(We Gottta) Fight For Our Right To Potty 2015

Back in 2010 I took an idea birthed during a conversation with Ethan St. Pierre and rewrote the Beastie Boys song (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right To Party' as a protest song against the bathroom meme that was then being used to try to scuttle trans inclusion in ENDA.

It's now five years later, ENDA is still not the law of the land, and the bathroom lie is being used to attack trans human rights in general now.

With all the GOP anti-trans bathroom bills out there filed by Debbie Does Discrimination Riddle and Gilbert 'Potty Panic' Pena in Texas,, Frank 'Flush Away Our Humanity' Artiles in Florida, CM 'Bathroom Bounty Bill' Embry in Kentucky and other GOP conservafool legislative oppressors at the behest of ALEC, it was time to pull this song out of the TransGriot archives and tweak the lyrics for the 2K15.

So y'all know the drill.  Fire up those iPods or your fave music program and sing along with Moni's remixed lyrics.

And yeah, if you want to use it at a #WeJustNeedToPee protest, have fun.  Just give me the credit for composing this little ditty.

(We Gotta) Fight For Our Right To Potty 2015
sung to the tune of  (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right To Party by the Beastie Boys.



Kick it!

Trans people need to pee but we don't wanna go
Needs to be gender neutral but the right wing says, "No!"
On anti-trans bills they went to work
As they started hatin' on us like transphobic jerks

We gotta fight for our right to potty

Presentation based bathrooms need to happen today
GOP oppressors are saying “No way!”
Facing trans discrimination can be so sad
Erasing our humanity makes trans folks fighting mad (Busted!)

We gotta fight for our right to potty

Don't like that I transitioned? Why should you care?
Don’t need to know the genitalia that I have down there
I’ve got to pee so bump that noise.
I’m not (will be) going to use the bathroom with cisgender boys!

We gotta fight for our right to potty
We gotta fight for our right to potty

We Black LGBT Peeps Only Care About Gay Rights? Ignorant Fool Please!

I saw this meme on Nephew's AKA Jaison Gardner's FB page that some fool with too much time on his hands created that I am compelled to call out.

It levels an old charge in Black non- SGL circles they aim at the Black TBLGQ community that Black gay people are 'not loyal' to the Black cause because they are 'only loyal to gay rights'.

Which is straight up bull feces.

SGL, bi and trans folks first up are Black people.  We have to deal with the everyday microaggressions and macroaggressions of just navigating life in a Black body just like straight Black folks, with an extra heaping helping of transphobia, biphobia, and homophobia dropped on top of that.

In addition to having to fight the conservative movement tooth and nail just to avoid being dehumanized, we have to also deal with the same crap coming from people who share our ethnic heritage uttering the same loud and wrong BS at us.

We in Black TBLGQ World are sick and tired of being 'too Black' for our gay counterparts and 'not Black enough' for some of you peeps regurgitating that anti-gay propaganda you've been fed by sellout ministers and FOX Noise

The reality is that Black LGBT issues are Black community issues and vice versa.

I guess the ignorant creator of this meme didn't learn anything about Bayard Rustin in school, who not only created the concept of the Freedom Rides so skillfully used by Diane Nash and SNCC two decades later, also was a brilliant movement organizer, leader, and advisor to the Rev. Dr MLK Jr. 

If it weren't for Rustin, the 1963 March On Washington wouldn't have been the spectacular success it turned out to be.   And yes, Rustin was a Black gay man.

Lorraine Hansberry, the creator of the play A Raisin In The Sun, in her brief life was a civil rights movement warrior who was also concerned about the African liberation struggle.

Guess whoever created this meme (and I wouldn't be surprised if it was someone in the National Organization for Marriage)  also forgot about James Baldwin and Angela Davis

This meme may be part of their well documented plan to drive a wedge between the African-American, Latino and SGL community, and if the fool who created this is Black, then I pity him for allowing himself to be hoodwinked and bamboozled by NOM's propaganda.

And as Coretta Scott King pointed out in a March 31, 1998  speech:

"Gays and lesbians stood up for civil rights in Montgomery and Selma, in Albany, Georgia, and St. Augustine, Florida, and many other campaigns of the civil rights movement. I salute the contributions of these courageous men and women who fought for my freedom at a time when they could find few voices for their own."

It's not just in the civil rights era that Black LGBT peeps handled their human rights business on behalf of the Black community, it's happening in 2K15 America as well.  

The Black Lives Matter movement founders, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometti rep the L.   Black TBLG  peeps in Houston including yours truly busted their behinds to get the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance passed last May while being opposed by Black ministers and Black people on the loud and wrong side of this human rights issue.

We have the common goal along with our non-gay Black peeps of eradicating the anti-Black societal attitudes that deleteriously impact all of us.  Black BTLGQ people are not only concerned with advancing human rights for our own community, but simultaneously uplifting the Black community we intersect and interact with.

And there are many times we are doing Black community uplift work, but you just aren't aware that the person involved in your local civic club, chapter of the NAACP, or community leader is also part of the Black BTLGQ community.

While there are moments that the Black non-SGL community pisses us off with the internal homophobia that expeditiously needs eradication, the fact remains that we Black LGBTQ peeps are and historically have been an undeniable part of the kente cloth fabric of the African-American community. 

