBT leadership ranks.  Being a supportive ally and showing up when there are issue concerns for other Houston ethnic and constituent groups.  

But what needs to happen starting today is the Houston LGBT community needs to get busy doing a better job of working intersectionally with all communities, especially the African-American one.   
      

Shut Up Fool Awards-Stupidity Is Too Damn High Edition

It's Friday, and you know what that means TransGriot readers.  Time to call out this week's fool, fools or group of fools for this week's TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards.

Every week I shine the TransGriot spotlight on the people or groups that exhibit outrageous hypocrisy, mind numbing stupidity, overbearing arrogance, and   jaw dropping ignorance for your perusal. 

And now, let's get busy revealing this week's fools.

Honorable mention number one we go across The Pond for in British TERF Julie Bindel who asserted being gay is a choice.  I know more than a few peeps in the GL end of the community who have some elegant and not so elegant things to say to her behind on that topic, so I'll let them call her out..   I'll have fun with her the next time she says something transphobic.

Honorable mention number two is a favorite for this year's Shut Up Fool of the Year Award in Rep. Louie Gohmert. (R-TX).  Gohmert Pyle racistly opened his mouth to charge that the POTUS would protect women from 'hundreds of thousands of immigrant rapists'

Who is going to protect us from your hundreds of thousands of hours of clueless and racist jibber-jabber?  

Honorable mention number three is Rep Renee Ellmers (R-NC) for her idiotic comment about men needing to bring policy discussion down 'to a woman's level'. 

hmm, methinks you've had too many washes, sets, and cranial rinses at the GOP Stepford Salon.
 
Honorable mention number four is ExxonMobil, who got busted by HRC for lying about their non discrimination policies.  

Honorable mention number five is the National Library of Singapore, which announced they would be destroying all pro-LGBT books    Still won't change the fact that TBLG people exist in your nation and everywhere else around the world.

Honorable mention number six is Thomas Thorpe, who is facing first degree murder charges in Florida, refused help from the public defender assigned to him because the public defender in question is African-American.

This week's Shut Up Fool winner is Tea Klux Klan member Scott Esk, who is running for the Oklahoma legislature as a Teapublican and had comments resurface this week that gays should be stoned to death.  .

Instead of criticizing him, we should be thanking him for being candid enough to reveal he's a homophobic bigot.   He also proves once again why I loathe libertarians even more than I do Republicans.

Election Day is rapidly approaching.  handle your business people. 

And oh yeah, Scott Esk, shut up fool!

Je-Shawna's Last NBJC Day

When I attended the 2011 OUT on the Hill, one of the many awesome people I got to meet besides half of my fave DC power couple in Aisha Moodie-Mills, was an impressive Spelman College senior by the name of Je-Shawna Wholley.  

I wasn't surprised to discover later she'd been hired by the National Black Justice Coalition as a Senior Fellow, then moved on up to become a Programs Associate, and subsequently into her current position as the Programs Manager for the Emerging Leaders Institute.

We also got to spend some quality time together doing GLAAD POC Media Institute training in New York during the summer of 2012 and on some other NBJC projects.

Well, after two and a half years as part of the NBJC family, she's moving on to graduate school in Minnesota to pursue her masters degree in gender and women's studies, and her last day with NBJC is today.  . 

Congratulations Je-Shawna!  While I'm sorry to see you leave NBJC and will miss your smiling face the next time I'm blessed to take part in an NBJC event (and I'm aiming for this year's OUT on the Hill September 24-27), it was a sincere pleasure getting to meet you back in 2011 and see you grow and own your power as a leader in that organization.  

I wish you nothing but megasuccess in your future educational and other endeavors and will be an interested observer in what happens next for you.

Damn! Damn! Damn!

That famous Good Times scene in which the late Esther Rolle while playing the iconic Florida Evans, lets loose her anger, frustration and grief over the death of her husband James is what I feel every time I hear or have sent to me an e-mail that informs me of another murdered trans woman that I eventually have to disseminate to all of my TransGriot readers.

That anger and frustration hit me once again as I pondered the death of our sister Mia Henderson in Baltimore.  At the 5:57 AM EDT time her body was discovered by police, several of my trans brothers and sisters were in the process of returning to their homes after spending the last two days lobbying on Capitol Hill.  My peeps in Philadelphia and their allies were awaiting the start of a competency hearing to determine whether Charles Sargent, the alleged killer of Diamond Williams, would stand trial for his heinous crime. 
   
As of this writing, in the cases involving Kandy Hall, Zoraida Reyes, Yaz'min Shancez and Tiffany Edwards, the four transwomen killed last month, only Edwards' alleged killer is in jail right now facing charges for his crime.

