Houston Vigil For Orlando

In the wake of the Orlando attacks, there were many vigils held in different location around the Houston area organized by different groups.

The one sponsored by the city of Houston was held last Wednesday night on the steps of City Hall on the reflecting pool side, and I was honored to be asked to be a part of it.

It started at sunset, and included remarks from Fran Watson, Ashton Woods, Lou Weaver, Councilmember Robert Gallegos and Mayor Sylvester Turner just to name some of the people who spoke at the vigil

Houston City Hall was lit up in the colors of the rainbow pride flag as people gathered to pay their respects to the 49 people who were killed and the 53 injured in that domestic terror attack

Here's the video of Mayor Turner's remarks, and if I find the video of the full event, I'll post it here.

HOU Equality 'My Pride' Video

Because we had a terroristic threat aimed at the Houston Pride parade mere hours after the Orlando terror attack, there are people here and around the country who have expressed concerns about attending our parade this Saturday despite Mayor Turner's and HPD assurances that security levels will be ramped up for it.

Brad Pritchett of HOU Equality was significantly concerned after several people personally told him they wouldn't be attending the Houston Pride Parade because they were apprehensive and even scared of doing so.

He reached out to me and other Houston TBLG leaders to make this 'My Pride' video encouraging our H-town LGBT family to show up and celebrate this weekend.

The terrorists and our right wing enemies want us to be 'scurred' and cowering in our homes.  The best way to honor the folks we lost in Orlando is to show up for pride events, the parade and celebrate.

By doing so, you'll be making a powerful statement that we will not go back to those days they want to bring back of us being apprehensive and scared to be in our safe spaces.

Here's the video, and Happy Pride people!

Kimberly Shappley Stands Tall For Her Trans Child

"She's not a threat to your children, but when you teach your children that my kid is a monster, then your kids are a threat to mine, and that's not fair."
--Kimberly Shappley

One of the cool things about being me is that I get to meet some amazing people as I handle my human rights business inside and outside the Houston city limits.

One of those people that I have had the pleasure of meeting locally is Kimberly Shappley, the mom of a five year old trans feminine child about to start kindergarten this fall.

Unfortunately Kai will be starting school in the Pearland ISD, whose superintendent Dr. John Kelly back in May unleashed some transphobic remarks in the wake of the release of the Department of Education/Department of Justice Dear Colleague letter concerning the human rights of transgender kids in school settings.

And yes, Pearland ISD is going there and trying to force Kai to use the boy's bathroom.

"In my personal opinion, this is one more example of unconstitutional interference and social engineering by the federal government," Superintendent Kelly said in a local paper about the DOE/DOJ Dear Colleague letter.

"A hostile vocal minority now rules in America aided by an apathetic unengaged majority.  What's next?  Legalizing pedophilia and polygamy?  Unless we return to the Biblical basis on which our nation's laws were established, we are in serious trouble - and cannot expect God's continued favor."

This from a man who claims to love and respect all the children of Pearland ISD.   Yeah, right.  Didn't sound like love and respect to me for all PISD kids, especially trans and SGL ones..

Kelly was called out for his transphobic utterances at a contentious May 25 PISD school board meeting in which supporters and critics packed the room to comment pro and con.

The transphobic comments of Kelly along with our Lt Governor Dan Patrick (R) are two reasons why Shappley has now come out about Kai, is telling her story and is teaming up with Equality Texas to not only do that, but fight for her child's human rights.




Shappley was in Austin last month with other Texas parents of trans kids to call out Lt. Governor Dan Patrick on his recent anti-trans statements and pushing anti-trans hatred for political gains.

Shappley is concerned about the transphobia being stirred up in the Lone Star State and elsewhere and how it could affect Kai, who is happy and thriving since her transition two years ago at age 3.

"Now that my daughter is entering public school, the superintendent of our school district is making it to where we have to come out. "said Shappley about Kelly as she expressed her concerns about the upcoming school year. "We have to take a stand.".

And know Kimberly that you, Kai and your family will not be alone as you do so.  The Houston trans community, myself and our allies are prepared to stand tall with you

Bermuda Marriage Equality Referendum On Thursday

You might be surprised to know that I have a few Bermudians who not only are fans of this blog, but I am Facebook friends with.  I had the pleasure of meeting Zakiya Johnson-Lord while I was in Chicago for Creating Change a few months ago.

