50 minute read
MONEY SMART
from NOVEMBER 2022
Dealing with High Medical Bills
Some tips to prevent healthcare expenses from piling up.
If you’ve had any medical issues—even those that aren’t considered “serious”—you may have racked up a considerable amount of debt. It doesn’t take long for medical bills to spiral out of control.
Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States. In some cases, people forgo getting the health care that they need because of the high cost. But this can be dangerous to your well-being, and possibly even to your life. So it’s essential to have strategies in place to help prevent hospital and doctor bills from piling up, as well as a strategy for chipping away at medical debt that you may already have.
Medical Debt and Retirement Savings
Even a small amount of medical debt could negatively impact your retirement savings. In fact, the more money you have going toward paying down these bills, the less you’ll have available to save or invest for the future.
Studies show that nearly 1 in 5 Americans have medical debt in collections. This means that millions of consumers are (or have been) unable to pay for various types of care. Further, more than half of debtors have medical expenses as a part of their bankruptcy filings.
Medical Debt Strategies
There are ways that you can plan ahead for potential healthcare costs in the future. While some of these require an up-front expenditure, it can be well worth it if you’re able to reduce or eliminate future expenses. These strategies include obtaining health insurance coverage, starting or adding to an emergency fund, and always checking your medical bills closely.
Certainly, one of the best ways to avoid high healthcare expenses is to have health insurance coverage. If you or your partner work for an employer that provides coverage to its workers, a Health Savings Account (HSA) may be included in the benefits package. This type of account allows you to set aside money on a pre-tax basis to pay for qualified medical expenses—including specific services not covered by your insurance policy. The cost of your health insurance deductibles and/or copayments is also a qualified HSA expense.
Unfortunately, not all companies include domestic-partner coverage in their benefits packages. So if you or your same-sex partner aren’t covered, it may be necessary to purchase a stand-alone health insurance policy.
The same holds true if you are an independent contractor or self-employed. A good place to start is the government’s Health Insurance Marketplace at healthcare.gov. There are numerous plans offered, many with low premiums and deductibles.
Another option to help cushion the blow of high medical costs is to start or add to an emergency fund. This refers to money you put in a savings account or other “safe” financial vehicle that you can easily access in an emergency.
By having an emergency fund in place, you could avoid the need to use other savings or high-interest credit cards to pay your healthcare costs. Ideally, you should have the equivalent of six months of living expenses in an emergency account. But when you’re just getting started, any amount is better than nothing at all.
You may also find that there are expensive errors on the medical bills you receive. These could include being double-billed, or charged for items that are supposed to be covered by your insurance. So make sure that you check those bills closely before you make any payments.
If you already have a sizable amount of medical debt, you may be able to reduce the amount you owe—or even have it forgiven. Some of the best strategies for doing so can include:
Negotiating medical bills – Many people are not aware that they can negotiate some of their medical bills. For instance, you could reach out to a hospital’s billing department and ask for a discount. You could also use a healthcare cost-comparison tool like Healthcare Bluebook to find comparable rates for the care you received. This can help you to determine if you were overcharged—and if so, give you a good reason to contact the provider and ask for a billing adjustment.
Consolidating debt with a personal loan – You might be able to borrow funds at a lower interest rate to pay off any higher-interest medical debt. Doing so could not only reduce the amount of your total monthly outlay, but also allow you to make just one convenient ➝
multiple locations throughout Houston Less than a 10 minute wait Board Certified Physicians Open 24/7/365, rain or shine LGBTQ+ and Allies safe space
New Montrose Location: 3209 Montrose Blvd, Houston, TX 77006 (281) 479-3293 ercare24.com
813 Richmond Ave Houston, TX 77006 713-522-2365
payment each month. Depending on where you received your healthcare services, you may also qualify for financial aid. For instance, the Affordable Care Act requires nonprofit hospitals to offer financial assistance and discounted care to low-income patients, as well as interestfree payment plans.
Borrowing money from your retirement plan – Although it isn’t recommended, if you have no other options standing between you and a mountain of medical debt, you could consider borrowing funds from an employer-sponsored retirement plan like a 401(k), if you’re a participant in one. But pay attention to the interest rate charged on the loan. In addition, if you do not repay this type of loan from a retirement account, the unpaid funds could be considered as a taxable withdrawal.
Getting Your Debt on the Right Track
Juggling large medical bills and healthcare-related debt can be challenging, so it can help to talk over your situation with a financial professional who can assist you with a plan to move forward.
In addition, working with a professional who is also LGBTQ-friendly can better ensure that your plan is in line with the most up-to-date legislation regarding benefits for same-sex couples and other related issues.
Grace S. Yung, CFP ®, is a Certified finanCial Planner practitioner with experience in helping LGBTQ individuals, domestic partners, and families plan and manage their finances since 1994. She is the managing director at Midtown Financial Group, LLC, in Houston.Yung can be reached at grace.yung@lpl.com. Visit letsmake aplan.org or midtownfg.com/ lgbtqplus.10.htm.
World AIDS Day event honors Michael Mizwa and AFH’s 40 years of service.
By KIM HOGSTROM
On December 2, AIDS Foundation Houston will hold their annual luncheon in The Ballroom at Bayou Place to commemorate their 40 years of fearless, trailblazing service in the battle to end HIV/AIDS.
Luncheon attendees can expect to hobnob with well-known local leaders and favorite personalities. Houston Public Media’s Ernie Manouse will MC, and the event’s special guest will be countertenor John Holiday, one of the opera world’s rising stars. Holiday’s vocal style bridges many genres and has been called “a thing of astonishing beauty” by The New Yorker.
