Happy International Transgender Day Of Visibility

Today is the first celebration of what founder Rachel Crandall hopes will be an annual event, the International Transgender Day of Visibility.

One of the problems I've long complained about that has had serious repercussion with trans people's levels of acceptance in the African-American community and beyond is our lack of visibility.

Well, the International Day of Visibility wants to to change that.

Too many of us transition, then go into hiding because of the intolerance of society. We grapple with shame and guilt issues instead of being proud of who we are and having the courage to stand up and say 'I am a human being who happens to be transgender, and you will not disrespect me'

Maybe if for one day, we can get transpeople to stand up in large numbers where they don't feel alone, that will subsequently happen.

The International Transgender Day of Visibility seeks to make transpeople less of a mystery to cis folks, point out that transpeople are all around you in your daily lives and have played roles in shaping our culture and history.

This event is also an opportunity for the people who complain about the Transgender Day of Remembrance being 'too somber' to participate in an event that celebrates who we are. It's also another opportunity for our allies to stand in solidarity with us.

As the awareness of this March 31 day increases, it becomes better organized, gets more media attention and people have a year to plan events for TDOV 2011 there will probably be other things attached to the general framework of this day.

I can see future TDOV events with components such as panel discussions on our issues at various venues, trans specific coming out day ceremonies, trans themed pageants or teach ins about our history.

The possibilities and directions this day could take, especially when people put their unique cultural and international stamps on it are endless.

But I hope the overwhelming message that gets out on this day is that we exist, we're proud to be trans people, we are your sisters, brothers and family members.

I also pray that the other message resonating from this day is that as fellow human beings, we deserve to live our lives to the fullest and will not be deterred from doing so.

IFGE 2010 Capital Conference Rapidly Approaching

The 24th annual International Foundation for Gender Education conference is rapidly approaching.

It will take place from April 22 – 25 and is returning to the Alexandria Hilton at k Mark Center in Alexandria, VA

The winners of the 2010 IFGE Trinity Awards will be revealed, which is always of interest to me since I'm one of only three African-Americans who has won it.

The conference is open to the public and will be packed with informative seminars and presenters in addition to the Trinity Awards luncheon.

Here the link to the conference website for additional information about it, and we'll see if the TransGriot can add it to her events schedule.

Moni's Speaking At SUNY-Oneonta

At this moment the TransGriot is conducting her African American Trans 101 presentation in the Morris Conference Center - Le Cafe.

I'd like to thank Dr. Bambi Lobdell, the Women's and Gender Studies Department at SUNY-Oneonta, an all the people who made it possible for me to be up there today to discuss trans issues from an African descended perspective.

It will run until 9 PM EDT.

What's The Transgender Day Of Visibility?

By now, most people are aware of the Transgender Day of Remembrance that happens every November 20 to memorialize the people we've lost.

Over the years, there have been calls by some trans people to make the TDOR a more happy-happy joy-joy event, to which the founders and others have resisted. TDOR does serve an important function in terms of focusing attention on anti-transgender violence.

Rachel Crandall, the head of Transgender Michigan is one of the people who asked why couldn't the trans community or someone start an event that celebrates who we are?

Then she asked the question that led to the formation of this event, 'Why isn't that someone me?'

Hence the first annual International Trans Day of Visibility was born.

Rachel's vision for the Trans Day of Visibility is to focus on all the good things in the trans community, instead of just remembering those who were lost.

"The day of remembrance is exactly what it is. It remembers people who died," she said. "This focuses on the living.

While the event she's organizing will be Michigan centric, thanks to her Facebook page the idea is quickly spreading around the world and other local observances are being organized.

When March 31 rolls around on the calendar, it will lead to an event that we hope will garner just as much or more attention than the TDOR has.

Rudd Transgender Scholarship Deadline Set For March 1, 2010

TransGriot Note: Announcements from the Houston Transgender Unity Committee. Been a long time (2001) since I attended a Unity Banquet.

The Houston Transgender Unity Committee has set Monday, March 1, 2010, as the postmark deadline for applications for the Peggy Rudd Transgender Scholarships. The nonprofit organization will award two scholarships for $1,000 each at the annual Houston Transgender Unity Banquet on Saturday, May 1.

