Intersectional Houston Saturday

Yesterday, April 11 was a Saturday in which I woke up with two events on my mind, and ended up at three.  

My day started at the Montrose Center for the HPD-LGBT Community Dialogue that kicked off at 10 AM and was scheduled to run until 1 PM.   HPD Chief Charles McClellan and his command staff, along with LGBT Liaison EJ Joseph and several LGBT officers were in the house to discuss the spike in Montrose crime  which has sadly taken a life, along with John Gaspari, who was shot in a hate crime, and other concerned residents.

I suspect that spike is crime is related to the anti-LGBT rhetoric that was (and continues to be) uttered and broadcast post passage of HERO by our not so favorite christobigots, and as Ashton Woods pointed out during this meeting, the gentrification of Montrose which leads the folks with criminal intent to think that peeps in the gayborhood are walking ATM's.

After the first segment of it involving the chief and command staff was conducted with news cameras rolling, the second segment happened with Officer Joseph and four LGBT HPD officers..  That lasted until 12 noon before it concluded with Q&A and moi being teased by Officer Joesph about my lack of quality time with her due to my recent trips to DC twice, Philadelphia and Chicago for TBLG community events.

After talking to a Houston Chronicle reporter, other African-American HPD officers and laying the groundwork for future projects and collaborations, I got snatched up by Brandon Mack and Ashton Woods to join them in a hilarious at times car ride through intermittent rain and showers to the Acres Homes area and Sylvester Turner Park for state Rep. and current Houston mayoral candidate Sylvester Turner's 8th Annual Family Fun Day.

Hey, y'all thought I was kidding about my wicked sense of humor.  But back to the post.

There was free food, water and juice along with music ranging from R&B classics to hip hop and a live zydeco band as I got to talk to several candidates for Houston elective offices like Dwight Jefferson, Laurie Robinson and see HISD school board trustee Rhonda Skillern-Jones.

I had an interesting conversation with Ms. Robinson, who is running in the Houston City Council at Large Position 4 race. in which we discussed HERO (she supports it) , my trans activist life, and life on the campaign trail as a city council candidate.

After hanging out there for two hours and grabbing a smoked turkey leg, it was time to get ready for my first HRC Houston Gala at the Westin Galleria.

35 years ago I was on the other end of the Galleria at the now Westin Oaks Hotel for my high school prom, and now I was attending for the first time at the invitation of Ian Barrett to what is referred to in Houston LGBT circles as 'Gay Prom.'

After arriving around 5:30 PM for the 18th annual edition of it, it was a succession of running into old friends, meeting new ones, seeing political leaders like HISD Board President Anna Eastman, Councilmembers Robert Gallegos and Mike Laster and killing time until we were able to sit down at our tables for the gala.

Yeah yeah, I know I'm one of HRC's longtime national critics.  But I was invited to the gala by a Houston based African-American national board member, and curiosity about what happens during one of these events drove me to accept the invitation and have an open mind about the experience.

And yeah, I got to do so while seated with Brandon, Ashton, and Synthia Walton.

The big surprise of the night for me was when HRC President Chad Griffin during his speech gave me a shout out in it.  That ended my anonymity at that event because after that I was approached my dozens of people thanking me for my longtime service to the community.

I'd like one of them to thank me with a public policy job in Austin, Houston or Washington DC, but that's another post.

I was successful in getting my fangirl moment in during one of the breaks.  I finally got to meet my slam dunking Houston homegirl Brittney Griner, who you longtime readers know I have mad love for.   Brittney joked during this photo it was nice for once to not be the tallest woman in the room.

So when I returned to Casa de Monica, I had a new collection of business cards to add to my collection, more opportunities for community building, and a bunch of pleasant memories to what turned out to be a doubleplusgood  day for yours truly practicing what I preach about intersectionality.

NFL Hires First Ever Female Referee

The 2015 NFL officials pool will have a groundbreaking member added to it in Sarah Thomas, who was recently hired as the NFL's first ever full time female official

The 41 year old Thomas is a mother of three and pharmaceutical sales rep when she's not on the gridiron, and growing up played softball and basketball.   She began her officiating career at the high school level in Mississippi and by 1996 was officiating at the Division I-A level in the state.

At that  time, the NFL wasn't the goal, but by 2007 Thomas was working games at the collegiate level in Conference USA.   In 2009 she became the first woman to officiate a college bowl game, the Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl, and has worked the Senior Bowl, the Fight Hunger Bowl, and the Medal of Honor Bowl in addition to the C-USA Championship Games in 2010 and 2014.