I noticed as I perused my Bermudian friends pages the #VoteYESYESBermuda hashtag and other similar ones started popping up on their posts.  When my curiosity kicked in to find out what those memes and hashtags were about, I discovered it was concerning an upcoming June 23 marriage equality referendum on the island.

The non binding referendum will ask Bermudians to ponder and vote YES or NO on two questions that concern TBLG Bermudians.

Are you in favour of same sex marriage in Bermuda?
Are you in favour of same sex civil unions in Bermuda?

Advance voting for those who can prove they will be off island on election day took place June 14-16 at the Bermuda College Student Centre, and it will be interesting to see how the June 23 voting takes place.




Our Bermudian cousins in favor of marriage equality not only posted the #VoteYESYESBermuda hashtags on their pages and Twitter feeds, the #VoteYESYES, #LoveWinsYESYES and  #LoveMustWin tags have also popped up.

I'm surprised that our US based radical 'christians; haven't openly meddled in Bermuda's electoral business, but then again let me not speak too soon since they may be on the down low funneling cash to the anti- marriage side.

Deadline to register was May 18, and hope my Bermudian friends are not only registered to handle their electoral business, but hope it goes their way on Thursday when voting starts at 8 AM Bermuda time and continues until 8 PM their time at these locations.

Best of luck and hope people not only vote YES YES, but that love wins on Bermuda,

Lou Weaver Makes Texas Trans History

Still discovering who was elected to become delegates at the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia July 25-28 and congrats to all of those who were elected to represent our state.  In case you're wondering, it's one of the things I would like to do someday.

While perusing Facebook, I discovered a little trans history was made during the just concluded Texas Democratic convention in San Antonio.

So far have discovered that we have two trans Texans headed to Philadelphia for this years Democratic National Convention.   One of the delegates representing our state is Danielle Pellet, who is pledged to Bernie Sanders, the other is Houston's own Lou Weaver, who was elected as an at-large delegate pledged to Hillary Clinton.

With that selection, Lou made Texas trans history as the first ever out trans masculine Texan to accomplish that feat.  We have had three out trans feminine Texans represent our state at previous national DNC conventions in Vanessa Edwards Foster (2004,2008), Christina Ocasio (2004) and Meghan Stabler (2012).

Danielle Pellet will also be joining him in Philadelphia as a trans delegate for the Lone Star State pledged to Sanders.

And Texas trans bragging time, Texas is so far the only state (2004) to have had at least two trans delegates attend the same national DNC convention and we've now accomplished that feat for the second time. Foster so far is the only trans Texan to have gone to the DNC national convention twice.

And we trans Texans since 2004 have now sent at least one trans delegate to the national DNC convention for now four straight conventions.

The 2012 DNC national convention in Charlotte had a record 14 trans delegates.   We already know that two from the Lone Star State will be repping our community and I hope that nationally we'll shatter that 14 trans delegates number.

Congratulation to Lou Weaver for not only making it to Philly, but making a little history along the way as he gets to witness what is sure to be a historic Democratic convention next month.

Looking forward to hearing about it the next time we cross paths.  


 TransGriot note:  Photo of Lou by Eric Edward Schell photography

You Noticed The Radical 'Christian' Hypocrisy Too?

One of the things that I have found so distasteful about the Orlando terror attack is the rank hypocrisy of radical right wing 'christians' who were even last week spewing anti-trans and anti-LGBQ hatred in their pulpits and in the state legislatures they control with anti-TBLGQ legislation, now wants to pretend like they are our community's staunchest allies when it comes to terrorism.

Naw boo boo kitties, we haven't forgotten about the anti-TBLG hate you were spewing them and are still spewing now.

That fake sympathy may work for the ignorati that comprise your right wing fundamentalist political base and the Log Cabin Republicans desperate to get their lost white privilege back, but for the rest of us in reality based world, we aren't fooled.

We've noticed the radical christian hypocrisy, and we ain't buying what you're trying to sell us, the American people, and the world.