Michael Mizwa, this year’s honoree for the event, was a natural choice. The dedicated Houstonian arrived at AFH in 1988, and spent the next 17 years in various leadership roles— outreach coordinator, director of education, vice president of community affairs and, ultimately, chief executive officer.
In 2004, Mizwa joined Baylor College of Medicine to create the BCM International Pediatric AIDS initiative and its affiliated network of children’s clinics. In 2015, he became the Texas Children’s Hospital director of global health, further expanding the scope of available resources to address pediatric AIDS worldwide.
“In 2004, when we entered Botswana, we found a country about the size of Texas with 40 percent of its population infected with HIV. This year, we have eliminated any transmissions from mother to child. It has nearly disappeared in pediatrics now,” Mizwa says.
One of this year’s luncheon co-chairs was AFH’s chief executive officer for eight years prior to Mizwa. Often described as a “blazing ray of sunshine,” Sara Speer Selber joined AFH as CEO in 1993, when the agency had a $1 million operating budget with a deficit of $300,000. Seven years later, AFH operated on an annual budget of $6 million, with a $1 million cash reserve and $6 million in real-estate assets. Still, Selber is quick to credit Miswa with AFH’s record of success.
“Mike is the reason we were able to meet so many of our objectives,” she notes. “He provided us with leadership and vision at every step of the way. Because he is the honoree this year, the luncheon is a sort of reunion for us. Many people from the early days of AFH are coming back to Houston to attend.”
AIDS Foundation Houston, Inc. was founded as a nonprofit in 1982, the same year that the virus was officially identified. It was the first AIDS service organization in Texas, and remains a national leader to this day. The agency’s goal is to create a community where HIV is stigma-free and rare, and people have equitable access to care.
The AFH luncheon is a natural complement to World AIDS Day on December 1, the official day of commemoration dedicated to the 25 million people who have been lost to the disease. The day is a reminder that the fight is not over, even though great strides have been made.
Young Houstonians sometimes comment, “We’ve made great headway eliminating AIDS, so what’s the point of dredging up pain with an official day? Is AIDS even still a thing?”
Yes, it’s still “a thing.” Houston ranks 11th in the nation for new HIV transmissions nationally, and more than a quarter of those patients will present with AIDS. Today, about 29,640 citizens are living with HIV in the greater Houston area.
Mizwa has a simple message for those young people who dismiss the threat of AIDS. “No matter which sexually transmitted disease we are addressing—gonorrhea, chlamydia, trichomoniasis, or HIV—I have had the same message for 30 years: ‘Latex is your friend,’” he says, referring to the need for condoms and safe-sex practices.
“AIDS is indeed still a thing,” emphasizes John Huckaby, AFH’s current chief executive officer. “One out of four new cases that we see are in youth from 13 to 24 years of age. We are addressing this through outreach and social media to help young people get the message.”
Huckaby’s commitment to AFH’s mission is striking. “Our logo has a flame burning in it because a flame requires energy, action, and produces light—some of the same elements we need to achieve our objectives at AFH. We have always been, and remain, a beacon of hope. And we are here until it’s over,” he concludes.
What: AIDS Foundation Houston’s World AIDS Day Houston Luncheon When: Noon, December 2 Where: The Ballroom at Bayou Place Info: worldaidsdayhouston.org
Michael Mizwa
COURTESY
—Michael Mizwa
The Out Physician Fighting Monkeypox
Dr. Demetre Daskalakis is a key player in the fight against the virus.
By RYAN M. LEACH
Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, 49, is the queer physician and activist at the forefront of the fight against the monkeypox outbreak that has been looming large for many gay, bisexual, and queer men who have sex with men. In July, Daskalakis was selected by President Biden to serve as the deputy coordinator of the White House National Monkeypox Response team.
Although progress is being made in containing the virus, Daskalakis notes that there is still work to do even as we proceed with cautious optimism. “This is not the time to pull back on the gas pedal. We have seen so much momentum and positive change. If you haven’t been vaccinated, get vaccinated. And if you have already received your first shot, then make sure to get your second shot. I think of it this way: if you are watching Star Trek and their ship is getting attacked, do they put their forcefield up to level 5 or level 10? They put it up to 10. Getting only one monkeypox shot is like putting your forcefield up to only 5. So get that second shot.”
In Texas, access to the vaccine has varied from region to region. Early on, Houstonians were experiencing long delays and fumbles as both the City and County health departments scrambled to respond. Many of those services have improved, in large part due to the work of Daskalakis.
The good doctor has dedicated his career to fighting infectious diseases. He attended NYU for medical school and then completed his postgraduate medical training at Harvard Medical School in 2003 before earning a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2012. And just a year later, he was largely credited with halting New York City’s meningitis outbreak. During his time with the New York City Department of Health and the New York City Department of Mental Health and Hygiene, the City recorded the lowest rates of HIV transmission in history.
Daskalakis also brings his unapologetically queer identity to the table. While some conservative news outlets have mocked him for his numerous tattoos or “high-fashion harnesses by Zana Bayne,” the queer community most impacted by the outbreak finds comfort in knowing that one of their own is fighting alongside them to help prevent further spread.
“I lead with my work. Monkeypox is
Dr. Demetre Daskalakis
not the first outbreak I have worked on. My work on HIV, meningitis, and COVID stands on its own,” Daskalakis notes. “But my identity is another part of why I am able to do what I love to do. Everyone’s hero is someone else’s villain. I want to make sure I am the right people’s hero. Also, my skin is like a pachyderm, and as long as I am doing the right thing for my community and public health, all the rest is noise.”
Recent national trends show a deceleration in new monkeypox cases as behavioral changes and vaccinations have proven to be effective. But there are still significant concerns related to equitable access to the vaccines. Black and Latino men who have sex with men represent both the largest increase in infections and the lowest rates of vaccination, while white LGBTQ men have had the greatest access to the vaccines.
