Call Me Ashley

As I have repeatedly pointed out over the history of this blog, trans people are part of the diverse mosaic of human life and we can be found on nearly every inhabited continent on planet Earth and every region of it.

That includes as we definitely can tell you at the Black Trans Advocacy Conference, Jamaica and the Caribbean.

Meet Ashley Gordon, a girl like us from Montego Bay who is and out and proud fashion blogger and model. She tells her story in two videos for the Jamaica Observer that were originally posted in September 2015.

Danica Roem Wins VA Dem Primary!

Danica Roem made a little political history in Virginia tonight.

She surprisingly bested three candidates, Steve Jansen, Andrew Adams and Mansimran Kahlon in the Democratic primary for the Virginia House of Delegates District 13 race to become the first out trans candidate in Virginia to win a primary race.

She now gets to take on the transphobic and homophobic Republican incumbent, Del. Bob Marshall in the general election that takes place on November 7.

Marshall has been in office since 1992 and has a long uganti-LGBTQ legislative history in the state.  He authored the Marshall-Newman Amendment to the Virginia constitution that banned same sex marriage in the Commonwealth of Virginia until it was overturned by a federal judge in 2014.  

Marshall also tried to pass unjust legislation similar to North carolina's HB 2 that would bar trans Virginians from using bathrooms in state owned government building consistent with their gender identity and presentation, but that bill was quickly killed by his fellow Republicans

Demographics in this 13th District in Prince William County and Manassas Park have increasingly been leaning more the Democrats way, and Hillary Clinton won this district last November by a 55%-40% margin.

So does she have a chance of making history and becoming the first elected out transgender state legislator and the first transperson elected to serve in a state legislature since Althea Garrison did so in Massachusetts in 1992?

She's captured the Democratic Party nomination, so she's halfway there.   As for will we be calling her Delegate-elect Roem on November 7, we'll see in a few months.

BTWI Statement Concerning The Kenne McFadden Murder

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 13, 2017
Contact  Monica Roberts BTWI Media Chair
Carmarion D. Anderson  BTWI Founding National Director
855-255-8636 Ext 11
media@blacktranswomen.org

For the 12th time this year, we at Black Transwomen, Inc must release a statement regarding the murder of another African-American trans woman.

We are also saddened to note that the latest murder has happened in Texas.

As a Texas based organization, Black Transwomen, Inc is and continues to be adamantly opposed to the transphobic SB 6 and HB 2899 bills proposed by the Republican controlled Texas Legislature, and were deeply concerned about the anti-trans rhetoric and outright lies being uttered by Texas conservatives in order to pass this unjust legislation.

We wondered when the anti-trans animus being fomented in our state would result in one of our Texas trans people being murdered.

The answer to that question was April 9, when the body of 27 year old Kenne McFadden was found floating in the San Antonio River near its world famous Riverwalk as many of us were up in Austin fighting those transphobic bills.

But because Kenne was misgendered by the San Antonio media, we are just now finding out about our lost sister two months after the fact..  

We at Black Transwomen, Inc. our brother organization Black Transmen, Inc, the Black Trans International Pageantry System and Black Trans Advocacy express our deepest condolences to Kenne's family and everyone who loved her.

We are also beyond tired of this ongoing pattern of media misgendering of trans murder victims that happens far too often to trans women of color.

Kenne is the 12th trans woman we have lost to anti-trans violence in 2017, and 11 of the twelve US murder victims have been African American.   Native American Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow of South Dakota is the only (so far) non Black trans person killed.

What also continues to sadden us at Black Transwomen, Inc is that nine of the dozen souls we have lost to anti-trans hate are under age 40.

Kenne's case has been reclassified as a homicide by the San Antonio Police Department and we are pleased to note there is a person of interest already incarcerated on other charges who is a suspect in this case.

We pray that if this currently incarcerated person is indeed the perpetrator of the crime, that justice will be expeditiously served.

