Transgender Foundation of America Participation in Houston LGBT Pride Parade June 28, 2014

[Guest LizMarie]

Details:

http://www.meetup.com/Transgender-Foundation-of-America/events/177777972/

[Guest ashleynikole]

Doh! I was just in town. Always miss the good stuff.

[Charlize]

What a wonderful event they have planned. I had a dear FTM friend who ran from Houston 30 years ago. I'm sorry he never had a chance to see the change.

Hugs,

Charlize

[Guest LizMarie]

Houston proper is actually very LGBT friendly now overall. The suburbs where the Southern Baptists congregate? Not so much. I've told this story before but one transwoman down at the TFA center one day took a map of Houston and drew a circle in red around the city inside the beltway and labeled that "The Shire" then labeled different sections outside the belt way as "Orcs", "Trolls", "Dragons", etc. We all got a laugh out of that because it often feels exactly like that.

[VickySGV]

For the pure heck of it, I checked a map on another web site I am following, and sure enough, the float decoration site is an Episcopal Church that is listed as GLBT Welcoming and Affirming. (There are three EC's in Houston with that status.) Who would have thought that!!

[Guest LizMarie]

Like I said, it's a lot more common inside the beltway than people realize. Houston has historically been an LGBT hotbed of political activity and, just as much, seen plenty of backlash over the years as well. That teaches us to never take our victories for granted and that we need to work to defend them once won. Houston didn't make the top 35 LGBT friendly cities this year and it was because of its dual nature. In almost half the categories measured, Houston placed in the top 10, yet in the other half it was well below 35th. It's a good city, not as good as many, but given the progressive nature of most of the oil and gas companies here, it's a great place to find good work and yet be trans.