Shut Up Fool Awards- The Last Fool Of 2017 Edition

We are in the 52nd week of 2017, which means that New Year's Eve is happening this weekend.

That also means I'll be announcing the 2017 TransGriot Shut Up Fool of the Year from a slate of deserving fools.   You'll know before you hit the streets to do your New Year's Eve partying.

But before I handle that business, there's the matter of since today is Friday deciding who gets the last weekly Shut Up Fool award of 2017. 

Honorable mention number one is Donald Trump.   The two time SUF of the Year had to remind me he was still an idiot by trying to pimp the lie he got everyone to say 'Merry Christmas'  again.

Honorable mention number two is Indiana state Rep Milo Smith (R) who filed a bill that would force the Indianapolis Colts give refunds to fans through the end of the first quarters of games if Colts players do a take a knee protest during the national anthem.

Note to Milo.  Compelling allegiance to a flag or an anthem is not patriotic, it's tyranny

honorable mention number three is Mike Huckabee, who tried to compare Trump to Winston Churchill and got torched by the Twitterverse for it.

Honorable mention number four is Roy Moore for not only continuing to be a sore loser, but claiming he lost due to 'voter fraud'.

Dude, you lost by over 20,000 votes, and until your party does something that helps African Americans, we will continue to vote against your azzes at a 98% clip.

This week's LAST SUF winner for 2017 will stay in Texas, and it's Republican gubernatorial candidate Larry Kilgore.

Kilgore after getting 1.4% o the vote in the TX GOP gubernatorial primary in 2014, is running again in 2018. 
He's ramping up the anti-TBLGQ extremism in this run, and recently posted on his Twitter feed that gays, adulterers and people who engage in bestiality should be executed.

Hate thoughts plus hate speech = hate violence and murders.  .
His platform also includes the abolition of public schools, ending welfare and Social Security and abolishing public prisons to replace them with executions and public shaming.

Like is said.  Kilgore doesn't need to spend one nanosecond in office.   But the haters in the  Texas Republican Party base will probably eat that up.

This is one fool that definitely needs to not only shut up, but not see on nanosecond in any elective office.

 Larry Kilgore, shut up fool!

Neuroscientist Dr. Ben Barres Dies

We've lost another of our trans elders and pioneers in Stanford University neuroscientist Dr. Ben Barres. 

Dr Barres passed away at age 63 on December 27, 20 months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer

Dr Barres focused his research on the cells in the brain that aren't nerve cells, called glia cells.  That research would revolutionize the field of neurobiology 

He authored over 167 peer reviewed papers during his career and was elected to membership in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine.

If we eventually find a cure for Alzheimer's and other neurological conditions, Dr Barres' research into glial cells will be indispensable in putting scientists on the path for doing so.

As a trans masculine person, he was a champion for marginalized groups in academia and society, and will be missed by his colleges and all who loved him.

Where's President Joseph Charles?

Houston City Council public comment sessions can be entertaining at times with people from all walks of life able to speak for up to three minutes on whatever topic they choose. 

That means that in addition to having people come to City Hall to comment on issues like flooding, potholes, public safety and other issues germane to life in a large city, we also get our share of peeps who use their time to discuss conspiracy theories worthy of an Alex Jones InfoWars episode.

One way we regulars who speak at Houston City Council meetings definitively know that we have come to the end of a public comment session is when President Joseph Charles comes to the podium to get his one minute to say whatever he wants until his time has expired.



He's been a fixture at every City Council public comment session for over a decade, but during my last visit to City Hall I noticed that somebody was missing:  President Joseph Charles.

No one at City Hall has seen or heard from him over the last several months, so that has my inquiring mind asking the question where is he?   

Is President Joseph Charles still in town?  Has an illness or medical issue cropped up that has kept him from coming to City Hall?   Or has he passed on? 

It would be nice to have a definitive answer to these questions I'm posing.

