TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards- A Date That Will Live In Infamy Edition

Today happens to be the 77th anniversary of the 1941 surprise attack by Japan on the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii that brought the US into World War II

2,355 Americans lost their lives in the attack and another 1,145 people were wounded.  18 ships, including five battleships were lost on a day that President Franklin D. Roosevelt described as 'a date that will live in infamy.

It was also a day that changed the course of American history

Today is also Friday, and you TransGriot readers know what that means.   Once again I get to call out people who have committed war on facts and reason, have said some off the charts idiocy, and it's time to drop the truth bomb on them. 

Honorable mentions were Agent Orange (AKA Donald Trump), Laura Ingraham, PETA and Kevin Hart

This week's fool is E.W. Jackson. 

This conservakneegrow pastor went on an 8 minute rant on his radio show aimed at incoming congress members Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib  (D-MI)  who also happen to be Muslim.

Jackson stated that 'Muslims will turn Congress into an institution of Sharia law' and threw in the US is being turned 'into a Islamic republic' dig just for good measure.

Rep-elect Omar clapped back yesterday by reminding Jackson that the floor of Congress will look more like America. 


In the upcoming 116th Congress,  120 women will be part of it.  110 people of color were also elected.   Diversity is America's strength, not a weakness as you faith based conservafools have your vanillacentric privileged sheep believing .

Pastor Jackson, the only people I see trying to force religious based laws on the American people are you Talabaptists 

E.W. Jackson, shut up fool       

US and Canadian Conservafools Are Hating On Angela Ponce

We're two weeks away from crowning a new Miss Universe 2018, and the conservafools are tripping because of Miss Spain-Universe Angela Ponce not only being in this year's competition, but being considered one of the favorites to take the crown.

Hate on, transphobic conservahaters.   And yeah, we know through your trans hate speech that you're definitely nervous about the prospect of Ponce actually being crowned Miss Universe.

They recognize the importance of Ponce competing as the first out trans contestant in what is considered the world's most prestigious beauty pageant   The conservafools in Canada and the US are throwing every lie and falsehood about trans people out there they can in their media outlets and hoping it sticks in the larger media universe.

Ponce, to her credit has been what she always has been, classy in the face of transphobic ignorance.  It's rumored that Ponce will be roommates in Bangkok with Miss Colombia-Universe Valeria Morales, and reached out to her after she made those transphobic comments.

Hey, if that's true, she's better than me in this situation.  Knowing how shady pageants can get, I wouldn't trust home girl, much less want to be in the same room with somebody who publicly made disparaging remarks about me.

Ponce stated in a recent TIME magazine interview that if she won, it would be a sharp rebuke to the anti-trans ignorance the Trump misadministration is trying to install at the federal government
level.

"More than a message to him, it would be a win for human rights. Trans women have been persecuted and erased for so long. If they give me the crown, it would show trans women are just as much women as cis women."

She also said in that TIME interview,"I’m showing that trans women can be whatever they want to be: a teacher, a mother, a doctor, a politician and even Miss Universe."

No matter what happens, she will always be in the history books as the first out Miss Universe trans contestant, and probably won't be the last.   

Ponce competing in Miss Universe has generated excitement not only in our international trans community, but pageant buzz that will probably translate into higher ratings for the live broadcast from Bangkok on December 16.


And yes, I'm hoping she wins for another reason.   Lauren Foster was outed by a jealous cis model when Foster was poised to compete in the Miss Universe South Africa pageant back in the 80's.

How delicious would it be if the current Miss Universe Demi- Leigh Nel-Peters, who is from South Africa, crowned Angela Ponce as her successor? 

TransGriot 2018 NFL Picks-Week 14

Aw yeah, my fave NFL franchise is on a roll right now.  A franchise best nine game winning streak  and a favorable schedule down the stretch to improve on their now 9-3 record after the Texans Bulls on Parade defense obliterated the Cleveland Browns 29-13.

Will they get number 10 in a row?  Keep reading.   But y'all got to score more TD's.

Now if the Patriots would lose one more game so we can get the number two seed and home field for another playoff round.   They have a tendency to lose to the Dolphins on humid days in Miami, but it's December.

