Remembering The 2016 White House LGBT Pride Reception

Four years ago today I was waking up at Ruby Corado's place in Washington DC. She and I were getting dressed in order to head to the White House to attend the White House Pride Reception that was starting at 2 PM EDT. 

It was my fifth trip of the Obama Administration to the White House,  but the first time I'd gotten an invite to be in the People's House for this event   It was also extra special to be because I was getting to see a president shared my ethnic background while hanging out with many of the peeps in the movement.

There was also this air of sadness because this was the last one that President Obama would be presiding over'  It added to my thankfulness and excitement that after missing the previous seven receptions, I was going to be able to attend it for the first time.

The sadness was exacerbated by those of us in attendance realizing this could be the last one for a while if for some convoluted reason our Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton lost to that racist orange grand wizard the Republicans nominated.

While it was a concern, we focused on the excitement of that day.  As Ruby and I got in line at the Southeast Entrance to clear security in order to enter the White House, the fun began of seeing who else had been invited from outside the beltway and made it to DC. 

I could invite a person to attend with me as a plus one, and since most of the DC area trans and SGL folks were already covered along with much of my Houston activist fam who could go, I chose Catalina Velasquez to be that person.

She thanked me when she spotted me in that long line, and after I saw Catalina, started spotting other TBLGQ peeps I knew.. We were also fortunate that it wasn't a typical muggy Washington DC late spring day while we waited to enter the White House.

I spotted Phillipe Cunningham, and it was while we were talking he told me he was going to run (successfully) for the Minneapolis City Council.

I ran into Fiona Dawson, and we finalized our plans for driving up I-95 later that evening to the Philly Trans Health Conference that had started the same day.  I had a panel I was participating on Day 2 of that conference organized by Brynn Tannehill, and was looking forward to seeing everyone I knew that was there. 

While I was happy that the reception was happening on the first day of the PTHC, it still meant I was going to miss the first day of that conference.    But the opportunity to do a 139 mile detour from Philly to the White House for this event was way more important.

After clearing the multiple layers of security, I entered the People's House to be greeted by the amazing sight of the original trans pride flag in a glass case, and took a pic of if to show to Monica Helms later.

The people sighting started exponentially increasing as we were escorted to the East Room for the reception. I ran into Danielle and Aisha Moodie-Mills.  I started seeing various members of Congress including then House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi   

And while I was talking to Danielle and Aisha, somebody walked up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder.  I turned around to discover it was Laverne Cox.  We all started chatting, and that when I was spotted by Andrea Jenkins.   

Andrea and I eventually stopped in front of Hillary Clinton's First Lady White House portrait to take a pic at the time in hopeful anticipation that she would be our next POTUS.  I also said to her at the time, "I hope that you and Phillipe get to make history and serve on the Minneapolis City Council at the same time."

Hey, just call me Monidamus.   I put it in the atmosphere, and it came true. 

Let me put this in the atmosphere.  . I hope trump loses in a landslide in November, the Republicans lose control of the US Senate, John Cornyn and Mitch McConnell are defeated, we get control of the Texas House, and the four Democrats women running for the Texas Supreme Court all win.

We also enjoyed the nice hot finger foods prepared for us like the mini Maryland crab cakes instead of the 'hamberders' Trump WH guests get before gathering in the East Room to see the man of the hour in President Barack Obama.



While we were disappointed that the First Lady couldn't be there,  we were still happy to see the best president ever on trans issues (and LGB ones)

And just like that,  once President Obama finished speaking, it was over, and it was time to depart the White House  After chatting with a few more folks, I finally exited the White House with Ruby to finish packing up and getting ready to roll up I-95 north with Fiona.

We left the WH Pride reception that day hopeful that America was finally on the right track when it came to LGBTQ issues.   Those of us who were part of the trans community had even more reason to be excited and hopeful  because we knew for the first time since Christine Jorgensen stepped off the plane from Denmark, the federal government was on our side, and we had reasonable expectations that the forward trans rights progression would continue under a Clinton Administration.

We would find out 48 hours later just how much anti-TBLGQ hatred we would have to overcome in the United States to make this a more perfect union for our community when I was awakened in Philly that Sunday morning by Dionne Stallworth to the news of the Pulse mass shooting in Orlando. .

But that June 9, 2016  day was the start of an amazing weekend for me.   A whirlwind weekend that took me from Houston to Washington DC, to Philly for the PTHC thanks to Fiona, the Philly Trans Health Conference, back to DC for Capital Pride, and home. 

