One Month To Rio!

We are one month away from the start of the Games of the XXXI Olympiad starting in Rio de Janeiro  August 5 and watching the Olympics is must see TV for me as a unabashed sports fan.

This one is full of firsts.  It will be the first held in a Portuguese speaking country, the first on the South American continent, and since this is being held in the Southern Hemisphere, the first Sumer Games completely in a country's winter season.   It's also the first Games happening during the IOC presidency of Thomas Bach.

The torch relay has been going on across Brazil since May 3 and will visit 323 cities before arriving in the Rio area to light the cauldron at Maracana Stadium.  

Athletes around the world are undergoing qualifying for the various Olympic sports, and the Rio Olympic organizers are expecting a record 10,500 to participate.    Hopefully we will have a transgender athlete taking part in the Games, but it looks like that milestone may have to wait until the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeong Chang or 2020 in Tokyo.

At least much of the competition for those of us in the States and the rest of the Americas will be broadcast live.

One thing I am looking forward to is not only seeing the opening ceremony, but what creative way will the torch be lit.  Also looking forward to seeing who will be the person or persons given the honor of lighting the Rio Olympic cauldron.

August 5 will be here before we know it.

Olympic Gender Drama Posts

With the Rio Olympics a month from starting, and me being a serious Olympic junkie, it's the perfect timing for a TransGriot compilation post that features an Olympic theme.

Since it's the worlds penultimate sporting competition, international sporting prestige, national pride and tax dollars are on the line in the chase for Olympic glory.  Sometimes interesting stories have emerged as that pursuit of gold, silver and bronze medals gets heated.

Some of those controversies involve gender and 'that's a man' shade thrown at feminine Olympic champions, allegations of better feminine Olympic athletic performance through steroids or shockingly finding out your intersex status in a very public and humiliating way.

Or in Nazi Germany, East Germany and Russia's cases, being caught cheating.

Here are some past TransGriot posts that have tackled that theme.

Gender Drama At The 1936 Berlin Olympics

Olympic Gender Drama- The Press Sisters

Olympic Gender Drama- The 1976 East German Swim Team

Olympic Gender Drama-Erik Schinegger

Olympic Gender Drama- Flo Jo

That's A Man'

Caster Semenya Case Opening Old Wounds

Black Female Athlete Dominates Competition- Gets Gender Identity Questioned

2012 Olympic Watch- Semenya Gets 800m Silver

2016 Williams Watch- Serena And Venus In The Wimbledon Quarters!

The Williams sisters are still alive in this rain delayed 2016 edition of 'Williams-don' and are both in the ladies singles quarterfinals cruising toward a possible All-Williams Wimbledon finals matchup for the first time at the All England club since 2009.

Number one tournament seed Serena handled her third and fourth round business by blitzing Germany's Annika Beck in straight sets 6-3, 6-0 and 13th seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 6-0 in the same fashion on Centre Court.

The Kuznetsova match was noteworthy because it was Little Sis' 300th Grand Slam match win, and ensured she would keep the number one world WTA ranking for the 300th consecutive week.

Serena will now face 21st seeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who knocked off Yulia Putintseva, 11th seeded Timea Bacsinszky, and 27th seeded Coco Vandeweghe to get her shot at the world's number one player.

Should she get past Pavlyuchenkova, she would face in the semis the winner of the Dominika Cibulkova- Elena Vesnina match.

Meanwhile eighth seeded Venus, after surviving two three set matches, found herself in the fourth round facing 12th seeded Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro.   She had to endure a first set tiebreaker, but this time finished her business in only two sets and closed out her match serving for triple break point.  

Big Sis' 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 sent her to a quarterfinal matchup with Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova, who has knocked off Julia Gorges, 17th seeded Elina Svitolina, Sabine Lisicki and 28th seeded Lucie Safarova to get to the quarterfinal round.

Should she get past Shvedova, Venus' semifinal match would be another tough one.  She would have to face the survivor of a quarterfinal match between number 4 seed Angelique Kerber and number 5 seed Simona Halep.

The Williams sisters are competing for their first Wimbledon ladies doubles title since 2012 as a warmup for the Rio Olympic tennis tournament, and are now in the third round of this doubles competition after knocking off the Belgian duo of Elise Mertens and An-Sophie Mestach in straight sets 6-4, 6-4.

They will face the sixth seeded Czech duo of Lucie Hradecka and Andrea Hlavackova for a spot in the ladies doubles quarterfinals.

So far things are looking good for them at their 'Williams'-don playground, and we'll have to wait and see if my fave tennis playing siblings are hoisting trophies this weekend at SW19.