Transgender individuals who are attending or will attend accredited institutions of higher learning are eligible. The application is available at www.htuc.org.

The year 2010 will mark the fifth anniversary for the Peggy Rudd Transgender Scholarship Fund, established by educator and author Dr. Peggy Rudd and her spouse, Melanie Rudd.

The Houston Transgender Unity Committee formed in 1990 to bridge the gap between the groups and organizations representing transgender persons in the Houston area, to promote unity among the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, and to educate and advocate with open and honest advocacy. Representatives from Houston-area transgender groups serve on the Unity Committee.

Tickets will soon be available for the Unity Banquet, which is one of the premiere single-night transgender events in the nation. Proceeds from the ticket sales support the Rudd Transgender Scholarship Fund. Tickets are $50 in advance ($60 at the door) and can be purchased on line through the Unity Committee website (www.htuc.org). The banquet will be held in the Grand Ballroom of the Sheraton Brookhollow.


Unity Banquet sponsorships are available at a range of levels, from $75 to $2,000 to underwrite the Brenda Thomas Education Table, named in honor of Thomas (1943-2006), the transgender and HIV activist and educator and longtime Unity Committee executive director. Interested individuals and companies may contact the committee at www.htuc.org.

A silent auction held during the banquet will raise additional funds to support Unity Committee programs.

In addition to the Unity Banquet and the Rudd Scholarship Fund, Unity Committee programs include the Brenda Thomas Memorial New Year's Day Social, Unity Month, Pride month activities in June, and Transgender Day of Remembrance in November. Unity Committee representatives frequently speak to schools, businesses, and organizations.

Transgender Rights Forum On U of L Campus Tomorrow

TDOR Week tends to be a busy one for me with requests for my presence at various events escalating during that period. Word to the wise-for those of you who want me at your 2010 TDOR events, get to me early.

For those of you in the Louisville area, you'll get to see the TransGriot, Chris Hartman of the Fairness Campaign and other local GLBT leaders at a Transgender Rights forum tomorrow on the U of L campus.

It will take place in the Ekstrom Library's Chao Auditorium from 3:00-4:15 PM.

I'm honored to be taking part in this discussion and I'm looking forward to seeing some of you peeps tomorrow in what I expect will be an informative and interesting discussion.

And yes, I will be looking fly and in full diva mode for that discussion.

Why Do We Need Transgender Day Of Remembrance? Well…

TransGriot Note: My latest post for Global Comment

If you’ve been perusing my home blog and other transgender-themed blogs across the Internet recently, you may have noticed the TDOR acronym pop up, and wondered what it means.

TDOR stands for the Transgender Day of Remembrance. For the last eleven years, every November 20 we memorialize and call attention to the people we’ve lost due to anti-transgender hatred and prejudice.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance began in the wake of the November 28, 1998 murder of African-American transwoman Rita Hester of Boston, MA. Rita’s murder was the impetus for San Francisco based activist Gwen Smith to begin the Remembering Our Dead web project and organize a vigil in San Francisco on the one year anniversary of Rita’s murder.

The 1999 San Francisco vigil quickly morphed into an event that was observed on November 20 in various locations around the world. This year in addition to TDOR events taking place in numerous locales across the United States and Canada, TDOR events will take place in Australia, England, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Malaysia, The Philippines, The Netherlands, Norway, Scotland and Sweden.

The Remembering Our Dead Web Project not only compiles the names of people from around the world who have lost their lives to anti-transgender violence, it keeps statistics as well.

There are non-transgender people on the list such as Nashville’s Willie Houston. He was murdered in 2002, because the shooter considered him gay after seeing him hold his fiancé’s purse. This resulted in a verbal parking lot altercation near the General Jackson steamboat that tragically ended in death.

Pfc. Barry Winchell is another non transgender person on the list. In the early morning hours of July 5, 1999 the Fort Campbell, KY was killed because he was dating a trans woman, Calpernia Addams. That story is told in the movie “Soldier’s Girl.”

