I'm In A Hotel In California!

The Hotel Zoso in Palm Springs to be precise.

After my early AM flights from IAH through Phoenix, I'm finally here and ensconced in my room getting ready for the first day of the 2018 LGBT Media Journalists Convening and the 2018 NLGJA convention.

But I'm doing so with a heavy heart.   While I was in Phoenix waiting to board my maintenance delayed flight to Palm Springs, I received word that we'd lost another young Black trans woman to anti-trans violence in Philadelphia    Rest in power and peace, Shantee Tucker.

While this is the first time I've stayed overnight in Palm Springs, I've been through here a few time back in 1988 and 1992 for gas stops.   The 1998 trip was one in which I was helping one of my mom's sorors move back to Texas.   The 1992 one was one in which I was helping my cousin move to LA.   

So yes, Palm Springs has changed a lot since my last time in the area.  Probably won't get much time to explore it, but looking forward to spending some quality time with all my friends and colleagues in the NLGJA and during #LGBTMedia18

2018 Williams Watch- Serena To The US Open Sems!

17th seeded (what a travesty) Serena Williams is still on track in her quest to win her record seventh US Open singles title and her 24th career Grand Slam.

When I last checked in on my fave tennis playing siblings latest trip to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, they were about to play each other for the 30th time in the US Open third round.

It was not a great day for Venus at Ashe Stadium as Serena was at A++ level tennis that entire match.  She cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 straight set victory over her older sister to punch her ticket to a fourth round matchup with Estonia's Kaia Kanepi.

Kanepi had taken out world number one (for now) and tournament number one seed Simona Halep and up until this point was having a wonderful tournament.   However, Kanepi had not only never beaten Serena, she'd never won a set against her. 

Early in that fourth round match it looked like it was going to play out the same way as Serena was continuing her A++ level of play from her demolition of Big Sis and won the first set in a lightning quick 18 minutes. 

But after dropping a second set service game, Serena came off that A++ tennis game and Kanepi raised her level of play to take the second set and surprisingly even the match to the chagrin of Serena fans in Arthur Ashe Stadium, me and everywhere else on the planet

Serena cranked it up to A+ level in the third set and sent Kanepi packing after a three set 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 win to move on to a quarterfinal matchup with the eighth seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic.

Pliskova was having a nice tournament run herself, and had Serena down 4-2 in the first set.  But Little Sis dug deep, raised that level of play and came back to win that first set and eventually the match in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 to make it to herr ninth consecutive US Open semifinal.

She will face in that semifinal nineteenth seeded Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova.   She took down seventh seeded Elina Svitolina in three sets 6-3, 1-6, 6-0 and third seeded defending champ Sloane Stephens in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 to make it to the semis and face Williams, who is the lone remaining Grand Slam champion in this 2018 women's US Open field.

A Grand Slam champion that wants to add another US Open title to her list and win her first Slam since giving birth to her daughter Olympia a year ago. 

Heaven help you if Serena starts playing that A++ level we saw against Venus and the first set of the Kanepi match.

Leaving On A Jet Plane To.....

Palm Springs, CA.

I'm headed there for another LGBT Media Journalists Convening.  This one is going to be interesting because it was not only pushed back from its normal early-mid March weekend, we're also going to be in the middle of the National Lesbian Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) Convention.

And I'm going to have to get up at 4 AM Houston time to catch an 8:10 AM departure out of IAH.

While we have nonstop service out of Houston on United to Palm Springs, I got booked on American, which means I'm going to have a brief 40 minutes going through Phoenix to get there.

But it's also mind blowing to me that I'll be hanging out in a city way out west on the same I-10 that rolls through my hometown. 

But hey, it's another trip out of town for a few days, and I get to hang out with my #LGBTMedia fam once again.   I'm also looking forward to being at my first NLGJA convention and seeing what that is like   

If I like the event, the 2019 NLGJA one will be just down I-10 east from me in NOLA. 

One thing I'm not liking is the forecast.  While it is going to be sunny the whole time I'll be there, I'm actually going somewhere that is hotter temperature wise than Houston.  Temps will be in the triple digits for every day I'm there.