Rest in power and peace, Kenne.

Janet Mock's New Book 'Surpassing Certainty' Out Today

The last time I spent some quality time with my amazing sis was when we were making history together last summer at Chautauqua Institute.   She was telling me about her latest book she was writing at the time as we waited to go on that historic amphitheater stage

That book she was telling about in the green room, Surpassing Certainty, goes on sale today and is available in hardcopy and e-book formats.  

The latest book picks up from where Redefining Realness left off and covers Janet's twenties and navigating college, the corporate world and trying to find her purpose and place in the world without a roadmap to guide her along the way.

I know I'm looking forward to reading it and getting my copy autographed by her the next time i get to spend quality time with her.

Best of luck Janet with Surpassing Certainty, and hope it is another New York Times Best Seller for you.  

50th Anniversary of Loving v. Virginia SCOTUS Case

Today is the 50th anniversary of the US Supreme Court dropping the landmark Loving v Virginia case decision which killed the laws prohibiting interracial marriage in this county.

The case was brought by an interracial couple, Mildred and Richard Loving, who had gotten married in Washington DC in 1958 and returned to Virginia to live.   They were arrested, tried and convicted in the town of Bowling Green, VA for violating the white supremacist 1924 Racial Integrity Act.

They were sentenced to a year in jail, but the sentence was suspended under the condition that the Lovings leave Virginia and not return for 30 years not even to visit family.  

The Lovings moved to Washington DC, and Mildred Loving wrote a letter to then Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy appealing for help in their case.

That letter was forwarded to the ACLU,  whose lawyers subsequently filed the legal case that went to the Supreme Court.   On June 12, 1967 the SCOTUS unanimously ruled that Virginia's laws against interracial marriage violated the 14th Amendment and were unconstitutional.  

That ruling overturned similar laws still on the books in 16 states, and led to a surge of interracial marriages.  In addition, the precedent set in the Loving v Virginia case was cited in several cases holding that restrictions on same sex marriage in the United States was unconstitutional, including the 2015 Obergefell v Hodges SCOTUS decision.

In fact, Mildred Loving on the 40th anniversary of the case commented about the then same sex marriage battle that was raging and winding its way through the courts.

"I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people’s civil rights."

Richard Loving died in 1975 and Mildred Loving died in 2008, so they didn't get to see that legal precedent they set by standing up against injustice being used to strike down injustice against another group of marginalized Americans.

And in the United States today, one in every six married couples is an interracial one and I know more than a few of those couples in my own life.

So while this case wasn't exclusively about love conquering all as the movie Loving would have you believe, this case at its core was about striking down white supremacist oppression and an unjust law.

At the same time, to borrow a line from Battlestar Galactica, you cannot declare war on love.

Puerto Rico Says 'Si' To Statehood

Yesterday Puerto Rican voters took a major step toward the island becoming the 51st state.

In Sunday's non binding referendum that drew 23% of the island's registered voters to participate in it, statehood received over 500,000 votes, with free association/independence drawing over 7800 votes and 6800 votes for the current status as a territory

Gov. Richard Rossello (NPP) in the wake of the vote told supporters that he would create a commission to select two senators and five congress members that would head to Washington DC and demand statehood from the US Congress.

Will Puerto Rico become the 51st state?  Congress would have to approve the change in status from a commonwealth to statehood and the President would have to sign it, but good luck getting the Republican controlled Congress to agree to do so.  The 3.4 million peeps on that Caribbean isle tend to vote for Democrats, and the GOP is going to have enough problems trying to hold on to power in 2018 and 2020.

Trump has stated he's in favor of it, but you can never believe anything Dear Cheeto Leader says
But you never know.

But like the residents of Washington DC, Puerto Rico has voted to say si to starting the process toward statehood.   It's just will it happen in our lifetimes?

