Bryanna Needs Some Support

My Baltimore based sis Bryanna Jenkins has been accepted to DePaul University's College of Law in Chicago and will be headed to Chicago in August to join the Class of 2019!

I'm proud of her for getting a step closer to her dream of becoming an attorney, and Bryanna wants to concentrate on the areas of public interest and civil rights law.

The 27 year old Jenkins is an award winning advocate for our community who was recently honored with a 2016 BTAC Rising Stars Award.

While she was awarded a $60K renewable scholarship and has applied for countless others, as those of us who have pursued higher education know, scholarships don't cover all the costs of your legal education.

She'll also be resigning her position at her job in Baltimore in August to make that move to Chitown and get her legal education started.

Bryanna started a GoFundMe page two months ago with a goal of raising $5000 to help her defray some of her moving expenses and get settled in Chicago.

However, I've been distressed to see that at the time I'm compiling this post, unfortunately she has raised just $805 toward that goal, and the clock is inexorably ticking toward the August moment that she will have to move from Baltimore to Chicago to get settled for her first year of law school at DePaul.

She'll also need for her dorm room appliances, bedding, and old law school textbooks while she's getting her legal education in the Windy City.

Can we show our trans sister some love and contribute to her fund?  Chicago based trans fam, can y'all also do what y'all can to help Bryanna out when she arrives in your backyard?

If you can drop $5, $10, $20 or whatever you can spare on her GoFundMe, every little bit helps to get our sis closer to that $5000 goal.  You can also consider whatever you donate to Bryanna's GoFundMe it an investment in the education of a future legal advocate for our community, and the more trans attorneys we have, the better.

Thank you for considering helping our trans sister out.

Legal Drama 'Doubt' Featuring Laverne Cox Being Picked Up By CBS!

Been talking about the legal series Doubt, which features Laverne Cox as an Ivy League educated attorney that works at a boutique law firm.

The original pilot wasn't picked up by CBS last season, but what they did do was order a second retooled pilot episode with Katherine Heigl and Steven Pasquale as the new lead actors to replace KaDee Strickland and Teddy Sears.  

Laverne was part of both Doubt pilots, and it looks like CBS is finally going to pick up the show and order it as a series for its 2016-17 television lineup.

She'll be playing Cameron Wirth, who is competitive, fierce, funny, compassionate and fights hard for her clients as someone who experiences regular discrimination herself according to the character description..

By doing so, CBS helped Laverne make more groundbreaking Hollywood and television history.  When Doubt broadcasts its first episode this fall, it will become the first television series that has an out trans actress playing a trans main character in a broadcast series.

The show's cast in addition to Heigl and Pasquale in the lead roles, includes, Dule Hill, Dreama Walker, Elliott Gould, and Kobi Libii.

While Candis Cayne was on ABC's short lived 2007-2009 series Dirty Sexy Money for 11 episodes, her Carmelita Rainer character wasn't a main character, she was a recurring character.   Laverne's Cameron Wirth will be a main character from the outset of the show, and the first Black main trans character on a network TV show .

So congrats Laverne for getting another opportunity to make more television history, and may Doubt be a runaway success..

Will UH Be Heading To The Big 12?

Ever since the Southwest Conference broke up and TCU and UH were shadily left out of the merger of the SWC and Big 8 no thanks to former UT athletic director DeLoss Dodds, the end goal has been to get UH collegiate athletics back into a Power 5 conference where it belongs.

Dodds motivation for dissing UH during the formative stages of the Big 12 besides his burnt orange hatred for UH probably includes the fact he wanted to be able to have the lion's share of the Houston metro area's elite high school talent coming to Forty Acres instead of their local university on Cullen Blvd.

He knew firsthand that UH while in the SWC routinely and gleefully spanked the Longhorns and a University of Houston in the Big 12 would continue doing so.

But with the Big 12 having only ten teams (you need twelve to host a conference championship game) and with Texas A&M now being a member of the SEC, if the rumors and reports I'm hearing are correct looks like UH may finally get what it has been seeking since 1996 and become a member of the Big 12.

ESPN.com is reporting that UH, Memphis, Colorado State and UCF are lobbying the Big 12 in anticipation of the next round of league expansion.   If the Big 12 was wise it would expand to 14 teams, not just 12 as an insurance policy in case someone leaves for greener conference pastures.

Will we get to see the #HtownTakeover at a Big 12 stadium near you?  Maybe  Since they were unceremoniously kicked to the curb, things have changed.dramatically on campus.  It is a Tier One research institution like UT and Texas A&M, and is the third largest school in the state of Texas.

It is still sitting in the fourth largest city in the United States, is in the top area for Texas high school talent in all sports, is in a Top 10 TV market (number 7), and now has a METRO light rail line rolling past the west and south sides of the campus with a stop on the doorstep of the west gates of  the 40,000 seat (expandable to 60,000 seats) on campus TDECU Stadium.

