The Air Marshal Has Arrived In St Louis!

After a flight from Hobby to.St Louis via Dallas that found me delayed at Love Field because of the arrival of the POTUS and FLOTUS for a major speech and having a bumpier than I liked trip from Dallas to St Louis, I'm now settled into my downtown Show Me State hotel room, have my computer set up and I`m calling Mom to let her know her eldest child/ made it,.

I'm now getting ready after unwinding from that interesting to say the least travel day to attend my second Netroots Nation conference and my first since 2012.

Well, I wasn't too disappointed in the Love Field delay.  I got to see Air Force One make a wide sweeping turn into the Love Field landing pattern and majestically land, trailed by two Secret Service security vehicles while taxiing over to the private aviation area at that airport,

And because of the ground stop, I had time to head over to the airport Whataburger location and destroy one for lunch.  

I also discovered to my delight that St. Louis has a 46 mile two line (Red and Blue) Metrolink light rail line running from the airport to downtown and across the Mississippi River to the East St. Louis Illinois side of the St Louis metro area.

Hey hometown, how about we make the same thing happen that St Louis has done since 1993 and extend our MetroRail to IAH and Hobby?

I have been wanting to come back to Netroots since the 2012 NN event I attended in Providence, and the panel I participated in.  My schedule since 2012 hasn't allowed that to be possible until now.  It's also cool and ironic I'm  a mere 260 miles west of Louisville as I do so.

(Turning eastward and waving towards Da Ville)

I'm here in St Louis on Tuesday because at the St Louis America's Convention Center tomorrow there's a #NN16 pre-conference event happening in which the organizers of it wanted me in the room as part of it.  ,

Looking forward to seeing what transpires, and I'll find out if the stuff we discuss tomorrow starting at 9 AM CDT is on or off the record.

At any rate, will do my best to tweet, comment on my FB page and write about what's happening while I'm there at Netroots Nation repping my community, my hometown and the organizations whose boards I sit on.  

In the meantime, as you watch for my commentary, you can also check out the Netroots Nation website for webcasts, stories and blog posts, and follow the #NN16 hashtag on Twitter just for starters.

I also have a Saturday panel discussion I'll be participating in at 1:30 PM entitled #TalkingWhileBlack: Recognizing and Confronting Racism In The LGBTQ Community.  Should be a fun conversation with me Faith Cheltenham and Ashton Woods being just some of the peeps on that panel.

I'm also planning to pop my head into non-LGBTQ spaces and making my unapologetic Black trans voice heard, and may swing by the radio podcast area before I'm done and heading back to Texas

Perusing the schedule overview now and trying to figure out what seminars and panels I'm going to attend when the conference starts Thursday, and hope #NN16 is as positive an experience for me as the 2012 edition was.

We'll see how that plays out in a few hours.

Stop Killing Black People

"If that were happening to your community and it was your kids being depressingly killed every year by police that don't look like them or even live in their neighborhoods, would you be sitting silently on your hands about that injustice?"  
TransGriot, August 14, 2014
We have had in the last week three Black men killed by police officers in Baton Rouge, LA (Alton Sterling), a St Paul, MN suburb (Philando Castile) and in my hometown Saturday (Alva Braziel) mere hours after a Black Lives Matter rally that sought to bring down tensions between HPD and our citizens.

It's not like Death by Cop isn't a new problem for our community or the community's internal response to it.  One of the things I was told in 1978 after I'd passed my written test for my drivers permit by my parents was "Congratulations!  Now this is what you don't do in a traffic stop."

And two years later I violated one of those rules in a Highland Park, TX traffic stop because I was pissed off about being jacked with by the Highland Park PD for the crime of looking at Christmas lights while Black with my cousins.

Three years later I was dealing with the same crap again outside a then popular SW Houston nightclub called the Tyler Rose because my then homeboy's tail light on his car picked that moment to go out with two white male HPD cops in the mood to mess with some Black people.on our bumper at the Fondren and West Bellfort traffic light.

And once again I got snarky when I and my friends got asked why we all had South Park addresses on our drivers licenses when he and his partner saw us pulling out of the Tyler Rose parking lot.

My response to the question?  "Since when did it become a crime for people who live in South Park to be in Southwest Houston?"

