Gun Hill Road Director and Actors True Transgender Metal

The New York Times ran an amazing article "When They Play Women, It’s Not Just an Act" By Erik Piepenburg about the phenomenal new release "Gun Hill Road"


"What sets this movie apart is it has transgender actors playing transgender roles" Erick explains "but this hasn't always been true."

Indeed there have been a multitude of cisgender actors cast in movies which misrepresented and in some cases where problematic for transgender and transsexual people.

Gun Hill Roads transgender lead actress Harmony Santana a NYC native was precisely who director was looking for. He understood from experience trying to cast cisgender gay actors there was a intangible ingredient missing. He learned from trial and error he needed a sister who shares our road less traveled and finding Ms. Santana was a gift from above! She was early in transition having come up the hard way still living in a homeless shelter for LGBT youth even as the movie was being filmed living the experience.

And complementing the metal of the movie is the NYT author's grasp on our issues as he as he explores the results that drag and exploative movies have had on the Transsexual and Transgender community by interviewing another well know transgender actress Laverne Cox.

My heart went to my throat as the author's article went further examining transgender roles by interviewing Israel Luna director of the movie "Ticked Off Tra##ys With Knives" which was intensely protested by the transsexual and transgender community.

It is a sad commentary that TO#WK movie would be held as a standard for transgender movies but in truth Erik did us a solid in contrasting that movies problematic senseless violent exploitation of transgender people with the true transsexual metal Gun Hill Road.

Hopefully in the future we will see many more movies like Gun Hill Road on our shared road less traveled.

Read the NYT article in full HERE.

Washington Blade article: Dear Moms So Sad your Daughter was killed Where the Tranny Whores Hang out

Its been just months ago that I called out the Washington Blade writer Lou Chibbaro Jr for erroneously presenting our opposition to HB235 as being led and organized by transphobic and homophobic hate groups.

The Washington Blades intent was to ignore the local poor transgender community and maliciously stigmatize us "out of state bloggers" as the enemy of equality, undesirable and unworthy. We were the only voice against gay oppression of trans people then and well, he's at it again.

Now they might have just as well called a slain transgender sister a whore in the same article they documented the mourning of her family and mother.

And the DC Trans Coalition is pissed. They are calling for fair minded people to respond with there article Fighting Biased Reporting After Tragedy

"Like many of you, we’re still reeling from last week’s tragic killing of Lashai Mclean. We were then especially appalled when we reviewed The Washington Blade’s coverage of the vigil held in Lashai’s memory, in which the reporter suggests — based on no evidence other than location — that Lashai was engaging in sex work at the time of her death."

They are asking for members to write and call the Washington Blade editor and express your dismay.

Kevin Naff
Editor, The Washington Blade
knaff@washblade.com

Video: Ashley Love takes over NAACP LGBT Town Hall "Sorry for the Misrepresentation of Trans people".

NAACP LGBT Town Hall Los Angeles CA: Activist Ashley commandeers the microphone after sending this mobile upload telling us "Wow, CNN's Don Lemon just said transsexual and transgender people are really just "gay" and are the "same thing as gay". Unbelievable!"

Don Lemon (far right) obviously aghast at having his gay assimulist patriarchal misrepresentation of transsexuals blown up by Ashley looks on at NAACP's former director Julian Bond in horror as to say HEY I thought it was an unspoken agreement, no transsexuals or dogs?



Ashley is humble in victory latter telling us "Julian Bond was kind and fair enough to let me speak at the end, though Don Lemon interrupted me and made excuses for his misinformation."

This episode of transsexual educating gays would have been completely unnecessary had the transgenders communities request for a transsexual panel member been heeded. Instead, it was this adacious act of advocacy that saved the day.

Ashley on her facebook page explained her frustration "Its amazing that Don Lemon, a man who"s been out for only a few months, has the audacity to tell me, a woman who has been seeing a doctor about her transsexual & intersex condition for FIFTEEN YEARS, who I am, & that I'm the "same thing as gay". Sorry Don, women like me are not here to drag impersonate singers on a gay club's stage for you to laugh at. I'm a woman, deal with it. And stop the miseducation, its harmful."

