No Joke-NY Media Fails To Read AP Stylebook

You know, how hard is it for media people to grasp this concept?

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.

Once again, the media fails in a story involving a transwoman, and this time it happens in our country's so-called media capital.

And it's not like you media peeps don't get enough practice in getting stories on trans people right. Every two days somewhere on the planet a transperson is murdered. Every now and then transpeople make the news for something other than being a murder victim, and you still frack the pronouns up.

Amanda Gonzalez-Andujar was a 29-year old trans woman who was found stabbed to death in her Queens, NY apartment. Her apartment had been ransacked and much of her possessions destroyed. A man she recently began dating is suspected of committing the crime.

And guess how the New York Times and other NY newspapers initially identified Ms. Gonzalez-Andujar? By using her old name and calling her a 'man'.

They've corrected the stories, but it's still infuriating to have to say the same crap over and over about a concept that elementary school kids get.

Laverne Cox VH1 Interview

TransGriot Note: Here's an interview featuring my sis Laverne Cox talking about her new reality show 'Transform Me' and other subjects.

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

Trans Does Not Equal White

One of the things that continues to fascinate the public is documentaries and interviews with trans people.

Last weekend CNN rolled out the Anderson Cooper Chaz Bono interview and the Susan Stanton documentary to boost those television ratings and clock those advertising dollars.

Can you guess what group was NOT represented in this smorgasbord of transgender programming?

Can you say trans people of color?

While people are fond of saying the trans community is a diverse bunch, you couldn't back that statement up by the monochromatic programming that was being offered last weekend,

White transpeople were once again predominant as the faces of the transgender community while prominent transwomen of color's phones continue to remain silent or they fail to receive e-mail from the producers of these shows.

Maybe it escaped you documentary or news feature producers that 13% of the United States population is African American, 15% of it is Latino/a and 4% of it is Asian. The 2010 census that's currently being conducted will confirm that our shares of the US population are increasing.

Contrary to all the vanilla flavored trans programming that dominated your television sets last weekend, there are African descended, Latino/a and Asian transpeeps successfully living their lives inside the United States.

If you bother to look or even talk to us, we too have compelling stories to tell beyond the stereotypical or the tragic trans victim.

But as has been the case for the last 50 plus years, when there's a documentary to be done on transpeople and you tune in, you can almost bet without even looking at anything but the preview for it that it will involve a white, middle to upper middle class transperson.

Attention media. Trans people come in all shapes, sizes, classes and ethnic groups. How about taking a moment to broaden the trans narrative to reflect that?

I doubt that the situation will improve before the May and July sweeps period either.

Boss Ladies

Y'all know my opinion about reality shows being a waste of television air time, but thanks to Toni at Dyssonance, she gave me the heads up about another upcoming one featuring transwomen of color.

The show is called Boss Ladies, and its premise is following five transwomen on their collaborative journey to launch a clothing boutique that features their fabulous breakout line.

Here's the website for the show. Nadia, Tempress and Londyn are the first three of the five ladies taking part with the other two yet to be determined.

There were video interviews for the initial three ladies, but they have been taken down for some reason.

Nadia's video




Tempress video




Londyn video



As I hear more about Boss Ladies, will pass the details along to you as well.

Transwoman and ACLU-NJ File Lawsuit Against Newark Po-Po's

As I have stated repeatedly over the years that this blog has been around, we African descended transpeople face some of the same issues our cis brothers and sisters do.

One of those issues is harassment by the po-po's. African-American transpeople are no different from our cisgender counterparts in that regard as Duanna Johnson getting assaulted in a Memphis police station made quite clear.

The news coming out of Newark that adds an exclamation point to what I'm stating here is transwoman Diana Taylor and the ACLU New Jersey chapter filing a lawsuit against the Newark Police Department.

The six count lawsuit alleges two officers stopped Diana Taylor on March 23, 2009 for no reason, mocked her gender identity and threatened her with retaliation if she filed a complaint.

“I kept asking, ‘What did I do? What did I do?’” Taylor said at a news conference today. “I’m coming forward now because this shouldn’t have happened to me.”

The incident unfolded while Taylor she was walking near Broad and Elliott streets. Two officers stopped her, making derogatory comments about her wig and alluding to a bet they had made about her gender, she said.

Taylor said one cop told her he didn't want to touch her "because I might have AIDS."

She said when she was initially stopped and asked to hand over her identification, one of the officer's yelled to the other "it's a man. You were right. I owe you $10!"

He said the officers began calling her a string of discriminatory names including "chick with a d---k," and "f----t."

Taylor was taken to a police station and frisked in a sexually intrusive manner, she said.

Finding no reason to detain her, two officers drove Taylor to her home and said they knew gang members in the neighborhood who would harm her if she filed a complaint against them, according to the lawsuit.

About a month later, Taylor was charged with littering and disorderly conduct, she said. The charges were eventually dismissed in court.

The lawsuit is the third the ACLU has filed against the police force in as many years, said Deborah Jacobs, the executive director of the ACLU’s New Jersey chapter. She called for a slew of department changes, including a way to submit civilian complaints online and an independent monitor to review the internal affairs division.

“(The administration) came in saying internal affairs was important, but we expect it to be run better than it is,” Jacobs said.

According to nj.com The Newark Police Department did not respond to requests for comments.

Taylor also filed an internal affairs complaint with the police, but it was not thoroughly investigated, said her lawyer, Neil Mullin, who added two eyewitnesses to the incident were never contacted.