Now we have Mia Henderson to mourn, light a candle for and read her name at this November's Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremony.

I was asked by a trans ally a while back why is this happening to trans women of color?

It's a confluence of factors.  One is simply the fact that it is straight up dangerous to walk planet Earth in a feminine body.  It is unrealistic to think that if our newscasts are full of reports every day in which cis women of all ethnic backgrounds are being murdered for various reasons around the world, that trans women would escape that misogynistic pattern of violence.    

Another factor is that all trans women have been demonized and had their femininity and humanity questioned by friend, foe and frenemy.  That dehumanization only increases when you are a non-white transperson, and increases by a factor of ten when you combine the historic demonization of Black femininity with the devaluing of Black lives and off the charts demonization of transfeminine women.   

When the murderers of transpeople are either never caught, are freed after a trial, freed on legal technicalities,  receive ridiculously low sentences, or a defense attorney attempts to jaw droppingly argue that the killer of a transwoman he was defending didn't deserve a long sentence, the societal perception is set up that trans women's lives aren't as valuable to society as cis people's are, and murdering a transwoman is a crime the perpetrators can and should get away with committing..

It also doesn't help when the law enforcement personnel who are sworn to protect and serve us are seen more as oppressors and predators than protectors.

How many times can I say and write I'm beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of seeing my transsisters killed?   When will the African-American  (and Latino/a ) cis community stop treating their trans sisters like pariahs and begin enveloping us with unconditional love? 

When will you realize Black cis community, Black politicians, Black clergy and Black legacy organizations that just because I or any other transperson transitions, we didn't forfeit our Black cards or our humanity?

I and my trans peeps are part of the diverse mosaic of human life.  We have made some tremendous strides in educating my community about exactly who we are and the talents we bring to our kente cloth covered family table.   All we want to do is live our lives to the best of our abilities and contribute our talents to the uplift and betterment of all the communities we intersect and interact with. 

I love my people and I'm proud to be a Black trans woman.   But you have to start unconditionally loving me and my trans sisters back.   And that starts with eliminating the thought from your mind that just because you have your hate on for a transwoman, you have a justified right to kill her. 

HMS-TV Talks About The HERO Tonight

For you peeps wanting more info about the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance and everything surrounding our nearly two month old law, I'll be part of a live local cable access show panel later tonight on Houston Media Source TV at 6:30 PM CDT. 

Besides your fave award winning blogger, the panelists will be Christina Gorczynski, Daniel Williams, Noel Freeman and HERO opponent Kathy Blueford-Daniels to discuss our Houston Equal Rights Ordinance hosted by Fran Watson and Durrell Douglas.

While our opposition will cite her concerns (or regurgitate the lies) about the law, I and my fellow panelists will be ready and waiting to point out the 15 classes of people the HERO protects in addition to gleefully doing mythbusting    

The HERO ordinance prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, familial status, marital status, military status, religion, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity or pregnancy.   It also provides for the first time a local recourse mechanism for Houstonians who believe they have been victims of intentional discrimination

Viewers will be invited to call in with questions and comments concerning the HERO and I hope that you'll be able to tune in on Comcast Channel 17 or AT&T Uverse Channel 99.   Those of you who live outside the Houston metro area who wish to check out the show can watch the livestream of it at www.hmstv.org.      .

Should be fun and hope y'all get the opportunity to tune in. 

Tracey Update

A few months ago I wrote about Tracey Wilson, the trans kid in Vancouver whose parents filed a human rights complaint with the BC Human Rights tribunal when her Catholic school refused to recognize her femininity, refused to authorize a name change, let her use the female restroom or allow Tracey to wear the girls school uniform while claiming they didn't have a policy for it.

There's good news to report in Tracey's case

The human rights complaint filed by Tracey's parents on her behalf against the semi-private Catholic school and the Catholic Schools Vancouver has resulted in a new policy entitled the "CISVA Elementary School Policy regarding Gender Expression and Gender Dysphoria.”

“Where a request for accommodation is received on the basis of gender dysphoria or gender expression, the administrative staff should respond in a prompt and supportive manner, and in accordance with the principles outlined in this policy.”

The new CISVA policy states the student has the right to be addressed by their preferred name, even if they don’t legally change it.  School  records will be amended to reflect any changes.  Gender presentation appropriate school uniforms will be provided upon written request by the student's parent/guardian . 

“Upon receipt of a written request by a student’s parents/guardians in the attached form, a school shall provide an alternative uniform for that student, in designated school colours. The alternative uniform shall be determined in collaboration with the student’s parents and the school administration.”

