It's Spirit Day 2015!

Today is Spirit Day, which has been celebrated since 2010 and is a day in which we take a stand against bullying of TBLG youth.

On the LGBT rainbow flag, the purple stripe on it represents 'spirit'    On this day individuals, schools, corporations, and public figures wear purple clothing in support of this day and our trans, bisexual, lesbian and gay youth.

We have had far too many of our younglings commit suicide this year, and something must be done to crack down on the bullying that feeds into these LGBT youth suicides.

And to our trans, bisexual, lesbian, gay and questioning youth, know that you are loved by me and all your BTLGQ elders, we want to you dream your dreams, live your lives and be the fabulous adults we know beyond a shadow of a doubt you will become.

So break out the purple clothes today in solidarity with our BTLG young people.for #SpiritDay.

Argentine Trans Activist Diana Sacayan Murdered

There has been an unfortunate spike in anti-trans murders in Pope Francis' home country, with three happening this month.   Ominously, all three have been trans activists.

The latest was respected Argentine activist Diana Sacayan, who was found dead by fellow activists in her Buenos Aires apartment Tuesday with multiple stab wounds.  Speculation is that she was murdered over the weekend  

Sacayan was active in MAL, Moviemento Antidiscriminatorio de Liberacion, the local LGBT human rights organization in Argentina, and she was active in international activist circles as an alternate member of the Trans Secretariat of the International Lesbian, Gay Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Assn (ILGA)

In 2012, she made history in her home country by being part of the first group of Argentine trans persons to change their gender markers without having to seek approval from healthcare professionals under the provisions of Argentina's groundbreaking Gender Identity Law.  

Argentine President Cristina Kirchner handed Sacayan her new government ID in a live televised ceremony




Buenos Aires police are searching for two men who may have known Ms. Sacayan, and the building superintendent reported that the door to her apartment was broken from the inside, indicating she may have known her attackers.

Rest in power, Diana.   Hope the people who did this will be swiftly caught and punished for this crime.  

Um Bob, Guess You Forgot Some Texans Fans Want HERO

With early voting in our 2015 city elections starting on Monday, we have people, organizations  and companies starting to get off the sidelines and declare one way or the other which way they lean in terms of supporting Prop 1 or HERO,

I was shocked and angered to discover as a longtime ride or die Houston Texans fan that Texans owner Bob McNair is contributing $10,000 to the anti-HERO Forces of Intolerance

McNair has donated to Republican political campaigns in the past, but you would think as the hosts for the 2017 Super Bowl scheduled to be played in NRG Stadium, he would have stayed on the sidelines in this fight.

Instead, McNair has revealed by this action that he is a human rights oppressor, and discrimination against people who don't look like him inside the Houston city limits is okay in his book

Guess you forgot as you wrote that check to enable discrimination inside our city a portion of the Texans loyal fan base is made up of TBLG Houstonians like myself and our allies.  You just spit in our faces and the faces of every Houstonian who sees the wisdom of having a local remedy for combating discrimination in our Code of Ordinances like the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.

Some of your Texans fan base wish to keep our local non-discrimination ordinance, and it's aggravating to see that the owner of my hometown NFL franchise that I have supported since their 2002 entry into the league has joined the side of the human rights oppressors

And yeah, I'm more than a little pissed off about this boneheaded move by you to become a transphobic human rights oppressor.  I'm  even more determined than ever to ensure that the non discrimination ordinance I fought along with a team of Houstonians to get passed last year that covers 15 categories, and has been irrationally fought tooth and nail by you Republicans wins on November 3.

Because the Texans didn't join the league until a year after I moved to Louisville in 2001, I have yet to set foot inside NRG Stadium for any Texans game, be it a preseason, regular season or playoff game.

Because of your reprehensible action that I see as an attack upon my very humanity, my human rights, and the human rights of the 56% of Houstonians who have filed discrimination complaints under HERO until it was suspended by the GP controlled SCOTX, looks like that's not going to happen for me anytime soon,

Nor will I be wearing or purchasing any more Texans apparel until you come to your senses

The Fight To Keep HERO-October 14

We are creeping closer to the October 19 start of early voting in this ongoing battle to keep HERO, and Satan's Helpers. AKA the HERO opposition have been busy.  

The first anti-HERO TV commercials hit the airwaves focused on guess what?   The discredited bathroom predator lie.  Like I've said repeatedly, they are going to beat that lie into hamburger because fear and smear is all they've got.

In response, Houston Unites fired back with two new commercials featuring Noel Freeman (happy belated birthday Noel!) talking about his struggles as a veteran getting hired.  Veterans Status is one of the 15 categories HERO covers for the ignorati obsessed with potty issues.

