I don't want tolerance I want acknowledgment from society that my humanity and human rights as a trans person living in this country are non-negotiable.' --TransGriot, October 2013
If you wonder why I can't stand Republicans, here the latest example of why I have zero respect for them..
One of the things I can't stand is the GOP penchant for deploying useful fools from marginalized communities to mouth the same loud and wrong policies and idiocy as the conservative white males do.
The latest example is Guy Benson, the openly gay conservafool FOX Noise commentator that went to CPAC last weekend and lost his damned mind. While he was on a 'Religious Liberty' panel during that event that LGBT activists need to be more tolerant of anti-LGBT activists.
Not no, but HELL NO. I nor anyone else in LGBT World is compelled to be understanding and tolerant of people that wish to oppress me and my SGL allies. Only a conservative white gay male sellout would say something that over the top stupid.
Not only will I happily join my lesbian and gay counterparts in fighting you and your conservafool friends with every fiber of my being, I'm going to make it my business to point out how ridiculous you sound.
You're suggesting that a marginalized group facing dehumanizing attacks on multiple fronts just to exercise their constitutional rights should just roll over and meekly accept racist, bigoted and homophobic conservafool oppressors wanting to do what their great grandparents did with impunity?.
And just an FYI Guy Benson, that severe case of Stockholm Syndrome you seem to have is treatable by Obamacare.
Naw boo boo kitty, we ain't going back to those days. Nor are we tolerating intolerance gleefully aimed at us..
We are aware that director Lana Wachowski came out as trans in 2012, but it was a mild shocker to hear that her younger sibling and the other half of the prolific directing duo is also coming out.
Lilly Wachowski came out in a statement published in the Windy City Times that was done so she could control the narrative she wanted to tell as opposed to the media outlets threatening to run the story.
"Being transgender is not easy," Wachowski wrote. "We live in a
majority-enforced gender binary world. This means when you're
transgender you have to face the hard reality of living the rest of your
life in a world that is openly hostile to you."
"So yeah, I'm transgender."
"And yes, I've transitioned"
GLAAD commented in the wake his her statement,."GLAAD is thrilled that Lilly Wachowski is able to be her true and
authentic self today, however, she should not have been forced to
disclose her transgender identity before she was ready to do so.
Journalists must learn that it is unacceptable to out a transgender
person, in the same way it is unacceptable to out a person who is gay,
lesbian, or bisexual," said Nick Adams, GLAAD's Director of Programs for
Transgender Media.
One of the people who was instrumental in giving my nascent blog a leg up back in 2006 was when Pam Spaulding graciously ave me a link on her wildly popular and award winning Pam's House Blend blog .
I thoroughly enjoyed getting to meet her and Alvin McEwen during the 2012 Netroots Nation and personally thanking her for doing that. Pam is a beloved and well respected figure in our ranks, and it saddened me to hear that due to health issues she closed down the Blend after nine years.
Those same health issues that caused her to close down Pam's House Blend have now caused her to lose a longtime job she had, and she's going to need a little help from us to get her through this fiscal crunch she's in.
So if you can help a blogging sister out, please do so. Link is here.
'International Women's Day also includes the issues that impact and ail trans feminine women across Planet Earth . Don't let anyone tell you it doesn't.' --TransGriot, March 8, 2015
Today is International Women's Day, which is observed internationally every March 8. it originally started in 1909 as a campaign for better pay and voting rights, it has evolved as a day to celebrate the achievements of women across the globe in the social, political, economic and cultural realms.
it is also a call to action to speed up the day that gender parity happens.
But sadly, this year's theme, Pledge For Parity, speaks to just how far we have to go to actually get to full equality for women across the planet. On a day that has its roots in agitating for voting rights and equal pay, it's sad to note that Saudi Arabia's women just received the right to vote last year, and the numbers of women who have led their nations is still a very small sorority.
It's also past time to equalize pay for men and women doing the same jobs. We have families in which women not only head the household , but whose income from those jobs are helping them to raise kids.
