Houston's World Pride 2023 Host Application Approved

We are one step closer to hosting World Pride 2023 in H-town! 

Pride Houston, the nonprofit that organizes our LGBT Pride Parade and festival and who is coordinating our hosting bid, announced that their application to the WorldPride Committee of InterPride was unanimously approved.   Our competition for the 2023 WorldPride bid, Sydney, Australia and Montreal, Canada also had their WorldPride bids accepted by the committee. 

Interestingly enough Austin, TX is bidding for the 2025 WorldPride against Rome, Italy.

Representatives from Pride Houston, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and Fierte Montreal will travel to Athens, Greece next month for the annual meeting to present their bids to the WorldPride Committee

The bids are then voted on, with the winning group getting to host WorldPride

I believe our toughest competition is Sydney.  WorldPride has never been held in Australia or the Southern Hemisphere, and New York just hosted it in the US for the first time ever this year in large part because of the Stonewall 50th anniversary. 

Montreal also has the problem of a WorldPride recently being held in their nation in Toronto, and being a 5 hour drive from New York that just hosted it.

Houston would also be another first time city with the advantages of nonstop international air travel to much of the globe from IAH and Hobby, in addition to being a large international city as well.

When the 2020 Census is completed, Houston is expected to officially pass Chicago to become the third largest city in the United States.


We'll find out next month if a Texas city gets a WorldPride.   Hopefully it will be Houston that will be that city

Mr & Miss Trans USA Pageant Next Weekend

I always love a good trans pageant, and have even been a judge in two of them.

Next weekend on September 21  the Mr and Miss Trans USA 2020 Pageant takes place in Milwaukee, and I have people I know competing for both crowns that are currently held by Abs Hart and Candi Stratton.

On the Mr Trans side my BTAC homey Jevon Martin is one of the five titleholders competing as Mr New York Trans USA, and you know I'm rooting for him to take that crown back to NYC.

On the Miss Trans USA side one of the 15 people competing is my homegirl Jody Cofer Randall, who will be repping the Lone Star State at this event as Miss Texas Trans USA.

For those of you who are in the Milwaukee area and wish to check it out, the pageant will be held at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts- Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall

The red carpet event starts at 5 PM, with the pageant starting at 6 PM.  The link to purchase tickets for it is here.

It also means on that night Candi and Abs'  reigns will be over and they will crown their successors.

While I'm wishing good luck to all the contestants competing next week, we'll see if Jevon and Jody  handle their pageant business next Saturday and go back home with their respective crowns

2019 TransGriot NFL Picks -Week 2

The 2019 NFL season is underway, and so is the season long prognostication contest between myself and Mr. Watts.   We're still deadlocked after i got the Bills-Jets game right and he got the Buccaneers- 49ers one correct.

And ugh, one I came 2 seconds from getting wrong was the Saints-Texans one.  A 58 yard game winning field goal saved that pick because you don't go against the Saints when they are playing in the Superdome. 

And yeah, Saints fans are still majorly pissed about the call in the NFC Championship Game eight months ago that cost them a trip to the Super Bowl

Gotta shake it off because there are 16 more games to pick this week and I need to build on the nice Week 1 start.    Speaking of good starts, there are a few NFL teams that will be like my Texans fighting for their first win of the young NFL season so they don't fall into an 0-2 hole.

My picks will be in bold red print with the HOME team in all CAPS.   Mike's picks will be at this link for you to peruse.

Week 1 Results                                              2019 Season Record 
TransGriot   10-5-1                                         TransGriot  10-5-1
Mike            10-5-1                                         Mike           10-5-1


Thursday Night Game
PANTHERS over Buccaneers

Sunday Early Games 
TEXANS over Jaguars
RAVENS over Cardinals
Cowboys over WASHINGTON
TITANS over Colts
Seahawks over STEELERS
GIANTS over Bills
BENGALS over 49ers
Chargers over LIONS
PACKERS over Vikings
Patriots over DOLPHINS

Sunday Afternoon Games
Chiefs over RAIDERS
Saints over RAMS
Bears over BRONCOS

Sunday Night Game
Eagles over FALCONS

Monday Night Game
Browns over JETS

The Breakfast Club Interview With Malik Yoba

This the recent The breakfast Club show with Malik Yoba  that also included NBJC Executive Director David Johns,  Carmen Carrera and Nala Simone

Shocker, it was a serious conversation.

