The
Queens Throne by Marisa Richmond
marisaval@aol.com
Tennessee Vals Newsletter
May
2000
Upcoming Group Meetings
In This Issue:
Vals' Special Events June 10th, Night in White, Regal Maxwell House Hotel, Metrocenter Blvd. 8:30p-2am Official Website: www.nightinwhite.org
The
Queens Throne by Marisa Richmond
marisaval@aol.com
When the new year began, there was much hype over the imminent End of the World. Well, many of you were breathing easy at 12:01 to discover that the lights were still on. But for those who are trying to figure out what you are going to do with all of the canned goods and bottled water you bought in December, we have another Apocalypse coming on Friday, May 5! I will give credit to the paranoiacs, though. They at least have managed to schedule Armageddon on good party dates. I just hope my final experience on this planet is not swallowing the worm....
If the world doesn't end on the 5th, then I am very much looking forward to the opening of the new Opry Mills Mall on the 11th. While the rumors that Metro News Adult Bookstore will be there are false, it will reportedly have everything else.
In late March, I flew up to the Washington area for the
annual IFGE Convention. It opened with a plenary session on Thursday
morning which featured Kerry Lobel, the outgoing Executive Director of the
National Gay and Lesbian Task
Force, and Kirstin Kingdon, Executive Director of
P-FLAG. Each one talked about their organization's commitment to diversity
and inclusion. Lobel also reminded everyone that, regardless of category,
if we deal with issues like job discrimination, child visitation, safe streets,
or even safety in our homes, then we are political. That is why we must be
politically active. It also included Rev. Laurie Auffant of the Unitarian
Transgender Ministries. While there are many judgmental faiths in the religious
world, Laurie's presence as a transgendered minister within the Unitarian
Universalist Church illustrates the fact that there is room for faith and
diversity of gender expression. Laurie will be here in Nashville in late
June for a Unitarian Universalist church meeting and is looking forward to
meeting members of the Vals while she is here.
At lunch that day, IFGE presented the three annual Trinity Awards to Tonye Barreto-Neto, Mary Boenke and Dawn Wilson. Since 1991, 43 individuals have been recognized with this honor for their contributions to the gender community and yet, Dawn is the first African American so honored. It seems ridiculous that it took so many years for IFGE to realize that there is a lot of fine work being done by people all around the nation who do not all claim 100% European ancestry. This was long overdue and I hope the selection committee does not wait 9 more years and 43 more people before they find a second African American worthy of recognition.
The following day, we had two
speakers at lunch who reminded us of why we need to fight the battles for
equality. The first was Dana Rivers, the California high school teacher who
made national news after being fired from her job, not because of performance,
but because she is transgendered. Then, we heard from Julie Ann Johnson,
the newly elected Board Chair of IFGE, who was asked to resign her position
as President of the Illinois Central Railway Museum, not because of performance,
but because she is transgendered. Both gave eloquent, poignant testimonials.
Julie has been active for some time, but Dana said succinctly, "It's my turn."
That is an attitude everyone should find in themselves to adopt. Do not be
afraid to stand up and Express Yourself. Now, that luncheon was supposed
to be served by "Sissy Maids" organized by Paddy Aldridge, but it seems that
U.S. Customs stopped her from bringing all the French Maid paraphernalia
across the border from Canada. I just wonder what the Customs agents are
now doing with all those garter belts and fishnet stockings....
That evening, the plan was to take a trip for dinner to Planet Hollywood, but at $65, it seems nobody signed up (gee, what a surprise!), so we all scattered for dinner. I went to a place in D.C. with Jolene who runs a web site based in Toronto geared towards straight crossdressers. After dinner, she and I met several others at Ziegfeld's, the very place where I came out in October 1989.
Saturday morning, I was on a panel organized and moderated admirably by Diane Dale of Renaissance on Leadership and building community. My fellow panelists were Jane Ellen Fairfax (who was awarded the Virginia Prince Award at lunch right after the panel), James Green, and Nancy Nangeroni. It was a real pleasure for me to work with all of them. The convention ended with the final banquet which featured the Washington Gay Men's Chorus.
At one point during the weekend, IFGE collected pledges from attendees that are to be matched by an anonymous donor. When the pledges had reached $69,000, one person sitting next to me remarked, "They'd better not have any more financial problems." Right on sister. And aside from the mess surrounding the canceled Friday dinner, several of us were amazed to discover the hotel bar closed at midnight every night! That was rather poor planning as well. Overall, however, the mood was a positive one and, generally speaking, it was a good experience, although the looming specter of a possible USAirways strike had me on edge wondering how I would get home on Sunday. Fortunately, Stephanie and I, who were on the same flight, managed to get home without any problems, although Vanessa Edwards-Foster and Monica Roberts, both of Houston, flew home early to avoid the possible strike. Pity. It was still a real pleasure to meet with both of them while they were there to talk about the many fine things both of them are doing.
Another event taking place this month which I will not attend is GenderPAC's Lobby Days 2000. While I support the concept of lobbying our elected representatives in Washington to support legislation to end all forms of discrimination, I do not feel that this is a well conceived effort. This will mark the fourth consecutive month that a gender related event has taken place in the National Capitol area: February, True Spirit; March, IFGE; April, Millennium March; May, Lobby Days. This may come as a surprise to GenderPAC, but most transgender people do not live within a short ride from Washington. Furthermore, many have jobs (and many others are underemployed or unemployed), have bills to pay, family or other personal commitments, plus various other interests, including responsibilities in dozens of local support groups. It would have been much more logical to coordinate this effort around another event, such as IFGE when many community leaders were already there, instead of asking people to drop everything else and pay for a second (or third, or fourth) trip to Washington within just a few weeks. Obviously, we need more anal retentive people to organize things.
Finally, I wish to conclude on a personal note. Just eight days before I was scheduled to fly to Washington, my father passed away after a long illness. Although losing him was very painful, there are many in our community who have become estranged from biological families and have had to turn to the Transgender Family for love and support. Since I do not live full-time, I had to make a choice on whether or not to share my full life with him. I chose not to do so to avoid causing any additional stress. Still, I recognize how difficult it is for anyone to lose touch with a loved one because we do not wish to compartmentalize our lives. It is one of the great issues with which we must all deal regardless of what category we use to describe ourselves.
‘Til next month.
Left of Center
by Pamela DeGroff
Over the last year, Calpernia Addams has received a lot of press coverage. She has been interviewed by sources as diverse as The New York Times and Rolling Stone. The fact that she was dating PFC Barry Winchell at the time of his murder at Fort Campbell Army Base on July 4, 1999 has propelled her into a national spotlight.
I first met Calpernia during the memorial service held for PFC Winchell at Nashville's Centennial Park, sometime in August, 1999.. She addressed the crowd for only a few brief moments, hiding well the stress and heartache she must have felt, so soon after Barry's death. After the ceremony, she stayed and took the time to greet each person who came to speak with her. She was very gracious and seemed to genuinely appreciate everyone's care and concern.
We met again to conduct this interview on the outdoor terrace of a small cafe. It was an unseasonably warm day for early March, and Calpernia, a 29 year old Nashville native, blended in with the early evening crowd of college students. She spoke freely of her life as a transgendered person and of her relationship with PFC Winchell. What follows is the result of a very pleasant conversation.
PAMELA: When did you first start dressing?
CALPERNIA:. I started in ‘94, when I got out of the
Navy. I saw my first drag show and knew that was what I wanted to do. I started
almost immediately. I was too afraid to try it, even in my youth, or during
the Navy, or any time else.
When did you first become aware of your transgendered/
transsexual status?
I didn't have a name for it. As a youngster, I envied
the girls. I admired their beauty and ways of dressing and their habits and
things. But I never wanted to admit to myself that I wanted to be a girl
because I was afraid of what that meant. If I admitted that to myself, then
I was admitting that there was something wrong with me, according to my family
and society.
Do you come from a very religious family?
Ultra conservative, ultra religious. My mother has never
worn makeup, since I was born. And my parents don't wear wedding rings because
gold is vain and sinful. The Bible says, "Thou Shalt not adorn thyself with
gold and fine raiment." (I Tim. 2:9)
What denomination?
Church Of God Of Prophecy.
Very Pentecostal?
Right. So my mother never had makeup so I never played
with anyone's makeup. And her clothes were very boring, so I never learned
to play with those. I just admired stars on television and things like that,
and the movies. I didn't think I could do it until I got out of the Navy
and saw my first drag show.
Where was that?
It was The Jungle.
How long have you been at The Connection and where
else have you performed?
I've worked there for six years. Almost immediately after
getting out of the Navy, I got a job there as a lighting Technician. My first
cast position was at The Chute. Initially at The Connection, I was a Jacklyn
of All Trades. I've been on cast at Connection for a year and a half. I've
booked out everywhere and performed as a guest at other clubs.
Does the name Calpernia have any
significance?
Calpernia Addams was Tuesday Addams' aunt, from the movie.
Calpernia was also the wife of Julius Caesar, and Calpernia was also the
name of the maid in To Kill A Mockingbird.
After you transition, do you plan to continue
performing?
No, I want to quit performing drag in about two years.
I've always been in theater and I've always been a musician.
Really, I didn't know you played.
Yes, I play fiddle. I have a CD out of Celtic music. I
played in a band for several years, but I had to quit the band because the
band shows and the drag shows were on weekend nights. I had to choose the
career that paid my bills.
Do you still have ambitions along those
lines?
I still play. I think that when I quit drag, I will have
to seek some other performance outlet. I'll perform fiddle music, but it
won't be with the intention to become a super star. It'll just be for the
pleasure of playing.
