Moni's Netroots Nation 2018 Diary

This was my fourth Netroots Nation event, and the third consecutive one I have attended. 

One of the things I was doing besides the eventual three panels and two radio interviews while I was in New Orleans was a daily recap about my NN18 experience for the Houston based OutSmart magazine. 

There's a lot going on at a conference like this, and I wanted you to see them as you can see through my eyes as a participant with some movement gravitas

So here are the NN 18 recaps I wrote while I was here in NOLA

The Pre Conference - August 1 

I  awoke to a sunny New Orleans day basically ready to handle my business and check out some of the pre conference events taking place here at Netroots Nation 2018.

But first, Moni was getting and destroying those beignets.  The Hilton New Orleans Riverside hotel is our official #NN18 hotel.  The best part is that particular hotel is connected to the Riverwalk Mall and the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, where the #NN18 panels and keynotes will take place.

One of the things I like to do is get a feel for the convention venue and know exactly where the rooms are located for my panels.  The Cafe Du Monde in the Riverwalk opened at 8:30 AM, and the plan was to stop, get my six beignets to go (they come in sets of three), and keep stepping all the way to the EMCC.   The journey through the Riverwalk also allowed me to burn off the calories from those beignets.

My next task after I arrived at the cavernous EMCC was to find out what room the LGBT pre conference event was taking place in since it started at 8:30 AM.

I eventually discovered that the pre conference events, like all the panels, would be taking place on the second floor of the EMCC.  After another few minutes of walking, riding up escalators to that floor, and passing the Emily’s List sponsored Women’s Caucus, I finally arrived at the already in progress LGBT one.

My arrival was a surprise to my LGBT Media homies and homettes facilitating this event, Zack Ford, Liz Owen, Dana Rudolph, Daniel Villareal and Mike Rogers. They all gave me big hugs before they returned back to conducting their daylong event that started at the same time I was purchasing those beignets and ended at 5:00 PM.

After talking to Sunnivie Brydum and a few other attendees of the LGBT pre conference event during the break, I left at noon to handle some other pressing off campus business with the BiNet crew at their Airbnb in the French Quarter. I also needed to move out of my 19th floor room to a suite a few doors away on the same floor for the rest of the conference.  

The 19th floor room I was already in wasn’t bad. It had a view of the Mississippi River and I loved watching the paddle boats, barges and ships cruise by as I was writing.  The suite I’m now in has a much better view of downtown New Orleans and the Mississippi River bridges to the Westbank where I once lived.

After hanging out at the BiNet Airbnb for a few hours to work on our Friday presentation, we headed back to the EMCC at 4:30 PM to pick up our #NN18 programs and badges.  

I also found out while I was hanging out in the Quarter with my BiNet fam that I now have a 9:00 AM panel to participate in..   I received a call from the Trans United Fund Operations Manager Daye Pope that our TUF Executive Director Hayden Mora had a family emergency in New York that required his immediate attention.  She asked if I could cover for him in the reproductive justice panel he was scheduled to be on..

The MomsRising panel I’m scheduled to participate in on Thursday was taking place at 10:30 AM, so I agreed to do it.  That means I won’t be staying up late tonight. I'll have to get up a little earlier to make that happen.

We entered the Hall B part of the EMCC that will serve as the Netroots Nation Town Square, AKA the vendor area. . I noticed that Radio Row was being set up on that side of the building we were entering as well.

Egberto Willies and the KPFT-FM crew were setting up, and after talking to him for a few minutes to coordinate a radio interview for his show during the afternoon, I headed to the registration desk to pick up my #NN18 badge.  

After talking to a few longtime friends, we headed back to the hotel via the Riverwalk route so I could get busy writing about and recapping what happened on the #NN18 pre conference day
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Well, must get my beauty sleep on this end of I-10.  Have a long first day of Netroots Nation 2018 ahead of me in the morning.          

Day 1-August 2

The first full day of the 2018 edition of Netroots Nation was a full one for me.  It started with back to back panels before lunchtime, followed by two radio interviews.  