Texas Trans History- The Texas 'T' Party

In the wake of the recent death of Linda Phillips, one of the co-organizers of this event along with her wife Cynthia, been needing to talk about this event that grew to become one of the largest trans themed conferences events in the nation.

And even better, it was based here in Texas.

Back the late 80's, the trans community was tentatively beginning to come out of isolation and forming local transgender support groups that allowed crossdressers and trans people to meet each other, form friendships and go on public local outings as a group in addition to being informed about the latest developments in pre-Internet Trans World.

One of those support groups that sprang up was the San Antonio area based Boulton and Park Society that formed in 1986.

Linda and Cynthia Phillips joined it not long after its formation, and the couple soon ascended to leadership roles in the organization.  Linda became the secretary and treasurer of the Boulton and Park society, while her wife Cynthia became the Executive Director  

Linda and Cynthia also became board members of IFGE, the International Foundation For Gender Education in the 1990's along with doing the talk show circuit to talk about their marriage in which one partner is transgender and the other cisgender.

The Texas 'T' Party started in 1988 as a way for Boulton and Park Society members and other Central Texas area crossdressers to have an event that allowed them to be en femme for an entire weekend at a local San Antonio hotel.  They were only expecting 20-40 people to show up, but to their surprise the word got out and 128 people attended that inaugural event.

The second Texas 'T' Party in February 1989 had 75 people journeying to San Antonio a full day before the conference officially started on Friday, so programming was extended by a day to have events on Thursday starting in 1990.

The 'T' Party grew to include vendors, beauticians, manicurists, makeup artists, photographers, panel discussions, a talent show, programming for the spouses and a keynote speaker.  It also quickly assembled a large mailing list of attendees from across the nation and several countries.

The 'T' Party growth was so explosive that by the third annual one in February 1990 it was not only drawing over 300 regular participants, it had forged a deal with American Airlines to become their official air carrier.  As part of that relationship with American Airlines, a coupon discounting air travel to San Antonio for the event was included in the T Party event confirmation packet.

The Texas 'T' Party growing in a short time to major trans convention status was critical to the startup and success of another Texas based event that was the genesis of the political organizing and messaging of the modern trans rights movement in the International Conference of Transgender Law and Employment Policy.  (ICTLEP).

Phyllis Frye attended the 1992 'T' Party in order to help promote the inaugural August 26-30, 1992 one of what turned out to be six ICTLEP conferences in Houston with the blessing of the Phillipses, who became major supporters of the ICTLEP conference.

The explosive growth of the Texas 'T' Party led to it not only becoming a weeklong event, but outgrowing its original hotel to become arguably the largest trans themed convention in the United States.

After hosting the 1995 'T' Party at a new San Antonio hotel, it surprisingly moved up I-35 to Dallas for two years in 1996 and 1997 for its eighth and ninth annual editions before returning the T' Party back home to San Antonio for its 10th anniversary edition in 1998

But the 1990's also saw the growth of other trans themed conferences like the Southern California based California Dreaming, Fantasia Fair in Provincetown, MA and an Atlanta based one called Southern Comfort which was also rapidly growing in popularity in Trans World.

The Phillipses also being busy during the decade with television appearances, collegiate panel discussions, sitting on boards in addition to holding leadership roles within the Boulton and Park Society and being the principal organizers of the T Party led to the decision to end it with one final Texas T Party in 1999.

For eleven years the Texas 'T' Party was the destination convention for many crossdressers, trans people and their spouses who took advantage of the mild Texas winter-early spring weather to be themselves if only for a week in the Lone Star State before it ended.

Thanks to the Phillipses and the team that worked to put on the Texas 'T' Party for over a decade, it was more than just a weeklong party.  It was also an event that educated and informed our community, helped many find lifelong friends, helped many people come to the epiphany that they were definitely trans, and was a critical early informational building block in the modern trans rights movement.

And it did so with a Texas twang and that legendary Texas hospitality..
 

