
Op-Ed: The Politics of Transgender — ‘Scapegoats in the Culture War’
Being a transgender person living in Houston, TX during the election season of an ongoing and ever escalating and acrimonious culture war sure is hard ya’ll. I mean seriously.

Being a transgender person living in Houston, TX during the election season of an ongoing and ever escalating and acrimonious culture war sure is hard ya’ll. I mean seriously.

21,000 gallons of crude oil—- the equivalent of 500 barrels –poured onto the Santa Barbara County coast on Tuesday when an 11-mile-long underground pipe owned by Houston-based Plains All American Pipeline ruptured. The leak and its cause are under investigation.

The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) held annually in Houston is a world event. The conference, held this year May 4th through the 7th, attracted hundreds of vendors and thousands of professionals in the oil and gas industry providing a huge economic impact on the city. Yet, there is a profound dark and vile underside to conference activities. Houston is also a major hub for human slavery and sex trafficking in the United States. For years, this intersection of business and widespread prostitution has provided a boon to sex traffickers in Houston every year. However, the difference this year is a coalition of anti-human trafficking organizations who have joined with city law enforcement and conference organizers to combat the widespread sex trafficking that usually occurs during this event.

HOUSTON, Texas – Protesters supporting the Baltimore protests came out in Houston on Wednesday evening. The protest in Houston is small in numbers at this time and is peaceful. The Houston Police Department is highly visible with patrol units and the Houston Mounted Patrol officers that are specially trained in crowd control.

HOUSTON, Texas – An Houston Community College police officer survived an assassination attempt after being stabbed by her assailant 14 times. The officer was saved by civilians who stepped in and stopped the attacker. The attacker told investigators he did this to get back at police for their brutality.

HOUSTON, Texas – Despite a sharp downturn in the price of oil, Houston remains the top Texas city for the sales of luxury homes and ranks fifth in the nation. This ranking was reported from Coldwell Banker Previews International’s spring 2015 luxury market report by Paul Takahashi with the Houston Business Journal.

The stack of charges includes sex trafficking, harboring people illegally in the U.S., and money laundering. Deputy U.S. Attorney Reuben Perez says that Hortencia Medeles, 68, could receive life in prison without parole if found guilty on all charges. The charges relate to a human trafficking ring which took place in two Houston area nightclubs that served as brothels for underaged girls and other trafficking victims.