The first panel I was a participant in started at 9:00 AM and was entitled Igniting The Lit in Litmus Test: How Leading With Repro Justice Helps Us Win

It was a discussion moderated by Heidi Sieck with my fellow panelists Alison Dreith and Atima Omara.  It was focused on the how and why Democrats and progressives need to become more literate on reproductive justice issues and no be shy about it. because they are a winning one for our side.  

This is an issue I haven’t explored as much, so I was in active listening mode for the first 15 minutes of it.  But once I started to feel comfortable around the topic, I had no problem pointing out how transgender people fit into the reproductive justice framework.

Then I headed across the hall to the 10:30 panel I was scheduled to do with Moms Rising entitled Keep Marching 2018: Connect Locally, Build Power and Win..

Our panel moderator was MomsRising CEO Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, who I have known since the 2016 Netroots event in St Louis when she interviewed me in the semifinals of the Pundit Cup competition I won.

It was a reunion of sorts with her, myself, and my fellow panelists Almas Sayeed and Monifa Bandele.  I was also happy to see my Texas activist homettes Fran Watson and Sissi Yado in the room as we talked about how critical this election happening in 96 days is, and how local action can bring about positive change and wins for our side.
We went over the scheduled 11:45 AM end time of the panel by 10 minutes, but it was lunchtime so that was okay.   I then headed downstairs to the Town Square part of the EMCC to check out Radio Row and look for Egberto and do the interview I’d promised him.   

While I was there I ran into Michaelangelo Signorile, who I hadn’t seen since the 2012 NN event in Providence.  He was busy at that moment interviewing VA Delegate Danica Roem, who when she was done, I talked to for a few minutes before heading a few spots down Radio Row to do my interview on Kristin’s show.    Alicia Garza of BLM showed up when I finished, and we chatted for a few minutes before I settled into my KPFT-FM interview with Egberto for his Politics Done Right show

Sunnivie spotted me, introduced me to her boss at Free Speech TV, and set up an interview for Saturday.   

After lunch back in the Riverwalk, headed back to the EMCC and tried to figure out what panels I wanted to watch, but  didn’t see anything that appealed to me on the conference matrix, so I just wandered the NN Town Square to talk to old and new friends.   Was also stopped more than a few times by people who had either attended the pre conference event or the panels and liked what I had to say.   

It was also a bittersweet first NN 18 day because of the death that morning of a longtime friend of Netroots Nation and the progressive political world in Joel Silberman. He’s the media trainer extraordinaire for Democratic candidates, and II met him when I did the GLAAD POC Media training in New York back in 2012.   

We also found out at the afternoon plenary session that this NOLA Netroots Nation event is the best attended one ever.  Detroit used to hold the record, and New Orleans will probably add to it before the event ends on August 4 because people are still arriving.

And if they ever bring Netroots Nation to Houston, we’ll probably shatter NOLA’s record   

But back to the story.   New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell was just one of the speakers firing up the crowd along with Texan Gina Ortiz Jones  before I called it a day and headed back to the hotel to chill and do some writing.

Ready to see what August 3 brings.  

Day 2- August 3

NN18 Day 2 was one in which I did not have a scheduled panel until 4:15 PM. That meant I got the opportunity to sit back and actually enjoy a few presentations from the audience.

One of those presentations was a 9 AM one featuring four elected Black women legislators entitled Black Women Teach : Perspectives from Black Women Legislators.   It featured Reps Park Cannon and Renitta Shannon from Georgia, Rep Leslie Herod from Colorado, and Rep Emilia Sykes of Ohio.

They not only talked about some of the issues they were passionate about and why,  they also discussed some of the challenges of being Black female legislators.

I then moved on to watch the LGBTQ Women Out To Win panel moderated by our Houston homegirl and my former mayor Annise Parker. It featured Rep. Leslie Herod in her second consecutive one of the day, Del. Danica Roem of Virginia, and Sen. Pat Spearman of Nevada.