And today's Pride Reception anniversary reminded me how fast time not only flies, but how history and the course of it can change with one event.

2020 Trans Murders List- Midyear Review

With us passing June 1 in a so far crazy 2020, one thing that hasn't changed is that trans folks are still getting murdered despite a raging pandemic and a fascist racist in the recently fortified White House.

It actually started on New Year's Day with the murder of Dustin Parker, and we have literally had at least one murder every month in 2020.   The trans murder spike in Puerto Rico is majorly concerning, with five people being killed there.   

This is the list so far of trans persons killed in 2020.   I follow the standards of the Remembering Our Dead Project created by Gwen Smith in 1998, which seeks to count the trans peeps who have been murdered.

Suicides are not counted because frankly, they aren't murders, and there is the element of self choice involved     People who are killed by police, as Tony McDade was aren't counted unless the officer involved is charged with their murder. 

Tony McDade, 38, Tallahassee, FL 
(addition pending charging of cops involved for murder)  Tony will be added once someone is charged with his murder., and with reports that he was misgendered by the cops before he was shot, that's possible. But not enough for me under the ROD Project standards to consider it a murder.
This is a job that I took on because we must know exactly how many people are dying.   We also need to do it so that our people aren't disrespected in the media in death as they were while they were alive. 

I also want to not only preserve the history for future generations, I also want to see justice done for our trans siblings we have lost to this senseless violence. .  
And now, the 2020 Trans Murders List 

Dustin Parker, 25    McAlester, OK Neulisa Alexa Luciana Ruiz, 29, Toa Baja, PR
Yampi Mendez Arocha,19   Moca, PR

Monika Diamond, 34  Charlotte, NC
Lexi. 33, Harlem, NY
Johanna Metzger, 25  Baltimore, MD
Selena Angelique Velazquez Ramos. 32,  Humacao, PR
Layla Pelaez Sanchez, 21, Humacao,PR 
Penelope Diaz Ramirez, 31  Bayamon, PR  
Nina Pop, 28,  Sikeston, MO
Hallie Jae O’Regan, 20, San Antonio, TX  

Stats Breakdown
Female- 9
Male- 2   

Age
0-19 - 1
20-29- 6

30-39- 4
40-49
50-59

Race-Ethnicity
White- 3
Black-  3
Latinx- 5
Asian-American/Pacific Islander Rest in power with the transcestors.  .

Harris County GOP Chair-Elect Puts Up Racist Post

The Harris County Republicans are still big mad that the citizens of Harris County in the 2018 Blue Tsunami fired many of them from office including former incumbent Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, every Republican judge on the ballot from the district to the state court of appeals level,, and the odious vote suppressing county clerk Stan Stanart.

Now that the largest and most diverse county by population in Texas is undeniably blue instead of purple, the Harris County Republicans are not only desperate to hang on to whatever political seats they have left here and flip some Democratic held ones, they are desperate for media attention as well.

And they are about to get it

 
Meet Keith Nielsen.   He just got elected as the new Harris County Republican Party chair and was due to start on August 3.  Before he even got a chance to take control of the party and start running thangs, he was derailed by a salient feature of the Republican Party.

Racism.

Republicans from Harris County to Austin to DC  are okay with covert racism, especially if it keeps them in power. But what they have a problem with is when that racism goes from the covert variety to the full blown non deniable overt variety.

When that eruption of overt racism and bigotry by someone in their ranks threatens their future election prospects, then it becomes a problem they address.

That's why you saw the amusing spectacle of Harris County area, state and national Republicans like Sen Ted Cruz, Gov Greg Abbott, Lt Gov Dan Patrick and Texas GOP chair James Dickey.denouncing the tweet and calling for his resignation.

It also didn't help Nielsen that GOP county chairs in Bexar (San Antonio) and Nueces (Corpus Christi) counties are also under fire  for their own offensive social media posts  that have gotten unwanted media attention

After resisting for a few days, Nielsen finally succumbed to the mounting political pressure and resigned.

The Harris County Republicans are back to where they started in terms of trying to find a new chair, and they can't under state election law start the process until August 3.