Newark Police Director Garry McCarthy has previously said reforms have been put in place to improve the process of gathering and responding to complaints.

It seems as though this is a recurring problem in the Newark Police Department. Albert Cunningham, a member of the Newark Pride Alliance, said members of the local gay community routinely complain to him about police abuse. “We hear only the tip of the iceberg with filed cases,” he said.

It's also a issue that Amnesty International highlighted in a report entitled Stonewalled: Police Abuse and Misconduct Against Lesbian, Gay and Transgender People in the U.S. that was compiled about police harassment of transwomen. And as you probably guessed, transpeople of color have taken the brunt of the police harassment.

Will be keeping an eye on this case to see if Ms. Taylor receives justice for what was done to her.

It's incidents like this that negate the hard work of LGBT police liaison officers across the country and continue to reinforce the perception that when it comes to African-Americans and other people of color, Officer Friendly ain't so friendly after all.

Black Transwoman Telling Her Story On GSU Campus

Interesting video of a panel discussion at Georgia State University and a transsistah telling her story.

Black Transpeople Are Making Black History, Too

It's Day One of Black History Month. It's the time that we set aside to honor our past, celebrate the present and look forward tom our future.

As the child and godchild of historians I believe that every month is Black History Month, but I've already talked about that in a previous post.

What I wanted to do is focus on the Black History that is being made by people like me, transpeople of African descent.

Some of it sadly has been lost to us because of our invisibility, but there has been a surprising amount of it recorded in unexpected sources like EBONY, JET and Sepia Magazines.

Increasing numbers of blogs like TransGriot penned by African descended transpeople are helping to record the history that Black transpeople are making today for future generations and provide knowledge of role models that African descended transkids can look up to today.

Just like the overall story of our people, we have an interesting one to tell and it's still being written.

I'm more than a little tired of the erasure of the efforts and contributions that Black transpeople have made to the overall GLBT rights movement and making history in the context of living their lives.

We can't allow the contributions of Marsha P. Johnson, Miss Major, Alexander John Goodrum and countless others to just fade away. That's a travesty for our transkids who are growing up without knowing that history.

It's also important for cis African-Americans to realize that we trans African Americans are integral parts of the community, not tragic murder victims. We have people who are not only proud to be Black, but are fighting to have our human rights recognized at the same time we fight to advance the entire African American community.

So yes, it's important for cis African descended people to know who our three African American IFGE Trinity winners are. It's important for them to know that Marsha P. Johnson and Miss Major were part of the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion. It's important for people to know who Lorrainne Sade Baskerville is, or what Earline Budd has done to make the lives of transpeople in the Washington DC area a little brighter.

It's important to talk about the 1965 Dewey's Lunch Counter Protest in Philly being not only one of the first instances of a protest organized around trans specific issues. but being a predominately African-American production as well.

And just like I can tick off the top of my head who was the first African-American to do various things or head an organization, cis African-Americans need to know that Zion Johnson was the first African-American head of FTMI.

They need to be aware that Dr. Marisa Richmond was the first African American transperson to be elected a delegate to a major party convention, Dawn Wilson was our first IFGE Trinity Award winner in 2000, and Valerie Spencer was part of the first all transgender performance of the Vagina Monologues in 2004 among the other work she does in the LA area.

African descended people cis and trans need to be aware of Alexander John Goodrum being the founder and director of TGNet Arizona, one of the first statewide transgender organizations in the United States or Avon Wilson being one of the first people to go through the now closed Johns Hopkins Gender Program.

They need to know that NTAC, the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition was founded in 1999 with the help of African descended trans and intersex people and the first two chairs of the multicultural organization were African American and Afro Latino.

I've picked up the torch that writer Roberta Angela Dee left when she passed on in 2003. I'll only be able to carry it forward for a certain amount of time before I have to one day hand it off to my successor.

But while it's in my hands, I will do as much as I can to tell our story. It's one of my Prime Directives at TransGriot to document and talk about that history. Because if I don't do it, who will?

Contrary to what some people and our haters may think, African descended transpeople are not only part of the community, we're making Black history as well.

Memorial For Myra

Last night a memorial service was held for Myra C. Ical at the spot where her body was found in Montrose, H-town's gayborhood.

HPD is still looking for any information to solve this case.

Here's the Fox 26 news story about the memorial service..

Damn, Hometown Media -Read Your Fracking AP Stylebook!

51 year old transwoman Myra Chanel Ical was found dead in the 4300 block of Garrott near Richmond Avenue back on January 10 at 2 PM CST.

But you wouldn't know that based on the way Houston Chronicle reporter Dale Lezon wrote the story.

As per longstanding TransGriot policy, I'm going to do the media's work for them and write the story to conform with AP Stylebook guidelines for reporting on Trans individuals.


****

Police are trying to determine why a transgender woman was killed and left half-naked in a field known to police as a hangout for prostitutes and drug users near the Montrose area.

Myra Chanel Ical, 51, of Houston was found dead in the 4300 block of Garrott about 2 p.m. Jan. 10, police said.

She had numerous bruises and defensive wounds, as if she had struggled against her attacker. She was partially clothed.

Police said that the area where Ical's body was discovered is a well-known spot where homeless people camp and is frequented by prostitutes and drug users.

Investigators said they have no motive and no suspects in the death.

Ical was last seen wearing a black blouse, blue jeans and a black sweater.

Anyone with information about the case is urged to contact the Houston Police Department Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.

dale.lezon@chron.com


****

Now Dale, was that so fracking hard to do?