The 2017 Black Trans Year In Review

2017 for the Black trans community was definitely a year of highs and lows.    As usual we had people make history in big and small ways,

Sadly we lost far too many people in 2017  due to anti-trans violence..

Let's get the bad news out of the way first.   With four days left in this year, we have lost 24 people to anti-trans violence.  FYI  unlike other lists, I count from January 1 to December 31 in the same calendar year.

Of those 24 people, 18 of them were African American trans people, with the youngest being just 17 years old.  17 of the eighteen trans African American murdered were trans feminine. 

Sadly, of the four trans people we lost in Texas, two were African American, and one was in my H-town backyard in Brandi Seals.

One of the other things I need to talk about is Ky Peterson, who is unjustly still in a Georgia jail for killing his attacker while defending himself against being sexually assaulted.

Let's make this the last Christmas that Ky spends in jail.  You can check out the FreeKy website for news on his case.   

Now that I've gotten the bad news out of the way, let's move on to the more positive 2017 news starting with the historic elections of Andrea Jenkins and Phillipe Cunningham to the Minneapolis City Council. 

Andrea is the first out Black trans women elected to public office since Althea Garrison did son in 1990.   Cunningham is the first out  Black trans masculine person elected to ANY public office.   Cunningham in his Ward 4 race beat a 20 year incumbent who was also the council president .

Jenkins and Cunningham are also the first trans persons of any ethnicity elected to a large  metropolitan city council in a city over 250,000 in population.

We saw some groundbreaking  thinks happen in the media world as well.  Wear Your Voice named writer and activist Ashlee Marie Preston as their editor in chief

In June New York Times bestselling author Janet Mock released her second book Surpassing Certainty: What My Twenties Taught Me .  Some blogger y'all know got her second nomination for a GLAAD Media Award in the 'Best Blog' category.

French model Ines Rau became the first ever transgender Playboy Playmate in October.

We were also repped at the National Women's March in Washington DC earlier this year thanks to Raquel Willis and Janet Mock.

Black trans people continued to make strides in Hollywood.   Angelica Ross was tapped for roles on the shows Claws and the upcoming FX series Pose.  Mya Taylor was tapped for a recurring role in AMC's Dietland.  Laverne Cox was nominated for an Emmy for her Sophia Burset role on the show Orange Is The New Black.

Even in the business world, Black trans folks are kicking butt and taking names.    One you need to keep an eye on is tech entrepreneur Dr. Kortney Ziegler.   He's gaining attention with the Appolition app created with his business partner Tiffany Mikell that uses spare change to bail Black people out of jail.   He and Tiffany are also seeking to raise a half million dollars for their start up tech company.

.Black trans Texans also played a role in helping to kill the odious anti-trans SB 6 bill    Trenton Johnson, Carmarion Anderson, Dee Dee Watters,  Jessica Zyrie, Mia Ryan  and Nicole Perry made multiple trips to Austin (I made 8 trips) to not only talk to state lawmakers but spend hours waiting to give two minutes of testimony during the marathon hearings in the Texas House and Senate, and again during the Special Oppression Session senate hearing. 

That's just a small snapshot of what the Black trans community accomplished during 2017.   What groundbreaking things and history will we make in 2018?

TransGriot 2017 Shut Up Fool of the Year Award Finalists

In just seven days we will move on to 2018, so that means it's almost time for me to select the fool,fools or group of fools who will earn the coveted TransGriot Shut Up Fool of the Year Award.

This was the list of 2017 SUF of the Year contenders back in June.

Since 2009, every New Year's Eve I close out the year by selecting the person or person who excelled in exhibiling over the top levels of ignorance, showed Olympian levels of arrogance, and WTF levels of hypocrisy and did so for the entire year.

The inaugural winner of the 2009 Shut Up Fool of the Year Award was then RNC chair Michael Steele   He was followed by Sarah Palin in 2010.   Herman Cain snagged the honor over some stiff competition in 2011 followed by runaway 2012 winner Mitt Romney.

