Now That Trayvon Martin's Murderer Is Jailed, We Should Still Keep Up This Momentum And Demand Justice For ALL People of Color In the U.S.!

with little pal Harmony following the March 26th "Million Hoodie March for Trayvon Martin" in downtown Los Angeles

The Washington Post published this photo of me and other activists on Tuesday from the April 9th march in downtown L.A. which demanded Zimmerman's arrest, which happened the next day

The good people’s prayers and demands have been answered. Moving forward, now that 17-yearold Trayvon Martin’s murderer, George Zimmerman, is finally in custody and being charged with murder, where do the millions who cried out for justice go from here? How can the millions who marched, rallied, signed petitions, made Justice themed artwork, wrote articles & blogs, prayed, called or wrote their elected officials, utilized online social networking, started or joined causes such as Million Hoodie March , Occupy, Justice For Trayvon Martin and many other movements, and cried, chanted and shouted for Zimmerman’s arrest turn this case into something bigger than one man’s arrest?

We all know this is not an isolated incident. What’s the bigger picture? Shouldn’t we reach higher?

Of course it will be a lengthy trial, so we will have a lot of times on our hands. Why not make the most use and productivity of that time?

Take action! Stay involved! Join one of the many groups who helped organize rallies and marches. Join a local social justice group. Register to vote! Volunteer. Invite friends. Let’s turn this tragedy into a powerfully positive force that we use to accomplish our dreams of a just and peaceful society.

In spite of the condemning evidence against Zimmerman, he was initially allowed to go free. Likewise, many crimes by those in power against minorities, women and the poor go unchecked all the time! Could this case be a starting to point to reform the police departments and judicial systems that time and time against fail the Black, Brown and economically oppressed communities in this country? Many Americans know that this case can be bigger than just Trayvon Martin if the We the People make it so. With all the unrest going on in this country and in the world, this is a prime time to storm the gates and demand a real democracy!

This mobilization is about rightness for ALL the Black and Brown youth around the country who have been in the past, currently are and will continue to be victims of corrupt law enforcement and unjust court systems! We are tired of our young Black and Brown brothers being illegally ‘stop & frisked’ without cause or warrants by racist and classist police officers. We are appalled at the neo-slavery that is enforced through the prison industrial complex in the country that unfairly imprisons Black and Brown men for lengthy periods of times, making the corporations who profit off their labor rich. We are disgusted by the GOP’s war on women’s rights and healthcare, which disproportionally affects women of color and the poor. We can’t believe our ears at the racist propaganda that screams at us from far right media outlets and pundits. We cry out against the laws in Arizona that make racial profiling legal, which obviously target at our Brown brothers and sisters and mirror the Jim Crow days. We protest the exploitment, scapegoating and mistreatment of our undocumented Brown brothers and sisters. Sadly, the list goes on of the systematic oppression of people of color in the “modern” country.

It’s urgent that this momentum does not slow down, but become a massive tidal wave that smashes the system that divides people in this country instead of uniting us together.

“An injury to one is an injury to all!”

It’s important that those fighting for racial social justice become aware and fight against the alarming and growing war against women that has been waged by the Republican Party! 50% of people of color are women, so the GOP’s war on women is also a racial justice issue, especially since women of color will suffer the worst if this current assault on women’s healthcare, contraception rights, well-being and self-esteem waged by the affluent white men who run the Republican Party succeeds. All social justice movements really do need to come together ASAP!

Again, take action! Stay involved! Join one of the many groups who helped organize rallies and marches. Start your own! Join a local and/or national social justice group. Register to vote! Volunteer! Invite friends. Paint a picture of what justice means to you! Write a poem, perform spoken word! Get the message out! Let’s turn this tragedy into a powerfully positive force that we harness to accomplish our dreams of a just and peaceful society.