You were in the military as a Navy Corpsman. What
years were you in?
From ‘90 to ‘94.
I understand you're a Gulf War veteran?
I was in Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia, on land, and I helped
set up a field hospital there and maintained it, and also guarded it. I was
a field medical combat specialist, which is a hospital corpsman who has extra
training in field operations with the Marines, and also acute trauma medicine
and management. I was there for the whole 100 days of the war. I choose the
Navy because they were the ones who came to my school and offered me a good
package. I know each branch has it's own offerings, but the Navy offered
me the medial package that I wanted, so I choose them.
What was the military's attitude towards gays during
that time period, as opposed to the "don't ask, don't tell" policy it now
has?
It was just kind of not talked about. You knew that if
you were caught in some flagrant position you would get booted out. Everybody
just operated under the understanding that you should not get caught. We
didn't argue about how fair/unfair it was, it was just the way things were.
We were waiting to see if Clinton got elected, because of his campaign promise
to undo that prejudice. We were really anticipating his election. Once he
was elected and it didn't happen, we were terribly disappointed.
Was the Navy any different that other branches of
service as far as attitude is concerned?
No, they're all the same. The Marines are a little more
hard core. The Army's a little more all business. The Air Force was the most
relaxed, from what I saw. The navy had an education/technical feeling to
it. I was around a lot of people with college degrees and such in the hospital,
and they tend to be a little bit more open minded.
I have read of a tradition in the Navy called the
"shellback" ceremony that involves drag shows aboard ship when a sailor crosses
the equator for the fist time. Did you ever seen any of these, or even
participate?
No, I was never on a ship, thankfully.
I know that you've been interviewed extensively by
the main stream media, and I'm also aware that the events of Barry's death
are probably still hard to talk about, but there are some issues I'd like
to touch on. First of all, I've read conflicting reposts concerning Barry's
sexuality. I've read articles that have described him as gay, as bi, and
even simply as a young man who was curious and experimenting. Would you care
to elaborate on any of this?
The experience and information that I had from Barry was
that he had been curious about alternative sexuality for a long time, but
had never found anybody he was interested in or comfortable exploring that
with. He came out and saw my show, and found me beautiful and attractive,
and we got to know each other. It turned out that he was comfortable exploring
this other side of his sexuality. Barry still found females
attractive...but...
I take it you'd call him bi?
I guess so, because he also found me attractive. But he
didn't like masculine men. He liked either a woman, or a very effeminate
man, or a transgender person like me. It's hard to pin down a definite sexuality.
He was definitely not heterosexual, is what I would say, in the sense that
heterosexuality excludes contact with anyone except a genetic female.
Were you actively dating?
We were definitely, exclusively dating, and considered
each other boyfriend and girlfriend. Every free day he had, he drove to Nashville
and spent it with me. He slept over at my house each of those nights. We
were in a physical and emotional relationship. As far as we knew, we planned
to continue it forward and develop if further, indefinitely. It was nice.
We were together for about six months.
There were allegations raised after Barry's death
that the inspector general's office had ignored complaints of harassment.
Did Barry ever speak to you concerning any of this?
Barry only told me that he thought everybody knew he was
gay by that point. That's all he ever told me. I had no idea of the torture
and suffering he was undergoing on base.
He never talked about harassment?
To me, no. He did to his superiors, as I learned in testimony
during the trial. It was reported to their higher up authorities, but nothing
was done. Barry was playing the macho boyfriend role, so he did not tell
me about his fears and harassment.
In the March 2, 2000 Rolling
Stone article entitled "The Execution of Pvt. Barry Winchell: The Real
Story Behind the ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Murder", the involvement of
Spec. Justin R. Fisher is discussed. He was described as being unstable,
homophobic, yet having had same-sex experiences of his own. It's speculated
he was jealous of Barry's relationship with you. Any thoughts on
this?
Well, I only met Fisher twice, and he certainly seemed
like a wild card. He seemed like an Animal House, unpredictable, live
wire. I met him the very first night that he and Barry came to the club.
And then I met him the following week out again at the club. He seemed kind
of like the catalyst for an unpredictable party atmosphere.
At that time, I didn't realize he was a danger or a threat, I just thought
he was kind of freaky. After Barry and I started dating, Fisher didn't come
to the the club any more. I asked Barry, "Why doesn't Fish come out any more?"
and he said, "Well, because you and I are dating." From that I sort of figured
that Fisher must be jealous.
I heard a few things about how Fisher was violent when he was drunk. The
more I heard about Fisher, the crazier he sounded, but I still had no idea
at the full extent of his cruelty and unpredictability.
Speaking of interviews, you've spoken with sources
as diverse as The New York Times and Rolling Stone. What's
your perspective on the overall quality of reporting concerning the
incident?
I knew this intellectually beforehand, but I tend to want
to look for the good in people, so I sort of disregarded the old cliche that
a reporter will say anything to get the story. So all the reporters came
across as very nice to me, but in almost every single case, regardless of
what they had promised me, in the article I was referred to as a "male. "He".
"Him". I can't remember any article that used "she" to refer to me. All these
sort of alternative, forward thinking (magazines) like Rolling Stone called
me a male. It just floored me. It devastated me. For a person struggling
to establish their identity, and to prove their identity to their family
and friends, to have national media outlets call you a man sort of undoes
everything that you're trying to establish. It's very hurtful and very
devastating. I think the articles were well done, well researched and well
written, except for their disregard of my gender identity.
Who did the best, most objective interview, and who,
in your opinion, did the worst?
Probably the best interview was in The Advocate.
They were sensitive, and they did use "she" to refer to me. I would only
expect that from The Advocate. That was probably the best interview.
I was most disappointed, probably, in the Rolling Stone article. What
should have been a forward thinking press that covers a very diverse
community...they even call RuPaul a "she", and RuPaul does not identify herself
genderwise as female. That's her stage persona. They'll give her that, but
they won't give it to me. I just did not understand. I was not clear on
that.
Overall, how have you been treated by the
media?
Face to face, with utmost politeness. Then when it comes
to the article, they just use me as necessary to put whatever story they're
wanting to put out.
When I first approached Calpernia about doing this
interview, she told me that hardly anyone in the Transgender community had
requested one. She really wanted to talk to her sisters about what has happened
to her. I really wanted to get to know Calpernia Addams as a person, and
not just the partner of a crime victim.
There are those in the gender community who tend to
look down upon entertainers such as Calpernia as nothing more than flakey,
self-centered drag queens. This was not the kind of person I spent an evening
with. She is charming and focused, and deeply sincere in her beliefs and
convictions. And above all else, Calpernia Addams is a true lady.
(Editor's Note: Next month, Part Two of Pamela's interview with Calpernia Addams. This interview was originally conducted for Transgender Community News. It is with their express permission that it is reprinted here.)
A Blonde, Brunette AND Redhead by Julie Phillips FabulBabe@aol.com
Everybody's a Diva
Now
There's no way you've missed VH1's Diva 2000: A Salute to Diana Ross. It's been running pretty much ‘round-the-clock for the past month. It reminds me of the good old days when The Nashville Network ran 23 hours-a-day of line dancing shows. The one exception was the hour filled by The Ralph Emery Show, where Ralph talked to line dancers and a hand puppet that was into line dancing. They replaced him with more line-dancing when he spent weeks on end ignoring guests and muttering to himself "I see dead people.") But meanwhile back at VH1....
Miss Ross, THE ALL-TIME DIVA, was looking fabulous and acting the part as no one else can; she stepped out of her limo wearing a gorgeous slinky gown with a carpet-sized fur stole draped over her shoulders. Then, with her arms held out, she began spinning on the red carpet runaway as a galaxy of flashbulbs went off around her. For us glamour girls, it was a glorious sight to behold!
But some of the women VH1 tried to pass off as divas just don't pass the test. Sure, Faith Hill is a wonderful singer, but please, she ain't no diva. Do you think she's even ONCE stormed into a Kroger at 2 AM, in a sequined gown, shrieking at the stock boys because they were out of her favorite flavor of Haagen Dazs? Unlikely. Mariah Carey can hit notes only NASA spacecraft can hear, but she ain't no diva either. (But you know, that would explain what happened to all of NASA's Martian probes. I'm betting it was that Dream lover song.) Do you think Mariah's ever said to her hair stylist, "No, Bigger! Bigger! More hair spray!!" Doesn't seem to be the case.
But fear not;, RuPaul was on the Divas:2000 special and there's no disputing she's got it goin' on. Big hair, sequined gown, high heels and attitude--yeah, Ru's a diva. And then there was Donna Summer. Don't doubt for a second that she is not STILL a diva. Granted, she's a benevolent diva—I've never heard a story of her bitch-slapping a restroom attendant over store-brand hand cream--but she's a diva nonetheless. Once she started belting out the tunes, the others should have gone directly to the hospital and been treated for buttocks bruises because Miss Summer kicked some serious sequin-covered butt that night.
So what does it take to qualify as a diva? Does one have to be rude, demand unnecessary attention, sing loudly and sleep in evening gowns to qualify? It hard to say exactly, but I think the words of that great philosopher Bugs Bunny said it best: "Ehh, couldn't hurt."
Gary Bauer: Stil Scared of Pumps
If I was a magician, my credit card debt would have disappeared a long time ago. My long list of creditors proves that I'm no Diva Copperfield, but I do know that one of the basic "tricks" of magic is to divert attention away from what you DON'T want people to see: a vertically striped dress will divert attention away from your size, softer curls will distract from sharper features, and so forth.