No Sarah Palin, You Are A Special Kind Of Stupid

One of the things I am beyond sick of is white Republicans racistly denigrating the intelligence of President Obama, who has repeatedly proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is smarter that the average anti-intellectual Republican.

The latest Republican trying it is one who definitely needs to have a stadium full of seats and STFU about even trying to criticize someone's intelligence is the half term governor of Alaska in Sarah Palin.

As far as intelligence goes, let's point out the fact that your behind went to four different colleges to get a bachelors, while the POTUS is a constitutional law scholar, the first Black president of the Harvard Law Review,  and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School.

President Obama is light years more intelligent than you and your GOP colleagues combined. You and your conservative buddies are mad because it is the Black POTUS that is making y'all 'intellectually superior' conservatives look like the clueless idiots you are on a regular basis.

And I still find it had to comprehend eight years later that out of all the people in the Republican Party, McCain picked her to be a bad heartbeat of his away from the Oval Office.

You are the last person than needs to be calling people stupid when we have ample recorded evidence  of the multiple interviews in which you revealed you lack of intellectual prowess to the world.







Bye Sarah, don't even try it.   You are the special kind of stupid you tried to pin on the POTUS, and you need to stop protecting it to the world.

Moni's Going To Be A 'Lambda Weekly' Guest Tomorrow

For those of you in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, you're going to get an opportunity to hear my voice on your FM dial tomorrow at 1 PM CDT.

I'll be a guest on the long running show Lambda Weekly on KNON-FM 89.3, which is hosted by David Taffet, Lerone Landis  and Patti Fink.

The show has been on the air since 1983, and is one of the longest running LGBT themed shows currently on air. and has had a long list of distinguished celebrity and LGBT community guests.

So North Texas, tune in at 1 PM to hear the show and me comment on the issues of importance to our community.

   

2016 Texas Democratic Convention Happening In San Antonio

For the first time in 50 years, the Texas Democratic Party is holding their state convention in San Antonio from June 16-18 at the Alamodome.  

The Castro brothers probably had a lot to do with why it's being hosted in the Alamo City, and fittingly, US Rep. Joaquin Castro and HUD Secretary and his twin brother, former San Antonio mayor Julian Castro are the featured speakers.

It's also fun to note that Sec. Castro is returning to San Antonio as rumors continue to fly that he is being vetted as a possible vice presidential pick for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

I have more than a few friends in the Houston activist community who are in San Antonio as I compose this for the event.  Some of them are trying to make the jump to being elected as the delegates to the national Democratic convention in Philadelphia and I wish them the best of luck in doing so.  One of the things that is also happening for them is that they are repping H-town while connecting with Texas Democrats from across the state.

It's probably a safe bet to state that the Texas Democratic Party convention will reflect the diversity of the state of Texas, unlike the recently held GOP one in Dallas.

One thing I can also say with confidence is that unlike the GOP event in Dallas, the Democratic party platform once it is compiled and released won't be a monument to anti-trans and anti-gay hate, and we won't be hearing Democratic Party officials spouting anti-trans and anti-gay rhetoric during their speeches while they are there..

Y'all handle your business and have fun in San Antonio.

Shut Up Fool Awards- It's Juneteenth Weekend Edition

June 19 is not only Father's Day, but it is also Juneteenth in Texas.

Juneteenth is the 1865 day that Union Major General Gordon Granger read Order Number 3 from the balcony of Galveston's Ashton Villa and proclaimed at all Texas slaves were henceforth free.

It became known as Emancipation Day to the freedmen, and starting in 1866 was celebrated with picnics, parades, and church services.  African-American Texans as the migrated to other parts of the country too the unofficial holiday with them, and on January 1, 1980, thanks to the efforts of Texas state Rep Al Edwards, Juneteenth became an official state holiday.

So let m break out my strawberry soda and barbecue and chow down on it before i call out this weeks list of holiday fools.

Honorable mention number one is a group award to every conservafool and Republican who tried to pit the TBLGQ community against the Muslim community over the Pulse terror attack.

