You Mad Because I Didn't Meet With You, Nick Hellyar? Stay Mad

The municipal political season is starting to heat up here in H-town with our November 5 election day rapidly approaching.

That also means that because many people in the Houston area respect my time in the movement and my political opinions as a social media influencer, candidates who are running for office believe that it is important to contact me and seek my endorsement. 

My political star has also been rising in the wake of the HCDP's JRR luncheon and the well received acceptance speech for the Barbara Jordan Breaking Barriers Award back in May.

The candidates that I endorse for local office will be announced in a TransGriot post I'll write before early voting in our municipal election starts on October 21.

We had a contentious GLBT Caucus endorsement meeting this past weekend in which I discovered during the debate for the Caucus' At Large 4 endorsement that candidate Nick Hellyar was talking shyt about me behind my back.   

In his words, Ana Andrea Molina, myself and Ashton Woods are in his words 'poor leaders' because we didn't take time out of  our busy schedules to meet with his vanillacentric privileged azz to discuss an endorsement.

And I have receipts in terms of how busy I have been.   This is just a snippet of some of the things I have done since April.  What was more important than spending my time with Nick Hellyar to discuss an endorsement? 

Let's see:

*Traveled to Minneapolis to participate in the Andrea Jenkins Lecture Series on the U of Minnesota campus

*Attending a rally for Muhlaysia Booker in Dallas    

*The 8th annual BTAC Conference April 23-28

*A Lambda Voices radio interview on KNON-FM in Dallas  

*A 9 AM press conference on April 29 in Austin urging passage of HB 1513 

*The HB 1513 hearing in Austin at 9 PM on April 29 
*Supporting Frankie Gonzales Wolfe's potentially historic council run in San Antonio on my May 4 birthday.  

*Being given the Barbara Jordan Breaking Barriers Award at the HCDP JRR Luncheon  

*Attending Muhlaysia Booker's wake and funeral  

*Interviews with CNN and other media outlets concerning anti-trans violence aimed at Black trans women  

*Lobbying the Texas Lege a total of six times this session  

*Marching in the Dallas Pride Parade with the BTAC and Dallas Black trans people contingent 

*Participating in the March For Black Trans Lives in Dallas 

*Being a Houston Pride honorary Grand Marshal  

*Being honored by Sara Ramirez on the Barclays Center stage with Ana Andrea Molina and Ashton P. Woods at NYC WorldPride opening ceremony  

*Taught during the 2019 TXTNS a seminar on Contemporary Texas Trans History 101 

*MCing A Black Trans Lives Matter rally in Austin 

          *Netroots Nation 2019 panel discussion in Philadelphia 

*BTAC board meeting and Leadership Institute in Dallas  

*Taping an ABC Nightline interview with Dee Dee Watters and Diamond Stylz 

*Writing my columns for OutSmart and my TransGriot blog posts

The At large 4 seats started drawing candidates from other crowded races because At Large 4 incumbent CM Amanda Edwards decided to run for the US Senate., 
The Caucus decided not to endorse anyone in the At large 4 race   Dr. Leticia Plummer also screened for it after switching from At Large 5, and I wish she could have gotten that endorsement. 

Christel Bastida, the candidate originally in the At Large 4 race (and a problematic one at that) didn't even bother to screen for it.   Hellyar only switched to At Large 4 after it became clear he wasn't getting any traction in this district.   It has two strong front runners in Shelley Kennedy and Abbie Kaman who are likely to be in a runoff.
Speaking of problematic candidates, the more I looked into Hellyar and talked to people about him, the more problematic stuff came out, including his controversial turn as GLBT caucus president.  

Questions about whether he actually lived in District C, which was the position he was running for before filing for At Large 4 came up, in addition to his condescending answers at a Pride Forum focused on council candidates 

It also came to my attention that trans folks are not part of his vision for HERO 2.0 either. 

So be mad and stay mad that I haven't met with you.   And news flash, when I endorse in At Large 4, chances are very high you won't be getting the TransGriot thumbs up.