With this in mind, I have to wonder what's the deal with Family Research Council head and occasional politician Gary "Them Wicked Transvestites Will Eat Your Brains" Bauer. In case you don't remember him, he was campaigning for the presidency--until voters magically made his candidacy disappear.
One of Gary "RuPaul Is Scarin' Me" Bauer's main obsessions has always been gays and crossdressers. For someone who claims we're bad news, Gary "Silicone Insert" Bauer he has spent an unusually large and suspicious amount of time talking about us girls. For some unexplained reason, he's preaches that the GLBT communities will result in the downfall of civilization. I, on the other hand, believe we would simply make the world a more fashionable and glamourous place.
So, after months of "No, I won't", "Maybe I will" seesawing, George W. Bush finally met in April with a group of gay Republicans. (I haven't seen so much hemming and hawing since Buck and Roy quit "Pickin' and Grinnin'. ) Afterwards, George W. announced that he was a "better person" for having met some gay people. Strangely, Bush felt the same way after listening to an Elton John CD. Go figure.
All of this schmmozing led to talk of having a gay speaker at the GOP convention. That wheezing sound you're hearing Gary "I Can Smell a Drag Queen at Fifty Yards" Bauer receiving CPR. Our boy didn't take this news lying down. At least not once the smelling salts started to work. Once the dizziness had passed, Gary "Look at All That Cleavage" Bauer told the Associated Press:
"I think it would be bizarre
to pick somebody to speak at the convention based on their sexual preference,
because once you go down that road, why don't you pick a transvestite?"
Is that an invitation? I'd LOVE to speak! I want to go on right after Gary "Is That a Guy In Pumps?" Bauer so we could "accidentally" brush against each other as we passed on the podium. Maybe by actually seeing and "accidentally" touching a crossdresser in the flesh, instead of in magazines hidden under the mattress and on Internet sites with passwords, he'd discover we weren't creepy and generally smell nice, too.
And then, eventually, maybe.... I'd end up First Lady?
Yes, I've been drinking again.
My Closet by Leslie Louise DuPaix lldupaix@hotmail.com
I have been dealing with my T-ness for nearly 60 years. Most of the time I have dealt with it completely alone, and most of the time when I did not, I ended up wishing I had. If you are familiar with how our society has tried to deal with issues of transgender this century, you would probably agree with me that little of worth was accomplished until probably the 70s, and you are wasting your time if you read anything published much before 1975. Some of the stuff pawned off by what called itself the medical community on an unsuspecting public in the 50s and the 60s would be laughable if it didn't cause some real pain and suffering for those that paid to be helped and were not.
When I was around 10, Christine Jorgensen was covered by the media and I discovered that others were like me; that we had a name - "transvestites" - and that if I started reading the newspaper and Time and other adult magazines I could find out more about those like me. A good year might yield one or two articles. So my T-ness helped me improve my reading skills to the adult level. I also read all the abnormal psychology books I could get my hands on and quickly decided that the health care professional hadn't a clue as to what they were dealing with. This also then led me to the conclusion that I was not going to any of them with my problem (which in retrospect was very good counsel indeed). (Allow me to quickly point out that the 90's and the double-naughts (‘00's) are fortunately quite different than the period I just mentioned and avoiding the mental health community no longer makes the sense it used to. "T" or otherwise, there is just too much going on for a sensitive person not to at least consider that some outside professional help might be a reasonable possibility sometime.)
I finally decided that I was not going to outgrow my feminine inclinations, and that although I was very successful as a male - however you might choose to define male success - I also needed to nurture and develop my feminine self. But like so many things in life, an answer to one question leads immediately to 7 more questions needing an answer. So coming to terms with part of the issue still left plenty of room for conflict and discomfort. I decided that if it were true that "To serve your neighbor you must know your neighbor; to know your neighbor you must first know yourself," and "To love another you must first love yourself," I had best get to know and accept me as I really am, not as I wish I were, nor as I pretend to be. So I went out and bought a thick spiral notebook and promised myself that I would write down anything and everything that might come through my mind. If I had no one to share this part of me with, I would be my own good listener.
Some of it is horribly over written (but I knew that when I wrote it and I was in a mood to over express as a quicker way of unloading); some of it is boring or silly; and some of it even today strikes a resonant chord somewhere inside of me and I am surprised that I really wrote the entry. If you should try to do that (and I really hope that you do), just write and when you feel you have said all you need to say, re-read it. Look for symbols, try and remember how you felt when you wrote it, and how you feel reading it. Sometimes I would think I knew where I was going in my writing only to find a surprise ending, more wonderful than what I had imagined. If you are comfortable with sort of weird things, get a book on dream interpretation and interpret your writings in your T-journal as if they were a dream. You may find your "outer you" becoming genuinely fond of the "inner you."
Much of my journal came about during a two-year period when my work regularly took me to a different part of the state and I would have to overnight away from home. This gave me an opportunity to do a lot of things, including coming to terms with all of me. I would usually write while my hair was drying, and then while dressed until it was time to wash it all off and put my femme self back in her box and go to bed. By the time I was writing I was already in a sort of altered state (naturally altered, mind you, not chemically, thank you) and if my transition was successful I could feel a shift into a different me which is reflected in the writing. I shared some of my journal with a psychotherapist once and she commented on how the writing was very unlike my normal way of expression and more like a woman would write and express herself. Sometimes I would not even dress and just simply write about how I did not feel in the mood to dress.
Coming to terms with oneself is never done quickly. The outer you is always changing as is the inner you, so there is always work to be done. This is just as true for the T- blessed as the non-T folks. Just as external relationships change so it would seem do the inner ones as well. Nature and the Great Oz do not seem to like things standing still. Should you eventually choose to spend some time with a mental health care professional you could find that the time spent journalizing will speed up the healing process. If you are not comfortable talking about you to you, then you will be even less comfortable talking about you to another. Every one needs a safe friend, and you can be your own safe friend with a spiral notebook, a pencil or a pen, and a secure place to stash it.
Millennium March 2000 on Washington, D.C. by Pamela DeGroff
Last September during Nashville's Pride March, I overheard a few people talking about going to Washington, DC for the Millennium March 2000. I hadn't been to our nation's capitol since 1976, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to check up on how my tax money is wasted...er, spent, I mean, and also find something interesting to write about.
Michael Gray lives in western Virginia near
the Blue Ridge Mountains, and he invited me to come to his place since DC
is only a few hours away. I jumped at the offer because even I'm not crazy
enough to drive in DC by myself. Besides, there's nothing like getting up
and doing drag first thing in the morning, and driving along a beautifully
wooded mountain road. (Especially with someone else doing the driving.)
We spent the rest of Friday checking into our hotel, finding a decent parking space near the parade route, and playing tourist. The religious protesters were already out, but few in number. I had an interesting, albeit pleasant, conversation with one of the less rabid ones. Michael captured the entire exchange with a digital camera. We took the subway back to the hotel which was an entirely new experience for me. While it beats driving, it still looked and felt like an example of the Chaos Theory.
Early Saturday morning, we were back at the Mall, accompanied by two of Michael's friends from New York-Jamie Hunter and Christianna. We split up for a while, and I watched part of the AIDS Quilt be assembled. Spent a lot of time wandering around taking photographs and talking to people. I tried to go to the street fair that had been organized for that day, but the line to get in was a good two blocks long. I'm not kidding about that either.
Perhaps the highlight of Saturday, besides the Equality Rocks concert, was the interaction with the religious protesters in front of the RFK Stadium. At first, there were only a few, but they were definitely vocal and very obnoxious. I personally came close to loosing it with one guy in particular. He was on a median strip in front of the stadium with a bull horn. Normally, I can ignore this stuff, but this guy started saying things like, "Matthew Shepherd was an aggressive, gay predator. All he cared about was spreading his sickness..." That's when I ran out in the middle of the street and yelled, If Matthew Shepherd was so aggressive, why did it take tow people to kill him? Answer me, you jerk!" He didn't, of course, but there was a round of applause from the group stand behind me on the other side of the street.
Rev. Fred "Bigot Boy" Phelps group showed
up later without the esteemed reverend. They barely had time to line up with
their signs. I can't say they were "assaulted" by the GLBT community, but
they certainly weren't ignored this time. From what I saw, it seems apparent
people are getting tired of the "Matt In Hell" and "God Hates Fags" crap.
There were several nose-to-nose confrontations. No one actually won or lost
these arguments, but the bigots now know we are not their doormats. This
was the best warm up act for a concert I've ever seen, and Michael and I
got it all on film.
The concert itself was attended by over 45,000 people. Equality Rocks did just that. Stylistically, the music ran the spectrum from the techno groove of the Pet Shop Boys, to Garth Brooks. Yeah, that's right, Garth Brooks. He was the last performer of the evening, being introduced by George Michael, and accompanying him on Michael's hit "Freedom". Melissa Etheridge was, well, incredible. It's hard to describe her with words, you have to see her perform to get the full impact.
I have personally always enjoyed the k.d. lang tune Constant Craving, so it was a real treat to get to hear it live. If there really is such a thing as channeling, she has a direct route to Patsy Cline.
There was a wide spectrum of speakers in between the musical acts as well. Matthew Shepherd's parents introduced the family members of other victims of hate crimes. Tipper Gore spoke, and even attempted a drum solo. (I'm not making that one up, either.) Ellen Degeneres and her Mom were both speakers as well.
If there was a down side to the concert, it would have to be the incessant HRC commercials that ran after some of the music sets. I know the entire thing was HRC's gig-they paid the bills-but it got a little old after a while considering the leadership of this organization is not Trans inclusive.
