Been Nominated For 2015 OutSmart Reader's Choice Awards

Was surprised to learn that in the latest edition of the OutSmart Gayest and Greatest Readers Choice Awards has started the online voting process yesterday and will run until September 5.

In 2014 I won two of the Reader's Choice Awards  in the Favorite Blogger (Female) and Favorite  Tweeter (Female).categories and was a finalist for the Most Prominent LGBT Female Activist award. 

In 2015 I was nominated in three categories:
.
Favorite LGBT Blogger
Favorite Female Community Hero
Most Prominent Female LGBT Activist 

While I deeply appreciate those nominations, especially the second consecutive nomination in the Most Prominent Female LGBT Activist category,  just curious as to why I didn't get one for Best LGBT Local Blog and why no trans, bi or lesbian woman was nominated in the Best LGBT Tweeter category despite many of us having very active twitter accounts?

I guess that's why they have write in voting in all the categories in question.

Congrats to everyone who was nominated, and just an FYI you can vote once a day until the September 5 closing date.   You don't have to be a Houston resident either, just register and you're good to go.

Here's the link to vote in the 2015 OutSmart Gayest and Greatest Reader's Choice Awards.


You can also vote early and often once per day until voting closes on September 5.

The Black Trans Visibility Conundrum

At this August 2015 date in Black trans history we are in the best of times and also the worst of times.  We have had unprecedented visibility in thanks to Janet Mock,  Laverne Cox and other veteran and emerging African American trans masculine and transfeminine leaders.  

There is Isis King and Arisce Wanzer following in the trailblazing footsteps of Tracy Africa Norman and repping us in the modeling world..Laverne Cox continues her Sophia Burset role on Orange Is The New Black while adding to an impressive list of magazine covers, getting attention and buzz about playing other roles and possible network show pilots and having groundbreaking things happen for her like becoming the first ever trans person to have a wax figure of themselves at Madame Tussaud's

Speaking of movies, we have documentary films in production profiling the lives of Miss major and Marsha P. Johnson.   Fallon Fox is in the women's MMA ranks kicking butt with a 5-1 record while also being featured in the Game Face documentary and a voice for trans inclusion inside and outside the sporting world as Black trans feminine trailblazers do their thing in other fields like Angelica Ross, Breanna Sinclaire and Tona Brown

The unprecedented visibility of Black trans women even extends in the entertainment world, with a groundbreaking Bold and the Beautiful soap opera storyline that features Maya Avant, a major character on the long running CBS soap played by cis actress Karla Mosley, being revealed as a trans woman in March.  .We have gotten to see since then the issues of that revelation not only affect Forrester Creations and her relationship with Rick, but for the first time see how this plays out in a Black family. 

Even our trans brothers are finally getting their long overdue time in the spotlight, with people like BTAC founder Carter Brown, Jevon Martin, Rev Lawrence T. Richardson, Kylar Broadus, Dr. Kai Greene, Dr. Van Bailey, and entrepreneurs like Dr Kortney Ziegler representing us in the tech world.

But the increased visibility has come with a price.   Last week we had an historically unprecedented situation in which five Black trans women across the country under age 35 lost their lives, three of them were announced on the same heartbreaking day.   Far too often and the people doing the killing are in many cases other cis African-Americans as our legacy organizations are cricket chirping silent about it..

And that needs to stop. Hey NAACP, Congressional Black Caucus and the Urban League,   #BlackTransLivesMatter, too.. 

We have ministers preaching anti-trans hate from their pulpits at the behest of white right wing fundamentalists and anti-LGBT activists that is deleteriously affecting us and translating into far too many of us drying so these sellouts can build conservative street cred.

That  sets up a conundrum for Black trans people and our cis allies to ponder.  While the increased visibility for Black trans people has been a mixed bag, it's also necessary to advance our trans human rights struggle.

We must have people willing to be visible and busting stereotypes while others continuously agitate for the systemic change we need.   We can't do that while hiding or suffering in silence.  Because the trans narrative has been framed from a vanillacentric perspective, we Black trans people need to be visible in order to break down the lies and stereotypes about us that have been spread in far too many quarters of the Black community.   Those lies and stereotypes have the deleterious effect of feeding the transphobia that leads to the anti-trans violence that kills us.

We've gone through tough times before, and we will get through them again.  We Black trans people have always been visionary leaders at the forefront of change for our people, and that pattern is no different in the second decade of the 21st century.  We have much to contribute to the Black community if just given the opportunity to do so.

The question is how soon will our people give us that chance to prove it/

BLM Statement: It's Time! Putting The T Back In Black

In case some of you were wondering if #BlackTransLivesMatter to the #BlackLivesMatter movement, based on this statement and a previous comment from BLM co-founder Alicia Garza, the answer would be an emphatic YES!

The 'T' has always been part of the Black community.  It's just taking some people time to let that concept sink into their nappy headed craniums.

But I'll let you TransGriot readers peruse it for yourselves.