NAACP Holds First Lesbian Gay Town Hall Without a SINGLE Black Transgender Panelist!

Transgender and Bi community beware. You have been excluded from presenting as a panelist at the first ever LG(bt) NAACP conference despite concerted efforts by our sisters of color.

The NAACP is committing the same crimes perpetrated against us, not with physical violence but by dismissing us and ignoring our sisters as they attempted to stand up and be counted! Just like the police do.

Black transgender people are being slaughtered. Police ignore us. The NAACP ignores us.

A REPORT FROM THE NATIONAL COALITION OF ANTI-VIOLENCE PROGRAMS found in comparision to cisgender Lesbian and Gay people that 44% of LGBTQH murder victims were transgender women, transgender people of color were 2 times as likely to experience assault, 1.5 times more likely to experience intimidation, were almost 2.5 times more likely to experience discrimination.

Transgender survivors experienced higher rates of serious injuries (11.8%) and that 75% of transgender men and 20% of transgender women did not receive needed medical attention for their injuries compared with a overall avg of 15% of Lesbian and Gay people.

Transgender women were the least likely to report to police. 25.4% of transgender women did not make a report. Transgender people of color reported higher rates of indifferent police attitudes. 48.3% of transgender people of color reported that police attitudes were indifferent, compared with 7.7% of non-transgender white survivors.

Police were more likely to arrest offenders when survivors were gay non-transgender men. People who identified as gay, largely gay non-transgender men, made up 69% of the total amount of people whose offender was arrested.

Non-transgender men were majority of offenders (NOTE: sexuality of offenders NOT defined). Non-transgender men were 76.1% of offenders in 2010, and 23.8% of offenders were non-transgender women. There was only one transgender hate violence offender recorded in 2010 (0.1%).

Who's committing these crimes? The demographic speaking for us and assimilating our culture at the NAACP Gay town hall!!

Candlelight Vigil for murdered transgender woman of color Lashai McLean

Yet another transgender woman of color slain.

A candlelight vigil will be held at Saturday, July 23 · 7:00pm - 9:00pm at the corner of 61st and Dix street NE.

From the facebook vigil page:

"Unfortunately, yet another senseless act of cruelty against a member of the LGBT community has happened again in DC. This time the victim was identified as 23 year old Lashai McLean of Northeast, DC.

McLean was gunned down on the 6100 block of Dix Street, NE in the early morning hours. There was a second person with her, but all accounts have this person escaping the attack. Police state that they are still trying to determine a ...motive. However, the LGBT community believes that the attack was based off of the fact that McLean identified as a transgender woman.

McLean was highly active within the LGBT community. She spent many days on the premises of Transgender Health Empowerment (T.H.E.) and was known by most of the staff. It is coincidental that the site of her murder was in the same neighborhood T.H.E's Wanda Alston House.

Mayor Vincent Gray issued a press release which condemned the murder of a member of the LGBT community. He also was quoted as saying "if the investigation concludes that this shooting was the result of bias based on sexual orientation or gender identity, MPD and my administration will work with this community to see that there is an appropriate response to this kind of violence, which cannot be tolerated."

A candlelight vigil will be held at the corner of 61st and Dix street, NE on Saturday, July 23rd at 7:00 PM. Please come out and pay your respects to this young woman lost. This event is being organized by Transgender Health Empowerment."

Facebook Vigil page.

The DCTC press release

Interactive World Map Showing Transgender Murders Since 2008

Screen shot of a map showing all reported transgender murders since 2008 updated in May 2011.

Click the map to open another window for the interactive map.



To the casual observer it would appear transgender people must have it pretty good in Russia and other places. This is because in those countries transgender murders go unreported.

link to the interactive map

Reading the Vancouver Pride Guide I could not find the word transgender or transsexual. Gay, queer, lesbian and drag out the ying-yang but transgender was not mentioned. Not even once.