On another note, for those of you in H-town there will be a candlelight vigil memorial service January 25 at the spot where Myra was found at 6 PM CST.

Being Transgender In Prison Should Not Equal Torture

TransGriot Note: This a guest post from the remarkable Renee of Womanist Musings.

Maria Benita Santamaria was sentenced to prison after she was arrested with ten pounds of meth. Clearly, this is against the law, however; she did not deserve to be tortured, sentenced to a men's prison and denied medical care. Her story is not unique, in fact the prison industrial complex is not equipped properly to house transgender criminals.

Maria had been on hormones for two years at the time of the arrest and therefore placing her in a male prison qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment. The state has a responsibility to protect inmates from violence and a trans woman in a male prison faces an increased risk of violence and therefore they are often placed in solitary confinement.

Maria was placed in solitary confinement where she was denied hormone treatments and thus began to grow facial hair. According to the Washington Examiner she was even referred to as “it”. She was treated no differently than any other person in solitary confinement, despite doing nothing to earn this treatment other than being a trans woman. She was placed on lockdown 23 hours a day and allowed a shower once every three days.

The following is an excerpt from an interview with CSC's Craig Haney, a psychologist who's an expert on long-term solitary confinement.

First let me note that solitary confinement has historically been a part of torture protocols. It was well-documented in South Africa. It's been used to torture prisoners of war.

There are a couple reasons why solitary confinement is typically used. One is that it's a very painful experience. People experience isolation panic. They have a difficult time psychologically coping with the experience of being completely alone.

In addition, solitary confinement imposes conditions of social and perceptual stimulus deprivation. Often it's the deprivation of activity, the deprivation of cognitive stimulation, that some people find to be painful and frightening.

Some of them lose their grasp of their identity. Who we are, and how we function in the world around us, is very much nested in our relation to other people. Over a long period of time, solitary confinement undermines one's sense of self. It undermines your ability to register and regulate emotion. The appropriateness of what you're thinking and feeling is difficult to index, because we're so dependent on contact with others for that feedback. And for some people, it becomes a struggle to maintain sanity.

That leads to the other reason why solitary is so often a part of torture protocols. When people's sense of themselves is placed in jeopardy, they are more malleable and easily manipulated. In a certain sense, solitary confinement is thought to enhance the effectiveness of other torture techniques.

The prison industrial complex is overburdened and the US has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. Once someone is imprisoned, often the larger society fails to recognize their humanity and they are subject to treatment that is abominable. If the person in question is part of an already socially marginalized group, the negligence and cruelty often escalates. After six months in solitary, daily being misgendered, and denied medical treatment, is it any wonder that Maria Benita Santamaria contemplated suicide?

H/T The Bilerico Project.

Am I A Black Transleader?

Friday night I received an e-mail from a young African descended transwomen based on the East Coast who I have high regard for and admire as a trans activist. Her closest friend is another young and musically talented African descended transperson I admire as well.

Her e-mail floored me by expressing hers and the other transwoman's admiration for me. She continued to say in it she saw me as an inspirational role model and expressed her desire to have a long sit down chat with me that will result in us getting to know each other a lot better in 2010 and beyond.

I was shedding a tear or two after I finished it because I was having a bit of a crummy day before I received that e-mail.

Even though I've heard for a decade how much of a leader I am and a positive influence on the African American transgender community and the trans community in general, I kind of take it in stride because I have a cadre of close friends that ensure I never get 'big head syndrome'.

I also have my detractors and haters who at regular intervals let loose their negativity at me as well.

I just do what all people do that are thrust into leadership roles and ignore the haters. As an additional layer of defense against 'big head syndrome' I still filter whatever positive commentary that flows my way through the definition of Black leadership attributed to University of Maryland political scientist Dr. Ronald Walters.

The task of Black leadership is to provide the vision, resources, tactics, and strategies that facilitate the achievement of the objectives of Black people.

These objectives have been variously described as freedom, integration, equality, liberation, or defined in the terms of specific public policies. It is a role that often requires disturbing the peace. And we constantly carry on a dialogue about the fitness of various leaders and the qualities they bring to the table to fulfill this mission.

It is this definition of leadership I use as a measuring stick in terms of my own leadership qualities. I try to follow in addition to the Walters definition of Black leadership the sterling examples of leadership from Malcolm X, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the late Rep. Barbara Jordan from the home state, the late Rep. Shirley Chisholm, the late Coretta Scott King and a host of other leaders past and present.

I'm cognizant of the fact that people do look up to me and I never want to be a disappointment to them.

But yes, I'm also human as well. I wonder at times if I have the qualities necessary to carry out such a critical and important mission.

That mission, ladies and gents is getting our African descended cis brothers and cis sisters to recognize that their trans brothers and trans sisters have the same African heritage, history and cultural ties. Our issues as African descended trans people are the same as Black America's issues.

It is getting our cis brothers and cis sisters to accept that we aren't going away and for them to do their part in ensuring that our humanity and our human rights are respected and protected.

It is calling out and speaking truth to power to those people inside and outside the community who align themselves with the same white fundamentalist-GOP Dixiecrat Forces of Intolerance who opposed our 50s and 60's era march toward full equality and our constitutionally guaranteed civil rights.

It is also praising our allies when they do something right on our community's behalf and chastising them with Kingian love when they don't.

So do I have the right stuff to carry that mission out?

Well, the IFGE Trinity Award on the mantel is a big clue that I know a little something-something and have some skills to execute this mission.