Sunday was the big event. The weather was perfect, and although the march route was not very long, it was the rally afterward that was the real show. By the estimate of the march organizers, 750,000 people were in attendance. The park service later said it was more like only 300,000. The truth, as usual, is somewhere in the middle.
Diversity was definitely the order of the day. You had the Gay Pilots Association marching with leather dykes, and Gay Mormons marching along with MCC churches. There was one group of retired gays and lesbians who marched together chanting, "We're gay, we're gray, and we're not going away!" Now, if that's not diversity...
The speakers for the afternoon rally were as varied as the music the night before. Teenagers such as gay high school student Cory Johnson, and Keesha Barnes, a straight girl active in her school's Gay/Straight alliance. Daryl Joe, an HIV positive Native American had a lot to say about what's going on in his culture, especially in dealing with the spread of AIDS and how Native American's are dealing with it. Professional sports was represented by Billy Bean, the first openly gay major league baseball player.
Melissa Etheridge performed a tune called Truth Of The Heart. She was incredible the night before with a full backing band, but playing solo with only her acoustic guitar brought an intensity and emotion to the song that could be felt. I think I'm becoming a fan. It's tempting to think that Janis Joplin has been reincarnated as a lesbian named Melissa.
Martina Navatilova spoke of wanting to come to America as a young woman from Czechoslovakia so she could play tennis as she wanted to, and live free as a gay woman. Looking back, she said she now realizes these rights are granted only to heterosexuals. "Until that changes," she told the crowd, "our work for equality is far from over."
She admonished the sizable crowd to come out, live your life everyday, out of the closet.
Ellen Degeneres got the biggest reaction from the crowd-a standing "O" just for walking out on stage.
"What do I say here?" she asked. "Youve been listening to a lot of people speak about a lot of important things."
She went on to say, "The wild thing for me is, this march is happening three years to the day of the airing of the Coming Out episode. Thank you, Disney."
She went back and forth between being serious and doing the comedy she's best known for.
Speaking about the protesters, she said, "I think they give Christians a bad name. They speak volumes, we don't even need to say anything. It's just sad and pathetic, and it's one little family, and we should give 'em a hug or something. Show them what love is, they don't understand. Poor little people. Poor little-bad-people. Driving back in their van saying, 'We showed them!'"
Dana Rivers was the only transgendered speaker that day, but her voice cut with emotion and power as she described her life after her decision to have her surgery.
"Hello, I'm gender queer, and I'm here, and so are you!" she almost yelled at the audience. Once year ago, almost to the day, I was an award winning high school teacher working near Sacramento, California. Little did I know that in the weeks, and months to follow, my life story would be splashed across the pages of every major news paper and television screen in the country.
"The reason? I am a transsexual woman."
She went on to describe how she fired from her because certain religious zealots on the school board considered her unfit to be in a class room. Her marriage ended, she lost her home, and her financial security.
"The time for quite acceptance
of this behavior is over," she admonished the crowd. "Our collective silence
on matters of gender based discrimination must end...when one of us is victimized
by discrimination, the perpetrator is rarely motivated by who we sleep with;
rather it is often the victim's gender expression that causes the
problem.
"It is our silence that allows this to happen.
"Last night, as I rocked with over 40,000 of you at RFK Stadium, I enjoyed the incredible music, and I was inspired by the touching, sometimes tragic stories, presented.
I also noticed that at no point in over four hours of celebrations was the word transgender spoken on that stage. This must change."
Even non TG folks were riveted by her speech. She made an impact, and perhaps planted a seed among elements of the GLB parts of the community that have never before considered trans issues.
One of the funny things that I noticed during the weekend was that with all these thousands and thousands of queer people running around DC, everywhere you looked, there seemed to be Boy Scouts. Go figure.
I've always heard that when you go to Washington, DC you should wear comfortable shoes. Did I listen? Hell no.
In spite of the blisters I got, I sunburn I got, and a total ignorance of how a subway system functions, this was still an incredible experience. It took about a day after I got back for the experience to really sink in. I'm glad I went-it's something I'll never forget.
(Next time, better shoes.)
NEWS TRANS-missions
news, media mentions, etc...
George W. Meets Some Gays/ Gary Bauer on Alert for CDs!!
Presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Texas Governor George W. Bush spent over an hour behind closed doors at his Austin campaign headquarters with a dozen hand-picked gay Republicans on April 13. His campaign had first taken care to personally contact some of his right-wing supporters to assure them that he would not be changing his positions on issues such as restricting marriage to heterosexual couples. According to meeting participant Steve Gunderson, gay former Wisconsin Congressmember, "The goal was not to change his mind. It was to start a conversation."
In a post-meeting press release, the eleven gay men and one lesbian said that the candidate-apparent assured them that sexual orientation was "not a factor" that would affect hiring in a Bush administration; he had previously been reported as saying on the one hand that he would not knowingly hire an open gay or lesbian, and on the other that he would not fire someone because their homosexuality became known. Those who attended the meeting were also satisfied that as President, Bush would support continuing Ryan White CARE Act funding (the primary source of federal money for treatment and a wide range of other services for the neediest people with HIV/AIDS) and expanding government financing for the National Institutes of Health's AIDS/HIV research. Workplace discrimination, domestic partnership, adoption, military service, security clearances, and immigration were among other topics discussed.
Another interesting element of the meeting was the suggestion to include an openly gay speaker at the upcoming Republican National Convention in Philadelphia; meeting participant gay Washington, DC City Councilmember David Catania said Bush "was very interested in the idea." Congressmember Jim Kolbe (R-AZ), the highest-ranking openly gay Republican elected official in the nation, was mentioned as a possible choice for the role... but even if no open gay ascends to the podium, the meeting participants say it was generally agreed "that the campaign would work to ensure there are no anti-gay signs or speeches on the convention floor."
But no sooner had the possibility of a gay convention speaker hit the wires than former Republican Presidential hopeful Gary Bauer -- who threw his support to Bush's rival Senator John McCain (R-AZ) when he dropped out of the race -- told the Associated Press that, "I think it would be bizarre to pick somebody to speak at the convention based on their sexual preference, because once you go down that road, why don't you pick a transvestite?" (Of course to Bauer, formerly executive director of the virulently anti-gay Family Research Council, that would be a very bad thing.) ...
Bush emerged from the gathering to hold a news conference where he addressed his not-so-moderate supporters directly: "I say to them, I welcome gay Americans into my campaign. I want the conservative Republicans to understand that we judge people on their heart and soul. There were areas where we [Bush and the gays] did not agree. One is gay marriage, where I have a difference of opinion."
"I'm a better person for the meeting," Bush said, "I enjoyed it. I heard some compelling life stories. ... It's important for the next President to listen to people's real-life stories. These are people from our neighborhoods, people with whom all of us went to school. ... I appreciate them sharing their stories with me. I'm mindful that we're all God's children." ...
Log Cabin chair Robert Stears called the meeting "a positive first step in an historic dialogue with a Republican presidential nominee, in an election cycle that has been truly historic for gay Americans."...
source: PlanetOut 04/13/00 AOL Keyword PlanetOut
NY Cop Re-assigned after Caught As Cagney or Lacey
A Manhattan police captain was quietly transferred to another borough after fellow cops spotted him wearing a woman's wig and a dress, sources said.
The "very embarrassed" captain, the supervisor of a specialized patrol command, offered to resign - but police brass decided there was no legitimate reason to drop him from the force after nearly 20 years.
Sources said the incident happened late last month in the Meatpacking District around West 14th St, notorious for its transvestite traffic. Two on-duty cops were parked in a squad car when they noticed another parked vehicle that they suspected was an unmarked police car.
Sources said the officers, thinking they may have been under surveillance by Internal Affairs cops, circled around the block and came up on the other car. They got out and asked the driver, the sole occupant, to produce identification. The driver was dressed as a woman, with wig and dress. "He was dressed to the nines," one source said.
The driver pulled out his police shield and identified himself as a captain. "He tried to 'tin' himself out of the situation," the source said.
The cops were unsure of what they were dealing with - and suspicious. They thought he might be a man, he might be a woman. But the one thing they didn't think was that he was a captain," the source said.
After the cops determined he was, in fact, a captain, they left - but reported what they saw to their superiors.
An internal investigation determined that the captain was off-duty and using a car assigned to him - and had broken no rules.
source: NY Post 04/12/00
Clinton Tries To Force Hate-Crimes Vote
Hoping to hone in on a perceived Republican weakness, President Clinton today sought to revive stagnant hate- crimes legislation in hopes of forcing a vote in Congress before the November elections.
Clinton, along with Attorney General Janet Reno, gathered state law enforcement officials at the White House to mobilize public support for the bill and press Republican congressional leaders to take it up.
''If you believe that everyone counts and that everyone should have a chance to live his or her life, and if you be- lieve we all do better when we work together, then you've got to help us pass this legislation,'' the president said. ''It's very important and we don't have a single excuse not to do it.''
Clinton also released a guide for local prosecutors on responding to hate crimes, and a list of state projects under way to prevent hate crimes.
While congressional Democrats denied any political motives, the White House admitted using the hate-crimes issue as a wedge to force the GOP to back up its ''compassionate conservative'' rhetoric with action.
''If, politically, the Republicans feel the heat ... then that's great, but the reality is there is not an overt political agenda here. The message is this bill is needed,'' said Will Keyser, spokesman for Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who is seeking to attach a hate-crimes amendment to another bill.
A senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Monday that Texas Gov. George Bush's ''trouble with Bob Jones and extremist elements in the Republican Party'' were factors in renewing the push for a hate-crimes bill. The official was referring to Bush's failure to denounce the South Carolina university's ban on interracial dating during a speech at the school.