This fact has has not escaped the notice of a outspoken transgender Vancouver resident, Tami Starlite, who then organized a "Trans Celebration & Liberation March"in protest of trans exclusion by the Vancouver Gay pride.


Seemingly ignorant of the Vancouver Gay Pride's elitist's dismissive exclusionary assimilation and of the transgender community Scott Blythe, general manager of the VPS when informed of the separate transgender event announced a transgender BBQ would be held. And what better place to show hide your solidarity with the transgender community than to have the BBQ inside the premise of the VPS offices!

Blyth told straight.com “We wanted to provide some sort of framework and some support for the trans community, to say, ‘We want to show that visibility’—on their our terms, not on our their terms,” Blythe said by phone.

No BBQ on the patio for TAMI.

Tami was vivid about this. She replied to my inquiry:

"The BBQ is more tokenism. People do not understand that by definition we are not part of mainstream society. GrrrrrOWL! We should not be - as I stated in my reply to the article. PRIDE has a history and it is all political and
VERY personal. I have a great admiration to those who do not work within the system. The
system is patriarchy....capitalist and very ...unequal. Enough of giving this shit show our energy.....time to move forward as a society....stagnate as we wallow in our privilege. Shame on the Gay & Lesbian community for allowing the trans and bi people to be token and erased.!!!!"

It may be just as well because transgender people might not have been allowed to march under there sign anyways. It seems any signage slightly political in nature will be a No NO.

Cross posted from The Transexual Menace

Kelli Busey PodCast on Forward Blitz Radio talks about Rick Perry AFA Day of Prayer

From BlogTalk Radio recorded July 11th "On August 6th, Governor Rick Perry will be holding a prayer event called The Response. Now...we don't care that a bunch of fundamentalists are getting together to pray for the country - that's the freedom that makes us unique. What we DO care about is the fact that he has teamed up with the American Family Association and a bunch of bigoted hateful people who are anti-gay and anti-every other religion.

Listen to internet radio with ForwardBlitz on Blog Talk Radio

In response to The Response, a protest will be staged - bet on it. Our guest on Monday will be Kelli Anne Busey, a journalist for Planetransgender and one of the organizers of this protest.

Rachael's Cafe Just a little place in Indiana free of Prejudice

Rachael's Cafe is a play that needs our help.

Why this play?
RACHAEL’s CAFÉ is first and foremost an intelligent, daring and entertaining piece of theatre, that brings to the theatregoing public a normally taboo subject in a refreshing and enlightening manner.

One thing that this play shows so clearly is that no matter how different some people may look or seem to us, our needs, our fears and our dreams are just the same.

With your support we hope to give the GLBT community an accessible platform to increase public awareness and understanding of Transgenders, gender dysphoria etc.
















Rachael's Cafe - The Play

ARE YOU A FACEBOOK TRANSGENDER NAME FAKER? Your account may be suspended too!

Is Facebook engaging in gender cleansing? The editor of Frock Magazine and founder of Gender Society believes she is a victim of Gender Cleansing!

You may know my editor, a trans woman by the name of Katie Glover? Well, her personal Facebook account was disabled on July 12th 2011. After inquiring as to why Facebook informed her by email she she was kicked off because she is a "faker" for not using her "real" name presumably meaning the name on her birth certificate! Whats more, there appears no way for Katie to contest her being deleted!

RU A FACEBOOK Transgender FAKER TOO?

Not using your legal name? Then you might also see this next time you try and log on to Facebook:

Katie posted this on the Gender society forum this morning:

"July 13, 2011 10:28:23 AM BST

I tried to post a status update yesterday evening and discovered that I was logged out of Facebook. Upon attempting to log in I received a message that said my account had been disabled. The reason given was that I was a faker because I had not used my real name. They didn't mention my birth certificate but they obviously meant that I had not used my official male name (ie the one on my birth certificate).


