Happy 21st Birthday Angie

Today is a day that should have been a happy occasion for a young transwoman who lived in Colorado.

But sadly it isn't thanks to a waste of DNA who is now serving a life sentence in a Colorado prison for his crime.

Today would have been the 21st birthday for Angie Zapata.

I think back to how happy I was when I hit that milestone birthday, and I wonder what Angie would have felt on this day being surrounded by a loving family and friends.

I wonder how she would have celebrated this day,and how far along she would be on her feminine journey now.

But instead of her family watching her happily blow out 21 candles on her birthday cake and tearing the wrapping paper off numerous birthday gifts, they will be taking a somber trip to the cemetery where Angie has been laid to rest.

It's been two years since she was taken away far too soon, and as the trans community in Colorado and elsewhere strives to never forget what happened to her, we also pray on this day that the pain her family and friends feel over her loss is mitigated as time heals their wounded hearts.

May God bless the Zapata family.

Happy 21st birthday, Angie. Your extended family around the world will never forget you nor allow what happened to you to be forgotten.

Another Legal Win For Vandy Beth!

Vandy Beth Glenn came one step closer to getting her job she was wrongfully terminated from in 2007 back.

On Tuesday a federal judge ordered that Glenn be reinstated to her legislative editor job in the Georgia General Assembly.

"I’ve always know we were in the right," a tearful Glenn said in a GA Voice courtroom interview after the hearing. "This is our time. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are no longer disposable. We can’t be thrown out with the trash and this decision affirms that."

No date was set for Glenn's return to her job and they are willing to pay her until the issues are sorted out. A hearing is scheduled for 9:30 AM EDT on August 6 concerning whether to stay the reinstatement.

She's already been harmed enough. Let Vandy Beth return to work without delay.

Down Goes Prop 8 (For Now)

In a federal district court in San Francisco, US District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled today in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case.

The plaintiffs and their attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies argued that California's passed Proposition 8 ballot initiative denying marriage rights to same-sex couples was unconstitutional.

After months of testimony, Judge Walker's ruling sruck down Proposition 8.

This is the conclusion to his 138 page opinion:

Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians, and because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.

And the full remedies ruled:

Plaintiffs have demonstrated by overwhelming evidence that Proposition 8 violates their due process and equal protection rights and that they will continue to suffer these constitutional violations until state officials cease enforcement of Proposition 8. California is able to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, as it has already issued 18,000 marriage licenses to same sex couples and has not suffered any demonstrated harm as a result, see FF 64-66; moreover, California officials have chosen not to defend Proposition 8 in these proceedings. Because Proposition 8 is unconstitutional under both the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses, the court orders entry of judgment permanently enjoining its enforcement; prohibiting the official defendants from applying or enforcing Proposition 8 and directing the official defendants that all persons under their control or supervision shall not apply or enforce Proposition 8.

Stay tuned. Perry v. Schwarzenegger is definitely headed to the 9th Circuit Court of appeals and probably to the Supremes.

I also find it deliciously ironic that Judge Walker is a Reagan-Daddy Bush appointee, so take that 'strict constitutionalists.'

But this is only a civil rights battle won. The civil rights war over this issue is not even close to being finished.

Hypermasculinity Is Killing Our Kids

One of the things I've been sickened about lately is kids who are being beaten because they aren't acting 'masculine enough' for the male adults in their lives.

17 month old Roy Jones is dead and 20 year old Pedro Jones has been arrested on manslaughter charges.

Why? Because he 'was trying to make him 'act like a little boy instead of a little girl'.

 

3 year old Ronnie Paris, Jr. died in 2005 and his then 21 year old father is now doing 30 years in a Florida prison because he didn't want his son growing up to be a 'sissy' or 'soft'.

So he forced him to slap box with him daily, smacked him upside the head and pushed him into walls until his child slipped into a coma January 22 and died six days later from swelling on both sides of his brain.

Then there's 2 year old Dre'Ona Blake, who is no longer here because her daddy beat her to death in 2008 because she wasn't progressing at potty training fast enough to his liking.

Dre'Ona's waste of DNA daddy DeAndre Blake killed transwoman Tiffany Berry in 2006 and was walking the streets of Memphis,TN for two and a half years at the time on bond. According to Berry's family, he didn't like the way Tiffany had touched him, so he killed her.

When I was growing up in the 70's and averaging a fight a week in elementary because I was perceived as not masculine enough, the last thing most boys wanted to be called growing up was a 'punk' or 'sissy'. I watched many a fight get started because of it.

But now, in an age where kids manage to get their paws on handguns, those same fistfights I had to deal with in the 70's have escalated into people getting shot and killed simply because they get pissed for you calling them a 'punk' or 'sissy'.

Homophobia and transphobia feeds into these hypermasculine attitudes,and it has got to stop. We need to have some serious ongoing discussions about gender identity and gender roles in communities of color.

We need to slay the hypermasculinity dragon in our community because it's killing our kids.

Activists Need To Get Paid,Too

There's an interesting thread and discussion going on at Pam's House Blend which was triggered by a letter Texas Tech student Nonnie Ouch wrote to the Dallas Voice complaining about Lt. Dan Choi's speaking fees and agent.

So what does the TransGriot have to say on the subject?

Activists need to get paid, too. Even Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. got paid for his speeches and essays.

It's hard to do activism if you're worried about keeping a job, a roof over your head, clothes on your back and food in your cupboard.

Add to that in my case the expenses for a gender transition. While most of the heavy lifting in my case has been done, I still have to get hormones and do femme maintenance.