Sucks to be y'all.   But then again, I'm enjoying the schadenfreude 

BTAC Press Release Concerning The Transphobic Attack On Iyanna Dior

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 4, 2020
Contact: Monica Roberts BTWI Media Chair
Dee Dee Watters BTWI President
855-255-8636 Ext 11
media@blacktranswomen.org

Black Transwomen Inc (BTWI) and the Black Trans Advocacy Coalition (BTAC) are shocked, appalled and angered to learn that one of our trans sisters was attacked by a mob of Black men in Minneapolis on Monday.

BTWI and BTAC are thankful that Iyanna Dior is okay, but she is understandably shaken up by the assault. We have reached out and made contact with Ms. Dior and her family, and will announce what we will do for her as a organization

What makes this videotaped assault of Iyanna Dior even more egregious is that it not only is eerily similar to the attack on Muhlaysia Booker last April, it comes at a moment when the entire Black community is calling for justice in the murder of our fellow Texan and Minneapolis resident George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

BTWI and BTAC condemns the attack on Ms. Dior. We call upon law enforcement agencies in the city of Minneapolis, Hennepin County and the state of Minnesota to find the perpetrators of this heinous attack, arrest them, and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.

The Black community should be our safe haven from the slings and arrows of domestic and foreign transphobes.

But as incidents like this repeatedly prove to us tragically it isn’t.

Our Black lives matter, too. We are beyond fed up as an organization proudly serving the Black trans community of seeing our people being attacked and murdered.

It is profoundly disappointing and hurtful when those attacks come from our own people.

Happy Heavenly Birthday Nikki!

Today would have been the 45th birthday of my homegirl Nikki Araguz Loyd.   It was always easy for me to remember it because she shared the same June 4 birthday of my late grandmother Tama

If she were still here with us, I can imagine her figuring out a way to despite the 'Rona, pull off some fabulous socially distanced event to celebrate the occasion.

But unfortunately, that's not going to happen because she's now been hanging out with the transcestors for nearly seven months.

She may have been only 5'5" inches tall, but she was a giant fun loving presence in the lives of all of us privileged to call her a friend.

She will also have a giant footprint in our trans history books.  It was her tenacious and ultimately successful six year fight in the Delgado v. Araguz case that led to the reestablishment of marriage rights for trans Texans.

She even became the first out trans person to be elected as a PTA president in the Lone Star State.

She was passionate about a lot of things, including her businesses, her activism on behalf of our community and other causes near and dear to her heart.   But what she was most proud of was being a wife and mother.

Nikki made it a point to drag my homebody butt out of the house from time to time.   There were numerous times when she and her bestie Meagan Gillett would roll up in her car and we'd hit the road.  Those road trips would inevitably end up with a stop at some restaurant for us to grab some food, have a few drinks, and some in depth conversation. 

Even though both of us got busy, she would still check in on me from time to time.  I'd pick up my phone and she'd say "Hello Goddess", to which I would reply "Hello Diva!"

The last conversation I had with Nikki was two weeks before she died.   I had actually called to check on her hubby Will to find out what was going on in his life.   When she heard Will say my name, she grabbed the phone out of his hands and we ended up talking for the next hour and a half.    It was during that call we started the planning for a slumber party at her house once we picked a date that would work for the both of us and everyone she planned to invite to the event.

Before we hung up, she told me 'I love you".  I said in response, "Love you too, Diva"
I was glad I got the chance to do that. 

Yes diva, I and everyone who is still on this space rock loves and misses you.  Our trans community and the world are far less fabulous without you in it. 

Happy heavenly birthday, Nikki.

Bye Steve!

Y'all know I have no love for Rep. Steve King, the unrepentant racist who has represented Iowa's 4th Congressional District for 18 years.   On Tuesday night he was bidding for a tenth term in Congress, but had a crowded Republican primary of four challengers to get through in order to put him in position to make that happen.

Happy to report that it didn't work out for him. 

King lost to Iowa state senator Randy Feenstra, who will now carry the Republican banner into the general election this November against Democratic nominee JD Scholten.

It wasn't close either.  Feenstra, who reps a ruby red state senate district, beat him 46%-38%, and did so by pointing out that he was ineffective because of all the controversy.

Feenstra, who is just as conservative, anti-TBLGQ and Trump loving as King, had the backing of local and national Republicans who feared that if King were on the ballot, it would put this conservative leaning northwestern Iowa congressional seat in jeopardy of being flipped to the Democrats.

Scholten narrowly missed knocking KKKing off in the 2018 cycle and launched another bid for this 4th Congressional District seat. .Scholten was unopposed in the Democratic primary.