Happy 240th Birthday USA Trans Peeps!

Happy 240th birthday, USA!   While there are days when my feelings and frustrations for this country echo Frederick Douglass, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, James Baldwin and a few other people, I do love my country more than the loud and wrong minority of Texas Republicans that claim they are patriots but want to secede.

And what was the Baldwin comment I was alluding to?

"I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually."

And I too, insist on the right to criticize America perpetually until she makes the necessary corrections to become a nation in existence as good as its Declaration of Independence promise.

My right along with Baldwin and countless other African-Americans rights to criticize this country for its failings is paid for in being born here, the 246 years of unpaid labor expended in building it by our ancestors, the blood shed on far flung foreign battlefields by African descended soldiers and inside the borders of this nation by our people.

We have a critical election in four months, and I hope you're registered and planning on handling your electoral business on November 8. I'm not happy at this moment we have an unqualified xenophobic racist running as the GOP nominee for president.

Meanwhile because some people on the Green Tea Party left are pissed off that Bernie Sanders' attempt to hijack the Democratic Party presidential nomination failed due to massive support of Hillary Clinton by non-white Democratic voters, they are threatening to sit out an election in which the next POTUS will select up to four Supreme Court justices and the Democratic party has a shot of reclaiming the US Senate.  Get over your white privileged Green Teabagging selves and smell the fascism coming if Trump becomes POTUS.  If you claim to be progressives, you'll know what you must do on Election Day

For the longest time the 1.4 million trans peeps living in the US`(I believe that estimate is too low) doubted that our country loved us or even cared about us beyond heaping oppression and misery in our lives.   Looks like that is starting to change on our nation's 240th birthday.

We also will have so far two trans people running for the US House and Senate in Colorado and Utah. The pundits and polls say they are uphill races, but the only poll that counts is on November 8.

I'm also not happy about World War T the conservatives are waging that has negatively impacted us and specifically trans people of color.   We are Americans as well and tired of your faux faith based oppression of us..  

But the interesting dynamic coming out of their blatant attempts to slime trans people around the country is that even though we have had some losses like North Carolina's HB2, we keep racking up huge wins like the DOD repeal of the ban against open trans military service, governors in several states rejecting anti-trans bills, and judges increasing ruling in our favor when our human rights cases come to trial.

We're also seeing openly transphobic legislators starting to lose legislative races, and hope that North Carolina governor Pat McCrory is next and my transphobic Texas leadership troika goes down in 2018.  We will also have a record number of trans people (25 and counting) participating in the Democratic National Convention in the city where the Declaration of Independence was written and signed.240 years ago.

We are seeing more parents step up to raise their trans kids instead of throwing them out of their homes, and witnessing a president in Barack Obama and his administration unapologetically fighting for the humanity and human rights of trans people..    

As Sylvia Rivera exhorted us trans folks to do, we are not quieting down, we are standing up, stiffening our backs and fighting the transphobic haters tooth and nail.  We are continuing to do the education about our trans lives. What gives me even more optimism and hope for the future of American trans kind is that in many cases, it is our trans youth who are leading their trans elders at times in fighting for the human rights of our entire community.

So as the patriotic music cranks up as you watch the fireworks displays around the country and lick the remains of the barbecue sauce off your fingers from your ribs or whatever you put on the grill, you trans Americans can smile and contemplate as you watch the fireworks explode that with every day that passes, the USA is our country, too as we fight to make it as good as its promise.,

Don't you ever forget that point.

Happy birthday, USA!

2017 BTAC Conference Dates Announced

You have read my posts about the Black Trans Advocacy Conference and talk about all the amazing things that happen while we're there at this rapidly growing event.   And I'm not bragging about it simply because it happens in my home state.  

It's more like a family reunion than a conference, and it doesn't hurt for me that it happens close to my birthday.

The dates for the 2017 BTAC have been announced, and the sixth annual edition of it will be held from April 24-30, 2017 at the Dallas/Addison Marriott Quorum by the Galleria 14901 Dallas Parkway   The Dallas Galleria is in easy shuttle range along with a plethora of various dining options in the area

Loved the host hotel, its friendly staff, and its amenities.  

And that's before we even start talking about the BTAC conference itself with its keynotes, community summit, seminars, the Mr and Ms Black Trans Pageant, Trans manifest, the awards gala, the Black Diamond Ball and the Family Fun Day attended by your trans siblings from

Whether you stay for the entire empowering week or just do a few days of it, BTAC is waiting to welcome you with open arms for a unique Afrocentric conference experience open to all..