I was fortunate that neither episode resulted in me or my friends dying because of my big injustice hating mouth, but that was the 80's.   Now it seems as though in the 2K16 white cops have a problem with Black people be they male or female no matter their age.   They are 'in fear of their life' so much when they encounter us they are straight up killing us and to our disgust not getting punished for it.

Black women not only have to be concerned during their interactions with police about getting shot to death or brutalized, they also have to be worried about being sexually assaulted or violently body cavity searched.

That crap needs to stop.  Today.

We are tired of having our humanity dismissed, ignored and being killed for BS reasons by police officers that are supposed to protect and serve our communities, and not getting punished for it. That's a major reason why you're seeing peaceful (for now) protests all across the country.

But if things don 't change for the better soon in terms of the longtime historically negative relationship between Black people and white police officers, then all bets may be off about those protests staying that way.

Preliminary US Trans Survey Data On Trans Bathroom Experiences

The US Trans Survey (USTS) was conducted in English and Spanish over four weeks in August-September 2015.  It is the follow up to the 2008-2009 National Transgender Discrimination Survey (NTDS) in which 6,456 people responded to the questions in it. and the data from the often quoted survey was released in 2011.

The NTDS because it has been quoted by media sources (including this blog) over 15,000 times has been a game changer in terms of how the public and policymakers understand the challenges that US transgender people face.

The USTS, with 27,715 adult respondents is now the largest survey of transgender Americans ever conducted.  While the full results of the survey will be released later this year, enough of it has been compiled so that we can get snapshots of the data.

Seeing that our conservafool opponents are attacking our community based on the debunked bathroom predator lie, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) is releasing the preliminary data covering the experiences of trans people in the bathrooms to highlight how critical and necessary it is for trans people to use bathrooms that match their gender identity.

The link to it is here.  The rest of the USTS data will be released later this year.

***

59% of respondents reported they have in the last year avoided bathrooms because they feared confrontations in public restrooms at work, schools or in other places.

12% reported they have been attacked, harassed or sexually assaulted in a bathroom in the last year.

31% have avoided drinking or eating so that they did not need to use the restroom in the last year.

24% reported that someone told them they were using the wrong restroom or questioned their presence in the restroom in the past year.

 9% reported being denied access to the appropriate restroom in the past year.

9% reported having a kidney or urinary tract infection, or another kidney related medical issue from avoiding restrooms in the last year.

Leaving On A Jet Plane To St Louis!

It's ironic than in the nearly nine years I lived in Louisville, I was only a mere 3.5 hour drive away from St. Louis, but the closest I ever got to hitting I-64 west toward it was Evansville, IN for the wedding of a friend.

The next closest opportunity was in 2012 when I was headed to New York for my GLAAD POC media training, and my through flight to LGA stopped in St. Louis on the way there.  It was the same aircraft, so I happily moved myself and my bags closer to the front of the plane before we boarded the passengers waiting to get on in St Louis.

Well, I'm finally going to get the opportunity to not only see the St Louis airport terminal from the inside, but also see the city.  I'll also get the opportunity to meet some people in St Louis as I attend Netroots Nation for the first time since I was on that historic all-trans panel at #NN12 in Providence.

Yep, people, I'll be at the 2016 Netroots Nation through Sunday, and my jet plane takes me through Dallas Love Field on the way to St. Louis.   Hopefully I have a chance and time to hit the Whataburger at Love Field while I'm laying over there for my connecting flight at 12:30 PM and both are on time.

That depends on how badly the arrival of President Obama and Air Force One in Dallas impacts the flight schedule

You TransGriot readers know the convention drill.  Sometimes I may be deep in thought as I'm wandering the convention halls and may not recognize you right away, or I may be engaged in conversation with a lot of people.  In either scenario, don't be shy, just say hi when you see me.

I'm also taking part in a leadership meeting on Wednesday and a panel discussion on Saturday

On that note, time for me to get some beauty sleep for this travel day   My alarm is set for 6 AM, and it will be here before you know it.
.    

Dale Hansen Calls Out Lt Gov. Dan Patrick In Dallas Shooting

Since I have many of my relatives on my mother's side of the family in Dallas and my mom grew up there, I spent a lot of time on that northern end of  I-45, and still do because of my annual BTAC trip.

One of the joys of being on that end of Dallas is being able to watch longtime WFAA-TV 8 sportscaster and journalist Dale Hansen call it like he sees it about sports and other pertinent issues.   I've posted some of his Hansen Unplugged commentaries on the blog, and this one calling out my reprehensible Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) is one that definitely needs to be signal boosted.