Pulse Terror Attack: One Year Later

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.-TransGriot  June 13, 2016

I definitely remember where I was when I heard about the Pulse nightclub terror attack in Orlando.  I was in Philadelphia staying at Dionne Stallworth's place for the just concluded Philly Trans Health Conference.

I was in the midst of an empowering few days that started with me going to Washington DC and the White House for my first LGBT Pride Reception with Ruby Corado, then immediately leaving with Fiona Dawson to ride up I-95 to Philadelphia for my early Friday morning PTHC media panel moderated by Brynn Tannehill after arriving a little after midnight.

I was in Philadelphia preparing to catch a Megabus to Washington DC for Capital Pride and my flight back to the Houston area when Dionne hit me with the first disturbing early Sunday morning news about the Pulse shooting.

The details were still coming out as I headed to the Megabus pickup stop in Philly for my trip back down I-95 to DC, and I sent out a tweet that incensed the right wing haters when I said "This tragedy is the result of six months of nonstop GOP anti-gay hatred for their political gain."

That started a swarm of GOP leaning Twitter trolls heading to my Twitter feed to swarm attack me.  I spent the entire 139 mile (224 km) bus ride calling out and then blocking them until I hit DC's Union Station.   I spent some time at the nearby Capital Pride, and noticed the increased police presence for the event before heading to BWI airport a few hours later.

49 people died during that terror attack on Latin Night, with another 53 people being wounded.   And yes, I still do blame all the anti-gay and anti-trans Republican rhetoric in being a catalyst for the Pulse attack.

And still haven't forgotten that reprehensible tweet Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick (R) unleashed on the world early that morning.

It also made me think about the fact less than a few hours before I'd been in a predominately trans convention space.  I noted when I entered the convention center for PTHC's Saturday sessions the security level for our event and thinking we needed more than the single unarmed security company person at the doors in light of all the anti-trans rhetoric that had been put out there across the country by the Republicans and other conservative media.

A few months later I got the opportunity to see the Pulse site for myself while attending this year's LGBT Media Journalists Convening in Orlando.  

Earlier that Saturday morning during one of our sessions we'd heard from one of the survivors who urged us to remind people in our upcoming anniversary articles we would soon write that this happened on Latin Night.

I noted when our buses rolled up from the hotel the Puerto Rican flags put up as part of the memorial. I noted the reverent silence at a site that should have had vehicles filling its parking lot and excited anticipation building for another night in which the Orlando TBLGQ community gathered at this location for fun and to meet that special person.

Stanley Almodovar III, 23 years old

Amanda Alvear, 25 years old

Oscar A Aracena-Montero, 26 years old

Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33 years old

Antonio Davon Brown, 29 years old

Darryl Roman Burt II, 29 years old

Angel L. Candelario-Padro, 28 years old

Juan Chavez-Martinez, 25 years old

Luis Daniel Conde, 39 years old

Cory James Connell, 21 years old

Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25 years old

Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32 years old

Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez, 31 years old

Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25 years old

Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26 years old

Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22 years old

Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22 years old

Paul Terrell Henry, 41 years old

Frank Hernandez, 27 years old

Miguel Angel Honorato, 30 years old

Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40 years old

Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19 years old

Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30 years old

Anthony Luis Laureanodisla, 25 years old

Christopher Andrew Leinonen, 32 years old

Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21 years old

Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, 49 years old

Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25 years old

Kimberly Morris, 37 years old

Akyra Monet Murray, 18 years old

Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20 years old

Geraldo A. Ortiz-Jimenez, 25 years old

Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36 years old

Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32 years old

Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35 years old

Enrique L. Rios, Jr., 25 years old

Jean C. Nieves Rodriguez, 27 years old

Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35 years old

Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, 24 years old

Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan, 24 years old

Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34 years old

Shane Evan Tomlinson, 33 years old

Martin Benitez Torres, 33 years old

Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega, 24 years old

Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, 37 years old

Luis S. Vielma, 22 years old

Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50 years old

Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37 years old

Jerald Arthur Wright, 31 years old

#WeAreOrlando #Pulse #Orlando #Solidarity

Instead, it is now quiet because of a senseless mass shooting that targeted our community and the makeshift memorials that now cover portions of that fenced off parking lot.