Honorable mention number two is the Log Cabin Republicans, who also tried to push Islamophobia and blame ISIS for the attack when they and 'errbody' in TBLG World knows that the largest purveyors of  LGBT hate are the Republican Party
'
Honorable mention number three is Tila Tequila, who  was listening to too much Dan Patrick while growing up her in H-town. Her racist Asian azz tweeted that Jennifer Lopez was a 'Mexican with money'   No. you bigoted twit, unlike you, J Lo was born in the US (The Bronx) and is Puerto Rican.

And can't I get one day when some right wing idiot isn't embarrassing my home state by opening their mouths and letting something stupid fly out of it?

Honorable mention number four is Donald Trump for just pick a stupid statement this week, but the most over the top one is the assertion he would be better for LGBT people than Hillary Clinton. .

Honorable mention number five is John McCain, for claiming President Obama is responsible for the Pulse aatack when his party refused to pass legislation to keep people on the 'no fly' and terror watch lists from buying assault weapons.

Honorable mention number six is Bill O'Reilly, for saying on air he wants to slap Rep James Clyburn for wanting to focus on gun safety after Orlando attacks.

He has good reason to you conservaidiot, especially since today is the one year anniversary of the Mother Emmanuel church terrorist attack by Dylan Roof in Charleston, SC.


Honorable mention number seven is the still unidentified kneegrow who tweeted that the Pulse shooting was 'someone doing community service', and lost his job at a Marietta, GA WalMart as a result.

Honorable mention number eight is my Lt Governor Dan Goeb Patrick, for posting a 'you reap what you sow' tweet five hours after the terror attack, and when the justifiable backlash hit him, tried to claim it was an error and was selected well in advance of Sunday's event.

Honorable mention number nine is Rep Rick Allen (R-GA) who said 'gays are worthy of death' and doesn't feel the need to retract it in the wake of the Orlando mass shooting.


This week's Shut Up Fool winner is Roger Jimenez, the California hate pastor who gleefully referred to the 49 victims as  pedophiles, stated he's upset that the Pulse shooter didn't finish the job,  and then doubled down on the gaybaiting hatred.

Ignorant hatemongers like you are why the Pulse shooting happened in the first place, and you are the reason why Christianity has such a negative connotation with millennials

Roger Jimenez (not going to even call you a pastor because you don't deserve the title), I rebuke you in the name of Jesus, and oh yeah, shut up fool.

Good Luck And Speedy Healing, Eli

As you long time TransGriot readers know, for the last several NFL seasons I've been battling with Michael Watts and Eli Blake in a friendly contest for NFL prognostication supremacy.

I'm the defending champion going into the 2016 NFL season, and I'll be trying to something that has never been done in terms of repeating as TransGriot NFL prognostication champion.

But dealing with some sad news this morning as our 2013 TransGriot NFL prognostication champion Eli revealed that he has been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer that has spread to his liver.  He's checked into a hospital to have a stent put in and once that is done, begin treatment for the cancer.

Best wishes to you and your family Eli in this challenging time.   Prayers up for some speedy healing and looking forward to jousting with you again for NFL prognostication supremacy.  

My Name Is Moni, And I'm Unapologetically Black And Trans

My name is Monica Roberts and I am an unapologetic Black trans person who is a child of God created in God's image. My transition did not invalidate my Black Card, it just added a transgender flag sticker to it.

I'm proud of being a #girllikeus, and my transition also has led to me since it happened in April 1994 to being able to live an amazing life. I went to the White House last week.  I was at the Philly Trans Health Conference where I get hugs from amazing trans teen activists Jazz Jennings and Nicole Maines just for starters, and get loved on by everyone from trans kids to the trans guys to my trans elders like Miss Major.  

But one thing I am proud of is my cis sisters that knew me before I transitioned who tell me they are proud of me and marvel at how my life has evolved since that day.  They have let me know without equivocation that they consider me part of the sisterhood  

I'm also cognizant of the people in Trans World who see me as a mentor, leader, and the trans kids who see me as Aunt Monica. I take that leadership mantle and being a possibility model for our trans youth seriously.

I never want to disappoint them or the people who place their confidence in me to do the right thing as a trans leader and provide thoughtful, principled leadership of our community.

Since I mentioned haters, you're probably asking the question do I have them? Yes, I sure do.  But I really don't give a rats anus what they think.  Haters are my motivators, and they know who they are.  Having haters lets me know they consider me important enough to waste their time and energy thinking negative thoughts about moi.  It also lets me know I'm doing what I need to do personally and professionally to advance the human rights of my community.