***

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 19, 2015
It's Time! Putting the T Back in Black

It is time we accept that state sanctioned violence is much more than police brutality. In the wake of 5 beautiful trans women losing their lives, just last week alone, we are full of grief. These terrible happenings are a result of the many factors that place black trans women in so much risk just by leaving our homes, if we even have homes to begin with. It is far past the time to shut shit down for black trans folks the same way we shut shit down for cis black men.

Black trans women have consistently resisted against anti blackness, patriarchy, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia and white supremacy by being a model of unapologetic truth. Black resistance doesn’t belong to just one group of black people it belongs to us all. We believe that in order to get free we must all get free. Black trans folks getting free isn’t up for debate.


We ask that you commit to learning the names of your sisters who have been murdered. We ask that you learn the names of your sisters who are fighting for your lives just as much as we are fighting for ours. We need more from our black cis counterparts. We need you to show up for the simple fact that black people are dying at the hands of this violence. When a black trans woman's body is found burned in a field, and there is no outrage from the community, it sends the message to us, and to everyone else that there is no value in our existence. That black trans women are fair game.

#BlackLivesMatter has consistently been supportive and in collaboration with black trans folks and especially with Black trans women. We have spent time developing principles,developing analysis,and creating deep practice that is full of love. There’s no action without practice. The time has come for us to practice what we have created. The time is now to resist in honor of Marsha P. Johnson. Islan Nettles. Cemia Dove. Amber Monroe. Penny Proud. Ashley Sherman and so many others. The time is now to join #BlackLivesMatter in action as we celebrate our sisters who are living- the very sisters who have fought next to us to sustain this declaration that has been heard around the world.


We don't show up and show out for cis black people for accolades, or to insure that they show up for us. We have shown up for cis black folk because we know “that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” We show up for cis black folk because as a black person, we know that if they will kill my siblings, they will kill us. We have shown up for black cis people when black cis people are contributing to the violence we face as black trans women. We have shown up for Black cis folk when the face of violence for a black trans woman is often a black cis man. No longer can we move through society ashamed of the trans people who come from us. Before we were trans, before we were queer, before we were anything we were black. Our Black Lives Matter whether you are ashamed or not.


The creation of #SayHerName was not just a hashtag, it is a call to action. It is the demand that we hold space for our most marginalized. We urge that in our time of great collective grief, we take the time to process and feel but also uplift the black trans women who are still living. Reach out to your black trans sisters, remind us that we are loved and sustain that love through service to our empowerment. Be with us in protecting black trans lives. Build community with black trans women. Uplift black trans leadership. Extend humanity and love to black trans women. Be with us and be of service. We might as well stop fighting, if we can't show up for the people in our community who need us the most.

We have all been called to take bold direct action by black trans women. That action is more than a retweet or share of the names of black trans women who have been murdered but to organize with vigor in solidarity. We are calling for support from all #BlackLivesMatter chapters,and all black organizers committed to black liberation to join us in our fight towards liberation this Thursday, August 20th, 2015 at 6pm PST/ 9pm EST for a National Call of Solidarity to take action for our lives. Please register for the call using this link:
https:// myaccount.maestroconference.com/register/6XEVMRMZ0H206MHW

In Black Revolutionary Love,

Elle Hearns, Ahya Simone, Aaryn Lang
Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi
#BlackLivesMatter

US Trans Survey Goes Live Today

The 2015 edition of the US Trans Survey, the largest one devoted to chronicling the lives of trans people in the United States, will go live today.  

I hope you are planning on taking time out of your busy lives to complete it, because it is critical to not only painting an accurate statistical profile of our community,data from the 2011 one has been used to advance our trans human rights movement and pass legislation based on it.

It has also been used by people in the policy, making, advocacy, and the general public to make the human rights case for our community, and we need more than the 6700 people who took it last time.  

We need people from all 50 states to participate and especially trans communities of color to do so.   In Houston we will have an event on August 22 to ensure that as many of our trans peeps in the Houston area get heard and also ensure that when it's later broken down for state by state numbers, we're represented in those stats.

To take the survey, go to this link.

TransGriot Note:  Took the survey, and I estimate it took me about 1.5 hours to complete.   But that 1.5 hours out of my day is a small price to pay for the advancement of our human rights movement.

Moni's Thoughts On The 35th Anniversary Of The Houston Anti-Crossdressing Ordinance Repeal

I, wanted to post this on the anniversary date, but with all the breaking news that week, slipped my mind I needed to finish my thoughts about what this August 12, 1980 anniversary date meant to me as a trans Houstonian who graduated from high school three months before the odious ordinance died 

This ordinance was hated not only by the Houston trans community but by the Houston lesbian community and the drag community as well.

Little did I know that when I stepped outside dressed as moi in June 1980, anytime I stepped inside Studio 13 and sat in the audience watching a show or was just hanging out in Montrose en femme prior to that date, I was violating Section 28-42.4 of the city’s Code of Ordinances, AKA the Houston Anti-Crossdressing Ordinance that was the harassment weapon of choice for HPD their aimed at the Houston TBLG community at the time.