Our fate as Black TBLGQ people in this country is inextricably tied to the rest of Black America, and Black folks wishing to divide the Black SGL and non-SGL communities would do well to remember that.

So to say that Black LGBTQ peeps only care about gay rights is not only a blatant lie, it is a narrative contrary to the historical evidence.

Kerry Washington's 2015 GLAAD Vanguard Award Acceptance Speech

As y'all know, I have much love for Kerry Washington, and look forward to the day when I can meet her and let my inner fangirl loose,

In accepting the Vanguard Award last night, she cut loose with a powerful speech that brought the assembled crowd to their feet.  One portion of it was calling out the hypocrisy of marginalized communities turning on each other.

"So when Black people today tell me that they don't believe in gay marriage… the first thing that I say is please don't let anybody try to get you to vote against your own best interests by feeding you messages of hate. And then I say, you know people used to say stuff like that about you and your love. And if we let the government start to legislate love in our lifetime, who do you think is next?" 

"We can't say that we believe in each other’s fundamental humanity and then turn a blind eye to the reality of each others existence and the truth of each other’s hearts. We must be allies. And we must be allies in this business because to be represented is to be humanized. And as long as anyone, anywhere is being made to feel less human, our very definition of humanity is at stake and we are all vulnerable."

And here's the video of that Vanguard Award acceptance speech.

Told Y'all Papi Edwards Was A #GirlLikeUs

"In my two decades of lived experience as a Black trans woman, I have seen more than a few young gay males who liked doing drag, claimed it was 'a hobby', only did it for pageants or gay nightclub talent nights and swore up and down they were gay men and had no intention to transition.

But a year or two later after having that gender epiphany, those same gay males were declaring they were trans, swallowing hormones, answering to feminine names and transitioning to live full time as female."
-TransGriot, February 2, 2015,, The Case For Edwards Being A Trans Murder Victim"

Well, as this Dominic Holden March 6 BuzzFeed article points out, Moni was right.

A trans woman who knew Ms. Edwards and was also at the January 9 murder scene named Tiffany, came forward and publicly confirmed what I was hearing from multiple Louisville contacts.

“Papi got shot because she was a transgender female,” Tiffany told BuzzFeed News in a phone interview this month. “That is exactly why she was killed — because of gender identity.”

The photo in this post is a surveillance camera still shot of Ms. Edwards moments before she was killed.  And she is clearly presenting as female moments before she was killed. 

Henry Gleaves, the alleged shooter who prematurely ended Papi's young life, just had another court hearing March 26, with the trial due to start in Da Ville on October 27.

We have had eight trans women killed this year.  I expect there will be more before the calendar turns to January 1, 2016.   This Edwards case underscores the importance of police departments when they encounter trans murder victims, ACCURATELY identifying and publicizing the fact they are dealing with a trans murder case.

Because the sooner the trans community knows we are dealing with a trans murder case, the sooner we can spring into action to help you peeps in law enforcement solve them.

Trans 100 Class Of 2015 Honorees Revealed Next Week

Next Sunday at the Mayne Stage in Chicago, the latest edition of Trans 100 honorees will be revealed in a show hosted by our fave trans couple in Precious Davis and Myles Brady.

The Trans 100 event will not only have our fave trans couple in the house, but will feature keynotes from Tiq Milan and Lana Wachowski and musical performances by Tona Brown, Laura Jane Grace and Rocco Katastrophe

Yeah, in case you're wondering, I was honored in the inaugural 2013 class of Trans 100 honorees.  And thanks to me being in Chicago for a fortuitously timed conference  I will be in the Mayne Stage house for the first time to actually witness the reading of the names in the Trans 100 Class of 2015.

For those of you who won't be in Chicago for it, you can watch the live feed of it.

I'll also be interested to see which Trans Texans join Phyllis Frye, Carter Brown, Katy Stewart (2013), Lou Weaver, Cristan Williams, Sharyn Grayson, Robyn Morgan Collado, Tye West  (2014) and yours truly as Trans 100 honorees.

I'm so looking forward to the Trans 100 reveal.  I'm looking forward to getting another\ opportunity to not only see some old friends , but finally get the opportunity to meet Lana Wachowski and Laura Jane Grace

We'll see what happens next Sunday.

Kerry Washington To Receive GLAAD Vanguard Award Tonight

The 26th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, LA Division will kick off in a few hours at the Beverly Hilton and I'm pleased to hear that one of my fave actresses in Kerry Washington will be honored with this year's Vanguard Award.

The GLAAD Vanguard Award is presented to the media professional who have made a significant difference in promoting equality.

Some of the previous Vanguard Award recipients have been Janet Jackson, Charlize Theron, Kristen Chenoweth, drew Barrymore, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Taylor, Antonio Banderas and Sharon Stone.

In addition to appearing in LGBT-inclusive projects like Scandal, Peeples, She Hate Me, The Dead Girl, and Life is Hot in Cracktown (in which she played a trans woman),Washington has tirelessly spoken out in support of full equality and human rights for TBLGQ people. She has has participated in GLAAD's annual anti-bullying campaign, Spirit Day, by wearing purple to show her support for BTLGQ youth, and talked about the importance of stopping bullying on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Congrats to Kerry, and looking forward to seeing her later tonight along with her acceptance speech.