But my fellow African American transpeople will let me know one way or the other soon enough.

How Can We Contribute To Society If You Won't Hire Us?

One of the things that's a recurring theme amongst transpeople no matter where we reside is job discrimination.

While some areas have tried to rectify the problem with local ordinances prohibiting such discrimination, there are wide swaths of the country in which we are not protected form the ignorance and bigotry of people when we seek employment and are subjected to outright disrespect when we do apply.

And too many times, it is transpeople of color who shoulder much of the trans discrimination burden, with the Zikerria Bellamy case in Florida only being the latest example of it.

If you peruse the TransGriot archives and the archives of other trans blogs you'll find various stories of transpeople being denied employment.

I followed the story of Izza Lopez back home who was hired by River Oaks Imaging, then had the job offer rescinded when the employer found out she was trans.

Rochelle Evans tells in her Dallas Voice interview of her attempts to find work being met with blatant discrimination in Fort Worth. That should hopefully lessen for her now that Fort Worth's anti-discrimination ordinance now covers trans people.

But the larger point is that as human beings trans people need food, clothing, shelter and health care. We have to have money to get that, and as people who wish to avoid entanglements with law enforcement for obvious reasons, we wish to get that cash through legitimate means.

So that leads me to pose this question once again. It's one the transgender community and our allies are impatiently waiting for an answer to from our lawmakers and the business community.

How can transpeople contribute to society if you won't hire us?

This BS Is Why ENDA Needs To Be Passed NOW!

The Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund filed a discrimination complaint today with the Florida Department of Human Relations against an Orlando McDonald's restaurant for refusing to hire 17-year-old transwoman Zikerria Bellamy.

On July 10, 2009, Zikerria applied online for a position as a Shift Manager or Crew Leader at McDonald's. On July 28, after managers at McDonald’s learned that Zikerria is transgender, she received the following transphobic voicemail message from one of the managers:



Needless to say Zikerria wasn't hired by the Mickey D's in question.

As matter of fact, why protect that Mickey D's? Let the whole world know the location of the Orlando McDonald's restaurant that serves up trans discrimination with its fries and shakes so it can be properly protested.

I'm damned sure not lovin' this.

But this is a prime example of why ENDA needs to be passed ASAP, not delayed. It has been delayed long enough.

Few protections exist for transgender people who experience employment discrimination. In 38 states, there is no law protecting transgender people from being fired because of who they are. Federal law similarly offers no job protection for transgender people.

Too many times African-American transwomen such as Zikerria and other transwomen of color bear the brunt of the job discrimination the community faces.

Despite being introduced in the House on June 24 and hearings being held in September, little action has occurred on ENDA since then.

Time for the trans community and our allies to start calling Capitol Hill and pestering congressmembers just like we did in 2007 after we were cut out of ENDA.

And here's the number to call Congress and get you started: 202-224-3121

Fortunately for Zikerria and other Florida transpeople, while no law explicitly addresses discrimination based on gender identity, administrative agencies in Florida have ruled that transgender people are protected by the Florida Human Rights Act’s prohibitions on sex and disability discrimination. The Competitive Workforce Bill, which would add gender identity and sexual orientation to the Florida Civil Rights Act, was introduced in the Florida legislature on November 20.

We can't be productive members of society if we can't get a job, much less stay employed in the first place because of somebody's naked transphobia.

May TLDEF be successful in getting justice for Zikerria and sending the message once again that discrimination against transpeople is bad for business.

Why I Am Out As A Transgender Entertainer

TransGriot Note: Sometimes you wonder as a blogger whether people are actually reading your posts. Well, got an e-mail from our guest poster that stated she loved one of my recent posts so much it inspired her to write this one.

Say hello to Alyras, singer, editor of the Art of Pop blog and our guest poster today.


Seven years ago, shortly after moving to San Francisco, I was having a conversation with a young [preop FTM (female-to-male)] man about social responsibility as an artist; relative to one's being queer and out. He thought it's very important to be out for others who do not have the capacity to be so; to enable them to have positive models. Accordingly, he felt that is was my duty to be open about who I am. I strongly, no, adamantly disagreed. "That's my business!", I told him. "I'm not ...obligated to anyone to be out. Besides, there are a lot of others who will take that step." "You're wrong", he retorted. "They're too afraid and, as a transperson, there's nobody like you who can stand up and communicate to the Black community." Neither of us budged from our positions on that matter.

I was living in stealth when we had that conversation and I felt (and continue to feel) that I deserve to be as closeted as I wanna be in order for me to not have to deal with rejection and heat from the world about my being a transwoman. It indescribably hurts to develop heartfelt relationships with people who see me and get to know me without the transsexual label [and all its relative terms], to then have them learn of that aspect of my being and to instantly feel their flow of Love to me shift to fear and rejection, to see the look in their eyes turn from genuine warmth and appreciation to genuine loathing, scorn and, sometimes malice - sunshine to darkness, frequently within 2-3 seconds, just because of that single thing.

Can you imagine that?? Can you imagine what it's like to be the recipient of that reaction?? If you can, even remotely, then understand, I have experienced that too frequently to even try to count. And I'm fortunate; my mama and daddy gave me great DNA and I can just blend in, with no prob. If I don't want people to know I'm transsexual, all I need to do is not disclose that info. In my business, it's not considered as good PR. In fact, historically (and in my personal experience), in BIG show business, being openly transgender typically has had an overwhelmingly detrimental effect on one's career; and I think BIG. So, why change my personal and quite comfortable status quo to out myself?