No warning was given and there was no way to appeal. In fact, I could not find any way of contacting Facebook at all.


I have done nothing wrong. My only crime is being a TG person. It took me years to build up all the contacts I had on Facebook and I used it every day to communicate with them as part of my work for this community and also for Frock Magazine. Losing Facebook is akin to losing my hard drive and everything on it. This is yet another serious blow for me and I'm not happy.


However, it could just be the thin end of the wedge. I would guess that the vast, vast majority of TG people who have Facebook accounts use their femme name rather than their male name. What are the implications of this for them? This action raises a lot of questions...


Have Facebook set a precedent by kicking me out?

Will we now see the bulk cleansing from Facebook of all trans people who refuse to use their male names?

Does this mean that Facebook is transphobic?

Have they just declared war on the worldwide trans community?

Over to you...

Hugs, Katie x


This post was edited by Katie Glover at July 13, 2011 10:28:23 AM BST"

As we all are aware many trans people do not use the name on our birth certificates. Many of use use pseudonyms or preferred names on facebook. Its just part of the transitional experience. Some find ourselves unable to transition past a certain point, some are happy at a transitional point that does not include legal name changes.

These are personal reasons and not are not offensive or illegal!

Take Action!

Join the Facebook page demanding they reinstate Katie Glover's personal account!

Sign the Change.org petition telling Facebook to reinstate Katie's facebook account.

Half Hour Drama Latino Trans Teen Caught Between. Kick Start THIS!

All that Makes or Brakes!

Love, adolescent hormones, church, family, politics and a trans persons NEED to BE Real.

What is Chris/tina? A Idea. A dream. A KickStarter project about OUR world that needs OUR money to become OUR lives for others to know!

From first time film maker Jorge Ortiz: Registered and copyrighted, "Chris/tina" is a scripted, half-hour dramedy series that I've created and developed.

"A teenage twin living in a machismo, middle-class thinking, Catholic based Latin neighborhood with his college all-American athlete brother and his politically ambitious mother is caught between the expectations of that world and with who he really is inside...a woman."

Help make this real by contributing to this KickStarter project.

Kelli Busey on Rick Perry AFA Prayer Meeting >>> The Blitz 7:00 PM Central

RICK PERRY - YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THE LAST OF THIS

Source forward blitz: On August 6th, Governor Rick Perry will be holding a prayer event called The Response. Now...we don't care that a bunch of fundamentalists are getting together to pray for the country - that's the freedom that makes us unique. What we DO care about is the fact that he has teamed up with the American Family Association and a bunch of bigoted hateful people who are anti-gay and anti-every other religion.

In response to The Response, a protest will be staged - bet on it. Our guest on Monday will be Kelli Anne Busey, a journalist for Planetransgender and one of the organizers of this protest.

From Kelli's blog:

Jewish, Muslim, Buddhists, atheists, liberals, and LGBT people, the AFA says YOU are NOT invited to pray with Texas Governor Rick Perry!

This is a clip from an AFA email explicitly disinviting all non Christians from the religious and political process.

"This is an explicitly Christian event because we are going to be praying to the one true God through His son, Jesus Christ. It would be idolatry of the worst sort for Christians to gather and invite false gods like Allah and Buddha and their false prophets to be with us at that time. Because we have religious liberty in this country, they are free to have events and pray to Buddha and Allah on their own. But this is time of prayer to the One True God, through His son Jesus Christ, who is The Way, The Truth, and The Life."

You can bet that Dennis, Nicole, and Kelli will have a lot to say about Governor Rick, those attending, and those excluded.

Listen on line at blogtalkradio.com/forwardblitz

The number to call is 424-675-8317 - join in the conversation, show your support, or just tell us how outraged you really are.

Some say we are radicals, leftists, communists, socialists, and anti-American because we believe in social justice, taking care of those less-fortunate, universal or single-payer health-care and the protection of human rights. But, as the radical right imposes its agenda upon the people of this country, we know that what we stand for is not only right - but the only thing that will stop the demise of the United States of America.

