Checkpoint, Ghouls and Goblins! “Gay Christmas” has come and gone. Mariah Carey saw her shadow so y’all know it’s time to throw that tree up. I would like to personally welcome everyone to Trans Awareness Month. While I suspect this month will be quite challenging with so many moving parts that make us unique as a community, we must be well-prepared for what obstacles the opposing side will put up– with their factless attacks and accusations. As you already know, I will have my tea set armed and ready, with a fresh unique brew waiting to spill. Let’s go.   I found it quite funny this week watching Morning Joe string his disingenuous words together. For those who don’t know, Senator Josh Hawley [R-MO] demanded that Secretary of Homeland and Security Alejandro Mayorkas answer for a DHS employee’s social media post about Israel, suggesting that Mayorkas is anti-semetic. Mayorkas is Jewish and his mother lost much of her family in the Holocaust. Now if you took the time to watch both clips, Scarborough played from his own vocabulary to the tune of “Shock Opera.” But, y’all remember when he questioned the leadership of schools where Jewish students were in unsafe environments but never took the time to question the same-styled treatment for Black and Brown students? Josh Hawley had one thing to show and nothing to prove with the tone he took with Mayorkas, which supports the saying, “Research over Me-Search” (Shout out Conscious Lee). I love a good read and my whole take away was, “Mr. Chairman may I? I would and I’m not sure I’ll limit it to 60 seconds.” Pause. I graduated high school in 2006. Candace Owens graduated about a year after me. So when Candace makes the claim she did not graduate with any Transgender people in her class, I beg to differ. I await for someone to come forward and drop the mic on her belief that Trans* people did not exist. To completely dismiss the existence of a population is pretty extreme especially when you choose not to see them. Of that same coin, denying a population’s historical facts when there is a plethora of sources at your disposal has me gagging. Here we are once again faced with another person on a platform given free reign, yet they elect to spread misinformation and disinformation. This lady truly believes Trans people just came out recently like Taco Bell Fries & Cinnabon Delights. Yet, we have been here longer than when the 11 herbs and spices became acquainted.   This month we shall face this type of energy with our eye on the prize. Be empowered to hold space and exude strength– for others who may be denied their and those who we have lost due to acts of violence. This will be the 25th anniversary of Rita Hester’s unsolved homicide. I encourage you all to take care of yourself and those in your community. We’re all we got! 

Watching a little scary something around this time of year–with nicely timed jumpscares paced with the perfect balance of drama, and psychological tension–fulfills the euphoric gauge, especially if the scary something is good. I guess I can settle. I can adjust. Receive change instead of sustaining the typical something smeared with gore, or a supernatural antagonist who reappears during the final minutes as the story becomes a sequel. I miss those days when I experienced a state of fear. Well, this week stirred a different type of fear. A fear connected to losing hope. I do believe those not in favor at the moment shall be the final girl and persevere through the final scene to this thriller we are experiencing.   “You don’t live in our skin” has to be said with caution, especially in Texas of all places. This is a quote from Rep. Armando Walle as Texas House of Representatives debated over House Bill 4, which could make racial profiling legal and grant police officers the power to deport asylum-seeking migrants. Driving, family outings, celebrations all have to be executed with caution. The process of proving you have a legal right to exist in Texas while possibly experiencing hate and violence is something wild. Texas passing this bill as the majority of its population consists of Hispanic and Latin folks who are also becoming more vocal and eligible to vote is baffling. Greg Abbott and his “Bad Boyz” squad plans to clean up, while tearing communities apart.  Vote him out. He is an outlier Democrat opposed to the Assault Weapon Ban along with other gun safety laws. Rep. Jared Golden has 18 lives and 13 wounded on his scale after this week’s mass shooting in Lewiston, and he wishes to blow the whistle calling for a ban because things are applicable. When the Chucky doll was taking lives and folks continued to want the toy on the shelves, they learned quickly but too late, and now we have a series. What happened in Maine should send a stronger message of needed solidarity. As for Golden, his aim to keep firearms out of the hands of felons and people who demonstrate the ability to inflict harm on others had loopholes just as Ghostface’s voice could be duplicated and the mask could be purchased by anyone. The newly unavailable suspect was a certified firearms instructor and member of the Army Reserves.    MAGA Mike Johnson is the new Speaker of the House. He believes trans kids are being abused, homosexuality is morally and physically wrong, and he was a lawyer for Alliance Defending Freedom in the Lawrence v Texas case. Johnson has had it out for LGBTQIA (Le-git-te-bit-a-kwah) since the wake of Matthew Shepard’s death. We do not know what to expect and how extreme his leadership as speaker will be, however we shouldn’t say Mike Johnson’s name three times in a mirror.