Flame Monroe

Flame Monroe does not want to be known as a transgender comedian, she wants to be known as a comedian who happens to be transgender.

“Because if I wasn't transgender, I would probably still be a comedian,” she says. “My transgender [identity] is my afterthought because when you introduce me as a ‘transgender comedian’, or a ‘drag queen comedian,’ most people don't hear the ‘comedian’ part. All they hear is ‘transgender’ or ‘drag queen.’

The result is then continued difficulty for her to be treated like any one of her other funny counterparts. But just one look at her standup set and you know she can hang with the big dogs. 

Monroe is one of six comedians featured in Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready, a collection of half-hour comedy specials executive produced by the Girl’s Trip breakout (and legend Wanda Sykes) now streaming on Netflix. She’s joined by Chaunté Wayans, April Macie, Tracey Ashley, Aida Rodriguez, and Marlo Williams. 

For more on the story, follow this link to "Out".

Whatever!

Perhaps by now you have heard the Log Cabin repugs have come out (no pun intended) and voiced their support of resident rump. What upsets me is the stories I see which call the Cabiners a LGBT group.  Sure, and I don't know this for sure, there may be privileged gay cis men in the group who don't care about any LGBT rights other that they already have. But are they a majority?

What I don't understand though, is why they would support an administration which is so actively trying to trying to take our rights away. How are they going to react when their legal same sex marriages come under attack.

Perhaps too, maybe you have noticed I haven't even mentioned the continued attacks on transgender rights. I guess we have no rights either with the Log Cabin Republicans.

On a brighter side, Laverne Cox maybe the first transgender actor to win an Emmy! From Out:


 "In 2014, Laverne Cox became the first transgender person to be nominated for a primetime acting Emmy for her work on Orange Is the New Black. Cox was not only the face of the transgender tipping point, she helped humanize trans folks through her dynamic performance as Sophia Burset. 

In the final season of Orange, which premiered this summer, Sophia was largely absent — something Cox said was mostly due to a scheduling issue — but did make a final, triumphant appearance as the new owner of her own salon (thanks to a prison settlement). While many of Orange Is the New Black’s characters had tragic endings, something the creators felt was necessary to illustrate the many ways the correctional system ruins lives rather than rehabilitating them, Sophia was one of the few who was gifted with a happy ending, something all too rare for trans women of color in the real world."

For more, go here.

Janet Mock

From Out Magazine:

After writing, producing, and directing for FX’s Pose as well as being signed on to direct an episode of Ryan Murphy’s upcoming series The Politician, Janet Mock has announced an overall deal with Netflix. The announcement makes history as she is the first trans person to establish an overall deal with a major studio.

“This deal is so bonkers,” she said in the announcement video, released today. “I, of course, will be writing and directing a few hush hush projects that I can’t really talk about, but one of them is a half-hour drama and another is a college series. So I’m really excited for that.” The latest episode of Pose, the ballroom drama, now set in the early 1990s, was titled “Worth It” and written by Mock. Mock’s directorial debut “Love Is the Message,” the sixth episode in Pose’s first season is also being considered for an Emmy.

“This is the first kind of deal of its kind for a trans person, no less a trans woman of color,” she continued in the announcement. You know 84% of Americans say that they don’t know and or work with a trans person, and so there’s potential now with Netflix’s worldwide audience to introduce millions, hundreds of millions of viewers to trans people and showing people who may not understand us that we can tell our own stories.”

Can't wait to hear more!