My Aunt Pat, a professional artist in Boston, gives art lessons

One of my maternal aunts is Patricia Trapp, a professional artist back in Boston (where I lived until 2014). She offers art lessons, prints and stationery of her photography (of her flowers, her many glass sun-catchers and their rainbows, her charcoal sketches of cats, and more) as well as other crafts (including fabulous hand-painted chicken eggs), and takes commissions for paintings and possibly other artwork.

I help her with her PR, especially because she's not online at all and never has been; this is her permanent ad, and I put a temporary one on Craig's List Boston each week.  My artwork is here (and via the "My artwork" link in this blog's header).

Patricia Trapp, a professional artist in Boston, is offering art classes for individuals and small groups of all ages. She is also available for freelance mural work. She can be reached at 617.522.2046.

Classes include:

- Basic instruction in the fundamentals of painting

- Beginning through advanced techniques

- Brushwork 

- Color, light and shade / shadow, and perspective

- Describing form, how to build a painting

- Illustrating animals, landscapes, seascapes, cityscapes

- Creating natural textures, such as foliage

- How-tos of students' requests

- Ink, watercolor, acrylics and pastels -- no oils

There is a shopping list of basic required materials, which are to be purchased by students. 

Patricia is a native of the Boston area, and has been a professional artist here and in Europe for many years. She is currently a professional freelance muralist, for the decorators of the Boston Design Center and private clients. 

She attended Boston's Museum of Fine Arts' School, and received her BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) in Theatre Design from Boston University. She was the resident designer and head of the painting department at Decocitel in Brussels, Belgium. She has also been a designer and instructor at the University of Massachusetts / Boston, the Boston Conservatory, and the Boston and Brookline Public Schools (through a grant from the Massachusetts Council for the Arts), and currently teaches art in a Cambridge school. 

Please call her at 617.522.2046.

The above image is one of Patricia's commissioned paintings, done entirely by hand -- the original is 6 feet by 8 feet.  The below is a dragon t-shirt she made for me -- an iron-on transfer of a scan of her original 8”x10” painting, additional iron-on transfers of scans of her original painted framing corners, hand-applied 3D gold glitter t-shirt paint, and hand-sewn beads.

Massachusetts' height/weight anti-discrimination bill -- House Bill 952!

#Massachusetts’ height/weight #antidiscriminationbill has a hearing TODAY!  Before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, along with many other bills, between 1:00 and 5:00 p.m. in A-2; #HouseBill952, An Act Making #Discrimination on the Basis of Height and Weight Unlawful.

As always, I thank Representative Byron Rushing for presenting #HB952, and Representative Denise Provost for being among the sponsors, and for their work on both halves of #TransLawMA (MA's transgender civil rights law, which has been put on next year's ballot by opponents!).  And Marilyn Wann and Sondra Solovay for first making me aware of this bill some years ago. My testimony is below the hashtags.

#weightdiscrimination #heightdiscrimination #employmentdiscrimination #antidiscrimination #fatjustice #fatactivism #fatpolitics #MApoli #MALeg #ByronRushing #DeniseProvost

October 16, 2017

Senator William N. Brownsberger Representative Claire D. Cronin

Senate Chair, Joint Committee on the Judiciary House Chair, Joint Committee on the Judiciary

Sonia Chang-Diaz, Vice Chair James M. Cantwell, Vice Chair

Massachusetts State House

24 Beacon Street -- Rooms 136 and 504
Boston, MA  02133

Via email: Caroline Sherrard

Legislative Director,
Office of Representative Byron Rushing, Assistant Majority Leader

Massachusetts State House

24 Beacon Street -- Room 234

Boston, MA  02133

Caroline.Sherrard@mahouse.gov

Dear Senators Brownsberger and Chang-Diaz and Representatives Cronin and Cantwell --

My name is Mycroft Masada Holmes, and I lived in greater Boston for more than 37 years, from my birth in 1976 until January of 2014, when I moved to Gaithersburg, Maryland to begin living with my partner.  I love and miss Boston and the rest of Massachusetts, and have always been proud to call them my home.

I write to you today primarily as a faith leader – my current national roles include membership in TransFaith’s National Council and TransEpiscopal’s Steering Committee; I also co-chair the MoCo Pride Center here in Montgomery County.  Before my move, I was the Chair of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition’s Interfaith Coalition for Transgender Equality (ICTE), and a board member at Congregation Am Tikva.  I was one of the leaders of the interfaith campaign for both of Massachusetts’ transgender civil rights laws, the second of which went into effect a year ago this month (and unfortunately has been put on next year’s ballot by opponents).