So it looks as though it was a huge human rights win for not only Tracey, but every trans child who will go through the Vancouver Catholic school system.

Now if only the province of British Columbia will follow suit and protect the human rights of Tracey and all its trans citizens like five other provinces and the Northwest Territories have already done.

Another Transwoman Killed In Baltimore

Received the sad news today another transwoman was killed in Baltimore

The body of 26 year old Mia Henderson was found in an northwest Baltimore alley at 5:57 AM EDT.  Police officers from the Baltimore-area Warrant Apprehension Task Force spread out into an alley in the 3400 block of Piedmont Ave. in the Hanlon-Longwood neighborhood near Lake Ashburton attempting to serve a warrant in an unrelated case when Henderson's body was found. 

Henderson's body according to police had suffered 'severe trauma'.    Police say that the murder of Henderson bore strong similarities to the Hall one, but declined in today's press conference held at 4:15 EDT to definitively state because they are active investigations whether the murders are connected beyond the fact both were trans women




Here's hoping that the waste or wastes of DNA involved in this latest murder of one of our sisters is expeditiously caught and brought to justice.  
.

Mom Gives Moving Speech About Her Trans Child

As I've pointed out more than a few times, trans children not only exist, but for those who are fortunate enough to be in the homes of loving and astute parents, are coming out at earlier ages. 

Here's video of Debi Jackson in a moving speech she gave earlier this year at Unity Temple on the Plaza in Kansas City talking about her trans feminine daughter AJ.

And for good measure, Jackson blows up some anti-trans myths while she's at it in this six minute speech. 

45th Anniversary of Apollo 11 Launch

On July 16, 1969 my space junkie self was up on a warm summer Houston morning like everyone else in the country and the world nervously awaiting the launch of Apollo 11 on live television. 

Meanwhile to the southeast of me down in Clear Lake, Mission Control was keeping a watchful eye on their monitors and Launch Pad 39A.  They too along with their counterparts in Florida were awaiting the launch of the ginormous Saturn V rocket from Cape Kennedy that would propel Neil Armstrong, Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin and Michael Collins toward the Moon and their rendezvous with history. 

At 8:32 AM CDT the Saturn V rocket roared to life and slowly lifted off from its launchpad enroute to the Moon.   12 minutes later it was in Earth orbit and after one and a half trips around the planet the third stage of the Saturn V fired up on its translunar injection burn to send Apollo 11 to the Moon.



 

Archie Dies

One of my childhood pleasures which probably surprised some of my readers, was announcing my love for Archie comics. 

My dormant interest in the Archie comics and the Riverdale gang was reawakened after the six series arc of comics (that I own) in the Life With Archie series launched in 2010 was published which depicted him being married to Veronica and another marriage scenario to Betty.

It was interesting to note in those six issues how his life evolved along different trajectories in both instances based on whether Betty or Veronica was his spouse.

I was also intrigued by issues #608 and 609 in which he and Valerie Smith of Josie and the Pussycats briefly dated and issue #636, the gender swap one in 2012 in which the eternal love triangle between Archie, Betty and Veronica gets gender flipped and it's a female Archina being pursued by Billy and Ronnie.

But hitting the stands today is Life With Archie issue #36 in which our hero is shot while trying to stop an assassination attempt on openly gay  US Senator Kevin Keller.  

Keller is one of the newer characters in the Archie universe. He's a married military vet (issue #16) who is pushing for more gun control after his partner Clay Walker is shot in a robbery attempt
     

Archie unfortunately doesn't survive the shooting and dies.  In Issue #37 the story continues and skips ahead a year as all his friends honor his legacy as the series of comics that feature adult versions of Archie and his pals concludes.

As to who shot Archie?   That will be revealed as well. 

The Life With Archie series touched on the post Riverdale High School lives of our fave characters.  It also tackled more socially relevant storylines and topics that seems at times ripped from the headlines such as Keller's same gender marriage to Clay, the death of beloved teacher Ms. Grundy and sometimes Archie love interest Cheryl Blossom tackling breast cancer and affordable health care.

Now the Archie writers are taking one the issue of gun control and the senseless violence that plagues our society.

Countdown to Fox Noise and the conservafools slamming the issues in 5...4...3...2...1... 

If they haven't sold them out at my fave comics stands, I'll definitely be getting those two issues.

HERO Updates, Notes And News-July 15

It's time for another HERO news update since the last one I penned was back on July 4. 

One thing I and everyone inside Beltway 8 are keenly aware of is that the world is watching our fight to defend the HERO with keen interest. 

