Bits & Pieces - Diane Frank

Pride 2004

This year I helped out again at the Chevrei Tikva booth at the Cleveland Pride festival in Voinovich Park, near the Rock & Roll Hall of fame. Pride seemed tamer this year, more of a family affair, except for the fellow in gothic drag being lead around on a leash by a placid woman in her early 60's. RuPaul did perform a set and there were a couple of things noteworthy about it. First, was despite Ru's international fame, TV show and acting career, she still accepted those $1 tips in true Drag Queen fashion. I guess it's hard to disappoint your core audience. The other note was how gracious she was about inviting other drag performers in the audience to come up and share the stage with her.

The CT Art Auction

Chevrei Tikva thanks Alpha Omega for the use of web space, and next year hopes to have better publicity material earlier. The auction was a success and did help raise operating funds for our growing temple. I had a great time helping to display the items (I've done this before at other auctions).

Other Web Site Business

I've finally found a way to direct inquiries to our site from unacceptable links or search queries to a disclaimer page. This saves us the bother and hassle of negotiating with the offending parties. On the other hand, I've also added disclaimers on some links that we need to keep, but have material on them not compatible with our policies. Again easier than asking other people to change what they're doing.

Hate Crimes

I find it difficult to identify with Gwen Araujo. I simply can't imagine being a promiscuous teenager exercising such poor judgment about having sex and relations with so many other people, never mind not being forthright about something that is of rightful concern to a sex partner. None-the-less that's not grounds for murder. What appalled me most was the defense raising the "gay panic" idea yet again. Somehow homicide is justified when someone finds out that they've had sex with a man, or had a man express attraction to them. The initial reports suggested that the defense had swayed the jury with those arguments. Later reports that polled the jury indicated that the jury didn't buy it. I can't find the version I saw, but here's one that provides a more nuanced look at the jury's thinking: www.philly.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/the_valley/8990635.htm?1c

Although I doubt AO members will be running around engaged in the irresponsible and immature behavior that Gwen Araujo engaged in, I also think that our simple presence in a public setting, or even the mere knowledge that we exist can set some disturbed and violent people off. The bottom line is that unless the law protects people like Gwen, you and I aren't protected.

Diane