MichFest Dead After This 40th Anniversary Year

I'm one of the peeps in Trans World who could care less about the cesspool of transphobia known as the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, but I do support the people in our community who would like to have a chance to go to MichFest if the hypocritically transphobic 'womyn born womyn' policy weren't in effect.

The so called 'unofficial' policy allows trans men on 'The Land', but trans women aren't welcome.

But MichFest was co-founded and is owned by one of the trans community's long time oppressors in Lisa Vogel, a TERF who was one of the peeps who signed the 1977 Olivia Records Letter demanding the ouster of Sandy Stone from that feminist record label.

A petition initiated by Equality Michigan has called for a boycott of the festival until they end the policy, and artists such as the Indigo Girls and Nona Hendryx have joined that boycott.

The Equality Michigan petition contains these bullet points:

1. Demanding you end the "womyn-born-womyn" intention at Michigan Womyn's Music Festival.
2. Request that Lisa Vogel, as co-founder and owner, meet with leaders of the transgender community and enter the space with an open mind to the notion that transgender womyn are womyn too, and have shared in their experiences.
3. Asking artists, attendees, and vendors to act in harmony with their equal rights values and NOT attend the festival until the transgender discrimination ends, and instead support other women's events which are creating a safe space for transgender women so they can join as well.
4. Requesting that any artists participating this year speak against the policy while on stage.

One of the organizations that stepped up to call for MichFest to end their transphobic ways was the National Black Justice Coalition.

“Our transgender sisters are simply women and deserve to be treated as such. It is baffling that at MWMF -- an event organized by and built exclusively for women -- imposes such blatant discrimination against one of the most marginalized groups of women in our society,” said Sharon Lettman-Hicks, NBJC Executive Director and CEO. “NBJC joins with Equality Michigan and the host of other advocacy organizations calling on the organizers of MWMF to immediately end their policy of not welcoming transgender women. This unjust policy only perpetuates hate and stigma, and has no place in a space meant to empower women.”

The MichFest is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year and Lisa Vogel has announced this year will be the last

"I am writing to tell you that the 40th Festival will be the last Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival. The spirit of this community will live on forever, the friends and family we have found on the Land are eternal. Everything we have created together will feed the inspiration for what comes next. It’s possible that I will come back with something else, or that other sisters will take the inspiration of the Michigan community and create the next expression of our Amazon culture. What is true for me is that now is the time to bring this 40-year cycle to a close, stepping out on joy at our most incredible anniversary celebration."

Yep, 40 years of anti-trans discrimination on 'The Land'.  Whoopee.  Good riddance.

The TERF's can whine the boycott killed MichFest all they want, but that would be a lie like everything else they have said about trans people since the 1970's has been. 

Lisa Vogel's stubborn insistence to cling to disco era racist and transphobic TERF hatred of trans women in a world that is rapidly evolving toward acceptance of trans women, is the reason MichFest is dying and will soon be on the ash heap of history.

Sis To Cis Washington DC Conversation Tomorrow

One of the things that has needed to happen for a long time is for trans women and cis women to have conversations in which we talk about our respective issues, share stories, and facilitate the building of sisterhood and working partnerships with each other.  

We've had one of those cis and trans women conversations I've outlined in Houston, and are planning more of them.

Tomorrow night in Washington DC, one of those conversations will take place at Busboys & Poets organized and hosted by Joanna Cifredo.

The FireBreathingTGirl.com presents SIS to CIS: Modern Day Women Deconstructing the Ideals of Womanhood is the first in a series of planned conversations between trans women and cis women of color to discuss womanhood, feminism, relationships, representation, the body, intersectionality and what it means to be a woman at the margins of today's society.  

Cifredo is the founder of the FireBreathingTGirl blog, will co host along with Tyisha Jones, and is the first of the Sis to Cis conversations which have the goal of modeling a dialogue about the acceptance and inclusion of transgender women of color into spaces and conversation traditionally reserved for cisgender women; by creating a common understanding about the shared experiences around our lives as marginalized women with a history of resilience.

The panelists for this inaugural DC dialogue are Dr. Juliana Martinez, Raffi Freedman-Gurspan, Alexa Elizabeth Maclovia Rodriguez, and June Crenshaw.