Daskalakis is working to close this access gap. “We are really intentionally trying to do equity work, and we’ve launched a couple of equity interventions. There are large ones—the best example being Black Pride in Atlanta, where 4,000 vaccines were distributed and 70 percent of the recipients were people of color. We have also done smaller interventions as well, which are just as important—for example, going to medium-sized events or even a bar to do vaccines.”
Because the White House has initiated this vaccine program, Daskalakis, along with the program’s director, Bob Fenton Jr., have the ability to look out over all of the agencies that work on this response. One of their strategies involves “flex funding” to redirect existing grants from programs like the Ryan White Foundation to fight monkeypox.
Then there is the practical side of public health that Daskalakis can relate to as a queer man. In Houston, some of the early barriers to vaccines were related to stigma. You could only receive a vaccination if you were either on PrEP, had experienced an STI in recent months, or had been in close contact with an infected person. These requirements were put in place due to the initial vaccine shortages, but it contributed to a harmful narrative that was all too familiar in the queer community. Daskalakis has helped to address this through his work.
“We’ve heard so much from people who are concerned about getting the vaccine on the forearm, because it leaves a very identifiable mark. People are concerned this could reveal their gender identity or sexual orientation. We heard this [concern and are now] working with the CDC and FDA to change where the vaccination can be administered. Now people can receive the shot on the upper part of their back or shoulder, in a place that is more discreet,” Daskalakis explains.
Most recently, the national monkeypox vaccine strategy shifted to a pre-exposure prophylaxis model, thereby removing a stigma by increasing the number of people eligible for vaccines. This addressed the problem that closeted men had with standing in a vaccine line that could reveal to others that they were eligible for the vaccine because they reported having sex with other men.
There is still much to do, but things are moving in the right direction. And as we have learned from COVID, things don’t always go as fast as we might want them to. Daskalakis says the same applies with monkeypox. “This is a long game, not a short game.”
For more information, search on Houston Health Dept. Monkeypox.
From Pagent Queen to CEO
Boutique owner Roneshia Ray transforms clients with more than just clothing.
By ZACH McKENZIE
As a former beauty-pageant queen, Roneshia Ray knows how it feels to wear a crown. The influential native Houstonian has made her mark on pageant stages across the country—and on countless lives through her advocacy work. Ray, whose accolades include Miss North America International and Miss Black Texas, to name a few, is also the proud owner of The Modern Day Queen Collection, a boutique located in Upper Kirby filled with unique pieces and one-of-a-kind finds.
Viewing her shop as more than just a place to find stylish clothes, Ray also passes out metaphorical crowns to all the “queens” who shop at her store, inspiring them to live their best, most confident lives.
“I had just given up my title as Miss Black America and I knew I wanted to stay in the fashion-pageant industry, but I didn’t necessarily know how,” Ray explains. “I had a closet full of gowns and cocktail dresses, and girls would come to me to rent the gowns. That’s how The Modern Day Queen Collection got started.”
Soon after establishing her brand, Ray saw an opportunity to expand outside of the pageant world. “Pageants aren’t just gowns. People need interview outfits and everyday wear,” she says. “We transitioned into ready-to-wear in the last four years, and it’s really just kind of taken off from there.”
The world of fashion merchandising has always been of interest to Ray, but she started from square one when she decided to open her collection, literally pounding the pavement to make her dreams come true. “I took a flight to LA on a whim. I had one vendor, and I was hoping that with that one vendor I could find the rest that I was looking for. I walked 48 blocks and almost 28,000 steps to find the vendors that I needed for my company.” Her determination and people skills paid off. “Once I found them, I built really great relationships and they would send me items that I felt matched my brand.”
The boutique boasts some unique finds, along with designs created by Ray herself, including dresses, tops, and rompers. “The Modern Day Queen Collection is for the queen who is never afraid to be overdressed or stand out in a room,” she says. “Most of the things that we have in the store are extra! It may be just an exaggerated sleeve or fringes, but there’s always something special about the pieces that we choose to put in the store and online.”
The entrepreneur also makes giving back to her community a priority. “We do pop-ups where we open the store to different organizations for a shopping night out. We did one with a breast cancer awareness organization called SurviveHER, for example. They rented out the shop at no charge, hosted an informational event, and then customers were able to shop. We always try to give at least 5 to 10 percent of our proceeds [from those events] back to the organization, as well.”
As a Black lesbian business owner, the impact of Ray’s position is not lost on her. She describes her style as a mix between Diana Ross and the badass fictional TV character Olivia Pope, from the ABC show Scandal. “I always say I’m a triple minority. My secret weapon, however, is that I can identify across a spectrum of so many things. I know a lot of Black business owners like me who are the first in their family to ever own any type of business. It’s hard, but there’s a sense of pride in knowing that we’re breaking generational curses. We are also setting the example for the younger members of our family,” she notes, thinking of her young nieces and nephews. “If they ever want to own a business but are scared to do so, they shouldn’t be, because their aunt has already done it!”
While Ray wants to make sure her customers walk out of her shop feeling fabulous on the outside, it’s all about the confidence within that motivates her to push the needle even further with her brand. “I absolutely love when people come to the store and they think, ‘Oh, I’ll have to hide this’ or ‘This doesn’t look good on me.’ Then they end up trying on something different that they’d never thought they would’ve and they love it,” she says. “I want people to leave The Modern Day Queen Collection feeling confident, and that they can be that girl or guy on the street—or that queen on the street—that they imagined in their head who’s absolutely fabulous.”
COURTESY
Learn more about The Modern Day Queen Collection at shopmdqc.com.
The Banner Project’s Newest LGBTQ Heroes
Two new history banners recognize Houston’s own Dalton DeHart and Larry Bagneris.