As to where trans women fit in this International Women's Day conversation, as women of trans experience that understand all too well how feminine bodies are demonized and dehumanized, we have our voices to add to this conversation. We also need to discuss how trans feminine women are fighting tooth and nail just for human rights recognition in our various nations.
We also need to talk this moment to point out that fighting for the human rights of trans feminine people expands human rights for cis women.
Happy International Women's Day to all my sisters, cis and trans..
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Two more primary elections are taking place today in Michigan and Mississippi in the wake of Sanders supporters getting all happy over their three caucus wins in Kansas, Maine and Nebraska while Clinton took Louisiana in another blowout fueled by Black voters.
But what they conveniently forget to mention is that despite the caucus wins in (ho hum) predominately white states, by the proportional allocation rules, Clinton still walked away with 76 delegates while Sanders came away with only 64 delegates.
Drip, drip drip. That's a +12 delegate gain for Clinton to add to her growing delegate lead, and it's only going to get better for her starting tonight..
Told y'all that failure to connect with Back voters would cost him the nomination. And as the media finally does the deep tissue vetting of Sanders, a problematic picture is emerging even before he opened mouth and inserted foot in it during that Flint debate with the stereotype laced comment about Black people just in time for the Michigan and Mississippi primaries. .
Michigan will be the big prize today with 130 delegates available, with Mississippi chipping in 35 more before this upcoming cluster of Saturday primary elections in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio that are worth 691 electoral votes.
And yeah, not only is Clinton leading in Michigan and Mississippi, she's also leading in all five states voting on Saturday,. Black Democratic voters will have a major say in who emerges victorious.in the wake of Bernie Sanders continuing to fail to connect with Black voters.
This murder happened on January 22 in Bakersfield, CA, but because of media deadnaming and misgendering by KBAK/KBFX-TV, we're just now finding out that we have lost 52 year old Jasmine Sierra.
Her body was found in an apartment in the 1000 block of Monterey St with signs of trauma indicating foul play is possibly involved..
Once again media peeps, misgendering a trans person has ripple effects. It not only pisses our community off, it makes it harder to find the killer because we don't know or don't care to use a person's deadname out of respect for them
Bakersfield police are still searching for the perpetrator of this crime, and if you have any information concerning this case you're asked to call 661-327-7111
'Neither should I or any trans person face dehumanization or disrespect when we are simply doing what other cis people are doing and are traveling across the country for business or pleasure.'
--TransGriot, October 10, 2016
One of the reasons that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) exists is because of the poor job private security contractors did at the nations airports prior to the 9-11 terror attacks.
Since November 2001 they have been part of the air travel experience for all Americans, and there is a love-hate relationship with the TSA that has even been commented on in movies like Baggage Claim and She's Out Of My League.
But the interactions with the TSA when we travel are no laughing matter to transgender travelers, and it seems increasingly to trans people that we are being disrespectfully at times targeted even before the Shadi Petosky mess in Orlando. Those concerns led to 32 Democratic congressmembers sending a letter to TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger expressing their concerns about their transgender search protocols.
Traveling while trans is already stress inducing at times. Getting singled out for scrutiny by the TSA when we know that trans bodies are regarded as 'anomalies' by this organization just adds another level to the anxiety we feel when we are taking to the skies to handle our business or pleasure travel.
It leads us in the trans community to perceive we're being harassed despite TSA assurances our community concerns are being heard and dealt with inside the organization with trans specific training and policies.
Those assurances ring hollow when I continue to be told disturbing reports from a diverse group of trans people about incidents ranging from snide transphobic comments by TSA agents as people are clearing security to inappropriate questioning about our transitions and genital area searches by TSA personnel who obviously don't have a clear understanding of the protocols supposedly put in place to protect the dignity and human rights of trans travelers.
The TSA needs to redouble their efforts to root out transphobia in its ranks that manifests itself at our nation's security checkpoints into harassment of trans travelers.
It was a split decision in Saturday's contests for the Democratic Party presidential nomination.