If you're interested in attending, the address for the Busboys & Poets location hosting this conversation open to all  is 1025 5th St NW, and it will start at 6 PM EDT.

US Trans Survey Coming This Summer

The National Transgender Discrimination Survey that was conducted in 2010 as a joint project of the Task Force and NCTE it the largest survey ever conducted on transgender discrimination,

It was subsequently released in the 2011 Injustice At Every Turn report was not only groundbreaking, it has been the gift that keeps on giving in terms of trans advocacy work.

There were 6450 respondents that took part in the original survey, and the link to the 2011 survey on the Task Force website has been accessed more than 15,000 times by advocates, academics, media and policymakers.   It has been broken down into 24 state profiles, including Texas. I've referred to those stats generated in the 2011 report in numerous blog posts and when doing lobbying or advocacy on behalf of the community.

It was also great to know that enough trans people of color took the NTDS to come up with statistical breakdowns in the African-American, Latin@, Asian-Pacific Islander communities.

And now, renamed the US Trans Survey, will be conducted during the summer of 2015 and subsequently every five years to take the pulse of the trans community.   

And when it happens, we need in Trans World to double the over 6450 respondents that took part in the original survey and get enough participation so we can get statewide data for all 50 states..

We also need to make sure we get increased participation from trans communities of color so we get even better statistics that we can use for the next five years.

'50 Shades Of Me' Panel At TSU This Thursday

This Thursday April 23, I'll be taking part in a panel discussion on the Texas Southern University campus entitled 50 Shades of Me: Mental Health And The Transgender Community.

The scheduled panelists are J. Feng, Marie Angel Hernandez and  Atlantis Capri in addition to myself, and will take place starting at 6 PM.

I thank Dr. Dominique Broussard and Dr. Andrea Shelton for the invitation to participate in this panel discussion.

I'm looking forward to this panel because it has some personal significance to me.  It will be the first time ever I've done a panel on an HBCU campus, and it's apropos it happens to be on an HBCU campus in my hometown that I have deep family ties to. 

My mother, brother and sister all earned their degrees from TSU, and my late father was a play by play announcer for TSU football and basketball games in the 70's and 80's in addition to running KTSU-FM for five years as its general manager.

The panel will take place in the Leland-Jordan Public Affairs Building on the Tierwester and Cleburne St. side of the campus.   There is parking across the street from the PAC, and hope you'll join us for this upcoming discussion,

A Modest Proposal For Solving The Houston Pride Grand Marshal Diversity Problem

I was in the house Thursday when the problematic unveiling of this year's Houston Pride Grand Marshals happened, and expressed myself (and as I've been hearing privately) and the sentiments of much of Black LGBT Houston and our allies in a post.

Some of y'all can roll your eyes all you wish, but we have a problem when in this diverse city, it has been 22 years since the last African-American female was elected Houston Pride Grand Marshal on the feminine side in Rev. Carolyn Mobley, and I'll have to go through the historical record to find out when the last African-American male was elected.

So since I brought up the fact we have a problem, I'm going to suggest a possible solution for it.

For starters, you have to bear in mind that not everyone in LGBT Houston lives in Montrose.   If you're publicizing it in the traditional gay print media sources like OutSmart, the Montrose Gem, et cetera, those don't get distributed to neighborhoods of color.  

You also have to take into account not everyone goes to a gay club or the Montrose Center, where those gay print publications are accessible for pickup.

Yes, you could go to TBLG friendly sites like Project Q and TransGriot, KPFT-FM, post it on the Pride Facebook page, Twitter feed and other social media outlets, but once again, not everyone is on the Net, or in many cases aware of what's happening in Houston's LGBT community for a variety of reasons.

Now here's my suggested proposal, and it's an idea that JD Doyle and I were discussing a few days ago. 

First order of business is that the Pride Committee must become more diverse, not only ethically, but class wise as well.   It's a red flag when Houston Pride is cricket chirping silent about a human rights ordinance (HERO) that will benefit the entire Houston trans, bi and SGL community.

The male and female Grand Marshal can remain a Houston areawide election process, but steps have to be taken to ensure that LGBT communities of color have a fair shot in selecting them.   Use the newly created Diversity Committee to select elective marshal candidates from across our diverse Houston BTLG community, and give the Diversity Committee the power and responsibility of adding two to four marshals from communities of color when the elective process fails.