GUN HILL ROAD the BEST Transgender FILM you may ever SEE!

Nitty gritty real life ghetto transgender reality.

Source: imdb.com Starring Esai Morales (La Bamba, "Caprica") and Judy Reyes ("Scrubs"), and introducing Harmony Santana, Gun Hill Road will open theatrically on August 5, 2011.

SYNOPSIS: After three years in prison, Enrique (Esai Morales) returns home to the Bronx to find the world he knew has changed. His wife, Angela (Judy Reyes), struggles to hide an emotional affair, and his teenage son, Michael (Harmony Santana), explores a sexual transformation well beyond Enrique's grasp and understanding.

Unable to accept his child, Enrique clings to his masculine ideals while Angela attempts to hold the family together by protecting Michael. Still under the watchful eye of his parole officer (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.), Enrique must become the father he needs to be or, once again, risk losing his family and freedom.

Can a fathers fierce love for his family overcome his street-hardened ideas about manhood and end the vicious cycle controlling his life? Writer/director Rashaad Ernesto Greens first feature film is an intricate portrait of a family divided told with sensitivity, gentle humor, and a deep understanding of the environment that shapes its people.

Coming Soon: Easy standardized DMV Gender Marker Changes?

The clip to the left is from MOVE which is published by The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) a non-governmental, educational association representing the state and provincial officials in the United States and Canada who administer and enforce motor vehicle laws.

AAMVA states it's mission is to "facilitate communication and foster standardization among member jurisdictions concerning traffic safety, titling of motor vehicles, and licensing drivers."

Personally I think this is a wonderful concept! Imagine being able to renew a Texas license without having a clerk question your gender marker at the top of her lungs!






It would be nice next time I renew if that same loud clerk did not take offense like she did last time when I graciously asked to be served by someone else after having those experiences with her in previous years!

After seeing the above paragraph from the TX DPS communications director in "MOVE" and reflecting on the difficulties I have renewing my licence showing my correct gender I decided to tweet our office and see if they were reading MOVE. I'd also like to suggest the Texas DPS accept the NCTE/AAMVA educational offer.

I'll keep you posted.

AFA Email Confirms: Not Christian? Stay Away from Texas Gov. Rick Perry's Day of Prayer

Jewish, Muslim, Buddhists, atheists, liberals, and LGBT people, the AFA says YOU are NOT invited to pray with Texas Governor Rick Perry!

This is a clip from an AFA email explicitly disinviting all non Christians from the religious and political process. And don't presume to be a part of the prayer process that according to Rick Perry in the following video is a integral component of the political process.

Gov. Perry's Invitation to The Response from The Response USA on Vimeo.

The AFA would have you believe by prayer on August 6th you can identify exactly who is to at fault for our country's problems. And non Christian are not invited by Rick Perry to join in finding out whom to blame for this perceived imminent demise of our country. This same sort of exclusive fear mongering, a threat of the "END DAYS" was also used to motivate people to convince Pontius Pilate to crucify Jesus.

Many, like myself believe Christ's message was one of inclusivity and a eternal invitation to salvation. There is no prerequisite to 'belong' to any religion or political party to join with humanity in faith.

This is why the AFA has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The American Family association believes all non Christians are guilty of idolatry which is a pejorative term for the worship of an idol, a physical object such as a cult image, as a god. Rick Perry by inviting the AFA to host this event is promoting that philosophy and inviting you to transform American into a theocracy .

Contrary to what Rick Perry and the AFA would have you believe, YOU are welcomed, loved and as important to the political process as any anyone else is, including hate groups.

You can help voice that belief by being among our numbers outside of Reliant Stadium protesting on August 6th 2011.

planetransgender post Protest Rick Perry

For gender diverse people atheist or of any belief the AFA has a especially toxic message. You are invited to protest with the Dallas Transgender Advocates and Allies .