Number 18- Rest in Power Bee Love Slater

As I was literally finding out about the Labor Day murder of 17 year old Bailey Reeves in Baltimore, I was getting word about an even more disturbing one that happened in Clewiston, FL on September 4. 

23 year old Bee Love Slater was found inside her burning car outside the town of Clewiston, FL.  Her burned beyond recognition body was  only identified through her dental records.   

Hendry County investigators have stated it is one of the most brutal murders they have seen yet.

Friends of Bee also stated to local media that she was in fear of her life and getting a lot of cyber bullying prior to her death.

A vigil for Slater was also held in Pahokee, FL where she lived.

Let's get the stats out of the way.   Slater is the 18th trans person we have lost to anti trans violence in 2019.   She is the 17th African American one, and more infuriating to me, the 12th under age 30 that we have lost.

If you have any information that will lead to the capture and incarceration of the wastes of DNA who killed Bee, you are urged to call the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office at 863-674-5600 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS (8477).

Rest in power and peace, Bee.  We won't rest until the persons who killed you are captured and justice is served in your case.

Moni's In The Excellence In Journalism Conference House

It's been a few weeks since my last instate road trip to Dallas, and I've hit the road again for an unprecedented for me third trip to San Antonio in the same calendar year.

Unlike my birthday trip to the Alamo City back in May, this one is business. 

I'm here to attend the Excellence In Journalism Conference  that started yesterday and is being held through September 7 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in downtown San Antonio on the Riverwalk

This 2019 edition of the conference is jointly sponsored by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ).

The Excellence In Journalism Conference was started in 2011 by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) and the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) to provide an industry event that would provide the best training and networking opportunities. 

The NAHJ had previously been a partner for this conference in 2013, 2015 and 2017, and is now in the house again this year. 

Like the other media Conferences I have attended such as the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), NLGJA, the Unity Conference held every four years in Washington DC jointly sponsored by the NABJ and NAHJ, and the LGBT Media Journalists Convening, it's an opportunity to not only get more training to get better at what I do, but also give me an opportunity to network with other media professionals.

It also goes without saying I get an opportunity to rep the trans community at the same time in those media conference spaces.

Major thanks to NAHJ for the invitation to be here, and I'm looking forward to spending a few days in San Antonio getting my learn on and networking with the people in attendance here.
 

Hopefully since the Alamo is not far from the conference hotel, I'll finally get to do more than just drive by it before they do the renovation and redesign of the area in front of that historical landmark and site of a crucial 1836 Texas Revolution battle.

I also hope I get some time to actually check out the Riverwalk for the first time ever.   I have been coming to San Antonio since 1981.   Because many of my San Antonio trips have either been day trips or I had other business when I came here and a too tight schedule that had no room for a trip to the Riverwalk, I have yet to spend any time exploring it.

And yes, y'all already know I'm not leaving the 210 without making another tasty stop by Wayne's Wings.

2019 TransGriot NFL Picks- Week 1

It's that time again.   With the flipping of the calendar page to September, it means that once again I'm going to be battling Michael Watts for NFL punditry supremacy.

This year also marks the NFL's 100th season, and I want to celebrate that by taking my punditry title back. 

Over the next 17 weeks defending champion Mr Watts and I will battle under these rules. 

We pick the winners of each week's NFL gamed with no spread.  Person with the best record at the end of the regular season will be the champ.   Picks need to be posted on our blogs before the kickoff of the first NFL game of that week.    Any game not selected by kickoff time of that game will be counted as a loss for that person.   Tie games will be counted as a tie on that person's cumulative season record.