There were two caucuses in Kansas and Nebraska, and a primary election in Louisiana. While Sanders won the two Democratic caucuses in once again, predominately white states, Clinton won the Louisiana primary handily fueled by once again, the African-American vote.
The end result was that Sanders lost ground to Clinton despite the two caucus wins. Blowout win in primary state worth 51 delegates trumps (pun not intended) two caucus wins in state worth combined 55 delegates split proportionately.
Lets look at the math. Sanders won 37 delegates in Kansas and Nebraska to Clinton's 22. but because he lost in Louisiana, Sanders only received 12 delegates while Clinton gained 39 delegates
Sanders total delegates add up to 49, Clinton received 61 which means that she increased her lead by another 11 delegates last night.
Drip, Drip Drip. And while that was happening, she continued to add to that massive superdelegate lead, with more commitments coming her way in the runup to a critical week of contests starting on Tuesday.
Tuesday's contests will talk place in Michigan (130 delegates), Mississippi (36
delegates) and the Democratic caucus in Maine in which 25 delegates will be
available.
And FYI, Michigan and Mississippi have large Black populations, Maine doesn't.
This is the lead in to the five
Democratic primary contests in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North
Carolina, and Ohio in which 691 delegates will be up for grabs and once again, Sanders supporters, Black voters will have a major say in who wins those states.
And FYI, just another reminder that early voting is happening in Florida right now..
Clinton is inching closer to that magic number of 2.383 delegates, and we'll have a better idea how close she is to the prize that eluded her in 2008 after this weekend.
After racking up big Super Tuesday wins in seven states and the American Samoa caucus, the Democratic race to the nomination and accumulating the 2,383 delegates continues for Sec. Hillary Clinton and her challenger Sen. Bernie Sanders.
The big prize for today is Louisiana, with 51 delegates available in its primary election. There will also be two caucuses in Nebraska (25 delegates) and Kansas (33 delegates) happening before we move on to Tuesday's contests in Michigan (130 delegates), Mississippi (36 delegates) and the caucus in Maine in which 25 delegates will be available.
This is the political appetizer before next weekend's cluster of five Democratic primary contests in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio in which 691 delegates will be up for grabs.
And in bad news for Sanders supporters, need to remind y'all that Florida, Louisiana, Illinois, Mississippi, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio have large percentages of African-American voters with early voting happening in Florida right now as you peruse this post..
Sec. Clinton is building momentum, superdelegates are endorsing her and it's looking more and more like she is going to be the presumptive Democratic nominee to take on whoever comes out of the GOP KKKlown Car., which at the moment appears to be Donald Trump.
You can try to keep hope alive as a former Democratic nomination candidate once said, but the obese opera singer is warming up her lungs to sing that 'It's Over' aria.
Wish this had been available for us when we were fighting to keep HERO, but GLAAD recently announced the release of its Debunking The 'Bathroom Bill' Myth media guide.
It's designed to combat and debunk the lies and falsehoods used by our right wing oppressors to attack and demonize trans people. With the Republican Party making it clear that they will pursue anti- trans legislation for political advantage, this media guide couldn't have come at a more crucial time as we battle anti-trans bills and repeal referenda around the country.
"Anti-LGBT activists are viciously putting a target on our children's
backs by using fearmongering and misinformation in a desperate attempt
to legalize discrimination," said Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD President
& CEO. "Accurate reporting is crucial to provide voters with the
realities of these bills. This guide will help media tell the real story
of transgender-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances."
"It's imperative that the media fairly and accurately report on the
discrimination faced by transgender people and the importance of laws
which provide protections for them in housing, employment, and public
spaces. Alarmist attempts to frighten voters into rejecting fair
treatment for trans people must be challenged by journalists well armed
with the facts," said Nick Adams, Director of Programs for Transgender
Media at GLAAD.
As we found out the hard way in Houston during our fight to keep the HERO, the media not getting it right and unquestioningly repeating the lies of our opposition played a major role in our loss
Hopefully, the availability of this new media guide will help put an end to the Bathroom Bill lies..