By RYAN M. LEACH
October was LGBTQ History month, and the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce celebrated with The Banner Project, a largescale visual depiction of significant moments and people in Houston’s LGBTQ community. The Banner Project unveiled two new banners this year to recognize legendary photographer Dalton DeHart and Houston Pride parade founder Larry Bagneris.
“When I began taking photos in 1989, I never expected my photos to become such a valuable community [history archive]. I just loved taking photos, and that love and passion sort of took over my life,” DeHart admits. “I have never taken photos for myself; it has always been for others. It is the people that motivate me to do what I do. My greatest desire is that people see in the photos the passion with which I take them.”
Sara Fernandez, along with Houston historian JD Doyle and graphic designer Kirk Baxter, form the team that’s responsible for curating The Banner Project. DeHart is also a contributor, in addition to now becoming a banner subject. Together, this tireless team provides Houston’s LGBTQ community with something unique as well as educational. Houston has some of the richest (and probably most underrated) queer history in the country. At the start of the modern-day LGBTQ civilrights movement, Houston was considered one of the nation’s few hubs of LGBTQ life. It continues to trailblaze, and The Banner Project captures that.
“I saw a couple of exhibits in New York and was impressed with the visual displays,” Fernandez explains. “I wanted to have something like that for Houston. When the Creating Change Conference announced it would be in Houston [in 2014] I saw the perfect opportunity to create a display of Houston LGBT history. I was inspired by [a Rice University history archive called] the Houston Area Rainbow Collective History, and the passion for history that several members of that project had. Many people participated in creating the initial display. It was a massive project for our graphic designer, Kirk Baxter, and done in six weeks’ time.”
“Houston’s GLBT history is incredibly unique,” notes Baxter, “and the city was instrumental in helping the movement progress nationwide. There are other history projects throughout the country, but I don’t believe others use the banner concept. I felt an obligation to give back to the community and those who had blazed a trail before me.”
Deciding on the subject matter and design of a banner is typically not a quick process, according to Doyle. “Generally, Sara and I come up with the ideas and it may take a while for the final banner to come to be—often a couple of years. We discuss the worthiness of the subject and how it fits into the entire project, with an extra [emphasis on depicting Houston’s] diversity.”
DeHart and Bagneris are obvious choices for the new banners. Bageneris is responsible for organizing the first Houston Pride parade in the late ’70s. He now resides primarily in New Orleans, but returns to Houston annually for the June parades.
“I want to once again thank my adopted hometown of Houston for honoring my work
IMAGES COURTESY OF THE GREATER HOUSTON LGBT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
43 years ago—and in doing so, honoring the hundreds of volunteers who supported my vision for the Pride parade, Pride Week, and the Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus,” says Bagneris.
DeHart still lives near Greenway Plaza and is well known for always showing up wherever the LGBTQ action is. He started the Dalton DeHart Photographic Foundation with the goal of preserving Houston’s LGBTQ history in photographs for future generations.
“The Foundation was formed in 2015 to preserve LGBTQ history and provide people with the ability to see the photos and download them. Thanks to donations from individuals and foundations, the digitizing project is making it possible to view online more than 300,000 images that I captured on film before I began using digital cameras,” says DeHart.
Most of the Houston history banners can be viewed online, and donations are always welcome to help The Banner Project maintain and display their growing banner collection at future events throughout the community.
“It is a pop-up exhibit of LGBT history from the 1930s until 2010, showcasing our people, events, and organizations,” Doyle notes. “I do not know what other cities have. The Greater Houston LGBT Chamber has been a huge help in getting the word out this year, but donations are always welcome to allow for ongoing banner production and supplies.” Banners at the Creating Change Conference, 2014
To view The Banner Project online, visit HoustonWeHaveHistory.com.
On view Nov 12–Dec 18
Wayne Gilbert, Eternal Flowers, 2002. Human Ash in gel medium, oil on canvas, 60 x 72 inches.
Wayne Gilbert The Classic Cremain Paintings Mark Ponder Non-Normative
Mark Ponder, Don’t Blow It, 2022. Graphite on paper, 22 x 30 inches.
Bill Arning Exhibitions/Houston
Hours Thurs–Sun, 12–6PM
and by appointment
Closed Thanksgiving weekend, Nov 27–30 604 W Alabama St, Houston, TX 77006 billarning.com 617.359.9643
Exclusive Service for Exceptional Homes.
It’s Clear Skies Ahead
KHOU-TV meteorologist Pat Cavlin has a real passion for the weather.
By MARENE GUSTIN
Meteorologist Pat Cavlin had just joined KHOU-TV (the local CBS affiliate) in March of this year when he was asked to be the station’s face for the 2022 Pride Month. “I didn’t think it was a big deal, but it was very nice [that they asked me],” the 30-year-old weatherman recalls. “But then a friend pointed out that that would have been unheard of in this business 20 or 30 years ago. I guess I’m lucky—I’ve never had any issues with being gay in television.”
Working in television news was never on Cavlin’s radar growing up. The New York native was mainly a theater kid, but also an avid sky watcher.
“As a very young kid, I watched the Weather Channel in Brooklyn,” he says. “I loved snowstorms!”
With his family’s encouragement, Cavlin attended SUNY Oswego for a bachelor’s degree in meteorology. He was thinking of doing research and getting an advanced degree, but his college RA, noting his charisma and charm, thought he’d be great on camera and suggested he try out for the campus television station. Despite his theater background, he says he didn’t want to be “one of those weather guys putting smiley faces on sun cutouts.”
But he auditioned anyway, and found his true calling—one that was actually a lot more scientific than he had imagined.