She also worked two seasons as an official in the defunct United Football League.

In 2011 she became the first woman to officiate a game in a Big Ten stadium when Rice played Northwestern,, and was in the NFL's officiating development program in 2013-14 working NFL preseason games, minicamps, and training camps.

"My goal has always been to be the best line judge I can be any time I get the opportunity,"said Thomas at a Wednesday press conference. "I feel honored and blessed to be in the National Football League now."

Thomas won't be the first woman to work an NFL regular season game.  That honor went to Shannon Eastin, who was called up during the 2012 NFL officials lockout and worked preseason and regular season NFL games until the lockout ended.

While Thomas is downplaying her role in sports history, it's still a big deal to a league which is decades behind the NBA, Major League Baseball and FIFA when it comes to having female officials calling their games.

You Don't Like Moni Calling You Out?

Then don't do the jacked up stuff that puts me in the position of having to do so on this blog.

Yeah, it's good for my hit counts when I call out the stupid crap that goes on inside and outside of Trans World. But if I had my druthers, I'd much rather report on and praise people for doing the right thing by all the communities I intersect and interact with.

But there are just some of you peeps who get your jollies oppressing people or saying some problematic crap, and then I get to have fun gleefully calling your azzes out.

As some of you are quite aware of, I don't have any problem holding people accountable.

Neither do I have a problem in calling out friend, foe and frenemy for the fracked up crap they do, or when they are trying to push unjust policies and proposed bills that seek to denigrate and dehumanize my trans brothers and sisters.

So don't start none, won't be none.   But as long as some of you arrogantly wallow in cluelessness. transphobia, homophobia, sexism, racism, (fill in the blank), and it has the potential to harm the trans community and our human rights movement, I will call you out without hesitation.

The Bold And Beautiful Maya Watch-Week Of April 6-10

Since the reveal of supermodel and fashion executive Maya Avant as the first major trans character on a network soap last month, I've been watching this  The Bold And The  Beautiful storyline unfold with keen interest as one of the peeps that Karla Mosley is playing.

As a TransGriot public service, I'm going to do a weekly recap of all things Maya related during the week on The Bold and the Beautiful.   For those of you who haven't gotten your B&B fix, this post will contain spoilers.

***

The week started with Maya and Nicole getting into another argument as she attempted to use her knowledge of Maya's trans status to extort her way into a modeling shoot.   Maya's ex fiance Carter overheard the conversation, and after Nicole left the office, angrily confronted her about what he overheard as he flashes back to memories of their two year relationship.  

He is pushing Maya to tell current boyfriend and Forrester Creations CEO Rick to tell him, which Maya doesn't want to do until she is ready to do so.   Rick walks into the office during their argument, but Carter decided not to spill her trans status to Rick and walks out.

Carter tries once again to get Maya to tell Rick that she's trans, pointing out that it's not just her personal business, but because Rick needs to know and it could affect Forrester Creations.   She replies to Carter that she'll tell him after she get engaged to him.

Carter confronts Nicole about extorting her way to a modeling shoot, and points out Maya is scared of what might happen if she reveals she's trans.

Rick notices that Maya is agitated about the confrontations and asks her what is wrong, but she tries to play it off and declines to tell him.   He professes his love to her and tells her he admires her integrity as she professes her love to him.

Maya later defends Rick with his mother Brooke at her side as Ridge once again throws barbs at him because in his mind Rick is unqualified to be Forrester Creations CEO.   Maya's defense of Rick impresses Brooke, who has resumed working for Forrester.

As Rick and Maya once more profess their love for each other, as she walks into the office she fails to realize she dropped the  package that contains her estrogen tablets. 


Rick finds the bottle on the floor, reads it and asks her the question why she would need to be taking conjugated estrogen.

Tune in Monday to find out the answer.

Moni's Going To The 2015 Houston HRC Gala

Check the date, this is NOT an April Fool's joke like this post was.

I have a long documented history as one of HRC's fiercest critics going back to 1998, but in a few hours I'll actually be going the 18th annual Houston HRC Gala.

The last time I actually was in the vicinity of an HRC Gala, I was in Washington DC outside the Walter Williams Convention Center protesting their national dinner in response to trans people getting cut out of  ENDA in 2007

This time I won't be there to protest, but observe the proceedings at the Westin Galleria ballroom.  Thanks to Bryant and Ian Barrett for the invitation to sit at their tables.   