This discussion was similar to the Black female legislative one I’d just attended, but also focused on the challenges and advantages of running as a LGBTQ person    It also mic dropped the amazing stat that an out LGBTQ candidate is 67% more likely to win a race because they are seen as more authentic in the eyes of the voting public.

Sen Spearamn also shared lessons from her recent unsuccessful campaign for a congressional seat.   

And yes peeps, after the panel I got a chance to chat with Rep. Herod, who I have known for several years, Delegate Roem and Sen. Spearman.

At lunch we were treated to the keynote speech that Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) was supposed to have delivered Thursday but couldn’t because of bad weather in the DC area that delayed his NOLA arrival

There was also the show tunes singing in the NN18 Town Square in memory of Joel Silberman, who will be missed by his Netroots Nation family and all  who loved and admired him in progressive political circles.

I also bumped into my friend and Daily Kos writer Denise Oliver-Velez, Ambalika Williams and other old and new friends as I wandered the cavernous Morial Convention Center halls

Other NN18 attendees stopped me in the halls of the EMCC and even the Riverwalk to tell me how much they enjoyed what I had to say on the Thursday panels I participated in the day before.

4:15 PM arrived quickly, and that meant it was time to do my final panel for NN18.  It was entitled Don’t Fear The Black Activist: How To Communicate Without Anti-Blackness and was moderated by Faith Cheltenham and Ashton Woods.  

The panel discussed anti-Black attitudes within progressive organizing spaces,  why eradication of anti-Black attitudes needs to become a priority in the progressive movement if we are to be successful, and how we can get busy doing that.

I also had fun watching the younglings at an after party sponsored by Democracy For America  until they chased up out at 7 PM.

Aslo got to enjoy dinner with several friends at Drago’s, a NOLA seafood place well known for its charbroiled oysters (yes, they were delicious).

Have one more full day of Netroots Nation 2018 before we have to say goodbye to NOLA and focus on the 94 days of a midterm election that will determine whether we still have a democracy after November 6

Those of us gathered here in New Orleans are determined to do our part to make sure that we do

Day 3-+August 4  

The final day of Netroots Nation in NOLA.   Even though there were a few panels that piqued my interest as I perused the Saturday schedule matrix, I decided to focus on hitting the caucuses.

One of the panels I was interested in was the Disaster Capitalism: New Orleans and Puerto Rico in Dialogue one featuring San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz.

We would also find out on this final NN18 day where and when Netroots Nation 2019 would take place.   That will be in Philadelphia July 11-13 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

The LGBTQ Caucus, The LGBTQ POC Caucus  and Black Women Caucuses wee definitely must attend for me.   They were well attended, ranging from 20-30 people in each one of them hem

The highlight for me on this day was the Black Women’s one.  I got to finally meet one of my sheroes in Melissa Harris-Perry, and discover o my delight she was a fan and avid reader of TransGriot.   We had a chance to talk politics and a few other subjects during and after the caucus.

There was also another caucus that organically popped up organized by NN18 African American attendees entitled the BlackA** Caucus.

In that caucus discussions were held about the problematic scheduling of panels oriented toward discussing issues affecting our community against each other, microaggressive and anti-Black behavior encountered during the event, NN18 touting the fact 67% of the presenters were people of color, but we weren’t being paid for our intellectual labor among other issues.

The issue was also discussed in the caucus of being your authentic Black self in a convention space that is overwhelmingly white.  

Those Black A** caucus conversations led to the planning of a takeover of the NN18 stage during the closing plenary that was executed later that evening.   Demands were articulated from the plenary stage in the EMCC Great Hall that Black attendees want to see implemented in time for NN19 and beyond.

What were those demands?    Hiring of Black Netroots Nation staff, inclusion of Black members on the NN board and oversight of a team of Black activists over Netroots programming submitted by Black people to ensure they aren’t scheduled against each other  

Time and their actions will tell if the Netroots Nation Board of Directors was listening.    

The bottom line is that if you want to win, Black progressives MUST be at the table.  Black progressives are the key to consistently winning against conservatives, and you ignore African American voices at your electoral and movement peril .   