Bear in mind also that if you're holding a job in corporate America, the wingers aren't above fracking with our employment to disrupt our lives if they get the opportunity to do so as I found out the hard way.

It costs money to travel, do conferences, get passports for international conference travel or international speaking engagements, eat, or stay in your state capital or DC hotels to lobby.

Hotel rates get raised in your state capital when the legislature is in session. DC definitely isn't cheap, even if you chop expenses by staying in a budget motel near a METRO line in Maryland or Virginia and ride the subway into DC to the Capitol South Station. METRO passes still cost money.

Money is one of the issues related to why you don't see many POC's speaking at conferences or involved in GLBT activism. Bigotry, transphobia and class privilege is another. The big white dominated inside I-495 orgs don't hire us, and that's especially true for transpeople.

But that's another post.

We TBLG people of color don't get called or asked very often to speak at various events, be it on college campuses, LGBT conventions or just to speak to a college class on GLBT issues.

In my case, I'm a Trinity Award winning activist who has been active since 1998. I can not only authoritatively talk about the intersection of trans issues with the African American community,I can discuss trans history and current events easily as well amongst many others. I've had an announcement on this blog's sidebar for two years about my willingness to speak at those events inside and outside the TBLG community as well, and my phone or e-mail doesn't get blown up as much as I would like it to.

I don't ask for much. I don't mind traveling in coach, staying in budget motels, on campus or even people's homes to help cut costs. If it's for certain trans events such as a TDOR, I don't ask for my speaking fee.

But if you feel like what I have to say is important enough for Moni to be there live and in living color, then respect me and my time by paying for it.

Because if you don't or won't, somebody else will.

But don't think because I have this blog I'm making tons of money. I wish that were the case.

This is a social justice, educational and political commentary blog. In the blogosphere those types of blogs don't make the kind of money a pop culture one does. I get almost 2500 readers a day, many of them repeat readers, and not enough love in the TransGriot tip jar button in the left hand sidebar.

If just 1/10 of the daily readers that visit here left me as little as $5 on a consistent basis it would give me and other social justice bloggers and activists some regular income to do some things,

I'm just getting to the point where I have built up a body of work to where I get honoraria. I'm not anywhere near Dan Choi or Sarah Palin levels, but it's deeply appreciated when it's offered and I receive it. I plow it back into living my life and keeping TransGriot alive.

But if you want your activists front and center out there doing the work to combat the Forces of Intolerance and create a better liberal-progressive world, the reality is we need to get paid so we can comfortably live our lives and fight for you full time.

I'd love to be able to hone my skills at a Creating Change or lobby in Austin or Washington when needed. But to do that, the GLBT community and the progressive movement in general is going to have to get out of this mindset that activism requires a vow of poverty.

Because right now, we're facing an uphill battle fighting a war against enemies who are fully funded. Their only job is to spend their workdays thinking of creative ways to deny you your civil rights and lie on the network talking head shows that they aren't.

Nikki Araguz Update 9 - Myth Busting, Cristan and Kat Style

Cristan Williams of the Houston TG Center takes on the media lies about the Araguz case being pimped by the opposition attorneys in her latest video.



And enjoy Katrina Rose's latest musings on the case courtesy of ENDABlog

Happy 49th Birthday President Obama!

Today is the 49th birthday of the 44th President of the United States, Barack H. Obama.

He's had an up and down year, and how good the rest of it is will be determined on November 2.

But today I kick back, bow in the direction of Washington DC and Honolulu, Hawaii and give thanks to God that President Obama is sitting in the Oval Office instead of Sen. John McCain.

I also give thanks to God that Sarah Louise Heath Palin is still living in Wasilla, Alaska and not the vice presidential mansion.

As a birthday gift to Orly Taitz, the birthers and all her conservamininons, I..

Never mind, this is so delicious I must serve this up to you on a platter along with that delicious presidential birthday cake.

Presenting Amendment 14, Section 1 of the United States Constitution:

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Would you like some Hawaiian punch to go with that?

Or would you prefer a nice steaming cup of STFU, Hawaiian blend?

Oh yeah, this section is also pertinent to you right wing peeps in Arizona who insisted on passing those 'Hate On Latinos' laws that will soon be going down in federal court flames.

But back to the birthday boy. Next year is the Big 5-0. Happy birthday Mr. President.

May the rest of this one and the next year go a little more smoothly than this one has. Somehow, with all the sniping on the left and the white hooded hatred on the right, I doubt it will.

But, go ahead and blow out the candles on that birthday cake. I have a pretty good guess what you wished for ;)

White Gay Community-I Don't Ever Want To Hear That 'Blacks Are To Blame For Prop 8 Loss' Meme EVER Again

One of the myths that will not die about the 2008 California Prop 8 loss that I occasionally see in gayosphere discourse is the 'Blacks Are To Blame For Prop 8 Loss' based on the misinterpretation of jacked up exit poll data in several Los Angeles County precincts.

That meme, combined with gay shock, awe and later anger over the loss, coupled with Dan Savage's and Wayne Besen's big (and wrong) mouths, an LA Times November 7 column printed the Sunday after the election by Jasmyne Cannick that pointed out the flaws in the No on 8 campaign in the African-American community, Los Angeles County narrowly passing Prop 8, highly publicized bigoted comments and racism from white gays that broke out in the wake of that loss combined with their constant attacks on President Obama, and you have a recipe for the animus that is lingering just below the surface of relations between the Black and White gay communities.