Dry heat, my azz.  Gimme my home sweet humidity any time 

But first things first.  here's hoping both my flights leave on time and my bag gets there in one piece.

The GLAAD Media Award Is Home!

I'd gone out to run an errand and was passing the complex office when one of the apartment managers let me know they had a package for me. 

When I took it back to the apartment to open it, inside was the GLAAD Media Award I'd won back in April!

This isn't the first time I've won an award from GLAAD.   Two years ago I was on the Left Coast at the GLAAD Gala San Francisco to pick up a special recognition award from them presented to me by the lovely Angelica Ross for my ten years of telling it like it T-I-S is about what's happening in our community and beyond.

Hope I get to return the favor for Angelica someday.

After two previous Outstanding Blog nominations in 2014 and 2017, the third time was the charm as they say in 2018 as I finally captured the Outstanding Blog award over some tough but equally deserving competition.

And to be honest, before they called my name, I thought Mark S. King's 'My Fabulous Disease' would get it this year

I'm exceedingly proud to say that I'm the first (and hopefully not the last) trans blogger to win it. 

I'm the second trans person, however to be nominated for it.   I'm only the first trans feminine person to do so.  Dr. Kortney Ziegler's blac(k)ademic back in 2013 was the first blog by any trans person to get a GLAAD Outstanding Blog nomination in this category

It was also historic in the context of for the first time ever in the history of the GLAAD Media Award Outstanding Blog category, two Black LGBT bloggers won this award in consecutive years.

Alvin McEwen's Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters did so last year.

Next year I'm looking forward to seeing who wins the Outstanding Blog category.  But for now, I'm thinking about just how good it looks on my shelf next to my decorative silver typewriter and how much work I put in to get it.

Good Luck Alexandra!

The Massachusetts primary election is today, and Trans America has its eyes on the Massachusetts 3rd Congressional District race. 

In that crowded field of Democratic candidates vying to replace the retiring Rep Nikki Tsongas (D) is Alexandra Chandler.

If she wins in the primary today, she not only make Massachusetts political history by becoming the first out trans person in the state to win a congressional major party primary, she would get a step closer to becoming the first out trans person ever to be elected to Congress

Good luck Alexandra!   Hope you make history tonight!

Aretha Franklin Homegoing Service

"Aretha's singing challenged the dangling discords of hate and lies and racism and injustice. Her singing was revelation and was revolution." -Rev Dr. William J. Barber II 

There has been a lot of online chatter about how problematic the nine hour homegoing service of the Queen of Soul was.

Soe peeps justifiable are dragging the Rev Jasper Williams for filth for his jacked up single mother bashing eulogy.    He forgot that the woman he was eulogizing was a single mother.

Fox Noise also stuck their vanillacentric privileged noses in this mess by cosigning Williams' sermon as 'a message the Black community needed to hear" while disingenuously whining that the funeral was 'too political' when Dolt 45 got called out. . 

Others are complaining about Bishop Charles Ellis III, the pastor who was inappropriately laying a hand on Ariana Grande's boobie while telling a cringe worthy joke.

Black church folk, it is NOT appropriate for your pastor (or the deacons) to fondle any woman while she is standing in the pulpit or anywhere on church property.

And how she is dressed is no justification for excusing the pastor's reprehensible behavior

Speaking of how people were dressed, you have people who are castigating and defending on the Net the black dress that Ariana Grande wore for her performance during the funeral.

No matter what your opinion, she did look good in it.

Some peeps are arguing that the twentysomething singer should have 'dressed appropriately' for the occasion.  Others are pissed that slut shaming comments are being made about her by folks trying to defend Bishop Ellis. 

Don't you just love Black funerals?

Anyway, for those of you like myself who didn't get to see it in its entirety, here's the video of it.

If You Like What I Post, How About Hitting The TransGriot Tip Jar?

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you may have noticed the TransGriot Tip Jar that is in the upper left hand column of the blog.