As for who will be at the Houston HRC Gala,  HRC president Chad Griffin is supposed to be here for the proceedings as one of the special guests that start at 5:00 PM  along with my Houston homegirl Brittney Griner. 

They say they have changed, we'll see.   And getting a chance to meet my Houston homegirl Brittney Griner and hang out for a few hours with some friends in the community may make it worthwhile.

I'll at least get a post out of it.

Shut Up Fool Awards- It's April, Fools Edition

Yep it is April, it's Friday, and time for you fave feature on TransGriot in the Shut Up Fool Awards.

I get to call out the fool, fools or group of fools who need to have the bright spotlight of scrutiny shined upon the stupid, hypocritical and WTF head scratching crap they do and say.

Let's get started with this week's cavalcade of fools shall we?

Honorable mention number one is Ben Carson.   After he remembered he was Black earlier and called the murder by po-po of Walter Scott 'an execution on the streets', he had to go back to cooning it up for conservamassa and let fly with the ridiculous claim that 'gays are better protected than Christians'

Conservakneegrow please!   You can be fired in 29 states for being gay and 34 states for being trans*.

I repeat, where is the DROP Squad when you need them?

Honorable mention number two is Ted Nugent.   Ted parted his lips to let something stupid fly out of them again by claiming he's being 'persecuted for doing God's work'.

What God?   Conservagod?   Baal?  St Ronald of Reagan?

Naw Ted, you're doing somebody's work alright.  Who could it be?

Honorable mention number three is Rand Paul, who is already fracking up in his newly declared presidential run by getting testy with CNBC anchor Savannah Guthrie when she started asking him tough questions about policy flip flops  that he obviously didn't want to answer.



Oh Randall, just a word of advice.  Attacking a female anchor trying to do her job is not a good look for you in the eyes of independent and moderate voters.

Honorable mention number four is Tom DeLay.  He popped up on Newsmax to defend the 'Religious Freedom Discrimination bills by saying that we must fight for those 'with every ounce of our being.'

And I'm going to fight those unjust bills to ensure they don't become law in this state.

Honorable mention number five goes to Carly Fiorina, who blamed the severe three year California drought on 'liberal environmentalists'.

No wonder Hewlett-Packard tanked under your misleadership

Honorable mention number six is a group award for the NRA.  Their convention is kicking off in Nashville, and the NRA ammosexuals that are trying to push open carry laws, put guns in your kids elementary schools and on college campuses, won't allow loaded firearms for safety reasons at their convention hall.

Can you say hypocrites TransGriot boys and girls?   Thought you could.

This week's Shut Up Fool winner I have to go local for it in Dave Wilson.  

For several months the longtime hatemonger has been trying to gather enough signatures to push an anti-trans charter amendment onto the 2015 city election ballot.   With great fanfare he showed up at City Hall with news cameras rolling, turned in six boxes of petitions  and claimed he'd gotten 19.700 signatures.

However, since this is a charter amendment, the threshold under Texas state law is 20,000 VALID signatures.  

Oops.   Thank the Lord my right-wing opposition here is inept at times.   If they had even half the brains of the FOX Fembots, they'd be more problematic to deal with.

He huffed and puffed about filing a lawsuit to force it on the ballot, but the end result is he has to start over.

Yo HCC, can't y'all find a way to kick this hater off your board?

Dave Wilson, shut up fool!

There Will ALWAYS Be Somebody Prettier Than You...Deal With It

Sisterhood should not end when Oprah goes off. Truth be told, there will always be someone prettier, sexier, stronger, and smarter. I'm sorry Boo - that's just the way it is. But that's ok.....just do you!
Robin Bonner, September 23, 2013  Sisters, Let's Stop Hatin' On Each Other

I was talking to one of my trans homegirls recently and the subject turned to what Robin discussed in the September 23. 2013 guest post in terms of sisterhood.  While Robin's guest post was talking about it in general, me and my trans homegirl were talking about how it manifests itself in our transfeminine ranks.

The conversation was triggered by our observations about one of our sisters who has a self esteem problem.   She can't see her own beautiful self because she is so fixated on the other women in our circle that happen to be drop dead gorgeous.  She has used that as an excuse to decline from participating in the ongoing community building and crafting of sisterhood circles we are engaged in here in Houston.

I'm going to borrow and focus on a section of what Robin said in that quote I highlighted at the beginning of this post and say it once again.  

There will always be someone who is prettier, sexier, stronger, smarter, et cetera, and that's life.

Do I have some cis and trans women in our community I'm envious of and admire?   You damned skippy I do because I'm human.  But at the same time I'm aware that I have a combination of qualities they are just as envious of and admire about me that inhabit my statuesque body.  