Bush apologized for not speaking out a week after winning the South Carolina GOP primary.
The hate-crimes bill had broad support among Republican lawmakers, the official said, and the hope is that the Republican leadership ''will view this legislation in a new way'' if they feel some political pressure.
In March, Clinton pointedly criticized Bush, the anticipated Republican presidential nominee, for opposing hate-crimes legislation introduced in Texas after James Byrd, a black man, was tied to a pickup truck and dragged to death by a group of white men.
''All he had to do was to lift his hand and they would have had a hate-crimes bill,'' Clinton said then. ''And it did not pass because they (Republicans) did not want it to pass.''
Bush refused to get involved in the hate-crimes debate in Texas, saying ''all crime is hate crime.''....
The Senate unanimously approved hate-crimes preven- tion legislation in July but it stalled in the House. Last month, Clinton vetoed a spending bill for the Commerce, Justice and State departments because the hate crimes provision was not in it.
The hate-crimes bill would add crimes motivated by a victim's sexual orientation, sex or disability to the list of hate crimes already covered under federal law - those motivated by race, religion, color or national origin. It would give federal prosecutors the option of pursuing a hate-crime case if local authorities declined to press charges...
source: AP via PlanetOut 04/25/00 or AOL Keyword PlanetOut
You & Your Same-Sexed Sweetie
Can Soon "Make it Legal" in VT
Vermont governor Howard Dean on Wednesday signed the civil unions bill passed by the state legislature, making the state the first in the nation to grant legal recognition to gay and lesbian couples. "I think it is a courageous and powerful statement about who we are in the state of Vermont," Dean said. "I also believe that this legislation speaks to the heart of this state and certainly to my heart." Under the law gay and lesbian couples will be able to register their relation- ships with the state. In return they will be granted the same rights and responsibilities as married couples. The effect of the measure is limited to state law and will not affect federal statutes on such matters as taxes and immigration. The law is the result of a state supreme court ruling last year man- dating the state to grant gay and lesbian couples the same status as married couples under state law.
source: The Advocate via PlanetOut 04/26/00
To Quote Carol Burnett as Starlett O'Hara: "I Saw it in the window and HAD to have it."
Police in New Port Richey, Fla., are looking for a man in drag who reportedly stole a wedding dress from the Cluttered Closet on Thursday. The shop reported to police that a 360-pound redheaded man dressed in women's clothing took a size 24 wedding dress. The $399 dress was probably slipped out of a bathroom door while the man, along with two other friends in drag, perused the shop. The man had come to the shop several weeks earlier and tried on the dress with the help of the store owner, Traci Laduke. It didn't fit—the dress would zip only to the waist. "He commented that he didn't have the right undergarments on," Laduke said, adding that the man had been wearing blue-striped boxer shorts. The man and his friends returned to the store on Thursday and tried on more dresses, a Pasco County sheriff's report said. When they left, another clerk at the store noticed the wedding dress was missing.
source: The Advocate online 04/25/00
Are You "Shooting me the Bird" or Hitting on Me? It's in the Fingers
For Marc Breedlove, all it took was a Xerox machine and a dream.
The University of California at Berkeley professor, who studies the biology of sexual orientation, took his copier and a few assistants to three street fairs in San Francisco last fall. His quest: to see if hormones in the womb might play a role in sexual behavior. At each event, he offered passersby a $1 lottery ticket in exchange for information regarding their sexual orientation and their birth order--and a copy of their palmprint. The psychologist collected data from 720 people.
The results, published this week in the journal Nature, stir the debate over whether homosexuality is learned, influenced or fixed by prenatal factors. Scientists have long believed that finger lengths may indicate the levels to which a fetus was exposed to male sex hormones, such as androgen, while in the womb. Now Breedlove's research indicates that both women's and men's finger lengths might signal sexual orientation, suggesting that hormonal exposure is one determining factor in sexuality. "We expected any such effects to be subtle because so many factors play a role in human behaviors," he says. "So we were excited to find [some] evidence."
Breedlove's team found that the women interviewed who identified themselves as lesbian tended on average to have "finger-ratios" that were more like men's. A person's finger-ratio is the index finger's length divided by the ring finger's length. In men, the average ratio is 0.95. For women, 0.97. Lesbians who participated, the Berkeley team found, scored 0.96.
The study of the finger-ratios of straight men and gay men who were interviewed proved more complicated. Breedloves researchers found no difference between the straight and gay men's finger-ratios until they separated the men by birth order. Then they found that gay males who had two or more older brothers had slightly lower ratios than those with no older brothers. And lower ratios in males are a possible indication of homosexuality, Breedlove believes.
Breedlove says his study corresponds to the work of an associate in his field, Ray Blanchard, who's shown that boys who have greater numbers of older brothers have a higher likelihood of being gay. Blanchard says he thinks Breedlove's study furthers the theory that hormones in the womb have an effect on the eventual sexual orientation of the fetus. "You can't learn your finger length, and your finger length is not a lifestyle choice," Blanchard says.
What's next? In order to further validate the research, another researcher must replicate Breedlove's exact findings in a second survey of both straight and gay people. Blanchard believes it won't be long. "You don't need an atom smasher," he says, "only a photocopier." Some lottery tickets wouldn't hurt either.
source: by B. J. Sigesmund Newsweek 03/31/00
Is Your Bathroom Behind Door #1, #2, or #3?
A Brazilian lawmaker's campaign to create a third bathroom for "people of different sexual orientations" sparked
outrage this week from gay rights groups, who said the proposal could fuel discrimination.
Brasilia Congressman Wilson Lima said under his proposal every bar and club in the nation's capital would be forced to build a a bathroom exclusively for gays, lesbians and transvestites, who would have the option of using it.
Otherwise, they could still go to the women or men's restrooms.
Lima said he aims to defend, not discriminate, saying he came up with the idea at a Brazilian samba show, where he saw a transvestite caught with two ugly options: enter the men's bathroom and brave possible beatings, or risk
getting booted from the club by entering the women's restroom.
"Think about it, he's got nowhere to go. The whole idea here is to avoid discrimination," said Lima.
But Brazil's vocal gay-rights groups say the third bathroom concept violates civil rights. They added Lima's idea might even heighten homophobia by creating a deeper division between heterosexuals and homosexuals...
"There is a big misunderstanding in Brazil between sex and sexuality. And this type of project paints homosexuals to be a third sex," said Claudio Nascimento, secretary-general of the Brazilian Gay, Lesbian and Transvestite Organization.
Lima admitted he had not received much support for his idea from either gays or straights...
source: Reuters 04/07/00
John Wayne Needs and Exfoliant: Maniless Not What it Used to Be
Call it the "homosexualization" of culture. Or the "gaying" of America. But masculinity ain't what it used to be.
The Defense of Marriage Act, which enables the states to ban gay marriages, and Proposition 22 in California, which limits marital unions in that state to a man and a woman, have been big losers for the gay community. On the other hand, Vermont is about to enact the legal ``equivalent'' of gay marriage.
But if homosexuals are finding it hard to persuade American society that they should marry like straights, they're finding only rear-guard resistance to their influence in the culture. Homosexuals have marched out of the closet in fashions that determine what's chic, at least in some places.
Trendy styles for women that de-emphasized curves and cleavage in favor of skinny bodies and flat chests are often attributed to homosexual designers. And now gays are achieving an astonishing influence in feminizing a lot of men.
The spring issue of Men's Fashions of the (New York) Times, features models whose faces and figures make it difficult to tell the sexes apart. A glamorous Versace ad is so fetchingly fey that the male model looks more feminine than the female. Two men in a double-page spread for Gucci wear deep-pink lipstick and shirts unbuttoned to the lower half of their chest. (Gone is the extra crispy chest hair; these male models wax their chests smooth.)
The cover portrait of David Bowie, who frequently goes for the androgynous look, is particularly "feminine." If you didn't know him as a rock star, you couldn't be sure whether he was male or female. He apologizes for earlier fashion limitations: "A feather boa will only go so far."
Male fashion has always appealed to male vanity, but masculinity was once the measure of a man. No longer. Walk up to any cosmetic counter and you'll find almost as many jars of ointments for men as for women. David Blum, who initially researched the subject of male make-up as a reporter, tells how he came to rely on an exfoliant cleanser, two moisturizers (tinted and white) and bronzing powder.
He's grown accustomed to the glowing skin.
Homosexual influence expands beyond fashion and cosmetics. The University of Michigan fall catalog describes a 3-credit course on how to be a homosexual, examining cultural artifacts and clues for being gay: "Hollywood movies, grand opera, Broadway musicals, and other works of classical and popular music, as well as camp, diva-worship, drag, muscle culture, style, fashion and interior design." The professor promises to teach his students to learn how certain works are essential parts of the gay male lifestyle....
Susan Faludi, in Stiffed, a book about modern male dilemmas, argues the man of the '90s has become "ornamental," a sex object like certain women in the '50s, "pedestal-perching and mirror-gazing."
In the culture of fitness, "pecs" are as important as breasts.
Manliness, no longer defined by rugged work, descends into decoration...
You don't have to be a homophobe or a fundamentalist Christian to understand why heterosexuals are defensive about marriage. Marriage may be the last refuge of a heterosexual culture.
source: by Suzanne Fields, an unaffiliated columnist who lives in Washington. Distributed by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate. 03/23/00 © 2000 PioneerPlanet / St. Paul (Minnesota) Pioneer Press
SHOWBIZ: Miss Ross and Miss Thang Together on Divas 2000
"Being a diva is about your heart," Diana Ross declared as she stood onstage at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night during the taping of VH1 Divas 2000: A Tribute to Diana Ross.
