A Halloween story

[Gordon Lloyd Goldberg]

Before anyone misunderstands this, Let me explain that I _love_
Halloween, and overall, I had a good time in Greenwich Village last
night. The weather held up, and the costumes and people were fabulous...
but my heart was nearly broken...

The plan was to have another renegade parade... to "take back the
Halloween Parade." The "official" city parade on 6th Avenue is lame, a
mundane walk up a wide thoroughfare surrounded by commercial buildings.
The "real" queer parade through the streets of the Village is the
place to be. The last one was two years ago, and it was a blast -
Mardi Gras in New York, costumed masses flowing through the street,
onlookers crowding the sidewalk, joining in and dropping off... hundreds
of people partying overhead on the fire escapes and hanging from windows,
adding to the festival atmosphere...

Last year, nobody bothered to try to plan one, which was just as well,
since New York was struck with a hurricane last Halloween, and even the
"official" parade was a washout...

This year we were set to do it again... and despite many of my friends
bagging out because it was a "work night", still I had high hopes... My
friend Fabian and I met up at Sheridan Square, where a crowd of becostumed
revelers was already gathering - drag queens, demons, walking Prozac pills,
vampires, (one incredibly gorgeous blond hunk in a skimpy white g-string)...
and this one cute chubbie little old man, in a t-shirt, jacket, miniskirt,
white socks, and black patent-leather pumps...

He was adorable, posing for pictures, smiling at the tourists, all happy
and excited...

Then the police started telling people that there was no parade there...
that the parade was on 6th Avenue, and Christopher Street was only barricaded
off for traffic control. And they listened... slowly the crowds began
siphoning off to head over to the "official" parade site... all except for a
few die-hards, including Fabian and myself... and then he passed us...

He had taken off his patent-leather pumps, and put on a pair of old
sneakers, and was heading back home, with the saddest of looks on his face...
his Halloween had been taken away, usurped by the establishment...

Fabian and I looked at each other, stricken... my heart ached for the
little man, and perhaps more than a bit for myself as well...

After the "official" parade ended, the crowds started filling the streets
of the Village again, and the costumes and glamour and fabulousness returned,
as Fabian and I headed over to a party at one of the local bars... but much
as I enjoyed myself, I still can't shake the sense of sadness... the feeling
that something important has been stolen... or perhaps only misplaced... but
in any case, somehow gone missing from our lives...

-Gord

--
Gordon Lloyd Goldberg The mind shapes the mass
<gg...@panix.com> mens agitat molem
"An ye harm none, do as ye will shall be the whole of the law."
T8(1)C7(3)L4w(c) h- d- a-(++) w- c(+) y e f t(++) k+ s-(+) m1 m2+ q-(+)

[BJK...@maine.maine.edu]

Your account of the Halloween weeniness as the police successfuly
disbanded your fun reminded me too much of Stonewall...
The anger and sponteneity of the 25th anniversary was so homogenized
and controlled it felt as if we were complacent to be
long-term survivors of mistreatment!
Oh well...hope you had a beary night anyway!
Brian

[Purple Tiger]

Too bad they moved the parade, but be glad it wasn't "official" like
the Castro holloween in SF was. It was an ugly scene with lots of drunk
straight white boys busy proving their hetness. There were lots of tourists
too sorta gawking and taking pictures. My friend Owen likened it to a petting
zoo. "Oh look dear, its a TV. Quick get a picture of me feeding it
crackers." Yo, lady, watch your hand, I might bite.

While I was milling through the crowd someone yanked my hair really hard.
What, did they think this long beautiful red hair was a wig or something? I
didn't see who did it, the crowd was so thick.

There were some high points, sure, like meeting my friends and stuff. One
young girl came up to me and lamented, "I wish I could wear dresses like
that but I don't have the figure." She had a beautiful hour glass figure,
real sexy but not the waif look. I talked to her for a while encouraging her
to wear the clothes she wants to wear, after all that's what I'm doing and
I don't have figure. I even got a small spare tire.

Ciao,

Purple Tiger