I'd seen Anne Mayes and coverage of her fight in the early 70's to not be harassed by Herman Short's HPD oppressors on the local news, and it was my first inkling that there was a name for what I was feeling at the time as a pre-teenager. 

Anne after her genital surgery and a 1978 Houston Chronicle interview dropped out of sight in the Houston trans community.  I wish I could tell her thank you for standing up for me and future generations of trans Houstonians who received the blessing of not knowing what it was like to go to jail for simply wanting to put on the clothes that matched who we are as people.

I would also love to talk to her simply to get a taste of what the late 60's- early 70's were like for trans historical purposes.

I wouldn't meet Judge Phyllis Frye until a decade and a half later, but she at that time had been working for three and a half years to kill that ordinance to make it easier for hers, mine and future generations of trans Houstonians to be able to walk the streets without being messed with by HPD.

I also wasn't aware of it until much later that our paths crossed while I was a UH freshman and she was at the UH law school working on her law degree. 

When she accomplished that on August 12, 1980 I was still working on my census enumerator summer job and wasn't aware that the lobbying work she was doing at City Hall would have such a ginormous impact.

It's also fitting to revisit this seeing that we have an ongoing attempt by a transphobe to inject anti-trans hatred into our city charter.

So Houston trans younglings, the next time y'all go out, you drag artists get or stage, or you lesbians decide you wish to wear a pair of jeans while out and about, say thank you to Phyllis, Anne and Rita Wanstrom   who enabled you to do so.

NBJC's OUT On The Hill 2015 Early Bird Registration Expiring Soon

One of the valid questions I have been getting from my younger trans sisters lately in the wake of a unprecedented deadly week of anti-trans murders is where are the Black organizations that as one sister stated to me in a private conversation  'allegedly support us'?

I can tell you for a fact that one unapologetically Black social justice organization that has had our back for years and ain't 'scurred' to say the word 'transgender' is the National Black Justice Coalition.   

I have had the pleasure of attending two of the OUT on the Hill Conferences in 2011 and 2012, and was part of an all trans feminine panel in the 2012 one moderated by none other than Laverne Cox.   I was also part of a blogger's panel during that 2012 event that included the wonderful Danielle Moodie-Mills and LZ Granderson.   I have also been parts of two NBJC The Black Institutes at Creating Change events in Houston and Denver in 2014-2015

 And yeah, still dreaming about those crab cakes I devoured during one OOTH2012 luncheon.

The 6th annual edition of the OUT on the Hill LGBT Black leadership Summit will be taking place in Washington DC September 16-20, and in addition to getting to attend OOTH2015 and all the events, panel discussion, workshops, plenary sessions and networking opportunities that come with attending OOTH, you get the opportunity to also attend the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual Legislative Conference events for an additional $50 on your OOTH registration.

This year's OOTH2015 theme is We Are Family: Building Stronger Roots Together, calls to action the Black family construct in addressing health and wellness issues through four key summit tracks: health care (e.g., physical, mental, emotional, behavioral); economics (e.g., financial health, economic justice, employment security, housing, livable wage, entrepreneurship); spirituality (e.g., faith, religion, wholeness, purpose); and social justice (e.g., criminal justice, education, racial profiling, voting rights).

And that's what OOTH is to me. It's not only a big family reunion, it's one of those unique conventions in which Black LGBT activists, thought leaders, elected officials, emerging leaders, young adults, elders, faith leaders, and allies get together for one inspiring week of learning, organizing, and strategic planning

I've also met some amazing Black LGBT people at this event like Aisha Moodie-Mills, Maya Rupert, Phill Wilson, Je-Shawna Wholley, Samantha Master, Rev. Carmarion Anderson, Dr. Ayana Elliott, filmmakers Maurice Jamal and Yoruba Richen, Imam Daayiee Abdullah, ELIXHER Founding Editor Kimberley McLeod and amazing allies like Chevara Orrin and Kamora Herrington.

And yes, much love to the fab NBJC Executive Director and CEO Sharon Lettman-Hicks and staffers Isaiah Wilson and Venton Jones.  She has made it clear that the T is not silent in or a small letter 't' in this unapologetically Black LGBT org, and the soon to be 12 year old NBJC is one worthy of your support and investing your T-bills in..

If you're thinking about going,  the $100 Early Bird registration rate is closing out August 21, and elders 62 and up register any time for a $100 flat rate.  Emerging leaders get a 50% discount.

I'm trying to make it to DC for OOTH2015 since I haven't attended it since 2012.  Complications have kept me from going back.  I know that after I attended the 2011 and 2012 OOTH events I came back to Texas feeling empowered, refreshed and ready to do some more work on behalf of the Black LGBT community.

Hopefully Moni will be in the OOTH2015 house to report and live tweet what's going on at this year's event.