 

Victoria's Secret Hires First Out Trans Model

It came after their stock price dropped 40%, they had to close 53 stores across the USA, their CEO Jan Singer resigned, they announced they aren't doing the televised Victoria's Secret fashion show after it had it's worst ratings ever, and lost model Karlie Kloss over chief marketing office Ed Rezek's transphobic comments.

Congrats to Brazilian model Valentina Sampaio, who was just hired as their first out trans model.

The 22 year old Sampaio is no stranger to blazing trails in the modeling industry.  She was the first out trans model to ever grace the cover of French Vogue and the first to do so for Brazilian Vogue in her native Brazil.

And now she become the first trans angel, as Vickie's Secret calls their models.

Will they be hiring more trans models to rip their runways?   And when the Victoria's Secret Fashion show comes back on TV after its retooling, will a diverse group of models be part of it?

That remains to be seen if it happens. 

But congrats to Valentina Sampaio for making that breakthrough.   Hope it leads to many more trans models getting a shot to wear those Victoria's Secret angel wings.

Shut Up Fool Awards- Bringing It Back Edition

One of the most popular features in the decade plus history of the blog is the TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards in which I have called out the blatant lies, ridiculous mind numbing statements, hypocrisy and the coonery and buffoonery here and around the globe.

And as Mr T has said, "Fools are everywhere".

The Trump misadministration , the Republican Party, white evilgelicals and  FOX Noise have unleashed such a coordinated avalanche of bull feces and lies to cover up and distract you from their creeping christofascism that it got overwhelming for me at times to catalog it all on a weekly basis.

It also didn't help that I have been extremely busy activism wise, so I took a sanity break from that feature for a while.

After running into many of my readers at different events who let me know how much they missed the Shut Up Foll Awards, I'm bringing them back and in the right head space to call crap out every Friday.

So here's the first post for the relaunched TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards.   Just going straight to this week's winner, Rick Wiles .   

I'm not a fan of vegan food, but this week's winner took to his show to call vegetarian burgers a 'Luciferian plot to change human DNA'   Translation: He claims Satan is behind pushing veggie burgers to the public to steal your soul and keep you from going to heaven.

Yeah right, christofascist hatemonger. Rick Wiles is not only a homobigot, he's also anti-Semitic as well.  .   

The Church Lady would be so proud of him.   

All together, peeps.   Rick Wiles, Shut Up Fool!

Number 13-Rest In Power and Peace Marquis 'Kiki' Fantroy

Was just made aware of the fact that we closed out the month of July with another trans murder.
We travel to Miami for the latest one in the person of 21 year old Marquis 'Kiki' Fantroy.

Fantroy was only a few minutes from her home in the early morning hours of July 31 when she was shot multiple times at 4:30 AM EDT in the area of Southwest 224th Street and 115th Court in southwest Miami-Dade County.

She was taken to a nearby hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.

Fantroy was the 13th trans woman who has been murdered in the US this year.   She is the 9th to die that was under age 30.   Even more infuriating, all of the  transgender women killed so far in the US in 2019 have been African American..

At this time no arrests have been made, nor is there a suspect of person of interest in this case.  Fantroy's mother and other loved ones suspect Kiki  may have been killed because she was trans.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. A reward of up to $3,000 is offered for information that leads to an arrest.  At this time there is also no word on whether there is a memorial vigil being planned by the local Miami area trans community

Rest in power and peace, Kiki.   You will be missed by all who loved you.  We also will not rest until the person or persons who killed you are captured and brought to justice.   

Will Trans Rights Be A Debate Topic In The Second Democratic Presidential Debate?

The second set of Democratic presidential debates will kick off tonight and Wednesday night in Detroit's historic FOX Theater on CNN.  They will be moderated by CNN's Don Lemon, Dana Bash, and Jake Tapper.

A draw that CNN televised live on July 18 set the candidate lineups for both nights. 

The first of the three draws divided the bottom ten candidates  between both nights.   The second draw divided the middle six candidates, and the final draw the top four contenders for the Democratic nomination.