In 2013 the junior senator from Alberta, Ted Cruz made a late run to snag the 2013 Shut Up Fool of The Year honors.   The 2014 Shut Up Fool of the Year award stayed in Texas with Rep. Louie Gohmert getting it over some stiff competition   In 2015, it was Donald Trump , followed by him becoming the first ever repeat SUF of the Year winner in 2016.

And now here are the finalists for the 2017 Shut Up Fool of the Year Award.    I was going to do just five, but it was just too many idiots to leave out this year.

Texas Lt Governor Dan Patrick is on the list, along with White House Press Secretary Minister of Propaganda Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and former VA Del. Bigot Bob Marshall.   

A group award for the Republican Party.  Texas Sen. Lois "Locker Room' Kolkhorst.   Jerry Jones and Bob McNair made it      John Schnatter , KY Gov. Matt Bevin , Jeffrey Lord,
Sean Hannity,. Sen  Mitch McConnell   Jill Stein, Susan Sarandon,  everyone in the TBLGQ community that voted for Trump, Harvey Weinstein,  Roy Moore,  a group nomination for white fundamentalists, Gen. John Kelly,  Omarosa, Paris Dennard., the TERF's,   Kellyanne Conway, Betsy DeVos, Jonathan Saenz, Dave Welch, Steven Hotze,  Rep. Paul Ryan, Milo Yiannopoulos,  Rep. Vicky Hartzler, a group award for the transphobic Catholic bishops, Tony Perkins, Rep. Blake Farenthold, Rep Steve King , Rep. Louie Gohmert,    

And oh yeas, in the bid for the unprecedented SUF of the Year threepeat,  Donald Trump.

So who will win it in 2017?  Surf by here on New Year's Eve to find out.

Happy Holidays (Merry Christmas) 2017

After a year that seemed like it has taken a decade to pass, we're finally at Christmas Day.

I've already received multiple early Christmas gifts.  Finally got the gender marker change done.  I got to see my hometown baseball team FINALLY win a World Series.  I got to go to and doa panel at San Diego Comic Con.

And yes, with the help of the Texas trans community and a host of allies, we killed the unjust anti-trans SB 6 bill TWICE.

And oh yeah, before I forget,  Dear Cheeto Leader sucks.  .Note to your delusional azz:  We always could say 'Merry Christmas'.  Just another fake news issue you tell your white low information voters '
I hope I receive the Christmas present of seeing your incompetent dotard behind being impeached before 2020 along with VP Mike Pence.

It has been a rollercoaster of a year for me with more highs than lows.   It's also a year in which I and everyone else needs to take this holiday season time to stop and count our blessings. 

And to me, one of those blessings is having wonderful friends who have my back.   It's also nice to just step back from being in ongoing Defcon 1 combat mode as we fight World War T to just chilling and hanging out with your family, be they blood or chosen.

Hope that's what people are doing today as they open gifts, get their grub on or simply enjoy the company of the people they love and care about.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas everyone.   Enjoy this day in the knowledge that 2017 is almost over,   But once we get past New Year's Day, it's back to fighting for a better world for our trans kids and ourselves.

But first, time to open up my presents in a few hours and see if I got the Astros World Championship shirt I wanted or that Zappos gift certificate .

TransGriot 2017 NFL Picks- Week 16

This slog of a 2017 NFL season is almost over and I have this week and next before we tally up the final results and see whether I threepeated or Mr Watts becomes the NFL prognostication overlord again.

Since it's Christmas weekend, we have action today, Sunday and on Christmas Day.   The Texans get to embarrass themselves on national TV at NRG Stadium against the Steelers (bah humbug Bob McNair) because they don't have a quarterback and they rather have a mediocre white one than a Black free agent one who went to a Super Bowl

Rant over,  let's get to this week's picks  I crushed Week 15 despite not having my pick up for the  Thursday night game and had I done so probably would have won the week.  Instead I tied.