I've also had 20 plus years to evolve and do me, and to borrow to words of my brother Kye Allums, I am enough.

That salient point about the diverse community of women encapsulated in Robin's quote is also reflected in Trans Feminine World.  

The reality is there are always going to be trans women who got the genetic luck of the draw.    There will be trans women who will be prettier, sexier, stronger, smarter, or have combinations of those various characteristics inhabiting their bodies.

There are going to be increasing numbers of trans women who because they transitioned in early childhood, their teens  or early in life are going to be indistinguishable from the average cis woman. 

And yeah, let's be real, trans women can be our own worst critics about how we look. 

There are those of us in Trans World that will also because of varying reasons that include fiscal ones, be able to avail themselves of surgical enhancements, hormones and GRS to correct or enhance whatever they perceive needs to be corrected on their bodies that results in their personal happiness and satisfaction.

And just like cis women, trans women come in all shapes, sizes, skin tones and body configurations.   There are going to be some of us who have the classic hourglass shape, perfect cheekbones and single digit shoe size.   Some of us will be petite while others of us will be supermodel height.  Others of us will be full figured and have a double digit shoe size or other various combinations of characteristics.  

In Black trans feminine ranks, we come in 24 different shades ranging from light bright and damned near white to deepest darkest ebony in terms of our skin tones.   All of them carry baggage beyond run of the mill trans issues, and all those skin tones are beautiful.

And as my homegirl Joanna Cifredo enlightened me to during a conversation we had in Chicago, trans Latinas also have to contend with the overall cultural beauty standards that cis Latinas have to deal with.

All that  matters is that we get to a point in in our ongoing feminine journeys in which as we get comfortable in our skins, we have personalities that are just as beautiful inside that match or exceed the outside shell.
What is also important as a trans feminine community is that as we evolve toward acceptance of the reality there will always be somebody prettier that we are, we deal with it by not projecting our insecurities, jealousies and issues onto our sisters be their cis or trans.

We need to be focused on the bigger prize of being about the business of building sisterhood in our ranks..

HPD -LGBT Community Dialogue Tomorrow

For those of you who can make it to the Montrose Center tomorrow morning from 10-AM-1 PM CDT, there will be a town hall meeting featuring  HPD Chief Charles McClelland, HPD's command staff,  HPD LGBT Liaison EJ Joseph, HPD personnel and other community leaders to discuss the spike in anti-LGBT crimes that I believe is fueled by the hate rhetoric spouted by our opponents during the fight to pass the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance..

We will be gathering in Room 106/107 at the Montrose Center to hopefully  come up with solutions to this problem that has already taken one life and left two other people seriously injured.

One suggesting is to extend the hours that the Montrose storefront police station is open.  I suggested in a previous post to bring back the Q Patrol citizens patrols that we instituted for several years in the wake of the Paul Broussard murder back in 1991

Address of the Montrose Center for those who wish to attend is 401 Branard St.

I'm One Of Those Proud Texans That Supports TBLG Non Discrimination Laws

As many of you TransGriot readers are quite aware of, I am a proud Houstonian and Texan who absolutely hates the GOP dominated government that has mismanaged it over the last 20 years.

Instead of our state government doing what they are supposed to do and pass laws that benefit all Texans, they are basically working to oppress anyone that isn't a conservative white male.

LGBT Texans love this state, and as much as y'all would like us to either leave it or go back in the closet so you can go back to pretending we trans, bi and SGL peeps don't exist, neither one of those thing is happening any time soon.

The Lege back in January was hellbent on passing legislation to remake our bipartisan passed in 1999 RFRA into an Indiana style bill until they witnessed the backlash Indiana got for trying to legislate discrimination.

And may I remind the legislative conservafools and the FOX Noise bamboozled sheeple that support them that the 2016 NCAA men's Final Four and 2017 Super Bowl are scheduled for Houston's NRG Stadium.  

And as business leaders in this state are increasingly opening their mouths to say, discrimination is bad for business.

If  you and these fools wish to continue to see NCAA men's and women's Final Fours and Super Bowl coming to San Antonio, Dallas and Houston along with major corporate relocations and conferences, the Tea GOP needs to back the hell off of those unjust bills you're proposing.

And yeah, despite your best efforts to keep me from doing so with your unjust voter suppression laws, I vote

I'm a proud Texan that supports nondiscrimination laws that protect LGBT Texans, and I'm in the majority on this issue.   All I or any other TBLG Texan wants is to live our lives without micromanaging from our government or having our existence criminalized based on a debunked lie.