Once those Grand Marshal candidates are selected, announce those elective candidates and the voting period dates at a Pride Perspective community meeting, on social media, and on KPFT-FM's Queer Voices. 

That's my suggestions on the subject, and here's hoping that Pride Houston will engage in some hard solid thinking on the subject that will result next year in a more diverse group of Pride Parade Grand Marshals.

Texas Trans Lobby Day Next Week

Trans Texans and our allies will be headed to Austin next Monday for the TransTexas Caucus and Lobby Day to combat four unjust anti-trans bills.  

Two bills by Rep Gilbert Pena (R-Pasadena) seek to not only incentivize kids snitching on and bullying their trans classmates for using the restroom (HB 2801 and 2802), we also have to combat Debbie Does Discrimination Riddle's (R-Tomball) HB 1748 and HB 1749 that seek to criminalize the existence of transpeople in Texas by not only making it a crime for Moni and every trans Texan to go to the restroom, it will penalize organizations and companies that allow us to do so.

This is unacceptable, and all four of those unjust anti-trans bills need to die, especially since they were written in retaliation for Houston and Plano's passage of human rights legislation that protects trans Texans.

There is also a trans bill we can support, and that is Rep. Garnet Coleman's HB 2058. If passed, it would create a statewide standard process for correct gender markers across the Lone Star State.

Rep. Coleman's bill is also in the State Affairs committee.

That's why on Sunday April 26, there will be a caucus held in Austin prior to us hitting the state capitol to discuss issues of importance to the Texas transgender community.  The next day, April 27, we will head to the Pink Dome to lobby against those bills and tell our state legislators why it is a horrible idea and bad for business to legislate discrimination against trans Texans.

You can sign up for the caucus, lobby day or to attend both by clicking this link.

We will also be telling our state legislators why standardizing the process for changing gender markers as HB 2058 would do is good for all Texans.

All four of the anti-trans bills have been assigned to the State Affairs Committee, and HB 2801 has  an upcoming hearing on April 22 before we get to Austin.

So please take a moment to be an agent of our transkids liberation and call your state legislators to urge them to oppose HB 2801 and all the anti-trans bills by Pena and Riddle, and support Rep Coleman's HB 2058.

The lobby day is being organized by the Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT) and is being co-sponsored by Equality Texas, the Texas Freedom Network, the Transgender Law Center, HRC and several other orgs.

It is so important to me I'm delaying my trip to BTAC by a day so I can attend the lobby day. 

I will be in Austin for the third time this session to stand up for my human rights as a proud trans Texan.  If you can do so, I hope you will join me.   For those of you who live too far away in our ginormous state to make that trip, you can support us by calling or e-mailing your state legislator.

Houston Dash Are Undefeated!

The Houston Dash, our women's soccer team that is the sister club of the Houston Dynamo, started their second NWSL season back on April 10.

This is a 2015 season in which all the NWSL clubs will play only 20 games instead of 24 matches because of the FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada this June.

One goal of the 2015 Dash was to improve on the 5-16-3 last place finish during their maiden NWSL campaign, in which an expansion team put together in only 90 days was competitive in many of the matches they eventually lost.

Another goal of the Dash was to improve the quality of players on the team.  They added Team USA veteran Carli Lloyd along with Morgan Brian and Irish national team forward Stephanie Roche in the off season to their retooled lineup that also includes Canadian national team members Erin McLeod and Lauren Sesselmann

They opened at BBVA Compass Stadium with a 2-0 win over the Washington Spirit, who were a 2014 NWSL playoff team.  Carli Lloyd didn't waste any time in her Dash debut, scoring the team's opening goal in first half extra time in the win over the Spirit.

They traveled to New Jersey to take on Sky Blue FC and came from behind to get a 1-1 draw.  

This season is off to a great start, and let's hope they can keep it up when they travel to Boston on April 26 to take on the Breakers.

Laverne's Groundbreaking Triple Play

Laverne Cox keeps making history, and I'm so proud of her as she does so.

Laverne not only was named to the 2015 People Most Beautiful List that will be released on April 22, she was also named to the 2015 Time 100 Most Influential People List and the 2015 OUT Power 50 List

That's an amazing accomplishment for one of the sweetest people you'll ever want to meet, and she's still makes sure that she uses the platform she has to advance the human rights of our community and educate people about trans issues..