Today, I testify in support of House Bill 952 -- An Act Making Discrimination on the Basis of Height and Weight Unlawful -- as I have done in person and/or in writing for the last few legislative sessions.  At one hearing, I also read the written testimony of attorney Sondra Solovay.  This bill and the second trans rights bill actually crossed paths in the hearing two years ago this month.

In my personal and professional life, I have experienced and witnessed a great deal of discrimination – especially in employment -- and much of it has been based on physical appearance and information, including height and especially weight.  This discrimination is wrong, profoundly damaging, pervasive, and rapidly increasing -- in Massachusetts and the rest of our country -- especially since the election in November; those who would discriminate in these ways are among those who have been empowered by the new Presidential administration.  We must do what we can to change this as soon as we can, and HB 952 can help.  This bill is also an critical educational tool – its implementation process will help dispel the widespread and increasing ignorance, misinformation and fear about weight.  You will be given expert testimony about these issues today and during the rest of this session – ample evidence of the significant and urgent need for this legislation.

My faiths teach that like the Adam, the first human being, all people are made b’tzelem Elohim – in the image of God -- people of all weights, heights, sizes and shapes.  Our infinite diversity of bodies and their changes over our lifetimes are gifts and blessings, meant to be lived and shared with joy and pride.  God creates and loves all of us, equally, in body and spirit.  And all of us should be equally recognized and protected by the law.

And as much as I speak to you as a person of faith, I also speak as a life partner.  My wonderful partner of more than eight years, Julia McCrossin, and I are the same height, and she weighs well over twice what I do; I’ve always been thin, she has always been fat.  Julia is a lifelong resident of Maryland and Washington DC, and visited me in Massachusetts several times.  After her father passed away, I moved to Maryland to begin living with her, largely so that we could help care for her disabled mother and the family dog.

We are very privileged to live in Maryland, not to mention Montgomery County, for many reasons.  Our county, state and neighboring DC have trans-inclusive civil rights laws, and DC’s Human Rights Laws consider height and weight included in “physical appearance”.  We are privileged in other ways as well – as much as we and those like us struggle, daily life is far more challenging for those directly facing other intersecting oppressions, such as racism, classism and ableism.  At the same time, we worry about moving to and through places where we are legally unprotected, which we often need and want to do.  We and so many others need An Act Making Discrimination On The Basis Of Height And Weight Unlawful to pass into law as soon as possible.  I pray that this can be another way for my home state to provide social justice leadership to the rest of the country.    

My partner and I want to visit Massachusetts together, hopefully have our wedding there, perhaps make our next home there.  And we have much to offer my great state.  I want her to have full civil rights wherever she is.  I want her to be able to continue to live, work and play better than she has done, contributing even more to our communities than she already has.  I want this for all residents of and visitors to Massachusetts.  I don’t want anyone to experience discrimination – and yet I know that some will, and I want them to be able to take appropriate action.  

I urge you to do everything you can to further this vital and long overdue legislation so that it can be passed into law this legislative session.  

Thank you,

Mycroft Holmes

[my postal and e-mail addresses]

Pete Fosselman's Out For Pete campaign event

Tonight I went to Out For Pete -- an LGBTQ-focused event for Pete Fosselman’s campaign for Montgomery County Maryland’s Council (District 1) at Denizens Brewing Co. (where the #MoCoPrideCenter had our second Social last month, which is the first time I'd been there).

I know Pete because he’s been a fellow Visionary (founding leader) at the Center -- though of course we don’t endorse candidates -- and he would indeed be the first openly LGBTQ member of the Montgomery County MD Council; he is a cis (non-trans) gay man.

And a highlight of the event was a talk by candidate Danica Roem, who would be the first openly trans legislator in Virginia (and her election for Delegate is November 7th).  

#PeteFosselman #DanicaRoem #DenizensBrewingCo #OutForPete #MCMDCouncil

Montgomery County Civil Rights Coalition -- my first meeting

Tonight I went to my first Montgomery County Civil Rights Coalition (MCCRC) meeting -- their August meeting; they meet monthly, trying to move around the County each time, and they co-sponsor events. I wanted to see #MCCRC for myself, and represent the MoCo Pride Center, where I’m a Visionary (founding leader). It was also a good way to see the Islamic Center of Maryland for the first time.  MCCRC is a citizen body, not a County one -- “We are individuals and organizations organizing to protect our civil liberties and civil rights everywhere by protecting them where we live — in Montgomery County, Maryland.”