Black women are the base of the Democratic Party, and will be the voting bloc that powers the expected blue wave happening in 93 days

Netroots Nation 2018 is now one for the history books, and the hosting torch has been passed to Philadelphia.   Will be interesting to see when NN19 opens what the country’s political landscape looks like when it takes place.  

Rest In Power Joel Silberman

I was saddened to hear that Joel Silberman lost his battle with cancer on August 2 just as we started this 13th edition of Netroots Nation.

Silberman came from the world of Broadway, but is well known and respected in liberal progressive political circles as the political media consultant and trainer extraordinaire for Democratic candidates who also was part of the Netroots Nation family

I first met Joel when I traveled to New York in 2012 for the GLAAD POC Media training which he conducted.  It was because of him I learned the basics of how to do television interviews and got to feel more comfortable in front of the unblinking eye of a camera.

Netroots Nation honored his memory by signing show tunes on Friday in the Town Square area of the convention and this memorial.

I ran into him again at a subsequent LGBT Media journalists convening in Baltimore, and again in 2016 at Netroots Nation in St Louis.   I considered him a media mentor, and I believe he was prouder that I was when he witnessed me become the 2016 Pundits Cup champ.

I last talked to him during the 2017 Netroots Nation in the ATL, and was stunned when I heard the news.   He is a person who is going to be deeply missed by all of us in the liberal progressive political world 

Rest in power and peace ,Joel

Netroots Nation 2018- Day 1

Looks like I'll now be doing three panels when this conference starts in a few hours at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center . Two of the three panels are on this first full day of it. 

Fortunately for me they are across the hall from each other. 

At 9:00 AM in RM 215/216 I'll be taking part in a panel entitled Igniting The Lit in Litmus Test How Leading With Repro Justice Helps Us Win.   

At 10:30 AM  my second panel starts in Room 214 that is sponsored by Moms Rising entitled Keep Marching 2018: Connect Locally, Build Power and Win.   

Kristin Rowe Finkbeiner will be moderating this panel that I'm on with my fellow panelists Monifa Bandele and Almas Sayeed.

After lunch, I'll be figuring out what panel i want to attend next.   I also have a possible radio interview scheduled with Egberto Willies on my hometown Pacifica station KPFT-FM.

Now, I need to get some sleep.  Don't want to be doing those panels with bags under my eyes.

NABJ and Philly Trans Wellness Conference Also Meeting This Week

There are two other conventions important to my life as an unapologetically Black  trans feminine writer and journalist that are happening as I sit here in New Orleans awaiting the start of Netroots Nation

And noting when I looked at the calendar that three events I wanted to attend were happening in different parts of the country at literally the same time meant I had to make a hard call on which one I would attend 

Being asked to do the panels at Netroots Nation and it occurring in NOLA made that hard call easier,  but it still isn't going to be easy to miss my trans fam or my NABJ family, much less the convos taking place at both conferences.

In the Motor City, the National Association of Black Journalists are gathering starting today and running through August 5  at the Detroit Marriott at Renaissance Center.

I've always wanted to attend an NABJ event, and the first time I got to do so came when it was held in Boston in 2014.    I was there to participate in a panel with Kellee Terrell and Kenyon Farrow on the topic of properly reporting about transgender people moderated by Tiq Milan.

Two years late I received the amazing experience of attending the joint NABJ-NAHJ Unity event in Washington DC at the historic Wardman park Hotel.

During a presidential election year, both the NABJ and the National Assn of Hispanic Journalists organizations hold their conventions there.  It is an amazing opportunity to network with members of both organizations    In addition to meeting my journalistic heroes and sheroes in the African American and Latinx journalism worlds , I also got to witness the panels and the press conference with Hillary Clinton

Starting at the same time as #NN18 is one of the largest trans conference s in the United States in the now Philadelphia Trans Wellness Conference at the Philadelphia Convention Center.

Probably because of its location in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection, it draws up to 3000 people for its panel discussions and professional medical tracks.

It's the event where I also met Jazz Jennings and her amazing family, and met Nicole Maines and her family in addition to having the opportunity to participate in some panels. 