Cavlin spent the next four years in college predicting the weather on the campus TV and radio stations. He also went on storm-chasing trips and saw his first tornado in Bennington, Kansas, chased the largest tornado on record in El Reno, Oklahoma, and witnessed one of the most well-photographed supercell thunderstorms in Booker, Texas. His passion for meteorology is obvious as he describes those three amazing adventures.
And so far, Cavlin is very happy with the weather in Houston.
“I miss the cooler weather,” he says of New York, “but it’s better here than in Florida, where it was the same weather all year long. The summer here was long, but at least you have seasons here.”
Cavlin left a station in Fort Meyers, Florida, to take his KHOU job—just missing the biggest Florida weather story in decades.
“I talk to my friends back in Florida, and it’s just depressing,” he says of the aftermath of Category 4 Hurricane Ian that slammed Florida back in September. “I really believe you are exactly where you are meant to be. Had I still been in Florida, Ian would have been the biggest story of my career, but then I would have been living with the brutal aftermath. The national weather crews got to go home after the storm, but the local news people are still there dealing with the devastation.”
Before arriving in Florida, Cavlin worked at News 12 Long Island, his hometown station. He has also been a volunteer EMT, and spent some time working at a station in Macon, Georgia—an experience that he calls “character building.”
“One of the things I love about Houston is just living somewhere there is a gay scene,” he says. Although he hasn’t gotten too involved in LGBTQ activities beyond attending some Pride events, Cavlin is anxious to learn more about his new hometown. He has explored Houston both on his bike along park trails and from an airplane, since he’s had his pilot’s license since 2015.
Although he’s still feeling his way around the city, there’s one thing about Houston that he learned early on: “If you like Tex-Mex,” he laughs, “this is the spot for you!” He’s already discovered upscale Hugo Ortega’s upscale Mexican spot Xochi downtown, and he’s eager to check out more of the local culinary scene.
But Cavlin is sure that his new television home is where he’s meant to be. “I love the people at KHOU,” he says. “And not just my co-workers. Even the bosses are great. You know what I really love about them? It’s just how encouraging they are to everyone.”
Pat Cavlin
COURTESY
Watch Pat Cavlin on KHOU-TV on Saturdays at 6 and 10 p.m., and on Sundays at 5:30 and 10 p.m.
A Legal Eagle Fighting for Equality
Phyllis Frye, Houston’s first transgender lawyer and judge, reflects on her life and legacy.
By SAM BYRD | Photo by ALEX ROSA
Phyllis Frye has never been afraid of a fight. Her name has been synonymous with the transgender community’s determination to include the T in LGBTQ, and her rise to legal prominence has been nothing short of historic. Known as “the grandmother of the nation’s legal and political transgender community,” Frye possesses a soft side marked by love and caring despite her aggressiveness in the courtroom and in politics.
The many facets of Frye’s life and times can now be better understood thanks to an authorized biography written by Michael G. Long and Shea Tuttle, with an introduction by Shannon Minter and published by Texas A&M University Press. Phyllis Frye and the Fight for Transgender Rights is a 268-page tour de force that examines Frye’s sexuality and gender, as well as her struggles and triumphs in bringing transgender issues to the forefront of public thought.
“The name of the book includes ‘The Fight,’ and I won. If you read it through to the end, you’ll see that I won,” Frye says.
And fight, she did. Frye has fought for nearly every job, relationship, and professional recognition in her life—battles that are spelled out in full detail, including several expletives to punctuate the less-than-easy road she has traveled. Though the road was rocky, she quickly paved a smoother path for those who followed her example of tireless activism.
Though Frye is a well-known attorney, her entry into law school was more a matter of circumstance rather than choice. Trained in the military and a double graduate of Texas A&M University’s engineering programs, Frye was content to live a life working in the oil and gas industry. However, her fondness for dressing in women’s clothing and Christian proselytizing during work hours (despite her male-presenting body at the time) proved too much for her employers and coworkers. She was usually relegated to menial work and eventually forced out of several jobs.
And that is what led to her second career in the courtroom.
“I became a lawyer by accident,” Frye admits. “Once I started to transition in 1976, I had been pretty much not only fired, but blackballed by the Houston engineering community because they weren’t going to put up with this queer person who was a guy and was becoming a woman. Because I had an honorable discharge from the military and had access to the G.I. Bill, I thought I could earn a master’s in business administration because [it would buy me some time while I was unemployed]. And probably, in those classes there would be some young engineering manager types who will get to know me as a person instead of ‘a thing,’ and I might be able to land a job.”
Frye enrolled at the University of Houston just as the school was introducing a joint MBA-JD program. In Frye’s eyes, that program would buy her even more time to lean on the G.I. Bill for income. Plus, she knew a lawyer could fight back and address the injustices that trans people were constantly facing at the time.
“I thought that if I become a lawyer, maybe I could sue [the people who were] just making my life miserable. That’s the reason—and the only reason—that I went to law school,” she adds with a sly grin.
An excerpt from page 96 of the book succinctly captures Frye’s early battles and subsequent successes in raising awareness of transgender equality issues:
While finishing law school, Phyllis felt a deep sense of accomplishment. First, she had been accepted to law school despite the fears of some professors and administrators. And then, during her course of study, she had overcome resistance to her use of women’s bathrooms, lobbied City Council for the repeal of the anticross-dressing ordinance, helped inject transgender issues into the 1979 National March for Lesbian and Gay Rights, joined in marches and rallies where she constantly raised the issue of transgender rights, won her first court fight for a transgender woman, battled the bigotry of the district attorney’s office, formed friendships with judges and attorneys, silenced the Christian Legal Society, and raised her grades. Perhaps most importantly, she had grown confident in her identity as a transgender woman.