That exists for those of you who like my posts, appreciate what I do and wish to contribute something to help keep this blog im operation.   

I've been managing to do it so far without having to resort to advertising, but internet access still costs me $100 on a monthly basis.   I also have other bills to pay, including rent. electricity and phone

So if you can contribute something even if it's just $10, it's deeply appreciated.

You can also hit me at paypal.me/TransGriot 

Number 18- Rest In Power Vontashia Bell

As I stated when I wrote the post earlier this morning about the murder of one of our trans sisters in Chicago, I was hoping we would get through this month without any trans murders. 

Now I'm saddened to discover that we've had two on the same day this month within hours of each other.

We travel now to Shreveport, LA to discuss our 18th victim of anti-trans violence.

She is 18 year old Vontashia Bell.    Police responding to a shots fired call early Thursday morning found her lying in the street at the corner of Harrison Street and Linwood Avenue in the Cedar Park neighborhood suffering from gunshot wounds to the chest and wrist.

She was rushed to University Health Hospital where she later died from her wounds. 

The reason we're just now finding out about it?   It's because once again, the police and the local Shreveport media didn't value her Black trans life and misgendered the victim   

We in Black Trans World are really getting sick and tired of being sick and tired of our sisters being disrespected in death.   We are tired of being misgendered either by law enforcement or the media, or both entities, and it needs to stop.

There are no suspects at this time, and police are asking anyone with information to contact Shreveport Police Investigators at 318-673-6955. Those wishing to remain anonymous should call 318-673-7373, lockemup.org, or via their app P3Tips. Crime Stoppers is offering up to a $1,000.00 reward for information leading to the arrest of the individual(s) responsible for this crime.

Bell is sadly the youngest person we have lost to anti-trans violence in 2018.  She is the 18th trans person murdered in the United States in 2018, and the 14th African American trans person we have lost to anti-trans violence.   What pisses me off in addition to the media misgendering of her is that she is now the ninth trans person under age 30 we have lost to anti-trans violence 

A statement about the murder was released by Louisiana Trans Advocates.

***

Statement from Louisiana Trans Advocates on the Murder of Vontashia Bell

Shreveport, LA – August 30, 2018 Earlier today in Shreveport, a young transgender woman was murdered. She is sadly not the first transgender woman of color to be killed in Louisiana this year. Violence against trans people, particularly against trans women, is a plague that continues to affect our cities and communities across the state. City and state leadership must work together with the trans community to curb this violence. Vontashia Bell must not die in vain. Her murder is a reminder of the current climate and national discourse on trans issues. Dehumanizing language and actions lower the barriers to this kind of senseless violence. Shreveport and Louisiana leaders must speak out against these killings, against the ongoing, systemic devaluation of trans people that pervades our media and politics, and against the institutional racism that places almost all of this burden on trans women of color. 

Her murder is a reminder of the current climate and national discourse on trans issues. Dehumanizing language and actions lower the barriers to this kind of senseless violence. Shreveport and Louisiana leaders must speak out against these killings, against the ongoing, systemic devaluation of trans people that pervades our media and politics, and against the institutional racism that places almost all of this burden on trans women of color. As we mourn the loss of Vontashia, we must double down our efforts to ensure that all trans people across the state have access to jobs, education, housing, and safe neighborhoods. Rest in power, sister.

***
As of right now, no word about a memorial service or arrangements.

Rest in power and peace, Vontashia.  Your trans family won't rest until the person who took your all too brief life is brought to justice.

   

Kaepernick NFL Collusion Case Going To Trial

The NFL was legally sacked in their ongoing mislandling of the Colin Kaepernick case.

Arbitrator Stephen B. Burbank ruled Tuesday that he was denying the NFL's attempt to dismiss Kaepernick's complaint that since becoming a free agent in March 2017, his inability to secure a new contract has been due to NFL owners violating Article 17, Section 1 of the collective bargaining agreement between the owners and the NFL Players Association.

Translation:  Kaepernick has a valid enough case to go to trial.