UH is also a natural fit for the Big 12, and has rivalries with the four current Texas schools that would instantly be rekindled should they be extended an invitation to join the conference.

Also in UH's favor is many schools in the Big 12, with SEC member Texas A& M nearby, continue to express the sentiment that the league needs to decisively act to take back the Houston area as a Big 12 bastion before another Power 5 conference snaps us up.

In addition, the Big 12 North schools want Houston in the conference so they have a crack at recruiting the talent rich Houston area.  Their recruiting pipelines to the Houston area vanished after Texas A&M SECeded, and they need the ability to play a regular scheduled game in Houston so that they can have a shot at recruiting the Houston area's talented kids against the Texas Big 12 schools.

Even the current players in the Big 12, when they are surveyed, would like to see UH extended an invitation to join the conference.

And even more delicious for Cougar fans, UH membership in the league in addition to accomplishing a mission we've been on since being dissed and dismissed in 1996 means that the Texas based Big 12 schools could no longer run from playing us anymore.

While the Big XII continues to publicly downplay they are expanding, University of Oklahoma president David Boren,  Kansas State coach Bill Snyder and Baylor head coach Art Briles have been pushing for Big XII expansion.  It was confirmed that University of West Virginia president Gordon Gee, who sits on the Big XII expansion committee, paid UH a visit back in November.  

The November 30 UH campus visit wasn't for expansion purposes, but Gee quickly found himself in UH president Renu Khator's office for an hour, met UH head football coach Tom Herman, and was escorted by UH AD Hunter Yurachek, several members of the UH Board of Regents on a tour of the UH athletic facilities.  

So will we see the Cougars in the Big 12?  Sure hope so. UH will get a taste of Big 12 play when they open the season with Oklahoma at NRG stadium September 3, and we'll find out next month whether it happens for us.

If it does, I'd love to go to the Jerrydome and watch my boys play in a Big XII title game, or see a basketball game at a sold out renovated Hofheinz Pavilion against Kansas

And I'd love to see my Cougars once again routinely beating the hell out of Texas.

Kim Coco Iwamoto Running For Hawaii Senate!

I've been saying that we need to have trans people writing the laws instead of begging to be included in them or working to kill unjust ones, and looks like in this election cycle people are stepping up to do precisely that.

.One of those people is Kim Coco Iwamoto, a commissioner on the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission.  She's been even since her appointment by Gov. Neil Abercrombie in 2012 serving her term due to expire this year.

 Kim Coco Iwamoto has announced she is going to run for public office again in her native Hawaii..

The 47 year old attorney was elected in 2006 to the Hawaii State Board of Education, which at the time made her the highest ranking out trans politician in the US and the first openly trans person to win statewide office.  She was reelected in 2010 with 25% more votes that she received in her previous election .

Iwamoto announced she is running for the Senate District 13 seat being vacated by longtime legislator Suzanne Chun Oakland (D) who announced she is not running for another Senate term after serving since 1990 in the Hawaii House and Senate.

Hawaii has had a penchant for political firsts,and here's hoping that the Aloha State and Kim Coco makes history again.   I hope the next time I'm blessed to be in the same space with her, I get to call her Senator Iwamoto.

But that will be up to the voters of Senate District 13 to decide.

Rep. Alan Grayson Calls Out NC's Cisgender Bigots

Y'all know how much i love Rep Alan Grayson (D-FL) who is making a run for the Florida US senate seat that Marco Rubio is leaving.

Grayson has had no problem calling out the conservafools, and I wish more Dems would follow his lead and call them on their WTF level hypocrisy and doublespeak.
.
I wish Rep. Grayson had gone further in this 13 minute House floor speech and called out all the cisgender bigots, including my governor, lieutenant governor, and indicted attorney general..

Here's Rep. Grayson floor speech.

Shut Up Fool Awards-Friday The 13th Edition

It's not just any Friday on the calendar, it's Shut Up Fool awards day.  It's one of the ongoing features of this blog that you TransGriot readers tell me you absolutely love every week, and thank you for your suggestions and nominations as to what fools, fools or group of fools need to be highlighted.

It's also Friday the 13th and interestingly enough, the only Friday the 13th we'll have on the 2016 calendar.  So for those of you who have triskaidekiphobia, you can breathe easy now.

So what's triskaidekiphobia?  Fear of the number thirteen..

So let's to calling out the fool, fools or group of fools who scare us because of their lack of intelligence, who exhibit scary over the top cluelessness, and stun us with their WTF arrogance?

Honorable mention number one is Sally Kern, for doubling down o  her gay baiting on her term limited way out of the Oklahoma legislature.

Honorable mention number two is Sarah Eldridge, the foul mouth transphobe who attacked trans women Pearl love on a NY subway train recently, then her unrepentant azz demanded in an interview that people don't judge her.

