TransGriot 2014 NFL Picks-Week 1

The 2014 NFL season kicks off tonight, and after a horrible (for me) 2013 season on two levels I get to once again match football wits with 2013 NFL prognostication champ Eli Blake and Mike Watts and attempt to bring the title back to Texas.

After running away with it most of the season, Mr. Blake survived a furious late season 23-9 finishing kick by Mr. Watts to take the title to Arizona and win by three games.   Eli also got to watch his Seahawks finally claim that elusive Super Bowl title with a win over Mike Watts' adopted Denver Broncos squad.

2013 is history I definitely want to put in the rear view mirror.   The Texans putrid 2-14 season resulted in Gary Kubiak's firing, a new coaching staff under Bill O'Brien and number one overall draft pick Jadeveon Clowney about to play his first NFL game in a Texans uniform.   

Can they go from worst to first in the AFC South this season like the Colts did?    We'll see.

The rules are the same as last year.  Eli, Mike and I pick the winners of that week's NFL games, no spread.  Picks and changes of picks have to be posted no later than 10 minutes before scheduled kickoff time of Thursday's (or Saturday and Sunday) early games.  If you fail to select a winner for a game, that's considered a loss for tabulation purposes. Tie games get recorded as a tie on our season records regardless of team we selected.  Person with the best record at the end of the NFL regular season gets prognostication title and bragging rights until next season.

So let me get started with my picks for Week 1 of the 2014 NFL season.   Sixteen games, and it's always the most volatile week because you really don't have much to go on in terms of just how well these teams will play when the games start counting after four weeks of preseason games.

I want to get off to a good start and lay the foundation.  This week and the next four weeks of the 2014 NFL season will reveal which teams are contenders and which teams are pretenders fighting for the first pick of the 2015 NFL Draft next May. 

Team I'm selecting will be in underlined bold print.  And this year, I'm just listing the cities and not the nicknames so I can avoid writing the racist Washington NFL squad nickname they need to change ASAP. 

Mike and Eli's picks are here.

2013 Season Record
TransGriot      144-111-1
Eli                  163-92-1
Mike              160-95-1

Thursday Night Game
Seattle over Green Bay

Sunday Early Games
New Orleans over Atlanta
Cincinnati over Baltimore
Chicago over Buffalo
Houston over Washington
Kansas City over Tennessee
New England over Miami
New York Jets over Oakland
Philadelphia over Jacksonville
Pittsburgh over Cleveland
St Louis over Minnesota

Sunday Afternoon Games
San Francisco over Dallas
Carolina over Tampa Bay

Sunday Night Game
Denver over Indianapolis

Monday Night Games
Detroit over New York Giants
Arizona over San Diego
   

Mississippi Silicone Pumper Tracey Lynn Garner Gets Life

Been keeping an eye on the Tracey Lynn Garner silicone pumping case in Mississippi that resulted in the death of 37 year old Karima Gordon of the ATL.  

When I last checked in Natasha Stewart was getting a total of 15 years in jail back in February for accepting $200 from Gordon for a referral for the pumping procedure and falsely claiming Garner was a nurse.

After two trial date resets, the 54 year old Garner finally faced the judicial music. After a trial last week in Hinds County Circuit Court, was convicted August 29 of depraved heart murder for the death of Gordon and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

She was sentenced Tuesday by Judge Winston Kidd to five years for the wire fraud charge and life imprisonment for the murder of Gordon.   Garner is still facing charges for the 2010 death by pumping of Marilyn Hale of Selma, AL. 

The trial date in the Hale case has not been set as of this writing, and will keep you TransGriot readers posted on what transpires in that case.  

Gender Nonconforming Teen Sues SC DMV

You may have heard about the incident back in March in which Chase Culpepper was forced to take off the makeup he was wearing and 'look more like a boy' before officials at a South Carolina DMV office would take a driver's license photo.

16 year old Chase identifies as male and answers to male pronouns, but wears feminine or androgynous attire and makeup in his everyday life.

Chase was informed by DMV officials at the Anderson, SC office near where he lives that wearing the makeup constituted a 'prohibited disguise' and refused to take his picture for his drivers license despite his mother pointing out this is how Chase appears in his everyday life.

The Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF) filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday that alleges the DMV violated Chase's free speech rights in violation of state and federal constitutions.