If you need more info about it, dial 855-255-8636 for more information.  Watch these TransGriot electronic pages for more info about registration and programming as that 2016 date gets closer  

Happy 65th Birthday, Sylvia Rivera!

Today would have been the 65th birthday of trans human rights icon Sylvia Rivera had we not lost her to cancer back in 2002.   At the time she died she was in her hospital bed fighting for trans inclusion in a SONDA bill that NY trans people were eventually cut out of, and my New York State trans cousins are still waiting over a decade later for legislative coverage for their human rights.

If Sylvia were alive today (I met her in May 2000), she'd probably not only be marveling at the progress we've made since 2002, she'd still be raising hell about getting cut out of SONDA, and the repeated stalling of the Republican controlled NY Senate to pass GENDA. She'd still have no love for the Human Rights Campaign, anti- trans attitudes in the lesbian and gay community and LBJ because of the Vietnam War.  

We agreed to disagree on that last one..



She'd probably be displeased about the attacks on our humanity by Republican politicians, our youth being bullied and the high suicide rates, and the lack of trans specific services available.

But what Sylvia probably would be happy about is trans people lobbying our government at the local, state and federal level and working to get elected to public office.  She'd be happy about the progress we've made in terms of the 17 states and the District of Columbia that do protect trans rights and President Obama being the most trans rights friendly president of our lifetime to the point trans people are working in his administration..

She'd also be pleased about trans kids being able to transition, having the support of their parents, and in some cases being the frontline human rights warriors fighting for all our rights..

And I know she'd be happy about the increasing diversity of our community and seeing our stories told in documentaries, on television and the silver screen.

Happy 65th birthday Sylvia, you are missed, but we're not quieting down.  We're telling our stories, we're fighting for our rights, and we're not going to stop until human rights for the transgender community is a reality.

Meagan Taylor's Iowa Discrimination Case Settled

You TransGriot readers may recall last July when girl like us Meagan Taylor and a trans friend's stay at a West Des Moines, Iowa Drury Inn on their way to Kansas City for a funeral turned ugly after a transphobic hotel employee called the police with a false claim of prostitution on the premises..

It resulted in Taylor spending 8 days in the Polk County, Iowa jail, missing the funeral, and becoming a real time example of why public accommodations language is critical in any non discrimination ordinance that aims to cover trans people.

Taylor and the ACLU-Iowa sued in November, and I'm pleased to report that with the help of the ACLU, Taylor's case was settled to the mutual satisfaction of the hotel and herself.

"What happened to Meagan was simply unacceptable and un-Iowan," said Rita Bettis, the legal director of the ACLU-Iowa. "Iowans have long valued the importance of treating every person fairly, and Iowa law has expressly protected against this sort of harmful discrimination by businesses against their transgender customers since 2007."

Thank you Meagan for standing up for your human rights, and glad the case was successfully resolved to your satisfaction.

The 2016 USA Men's Olympic Basketball Team Is...

Going to be an interesting Team USA men's bunch to watch with no LeBron James, no James Harden, no Russell Westbrook, no Anthony Davis, no Blake Griffin, no Kawhi Leonard and no Stephon Curry on the squad due to injuries or declining to play.

But fortunately for us the USA basketball talent pool is so deep it may not matter.  They'll still have Mike Krzyzewski on the sidelines calling the plays as they seek the Olympic medal threepeat.

The 2016 Olympic squad was recently unveiled that we'll be cheering when they start play August 6 are Jimmy Butler, Kevin Durant, DeAndre Jordan, Kyle Lowry,  Harrison Barnes, DeMar DeRozan, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, DeMarcus Cousins, Paul George, Draymond Green, and Carmelo Anthony, who'll be the oldest player on the squad at the ripe old age of 32.

This team may be better and more versatile than it looks, and that matters in FIBA ball.  There are two 2012 Olympians in Anthony and Durant are on this squad along with five players from the 2014 FIBA World Championship Squad. Happy to see Paul George on the team because he suffered that gruesome leg injury while trying to make the 2014 FIBA World Cup team


The assistant coaches backing up Coach K are Jim Boeheim, Tom Thibodeau and Monty Williams and will warm up for Olympic competition with a five game US tour that starts July 22 in Las Vegas against 2004 Olympic champ Argentina.  

They'll play back to back games vs. China in Los Angeles on July 24 and in Oakland on July 26, against Venezuela in Chicago on July 29 before playing their final tune up game here in Houston vs. Nigeria on August 1.    