This meme has not died despite analysis of poll data from several sources within days of the election and common fracking sense.

That common sense and a little critical thinking should have told them a group comprising 9% of California's population of 35 million, spread across 15 counties couldn't be THE factor for the Prop 8 loss.

In addition, that meme was suspect in light of the fact that Alameda County, one of the counties that 'so called homophobic' ethnic group was concentrated in along with Latino@'s, voted against Prop 8.

Well, another nail in that long debunked meme's coffin comes from a Dave Fleischer headed team of analysts who sifted through the Prop 8 data. Their findings were just published in an article in today's Los Angeles Times.

So what group tipped the balance in terms of the Prop 8 election?

I quote from the Fleischer penned LA Times article:

The shift, it turns out, was greatest among parents with children under 18 living at home — many of them white Democrats.

So, once again, many vanilla flavored peeps got hoodwinked and bamboozled into voting against someone's civil rights.

Now that you know that the real deal is, it's time to rectify the problem and put together a well thought out strategy before you try another statewide referendum in Cal-EEE-fonya or elsewhere.

And the next time I see, read or hear of anyone in the gayosphere uttering or writing that tired meme, I'm going to eviscerate them.

TransGriot Interviewed At 'Talk About Gay Racism'

Lincoln is a transman who's been a Christian since the age of 15, loves being active in the LGBT communities, helping people understand the Bible, and working to make the world a better place.

He's also the editor of 'Talk About Gay Racism', to which I gave an interview that was posted today.

If you wish to read it, surf on over to TAGR via this link and check out what I had to say about various subjects there.

I'm A 2010 Black Weblog Awards Finalist!

The nominations have been reduced to the five finalists in each category for the 2010 Black Weblog Awards, and I have good news!

In the 'Best LGBT Blog' Award category TransGriot is a finalist!

My competition in that category is pretty stiff. It's 2007 winner Pam's House Blend, 2006 winner Rod 2.0 beta, B. Scott, and The Skorpion Show

Renee's Womanist Musings made it for best International Blog

While I didn't start blogging for awards, it sure is nice when the hard work you put into it is recognized by a finalist nomination.

So time to get busy and start voting. Hopefully I'll have some good news in September when they announce the winners.

Letter To Lea T.

TransGriot Note: Sass Rogando Sasot is one of the international trans activists I look up to for inspiration as the founder of the transpinay group STRAP. She recently penned an open letter to Brazilian model Lea T.


"I guess when your heart gets broken,
you sort of start to see cracks in everything.
I'm convinced that tragedy wants to harden us
and our mission is never to let it."

- Janeane Garofalo in Felicity

Dear Lea T,

I don't know how will this ever reach you - or whether you can find time in your busy life to even read this. But still, I hope that life's wonder can find a way to let you hear what this lass from Manila has to say.

I would like to congratulate you for your current success and fame. Certainly you are more than aware that you have now been christened as "the fashion world's first transsexual supermodel." I'm pretty sure that a lot of transwomen all over the world are delighted by your breakthrough into the world of modeling. Without doubt, you serve as an inspiration for those who dream to catwalk on the ramps of international fashion and grace the pages of famous magazines.

Your naked photo in the August 2010 edition of French Vogue is what really got into me. A simple yet powerful photo that celebrates our body, our existence, our totality. You stand there with a quiet dignity in your eyes, with a sense of self-possession of your uniqueness, and with a distinctive and courageous beauty. To use what Sharon Stone said about the beauty of Meryl Streep, your photo has all the appeal of an "unmade bed." But more than all these, your photo is like a lover's affectionate assurance to his/her partner that "she shouldn't be ashamed of her body for there's nothing wrong with it."

Whether it's your intention or not, you now have also become a spokesperson of transsexual issues, specifically that of transwomen. I've read your feature story in The Guardian on 1 August 2010, "Lea T and the loneliness of the fashion world's first transsexual supermodel." That article bared your soul, revealing the suffering that you carry on your modelesque shoulders. A lot of transwomen feel your pain as they do share your story of family rejection, societal ridicule, and the accompanying depression.

Surely these things have hardened you and caused you to have, as what you called it, "the war in your head." I feel that this also led you to be pessimistic about love, calling it a "luxury" . Furthermore, you gave a disheartening reflection saying that "those transsexuals who do enter into serious relationships often do so by keeping their past from their partners." Then went on saying, "We transsexuals are born and grow up alone. After the operation we are born again, but once again alone. And we die alone. It is the price we pay."

Lea, I don't know how far one can argue about the benefits of being a pessimist over being an optimist. Both spiritual teachings and scientific studies show that optimism is beneficial and that pessimism is harmful. I don't know if you heard about studies showing that optimism boosts the immune system; and that persistent pessimism is hazardous to ones health.

Well, there's no need to list down all these empirical studies to prove that optimism fares better than pessimism. Relying on our ancient old instinct, we find that we are more motivated, glowing, and engaged when we move more into the light of optimism. But, please, don't mistake optimism for wishful thinking. Optimism is simply putting things into perspective, and realizing that whatever unfortunate things that happen to us, they too will pass. It is simply understanding that "what was and what is" are not "what will always be." Things change. Whether change will lead to the road of "better" or "worse" depends on our attitude, persistence, and faith in the benevolence of life.