Trans Woman Number 16 Has Been Murdered- RIP Tamara

Once again I'm waking up to hear about another trans woman of color being killed.  This time it was in Kansas City, MO and the trans woman in question is a Latina.

36 year old Tamara Dominguez is the latest name we will be lighting a candle for at this November`s TDOR memorial services.   She was mugged,. then run over multiple times in a church parking lot by what is described as a man driving a black Chevy Avalanche SUV at 3:00 AM on Saturday.  

Dominguez was rushed to a hospital, but died on Monday.

Kansas City PD suspects it is a hate crime, but are reluctant to call it that because this is still an active investigation and  are looking for that SUV and its driver.

Dominguez is now the 16th trans person and the third Latina killed in what is shaping up to be a bloody year of trans feminine murders.

And the same question I asked of the Black cis community is also applicable to the Latino cis community as well.  When will the lives of your trans Latina sisters matter enough for you to speak up and condemn the murders being aimed at them?

#TransLatinaLivesMatter

How about demonstrating your support of your Latina trans sisters by signing this We The People White House petition calling for a federal investigation into the unacceptable levels of anti-trans violence aimed at trans women of color?   It needs 100K signatures by September 10 to trigger a formal WH response to it and we have at the time I am writing this 2,448 signatures.

The family is also trying to raise $3.500 for the funeral and to send Tamara's body back to Mexico for burial, so if you have some cash burning a hole in your purse or wallet, please consider donating to help her

As usual, stay tuned to this TransGriot channel for any updated news I get concerning this latest hate crime aimed at our community..

METRO Rolls Out The New Bus System

Even though I possess a valid Texas driver's license that I had to fight nine months to get renewed and missed the 2013 city elections as a result, I am an enthusiastic public transportation supporter, especially if the system question has a rail component.   I have no problem riding public transportation  to my hotels when I travel.

Here in my hometown, METRO has been planning for two years an overhaul of our bus system so that the routes are not only straighter and run more frequently on the weekends. it is also redesigning the routes so that you don't have to go to downtown to transfer and they connect better with the light rail lines and transit centers..

There are 22 Red routes that are scheduled to run every 15-30 minutes, the Blue routes every 31-60 minutes, and the Green routes every hour.

They are also designing routes so they go to the destinations that people need to get to in the 2k15, and not when METRO took over the city bus system in 1978.

The METRO New Bus Network  got rolled out Sunday, and as with any massive undertaking like redoing a bus network, it hasn't happened without some problems and glitches.  Monday was also the first day that the new system was tested under workday conditions and traffic.

And since the system hasn't been changed on such a massive scale since 1978, it's also a major adjustment for veteran riders of it.  Some are liking the changes, others aren't.   But METRO believes that once the kinks get worked out, it will be a more efficient and user friendly way to get around our massive hometown

The good news is that during this opening week rollout of the revamped system, rides are free on the local bus and METRORail lines through August 22

Definitely need to test it out while it's free and save that money on my Qcard.

What Is Trans Activism?

I recently had some allegedly Black 'gender critical' transwoman(?) step to me with some BS trying to put out in the Twiitterverse  a loud and wrong interpretation of what trans activism is.

After I went Cookie Lyons on her clueless behind, I took a moment to ponder as someone who have been actively involved in making trans human rights a reality for the last 17 years, my thoughts as to what exactly Trans Activism is about.

Ahem, school is in session.

Trans Activism is an international human rights movement to recognize our humanity and protect it with the force of law in all the nations that we inhabit.

Trans Activism is creating the societal conditions for respect, acknowledgement and acceptance of the humanity of trans people..

Trans Activism is pushing for the ability to be able to fully participate in society without stigma.and live a quality life at any age.

Trans Activism is pushing for medical transphobia free, culturally competent and affordable trans and non-trans specific health care.

Trans Activism is pushing back against inaccurate, transphobic and outright false portrayals of our trans lives in the media and trans people doing more to ensure control of that collective media message.. 

Trans Activism is fearlessly speaking truth to power inside and outside the communities we intersect and interact with

 Trans Activism is having the opportunity and ability to enjoy the same first class citizenship and human rights  that cis people take for granted.

Trans Activism is making sure we exercise the citizenship rights we have under our control such as voting, lobbying legislators, and running for public office.

Trans Activism is ensuring we have a participatory seat at the table to formulate the policies that impact us, and building and sustaining our own organizations to ensure we are able to do so..

Trans Activism is knowing our trans history, defending it from erasure by whoever tries it, and passing it on amongst ourselves and to the next generation of trans people.

Trans Activism is fighting for the ability to openly walk down the street without being harassed, misgendered, assaulted or murdered just for having the courage to live our authentic lives.

Trans Activism is developing and maintaining pride in being a trans human being and developing community rooted in that pride of being trans men and women.

Trans Activism is the ability for those who wish to do so, openly serve in the armed forces of the various nations we inhabit.