Frye’s story is one of persecution, pushback, and eventual victory. She’s also the first to tell people that her success was partially due to the friendship and love of her partner for 48 years, Trish, who passed away in 2020 from a brain tumor.
“I had a wonderful companion and wife named Trish, to whom the book is dedicated. I could not have done this without her support. Whenever I would be down, she would console me. Whenever I was confused as to what to do next, I would consult with her. During those periods of time when I could not get work, her income was our sole and only income. We were terrified her employer would find out that she was married to me and she would lose her job. But that persistence and self-pride is what people will find out by reading the book,” Frye explains.
One of Frye’s lasting accomplishments was the International Conference on Transgender Law & Employment Policy, a series of conferences from 1992 to 1996.
“This was the beginning of the national legal and political movement of the transgender community. We had lawyers and judges come and speak at the conferences. And we had, at first, a few transgender lawyers who were not out. But as time went on, others started going to law school. [I educated and inspired] a lot of the people who came to the conferences about things they could do as non-lawyers to generally raise hell where they lived. It just grew and grew and grew,” she emphasizes.
Hell raiser or groundbreaker? The book suggests Frye is a little bit of both—or at least enough to earn the attention of Annise Parker, another Houston-centric LGBTQ icon who was the city’s first openly lesbian mayor.
Parker and Frye had a long-standing relationship in local activism, so, given Frye’s work in the legal field, it was not a head-scratcher for Parker to invite Frye to become a municipal judge. Frye willingly accepted the position as an associate judge in the Houston Municipal Courts, which made her the first openly transgender judge in the world. ➝
—Phyllis Frye
Frye mentions that most of her cases involved traffic disputes, but one of the highlights of her job was to marry couples—and especially LGBTQ couples after marriage equality became the law of the land.
“When same-sex marriage became legal, I performed a lot of same-sex marriages. I would meet gay couples who had been together for a long time, and they would say they would like to get married but couldn’t afford a huge ceremony. I would tell them they should get married in a courthouse, for the legal protections. They would come to my office with a marriage license, and I’d marry them so that each person would be protected by law. I did a lot of those, and that was very satisfying.”
After a career that has stretched well into her seventies, the tireless judge is eying her retirement from the bench.
“I am stepping down from the bench because 12 years is enough. I’m going to be 75, for goodness’ sake! I am enjoying my life.”
She does have plans for life after her career—such as continuing to advocate for the transgender community, and especially for those entering their senior years.
“Most transgender people don’t have surgery below the waist. It’s expensive as hell, and most can’t afford it. That’s okay when they’re young, but when they start getting old and looking at hospitalization or nursing homes or hospice, it’s different. They appear one way above the sheets, and they appear another way below the sheets. The people who work with their catheters, bathe them, or change their gowns—they’ll start misgendering the patients. It is a microaggression,” Frye notes.
“Transgender elderly people need to be treated with respect for their gender. They don’t need to be constantly reminded, by people who use the wrong pronouns, of where they came from. That’s something that’s going to be a long-term goal. Every time I get paid to speak, I always bring up the issue of transgender elderly people,” she says.
As Frye dives into retirement in January 2023, one thing will always remain true: she has unquestionably lived her truth, and was a driving force to make sure there was a T in LGBTQ.
Phyllis Frye and the Fight for Transgender Rights is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
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Drawn to the Art
Mark Ponder’s pencil-on-paper work reveals the ‘non-normative’ side of life.
By SAM BYRD
The curious machinations of queer artist Mark Ponder’s mind are on full display this month at Bill Arning Exhibitions in Montrose. Titled Non-Normative, the exhibit showcases 32 hyper-realistic and introspective graphiteon-paper drawings that have coursed through Ponder’s imagination in recent years.
“These drawings are emotional journaling, so to speak. ‘Non-normative’ is a word that my therapist taught me. It’s a word that gave me empowerment with feeling weird and not normal,” Ponder says. “The drawings were created over three years. They’re more or less like meditations. I’m basically reflecting and processing things, and then my hands just kind of stayed busy with the pencil during the thought process.”
Ponder describes this collection as a way of getting ideas off of his chest. “By drawing, I can acknowledge my inner thoughts and write it down. And once I do that, the idea is no longer in my head, and then I can revisit that idea from a more objective point of view.”
Images of wrestlers, fun-house mirrors, and a cheer team are all part of the collection—one that art curator Bill Arning is more than excited to show.
“I’ve been a fan of Mark Ponder, and over the years I’ve bought a lot of his pieces from shows. He’s such a unique art maker, and he is focused on autobiographical drawings that have a lot of dark underbelly—psychological overtones of these things that he uncovered from his sex life and psychotherapy. They are absolutely fascinating to me, and I really cannot think of another artist who’s quite as dedicated to that way of working. He plumbs his interior depths in a way that is funny, surreal— sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. But then, we also start looking at his take on gender roles, who he is, and what his process is. It’s a gallows humor,” Arning muses.
Three years might seem like a long time to create a show, but not when you learn that a few of the drawings took him 150 hours to create. For Ponder, a teacher at Kinder High School for the Performing Arts, it was something that helped him get through the brunt of the pandemic by staying focused on his own journey of selfdiscovery.
“You’ll see cartoons, karate, cheerleading, sister dynamics, and family memories. The collection is like a web that has a linear narrative,” Ponder says.
One obvious star in the collection is a series of mirrors. “I was discussing the concept of reflection, and having a warped reality and reflection of myself. I’ve drawn reflections of mirrors, as well as fun-house-mirror reflections of people,” he adds. “There was a part of me that was latching on to an image that made sense to me as I was processing this conversation of, ‘Is your reality real, or is it work? Do you have blinders on if you don’t say it?’ It became a symbol that I sat with for a couple of months for each drawing.”