King's white supremacist views and palling around with international white supremacists have caused him to lose support in the state and national Republican Party.  He was trying to skate by in this election cycle with only $30,000 in his campaign accounts.

In addition,, his racist views have cost him House committee assignments.  He was stripped of them after saying in a New York Times interview, White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?”

Yeah, he's that clueless.  

Bye Steve.  One GOP racist down, a bunch more to fire on November 3. 

Love The Official President Barack Obama White House Portrait!

For those of you who not only miss the No Drama Obama Administration days and how effortlessly cool he looked in his tan suit, it's back in his official White House portrait.

Unlike the portraits that were unveiled in 2018 for POTUS and FLOTUS 44 that are in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, these are curated by the White House Historical Association and hang in the White House.

President Obama and the First Lady chose the artists who created them in early 2017, but the contracts are negotiated by the White House Historical Association and kept confidential.

The National Portrait Gallery paintings of POTUS and FLOTUS 44  were created by Kehinde Wiley for President Obama and by Amy Sherald for First Lady Michelle Obama.

For the last 40 years, there has been an East Room ceremony that occurs at the tail end of a president's first term in which the current president invites his predecessor to unveil the official White House portrait. 

Although Lady Bird Johnson had hosted Eleanor Roosevelt and Bess Truman for their portrait unveilings, and Richard and Pat Nixon hosted Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in 1971, the first unveiling ceremony involving a sitting president and his predecessor didn't take place until 1978, when then President Jimmy Carter hosted Gerald Ford.

The Obamas invited George W and Laura Bush to the White House in 2012 for their portrait unveiling. 

But with Forever President Obama not interested in setting foot in a Trump White House, and the White House Grand Wizard still jealously (and racistly) hating on Barack Obama and trying to blame him for his misadministration's failures, it's clear that tension between the two is at Defcon 2 levels and probably will be for a while.

Obama justifiably put him on blast recently for Trump's massively incompetent response to the coronavirus pandemic, and of course Orange Foolius responded in his usual petty and vindictive manner.
.
So look for that portrait ceremony to happen if Joe Biden happens to become (and I pray he does) the 46th POTUS.
 

Looking forward to seeing what Forever First Lady Michelle Obama's official First Lady portrait looks like as well.  If it turns out better than her official First Lady photo, I wouldn't be surprised.

Mad About The Partisan SCOTX Ruling? Punish Them At The Polls!

I and other peeps in the Lone Star State are justifiably angry about the predictable ruling that came out of our all Republican Texas Supreme Court (SCOTX) on May 15.

Wouldn't be surprised if they were probably motivated by and 'scurred' of the fact that four of them are facing reelection this November and possibly may not be sitting in those cushy leather seats next year.

After taking L's at the state district court and 14th Court of Appeals level on the question of expanding mail in ballot access in the midst of COVID 19 fears, indicted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) appealed to the Republican controlled Texas Supreme Court to halt progress on getting mail in ballot voting in place in time for the 2020 election this November.

There are fears that another nastier wave of COVID 19 will strike this fall.  We have already witnessed 70 people testing positive for the Trump Virus after another GOP controlled state Supreme Court in Wisconsin issued partisan rulings that forced people to vote in person during their primary back on April 7.

Wanting to avoid that disastrous scenario, Texas voting right advocates and the Texas Democratic Party have been pushing for expanded access to mail in ballots for this upcoming election.

But fears of another blue tsunami coming November 3 have skittish Republicans being hypocritically opposed to expanding mail in ballot access, a method they frequently use.

Paxton cited their usual 'voter fraud' talking points lie to weakly justify opposing it in a letter he sent to the SCOTX last Wednesday urging them to halt progress on expanded mail in ballots, 

"Among the State’s highest and most profound interests is protecting the integrity of its elections," Paxton wrote Wednesday. "To advance that interest, the Texas Legislature requires almost every voter to vote by personal appearance at a designated polling place, where trained poll workers confirm the voter’s identity before issuing him a ballot."

Yeah right, miss me with that BS, since you Republicans are committing much of the voter fraud you claim to be trying to prevent.  You're also cynically using COVID 19 as a new tool to try to suppress turnout.

The partisan SCOTX ruling means that while the merits of the case are being decided, nothing can happen until the appeal of the state district court case moves forward through the legal system.