WTF?  You're lucky that Pearl isn't filing charges against you, or you didn't run into a trans woman who would have mopped the floor with your behind and filed her nails after she did so..

Honorable mention number three is Texas AG Ken Paxton, who played the white conservafool victim card and claim that his azz is facing three felony indictments because he is a 'conservative christian' with strong faith'.

if your faith was as strong as you claim it is, you wouldn't have done the shady crap that got you indicted in the first place, you hypocrite.

Honorable mention number four is Gov Pat McCrory, who is continuing to do his George Wallace impression in NC and continue lying to the nation and the world that HB 2 isn't a discriminatory bill.

This time he tries to whitesplain and claim the Black AG was irresponsible and it was an insult yo correlate the trans rights struggle with the Black civil rights one.

Seriously Pat?

Honorable mention number five is Anne Graham Lotz, the sister of Franklin Graham who jumped on the hate on trans people bandwagon and made the ridiculous claim that trans people peeing and pooping in bathrooms caused 9-11.

Now you white cisgender conservafool idiots are really reaching and just are throwing crap on the wall to see what sticks.

You Grahams all need psychiatric help.

This week's Shut Up Fool loser  winner is  Lt. Governor Dan Goeb Patrick for his week in which he barged into a FWISD board meeting Tuesday to demand the superintendent resign for standing up for the humanity of trans kids, railed against the Obama administration on several networks,all for the benefit of the GOP peeps at their Dallas convention this week.

I'd call you a douche bag, but that would be disrespectful to feminine hygiene products.

Dan Patrick, shut up fool!

Jillian Weiss Appearing Again On CNN Legal View

I guess CNN loves Dr. Jillian Weiss as much as I and the trans community does.

After her May 9 appearance on Legal View With Ashleigh Banfield to discuss the legal issues surrounding HB 2, Dr Weiss will be back on CNN again at 12 noon EDT/11 AM CDT to discuss not only HB 2, but the recent declaration by the DOJ that they will do everything possible to protect trans people and today's Department of Education decree..

Should be an interesting and informative discussion from one of our community's wonderful attorneys.  If you want to hear how this affect us trans folks legally from someone who has tried and won trans civil rights cases, then you need to tune in if possible..  

Once CNN posts the video from this latest conversation, I'll post it on the blog.,

Department Of Education Issues Decree Protecting Transgender Students

It's been a great week for the American trans community thanks to the attorney general's declaration that they and the Obama Administration will do everything possible to protect trans Americans going forward, and we have even more evidence of this morning.

The Department of Education this morning is issuing a directive in a letter signed by officials from the Department of Education and the Department of Justice's Vanita Gupta  that states all public schools across the nation must be allowed to use restrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identity.

The letter will also state that under federal law a school's obligation to ensure nondiscrimination on the basis of sex requires schools to provide transgender students equal access to educational programs and activities even in circumstances in which other students, parents or community members raise objections or concerns..

'As is consistently recognized in civil rights cases, the desire to accommodate others discomfort cannot justify  a policy that singles out and disadvantages a particular class of students.'

“No student should ever have to go through the experience of feeling unwelcome at school or on a college campus,” said Secretary of Education  John B. King Jr.in a statement. “We must ensure that our young people know that whoever they are or wherever they come from, they have the opportunity to get a great education in an environment free from discrimination, harassment and violence.”

the decree does not have the force of law, but schools that continue to discriminate against transgender students may face loss of federal funding.

Massachusetts Senate Overwhelmingly Passes Trans Protections Bill

You longtime TransGriot readers know I've been extremely critical about Massachusetts passing a public accommodations free trans rights bill in November 2011 that I considered problematic.

The words I used to describe its passage at the time was 'moldy civil rights bread.'

It's now five years later, and the Massachusetts State Senate finally got to trans human rights business and passed SB 735, which adds explicit public accommodations protections for trans residents of Massachusetts including parks, restaurants, hospitals and public restrooms..  

The bill passed on a lopsided 33-4 vote in the Democratically controlled Senate and now moves to the Democratically controlled  Massachusetts House.

"It is our responsibility to advance these provisions when there is clearly evidence that transgender people can and are being discriminated against,"said Senate President Stanley Rosenberg in a BuzzFeed News interview before the vote..

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker (R) after a contentious April 13 meeting, so far has indicated after hemming and hawing for a while that he won't veto it if it hits his desk. .

Bye, Sally Kern!

I don't like term limits for a lot of reasons for legislative and city council seats because I believe they punish good legislators who deserve longer terms in our legislative bodies.   I also dislike them because it was an idea pushed by conservatives who when they proposed them were having a hard time getting elected to those then Democratically controlled legislatures and city councils

I've seen term limits in Houston rob us of Annise Parker, who if she'd been able to run in 2015 probably could have gotten another term as Houston's mayor.

Oklahoma instituted term limits for their state legislators after passage of a ballot question in 1990 that took effect in 1992.  It slapped a 12 year combined limit on anyone elected to the Oklahoma House or Senate unless they were elected during a special election to fill a vacancy.