And as much as y'all know as a Houston resident I despise the Arlington Cowchips, have to give them credit for rebounding the way they have since they lost to the Texans.

Defending champion Mr Watts and I tied for Week 13 because he just committed the error that cost me a threepeat title last year.  He forgot to pick a winner in the Seahawks-49ers game, and under our contest rules any game not picked before its kickoff is an automatic loss.

We'll see in a few weeks if that costs him in Week 17. 

It's Week 14.   16 more contests, and with teams jockeying for playoff seeding and just to get in the playoffs, anything can happen.

As usual, teams I'm picking to win will be in bold print with the HOME team in all CAPS.  Mike's Week 14 picks (and I presume after last week he'll make doubly sure he got them all) will be available at this link.

Then again, I made that same mistake Mike made TWICE last year.

Week 13 Results                                                 2018 NFL Season Results
TransGriot 10-6                                                   TransGriot  123-67-2
Mike          10-6                                                   Mike           126-64-2         


Thursday Night Game
TITANS over Jaguars

Sunday Early Games
TEXANS over Colts
Panthers over BROWNS
CHIEFS over Ravens
Patriots over DOLPHINS
Giants over WASHINGTON
Saints over BUCCANEERS
Falcons over PACKERS
BILLS over Jets

Sunday Afternoon Games
CHARGERS over Bengals
Broncos over 49ERS
COWBOYS over Eagles
Steelers over RAIDERS

Sunday Night Game
Rams over BEARS

Monday Night Game
Seahawks over VIKINGS

Goodbye Ray Hill

One of our iconic Houston TBLGQ community and civil rights activists in Ray Hill passed away on November 24 at age 78 of heart failure while in hospice care at Bering Omega House. 

Yesterday we go to say goodbye to Ray at his memorial funeral service on the steps of Houston City Hall 

The service lasted three hours and was emceed by former Houston mayor Annise Parker, herself an iconic leader in our community.   It featured local politicians, people connected with KPFT-FM's The Prison Show, family members of Ray, past presidents of the Houston GLBT Caucus and a host of people gathered on a sunny December day to tell their Ray Hill stories and remember a man who had a huge influence not only our community, but Houston and the nation. 

He helped organize the massive 1978 march against Anita Bryant.   The Town Hall meeting at the AstroArena that led to the organization of the Houston TBLGQ community.  Was a supporter and thorn in the sde at times of the Caucus.

Hill was also the subject of two documentaries, with the most recent one entitled, The Trouble With Ray.



Of course I knew Ray, and bumped into him from time to time at our various community events.  I loved talking to him because it's not every day you get to talk to a historical community icon

The one thing I loved about him and I've also emulated in my own advocacy work is that he didn't just work on gay issues.    He was a prison reform advocate.   He supported the trans community and the First Amendment.

He was a proud, unapologetically gay agent provocateur and troublemaker pushing us in the TBLGQ community, local politicians and our community to be better. 

And we're going to miss him.

Number 23- Rest In Power and Peace Tydie

I was hoping we could get through the remaining weeks in this year without having another trans person murdered. Sadly that is not the case.

We head to Baltimore for our latest sister we will memorialize in 2018. 

Her name was Tydie Dansbury, and she was found unconscious on the side of a street at 4:15 AM EST on Monday, November 26.  Neighborhood residents who called the Baltimore PD reported hearing a gunshot in the 2400 block of Guilford Ave at W. Lanvale St. 

The 37 year old Dansbury was taken to a nearby hospital where she died a short time later.

BPD Police spokesperson TJ Smith said in a Baltimore Sun video interview that what they do know is that some kind of argument took place between Tydie and another person, and that person pulled out a gun and shot Tydie.   The perpetrators subsequently left the crime scene at a high rate of speed in a dark colored vehicle.

Baltimore police are urging anyone with information that can solve this murder and bring the perpetrators to justice to call the police homicide office at 410-396-2199 or text with tips at 443-902-4824    You can also call Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7LOCKUP (1-866-756-2587) to leave anonymous tips.