And that's before I even start mentioning the CBS legal dramatic series she'll be on entitled Doubt in which she will play a Ivy League educated trans feminine attorney.

Congratulations Laverne!   Can't wait to see what you accomplish next.

We Had An Attempted Bathroom Assault At UHD....

And thanks to timely assistance by a UHD professor, it ended before it became far worse.   And ammosexuals, it didn't require the use of a gun to stop it.

Professor Frank Vela  heard a female student screaming after a man with a knife followed her into the restroom.  The perpetrator was tackled by Professor Vela and held down until UHD police arrived to arrest the perp and cart his azz off to jail.

And naw, Dave Wilson, Dave Welch, Debbie Riddle, Max Miller, FOX Noise 26 and 'errbody' else pimping that discredited anti-trans bathroom predator lie, the perp wasn't trans* or a man in a dress.  




The perp in question  shared your ethnic background.  His name is 35 year old Daniel Griffing, and appeared before a judge yesterday.   It wasn't his first time in the criminal justice rodeo or committing the crime of sexual assault. Griffing was convicted in 2000 of sexually assaulting a small boy and was sentenced to 15 years in state prison. 

He's being held in the Harris County Jail without bond.

This is also a textbook case of what we in Trans World and our allies have been trying to point out every time the Right Wing Noise Machine deploys the demonstrably false bathroom predator lie they use every time to attack any human rights law that attempts to cover the transgender community.

And yeah, we trans women are just as concerned about people like this running loose in H-town and elsewhere in the state and country.because far too often, trans women are the prey, just like our cis sisters are.

If a man wants to get into a women's bathroom to commit the crime of sexual assault, just like Griffing. he isn't going to waste time getting in drag to do it.

Falsely demonizing and attempting to criminalize the lives of trans people isn't the way to stop sexual assaults.  So it's past time media peeps and the rest of you folks who need to 'ejumacate' yourselves about trans lives need to buy a vowel and get a clue that people like Griffing are your perps you need to be concerned about.

Not the trans woman who is simply trying to live her life to the best of her ability, and just needs to pee in the bathroom without being harassed about it.

Girl Meets World Season Two Starts May 11

Girl Meets World in its first season on Disney Channel managed to masterfully meld the new cast of this Disney series with the beloved characters of Boy Meets World.  

It was so successful that the BMW sequel was renewed for a second season.

Cory and Topanga are the parents of Auggie and teenager Riley, the focus of this show. 

Shawn Hunter has popped up in several episodes. Harley Kiner, who terrorized Corey in his childhood, is the janitor at John Quincy Adams, the school Corey works at. 

Stuart Minkus has popped up as the father of Farkle, one of Riley's friends and Corey's students.   Josh Matthews has popped up and will be going to NYU.   Even Cory's parents Amy and Alan appeared in the Christmas episode.

We won't have to wait long for the start of Season 2 of Girl Meets World and to find out what BMW alums pop up in this season.   Mr. Feeny will pop up in a few episodes, and big brother Eric will be seen in several season two episodes along with Mr. Turner.  

And yes, Angela is coming back for a few episodes.  

The initial episode of the season starts May 11 on Disney Channel and will continue with four more episodes that week, and so looking forward to seeing it..

Judge Shafer Rules For City In HERO Trial

There has been a ruling in the HERO trial, and the city of Houston has emerged victorious.

Judge Robert Shafer ruled  moments ago for the city of Houston in the trial that the talabaptists sought to force a HERO repeal vote despite failing to collect enough signatures to do so.

"(As) a matter of fact and as a matter of law the Referendum Petition is not valid or enforceable in all respects," the judge ruled.

Judge Shafer ruled that the opponents didn't come up with enough signatures to force a repeal referendum  They came up with 16,684 signatures, well short of the 17,269 signatures they needed to place HERO on the ballot for repeal.

"This is a great victory in the courts, and a great day for civil rights in Houston, Texas," said City Attorney Donna Edmundson. "The jury found for the City, and now the judge has found in favor of the City too. I am gratified that the judge signed a final judgment rejecting the plaintiffs' claims and confirming that their pro-discrimination referendum petition failed. We will be prepared if the plaintiffs decide to appeal.”

Mayor Annise Parker was also pleased with Judge Shafer's  ruling.