2012 is not the end of the world as the Mayan calendar suggests, it’s the BEGINNING of a new dawn, the people’s dawn! Haven’t you noticed that people all around the world are rising up against tyranny and economic injustice all at the same time? There is also this global human consciousness awakening that many feel happening, a universal enlightenment. So much promise and positive energy is here and awaits us. And of course, right here and NOW is the time to take a stand!

A favorite chant of mine from the Trayvon march:

“Ain’t no power like the power of the people cus’ the power of the people don’t stop! Say what? Ain’t no power like the power of the people cus’ the power of the people don’t stop!”

Justice for Trayvon! Justice for All! Justice for Now! Justice for Our Future!

I met the cutest little trooper for Justice on the steps of L.A. City Hall on March 26th following the Trayvon Martin march

Stop The GOP's (Gays & Gender Variants of Patriarchy) War on Women Born With Transsexualism!

Stop The GOP's (Gays & Gender Variants of Patriarchy) War on Women Born With Transsexualism!

We are fed up with some high profile gay men and gay male dominated LGBT non-profits misgendering, mocking and misrepresenting women born with our medical condition.

Our birth challenge is not property of sexual orientation rights groups. Our genetic situation has nothing to do with sexual orientation. Our condition is a physical and natural development where we were born with chromosomal and anatomy diversity.

We will not tolerate being othered and co-opted into a third gender/gender queer narrative that threatens to unravel all our hard earned education and legislative rights. Our patient rights are not up for grabs by "allies" who have different agendas.

We are not a political bargaining chip.

It's simple: Human beings born with transsexualism and/or intersex have specific and unique medical and legal needs that are often ignored and devalued in the transgender and LGBT priority list. Even worse, sometimes they are militantly worked against.

We simply do not want to be appropriated and treated like a voiceless colony.

We protest the way the truth is being disregarded and censored in this social engineered and problematic "transgender umbrella-ism reservation ideology" mandate that feels more like people with transsxualism being kidnapped and misused than voluntary consent.

No, we will not shut up and be assaulted like this.

We will strike back if we have to

The Advocate Celebrates 45 Years of Giving Voice to Equality; Human Rights Advocates, Elected Officials & Celebrities Attend Gala

(L-R) Ashley Love, Andrea James (director & transsexual advocate), Calpernia Addams (actress & transsexual advocate)
Here Media/Advocate CEO Paul Colichman (left) and his husband, actor David Milbern

Human rights attorney Gloria Allred
Dustin Lance Black,Oscar winning director of 'Milk'
Here I am with two of the stars of ABC's 'GCB', Marisol Nichols and Mark Deklin
The Advocate's Editor in Cheif Matthew Breen
with Joe Landry, SVP Group Publisher of Here Media/Advocate

The Advocate celebrated 45 years of trail blazing journalism last Thursday evening with a spectacular gala at The Beverly Hilton. Community advocates, elected officials and celebrities all came out to enjoy the event and celebrate how far numerous diverse social justice movements have come in 45 years. The Point Foundation was the honorary charity which benefited from the event, which is good because a lot of times LGBT, transsexual and/or intersex teens are disowned from their families simply for being who they are. Without a family to protect them, many are unable to go to college. So The Point Foundation steps in and says that being authentic and brave enough to be who you are in a land of ignorance and fear is not a reason to not recieve a good education!

It was a very special night for me because I got to see so many friends and co-advocates that I have known for many years. Since I now live in New York most of the year, I don’t get to see my OG LA family as much as I’d like, which made this evening a real treat for me.

The Advocate is known to be the most credible news source on gay and LGBT issues, and they are getting better at reporting transsexual and intersex issues. In a new word full of bloggers that write first, and check their facts later, it’s comforting to have news sources like The Advocate that are committed to accuracy and ethical journalism.

I've written a couple op-eds for SheWired.com, which is the news source owned by The Advocate that focuses on women's stories. I have also been interviewed or quoted numerous times over the years in The Advocate related to transsexual, transgender and intersex stories about media depictions and legislative rights. I am very appreciative for all The Advocate has done in aiding myself and others get our activism and education out into the world. Thank you.