Tydie is the 23rd trans person we have lost to anti-trans violence in the US in 2018 and the 17th African American trans person we have lost this year. 

The Baltimore Transgender Alliance hosted a vigil tonight that started at 7 PM at their headquarters,  The BTA will be monitoring the situation to ensure that justice is served for our departed sister.

And I have to note one other thing.  Baltimore is the headquarters city for the NAACP.   When will they speak out. as HRC is doing, against the plague of violence disproportionately affecting Black trans people?

When will our Black trans lives matter to the oldest civil rights organization in our community?

Rest in power and peace , Tydie.  You trans family and everyone who loved you will not rest until justice is served in your death.

TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards- Last Friday In November Edition

It seems like it was just months ago we partying like it was 1999 as we welcomed 2018.   Now we're four weeks from ending this year and moving on to 2019.

It also seems to me as you get older, time moves faster.  New Year's Eve also doesn't feel the same to me ever since Dick Clark passed away.

Oh well, enough jibber jabber.   Time to get to this week's person or persons who earned this week's TransGriot Shut Up Fool Award. 

While there were some worthy nominees this week like Agent Orange, Sarah Suckabee Sanders, Paul Ryan, Ivanka Trump, Andrea Long Chu, Paul Manafort and Kevin Hart, once again for the second straight week, just going to get right to calling out this week's fool,

This week's loser  winner is FOX Noise spokesbigot Tomi Lahren. 

Bigot Barbie couldn't stop herself from letting something asinine slide from that pretty mouth when she shared in the wake of the reprehensible teargassing of asylum seekers on the Mexican border that it 'made her Thanksgiving weekend.'

Really, rhymes with witch?   Was your Thanksgiving so jacked up that you considered that odious event to be the highlight of your holiday weekend?   

You're definitely a top contender for the 2018 TransGriot Shut Up Fool of the Year Award when I announce it on New Year's Eve.

Let me just end this right now.   Tomi Lahren, Shut Up Fool! 

More Chromosomes Than Just XX and XY

Lately I've been hearing this talking point from the evilgelicals and the transphobically illiterate that goes 'you can't change your DNA'.   The other variant of it they like to throw is 'you can't change your chromosomes'.

They will then follow those initial attack comments up by saying, "If you have XX chromosomes, you are a woman.  If you have XY chromosomes, you are a man."

Not so fast my transphobic friends.   Humans come in far more chromosomal varieties than XX and XY.   There;s XO, XXY, XYY, XXYY, XXXY, XY/XO, XX/XO, XX/XY....

Biology is not a nice, neat binary.

And that's before I get to blow your feeble minds by pointing out an intersex condition that occurs in one in every 20,000 births called androgen insensitivity syndrome that ends up producing women with XY chromosomes like my homegirl Alicia.

She blew some minds in the Texas Lege last year when they were trying to pass SB 6 and came out as intersex     So when you faith based fools ignorantly assert that 'women have XX chromosomes', not all women do.

Another FYI for you scientifically illiterate peeps.  Medical science is rapidly advancing to the point where humans will be able to edit the DNA code in vitro and create 'designer babies'.

Chinese genetics researcher He Jiankui has claimed he helped create the first gene edited babies.  That news is causing controversy in the international scientific community.

So there goes your 'you can't change your DNA' talking point.

That's why I and other scientifically literate peeps in Trans World laugh at you transphobes and call you ignorant when you start spouting those inaccurate talking points.

We know that our trans lives are not subject to debate.  We know better than anybody that gender is between your ears, not your legs.  We also know that the scientific research backing this point up is increasingly on our side as well. 

We also know that science and biology blow up whatever faith based lies you come up with.

TransGriot 2018 NFL Picks-Week 13

We are now in December.  It's not only crunch time for NFL teams seeking to make the playoffs, but for me and Mr Watts battling for NFL prognostication supremacy.

I definitely enjoyed the Texans Monday night demolition of the Tennessee Traitors.  The nationally televised win was the Texans eighth consecutive after starting the season 0-3, and kept them at the top of the AFC South.   Now they have an upcoming potential trap game with the not a laughingstock Cleveland Browns they need to navigate. 