So why am I writing about Oklahoma term limits?.  Keep reading, because it will make your day.

The 101 member Oklahoma House has 19 members terming out in 2016.   One of the notable names terming out for those of us who are political junkies paying attention to who our enemies are,  is none other than Rep. Sally Kern (R-Oklahoma City) the racist, transphobic, homophobic, sexist, (fill in the blank) Bible-thumping Talabaptist enemy of TBLGQ  people in her home state and across the country.

Kern was elected six times to her seat, and was challenged by trans feminine civil rights attorney Brittany Novotny in 2010.  She repeatedly sponsored tried to pass anti-LGBT legislation in Oklahoma, but thanks to the hard work of activists there, she failed including this session.

But hallelujah, praise the Lord and pass the voter registration cards!. The OKC Queen of Mean is going to have to give up her House seat.   And for that I'm doing the happy dance.

So are the peeps in Oklahoma.

“I can tell you all LGBTQ Oklahomans look forward to Rep. Sally Kern’s last day in public office,” said Toby Jenkins, the executive director of Oklahomans For Equality in a Tulsa Word interview. “She has given 12 years of constant attack against gay, lesbian and transgender Oklahomans.

But before she split, she got uninterrupted time on the Oklahoma House floor to say goodbye, and Kern used that time according to The Advocate to launch one last anti-LGBT rant on her way out of the chamber

"In 2008, I did say the homosexual agenda is worse than terrorism," Kern told her legislative colleagues on Wednesday. "I didn't apologize in 2008, and I don't apologize today.".

And we in TBLG World aren't apologizing for being happy your Talabaptist behind is leaving office.

Bye, Sally.  Hope you stay retired from politics.  But I have the sinking feeling you're going to try to take this homophobic act national..

Black Transwomen, Inc AYOMBI Online Trans Feminine Support Group MeetingTonight

One of the things that was discussed during the recently concluded BTAC 2016 conference was ramped up programming for the Black Transmen, Inc (BTMI) sister organization Black Transwomen, Inc (BTWI).

We had a Grand AYOMBI during the conference moderated by Dee Dee Watters, and tonight, BTWI will begin holding on the second Thursday of every month online AYOMBI Sister Circle meetings.

They start at 7 PM CDT and if you wish to participate in AYOMBI, you need to register at this link to receive your invitation.

The May AYOMBI meeting will be facilitated by Jade Lenore, and the topic is "Self Love..What Do I Feel I Deserve In Love And Life?'   The meeting will open at 6:45 PM with the meeting beginning at 7 PM for all guests who have registered to attend.

So what's AYOMBI?  It's a BTWI sponsored monthly gathering of  sisters withing a safe, respectful and confidential environment opened to all trans women at all stages of their transitions.  BTWI understands that at times, there's a need to ask questions, express feelings, and express transitioning concerns.

In this AYOMBI space the goal is to on a monthly basis explore relevant topics of the transition journey.  

AYOMBI is a free service that is offered and presented by the women of Black Transwomen, Inc.  If you require further information or have questions about it, you can call BTWI at 1-855-255-8636

Two Arrests Made In Keyonna Blakeney Case

Good news to report in the case concerning our departed sister Keyonna Blakeney, who was found on April 16 beaten and stabbed to death in a Rockville, MD hotel room days after celebrating her birthday.  

 Two arrests have been made in the case.  Montgomery County. MD police with the assistance of US Marshals have arrested 21 year old Keith Christopher Renier and 17 year old juvenile Arbra Arnie Bethea in SE Washington DC yesterday and charged both of them with first degree murder..  

Bethea has been charged (and rightly so) as an adult in this case, but because he is a juvenile, a photo of him was not released to the media.  Renier and Bethea are also facing charges of armed robbery, conspiracy to commit first degree murder and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.

Both are being held in the custody of the district of Columbia Department of Corrections and are both awaiting extradition to Montgomery County, MD.

Stay tuned to these TransGriot electronic pages to get more information about this ongoing Blakeney case as I receive it.  Let's also hope and pray that justice is properly served.

A Trans Soldier's Story

I've had the honor and pleasure of knowing Karen Kendra Holmes online for several years, and finally got to meet her in person during the 2015 Black Trans Advocacy Conference in Dallas..

Here's is an amazing story.  She's a federal government safety officer and a staff sergeant with the Maryland Defense Force who was named Soldier of the Year in 2013.  She's also a Red Cross Volunteer.

Karen is just one example of the amazing and talented people I get the meet and hang around with in the trans community that I consider myself blessed to be a part of.

Karen was the subject of a recent WMAR-TV news feature story about her that needs to be seen by you TransGriot readers.  Enjoy

Geraldine Roman Celebrates Her Historic Win!