If their 45th Anniversary party was this fun, I can’t wait to see how the 50th will be! See you then!

with The Trevor Project's Laura McGinnis (center) and West Hollywood City Councilmember Abbe Land (right)

with Modern Family's Jesse Ferguson Jeannine Lewis (L), Western Account Director for Here Media/Advocate and Vicki Algeo Keros (R)
(L-R) Alan Uphold (Point Foundation's Development Officer) and his husband Jeff Olde (VH1)
with The Advocate's Andrea Krauss (and Macy Gray performing in the background!)

SheWired's Editor Tracy Gilchrist and The Advocate's Neal Broverman
Bill Kapfer (L) and his husband Eric Scott Baker LA City Councilman Paul Koretz (L) and West Hollywood Mayor John Duran (R)
with The Advocate's Charles Beaudry Culbert (L-R) Chris Tompkins, singer Ben Roman, Ashley Love, DJ with HBO's Entourage star Rex Lee with Kirsten Schaffer, Executive Director of Outfest
fashion designer Andrew Christian (left) and Marcellus (right)
Actor and comedian Jason Stuart (left) and writer/director Billy Clift (right) Outfest board member Joe Keenan (left) and radio host Cary Harrison (right) with Brody Brown with drag star Coco Peru Macy Gray gave a great performance! with The Advocate's Art & Entertainment Editor Jeremy Kisner with Ross Von Metzke LA City Councilman Paul Koretz (center) gives The Advocate a certificate to honor their anniversary. Advocate's owner Paul Colichman (left) accepts the certificate, with Advocate's Editor in Cheif Matthew Breen on stage as well (right)
with celebrity photographer Duane Cramer (L-R) Duane Cramer, Joe Landry, Ashley Love, Steve Villano, Patric Z Rodriguez, Billy Hamilton
(L-R) Longliang Lin, Urosh Pajic, Josh Eddy, Rex Lee, Spencer Collins, Ashley Love
Bruce Vilanch, comedian and writer

Supreme Court Denies Brandon Teena's Murderer's Appeal; Associated Press Refers to Teena as "Lesbian" Instead of Transsexual, Misgenders Him

The Supreme Court has refused to listen to the appeal of John Lotter, one of Brandon Teena’s murderers. Though this good news, Teena has now been discriminated by once again, but this time by the Associated Press.

Teena was a transsexual man and was the subject of the Oscar winning film ‘Boys Don’t Cry’. In 1993, Teena was murdered along with two other people due to prejudice of his birth challenge by both Lotter and Marvin Nissen.

The Associated Press has blatantly mislabeled Teena as “lesbian” (Update: they have now have corrected and edited out “lesbian”), though it is well known that he was transsexual: He was born female, but felt and lived his life as a man. They also refer to him as a woman, though he should be referred to as a transsexual man. Many transphobic or uneducated people refer to FTM (female to male) transsexuals as “lesbian” or “gay”. Transsexualism is not the same thing as sexual orientation.

The Associated Press needs to educate themselves on transsexual and transgender issues. Part of the problem is the miseducation preached by GLAAD that says a gay male drag queen is the same term “transgender” as a heterosexual transsexual woman. It leads the public into thinking transsexual people are just dressing up, homosexuals who cross dress for fun, or have the fetish known as transvestitism.

No wonder mainstream doesn't get it right since our "allies" are pushing misinformation stemmed from transsexual-phobia. GLAAD must reform their intellectually dishonest and lazy media guide book's section of transsexualism and transgender.

Just because GLAAD seduces and produces drag and transgender reality TV people and fame chasing “trans spokes people” to co-sign their miseducation and bite their tongues when GLAAD does it wrong, doesn’t mean the rest of us will sell out our community for our own gain. We demand accurate education, NOW!

