The Human Rights Campaign fired Alphonso David, the former President of the organization, in September and now he’s suing for racial discrimination. Former Celebrity hair stylist & reality TV star Lauryn England is set to make history in Alabama as its first Black trans woman to own a restaurant. We salute Miss Major during our Black History Month Spotlight. 

00:00 – Welcome & Intro

00:32 – Rate & Review Queer News Ad

00:59 – Intro Music

01:39 – The Human Rights Campaign fired Alphonso David, the former President of the organization, in September and now he’s suing for racial discrimination

04:39 – Former Celebrity hair stylist & reality TV star Lauryn England is set to make history in Alabama as its first Black trans woman to own a restaurant

05:30 – We salute Miss Major during our Black History Month Spotlight

07:29 – Anna’s Got A Word

Things for you to check out 

Anna DeShawn’s TikTok on Alphonso David & HRC

@annadeshawn Listen live M-F | 8-10am CT on @e3radio #QueerRadioDoneRight #hrc #cuomo #scandal #adoption #lgbt #queer #lgbtq #fyp #foryourpage #fypシ #viral ♬ original sound – annadeshawn

The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart 

.@AlphonsoDavid on his firing from the @HRC: “I was asked to resign without a shred of evidence. I was asked to resign without any findings. I was asked to resign without a report… They wanted this to go away.” #SundayShow pic.twitter.com/MuvBuJ2lZ8

— The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart (@TheSundayShow) September 12, 2021

Gaye Magazine Article on Lauryn England’s New Restaurant 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Gaye Magazine™ (@gayemagazine)

https://www.gayemagazine.com/post/lauryn-england-to-become-the-first-black-openly-trans-woman-to-own-a-restaurant-in-alabama

Cooking with Lady E’s Official Instagram 

https://www.instagram.com/cookingwithladye

Miss Major’s Organization – House of GG

https://houseofgg.org

---

Listen to More Queer News

---

More on this episode

Family, this is your favorite queer radio personality Anna DeShawn here with our queer news from today. 

The Human Rights Campaign fired Alphonso David, the former President of the organization, in September and now he’s suing for racial discrimination. Former Celebrity hair stylist & reality TV star Lauryn England is set to make history in Alabama as its first Black trans woman to own a restaurant. We salute Miss Major during our Black History Month Spotlight. 

Our leading story for today is about Alphonso David, the former President of the Human Rights Campaign. Ya’ll know HRC is the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization with over three million members. In 2019, they hired Alphonso David a well known civil rights attorney and the first openly gay Counsel to then Governor of New York State Andrew Cuomo. In 2021 after Attorney General James’ report was released about the alleged sexual assault allegations against former Governor Cuomo HRC decided to fire Alphonso who was named several times in the report. I did a TikTok on this story back in September which outlines the items Alphonso David is accused of in the report and I’ve included a link to that video in the show notes. I knew then the story wasn’t going to be over just yet because Alphonso had something to fight for, his reputation. Not to mention he’s a lawyer himself with a ton of resources at his fingertips. So now he’s suing HRC for racial discrimination. 

About a week after the firing he did an interview with Jonathan Capehart on MSNBC. It’s better for you to hear it from him so take a listen to what he has to say. Then Jonathan asked him what he would say to the people watching the show and who read the report that felt like based on that alone he shouldn’t be leading HRC. Alphonso had this to say. 

This is a really ugly situation. What if what Alphonso is saying is true. Then it speaks to the long standing narrative that HRC has not been welcoming to Black LGBTQ leadership within the organization. What if the HRC investigation did prove that Alphonso’s actions were a violation of HRC’s conflict of interest policy and the mission of HRC’s interests, reputation, and prospects.” What if both are true. HRC hasn’t commented on the lawsuit and we know this story is far from over. As always, I will continue to follow the story and report back to y’all. 

Now for some positive news being reported by Gaye Magazine. Lauryn England, former celebrity hairstylist turned reality TV star, is set to become the first Black openly trans woman to own her own restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama. It’s called “Lady E’s Chick’n Cafe” and she is excited to launch in March with her dad by her side. She said, “I’ve been teaching & cooking since I was 13 years old (I believe the food is just that much better when it’s cooked from the heart and the hands of LOVE) to do this in my hometown I wouldn’t have it any other way. HOME is where the heart is”. We know the South is full of Queer folks and hopefully all of the online support will turn into real life support. The food looks good too. I have her social links in the show notes so definitely go check her out and support. 

Ya’ll know its Black History Month and in every episode this month we are going to celebrate living at the intersections of being Black & Queer. There are so many Black LGBTQ folks who have made history but their sexuality was left out of the story. I’m here to change that. E3 Radio is here to change that. Who they are is just as important as what they did and acknowledging the full depth and breath of someone’s existence can not be understated. We deserve to be seen for all of who we are. Anything less is unjust. So with that our Black History spotlight today is Miss Major. 

Miss Major is a veteran of the historic “Stonewall Rebellion” and a survivor of Attica State Prison, a former sex worker, an elder, and a community leader and human rights activist. She is simply “Mama” to many in her community. Her personal story and activism for Transgender civil rights intersects LGBT struggles for justice and equality from the 1960’s to today. At the center of her activism is her fierce advocacy for her girls, Trans women of color who have survived police brutality and incarceration in men’s jails and prisons.

Miss Major is formerly the long-time executive director of the San Francisco-based Transgender Gender-Variant Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP), which advocates for Trans women of color in and outside of prison. She is the recipient of countless awards, proclamations, certificates, and public accolades for more than 50 years of a legendary and pioneering career in social justice and activism. Most notably, she is also the subject of the award-winning documentary feature film titled “MAJOR!” Miss Major is also the Founder & Executive Director of the House of GG. A non-profit creating safe and transformative spaces where trans women of color communities can heal physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Miss Major, we see you & we salute you.  

Let’s close out with our word for the day. Anna’s always got a word. I wanted to find something funny because sometimes Monday can feel like we’re riding a struggle bus. I came across this, “Toss your hair in a bun, drink some coffee, put on some gangsta rap and handle it”. Now go ahead and make that quote your own but you get the idea. Do what you need to get you through the day. You got this. Till tomorrow family, peace. 

Sources

Ex-president Alphonso David sues HRC for racial discrimination

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/02/ex-president-alphonso-david-sues-hrc-racial-discrimination/

Alphonso David alleges racist treatment at the Human Rights Campaign in post-firing interview

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/09/alphonso-david-alleges-racist-treatment-human-rights-campaign-post-firing-interview/

HRC investigating Alphonso David’s role in Andrew Cuomo scandal

HRC investigating Alphonso David’s role in Andrew Cuomo scandal

Human Rights Campaign Names Alphonso David as New President

https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/human-rights-campaign-names-alphonso-david-as-new-president

House of GG

https://houseofgg.org/about/

16 queer Black trailblazers who made history 

https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/black-history-month-17-lgbtq-black-pioneers-who-made-history-n1130856

Alphonso David has filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the Human Rights Campaign, Lauryn England is set to be the first Black trans woman to open a restaurant in Alabama, We celebrate Miss Major during our Black History Month Spotlight – Monday, February 7, 2022