Lost in the euphoria over the failed attempt to override Gov. Daugaard's veto of HB 1008 by the GOP controlled South Dakota House was news on the senate side of the capitol building in Pierre that another unjust anti-trans bill has died.
The Senate Education Committee on a 5-2 vote killed HB 1112, which was another attack on our trans kids that would have if passed rescinded the pro-trans participation policy of the South Dakota High School Activities Association (SDHSAA)..
Trans students and allies like the SDHSAA, the ACLU-SD, and others stood up for the huan rights of trans kids that wee under assault by the Concerned Transphobes Women Of America, the Family heritage Alliance and other assorted haters.
While this unjust bill is dead, the session still is in effect until March 31, so the South Dakota trans community and our allies will have to be vigilant for any attempts to resurrect HB 1112 as an amendment to another bill or smoke it out of the committee by having it brought to the SD Senate floor by a senate floor vote.
But congrats once again to South Dakota for their so far successful efforts to beat back the attempts to legislate anti-trans bigotry aimed at our trans kids.
We're now into the first week of March, and what that means is we're about to start our annual national obsession with college basketball and the NCAA tournament. This year the NCAA Men's Final Four will be played at NRG Stadium here in H-town on April 2-4, and the NCAA Women's Final Four will take place in Indianapolis April 3-5.
The conference tournaments will be kicking off this weekend and next for the power conferences to settle what teams get their respective conferences automatic tournament bids, with the rest of the tournament field being revealed on the nationally televised tournament selection shows for the men's and women's tournaments o see what teams riding the bubble got in and who didn't..
And yes, I'll be joining in the national Bracketology madness as I reveal my NCAA men's and women's tournament brackets
Speaking of March Madness, let's segue into my usual Friday business of calling out our assorted fools for their championship levels of arrogance and WTF mind blowing ignorance.
It's time for this week's edition of the TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards.
Honorable mention number one goes to the still unnamed 43 year old ammosexualwho was taking selfies with his gun in Skagit County, Washington and forgot he left a bullet in the chamber. It was the last thing this Darwin Award nominee would forget because he accidentally shot himself in the face.
Well, that's one less vote for Donald Trump.
Honorable mention number two is Stephen A. Smith, who during a Black History Month event at the University of South Alabama told the students there they 'didn't experience racism'.
Oh really? Negro, please.
Honorable mention number three is a group award to the Berners who attacked Elizabeth Warren, have pissed off superdelegates, and generally not played well with others online
Honorable mention number four is a group award for the Louisville Trump rally attendees who tapped into their inner bigots and shoved a sister being thrown out of their Klan rally.
Guess they didn't get the 'We're not racist' memo from Speaker Paul Ryan.
Bullshyt. Your party's path to political power and keeping it since the late 60's is not only based on the Nixonian Southern Strategy playbook, but pouring gasoline on the hellfire flames of bigotry and anti-POC racism keeps your low information base voters angry and voting GOP.
Honorable mention number six is the employees of the Redmond Athletic Club in Redmond, WA. They lost their lease on Monday and Seattle Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor was thinking about buying it.
He rolls up to check out the place, looks into the window, asks for help and the two female employees of the RAC called the cops on him.
Can you say 'bigoted idiots' TransGriot peeps? Thought you could. Needless to say Kam ain't wasting his time or dropping his cash on a purchase of this health club.
Honorable mention number seven is New Hampshire state rep Kyle Tasker. The 30 year old legislative perv got busted for trying to get freaky with a 14 year old girl he solicited online that turned out to be a police officer.
And note once again this armed GOP child predator wasn't in a bathroom or wearing female clothing at the time he was trying to make that tawdry hookup.
Honorable mention number eight is Jeffrey Lord. The Trump surrogate got called out by Van Jones on CNN for the crime of trying to spin the Ku Klux Klan as a liberal organization when anyone with a reality based grasp of American history knows they are a right wing white supremacist terrorist organization.
But naw, anything to make Donald Trump, conservatism, whiteness and white supremacy look pristine and not as evil, oppressive and ugly as it is in reality.