And while we wait for Lord knows how long that to happen, that delays efforts for Lone State State election officials to get prepared to implement and administer an election that uses vote by mail ballots.

While Patton and Texas republicans by extension were pleased with Friday's ruling, Texas Dems and voting rights advocates justifiably put the partisan unjust ruling on blast.

''This is a dark day for our democracy.  The Republican Texas Supreme Court is voting to force the people of Texas to choose between their health and their right to vote.  They would have Texans die, just so they can hold on to power, "said Texas Democratic party chairman Gilberto Hinojosa. 

"Voters should have the ability to vote by mail during a pandemic if they feel their health is in danger. Every single justice who ruled today should be ashamed of themselves.  They are the new Republican death panel, Hinojosa added. .

Yeah Chairman Hinojosa, the Republicans in Texas and everywhere else in the US , including the White house, have made it clear they want the rest of us who aren't 1% cishetero conservative white males to die.

And while we wait for that to happen, that delays efforts for Lone State State election officials to get prepared to implement and administer an election that uses vote by mail ballots.

So yeah, be mad about this ruling.  But just being angry about this ruling doesn't do squat to change the fact that all nine seats on the Texas Supreme Court are still GOP controlled.

But punishing them at the polls will. 

As I like to say, the best way to get back at a politician who pissed you off is to make then an EX-politician.  Translation: I take my anger at the stuff Republican politicians do by heading to my fave early voting location and firing them.

Four members of the GOP SCOTX have terms expiring in 2020.  They are Jane Bland in Place 6, Jeffery Boyd in Place 7, J. Brett Busby in Place 8 and Chief Justice Nathan Hecht .

They are being opposed by Democrats Kathy Cheng, who is running for Place 6, Judge Staci Williams for Place 7, and Judge Gisela Triana in Place 8.  Judge Amy Clark Meachum is running for SCOTX Chief Justice.

Cheng is a Houston area attorney who previously ran for SCOTX Place 6 in the 2018 cycle, won in the primary, but unfortunately lost in the general election to then incumbent Justice Jeff Brown.  After winning that full four year term, he was subsequently appointed to a federal judicial bench by Trump. 

That has given Cheng another shot at the Place 6 seat, this time against Bland, who was appointed to the seat by Governor Abbott in September 2019.

Judge Staci Williams has served as the judge of the Dallas based 101st District court since 2014. 
She handily won reelection to her 101st District Court bench in 2018, and will be the Democratic candidate for SCOTX Place 7 taking on Justice Boyd..

Judge Gisela Triana has served since 2018 as a judge on the Texas 3rd Court of Appeals Place 6 seat, based in Austin.  She will be the Democratic nominees for the SCOTX Place 8 seat held by Justice Busby, who like Bland, was appointed to fill the seat by Governor Abbott in February 2019.

Judge Amy Clark Meachum, who currently serves on the 201st District Court, in Travis County (Austin for you non Texans) is running for Chef Justice.   She has served on the 201st bench since 2010, and was reelected in 2014 and 2018

Normally only two to three SCOTX judges are up for reelection in a cycle.  Because we had one move up to the federal bench after the 2018 election, we have a rare opportunity as liberal progressive Texans to potentially flip four seats and dramatically speed up the day the Texas Supreme Court flips to Democratic control

That tantalizing possibility of the SCOTX speedily flipping has Greg Abbott, Potty Dan Patrick and other Texas GOP politicians quaking in their cowboy boots.

So yes, I'm painfully aware that elections matter, and since we have for now partisan election of judges in the Lone Star State,  having Democratic judges matters

The late Nikki Araguz Loyd, if she were still with us, would tell you how much it matters. 
She lost the first round of her trans marriage case in state district court, but it was overturned at the Democratically controlled 10th Court of Appeals level. 

It was waiting for a hearing at the SCOTX level when the Obergefell SCOTUS marriage case dropped and made her and the Texas trans community a winner.

I'm still pissed off about the partisan July 2015 SCOTX ruling that forced the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance onto the 2015 ballot and its subsequent repeal that November.

It's past time to end Texas Republican control of the SCOTX, and we liberal progressive Texans need to seize the opportunity to do so now.   Will do us no good to flip the Texas House and start the process of flipping the Texas Senate if a conservative SCOTX remains to stymie any progressive legislative and legal progress Texas sorely with their partisan rulings. 