The road to reclaiming my NFL punditry throne starts today.

Week 1 is always the hardest one because of the changes in everyone's rosters due to retirements, free agency, the draft and trades.  Some teams got better, some got worse, some will basically be the same.    Some teams will suffer a plague of injuries that will wreck their season before it even gets started, and some teams that made the playoffs last year will find themselves on the outside looking in when January 2020 rolls around.

Let's get ready to rumble!   

16 games to pick because all 32 NFL teams will be busy on this opening weekend.   Mike's picks will be at this link.   My picks will be in bold red print this year with home team in CAPS

2018 Final NFL Standings 
TransGriot   158-95-2
*Mike          164-90-2


Thursday Night Game
BEARS over Packers

Sunday Early Games
Rams over PANTHERS
EAGLES over Washington
Bills over JETS
Falcons over VIKINGS
Ravens over DOLPHINS
Chiefs over JAGUARS
BROWNS over Titans

Sunday Afternoon Games 
CHARGERS over Colts
SEAHAWKS over Bengals
BUCCANEERS over 49ers
COWBOYS over Giants
Lions over CARDINALS

Sunday Night Game
PATRIOTS over Steelers

Monday Night Games
SAINTS over Texans
Broncos over RAIDERS

Moni's Getting On The Bus To-San Antonio

I took my longest Megabus ride ever to NOLA and back to Houston last week for the just concluded NLGJA conference.   Now for the second consecutive week I get to do a bus trip on I-10.

But it won't be on Megabus this time. 

This time I'm going west to San Antonio, and even better, it will be a nonstop luxury bus trip on Vonlane for another conference.

I fell in love with the Vonlane buses on my lobbying trips to Austin, and who wouldn't love a reclining assigned leather seat, unlimited soft drinks and juices, snacks, WiFi that works and an attendant to bring them to your seat as you roll towards your destination?

This will be an unprecedented for me third trip this year to San Antonio, which is the second largest city in Texas.   This will also be the first time I've attended the Excellence in Journalism Conference, and looking forward to it. 

It's also the first time I've been to the Grand Hyatt San Antonio hotel, and looking forward to checking it out and everything the nearby Riverwalk has to offer.

Looking forward to meeting everyone at #EIJ19, and hopefully seeing some of my San Antonio trans fam while I'm in the 210 area code.

Number 17- Rest In Power Bailey Reeves

The calendar page just turned to September, and once again I'm having to write about another Black trans woman being murdered.   This time we travel to Baltimore to talk about our latest person  we have lost to anti trans violence.

17 year old Bailey Reeves was attending a party on Labor Day n the 4300 block of Parkwood Avenue in North Baltimore.  As she left the event around 8:05 PM EDT  several gunshots rang out and struck Reeves.   Five kids were witnessed by neighbors running away from the scene as Reeves was lying in the middle of the street in a pool of blood.

Reeves later succumbed to the gunshot wounds after being taken to a local hospital 

Now for the grim stats.   Reeves is not only the 17th person we have lost to anti-trans violence in the US in 2019, she is the youngest person we have lost this year.

And yes, it continues the aggravating pattern of the victims being overwhelmingly Black trans women.   Out of the 16 Black trans women we have lost this year, 13 are under age 30.

If you are in the Baltimore area and have any information that will solve this case, you are urged to call detectives at 410-396-2100 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7LOCKUP (756-2587)

2019 Williams Watch- It's US Open Time!

The last major Grand Slam tournament of the 2019 tennis season happens in New York, and it's one that Serena Williams will probably be highly motivated to take after the controversial way it ended last year for her.

Serena started this tournament seeded eighth and for once on the opposite side of the women's singles tourney bracket from Venus.