Ponder started creating art professionally just over a decade ago, but his artistic gene has been expressing itself since he was a child. He studied graphic design at Lamar University in Beaumont before earning a master’s degree in studio arts from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois.
Escaping from Port Arthur, Texas, the small town where Ponder grew up, was somewhat liberating for him. “I needed to get an education outside of that little insular bubble. Carbondale is a super-progressive college city—as in, the city hosted topless parades!” Ponder notes. “And the art was a lot more nutritious. They would have lots of discussions about ‘Why do you do this in the first place? Why are you going to commit 30 years of your life to this?’ Those kinds of conversations get you to connect with yourself and your inspiration.”
It’s that kind of forward thinking that convinced Arning to showcase Ponder’s work in Houston. “I really love artists who are not afraid to offend people. A lot of the galleries in this city try to [avoid art] that could upset someone. I’m the opposite. I love upsetting people, and Ponder is the type of artist that I love to support. Commercial galleries tend to be wary of drawings, because you can never sell a large drawing for as much money as a large painting. Painting is just a more lucrative form. But [my clients] are likely to get fully behind Ponder’s work because it is such an authentic expression of his unique sensibility.”
It begs the age-old question: Can shocking images rise to the level of thought-provoking art? Arning argues that Ponder’s drawings can.
“Thought provoking? Definitely. Shocking? Occasionally,” Arning concludes. “I don’t think people would describe them as ‘shocking’ as much as ‘visually aggressive.’”
What: Non-Normative – pencil-on-paper drawing exhibit by artist Mark Ponder Where: Bill Arning Exhibitions, 604 West Alabama When: Nov. 11–Dec. 18, Thursdays thru Sundays noon–6 p.m. Info: billarning.com
Non-normative, graphite on paper. 9 x 12, 2022
Empowering Trans Adults
Rice University study advocates for wellness reforms to support trans adults, who disproportionately suffer from disabilities.
By LILLIAN HOANG
Transgender Awareness Week and the Transgender Day of Remembrance are annual November observances that memorialize victims of anti-trans violence and educate people on trans issues— including, for example, what it’s like to be trans and disabled.
Trans adults are more likely to report suffering from a disability, compared to cisgender men and women, according to a new study by Rice University researcher Madeline SmithJohnson. The study determined that trans adults have a 27 percent chance of having at least one disability at age 20, and a 39 percent chance at age 55—nearly twice the rate of their cis counterparts at both ages.
The disabilities in the study were defined as having serious difficulty walking, climbing stairs, dressing, bathing, running errands alone, concentrating, remembering, or making decisions.
Smith-Johnson, the nonbinary researcher who helmed the study, was interested in the experiences of LGBTQ elders because they provide insight into the LGBTQ community’s future.
“I’m hopeful that by exposing health disparities associated with being queer, across the lifespan, we can learn more about how to build longevity, well-being, and resilience in this community,” says Smith-Johnson, who uses they/them pronouns.
Learn more about Smith-Johnson’s study in the Q&A below.
Why did you conduct this study?
I’m interested in the link between a person’s social environment and their health. We know that lifelong experiences of stress and victimization can have long-lasting impacts on a person’s body. But we also know that social support and community, or “finding your people,” can act as a buffer against some of the most pervasive hate and discrimination. It took me most of my young adulthood to find my people. I’m hopeful that by exposing health disparities associated with being queer, across the lifespan, we can learn more about how to build longevity, well-being, and resilience in this community. But I can’t continue to study these topics unless we have inclusive questions about gender identity and sexual orientation in national surveys.
How did your own experiences contribute to the article?
As a queer person, I know the daily wearand-tear of living in a society that penalizes anyone who is not heterosexual or cisgender. As a researcher, I’m tired of LGBTQ+ lives and stories being invisible in many of the conversations around health and well-being happening in the United States. More and more population health data are finding health disparities among trans people, especially nonbinary folks. We don’t really know why. As a nonbinary person, I’m committed to documenting these health disparities. Even though it’s difficult and depressing, I believe that we hold systems of oppression to account by sounding the alarm about the harm done to our community, while also building queer joy in the face of that harm. This article sounds the alarm. But it’s up to individual communities to continue building change.
I understand you used data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Could you tell me how you used that data to determine your findings?
BRFSS is one of the largest health surveys in the United States. In 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention introduced a set of questions about sexual orientation and gender identity, but left it up to individual states to [decide about] asking these questions. Since 2014, 43 states have asked about sexual orientation and gender identity. I take all these survey responses and pool them together to get a “snapshot” of health in the trans community in these particular states. I predict a person’s likelihood of reporting at least one disability.
Now, we know that on average in the US, trans people tend to have higher rates of poverty, lower rates of employment and higher education, and are more likely to be current smokers. All these things can impact the likelihood of disability in a population. If we held race, marital status, socioeconomic status, and health behaviors like smoking constant [for transgender and cisgender people], we still see higher rates of disability among transgender adults, compared to cisgender men and women.
What were your most interesting findings?
The most interesting finding is that there is no evidence that transgender disadvantage is leveling out in older age groups. And there’s no evidence that transgender disadvantage ➝
COURTESY Madeline Smith-Johnson
is simply about the wear-and-tear of getting old. Even though cisgender men and women also experience increasing rates of disability at older ages, the levels of disability in the transgender population continue to outpace them—both in young and older groups.
Could you expand on how age is important to this study?
I wanted to investigate these two possibilities: do we see disparities in disability among younger trans groups, or among older trans people? I did not expect to find disparities at all ages. This tells us that there are probably multiple mechanisms driving disparities in disability by gender identity. The trans population starts off young adulthood with already-elevated levels of disability—higher than cisgender men and women. As the population moves through middle adulthood and older adulthood, the gap only widens. This is incredibly concerning!