When the Olympic tournament kicks off, they will be in Group A for pool play against Venezuela, China, Australia and the number 1 and number 2 teams from the upcoming FIBA Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament July 4-10 in Italy, the Philippines and Serbia,

Team USA will begin Olympic pool play on August 6 against China, then play Venezuela on August 8, Australia on August 10, the OQT 2 on August 12 and finish Group A play on August 14 with OQT 1

The knockout round will start on August 17-19, with the Gold medal Game on August 21.

Here's hoping that when that game tips off at 1:45 PM CDT the USA is one of the teams in it and not in the Bronze medal game or shockingly sitting on the sidelines..   

2016 Williams Watch- Still Playing At Wimbledon

We've reached the first weekend of The Championships, AKA 'Williams'-don as I love to call the third Grand Slam of the tennis season because of my fave tennis playing siblings utter domination of it,

While it has been a little bumpy at times for both number one seed Serena and number 8 seeded Venus, they are still around and still playing at the All England lawn Tennis and Croquet Club as the ladies tournament seeds keep falling.

Number 2 seeded Garbine Muguruza?  Gone in the second round along with No. 7 Belinda Bencic (retired due to injury), No. 14 Samantha Stosur, No 15 Karolina Pliskova, No. 16 Johanna Konta, No 17 Elina Svitolina  No. 20 Sara Errani, No. 22 Jelena Jankovic, No. 30 Caroline Garcia and No 32 Andrea Petkovic.  They join  No. 23 Ana Ivanovic and No. 31 Kristina Mladenovic who went out in the first round and third round casualty Daria Kasatkina

Serena started her quest for her 22nd Grand slam title by dispatching Swiss qualifier Amra Sadikovic in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 to move on to her second round match with fellow American Christina McHale.  

That match was tougher than she expected, because McHale not only took Little Sis to a first set tie breaker, but snatched the first set from her. Order was restored in the tennis world as as a pissed off Serena resumed her usual dominance and punched her ticket to the third round clash with Germany's Annika Beck with a 6-7 (9-7) 6-2, 6-4 win over the plucky McHale

On the other side of the ladies singles bracket, Venus was also dismissing her first round opponent Donna Vekic of Croatia in straight sets 7-6 (7-3) 6-4, but had to endure a first set tiebreaker to do so.

She then sent qualifier Maria Sakkari of Greece packing with a 7-5. 4-6, 6-3 three set win to send her to a third round clash with Russia's Daria Kasatkina.

That match featured a marathon third set, but she survived again 7-5,4-6, 10-8 to face No. 12 seed Carla Suarez-Navarro of Spain in the fourth round.

As they did in the French Open, they are also playing doubles, and got thorough their opening round ladies doubles match with their 7-5, 6-3 straight set win over the Slovenian duo of Andreja Klepac and Katarina Srebotnik.   They face in the second round of the doubles tourney Belgian qualifiers Elise Mertens and An-Sophie Mestach

Will Serena keep rolling to another final and FINALLY get that 22nd Grand Slam title?  Will Big Sis continue surviving and advancing through the bottom half of the 'Williams'-don ladies singles bracket?

Stay tuned.

Shut Up Fool Awards- Yo Canada! Edition

As I mentioned in a previous post, today is Canada's 149th birthday, which is being celebrated from coast to coast in the Great White North with parades, fireworks and other events in the second largest nation on the planet.

And since it's Friday, that means I get to call out this week's rogues gallery of fools as a our northern neighbors and all who have surfed over here to view this post look on in approval.

Happy Canada Day!   Time to get busy with this week's edition of the TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards.

Honorable mention number one is new U of L trustee Douglas Cobb, who was appointed by Gov Matt Bevin (R) to a term that expires in 2019.  He's said some problematic stuff about trans people,  is a climate denier, and a deacon at the Southeast Christian hate church.

Honorable mention number two is Laura Ingraham, who exhorted all her listeners on Wednesday to defacate on themselves in protest of advances in trans human rights.

Hey, it's not an Onion article.  Y'all conservafools already stink as human beings.  Now you'll be literally be smelling like caca if your radio conservasheeple go through with it.

Honorable mention number three is Stacey Dash, who in the wake of Jesse Williams' powerful BET speech, called him a Hollywood Plantation Slave.  That's a laugh, the FOX Noise fembot sellout trying to do her conservative paymaster's bidding and slime somebody doing some truth telling.

Bye Stacey   You just mad because he still has a Hollywood career and you don't.

Honorable mention  number four is Sen. John McCain, who is calling for a senate hearing on lifting the already lifted trans military ban.   Dude, this has been in the works for a year, where have you been?