Trans Activism is building  up trans economic power to complement our social and political power.

Trans Activism is engaging in ongoing leadership development, constantly ensuring that the folks who do step up to leadership roles are up to the task, and those leaders are held accountable to the community for their actions or lack thereof on our behalf..

Trans Activism is acting intersectionally in genuine reciprocal partnership with others, supporting them in their hour of need and working together on issues of mutual concern.

Trans Activism is fighting for the day that trans people are accepted, valued and fully integrated in society, our human rights are codified into law, and our existence and humanity is not subject to debate.

HERO Grassroots Training Kickoff

On Saturday morning a sizable number of enthusiastic, civic minded Houstonians gathered at the Montrose Center for a HERO Grassroots Day Of Action event to defend our city's equal rights ordinance.  

It's a high stakes battle against the Forces of Intolerance that we must win on November 3 that we in H-town are aware that Texas, the nation and the world is watching.  

And as we've been warned by the chair of the Houston Sports Association, the NCAA and NFL are watching this human rights fight play out as well.

What transpired there starting at 10 AM was training to prepare for canvassing that happened later that afternoon, and discussing why our diverse city needs the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance

The volunteers, knowing this November 3 election is a pivotal point in our city's future, were laser beam focused on the training coordinated by the Houston Unites coalition group in conjunction with their HOUEquality coalition partners.

I along with Houston Unites and HOUEquality deeply appreciate all the folks who gave up their Saturday afternoon to take the time to be human rights superheroes.

If you missed last Saturday's event, there will be more upcoming HERO defense events that you can take part in with a canvass on August 22 and an upcoming phone bank on August 29.

Don't Even Dare Part Your Lips To Say 'All Trans Lives Matter'...

When it is my young trans people who are being slaughtered along with trans Latinas in 2015.

Please do not part your lips to say that vanillacentric privilege laden 'All Trans Lives Matter' crap.  Not in the mood to hear that from some white trans people, especially after a week in which the deaths of FOUR Black trans women in different parts of the country were announced, one of them was in Texas, and the four trans people in question were all under 35.

As my Texas trans elder Sharyn Grayson said to me earlier in the week when we were talking about it, "Our babies are being killed."

Yes ma'am they are, and some of the people doing it share my ethnic heritage.   It's why I have zero tolerance for that 'All Trans Lives Matter line.  It's insulting and problematic to say for the same damned reasons as that jacked up marinating in white supremacy 'All Lives Matter' response to ‪#‎BlackLivesMatter‬.

Let Moni school you on something right now.  There are because of whiteness and white supremacy, some trans lives that matter more than others.  The narrative about trans femininity has been focused on white trans women ever since Christine Jorgenson stepped off the plane in 1953, and now in the 2K15 attention and focus is finally being paid to trans women of color for something besides our murders, and some of y'all are still hatin' about that..

I repeat,  we have had FOUR Black trans women's deaths announced in this week alone and five in this month of August that still isn't over yet.  This is a crisis situation that deserves immediate attention and action to solve it.
‪
#‎BlackTransLivesMatter‬

Some of you may not care about Black trans peoples lives, but I, my trans elders and our Black cis trans allies damned sure do. Those kids are my next generation of trans people, and it deeply concerns me, my trans elders and cis Black allies they are being eviscerated before they have even had a chance to live their lives and make whatever contributions to society they would have possibly made.  

If you're saying 'so what?' to that point or the problematic life expectancy average of a Black trans woman being age 35, better rethink that.   If my 34 year old self hadn't kept a cool head and gotten myself out of a potentially dangerous situation in 1996, I wouldn't be here to talk about it, much less make the contributions to trans kind that I have made since then. 

This blog wouldn't exist either.

We Black trans peeps have talents that we can contribute to this community.  We may also be the ones destined to do some great things for humankind in general.  But we can't do that or make those contributions to society while buried in a grave.

I'll bet if the script was flipped and we had young white trans women under 30 dying at the same rate as Black and Latina ones have been in 2015, we would already have the 100,000 signatures on that White House We The People petition calling for the federal investigation of anti-trans violence and then some. 

Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton would be saying it from the Democratic campaign trail, and Hollywood's trans supportive allies would already be talking about 'stopping the orgy of violence aimed at young  trans people.'

So no, don't even dare part your lips to let that infuriating and insulting 'All Trans Lives Matter' comment pass through your lips when some of these trans kids have yet to be buried..

It's fairly obvious some trans lives matter more than others, and we need to keep it real on that point.

#BlackLivesMatter Founder FB Statement On Trans Murders

I had the pleasure of meeting during #CC15 the #BlackLivesMatter founding trio of Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometti .  We had an interesting and substantive conversation about the BLM movement and where trans peeps fit in it.

FYI, meeting people like them is why I want to attend if possible #CC16 in Chicago this coming January. 