“My clothing and makeup reflect who I am,” Chase said.  “The Department of Motor Vehicles should not have forced me to remove my makeup simply because my appearance does not match what they think a boy should look like. I just want the freedom to be who I am without the DMV telling me that I’m somehow not good enough.”

The suit was brought by Chase’s mother Teresa Culpepper on his behalf as a minor.  It asks the court to rule that denying Chase the freedom to wear his everyday makeup in his license photo constitutes sex discrimination and violates his right to free speech and expression under the United States Constitution. It also seeks a ruling under the U.S. and South Carolina Constitutions that the DMV’s photo policy is unconstitutionally vague, too broad, and lets DMV employees arbitrarily decide how a driver's license applicant should look, without regard for the rights of the people they are supposed to serve.

For you legal junkies, the suit is Teresa Culpepper v. Kevin A. Shwedo, et al, and is pending in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, Columbia Division

Let's hope that the TLDEF lawsuit is successful

More 2014 Honor 41 Trans Videos

There were nine trans people named to the 2014 edition of the Honor 41 list honoring the contributions of LGBT Latinos.  As their videos get released, I'll be posting them to TransGriot.

I've already posted Ruby Corado's video, and now I'll post the latest ones to be released in the persons of Luis Gutierrez-Mock and Brenda Del Rio Gonzales

Luis



Brenda (in Spanish)

2014 FIBA World Cup Watch-Just Winning, Baby!

The 2014 FIBA World Cup started while I was chilling in Louisville, and I got the opportunity when I wasn't running around hanging out with various peeps to watch Team USA take on Group C in Bilbao.

This version of Team USA is the youngest one (average age 24) we have sent to FIBA competition since we started using NBA ballers to handle our international basketball business.  

The first game for Team USA on August 30 was against Finland, and it was the first time since the 1964 Tokyo Olympics that we'd played the Wolfpack in an international basketball game.  

Team USA made short work of Finland by shooting 59% from the field, holding them to 0-17 shooting and a pair of free throws in the second period while rolling to a 60-18 halftime lead.  

They blew them out of the Barakaldo Arena 114-55 for their 55th straight win in FIBA competition and their first one in group C play.   

The next day was the 2010 FIBA final rematch against Turkey, and it wasn't the walk in the park that the Finland game was.   Turkey slowed the game down to their pace, dared the USA shooters to hit three pointers (only one of those 9 first half three point attempts went in), clogged up the lanes with Omer Asik and fouled USA players to prevent fast break baskets when Turkey turned it over.  Thanks to 37%  first half shooting, sloppy ball handling and subpar defense, Team USA found itself trailing 40-35 at the half.

Coach K implemented the full court pressure defense to start the second half, and that got Team USA's fast break offense jumpstarted.



They trailed Turkey through much of the third quarter and tied at 59 with 3:10 left before they woke up,  fixed the turnover issues and the dynamic duo of Kenneth Faried and Anthony Davis asserted themselves.   Faried led all scorers with 22 points with Davis scoring all 19 of his in the second half as Team USA used a 7-1 third quarter closing burst for a 66-60 lead.   The fourth quarter opening 10-0 run helped put the game away and powered Team USA to a hard fought 98-77 win and a 2-0 record in Group C play.

After getting Labor Day off, Team USA resumed its quest for a FIBA title repeat by facing the Tall Blacks of New Zealand yesterday.  

New Zealand brought their rugby tradition of doing the haka dance to Barakaldo Arena before they played Team USA.   After the Tall Blacks showed off their haka dance moves, Team USA proceeded to dance all over New Zealand 98-71.    

It was Faried and Davis doing the damage once again, with Davis scoring a game high 21 points and Faried contributing a double double with 15 points and 11 rebounds to keep Team USA unbeaten in Group C play at 3-0 before they face the 2-1 Dominican Republic at 3:30 EDT. 

So far so good in Spain so far.  

TransGriot Update:  After another slow start, Team USA woke up to run away with a 106-71 win over the Dominican Republic and clinch the top spot in Group C.   They play their final group game tomorrow against Ukraine before they head to Barcelona to begin knockout round play against the 4th place team in Group D. 

Interesting SCC 2014 Starts Today

When this year's edition of the Southern Comfort Conference kicks off in suburban Atlanta today, it's going to be noteworthy for several reasons.  

In addition to the news that HRC President Chad Griffin will be one of the keynote speakers for it on Friday, it's noteworthy for the bombshell news that this will be the last one in the Atlanta metro area for a while.