We Lost A Media Friend When 'Ronan Farrow Daily' Was Cancelled

Was pissed when Ronan Farrow Daily and Joy Reid's The Reid Report shows were cancelled on MSNBC for two reasons.   In addition to the fact I loved Joy's show, I was in talks with the Farrow folks to do a show talking about the off the charts murders of African-American trans women that had spiked at that time.

The other reason I was not happy about the cancellation of the show besides my lost opportunity to talk to a national audience is because when it comes to media outlets, the Ronan Farrow Daily show was the gold standard when it came to respectful and diverse coverage of trans issues.

And they also did something groundbreaking that has only been replicated so far on Melissa Harris-Perry.  They brought trans people on their sets to talk about trans human rights issues.

It was Ronan Farrow Daily that along with Mel Wynore debunked the bathroom predator lies surrounding the Maryland trans rights law last May and forcefully called it a myth. 



It brought Allyson Robinson on to talk about trans military service.  Tiq has been on the show multiple times to discuss the TIME trans tipping point article and the detention of trans immigrants.  

And in the wake of the Leelah Alcorn suicide, Ronan Farrow Daily did a week of trans themed programming coveting a wide variety of issues that earned him a GLAAD Media Award nomination.

It remains to be seen whether we'll get the same level of coverage about issues of importance to our community on other MSNBC shows.  Lord knows we're still waiting for Rachel Maddow to even say the word 'transgender', much less cover our issues in depth on her show.

We lost a media friend and trans human rights ally when Ronan Farrow Daily was cancelled, and it will be interesting to see what MSNBC show picks up that torch and is willing to use its broadcast platform to discuss our issues.
.

Shut Up Fool Awards- I Pity The Tool Edition

Hey, was nice to hear that our Shut Up Fool inspiration and  mascot Mr T is about to get back on TV with a new reality show called I Pity The Tool

In this show coming soon to your television screens on DIY Network, shows our hero demolishing outdated rooms and with the help of HGTV Design Star winner and interior designer Tiffany Brooks,  give a family a home makeover with beautifully remodeled rooms.

Sounds like an interesting premise.

As y'all know I pity tools here every Friday, but they are political tools, fools and peeps who just say and do some of the most mind boggling things.

So let's cut out the jibber- jabber and get to determining this week's Shut Up Fool

Honorable mention number one goes to Zoey Tur for a long list of problematic transphobic  statements I had to call her ass out for

Form the comment I posted to her on a mutual FB friend Elizabeth Rivera's page.

So if you don't like me calling you out, too damned bad. The way you avoid that now and in the future is change the nekulturny behavior that caused me to call your ass out in the first place.

When you came out, you had a community ready and willing to help you. Unfortunately you have killed much of that initial good will with your Susan Stanton 2.0 antics.

You still have time to change those negative perceptions, but the clock is ticking along with the rest of your credibility.

Honorable mention number two goes to Raven-Symone for cosigning that racist comment about the FLOTUS Rodner Figueroa got himself fired from Univision for last week by stating on The View that 'some people look like animals'

Yeah Raven,, we can call you Toucan Sam, but we can't call you a lesbian or African-American. You look like a bird alright, the dodo bird.

Honorable mention number three to Rick Wiles for 'scurring' his conservafool listeners by telling them they have one year to get out of the country before it is 'destroyed by the POTUS'.

You got it twisted dude.   President Obama is trying to save the country from your racists asses.

Bye haters...Don't let the door hit you where the good Lord split ya.   And don't forget to pay your taxes on the way out.

Honorable mention number four is Dinesh D'Souza, who parted his lips to say that the left hates him because he is a non-white immigrant patriot..

Naw son, we dislike you because you are ca convicted felon and a clueless tool.

Honorable mention number five is FOX Noise fembot Andrea Tantaros, who doesn't like along with her FOX controllers the idea of every American voting.

Honorable mention number six is LA USD  'teacher' Steven Carnine, who is probably bucking for membership in the Orange County KKK after making racist remarks to African-American and mixed race students in his class.

This week's Shut Up Fool loser winner is is ESPN's Stephen A Smith, who parted his lips to suggest at a Vanderbilt University speech that for one election cycle, all Black folks should vote Republican in 2016.

Um not  no Stephen, but OH HELL NO!.  I'm not voting for a party that has hated on me and my people since 1964 and has anti-trans legislation popping up in FL, KY and TX.

Are you not paying attention to the fact that 2016 is a presidential election year?   We must have a Democratic president in the White House to finish replacing all the GOP leaning federal judges appointed by Reagan and Daddy Bush that are now hitting retirement age.   There are three possible SCOTUS seats that will pop open in the next presidential term and I want a Democratic POTUS, whoever he or SHE is, picking those judicial nominees.

And I want a Democratic POTUS poised with their veto pen to kill any jacked up Republican legislation that comes to his desk.

Stephen A. Smith, shut up fool!

D.W. Just Needs To Pee In Peace

Another day, another transphobe tripping because a transperson is living their life.

Meet 13 year old DW Trantham.   Because the Office Of Civil rights has informed school districts that they must provide access to the bathroom of the trans students' choice,  and DW is obviously trans feminine, two parents at South Junior High in Boise pulled their kids out of the school.

