Running a little behind here (and the same might be said for the topics of this post) but wanted to share some pics of the recent Pets in Drag (Easter) Parade. This event was dedicated to Leslie (Cochran), who died on March 8 [
more here], and who was for many years considered to be Austin's mascot, an icon, almost the spirit of the town. A sighting, or encounter with Leslie represented the cherry on the top of a day spent in Austin. In fact, I would say a visit here could not be considered complete without a sighting, because you were obviously not in the right places.
The short description of Leslie is "cross-dressing, street person who ran for Mayor a few times and got thousands of votes." He was not even the only person who fit that description (!) but Leslie had a great measure of charm, was an activist and advocate for the rights and issues of the homeless, and was known for wearing thongs. Leslie was everywhere, at most all local culture events or just jazzing up the constant people parades that are 6th Street or South Congress. See more photos from the
newspaper's Leslie gallery,
reader-submitted photos, and the
memorial service (we attended) held in the park.
To get back to the spirit of parading around in a thong, here are some more pics of animal cuteness and hopefully not too much distress over hair coloring or the wearing of wigs.
It's worth wondering why, if a person (or extend that to include animals and everything on the planet for that matter) was so beloved, then why were they not better sheltered and cared-for? That is always a mighty big topic that is worthy of discussion. Leslie was homeless, yet had family and friends. Sometimes habitation situations simply do not work out for the involved parties. It could be the very short version of a very long and complicated story.
2 comments:
O my gawd, dogs in costumes! Is anything cuter than that?
I know! Although I was really hoping that there would be some other critters there too, like maybe some pet pigs, ferrets or bunnies.
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