The Orlando City soccer club has 49 rainbow flag seats in Section 12 with #OrlandoUnited on them in its new stadium just two miles from the club in honor of the persons we lost that night.  

The Pulse club itself in now a memorial    And sadly, we now have an idiot in the White House who is pandering to the right wing fundamentalists and members of his base who would love for that to happen again.

No, it can't be allowed to happen again.   And we must redouble our efforts as a TBLGQ community to eradicate homophobia and transphobia from our greater societal ranks

'Black Panther' Trailer Is Out!

"You are a good man with a good heart.   It is hard for a good man to be a king."
I have been eagerly anticipating this movie ever since it was announced Marvel was FINALLY going to stop playing around and film the movie based on the first Black comic superhero in the Black Panther, AKA T'Challa, the king of the fictional technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda.

The Black Panther comic actually came out before the more well known Oakland based organization of the same name was founded.

Black Panther, and it starts Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa.  The cast of this movie also includes Lupita Nyong'o, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Phylicia Rashad, Danai Gurira, Michael B. Jordan and Daniel Kaluuya just to name a few of the peeps in it.

We will get to not only meet much of T'Challa's family including his little sis Princess Shuri, the future Black Panther and ruler of Wakanda, but get to see Wakanda in all it glory.

It's scheduled to be released to your fave multiplex during Black History Month on February 18, 2018 and I am already blocking that day off on next year's calendar to see it.

Here's the trailer for it



You'll now know after seeing this trailer what I mean when I say don't make me go Wakandan on you.

Congratulations Councilmember-elect Narvaez!

A few hours ago I received another reminder of just how many amazing people I have in my life and who call me their friend.

I've known Omar Narvaez for several years now thanks to his work with Lambda Legal in their Dallas regional office, as a past three time president of the Stonewall Democrats of Dallas and his service on the Dallas County School Board.   He was elected in 2015 to his first full six year term on the Dallas County School Board after being appointed in May 2014 to fill a vacancy on that board.

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He recently ran for the Dallas City Council District 6 seat in West Dallas currently held by Monica Alonzo, who is also the Dallas Mayor Pro Tem and sister of Texas state rep Roberto Alonzo (D).

Narvaez during the May 6 city election made it to the runoff with Alonzo, and armed with endorsements from the AFL-CIO and former Dallas city councilmember Angela Hunt, beat her in the runoff.  All the District 6 precincts reported in a few hours ago and have been counted, so that means Omar is the councilmember-elect for District 6.

It wasn't close.  Narvaez and #TeamOmar flipped the Election Day script, and garnered 1132 votes (58% of the vote) to Alonzo's 828 votes (42% of the vote).

Alonzo was one of three incumbent Dallas council members and allies of current Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings to lose their council seats yesterday.  Alonzo was joined by her council colleagues Tiffinni Young in District 7, the southeast Dallas district that includes Fair Park where the Texas State Fair happens, and Erik Wilson in the south Dallas centered District 8.

Mayor Rawlings had endorsed Alonzo and Young, and stayed neutral in the District 8 race.

"I'm ready to fight the corruption and get it stopped at City Hall and to stop the wasteful use of our tax dollars on boondoggle projects,"Narvaez said in a Dallas Observer story.  "For far too long, District 6 has been underrepresented;  It's time for thoughtful and intelligent leadership at City Hall.

And it looks like on runoff election night, District 6 agrees with you.

Congratulations Councilmember-elect Narvaez!   Amazing accomplishment, and know you are looking forward to this exciting new challenge of representing your District 6 constituents at Dallas City Hall.