“I would hope that the plaintiffs would not appeal, they lost during a jury trial and today they also lost with the judge's ruling. Now all Houstonians have access to the same protections.”

Will the Pastor's Council and their sellouts appeal?   Stay tuned to these TransGriot pages to find out.

But I would hope that they don't so we can implement this much needed human right ordinance for the city of Houston immediately.

Brazilian Trans Woman Beaten After Arrest

Trigger Warning  anti-trans violence and police brutality.

It's been way too quiet news wise about our trans sisters in Brazil, and this police brutality story was brought to my attention by my sis Aleika Barros

Model Veronica Bolina, for reasons that are still unclear, was arrested for assaulting a senior citizen in her apartment building April 12 in Sao Paulo.

She was sent to a male prison, which is problematic to begin with, and during a prison transfer allegedly got into a scuffle with a police officer that resulted in half his ear getting bitten off.

The police claimthey didn't do it, but how did Veronica end up with her hands and feet handcuffed, breasts exposed, head shaved and severely beaten to the point she was hospitalized?  

The Brazilian media predictably misgendered Veronica, and focused on her alleged scuffle with the police officer while conveniently neglecting to mention what they may have savagely done to her.

Bolina told Alessandro Melchior, the coordinator for LGBT policies in the city of Sao Paulo, that she was also attacked in the hospital she was sent to recover in from the injuries she received from the police beating.

The horrific pics are circulating on Brazilian social media and has the Brazilian trans and LGB community outraged over what has happened to Veronica.  

They are tweeting #SomosTodasVeronica (We Are All Veronica) in support of her.

Aleika and other Brazilian trans women would agree that what Veronica is accused of doing in the assault is unacceptable, and if she committed the crime, she should do the time for it.

However, my Brazilian sisters would also tell you they draw the line at Veronica being thrown in a male jail cell, exposing her to the possibility of sexual assault, having her head shaved and being savagely beaten. 

Being savagely beaten and humiliated by the police or whoever did it should never be part of a jail sentence, and it points out the  need for human rights laws in Brazil that cover trans women in a country in which 113 trans women were murdered last year,

It's even more imperative trans human rights coverage happens in a Brazil in which faith based hate is directed at the Brazilian trans community on an almost daily basis.

Congratulations To The 2015 Houston Pride Grand Marshals, But...

Was at last night's Pride Houston kickoff party at the Audi Central location before the thunderstorms arrived for the first time ever. 

I was hoping to watch a little Houston LGBT history being made, and I enjoyed seeing many of my friends inside the community and getting the opportunity to chat with them. 

I enjoyed meeting some new people, and hope we continue the conversations that we started last night.  I enjoyed seeing HISD school board president and longtime ally of our community Anna Eastman finally get that elusive ally marshal spot she so deserves.

I even enjoyed the dinner conversation afterwards at 59 Dimer and yes, my sincere congratulations to Ryan and Britt as well for being elected the 2015 Houston Pride Parade Grand Marshals.

But what I had a problem with, and it seems that feeling was shared by many of the attendees at the Houston Pride event last night, was the perception that Fran Watson got screwed in the female grand marshal race.

It continues the problematic pattern of not having had a Black female Houston Pride Parade Marshal since 1993  (Rev. Carolyn Mobley) in a city in which we've had two trans feminine ones in Phyllis Frye and Jenifer Rene Pool, and another Latina one just last year in Christina Canales Gorczynski.

I have to ask the question if someone with Fran's (and Augie Augustine's) record of service to the entire Houston LGBT community can't get recognized and be subsequently elected to become a Houston Pride Parade Grand Marshal after nomination, when will it happen?

I was asked by several people to jump into the 2015 female Pride Marshal race and declined it for that very reason.   Why waste my precious time and energy in pursuit of that when it's obvious some people in the Houston LGBT community have a problem with folks who look like me?

And when you have a Pride Marshal selection process that calls for election by peeps in the Houston area, that bias will always impact a city wide elective race.  

And that's before I even bring up my loud and proud trans self into the mix.

This Houston LGBT community unfortunately still has a race problem that needs to be expeditiously fixed, and progress has been made toward doing that.  