Honorable mention number five is Tomi Lahren, who has obviously had the fembot wash, set and GOP cranial rinse when she complained the BET Awards were 'very Black' this year in the wake of the conservafool freakout over Williams' well received speech.

Well duh, boo boo kitty, BET does stand for Black Entertainment Television."

Honorable mention number six the North Carolina Republicans who are trying to push a 'compromise' on Hate Bill 2 that keeps the discrimination in place and proposes 'trans pee papers'

Not no but hell no to that idea.  Repealing HB2 is the only acceptable solution to this impasse

Honorable mention number seven is Donald Trump for another week of pick 'em lies.

This week's Shut Up Fool winner is Caitlyn Jenner, who opened her mouth and inserted her pumps in it once again by stating that Donald Trump is a champion for women and the LGBT community.

Um no, Caitlyn.  You may not have been paying attention back in the 90's when his low energy, lowdown behind cheated on Ivana and Marla, dissed Rosie O'Donnell, made misogynistic comments on Howard Stern's radio show, dissed Desiree Washington, and that's the short list of jacked up stuff against women he's said before I even get into the ongoing attacks on Megyn Kelly and a woman's right to choose..

Donald Trump's only concern is getting his eminently unqualified for POTUS behind elected.  He will say anything to accomplish that.   If you are too obtuse to see that, then your ass needs to have several sections of seats at the Rose Bowl  and shut up.

Caitlyn Jenner, shut up fool.

Happy 149th Birthday, Canada!

It's Canada Day north of the 45th parallel, and the day when I give a shoutout to all my Canadian readers as they celebrate the July 1, 1867 day that the British North America Act established their nation by uniting three colonies (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the Province of Canada) into their home and native land.  

The Province of Canada was subsequently divided by what's now called the Dominion Act into Ontario (Upper Canada) and Quebec (Lower Canada), with the British parliament and cabinet keeping limited political control rights over the new Dominion of Canada they gradually shed until the last vestiges of them were shed in 1982.

149 years later Canada is now the second largest nation on the planet in land area, a respected and admired nation on the international stage and is comprised of ten provinces and three territories with an estimated 36 million people living there.

Canadians from the Atlantic provinces to the Pacific coast to Nunavut in the Arctic will be celebrating Canada Day with parades, fireworks and other events.  The biggest is in Ottawa, when thousands pack Parliament Hill and Centre Block for Canada Day ceremonies.

This Canada Day will see Prime Minister Justin Trudeau presiding over their nation and giving the traditional prime minister's speech like his father once did as their leader.



My trans Canadian cousins are celebrating this 2016 Canada Day with a hopeful spring in their step. They are hopeful that the tabling of C-16 (the Trans Rights Bill) will upon its passage result in their human rights finally being recognized by their nation.

And yeah, my Canadian cousins are frankly some cool people to hang around with in addition to being in their own right respected leaders on the international trans rights front. We're hoping south of the border the same thing happens for you as well.    

Happy birthday, Canada.. Going to be interesting to see how your 150th birthday party is going to turn out.

Houston's Inaugural Mayor's LGBT Advisory Board Announced

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced yesterday afternoon that he was forming our city's first ever Mayor's LGBT Advisory Board that will serve as a direct link to the mayor's office and the Houston TBLGIQ community and providing recommendations and advice on issues impacting our community..

"It was important to me to make this announcement before the end of Pride Month," said mayor Turner. "However, let me be clear.  Our support for the LGBT community is not ending.  We are standing with Orlando today and we will be standing with them tomorrow.  In Houston, we fight hate with love and inclusion.  There is much work to be done and I can't wait to get started."

The Mayor's LGBT Advisory Board is comprised of 49 members (21 women, 28 men), a symbolic nod to the 49 people we lost in the Orlando Pulse club shooting, and will be co-chaired by Lou Weaver and Melanie Pang.

And in case you TransGriot readers were wondering, I'm one of the 49 TBLGIQ Houstonians who was appointed to the board.

The 49 members of this board reflect not only the diversity of my hometown, but the diversity of the Houston TBLGIQ community.  There are 21 Anglos, 13 Latinx, 12 African-Americans and 3 Asians on the Board.   In terms of the LGBTIQ composition of it, 26 members identify as gay, 13 are lesbian, 8 trans people, 2 intersex people, one bisexual, and one parent of a transgender child that is represented..

Because of the size of the board, Mayor Turner anticipates that much of the advisory board work will be done in committees.