Hansen calls him out for blaming everyone but himself and his Texas Republican colleagues for passing the open carry law that allowed Micah Johnson the ability to buy the automatic weapon that he used to kill 5 DPD and DART police officers and leave 10 other people wounded.

And he calls him what I would have called him had his remarks come in time for last week's SUF Awards.

Hansen also drops this truth bomb during his commentary while calling the shooting 'an attack on our basic humanity.'

"A white man in America doesn't die for selling cigarettes on the street corner, he gets a ticket.  A white man in America doesn't die for driving with a broken tail light, he gets a ticket, too.  And the officers who abuse the badge and the power they have should be punished, but too many times they are not.'
But I'll let you hear and see once I find the video for it his eloquent takedown of Patrick and his commentary about the Dallas shooting..  

Moni's Going To Chautauqua Institute!

I've had the blessings of being able to do some groundbreaking, amazing and historic things since my 1994 transition, but what is going to take place next month is mind blowing even by those standards.

On August 11 I'll be at the historic Chautauqua Institution as part of their Pushing Our Bodies' Limits Chautauqua Lecture Series interviewing Janet Mock at 10:45 AM EDT from their Amphitheater stage.

So what's the Chautauqua Institution?  It's a nonprofit 750 acre education center and summer community on Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York state 17 miles north of Jamestown that draws over 100,000 people for its wide range of events every summer.

It was originally founded in 1874 as a training camp for Sunday School teachers but broadened its offerings in 1878 with the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle (CLSC) and mission to provide those who didn't have the time or money to acquire the skills and essential knowledge of a public education.

By 1880 it had acquired the reputation of being a national forum for discussion of public issues, international relations, science and literature where the leading thinkers of that time came to discuss the issues and concerns of the day.

Some of the long list of people who have graced the Chautauqua Institution grounds have been people such as Susan B. Anthony, who argued for women's suffrage from there in 1892.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave his 'I Hate War' speech from here in 1936.  Margaret Mead, Amelia Earhart, Thurgood Marshall, Jane Goodall, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Kurt Vonnegut are some of the people who have spoken there.

The Chautauqua Institute tradition of timely conversations by thought leaders discussing the issues and concerns of the day continues with a timely discussion on race relations and Black Lives Matter this week with Deray Mckesson.

It also is a place where dance, music,opera, theater and the visual arts also reign along with an Abrahamic Program that seeks to build positive relationships among Jews, Christians and Muslims complete with services for those faiths.

In a month, I'll get to experience that.

Even more wonderful is that on August 11, Janet Mock and I will be joining that long distinguished list of people speaking from the historic Chautauqua Institute Amphitheater stage,

And I'm so looking forward to it.  

Hillary Clinton Remarks At AME National Convention

"For now, let's focus on what we already know - deep in our hearts.  We know there is something wrong with our country. There is too much violence, too much hate, too much senseless killing, too many people dead who shouldn't be.  And we know there is clear evidence that African Americans are much more likely to be killed in police incidents than any other group of Americans."
--Hillary Clinton, July 8, 2016   

Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was at the African Methodist Episcopal Church National Convention in Philadelphia when the shootings on Tuesday of Alton Sterling in Baton rouge, Philando Castile in suburban St. Paul the next day and the Thursday sniper attack in Dallas following a peaceful protest of the deaths by cop of Sterling and Castile broke out

Clinton spoke to the AME convention delegates and condemned the level of tension and violence that hasn't been seen in this country in decades.
.
This is her speech to the AME National Convention on Friday, and it's one that needs to be heard.
Here's the transcript for it.

Trans Woman Wins Landmark NZ Discrimination Case

As I've been pointing out throughout the history of this blog, a trans human rights win or advance anywhere is good for trans kind everywhere on this planet.

In New Zealand, our trans siblings there and around the world are celebrating Dakota Hemmingson's recent Employment Relations Authority win that awarded her nearly $13,250 ($9680.65 US).

The Employment Relations Authority ruled Hemmingson was unjustifiably dismissed from her job and awarded her back pay of $3248 ($2373 US) and $11,000 ($8036.77 US) compensation for the hurt and humiliation the dismissal caused her.     