As far as the faith based haters and ignorati are concerned, if they don't like that declaration early in this essay about being unapologetically Black and trans, too damned bad. Neither do I care about you TERF's, fauxminists, or TS separatists or what loud and wrong things y'all have to say either. 

I get to call a group of diverse and wonderful trans and cis people from around the world my friends, and they are people I probably wouldn't have met without doing so.

I have a voice is amplified by a decade old blog that 'nobody reads' as one of my haters once said, and that statement makes me chuckle with every blogging award I get nominated for and every kudo I get from my fellow journalism peers.

I`m beyond caring about what you think because I'm tired of you, your GOP friends, assorted ignorati and kneegrow sellouts attacking my humanity and the humanity of my trans siblings.

I`m going to focus on just being the best person I can be, and doing my part to help advance the human rights of my trans family in concert with our allies and the people who love and care about us.

I'm Moni, and I approved this TransGriot message.

You Mad Because You're Attracted To A Trans Woman?

One of the things I'm more than a little sick of is the meme floating around the Net denying the femininity and humanity of trans feminine women.  My sis Raquel Willis was sick of it too and tweeted that meme to counter a transphobic one that was floating around.

Just an FYI cis boys (and cis girls), trans women are women.  That's a far too simple concept for you to grasp.

As women, we not only come in all shapes, sizes and skin tones, some of us were blessed to have the right combinations of genetic material that also make us attractive to people who like attractive feminine bodies.  Some of u spent the extra cash to surgically enhance our bodies to get them where we wanted them in order to hake ourselves happy.

And if by doing so, we became more aesthetically pleasing to you, that's a bonus.

And if some of you transphobes are bothered by that last statement, too damned bad if you are.  Don't get mad if you saw a pic of a trans woman, you said to yourself "Damn she's fine!" and in response your junk starts stiffening as you ogle her picture.

Yeah, we know it happens.  Some of y'all are hitting those trans porn sites on the regular to see what my pre and non op sisters may or may not have in their panties, so don't even front.

Once again, a trans woman is a woman. If you are attracted to femininity, you are going to react to an attractive trans woman just as you would a cis woman, especially if you aren't prejudiced by knowing the trans woman's background before you scope out her pictures.

And not all of us are over 6 feet tall.  I repeat, just like cis women, we come in all shapes, sizes and body configurations, and I know more than a few trans women who are petite size 8 shoe wearing divas.

I ain't mad or jealous of my trans sisters who were blessed with that combination of traits that make them attractive to the male species.  Neither should you cis he-men be hating on that trans women either to the point that you wish to inflict unhinged levels of violence upon her..

So don't get mad if you're attracted to a trans woman.  If you actually take the time to get to know some of us, you'll find that many of us are smart, sexy, talented and make great friends.

And if you allow yourself to do so, you may even find yourself if you open your heart to doing so, taking her home to meet your family or eventually putting a ring on her finger.

You Can Run CM Knox, But You Can't Hide From Us

Spent a very interesting day at Houston City Council with several Houston LGBT community leaders and our allies hanging out for our public comment session.

Eleven of us were there to call out Councilmember Mike Knox for his problematic May 2 comments demonizing the Houston trans community while attend a Target protest initiated by the same reprehensible peeps who gleefully peddled transphobia during the HERO fight.

"Equality is the same for you as it is for me. If someone has a greater right to use a bathroom than someone else as an expression of their sexuality, that's a problem,"
Council Member Mike Knox.

No CM Knox, equality is NOT the same for you and me.  HERO was wiped off the city Code of Ordinances by demonizing trans Houstonians, and I'm still pissed off about that. 

And Councilmember Knox, I'm appalled along with trans Houston and our allies about the demonization of the humanity of me and other trans Houstonians.

We also were showing up to call out his chief of staff Trebor Gordon, who tried to block Syed Ali, a longtime Muslim Republican from getting a Harris County GOP precinct chair position, and made some Islamophobic comments while doing so. There have been calls for his firing or resignation, and Gordon is allegedly not serving in that position in Knox's office any more, but we'll see about that.