Gee, that bigotry sounds familiar.



And here's DW's and her family's response to their transphobic ignorance




The bottom line is that transpeople need to pee, poop and wash our hands when we're done.  We are facing more danger from you haters than you are from us, and no, sending trans masculine and trans feminine people to bathrooms that don't match our gender presentation doesn't solve the problem, it exacerbates it.

All  DW and other transpeople want to do is pee in peace.and have you cis people stop demonizing us for it.

Moni's 2015 NCAA Women's B-Ball Bracket

As part of Women's History Month I started compiling in 2008 a women's NCAA tournament bracket, especially since I have a lot of women's sports fans and I think it's only fair that the NCAA women's ballers get the same kind of love I give the men.

Giving them more love this year because I got squeezed for time in doing my men's bracket.

Here's my 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 women's brackets.   I have only a 4-3 record in picking the eventual NCAA women's champion, but bear in mind I have correctly picked all four Women's Final Four teams in 2008, 2009 and 2012.

The Road to Tampa Bay starts March 20 , and who will be the team cutting down the nets on April 7?

Despite Geno Auriemma trying to downplay it, I and everybody else in America believes it'll be UConn getting their 3-peat, but they will have to work for it.

But then again, that's why we're playing this tournament.

Albany Region

First Round
Connecticut, Rutgers, Texas, California, LSU, Louisville, Iowa State, Kentucky

Second Round
Connecticut, Texas, Louisville, Kentucky

Elite Eight
Connecticut, Kentucky

Albany Region Champions
Connecticut

Spokane Region

First Round
Maryland, Princeton, Mississippi State, Duke, Gonzaga, Oregon State, Pittsburgh, Tennessee

Second Round
Maryland, Duke, Oregon State, Tennessee

Elite Eight
Maryland, Tennessee

Spokane Region Champions
Maryland

Oklahoma City Region
First Round
Notre Dame, DePaul, Oklahoma, Stanford, Washington, Iowa, Northwestern, Baylor

Second Round
Notre Dame, Stanford, Iowa, Baylor

Elite Eight
Notre Dame, Baylor

Oklahoma City Region Champions
Notre Dame

Greensboro Region

First Round
South Carolina, Nebraska, Ohio State, North Carolina, Texas A&M, Arizona State, Oklahoma State, Florida State

Second Round
South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas A&M, Florida State

Elite Eight
South Carolina, Texas A&M

Greensboro Region Champion
South Carolina

Final Four Teams
Connecticut, Maryland, Notre Dame, South Carolina



Championship Game
Connecticut, Notre Dame

2015 NCAA Champion
Connecticut

Moni's 2015 NCAA Men's B-Ball Prediction

I absolutely love March Madness except when they show video of a certain 1983 NCAA title game,. 

Since 2007 I have posted my NCAA men's brackets for the whole world to see.

Because my schedule has been so packed full of events combined with breaking news that had a must write about priority, just wasn't able to sit down long enough to put together my 2015 NCAA bracket post before the First Four games started on Tuesday.

Oh well, with all the upsets yesterday my 2015 bracket would have been trashed anyway.  And darn it, I'll be out of town when the South Regional Final happens at NRG Stadium March 29

And assuming our stupid azz GOP controlled state legislature doesn't pass any hate legislation, the NCAA Men's Final Four is scheduled to return to NRG Stadium in 2016.

Just in case you're curious, here's the brackets for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014

All I have time to do unfortunately is predict who will win the men's NCAA title this year when they cut down the nets in Indianapolis on April 6

That team will be undefeated Kentucky

Yep, I'm predicting that they will run the table, get those six tourney wins they need  and finish as the first undefeated.team since Indiana did so back in 1976.   Ironically this year's title game will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Will the Cats do it?   We'll see as the 2015 edition of the NCAA tourney unfolds.

CBS' Bold And The Beautiful Soap Reveals A Trans Feminine Character

African-American trans characters on TV shows are a rare phenomenon. 

The last time a CBS broadcast television series had a serious African-American trans feminine character that wasn't a stereotype, you have to go all the way back to 1977 and Edith Stokes on The Jeffersons 'Just A Friend' episode to find her.

Now that Orange Is the New Black and Transparent have proven it's okay to put trans characters on TV and surprise surprise, if you do them right get ratings and Emmy nominations for the actors that portray them, it seems as though the networks are finally coming to the trans character party late as usual.

Seems as though CBS has decided to continue to break ground when it comes to creating African-American trans characters.   Laverne Cox will debut as the lead character in a legal drama slated to air this fall called Doubt, and now comes word that yesterday the CBS soap opera The Bold and The Beautiful shocked its viewers with an unexpected cliff hanger that involves a trans character.

Actress Karla Mosley has played model Maya Avant on the soap for the last two year.s   Yesterday the bomb was dropped by Nicole Avant (played by Reign Edwards) that Maya was once her brother with the dead name Myron.

“You’re not my sister, Maya. You’re not Maya at all,” said Nicole (Reign Edwards) during an emotional argument. “You’re Myron, my brother.”




That bombshell lit up the Twitterverse as a trending topic for several hours, and now has me scrambling to catch up on some back Bold and The Beautiful episodes, since I've been on a soap hiatus ever since ABC took my beloved All My Children off the air.