It's also noteworthy that once again, the SCC organizers failed to reach out to ATL transpeople of color leaders, but what else is new?

Southern Comfort, which has been held and was born in Atlanta in 1991 and was featured in the 2001 documentary of the same name about the life of transman Robert Eads, is rumored to be heading to Fort Lauderdale, FL  for three years starting in 2015.

All eyes in Trans World will be turned in the direction of the ATL from today until September 7 for the developments and news that come out of it 

Mt Holyoke College Is Officially Trans Friendly

Mills College on September 1 became the first women's college to officially enact policies welcoming transfeminine students to enroll on their campus, and I know a transfeminine Mills College alum and longtime TransGriot reader who is exceedingly happy about that development. 

I had the pleasure of being on the Bryn Mawr campus a few years ago for a speaking engagement, and said to one of the deans at dinner before I departed for Louisville it was a matter of time when, not if you were going to see transfeminine students seeking to enroll and become students at traditional women's colleges. 

I pointed out that with transkids transitioning as early as age 4, today's transkids will become tomorrow's transteens looking for a college to attend.  I pointed out if the Seven Sisters colleges wanted to tap into that pool of college students, earn their loyalty and their parents tuition money, they better deal with the reality that transfeminine women exist and may possibly wish to attend a women's college.  If they didn't want to or refused to do th work necessary to attract them, those trans feminine students would attend other schools that are willing to do so.

I suggested Seven Sisters colleges like Bryn Mawr work on including gender identity in their non-discrimination statements and crafting trans friendly policies to make that inevitable day as seamless as possible instead of having those policies forced on them via court decisions they will lose..

Smith College has gained the righteous ire of transpeople for the jacked of treatment of Calliope Wong and other transfeminine applicants as they have hypocritically allowed transmasculine students who transitioned after they started school on that campus to complete their degrees.

One of the Seven Sisters colleges has decided to follow the lead of Mills College and clarify their policy on admittance and enrollment of trans students 

This is a welcomed and much needed development, and it will be interesting to see now that a Seven Sisters college has done so, will the others like Smith, who have been hostile to transfeminine students enrolling, finally do so.  

Heading Back To Texas

After spending a wonderful few days in Louisville with friends and adopted family for the first time since I moved away from here, it's time to head back to my life in Houston.

As much as I love H-town and I'm a proud Texan, I'll admit that overall, the nearly nine years I spent in Louisville were enjoyable.

I grew to like the city, and those years were important to my development as a person and an activist.

And TransGriot was born here

It was wonderful getting the chance to see many of the people that became my friends and adopted family up here despite it being a holiday weekend.  For those of you I missed, I'll catch y'all next time.

Just hope it won't take me four years to come back

Happy Labor Day 2014!

Happy Labor Day people!   Hope it's a good one for you whether you are celebrating it from the cozy confines of your backward around the barbecue pit or enjoying it from some vacation spot of  significance to you like I am.

In the United States and Canada, this is a day to celebrate workers.  But what I have not been happy about as someone who grew up in a union household is seeing the conservafool assault on union and people foolishly believing the right wing propaganda that unions are evil.

People not getting a living wage and having to get public assistance while corporations make obscene profits is what is evil.   It's past time the minimum wage was raised in the US from the pathetic $7.25 it sits at right now.

For those of you who are engaged in searching for work, may those job searches be swiftly successful and you find employment that allows you to grow with the company.

For you entrepreneurs out there, may your businesses continue to grow and be successful    Speaking of  successful, may we continue to have success passing gender identity inclusive non-discrimination laws that will lead to increased employment for talented trans people.

And since we are rapidly approaching another crucial midterm election November 4, one of the questions you need to be asking your state and federal legislative candidates is where they stand on raising the minimum wage, passing legislation to eviscerate Citizens United and that bull feces corporatist assertion that corporations are people.

Yeah, I'll believe that crap when Texas executes one.

Happy Labor Day people!

Moni's Vacation Musing

There are just times when I just get into deep introspective mode, and it can happen for me at any time.    I do enjoy engaging in what Dr. King called 'hard, solid thinking' .

One of those times I get to do that is when I'm traveling or on vacation like I am right now.

So what am I musing about?   Much of it has been centered on the fact I'm now 20 years into transition and my ongoing evolution as Moni.   There are times I count my blessings like friends and family who love me and the people I have encountered due to the activist portion of my life that do have much respect for me, what I do and more importantly what I stand for.