The NFL owners (probably being egged on by Jerry Jones)  are being racistly stupid here.   All they had to do was sign Kaepernick to a contract and his complaint would have been dismissed.   Signing Kaepernick would have also allowed the anthem protest controversy to fade from the headlines.

But instead, because of their myopic lack of vision, it is front and center for this 2018 season starting next week and they are going to trail for a collusion case that Kaepernick probably has a good shot at winning.

It remains to be seen how this case continues to play out, but if you're in Kap's position, it's looking good for you right now and bad for the NFL

Number 17- Rest In Power Dejanay Stanton

Was hoping we could get through the month of August without losing a single trans person, but unfortunately that is not going to be the case.

We go to Chicago for our latest trans murder. 

24 year old Dejanay Stanton was found in an alley at approximately 12:30 PM CDT at E.40th and S.Martin Luther King Streets on Chicago's South Side. 

Stanton was discovered suffering from a gunshot wound to the head after people in the area reported hearing gunshots.  She was transported to Stroger Hospital, where she was subsequently pronounced dead.

Stanton is the 17th trans person murdered in the United States in 2018, and the 13th African American trans person we have lost to anti-trans violence.   The part that really irritates and pisses me off is that she is now the eight trans person under age 30 we have lost to anti-trans violence.

Dejanay's Black trans life mattered.   When is that point going to be unequvocally acknowledged by the Black cis community, its legacy orgs and its political leaders?

A balloon release will be held later today at the 40th and King Street alley where she was killed starting at 7:30 PM. 

Chicago Police Department Area Central detectives are investigating this case, and would appreciate any information you can give them that will help bring the perpetration of this crime to justice.

Rest in power and peace Dejanay.   I'm upset that you really didn't get a chance to live your life, and I'm tired of the anti-trans animus that probably played a role in cutting yours way too short. 

You trans family and all who loved you will not rest until the person who killed you has been brought to justice.

Maddie Speaks To Vice News

Vice News has been doing some excellent trans themed stories lately.    As y'all know I made an appearance in the Trans in Texas segment that aired last week . 

Now they talk to 12 year old Maddison Rose and her family.   She's  the trans feminine child at the center of the controversy she didn't cause in Achille, OK that has gone national. 

The bullying from transphobic adults that approached hate crime levels is a major reason why Maddie and her family will be Houstonians soon. We're ready to welcome Maddie and her family here to H-town with open arms.

Here's the video from that Vice News show.

2018 Williams Watch- Another Sister-Sister Battle Looms

The 2018 US Open second round played out as expected with Serena and Venus both cruising to a third round showdown after vanquishing their second round opponents

And I repeat, US Open, why didn't y'all put them on separate sides of the draw so that we could have seen this clash in the quarters, semis or even the US Open final?

Serena took a little over an hour in a primetime match at Arthur Ashe Stadium to beat Germany's Carina Witthoeft  6-2, 6-2 and punch her ticked the third round for the 18th time. 

Meanwhile earlier in the day, Venus knocked off Italy's Camila Giorgi in straight sets to set up their 30th time playing each other, 16th in a Grand Slam, and their first in a Grans Slam tournament since the 2017 Australian Open final.

Venus joked that the last time they played it was unfair because she was playing 'two against one', referring to Serena being 24 weeks pregnant with Aunt Venus' niece Olympia at the time and still capturing the 2017 Aussie Open title.

The latest Williams Sister match up will be on Friday for a spot in the fourth round versus the winner of the Kaia Kanepi - Rebecca Peterson match.

FYI, Serena leads the all time series 17-12, and in Grand Slam tournaments 9-6.

Tona Brown Blazing Trails Again

You know my sis Tona Brown has been #BlackTGirlMagic personified throughout her music career when it comes to trans people gaining attention in the classical music world.

She has sung for a sitting US president and performed at Carnegie Hall.  Now this December she will be participating in an all LGBTQ ensemble of soloists and musicians performing Handel's Messiah. 

Tona told me in a phone interview that she's still in shock that this is happening for her.