I rebounded after a sub 500 week, but must do better because despite the above .500 week, I'm now trailing in the season long prognostication contest.    Didn't help that Mike just missed a perfect week because of the Broncos and the Browns upsets.

Let's get to NFL Week 13 which starts with a massive game with the red hot New Orleans Saints facing the Dallas Cowchips Cowboys

No more bye weeks.  Everybody's playing either on Thursday, Sunday or Monday.   Teams I'm picking to win in bold print with HOME team in caps.  Mike's Week 13 picks here.

Week 13 Results                                               2018 NFL Season Results   
TransGriot  10-5                                               TransGriot  113-61-2
Mike           13-2                                               Mike           116-58-2

Thursday Night Game
Saints over COWBOYS

Sunday Early Game
TEXANS over Browns
Ravens over FALCONS
Panthers over BUCCANEERS
Bears over GIANTS
DOLPHINS over Bills
Colts over JAGUARS
Broncos over BENGALS
Rams over LIONS
PACKERS over Cardinals

Sunday Afternoon Games
Chiefs over RAIDERS
TITANS over Jets
SEAHAWKS over 49ers
PATRIOTS over Vikings

Sunday Night Game
STEELERS over Chargers

Monday Night Game
EAGLES over Washington

Angela's Headed To Miss Universe 2018!

"I’m competing because it’s what I’ve wanted to do since I was a little girl. I’m showing that trans women can be whatever they want to be: a teacher, a mother, a doctor, a politician and even Miss Universe."-Angela Ponce

Miss Spain Universe Angela Ponce is headed to Thailand to hopefully make more history.

The 27 year old has already done so as the first out trans woman ever to win a national Miss Universe pageant, and is seeking to become the first trans winner of the 67th edition of the world's most prestigious beauty pageant when it is held in Bangkok on December 17.

She's had some loud transphobic haters, like Miss Colombia Universe 2018 Valeria Morales and Lupita Jones, the head of the Miss Mexico Universe organization.   But Ponce also has her supporters in Spain, the Miss Universe Spain organization, others within the Miss Universe pageant world such as Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach, and Miss Philippines Universe 2018 Catriona Gray.

Most importantly, her family and her trans family around the planet support her as well.

She's headed to Thailand now because there is a preliminary portion of the pageant that whittles down the  94 delegates to the sixteen contestants you'll see on stage during the live broadcast once again hosted by Steve Harvey and Ashley Graham

Safe travels Angela and good luck to you during the Miss Universe 2018 pageant! 

Mississippi Senate Runoff Today

Today the voters in Mississippi finish the last election of the 2018 midterms in this senate race between Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Confederacy) and her Democratic challenger in former congressman and agriculture secretary Mike Espy.

The runoff election has gotten a lot closer because Confederate Cindy's racist baggage has come tumbling out of the KKKloset to the point that Agent Orange had to fly to the Magnolia State to try to save her voting 100% for his agenda behind. 

A loss in this race means that the GOP only has a 52-48 edge in the US Senate despite a Senate map that favored them, and would be the icing on the cake for a blue tsunami in 2018 that flipped control of the US House and gave the Dems a 40 seat majority.

The Republicans are justifiably worried they are about to see a repeat of what happened in neighboring Alabama, and don't be surprised if that happens when the votes are counted later tonight.

Mississippi has a 32% Black population.  That's higher than Alabama's.  And if you think Mississippi's Black electorate won't bumrush the polls for an opportunity to smack down a racist and elect the first African American US senator to rep the state since 1877 at the same time, y'all are seriously naive and sleeping on the power and sophistication of the Black vote. 

Here's hoping that Espy pulls the upset 

TransGriot Update:  Confederate Cindy won, but only by a single digit percentage margin.

Skip The Salvation Army Kettles In 2018

This is another TransGriot remident for you when you see the Salvation Transphobic Army kettles out to ignore them for their continued anti-trans attitudes.

They have a long, ugly history of hating on the TBLGQ community, which is why I laughed my butt off during an episode of POSE in which Elektra Abundance and the House of Abundance jacked a Salvation Army kettle.   