Senator William C. Smith, Jr. presented and took questions, and then we broke into committees -- I attended #PoliceAccountability, where we focused on “student resource officers” (SROs, police officers in / on call for schools). Then we regrouped for committee reports -- the others were #AntiIslamophobia, #Sanctuary / #Immigration, #Surveillance and #BystanderIntervention training.  We were joined by some County and state candidates, and invited to #IslamicCenterofMaryland’s prayer service which began during the meeting.

MCCRC is also working on forming an LGBTQ committee, and is part of the upcoming event Resisting Surveillance of MoCo Youth, which is also at and with the ICM. Special thanks to MCCRC member Lee Blinder for helping me get connected.

More about the meeting is here in MCCRC's e-mail, and on Facebook as an event and as a post.

#MoCoCivilRights #MontgomeryCounty #MoCoMD #MoCoMaryland #MoCo #civilrights #resist #MoCoPrideCenter #IslamicCenterMaryland #IslamicCenterMD

4th (Mostly) Annual Maryland Trans*Unity Potluck

Today was the 4th (Mostly) Annual Maryland Trans*Unity Potluck (we took a break in 2015, and have sometimes called it a picnic, which it also is), this time at Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church (CLUUC) in Bethesda (which is where Trans*Unity lives).  

It was for all transgender, genderqueer, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people and their allies – including families of all kinds and children of all ages. We the organizers supplied some food, non-alcoholic drinks (this event is alcohol-free), paper products and games, and invited guests to bring something to share they could, but to know they were welcome if they couldn't – their presence was our present. And members of groups that serve the trans community were welcome to wear their flair and/or bring their materials.

It was co-sponsored by the Church and the new MoCo Pride Center (founded last year shortly before that Potluck and announced at it). And for the first time we had Heart To Hand with us, with their mobile testing unit and staff -- HTH "supports those infected and affected by sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, in Prince George’s County".

The Facebook event is here, and the flyers (the pictured one, and a quarter-page version) are here, though they will probably be taken down when the MoCo Trans Day Of Remembrance (TDOR) ones are put up. And here is our fabulous cake, as last year custom-colored like the trans and other community flags by Costco.

I WAS ON THE RADIO TODAY! WPFW’s Inside Out LGBT Radio show

I WAS ON THE RADIO TODAY!  WPFW’s Inside Out LGBT Radio show, talking about the MoCo Pride Center with my fellow #MoCoPrideCenter Visionaries (founding leaders) Rev. Jill McCrory and Janine Rauscher (there are several others).

Hosted by Michael Sharp (one of the show’s seven hosts), with special guest and co-host Michael Knaapen of the Montgomery County LGBT Democrat Club. From 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., and people could listen live and call in -- though it may have been best that no one called, because we had a lot that we needed to say, and we said it.  

To listen to the audio recording, click here and scroll down to June 20th and “Inside Out with Dr. Nicole Cuts and The Collective…” or click here to go right to our episode’s play page.  

#WPFW #WPFWDC #WPFWFM #InsideOutLGBTRadio #InsideOutRadio #DCradio #radioshow #talkradio #LGBTQradio #Pride2017 #PrideCenters #LGBTQCenters #communityradio

CLUUC Tapestry class -- non-gendered language

Today I co-taught a Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church (CLUUC) Tapestry class with my local trans advocacy partner Ezra Towne – a 75-minute one-off on “Non-Gendered Language” -- we actually spent at least as much time on gender-inclusive language, i.e. the kind that affirms that there are infinite genders in infinite combinations, and that some people don’t experience gender internally. Which is an especially important witness for those of us who are both / neither / other than men and women.

“Have you ever wondered how to remove gender from our daily language? Even though feminists worked hard to remove words like mailman, fireman, stewardess and actress from our occupational vocabulary, we fall short in so many other areas. How can we adapt the way we speak, and the words we use, to eliminate the assumption of gender?”

#CLUUC #CedarLaneUUChurch #CedarLaneUU #religiouseducation #religioused #genderneutral #genderinclusive #UnitarianUniversalist #UU #UUA #1stUUprinciple #firstUUprinciple

MoCo Pride Center's first event!