"I didn't know if this would happen for me in my lifetime," Brown said. "They asked me, and I'm still in shock about it."   "I'm pleased to be part of this groundbreaking event," she added.

This historic performance of The Messiah will take place at the First Presbyterian Church in Arlington, VA on December 15.   Address is 601 N Vermont Street in Arlington, and if you're in the DC-MD-VA area I hope you'll support this event

Historic Election Night In Florida!

When the votes were counted after the polls closed in the Florida primary election last night, Black history was made in the Sunshine State.

Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum was the surprise winner of the Democratic Party gubernatorial primary when the votes were all counted.  Gwen Graham, the daughter of former Florida governor Bob Graham,  had been considered the frontrunner for the nomination.

Gillum never led in any on the polls conducted prior to Election Night, and was consistently third in every one of them.   But he prevailed in the only poll that mattered, the one at the ballot box. 

The FAMU alum becomes the first African American to capture a major party nomination for governor in Florida

He goes on to face in the general election Rep. Ron DeRacist  DeSantis, who wrapped himself around Dolt 45, and wasted no time injecting race baiting rhetoric into the gubernatorial campaign and getting called on it.

Also making this night a historic one in the Sunshine State is state Rep Sean Shaw (D-Tampa)/  He won his Democratic Party attorney general primary race in his bid to become the first Black attorney general in the state's history.

These dual wins combined with Ron DeRacist's 'monkey this up' comment dissing Gillum less than 24 hours after he'd made history will no doubt juice African-American turnout in Florida for the general election, and that will have down ballot implications for other Florida Democratic candidates.

The other wild card in this Florida race is the 100,000 Puerto Ricans who have moved to Florida after being displaced from the island in the wake of the piss poor response to Hurricane Maria by the Trump misadministration

Think they are going to be inclined to vote for Republicans after the Trump misadministration's 'fantatsic job' they did in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria?

We'll see on November 6

Vice on HBO Trans In Texas Show

I do television interviews from time to time, and sometimes they end up on the cutting room floor instead of the final broadcast show.

I'd done an interview during this year's BTAC conference, but once I took off the mic I forgot about it until my Facebook page started blowing up Friday night with people seeing the short segment that I'd taped.

The sixth season of Vice on HBO/recently broadcast an episode entitled Trans In Texas that features Kai and Kimberly Shappley, Dee Dee Watters, Dana Hinton and some GLAAD Media Award winning blogger y'all know 

It's only 17 minutes, and they barely scratched the surface on some of the issues we're dealing with in the Lone Star State

The video was finally released on their YouTube channel, so I got to see it.   Here's the video for you

2018 TransGriot Endorsement Posts Starting Soon

Early voting in Texas starts on October 22, and you Texas residents have until October 9 to get registered so that you can participate in what is probably the most important midterm election of our country's history

If you don't live in Texas, you need to do the same.  Find out when your election registration deadline is happening so if you aren't registered to vote, you can get it done so you can handle your electoral business on November 6 or sooner if you're in a state hat does early voting like I am. .

Uncle Sam needs you to participate in flipping this country and your states blue and firing the GOP at all levels of government, since they have made it clear they only wish to do so for heterosexual conservative white males only .

I've been asked by several readers if I was going to do any TransGriot endorsements in this 2018 election cycle, and the answer is an emphatic yes.   Those posts will be flagged in the title with a 2018 TransGriot Endorsement header so that you can easily find them 

While many of my TransGriot endorsement posts over the next 60 plus days will be Texas centric, and I will do endorsements in selected races in other states, the goal of them is to arm you with the information you need to cast an informed vote for the people and the issues impacting this election.

Cynthia Nixon and Jumaane Williams are Trans United Fund’s Choice for New York

The New York primary election is rapidly approaching on September 13, and as a Board Member of Trans United Fund, I’m proud to exclusively announce that we’re endorsing Cynthia Nixon for Governor and Jumaane Williams for Lieutenant Governor of New York because we believe they will be champions for the needs of trans and nonbinary people.
The current governor has had several opportunities since 2011 to use his power to help our community, especially when it comes to getting GENDA passed and to his desk, and failed to decisively act to legislatively advance our rights in New York .