There's always a danger in giving a sense of eternity to our suffering. For transsexual people like us, we do this by internalizing the transphobia that we experience/d in our lives, leading us to make our transsexualism as an eternal disabling factor in our lives: "I'm a transsexual, therefore I will never find a job"; "I'm a transsexual, therefore I will never find love"; "I'm a transsexual, therefore I will never _______." But when we go deeper into ourselves and engaged in self-reflection, can we honestly find the value in staying imprisoned in the cages in which we keep ourselves?

Lea, love is not a luxury. Finding someone to share your happiness with and keeping that person in your life may be hard but it's not hard in the sense of impossible. It is hard for every one - not just for us transsexuals. It is hard for it's not easy to be vulnerable. Staying behind our walls seems to be more comfortable than allowing ourselves to experience the exquisite joy and pain of being in love. But it is love that allows you to heal. It brings into surface all that is damaged in you so you can touch them with compassion, thereby allowing the possibility of transformation.

You may say that those who find love, without having to hide their 'past' from their partners, may just be lucky. Perhaps. But just like in other areas of our lives, luck cannot work without readiness. Take yourself for example. You are where you are right now because of luck and of your readiness: You were at the right time, at the right place, with the right attitude.

I hope that you let your current affluence and influence inspire you to see the astonishing goodness of life. Hold on to this goodness. Whatever loneliness you are experiencing, just let it be, but don't indulge in it. Our loneliness are just waiting for us to embrace it with compassion and affection. And what allows us to be able to do this is love.

You were born with love. You'll die with love. It is not a goal to be achieved nor a luxury you can forego. Love is a foundation for living.


My warmest,
Sass Rogando Sasot

It Hit 38 Degrees In Houston!

38 degrees Celsius that is.

That translates for you metrically challenged folks to 100 degrees on the Fahrenheit scale.

August tends to be the hottest month of a Houston summer, and the first two days of this one didn't deviate from the climate script. We cracked the 100 degree mark for the first time this summer on August 1 and 2.

If I have stuff to do, I try to take care of it in the AM before the heat of the day builds up.

Dealing with the heat, humidity and hurricane season is the regional price we pay for living in the Houston metro area and partaking of all the pluses of living here.

I'm only 30 minutes from the Gulf, have a wide array of cultural attractions and entertainment options to choose from, and an alleged major league professional baseball team that's officially in rebuilding mode.

Shouldn't be hating on the Astros that much. They have won six straight games since trading Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman for prospects.

The temperature is only supposed to hit 98 (36 Celsius) today, and cool down to 94 (34 Celsius) by Friday and this weekend's monthly TG Social and BBQ at the Houston TG center.

So I'm chilling under the air conditioning until it cools off later in the day, writing, and happily scarfing up Blue Bell homemade vanilla ice cream.

But only in pint size doses and not the half gallon I'm fiending for. I still have a 30 year class reunion in October I want to remain in diva mode for and a killer size 12 dress I want to rock at the formal dinner.

Nikki Araguz Update 8-Latest Nikki Press Conference

Another press conference was held yesterday at the Houston TG Center to talk about some of the documents that were entered into evidnce on Nikki's behalf.

One is an e-mail from Thomas Araguz III on the day of Nikki's surgery that occurred two months BEFORE their marriage date.

Roll that beautiful KHOU-TV press conference footage.

Meet Lea T, Another Out Trans Model

Trans models aren't unique to the fashion world. Ask Caroline Cossey, Lauren Foster, Teri Toye, Jenny Hiloudaki and Tracy Africa Norman.

Tracy was doing her modeling thang back in the 70's but wasn't getting the news coverage as a trans pioneer.

Isis King has the looks and potential to get to that level if she's only given the opportunity to walk on New York runways. But even cis African American women have trouble cracking the vanilla ranks of the runways, and I'm willing to bet that next month's fashion shows in New York and elsewhere will see disproportionate numbers of Eastern European glamazons on the catwalks.

Now comes word that Givenchy has a trans model in their fall campaign and the media is all over it.

But Brazilian model Lea is just part of a long line of glamorous trans women who have been fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right moment in time.

28 year old Lea happens to be the personal assistant for Givenchy's creative director Riccardo Tisci, and modeled at Givenchy's haute couture show.

Requests for her shot through the roof and she's about to get her opportunity at becoming a trailblazer. She'll have the choice of either making it to supermodel status like fellow Brazilian Gisele Bundchen or not because she's studying veterinary medicine in Milan.

Whatever Lea decides, her opportunity to do so will come under the unblinking eyes of media scrutiny.

Dr. Marci Bowers '98% Certain' She's Leaving Trinidad

Looks like I'm not the only well known transperson who is changing addresses this year.

Dr. Marci Bowers is '98% certain' she'll will be moving herself and her practice to the San Francisco bay area October 1.

According to an AP article she is in a relationship with a first year surgical resident in San Francisco and if she moves, she would join an office in San Mateo, CA with two plastic surgeons and a surgery center.

Dr. Bowers has been practicing in Trinidad, CO since the late surgeon Dr. Stanley Biber, who began doing SRS surgeries there in 1969, retired in 2003 and passed away in 2006.

She's been disappointed with the leadership of the Mt. San Rafael hospital where her practice is housed, and also noted in an AP interview that "There are advantages to being in a bigger city with access to airports."

Dr. Bowers is also one of the few surgeons trained in genital reconstruction techniques for people who have been harmed by genital mutilation.

She noted that Trinidad's location three hours driving time on I-25 south of Denver on the Colorado-New Mexico border has been a barrier to some potential patients, but didn't rule out a future return to the area.

Whatever you do Dr. Bowers, good luck and hope that whatever decision you make not only makes you happy, but helps your potential clients as well.