I think about the fact those friends, extended family and brothers and sisters in the human rights struggle extend around the world.

I think about the amazing progress that has been made in getting the public to see the humanity of trans people and especially trans people of color, but realize that we have much work to accomplish on that front.

I think about what I can do to continue striving toward my goal of being a quality Black woman and being the best person I can be.

And as a leader in this community, I do think about because I'm a Kennedy baby what kind of legacy I will leave for the people who follow in my footsteps.  Am I doing my utmost to be the best 'possibility model' I can be?

I have the rest of today, tomorrow, and the plane rides home to ponder those questions and whatever other queries pop up in my mind.

Happy Milestone Birthday, Caroline!

Today is the milestone 60th birthday of model, trans advocate and Bond Girl Caroline Cossey who was born on this date in the UK in 1954.

She was one of the more well known trans women of the 80's and 90's and has a variant of the intersex condition Klinefelter's Syndrome in which instead of the XXY pattern that many people with the condition usually have, she was born XXXY.

Cossey broke ground as a fashion model under her stage name Tula, authored two autobiographical books published in 1982 and 1991, was a Bond Girl in the 1981 film For Your Eyes Only, and a September 1991 Playboy magazine centerfold.  

She also fought for trans marriage rights in Great Britain.   She won her European Court of Human Rights.case in 1989 and lost it on British government appeal in September 1990.

Since 1992 she has been married and living in the ATL metro area with her husband David Finch.

Happy milestone birthday to one of our transfeminine pioneers who helped push the knowledge envelope abut us during the 80's and 90's.   May you have many more.  

Shut Up Fool Awards- Moni's Back In Da Ville Edition

Yep, it's true.  I'm back inside Jefferson County visiting Da Ville for the first time since I left 4 years ago to move back home to Texas .

And yeah, this is also a pleasure trip.  Not up here for a conference, panel discussion or speaking engagement (yet) but just chilling. 

It's been wonderful so far to see many of my friends here and I'm trying to catch up with as many folks here inside I-265 until I leave to return back to Texas Tuesday

And before I do that, a trip to Impellizzeri's Pizza is a must. 

But today is also Friday, and y'all know what that means.  It;s time to handle our usual Friday 'bidness' of exposing what fool, fools or group of fools I just had to take time out of my whirlwind trip up here to Bluegrass country to call out.

Honorable mention number one is a joint award for ESPN and reporter Josina Anderson for that fracked up homophobic 'report' focusing on Michael Sam and the shower.    They apologzied for it, but WTF were y'all thinking?

Honorable mention number two goes to Dallas PD Assistant chief Malik Aziz for parting his lips on FOX Noise to say that police departments aren't overmilitarized and the solution to negating that perception is painting the tanks blue.

Seriously?  You need to have several seats at Jerryworld for saying something that stupid.

Honorable mention number three is CNN host Ana Cabrera, who was upset that in the 6.1 quake that struck the Napa, CA area, she was heartbroken over the hundreds of broken wine bottles?

And that sums up in a nutshell why CNN's ratings are plummeting.

Honorable mention number four is Craig James.   The failed Texas US Senate candidate probably slept through his history classes at Stratford HS and SMU because he parted his lips on behalf of his new employers in the Family Fascism Research Council demanding judges rule by 'Biblical law'.

Christopimping ain't easy, huh Craig?

Honorable mention number five goes to Pat Robertson, for his double dip of stupidity.   First he tried to claim that single motherhood leads to male kids becoming gay, and then on the 666 700 Club opened his mouth to say Robin Williams killed himself because he was a heathen who didn't worship Jesus.

I need a full post to properly eviscerate this faith-based fool

Honorable mention number six goes to Gov. Rick Perry, (R-TX).   Gov Goodhair continues to let his mouth overload his anus in this developing scandal that has resulted in two abuse of power federal  indictments for him.   He thinks Texas taxpayers should have picked up his legal tab for the trouble he got himself in, but is now paying for his legal team out of his campaign fund because people 'complained about it.

Folks, if you're wondring why we Texans never elected an Aggie governor until Perry, now you know.  

This week's Shut Up Fool winner is hate preacher Michael V. Williams.   He believes that a constitutional amendment should be passed that mandates that homosexuality should be a felony crime punishable by a sentence of 10 years hard labor.