But this late in the season a tie is as good as a weekly win for me because it means Mr Watts doesn't gain ground on me.

Let's get to it.   Mike's picks are here.    Mine are in bold print with home team in CAPS.

Week 15 Results                                                             2017 NFL Season
TransGriot  14-2                                                             TransGriot  142-82
Mike           14-2                                                             Mike           142-82

Saturday Games
RAVENS over Colts
Vikings over PACKERS

Christmas Eve Early Games
Rams over TITANS
PATRIOTS over Bills
BEARS over Browns
SAINTS over Falcons
Lions over BENGALS
PANTHERS over Buccaneers
CHIEFS over Dolphins
WASHINGTON over Broncos
Chargers over JETS

Christmas Eve Afternoon Games 
Jaguars over 49ERS
COWBOYS over Seahawks
CARDINALS over Giants

Christ,mas Day Games
Steelers over TEXANS
EAGLES over Raiders

Shut Up Fool Awards - The Friday Before Christmas Edition

It's the Friday before Christmas day and the next to the last Friday in 2017   I'm so ready to move on from this year that  2018 can't get here fast enough.

I'm announcing who the five finalists are for the 2017 TransGriot Shut Up Fool Of The Year on Christmas Day, and you can actually vote for who should win it on my Twitter feed.

Speaking of fools, let's get to who should be this week's winner

Honorable mention number one to Donald Trump for just pick an outrage.

Honorable mention number two is Roy Moore for being a sore loser, not coming to grips with the fact he lost, and blaming everyone but himself for it.

Honorable mention number three is Nikki Haley, who thought she could bully very other UN nations to not vote on the resolution condemning Trump's declaration of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and massively failed.   

Honorable mention number four is Jill Stein.    Moscow Jill actually blamed 'Clinton Democrats' for her azz being investigated for her trip to Moscow in which she was sitting at a table with Vladimir Putin , Michael Flynn and a few peeps.   Naw boo boo kitty.  I you really wanna know who is to blame, look in your mirror.

Jill, you really need to shut the hell up, you've done enough damage to our country 

Honorable mention number five is a group award for the Republican Congress, who passed their Reagan Hood tax bill that robs from the poor and middle class to give a tax cut to that just like in the 1980's and the early 2000's, they'll hoard and it won't create anything but another deficit that the next Democratic president will have to clean the mess from.

This week's SUF winner is Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) who fell for the okey doke from Mitch McConnell, voted for the tax scam, and is now butthurt because her constituents are tearing her a new anus behind her vote. 

You could have stopped this madness, but you chose to be a Profile in Cowardice and vote for it. 
So naw boo boo kitty, pull up the big girl panties and get all the derision you deserve for your vote that proves once again, white women's loyalty is to white supremacy., not doing what's right for the country.


Sen. Susan Collins, shut up fool!

Get Well Soon, Arianna!

I first met Arianna Lint during a GLAAD POC Media Training in New York back in September 2012.  I have run into her over the years at many trans conferences across the US including BTAC and from time to time posted her interviews on Spanish language media.

I was horrified, appalled and pissed off  to hear that she was assaulted yesterday at her South Florida area home,  and the attack left her hospitalized with a broken arms that will require surgery.

Arianna is one of the sweetest people you would ever want to meet, and has been putting in the work as a well respected advocate for the trans Latina and HIV+ communities in Florida and nationally with the TransLatina Coalition . 

I'll say it again. Anti-trans hate thoughts + anti-trans hate speech = anti-trans hate violence and murders.   That anti-trans rhetoric you let slide off your lips has real world consequences for transgender people.   The more high profile we are, the bigger the target on our backs.

We advocates are all keenly aware of that point, but we don't let it deter us from doing what needs to be done for our people 

Speaking of things that need to be done,  hopp the waste of DNA who did this is expeditiously caught, punished and does serious jail time.