Trans People Are Part Of The Diverse Mosaic Of Life 8

If it isn't clear to our haters by now, it should be obvious that trans people are part of the diverse mosaic of life.



Nadia Almada from UK Big Brother



Indian transwomen



UK police officer Jan Hamilton



Protest of SEPTA transit passes gender code policy in Philadelphia



Brazilian actress Maria Clara Spinelli



Texan Christie Lee Littleton on the cover of IFGE's Tapestry magazine



Iranian transwoman

HPD's Trans Cop

The Houston Police Department has had a long and rocky history at times with the TBLG community.

They have come a long way from the days where harassment was the norm under Chief Herman Short and it took a lawsuit by a transwoman to stop it to transpeople now becoming a part of HPD.

This is a 2009 KHOU-TV interview with Sqt. Julia Oliver, who has the distinction of being the Houston Police Department's first trans police officer.

Interview With Moni's Fictional Ladies

"Hi, I'm Lanita Turner, ABC News journalist, weekend anchor and one of the characters in Moni's Capital Gains and Politically Correct novel manuscripts."

"Since The TransGriot has stepped away from her computer for a moment, we're going to take this opportunity to commandeer her blog and talk to her loyal readers.
I'm joined today by Lorynn Thibodeaux-Millard from On The Wings of Love, Erica Rideaux of Miss Thang, and my novel castmate Dr. Markita Johnson-Gant."

"As some of you readers know she does write fiction from time to time. She has shared some of her short stories and poetry on the blog. She has some manuscripts in various stages of completion she really needs to get busy finishing and getting published."

"Would you ladies agree or disagree with that assessment?"
"Yes, I agree, Lanita."
"And what leads you to give her work such a positive endorsement, Markita?"
"One thing I like about it is that some of them include positive trans characters of color doing more than just stereotypical stuff."
"You're so right about that."
"Erica, what are your thoughts?"
"I agree. I like the way she told my story. There are far too many negative stereotypes of African-American transwomen out there, and I love her for writing about the sections of our community that takes education and our feminine journeys seriously."
"I also like how she tries to keep it as realistic as possible when she writes her fiction."
"How so, Lorynn?" asked Lanita.
"I know she worked in the airline industry like I do, and consulted with airline industry friends when she began writing On The Wings of Love to make sure she was accurate in terms of post 9-11 procedures."
"She also likes weaving history and social commentary in it." said Erica.
"I like the fact she takes seriously the infotainment aspect of her writing, but I do have a problem with her mischaracterizing me last year on this blog as a diva."

"That's a nice segue into our next segment. Let's talk about you ladies individually. Lorynn and Markita, I know you're married, and Erica you're single like I am. Any chance you'll be walking down the aisle soon?"
"No Lanita, don't think so. I'm busy with my company and my blog. I'm at a point in my life right now where if it happens, it happens."
"It was a struggle for me just to get there." said Markita.
"Same here, sis," said Lorynn.
"But it was worth it in the end. Tommy and I are very happy and I got a wonderful stepdaughter out of it as well."
"Lorynn, any kids yet?"
"We haven't been blessed with any, but David and I are happily working on that while spoiling our niece and nephew. Hi, Jasmine! Hi, Trey!"
"I do the same thing with my sister's kids, and I'm the godmother to Senator Reynolds' twins," said Lanita.
"It's been a joy to see my stepdaughter grow up to become a wonderful and intelligent young lady."

"Now, ladies, let get to the juicy parts of your various stories. Erica, I know you were dating a guy at the start of your transition. Are you and Allen still together?"
"Sadly, no. We had some issues that broke up our relationship, but we're still friends."
"And Markita, girl, your drama was all over Capital Gains and Politically Correct. You got outed in the most publically humiliating way in the middle of a contentious political campaign, and you had to fight for the love of your man against a former lover wielding a child as her trump card."
"And as Sister Maya would say,'And still I rise'."

"Lorynn, you had an equally rocky road to travel as well in terms of overcoming the reservations of your now hubby in addition to a scheming ex."
"Well, there's no love lost between me and Marland Evangeline Devereaux that's for sure, but class does win out in the end..."
"Let me go...I've heard enough of this BS.." Marland said as she burst from backstage, past security and got within inches of Lorynn's face
'Ladies and gentleman, our other guest in this interview, Marland Deveraux!"
"What do you mean 'class wins out in the end'? You're still scavenging my sloppy seconds just like you did in Marrero."
"Shouldn't you be hanging out at the Texans training camp trying to snag you a new husband?"
"I got a man."
"And I got the man and the ring, Miss Thing. Isn't it pretty?" Lorynn said as security stepped between them.

'Well, that's all the time we have for this show, so tune in next time when we'll be talking to the men of Moni's fictional universe. I'm Lanita Turner saying so long until next time. We'll now return you back to your regularly scheduled TransGriot posts."

Nikki Araguz Update 7-Opposition Research

Many of us in the Houston trans community were wondering when the news of this case broke how in Hades did Nikki's business get out there to the media so fast?

Turns out Frank Mann III, the attorney now representing Heather Delgado and the family, also represented Delgado during a bitter custody hearing between her and Thomas and Nikki Araguz. He also represented Nikki and her first husband during a 2002 bankruptcy case.

Can you say, Breach of attorney-client privilege?

Thought you could.

Mann has not only been in trouble with the state bar for previous ethical transgressions in 1990 and 1997, he's in trouble again with the State Bar of Texas for this e-mail he released during Nikki's run for mayor of Wharton back in May that not only outed her, but disclosed some if her medical history.