And y'all thought I was being alarmist when I stated a while back the wet dream of the Christofascists was to pass versions of the anti-gay laws enacted in Uganda, Nigeria and Russia here.

Michael V Williams, shut up fool


 

Moni's Back In Da Ville!

Yep people, if you wanted to know what my double secret destination was this time, it is Louisville. 

I'm in Jefferson County for the first time since I pointed the moving van south on I-65 toward Nashville on May 8, 2010 with the final destination being Houston.

Dawn wanted to keep it a surprise, and y'all know how well I can keep my lip zipped when it comes to keeping stuff radio silent. 

Anyway, I'm here through Labor Day weekend  and looking forward to not only destroying some Impelizzeri's pizza, but seeing as many peeps as I can before I head back home Tuesday. 

2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup Starts Saturday

The tournament has been rebranded and the next one won't be played until 2019 so it doesn't conflict with the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament, but the FIBA Basketball World Cup tips off Saturday and runs through September 14. .

Many basketball fans in the USA don't consider it as important as the Olympics, but for the rest of the planet and the 23 other nations playing in it, this FIBA Basketball World Cup is a BFD. 

And yeah, USA b-ball fans, you need to be paying attention, because the winner of this FIBA tournament and the women's FIBA one that gets started September 27 in Turkey gets an automatic bid to the 2016 Rio Olympic basketball tournament. 

So if our star spangled men's b-ballers want to be dribbling Molten basketballs on the Rio Olympic Arena courts in two years and avoid playing in the FIBA Tournament of the Americas to qualify for the Olympics, failure to win this tournament in Spain is not an option.

The 2014 (and 2016 Olympic) Team USA squad will once again be coached by Mike Krzyzewski, who has a 64-1 record in FIBA internatioanl play. 

And despite Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Blake Griffin pulling out and Paul George's horrific injury during Team USA training camp that will sideline him for this tournament and the 2014-15 NBA season, you international peeps better not sleep on this squad we are sending to defend our FIBA men's title.. 

In addition to my Houston Rockets homie James Harden, the 2014 Team USA FIBA World Cup squad includes DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento); Stephen Curry (Golden State); Anthony Davis (New Orleans); DeMar DeRozan (Toronto); Andre Drummond (Detroit); Kenneth Faried (Denver); Rudy Gay (Sacramento);  Kyrie Irving (Cleveland); Mason Plumlee (Brooklyn); Derrick Rose (Chicago) and Klay Thompson (Golden State).

This 2014 squad is also attempting to do something a USA men's squad has never done in the history of this tournament, and that's repeat as FIBA World Cup tourney champions. 

But there are several teams that want to make sure we don't end up playing in the championship game in Madrid, starting with the host Spaniards.   They are still smarting from the 2008 and 2012 Olympic final losses pinned on them by the USA ballers and being upset in the 2010 FIBA tournament knockout round by Serbia. The Gasol brothers, Serge Ibaka and company are determined to not let it happen on home soil.

The Lithuanians are always dangerous, along with the Brazilians, the Argentinians even without Manu Ginobili and Greece.  If you're laughing about Greece, ask Coach K or LeBron James about that.  They are the team in the 2006 FIBA world semis in Japan that handed Coach K his lone FIBA b-ball loss.

Team USA is in Group C in Bilbao's Barakaldo Arena, and start FIBA Worlds play August 30 against Finland.  The next day they get a 2010 FIBA finals rematch against Turkey before they get a day off.  The USA ballers resume group play on September 2 against New Zealand, play the Dominican Republic on September 3 before completing pool play on September 4 against Ukraine.  

Pretty much a winnable group for Team USA while the Spaniards are slugging it out in the Group A 'Group of Death' in Granada with France, Serbia, Brazil, Egypt and Iran.  

Should be fun to see how this plays out over the next few weeks.

Air Marshal Taking Mystery Trip

The Air Marshal is taking a flight again, and this time it's for a pleasure trip to a double secret destination. 

I'll have to connect through Chicago Midway to get there, and hopefully I won't have the drama I had when I flew through there earlier this month.

I'll be getting to my destination in the Eastern time zone around 12:55 PM assuming everything is on schedule.

This trip is happening because not only do i need to get out of H-town or a few days, I had a voucher in my possession I needed to use and complete travel for by mid September before it expired, and I wasn't letting a $525 one go to waste. 