“My first reaction was surprise, because 10 or 20 years ago, this is not a story we would be telling, and not in a way that’s truthful and not sensational,” said Mosley in a USA Today interview about her trans feminine character. “My second reaction was, ‘Thank you.’ It’s a gift. It’s a privilege,” she told the newspaper. “It’s a real opportunity to educate our viewers here and all over the world.”

“It is about people respecting other people’s differences and their uniqueness,” said Bradley Bell, executive producer and head writer for B&B in a statement obtained by USA Today. “In the end, we all want to be loved, and in order to love someone else you first have to love yourself,” Bell added. “If you are transgender, gay, straight, it doesn’t matter. It’s about finding love in life. This is a love story.”

And this is going to be a long term B&B storyline according to Mosley that unfolds over a long period of time, and the characters on the show will gradually find out about Maya's past.

"Everyone has a different reaction," she said. "So even if the audience can't necessarily be on board with Maya, or if they have [certain] feelings about Maya's experience now, hopefully they'll be able to see themselves in the reactions of the people around her and we can all sort of process it together."

Until yesterday, Bold and the Beautiful wasn't in my soap opera watching rotation.  Now it is Must See TV as I watch this historic television storyline unfold.

Moni's Excellent Austin Lobbying Adventure

Spent yesterday doing a quick trip to Austin to strike a blow along with a group of students and allies to let key legislators know we exist, are proud Texans, and aren't standing for the anti-trans discrimination and trans bounty bills that Debbie (Riddle) Does Discrimination and Gilbert Pena want to import into the Lone Star State.

It was also the first time I'd been to the state capitol to lobby since I'd returned back home in May 2010, and the first time I'd done so in Texas since 2001

I found myself in a car with Nikki Araguz Loyd, her hubby Will, and the lovely Meagan Gillett roaring westbound on US 290 headed toward our 12 noon rendezvous at Equality Texas HQ.

After a couple of potty stops and a few moments circling to wait for the Capitol Visitors Garage to open up some parking spaces because SXSW was also going on in the ATX, we finally arrived at the third floor offices of Equality Texas just in time for Cavan O Raghallaigh's briefing.

We had a group of students, Lou Weaver, Dee Dee Watters, TS Williams along for this foray under the Pink Dome that included Mel Gonzales, the first ever trans homecoming king in Texas.

I even got the pleasure of seeing Nikki Vogel again and Dr. Paige Schilt

After a group visit to Rep Alma Allen (D-Houston) office, we split up into four groups to handle all our scheduled visits.   Cavan and I along with Claire Bow and her spouse Carol hit the offices of  Rep Myra Crownover (R- Denton)to talk to her LA.  After that pleasant visit was completed, we headed to the Capitol Grille for a few moments to meet with a reporter, then proceeded to a 3 PM appointment with my state rep Jessica Farrar. (D-Houston) as we once again broke it down why we wanted HB 2081, 2082, 1747  and 1748 to die

Meanwhile as I was handling my business, Nikki Araguz Loyd was headed to the belly of the GOP transphobic beast and visiting Rep Gilbert Pena's (R-Pasadena) office, who sponsored two of the trans hate bill, and Rep Debbie Riddle (R-Tomball) office.    

The LA in Rep Riddle's office kept trying to blame Mayor Annise Parker and the passage of HERO for these bills, which wasn't flying with Nikki.   It also seems that the national publicity and derision she's getting for it is also having an effect, so keep those calls, memes and jokes aimed at her office coming.  

May also wish to do the same to Rep Gilbert Pena too, since his bills were only filed on march 10, and he has yet to get the full effect of state and national negativity coming down upon him like Riddle has.

After leaving Rep. Farrar's office,  the rest of my team members had to leave, so it was Cavan and I who got to visit Rep Joe Deshotel's  (D-Port Arthur) chief of staff and lay out why those anti-trans hate bills needed to die..

After reuniting with some of our team members and making a quick visit to Sen. Kirk Watson's (D) office to help Cavan make good on a promise he'd made, we headed back to the Equality Texas headquarters for a debriefing and to pick up thank you cards before departing back to Houston.

Was a wonderful day to do so, and I have a feeling I'll be back up there again before this session is over.

Headed To Austin To Lobby Against Unjust Bills

As many of you are aware of,  we're dealing with s trio of unjust anti- trans legislation in the Lone Star State in Rep Debbie Riddle's HB 1748 and Rep Gilbert Pena's  HB 2801 and 2802s

With hearings coming soon on these unjust bills, Texas trans peeps and our allies are traveling to Austin to make the point we live here and aren't down with criminalizing our lives just for going to the bathroom.

These bills as you probably guessed would especially have a deleterious effect on trans communities of color.

We're rolling westbound on US 290 as you read this to handle our lobbying business and start the conversation with our state lawmakers about just how off the charts bad these bills are for our state.

Our ETA is around 12 noon, and after our briefing at Equality Texas HQ we'll get started handling our legislative business.  Hope they and their staffs listen to what we have to say.

Should be an interesting day in Austin, so don't miss the latest TransGriot update as Moni goes to lobby in Austin for the first time since 2001.