However, last night's Pride event didn't help an organization that has a board perceived to be out of touch, insular, and tone deaf to the Houston LGBT community of color, and one in which just five months ago we in Black TBLG Houston and our allies had to raise hell just to get them to move the pride parade back to its traditional last weekend in June date from the Juneteenth date they cluelessly set it for.

Last night didn't help dispel that perception, and it's going to take a lot of deeds, and not words to shake that perception in Black Houston LGBT World, and with our allies.

Shut Up Fool Awards- Day Of Silence Edition

This isn't just another Shut Up Fool Awards Friday.   Today is the GLSEN Day of Silence, in which students across the nation vow to take a form of silence to call attention to the silencing effect of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment in schools

The Day of Silence has grown since the first ever event at the University of Virginia in 1996 to become the largest single student-led action towards creating safer schools for all, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. 

The Day of Silence is a student-led national event that brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. Students from middle school to college take a vow of silence in an effort to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBT behavior by illustrating the silencing effect of bullying and harassment on LGBT students and those perceived to be LGBT.

And with anti-LGBT bullying happening beyond the school setting in the societal and political arena, and eight trans kids having taken their lives this year, the timing is perfect to point out how it has a deleterious effect on people's lives.

Okay, so let segue to something I can't be silent about in terms of the off the charts idiocy, WTF moments, and outright hypocrisy in our world I just have to call people out on.

It's time for this week's edition of the TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards.

Honorable mention number one is a group award for the GOP idiots debating Civil War II.

Did you fools not learn from the ass whupping you took 150 years ago?

Honorable mention number two goes to Cheryl Rios, who made Texas conswervafools look bad once again by stating that women shouldn't be president because of 'different hormones' and that she would move to Canada if Hillary Clinton became president.

You promise?    I'll bet if Sarah 'Palin was the woman running, she'd have a different opinion about the capabilities of women leading this country,.
Let's remix Cheryl's comment: Republicans, and especially Republican women for unassailably logical reasons, shouldn't elected president or to ANY elective office because of their propensity for off the charts stupidity
Honorable mention number three is Ann Coulter, who said on FOX Noise she wants to bring back an old school white supremacist suppression tool in literacy tests.

Not no, but...

Honorable mention number four is Creflo Dollar, who in the wake of his failed campaign to get his christosheeple congregants to fork over $300 each so he could buy a new Gulfstream jet, opened his mouth to claim 90's kids watching Pokemon made them gay.

Really Creflo?   You're married to a woman named Taffi, and you wanna claim a cartoon character makes people gay?   Christokneegrow please! 

Honorable mention number five is Steven Anderson, who believes women should shut up in church.
Thou fool!  Taketh thine own advice and zippeth those lips.

Honorable mention number six is FOX Noise's Jeanine Pirro, who partied her lips to say that minority communities need to be trained to be more sensitive to the police.

When the po-po's stop killing and oppressing non white people and minority groups, then maybe we'll think about changing our attitudes toward them

This week's Shut Up Fool winner is Arkansas state Rep Justin Harris (R).  Despite having an adopted daughter go through being sexually assaulted by a man he handed her over to, is sponsoring HB 1424, a bill that would change Arkansas’s current parental consent law to make it harder for underage rape victims to get abortions.

Right now, the law requires minors who want abortions to either get parental consent to do so or subject themselves to the humiliating, arbitrary judicial bypass process.

However, there is an exception for girls who have become pregnant through rape or incest. This new legislation would remove that exception.

Well, because some of y'all sat out the last election cycle, these are the types of zealots and fools you gave by default the power to write legislation over your lives.

Rep Justin Harris, shut up fool.

Marjorie Silva & Azucar Bakey Under Attack From Sore Loser Wingnuts Again

Marjorie Silva in Denver was just victorious in a recent loud and wrong racist human rights complaint in Colorado filed against her and her Azucar Bakery by right winger Bill Jack over a hate cake he wanted her to bake. 

Unfortunately she's going to have to defend herself again from another copycat filing by a second white male right wing troll who wouldn't know discrimination if it slapped him in the face multiple times, but does know how to oppress people.

Robert Mannarino filed his 'discrimination' complaint March 6 with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission claiming he is the 'victim' of 'religious discrimination'.

Ordering a wedding cake with hate speech on it is NOT discrimination.  Too bad your dumb azz wasn't paying attention when Jack lost his case.