I have been attending the now PTWC since 2012, and the last time I was there for it was in 2016 for not only the conference, but a Trans United Fund board meeting.

That 2016 one I got there after a fun ride up I-95 with Fiona Dawson after we'd been to the White house for the LGBT Pride Reception.  I got to spend some quality time with not only the TUF board and my friends in the community, but my homegirl Dionne Stallworth

That 2016 event is also memorable for me because the morning I was preparing to leave the city to go back to Washington DC, I began hearing the news about the horrific Pulse mass shooting in Orlando.

To my friends attending the NABJ and PTWC, sorry I can't be there because I'm in NOLA, but definitely will be thinking about y'all as I'm scarfing down my beignets.

Shooter Of Detroit Trans Woman Arrested

I like many of you was horrified and pissed off about the video of one of our trans sisters fighting for her life in a Detroit gas station

29 year old Deonton Rogers was arrested last Saturday for the July 23 incident and charged by the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office according to Detroit Police Chief James Craig. 

The list of charges include a firearm discharge causing serious injury, felonious assault, felony firearm, felon in possession of a firearm, child abuse in the fourth degree and ethnic intimidation based on gender.

Bail for Rogers was set at $2 million



The incident took place at a gas station in the 15400 block of West Seven Mile Road after a verbal confrontation between Rogers and the still unidentified 29 year old trans woman.   Rogers pulled out a gun, a struggle ensued for it and after the trans woman suffered a thankfully non fatal gunshot wound to her shoulder, fled the scene with his 27 year old cis feminine companions child in the backseat of his car. 

Rogers was taken into custody without incident. 

Here's hoping that he is not only punished for his crime, but it also starts a conversation in the Black community about the toxic masculinity that is killing Black trans women and our gender variant kids.

Back In NOLA For Netroots Nation 2018!

Hi NOLA, I'm back!    As you TransGriot readers know I was recently here after a nearly three decade absence for a BTAC Leadership Training Institute.

This time I'm here for the 2018 edition of Netroots Nation.   Some of the 3500 people coming to the Crescent City for this event are US House candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Sen Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

So what is Netroots Nation?  It is one of the largest progressive political conferences in the United States that grew out of the YearlyKos conference organized in 2006 by the readers and writers of the Daily Kos blog . 

From that initial event in Las Vegas that got major mainstream news coverage, it has grown not only in importance in Democratic and liberal progressive circles, it  also travels to different parts of the country.   Still wondering when I will get to see Netroots Nation happen in Houston    Austin so far has been the only Texas city to host it, having done son in 2008 .

This is my fourth Netroots Nation conference. and my third consecutive one since 2016    The first one I ever attended was in Providence, RI in 2012 to take part in that historic trans panel during that event. 

That Providence NN12 event unexpectedly became the one where my national activist profile got raised.   Two radio interviews by Elon James White and Michelangelo Signorile combined with that panel and and vocal participation in the LGBT and Black Caucuses tend to do that

I didn't return to Netroots Nation until the 2016 event in St Louis, where as y'all know I walked away with the Pundit Cup title after being urged to do so by John Gorczynski . 

I was in the Netroots Nations house when it was held in Atlanta last year.  In addition to taking part in two panel discussions during NN17, I was also a judge for the semifinals and finals of the 2017 Pundit Cup competition eventually won by Tenaja Jordan

I also stepped away from the host hotel to join the ATL trans community and attend the memorial vigil for Tee Tee Daingerfield 

Now it's in New Orleans.  I'm looking forward to being at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center not only the political happenings that will tranpire here, and taking part in two panels, but do so in a city in which I have a deep personal connection to.

As the 2016 Pundit Cup Champion, I'll be interested in checking out this year's competition and see who emerges as the 2018 title holder. 

The last three Pundit Cup champs, FYI  have been women, and the last two (2016-17) Black women, so don't bet against that pattern continuing.