The ten candidates tangling with each other on July 30 are  Montana Gov Steve Bullock, South Bend, IN mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Maryland Rep John Delaney,  former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Sen Amy Klobuchar (MN), former Texas Rep Beto O'Rourke, Rep Tim Ryan (OH), Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT), Sen Elizabeth Warren (MA),  and author Marianne Williamson.

The ten candidates who will take the stage on July 31 will be Sen Michael Bennet (CO), former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Cory Booker (NJ), former HUD Secretary Julian Castro,  New York mayor Bill de Blasio,  Rep Tulsi Gabbard (HI), Sen Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), former Washington Gov Jay Inslee,  Sen Kamala Harris (CA)  and entrepreneur Andrew Yang

Now that we know which candidates will be debating each other on which night, the question now becomes what topics will are brought up for discussion by the CNN moderators?

Of concern to trans Americans is will trans Americans be discussed on either debate night in Detroit like we were by Sen Booker and Secretary Castro during the first debate in Miami.

We in Trans World certainly hope that what is happening to the trans community gets discussed again, but are cognizant of the fact that the topics that get discussed tonight and tomorrow night will depend in large part on the news cycle and what the moderators choose to focus on.

Either way, both nights are shaping up to be must see TV for political junkies like me and everyone interested in who will emerge from this crowded field to become the 2020 Democratic nominee.
     

The 'How I Feel About Trump' FB Post Debunked

The suburban white peeps who voted for Trump are now thrying to look for ways to justify voting for him again in 2020 and not look racist while doing so,

That ship sailed a long time ago Chad and Becky. 

This is why the Democrats need to laser focused from now until next November 3 on getting our base to the polls and increasing turnout amongst them instead of chasing the mythical suburban white swing voter that always keeps kicking them to the curb and voting GOP.

I ran across this problematic racist 'How I Feel About Trump' post on a former co-workers page.  She revealed she was one of the 53% of white women who voted for the Grand Wizard In Chief.

After I called out Trump, she tried to claim 'he's not racist' .  Y'all know I called that crap out with the quickness, then blocked her.   

This is the mentality of white suburban Trump voters and why it may be a fool's errand for Democrats to try to flip them in 2020 when they are cosigning crap like this in order to justify their 2016 vote and try to rationalize casting another vanilla scented privileged vote for him again. 

I'm going to take this original Facebook post and debunk it in sections:  My rebuttal comments will be in bold print.

***

HOW I FEEL ABOUT TRUMP

Lets say you've been on vacation for two weeks, you come home, and your basement is infested with raccoons.. Hundreds of rabid, messy, mean raccoons have overtaken your basement.. You want them gone immediately!.. You call the city and 4 different exterminators, but nobody can handle the job.. But there is this one guy, and he guarantees to get rid of them, so you hire him.. You don't care if the guy smells, you don't care if the guy swears, you don't care if he's an alcoholic, you don't care how many times he's been married, you don't care if he has a plumber's crack, you simply want those raccoons gone!.. You want your problem fixed!.. He's the guy.. He's the best!

MR:   Nice try at the dog whistle racism all over this first paragraph.  Trying to cover up the slur word for Black peeps with 'raccoon'


Here's why we want Trump: Yes, he's a bit of a jerk; Yes, he's an egomaniac; but we don't care!.. The country is a mess because politicians suck, the Republicans and Democrats can be two-faced and gutless, and illegals are everywhere.. We want it all fixed!..

MR  Correction: The country is a mess because Republican politicians like Mitch McConnell are more concerned with pushing a right wing agenda than doing the people business 
FYI, No human being is 'illegal'.  I want the immigration system fixed, too.  but throwing asylum seekers in Trump concentration camps and their kids in Trump baby jails isn't the way to go about ti. 


We don't care that Trump is crude, we don't care that he insults people, we don't care that he has changed positions, we don't care that he's been married 3 times, we don't care that he fights with Megyn Kelly and Rosie O'Donnell, we don't care that he doesn't know the name of some Muslim terrorist..