In the wake of this unprecedented bloody week for US trans people.(I'd need another post to tell you what's going on in Brazil), and being asked what is BLM's stance concerning what is on pace to be the worst year ever since we started tracking them for trans murders in the US, Alicia Garza put out a statement on her Facebook page concerning this problem that is at state of emergency status.

And enough chatter from me, here's Alica's statement.

***

Shade Schuler. Papi Edwards. Lamia Beard. Ty Underwood. Yasmine Payne. Taja Gabrielle de Jesus. Penny Proud. Kristina Gomez Reinwald. London Chanel. Mercedes Williamson. India Clarke. K.C. Haggard. Amber Monroe. Kandis Capri.

These are the names of the trans women *reported* murdered since the beginning of the year. So many more go unreported. I call on all of us to say their names. Each one of these women should still be alive--but they are not because the lives of trans women are seen as disposable.

The average life expectancy of a trans woman of color is 35 years old. And yet even still, no state of emergency has been declared. Black communities are in crisis, and we declare that more than 13 murders of trans women, 5 of whom were murdered just this week, 11 of whom are of color and most of whom are Black, is indeed, a state of emergency.

State sanctioned violence is about much more than police violence. State sanctioned violence is the multiple forms of violence enacted against trans women of color, including exclusion from the economy, from services, from democracy. The murders of trans women alongside the multiple other forms of violence that trans women experience must be elevated to the level of conversation that the murders of cis Black men now occupy.

What that means is that it cannot constantly be the job of trans women to constantly remind us that their lives matter too. The liberation of Black people as a whole depends on the liberation of Black trans folks. None of us are free until all of us are free.

And Kandis Makes 15

This is getting out of control now.   This is the third Black trans woman killed or has had her death announced this week

This is 35 year old Kandis Capri of Phoenix, AZ.   She was shot to death on Tuesday and pronounced dead from the four gunshot wound she received at a Phoenix hospital.   Her purse and phone is missing, and her mother was notified by tight lipped Phoenix PD t 5:30 AM local time on Wednesday.

I say tight lipped because they haven't said anything about this case, the Phoenix media has been mute about it, and what I know about it I had to read an article in The Guardian with Kandis' mother Andria Gaines just to get the basics.that I've written here.

As of this writing Phoenix PD hasn't even published a number so that people with potential leads to solve this case an call either Crimestoppers or the detectives working the case.   But with Phoenix having some amazing activists in the area, hope that will change soon..

Kandis Capri makes number 15 in a year that is rapidly becoming a deadly one for US based trans women, and we still have 4r months to go.  far too many of those deaths have been overwhelmingly of Black and Latina trans women, and far too many of them this year have been under 30.

If #BlackTransLivesMatter Black America, prove it to me and your trans kin.  Sign the Fran Watson created White House We The People petition (that I have already signed) that seeks to begin a federal investigation into the anti-trans violence that is snuffing out far too many young Black trans people.

We have talents as trans people we can contribute to the greater African-American community and society.  But we can't do that if we're lying dead in a grave.

Rest in power and peace Kandis.

August 14, 2015 Wasn't A Good Day For Black Trans Folks

Yesterday, August 14, 2015 will go down in the history of our US trans community and our trans rights movement as a very tough day for us. We had announcements of two more trans younglings in Detroit murdered in Amber Monroe and Ashton O'Hara. We had in North Carolina the announcement that the remains of Angel Elisha Walker had been found after she disappeared 10 months ago. And we are also trying to confirm the death of Kandis Capri in Phoenix.

The infuriating thing about all these cases that adds to the pain of their losses is that all of them were under 30 years of age, with the exception of Kandis, who is 35..

The ray of sunshine in those dark clouds of despair is that in two of the cases. the perpetrators are sitting in jail awaiting further action from law enforcement.

We are in a human rights war we didn't start, but have no choice but to fight it and win. At stake is our humanity and our human rights, and like all wars, unfortunately there are causalities.

We take a moment to mourn our dead, dry our tears, comfort those who loved our fallen sisters and then steel ourselves for what we know we must do. We must fight tooth and nail for a better world for our trans kids, trans kind and all humanity so that we aren't having days like August 14, 2015 ever again.

We will do what we Black transfolks have always done. We will fight with every fiber of our being for our lives, our humanity, our human rights and our ultimate freedom from the tyranny that other misguided people wish to impose on us.

‪#‎BlackTransLivesMatter‬. They always have, always will, and they are worth fighting for.


TransGriot Note:  A White House We The People petition created by Fran Watson of Houston is calling for the federal government to do a formal investigation into the unacceptable levels of murders of trans POC people.  It needs 100K signatures by September 10 to get a formal White House response and to date as of the time I wrote this post it has only 818 signatures.  

Unacceptable when we are looking at a crisis in our community.  Trans women of color are being killed and nobody seems to care about doing something to solve the problem,

If you really care about Black trans people and aren't paying lip service to it, I ask that you not only sign this petition on behalf of the people no longer here, but pass it around your influence circle and urge them to sign it too.