But first things first, NN18 officially starts on Thursday and runs until August 4.   One of the panels I'm taking part in is sponsored by Moms Rising, and happens at 10:30 AM on August 2

The panel is called Keep Marching 2018: Connect Locally Build Power and Win.  It will be moderated by Kristin Rowe- Finkbeiner and will have Monifa Bandele and Almas Sayeed scheduled to be on it with me.

It will be in Room 214, and hope to see you there.

30th Anniversary Of Ann Richards DNC Keynote Speech

Thirty years ago today Ann Richards, who was our state treasurer at the time, gave  the keynote address to the Democratic National Convention delegates gathered in Atlanta.

Two years later, she would become the second female governor of Texas.

She is still dearly missed by all of us who loved having her in the Governor's Mansion and in Texas Democratic Party circles. 

It would be interesting to see what Governor Ann would say about the current occupant of the White House if she were still with us.

But enjoy this respite from the Trump madness and check out this video of her 1988 keynote speech.

Trudie's Historic Run For Navajo Nation President Continues

The Year of the Trans Candidate also extends to the Navajo Nation, which is conducting its presidential election this year.   The Navajo Nation is the largest Native American reservation in the United States, covering portions of three states and a territory the size of West Virginia. .

There are a record 19 candidates running for the presidency of the Navajo Nation, and one of them is Trudie Jackson.   She is one of three female candidates that made it onto the primary ballot when nominations closed on May 30.

Now we'll have to watch what happens as we get closer to the August 28 primary election date for the Navajo Nation presidential primary.   The top two vote getters choose their vice presidential running mates, and move on to the November 6 general election.

Two Navajo Nation presidential forys have already taken place, with a third happening on July 27

Here's hoping that Trudie continues on the path of making trailblazing history with her people and for our trans community as well.

LaDon Henry's Nevada Legislative Bid Falls Short

I wrote a post back in April in which I talked about Ladon Henry's attempt to become the first ever trans state legislator in Nevada and the first ever trans masculine one in any state legislature..

He was seeking the District 42 state assembly seat, which is in the Las Vegas area and a undeniably blue one with a 2-1 Democratic registration advantage. 

Henry and the other candidates in the race for the Democratic nomination in this district were seeking to replace retiring Assemblywoman Irene Bustamante Adams (D) who declined to seek a fourth two year term.  The winner of the primary would become the next representative of this district because no Republican filed to run for it.

The Nevada primary election was held on June 12, and unfortunately Henry didn't win.   Alexander Assefa captured 55.32% of the vote (1399)  to become the next District 42 representative with Kathleen Lauckner getting 34.12%  (863) of the cast ballots.

Henry did get a respectable 10.52 % (267) of the ballots cast in this race, but I'm sure he'll tell you he would have rather won this race.

Will he run again two years from now?   That's a question only Henry can answer.   

Houston Suburban Hate Pastors Hating On Drag Queen Storytime

Seems like because they're living their boring life in the 'burbs of Katy and Magnolia, Dave Welch and Steven Hotze have nothing better to do than meddle in Houston business.

Drag Queen Storytime was started back in November 2017 by Darius Vallier, a drag queen known as Blackberri for his bearded lady persona.

Vallier was invited by Brazos Bookstore last June to headline its Drag Queen Story Hour for LGBTQ Pride Month.   The event was a smashing success, and the Houston Public Library hired Vallier to host its own Drag Queen Storytime event at the Freed- Montrose Neighborhood Library.

KHOU-TV 11 recently broadcast a story on July 9 about the Drag Queen Storytime event at the Heights Public Library, and that was enough to get the attention of At-Large Councilmember Michael Kubosh and his reprehensible right wing friends.

The Katy based Hotze runs the SPLC certified hate group Conservative Republicans of Texas, and wasted no time sticking his nose in Houston business after being given the heads up by Kubosh at a July 17 council meeting by attacking the event as 'inappropriate for children.' . 

Hotze demanded that the city kill the Drag Queen Storytime, and compared it to pedophilia. 

Really fool?  Since when do you have credibility to talk about anything since A, you don't live in the city of Houston and B, you run a hate group.  Welch and his US Pastors Council are now joining the fray since the DQSH program is a nationwide one they have been sleeping on. .