The 23 year old Hemmingson was employed at a hair salon in Auckland for six weeks until she revealed to her employer Matt Swan on April 11 2015 she was transitioning.  She was told by Swan that although he supported her move on a personal level, he was 'concerned about her safety' and in a later April 14 meeting that her transition 'didn't fit the commercial profile of the business', located in the Barkers clothing store.  

She felt after that conversation she had no choice but to leave that job and resigned that day.




"It's a huge win for transgender rights and human rights, but personally its been a huge burden," she told the New Zealand Herald. "I didn't want any special treatment (at the salon)  This was never about money or attention."

Hemmingson hopes that the positive Employment Relations Authority case ruling sent a message to employers to educate themselves on gender identity issues.

She said she was proud the case would set ERA precedent against discrimination aimed at New Zealand trans people in the workplace. And it's also more irrefutable evidence that we are also everywhere on Planet Earth, but trans rights are international human rights.

2016 Williams Watch- Number 22!

Should be an interesting Saturday for the Williams sisters, and you never bet against them when they are playing matches at their personal SW19 tennis playground called the All England Club.
-TransGriot, July 8, 2016

It took a while, but after upset losses in the 2015 US Open semis, the 2016 Australian Open finals and the 2016 French Open finals a month ago, world number one Serena Williams finally gets that elusive Grand Slam title number 22 at her SW19 tennis playground.  She prevailed with a 7-5, 6-3 straight set win on Centre Court over Germany's Angelique Kerber, the player who upset her in Australia a mere six months ago.

That was then, this is now.   While the fourth seeded Kerber came to play and tried to execute the game plan that worked for her in Melbourne by trying to hit those wide crossing shots to pull Serena off the court, Serena was anticipating she'd do that and was ready for her this time.


She cut that off, and when it was time to serve, it was on target and being placed with laser precision accuracy wherever she wanted it.

And oh yeah haters, she repeats as Wimbledon ladies singles champion and equals Steffi Graf with that 22nd Grand Slam singles title.

This was her seventh Wimbledon ladies singles title, and she has a shot at capturing another title today with Big Sis in the ladies doubles championship.  Should they knock off the Timea Babos-Yaroslava Shvedova duo, it would be their 14th doubles Grand Slam crown

TransGriot Update: She and Venus did win the Wimbledon ladies doubles crown.  They won their sixth 'Williams'-don doubles title in a straight set 6-4, 6-3 win over Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova.

They are now 14-0 in Grand Slam doubles finals.  

2016 Williams Watch-Serena And Venus In The Wimbledon Doubles Final!

For the first time since they won it all in 2012, the Williams sisters are playing in the Wimbledon ladies doubles title match.

They knocked off the eight seeded duo of Julia Gorges of Germany and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 on No. 1 Court to advance and play for a shot at their sixth Wimbledon doubles title and 14th Grand Slam career doubles title.

And just a reminder for all you peeps in the doubles competition at the upcoming Rio Olympic Games, Big and Little Sis are the three time doubles gold medalists, winning in 2000, 2008 and in 2012 at their fave tennis venue.

The women standing on the opposite side of the net that will try to stop them from making more tennis history will be the number five seeded doubles duo of Hungary's Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan.   They are on a roll after knocking off the number one seeds and defending Wimbledon doubles champs Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-4 to get to the semis, and a 6-4, 6-2 straight set win over the tenth seeded American duo of Raquel Atawo and Abigail Spears to advance to the doubles final.

Should be an interesting Saturday for the Williams sisters, and you never bet against them when they are playing matches at their personal SW19 tennis playground called the All England Club.  

   .    

Shut Up Fool Awards-What's Going On Edition

It's been one of those WTF weeks in American history. We've had two Black men, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile murdered by police in Baton Rouge and St Paul, MN 36 hours apart followed by a terror attack in Dallas last night aimed at killing DPD and DART police watching over a peaceful protest about police brutality aimed far too often at non-white people.

So as I tried to go to bed last night the 'What's Going On' song by Marvin Gaye and the lyrics of it were playing in my head.   Took me a while to get to sleep.

Let me get to my usual Friday business of calling out fools..

Honorable mention number one is a group award for every fool online who in the wake of the Sterling and Castile murders, used the #BlueLivesMatter or #AllLivesMatter hasttags, racistly repeated the 'black on black crime' conservalie or were just derailing racist douchebags.

Honorable mention number two is to Donald Trump for his ongoing train wreck of a presidential campaign and whatever jacked up comment he made this week.