Well, the initial shift began after my friend and I had that conversation, which inspired me to join the Transcendence Gospel Choir, resulting in my being publicly out around the country as we toured, and around the world as a result of press and films about us. But, other than my original inspirational music and the Choir, I separated my sacred music life and profile from that of my secular music, (and I'm primarily a secular musician). From the Choir and other creative activities here in the City, many people in the local queer community knew of my being a transperson, but otherwise, it wasn't generally known. A couple of years ago, speaking as one of my elders, a friend of my mother's told me, "People have to get to know you to accept you. For them to know you, they have to see you and spend time with you." He was speaking of a specific community; naturally, I extrapolated his comment to include the entire galaxy, and I pondered what he'd said. For awhile.


Eventually, (and somewhat recently), I began coming across articles by journalists addressing the dearth of black transgender public figures. The Black community's rejection of us is insidious; it inspires us to hide out, to lay lowwwww. ~ (Particularly, the backstabbing of the Black church). Church goin' folks will just lo-o-o-o-ove all over you; hugs, blessings, smiles, positive words, invitations, introductions, the whole shebang - until they discover you're gay, lesbian and, God forbid, "don't go there", a transgender person. Then, it's ice, venom, curses and steel; and that's the real deal, from the pulpit and the pantry.

For most black people in America, church is important and that's typical Black church love towards transgender people; or, rather the denial of it. Faced with a life impairing and threatening denial, most black transgender persons either leave the church or keep quiet and lay lowwwww. That double denial, that of love and that of positive public role models results in scores of black, transgender youth suicides every year. There, but for the grace of God, went I.

Transgender people tend to be gifted and highly intelligent people; those kids take unusual degrees of talent, skill and capacity with them, lessening the entire world. (It will continue until some of us have the courage to just be real about who we are, to help our own community displace its collective negative baggage about transgenderism - which is completely accommodated by the words of Jesus Christ Himself, Matt. 19: 11, 12, though [as He Himself said] not everybody can accept it. - I'm glad He loved us enough to directly speak up for us!!)

A few days ago, I received an email from a fan with a link to a blog posting about transgender persons being completely left out of BET's "Who's Who In Black GLBT America". When I read it online, it was linked to an article about the sorrowful lack of positive, black transgender roles models, period. I decided to spend some time doing my own research into fellow, out, black transwomen musicians. After well over two hours, I could only find 5; all female, one singer, four singer/songwriters, the latter set all on Myspace, myself included, two of us here in the San Francisco Bay Area, three in CA. (Surely, there are more, but where are they?? ?? ??)

My mother's friend was correct. Years earlier, my young friend was correct. We're not seen, so we're not known, so we're not accepted and the hundreds of black kids out there who were born like us are not given the certainty that it's just okay to be themselves, as we are, and create, or teach, or design buildings, or lead companies or parent, or whatever we do, as we do.

Being out, as I am now, was a very difficult choice; like most people do with difficult choices, I finally made it when the cost of maintaining stealth became greater than the value, in the big picture. For me to have to dig and only find 3 other genuine expressions of professional, black, transgender musical talent in addition to my was an appalling slap in the face.

Minimal presence equals minimal support; in evidence, community failure - thus far, even the black, creative LGBT community has failed to acknowledge us. If we're not even acknowledged by our own community, how can the world EVER get to the point of being able to do so? (About 4 years ago, the fortune in my fortune cookie said something like, "People are looking for you. They just don't know where to find you.")

At some point, as the author of the blog wrote, we need to start makin' a noise, tooting our own horn as out, creative transwomen in order to let people know we're here and where we are, so they can hear us. Our community may deny us, be we'll not deny ourselves, or others the blessings that come from knowing us.

I confess, my initial choice to be out was primarily motivated by my not wanting to get post relationship rejection in my business dealings any more. That disclosure-rejection paradigm in business, after having spent perhaps years developing and tuning good relationships, is career devastating; (my career once evidenced that.) My attitude was, "If people are going to reject me, I'd rather have them do so before them getting into relationship with me and wasting my life force." Now, as it was with the Choir, it's motivated by Love.

Years ago, I asked God why He created transgender persons. His answer was, "To increase your families' capacity to Love." That being said, I joined the Choir. That being said, I'm an out transgender entertainer in order to increase my community's capacity to Love and, therefore, my country's and, therefore, the world's.

If my being out makes it possible for one little boy or girl, perceived now as a girl or boy respectively, to be loved by their family enough to be supported, [to get the therapy and evaluation and confirmation necessary for them] to have an optimally healthy transition, while also being enabled and even empowered to explore expressing their talents and gifts as the genuine persons they are (regardless of their age), my following the wise counsel of good friends will make my choice to be so a very worthwhile decision. Certainly, it assures me that those who do decide they want to partner with me to capitalize on my talents and resources are mostly likely going to be in my corner for a long ride, with no ejection seat. Either way, "it's not easy being green", but Love is furthered. Now, that being said, let me entertain you! :D

***

Anyone who has links to web sites of other black, transgender singer/songwriters, MtF or FtM, feel free to post them in the comments below. I'd like that.

Do I Ever Get Tired Of Being A Role Model?

One of the questions I get asked often by many people I come in contact with is whether or not I get tired of being a role model.

Nope.

It comes with the territory of being a trans activist for over a decade. Many times the first contact a person may have had with an out African descended transperson is me.