"It's about your soul," the ultimate diva authority continued, her eyes welling with emotion. "It's about giving and loving, caring, knowing."
She might have added that it's about insisting on using your own sound equipment rather than what has been provided for the artists saluting you, thereby creating a technical snafu that threatens to stop the show in its tracks.
But being the old pro that she is, Miss Ross barely flinched when the system started making strange, ominous noises during her first song, Touch Me in the Morning.
By the time she finished her second number, a solo version of Endless Love, the mike seemed to be barely working, but no matter: Ross gamely finished her set, even wandering out into the audience - à la Oprah Winfrey or Elizabeth Dole - to lovingly address her fans.
Then, after apologizing to those fans and demanding a cup of coffee - "It's not even hot," she said after sipping it - Ross redid the set with a perfectly functioning system, her smile wider and her voice stronger than ever.
VH1's previous divafests, in 1998 and 1999, were broadcast live and, luckily, featured no such glitches. But this year's show - which airs tonight at 9 ET/PT and will be rebroadcast several times this week - had more of a relaxed, almost impromptu feel about it. (Note: The program will be rebroadcast ad nauseum on VH1. Check listings.)
That's not to say that the performances weren't as polished as one would expect.
This year's other divas - Mariah Carey, Donna Summer and country-crossover darling Faith Hill - delivered both their own hits and their renditions of favorites from the Ross and Supremes catalogs with virtuosity and verve.
Carey, who seemed fully recovered from a case of food poisoning that landed her in the hospital last week, offered a lustrous interpretation of Ross' heavy-breathing classic Love Hangover, then launched into a feisty version of Heartbreaker. Hill performed her wistful single Breathe and covered The Supremes' Love Child with a throaty urgency.
Summer, looking and sounding as vibrant as she did in the '70s, evoked her disco heyday with a sultry, sassy rendition of Bad Girls, then ventured further back in time with her forceful take on The Supremes' Reflections.
Explaining her choice of a cover song backstage, Summer said: "Diana let us pick whatever song we wanted, basically. To me, (Reflections) really represented a moment in my life, and it was a turning point in the kind of music they were making then."
Other selections were a bit campier
- particularly surprise guest RuPaul's gloriously gaudy version of I'm
Coming Out, during which the celebrated drag queen, who sported a towering
blond wig, was accompanied by two grinning, tuxedoed men.
"I learned how to conduct myself as a star from Diana Ross," RuPaul said backstage. "She set the standard for me. For brown-skinned people coming up at the time I did, there weren't a lot of examples of that extreme glamour."
Mindful that extreme glamour often requires sacrificing comfort, RuPaul and others braved unseasonably cold temperatures for the sake of fashion, always a key element of the Divas shows.
Sleeveless gowns and minidresses abounded, from the sleek long numbers modeled by Faith Hill and Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank (an announcer) to the skimpy little gold and silver outfits that Ross and Carey wore for their duet medley of Baby Love and Stop! In the Name of Love.
"I'm freeee-zing!" Hill admitted after walking through the outdoor arrivals area without a coat. Model Rachel Hunter was more practical, throwing a baby-blue fake-fur jacket over her dress.
Predictably, the divas changed their attire throughout the evening. Hill, for instance, later donned black leather pants and a matching low-cut shirt...
Of course, Ross would not be upstaged in the couture department. She first appeared in a long, multicolored dress, wearing a black Afro wig streaked with purple. When she teamed with post-Ross-era Supremes Lynda Laurence and Scherrie Payne for another Supremes medley - promoting the current tour of the trio as Diana Ross & the Supremes - all three wore elegant black gowns.
For the finale, a rendition of Ain't No Mountain High Enough featuring all of the performers, Ross donned a strapless blue gown adorned by a matching boa. She looked, as RuPaul earlier observed, "just flawless" - and happy to have given, cared, known and loved on her own terms.
source: by Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY 03/11/00 also see VH1
Report on DC's IFGE Convention
(Editor's Note: See Marisa Richmond's column for her report on the convention.)
The luncheon in the Crystal City Hilton's Farragut Room on March 24 looked like a festive, pleasant occasion. A crowd of around 100, mostly smartly dressed women, ate and chatted in front of a view overlooking Jefferson Davis Highway. Spitting distance from the Pentagon, a curious passerby might have guessed the event was a lunchtime social for officers' wives or perhaps a gathering for Amway representatives. Who would have guessed a new national rights movement was afoot?
The odd sign by the Farragut Room bathrooms was a bit more telling. "This restroom reserved for the International Foundation for Gender Education." The luncheon speakers provided the missing piece of Transgender 2000, the 14th annual convention and health and wellness conference.
A woman with a brunette bob, a casual, patterned dress and a tan she picked up in Miami just hours earlier took the lectern.
"I struggle a little bit with what to share with you this afternoon," Dana Rivers began. "I grew up as a white male in America. … It doesn't get any better than that. I was never discriminated against." But there was a catch: "Seething under the calm exterior was a very confused young woman.
When I was four years old, I knew I was different. … I really did. That was the beginning of my gender confusion."
Rivers earned national notoriety in 1999 when, as a public high school teacher in Antelope, Calif., she began her physical transformation to her new gender. As a result of Rivers speaking to some of her students about the change, her school board voted 3-2 to dismiss her. Rivers explained how a single parent backed by the conservative Pacific Justice Institute complained about Rivers's transformation.
"I was called Satan by the parent who complained," said Rivers, recalling how she and that parent sat down with the school principal to discuss the situation. That parent, said Rivers, urged them all to get on their knees and pray to God to sort it all out.
"She's still down on her knees and I stood taller than I ever have since that day," said Rivers in an apparently optimistic and confident tone that was repeated often during the March 22-26 conference.
Rivers explained how the parabola of her life has taken her to a point where "it's getting to be OK. … I'm almost to the Promised Land. I almost pass." But she said that transgendered people are at a place in their movement where "passing" is not an end unto itself.
"There's a sister or a brother behind me who needs my help, and it's my turn," she offered. "One by one they pick us off."
Rivers urged others to help solidify a community she regards as just coming into its own. "My message here today is we don't have to all agree," said Rivers. "The things we have in common far outweigh the differences."
But to fully realize a strong community, Rivers said there is still a little way to go. "You can't just do it by listening to people like me," she said. "Step out. Take a little bit of risk."
Riki Anne Wilchins, executive director of GenderPAC, a New York-based organization promoting "gender, racial, and affectional equality," also spoke at the luncheon. Wilchins also spoke about community, but used much broader strokes, calling for nothing less than a new national civil rights movement.
"There is still no national movement to make gender a civil right. … I believe our mission is to make gender a civil right," Wilchins told conference attendees. "Gender is not about what you wear or what surgery you've had. Gender is about every American's right to express gender orientation without discrimination or bias."
Wilchins argued that transgendered people are in a unique position to lead such a movement. "We not only ‘got' gender, we got together and talked about it," she said. "Gender rights are not a trans thing. Gender rights are human rights. It is all about putting people back into their assigned gender role. You have to fit into these gender roles to survive. … You try to change yourself instead of changing the system. … It's systematic oppression."
Metaphorically, Wilchins drew a comparison with Lawrence of Arabia. In the film of the same name, Peter O'Toole as the title character tells his Arabian ally that a coastal fort must be taken, it is just a matter of going. His ally tells him that an impassable desert stands in their way.
With Lawrence of Arabia's resolve, Wilchins told the audience, "A uniform national movement for gender civil rights is right over there. It's simply a matter of going."
The confident optimism that
wafted through the convention found its way into facilitator Brenda Viola's
workshop on transgender outreach, later Friday afternoon.
"I don't want other people to suffer through 40 years of transgender feelings, as I suffered through 40 years of transgender feelings," Viola told a group of about 10 people, explaining what drives her to be open about being transgendered in her hometown of Long Island. "Outreach is a way of building up momentum."
Moving the discussion from the larger issue of gender in American society to a more grassroots level, Viola discussed a perceived schism between the Gay community and the transgender community. But Viola's tone still remained positive.
"The transgender movement is definitely riding on the coattails of the …[Gay] movement and the women's movement," Viola granted. "They have broken ground for us."
Viola urged her audience to talk to members of those movements, saying that transgender people may be surprised by the welcome they receive. "A lot of groups in the last five years have added the ‘T' to ‘GLBT,'" Viola said,
referring to the widely used acronym meaning Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender. "Almost every LGB group wants to know what the ‘T' is. …You'll find that more and more, people will be seeking you out. … You will be welcome."
While the apparent upbeat mood at the conference is difficult to quantify, some hard figures offered good news as well. Kristine James, the convention's business co-chair, put attendance at 164, which she said is nearly double 1999's attendance. The convention, she said, also raised more than $50,000 for the International Foundation for Gender Education.
Jessica Xavier, the convention's media director and a board member of Gender Education and Advocacy, a national group advocating for transgender and transsexual people, summarized the event tidily, saying, "It's probably just one of the most successful gender events we've ever had in Washington."
Gender rights activists will be returning to Washington May 21-23 for Gender Lobby Days, which, according to Xavier, typically brings more than100 transgender activists to Capitol Hill to lobby for equal rights.
source: by Will O'Bryan © The Washington Blade 03/31/00
Thai Moviegoers Love TGs
Yongyoot Thongkongthun was prepared for anything. Days before the premier of his first feature film, producers at Tai Entertainment warned the young director that audiences might have trouble with his movie, Satree Lex, or The Iron Ladies. It is certainly a gamble: a sports movie and a comedy, genres that don't often appeal to Thai moviegoers. Riskier still, the lead characters include a lesbian and five katoey--a Thai term that covers transsexuals, transvestites and effeminate gay men. Says the 33-year-old Yongyoot: "I broke every taboo in the business."