While the Salvation Army is claiming on their website they have changed their tune and evolved, we still don't have clear evidence they have ended their historic antipathy toward the TBLGIQ + community.

It was also quite disturbing to see white supremacists ringing the Salvation Army kettle bells at an Indiana location.

While I don't recommend y'all do an Elektra Abundance stunt, you can decline to drop your change in those Salvation Army kettles popping up at stores near you.

Instead donate to trans and SGL led organizations doing proven work in our community during this holiday season and beyond or trans advocates directly via their PayPal or Cash Apps.

In case you're wondering, here's mine if you're feeling generous. 

Houston's Pride Portraits 'Be Visible' Wall Vandalized

"The Pride Portraits BE VISIBLE wall has been targeted with hate. Our hearts are heavy but we will RESIST. 

LOVE to all,
Eric, Hugo, Crimson, Jenni and Scott."

That was the message that greeted us on the Pride Portraits Facebook page this morning as we discovered that the Pride Portraits 'Be Visible' wall that has been on the side of the Jenni's Noodle House location in the Heights since April has unfortunately been vandalized.

The wall was created by artist Hugo Perez, and was dedicated back on April 5 in a ceremony that included Jim Obergefell.  A quote from Obergefell is included in the pride wall painting that reads:

“I march because of the people who marched before me. Thanks to them, I live in a better world due to their bravery, and I owe it to them and those who come after me to continue the fight for equality.”

As you probably guessed, the malicious vandalizing of the seven month old wall has already pissed off and galvanized local advocates to not only make plans to repair the damage, but increase security so that it won't happen again.

Eric Edward Schell of Pride Portraits had this to say about the vandalism of the wall

"The amount of emboldened hate it took for an individual to deface the pride wall, thats sole mission is to uplift, affirm and celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community in my opinion is a direct result of our current political climate. Donald J. Trump and his administration are directly responsible for the uprise in anti LGBTQIA+ hate crimes across the United States," said Schell. 

"This type of vandalism brings me right back to the Pulse shooting and the realization that people want our community silenced if not dead for simply existing. Being visible in our community puts a target on our backs but visibility it is imperative to our right to exist in society," he continued.

"There is no “gay agenda”. We are not asking for extra rights. We are not asking that you have less rights. We are seeking equality."

A donation for a security camera to watch the wall has already been made by a generous donor, and other people in the Houston community are already stepping up to volunteer to repaint the the wall and restore it back to its original glory.

If a GoFundMe or other online fundraising effort pops up to raise money to pay for the repairs to the Be Visible wall, I'll post it here.

And to the cowardly tagger who did this, a message for you.   How about you, your Republican and your evilgelical friends stop your anti-gay hate agenda?

And for those of you wondering what the 'gay agenda' the conservafools always whine about is?

1. Be visible
2. Respect our human rights
3. Respect our humanity
4. Be proud of who we are
5. See 1-4
  

TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards- Black Friday 2018 Edition

It's Black Friday, and hordes of shoppers are working off those post-Thanksgiving calories swarming the malls and strip shopping centers of America ready to trample and beat up their fellow Americans in search of Christmas shopping deals and deeply discounted bargains. 

And it's one thing I definitely don't miss about being in retail.

I know y'all have missed my Shut Up Fool Award posts.  You have told me so as I have been out and about.  I stopped doing them for awhile because I was living a stress filled nomadic life for two months as I was trying to get settled in the wake of moving into my new place. 

It was also because as our Shut Up Fool inspiration, Mr T says, 'Fools are everywhere!'  The number of fools showing their azzes in the Trump misadminstration, the GOP, the evilgelicals, conservafool movement and internationally during that time was getting so overwhelming I had to take a break from it because I had enough on my plate.

But to the consternation of fools everywhere and your reading pleasure, I'm rested and ready to call the fools out.

This week's winner is embattled US Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Confederacy Mississippi)

She has turned what should have been an easy re -election runoff race between her and former congressman and Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy into one eerily replicating for Republicans what happened in neighboring Alabama.

And Mississippi, FYI, has a larger Black population than Alabama does.