My host asked me to keep the destination a secret so when I started showing up at places after I arrive in that final destination, It'll be a surprise at least until the word gets out on social media I'm there..

But looking forward to going there.  See y'all in a few hours mystery city denizens.

DART Orange Line To DFW Opens

As you TransGriot readers know, I'm an unabashed mass transit supporter, especially when that transit system in question contains a rail component.

Normally as a proud Houstonian, I'm usually hating on anything Dallas related with a passion, but for once you're going to see me write something that praises Dallas. 

And naw, hell ain't freezing over and we aren't experiencing blizzard conditions in H-town right now . 
While former congresscritter Tom Delay, Rep. John Culberson (R-TX), and the Harris County Republican Party have been fighting METRO tooth and nail to keep them from getting the federal funding to build light rail here in Houston,  DART has been gleefully taking the federal money METRO hasn't been able to and began getting busy assembling the largest light-rail network in the United States with 90 miles (137 km) of track, a commuter rail line that terminates in Denton, TX with another rail line to Ft Worth .

As a matter of fact, to build the initial 7.5 mile segment of the METRORail Red Line that opened ten years ago, METRO had to use its own money to do so


I finally got a chance to ride the DART Orange and Red Line trains during the recent Black Trans Advocacy Conference back in late April and May.   The Doubletree Campbell Center hotel that hosts BTAC is near the Lovers Lane station on the northern end of the Orange and Red Lines.  

When I get off the Megabus from H-town at the DART East Olive Street transit center downtown, I'm a short two block walk from the St. Paul and Pearl Arts Stations.   Those stations are on that Bryan Avenue-Pacific St corridor in which all four DART light rail lines currently converge in their run through downtown Dallas.

Even better, the St Paul station has a 7-Eleven nearby so I can get my Slurpee fix before I shell out the $2.50 for my northbound DART train ticket to Lovers Lane.        

I was well aware of DART's Orange Line being extended toward DFW Airport through Irving.  Construction had started on the DFW Airport station that was scheduled to open in November.  

In my conversations with this year's BTAC attendees, they lamented the fact it wasn't open, and were hopeful that when they returned to Dallas for the 2015 edition of the conference, the DART light rail line would be open for revenue service from DFW.    

Well peeps, you got your wish.  The extension and the DFW Airport Station in Terminal A was finally completed four months early and under budget.   It opened for revenue service on August 18.  

That's great news for all the peeps who travel to Dallas to attend conferences.  It also makes me hopeful that with our own METRORail Purple Line being just 5.5 miles from its current Palm Center termination point to Hobby Airport, funding can be found (hint hint) to extend it and connect at least one of our airports to the rail system like Dallas has done for DFW. 

But nice to know that the next time I fly into DFW, I can take the train into downtown and anywhere else along the DART Rail network .

Ricky Smiley Morning Show Transphobia

The war against media transphobia aimed at trans women of color seems like it's a never ending one.    Here's a FB commentary from TransGriot reader Sasha concerning the transphobic comments she heard aimed at Laverne Cox during one of the Rickey Smiley Morning Show segments yesterday.

***

Last night my sisters and I were watching Dish Nation/Rickey Smiley Morning Show. Laverne Cox was declared as one of the Emmy show's  best dressed women which I though was AMAZING...until one of the hosts yells "that's a man!"and they slightly go into the infamous shock factor, making her identity the center of a joke.

Gary and one of the shows guests, a cis woman of color, then came to Laverne's defense by stating her accomplishment and how major it is for the Transgender community. The young lady also corrected the misgendering and made sure she addressed the Laverne as a WOMAN.

I've been listening to Rickey Smiley Morning Show for YEARS, I'm a fan of the show but I think it's time to call the RSMS out on their consistent ignorance and insensitivity towards the trans community.

This is NOT the first time I've encountered this type of madness from them. Not too long ago they were throwing shade towards Cee Lo after his affair with a transwoman. Not to mention the jokes that very often seem to revolve around #GirlsLikeUs.
We need to hold them accountable.  It is not the guest's job to educate them LIVE on the radio about transgender terminology. As much as they talk and joke about us, they should be well informed on the issue. Rickey Smiley has a huge platform in the black community and instead of all the shade, he could be using that platform for the good of ALL as well as being held accountable for repetitive transphobia.

It's time to call them out!