Melissa Sklarz Elected ESPA Foundation Board Co-Chair!

The trans rights movement momentum continues forward despite the desperate attempts of our misguided oppressors to stop it.

Megacongratulations go out to Melissa Sklarz, who was elected the co-chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda Foundation's Board of Directors.

It marks the first time in the 25 year history of the organization that a trans person has been tapped to lead it.

Sklarz will serve alongside Norman C. Simon, a partner at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, who has served as Co-Chair of the Foundation Board since 2013 and was reelected to a third term at last weekend’s board meeting.

Sklarz is no stranger to breaking barriers.  In September 1999, she was the first transgender person to be elected to office in the New York Democratic Party.  Sklarz also was the first transgender delegate from New York to the Democratic National Convention in 2004.  In 2008, she was co-chair of Obama Pride NYC, the LGBT group working to elect President Obama in New York.  Sklarz served as the first transgender President of the Stonewall Democratic Club in New York City from 2012 to 2014.  She also served on Manhattan’s Community Board 2 for six years, and as president of the Gay and Lesbian Independent Democrats.

After becoming a peer counselor at the Gender Identity Project in the mid-90s, Sklarz discovered there were little to no resources available to transgender New Yorkers, inspiring her to get involved with government and the political system.  She was a leader in successfully advocating for transgender anti-discrimination protections in New York City under a law signed in 2002 by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. 

Since then, Sklarz has been working hard to  enact the same protections statewide through the passage of GENDA.  Sklarz has long worked on other issues of importance to LGBT New Yorkers, including civil rights protections; improved health care funding and access; birth certificate gender marker change modernization; education on transgender issues; and services for the LGBT aging population..

Congratulations once again Melissa for another groundbreaking step, and hope it finally results in the far too long delayed and denied trans human rights coverage for all New Yorkers

Is Pride Houston Selling Woof Tickets On Inclusion?

Great first steps to undo the unnecessary drama started by the initial decision, but satisfying to many people including those of us who warned about the Juneteenth scheduling conflict in the first place..

We'll be watching to make sure PRIDE Houston follows through on what you told that packed meeting room you'd do.

Deeds will be far more important than words from now on.
-TransGriot , November 14, 2014

You'll remember yours truly a few months ago talking about the boneheaded, arrogant and vanillacentric privileged clueless decision of Pride Houston to move the date of the 2015 pride parade to Juneteenth despite the warnings of myself and other Houston African American TBLGQ leaders and allies not to do that.

It triggered an unnecessary media firestorm, and at a contentious November 13 Pride Houston community meeting, in addition to Pride Houston moving the date back (June 27) to the traditional last weekend in June, promises were made by Pride Houston to form a Diversity Committee, to add board candidates more in tune with the ethnic diversity of the Houston LGBT community, and to sponsor a float in the 2015 Juneteenth parade.

It's now four months later, and I'm hearing disturbing chatter in Houston SGL, trans and bi world and from our allies that Pride Houston has backslid into its insular, secretive ways that got them into trouble last October and November.

Their deeds so far have not matched their words, and Juneteenth is fast approaching.  As of this writing, Kijana Wiseman, the chair of the Juneteenth Emancipation Celebration & Parade has yet to hear from, much less receive an e-mail from Frankie Quijano or anyone else on the Pride Houston board concerning participation in their 2015 Juneteenth parade.  

And speaking of the Pride Houston board, I'm hearing a problematic allegation that a trans feminine person who wished to serve on the Pride Houston board predominately packed with peeps from the gay wing of the community was stonewalled (pun intended) for several weeks before being told all positions were filled.

As for that Pride Houston Diversity Committee, it has yet to be formed, much less have parties interested in joining it be told when and how to apply for it and when it will have its first meeting.

So yep, starting to look like Pride Houston was selling woof tickets when the unblinking eye of Houston news media cameras was turned on them.  

Maybe it's time for the Houston media cameras to be turned on Pride Houston once again to ensure they keep the promises made to the entire Houston community last November and make them realize we were deadly serious about having a Pride Houston board that reflects the diversity of our city and all the letters in our H-town BTLGIQ community..

The Mounting Problems With Zoey

Hanna Zoey Tur's  claim to fame before transition was as a journalist and the helicopter pilot who filmed the attack on Reginald Denny during the jump off phase of the 1992 LA Rebellion and the slow speed chase of OJ Simpson's Bronco down a Los Angeles freeway in 1994.

Tur has recently been hired as a reporter for Inside Edition, and ever since has been a living embodiment of a prescient Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. quote:

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

And I would add to that King quote, "especially when it comes out of the mouth of a newbie transsexual with access to a national media platform and is chasing fame."

Lately Tur's propensity to part those lips and say increasingly problematic stuff about the trans community has me concerned and pissed off at the same time.   When she gets called out on her loud and wrong statements, she resorts to attacking the messenger as she did with Dr Dana Beyer and Rebecca Juro.

Pro Tip: I give as good as I get Boo Boo Kitty, so your white privilege addled 'twoo twansexual' ass would be well advised to have several seats at Staples Center, have a nice tall glass of STHU and not step to me.  And if you are even thinking about it, better hit Google before you do.

You've been warned.   Back to riffing on your nekulturny behavior.

