GUEST BLOGGER, Lou Weaver: Let Your Voice be Heard

Lou Weaver, president of the Transgender Foundationof America, and Daniel Williams, the nerd who started LegislativeQueery.com

Lou Weaver is the president of the Transgender Foundation of America, based in Houston, TX.  Lou expressed to me his amazement that any member of the transgender community would not vote, but explained that some felt their vote did not matter and others felt that as trans Texans they would not be welcomed at the polls.  I encouraged him to write an open letter to the community, which follows:



Dear friend,

I write in hope of encouraging you to vote this year.

At every level, Politicians need to hear from their constituents. They need to be aware that they have transgender people in their districts, and they need to be aware that those transgender people vote.

I used to think that my one vote couldn't make a difference. Through my service at Transgender Foundation of America, the Houston GLBT Political Caucus and with the friends I have made in the past couple of years I have come to realize that I can and do make a difference, but only if I work to make my voice heard.

Remember HB 723 this spring? The bill that would have endangered the marriage of every trans person in Texas? The bill that we kept from going to a vote by calling and visiting our State Legislators over and over again? I do. I will always remember the pride I felt knowing my community stood up for something they believed in. We won because we were able to show elected officials that we were paying attention, and that there would be consequences to their actions.

If you are worried about voting and showing id that might not match, try early voting at the West Gray location; that's what I did last time. http://www.votexas.org/early_voting.html No questions were asked.  I'm not trying to endorse any particular candidates or party. I want to encourage everyone to let their voice be heard because we can not afford to be silent and have others determine our future.

Thanks for your time,


Lou Weaver,
Board of Directors,
Transgender Foundation of America