Phyllis Frye: Opening Remarks & Signing her new book!

 

30th Houston Transgender Unity Banquet will start with Judge Phyllis Frye leading remarks! 

If  you have a copy of her new book she can sign it for you at the banquet! 

The first openly transgender judge to be appointed in the United States, the first attorney to obtain corrected birth certificates for transgender people who had not undergone gender confirmation surgery, a survivor of conversion therapy, and author of a law review article that helped thousands of employers adopt supportive policies for their workers, Phyllis Frye is truly a pioneer in the fight for transgender rights. Among her many accomplishments, Frye founded the first national organization devoted to shaping transgender law–the International Conference on Transgender Law and Employment Policy, which has since created a body of work that includes the International Bill of Gender Rights–trained a cadre of future trans activists, and built the first national movement for transgender legal and political rights. Based on interviews with Frye, Phyllis Frye and the Fight for Transgender Rights covers her early life, the discrimination she faced while struggling with her identity–including being discharged from the army and fired from a subsequent job at her alma mater, Texas A&M–her transition in 1976, her many years of activism, and her current position as an associate judge for the municipal courts of Houston. This gripping account of Frye’s efforts to establish and protect the constitutional rights of transgender individuals not only fills a gap in existing histories of LGBTQ+ activism but will also inform and instruct contemporary trans activists.

Queen of Cups

… a Movie Event brought to you by HTUC!

 

With the cancellation of the Unity Banquet, HTUC is presenting a series of events to raise funds for scholarships and other HTUC functions. We also hope that via Zoom we can provide some of the socializing benefits that we experience at the Unity Banquet.

The “Queen of Cups” is a new independent feature film by Sharon Ferranti.

Join us for a screening of this unique new film, The Queen of Cups, by Sharon Ferranti. This film is not available in any public venue or streaming service. Proceeds from this event will benefit HTUC and TFA. It’s a zoom meeting, so participants will be able to mingle and say hello to each other and participate in a Q&A after the screening with the director!

Two showings:

Friday September 18 @ 7:30 PM Tickets: $10.00

Sunday September 20 @ 11:30 AM Tickets: “PAY WHAT YOU WISH” with a suggested price of $10.00.

Check out the Trailer:  Queen of Cups Trailer


Limited Availability – Buy your Tickets today:

Friday, September 18th at 7:30 pm

Sunday, September 20th, at 11:30 am


 

If you would like to make a donation to HTUC to support our Scholarship Fund or other activities just click Donate!

2020 Houston Transgender Unity Banquet

Out of an abundance of caution, we are canceling the 2020 Houston Transgender Unity Banquet. This was a very difficult decision but we felt that the safety of our community needed to be our top priority.

In making this decision, we held discussions with local health officials, our host hotel, and political leaders. As you know, the Unity Banquet is a large social gathering where we celebrate the transgender community.

No member of TFA or the HTUC leadership feels that the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 will be contained enough by September 2020 to conclude that it will be safe for people to gather.

We will be able to offer some scholarships and small grants in 2020 and 2021 even without holding the Unity Banquet and will do some additional fundraising for scholarships and small grants late this year.

That said, we have already begun our planning for the 2021 Unity Banquet and expect it to be our biggest and most successful banquet yet.

Alexis Melvin
President, TFA

If you would like to contribute to this year’s scholarship fund, please go to our Scholarship Donation Page.

2019 Houston Transgender Unity Banquet

photo by Allana Taranto

We are excited to announce that activist, actress, international model and performer Carmen Carrera will be a featured speaker at the 2019 Houston Transgender Unity Banquet!

Carmen is a strong advocate for many causes, including Human Rights, HIV Prevention, and Discrimination against Transgender Women.

As a famous transgender model, actress, performer and activist who received her start with RuPaul’s Drag Race. This past winter, Carmen partnered with Christina Aguilera performing at Radio City Music Hall and hosted events at the Sundance Film Festival for AT&T and at NYC Fashion Week for Fashion News Live on Amazon Prime. In April, she spoke at the Iowa Safe Schools Governor’s Conference, which is the largest LGBTQ Youth Conference in the country and in May, was the special celebrity host for the Equality California Awards in San Francisco. This summer be on the lookout for her on the cover of Spirit Magazine.

Carmen is a featured model, including working with PUMA and has walked shows at New York City Fashion Week and Miami Swim Week. Carmen was the first transgender model to ever walk at Miami Swim Week.  In a very special project “Show Girl”, Carmen was photographed by the legendary Steven Meisel for a spread in W Magazine. She also did a special project with HBO creating Transgender Awareness in Latin America for the show “Outpost” and was the face of the New York City Health Department’s #PlaySure Campaign.


For more information about the Unity Banquet visit Unitybanquet.com.

For 2019 Unity Banquet tickets click here.


2019 Houston Transgender Unity Banquet speakers are made possible in part by a grant from the John Stephen Kellett Foundation.

2019 Houston Transgender Unity Banquet

We are pleased to welcome Lana Blake As our MC for 2019 Houston Transgender Unity Banquet!

Lana has been an Entertainer / Drag impersonator for over 25 years. Lana has performed all over Texas and held several titles including Miss Houston USofA, Miss Southwest Continental and Miss Texas USofA Classic 2015.


For more information about the Unity Banquet visit Unitybanquet.com.

For 2019 Unity Banquet tickets click here.


2019 Houston Transgender Unity Banquet speakers are made possible in part by a grant from the John Stephen Kellett Foundation.

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