White House Affirmatively Responds To Petition Calling For Conversion Therapy Youth Ban

One of the things that is a major concern for TBLG leaders is the use of so called conversion therapy on TBLG people to 'cure' them.  It was such a conversion therapy that drove Leelah Alcorn to commit suicide.

In the wake of Leelah's death, a WeThePeople.gov petition calling for the passage of Leelah's Law that would ban the use of the scientifically discredited use by licensed therapists of conversion therapy aimed at TBLGIQ youth, hit the 100,000 signature threshold for a White House response in January  and eventually 120,958 signatures when it was closed. 

In the petition response yesterday from senor White House adviser Valerie Jarrett:

Conversion therapy generally refers to any practices by mental health providers that seek to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.[1] Often, this practice is used on minors, who lack the legal authority to make their own medical and mental health decisions. We share your concern about its potentially devastating effects on the lives of transgender as well as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and queer youth.

When assessing the validity of conversion therapy, or other practices that seek to change an individual’s gender identity or sexual orientation, it is as imperative to seek guidance from certified medical experts. The overwhelming scientific evidence demonstrates that conversion therapy, especially when it is practiced on young people, is neither medically nor ethically appropriate and can cause substantial harm.

As part of our dedication to protecting America’s youth, this Administration supports efforts to ban the use of conversion therapy for minors.

I keep telling y'all that President Obama is the best POTUS ever on trans issues, and he keeps proving it with every executive order he issues and every policy position he takes.

50th Anniversary Of The Astrodome Opening

It's been long since overshadowed by the 2002 opening of NRG Stadium, but fifty years ago on this date the Harris County Domed Stadium, better known to the rest of you peeps as the Astrodome, opened as the world's first multi-purpose domed stadium.

'The Eighth Wonder Of The World' was an iconic part of my childhood as I not only attended Astros baseball, Oilers, UH Cougars and TSU Tigers football games in its cavernous space, but  the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, Texas high school football playoff games, concerts and other events also happened there.

I even worked at the Dome's concessions company for several years during college from 1981-1986.

The Astrodome was the dream of Judge Roy Hofheinz, who conceptualized it as early as 1952.   When Houston was granted a National League expansion franchise in 1960 that started play in 1962 as the Colt .45's, it was after the Hofheinz led expansion group promised to build a covered stadium to deal with our blast furnace summers.

Construction on the Dome began on January 3, 1962 and was completed ahead of schedule in November 1964.

It opened on this date with a sold out exhibition game between the Astros and the New York Yankees attended by President Lyndon Johnson and the First Lady, Texas Governor John Connally, and Houston Mayor Louie Welch.

The Dome would host the nationally televised 1968 'Game of The Century' between the University of Houston and UCLA that not only established a college basketball attendance record that wasn't broken until 2003, it set the stage for March Madness and proved college basketball had a viable TV audience. 

The 1973 'Battle of The Sexes' tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King was also played there, and as many of you are aware, the 1992 GOP National 'Culture War' convention nominated President George HW Bush was  also hosted under its domed roof.

One of my fave Dome events was the 1980 Luv Ya Blue pep rally that happened after the Oilers controversial 27-13 AFC championship game loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.  After my father dropped me off on the Fannin Street side of the stadium, I had to climb the locked seven foot barbed wire topped security fence surrounding the Astrodome perimeter and got inside the stadium just before the fire marshal ordered no more people be allowed in because it was beyond capacity.



I still had a memorable evening despite all that work to get in there.    

I also enjoyed it when I got to go to the Astrodome for TSU games.  Because my dad was the Tigers radio play by play announcer, I got to sit in the press box, act as a spotter during the game, and enjoy the press level cafeteria with its delicious food and bottomless soda cups as the Tigers engaged in gridiron battles against their SWAC foes.

And yes, there was one day I was working at the Dome during a high school football doubleheader that involved the (boo hiss) Jack Yates Lions. 

As I was sitting outside the concession stand I managed at the Dome's west gate taking a break, three young flamboyant Black drag queens on hormones sashayed through the crowd

A cluster of ten kids were following them laughing as they paid it no mind until they got to where I was sitting with one of the HPD cops working security.  Stuff got real as sistah girl's wig got snatched off her head and they had to start chasing the wig thieves playing keep away with it as they ran down the ramp to the lower level

We;re still trying to figure out how to repurpose it so it is around for another generation of Houstonians.   So on the 50th anniversary of its opening, the Dome will be opened for a birthday celebration starting at 6 PM.    It was added to the National Register of Historic Places last year so it doesn't suffer the fate of the Kingdome, the Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome and the RCA Dome. 

