Gender bender bop

A tall brunette with long dreadlocks, a short black dress and platform shoes grooved on the dance floor in the Mary Ward Hall Cantina with a handsome, clean-cut partner in a shirt and tie Wednesday night.

Had a huge sign reading, "Bend your Identity," not been hanging on the wall, one might have missed that the leggy brunette was really a man and his companion -- a woman.

The Gender Bender dance party was just one of two pre-Halloween activities planned by SF State dorm residents last week. The second, the Masquerade Ball, was thrown Friday by the Rainbow Residents Coalition, a gay and lesbian organization within the dorms, and Student Action Team.

Both the Gender Bender party and the Masquerade Ball drew mixed crowds, some in costume and others just there to watch.

Courtney Ramey, a junior Russian/German major, said pretending to be someone else for a night was the point of her favorite holiday, Halloween.

"It's not often that I dress like a boy," she said. "I'm even acting like a guy just a little bit."

For others, it wasn't their first time cross-dressing.

One man, who dressed as a queen with a bra that lit up like a Christmas tree through his tight black dress, waved his glowing wand around as he drew attention on the dance floor Wednesday night.

He called himself "Natasha," and said transforming himself into a woman was an experience he'd had before.

"This is my third time. A girl loaned me the dress, but I did my own make-up," he said, batting his sparkling eyelashes.

"Christine," who also used a female pseudonym for the night, fidgeted with regret in his short skirt and long wig. He said he didn't enjoy switching his identity as much as his friend "the queen."

"I've never dressed like a woman before," he said, "and I'll never do it again."

Angela Huerta, a freshman journalism major, is a member of the Rainbow Residents Coalition. She said when planning the Masquerade Ball, the group wanted to create an environment for people to dress as they wanted, without fear of ridicule.

"It was a Halloween ball, and for people who wanted to dress in drag, it was a safe place for them to do so," she said.

She said the Coalition is aimed toward supporting one another while educating others.

Among other activities centered around gay and lesbian awareness, a weekly movie night is held by the coalition with films by homosexuals on related issues, Huerta said.

Overall, she was happy with the events' turnout. "Considering most people go out on the weekends," she said, "a lot of people showed up and danced."

[ Golden Gater Online October 31, 1995 ]

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