“My mark is being made as long as I’m standing six feet above ground”Monica Roberts, aka the TransGriot, is a native Houstonian and trailblazing trans community leader. She works diligently at educating and encouraging acceptance of trans people inside and outside the larger African-American community and is an award winning blogger, history buff, thinker, lecturer and passionate advocate on trans issues.
Monica seeks to not only end the erasure of African-American trans voices from a movement they played significant roles in starting, but get African-American transpeople and other voices of color more involved in empowering themselves. Her activism focus is educating the TBLG community and allies about our issues and concerns in addition to shedding light about the struggles of GLBT people across the African Diaspora.
Monica was a founding member of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition and served from 1999-2002 on the inaugural board as NTAC’s Political Director. She was a co-host on the GLBT themed radio show ‘After Hours’ on KPFT-FM from 1999-2001, served on the boards of Louisville’s Fairness Campaign and C-FAIR, and helped organize the 2005 and 2006 Transsistahs-Transbrothas Conferences that took place in that city.
She wrote a newspaper column from 2004-2007 for the Louisville-based GLBT newspaper The Letter that was the precursor to the award winning TransGriot blog she founded in January 2006 and participated in the historic trans themed panel discussion at Netroots Nation 2012.
Her writing about transgender issues from a Black perspective has appeared at Ebony.com, Loop21.com, Transadvocate, Racialicious, Feministe, Global Comment, The Bilerico Project, What Tami Said and Womanist Musings.
She’s advocated for trans human rights protections since 1998 and has lobbied at the federal, state and local levels in Kentucky and Texas. In 2006 she became the third African-American trans person and the first African-American Texan to be given the IFGE Trinity Award, the transgender community’s highest meritorious service award.
(via kimojunk)
she/her
showing the world my blk goddess looks :’)
ok i’m always afraid of being vulnerable but like ya
I’m visibly black and trans
Visibly at peace w myself and afraid of dying and full of so much mourning.
Living in a society, a world, rather that hates every single aspect of my existence but I still having the audacity to exist and speak and take up space and to love myself, where and who I came from, tenaciously. .. I know it makes people mad. I know that I’m not supposed to exist for so many reasons but I’m here. And alive and wanting to resist and fight so that future generations, someday won’t have to prove their right to be here.My stepping out of the gender I was assigned at birth is a form of anti racist rebellion against the white cisnormative/colonial way we’ve been brought up to assign gender to the appearance of one’s genitals.
Because I do not pass as cis, I don’t have the privilege to divorce my natural desires and inclinations towards [my concept of] femininity from the trans misogynistic violence I face irl every day .. from micro aggressions, to cat calls and impudent men who call me a tranny and who laugh at me in my face.
I don’t always feel safe with having agency over my body and going out alone. I don’t get how anyone would want to hurt me, emotionally or physically. I cant even register how violence could come from me living my life and having long nails or braids or serving sentimental goddess looks. I live for the times I getting dolled up and realize how grateful I am that every day, I allow myself, my whole self.. whether or not that is something anyone can see.
(via errorschacha)
So today is Trans Day of Visibility.
I decided to try to feel a bit positive and take pictures in my house/outside. I think these turned out okay?
[she/her]
Photos © 2015 Jessie Clare Williams
Post Processing done in Adobe Lightroom 5<3<3<3<3<3
thought i would conjure up some unapologetically fat & transy moments in time for trans day of visibility
(via witchydarling)
happy trans day of visibility!
ive learned a lot exploring my gender identity in the past year or so & identifying as genderfluid feels freeing & im happier than ever
🐲genderfluid they/them🐲
a few months out-dated but whatevs
demigirl/nan0girl/agender whatever
they/them
(via witchydarling)
Bigfoot is NOT fake
She is kind and giving and my friend. I will protect her. Once she brought me a handful of leaves and smooth river stones and i said, thank you ..
(via bowiesnippleantennae)
since it is trans day of visibility, we should do more than just post selfies (and essentially copy blackout). today i will try to be posting resources, history, and transition stories. there’s nothing wrong with posting some selfies today, but please don’t make that the only thing we do today— this is a very important day, and is more than just selfies. blackout was a celebration of beauty our society often deems unworthy; trans day of visibility should be about making our community, history, and siblings known.
a small list of resources for the moment:
- trans people who are in a serious situation, such as being suicidal, or being abused, etc. can contact the trevor project. they have a lifeline that is 1-866-488-7386 and an online chat room.
- the trans 100 is a list provided by GLAAD of inspiring trans americans.
- we happy trans is a website that provides happy trans stories!
- a longer list of resources from GLAAD can be found here
- trans housing network
- mermaids.org.uk is a website that provides individual and family support for young people with differing gender identities.
- trans law center (TLC)
- Trans Youth Family Allies
- gender justice league ( specifically for advocating for gender equality within the LGBT+ community)
i will try to have more soon!! including stuff to good places to get things like binders and breast foams, clothes, make up, etc.