Here's the list of the members of the inaugural Mayor's LGBT Advisory Board

Kristen Capps 
AJ Mistretta 
Alan Dettlaff 
Ashton P. Woods
Aurora Harris 
Barry Mandel 
Becca Keo-Meier 
Brad Pritchett
Brandon Mack
Brandon Wilke 
Chris Busby 
Crystal Solares-Bockmon 
Dee Dee Watters 
Dennis Beedon 
Eesha Pandit 
Erika Richie 
Felix Perez 
Fran Watson 
Frances Valdez
Harrison Guy 
Isabel Longoria 
Januari Leo 
Jeffry Faircloth 
Juan Lerma 
Kent Loftin 
Kevin Nix 
Koomah 
Lily Pando (15-year old who will serve as an honorary member)
Lura Groen 
Maria González 
Mark Chupik 
Maximo Cortez 
Mike Webb 
Monica Roberts
Paul Guillory 
R. Aaron Flores 
Renita Cooksey 
Ricardo Rodriguez 
Richard Lapin 
Ron Goines 
Ryan Leach 
Steven Guthrie
T. Ray Purser 
Tamira "Augie" Augustine 
Tammi Wallace 
Tiffany Ross 
Tim Martinez   

Congratulations to all the community leaders who were appointed to this board, and like Mayor Turner, I can't wait to get started making some positive things happen for our city and the Houston LGBT community.

US Trans Military Service Ban Repealed!

"Effective immediately, transgender Americans can serve openly, and they no longer can be discharged...just for being transgender.”
Defense Secretary Ash Carter

After a year of study, a historic moment for American trans people happened today as Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced moments ago that the longstanding DOD policy ban on trans people serving openly in the biggest baddest military force on our planet has been repealed.

Of course we will hear the conservafool movement freak out about the military not being 'a place for social engineering', but they said the same thing back in 1947 after Harry Truman desegregated the military and in the aftermath of DADT repeal in 2010.

This announcement by Sec. Carter comes as a major relief to the estimated 15,500 trans people currently serving in our armed forces. It also allows trans people who wish to join and serve in our military to be able to do so.

There are 18 nations, including several NATO allies like Great Britain that have allowed trans people to openly serve in their nation's military forces without incident, and Canada has allowed it for over 20 years.

"Americans who want to serve and meet our standards should be afforded the opportunity to do so," said Secretary Carter. "Implementation will begin today."

That implementation of the policy will take place over the next year, and it is a day that we in Trans World who have served, are serving or wish to serve in our nation's military have been awaiting for a while..

President Obama's Speech To Canadian Parliament

President Obama took a quick trip north of the border to Ottawa to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto for a trilateral meeting,

He then spoke to the Canadian Parliament yesterday in the wake of that North American Leader's Summit meeting.

Here's the video of the speech.

Congrats Leslie Herod!

There are people who you cross paths with at times in your life that when you meet them, you can sense they are destined for greatness.

One of those people for me was Leslie Herod, and I first met her back in 2013 during one of my Washington DC trips when she was working for the Gill Foundation. She just impressed me at the time and I made a mental note to keep an eye on this rising star in our ranks.  Wasn't surprised when she ended up as one of the four co-chairs of Creating Change when it was held in Denver last year, and enjoy talking to her when I get some quality time with her when our paths cross.

Been aware she was running for the Colorado House in Denver's HD-8.  The incumbent state rep for the district in Beth McCann decided not to run for reelection, and Leslie's candidacy, even though I'm 1000 miles away from her, is one I've been enthusiastic about and keeping up with as it has progressed.

Last night I discovered she handily won her Democratic primary race for the HD-8 seat with 60% of the 9399 votes cast over Aaron Goldhamer,   Since that district and its demographics lean heavily Democratic, it's looking good for her to be the person taking the oath of office when the next session of the Colorado legislature kicks off on January 12, 2017.

But before she gets to that point, there's the matter of the general election on November 8 and getting past her Republican opponent for the HD-8 seat in Evan Vanderpool.

So congrats on getting another step closer to becoming Rep-elect Leslie Herod!  I know that the residents of HD 8, your supporters, and your campaign team are doing everything possible to ensure that you'll be their representative at the statehouse.

And I couldn't be prouder of you as I watch you accomplish that goal..

Is Open Trans Hate Becoming A Political Liability?

Another piece of political news I was gleefully doing the happy dance about was hearing about two trans hating Republican politicians in Colorado and South Carolina losing their reelection bids.