***

I agree, Sasha . GLAAD and NGLJA Rapid Response team, it's time to handle your media business. 

Transgender Faith and Action Network Conference Starts Friday

Unfortunately won't be there in Charlotte for this year's event after keynoting what was then known as the TransFaith in Color Conference in 2012. 

It has a new name, the Transgender Faith and Action Network Conference, but it is the same North Carolina based event I had the pleasure of attending two years ago. 

This year's TFAAN event will kick off Friday in the Queen City and run through August 31.. 

This year's keynote speaker will be longtime advocate and my Left Coast sis Valerie Spencer, and it's too bad I'm going to miss hearing it.  

But back to focusing on the 2014 edition of the TFAAN Conference.   For those of you that make it to the University Hilton house, you're about to enjoy an event that will live up to this year's theme of 'Education That Leads To Success'.   Best of all, the TFAAN Conference is free.  All you need to do is just  register for it in order to check out these informative seminars, panel discussions and events.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 29th   (all times EST)

8:30a - 9:00a Interfaith Prayer/Opening Remarks
Moderator: Bishop Tonyia Rawls, Freedom Center
For Social Justice

9:00a - 10:30a
Opening Plenary Panel:
How Welcoming Are We Really?
Moderator: Asher Kolieboi, Vanderbilt Seminary
Panelists: OmiSade Ali, Ordained Orisha Priest, Chris Paige, TransFaith and Jacob Hero, The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF)

10:45a - Noon

Block 1 Clergy in Specialized Fields
Presenters: Minister Louis Mitchell, TransFaith

Block 2 Trans* 101 for Allies
Presenters: Rev. Dawn Flynn, New Life MCC and Parker T. Hurley, Transgender People of Color
Coalition (TPOCC)

Block 3 Changing Policy in a Changing World
Moderator: J Mase
Presenters: Sharon Groves, HRC; Kylar W. Broadus, The Task Force (NGLTF) and Sharon Lettman-Hicks, National Black Justice Coalition

Noon - 1:30p
Opening Lunch
Keynote Speaker: Angel Collie, Metropolitan Community Church

1:45p - 3:00p
Block 1 The Transitions Within the Transition
Moderator: Randall Suah
Presenters: Andraya Williams, Justine Matlock and Achim Howard

Block 2 Your Health: The Mind and the Body
Presenters: Dr. Lisa Griffin, Dr. Rhett Brown, Dr. Jocie Sweeney

Block 3 Aging: Let Me Tell You A Story
Presenters: Serena Worthington, Services Advocacy for GLBT Elders and Barbara Satin, NGLTF - Practice Spirit, Do Justice Program

3:15p - 4:30p
Block 1
Trans* Youth in Schools: Multiple Perspectives
Moderator: Todd Rosendahl, Time Out Youth
Panelists: Scout Rosen, Central Piedmont Community College student; Lux Cuellar, UNCC student; Blake Brockington, UNCC student and Matthew Rice, Charlotte School System teacher

Block 2 Our Special Walk: Partners of Trans* People
Presenters: Sandra Whittington-Boone, Mel Goodwin, Marage Blakeney, Ray Austin and Diane Coe

Block 3 Know Your Rights
Presenters: Kelly Durden and Sarah Demarest, Freedom Center for Social Justice LGBTQ
Law Center; Mariana Toledo-Hernandez, Immigration Attorney; Stacy King, Mecklenburg County Public Defender's Office

5:00p - 7p
Opening Reception
Special Guest Musical Performance

7:00p - 8:30p
Young Folk Gathering (Ages 16-30)
Coordinated by Sponsored by Campus Pride

SATURDAY, AUGUST 30th

8:30a - 10:00a
2014 TFAAN Awards Breakfast

Keynote Speaker: Valerie Spencer, Antioch University
Pioneer Award: Andrea Jenkins and Louis Mitchell
Rising Star Award: Michael David Battle
Ally Award: Rev. Dr. William Barber, President of the NC NAACP and Heath Morrison, Superintendent, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools
Youth Award: Blake Brockington and Andraya Williams
Bobbie Jean Baker Award: Ms. Tracee McDaniels

10:15a - 11:30a
Block 1 Name and Gender Marker Changes in NC and Beyond
Presenter: The Freedom Center for Social Justice LGBTQ Law Center

Block 2 What's Moving The Landscape?
Presenter: Cecilia Chung, The Transgender Law Center