I'm cognizant of the fact that as one of three African-American winners of the IFGE Trinity Award, I represent not only myself but an entire community.

One of the things I complain about from time to time was the lack of African descended trans role models when I was growing up back in the 70s.

I also remember the indifference, being dissed or ignored by the trans girls who had transitioned at the time before me. They guarded the knowledge of what to do, where to go, who to see and how to do it like it was the secret recipe for KFC.

One of the things I promised myself when I began transition was that if I were in the position to mentor or give advice on trans issues to younglings I wouldn't be as shady as some of my trans elders were.

Then there's my personal desire to be the best person I can be. I want my appearance to be on point, my dealings with people inside and outside this community to be ethical, transparent and above board, and my word be my bond.

Call me old fashioned, but those are the values I live by.

There's a saying we had posted in several TBLG bars back in Houston that I agree with.

What I do reflects on you
What you do reflects on me
What WE do reflects on the ENTIRE GLBT community

By living those values, I not only help myself, I help an entire community as well.

Then there's simply me living for me. I have a certain image I want to project to the world. I was blessed with God given intelligence I'm not dumbing down for anyone. I was blessed with looks, height and a lean body build that hormones enhanced.

It also looks good in most clothes that I put on my fine brown frame.

I come from a long line of classy, smart, educated, spiritually tuned in and elegantly dressed women proud of who they are, cognizant of their history, proud of their sororities and proud to be Black women.

I grew up being surrounded by numerous examples of those types of Black women outside my family as well. Those women are the ones I seek to emulate as I continue to evolve and grow into the type of Black woman I want to become.

As I have said numerous times and will repeatedly say it until I'm six feet under, I wish to be perceived as a compliment to womanhood, not an embarrassment or a detriment to it.

I strive to be the friend who has my sister's back be they cis or trans, not sticking my claws in it. As a Phenomenal Transwoman, I'm proud of who I am and don't see being Black and trans as something to be ashamed of.

So do I ever get tired of being a role model?

Nope. Somebody has to for an AA trans community that hasn't had over its history a whole lot of them to point to.

Can A Transsistah Get Some Love This Holiday Season?

It's the start of the Christmas holiday season. From now until January 1 there will be nonstop Christmas music played on the radio airwaves and our favorite Christmas cartoons playing for a new generation of younglings.

We'll have Christmas trees and holiday decorations put up, and we'll endure a tidal wave of holiday themed television commercials seeking to sell us stuff.

Carolers will be out in force singing to old Christmas classics, and the seasonal cry for Peace on Earth and goodwill to your fellow humans will reign supreme.

But if I could sit on Santa's lap and get one Christmas wish granted for the holidays besides new shoes and having a supermodel's body, it would be this:

Can a transsistah get some love this holiday season?

For one month. can me and my transsistahs not hear about another transsistah getting shot, stabbed, killed and added to the Remembering Our Dead List?

Can me and my transisstahs go through this holiday season without being verbally attacked by faith based haters, the Catholic Church, conservative media or conservative Black megachurch preachers?

Can me and my transsistahs go through the holiday season without seeing transphobic comments on the Net every time a positive story highlighting a transperson gets posted?

Can me and my transsistahs go through the holiday season without seeing transphobic commentary from our so called allies as well?

Can a transsistah go through the holiday season without hearing snide comments as we are out and about in public from the willfully ignorant, disapproving family members, or ciswomen wallowing in privilege and disrespectfully declaring that we'll never be 'real' women?

For the holiday season, can me and my transsistahs get our fellow African descended people to open their minds about transpeople, open their hearts and welcome us with open arms into the community instead of denigrating and disrespecting us?

For the holiday season, can you come to the realization that me and my transsistahs are part of the diverse mosaic of human life, and we have much to offer to our various communities?

For the holiday season, can me and my transsistahs just be allowed to live our lives without additional drama?

And if you can manage to do all that and more for the holiday season, can you extend that to 2010 and beyond?

Thanks Again, Leona!

This is one of those 'today is a good day' moments.

I mentioned four months ago that I was given the honor of writing a commentary for my sis and blogger Leona Lo's wildly successful sold out play the Ah Kua Show.

I was surprised and flattered she asked me to write the commentary. What made it so much cooler was that she's one of the many people in the international trans community I have much love, respect and admiration for.

She's been doing a wonderful job in Singapore helping to educate and dispel myths about trans people in her homeland.

Now that I've shown my Singaporean sister some love, I'll move on in this post.

My mailbox had a surprise waiting for me earlier today.

I'd forgotten that Leona asked for my address a few months ago in order to send me a program from the show.

When Dawn handed me my mail, it finally clicked who it was from when I saw the Singaporean stamps on the envelope and eagerly tore into it.

Sure enough, there was my Ah Kua Show program.

Leona, thanks again for giving me the honor of writing that commentary and in a small way, be a part of that show. It was comforting to know that even though I couldn't be there physically, part of me was there in terms of my composed words in the program.

Aldine Nimitz Trans Student Sent Home

As you long time TransGriot readers know, I am a proud Houstonian and a proud Texan as well. Being trans doesn't make me any less a Texan except in the eyes of the Texas GOP and ignorant Lone Star Bible thumpers.

Houston is the largest city in the Lone Star State with over 2 million residents. It is a proud, diverse, international city poised today to possibly elect a lesbian mayor. But that diversity at times does not extend to my fellow trans people, as the Izza Lopez case I documented last year painfully points out.