"i'm elated, very, very happy. I'm also excited to work.  I realize that the burden is bigger because the stereotype of people around the LGBT (community) is we are frivolous, that we have nothing substantial to say, so I have to prove them wrong."
--Philippine Congresswoman-elect Geraldine Roman 

Geraldine B. Roman has made history with the help of the voters of the 1st District of her native Bataan province and followed in the footsteps of her mother Herminia and late father Antonino by being elected to the Philippine Congress.

That Roman family dynastic political pedigree helped her roll up 62% of the vote on her way to her groundbreaking win and allowed her to succeed her term-limited mother.

It's also an election victory that is being celebrated in the Philippine trans community and around the world, and by the congresswoman-elect.

"The politics of bigotry, hatred and discrimination did not triumph.  What triumphed was the politics of love, acceptance and respect, " she said in an AFP interview.

Roman is also eager to get to her legislative work.  She wants to silence her critics that she is a one issue politician who shouldn't be taken seriously, and realizes that as the first trans legislator in Philippine history she has a microscope on her..  

"I'm elated, very, very happy, Roman said. "I'm also excited to work.  I realize that the burden is bigger because the stereotype of people around the LGBT (community) is we are frivolous, that we have nothing substantial to say, so I have to prove them wrong."

"I want to inspire everybody.  There are many factors for discrimination: On the basis of gender, age, educational attainment, creed.  So to all people who experience discrimination, I want to inspire them."

But Roman in addition to wanting to be an inspiration to her fellow TBLG Filipinos to consider running for office, also recognizes that she has a constituency that starts in the 1st District of Bataan.  If she wants to serve the full nine years she can under the Philippine Constitution and accomplish her legislative agenda, she has to focus on her legislative district constituents back home first.

While she has vowed to work on repealing the 2001 ban that make it nearly impossible for transpinays and trans pinoys to change their names and gender markers as she was able to do in the 1990's, she also wishes to continue her family's three generational commitment to helping the poor.  She wants to see as part of her legislative platform more poor students nationwide get scholarships.

"Equality is not only in terms of gender but also in terms of socioeconomic status.  To be rich or poor should not matter. Whether educated or not, people should have the same opportunities so I'm going beyond gender to include more issues," said Roman .

She also wants to as part of her legislative agenda push for an anti-discrimination law that ensures equal treatment in the workplace, schools, commercial establishments and government offices.

When Congresswoman-elect Roman does get inaugurated, as the first trans person elected to the Philippine Congress, the sixth worldwide to her national legislature and the second in the Asia-Pacific region, she will be one of the freshman legislators who will be watched by the her nation and the world.

As a member of the international trans family, I hope she's successful at not only silencing her critics and getting her proposed agenda turned into law, but she's successful in turning those critic into allies..

I also hope that Roman's success goes a long way toward breaking down stereotypes about what transpinays and transpinoys can do to help build that inclusive Philippines everyone wants.

GENDA Overwhelmingly Passes NY Assembly For Ninth Consecutive Time!

In the wake of the historic press conference in which Attorney General Loretta Lynch and head of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division Vanita Gupta countersued the state of North Carolina for the unjust HB 2,  in New York State they were celebrating the announcement that the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act (GENDA) has passed the New York State Assembly for the ninth consecutive time.

GENDA if passed would protect New Yorkers from discrimination based on their gender identity or expression in employment, housing and education..

Once again, the vote wasn't close in the Democratically controlled New York State Assembly, in which they hold a 103-47 supermajority,.  GENDA (A-4558b/S-0061b) passed on a 81-46 vote.

"This legislation represents the Assembly's continues commitment to protecting all New Yorkers from discriminatory practices," said NY Assembly Speaker Carl Hastie.  "It is unconscionable that neither the federal or state government have declared discrimination against transgender individuals illegal.  This bill addresses that injustice."

'Transgender rights are human rights," said Chairman Richard Gottfried, sponsor of the bill. "it's an embarrassment to New Yorkers that 18 states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws barring discrimination on the basis of gender identity, while GENDA can't even get a vote in our State Senate.  While North Carolina and other states try to roll back progress by attacking transgender rights, New York should stand up for common sense, fairness and justice,"  

But the problem for GENDA has consistently been since 2007 that the bill has gone to the Republican controlled New York Senate, and hasn't even gotten a floor vote because it keeps getting killed in committee..

Hopeful this will finally be the year in which Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) uses some of that political capital and his bully pulpit to get it done like he did on gay marriage.

It is now in the New York Senate's Investigations and Government Operations Committee.  The entire nation will be watching to see if this will be the year that GENDA actually gets out of committee and gets and up or down vote in the GOP controlled  Senate.

The TX Values Transphobes Are Planning To Swarm The FWISD Board Meeting Today

Pissed off because the Fort Worth Independent School District decided to clarify its policies impacting trans students,  the transphobic ignorati stirred up by my transphobic Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and Texas Haters Values are planning to swarm tonight's FWISD board meeting that starts at 5:30 PM to vent their spleens at Superintendent Dr. Kent Scribner and the FWISD school board for their policy they quietly approved and announced at their April 19 board meeting...