And the audiences are eating it up. In its first
two weeks, Satree Lex, based on the katoey-led volleyball team that
won a real-life national championship in 1996, has reeled in $1.75 million
and is on its way to becoming Thailand's second-highest-grossing film ever
(after last year's Nang Nark). "Satree Lex is a major step forward
for Thai films, which are generally pretty awful," says Kiccha Buranond,
a correspondent for Dichan, a Thai women's magazine. "The characters are
developed, they're hilarious and they really touch your heart." International
companies are eyeing the film for distribution overseas, betting that its
sight gags and bawdy repartee--plus its message of acceptance--will have
a broad appeal, even if the phenomenon of katoey athletes is uniquely
Thai.
Katoey are everywhere in Thailand, working as fashion models, civil servants, sales clerks, scientists, bank tellers. Thailand's best-known sportsperson is surely Nong Toom, a transvestite kickboxer who has been featured in Time and Sports Illustrated. Buddhism doesn't demonize homosexuality, and Thailand has little of the homophobic violence prevalent in, for example, the United States. Thais of all inclinations rooted for the real Satree Lex. "Katoeys don't face a lot of serious problems here," says Kokkorn Benjatikul, the only real katoey actor in the film.
That said, Thais remain conflicted about homosexuality and katoey, and the movie highlights that unease. "We're like the forgotten orphans of society," laments Kokkorn's character, Pia, as he faces discrimination from sports officials. Many of the film's most powerful scenes involve exchanges between the team's heterosexual captain, Chai, and the group, who refer to themselves as the "tootsies." The dialogue bristles with unresolved tensions that reflect the ambivalence among katoey, gays and the rest of society. Most Thai homosexuals still feel it prudent to hide their identity, says Pakorn Pimmanee, who organized Bangkok's first Gay Carnival last year. "The police gave us a permit because they didn't understand what the carnival was," Pakorn says. "Having seen 7,000 gay people show up, Idon't think they'll be giving us another." Andrew Matzner, an anthropologist who has written on transgenderism in Thailand, cautions that "tolerance does not equal acceptance. It doesn't mean negative social sanctions against [gays and katoey] do not exist."
In recent years, the government has tried to ban gays from jobs at teachers' colleges and told television producers to stop using katoey characters. Despite winning the '96 championship, members of the real Satree Lex were not allowed to play for the national team: sports officials worried the presence of transvestite players would tarnish Thailand's reputation. At the same time, officials have tried to cash in on the katoey. The Tourism Authority advertises transvestite cabarets as attractions.
Despite the film's sympathetic slant, a few of the characters in Satree Lex reinforce cliched images of katoey, who are almost always protrayed in Thai entertainment as one-dimensional comic foils. "It's a technically bad film, and the characters are stereotypes," complains Scott Rosenberg, Bangkok correspondent for Variety, a U.S. entertainment- industry newspaper. He expects Satree Lex will fail overseas. But for every cartoonish character
like Nong, an amazonian army recruit with olive sparkle nail polish, there are individuals like Mon, a striker struggling to overcome his anger and alienation. "I think it's a great movie that shows the real life of the katoey," says Nong Toom, the celebrated kickboxer. If Satree Lex catches on overseas, it could become the most widely seen Thai film ever. And that would surely shake up the grandees of Thai sport who four years ago slammed the closet door shut on the real Satree Lex.
source: by Robert Horn, CNN AsiaNow from Time Asia 03/27/00 Movie's official website: www.sa-tree-lex.com
TX Courts Decide Gender
A recent appellate court opinion intended to legally define what is a man and what is a woman will create havoc throughout society unless it is replaced with a better definition, a Houston trial attorney said.
The majority of the medical community and an international court agree with her.
A San Antonio transsexual's loss of standing in a wrongful death suit against her late husband's doctor appeared to be a fascinating but isolated situation with little significance outside a small community of people who choose to have their sex surgically altered.
But as the case has drawn attention, said her attorney, Phyllis Frye, it is becoming more apparent that the implications can touch everyone.
Christie Lee Cavazos Littleton, now 48, underwent sexual reassignment in 1979. Ten years later, she was injured in a car accident and had to go to Lexington, Ky., for bladder reconstruction.
There she met Jonathon Mark Littleton, an auto assembly line worker. While she was recovering, the two became friends, fell in love and obtained a marriage license in Kentucky. But in 1996, Mark Littleton became ill and died.
"It's a funny thing," Littleton said. "When I met my husband, he was taking care of me. Holding my hand in bed, changing my bandages. We met and ended it the same way."
Littleton's wrongful death suit against the doctor for medical malpractice was thrown out of 288th District Court on the grounds that Littleton was really a man and same-sex marriages are illegal.
The 4th Court of Appeals upheld the trial court's decision in October. In its opinion, Chief Justice Phil Hardberger sided with the doctor's insurance company and said, "Male chromosomes do not change with either hormonal treatment or sex reassignment surgery. Biologically, a post-operative female transsexual is still a male."
In March, the Texas Supreme Court informed Littleton's attorney it would not hear her case. He told Littleton, then removed himself as her attorney. She missed a deadline for filing a motion to reconsider before she could hire Frye.
Frye was granted an extension Tuesday and has until April 18 to file a new motion.
"Every heterosexual involved in a wrongful death suit, a divorce, anything involving community property, insurance benefits, stands to lose something," Frye said.
"If this ruling stands, and right now it is the law of the land, attorneys will have to seek chromosome tests. If they don't, their client can turn around and sue them for malpractice."
Genetic testing would add to the legal cost, but under the present legal system it can't even be done. State law prohibits the use of genetic information by a state agency, including judges.
Littleton never was given a test to discover whether she was genetically a man. The court simply assumed she was because she once had male organs.
But it's not that simple. Just ask the international athletic community.
Allegations that certain countries were seeking unfair advantage in athletic competition by disguising men as women led to genetic testing for sex verification in 1967.
Known as the baccal smear, an athlete's mouth is swabbed, and a sex chromatin test is supposed to reveal whether the athlete is XX (female) or XY (male). Inconsistencies immediately surfaced.
In 1967, Polish sprinter Eva Klobukowska was eliminated from the European Cup, banned from competition and publicly humiliated worldwide, all because she had an XXY result, one chromosome too many to be declared a woman. A few years later, she became pregnant and gave birth to a healthy baby.
"One in every 400 competitors was eliminated in the Atlanta Olympic Games, even though there was nothing unusual about them anatomically," said Cheryl Chase, director of the Intersex Society of North America.
Three dozen medical conditions create sexual ambiguity in the human species, Chase said. These conditions affect between 1 percent and 2 percent of the general population, or in Lone Star terms between 190,000 and 380,000 Texans.
"If the Texas court's finding about who is eligible to marry is allowed to stand, many intersex people will not be allowed to marry anyone," Chase said.
The hard facts of science, said Brian Derrick, a biologist at the University of Texas at San Antonio who has been studying brain anatomy as a better indicator of sex, is that there are anatomical men with female chromosomes and vice versa.
That makes everyone suspect and the potential target of genetic testing.
"From a psychological and medical perspective, Littleton is a woman and always has been a woman," Derrick said.
Courts throughout the United States have rarely granted transsexuals the status they prefer.
The one notable exception was Renee Richards, the transsexual tennis star who in 1976 defeated the United States Tennis Association's attempt to ban her when the New York Supreme Court ruled there was "overwhelming medical evidence that (Richards) is now a female."
But outside the United States, and within the athletic community, sex definitions are changing.
Kristina Sheffield, a transsexual, sued the United Kingdom in the European Commission of Human Rights after she was repeatedly forced to identify herself as a male in judicial and commercial matters.
The commission ruled in 1997 that her privacy had been violated and noted that "there was a clear trend toward the legal acknowledgment of gender reassignment in ... Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Turkey."
Whichever way the Texas Supreme Court rules on Littleton, the case won't end there. The issue is too important, Frye said.
"I have an appellate attorney in Virginia waiting for my phone call," she said. "If need be, we'll take it to the U.S. Supreme Court."
The courts may be confused as to what Littleton is, but the widow and self-employed beautician goes on with her life confident that she must prevail.
"I'm a woman," Littleton said. "Anybody can see that's all there is to it."
source: by Aldolfo Pesquera, San Antonio Express-News 04/08/00
UPDATE: Iowa's Gov. Serious About Non-Discrimination
Governor Tom Vilsack officially vetoed a bill reversing anexecutive order on gay rights Friday, making good on a promise he issued only minutes after lawmakers approved the bill.
The House this month approved the reversing of the executive order providing equal opportunity and affirmative action in state employment.
Supporters said they were guarding the rights of the Legislature to set state policy. Critics viewed the move as an election-year effort to use gay rights on the campaign trail.
Vilsack had aides deliver his veto message as soon as the votes were counted. Vilsack said he was "profoundly disappointed" that lawmakers had wasted their time on the issue.
The governor had maintained that he would veto the reversal once it reached his desk.
The battle was sparked last summer when Vilsack signed an executive order prohibiting employment discrimination in state government on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
source: AP via LGBT Activists List 04/15/00
SHOWBIZ: Best GLBT Films of 20th Century
Absolut Vodka and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today announced the ABSOLUT BEST Lesbian and Gay Films of the 20th Century as determined by a popular vote of more than 23,000 from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
The voting took place throughout 1999 on the GLAAD Web site and at GLAAD events and Absolut sponsored gay/lesbian film festivals nationwide...