MR I and the 65 million people who voted for Clinton do care that he's all of the above including a racist, women's crotch grabbing azzhole with zero clue about how to run a business, much less the USA. .

This country became weak and bankrupt, our enemies were making fun of us, we are being invaded by illegals, we are becoming a nation of victims where every Tom, Ricardo, and Hasid is a special group with special rights to a point where we don't even recognize the country we were born and raised in; "AND WE JUST WANT IT FIXED”.. And Trump is the only guy who seems to understand what the people want..

MR  Our enemies are making fun of us on the world stage BECASE Trump is occupying the WH.  And there's that dog whistle racism again in the false claim that our country is being 'invaded by illegals'.

Demanding equal rights coverage promised to every American by the Constitution is not 'special rights'.   The diversity of America's population is our strength, don't something to be denigrated or feared.   

And Trump has no clue what the people want. 
  
We're sick of politicians, sick of the Democratic Party, sick of the Republican Party, and sick of illegals!.. We just want this thing fixed..

MR  The rest of reality based America is sick of racist MAGA azzholes who think that immigration is a detriment to this country.   And exactly what IS the thing you want fixed?  

Trump may not be a Saint, but we didn’t vote for a Pope.. We voted for a man who doesn't have lobbyist money holding him back, a man who doesn't have political correctness restraining him..

MR You also voted for a man who is racist jerk

We all know that he has been very successful, he’s a good negotiator, he has built a lot of things, and he's also NOT a politician, NOT a cowardly politician.!..

MR:  If it weren't for Daddy Fred's money, he'd be swilling beers with the rest of you MAGAts.  As for a successful negotiator, Trump has proven to be anything but that.  
And yes, he is a cowardly politician.  A thin skinned coward that can't handle criticism or the truth being told to him that he ain't all that, especially by Black women. 

And he says he'll fix it.. And we believe him because he is too much of an egotist to be proven wrong, or looked at and called a liar.. Also, we don't care if the guy has bad hair.. We just want those raccoons gone, out of our house, NOW!!!

MR  Sad that you believe the FOX Noise hype about him being a 'great POTUS".   Yeah, right.  He's the worst ever in addition to being a baldfaced liar 
And once again, who are these raccoon you're babbling about that you want out of 'your house'?  Black people?  Latinx folks?  Muslims?  Asians?  TBLGQ people?

And if our house is a thinly disguised metaphor for America, this house belonged to native Americans long before you Europeans came here   

You are welcome to copy/paste/share this.. Thousands of people who haven't voted in 25 years seem to be getting involved.. And the more people get this message, the more that will understand why Trump was elected..The raccoons have got to go!!!

MR Thar racist piece of orange excrement occupying the White House has to go for the sake of our country and the planet.

Warning H-town Progressives, Bill King and Tony Buzbee Are Republicans

Houston municipal elections are officially via the city charter nonpartisan, but a little digging into voter records,  Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) and Federal Election Commission (FEC) campaign donations records will reveal despite any spin attempts whether you're really a Republican or Democrat.

Because of the blue tsunami last year that flipped Harris County to Democratic control and the desperation of the Harris County Republicans to capture a Houston mayor's chair they haven't held in over 30 years, they are trying to peddle the fiction, especially in Houston's Black community, that mayoral candidates Tony Buzbee and Bill King are Democrats.

Um naw players, not on my H-town watch.  Buzbee and King are undeniably Republicans.  Don't want any Republicans in my mayor's chair.

Thanks to Melody Tan and Erik Manning, I have the receipts.

Let's start with Buzbee.   That's him on the right in this pic at the top of the post with Rick Perry and Lugenprasident at Buzbee's River Oaks mansion.

Um no.  He not only held a fundraiser for Trump, he has according to this FEC filing, made multiple donations to the Republican National Committee and Trump,

Buzbee has also given money to the state Republican parties of AR, CT, LA, MS,NJ, NY, TN, VA, WV and WY.