Their plans are to pack the room with haters and send hate mail to the FWISD board, so let's have some fun spoiling those plans.  

Our transphobic Lt. Governor will also be in the FWISD house to demand the resignation of Superintendent Scribner and the repeal of the policy.

According to my sources in the DFW area, both those events Patrick is demanding have as much chance of happening as the Cowboys moving to San Antonio to play their games at the Alamodome this season.


Local folks in Fort Worth and the DFW Metroplex who support the new policy and our trans kids are asked to show up wearing RED before the 5:30 PM meeting start time.    If you want a seat in the chamber, I suggest you get there an hour before that, especially if you want to deny seats to the haters who will probably be busing in from exurban hate megachurches or driving in from the surrounding teabagging exurbs.

If you can't make it to FWISD headquarters to show your support for the school board, you can e-mail the members . The haters are calling for people across Texas and the USA to do so, so they have opened the door for us fair minded citizens and the national and international trans community to reciprocate.

I think the FWISD board would appreciate getting some friendly supportive calls and e-mails, so if you have time, please send these FWISD board members thank you e-mails for standing up for the rights and humanity of ALL their students because we know the faux faith based opposition is sending them facts free hate mail as you read this.

Here are some facts debunking the bathroom lies to help you as you compose those supportive e-mails.

. FWISD Board President  Jacinto “Cinto” Ramos, Jr – jacinto.ramos@fwisd.org

1. Tobi Jackson – tobi.jackson@fwisd.org
   Christene Chadwick Moss – christene.moss@fwisd.org
   Theophlous Aron Sims, Sr. – ta.sims@fwisd.org
   Judy Needham – judy.needham@fwisd.org
   Ann Sutherland – ann.sutherland@fwisd.org
   Norman Robbins – norman.robbins@fwisd.org
   Matthew Avila – matthew.avila@fwisd.org
   Ashley Paz – ashley.paz@fwisd.org

The FWISD administration building is located at 2903 Shotts Street in Fort Worth.  The meeting will be livestreamed, and if you live in the DFW area you can see it live on Charter cable channel 192 and , AT&T U-Verse channel 99

If you wish to speak before the board or find out what their policies are to do so, I would suggest calling the Office of the Board of Education at 817-814-1920.
.
Here's hoping that Dan Patrick and Texas Values don't get what they want in the optics of a parade of haters on the local news ignorantly blasting the school board and Superintendent Scribner for the trans inclusive policy.

I also don't want our trans kids who are attending FWISD schools seeing that soul crushing spectacle of one person after another denigrating their humanity.
   

Vanita Gupta's Remarks On The NC HB 2 Federal Countersuit

After US Attorney General Loretta Lynch made her eloquent remarks body slamming HB 2 and telling the trans community the DOJ and the Obama Administration had their backs, Vanita Gupta, the head of the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ spoke.

And yes, Trans World, her remarks deserve just as much attention as AG Lynch, since it's discussing and explaining the basis for the upcoming lawsuit.

So here's Gupta's May 9 remarks concerning the lawsuit filed by the DOJ against the state of North Carolina, Gov Pat McCrory, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and the University of North Carolina against the unjust HB 2.. .

***

Thank you, Attorney General [Loretta E.] Lynch, for those powerful words.  Throughout the arc of our country’s history – from tragedies of injustice to marches for equality – there have been pivotal moments when America’s leaders chose to stand up and speak out to safeguard the ideal of equal justice under law.  And history will record your inspiring words and our forceful action today as one of these moments. 

I also want to take a moment to thank the entire team throughout the Civil Rights Division and the Department of Justice, who have worked tirelessly over the last several weeks to ensure that everyone in North Carolina has the full protections of our laws.

Today, we filed a federal civil rights complaint in federal court in the Middle District of North Carolina.  Before I discuss the details of our legal argument, I want to make one thing clear.  Calling H.B. 2 a “bathroom bill” trivializes what this is really about.  H.B. 2 translates into discrimination in the real world.  The complaint we filed today speaks to public employees who feel afraid and stigmatized on the job.  It speaks to students who feel like their campus treats them differently because of who they are.  It speaks to sports fans who feel forced to choose between their gender identity and their identity as a Tar Heel.  And it speaks to all of us who have ever been made to feel inferior – like somehow we just don’t belong in our community, like somehow we just don’t fit in.  Let me reassure every transgender individual, right here in America, that you belong just as you are.  You are supported.  And you are protected.       

Our complaint brings legal claims under three different civil rights statutes.  Two of these statutes are long-standing protections against discrimination in the employment and education contexts: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.  It is fitting that these statutes – which emerged from our nation’s long struggle to banish a legacy of legal discrimination – are now being used to defend, to uphold and to reaffirm the progress that resulted from that struggle; progress that represents America at its best, at its brightest and at its strongest.        