What other findings stood out to you?
I also think these findings are significant because of the particular kind of disability captured in the data. These functional limitations—having difficulty dressing, bathing, running errands, etc.—don’t tell us everything we need to know about how a person is really doing. For example, a transgender person who is well connected in their community, with a large social network to rely on, might be able to overcome these limitations with the help of others. By contrast, a transgender person with the same self-reported disability, but without these connections, is likely much more limited in their day-to-day life because of the lack of assistance from others. We need more studies and more community engagement to begin to examine what kinds of support folks need in their day-to-day lives.
What are the social implications of the study?
There are implications at every level of society. First, we need LGBTQ+ competent care in all healthcare systems in the United States. There are high levels of healthcare avoidance in the transgender community. Experiences of discrimination from medical professionals can lead trans people to avoid healthcare. At the same time, medical schools offer almost no training in how to competently care for LGBTQ+ populations. We need to see the healthcare system begin to train individual professionals in how to reach out to and care for transgender adults.
Second, we need legislation at the federal level that includes gender identity as a protected identity class. This means that service providers would not be able to discriminate against transgender people in healthcare, housing, employment, social services, etc., based on their gender identity. Note that this includes eliminating religious-refusal exemptions in [the current] nondiscrimination laws. It might seem like housing, income, and employment are separate from someone’s disability status. Actually, decades of social-science research has found that the most fundamental factors impacting health are not [the access to] healthcare, but actually having the resources to live well. This means that providing access to education, employment, and a safe place to live are the most fundamental changes a society can make to try to begin to shift health disparities.
Third, we need communities to organize on behalf of their trans neighbors. Social isolation is detrimental to health. Social support is key to continuing to flourish despite functional limitations.
Read Madeline Smith-Johnson’s full study at tinyurl.com/358y7hfx.
Claiming Space for Black Trans Women
Sis gives voice to untold stories through her character portrayals.
By DAVID CLARKE | Photo by ALEX WEBSTER
Sis may just be the queen of manifesting her own destiny. Watching Barney & Friends on TV as a young child convinced the Houston native to be a performer. “I just remember thinking, ‘I want to be a part of that. I want to be in that world, and with this purple dinosaur,” she recalls.
Sis may not have performed with Barney, but she has made her dreams of being part of the television world come true. This year, audiences can see her as Dunaway on FX’s American Horror Story: New York City.
Sis has climbed professional ladders rung by rung since leaving Houston. From being a background character on the third season of Ryan Murphy’s POSE and a guest on The Last O.G. to being a featured Horror Story character on AHS: NYC, Sis has put in the work and the sweat equity to get to where she is today. “I’ve gotten to move up [as I learned] how acting on TV works,” she says. “I got to see what it’s like to just exist in the background, then to come in one day and do a role, and then to come in and actually be a part of the story.”
Sis got her start performing on professional stages in Houston and as Ado Annie on the 2021–22 national tour of the 2019 Broadway revival of Oklahoma!. Being on POSE was a huge step in her career, but taking background work on the show wasn’t something her agents were thrilled for her to do. “I told myself before moving to New York in 2019 that all I want is to be on POSE,” Sis remembers. “I did it, and I didn’t care if it was background. I didn’t care what it was. I just wanted to be on POSE, and so that dream came true.”
POSE also gave her a chance to embrace and affirm her identity. “I think it is the best door-opening experience I’ll ever have,” she says. “This was my first time being on a set, and my first-ever TV director was Janet Mock. So all I know in my life is having a black trans woman as a television director.”
Her early work on the POSE set proved to be invaluable because of the praise and advice she got from fellow cast members. In a heartfelt moment, Dominique Jackson told her, “I’ve watched you as you’ve been filming with us, and you got it. You’re a star! You need to keep going, because you got it.”
Having actual trans actors portraying trans characters on POSE has helped put the lives of trans people into mainstream society’s consciousness. The casting of Sis as Dunaway on American Horror Story illustrates the progress that Hollywood has made in both the story lines and the casting of trans people after POSE.
“We’re getting to the point in the world where human beings are so specific that [a show’s characters] are being written [to spotlight] these specific personalities, and I think that was the blessing of American Horror Story,” Sis explains. “Even with Oklahoma!, I really got to bring authenticity to these characters and these people, because we’re finally getting to see that they actually did exist, and they actually do exist—and not solely on the fringes or in the background. These people have story lines because they have story lines in the real world. The beauty of it and the affirmations of it is that this dark-skinned, plus-size Black trans woman does exist, and has existed. So now I’m getting the opportunity to do that and be confident, sexual, and authentic—to be somebody that people enjoy watching on TV or onstage.”
Sis wants people to take away one thing about her appearance on Horror Story: “Black trans women exist and are here, presently, with and among everyone. I’m a Black trans woman. I’m a Black woman. I’m a straight Black woman. And my character Dunaway is real—not this idealized mother of all people who is here to serve and help liberate. She’s just this woman, period.”
When the cameras stop rolling or the curtain comes down, Sis actively works to ensure greater equity and access for all. “Every time I [advanced professionally], I wanted to make sure that I was able to give back and uplift the communities [whose shoulders] I was standing on,” she notes. “That’s why my organizations—Thee Open House Project and The Next Generation Project—and my advocacy within entertainment spaces—affect the personal work that I’m doing in making sure that we have someone that people can look up to, to connect with, and create an equitable lane to get others to where we are.”
Follow Sis on Instagram at @ucancallmesis
JOE MURRAY
“PEOPLE HAVE TRIED TO TRICK US INTO THINKING THAT PEOPLE LIKE ME SHOULDN’T OR DON’T EXIST, BUT WE DO.” —Sis