Meanwhile the Houston GLBT Caucus has weighed in with a statement supporting the event.

But the big mic drop comment belongs to Vallier.

“I do it for me and the kids, not for attention,” said Blackberri, aka Darius Vallier. “I strive for a better tomorrow where hate and ignorance is overshadowed by love and acceptance. I didn’t even know the news was going to be there, so I am happy that accepting people now know about the programs. If anyone thinks that a drag queen taking the time out of their day to read to children and make them smile is a problem, they are more than welcome to volunteer their time like I did and read to children themselves.”

Nope.  Hotze, Welch and all their hate pastors are too busy gleefully coordinating oppression against the Texas TBLGQ community to take time out of their day to read to kids like you are doing.

Number 16 - Rest In Peace Diamond Stephens

I just finished writing about the most recent person we have lost to anti-trans violence in Sasha Garden.   Was sent word of our latest trans murder we are just now finding out about courtesy of TransGriot reader Paige Mahogany Parks.

This is why we harp on media and police respecting the pronouns and lives of trans people.   This woman was killed in June, but the community is just now finding out about it because of media and police misgendering

We head to Meridian, MS for the latest report concerning a trans sister who has gone too soon.   And as you probably guessed, she was misgendered and disrespected in death by the local media.

Pay attention WTOK-TV and Carly Blake.  This is how you properly report on the death of a transgender woman.  Pronouns have been corrected from Blake's original story.

39 year old Diamond Stephens was discovered dead Monday afternoon June 18 after Meridian police were called to the scene of an accident in the 2200 block of 26th Avenue in which a van crashed into a home.

Stephens was found dead from a gunshot wound to the back of the head according to Lauderdale County Coroner Clayton Cobler III

"It looked like a single shot from what I could tell without disturbing anything. The body has gone to Jackson for an autopsy and we are just waiting for the investigation to hold there," says Cobler.

Meridian police are still looking for the shooter and a motive in the killing.  MPD Chief Benny Dubose says that the gunshot wound was not self inflicted.

"Number one, she was shot in the back of the head. Number two, it appears that there might have been either one or two other individuals in the vehicle at the time she was shot," explains Chief Dubose.

Chief Dubose says there are currently no suspects in Stephens' murder, but confirmed they do have tips from several citizens.

If anyone has information about this case, you are urged to call Meridian police or Crimestoppers at 855-485-8477.

Stephens sadly is now is the 16th person killed in the US this year, and the tenth African American trans and GNC person we have lost to anti-trans violence in 2018.  She is also sadly as per the ongoing pattern in these killings, under age 40.

#SayHerName, since WTOK-TV, Carly Blake and Chief Benny Dubose have a problem doing so and respecting her Black trans life.  

Not aware at this time of any memorial service or vigils being planned for our fallen sister. 

Rest in power and peace, Diamond.   Your trans siblings and all who loved you won't rest until the person or persons who prematurely ended your life are brought to justice.

TransGriot Update:  My apologies.   Had to rewrite the story because I didn't notice the posted date of the problematic media report from Meridian.   

Diamond was killed back in June and was one of three people we lost that month . 

Nicole Maines Gets Supergirl' Role!

The shows I put in the #MustSeeTransTV category are continuing to expand with every passing year.

I was introduced to Supergirl by my friend Fabian Washington, who was such a serious fan of the show he got me curious enough to check it out and eventually binge watch two season of it

Now I'm happy to hear that Nicole Maines has been tapped for a groundbreaking role in the upcoming fourth season of Supergirl playing a transgender superhero.

Well, that's not too far from her real life in being a trans advocate, the victorious plaintiff in a groundbreaking trans rights case, and being in a well received April 2016 TedXTalk, but back to discussing her latest accomplishment.

The 20 year old Maines will be playing reporter Nia Nal, who is working alongside Kara (Supergirl) Danvers at CatCo.   Nia will as the season progresses have her superhero destiny revealed to her.