Ms. Tur has been mistakenly called the first transgender television news reporter.

Nope, Eden Lane beat you to that distinction in 2008 when she covered the DNC Convention in Denver for PBS and has had a show called In Touch With Eden Lane on Colorado public television since 2009.  Carol Marra in Brazil (2012) and Michelle Demishevich in Turkey (2013) also beat you to that internationally.

In her loud and wrong reign of conservaerror, Tur has stated that people who don't have genital surgery shouldn't get human rights coverage, the only true transsexuals are those who work in hypemasculine fields and have conservafool political views, she doesn't respect the gender identities and presentations of people she doesn't have anything in common with, and trans kids shouldn't be participating on athletic teams that match their presented gender among other loud, wrong comments.

That's mighty white TS separatist trans of your fresh off the SRS table behind.

In addition to that small sample of your rapidly accumulating transphobic body of work, you also got my attention when you took potshots at two people I and the African-American trans community have much respect and love for in Janet Mock and Laverne Cox.  

They along with Eden Lane opened the doors for you to get your Inside Edition show with their successful appearances on The View, the Melissa Harris-Perry show and other media outlets,, so don't get it twisted.

Janet and Laverne also have intelligently done so while having more class in their pinkie fingers than you have displayed thus far.

And WTF is wrong with you for basically claiming that trans men don't exist.  Bring your loud and wrong behind to any trans conference and you will see the rank stupidity that statement encapsulates.

Trans men don't exist? Really? That's news to Jamison Green, Diego Sanchez, Gunner Scott, Ethan St. Pierre, Yeshua Holiday, Kylar Broadus, Louis Mitchell, Yosenio Lewis and countless other trans men were advancing trans human rights and educating about our issues while your ass was flying that news chopper following OJ's Bronco down the 405 freeway.   

That comment would also be news to trans men like the late Alexander John Goodrum, Marcelle Cook-Daniels, Wilmer Broadnax, and Jim McHarris who were living their trans masculine lives way before you even thought about transitioning.

That would also be news to trans men like Carter Brown, Tiq Milan, Dr Kortney Ryan Ziegler and Lou Weaver who are trailblazing leaders in this community.

It's sad when our outstanding transkids like Jazz are more intelligent, eloquent and credible spokespersons for our community than this Susan Stanton 2.0 that is a trans legend in her own mind.

You have a right to your own opinions and political beliefs Ms. Tur.   Where I and other people draw the line is when you have a media platform to express those beliefs, they are loud and wrong, you refuse to listen to people who have far more experience navigating Trans Life than you, and your comments can be used by our opponents to undermine what little progress we have made trans human rights wise in this country.

As a longtime award winning leader in the African-American trans community whose members are already catching hell because of ignorance of trans issues, your comments make it harder for me and others to educate my people on the issues that impact our community.

With each loud and wrong utterance that passes between your lips, you alienate more and more trans people in this community that once upon a time were willing to help lift you up while making our anti-trans opposition smile.

Nicole Ramos-'You'll Always Be A Man"

To give you another taste of the birthday girl's video blog, check out what my Lone Star sis had to say in this January 2015 post about the all purpose insult that our cisgender detractors like to fling at us in the "You'll always be a man" one.

Happy Birthday Nicole!

Time for another TransGriot birthday shoutout, and it goes to someone who is an emerging voice in our trans community ranks at just age 23.

Meet San Antonio based video blogger Nicole Ramos.   In addition to her popular YouTube channel, this proud trans Latina has made appearances on various talk shows to intelligently talk about our issues.



Looking forward to the next opportunity I get to spend some time on her end of I-10 and the day I finally get to meet this up and coming young leader to watch. 

Your voice and perspective as a Latina trans woman is also needed as we continue to expand the much needed and ongoing conversation around trans issues.

Happy birthday Nicole!   Thanks for all you do for our community, being an intelligent voice for it, and hope you have a fabulous, fun-filled day.

And to borrow a line from Star Trek, may you live long and prosper on your journey through life.

#LGBTMedia15-Moni's View Of A Conference

For the third consecutive year I was blessed to get an invitation to attend the 6th annual LGBT Media Journalists Convening along with LGBTQ journalists from 22 states and the District of Columbia.

Before I even left for Philly, I had four activism events in two days in Houston, and got back home from the Misfits panel at almost midnight.  

Since I had to allow for METRO bus travel time, I had to get up at 4 AM to get to the airport early enough to check my bag and clear TSA security before my flight.  That meant I was getting barely three hours of sleep before I bounced to Hobby to start my trek via Chicago to Philadelphia.

My lack of sleep started messing with me early when I got off my initial bus block one stop too soon to connect with the 50 Harrisburg that would take me to Hobby.  After realizing my error, I had to quickly walk with my roller bags from Washington Ave two blocks over to the stop on Memorial Drive in the shadow of the municipal courthouse..

I made it to the stop in time because my 50 Harrisburg bus was a few minutes late, and made it to Hobby Airport without further incident.  I checked one bag, cleared TSA security and headed to Gate 51 to wait to board my 8 AM CDT departure to Philadelphia via Chicago-Midway.

I was surprised to see Cristan Williams pop up in the Gate 51 lobby area a few moments later and we ended up traveling to Philly together. 