Nope, #NeverBuzbee   You were canceled when you donated money to Trump.

Now for Bill King,  the former mayor of the suburban community of Kemah who narrowly lost to Sylvester Turner in 2015.   He still wants to take his act to the Horseshoe. 

Um. no boo boo.   Not on my watch  Democrat my azz. Peddle that lie to someone that isn't paying attention.   #NeverKing

Note King's donation record.    Rep. Jarvis Johnson, the person who succeeded Mayor Sylvester Turner in HD 136 is the only Democrat on this donation list.   The rest of his cash is going to Republican leaning groups like the Houston Realty Business Coalition,  the Kingwood Republican Women's Club, The Spring Branch Republicans, state Sen. Paul Bettencourt's (R) problematic behind, and the Coalition For a Greater Houston.

And yes, King since 2006 has been voting (when he has cast a ballot ) in the Republican primary.

So naw Harris County Republican Party and all you Houston activists mad at Mayor Turner to the point you're considering spitefully voting for these two.   The Houston mayor's chair is not something to be played with because of its immense power in our strong mayor form of governance.

We know the Harris County GOP is big mad about being swept out of power, so they are trying to push that 'Buzbee and King are Democrats' lie to siphon enough votes from Turner to force a runoff.

Frankly, I don't see a compelling reason why Mayor Turner should be kicked out of office after only one term.  Neither am I inclined to fire only the second African-American and first Black Houstonian to have the job without an exceptional candidate to replace him.

I'm also not happy about the dog whistle racism that King has deployed in his second campaign implying there is  'corruption' at City Hall, or the dog whistle racism being aimed at him by some of his detractors.

As Trump has overwhelmingly proved, being a businessman doesn't mean you have the ability to handle the demands of being mayor of the soon to be third largest city in the US.  If these two are trying to cover up the fact they are proud Republicans, what else are they covering up?

Because of the charter change, the mayor no longer serves just a two year term.  If we don't handle our electoral business, we're stuck with that person in our mayor's chair for four years. 

So we must choose wisely on November 5. 

But at least you're going into the voting booth when early voting starts on October 21 armed with the knowledge that Buzbee and King are not Democrats, but undeniable Republicans. 

TransGriot Note:  Lugenprasident = lying president in German 

NAACP Passes Pro-Trans Resolution!

You longtime TransGriot readers are quite aware that I have been calling out for years the NAACP's cricket chirping silence when it comes to what is happening to Black transgender people .

They are the oldest civil rights organization in our community, and whether you feel that way or not, the 110 year old  NAACP's voice is still respected in the progressive civil rights community and with elements of our people.

I have urged them to not only say the words 'Black trans lives matter' from their convention stage, but pushed for NAACP state and local chapters to take action to make sure those words, when they are finally spoken publically, are backed up with policy.

Today, I was thrilled to hear that a resolution supporting the trans community was passed yesterday by the delegates of the 110th NAACP convention in Detroit!

The resolution reads:

Be it resolved that the NAACP will work with all of its Units to work to support equal protection for transgender individuals so that all members of our community can live free of violence, shame and discrimination.

This is a huge win for the Black trans community!  One of our legacy civil rights orgs has actually passed a resolution that acknowledges our existence. 

We in Black Trans World want all members of our Black community to be free from violence, shame and discrimination.   It's imperative that we at least get the process and conversation started about how we do so for Black trans individuals in collaboration with the NAACP before we start plunking down our T-bills for memberships.

Hopefully this opens the doors for conversations with the Black trans community as to the best way to accomplish coordinated action that makes a reality the goal set forth in that resolution.

The State Of LGBTQ POC In America NAACP Convention Town Hall

You TransGriot readers know that I have been pushing for the NAACP to end the silence, say the words Black Trans Lives Matter, and start aggressively backing them up with policy.

Yesterday afternoon during the NAACP convention happening in Detroit two longtime freinds of mine and fierce Detroit SGL leaders in Michelle Elizbeth Brown and Curtis Lipscomb were on a livestreamed townhall entitled The State of the LGBTQ POC In America town hall that was moderated by Keith Boykin.