Honorable mention number three is the NRA for their cricket chirping silence in the wake of the murder by cop of Castile, who was a 2nd Amendment supporter.   Their silence continues to reinforce the ossifying impression in Black America that the NRA is a racist organization, why Black Americans overwhelmingly want common sens gun control legislation and the   #SecondAmendmentSoWhite

Honorable mention number four is the GOP House, who can't call a hearing to investigate ongoing violence aimed at African-Americans, but can call an emergency hearing over some damned e-mails

Honorable mention number five is Wendy Williams, who made some problematic comments about HBCU's on a recent show.

Honorable mention number six is Gays For Trump, who decided to throw trans people under the human rights bus.  They cheered when Donald Trump flip flopped on his alleged support for trans people and support HB2.

Guess you forgot that when mine and other trans people's human rights aren't secure, yours aren't either, and your whiteness, Republican party status,or wallets won't save you from that reality.

Honorable mention number seven is Matt Drudge for his racist anti-BLM headline on that waste of bandwith called the Drudge Report.

This week's SUF fool winner is my least favorite deadbeat dad and former congressman in Joe Walsh.

Ever since  Rep.Tammy Baldwin beat that behind in 2012 and knocked him out of his congressional seat after one controversial term, he's been doing conservafool talk radio, and last night in the wake of the Dallas shooting made a series of racist tweets threatening President Obama and calling for a race war.



He of course once the backlash started deleted the tweet and doubled down with more racist conservaidiocy but social media wasn't having it and justifiably dragged his azz..

And yeah, I got your 'Real America'.   Real America is the people who want to see this country evolve to live up to the lofty words in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, not be dragged back to a Leave It To Beaver America that never existed  

Real America is not right wing white males pining for the 18th century when only they had the political power, but a diverse nation which works for everyone.  

How about you do Chicago and America a favor and shut up fool?
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Empowered: Trans Women And HIV Series

One of the things I have been keenly aware of since 2000 and reading the Washington Transgender Needs Assessment is that trans women are at the highest risk for HIV/AIDS.

The US Centers for Disease Control and prevention reports that one in four trans women, and nearly half of Black trans women, are living with HIV.  Globally, trans populations in various nations are 50 times more likely to have HIV compared to other populations

That's unacceptable, and in response  to these sobering statistics, Greater Than AIDS is launching a video series entitled: Empowered: Trans Women and AIDS, a video series discussing love, life and HIV among #TransEmpowered women

Thanks to Phoebe, Blossom, Bre, Victory, and Joanne for telling their stories and being part of this video series, and here's the promo video for it.




In order for us to get to the international goal of zero new HIV/AIDS cases, eradicating the virus in trans populations needs  to expeditiously happen and we will need funding and resources allocated to trans led HIV/AIDS organizations to do the job.

Removing trans women from the MSM stats and counting trans people in our own HIV/AIDS statistical category instead of lumping us in with gay men is necessary.  We need to know the extent of the actual number of HIV cases in our community, and it will help immensely toward gathering statistics in the future and removing stigma.    

There are also societal fixes that need to happen of passing trans non discrimination laws so that trans women aren't forced to resort to escorting to pay their bills and we get another step forward toward getting new HIV cases to zero...
     

Transphobes Fail To Get I-1515 On Washington Ballot

Wonderful news out of Washington state in that the transphobic backers of Initiative I-1515 canceled their appointment tomorrow to turn in signatures to Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman.

That means the Orwellian named Just Want Privacy haters failed in their attempt to get the unjust I-1515 on the November 8 ballot and the decline to sign campaign of the No on I-1515 coalition worked.

The Gender Justice League executive director Danni Askini commented in a message posted on their  website:

The anti-trans ballot initiative failed to get enough signatures to be on the ballot in November!

Washingtonians have sent a clear message—we won’t discriminate. Voters didn’t buy the pitch that repealing our state’s non-discrimination protections for transgender people would somehow make us safer. Washingtonians value fairness and equality and we believe that everyone in our state should be able to earn a living, frequent a business, earn an education, and raise a family free from the fear of discrimination.

The initiative would have rolled back a Washington Human Rights Commission ruling clarifying the public accommodations provisions of the 2006 Washington LGBT rights bill that apply to trans people that allow people to use locker rooms, bathrooms and other facilities that correspond with their gender presentation, and codified restrictions on the human rights of Washington state transgender citizens.