He would not say how many people he sent the e-mail to, but it became public during Araguz's race for Wharton mayor this spring.

According to a Houston Press article on this issue, Mann's e-mail kicks off with "Occasionally you get a case that makes the papers or Jerry Springer," and just gets classier from there. "...I am sending this to you because you are a friend of mine and the deposition is public knowledge. I think the citizens of Wharton Texas should know this information....Nikki Purdue Araguz is the stepmother in a case of mine and she gave testimony that she is a transgender. She is a he. Her birth certificate states that she is male. She has multiple felony convictions in Harris County...and is on probation in Wharton County for possession of a controlled substance."

Hmm..a possible HIPA violation on top of a State Bar ethics complaint filed by Nikki?

And here's Cristan's video about Frank Mann III



Stay tuned for the next update in 'As The Araguz Court Case Turns'.

Parents Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

TransGriot Note: It's August and that means in the States many school districts such as HISD will be starting school in a few weeks.

So for my latest song rewrite Renee actually gave me the idea for it. There's a Staples commercial that originally aired in Canada that puts a little twist on the classic Andy Williams Christmas song. Many parents think that Back To School time is actually the most wonderful time of the year ;)

So TransGriot readers and parents, download that Andy Williams song, fire up your iPods and sing this one with Moni's fresh for the 2k10 remixed lyrics. Might as well annoy your kids as you're out and about shopping for school clothes and supplies.




Parents Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
(sung to the tune of 'The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year' by Andy Williams

It's parents most wonderful time of the year
Kids vacation time shrinking
And every adult thinking 'it's time to cheer'
It's the most wonderful time of the year
It's the hap-happiest season of all
There'll be back to school greetings and PTA meetings
And it's almost fall
It's the hap-happiest season of all

One last barbecue roasting
While the parents are toasting
How fast the summer did go
There'll be school days stories
And tales of the glories of
Your school days from long, long ago

It's the most wonderful time of the year
To the mall we are going
Shopping carts overflowing
That first school day is near
It's the most wonderful time of the year

One last barbecue roasting
While the parents are toasting
How fast the summer did go
There'll be school days stories
And tales of the glories of
Your school days from long, long ago

It's the most wonderful time of the year
To the mall we are going
Shopping carts overflowing
That first school day is near
It's the most wonderful time
It's the most wonderful time
It's the most wonderful time
It's the most wonderful time of the year

The Transphobic Media Strikes Again...WYFF-TV Flips Gender Script

TransGriot Note: I'm deleting the reference to Rachelle's old male name

Okay people, why do I have to keep repeating this part of the AP Stylebook on how to write about and cover trans people almost like a fracking mantra?

transgender-Use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth.

If that preference is not expressed, use the pronoun consistent with the way the individuals live publicly.

WYFF-TV in Greenville, SC got it right when they initially reported the story about the brutal attack of Rachelle Williams by her boyfriend on July 15.

Deputies: Woman Kidnapped, Choked, Beaten

Deputies have made an arrest in a brutal assault in Anderson County.

Anderson County Sheriff’s investigators said at about 4 p.m. Tuesday, deputies responded to an apartment on Continental Street in response to a 911 call that a woman had been assaulted.

Deputies found Rochelle Williams, 34, in a bedroom with head injuries. She was immediately transported to AnMed where she was still being treated Wednesday. Investigators said Williams was choked with a telephone cord and beaten in the head.

Investigators said they identified Demetrius Antonio Hawkins, 21, who lived with Williams, as the suspect.

Just 48 hours later, the headline in the story changes to this:

Family: Transsexual Son Beaten By Partner

Why? Because of this comment by Rachelle's mother which outed her child as trans.

The mother of the victim said, "Why did you do this to my son?"

After the hearing, News 4's Sean Muserallo asked Betty Tomlinson why she referred to her child as her son because investigators said the victim in the case was a woman. Tomlinson explained that her son lives as a woman and goes by Rachelle Williams

Tomlinson said her son is not a post-op transsexual.

Telesia Simpson, Rachelle's sister, said her brother moved into an apartment with Hawkins more than eight months ago. She said she was shocked by the assault and did not know of any friction between the two.

Ms. Tomlinson and Ms. Simpson, if you love and respect Rachelle as you say and looks like you do, please stop referring to her using male pronouns.

I know that's hard, but do it for your child.

I'm pissed about the fact that the minute Rachelle got outed as a transwoman, the incorrect pronouns in the WYFF-TV story come out.

Time for some more 'ejumacation' on another crucial point in interacting with transpeople respectfully.

Transmen are referred to with male pronouns, transwomen with female pronouns irregardless of genital status.

Back The Hell Up Off The NAACP

'The most famous initials in America are the NAACP. The most written about voluntary association in America is the NAACP. The most damned group of citizens is the NAACP.'

Langston Hughes uttered those words in 1960 while receiving his Spingarn Medal, and five decades later they are still right on target.

Over its 100 plus year history, the NAACP has become the most written about, most reviled by conservatives organization and the most recognized acronym on the planet.

I'm glad to see NAACP President Benjamin Jealous starting to take it in directions I've wanted to see it go for years such as calling out the conservative movement and its racism.

He's also starting to point out out that hello, there are Black folks who happen to be TBLG people as well and the NAACP needs to be more proactive in fighting for their civil rights as well.

One birthday gift me and my siblings used to receive on a regular basis when we were growing up were youth memberships in the NAACP.