Wish I could have seen this panel live, but I did get to see it on the NAACP convention website and was pleased that a trans person was on that panel.

Maybe next year we can get a panel at an NAACP convention that specifically talks about the issues that black trans people have to navigate in our community.

It was once again a needed and necessary conversation to have in that space,  We need our community's oldest civil rights org to recognize that Black TBLGQ people exist.  We also need the NAACP to open their mouths and consistently say that Black trans lives matter. 

But thanks for a wonderful and much needed conversation.

One Year To Tokyo 2020

One year from now we will get a break what promises to be an ugly 2020 election campaign in the United States to watch the opening ceremonies of the Games of the XXXII Olympiad.

The Tokyo Games will open on this date and close on August 9 in the soon to be completed New National Stadium.   Other venues are will be completed in time for the Games

It is not only the second time since 1964 that Tokyo has hosted a summer Games, it is the first Asian city to do so twice.  Japan has also hosted the winter Games twice (1972 Sapporo, 1998 Nagano).

It will also be the middle leg of three consecutive Olympic summer and winter Games being hosted in east Asia that started with the winter Games in Pyeyongchang last year and will conclude with the winter Games in Beijing in 2022.



When the Tokyo Games open there will be a record 33 sports in the 2020 Olympic program.  There will be along with the permanent core sports new additions like 3x3 basketball, freestyle BMX, and the Madison cycling race.  Baseball and softball will also return to the Olympic sporting program for the first time since 2008.

Four sports, surfing, karate, sport climbing and skateboarding will make their Olympic debut, and as usual, men's and women's soccer will start their respective tournaments before the opening ceremonies at stadiums across Japan.

One of the questions trans people around the world have is will this finally be the Games in which a trans athlete qualifies for their national team.   So far the only time a trans person has a ppeared inside an Olympic stadium was when model Lea T rode in on a tricycle carying Brazil's placard during the 2016  Rio Games opening ceremonies .

Over the last several Olympiads the host nations have been one upping each other on who has the most spectacular opening ceremony and who will have the most unique Olympic cauldron lighting.

Will be interesting to see not only who gets the honor of being the final Tokyo 2020 torch bearer, but how they light the cauldron and what it looks like during the opening ceremony.. 

We'll know the answer to that question in 366 days.   Yep, a summer Olympics always takes place during a leap year   

Precious and Myles Are Having A Baby!

Y'all know I have mad love for Myles and Precious Brady-Davis, and the last time I spent any quality time with the both of them was back during #CC16 in Chicago.

We jjokingly call them in the community the 'Trans Obamas' because this amazing Chicago based trans power couple are both doing trailblazing advocacy work.   He's the communications director for Equality Illinois, while Precious is communications manager for the Sierra Club.

You may also remember Precious' apperance on the show Say Yes To The Dress in the runup to her and Myles' wedding.

While Myles has always wanted to have children, Precious initially wasn't feeeling parenthood but got onboard with the idea after being convinced by Myles.

It was a two year journey for them to get to this point.   Their initial attempt at IVF failed, and both had to go off their respecttive masculinizing and feminizing hormone regimens in order to give themselves the best possible chance for parenthood to happen.   It did, and now they are on a countdown to their child's December due date.

Congratulations Precious and Myles, and may your child be healthy, happy and surrounded with love!. .

Sarah McBride's Running For A Delaware Senate Seat!

I first met Sarah McBride back during the 2012 NBJC Out on the Hill event when she was a White House intern and I was visiting the Obama White House for an all day policy briefing.

After being pleasantly surprised pleased to see a girl like us Obama White House intern,  I made a mental note to keep up with her because I felt at the time she was destined to do some great things for our community and our country.

My intuition about her turned out to be right on target.  Sarah went on after completing that White House internship to do some amazing things.

