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TGF News Briefs

From our fabulous News Hawks!

Have you seen a TG-related news story online or in your local paper? Send it in to TGF and become a News Hawk! Don't assume we know everything that's out there, because you are our eyes and ears. To file a story, send it in to Cindy.

Police Abuse Tijuana TVs

Transvestites and transsexuals in Tijuana, Mexico, are under renewed assault from the city police department's Special Forces, reports the local newspaper Frontera Gay.

The paper cited "constant arrests of young men dressed as women or simply wearing makeup, abuse during arrest, two and three hours trips [around the city] in police vehicles, body searches that include ripping off clothes, insults, and sexual harassment for the enjoyment and diversion of the officers."

"They hunt [transgendered people] like rabbits, on the sidewalks in front of nightclubs and on the streets of the city," the paper said.

Those taken into custody are charged with offenses to public morality, prostitution, drug possession or theft.

"These abuses signal the ominous intention of the police to divide gays into 'acceptable' and 'unacceptable,' 'discreet' and 'shameless,' with prejudice against the most vulnerable groups within the community," Frontera Gay said.

"Veronica," a drag performer at the club Noa Noa, has been arrested three times in six months. The most recent time, she was driven around the city for three hours then taken to the Special Forces headquarters on International Avenue and ordered to strip "so we can check that you don't have drugs hidden up there."

The officers proceeded to slap her rear and paw her face and chest, Frontera Gay said. One officer ordered her, "Dance so we can see how good you are in your show."

Finally, they told her, "If you suck us off, we'll let you go and won't take you before the judge."

Veronica refused and was convicted of "scandal in the public way." She opted for a 350 peso fine ($42) rather than 36 hours in jail, and was released.

Numerous other transvestites interviewed by Frontera Gay related nearly identical stories.

Tijuana is located 15 miles south of downtown San Diego, Calif.

Michael Jackson's Drag Turn

Contributed by Elizabeth Parker

A German news agency reports pop superstar Michael Jackson went shopping in Munich this week dressed as an Arab woman. DPA says a large, unnamed toy store confirmed that Jackson and his son came into the store in disguise, while a mob of fans staked out the singer's hotel.

--via People Online

UK Mayor Hopeful Shocks Easily

Contributed by Elizabeth Parker

It was a picture opportunity any man hoping to be the future Mayor of London would rather do without.

But for Jeffrey Archer he spotted her, or rather him, a little too late.

While surrounded by a group of female Unicef workers at a charity bash last night held to celebrate the Oscars, one "lady" took him by surprise.

At first Lord Archer, who was busy running an auction at the event at central London's Hanover Grand, smiled politely at the tall blonde who stood behind him on stage.

But as he realised the stunning looking figure dressed in a sequined mini-dress was more of a masculine nature, the author reeled away in horror.

The transvestite had been invited to the star-studded event, it was confirmed later, but perhaps he had not been expected on stage.

The event raised 11,000 for Unicef with lots in the auction including Vanessa Redgrave's costume from Mission Impossible and a catalogue from the auction of the dresses of Diana, Princess of Wales.

--via PA News

Penzance' With a Major, General Twist

Contributed by Hebe Dotson

An amplified voice that identified itself as Sir Arthur Sullivan greeted the audience for "The Pirates of Penzance" Sunday afternoon in Lisner Auditorium; it remarked that Queen Victoria had enjoyed the show and added, "Let's hope the queens here like it, too." They did. Produced and performed by the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, complete with lavish costumes, functional scenery and a small but adequate orchestra, it was a smashing success.

The most ambitious project in the 150-voice chorus' 17-year history was a highly unusual "Pirates of Penzance" in its casting (all male) and its performing style -- distinctly campy, with occasional loud audience appreciation of certain words (not only "queen" but also "fairy" and even "rough") that get no special reaction from most Gilbert and Sullivan audiences.

The all-male casting was particularly noteworthy, since a major element in this show was a 16-voice chorus of proper Victorian young ladies as the daughters of a very modern major general (Barry L. Mendelsohn). Most of the chorines were visually convincing, decked out in long, colorful gowns, obviously naive and somewhat scared of the world around them, self-consciously girlish in mannerisms and gestures. Then they began to sing and were revealed as tenors and baritones, as were the soloists in the roles of Ruth (the excellently comic Robert Wonneberger), Edith (Ted Spencer) and Kate (Todd Paul).

Not so Mabel, the female lead, who comes to the aid of the discouraged and lovesick young pirate Frederic (Kevin Doss). This role was sung, in the proper soprano tessitura, by the pseudonymous "Davina Pons," described as a "dragmatic soprano," who stood nearly seven feet tall in high heels, towering above her pirate suitor and producing some truly remarkable, frequently steady high notes and dazzling bits of coloratura. This performance erased memories of Linda Ronstadt in the movie version and put other cast members in a sort of shadow for reasons that were not entirely musical.

But the whole production, conducted by James Holloway and directed and choreographed by Mark Smouse, was professional in caliber with a minimum of self-indulgence, and capable performances by all of the above as well as Stan Drake (the Pirate King), Tom Baldridge (Samuel) and Michael Patrick Foster (the Sergeant of Police).

--Via the Washington Post



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