After arriving in a cloudy and cool Philly and getting to the Radisson Blu Warwick Hotel a little after 4 PM  EDT, we settled into our rooms in preparation for the reception that would happen at Comcast Center several blocks up the street at 7 PM. 

I called Mom to let her know I'd safely made it, then fired up my trusty laptop to take advantage of the comp WiFi and check my e-mail.

I was hungry, and noted a small diner called Little Pete's that was just across 17th Street from our hotel.  I ambled down from my 10th floor room, wandered in and ordered some mild buffalo wings to go. While I was waiting for those wings, I had this strange deja vu feeling about this place, and I would find out later at the reception why.

The four events in two days along with the flights, the food and my quiet room sent me to dreamland, and I woke up at 7:15 PM.   After quickly getting dressed, I made it up those six blocks as fast as I could for what was left of the #LGBTMedia15 kickoff reception in the spacious lobby of the building.

I made it, and even managed to get one glass of wine in along with greetings and hugs from several peeps and my friends in the LGBT writing world.  One of them was a local Philly attendee who not only thanked me for my TransGriot posts about the 1965 Dewey's Lunch Counter Sit In, let me know I was staying right across the street from it.

It floored me to know that I'd just bought wings from the place that 50 years ago next month was the site of some trans history before I sat down and waited for the keynote speech from the Rev Dr William Barber.

Soon to be birthday girl Faith Cheltenham joined me, and we were inspired along with everyone else by the dynamic keynote speech that Dr Barber gave us that urged us to not only reclaim the moral high ground in our movement that we have mistakenly ceded to our opponents, but build an intersectional movement at the same time that will fight just as hard for voting rights, a woman's right to choose and a livable wage as we do for marriage.

And I got to ask a question of Dr Barber, who remembered that we'd met in Louisville back in 2005 at the Unity Banquet there, what was the NAACP's stance about the legislation popping up in Florida, Texas and the now dead one in Kentucky seeking to criminalize being transgender?

Answer.  NAACP is opposed to it.   So trans community and allies, get your state and local chapters busy calling the wingers out about those unjust laws

The next day began with breakfast at 7 AM and then heading to the hotel's Grand Ballroom at 9 AM to get our learn on. After the welcome from Bil Browning and singing Happy Birthday to Faith, we got down to the business of getting our learn on in the panels discussions.

The initial panel of the day was entitled The Latest Rightwing Attack: The Danger Of 'Religious Liberty' Laws.   It featured Katherine Grainger breaking down the spate of "Religious Liberty" laws designed to gut the human rights progress we've made over the last 50 years with Matt Foreman asking the questions..

At 9:45 AM the Erin Rook moderated panel entitled What Happens When The Dog Catches The Car with panelists Tiq Milan, Spectra Asala and Urvashi Vaid discussing what's next after marriage equality is achieved.

That gave way after a spirited discussion to a 11:30 AM Brynn Tannehill moderated panel after our 15 minute break entitled Naming and the LGBTQ Community. 

Panelists Diane Anderson-Minshall, Dr Scout and Eliel Cruz had a  wide ranging, fast paced discussion that took us into lunch.

During that lunch, the new Philadelphia LGBT Liaison Nellie Fitzpatrick not only gave us a rousing speech entitled Fighting For Equality From Within: How Government Officials Are Advancing LGBT Rights,  but read a proclamation on behalf of Mayor Nutter declaring Saturday as 'LGBT Media Journalism Day' .

After lunch, we LGBT Media attendees had a choice between two break out sessions. Bijacked: Bisexuals Strike Back Against Inaccurate Reporting or Allies in Race and Gender.

Once those were done, me and my trans cohorts took our break  opportunity to head across the street from our hotel and take group photos in front of the former Dewey's.   Hope there will be a 50th anniversary commemoration of that transcentric historical event next month.

We returned for the final session of the day entitled Three Great HIV Story Ideas You Could Write Tomorrow in which the panelists led my moderator Mark King went through some suggestion of HIV centric stories that we could immediately compose..  We were also given an HIV Style guide to take home with us.

After the feedback session, the #LGBTMedia15 panels were over.   But we still had a visit coming to the John C Anderson Apartments later that evening for a wine and cheese reception there..   It's a LGBT -centric senior apartment building that had just broken ground for construction when the LGBT Media Journalists Convening was last in town   Now it was finished, and the Philly LGBT community was eager to show it off.  

In addition to proudly noting that it had a 150 name waiting list to get into the building, I was also pleased to get my tour of it conducted by a trans elder.

We also spent some time while we were there in a LGBT Women in Media discussion in which a intergenerational group discussed some of the issues affecting the community from our perspectives.

While some of our crew headed to the 11 PM public event at Tavern on Camac, the four vents in two day before I left Houston was finally catching up with me, so I decided to get y cheesesteak ata a place i spotted on the walk from the hotel to the Anderson Apartments and call it a night.

I was obviously still tired because I slept through my alarm and the start of the Sunday closing brunch.

And just like that, my #LGBTMedia15 weekend in Philly was over and I was boarding a shuttle to take me to the airport and my semi-boring life in Texas.

We'll see if I get the invite to participate in #LGBTMedia16 in Baltimore.   If I get to do so, definitely looking to destroy some crab cakes.