Big Sis started out with an opening round 6-1, 6-0 straight set win over China's Zheng Saisai.   Her time at Flushing Meadows ended when Elina Svitolina sent her out of the second round with a 4-6, 4-6 straight set loss

Little Sis started her 2019 US Open experience with a opening round match with her rival in her own mind Maria Sharapova Sharadopa.  Serena spanked that azz for the 19th consecutive meeting in a 6-1 6-1 straight set romp that took Williams less than one hour to accomplish.

Rivalry?  What rivalry?

Serena then had to do three sets of work in the second round against fellow American Caty McNally.

The wild card qualifier McNally captured the first set 7-5.  Little Sis stepped her game up another level to take the next two sets and punch her ticket to the third round with a hard fought 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 win

Serena then took out Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 to get to the fourth round and a match with Serbia's Petra Martic. 

Little Sis once again handled her tennis business, nothing another straight set 6-3, 6-4 win to push her into the US Open quarterfinals against 18th seeded China's Wang Qiang.

If she gets past this quarterfinal match, she would face the winner of the Elina Svitolina- Johanna Konta match in the semis with a spot in the US Open finals on the line.

Motion To Deadname Muhlaysia Booker Denied

Andrew Wilkerson, the transphobic defense attorney for Edward Thomas, tried it. 


Knowing that his client is on videotape beating down Muhlaysia Booker into unconsciousness for $200, and knowing that there are witnesses to that hate crime, he tried injecting transphobia in the mix for the upcoming October 14 trial.

Wilkerson is cynically trying to get the April 12 assault by the 29 year old Thomas characterized as a fight between two men, instead of a man beating up a woman.

The 29 year old Thomas is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second degree felony that if convicted, can get Thomas anywhere from 2 to 20 years in jail.

The attack left the 22 year old Booker with a broken wrist and a concussion.

Fortunately for us trans Texans, Judge Hector Garza (D) saw through this BS attempt to use a cynical variation of the trans panic defense in this trial.

Wilkerson is claiming that recognizing Booker as the female she was will 'prejudice the jury', and tried to have the name on the indictment changed to Booker's deadname.   Prosecuting attorneys argued that indictments can be amended to include aliases, and since Booker had been living as her true self for several years and answered to Muhlaysia, the court should honor that.

"Our position is one of respect," said lead prosecutor Jason Hermus to Judge Garza.

Wilkerson has been a serial transphobe in this case.   He also disrespected and misgendered Booker in a June 7 Facebook post, which led to Judge Garza issuing a gag order for both attorneys.

Judge Garza ruled that when this case goes to trial, the jury will hear the name Muhlaysia Booker, not her deadname.

Remember that trans Dallas when Judge Garza runs for reelection for the 195th Judicial District Court next March.

Shut Up Fool Awards- Moni's In NOLA Edition

Aww yeah, I'm back in NOLA for the NLGJA convention, and Southern Decadence is also happening just blocks from our convention hotel near the French Quarter

Guess someone on the NLGJA planning committee noted that it was happening and made sure when they chose the dates for this year's conference we'd be here at the same time.

But before I roll out of this hotel to check it out, got convention business to handle.  The other business I need to handle is calling our this week's fool not named Donald John Trump.

That would be Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)   

Sen Collins is upset because her support of (In)Justice Brett Kavanaugh (boo,hiss)  has made it more likely that when November 2020 rolls around she will be an ex-senator. 

Well, boo boo kitty, you knew this man was unpopular and woefully unqualified for the SCOTUS,  your constituents didn't want you voting to confirm him and made it clear where they stood, but you did what you always do with your 'F' NAACP Congressional Report Card rated self does and kiss up to the conservafool wing.

Even Stevie Wonder can see you ain't a 'moderate', and you're going down to electoral defeat next year because peeps have had enough of your fauxgressive crap .

And oh yeah,   Sen Susan Collins, shut up fool!

Back In NOLA For The NLGJA Convention

It was touch and go in terms of whether or not I'd actually get here, but thanks to a major assist from BTAC, I'm here for #NLGJA18!

After missing out on the NABJ one in Miami, I was determined to at least make this one since it was this close (385 miles) to my Houston stomping grounds. 

