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[Review]
Lacey Leigh Cleveland Visit
Laura Miller’s thoughts on the recent Cleveland visit by
Lacey Leigh, author and crossdressing advocate. Laura is a former member and
continuing friend of Alpha Omega.
The ACLU’s LGBT Working group and CLE sponsored the
meeting. There were about 30 in attendance, 5-6 from the ACLU including the
executive director, several from CLE, and several from Paradise Club. There were
CDs, TSs, SOs, some "professionals" and some others I didn't meet or
try to.
Lacey gave a very well organized presentation. Entertaining,
motivational speaking, and presentations are her business. She claims to hope to
be a leading advocate, nationally, for cross dresser's rights. Her topic was
Cross-dressing 101, and closely followed her new book, " 7 Secrets of a
Successful Cross dresser". I'm halfway through the book so far it also
spends a great deal of time on her San Francisco vacation, all of which I read
on her web site.
The presentation was very positive, stressing attitude is
extremely important, and discussed the mental games we all play in our exercise
of current counter culture activities. Lacey has some good points, dress is
communication and the typical crossdresser dresses opposite to the image they
want to present.
Lacey dwells quite a bit on the attempts to "pass"
to gain acceptance, as actually being counter productive or self defeating,
reinforcing the negative attitudes and guilt for most crossdressers, and she
feels that the public at large reacts even more negatively when they learn they
have been misled and deceived. Lacey feels that gender expression properly
handled, proper dress, attitude, presentation of a guy in a dress is much easier
tolerated although at this point not necessarily accepted. To quote her "Crossdressers
who show respect for the feminine image they express will find a much more
welcome reception everywhere." And "open crossdressing aims to gain
social tolerance by minimizing additional offence as much as possible." g
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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
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CROSSDRESSING
CUTTLEFISH TO SEX UP TOURISM
Tuesday, 6 July 2004
ADELAIDE, Australia - Adelaide researchers believe that sex
in the water in South Australia’s upper Spencer Gulf could boost tourism. Sex
among cuttlefish, that is.
And the South Australian public is being asked to spy on the
cuttlefish – for the benefit of science.
"The breeding habits of the Giant Australian Cuttlefish
are important to South Australia’s ecotourism industry, which is why we’re
calling for the public’s help in locating large numbers of cuttlefish (groups
of more than 10) over the next few months," says Dr Bronwyn Gillanders from
the University of Adelaide’s School of Earth & Environmental Sciences.
Dr Gillanders and Dr Steve Donnellan (Evolutionary Biology
Unit, SA Museum) are leading a team of researchers that aims to learn more about
the population structure and movements of cuttlefish. This is critical to the
sustainable management of the species and the design of a marine protected area
in the upper Spencer Gulf.
Cuttlefish are a significant part of ecotourism at Whyalla
because of their "crazy" mating behavior. They congregate in dense
numbers and in shallow depths, providing a spectacle for divers and snorkelers.
Among their range of unusual sexual antics is "sneaky
sex", where the physically smaller males, who can’t compete with larger
males, "cross-dress". The smaller males change body color and trick
the stronger males into thinking they’re females. When the strong males are
not looking, the smaller males change color again and quickly mate with the
females.
This can be exciting viewing for tourists, but the cephalopod
species (including cuttlefish, squid and octopus) are an important resource for
fishing, and their reputation as a delicacy in restaurants has led to the demise
of many species.
"Preventing long-term harm to the Giant Australian
Cuttlefish population is a major concern," Dr Gillanders says. "We aim
to protect the marine ecology, while at the same time provide unique benefits to
the fishing and ecotourism industries, and South Australia’s economy."
To better understand the Giant Australian Cuttlefish’s
breeding locations and population, South Australian divers and fishermen –
especially those outside the upper Spencer Gulf – are urged to keep a look out
for mating cuttlefish and areas where they are found in large numbers.
"The public’s efforts will be vitally important in
providing information about where cuttlefish are laying eggs, especially in
areas outside the upper Spencer Gulf," Dr Gillanders says.
"Although cuttlefish’s sexual antics are a wonderful
display to divers and snorkelers, the fact is that the cuttlefish will die soon
after they’ve laid their eggs.
"This gives us a window of only two or three months from
now – following on from their mating season – to gather as much information
as we can from willing members of the community."
Anyone who has information about cuttlefish mating or
grouping in South Australia can visit the following website and follow the
links: www.biocity.edu.au
Unless expressly stated otherwise, the University of Adelaide claims
copyright ownership of all material on this Internet site. You may download,
display, print and reproduce this material in unaltered form (attaching a copy
of this notice) for your personal, non-commercial use. The University of
Adelaide reserves the right to revoke such permission at any time.
Apart from this permission and uses permitted under the Copyright Act 1968,
all other rights are reserved. Requests for further authorisations, including
authorisations to use material on this web site for commercial purposes, should
be directed to copyright@adelaide.edu.au.
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Summer Meeting Reminders
July - No meeting
August - The annual cookout at
Gloria and Kathleen’s home. (email Gloria or Kathleen for details and
directions)
September - (tentative)
Sister Bernadette Returns!
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Observation]
Platinum Splendor
Elaine comments on an aspect of the recent film release,
"Connie and Carla."
Did you see Connie and Carla? It went through our town
faster than Britney Spear’s first marriage, so I missed it. But it boasted a
great cast, including the vivacious Nia Vardalos (pictured here in a scene from
the movie.) The C&C web site continues on so you can glimpse what you
missed, if you did.