One of the major reasons I left home in 2001 is because of the lack of transgender rights protection in my home state and Harris County. It figures that Dallas and Austin passed it not long after my relocation to Kentucky.

In the city of Houston, we're protected only if you're employed by the city of Houston or are working for a Fortune 500 company that has corporate policies protecting trans workers.

Got sent an email about this story by Stephanie Stevens, our esteemed Transgender News compiler.

It's a KHOU-TV 11 News story about Aldine Nimitz High senior O'Rhonde Chapman, another trans teen who is at home instead of getting her 'ejumacation' because of dress code drama.

Since the original story has violations of the AP Stylebook in it, per TransGriot policy, I'm rewriting the original Courtney Zubowski story to be more respectful to Ms. Chapman.


***

A Nimitz High School senior says she’s being discriminated against because of her gender presentation.

17 year old O’Rhonde Chapman says, “I wear women’s clothing every day”

But Monday was the first time Chapman wore a wig and stiletto heels to school. The principal told her to change her clothing or go home. Chapman was told she was in violation of the school’s dress code policy.

“I would like to be able to wear my hair and everything and still be treated the same and have an equal opportunity to have an education, as others do. I ought not be segregated or sent home because of what I have on,” Chapman said. “I am losing out on my education. That upsets me. That upsets me because I don’t go to school to be judged.”

A spokesperson for the Aldine Independent School District said this has nothing to do with discrimination. He says the student violated the school’s dress code. If she follows policy she can return to school. The district wouldn’t release other information about this issue because as of Monday afternoon they had not received permission to do so from the teen’s mother.

The Aldine ISD dress code states that the hair length for boys cannot extend below the bottom of a shirt collar. It also reveals that wigs are not acceptable as a cover-up for hair not meeting the dress code. Even so, civil rights attorney Randall Kallinen believes she shouldn’t have been kicked out of class.

“He’s wearing a wig, there’s no doubt about that,” Kallinen said. “And his hairstyle, his actual hairstyle conforms. So, basically, he fits the criteria for wigs because it doesn’t say anything about hair length of wigs.”

Chapman says she plans to stand by her decision and not return to school unless her hair goes with her.

“I believe in fighting for what’s right,” Chapman said.

TransGriot Note: Trans kids are transitioning at earlier ages and in elementary, middle school and high school. It's past time for school administrators and educators to wake up to the reality that transpeople are here and aren't going away.

That's your cue to come up with common sense rules and regulations that allow us to be our authentic selves and get an education at the same time.

Black Trans-Activist Lectures at Bryn Mawr

TransGriot Note: This is the article that appeared in today's Bi-College News, the student newspaper for Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges.

I had a great time talking to Kaori, who is an exchange student at Bryn Mawr from Japan majoring in journalism. We had an interesting discussion pre-interview about the developments for transpeople in Japan. Once again, deep appreciation for the invite and all the hard work that went toward making my visit as smooth as possible. I'm glad to hear that the students on campus enjoyed the speech and the discussion afterward.

Bi-College News (Bryn Mawr & Haverford Colleges), PA, USA
By Kaori Hatama

Monica Roberts, writer of the blog TransGriot, gave a lecture at Bryn Mawr Tuesday about transgender issues from an African-American perspective.

Roberts, 47, was the third African-American transperson to receive International Foundation for Gender Education Trinity Award in 2006, the "second highest honor” award in the transgender community.

“I’m not just any old blogger,” Roberts said. “I have been a witness to and a chronicler of transgender history.”

Roberts’ blog, TransGriot, contains “news, opinion, commentary [and] history” about the world from her point of view.

“Trans people of color do face higher violence than the Caucasian trans people," said Nicole Matos ‘10, head of the Women’s Center and the organizer of this lecture. "[It] has not been spoken [about] a lot on this campus, so I thought it great to invite a trans activist of color on to campus. I first thought of Monica Roberts because I am a big fan of her blog TransGriot.”

Roberts talked about the history and the people that had not been discussed in GLBT circles—mainly black trans people.

She said the attention to black trans people has been ignored by the mainstream media until recently and explained how hard it was for her to find a role model as an African-American trans person in the 1970s.

“Our problems as African-American trans people mirror those of our parent society," she said. "The only thing tougher than being a black man or black women in this society is being a black man or a black woman in this society with a mismatched body.”

“It was interesting that there is a microcosm of U.S. society in this trans gender community,” said Michelle Smith ’12 who attended because she is part of The Women’s Center and a columnist on gender and sexuality for the college news.

“Like in the gay community, the figurehead [in the trans community] is white, upper middle class, male cisgendered but gay,” she commented.

However, Roberts also pointed out recent positive developments in the black trans community.

“We’re finding more acceptance among our families, ciswomen and fellow
African-descended people,” she said.

She thinks her TransGriot blog and other blogs like hers have been succeeding in revealing the myths and lies that had been prevailing wisdom.

“I really enjoyed it," said Christine Head ‘11. "It was refreshing to hear that perspective and I liked the fact that she was really earnest about everything.”

Head, who is a CDA, attended the lecture because she felt minority issues such as differences in race, socioeconomic status or gender identity are forgotten in general Bryn Mawr dialogue.

“Basically, we are human beings too. That is the major lesson that I wanted to impart. Not just for them [students], but to everybody they come [in] contact with. For instance, when they are in a one-on-one conversation with someone who is making derogatory comments, hopefully they would take some of what I pointed out in the lecture and go ‘Hey that’s not the case,’” Roberts said.