She has made comments at a Tupelo event about 'being on the front row of a public hanging', and being in favor of suppressing the votes of people and Black college students.

Hyde-Smith is now complaining that the 'Democrats are tuning my words into a political weapon to be used against me."

You damned skippy they are since you were clueless enough to say them.

That's before I even get to the picture she took at Jefferson Davis' house in Biloxi wearing a Confederate soldiers cap and standing next to someone who is a member of an SPLC-certified hate group.

She has returned contributions from Walmart ($2000), Google ($5000) and $2700 from a Seattle businessman accused of discriminating against Muslims.

As Mike Espy said during the debate, "We don't know what's in your heart, but we all know what came out of your mouth." 

Yeah, we do Confederate boo boo kitty.   You flapped those lips and let the dog whistle hate speech flow.  If you didn't want your word to become a campaign issue, should've kept them to yourself

Hope you lose on the 27th.

Cindy Hyde-Smith, shut up conservafool!

Why Including In TDOR's People Who Commit Suicide Is A Bad Idea

We have just concluded the TDOR memorials for 2018 here and around the world.   Sadly we will be doing them again next year on and around November 20.

I'm hearing online chatter about the topic of including trans people who commit suicide in these TDOR memorials.  That's a bad idea, and I'm going to lay out the case why it;s a bad idea.

A trans person who is killed due to a murder doesn't have the choice of and control over when and how they die.   It is a random act of violence that deserves public condemnation, media attention when it happens, and focus to ensure the perpetrator of that murder is tried and convicted for it.

A suicide is not the same as someone who has been murdered by either a random stranger or somebody they know.   The person who commits suicide has the choice of whether to do so or not. and if they do make that call, how and when they die.

Suicide is a serious issue in this community.  I believe a large reason why it has spiked in our community is not only because of the right wing repression of our community, but because of the international media attention that Leelah Alcorn's 2014 suicide got. 

If we are seeking to reduce suicides in the trans community, glamorizing them at a future TDOR is not the pathway to accomplish that goal.   We need to be as a community unequivocally encouraging people to live their best trans lives, not take them. 

As leaders in the trans community, we need to be possibility models encouraging trans people to choose life.   We also need to as leaders be pointing out that one of the powerful ways to send society the middle finger for hating on trans people at is to unapologetically live your life.

Laverne Cox recently revealed in an interview that she once considered over a decade ago committing suicide.   I and the community are glad she didn't, because we now get to witness her groundbreaking award winning acting talent and have the benefit of her advocacy. 

She is also a role model to many in our community, and I get to call her a friend.   But all the fabulousness of Ms. Cox we get to witness would have been lost forever to us if she had followed through 17 years ago on those thoughts of suicide.

Every trans life is a precious one.   By committing suicide, every trans life lost that way makes the TERF's and evilgelicals smile.  It also denies us the opportunity to get to know your amazing self. and deprives us and the world of your talents and future contributions to our community.

TDOR's are and have been for 20 years memorializing the people we lose around the world to anti-trans murders.  The reason the numbers are universally accepted by the media is because founder Gwen Smith set up a strict standard on what gets included on a TDOR list so that we aren't accused by our detractors of inflating them.

It has worked for 20 years.  If it ain't broke, it doesn't need to be fixed or altered without a compelling reason to do so. 

What I will suggest is that if people want to discuss trans suicides, they are welcome to do so in a conversation or event centering the subject that is held during Trans Awareness Week from November 12-19. 

TransGriot 2018 NFL Picks- Week 12

Ugh, had my second losing week of the season after being on the wrong side of several close games and that Rams-Chiefs shootout in LA

At least the Texans won their seventh straight game and will go for their eighth consecutive win against the despised Tennessee Traitors on Monday night.

It's Turkey Day, and the games scheduled are anything but turkeys in the Bears-Lions, Cowboys-Washington and Saints-Falcons.

Let me get to my Week 12 picks because I want the stench of that losing week off of me, and once again I've frittered away a lead in this season long prognostication contest..

Mike's Week 12 selections will be here at this link.   Teams I'm picking to win in bold print with HOME team in CAPS.