Here's the link


TransGriot Note2:  Did confirm that 35 year old Kandis Capri was shot to death on Tuesday. 

Missing NC Trans Woman Angel Elisha Walker's Remains Found

As if we trans peeps didn't have enough grief to deal with right now with two murders this week while awaiting confirmation from Phoenix about still another Black transwoman being killed, been advised courtesy of a QNotes story by Matt Comer that the remains of 20 year old trans woman Angel Elisha Walker were found Thursday after a search of a property in Johnston County, NC by law enforcement officials.

She disappeared October 30, 2014 while driving her 2000 silver Pontiac Sunfire westward from Salisbury, NC and was reported missing by her mother on November 11.  Walker's burned out car was found two weeks after the investigation began in Sampson County, NC.

Walker's remains were found by law enforcement officials at 7:30 PM EDT on a property outside Smithfield, NC in the woods behind a house there.

23 year old Angel Arias, a known member of the Latin Kings street gang, was arrested and charged with murder and felony larceny of a motor vehicle.   He is being held without bond in the Johnston County jail on unrelated drug charges pending a return to Rowan County.

Will be keeping an eye on his case as well to see if justice is served in it.   Rest in power and in peace Elisha.

H/T QNotes

Damn, Damn, Damn! Ashton Is Number 14

Okay, at this point I am starting to feel like Florida Evans in terms of hearing the news about another trans person that won't ive to see their 50th, much less their 40th or 30th birthdays.  

I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired of writing these posts about another young Black trans person being murdered before they have even had a chance to live their lives.

Meet 25 year old Ashton O'Hara of Detroit, who was murdered on July 14.  Ashton is sadly now the 14th trans person murdered in this deadly year of 2015 that has exceeded in 8 months the entire total of US trans murders for all of 2014.   And once again, Ashton is another trans and gender variant person under the age of 30  who has been taken away from us far too soon. 

We've had five murders announced in August alone and this month still isn't over yet.  And yeah, this is the second one in Detroit in 2015.  Amber Monroe was the other one, and the last report I had was her killer has yet to be found.

Once again, when will our #BlackTransLivesMatter?  And far too often, the people killing us are other Black people.   That was the case in this latest murder in which we already have an arrest in this case.

O'Hara's suspected killer, 37 year old Larry B.Gaulding is facing a first degree murder charge in a trial set to begin on September 24.   Let's pack the courtroom and ensure that justice is served in this case.

One thing I am happy to see is that a dialogue has been opened up between the Detroit PD and the local community that will hopefully result in a reduction in crimes aimed at the trans population.  

We also need other cis Black folks to stop cosigning on the conservafool driven hatred of trans people for their nefarious political purposes.  We're tired of y'all in Black Cis World thinking that the way to be a 'good Christian' is to mimic white fundamentalists conservafools who have a deep seated hatred of blackness and Black people. .  

As per usual, I'll be keeping up with this case as well in order to see if Ashton got justice.

Shut Up Fool Awards- Happy Birthday Halle Edition

Today is the 49th birthday of Oscar winning actress Halle Berry, who was born on this date in Cleveland, OH in 1966.

Damn, she's looking good.  Guess it's being a mom   Hope she's having a wonderful, stress free day and we get to see her lovely face on the silver screen soon in a project worthy of her acting talents.

I know y'all didn't surf over here to read some jibber-jabber about Halle.  I know what today is.
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It's Friday, and it's time for your fave time of the week in terms of discovering what fool, fools or group of fools will get called out by moi on these electronic pages with nominations from you, my loyal TransGriot readers.

So without further ado, the envelope please.

Honorable mention number one goes to Donald Trump for a far too long list of cray-cray that would require a blog post for me to catalog it all.  And yes, her is a contender for 2015 Shut Up Fool of the Year.

Honorable mention number two is a group award for all the Bernie Sanders supporters still mad that Black Lives Matter activists shut down two of his speeches and spouting problematically racist crap about it.  

Hey, all I have to say is the protests worked to get him to release a comprehensive plan on addressing the racial issues of importance to the BLM movement and get the discussion going in this 2016 presidential campaign.

Honorable mention number three is indicted Texas AG Ken Paxton (R) whose Massive Resistance 2,0 to implementing the SCOTUS same sex marriage ruling nearly landed his rump in federal court to face contempt charges

Hey don't look at me people.  I voted for the Democratic candidate in that AG race.  The Teapublicans are the one who put him in office with their votes..

Honorable mention number four goes to Pat Robertson, who let more brazen stupidity and selective interpretation of the Bible loose when he said that the laws in Leviticus only applies to gays. 

Oh really Marion? And what other scriptures don't apply to lying conservafool political con artists like you?

Honorable mention number five goes to Larry Kramer, who hypocritically called out people who have been calling for a boycott of the crime against history Stonewall movie.

Just do unto Larry what Marsha would have done and pay him no mind.