It is also my hope and prayer that you recover quickly from your injuries, and I get to see you at some event in 2018, or my travels bring me to South Florida.

Get well soon Arianna!

One Vote Matters In Decisive VA House Race

Christmas came early for the Virginia Democratic Party.  In addition to sweeping the executive office positions. a decisive House of Delegates race was decided that ended the Republicans 17 year hold on the chamber.   They erased a 66-34 deficit and picked up 16 seats to do so

But the Democrats did sp by the slimmest of margins:  ONE vote.

Shelley Simonds (D) after a recount won a extremely tight race for the District 94 seat held by Republican incumbent Ralph Yancey in Newport News, VA. 

She was trailing by a razor thin 10 votes going into the recount, but made up the ten vote deficit to win the seat 11,608 to 11,607. 

If that result is upheld by a three judge panel today, then the Virginia House of Delegate will have a 50-50 split with a power sharing arrangement. 

The speaker of the House would rotate between both parties, with a Democratic speaker in control one day and a Republican speak the next.   Committees would have an even number of members from both parties and be co chaired bu a Democrat and a Republican.

So to that person in Newport News' District 94 who took the time to vote, your one vote mattered in a historic way, 

And let that in this upcoming election 2018 election cycle be a lesson to voters in Virginia and everywhere in the country.  Never let anyone tell you your one vote doesn't matter  .

Your one vote may be the decisive one.

Dear Transphobic People- Stop Being Shady To Trans Women, Gay Men

Dear Transphobic People,
This post was motivated by something that happened last night to one of my homegirls who was coming home for the holidays last night on Spirit Airlines from LAX.

Spirit is problematic on a lot of levels for trying to squeeze every penny out of your wallet purpose for their so-called cheap flights.   But those flights shouldn't come with a complementary helping of transphobia. 

When my homegirl Vancie Vega boarded Spirit Airlines Flight 326 from LAX to IAH,  the gay male flight attendant at the aircraft boarding door according to a post on Vancie's FB page quickly turned as she boarded and said to his female flight attendant coworker loudly enough for Vancie and probably any other passengers in line close enough and paying attention,  '"Do you think she's a man?"

Hell naw she isn't.   But let me first read this sky waiter for filth.    What the phuck is wrong with you?   You mad because you wish you looked as good as Vancie or were her?

You do not under any circumstances out a trans woman in public.   It is not only disrespectful and hurtful to the trans woman in question,  it can open that trans woman up to further harassment or worse.

Try that with me boo boo kitties and I will go full Omarosa on your azz and won't care where I am at that moment

This plays into an ongoing problem in TBLGQ World I need to address about transphobic gay guys who think they have carte blanche to shadily out or disrespect trans women inside and outside the community,  with the worst offenders being white gay men. 

Poll ten trans women and probably half of us can recount an experience in which a gay male either said something transphobic or outed us in non- LGBTQ company.

First off our trans status is ours to decide whether or not to  share with the world.  There are times when I'm out and about in the world where I'd prefer not to be known as the out and unapologetic Black transsexual for various reasons including personal safety.
    .
When we are in a moment in this country in which we trans women are dealing with a hostile administration in Washington DC,  have GOP controlled state legislatures tying to heap further oppression upon us, and we have everyone from TERF's to right wing evilgelicals to Catholic bishops aiming hate speech at us, the last people we need to be hearing anti-trans microaggressive bull feces from is gay men. 

You have a long ,ugly history of that nekulturny behavior, and it needs to stop.

Especially now. .

Only Eight Weeks To The Black Panther Debut!

February 18, 2018 is going to be the day in which me and a a lot of African American moviegoers head to our local multiplexes to watch a movie featuring an African descended superhero in
Black Panther.   

Ever since the X-Men movies started hitting the screens, Black moviegoers have been wondering when the one featuring T'Challa, the king of Wakanda would be made, how it would be done and who would play the title role.