Week 11 Results                                                        NFL 2018 Season Record
TransGriot   4-9                                                         TransGriot  103-56-2
Mike            7-6                                                         Mike           103-56-2

Thanksgiving Day Games
Bears over LIONS
COWBOYS over Washington
SAINTS over Falcons

Sunday Early Games
EAGLES over Giants
Jaguars over BILLS
PANTHERS over Seahawks
RAVENS over Raiders
49ers over BUCCANEERS
BENGALS over Browns
Patriots over JETS

Sunday Afternoon Games
CHARGERS over Cardinals
Steelers over Broncos
COLTS over Dolphins

Sunday Night Game
VIKINGS over Packers

Monday Night Game
TEXANS over Titans

Mississippi 2018 US Senate Debate

If you thought the 2018 midterms were over, not quite.   We still have some races in a few states that went to runoffs, and others they are still counting ballots in close races. 

One of those states in which a runoff is occurring is Mississippi, where Mike Espy is trying to become the first Black senator elected from the Magnolia State since Hiram Revels did so during Reconstruction.

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) was appointed to fill the seat after Thad Cochran resigned for health reasons.  She has lately been making news for all the wrong reasons.

She commented that she would be on the front row of a public hanging lynching, and came out in favor of voter suppression.   An old picture has surfaced with Hyde-Smith in a Confederate cap standing next to a person from an SPLC certified hate group. 

This isn't dog whistle racism.  This is alarm klaxon racism.  That also concerns me as someone who has maternal side family members who live in Mississippi.

The debate between Espy and Confederate Cindy was last night, so if you missed it, here's the video of it.

The Holidays Can Be Hard On My Trans and GNC Family

The 2018 holiday season is about to commence.  People are heading to airports, train stations and hitting the interstate highways to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day with family and friends. 

But as you prepare to make new holiday memories with family, friends and all the people who love you, bear in mind those happy pics you post on social media and the conversations you have about your wonderful holiday dinners can be painful to many of my trans and GNC siblings.

And that depression brought on by forced family separation, exacerbated by constant reminders of the season with the classic holiday Christmas TV shows and movies, Christmas music on the radio, and people out and about doing holiday shopping, can lead to suicide.

Many of my trans and GNC siblings are facing a fall and winter of separation or banishment from their blood families for being their true selves.   It's also true for the Mama and Papa Bears that face the same issue for choosing to support their trans and gender non conforming child over their familial ties with disapproving family members.

So for those of you not in that situation in our community, please do everything in your power to lift our trans and GNC family up during this holiday season.   Invite them to your home for a gathering.  Call them on a regular basis from now through New Year's Day.  Check on them via social media.  Go out with them and do something fun when you can. 

For my trans and gender non conforming fam in that situation this holiday season, do not spend one nanosecond brooding about these holidays and the family that rejected you.  It is not your fault they foolishly chose not to accept the amazing and fabulous person you are.

It's their loss they won't have you at them family gatherings that will be less wonderful without your presence.

While there are some days during this period that are going to be hard not to do so, I challenge you to focus on building holiday memories with the chosen family who do want you in their lives,  I can tell you from experience I light up when I get Christmas cards, baked goods and gifts from my chosen family

There are some cities that have holiday events at their local LGBT centers for the trans and GNC community, so consider attending them.   Hang out with your trans and GNC friends.  Do fun stuff with them, be it Christmas or non Christmas related.  Call other people who may be having a rougher time than you are and talk to them. 

We love you, want you and need your fabulous trans selves to be around for 2019 and beyond

Call trans help lines if you aren't able to talk to someone locally or online, And for you trans allies and accomplices, show your trans family some love this holiday season   Do what you can to make a trans person's life that you are acquainted with better during the holidays.

As I continue to point out, we are an international trans and GNC community.  We are your family,  We understand and feel your pain.   Many of us, myself included, either have been or are still going through it, and we are determined to help you get through this emotion laden rough patch of a season.

I know the holiday can be hard, trans and GNC family.   But there are people inside and outside our community who are standing by to make it better and less sucky for you.   All you have to do is reach out to them and let them help you make things better.