But I'm going so I can once again even if just for a moment, stand inside the stadium that triggered so many childhood memories for me and hundreds of thousands of Houstonians.

150th Anniversary Of Lee's Surrender To Grant

150 years ago today CSA General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia after abandoning the Richmond-Petersburg area, headed west in an attempt to link up to the Confederate forces in North Carolina while pursued by Union forces under .Lt. Gen Ulysses S. Grant.

The Confederate retreat was cut off at Appomattox Court House, and Lee launched an attack that morning that sought to break through the Union force in front of him under the assumption it was just a cavalry unit.   When it turned out it was backed up by two Union corps size infantry units, Lee had no choice but to surrender, and did

The surrender of Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia to Grant effectively ended the War To Perpetuate Slavery combat in Virginia.   But as word spread of Lee's surrender, it had seismic effects with the rest of the starving and disillusioned Confederate armies still in the field.

Gen. Joseph E. Johnston surrendered his army in North Carolina on April 26 to Gen. William T. Sherman in Durham, NC.  Gen Edmund Kirby Smith surrendering the Trans-Mississippi Department near New Orleans and Nathan Bedford Forrest (the future KKK founder) surrendering in May. 

The last battle of the Civil War took place in Texas at Palmito Ranch on May 12-13, and the last sizable Confederate unit under Gem Stand Watie surrendered in Oklahoma on June 23.

It also meant that with the military defeat of the Confederacy, it mean the end of their traitorous armed insurrection against the US government, their attempt to win by force keeping slavery alive and the emancipation of my ancestors. 

Ferguson Elections Result In Major Changes

In addition to Chicago, yesterday was election day in Ferguson, MO.  

The town that ripped the scab off the festering wound of police brutality aimed at the African-American community and laid to rest the lie that this is a post racial nation, had an all white city council and white mayor in a town that is predominately Black primarily because of low election participation rates.

After months of voter registration drives that sought as a goal to change that depressing paradigm, the test of those efforts came yesterday.   A record turnout from 10% to 30% resulted in a tripling of the African-American representation on the six member city council.

Mayor James Ferguson was fortunately for him, not up for re-election

Councilman Dwayne James is one of only two African-Americans ever elected to the Ferguson City Council, and wasn't up for re-election.  After last night's election,  he will be joined on council by Ella Jones and Wesley Bell.    Bell defeated another African-American, Lee Smith to earn his seat

It points out what I have been saying for years.  Not only do elections matter, but as the people who are trying mightily to suppress your voting power know, turnout matters as well.

And it matters who the people are sitting at the table with the power to write legislation and making the policies that affect the entire community.

The peeps in Ferguson now have a city council that tripled its representation because they took their souls to the polls.

To borrow an old saying from the 'hood, you have to be in it to win it. That saying is especially applicable to elections and voting as well.   It's also one that needs to repeated in African-American communities across the country in each and EVERY election cycle.

ET Interview With Karla Mosley

For some of y'all who aren't soap fans, the long running CBS soap The Bold and the Beautiful has been running a storyline with a major and historic twist in which Maya Avant, played by actress Karla Mosley is revealed to be a trans woman.

It's historic and vitally important because for the first time we have a major character on a network soap who is a trans woman of color.

Entertainment Tonight recently interviewed Ms. Mosley about her groundbreaking character.

Rest In Power, Charlene Arcila

Was just advised by Louis Mitchell that another one of our trans human rights warriors has joined the ancestors in Charlene Jacqueline Arcila at age 52.

I first heard about Arcila in 2008 in connection with the organizing and ultimately successful protests in the Philadelphia area around the elimination of gender markers on SEPTA transit passes.   She filed the human rights complaint with the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations that

I finally met the 2014 Trans 100 honoree during the 2012 Trans Faith In Color Conference in Charlotte, and enjoyed the quality time I spent getting to know her during that event in which I was blessed to be the keynote speaker for.

But that wasn't the only one Charlene was involved with.   She was a founder and part of the planning team that helped put together the Philadelphia Trans Health Conference which is now the largest trans conference in the United States.   I was looking forward to seeing her there since I missed my chance to talk to her while I was in Philly last month for the LGBT Media Journalists Convening.