Title IX and Title VII prohibit discrimination based on sex.  The Department of Justice has for some time now made clear that sex discrimination includes discrimination against transgender people – that is, discrimination based on gender identity.  That is consistent not only with the language of the statutes, but also with the legal interpretations adopted by federal courts – including the appellate court with jurisdiction over the state of North Carolina.  There is nothing radical or even particularly unusual about the notion that the word “sex” includes the concept of “gender.”  Transgender people are discriminated against because their gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth.  H.B. 2 denies transgender people something that all non-transgender people enjoy and take for granted: access to restrooms consistent with their gender identity.  That’s sex discrimination, plain and simple.  This view is only confirmed when proponents of measures like H.B. 2 misinterpret or make up facts about gender identity.  Here are the facts.  Transgender men are men – they live, work and study as men.  Transgender women are women – they live, work and study as women.

Our Title VII claim is brought against the state and governor of North Carolina, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and the University of North Carolina because of sex discrimination in employment.  Our Title IX claim is brought against the University of North Carolina because of sex discrimination in its education programs.

We also bring a claim under the Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA, a more recent statute specifically designed to prevent discrimination against transgender people by entities that accept certain federal funds.  As with Title IX, entities that accepted federal funds under VAWA – including UNC and the North Carolina Department of Public Safety – pledged that they would not discriminate on the basis of sex or gender identity.  Our complaint seeks to enforce that pledge and hold those entities accountable for the discrimination required by H.B. 2.

Even as we seek that compliance, we remain committed to working with any agency receiving federal funding to develop a plan to ensure their compliance with federal law.

For the reasons I just highlighted, H.B. 2 violates the law.  But H.B. 2 also threatens the values that define us as a people.  These values are timeless.  These values say to all people that you can be who you are, and you deserve to live with dignity.

The complaint filed today seeks to enforce these laws and protect these values.  At this time, the Attorney General and I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

***

Laila Ireland Wins AMPA Military Spouse Leadership Award

May 6 was Military Spouse Appreciation Day, and how apropos was it that on Saturday night in our nation's capital the third annual American Military Partner Association's (AMPA) national gala was held in our nation's capital at the Hyatt Regency Washington Capitol Hill.

So what's the American Military Partner Association?  It  is a 501(c)(3)  organization founded in 2009 by the same gender loving partners of active duty service members that has grown to 45,000 members.

AMPA's mission is connecting, supporting, honoring, and serving the partners and spouses of America’s LGBT service members.   Since its founding, AMPA has become the nation's largest resource and support network for the partners, spouses, families and allies of America's trans, bi, lesbian and gay service members.

Ever since last year's LGBT Pride Reception, Army Cpl Laila and her Air Force Senor Airman spouse Logan Ireland have been getting increasing visibility and attention as just two representatives of the over 15,000 trans Americans who are serving in the US Armed Forces.

And what's ever cooler about Laila and Logan is they are a married trans military couple featured in the documentary Transgender, At War and In Love.

We hope that later this month open trans military service will finally become a reality for the Irelands and our trans siblings proudly serving in our nation's military.

At Saturday's AMPA Gala, Laila received the American Military Partner Association's Military Spouse Leadership Award.

Here's video of Laila's AMPA Military Spouse Leadership Award acceptance speech at the AMPA Gala.



Congratulations Laila!  It was well deserved,.and thank you, Logan and all our trans siblings for your service for us and our country.

AG Loretta Lynch Drops The Legal Hammer On NC

"Let me also speak directly to the transgender community itself.  Some of you have lived freely for decades.  Others of you are still wondering how you can possibly live the lives you were born to lead.  But no matter how isolated or scared you may feel today, the Department of Justice and the entire Obama Administration wants you to know that  we see you; we stand with you; and we will do everything we can to protect you going forward.  Please know that history is on your side.  This country was founded on a promise of equal rights for all, and we have always managed to move closer to that promise, little by little, one day at a time.  It may not be easy – but we’ll get there together. "
--US Attorney General Loretta Lynch, May 9, 2016

In response to North Carolina filing a federal lawsuit today to defend their unjust Hate Bill 2 and Gov. Wallace Pat McCrory's laughable claim they are being 'bullied' by the federal government, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch dropped the legal hammer on North Carolina by counter-suing them and emphatically making it clear that the DOJ and the Obama Administration stood with the transgender community in this human rights fight. it.

Here's the link to the full text of the original remarks as prepared for delivery and the video..

***

Good afternoon and thank you all for being here.  Today, I’m joined by [Vanita] Gupta, head of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice.  We are here to announce a significant law enforcement action regarding North Carolina’s Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, also known as House Bill 2.  

