Helen Boyd Kramer's journal on gender and stuff
Betty & I are watching Law & Order SVU – of course that’s what we do when I get home – and we got to see a neighborhood right near us as they chased an ex-IRA hitman around the Gowanus Canal neighborhood. The SVU cops are coming in for him from either side, so he looks at the water, and one of the cops shouts, “Go ahead, jump in! You’ll die in a week.”
Ah. The polluted Gowanus Canal saves the day.
In some small way, this explains why Hilly Krystal gave up fighting to keep CBGB open, despite his wish that the club survive him. On your way, Hilly, to that garage band bar in the sky.
R.I.P. Hilly Krystal, 1932 – 2007 (with his daughter Lisa in front of CBGB. Photo by Bob Gruen.)
We’re back from a lovely couple of days in PA with my family & will get right back into the groove with Julia Serano’s reading tomorrow night at Bluestockings.
She’ll be reading from her book Whipping Girl at 7pm, & of course we’ll be there. If you’ve never been, you can find directions on their website. If you haven’t read her book yet, do, but in the meantime you can read the interview with me & Julia in a recent issue of Curve (which I’m told is not quite on newsstands, but will be soonly). & If you’ve already read that, & can’t make the reading, then go read some of Julia’s writing on her website – I especially recommend her “Barette Manifesto.”
& Yes, I’ll be doing a Five Questions With… interview with her soonly.
But wow is the weather better in the mountains of PA.
We’re right on the border of Sunset Park, one of the neighborhoods here in Brooklyn hit hardest by the storms. I was woken up at 6am or so by lightning & thunder that seemed to be in our bedroom with us; I sleep next to the window with the air conditioner, & half asleep, turned the AC off & pulled the curtain closed. When one loud crack of lightning seemed to go off right next to our bed, poor Endymion dashed out, wide-eyed with fur bristling, from under my night table where he often sleeps. Aeneas sat at the foot of our bed. & Aurora, being Aurora, was sitting in the living room window watching the show.
Our own beautiful trees are stripped of some leaves but otherwise standing; there are a few hundred trees down otherwise, some into buildings & cars, & one woman on Staten Island lost her life. The flooding caused commutes to double in time this morning, with all three subway lines down. They say a tornado funnel touched down in Bay Ridge, even.
The Mayor was just on TV telling everyone that they should call 311 for information about having buildings inspected for safety & the like, & someone asked a question about immigration status & languages. & After clarifying that the City will not ask for someone’s immigration status when finding them a shelter if their home has been destroyed/deemed unstable, he then mentioned there are 150 languages spoken by the operators at 311.
150. Love this town.
2 in 3 subway riders have been sexually harassed, and 99% of them are women. Why am I not surprised? Because just about every woman I know can tell you a story of a groper or a lewd comment or some other form of sexual harassment.
What’s surprising is that someone actually wants to do something about it. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer conducted the survey and has suggested changes that would help prevent these kinds of crimes:
Stringer recommends an increase in NYPD presence on subway trains and in subway stations as well as brighter lighting, more pay phones, a hotline for attack victims, and the installation of additional digital security cameras.
He also wants a public education campaign to change “a culture that has been allowed to fester for generations.”
About damn time. You can thank Scott Stringer via his website.
From The New Yorker:
(thanks to Joanne for sending it.)
The New York State Senate leadership – including Senator Joe Bruno – continues its tradition of blocking the advancement of gay rights by preventing the marriage equality bill from making it to the Senate floor for a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote.
So NOW-NYC is asking us to send him a message: send him your old shoes with a note asking him to allow the marriage bill to be heard in the Senate.
Mail them to: Senator Joseph L. Bruno Room 909, Legislative Office Building, Albany NY 12247.
There’s two events coming organized by the Center that I wanted to let people know about.
The first one is Trans on the Sands, on August 12th, from 11am – 5pm: a day at the beach for transgender, gender non-confirming, genderqueer people, their families and allies, at Coney Island. Meet directly across from the boardwalk entrance to the New York Aquarium under a ‘GIP’ sign.
The second is a Femme Symposium, on August 18th, from 11am – 5PM: an opportunity for self-identified femmes in the New York City metropolitan area to socialize and connect with other femmes. It provides femmes and our allies with space to discuss issues and topics of relevance and is intended to increase the visibility of femmes. All who attend are entitled to explore their own definition of femme throughout the day. While this event is for, about and by femmes, allies are welcome. There is a $10 entrance fee to cover costs, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. For further information: nycfemmesymposium@gmail.com.
A very happy Independence Day to all of you (Americans).
Just the other day, on our way out of town to Albany, Betty & I happened upon a Revolutionary War battle marker right on 9th Street & 4th Avenue here in Park Slope. I have to go back later this summer to see it closer, because I could barely read it from the car, but it was some evidence that American soldiers had died there (according to one account, probably by bayonet).
Also, a reminder: there is no meeting of the partners group at the Center tonight; it was moved to 7/11 so we could avoid today’s holiday.