Charlene was an Executive Assistant at the Philadelphia AIDS Consortium/WHCI, a trans consultant, advocate and beloved trans community leader who was an ordained Deacon of Unity Fellowship of Christ Church Philadelphia.  She was also involved in 12 Steps of Narcotics Anonymous. and served on numerous boards and committee throughout the Philadelphia metropolitan area.

Arcila leaves behind her beloved Marcus Ajani Ecks, her family, colleagues, friends and a host of people in Philadelphia and beyond who loved her.

Rest in power Charlene.   Time for you to rest after a life well lived in service to your community and others.  The Philadelphia Trans Health Conference won't be the same without you.

Houston Anti-Trans Charter Amendment Petitions Turned In

You TransGriot readers are aware that we Houston TBLG peeps and our allies are still fighting to get the passed ten months ago Houston Equal Rights Ordinance implemented.

It is being litigated, .and we are awaiting the ruling from a judge about whether the much needed HERO will be immediately allowed to take effect, or be placed on the November ballot for a repeal vote.

Today Dave "I Pretended I Was Black To Get Elected' Wilson submitted six boxes of what he claims are enough signed petitions for an amendment to the Houston City Charter that seeks to enshrine discrimination against Houston transgender people.

I repeat what I said back in January about this: Not no but hell no.  Besides, why would we trust a guy who deliberately misrepresented himself as Black to get elected to the Houston Community College system board? 

But one of the things I'm pissed off about is the local media, led by FOXNoise26  that continue to pimp the discredited bathroom predator narrative instead of telling the truth and calling it what it is, a blatant attack on the human rights and humanity of trans Houstonians.

I'm also irritated about the failure of local media to interview trans Houstonians or local trans leaders about these repressive human rights proposals that will negatively impact us.

I left this comment in a KTRK-TV story which framed it once again around bathrooms and failed to interview ANY local trans leaders to rebut the haters.

Let's tell the truth ABC13 This petition by a longtime gaybaiter is all about enshrining bigotry and hatred of transgender people into the Houston city charter. This is not about 'safety'. I am sick of Houston media perpetuating a predator lie that has been thoroughly debunked and not talking to the people who will be deleteriously affected by this.
 
The good news is that a charter amendment requires 20,000 signatures to be placed on the ballot, and they failed (so far) to get on the ballot with a HERO repeal referendum with a lower signature threshold.

Will be anxiously watching this to see if I need to make another trip to City Hall to call some crap out.

TransGriot Update:  Mayor Parker announced that Dave Wilson's attempt to add hatred of transgender people to the city charter has failed because he didn't collect enough signatures.  He only collected an alleged 19,700 signatures and he needed to collect at least 20,000 valid signatures to place it on the November ballot.

'Discrimination In Disguise' Event At UHD Tomorrow

With the overwhelmingly negative attention that the Indiana RFRA drew when their GOP dominated state government tried to pass it, this timely panel discussion on the University of Houston Downtown campus brings attention to our GOP dominated state government''s attempts in Texas to pass RFRA bills that are even more odious.

There are currently 20 anti-LGBTQI bills being proposed that disguise themselves as religious freedom restoration acts, and a panel sponsored by the Texas Freedom Network UHD chapter will discuss them.

It will be on the UHD campus at 1 Main Street in Room N1099 starting at 5:30 PM, so come and join the discussion, the free food, and get educated about the attempts of the Texas GOP to legislate discrimination in disguise..

BTAC 2015 DART Mass Transit Options

The excitement is building for me as the April 27-May 3 dates for the 4th annual National Black Trans Advocacy Conference & Awards Gala in Dallas, TX approach and instead of me flying around to country to see y'all, you transpeeps and allies get to come to my home state for a few days.

And yes, I also love this conference because it falls close to my birthday, and it feels like an extended birthday party around my extended trans family for me.  In addition to the great seminars and the Black Trans Advocacy Awards Gala, it also includes the Black Trans International Pageants, the Black Diamond Ball and the Family Fun Day at Austin Ranch.

Will be interesting to see who will win the Monica Roberts Advocacy Award this year   Was pleased to hand it to Tiq Milan in 2014.   Who will I hand it off to on May 1?

This year BTAC attendees who are flying into Dallas will have the option of using their expansive light rail system to get to the conference hotel.

Back in August 2014 the DART Rail Orange Line was finally completed to DFW and the DFW Airport Station was opened for service.   So until 11:35 PM during the weekday you'll be able to ride the Orange Line in the Parker Road direction through downtown Dallas to the Lovers Lane Station, the one closest to the Doubletree Campbell Center.   Trains are scheduled to run from the DFW Station until 1:38 AM, but they end in downtown Dallas.