Brandon Teena deserves to rest in peace. Let’s respect hiM as the man he was.

Many Christians, Including Me, Support Kristin Chenoweth's Choice to Star in ABC's New Show 'GCB' -Good Christian Belles. Hypocricy Should Be Exposed!

Was thrilled to meet Krisitn Chenoweth last summer at an event hosted by actress Rosario Dawson in LA. Kristin is super friendly and warm, not the sterotype Hollywood pushes about successful Broadway stars.

Tonight was the series premiere of ABC's TV show 'GCB' (after the book entitled 'Good Christian B*tches') starring Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth, who played Glenda, the Good Witch in the original cast of Broadway’s Wicked, my favorite musical! Chenoweth is open about her Christian faith; she also doesn’t shy away from voicing her disagreements with certain Christian-identified individuals who militantly promote ignorance and fear, such as last fall when Chenoweth was interviewed by CNN’s Piers Morgan and she publicly opposed Michelle Bachman’s phobic rhetoric. That's right, on top of being a talented singer and actress with numerous awards, she is a socially conscious and responsible advocate who promotes change towards more accepting and harmonious ideals , including the change needed by some in organized religion. Whether she's being interviewed on TV or the red carpet, or giving quotes to journalists, she always shares her beliefs that diversity in human beings should be celebrated and accepted, not feared, bullied or condemned. This is why Kristin Chenoweth is absolutely perfect to star in GCB, a show that will no doubt bring the truth to light about those who misrepresent and misuse Christianity.

Though it’s pretty simple ideals to ‘live and let live’ and ‘love thy neighbor’ and ‘diversity is the spice of life’, some critics of GCB claim “confusion” as to why any Christian would be a fan of a show (let alone star in one) that brings out the skeletons in the Church’s closet. It’s unfortunate that some of these critics have been misled to their state of “confusion” and can’t seem to come back to the light, and I pray intuition and warmth finds and awakens them. Yet GCB's confrontational message is wholeheartedly welcomed by many Christians because we refuse to co-sign any of the ill-conceived fear-mongering, prejudice against minorities, and attacks against a woman’s right to govern her own body and health (the list goes on) that a hostile fraction of self-proclaimed Christians promote.

It’s 2012 (thank God) and strong oceans of enlightenment and open-mindedness are flooding the collective human consciousness in this country and around the world, causing more and more to reject what we find to be misinterpretations (if not blatant rewrites and patriarchal spins) of Jesus’ authentic and universal message of neighborly compassion, selflessness and forgiveness. It hurts, embarrasses and alienates many of Christians to witness some people in our Faith use Christianity as a weapon for messages of intolerance, ambition stemmed from greed and power, and/or narrow and mean-spirited ideas of how to treat those in the universal human-being congregation who were born different (or who just don’t want to fit in by choice!).

I disagree with the ridiculous propaganda pushed by media outlets that says GCB’s premise encourages “hate and ridicule on Christians”. Truth be told, it’s actually the other way around. The intention of the show (apart from entertaining us with laughter and drama) is to unveil how contradictory it is when one identifies as Christian, yet mistreats, or even outcasts, people that they either dislike, envy, don’t or refuse to understand and/or are afraid of. The portrayal of some of GCB’s characters tonight shined a much needed light on hypocrisy such as when some of the show’s characters stood on self-righteous soap boxes with “more Christian than thou” comments, yet moments later lied, cheated, stole, bullied and a string of other actions which they had just condemned. Personally, as a Christian I wasn’t offended because I can testify that my whole life I have witnessed people firsthand who mirrored the GCB ladies' duplicity.

I admire Kristin Chenoweth’s courage to accept a role which will garner her judgments and personal attacks from fellow Christians, yet I think she must know there are many Christians who feel as she does about acceptance and openness. I also appreciate her integrity, as there are many professionals in the entertainment industry who feel similar as her, but won’t admit it publicly for fear of losing not just fans, but career opportunities and financial gain.