I've been a member of the organization at various points in my life, and thanks to the recent stand they've taken against the Tea Klux Klan and other moves they have been made to modernize the organization and its message, I'm about to rejoin the ranks of card carrying NAACP members.

It's a stand that has resulted in the Tea Klux Klan proving the NAACP's point with their sheeple calling in death threats to the organization's offices and being vilified in conservamedia.

Unlike the conservatrolls swarming the NAACP's FB page, I'm well aware of the NAACP's proud history.

The NAACP's legal wing headed by legendary attorneys Charles Houston and later future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall attacked the specious legal underpinnings of Jim Crow segregation over several decades. They fought to pass an anti-lynching law, desegregate the military, and during World War II ensured that African-American workers were hired for the jobs that opened up in defense plants around the nation.

The NAACP has been our sword and shield on Capitol Hill in terms of helping lead the charge to enact the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the 1968 Fair Housing Act, the 1991 Civil Rights Restoration Act and the 2002 Help America Vote Act, the most current reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act, the just passed bill to reduce crack and powder cocaine sentencing disparities among countless others.

Their Legislative Civil Rights Report Cards let us definitively know who our congressional friends and foes are on the Hill.

Is it any wonder why the conservafools want to take it down like they did ACORN?

Not no, but hell no will we as a community allow that to happen.

The NAACP has a 100 plus year track record of passing legislation that helps all Americans in addition to fighting racism. The Tea Klux Klan and the conservative movement only pays lip service to that. They talk a good game, but they are woefully short on longterm follow through.

By the way conservafools, it's not just African Americans who are members of the NAACP. It ws a multicultural group of people who founded the organization in 1909

But if you weren't watching Faux news till your brains rotted you'd know that.

But then again, you already know that, and will just write and broadcast lies about it anyway.

Thank God there are far more 'ejumacated' people of all ethnicities in this country that already know the truth about the NAACP, are aware of its history, the work it has done and its ongoing mission in its now second century of work.

So keep hatin' on the NAACP like you always have, conservafools. This drama is nothing new. You have assassinated its leaders in regional chapters like Medgar Evers. You passed laws like you did in Alabama to try to legislate it out of existence. You have demonized and denigrated it in conservative and white supremacist circles for decades just like your right wing talker and sheeple are doing now, and still the NAACP survives and thrives.

As a proud, soon to be card carrying NAACP American, I say with all deepest sincerity,

Conservafools, back the hell up off the NAACP.

Open Letter To Michfest Attendees

TransGriot note: The 'womyn born womyn' policy has been a contentious issue for decades between some elements the trans community and the feminists who created and sponsor the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival.

The 35th anniversary edition of Michfest will be taking place August 3-8 in Hart, MI.

This is an open letter by Annie Danger to her feminist friends who claim they support transwomen but then surreptitiously bounce to the 650 wooded site called 'The Land'.

An Open Letter to My Friends Who Go to Michfest
By Annie Danger

Dear you,

I want to talk about the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival. Rather, I’m feeling like I have to bring up this conversation and push it forward and I’m pretty frustrated with that because, well, I don’t want to have to talk about the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival. I understand and respect that it is important to you. I know you love it, and I am asking you to do more loving, not less.

I feel like I have to bring it up because I feel pretty shitty that so many of my friends attend and how they do or do not talk to me about it. Perhaps you are one of those friends?

To note: I do not want to start a fight. I am making a request for greater engagement with the curious politics of coalition building and alliance. I understand this is a complex-feeling issue with a lot of history. This may be a call out, but it is with a revolutionary ethic of love that I send it. In this ethic, I do my best to drive my activism and my life with a difficult and powerful combination of respect, recognition, honest and open communication, affection, commitment, and trust for all people in this world. Especially my allies.

This letter comes from trying to put my years of resent through this filter of loving: I feel hurt and I am writing because want to trust that you have my back as a transwoman. I am having a hard time separating your attendance of MWMF and your silence with me about this issue from your level of respect for me; for my body. I don’t want to feel this way and I am willing to do the work to let go of a decade of resent, but I need your help. Will you help me?

I have spent a lot of time trying to make this letter driven by more than anger and resent. When you go to Michigan, I push you away. I keep you at arm’s length as an ally of transwomen. As an ally of me. What I hear is that the festival is a powerful and welcoming other planet where women’s lives, pains, struggles, and hopes are more commonly understood. This is allegedly a place of healing based on welcoming. A harsh toke for me: This is a place where I, on a body level even more than a political one, am profoundly unwelcome.

There is no place I’ve ever been where my transsexual woman body and my experience of gender feel fully safe, wanted, welcome, supported, normalized, trusted, trustworthy. There are many places I call home, but not any I automatically trust--mine is a body in question. There is very little safe space for transwomen. Not even at queer land, where we are often wanted in the abstract but not so much welcomed in practice. People don’t seem to know how to think about transwomen. And for us to make a squawk about our treatment often runs the risk of being called out as misuse of the male privilege we were raised with. To be woman enough to share womyn’s spaces, we must be good girls—we must be quiet.

So here we are, 35 years into the MWMF and nearly 11 years into my life as an out, hormone-enhanced transsexual. I have spent this decade- plus fairly actively turning my back on the arguments around Michigan because it was simply not my fight: I cannot imagine going there and feeling safe. Even the naming of womyn with a ‘y’: I respect and understand the place from which this nomenclature comes. But it must also be said that it drips gender essentialism in its disassociation from male language, tells me I am not important there, not a priority.