I discovered that firsthand when I flew to our nation's capital last week to attend the White House LGBT Innovation Summit.  One of the next questions off everyone's lips once they discovered I was there from Houston was, 'What's happening with the HERO?"

What's happening is the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance is nearly two months old, is still in effect, and covers 15 categories.  I can also confidently report that no bakers have been forced to make swastika cakes anywhere inside the Houston city limits. 

Right now we are in signature counting mode.   As you know for the last update the hate ministers dropped off their petitions with the alleged 50,000 signatures at City Secretary Anna Russell's office July 3.  Mayor Parker held a press conference on that date that I was in attendance for along with other members of Team HERO expressing her thoughts about it.

In addition to the launch of the Equal Rights Houston website, we've also held multiple petition verification trainings that have trained over 150 volunteers how to spot invalid signatures.  Now that we've begun to finally receive those petitions, we can start the actual work of poring through them to find the fraudulent and ineligible ones.  

One of those petition checking events will happen tonight at Resurrection MCC Church starting at 7 PM CDT. and  we'll know by August 4 whether the petition drive was successful or it failed.

There will also be a Civil Rights Strategy Meeting held July 24 at Resurrection MCC starting at 7 PM to discuss HERO.  One of the topics on the agenda will be to assess what needs to be done to combat the lies and ignorance about the ordinance being disseminated in communities of color.

Short answer is get African-American media to give the pro-HERO side as much airtime to counter the lies as you have given the opponents.  Our legacy orgs in the NAACP and Urban League along with our politicians and leaders who support HERO have also been far too silent and not forceful enough to call out the ignorance and lies coming from the Baptist Ministers Assn of Houston and Vicinity. 

Neither have they pointed out the fact they are selling out and siding with white Republican conservatives in opposing an ordinance that benefits the entire Houston community. 

One of the things that has pissed off me and Team HERO in this human rights fight is the Houston media continuing to pimp the lies of Dave Welch, Max Miller and his faith based haters. 

While the Houston Chronicle just published this positive HERO op-ed, unfortunately in one of Houston's oldest African-American newspapers, the Forward Times went in the opposite direction. 

Here's another example of the transphobic bathroom myth being repeated without debunking in this Forward Times ad promoting an upcoming HERO debate forum they are setting up on August 4. 
 
Christina Gorczynski had this to say on her Facebook page in rebuttal to this problematic ad

'Factual information about this ordinance must reach each and every community and we are counting on the media to report HERO accurately. Let's avoid dividing people based on the very characteristics that HERO protects and work together to end all forms of discrimination against every Houstonian.'

She's absolutely right about that.   One of the major problems I've had with the African-American media during this HERO fight is they haven't been doing their job of reporting on this ordinance accurately. 

They have been far too busy parroting of the lies of Max Miller and his Baptist Ministers Assn of Houston and Vicinity but not inviting HERO supporters to counter those lies, much less give us the same air time (Majic 102) they have given them.   Houston African-American trans and SGL people are still waiting for KMJQ-FM to extend to them the same opportunity to appear on Sunday Morning Live as was given to the HERO opponents a few weeks ago. 

Speaking of opportunities to tell our story, I'll be part of a panel along with Christina Gorczynski, Daniel Williams and Noel Freeman on HMS TV Thursday discussing the HERO.     

The struggle to keep the HERO continues.

TPOCC, BTMI and BTWI Handling Their Capitol Hill Business

The Trans Persons of Color Coalition (TPOCC) , Black Transmen Inc (BTMI) and Black Transwomen Inc (BTWI) are part of the coalition of groups that are walking the House and Senate office buildings right now handling their Capitol Hill lobbying business on behalf of our community.

It's been past time that we New Black Transmen and New Black Transwomen handle our legislative business.  It's also been past time to let the Congressional Black Caucus and other congressional leaders know that trans people of color exist and are more than capable of speaking for ourselves, owning our power and talking about the issues that affect our community.

It's also time as grown ass POC trans people we determine who we will and will not ally ourselves with politically.   Far too many of the national LGBT orgs that allegedly represent us have NONE of us siting at their policy tables or in their workforces getting paid to advocate for us.

That needs to end now. 

Yeah, wish I was up on Capitol Hill with you, but I have every confidence those of you who are there inside I-495 will do an excellent job handling your citizen lobbying duties on behalf of our community.  

Next time I damned sure want to be there doing my part.  I want to help conduct training sessions, do briefings, give a little motivational speech, and pass on my accumulated knowledge to the current and next generation of trans leaders.

We'll see if that happens.

The 2014 Honor 41 List Honorees Are...

The Honor 41 list founded by Alberto B. Mendoza celebrates  LGBTQ Latin@ role models, and last year we were excited to learn that the inaugural 2013 class of Honor 41 List honorees included 5 trans people.