The Washington state Forces of Intolerance failed in their mission to mess with the human rights of trans Washingtonians, and that's something to celebrate.

But like the Terminator, the trans human rights oppressors who were part of the Just Want Privacy coalition will continue trying to accomplish their reprehensible mission of attacking the human rights of trans people in Washington state and suppressing their human rights.  We need to exhale, celebrate this win, and prepare for their next attempt to mess with us.

This was a huge win for the Washington Won't Discriminate coalition and for trans human rights in Washington state .

2016 Williams Watch- Mixed Wimbledon News Day For The Williams Sisters

Today was semifinal day for the'Williams'-don ladies singles tournament, and my fave tennis playing siblings were at Centre Court playing for their first all Williams singles final since 2009.

Serena quickly dispatched Russia's Elena Vesnina in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 to make it to her third consecutive Grand Slam final this year and set up an opportunity to win her seventh Wimbledon title and 22nd career Gland Slam title win.

However, eight seeded  Big Sis didn't get to join Little Sis in the Wimbledon ladies singles final.  She unfortunately lost to fifth seeded German Angelique Kerber 4-6, 4-6 and fall just short of the opportunity to win her sixth Wimbledon title.

It is Kerber, who upset Serena in the 2016 Australian Open final that will face Little Sis on Saturday.

Big Sis' London business trip isn't over yet.  She and Serena are still in contention for their first Wimbledon doubles crown since 2012 and their 15th Grand Slam title.

They headed over to Court No. 2 and knocked off the number 4 doubles seeds Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova in three sets 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 6-2 to punch their ticket to the ladies doubles semifinals

The Williams sisters will take on the 8th seeded doubles duo of Julia Gorges of Germany and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic with a spot in the doubles final on the line.

Should they handle their business tomorrow, they will face in the finals the winner of the Timea Babos/Yaroslava Shvedova - Raquel Atawo/Abigail Spears match

ButThe fifth seeded Babos and Shvedova knocked off the number one seeds and defending Wimbledon doubles champs Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza 6-2, 6-4 in straight sets to take on the 10th seeded American duo.

We'll see what happens tomorrow in  the ladies doubles action and on Saturday at Centre Court.

She Beat You!

Been a while since I penned one of my song rewrites, but this one came to me as I was watching Bernie Sanders once again stall during an interview on doing the obvious and endorse the presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, while simultaneously reading the detached from political reality commentary of the Green Tea Party supporters of Sanders who refuse to accept he lost back on Super Tuesday in March

So y'all know the drill.  Open up your fave music program and sing to Moni remixed lyrics.

She Beat You!
Sung to the tune of 'She Saw You' by Luther Vandross

While on the Net last night saw Bernie or bust boys
Talking about 'she cheated', and I became annoyed
Asked if Bernie could win POTUS as a Dem nominee
They said 'Yes, he can'
I said "Don't you lie to me"
Hillary she finished first  (she beat you)
I'm proud to tell 'ya
Democrats all voted for her (She beat you) unlucky fellas
Hatin' on Hillary,(she beat you) not a wise political play
And y'all need to stop the lie (She beat you)
Trump's a better POTUS any day
Too bad for you
Bernie's not a presidential player   He's lost, it's true
Hell naw I don't feel sorry for you

(chorus)
She beat you   (That's right!)   Campaign's at the end
Hillary's the nominee (Who's going to be) the POTUS my friend

You're claiming 'voter fraud' and Bernie won California
Well that's absurd, wasting money on that lawyer
Found out too damned late Black voters are with her
You sent in that Killer Mike clown
Bernie got electorally beat down
He can't escape from this loss (She beat you)  His time is up
Bernie needs to concede (she beat you) it's a move we'll love
Yes you are angry (she beat you) you're gonna make her pay
November 8 you need to vote (she beat you) Can't let the liberal SCOTUS get away

Looks good to me
Bernie's not a presidential player
Be gone, I'll repeat
You're acting like sour grapes filled creep creeps

She beat you   (That's right!)   Campaign's at the end
Hillary's the nominee (Who's going to be) the POTUS my friend
Really don't feel sorry for you
She beat you   (That's right!)   Campaign is at the end
Hillary's the nominee (Who's going to be) the POTUS my friend

Can't let the liberal SCOTUS get away
Too bad for you
Bernie's not a presidential player   He's lost, it's true
Hell naw I don't feel sorry for you

(chorus x3 then fade to end)
She beat you   (That's right!)   Campaign is at the end
Hillary's the nominee (Who's going to be) the POTUS my friend

Moni's Headed To Netroots Nation 2016!