It's also past time that the SCOTX looked like and reflected the diversity and life experiences of all Texans, instead of being overwhelmingly comprised of conservative white males

By electing Judge Amy Clark Meachum, Judge Gisela Triana, Judge Staci Williams and Kathy Cheng this November, you will ensure that the SCOTX not only looks like the people of the state of Texas, you will ensure that the Texas Supreme Court finally has fairness and justice on it.

So let's get that party started, shall we?

Happy Dallas Transgender Day Of Visibility!

One year ago like every Black trans Texan, I was shocked and angered to learn that Muhlaysia Booker, who had survived a brutal videotaped attack on her in a South Dallas apartment complex just a month earlier by Edward Thomas, was found murdered on Dallas' east side.   

While we trans Texans remember her death and are reminded justice still hasn't been served yet in this case, I do have some positive news to share about this May 18 day thanks to Pocaphontas Duvall Crowe.

She, and the ladies of the Dallas based Transfusion Radio show have been working with Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, the Dallas City Council, the House of Rebirth and the Silver Pride Project to create recognition in the city of the fact that many of the 1.4 million people who call Dallas home are trans.

Today has been declared by Dallas city officials as Dallas Transgender Visibility Day!

From the City of Dallas proclamation:

WHEREAS, Dallas Transgender Day of Visibility will help raise the visibility of transgender people in the city of Dallas and address issues that members of the community face, and  

WHEREAS, during Dallas Transgender Day of Visibility, transgender people and their allies will educate the public about who transgender people are, share experiences and stories, and advance advocacy around the issues of discrimination, prejudice, and violence that affect transgender people, and 

WHEREAS,  the City of Dallas recognizes the significant contributions made by transgender people and affirms that they are a vital and important part of our community, and 

WHEREAS,  Dallas Transgender Day of Visibility will honor the memory of transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence, including the Black trans women murdered last spring in the City of Dallas, and 

WHEREAS, May 18 was chosen as Dallas Transgender Day of Visibility in order to honor  and celebrate the life of Muhlaysia Booker, who will never be forgotten. 

NOW,THEREFORE, I, Eric Johnson, Mayor of the City of Dallas, with support from Mayor Pro Tem Adama Medrano,  Councilmember Omar Narvaez, Councilmember Adam Bazaldua, and Councilmember Chad West, do hereby proclaim that May 18, 2020 be recognized as
                             DALLAS TRANSGENDER DAY OF VISIBILITY   

The proclamation is signed by Mayor Johnson, Mayor Pro Tem Medrano, and Councilmembers Narvaez and West.

This is a historic day for trans Dallasites, and Crowe couldn't be prouder of her city.  .While she lamented the fact that these COVID 19 times have prevented the City Hall ceremony that would have accompanied such a momentous occasion, she did have this to say about the Dallas Trans Visibility Day proclamation and the process that shaped it.

As to why this date was chosen, Crowe said in a Facebook post to me

"May 18th also marks a year's passing in the death of our so-loved sister, Muhlaysia Booker. We chose that date because it was her murder that caused an international audience to recognize that trans women of color were in grave peril here in Dallas and throughout this entire country." "This proclamation pays tribute to a woman whose life was cut short; but even in death she managed to elevate our community as she did so often in her brief time with us. Our visibility began on this date. This is a fitting tribute for her incredible contribution," she wrote.

"In better times, we would have been invited to celebrate this day at City Hall. Since gatherings are impossible for now we must rely on social media to announce this achievement. Please support the efforts of the House of Rebirth and share these glad tidings with your contacts." Crowe added,"This is a shining moment in our history. This is the moment that the men and women governing Dallas paid tribute to the transgender community. On Monday, they will announce to the world that the City of Dallas respects and will stand with us.

As well they should, since trans people are an undeniable part of the city of Dallas, and that point gets driven home with each passing year. 

What happens in Dallas is also of major interest to me because it is not only Black Trans Advocacy Coalition's (BTAC) headquarters city, my mom grew up there until her junior year of high school and I still have relatives and friends living in the area .

While Dallas has had anti-discrimination ordinances protecting trans people on the books since 2002, the Dallas Black trans community still felt invisible to city leaders, the LGB community and the rest of the city's citizens.

Hopefully this Dallas Transgender Visibility Day is another step forward in changing the perceptions of how Dallas' Black trans folks see themselves and how they are treated by the city moving forward.

Congrats to Poca, Transfusion, the Dallas trans community and their allies!  Enjoy this momentous day!