Dancing Prohibited
I was informed by one of the bartenders in a well-known Bay Area drag venue that I am not allowed to dance in the premises.
He was not being an asshole. There is a law in San Francisco that prohibits patrons from dancing in a bar/place of entertainment which does not have a permit for dancing. Most places in San Francisco don't get that extra permit, and so if the police want to hassle a venue owner, they can use the fact that someone is dancing inside as an excuse.
This presents a problem for me. As everyone knows, I am a victim of the dread disease Pedakinetamania, which means I dance compulsively wherever I go. Even a little music far away, or a car alarm going off can trigger an attack. Some people think its a side effect of some sort of drug I take, but I can assure you that with no extra chemicals in my body, my Pedakinetamania is fully florid.
I am thinking of writing the City Attorney a letter asking him what I should do about this. Here are a few things I may bring up:
Is my Pedakinetamania covered by the American's with Disabilities Act? What if it was caused by Tourette's Syndrome?
How much repetitive and graceful movement am I allowed to commit before I am in violation?
Is dancing a form of self expression that comes under the First Amendment protections of free speech? If a panhandler can spam me from the sidewalk, why can't I dance where I want to?
If medicinal marijuana helps calm my urge to dance, am I entitled to a prescription?
Can I get a motion picture shooting permit to produce "Footloose II", using San Francisco as a backdrop? Actually - forget that - nobody would ever believe that San Francisco has a ban on dancing in bars!
posted by Jamie at 4:14 PM
Just The Tip
Tomorrow, November 20th, is the Transgender Day of Remembrance. This day transgenders and their supporters gather to commemorate those of us who were victims of homicide during the past year. In the United States, the average is one TG murder a month, and in the world, approximately one takes place each week.
These figures are certainly understated. It is very common for the transgender status of a victim to be concealed at the request of the next of kin. In some parts of the world, TG murders are committed by policemen.
Much more of the violence takes place in slow motion with a diffuse crowd of perpetrators. Transphobia has caused many of us chose suicide. One study estimates that 55% of all transgender people are afflicted by a drug or alcohol addiction.
Last year the Day of Remembrance vigils in San Francisco were covered by the broadcast and print media and were effective in drawing attention to this horrific problem.
My dream is to live to see the day when TG people are valued as the amazing people we are, rather than being destroyed or discarded. There is an enormous amount of work to be done.
posted by Jamie at 3:25 PM