My Megabus trip from Houston started out on a less than promising note, with us having to swap the bus out before we could start our eastward trek down I-10.  But better to have them handle that problem in Houston than having us break down along the route. 

I-10 in Louisiana includes major stretches of it going through swamp in the Atchafalaya Basin west of Baton Rouge and in St Charles, St John and St Martin Parishes as you approach New Orleans..

Still ended up getting to New Orleans an hour late, but in one piece with my luggage.

It's ironic to me that after not having visited New Orleans since the 1990 Mardi Gras, since then I have been to a 2018 BTAC Leadership Institute here, the 2018 Netroots Nation, and now this NLGJA conference.in the span of 14 months.   

I have a Saturday panel I'm on, so looking forward to not only handling my business on it, but also getting my learn on.  And yes, looking forward to seeing a few friends and some of the NLGJA leadership team while I;m wandering the convention hotel.

I also want to catch up with my NOLA trans fam before I have to hit I-10 west on Sunday

I still have to get registered before that happens, but will deal with it in a few hours.

I'll also be tweeting and posting to my Facebook while I'm here, and you can also check out the #NLGJA19 hashtag for the latest news.

The Houston Dem Presidential Primary Debate Final Qualifiers

As many of you political junkies are aware of, yesterday was the last day for the remaining 2020 Democratic presidential primary candidates to qualify for the September 12 debate in Houston

The standards were doubled to require that candidates seeking to be on that stage reach 2% in four DNC approved polls and draw 130,000 unique donors.   400 of those donors need to be from at least 20 different states. 

Ten people qualified to be in the H&PE Arena on the Texas Southern University campus in two weeks.

They are former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Sen Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Rep Beto O"Rourke, former HUD Secretary Julian Castro, Andrew Yang and Sen Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

The rest failed to make the cut, meaning there will be only one night of debates in Houston.

The scramble is on for tickets to the event, with current TSU students, faculty and staff getting first shots at the tickets for the event in the 8100 seat venue starting at 12 noon CDT on Friday August 30.   

TSU is also planning to have a campus debate watch party in Sawyer Auditorium for students, faculty, staff and the general public
   

Looking forward to all the debate related candidate events that will be taking place in the 713 during that week 

Teddy Quinlivan Lands A Chanel Campaign!

"My whole life has been a fight. From being bullied at school consistently, kids threatening to kill me and going into graphic detail how they were going to do it, my own father beating me and calling me a f****t, to receiving industry blowback after speaking publicly about being sexually assaulted on the job... This was a victory that made all of that s*** worth it."-Teddy Quinlivan

Another day, another instance of trans folks winning despite the hostile forces arrayed against us. 

Meet 25 year old model Teddy Quinlivan.   She has walked runways for Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Gucci before coming out as trans in 2017. 

Like many folks who have lived non disclosed trans lives (AKA stealth) before coming out, the Boston born Quinlivan thought her career might be over after doing so, but as Geena Rocero found out after coming out, it is starting to lead to more groundbreaking opportunities, not less.

She has continued to walk Fashion Week runways, appear on magazine covers like Porter Magazine and L'Officiel, and do beauty campaigns for Redken, Milk Makeup and Maison Margiela Fragrances.

But the one she recently landed is historic and deeply personal for her.   Quinlivan has now become the first openly trans model to be hired by Chanel to helm a beauty campaign.

I had walked 2 shows for Chanel while I was living in stealth (stealth meaning I hadn’t made my trans identity public yet) and when I came out I knew I’d stop working with some brands, I thought I’d never work with the iconic house of Chanel ever again," she wrote. "But here I am in Chanel Beauty Advertising. I am the first openly trans person to work for the house of Chanel, and I am deeply humbled and proud to represent my community."

Congratulations Teddy!   It's is not only a huge win for you personally, but one for the trans community as well.   It's just more evidence that coming out as trans doesn't mean the end of your dreams.