TTNS 2017- Day 2

It's Day 2 of the 9th annual edition of the Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit, and it's the day I get to do my Contemporary Texas Trans History.

I enjoyed Day 1, in which I not only got to hear Babs Siperstein's speech, but spend some quality time with her  Phyllis Frye and a few other folks.

Got a chance to not only hang out with old friends, but meet some new ones in the process.

I mentioned that the Blueberry Festival was happening in Nacogdoches, and one of our events was impacted by it.

Our 5:30 PM reception got cut short of it's 7 PM end time because of the setup taking place on Main Street in historic downtown Nacogdoches for the Festival.

Us leaving early to ensure the car didn't get towed from the parking area that was also going to be used for festival vendors allowed me, Kayla, and Rebecca to go back to our now sold our host hotel.

My gameplan was to take a short power nap, then do some more writing and prep for my session, but ended up waking up about 10 PM.  

But back to the TTNS Day 2 story.

We'll be back in the Twilight Ballroom of the Pattillo Student Center for breakfast and to be welcomed by Dr. Janet Tareilo, SFA's Associate Provost for Academic Affairs.

We'll then start the concurrent sessions for the day at 9:40 AM before breaking to hear our Day 2 keynote speaker Jeremy Ivester.  My session will be part of the Concurrent session block that starts at 12:30 PM.

Once the concurrent session are completed around 3:30 PM, the TTNS closing ceremonies take place with remarks from our emcee Jenifer Rene Pool and TTNS founding Executive Director Josephine Tittsworth before we bring this year's edition of the Texas Transgender NOndiscrimination Summit to a close.

We'll then start the countdown to 2018 and bringing the TTNS back where it started, to the University of Houston campus for its 10th Anniversary edition. .

'Stacey's Not A Girl' Book Launch Event

While I'm here in Nacogdoches, my heart will also be with Dr. Colt Keo-Meier as he finally launches his trans themed children's book Stacey's Not A Girl.

It is a compilation of stories from not only Colt's childhood, but the childhood of several trans masculine persons.  An Indiegogo campaign raised the over $9,000 to get it published,

I got to read an advance copy of it and loved the book.  I also thought about the trans kids who will enjoy reading something that has a character in it like them

The book is now available for purchase, and you can check out the book launch event for it at The Montrose Center from 2-4 PM.

Good luck, hope it's successful and you sell out all the available copies of it.

Shut Up Fool Awards- Texas Blueberry Festival Edition

While I'm in Nacogdoches TX for this year's 9th annual edition of the Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit, it isn't the only event taking place in this East Texas college town this weekend.   We also have the 28th annual Texas Blueberry Festival taking place tomorrow.

The main street of historic downtown Nacogdoches will have events from a bluegrass music concert to a 5K run as the expected 19,000 people descend on the town to enjoy the fun and blueberry infused treats as we chill on the Stephen F Austin State University campus plot the next phases of the trans movement.

I still haven't forgotten that I have the  Friday business of calling some fools out.

Honorable mention one is Donald Trump for pick an outrage.

Honorable mention number two is Houston homophobe Dave Wilson, who went on FOXNoise26 and made some nasty remarks about the upcoming Houston Pride parade

Honorable mention number three we go across The Pond for in British Prime Minister Theresa May.
She called a snap election three years before she was mandated to in an attempt to get a Conservative Party ruling majority and it resulted in a hung parliament in which she will now have to form a coalition government in order for the Conservatives to remain in power.

Honorable mention number four tis Josh Duggar, for having the faux faith based hypocritical balls to sue because he's upset that peeps found out he molested his sisters and cousin.

This week's winner is Gov. Greg Abbott,

He caved to Lt Gov. 'Potty Dan' Goeb Patrick and called a special oppression session that will take place on July 18 and cost this state's taxpayer's $800,000 to basically try to pass the bad Texas GOP that deservedly failed during the just concluded regular session..