Colorado state Rep. and faux faith based transphobe Gordon Klingenschmitt lost his reelection bid for a third term last night in the GOP primary.   He was blown out by his primary challenger Bob Gardner, a former state representative who won with 62% of vote to represent Colorado Springs in the state Senate.

Gardner is considered more moderate than 'Dr. Chaps', who will not be missed in the state senate, especially by the Colorado TBLG community.

He wasn't alone in tasting electoral defeat last night. South Carolina state senator Lee Bright, who sponsored the failed anti-trans legislation in the Palmetto State, lost his bid for a third term as a South Carolina senator.

He lost his runoff race to former state Rep. Scott Talley, a candidate backed by SC Gov. Nikki Haley (R) who once again, was considered more moderate than Bright..

With Sen. Ted Cruz attempting to deploy transphobia in his last ditch effort to keep Donald Trump from becoming the GOP nominee, spectacularly failing in the Indiana primary and dropping out of the presidential race the next day, are the losses of anti-trans politicians a coincidence or a sign that open hatred of transgender people is a political liability?

Both Klingenschmitt and Bright were unpopular and had committed other unforgivable sins in their party besides being unrepentant transphobes that led to their political demise, but I sure hope so.

As I have pointed out, trans people are at least 1% to 3% of our population, and we are just as diverse as the US population.

Some of those adult trans folks are not only Republican, but some of our trans kids have parents who are members of that party like Debi Jackson, Kimberly Shappley and Rep Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) .

Those parents and their allies are increasingly becoming fed up with the demonization of their children and trans family members and seeing member of the party they support propose legislation and dehumanizing policies to make their kids third class citizens and are retaliating at the polls..

We'll find out if the nascent political hypothesis I'm pondering about transphobia for fun and GOP political gain becoming a liability is valid if North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory (R) falls on November 8 to his Democratic gubernatorial challenger Roy Cooper  

Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, Gov. Greg Abbott and AG Ken Paxton, assuming he isn't convicted or in jail by then we won't find out about until they face the voters in 2018.

Hopefully by that time the Texas voter suppression law will be dead.

But I'm hopeful that the pattern of politicians gleefully and openly hating trans people for political gain goes the way of hanging chads on punchcard ballots.

Trans Candidates Notch Historic Wins In US Senate And US House Primaries!

The cool thing about being a trans person in this amazing moment in time is that if every day you wake up and simply do your best to be the best person you can be and live your life, you may find yourself making history as a result.

I've been asking in the wake of Geraldine Roman's historic win in the Philippines as their first trans congress member when we were going to see it happen in the United States?  

Well, the answer to my question is it may be as soon as November 8.

On that day, trans voters in Utah and neighboring Colorado will have candidates like us in Misty K. Snow and Misty Plowright on their ballots in this critical national election for the US House and the US Senate.

Last night in a historic upset, 30 year old Utah native Misty K. Snow made some trans political history by handily beating her heavily favored Democratic opponent Jonathan Swinton 59.5%-40.5%.

Snow jumped into the race just before the deadline, wishing to offer an alternative to the center-right leaning Swinton.  At the Utah Democratic Convention Swinton had earned 55% of the delegates votes to Snow's 45%, but she got enough support at the convention to force the runoff, then built on that by aggressively campaigning throughout the Beehive State by touting her working class background and being an unabashed progressive Democrat.

It wasn't close.  Snow garnered in unofficial returns 26,668 votes to just 18,182 for Swinton with all counties reporting..

"Today we have scored a major victory, We have shown that voters will turn out in numbers to support progressive candidates that take strong stands on issues," said Snow in a press release.

"I want to thank all the wonderful people of Utah who supported me in the Democratic primary; without your support none of this would be possible," she added..  

The upset win made Snow the first ever out trans person to earn a major party nomination for the US Senate, and earned her a shot against her as she called him 'loathsome' incumbent Republican senator Mike Lee.    Lee is one of the most conservative senators in the nation and was unopposed in the Utah Republican primary for his second six year term.

As of right now, she's trailing 51%-37% to Lee, but she feels she's in a great starting position seeing that most voters don't know her yet and she has time to introduce herself to the Beehive State's electorate.  If Snow's campaign catches fire, there's the possibility that the DSCC will kick some funds to her if she gets within striking distance of knocking him off in a year in a presidential election year in which bright red leaning Utah might be in play.

Next door in Colorado, more trans political history was being made in another Democratic primary race, this time for a US House seat.   In the 5th Congressional District Democratic primary, 33 year old  Misty Plowright won her primary race to face off in the fall against Rep. Doug Lamborn (R), who is running for his sixth term in Congress.