Block 3 Trans* Youth In Action
Facilitator: Sarah Alwran, Time Out Youth
Panelists: Parker Smith, President of TransAction at Appalachian State University, Pam Smith,
mother of Parker Smith, Trans* Activist, AJ Willis, University of North Carolina, Charlotte student, President of Transport at UNCC, Scout Rosen, CPCC Student, President of SPECTRUM

Noon - 1:30p
Lunch on your Own

1:30p - 2:45p
Block 1 Trans* Employment: Old Challenges and New Opportunities

Block 2 The Power of Trans* History
Presenters: Andrea Jenkins, Artist, Poet and Activist; Allyson Robinson, Warrior Poet Strategies

Block 3 HIV and the Trans* Community
Presenters: Achim Howard, Unity Fellowship Church, Jermaine Nakia Lee, Powerhouse Project, and Chelsea White, RAIN

3:00p - 4:30p
Block 1 LGBT and the Bible
Presenter: Rev. Cedric Harmon, Many Voices

Block 2 Embracing Paradox: Gender, Sexuality, Spirituality
Presenters: Pacific School of Religion, TFAAN and NGLTF

Block 3 The Power of the Vote
Presenter: The Moral Freedom Summer Campaign

5:00p - 7:00p
Dinner On Your Own and Networking

8:00p - Midnight
TFAAN PARTY
Music, Lite Delectables and an Incredible Time
Guest DJ: Buddy Love
Location: The Venue, 1801 N. Tryon St., Charlotte, NC

SUNDAY, AUGUST 31st

8:30 - 9:30am
Closing Interfaith Service
Preaching  Rev. Brendan Whittington-Boone
Musical Guest: Sacred Souls Community Church Choir

NOTE: Schedule subject to moderate change.

For those of you in Charlotte for the Trans Faith And Action Network Conference, hope you have a wildly successful and wonderful event, and hope I'm blessed to be with you next year as an attendee or participant.   

Paula Sophia Falls Short In Oklahoma Legislative Runoff

All 12 precincts have reported in the Oklahoma House District 88 runoff race between Paula Sophia and Jason Dunnington and the winner and new representative of that OKC area legislative seat is:

Jason Dunnington.

In a razor thin race, Dunnington garnered 990 votes to Sophia's 968.  An agonizing 23 votes separated her from the win and trans political history.

According to Sophia's Twitter feed, she will ask for a recount and for the provisional ballots to be counted as well. 

If that doesn't cut into the narrow 22 vote margin of Dunnington, he will be the representative-elect for House District 88 since no Republican filed in this race..

Will keep y'all posted.

Educating Us About Us Forum

One of the things the fight to pass the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance exposed is just how much education needs to be done about the various letters in our own chocolate Houston SGL trans and bi ranks.

Trans 101 is particularly needed, especially when we discovered in the repeal petition checking process some of our own LGBT people signed them or swallowed the lies Max Miller and company repetitively at the behest of their puppet master Dave Welch told about the trans community due to lack of knowledge about us. 

Now that we not facing in Houston the imminent threat of a referendum this November, are awaiting the January 19, 2015 trial date, and have some time to do some 'ejumacation', we are dong just that and holding community conversations that we'll eventually expand to the straight African-American community. 

Last Sunday (August 24) I took part in a forum held at the Montrose Center moderated by Austin D. Williams entitled Educating Us about Us.

 It started at 3:30 PM and featured some real talk about the HERO by Ashton Woods.    He talked about the fifteen categories it covers, busted the lies the faith-based haters have been saying about it, and it was a nice segue into my portion of the event  discussing Trans 101 and some of the historical background.

We spent about an hour and a half in spirited discussion talking about the trans community since that's where much of the educating needed to be done.  We eventually moved from talking about the 'T' and busting myths to the portions of the facilitated discussion about the other letters in our SGL community.   We broke down some of the myths about lesbians, gay Republicans, gay Christians, gay men and finally the DL peeps that cause dissension and drama.. 

6:30 PM came way too soon, and a group of us decided to take the discussion to the Midtown Grill, a nearby Montrose area restaurant on West Gray where that SGL community centered discussion continued over a meal and spilled out into the parking lot for a little while longer.

But it was clear to many of the passionate and intelligent folks in that room that more of these H-town community building conversations need to (and will) happen.   And when the next one is scheduled, I'll let you know on these TransGriot electronic pages when it does.