After her lecture, there were some time for questions.

“There are some brilliant young minds that are matriculating on this campus that [they] are going to do some great things,” Roberts said.
“The fact that they are broadening their minds by taking the time out of their busy schedules to listen to our stories and listen to our issues really gives me great hope for the future.”


Copyright © 2008 The Bi-College News Online. All rights reserved.

http://www.biconews.com/?p=20351
Posted By eheld On October 28, 2009 @ 12:29 am In News

Amanda Milan Anniversary

black and white photo of Amanda and Nicole by Brian Lantelme.


Today is the seventh anniversary of the brutal killing of Amanda Milan.

In the early morning hours of June 20, 2000 25 year old Amanda met some friends at a McDonald's on the corter of 8th Avenue and 43rd Street. Around 4 AM she left and crossed 8th Avenue as her friends watched to catch a cab back to her Central Park West apartment in front of the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

It would be the last time her friends got a chance to hang out with her.

She encountered a 20 year old man by the name of Dwayne McCuller. He saw the tall, buxom and beautiful African-American transwoman pass him and for whatever reason made a derogatory comment that escalated into a heated verbal exchange.

"Why would you say something like that to me? You don't even know me." she replied to the initial insult.

McCuller reportedly shot back, "I know what that is between your legs, you're nothing but a man. I'm going to shoot you."

Milan evidently replied, "Don't say you're going to shoot me. You want to fight me? Fight me like a man."

"Get away from me, you faggot," McCuller said, according to Milan's friends.

That exchange was typical of Amanda's feisty nature. She was a transwoman proud of who she was and didn't take crap from anybody. She was born Damon Lee Dyer in Chicago in 1974, moved to New York and transitioned in 1992. She was well-liked in the New York transgender community and often helped people down on their luck. The media played up the jet-setting escort aspect of her life but ignored that she had dreams of becoming a fashion designer.

According to a June 20, 2001 Salon.com article, her friend Patra, who is a transwoman of Jamaican descent explained Amanda's guiding philosophical principles. "Her philosophy was, ameliorate yourself from mental slavery, stand up and be who you are, play that role," said Patra. "She said all of us have an abiding reality and death is the only judgment on how a life is lived. She believed there is no justification in living a life of lies if deep down in your heart you know who you are."

Six months earlier she was lamenting the deaths of Kim and Simone, two of her closest transwomen friends. They'd been tight for 10 years, and Kim was found dead at the foot of a cliff in Australia. Simone was thrown from a fifth floor window a few months after she left New York and moved in with a man in San Francisco. She made the statement that 'things happen in threes' reflecting the belief in African-American culture that deaths occur in clusters of threes, fearing that she was next.

That statement turned out to be prophetic.

She headed to a row of cabs in front of the Port Authority Terminal after the verbal exchange. McCuller was told by 26 year old Eugene Celestine that he had a knife in his possesion which he handed to McCuller. He ran to catch up with Amanda and slit her throat. It severed her jugular vein, larnyx and cartoid artery and several people tried to stop the bleeding. With Amanda choking on her own blood she was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead at 5:10 AM.

One of the disturbing things that hasn't been confirmed but had become legend in the retelling of this story is that the cabbies, street vendors and other people in the vicinity that night allegedly cheered as McCuller cut Milan's throat.

The murder outraged and galvanized the New York transgender community. A memorial service was organized three weeks later for Milan on July 23 that was attended by 300 people. The crowd at the Metropolitan Community Church on 36th Street included fashion industry people, national and community transgender activists and the general public. (I'm still pissed to this day that I was unable to attend it).

Her friend Octavia St. Laurent (of Paris Is Burning fame) gave the eulogy. "Amanda was a transsexual. She was killed because she was a transsexual. Her neck was slashed and her story went unreported because she was Black and a transsexual,"

She had plenty to say. Her eloquent, heartfelt, angry and passionate eulogy earned her a standing ovation from the assembled crowd when she was finished. She spared no one in her commentary and indicted bigots, sexists, the ignorant, the media and the mainstream Black community.

"The Black community is the worst," St. Laurent said. "They who have suffered from prejudice in this country have treated us worse than any other people."

"Gays have rights, lesbians have rights, men have rights, women have rights, even animals have rights. "How many of us have to die before the community recognizes that we are not expendable?

McCuller was convicted in November 2002 of Milan's murder and sentenced to 17 years in prison. The New York transgender community was additionaly outraged that it wasn't classified by NYPD as a bias crime despite the fact that several witnesses heard McCuller hurl anti-transgender statements and threats to Milan.

David Anderson was convicted of hindering prosecution and received a sentence of one and a half to three years in prison for attempting to help Dwayne McCuller leave New York after the killing. Eugene Celestine, the man who handed McCuller the knife that was used to kill Milan went to trial in 2003.

Milan's mother Adaritha Dyer stated in a New York Amsterdam News interview, "Damon was the joy of my life. The Lord saw fit to bless me with a son of many talents. Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, my everything, the Lord looked down upon me 25 years ago and realized that I needed a gift and a treasure that I could enjoy and rejoice in. So he blessed me with you. I love you, and you will be my memory."

Milan's aunt, Diane McKee, who ironically lived several blocks away from the murder location, stated, "I gave him unconditional love."

Octavia was right when she stated at the memorial service, "Death will not be the last word for Amanda Milan." Amanda's death became like the Stonewall Riots in 1969, the spark that once again galvanized the New York transgender community into action.

May Amanda rest in peace.