The films were announced at the 11th Annual GLAAD Media Awards ceremony in New York City Sunday April 2nd and represent a broad cross-section of American and British cinema over the last quarter century...
The ABSOLUT BEST Lesbian and Gay Films of the 20th Century, in order, are: (Editor's Note: Titles about or featuring TG characters are in BOLD BLUE.)
1. The Adventures of Priscilla,
Queen of the Desert (1994, Gramercy)
2. Beautiful Thing (1996, Sony Pictures Classics)
3. Torch Song Trilogy (1988, New Line)
4. Philadelphia (1993, TriStar)
5. Longtime Companion (1990, Samuel Goldwyn)
6. Gods and Monsters (1998, Lions Gate)
7. The Crying Game (1992, Miramax)
8. The Birdcage (1996, United Artists)
9. Jeffrey (1995, Orion Classics)
10. In & Out (1997, Paramount)
11. Bound (1996, Gramercy)
12. The Color Purple (1985, Warner Bros.)
13. My Beautiful Laundrette (1986, Orion Classics)
14. Maurice (1987, Cinecom)
15. Love! Valor! Compassion! (1997, Fine Line)
16. The Wedding Banquet (1993, Good Machine)
17. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975, 20th
Century Fox)
18. The Incredibly True Adventure Of Two Girls In Love (1995, Fine Line)
19. La Cage Aux Folles (1978, United Artists)
20. Boys on the Side (1995, Warner Bros.)
source: GLAAD press release 03/03/00
Reform Rabbis: Thumbs-Up Same Gender Unions
The world's largest association of rabbis resolves that same-gender Jewish couples deserve affirming rituals, but also supports those who choose not to officiate.
The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) by an overwhelming majority voice vote on March 29 affirmed those rabbis of the Reform sect of Judaism who bless gay and lesbian couples -- and equally affirmed those who do not. It's the first such affirmation by a major clergy organization and makes Reform Judaism, the largest Jewish sect in North America with some 1.8-million members, by far the largest religious group to endorse the ritual celebration of same-gender couples. The resolution does not name those unions marriages and while the CCAR will go on to develop a sample liturgy for the ceremonies, just how closely they resemble traditional weddings will be up to the rabbi, the couple and the congregation. Some 500 reform rabbis have signed a statement of their willingness to perform same-gender union ceremonies. The resolution refers specifically to Jewish couples; some rabbis willing to perform union ceremonies are not willing to perform interfaith marriages or unions, while a small number are.
The 1,800-member CCAR, the world's largest association of rabbis, was holding its annual North American convention in Greensboro, North Carolina when it affirmed the resolution proposed by its 275-member Women's Rabbinic Network. The core of the "Resolution on Same-Gender Officiation" says, "We do hereby resolve, that the relationship of a Jewish, same-gender couple is worthy of affirmation through appropriate Jewish ritual; and further resolved, that we recognize the diversity of opinions within our ranks on this issue. We support the decision of those who choose to officiate at rituals of union for same-gender couples, and we support the decision of those who do not; and further resolved, that we call upon the CCAR to develop both educational and liturgical resources in this area." ...
CCAR's professional head Rabbi Paul Menitoff said, "This resolution supports giving affirmation to gays and lesbians and the relationships they form through appropriate Jewish ritual. It is groundbreaking in that it is the first time a major religious body has indicated its support for any of its clergy who decide to officiate at same-gender ceremonies." Menitoff has emphasized repeatedly the importance of signaling to Jewish gays and lesbians that they are not sinful but normal and healthy, something he believes the resolution supports...
The lay counterpart of CCAR, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, has not taken a formal stand on the blessing of same-gender couples. However, like CCAR, it has taken positions in support of full civil recognition of gay and lesbian couples and against sexual orientation discrimination.
Although a few notorious passages in the Torah call homosexual acts an "abomination," Reform Judaism generally accepts that the tradition's "teachings about homosexuality reflect the long-since-abandoned assumptions and prejudices of ages past," in the words of CCAR's 1996 resolution calling for equal civil marriage rights for gays and lesbians. But Reform's characteristic willingness to inform tradition with contemporary understanding is not shared by the leaders of the Orthodox and Conservative sects, who believe the CCAR resolution on unions is a terrible mistake. The smaller Reconstructionist sect allows its rabbis to bless same-gender couples.
source: PlanetOut 03/29/00 or AOL Keyword PlanetOut
SHOWBIZ: Ebert Gives Wonder Boys ****
...Michael Douglas plays a character like that. It is his best performance in years, muted, gentle and wondering. He is a boy wonder long past his sell-by date, a 50-ish English professor named Grady Tripp who wrote a good novel seven years ago, and now, everyone believes, has writer's block.
Wonder Boys follows him around a Pittsburgh campus in winter during a literary festival, as characters drift in and out of focus on his emotional viewfinder. His wife (we never see her) has just left him. His boss is Walter Gaskell (Richard Thomas), the head of the English department. Walter's wife, Sara (Frances McDormand), is the chancellor.
Grady is having an affair with Sara. His New York editor, Terry Crabtree (Robert Downey Jr), is in town for the festival and wonders where Grady's new manuscript is. The famous writer Q (Rip Torn) is a visiting speaker. Two of Grady's students occupy his attention: James Leer (Tobey Maguire), who has written a novel and is moody and difficult and a compulsive liar, and Hannah Green (Katie Holmes), who rents a room in Grady's house and would probably share his bed...
Grady (Michael Douglas) plods around in a pink bathrobe, trying to repair damage, tell the truth, give good advice, be a decent man and keep his life from falling apart. The brilliance of the movie can be seen in its details: (1) Hannah is brought onstage as an obvious love interest, but is a decoy; (2) Crabtree picks up a transvestite on his flight in, but dumps him for James, who is not exactly straight or gay (neither is Crabtree); (3) when the transvestite needs a ride, Grady says, ``I'm your man,'' but their drive results not in sex but in truth-telling, and (4) Sara is not hysterical about being pregnant and is understanding, actually, about Grady's chaotic lifestyle.
So all the obvious payoffs are short-circuited. No mechanical sex scenes. No amazing revelation that the transvestite is not a woman (everyone in the movie--save for Crabtree, who doesn't want to admit it--clocks him instantly). No emotional showoffs.
.....And the sex in Wonder Boys, gay and straight, is handled sanely, as a calming pastime after long and nutty evenings. (Notice how comfortable the Downey character is with his weaknesses of the flesh.)...
This is a funny and touching story that contains dead dogs, Monroe memorabilia, a stolen car, sex, adultery, pregnancy, guns, dope and cops, but it is not about any of those things. It is about people and especially about trying to be a good teacher...
Source: Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times
QUICK HITS:
Media Mentions
Grammy Awards / 02/23/00
Billy Joel introducing Lifetime Acheievment award winner
and friend Elton John:
"Now he is a knight. In the U.K., he should be addressed
as Sir Elton. But here in the good old U.S.A., his friends can still call
him Sharon."
Heckler's
Online/ 03/13/00 Top Reasons the
Dallas Mavericks Waived Dennis Rodman (as submitted by readers)
6. Owner's wife sick of showing up at social functions
wearing the exact same dress as him.
5. Refused to buy pumps that went with the Mavericks'
road uniforms.
4. Needed to make room under league's tattoo cap.
3. Suddenly realized he might hurt NBA's clean-cut image.
2. Cheerleaders not as excited by tongue spike as initially
anticipated.
1. Found out RuPaul can shoot the three.
Nashville weekly In
Review / 04/04/00
Columnist Venus Envy (that's what she claims anyhow) presents
her first annual "Guide To The Underside" awards for Nashville.
"...Best Place to See a Drag Show: The Connection. Every
Friday and Saturday at 11 PM and 1 AM you can see Hurricane Summers and her
bevy of beauties work it. The long runway, the big stage and the seating
make this an almost perfect viewing situation. There is also a balcony (for
those of you who want to go, but aren't quite ready to let the world see
you there), a full bar and great music. The ladies perform everything from
blues to disco, and their costumes are fabulous..."
Independent Fla.
Alligator-U-Wire / 04/14/00
Speaking to a group in Florida, openly gay actor Wilson
Cruz, who played Angel in Broadway's Rent, discusses his
break-through character on television's My So Called Life...
"Cruz played a character named Ricki Vasquez, who Cruz
said was described as "sexually ambiguous, wore eyeliner and hung out in
the girls' bathroom." "Which was basically me," Cruz said. "I was always
hanging out in the girls' bathroom. It was cleaner. It smelled better. My
friends were in there, which at that time, all of my friends were
girls."...
After taking questions and comments from the crowd, Cruz
said not only are gays facing pressure from society about what to accept,
but within the gay community there is disagreement about who to let in.
"I think we are so afraid of what straight people will
think of us if we embrace the transgendered community," he said."
Entertainment
Weekly / 04/21/00
In the Reel World movie column, actor Ving Rhames' latest
role is discussed...
"He wore a gray fright wig as Don King and is going close- cropped for Mission: Impossible 2. But that's nothing compared with the tonsorial traffic-stoppers Ving Rahmes will display in Holiday Heart, an upcoming comedy-drama... in which he stars as a drag-loving gay man. ‘I have a lot of different looks in this,' says the massive, deep-voiced actor, including a spin performing as Diana Ross. His hair and makeup forlks have a tough job, he says, because ‘brother, making me look like a woman is no easy process.'"