And that means once again we'll have to go to Austin to fight Texas GOP legislative oppression that is happening simply to enhance his GOP gubernatorial primary prospects.

Greg Abbott, shut up fool! .

 

TTNS 2017- Day1

I'm here on the Stephen F Austin State University campus in their Baker Patillo Student Center to check out the happenings for this year's 9th edition of the Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit

Our first day of action kicks off with the TNNS opening from Josephine Tittsworth, our emcee Jenifer Rene Pool and welcome from Dr. Adam Peck the Associate VP of University Affairs.  

Our keynote speaker will be Babs Siperstein, and after lunch, the concurrent sessions start and run until  4 PM , then we close out TTNS Day 1 with a reception at the Cole, Art Center from 5:30 -7 PM.

And we also hit Nacogdoches the same weekend as their annual Texas Blueberry Festival is hitting historic downtown Nacogdoches , so this should be an interesting time here on the SFA campus.
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Moni's Headed To Nacogdoches

I've probably done more travel inside the state of Texas in 2017 than I have outside of the borders of the Lone Star State.

But my out of state travel will probably catch up to my instate travel before the year is over,

I've done five trips to Austin with only one of them being the personal business variety.  The other four (so far) were to battle Texas GOP legislative oppression and looks like I'll have to do that again in July.   I just came back from the ATX at the invitation of United We Dream to speak at their Memorial Day rally.

I attended a transgender leadership training in the Dallas suburb of Irving back in February, and recently returned to the DFW area for the Black Trans Advocacy Conference in Dallas

The dates for this trip have been on my calendar since the conclusion of last year's event, but as you read this I'm headed NNE up I-69 (the highway formerly known as US 59) or the Eastex Freeway to native Houstonians, for the 9th annual Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit taking place June 9-10. .

I haven't missed a TTNS since my return back to Houston from Da Ville in May 2010, and the first event I attended after I came back home was the 2010 edition of it that was held at Rice University.

I had the honor of being the keynote speaker for it last year.

Over the last few years, the TTNS has ventured from its Houston area roots to hit the Texas roads and be hosted on various college campuses around the state.   In the last few years we have gone to San Marcos (Texas State),  Richardson  (UT Dallas), and last year Killeen (Texas A&M  Central Texas).   This year it was time to bring it to East Texas, and I know that trips to The Rio Grande Valley, West Texas and the Panhandle are probably in the TTNS future along with its desire to one day be on one of our Texas HBCU campuses.

So what's the Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit?  TTNS is two days of teaching, learning and plotting the path of social justice in the Lone Star State and beyond.

 It has been instrumental in getting trans friendly policies and procedures implemented at Texas state colleges universities and several Texas school districts .  The TTNS is also two days of us getting to network, chat with with old friends and meet new ones.

There was a moment during last year's event in Killeen in which myself, Josephine Tittsworth, Jenifer Rene Pool and Phyllis Frye got to do something we don't get to do very often in Houston.  We sat down at a table and the four of us got to talk for longer than five minutes during a quiet TTNS moment.  

The reason I'm going to this year's TTNS is to teach my Contemporary Texas Trans History seminar again.

This year we're headed to Lumberjack Country and the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University  in Nacogdoches, which is 140 miles NNE of Houston.  

Nacogdoches is not only the hometown of Stephen F/ Austin State University, it also has the distinction of being the oldest town in Texas, beating out San Antonio for that distinction by being founded in 1716 and incorporated in 1837.

This year's TTNS Friday keynote will feature one of our trailblazing leaders in Barbra 'Babs' Casbar Siperstein,  and the last time I saw her in the flesh was at last year's LGBT Pride reception at the White House.

Looking forward to seeing and spending some quality time with her and our Saturday TTNS keynote speaker in  Jeremy Ivester.

So for those of you making the trip to Nacogdoches to be there for the TTNS, thanks for doing so and see y'all at the Baker Pattillo Student Center on Friday and Saturday.