He's also attacking her five star reviews by leaving nasty messages on the wedding sites TheKnot.com. WeddingWire.com, and MyWedding.com that people use to find bakers for their special day.

I'd be laughing my azz off if it weren't so serious for Ms. Silva, or the fact that these racist trolls keep trying to attack this Latina bakery and ruin her business to prove a failed point. 

Business is booming since they attacked her, and let's ensure it stays that way.   After Ms. Silva wins again, hope she civilly sues Mannarino and Jack for damages.

I hope that peeps on our liberal-progressive side will continue to support Ms. Silva because she stood up for us as an ally, and we need to make sure we continue to stand and deliver for her as the wingers continue to demonstrate and do what they do best:

Oppress people that don't look like them.

2015 Pride Houston Kickoff Event Tonight

Had to put them on blast a few times for other issues, but like everyone else in TBLG Houston I want to know the answer to one question:

Who will be the Pride Houston parade grand marshals for 2015?  

We'll find out the answer to that question later tonight at a Pride Houston kickoff event at Audi Central Houston.   The Grand Marshals will be announced at this FREE event that will start at 7:30 PM.  

Everyone's welcomed, but you have to be 21+ to consume adult beverages and need to show your photo ID.   Those who attend will also find out the schedule for all the 2015 Pride Houston events leading up to its first ever downtown parade on June 27.

Some of those Houston Pride Week® events that will be announced like Pride Superstar®, Dine with Pride, Rock the Runway, Salvation Pool Party, Wonderland Houston®, the Houston LGBT Pride Celebration® and more.

The Grand Marshals races this year had so many worthy candidates who all deserve to win and ride in the historic first parade.,

But unfortunately we'll only have one in each category voted on by those of us residing in the Houston area.

Audi Central Houston is located at 2120 Southwest Freeway inside the Loop at S. Shepherd, and tickets aren't needed for this first event of the upcoming pride season.

Unjust TX HB 2801 Bill Must Die

Yesterday the Texas Transkid Bounty Bill, HB 2801 was scheduled to receive a hearing in the State Affairs Committee.  

It was one of the bills I lobbied against Monday, and Jessica Farrar, my state rep is on state affairs.  They have already seen my smiling face in their ATX office, and will hear from me again soon.

Pena's other legislative travesty attacking transkids in HB 2802 and Debbie Does Discrimination Riddle's unjust bills criminalizing being trans in Texas (HB 1747 and HB1748) have also been assigned to State Affairs but as of this writing don't have a hearing date set.

But back to the more important ones criminalizing and putting a bounty on trans kids in HB 2801

We are already facing the unacceptable situation of 85% of Texas trans* students being harassed in schools.   46% of Texas transgender students have experienced physical assault.  9% have experienced sexual assault.   11% of Texas trans students drop out because of these issues.

And Rep. Gilbert Pena (R-Pasadena) has proposed two bills that don't solve these problems, but exacerbate them? 

This unjust HB 2801 bill is also in violation of Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in schools, and transpeople are covered in Title IX. 

This unjust bill will also cost cash-strapped Texas school districts thousands of dollars.

Rep  Pena came before the committee yesterday in a hearing room packed with transpeople, parents of trans kids and other supporters and asked the State Affairs Committee not to hear it yesterday because he is rewriting the bill. 

The State Affairs committee hearing on HB 2801 has been until next week, so that gives us time to build the pressure to kill it.  We do have allies on that committee who don't like those unjust bills either.  

So it's time to do something to help our trans kids.  If you want to help them, pick up your smartphone and call the members of the State Affairs Committee and let them know you oppose this bill.   If you are a constituent of these state affairs committee members, even better because you have heightened clout and influence in this situation.   Same goes if you are a mother, mother of a trans child, teacher, or school administrator..

These bills attacking our trans kids in a school setting and offering bounties targeting them are not only unjust, but do nothing to help Texas create a climate conducive to learning.   Texas teachers and school administrators should not be put in the position of policing gender identity.

Transphobia Rep Pena, is not good for business.   Those unjust bills will have a deleterious effect on attracting corporations and talented people to the Lone Star State.    

Don't need trans hate in the Lone Star State!

The Lege and Rep. Pena need to expeditiously find out what happens when you mess with Texas transkids.  Call, write and e-mail them.

And yes HB 2801 needs to die.