Chadwick Boseman eventually got the role, and the Black Panther movie has been eagerly awaited and anticipated ever since it waa announced it had been greenlighted for production. 

With every released trailer, the buzz already developing in Black America concerning this film continues to build..

And we are now eight weeks from its debut.

Going to be interesting to see if people do cosplay in honor of its debut, but I'm already hearing about people planning viewing parties or people planning to go in groups with friends on that February 18 day. 

TransGriot 2017 NFL Picks- Week 15

Arrgh, Already down one game because I forgot to post my Week 15 picks after going 5--11 last week.  Guess this trainwreck of a Texans season combined with other drama is catching up with me.

I had a three game lead going into this week, but this is the second time this season I've failed to pick a game, and if it costs me my threepeat, I will be extremely upset about it

We also have two Saturday NFL games now that the regular college football season is over

So lets get to this week's NFL picks.   Team I'm picking to win in bold print with home team in CAPS.   Mike's picks can be viewed here.

Week 14 Results                                                                2017 NFL Season 
TransGriot   5-11                                                                 TransGriot  128-80
Mike            8-8                                                                  Mike           128-80


Thursday Night Game 
Broncos vs COLTS (25-13 Broncos)

Saturday Games
LIONS over Bears
CHIEFS over Chargers 

Sunday Early Games
Eagles over GIANTS
VIKINGS over Bengals
Ravens over BROWNS
JAGUARS over Texans
PANTHERS over Packers
WASHINGTON over Cardinals
SAINTS over Jets
BILLS over Dolphins

Sunday Afternoon Games
Rams over SEAHAWKS
Titans over 49ERS
Patriots over STEELERS

Sunday Night Game
Cowboys over RAIDERS

Monday Night Game 
Falcons over BUCCANEERS

Happy Birthday Kortney!

Definitely had to take a moment to give a TransGriot shout out to another one of the trailblazing trans brothers in our midst that I have mad love and respect for in Dr. Kortney Ziegler. 

Kortney was recently named to the 40 under 40 list of people making a name for themselves in various fields in the East Bay, and has also been named to the Root 100.

Kourtney is the director of the award winning documentary Still Black: A Portrait Of Black Transmen, and in 2013 created Trans* H4CK, that creates tech applications to solve real world problems in the trans community



 
Now he and Tiffany Mikell are the creative minds behind an app called Appolition, which allows people to use their spare change to help bail Black people out of jail. 

So when he says he's on his way to becoming a multimillionaire, I believe him based on his past track record. 

Happy birthday Kortney!   May you have many more and keep on doing amazing things for our communty.. 

Shut Up Fool Awards- Ten Days Until Christmas Edition

We're now just ten days away from Christmas Day, and I already received one of my Christmas presents early in Doug Jones being the senator elect from Alabama.

It's also Friday, and time to handle my usual Friday blog business of calling this week's fool out. 

Just an FYI, surf by TransGriot on New Year's Eve to find out who the 2017 Shut Up Fool of the Year will be.   Yeah, I could give it to 2015-16 SUF of the Year winner Donald Trump for the third straight year, but I need to give it to someone else, and you can nominate deserving fools who should receive this distinguished award until December 25.

It's Friday so without further delay or jibber jabber it time to get to this week's Shut Up Fool Award weekly winner. 

Honorable mention number one is FCC Azzhole Chairman Ajit Pai, who along with two other Republicans voted to repeal Net Neutrality, then mocked people to which this subject is near and dear to their hearts in a video  .



Honorable mention number two is Kevin Swanson, who blamed Roy Moore's loos on Alabama voters reluctant to give up their porn 

Any excuse will do when you right wing white evilgelicals lose, huh?

Honorable mention number three is Stacey Dash.  After spending all of last year being paid by FOX Noise to diss Black people until her azz got fired in January, now dash is trying to get her Black card back by appearing in a movie produced by her cousin Damon, a fact that   


Honorable mention number four is our old friend and kneegrow sellout Jesse Lee Peterson, who had the nerve to let pass through his lips on his radio show that Alabama Black folks 'don't believe in God' because they overwhelmingly voted for Doug Jones. 