She was hired by HRC to become its national press secretary.   In 2013 she helped pass her home state of Delaware's statewide trans non discrimination law, and received the Delaware Order of the First State for her efforts to do so from former Gov. Jack Markell. 

She became the first out trans person to make a political convention stage speech when she did so during the 2016 DNC convention in Philadelphia.



And now Sarah McBride is attempting to become a Delaware state senator in 2020.

She recently announced her candidacy for a recently vacated state senate seat, and if she's successful, she will become the first out trans person to ever be elected as a state senator. 

But her run will focus on the issues facing her potential constituents, not her trans identity.

"At the end of the day, I'm not running to be a transgender state senator, I'm running to be a senator who serves her community, I'm running to be a senator who fights for affordable health care, I'm running to be a senator who works to expand access to paid leave and reform our broken criminal justice system," McBride told local radio station WDEL. "Those will be my priorities." 

She's running for the Delaware 1st District seat formerly held by Harris McDowell (D-Wilmington North) He was Delaware's longest serving state senator, having been first elected to the chamber in 1976. 

McDowell announced his retirement on June 30, the last day of the 2019 legislative session, and capping a 44 year career.





I'm already enthusiastically giving her a 2020 TransGriot endorsement for this position. I'm also  hoping this happens for her, her potential constituents and our community. 

And yeah, it goes without saying that it would be nice for y'all to drop some cash toward her election campaign.    
 
Good luck Sarah, and hope you make more history in that 2020 election cycle.

Houston Puts In Bid For 2023 World Pride!

I got a small taste of WorldPride when I made that quick trip to New York last month to participate in the opening ceremony for it at Barclays Center.   There's now a possibility that I may get to stay in my H-town backyard and participate in a WorldPride. 

So what's WorldPride?   It's an international Pride event sponsored by InterPride, the international organization that represents and is composed of producer organizations of TBLGQ community pride events from around the globe. 

WorldPride is generally a month long and is comprised of parades, panel discussions, parties and other events that celebrate the TBLGQ community.

The first one was held in Rome in 2000, and since then has held in Jerusalem  (2006),  London (2012), Toronto (2014), Madrid (2017)  and the just completed one in New York for the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion 

It was the first time that WorldPride was ever held in the US, and New York successfully handled their business, drawing over 5 million attendees for it.   

WorldPride will next be held in Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmo, Sweden from August 12-22, 2021 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Christine Jorgensen's successful GCS in 1951 and the 50th anniversary of the 1971 founding of the Danish chapter of the Gay Liberation Front.

The EuroGames will also be held in the two cities during WorldPride.

Pride Houston, our local group that coordinates our local pride event, has put together a bid to host the 2023 WorldPride event.   We have the fourth largest pride event in the United States (after New York, LA and Chicago), are the fourth largest city in the US (at least until we leapfrog Chicago to become the third largest after the 2020 census) and the only one that  has a nighttime parade.

Houston will be competing to get the WorldPride bid against Sydney, Australia and Montreal, Canada.   Pride Houston will have a 30 minute presentation to make at the InterPride annual meeting being held in Athens, Greece this October in order to secure it.

Houston Pride President and CEO Lorin Roberts (yep, my cousin) believes that we can do so. 

"We're Houston, where everything is bigger and better. Our main thing when it comes to this bid, is that even though we're a small town in the south of the U.S., you can see the world when you come to Houston," Roberts said in an ABC13 interview .

The theme for our Houston WorldPride 2023 bid is "Come to Houston, See the World, Feel Your Pride."   We are considered one of the most diverse cities in the United States, and only New York has more international consulates than we do.   
"We're trying to win this thing because we see so much in Houston as a Pride organization and within our community, that we just want to share with the rest of the world," Roberts said.

If we get WorldPride 2023, it would also be happening during the 45th anniversary of Pride Houston's formation and the 20th anniversary of the Lawrence v Texas SCOTUS case that declared sodomy laws unconstitutional in Texas  and a dozen US states. .

Good luck, and hope it does happen for us.   Would love to experience a WorldPride without having to leave Texas to do it .