Trans communities don’t need lip service-we need action.

There’s been a lot of talk in these races, and many who are not a part of our communities have attacked Cynthia and Jumaane as if they were speaking on behalf of trans and queer people.

Let us be very clear: we speak for ourselves, and what we’re saying is: Cynthia Nixon and Jumaane Williams are our choice for New York.

Trans people of color throughout New York deserve a Lieutenant Governor like Jumaane Williams who has tirelessly fought against racist Stop and Frisk policies that target our communities for violence and criminalization. Our communities deserve a Lt. Governor like Jumaane who has organized to provide more beds for homeless youth throughout New York, where almost half of homeless youth are LGBTQ; who, in a time of widespread attacks on trans communities’ right to simply exist in public, stood firm and helped pass a bill that protected our rights to using public facilities. That is what championing our communities looks like: taking real action, even when it wasn’t popular, even when it wasn’t election season.

Trans and nonbinary people throughout New York deserve a Governor like Cynthia Nixon, who won’t make backroom deals with fake Democrats, but will actually champion GENDA and make sure trans, nonbinary, and LGBQ people are protected from discrimination. Our communities deserve a Governor like Cynthia who is herself a queer woman, and the supportive mother of a trans child, because for her, this isn’t an election slogan: this is personal, this is family. Trans and nonbinary communities of color deserve a Governor like Cynthia who is making fighting criminalization one of her top priorities: from ending cash bail, closing Rikers, ending the process of trying children as adults, to re-investing funds that have historically gone to incarceration into education and community initiatives that actually build up our communities and keep us safe.

Trans and nonbinary communities need real champions, not election-season lip service. It’s my belief, and the belief of Trans United Fund, that Cynthia and Jumaane are those champions, and we’re proud to endorse them for Governor and Lt. Governor.

Why I'm In Favor Of Houston Hosting The 2020 DNC Convention

There is some chatter occuring in sections of Houston LGBTQ World coming from predominately white peeps inexplicably opposing the city's bid to capture the hosting duties for the 2020 Democratic National Convention. 

Their rationale to buttress their flimsy opposition to the city's bid for the 2020 DNC is that since Houston doesn't have a non discrimination ordinance, it shouldn't be hosting the convention.

FYI for you peeps.  Guess y'all forgot we DID pass the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance on May 28, 2014.   We lost the repeal battle after HERO was forced on the ballot by the conservative leaning SCOTX and right wing fake faith based evilgelicals.

The Houston 2020 DNC convention bid also has bipartisan support from local Republican legislators and former president George HW Bush, who wrote a letter to Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner supporting the bid.

I support the city of Houston going after the 2020 Democratic National Convention.  As of this writing we are one of the three finalist cities for it in addition to Miami and Milwaukee. 

First, the bid.   Ours is based on using the George R Brown Convention Center and the next door Toyota Center for the convention    The Convention Center district has two 1000 room hotels (the Hilton Americas and the Marriott Marquis) connected to the GRB and several thousand more downtown within easy walking, free shuttle bus or a METRORail train ride to the GRB-Toyota Center complex 

These downtown hotels, should we land the bid, would be filled with people attending the convention.  Houston has also proven multiple times that we can easily handle large scale conventions and events.

The 2020 DNC convention would not only provide business to these downtown hotels during the convention business summer doldrums, it would provide work for all the people in our Houston service and hospitality industry during the four days in 2020 that Houston would be hosting the Democratic Party leadership, delegates from across the country, and media covering the event. 

Must point out that the people working in the Houston hospitality industry would definitely appreciate the opportunity of making some money during the summer convention doldrum period.

Many of those people working in the Houston hospitality industry are Black and Latinx Houstonians who would benefit personally by the DNC being here.

It has been 90 years since Houston last hosted the DNC in 1928, and 1992 since the city hosted the RNC at the Astrodome.

It's way past time for the city of Houston to host the Democrats in our hometown again.