Rep. Lamborn was forced into a runoff against Calandra Vargas, who beat him at the Republican assembly.  Lamborn flipped the results to beat her 68.3%-31.7% in the primary.

Plowright's primary race wasn't close either.  With one county (El Paso) still out according to the Colorado Secretary of State website, she was beating Donald Martinez by 16 points, 58%-42% in her historic primary win,  Plowright garnered 13.373 votes to Martinez's 9,639 and local media is calling the race for her.

Plowright also faces an uphill challenge because her central Colorado district south of Denver is considered one of the most conservative in the state.  It encompasses the city of Colorado Springs and its suburbs, Cimarron Hills and Fort Carson.  Since its creation in 1973, the district has never been represented by a Democrat, although El Paso County's increasingly diversifying population gives Democrats hope they can change that dismal electoral history.

The city of Colorado Springs is the county seat of El Paso County and the home of the anti-TBLG organization Focus on the Family and hate pastor James Dobson.  It would be oh so sweet if she upset Lamborn and give Dobson a coronary if she ended up representing the 5th Congressional District

We'll see what happens in November.  If the Mistys both shock the political world once again and make it to Washington DC to get inaugurated on January 3, 2017 for the start of the 115th US Congress, they will have earned those seats.

In the meantime, you may want to chip in some t-bills to help both Misty's campaigns get to the House and Senate.

TransGriot Note.  Plowright is not the first out trans person to get a major party nomination in a US House race.  That distinction goes to the late Karen Kerin, who in 2000 ran and lost as a Republican in Vermont to Bernie Sanders.

Plowright still made history as the first in the Democratic Party, and the first in Colorado. 

Countdown To 2016 TTNS in Killeen, TX

We are now a month away from the eighth annual Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit, and this year the TTNS will be held on the Texas A&M-Central Texas campus in Killeen, TX.

The TTNS was started by its founding chair Josephine Tittsworth in 2009 with the mission of doing education geared toward initiating policy changes for transgender students, faculty and staff at Texas colleges and universities.

“The purpose of our organization is to not only educate people, but also to provide support and resources to people on school campuses all over Texas so they can engage professionally and respectfully with administration to get policies changed to be inclusive to transgender faculty, staff and students.”  Tittsworth said in an interview with the Killeen Daily News.

The initial TTNS was held on the University of Houston campus in 2009 and drew 25 attendees, and has been the only one I've missed because I was living in Louisville at the time.   The first one I attended was the second TTNS hosted by Rice University in 2010 mere weeks after I moved back home in May, followed by the 2011 TTNS at the University of Houston, the 2012 TTNS at the University of Houston-Clear Lake and UH again in 2013.

Texas State University in San Marcos was the first campus outside the Houston metro area to host the TTNS in 2014, followed by last year's TTNS on the UT Dallas campus in Richardson, TX.




The 2015 TTNS at UT Dallas holds the attendance record so far with 75 attendees, and they are anticipating breaking that record at Texas A&M-CT with 100 attendees.  

Some award winning blogger y'all know will not only be teaching a seminar during this year's event, but I get the honor of being one of the 2016 TTNS keynote speakers along with the legendary godmother of the trans rights movement in Judge Phyllis Frye.  We'll also have another outstanding lineup of presenters at this year's TTNS on the Texas A&M Central Texas campus.

As a result of the TTNS, the number of Texas colleges and universities with trans inclusive policies for students, faculty and staff has grown from just three to currently 38.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in the Killeen area in a few weeks on the Texas A&M- Central Texas, and hope the TTNS exceeds the expected attendance this year..      

2016 ESPN The Body Issue Includes A Trans Athlete

The ESPN The Magazine's The Body Issue has been featuring since 2009 nude and semi nude photos of elite athletes for several years now

The 2016 edition is due out next month, and when it does hit the newsstands it will feature a little trans history.   Chris Mosier is a trailblazing duathlete, advocate for trans athletes and the first out trans athlete to qualify for a US national team,

Now he is also the first out trans athlete to appear in the pages of the ESPN The Body Issue.

Mosier said in an interview with ESPN's Christina Kahrl that he has wanted to be in that issue for over a year, and now he has accomplished that goal.

"There are a lot of people making history right now, and they just may not be as public as I am,"said Mosier.

'I think the reason I felt so inspired to do it is because I'm finally at a place that i fell very comfortable with my body. And as a trans person, being in a body that really didn't fit me for 29 years, now I feel very comfortable in my own skin," he added.

You can look for the 2016 The Body Issue featuring Chris and other elite athletes starting on July 8