One of the things I'm getting a little tired of as a proud native Texan and native Houstonian is the increasing level of anti-Texas hateraid. Whether it's peeps chomping liberal portions of Hater Tots because of Beyonce's continued success, multitalented Jamie Foxx grabbing an Oscar and making noise in the music business, or Texans having prominent roles in sports, business and government, the hate is getting to noticeable levels.
I suspect that much of the root cause of it stems from the idiot we have in the White House. But news flash for y'all, George W. Bush was born in New Haven, CT. He is a Connecticut Yankee who resides at a pseudo ranch he bought just before the 2000 campaign started in a pitiful attempt to emulate LBJ. (He's not as smart as LBJ) The only Texans who claim his butt these days are right wing radical neo-cons and so-called Bible-thumping 'christians'.
That anti-Texas hate has even materialized in the transgender community. Last year I was about to do an appearance on Ethan's Internet radio show when the previous guest started bashing Texans. I had to spend a few minutes pointing out that much of the history of the 20th century in the United States and the world has Texans as major players in it or has Texas connections. The Roe v. Wade case has Texas roots, and so does the Lawrence v. Texas one that toppled sodomy laws in this country.That pattern is especially true in the transgender community. Some of the early leaders like Phyllis Frye, Sarah DePalma, and Jane Ellen Fairfax were Texans. That continued into the new millennium with myself, the late Brenda Thomas and Vanessa Edwards Foster stepping up to leadership roles in various capacities. There are as of this writing five Texans including myself that have won IFGE Trinity Awards, and my win in 2006 capped a streak of three years in a row that a Texan had won it. (And for you folks from Dallas, all those wins have been by peeps residing in or from Houston.) Kat Rose, one of the transgender community's historians, writers and creative legal minds hails from the Lone Star State as well.
We Texans helped found GenderPac, It's Time America, ICTLEP (the International Center for Transgender Law and Employment Policy) and NTAC just for starters. One of the first early national transgender events was the Boulton and Park Society's Texas 'T' Party that was held in San Antonio before Southern Comfort grew to be the must attend mega convention it is today. One of the nation's best gender clinics is in Galveston and has been around since the 70's.
Texans Christie Lee Littleton and Michael Kantaras were involved in legal cases that affected our people. Fort Worth resident Rochelle Evans' fight to transition on her high school campus garnered nationwide attention earlier this year and has made other transkids aware along with Crystal Vera that they can follow in their pumps.So the bottom line is that The Lone Star State, with three of the top ten cities in population in the US size wise inside its borders (Houston, Dallas and San Antonio) and being the second largest state in size and population, will continue to play a major role in shaping events in the transgender community and beyond for the foreseeable future.