Wasn't expecting to be able to go this year, but it worked out for me and I will now be part of the #NN16 crowd wandering the America's Center Convention Complex in downtown St Louis for this year's edition of Netroots Nation.

This will be my second one after a four year absence from my inaugural one in Providence in which I was part of the historic all-trans Blogging For Transgender Equality panel.  

It was an overall positive experience for me.  I ended up during my time at #NN12 doing two radio interviews on This Week In Blackness (TWIB) and Michaelangelo Signorile's show and meeting a lot of people in the national liberal-progressive movement that i still converse with to this day.

And just as I did during #NN12, I'm not just going to hang out in my LGBT community comfort zone.  I'm planning on hitting some panels geared toward the Black community and letting my unapologetic Black trans voice be heard in those spaces as well.

We'll see what happen next week, but I'm looking forward to going.

They Still Mad Because Jesse Williams Spoke Truth

I've been amused by the reaction by bigoted white peeps and the Conservafool Outrage Machine about the recent BET Awards speech Grey's Anatomy actor Jesse Williams gave when he accepted his 2016 Humanitarian Award.

Someone named Erin Smith (if that's her real name) laughably started a Change.org petition seeking to get Williams fired from his Grey's Anatomy gig for his 'racist' speech.






















Shonda Rimes, Jesse's boss, is unmoved by your shedding of tasty white tears, and neither is the president of ABC Entertainment who by the way, is also a sistah.

Yo Erin, a note for you and 'errbody' else that shares your misguided definition of racism:  Racism = Bigotry and Prejudice + systemic power used by a majority group to retard, roll back or eviscerate the societal progress of a minority group.

It is not a epithet white people like you shadily throw at Black people they are pissed off at because the Black person in question called out the negative behavior of white people and their fee fees got hurt.

That's the definition I and many others learned in Sociology 101 and it's obvious you either chose to ignore or were asleep in sociology class during that classroom discussion about racism.


To quote from Jesse's acclaimed BET speech:

And let’s get a couple things straight, just a little sidenote – the burden of the brutalized is not to comfort the bystander.That’s not our job, alright – stop with all that. If you have a critique for the resistance, for our resistance, then you better have an established record of critique of our oppression. If you have no interest, if you have no interest in equal rights for black people then do not make suggestions to those who do. Sit down.

And since you don't have an established record of critique for our oppression, have several sections of seats and sit your azz down.

The reality for non-white Americans that we deal with every day is that white skin matters in America.  Societal privilege based on melanin-free skin color, AKA 'whiteness' exists, and white supremacy is based on maintaining the dominant position of white skinned folks in this society.  Whiteness is part of that system of oppression and goes hand in glove with white supremacy.

Jesse Williams spoke truth that night on the BET Awards stage, and the bottom line is that you, the peeps who signed that misguided petition and the conservative movement can't handle it.

2016 Williams Watch- In The Wimbledon Semis!

I told y'all the All England Club was the personal tennis playground of the Williams sisters, and in this 2016 Wimbledon tournament they are proving it.   For the first time since 2009, the Williams sisters, who have eleven singles titles combined, are in the Wimbledon ladies singles semifinals at the same time.

World number one Serena won her Centre Court quarterfinal match with Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 to punch her ticket to the semifinals against another Russian in Elena Vesnina.

Meanwhile over on No. 1 Court, eighth seeded Venus was pushed a bit and was down 2-5 in the first set tiebreaker, but regrouped and won in straight sets against Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 to make it to her semifinal match with number five seed Angelique Kerber

It was the first time since the 2010 US Open that she has made it to a Grand Slam semifinal,

We'll see on Thursday if both Williams sisters make it to the ladies singles final on Saturday.

They are also still in contention for their first 'Williams'-don doubles crown since 2012, and dispatched the Czech duo of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 6-4, 6-3 in their third round ladies doubles match

They will face in the ladies doubles quarters the winner of the Barbora Strycova/Michaella Krajicek - Elena Vesnina/Ekaterina Makarova match.

TransGriot Update:  They will face in the Wimbledon doubles quarters the number four seeded Russian duo of Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova.

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