Houston based corporations are starting to speak up and come out in favor of YES votes for the ordinance, pointing out it is good for business.

Meanwhile another poll in the 2015 mayoral race was released with Sylvester Turner showing as the leader in it. whit Adrian Garcia and Bill King tied for second spot in the poll

2015 OutSmart Gayest And Greatest Reader's Choice Awards

The 2015 edition of the OutSmart Magazine Gayest and Greatest Reader's Choice have been tabulated and the winners have been announced.

I was a finalist in three categories, Favorite LGBT Blogger, Favorite LGBT Tweeter and Most Prominent Female LGBT Activist and had tough competition in all of them.

So how did I fare in this year's OutSmart Reader's Choice Awards after winning two of them last year (Favorite Female Blogger and Favorite Female Tweeter)  and being a finalist for the Most Prominent Female LGBT Activist for the second straight year?

Well, didn't win any of them this year, but it bees that way sometimes.  I'm just honored and humbled that people in the Houston LGBT community think highly enough about me to nominate and vote for me in all those categories,

At least I was in it, and had a shot to win it.   Just didn't work out for me, and I congratulate all the 2015 winners of these awards.

And besides, when they have the 2015 awards reception on October 20, I'm going to be a little busy in Provincetown, MA on that evening.  I'll be making a little history at Fantasia Fair as the first African-American winner of the Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award.

Better luck next year for me in 2016

Transphobia On The UH Campus?

Here's another example of why HERO is needed and necessary to combat discrimination in the city of Houston, and sadly it is on the campus of my alma mater, the University of Houston.

And it's also what happens when anti-trans attitudes are allowed to run unchecked in local media. They eventually filter down to the rest of the ignorati and start becoming microaggressive problems for Trans World and trans people just trying to get through their lives without drama.

Was reported to me by one of my on campus sources Monday night that this handmade sign was hanging on the ladies restroom door in the Tealicious restaurant in irony of ironies, the UH Welcome Center.

When Glissette Santana, the editor in chief of the Daily Cougar took a news team to the restaurant to check out reports concerning the alleged transphobic sign, the Tealicious management claimed the sign was in response to the broken single stall men's toilet.

Yeah right.   If you only have one functioning bathroom of a dual set of binary gendered potties, it would stand to reason the remaining operational toilet becomes by default a gender neutral restroom.  There is no need to post a jacked up sign like this unless you are harboring transphobic tendencies in the first place and wish to just be a transphobic jerk about it..

Something about this doesn't smell right, and I'm not talking about the stench from the allegedly stopped up men's bathroom at Tealicious.


TransGriot Update:  My source at UH has advised me that the transphobic sign has been taken down

MAJOR! World Premiere Coming Next Month!

You TransGriot readers are cognizant of the fact I have been tracking the progress of the documentary film on these electronic pages for the last few years.

Just received some wonderful news from Annalise Ophelian and StormMiguel Florez, the producers of the documentary film MAJOR! that focuses on the fascinating life of one of our trans elders in Miss Major Griffin-Gracy

I'm excited to announce that MAJOR! will have its world premiere in San Francisco's Castro Theater on Friday, November 13 as part of the San Francisco Transgender Film Festival.

I've had the pleasure of getting to see a preview of it, and those of you who get to see the premiere and MAJOR! when it hits your local film festival will be in for a treat.

And here's a link to the trailer for it.

It will be a fascinating look at the life of one of our Stonewall vets, and I even learned a few things about Miss Major I didn't know

I also hope I get the chance to jet off to San Francisco and see the premiere

Live From Las Vegas, The Democratic 2016 POTUS Debates!

After suffering through the horror of multiple GOP presidential debates that had the feel of a reality TV show, finally the Democrats get in the game with the first of their six debates from Las Vegas being televised by CNN starting at 7:30 PM CDT with Anderson Cooper as the moderator.

Vice President Joe Biden won't be there since he still hasn't decided whether he will jump into this race, but Democratic primary front runner Hillary Clinton will be in the Wynn Las Vegas house along with Sen. Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley, Jim Webb, and Lincoln Chafee.

In addition to wondering when will VP Biden get in the game, there is still the desire in Democratic Party circles to see more than just the six DNC sanctioned debates that is being echoed by people such as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and former DNC Chair Howard Dean..

The call for additional debates have led to protests in front of DNC headquarters in Washington DC and heckling of DNC chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz at a recent New Hampshire Democratic party event..

And frankly, I'd like to see more debates as well.

Until that happens, the political junkie in me will take the opportunity to watch this one presidential debate that I suspect will be far more substantive on policy than all the GOP ones combined.