The North Carolina General Assembly passed House Bill 2 in special session on March 23 of this year.  The bill sought to strike down an anti-discrimination provision in a recently-passed Charlotte, North Carolina, ordinance, as well as to require transgender people in public agencies to use the bathrooms consistent with their sex as noted at birth, rather than the bathrooms that fit their gender identity.  The bill was signed into law that same day.  In so doing, the legislature and the governor placed North Carolina in direct opposition to federal laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex and gender identity.  More to the point, they created state-sponsored discrimination against transgender individuals, who simply seek to engage in the most private of functions in a place of safety and security – a right taken for granted by most of us.  

Last week, our Civil Rights Division notified state officials that House Bill 2 violates federal civil rights laws.  We asked that they certify by the end of the day today that they would not comply with or implement House Bill 2’s restriction on restroom access.  An extension was requested by North Carolina and was under active consideration.  But instead of replying to our offer or providing a certification, this morning, the state of North Carolina and its governor chose to respond by suing the Department of Justice.  As a result of their decisions, we are now moving forward. 

Today, we are filing a federal civil rights lawsuit against the state of North Carolina, Governor Pat McCrory, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and the University of North Carolina.  We are seeking a court order declaring House Bill 2’s restroom restriction impermissibly discriminatory, as well as a statewide bar on its enforcement.  While the lawsuit currently seeks declaratory relief, I want to note that we retain the option of curtailing federal funding to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and the University of North Carolina as this case proceeds.

This action is about a great deal more than just bathrooms.  This is about the dignity and respect we accord our fellow citizens and the laws that we, as a people and as a country, have enacted to protect them – indeed, to protect all of us.  And it’s about the founding ideals that have led this country – haltingly but inexorably – in the direction of fairness, inclusion and equality for all Americans.

This is not the first time that we have seen discriminatory responses to historic moments of progress for our nation.  We saw it in the Jim Crow laws that followed the Emancipation Proclamation.  We saw it in fierce and widespread resistance to Brown v. Board of Education.  And we saw it in the proliferation of state bans on same-sex unions intended to stifle any hope that gay and lesbian Americans might one day be afforded the right to marry.  That right, of course, is now recognized as a guarantee embedded in our Constitution, and in the wake of that historic triumph, we have seen bill after bill in state after state taking aim at the LGBT community.  Some of these responses reflect a recognizably human fear of the unknown, and a discomfort with the uncertainty of change.  But this is not a time to act out of fear.  This is a time to summon our national virtues of inclusivity, diversity, compassion and open-mindedness.  What we must not do – what we must never do – is turn on our neighbors, our family members, our fellow Americans, for something they cannot control, and deny what makes them human.  This is why none of us can stand by when a state enters the business of legislating identity and insists that a person pretend to be something they are not, or invents a problem that doesn’t exist as a pretext for discrimination and harassment.

Let me speak now to the people of the great state, the beautiful state, my state of North Carolina.  You’ve been told that this law protects vulnerable populations from harm – but that just is not the case.  Instead, what this law does is inflict further indignity on a population that has already suffered far more than its fair share.  This law provides no benefit to society – all it does is harm innocent Americans. 

Instead of turning away from our neighbors, our friends, our colleagues, let us instead learn from our history and avoid repeating the mistakes of our past.  Let us reflect on the obvious but often neglected lesson that state-sanctioned discrimination never looks good in hindsight.  It was not so very long ago that states, including North Carolina, had signs above restrooms, water fountains and on public accommodations keeping people out based upon a distinction without a difference.  We have moved beyond those dark days, but not without pain and suffering and an ongoing fight to keep moving forward.  Let us write a different story this time.  Let us not act out of fear and misunderstanding, but out of the values of inclusion, diversity and regard for all that make our country great. 

Let me also speak directly to the transgender community itself.  Some of you have lived freely for decades.  Others of you are still wondering how you can possibly live the lives you were born to lead.  But no matter how isolated or scared you may feel today, the Department of Justice and the entire Obama Administration wants you to know that  we see you; we stand with you; and we will do everything we can to protect you going forward.  Please know that history is on your side.  This country was founded on a promise of equal rights for all, and we have always managed to move closer to that promise, little by little, one day at a time.  It may not be easy – but we’ll get there together. 

I want to thank my colleagues in the Civil Rights Division who have devoted many hours to this case so far, and who will devote many more to seeing it through.  At this time, I’d like to turn things over to Vanita Gupta, whose determined leadership on this and so many other issues has been essential to the Justice Department’s work.. 
***
Thank you Attorney General Lynch, the DOJ and the Obama Administration, which has once again proven they are the undisputed champs when it comes to advocating for trans human rights.

This is more concrete evidence of elections mattering and who you vote for being more important than ideological purity.  Do you actually think we would have gotten this type of unequivocal defense of our humanity and human rights from a Romney or Trump administration AG?

Hell no.  It's why voting for the Democratic presidential nominee, whoever she is and Democratic candidates up and down the ballot will be critical to continued progress on trans human rights issues.