Today was the MoCo Pride Center’s first event (Facebook event here)!  From 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., at Agrodolce in Germantown MD, who also co-sponsored it.  I am one of the Center’s several Visionaries – founding leaders.  I was out of state on a pre-scheduled vacation with my partner, but I hear good things and see good pictures.  Among other things, I know that we premiered our Center logo window stickers.  

The Center will have our second event on Saturday July 29th at Denizens Brewing Co. in Silver Spring -- Facebook event here.  Please Like and Follow the Center on Facebook, too.  And please visit our website to give us your e-mail address, take our community survey, and more.  Yes, Maryland's Montgomery County finally has an LGBTQ center, and we look forward to helping to organize and grow our LGBTQ+ and allied community.  #MoCoPrideCenter

May Joe Kivett-Ward's memory be a blessing

I lost another friend yesterday -- Joe Kivett-Ward met with an untimely and accidental death last night. May his memory be a blessing, as we say in Judaism. 

Joe was a fellow BAGLY alum (Boston Alliance of LGBT+ Youth), but was a decade older, so we weren’t there at the same time (he was 80s, I was 90s). In the early 2000s, when I was Administrative Director of SpeakOut Boston (the country's first LGBT+ speakers bureau), Joe wanted to become one of our speakers. As it turned out, he didn’t really have time. But we connected personally as well, and became friends, especially because of our shared love of Star Trek (particularly the Original Series), writing (our own and others’), and classic style / design.

Speaking of which, the image is a photo I took after his passing of some of Joe’s gifts to me on one of my birthdays (the box contained a set of the coordinating stationery, and I bought the cup and trivet, and some teas, with his Teavana gift card). 

We became friends at quite the dramatic time in my life, though, and largely because of that, we had a falling out and became estranged. But we remained connected on some level, and in a way that had always seemed rather Vulcan to both of us. And in time Joe contacted me, knowing that we needed each other, and we met “at the appointed place” – his mother’s wake, funeral and luncheon, as it happened – and we renewed our friendship. It was mostly through e-mail and then Facebook, especially because of our busyness, but it was meaningful, and we just had a Messenger conversation on April 18th.

We were both fortunate enough to find true love in recent years -- Joe with a man named Lynn, who he married in August of 2015; we were each co-parenting a dogter, too. Just last December, Joe and family moved to Las Vegas. Joe – a fellow (almost?) lifelong Bostonian -- was sometimes homesick, but still very happy and hopeful. I thought we might visit them if and when we visited my aunt in Nevada. And then on May 19th, Lynn came home from a trip to Boston to find that Joe had drowned in their pool. Lynn is planning to have a memorial service in Boston at some point.

Another layer of meaning and mourning for me is that Joe and my late friend Chris Hannon knew each other through me, and were similar in some ways (including that I met Chris at BAGLY), and Chris took his own life in January 2015 (when he was in his 30s), and I was the one who told Joe that. I believe in an afterlife, and believe that Joe and Chris have reconnected there, and that I will reconnect with them eventually. But oh, how I wish that they were still in this life! I love, miss and thank you, my friends – you did not live long, but you prospered more than many, and you found some peace though not long life.

Communities United Against Hate's #CUAHLaunch

Today was Communities United Against Hate (CUAH) of #MontgomeryCounty’s #CUAHLaunch -- keynote and other speeches*, panel including an LGBTQIA+ student activist**, resources fair including a MoCo Pride Center table (our first!!). My partner Julia and I were there, and I helped staff the #MoCoPrideCenter table -- I’m a Visionary (founding leader) at the Center. #CUAHLaunch  

These photos of my fellow Visionary Rev. Jill McCrory and I tabling with a community member were taken by a third Center Visionary. And, #CUAHMCMD interviewed us on video (and I was overly serious, as I tend to be in video interviews!).

The Center’s friends at Maryland Trans* Unity and our local LGBTQ+ youth groups also had tables -- there were some other LGBTQ+ and allied groups as well, though as usual most were DC- or Baltimore-based, which is why we started the Center. There were also many other organizations, politicians and other who sponsored the event.  In addition to their website and Facebook Page, our CUAH is on Twitter and Instagram @CUAHMCMD.  