Her casting was revealed at the just concluded San Diego Comic Con on Saturday, and she is justifiably nervous about this groundbreaking role and the buzz it is creating for the show as the first ever transgender superhero on television.

"It feels fitting to say, with great power comes great responsibility, she said in a Variety interview.."I'm nervous because I want to do it right . 

Maines is no stranger to television, having guest starred on the show Royal Pains during its seventh season  .In the Variety interview she was asked what she would like out trans youth to take away from this groundbreaking step fo her and the community.

"We can be whoever we want, we can do whatever we want, we can be superheroes, because in many ways we are," she said. "We’ve had trans representation in television for a while but it hasn’t been the right representation ... I think we’re in a time right now where more than ever representation in the media matters. And what we see on television has a very dramatic effect on our society."

Yes ma'am, positive media representation most certainly does matter, which was why Scarlett Johansson got put on blast a few weeks ago.  Maines expressed her thoughts about that contentious issue of cis actors playing trans parts as well.

"I think that cisgender actors don’t take roles out of malice, it’s just a failure to realize the context of having cisgender people play transgender characters ... Having trans people play trans roles shows that we are valid in our identities and we exist,” Maines said.

Good luck in your new role, Nicole!  So proud of you and will be watching when the new season of Supergirl starts in October on the CW Network. .

Arizona CVS Pharmacist Denies Trans Woman Her Hormones

Ever since these so called 'religious freedom' laws were proposed by the Republican conservafools and their evilgelical accomplices, I and other non-white Americans long ago saw through the transparent attempt to reinstitute Jim Crow style discrimination and aim it at TBLGQ people.

I saw the danger of giving people the right to refuse service based on specious religious grounds, because I believed it would be aimed at the trans community and other non-white groups the fundies didn't like.

This past weekend the news broke that back in April, Hilde Hall went to her local CVS store in her Phoenix suburb of Fountain Hills, AZ to get her hormone prescription filled.

Her excitement about that happening quickly turned to anxiety and anger when the pharmacist not only refused to fill her prescription, but committed a possible HIPAA violation by loudly outing her to other CVS employees and pharmacy customers.  In addition, the transphobic pharmacist refused to give back the written prescription so she could get it filled at another pharmacy.

Hmm, wonder what right wing church this now unemployed transphobe attends?. 

FYI, CVS has a perfect score on HRC's Corporate Equality Index, which trans advocates for several year now have said has flaws when it comes to trans rights issues.

Hall's doctor was forced to call in the prescription to another pharmacy, which was filled with no drama at a nearby Walgreens.    Hall called the CVS Customer Service twice line to complain about her unjust treatment, but her concerns weren't addressed until she filed a complaint with the Arizona State Board of Pharmacists and started talking to the ACLU.

CVS to their credit, has apologized to Ms. Hall for the incident, and as I alluded to earlier in this story fired the transphobic pharmacist in question.  Too bad we don't have that pharmacist's name so they can be shamed for being a reprehensible bigot. . 

Note to you medical transphobes.   If you attended or are planning to attend a medical, nursing or pharmacy school and think your right wing 'dry as dust' fundie 'faith' gives you the right to discriminate against LGBTQ people or anyone you don't like, no boo boo kitty, it doesn't.

Our LGBTQ tax dollars pay for the upkeep and maintenance of those medical, nursing or pharmacy school you matriculated at with the implied contract that once you graduate and get licensed by the state, you would serve the health needs of the general public.

The 'general public' in this case also includes transgender people.   If your transphobic or homophobic behind can't or won't serve all citizens once you get those medical or pharmacy degrees, and you are citing BS religious freedom laws as your justification, then do society a favor and don't become a doctor, nurse, psychologist or a pharmacist in the first place

Trump's, the Republican Party and the evilgelical wing attacks on trans Americans have emboldened low level bigots to feel they can exercise their oppressor gene with impunity.

These bigots are fortunately finding out that acting on their transphobia can be a job killing exercise.

It is critically important that we stand up for our humanity and human rights, and corporations stand with us and let it be known in no uncertain terms that discrimination against anyone is a fireable offense