Why bother? The story line: Women impersonating men
impersonating women. I wager that most in our group are working on, at least,
the second half of that equation. (Ok, not including the wives and SOs who
pretty much have it down pat.)
And Nia herself wrote the story, so the transformations into
glamorous cabaret performers must be true to an inner feminine style.
But wait… doesn’t that story line sound familiar? Just
this past year, several AOer’s enjoyed a breakout performance by our own
aesthetic phenom, Ms. Diane Frank, in the similarly themed Victor/Victoria.
Forgive me, I digress.
So what caught my attention? Those splendid Donatella
inspired locks, of course. I know there are some who would haughtily sniff that
women past a certain age should not sport the sultry shoulder-length, sun-struck
styles of their bikini-clad youth. (Just between us, Nia is *whisper*
north of 40)
Well, I say: "Nia, you look Mah-velous!"
Young and beautiful, hip and aware! What more could one ask from a hairdo?
Some might suggest that I missed the point, and Nia is really
just spoofing the way a man would impersonate a woman, absent any inner feminine
style.
I say, "only her hair-dresser knows for sure."
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Upcoming
Meetings
July- We're taking a
summer vacation
August- Non-dressed
meeting
September- We
start up again
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Scotlandfuturebog
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Kahn and Richard
Selesnick, at Amazon.com via the Alpha Omega website link –
Elaine X
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Their imagined world of Scotlandfuturebog
offers "infinite promise that cannot possibly be
described or communicated except by direct experience."
Bogdwellers are sole inhabitants of a planet emptied by an
apocalyptic event. Left to perform obscure ceremonies in a
terrain that is as intriguing as it is uninviting, the
bogdwellers exist in stark and beautiful landscapes. Eerie and
elegant, the images of Scotlandfuturebog blur the lines
between fact and fiction, and skew our sense of historical
photographic truth as they explore the nexus between
discovered and invented history.
X Read
reviews and purchase Scotlandfuturebog, a monograph of
the photographic work of Nicholas Kahn and Richard Selesnick,
at Amazon.com via the Alpha Omega website link – Elaine X
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Kahn and Richard
Selesnick, at Amazon.com via the Alpha Omega website link –
Elaine
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Documentary]
Superstar in a
Housedress
This new film by Craig Highberger is a backstage biography
of one of Andy Warhol's drag divas, Jackie Curtis. Even though
our orientations differ, I felt some of her thoughts, and
other’s thoughts regarding her, struck a chord – Elaine.
Jackie on Jackie
I transformed myself into Jackie Curtis
because I wasn’t getting enough attention.
Nobody took me seriously when I went to
auditions. But when I walk in as a girl, I am immediately
accepted on a creative level. And that’s true everywhere I
go dressed as a girl.
I actually put on a woman’s dress, in one
sense, to ward off evil spirits. Straight men found me
threatening as a boy because they saw something they didn’t
like that scared them. When I dress as a girl they can laugh
at me if they want, but they don’t act with revulsion.
They can come right up and feel completely
comfortable interacting with me as this hard hat did the other
day on 57th street. That kind of thing never happened when I
was a boy. I felt completely invisible as a boy – as if
people were looking right through me, like a ghost.
Lily Tomlin on Jackie
"One thing that was delightful,"
says Lily Tomlin, "was that you never knew how Jackie was
going to show up. He might be dressed as a woman or as a man.
You never thought twice about it. You sort of envied someone
who was able to casually cross that barrier back and
forth."
"It was just original," Tomlin
continues, "that exaggerated look. He made us see the
absurdity of the culture."
Others on Jackie
Long before it became fashionable to say
so, Jackie/John seems to have decided that gender is a social
convention, and for him/her, it was something that could be
reinvented every day. This remains a provocative idea, and
perhaps the way that Jackie lived life represents his/her
major artistic statement. If so, it would have to be judged as
full of promise, but regrettably incomplete.
Jackie died on May 15, 1985. She was just
38 years old.
X Find
out more about Jackie, and Highberger’s exceptional
documentary at www.jackiecurtis.com
X
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Publication
Notice and
Club Policies
This
newsletter is
copyright
1998-2004 by
The Alpha
Omega Society. All
rights
reserved.
Articles and
information
contained in
this
newsletter may
NOT be without
advance
permission
from the
individual
author. Write
to editor@aosoc.org
in order to
contact the
author. When
permission is
granted, a
copy of the
issue
containing the
reprinted
material must
be sent to
Alpha Omega
within two
months after
the material
is published
and proper
credit is
given to
author and
source.
The
opinions or
statements
contained in
this
newsletter are
those of the
authors and do
not
necessarily
reflect the
views of Alpha
Omega.
Contributions
of articles
are welcomed,
but may be
altered in the
editing
process, with
the author’s
intent
retained, or
may be
rejected,
whether
solicited or
not.
Absolutely no
sexually
explicit
material may
be accepted or
printed.
Alpha Omega
is a
non-profit
social support
group for
heterosexual
crossdressers
and their
wives or
partners.
Also, members
from related
organizations,
helping
professionals,
and approved
guests are
welcome when
cleared
through Alpha
Omega’s
officers.
Meetings
are the second
Saturday
evening of
each month
unless a
special event
is scheduled
that takes the
place of the
regularly scheduled
meeting. The
location of
the meeting or
event is only
released to
members or
others with
the approval
of an officer.
Members and visitors
must be 18
years of age
or older. We
will exchange
newsletters
with any other
similar group.
Send all
correspondence
to Alpha
Omega, P.O.
Box 2053,
Sheffield
Lake, OH
44054.
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