Just an FYI Jesse:  95% of Alabama Black evangelicals voted for Jones.

Conservakneegrow please!   You spent too much time on that Alabama plantation as a child and are definitely in the NOT WOKE category.  Have a whole section of seats at the LA Coliseum for saying something that gobsmackingly stupid. 

Honorable mention number five is Roy Moore, for not only being a sore lose for refusing to concede to Jones, but blaming TBLGQ people everybody but his pedophile racist self for his loss. 

This week's winner in a close race is Omarosa Manigault Newman

Omarosa resigned got fired from her cushy six figure White House job cooning it up for Trump to the gleeful cheers of Black America.   

She went on Good Morning America and made the mistake of trying to pick a fight with Robin Roberts, who has whipped cancer's azz twice and definitely ain't 'scurred;' of you. 

She also tried to tell the lie that she was only trying to help the Black Community by joining the Trump misadministration.   Tramp the only Black person you helped with that move was yourself.

Also what 'Black Woman Civil War' are you talking about Boo Boo Kitty?   98% of Black women aren't Republicans, and don't like your behind as Angela Rye gleefully demonstrated.  . 

Neither did they sell out our community like you did. 

So sit your azz down and shut the hell up , fool 

Happy Milestone Birthday, Dainna

One of the first people I met when I was beginning my journey toward getting involved at a national level in trans advocacy work was a Colorado resident by the name of Dainna Cicotello.

I met this veteran and trans elder during the 1999 Southern Comfort Conference I attended, and got reacquainted with her during the 2000 SCC event and the 2000 IFGE Conference, but her work in the community in the late 1980's early 1990's predates my encounters with her.   

I also met her amazing daughter Laurie during that 2000 IFGE Conference in Washington DC, and we still are friends to this day.   During the 2015 Creating Change event that was held in Denver, one of the Denver area peeps I got the opportunity to have dinner with were the Ciccotellos.   They were also present at Fantasia Fair when I received the Virginia Prince from that organization . 

Dainna attended the Houston based ICTLEP conferences, taught seminars on various subjects, and was part of the working group that sought as a goal to create a precise definition under the transgender umbrella that would satisfy the constituent groups at the time.

Dainna has taught Trans 101 for many organizations and colleges in the Denver area, and was one of my trans advocacy mentors.

She's had a rough couple of years in terms of losing her longtime spouse after 47 years together, and as I write this is currently hospitalized.    She's proven to be a tough cookie with remarkable bounceback powers in addition to being a wonderful human being.

Today is Dainna's milestone 70th birthday, and I wanted to take a moment to wish her a very happy birthday and express the hope that she celebrates many more of them in the near future..

Number 24- Rest In Power Brandi Seals

Still haven't hit Christmas Day yet and my sisters are still dying due to anti-trans violence. The latest trans person to die in 2017 not only is in my home state, but my hometown of Houston

26 year old Brandi Seals was found dead in front of a SE Houston home under construction at Brandon and Red Bud Streets in the Sunnyside neighborhood early Wednesday morning at approximately 6:00 AM.   One person reported hearing six gunshots before Brandi's body was discovered.

As you probably guessed, FOX 26's John Donnelly  horribly botched the reporting in this story.  The initial reporting was so horrible he neglected to get Brandi's age, or say in the story where her body was found. 

A mere blogger found that out doing the basic 101 level reporting Donnelly failed to do.

But Donnelly sure had no trouble misgendering Brandi or shadily injecting prostitution into it .

I also had a serious problem with the HPD detective Fil Waters referring to Brandi on air as 'a man dressed in women's clothes'   Brandi is not a 'he' or a 'man dressed in women's clothes', she is a transgender woman.