*Keynote by Brian Frosh, Maryland’s Attorney General; **panel moderated by the awesome James Stowe, Director of our County’s Office of Human Rights was Althea, a local high school student and LGBTQIA activist; Doron Ezickson, Regional Director, Anti-Defamation League, Washington, DC; Mimi Hassanein, Middle Eastern Liaison, County Office of Community Partnerships; Dr. Rajwant Singh, Senior Advisor, National Sikh Campaign; Rabbi Batya Steinlauf, Co-Chair, Faith Community Working Group; Gustavo Torres, Executive Director, CASA of Maryland.

#CommunitiesUnitedAgainstHate #CUAH #MoCo #MD #MoCoMD #Maryland #MontgomeryCountyMD #MoCoMaryland #MarylandTransUnity

TransFaith’s Being Brave Together retreats - #5 in Boston

TransFaith -- where I'm a founding National Councilmember -- launched our Being Brave Together model last year (2016), and the centerpiece is our Being Brave Together (BBT) retreats for trans* and allied spiritual/cultural workers in cities / regions around the country.  We’ve done them in Miami once (last February), Philly twice (last April and June), and Baltimore (last December), and I’ve co-facilitated all four (and blogged about it briefly here).

Our fifth and latest BBT retreat was today in Boston, at the Second Church in Newton UCC (United Church of Christ), and it was the best one yet – which is really saying something! Todah rabah, many thanks!! I co-facilitated with Louis Mitchell (also a TF staff member), in partnership with other TF staff and a local planning committee, and we had a dozen participants.

And we are planning them in several other cities for this year and next, and want to plan them in more.  And for that we need local hosts and planning committees, not to mention participants.  So please connect with us if you haven’t already -- transfaithonline.org/connect/being_brave_together/.  We have many other ways to connect, engage and gather as well, online and off.

This also enabled me to visit Boston for the first time since I moved here (three years ago, after being there since birth in 1976) – I’m sorry I didn’t get to tell or see more people, but hopefully it won’t be too long before the next time, and I can bring my partner Julia.

#TransFaith #BeingBraveTogether #retreats #leadershipretreats #trans* #faith #Boston #Newton #2ndChurchNewtonUCC #2ndChurchNewton #spirituality #faithtradition #religion #transgender

Trans students' rights presentation @ Leisure World

This afternoon my local trans advocacy partner Ezra Towne and I presented on “Transgender & Gender Non-Conforming Students’ Rights and the Gavin Grimm Case” (including Montgomery County Public Schools) at the #UnitarianUniversalist group of Leisure World of Maryland, with guests from the #LGBT group, and it was a great experience.

The image is the first slide of our superb PowerPoint – and I can say that because it was Ezra who worked super hard on it.  And we will probably publish it online this Summer.

#LeisureWorld is a 610-acre (1ish square mile), ~8,000-resident, 200+-employee gated community for people 55+, founded in 1966; this was my first time inside.

#LeisureWorldMD #UU #transstudents #GavinGrimm #AshtonWhitaker #transyouth #Trans101 #trans* #gendernonconforming #transgender #MCPS

Trans United's first Organizing Call

Tonight was Trans United's first Organizing Call, and I was there, along with close to 100 of my closest colleagues, and it was quite a thing -- and it’s not too late to get involved.

"Trans United Fund is committed to building the political power of trans and gender expansive communities and our allies to advocate for trans equality."

#TransUnited #TransUnitedFund #trans* #transgender #gendernonconforming #genderexpansive #transled #transfocused #grassroots #organizing #conferencecall #CasaRuby #LaGender #TranscendLegal #TransLatinxCoalition

Field trip to The Frederick Center

Tonight Julia and I visited The Frederick Center’s Trans and Gender Non-Binary Community Group for the first time, and shared good pizza, soda, and conversation about many aspects of moving forward together as a community.  Thank you for inviting and having us! We continue to be inspired by you as we create the MoCo Pride Center. And it was certainly an unusually good way to spend Erev Inauguration (oy vey!!).

"This monthly TFC group is open to all Trans and Gender Non-Conforming adults (ages 18+ only). We provide a safe space to discuss issues of interest – including identity, coming out, transition – to support one another in gender exploration, to build connections and socialize with one another. Meeting topics and activities will largely be determined by group interest. We will commit to Respect, Direct Communication, Gentleness, Exploration, and Confidentiality.  Significant others welcome."

#TheFrederickCenter #Frederick #FrederickMD #FrederickCounty #MD #trans* #nonbinary #enby #transgender #LGBTQ