Once you arrive at the Lovers Lane Station, you will call the front desk and they will send the hotel shuttle bus to pick you up. 

If you're flying into Love Field, you can catch DART to and from the hotel as well.  You'll find your way to the DART Love Field terminal bus stop, then board the DART Love Link 524 bus to the Inwood Rd/Love Field Station at street level.  From there you will catch an Orange Line train in the Parker Rd. direction from the elevated platform to the Lovers Lane Station.

For you Megabus riders into Dallas, you can also access the DART Orange Line to the BTAC conference hotel. The Megabus drops off at the Downtown Dallas Transit Center on East Olive St, and you are only a short two block walk from the transit center to the Orange Line's Pearl/Arts District Station.    Catch the next train in the Parker Rd direction to the Lovers Lane Station.

If you take Greyhound into Dallas, the Greyhound terminal is three blocks south of the DART West End Station where you will catch the DART Rail Orange Line to the Lovers Lane Station.

So what's the DART fare?   It's $2.50 for a two hour ticket or $5 for an all day pass that lasts until 3:00 AM the next day on all transportation modes.

Hope this pointing out the DART travel options to the BTAC conference hotel helps solidify your decision to attend this amazing conference.   Hope to see you peeps there.

Colorado Civil Rights Division Rules In Favor Of Marjorie Silva!

Remember Marjorie Silva, the Latina baker in Denver who the right wingers tried to troll with a civil rights complaint for refusing to write anti-gay slogans on two Bible shaped cake she agreed to bake for conservafool activist William Jack?

Before Creating Change 2015, I asked that we support Ms. Silva by buying any baked goods we needed for CC15 from her bakery in a show of solidarity with her, and people did exactly that.

Well, the verdict is in concerning the religious discrimination  complaint Jack filed with the Colorado Civil Rights Division.



They ruled that Ms. Silva did not discriminate against Jack when she refused to prep two Bible shaped cakes with anti-gay imagery and write derogatory phrases like 'God Hates Gays' in icing on the cakes.

The Colorado Civil Rights Division noted in its decision that Silva is Catholic, and her refusal to complete the customer's requests was based on "derogatory language and imagery" rather than their religious nature.

Boom.

So happy to hear that Ms. Silva won and the trolling Christohater lost    Of course Jack is going to appeal the ruling, and it will probably result in the same finding.

Hope you Denver LGBT peeps will continue to support her Azucar Bakery when it comes times to buy your wedding cakes, but cakes of all kinds and for all occasions.

Vinny, You May Wish To Keep Fallon's Name Out Of Your Transphobic Mouth

There are some folks in MMA who sure do love to talk shyt and call my homegirl Fallon Fox's name in vain don't they? 

This time another MMA fighter recently did so, and Fallon was nowhere near the cage in question when it happened.

It started when women's MMA fighter Julianna Pena made her UFC debut in Fairfax, VA Saturday against Russia's Milena Dudieva.

Pena spent a year on the sidelines rehabbing from a January 2014 freak training accident injury in which she tore the ACL, MCL, LCL and meniscus in her right knee.

The 25 year old Pena is not a fan of undefeated UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey  and has become increasingly vocal about wanting to fight her and take the championship belt from Rousey.

She took her first steps toward making that happen by taking Dudieva out in a brutally efficient first round 3:59 TKO.

In the wake of that MMA butt kicking 'The Venezuelan Vixen' administered to Dudieva that took her record to 6-2, Brazilian MMA fighter Vinny Magalhaes tweeted a transphobic and tasteless comment in which he called Pena 'Fallon Fox' .


When peeps started calling him out on Twitter about it, Magalhaes deleted the tweet and unleashed homophobic comments at his Twitter critics.   But as we all know, the Internet is forever, which is why I have it on this post.

This is also a prime example of how transphobia doesn't just affect trans women, but also affects cisgender women.  Far too often transphobia is aimed at cisgender women of color, and especially cisgender women of color athletes who have their femininity attacked.

Naw Vinny, I didn't appreciate that transphobic crap at all in attacking the femininity of another WMMA fighter of color in Julianna Pena and thinking bringing Fallon's name in it was funny.

It wasn't, and you need to apologize to not only Ms. Pena and Ms. Fox, but women athletes in general who hear that misgendering crap far too often.

And Vinny, keep Fallon's name out of your transphobic mouth, unless it's a call for UFC to stop stalling and sign my 5-1 WMMA fighting sis to a UFC contract.