"Active, Intentional Dialogue"

There is still palpable anger and feelings of betrayal in Trans World over NCLR and the Task Force withdrawing their  support from an Equality Michigan sponsored petition that has the goal of ending the trans feminine exclusion for those trans women who desire to go to the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival.

The intent is to engage in 'active, intentional, dialogue with a long time foe of the trans community in the hopes she will reverse their longtime ban on trans women entering The Land'.

Active, intentional dialogue with someone like Lisa Vogel who doesn't even trcognize the humanity of trans women?   Yeah, right.  I have some waterfront property I'd like to sell you along I-10 in the Atchafalaya Swamp.

Toni D'orsay  has written a post at her Dyssonance blog commenting on the controversy:

There are folks who know Kate and Rea better than I do.  By far. One thing I do know is that both of them have a common history that is very much a commonality among many lesbian leaders of established organizations.  In something that goes back as far as the involvement of lesbians with the work for women that Eleanor Roosevelt did, there is a strong and persistent line of what we think of today as radical feminism that informs them and their outlook on the world.

I am not a lesbian, I am bisexual, and I share much of that — it is part of the time and place and the world we grew up in.

Like most, though, they backed away from the uglier parts of it as trans people moved forward and they knew the lies they were being told were lies.

But they also understand that mindset — far better than most of my peers do.  Not all — and believe me, I am not saying they are part of the TERF movement, they are merely people who understand it.  They are, after all, cis women, and one of the most potent attacks that the TERFs have been using is the whole basis behind the argument about trans women and cis women being lovers and the problems around that.

Because they incorporate an element of “lesbian hate” into their arguments. One that ignores the fact that said hate is coming from other lesbians, but that’s because they refuse to see them as women, and therefore not lesbians.

Exciting, isn’t it?

Here's the link to the rest of the Dyssonance post entitled ''Active Intentional Dialogue': Michfest, NCLR and the Task Force  that definitely needs to be signal boosted.

It's Jackie Robinson Day!

Today is not just the federal tax deadline day, it's the 1947 day in which Jackie Robinson broke the baseball color line with his major league debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Robinson stepped onto the diamond at Ebbets Field to become the first African-American major leaguer in the modern era and go on to a have a challenging but successful season in which he was named the National League Rookie Of The Year.

MLB will honor this day by having all its players wear Robinson's number 42, which was retired for all major league clubs in 2007.

And in honor of this day, I'm putting up the YouTube video of the Count Basie Orchestra singing the 1949 classic "Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball?'

Another Landmark Trans EEOC Ruling

Just in time for our next lobby day in Texas (which be a Trans* one on April 27) comes this wonderful news about a case that could potentially put an end to the GOP rush to demonize trans people with bathroom bills.

The U S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ruled on April 1 in a recent case brought by trans woman Tamara Lusardi that denying transgender people access to restrooms or respecting name changes violates federal sex discrimination law.

The EEOC ruling also confirms the October 2014 ruling by the Office of Special Council that the Army had discriminated against Ms Lusardi. 

The Army also has to pay the trans lady an unspecified amount in damages and provide discrimination training in the office where Lusardi works..

Lusardi is a civilian Army employee in Huntsville, AL and filed the case after she began her transition in 2010.   She was forced to use a single stall restroom and denied use of the women’s restroom.   Lusardi also stated that a team leader persistently referred to her using male pronouns and made other hostile transphobic remarks.

This EEOC ruling in the Lusardi case expands upon its previous findings in Macy v Holder that Title VII sex discrimination protections include transgender people.  It also sends a clear message that denying trans employees access to the correct gender presentation matching restroom is discrimination.

The reason I'm surmising this would potentially put an end to the conservafool attempts to demonize trans people by using bathroom bills is twofold. 

The Department of Justice has recently begun interpreting Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to be inclusive of trans people for sex discrimination    It was the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that ended racially segregated bathrooms, and it could also be interpreted to mean that these laws that GOP legislators are rushing to try to enact will be a waste of time because they will overruled and eventually found unconstitutional.

At any rate, this is a huge win with the potential to have ripple effect beyond just Lusardi's case. ,

"From the start, this has been about getting a fair shake to work hard at a job I love," said Lusardi in a statement. "This decision makes it clear that, like everybody else in the workplace, transgender people should be judged by the quality of the work we do, not who we are."