So I disengaged. I became silent. There are a lot more pressing issues, in general or specifically about trans-inlcusion and the safety of transwomen, than trying to get a bunch of terrified separatists to let me pay them to camp in their woods and attend their party. And when more and more friends kept going, and when you proceeded for years to forget that it is an issue for me—to chat all about it like it was just someplace I didn’t happen to go; to tell me you wished you could get me there and never go much further than that; to discuss my absence while at the festival but not much of why—I proceeded to turn my back in small ways on you, too. Just the tiniest, most pernicious ways: silent distrusts, people held so close, but at arm’s length when it comes to recognizing and caring for my life, my struggle as a transwoman, or my body. And now I feel pushed, finally, to say something because my lover is going. My love. And because of this, I am struggling to believe she really sees and loves my trans body because of it. She is in this conversation with me--she carries me well in her heart. This letter is also the outgrowth my struggle to trust her on this. I trust her so deeply, but this issue has always been a dangerous place for me.

I am also speaking up because, in only the most technical of senses, I could finally go: I can purchase a ticket as an out transsexual woman (though one cannot find that information on the MWMF website). I have considered going. I have had hours and hours of conversations recently—with decade-long Michfest workers, with transwoman friends and their lovers, with women’s-movement organizers who have never been to MWMF, and with those who know me best—about this possibility and I have come to a very solid conclusion: I have no moving reason to put myself through that emotional shredder. I cannot go there and not interact with this issue of trans-exclusion. It is on my body. To go and try to have fun, to do anything but loud and firey activism about this issue would be to leave my body. To disassociate further from a body I fight daily to be in.

And, yes, this issue of my friends at Michigan is a trigger point for a whole world full of transphobia. I feel your attendance with all the weight of a decade of distrust around trans issues. My experience of transwomanhood is one that runs a baseline of distrust: I do not tend to expect anyone except for other transwomen (not genderqueers, not my queers, not trans men) to really see or make room for trans women. But I do hope they would. I am asking for help: I want to build this trust. I am tired of crying alone and feeling like I have to take care of transwomen because no one but transwomen is willing to really take a stand for us. I want to build this coalition. I want this tired old issue to move in new, healing directions. I want to let go of all this resent. I want us to be a stronger, smarter community. But reaching a hand out on my end requires so much clear, concerted effort on your end. Show me you are as committed as I am to justice around this issue. I am tired of ignoring this issue.

For all of us there are a lot of different contexts to this struggle: so many needs to meet, so many ways to talk strategy, so many enormous feelings to unpack and source. I know I have work to do here, too: it is my work to be willing to take each hand that reaches out. But under all the complicated ways to have this discussion, I keep feeling horrible about your support of this institution. I don’t want to. I respect that it is powerful and I do my best to remember that it is powerful in ways I simply cannot imagine. I know you do some sort of work on behalf of trans issues while inside the festival, but I do not know what it is and you do not tell me much about it. From the outside, I have not seen much in the way of results. What I hear about from you is all the fun times, amazing things to learn, deep connections, healing, and fucking that happens. You are much better at letting me know that part. I hear from you your defenses but not your explanations. I am writing this because I want more. I want you to actually show me that you have my back.

I understand that change is slow. That there are changes afoot. I understand that you may feel there is important strategy to being as quiet as you are. But I am writing to remind you that in the meantime, I need you to show me that you respect the very real issue of transwomen’s lives. Change may be slow, but I need to know that it is nonetheless coming as fast as is possible. Right now I don't believe that.

I want to say, I am deeply disinterested in shame or guilt (although I do accept apology). I am interested in sharing strategy and in developing new tactics. I am interested in action. I have an enormously hard time leaving behind the base politics of "going" or "not going": it still feels a little like treason to me for people to just go and not address the complications. This letter is my attempt to move forward: Attending the festival is not, necessarily, the issue. Attending while treating trans issues as a side note is what feels so hard. My body and my struggle are not side notes for me, but I am not the one who can change this festival. This shift, more present and possible than ever, starts with you.

I am not, necessarily, asking you to not attend. I am asking you to answer, with action that I can see, this: How is this more than just a party in the woods? What does it mean that you can go and I cannot? I cannot forget that my body is not valid there. You cannot remain silent with me about this and expect me to trust you.

I am asking you for proactive communication. I am saying that by the simple act of going to this place, you are engaging this issue of trans inclusion. So please stop feeling funny and being mostly quiet about it. Please restrain yourself from feeling defensive and instead engage me on this before I have to engage you again. That may not involve calling me to discuss this. I am asking you to show me you are my ally. I am asking you to speak up. I am asking you to make transwomen visible in this place where we are made invisible. I am asking you to be loud and loving and creative. I am asking you to rock the boat. I am asking you to prove me wrong: find many ways to show transwomen that we are welcome there.

I hear many people who attend are in support of trans women attending, but I do not feel welcome. The culture of separatism amongst the organizers and the legacy of this bigotry are much stronger than the words “I really think most people would want you there.” This is not your fault, but if you are going to go there and remain close to me, I am requesting that you make it your issue in a much more visible way.

Please do things while you’re there that show me that you really respect my body. My life. My womanhood. Please let me know about them. Please be willing to push harder. Please show me I can trust you to have my back. Please, if you’re willing: stand up, step it up, and be a louder ally. I do not want more antagonism: I am not asking you to hate MWMF. I am asking you to love me as much as you love this festival. I am asking you to love us both. Loudly.

Truly,
Annie Danger