It was decided to keep this council trip in stealth mode so that the opposition wouldn't have the time or opportunity to organize a counter trip busing people in from the 'burbs to attempt to shut down what we were going to say or defend Knox.

And you knew I wasn't going to miss the fun. It was also done that way so that Councilmember Knox would be in attendance at that meeting and not come up with a convenient excuse to miss it.

Knowing that Houston LGBT community leaders were lying in wait to call his butt out, he left at 2:24 PM and never returned to hear us call him out about running from being held accountable by his constituents for the transphobia and Islamophobia.

CM Knox, just a reminder that yes, we are your constituents since you are in an at-large council seat. You can run like you did today, but you can't hide from the Houston GLBT community calling you our about your comments, and sooner or later you'll have to sit in that nice leather chair around The Horseshoe and hear what we have to say.
 
And yeah, you'll do so because we vote.  2019 will be here before you know it.

News Media, Why Aren't We Talking About This Alleged Terrorist?

Unchecked anti-trans hate speech kills whether it's online, in the media or from the pulpit.
TransGriot, January 27, 2015

As we woke up Sunday to the horror of another mass shooting, we're also finding out that Sunday could have been far worse for our TBLG community.

20 year old James Howell of Jeffersonville, IN was arrested by Santa Monica, CA police while enroute to a TBLG pride festival in West Hollywood, CA.  

When Howell was arrested  he was in possession of three assault rifles. camouflage clothing, high capacity magazines and ammunition, and a five gallon bucket of chemicals that could be used to create an improvised explosive device.  There is no evidence so far he was acting in a coordinated fashion with the Orlando mass shooter.

He has been booked on three felonies, possession of a firearm, possession of an improvised explosive device and possession of high capacity magazines.  He was also charged with misdemeanor possession of a loaded weapon and is in jail on a $2 million bond.

Howell also has a history back in Indiana and Kentucky of various gun charges and gun violence. You put all this anti-trans and anti-gay hate speech out there, and you shouldn't be shocked when people start acting on what you spoke into existence.

So why isn't the media talking about this suspected terrorist? Guess it's easier for the predominately white media peeps to focus on a person who committed a terrorist act that doesn't look like them as opposed to one who was stopped from possibly executing an attack that does look like many of the people in the media.

Clinton Wins DC Primary

As expected Sec. Hillary Clinton closed out the 2016 Democratic nomination contests with another victory as she clobbered Sen. Bernie Sanders in the DC primary.
 
The huge win once again fit the pattern that has been established since March in Clinton taking diverse primary electorates, and solidifies her status as the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.

And which DC having a large African-American population, the group of Democratic voters that has overwhelmingly supported her in this primary season, basically made the point that in Democratic Party politics, Black voters matter.

As she was capturing this last primary, she and Sanders were meeting at the Capital Hilton to sort out the terms of his exit from the presidential race so she can pivot to attacking Donald Trump full time.

And we need her to start clobbering Trump sooner and not later.

Moni's Raising Hell At City Hall Again

As you read this, I'm awaiting my turn to speak during this Houston city council comment session.

It will be the first time I've spoken to Houston City Council since our new Mayor Sylvester Turner took office along with new council members Karla Cisneros, Amanda Edwards, Steve Le, Greg Travis and Mike Knox.

The reason I'm there is to support folks in our community pissed off about problematic transphobic comments made by Position 1 at large Councilmember Knox and the Islamophobic comments of his chief of staff Trebor Gordon.

He showed up with the haters at a May 2 Target protest, and helped spread anti-HERO and anti-trans talking points.

So that we can handle our business without right wing idiocy interfering with our reads, I was asked along with the Houston LGBT community to keep this organized effort a secret until the 2 PM CDT start time of the council comment session meeting.

No CM Knox, it isn't about my sexuality when I or any trans woman in the Houston area and beyond goes to the bathroom, it's about me pooping and peeing, and washing my hands when I'm done.

And Houston trans people are tired of you conservative Republicans demonizing our humanity.

Yep, and since I've been in a combative mood since Sunday over the Pulse mass shooting, am looking forward to calling out some inside the Houston city limit transphobia and Islamophobia along with other community members scheduled to attend.