Honorable mention number six is  Mary Elizabeth Williams, who once again proved why that #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen hashtag exists by writing a Salon article calling on feminists to support Megyn Kelly who got attacked by Donald Trump post- Cirque de GOP debate.

My higher cognitive functions compel me to call your ass out for this BS article and ask what the hell were you thinking when you wrote it?   Hell naw I'm not supporting a woman who is not only is NOT a feminist, but has repeatedly said racist crap about Black people from her FOX noise perch..

Honorable mention number seven is a joint award for the (for now) unidentified female racist customer in Danville, VA who called the Lowe's store and demanded a white driver bring her stuff to her instead of the Black driver who did so on July 27. 

Guess she needed a supply of wood to build some crosses for an upcoming Klan meeting.

This week's Shut up Fool winner I have to go back to Kentucky for, and it's Kim Davis

She seems to have the misguided faux faith based fueled belief egged on by the constitutional know-nothings from the Liberty Counsel that her religious beliefs trump federal law and the US Constitution. 

Naw Miss Thang, they don't,.and on Wednesday US District Judge David Bunning made that clear.in his ruling that stated Davis has likely violated the U.S. Constitution's protection against the establishment of a religion by "openly adopting a policy that promotes her own religious convictions at the expenses of others."

He ordered her to issue marriage licenses to gay couples in the Rowan County courthouse in Morehead, KY where she works for now.and promptly defied it the next day.by denying a gay male couple a marriage license for the second time.

Naw homegirl, you do not get to choose when you are being paid with taxpayer dollars that also come from LGBT people that live in Rowan County to NOT do the job we pay you for.  Time for Judge Bunning to throw her behind in jail and give her some time to meditate on Matthew 22;21

They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.

And let me close this SUF post in terms she and her fellow faith based oppressors can understand. 

Kim Davis, thou art a fool and needeth to shut up.

Mia Henderson Case Update

Thanks to Jen Fischetti, I have been advised that the Baltimore PD has solved the case involving our departed sister Mia Henderson.

You may recall that the 26 year old Henderson's lifeless body was found in an alley near the 3400 block of Piedmont Ave in the Hanlon-Longmont neighborhood back on July 16, 2014.

On August 6, the Baltimore PD announced they were filing murder charges against Shawn Oliver, who is currently incarcerated at a state penal facility in Hagerstown, MD on an unrelated conviction.

Turns out that Oliver was attempting to rob Henderson, and she fought him before she was killed   That fight led to the discovery of DNA evidence under Mia's fingernails.

Of course, her family is pleased with the new developments in this case along with the Baltimore area trans community..  Stay tuned to these TransGriot electronic pages to see if Henderson gets justice in this case and Oliver gets to do some additional time in the Hagerstown Iron Bar Motel.

The O'Bannon's On HLN August 27

During my Texan in Exile days in Louisville, two of the many people I got to meet in the nearly nine years I lived there were Sheila O'Bannon and her lovely trans feminine daughter Shemiyia

I met them back in 2004, when Miyia was just getting started with her transition, and Sheila was adjusting to it as well.

It's a story that Sheila captured in a play she wrote and produced entitled The Prodigal.  It was a fictionalized account of a family's journey to understand and eventually come to accept the transition journey of one of its family members. 

It debuted at the Kentucky Center for the Arts in downtown Louisville, and yours truly was going to be the moderator for its June 2010 debut until I had to move back to Houston several weeks before the play had the first of its two sold out performances on June 26-27.

It was another piece of unfinished Louisville business I was disappointed and pissed off about not getting a chance to complete as I pointed the moving van southward on I-65 toward Nashville and the opening leg of my journey back home.

I did get to catch up and have lunch with the O'Bannon women at the 59 Diner when they rolled through Houston on vacation two years ago. We had a wonderful time catching up on what was transpiring in all our lives at the time while discussing the then state of the trans community for Black trans folks vis a vis our white counterparts..

Thanks to Miyia's FB page, she's alerted me to an upcoming appearance of her and her mother on Dr. Drew On Call that they taped yesterday.   It's scheduled to air on HLN August 27.

Looking forward to seeing it, and you may wish to set your DVR's for it.  I'm also looking forward to the next time I get a chance to talk to these TV stars.
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Can We Talk 4 Real Podcast Turns Three Today!

On August 14, 2012, a podcast debuted on Blogtalkradio featuring as the hosts Michelle, Ina and Terri Boi that had as its mission to discuss the topics and subjects the LGBT community sometimes didn't wanna talk about, and so so from a Black SGL perspective.

I have been honored to be a guest on this show a few times since the Can We Talk 4 Real team started it, and have had the pleasure of meeting them at various conferences and events around the country during that time.

I also know how much work and dedication goes into producing a podcast, much less keeping it going for as of today three years.

It also goes without saying I have mad love for each one of you!

So happy anniversary Can We Talk 4 Real team!   Thank you for all the conversations you have facilitated via your show, the people you have given a voice that didn't have one until you started this show, and may you have much continued success in facilitating those much needed conversations in the future.