At this year’s TDOR ceremony we’ll be adding Michael Hunt’s name. He was murdered along with his transgender girlfriend, Taysia Elzy

The core part of any TDOR service is reading the list of names of people we lost from the time after we held the previous year’s event to the current one. As that list of names is read, a candle is lit in remembrance of that person.

Sadly, according to Ethan St. Pierre – who compiles the statistics and in 1995 lost his aunt Debra Forte to anti transgender violence – we will be lighting candles for 117 people. One of the other glaring statistics that Ethan points out is that 70% of the Remembering Our Dead list is made up of trans people of color, and that pattern sadly continues with the people we are memorializing for 2009.

Read the rest here.

TDOR 2009 Event List

If you're looking for information about a TDOR event near you, click this link.

Ethan St. Pierre is also compiling and updating it as he gets info from the various groups planning Transgender Day Of Remembrance events.

So make his life easier and E-mail Ethan at radicalguy@gmail.com with your event information as soon as you finalize the details.

You can also follow the TDOR event updates on Twitter.

I came from a planning meeting last Friday for the Louisville TDOR and I'm happy to see the event begin here to grow into a community one. This is the seventh year we've had them in Da Ville.

We're proud to have had the wonderful people at the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary's Women's Center be the lead organization and host of many of the events since we started observing TDOR's here in 2002.

The local gender group Sienna is also involved and for the first time this year we have input from U of L's LGBT Services, U of L campus GLBT groups and the Fairness Campaign.

The TDOR November 20 date is rapidly approaching. These are the people we are memorializing this year and I pray that list doesn't grow between now and November 20.

Ai Haruna Wins 2009 Miss International Queen

The 5th Annual Miss International Queen pageant came to a successful conclusion Halloween night after a one year hiatus due to last year's Thai political crisis.

The title however, will be leaving the Land of Smiles.

Japan's Ai Haruna beat out 24 contestants from several nations competing for the coveted 2009 Miss International Queen title. The host Thais had to settle for homegirl Kangsadal Wongdusadeekul being the first runner up. Brazil's Daniela Marques was second runner up.

The 37 year old Haruna is a television personality in her homeland and also captured the Angel of Talent competition contested on October 28. Another Japanese contestant, Beni Tukishima took second place while Thai homegirl Sorawee Nattee grabbed the third place spot in the pre-pageant talent competition.

Transwomen from twelve nations and Puerto Rico took part in this year's pageant which not only garners international attention, but is treated by the Thai with the respect and seriousness they give a pageant involving ciswomen.



Congratulations to Ai Haruna, Miss International Queen 2009

Lighting A Candle

Today is November 1, and the solemn countdown has begun towards our observance of the 11th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.

In twenty days in locations all over the world, transpeople and our family members, friends and allies will stand in solidarity with us and help is mourn the people who tragically fell victim to trans hate violence.

We will read their names, light candles for them, shed some tears, pray for them, and resolve to make sure that what happened to them and their lives will never be forgotten.

This is not a happy-happy joy-joy event, nor should it be. It is a memorial.

But after we are done memorializing our fallen transpeeps, we need to be doing some hard, solid thinking about what we can do in our various locales to stem the tide of violence. We need to cooperatively work together with each other and our allies to stop the madness.

The candle is a symbol. When lit, it brings immediate light to a darkened room. When we began to draw attention to the horrific levels of violence visited upon our community, we shed light on that problem and sparked the national and eventual worldwide discussion and effort to combat the problem.

While it doesn't bring back the people we've already lost, what the TDOR does do is far more important. It gets the greater society to think about and focus needed attention on our community and realize we are human beings, too.

It hopefully will also move them to act in concert with us to end the scourge of anti-transgender violence that plagues it.

The 2009 Amazing Philippines Beauty Winner Is....

Bem Bem May Razada!




The 5th annual Miss International Queen pageant is currently being contested at Tiffany's in Pattaya, Thailand as I write this with 24 contestants from around the globe vying for that increasingly prestigious crown in the trans pageant world.

But the other trans pageant that garners international attention, Amazing Philippine Beauties held its finals in Manila on October 23.







There are transgender pageants like the Queen Of Cebu one PinayTG mentioned on her blog across the Philippines. Miss Amazing Philippines in six years has become the most coveted title of them all.