The show’s billboards have the following quote: "Love Thy Neighbor”. Yes, this action of “loving your neighbors” is precisely what I feel GCB has the potential to inspire towards and within certain Christians who have been misguided, except it will be a tough kind of love which holds a mirror up to their faces in hopes that they will realize that if it’s not unconditional love they are preaching or following, then it’s really not authentic love at all.

Blake Lively’s Derogatory Slur Infested Elle Feature Proves How Mean Spirited Hollywood Publicists Will Be To Get Their Clients Free Publicity, Yuck

Being from California, I would watch Gossip Girl because I wanted to learn about NY pop culture, so I was sad to hear one of the actresses, Blake Lively, say such insensitive and marginalizing comments in Elle’s March issue. Furthermore, I pause to consider if her publicist arranged this provocative rant. If so, oppressed minorities do not appreciate being used and ridiculed just for starlets to gain press. As a former publicist, I would never do something like this, but not all publicists have consideration for endangered minorities who are working for acceptance and human rights.

I volunteer for MAGNET- Media Advocates Giving National Equality to Transsexual & Transgender People. Not too long ago MAGNET organized a phone call campaign when CW, the network Lively works for, allowed the same slur Lively used, “tra**y”, to be used on the reality show “High Society”. Our campaign helped CW make the decision to edit out the offensive slur. There's a strong chance Lively, and definitely her publicist, were aware of their networks run in with the derogatory word.

After meeting her a couple times, my impression is that she is a kind and talented person. Maybe she does not know how offensive the word is. I am more disappointed with her PR team because they are the professionals, and everyone in the PR business knows by now the controversy associated with the dehumanizing slur.

A plea to publicists who advise their clients on sound bites and quotes is let’s please show some professionalism, if not compassion and respect for people who were born with birth challenges by not suggesting derogatory words to our clients. Put yourself in the shoes of the people you are harming.

Moving forward, I do hope Blake acknowledges the pain, alienation, and even violence associated with that word, and apologizes.

Just How Many Token Trans Toms Will Be In HRC’s ‘Goldman Sachs’ Gala Tonight? Dana ‘Buy-her’ Beyer? Meghan ‘Stab-in-the-Back’ Stabler?

Currently, Occupy Wall Street’s LGBT Caucus is picketing the HRC Gala outside the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in protest to them honoring Goldman Sachs.

Is HRC living under a rock? Um, there happens to be a revolution in this country with Goldman Sachs listed as one if the biggest enemies of the American people, and the world! How can HRC call themselves a “human rights and social change group”, and then honor a company where there is evidence of human rights violations, greed and robbing the American people for billions of dollars? It would appear the HRC is just a 'country club for the 1% of the LGBT coalition' masquerading as a civil rights group.

And let’s not forget their constant transsexual-phobia. They think having opportunists and sell outs like transgenderist advocate Meghan Stabler on their board makes them look inclusive. Stabler recently mocked and endangered the transsexual movement by volunteering to be legally male so they could get married. Former board member Dana Beyer used the HRC because she wanted them to help her become an elected official. She ran three times.....and lost. Proof that even if you make a deal with the imperialist, karma still usually has a say so in the outcome. So now Beyer has instilled the LG's establishment's puppet “transgender rights” group in Maryland called Gender Rights Maryland. This is scary, considering last year in Annapolis I heard Dana Beyer say outside the courtroom that “cross dressers are the same thing as transsexual”. Just because Beyer was married and actually conceived children with a woman in a heterosexual relationship, and lived decades as an alpha male, doesn’t mean people who were actually born with transsexualism have that same type of narrative.

The police are harassing the activists outside the HRC gala. Wish I could be there, I have a few things I’d like to say to the HRC, most importantly that Americans with transsexualism are sick of the LGB elite co-opting, taking ownership and misrepresenting us. We will break free from this blatant colonialism, we will for sure!