Houston Stands With Orlando

While I was spending Sunday on the East Coast battling  trolls on my Twitter feed who didn't like what I had to say about the Orlando 'terriss' attack, back home in Houston Ashton Woods was busy organizing a vigil at Hermann Park so that the H-town TBLG community and our allies could #StandWithOrlando.

Ashton in addition to being one of our standout community advocates, also happens to be a member of the Houston chapter of Black Lives Matter.  The goal of the event was for the community to speak up, and also declare that we were going to continue to fight against the oppression of BTLG people.

Here's the link to Ashton's post from his Strength In Numbers blog about the Houston vigil and some of the photo's from it.

Moni's Thoughts About The Pulse Terror Attack

I was in the midst of one of the more empowering weeks I have had in my life between getting to attend my first White House LGBT Pride reception, a well received Philadelphia Trans Health Conference media panel on Friday, and experiencing the love of much of my community (except for five haters who know who they are)

So it was a shock but not too surprising for me when I awoke on Sunday morning to hear the distressing news about the Pulse TBLG nightclub in Orlando being attacked on Latinx Night.

Why am I not surprised it happened?  Because of the ramped up anti-trans and anti-gay animus that has been stoked by the Republican Party and fundamentalist preachers like James Dobson, I have been concerned that something like this was going to happen.   When you keep demonizing a marginalized group, just a matter of time before something like this happens in a country with far too many guns and easy access to acquire them.

We have 49 people dead with 53 more are injured as a result of the terrorist attack at Pulse and my condolences to the predominately Latinx BTLG family members we lost.  I also pray for the people who survived it, but will be haunted by memories of that  horrific night for a long time to come.

But it seems to me the media is more obsessed with the now deceased shooter Omar Saleem's radicalization and playing footsie with ISIS than pointing out the fact that the Republicans were gleefully trafficking in anti-trans and anti-gay hatred for months before Sunday's attack.

In fact, Texas Lt Governor Dan Patrick unleashed a tweet at 7 AM he later retracted about people 'reaping what they sow' mere hours after the mass shooting happened.  Once again, another day when Texas Republican leaders have embarrassed the state.

I'm also not liking the Republicans, after spending decades demonizing the TBLG community, all of a sudden trying to play like they are our community's best buds.   And the Log Cabin Sellouts Republicans need to check themselves in terms of that press release they put out, but conveniently ignoring that their party was pushing fear and hatred of transgender people for political advantage.

As the details of this mass shooting continue to come out, the nation and the world mourns with Orlando and the national BTLG community.   In addition to the one held in front of the historic Stonewall Inn in New York, the Houston LGBT community held a vigil on Sunday, and there have been others either held or planned as the week has progressed.

This was an  attack on the entire TBLG community, and we cannot allow the people killed at Pulse to die in vain.  Far from the entire community cowering in fear, we should be even more determined to openly live our lives and work to ensure that homophobia and transphobia are eradicated from our culture.

Finally Headed Home From The East Coast

I said before I embarked on this trip on Wednesday it would be an interesting and emotional one, and it was.

The White House Pride Reception in Washington  DC was amazing and even more fun than Imagined it would be.   It was also amazing seeing President Obama speak and being that close to the podium to do so.

The mini crab cakes were also delicious, and trust me when I say I ate enough for everyone who wasn't  in the East Room with me.

Then there was the ride up I-95 to Philadelphia for my second Philly Trans Health Conference, the Brynn Tannehill moderated media panel that included Mari Brighe, Joanna Cifredo and moi.

It was also wonderful getting to see a long list of old friends, meet new ones and spend some quality time with Dionne Stallworth and our trans kids.   And it made my trip to get hugs from two of our amazing trans youth advocates in Jazz Jennings and Nicole Maines.

Then it was back down I-95 from Philly via Megabus to go back to DC and an unplanned trip to Capital Pride and spending the night near BWI before my flight back to Texas.

While I enjoyed the empowering trip, the Orlando mass shooting was an exclamation point reminder that there's still work to do back here in Houston, and it's time to get busy making human rights coverage via a HERO 2.0 or whatever we call it law.

So Houston, the Air Marshal is enroute back home.  Get the Pappa's barbecue ready.