Salon News | Shadow dancing in Buffalo


Arts & Entertainment Books Comics Health & Body Media Mothers Who Think News People Politics2000 Technology - Free Software Travel & Food Columnists Current Wire Stories Click here to read the latest stories from the wires. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Also Today For a full list of today's Salon News stories, go to the News home page. - - - - - - - - - - - - Search Salon Advanced Search \| Help - - - - - - - - - - - - Recently in Salon News Sending out an SOS Since 1990, former Sen. Bob Dole has been warning the world -- and two U.S. presidents -- about Serbian tyrant Slobodan Milosevic's pending bloodletting. Why wasn't anyone listening? By Jake Tapper [04/19/99] Celebrating murder As Hillary Clinton consoles the widow of a slain abortion doctor, anti-abortion forces prepare to launch a week of protests near his Buffalo, N.Y., clinic. By Jeff Stein [04/17/99] Off and running? Hillary Clinton moves to hire a New York campaign staff. By Joan Walsh and Anthony York [04/16/99] Latinos, or the law? California Gov. Gray Davis rode a wave of Latino support to the statehouse, but in his first big test, he's gone to bat for Prop. 187 -- the law Latinos hate. By Anthony York [04/16/99] War is hell -- for GOP politicians Torn between internationalism and isolationism, Republicans try to make the best of Kosovo. By Harry Jaffe [04/15/99] Complete archives for News - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -		Shadow dancing in Buffalo A drag show kicks off a week of abortion protests, as gays and pro-life Christians square off in a culture-war showdown. - - - - - - - - - - - - By Jeff Stein April 19, 1999 \| The woman in a man's suit sauntered down the runway smoking a cigar, music pounding, a cowboy hat held over her crotch, and the crowd packed into the hall clapped and hooted with joy. Suddenly the "drag king" stopped and swept the hat aside, revealing an enormous flesh-colored dildo protruding from her fly. The crowd roared, even louder when one woman lept from her seat and began performing mock fellatio on the sex toy. The crowd of 250 people, mostly gays and lesbians, went wild. Welcome to hell, Rev. Benham. The drag show Saturday night in a rented American Legion hall in this wary, rain-swept city certainly would have appalled Rev. Flip Benham and his Operation Rescue, which kicks off its campaign here Monday against abortion clincs, book stores, high schools and other outposts of what it calls "Godless America." Buffalo, still reeling from the unsolved slaying of abortion doctor Barnett Slepian here last Oct. 23, and protests which culminated with nearly 700 arrests in 1992, gave a cool official welcome to the anti-abortion protesters, unlike the previous pro-life mayor's enthusiastic invitation in 1992. Flanked by police and fire officials Friday, Mayor Anthony Masiello scorned the protesters as outside agitators who were attempting to divide the city and "could care less what they leave behind." "Let's all hope and pray that it's peaceful and that we can move on with tranquility," he added. Organizers of the drag show, a benefit for Buffalo United for Choice, were not optimistic however, expecting the protesters to challenge new restrictions on how close they can get to abortion clinics, issued by a federal judge last week. Asked about that at a news conference outside the courthouse downtown Sunday, Benham said "no comment." A colleague of Benham's confided afterward, however, that "it hasn't been decided yet, to tell the truth." Operation Rescue was also reported by sources to be planning to "wake up America" by disrupting morning rush-hour traffic at a major Buffalo intersection Monday. Next page \| Gays dominate pro-choice forces


Search..Archives..Contact Us..Table Talk..Ad Info..Investors