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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 15, 1994)
ju st ou t T July 19. 1 9 M ▼ 19 Flag facts: 1 mile long 3 times the height o f the Empire State Building 52.8 football fields W eighed 7,000 lbs. (3.5 tons) Took 121 days to build Existed for only 40 days Required 10,000 people to carry it ACT UP MARCH, J une 2 6 , 1994 hile the vast majority o f us were partici pating in the Stonewall 25 International M arch on the United Nations, there was another (unauthorized) march going on. ACT UP, the group dedicated to keeping people with AIDS and AIDS funding a top priority, staged a protest march up Fifth Avenue, past St. Patrick’s C athe dral and its hom ophobic cardinal. At Sheridan Square, at 8:30 am, the police had already begun to set up their barricades. The ACT eslie Feinberg is a standard-bearer for diver UP people were beginning to organize and, by 9:45 sity. Self-described as an old-gay butch and am, politicians Ruth M essinger and Tom Duane longtime transgender activist, Feinberg came arrived. >ut in the early ’60s (pre-Stonewall) in Buffalo, At 10 am sharp, the police moved away the 'lew York, and has never looked back. barricades to allow the m archers passage to the Active in all types o f progressive politics— street leading to W ashington Square Park and Fifth lomelessness, joblessness, w om en’s rights, anti- Avenue. Human barricades o f ACT UP marshals acism and, o f course, gay formed against the police line, ig h ts a n d rig h ts o f as the police walkie-talkies ra n s g e n d e rs — F e in b e rg crackled: "T hey’re going to ees a calm before the storm m ove!” ight now. "There is a com- A red M ustang convert nonality o f issues that will ible with a sign on it saying ink all oppressed peoples "Stonew all V ets” joined the ind can help us define our- group as onlookers cheered. elves,” she says. The four drag queens in the car were living testimony to Feinberg is the author of the riots. 'tone Butch Blues and is urrently adapting the novel as a screenplay for A CT U P m em ber Brian Griffin led the parade, Against the Tide Productions. A fter speaking to crying out, “W e have to find a cure for AIDS. O ur he crowd at the Great Lawn, Feinberg flew to loved ones are dying! Join us behind the banner!” diami to receive the American Library Associa- The crow d became larger and larger as it traveled ion Award for G ay and Lesbian Literature. up Fifth Avenue. W L eslie F einberg , TRANSGENDER ACTIVIST L ACT UP staged a protest march up Fifth Avenue, past St. Patrick's Cathedral and its homophobic cardinal. start, the energy from the stage crackled through the air. Other highlights included Julie Halston sharing some o f her dom estic secrets— such as Joan Crawford’s views on child rearing. Andre De Shields with Debra Byrd, Frieda Williams and Joel Silberman, reached deep into the soul. The out-rageous comedic talent o f Steve Hayes was a show stopper. The whole event was an outpouring of love, sensitively and skillfully directed by M iriam Fond. At St. Patrick’s, on 51st Street, the parade came to a stop as members staged a “die-in” by lying down in the middle of the street. Ultimately the 5,000 marchers joined the U.N. march at 57th Street and Fifth Avenue, entering the park to join in the celebration of the Stonewall anniversary. M oon dance he Purple Moon Dance Project is a dance company that celebrates lesbian dancers of color. The company made its New York debut as part of the Gay Games Cultural Festival. Dancers performed “Overlapping Clothes” (in Japanese it means to sleep together). The intimacy and expressiveness o f the dance struck a chord with the audience, which responded warmly. Jill Togawa, bom in Hawaii and now living in California, has a clear vision of her company. “ In our work, we celebrate our lives as women who love women. “Lesbians have told me that seeing our work has changed their lives. Being part of that change is an important part of why I created the Purple Moon Dance Project.” P ride F est T espite the hot and humid weather, crowds thronged to the Christopher Street waterfront to experience PrideFest, a street festival cel ebrating queer diversity. PrideFest was a three-day event sponsored by the Gay Games committee. There were the usual array o f food booths, from sausages to salads, and all sorts o f rainbow chotchkas— flags, pins, T-shirts, jewelry, what have you. What really made the PrideFest worth a visit was all the special interest booths, from Gay M en’s Health Crisis to the TV show In The Life to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to C on gregation Beth Simchat Torah to Stepping Out, as well as all the fabulous talent that performed at the HOP Stage Fest. The performers included Lady Bunny, members of the Angels in America cast, Boy Bar Beauties, Outband, Sara Cyton, Jaffee Cohen and many oth ers. The show went on all day. PrideFest ’94 also staged Dance 8, billed as the pride dance, on Saturday, June 25, on the piers. It was a magical, beautiful event that culminated in fire works. The 20-minute fireworks display rivaled any Fourth of July celebration. D I n concert again : BENEFIT FOR H earts and V oices earts and Voices is a not-for-profit corpora tion that provides live performances to ease the isolation and suffering o f hospitalized people with AIDS. The show opened with Liza Minnelli and Billy Stritch, and ended with Eartha Kitt. From the very H ‘ " * i ì t ifillB H fe e ¡£52 3?.' ir. PHOTO BY PATSY LYNCH year's Rainbow Flag is the largest ever created—one mile long V *