The Honor 41 list takes its name from a 1901 Mexico City hate crime in which a clandestine party was raided and the 41 people in attendance were beaten, arrested, and disappeared from society because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.   In Mexico, the number 41 became a slang term to refer to someone with a different sexual orientation

Honor 41 confronts this history and reclaims it to honor inspirational individuals and LGBTQ leaders of Latina/o heritage who are blazing the trail toward acceptance and equality. 

The Honor 41 2014 Class was announced this morning, and the trans representation is up to nine people.   As you probably guessed I do know a few of them.   Ruby Corado is one of the nine people honored this year!




"Everyone has a story, so having the opportunity to capture the stories of these amazing role models and share them with others is incredible, said Alberto B. Mendoza, founder of Honor 41 and the producer of the Honor 41 List.  "I know by sharing these stories, we are making it easier for Latino LGBTQ individuals to come out and live their lives with honor and pride."  

In the coming weeks as they are released and I get them from Alberto, I'll be posting the links to all the Honor 41 trans honoree videos.

Congratulations to all the Honor 41 class of 2014 honorees for all they do to advance our human rights struggle and understanding of LGBTQ people inside and outside the Latino/a community. 

Countdown To FIFA Women's World Cup 2015

If you thought that the World Cup wasn't going to happen until 2018 in Russia, think again.   There will be FIFA World Cup action happening next summer, and it'll be right next door to us in Canada.

The seventh edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup will happen June 6-July 5 with an expanded field of 24 nations for the first time playing in the cities of Vancouver, Edmonton, Montreal, Moncton, Winnipeg, and Ottawa.   The title game is set to be played at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver.   

The Women's World Cup Draw to set the groups will take place on December 6 in Ottawa and as of this writing, besides the host nation of Canada, six have qualified so far including defending world champions Japan, China, South Korea, Australia and first timers Thailand and Switzerland.

One team you won't see is North Korea, who is banned for this tournament for having several players test positive during the 2011 World Cup edition in Germany for banned substances.  

The official mascot for this upcoming Women's World Cup has already been unveiled, and she is the female great white owl named Shuéme

If you're wondering if FIFA world number one ranked and 2011 runners up Team USA has qualified yet, the CONCACAF Qualifying Tournament to determine three of the World Cup spots assigned to our federation isn't happening until October 14-26 somewhere here in the USA.  The fourth place CONCACAF team will have to fight a CONMEBOL (South America) third place finisher in a playoff for another World Cup spot. 

Team USA has had a turbulent year.  It has been 15 years since they captured their last world championship with the dramatic Rose Bowl penalty kick shootout win over with China.   But Team USA finished a shocking seventh in the Algarve Cup tournament with zero wins.   After the worst ever finish in the Algarve Cup tournament, the Stars and Stripes (need to come up with a cooler nickname) knocked off China's Steel Roses, then fired coach Tom Sermanni and replaced him with assistant Jill Ellis. 

While Team USA is deep, the question remains whether Ellis will have enough time to fashion Team USA into the dominating unit we all know and love that rolled though CONCACAF Olympic qualification by a cumulative score of 38-0 in 2012 

And yes, the host Canadians will be looking for payback next summer after being knocked out of the Olympic semifinals (they assert they were robbed) by Team USA.  They are also pissed that striker Sydney Leroux, one of the best north of the border players since Christine Sinclair, decided to play for Team USA.

Hey Canada (and Renee), don't hate because we got it like that. I'm glad sistah Sydney (yep, she's Black) is playing for my team. 

But like Canada, the rest of the world is catching up to our FIFA world number one ranked USA squad . The Germans have won two titles.  The French are a threat along with defending champion Japan and Pia Sundhage coached Sweden. And the Brazilians with Marta are always dangerous.

As far as the rest of the women's football world is concerned, the race is on to punch their tickets to Canada.  The CAF (Africa) will determine their three spots at a qualifying tournament to be held in Namibia October 11-25 while the 2014 South American Women's Football Championship will be held in Ecuador September 11-28 to determine two of the CONMEBOL spots.   UEFA (Europe) is still sorting out who will represent them and take their remaining seven spots, while New Zealand barring a monumental upset is probably going to get Oceania's lone tournament slot. 

So we still have a few months left before we know which teams will be playing in Canada next summer and which groups they will be competing in with the ultimate goal of being in Vancouver to hoist that trophy.   The only team that does know their group are the host Canadians, and they will be per FIFA tradition in Group A.

The answers to the rest of the Women's World Cup related questions we'll discover by the end of the year..