This week's Shut up Fool loser winner is Caitlyn Jenner, who returned to the SUF ranks thanks to a Dawn Ennis interview in The Advocate in which Jenner expressed the desire to be a trans ambassador for transphobic oppressor Ted Cruz
Hold up, just thought of something else to put her on blast for. I`m a proud Texan, and even I don`t want for the rest of my lifetime another Republican Texan at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Especially someone as slimy as the junior senator from Alberta
I have one other thing to say about this latest demonstration of conservaidiocy from Jenner.
19 year old Jose Pena and 24 year old Tiffany Floyd were arrested this week and charged with murder and conspiracy in Young's death.
Floyd was denied bail and is being held pending her scheduled March 16 hearing at 9 AM in Room 306 of the Criminal Justice Center.
Pena was also denied bail, but is being held in a juvenile facility. His hearing is scheduled at 9 AM in Room 306 of the Criminal Justice Center on March 23. In case you Philly area peeps wish to witness the proceedings in either case, the Criminal Justice Center is located at 1301 Filbert St.
Will be checking on this case to see if our fallen sister receives justice .
Never underestimate the eager determination of Republicans and the outside groups pushing the unjust bills to oppress a downtrodden group. They've made it clear that oppressing trans people is on the legislative agenda for their party in 2016.
One of the reasons the anti-trans hate groups like the Liberty Counsel and the Alliance Defending Freedom chose South Dakota for this fight is because the Republicans in the Mount Rushmore State have had decades long supermajorities in both houses. They have controlled the 70 member South Dakota House since 1976, and the 35 member South Dakota Senate since 1996.
The Republican controlled House attempted to jump start the process today of overriding the governor's veto. They needed to get two-thirds of the House members to vote for the override resolution, and then do the same in the senate in order to successfully override Gov. Daugaard's veto and make HB 1008 law.
The vote to override in the SD House went 36-29 with five abstentions, which means it failed to get the necessary two-thirds support. to send it to the senate and turn this unjust bill attacking the humanity of SD trans kids into an unjust law.
Translation: HB 1008 is DEAD!
They failed thanks to the determined efforts of South Dakota based trans people, advocates at the local, state and national level and their allies.
But there is still one more anti-trans bill, HB 1112 still percolating in the South Dakota legislature we have to keep our eyes on that is attacking our trans kids.
I hope the South Dakota legislature will see the wisdom of not attacking the humanity of trans kids and let that unjust bill suffer the same fate.
At first when I heard this, I thought this was a satire site headline, but unfortunately it's WTF inducing true. Caitlyn Jenner, trans Republican, said in an The Advocateprofile interview with Dawn Ennis that she wants to be the trans ambassador for my junior senator from Alberta, Ted Cruz.
Yeah, let me repeat that. Caitlyn Jenner wants to be the trans ambassador for Ted Cruz, the same one who is running for the GOP nomination for president. He is an unrepentant dominionist azzhole whose father and wife thinkz that Conservagod wants him to be POTUS. Cruz has demonized trans people during this campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, but Caitlyn thinks he's 'very nice'.
You're kidding me, right? And some of y'all started tripping when I called her out two months ago.
That was a comment so breathtakingly clueless I have to wonder if she's officially joined the Log Cabin Republicans.
You're going to be should this country lose its collective mind and elect that Canadian as president, the trans ambassador for a guy who thinks that the Obama administration's support for trans kids is lunacy, has unleashed other anti-trans attacks while on the campaign trail. and denounced the HERO when we were fighting to keep our human rights law.
Keep on believing you'll be able to have any influence on your transphobic party as a trans Republican, especially since they basically declared war on us by calling for state GOP controlled legislatures to pass anti-trans measures.
Then again, don`t think, wake the f**k up.
The major reason I'm rooting for Donald Trump to get the GOP nomination is because this nation does not need another Texas Republican in the White House, especially at this critical time in our nation's history.
And Caitlyn, while you have every right to support whoever you wish in this 2016 presidential contest, I would suggest that you not support a presidential candidate who thinks it's sound political strategy and policy to demonize our trans younglings for political gain.