It not only carries a large cash prize to the winner but a contract to work in the Amazing Philippines Show, a cabaret show similar to the trans ones done in Thailand.

Congratulations to the new Amazing Philippines Queen for 2009 and may she have an enjoyable reign.

The Miss International Queen Pageant Is Back!

After a year's absence due to political turmoil in Thailand, the 2009 edition of the Miss International Queen transgender pageant will finally take place.

The pageant has garnered international media attention in its short existence and was missed by contestants and pageant fans alike.

The cool thing about this pageant and the Miss Tiffany's Universe one, which is reserved for Thai transwomen only, is that the winners of these pageants are treated with the same respect and attention as the ciswomen who represent Thailand in the Miss Universe and Miss World competitions.

There was a kick off press conference held October 2 in Bangkok for this 5th anniversary edition of Miss International Queen, which has become a prestigious title in the trans pageant world. The winner receives $10,000 USD plus prizes, and Tiffany's management reported they received 68 applications around the world from potential contestants interested in competing in this year's edition of Miss International Queen.

It was whittled down to the 25 contestants from 15 countries who will journey to Pattaya and Tiffany's Show Theatre October 26–31 to battle for the crown

2009 NE Trans Pride March And Rally Today

I was one of the speakers at the inaugural event last year Northampton, MA and had a blast.

I got to enjoy the New England hospitality of some old friends, make some new ones, give a speech in front of 1000 people and squeeze in a side trip to the Basketball Hall Of Fame.

The flight home did get a little scary, though.

I was happy to hear that the second annual version of the NE Pride March and Rally will be taking place once again in Northampton as I write this.

It starts with an 11 AM march and ends with a rally that will conclude at 5 PM EDT

Two of the speakers on the program are my old friends Louis Mitchell and Ethan St. Pierre.

Hope y'all have some great (and cooler) weather for it, an even larger crowd and another successful event. Sorry I couldn't be there, but hope I am blessed to make it back in your neck of the woods next year.

Miss Continental 2010 Is....

The Miss Continental Pageant is held every Labor Day weekend in Chicago and is one of the premier transgender pageants in the United States.

Y'all know I love watching pageants, but with all the stuff going on in my own life and breaking news last month I just realized I didn't do my annual post to tell you loyal TransGriot readers who won.

Well, 33 contestants hit the stage at the Park West Theater for the 30th annual edition of the Miss Continental pageant wondering if 2008-2009 queen Tulsi would be crowning them as her successor.

It's serious business, peeps. This pageant is not only the most coveted title in the trans pageant world, it comes with a $7,000 cash prize and 35 guaranteed performance bookings.

As usual, it was a hard fought couple of nights and the judges, which included my Houston homegirl and 1999 Miss Continental queen Tommie Ross had a tough task in selecting this year's winner.

But after the talent, evening gown and Q and A was done and the judges scores were tabulated, we finally arrived at the moment the Miss Continental Pageant world, all the peeps who participate in the pageant world and interested parties were waiting for--who would be the new Miss Continental queen for 2009-2010?

The envelope please.

The winner is...Armani Stevens!



The Florida based Armani has been trying for a decade to win this coveted crown. Armani was fourth runner up in 1998 and was an agonizingly close second runner up in 2002.



She finally got it with a talent number echoing the late Michael Jackson.




Her win is a testament to having the determination and persistence to achieve a goal.

I've been observing the pageant since the late 90's, and I can only imagine how frustrating at times it's been for her.

I'm happy that she's finally achieved that personal Holy Grail and is now Miss Continental 2009-2010.

Congratulations Armani. It's been a long time coming, and may your reign be a personally satisfying and successful one as well.

Ethan Needs 2009 TDOR Info

The 11th Annual Transgender Day Of Remembrance will take place on November 20.

Ethan St. Pierre, who now compiles the stats and coordinates the information for the TDOR is asking for your help.

If you are hosting or having a TDOR event on your campus or in your city, please send him the information about your event so that he can update the TDOR website.

You can send your TDOR event information to Ethan at Radicalguy@gmail.com

These are the people we will memorialize for this year's TDOR. Bear in mind that the list could unfortunately grow before the cutoff date.