Brandi is the 24th trans person killed in the US in 2017 . She was also the 18th Black trans person (17 trans feminine) killed in 2017 and the fourth trans person in Texas this year. 

And once again in a patter that continues to infuriate and disgust me, she was under age 30.

As of yet, speaking of HPD they have no leads in finding Brandi's killer, so if you do have any information that will lead to the expeditious arrest, prosecution and incarceration of her killer, you can call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477)

Two vigils are being planned.   One is being organized by Dee Dee Watters at  the Sunnyside location where Brandi died starting at 7 PM tonight.   Another will take place at City Hall at 5 PM Friday 

Rest in Power and peace Brandi.   We will not rest until the person who killed you is apprehended, prosecuted and is rotting away in a TDC jail cell. 

Omarosa, You're Fired!

This week's news just keeps getting better.

In the wake of the massive rebuke of Roy Moore by Alabama Black voters that led to the historic election of Doug Jones to the US Senate, now comes the news broken by April Ryan from inside I-495 that the Trump Misadministration's kneegroid spokesellout Omarosa Manigault Newman has been kicked to the WH  curb.

Y'all know how much I love CNN pundit and commentator Angela Rye, and she of course gleefully had fun with the news.



And now it's time for me, like Angela Rye, to be gleefully petty to a community sellout whose Black card is under review.

#ByeOmarosa

I love it when sellouts to our community get the karmic kick in their ample posteriors they deserve, and I'm also pleased as a taxpayer we are no longer paying $180,000 of our tax dollars for her to do nothing but provide melanin for Trump Administration photo ops.

And now, to end this post, let's let 45 sum it up

Trans Americans Will Be Allowed To Enlist on January 1

Despite Trump and his white supremacist fundie allies desires to mess with our ability to serve our country, on January 1, 2018 the Pentagon will allow any qualified transgender American to enlist in the US Armed Forces. 

You will have to have been on hormones for 18 months to do so.

Trans people serve  in our armed forces at a higher rate than our cis counterparts, and there are currently over 15,500 active duty trans people serving our country in various capacities. 

There are several lawsuits pending to squash the Trump transgender service ban he announced via Twitter back in July.   Two US district federal court judges have already ruled against the ban and shut down a last ditch attempt by the Trump administration to keep transgender Americans from enlisting as the cases wind their way through the federal judiciary.

Pentagon spokesperson Maj. David Eastburn stated that the enlistment of trans American citizens would commence on January 1 and would continue even as the cases are litigated in the federal court system.

So if you're a trans person who meets the qualifications for service in our armed forces and wish to do, then you can head to your nearest recruiting center to start the process.

Sweet Win In Alabama!

'I'm betting on Black Alabamians shocking the world despite every GOP attempt to suppress their votes and hopefully carrying Doug Jones to victory.'
-TransGriot,  December 12, 2017


Told y'all.  Congrats to US Senator-elect Doug Jones   You can never go wrong betting on the Black vote, and especially Black women voters.  When properly motivated and turned out, they are the most reliable voting bloc in the liberal-progressive coalition and power Democratic election wins. 

They proved it in Virginia last month and now in Alabama.   Black women voted at a 98% clip for Jones, and Black men in the state were just behind them at 92%   

And where were white women?   Voting for the GOP pedophile at a 65% clip

So let me say this louder for the fauxgressives in the back who seem to be confused about who is the undisputed base voter of the Democratic Party that will lead us to 2018 victory.

It is undeniably Black women.   So time to get in formation in 2018 and let Black women lead you to victory in 2018 and beyond

So when are you Democratic Party going to invest in maximizing turnout of Black voters, ending voter suppression, and stop wasting your time on lukewarm independents who ain't loyal to you?

Anyway, that's a subject for another post, but tonight is one for celebrating this huge win and witnessing the first Democrat to be elected as a US senator repping Alabama in 25 years.

Here's Senator-elect Doug Jones' victory speech