Public Notice
Processing
By Kate X Messer, Fri., Feb. 20, 1998
Healing is a topical issue for us; we've recently been through the wringer of hurt... seen both sides of it, too - the giving and receiving.
Tsk tsk. Our hurt is wee on the relative scale. We're slapping ourselves around and getting over it. Perhaps little things hurt so much because we've successfully blocked out the real stuff. Our little trials and tribulations, after all, can't possibly match the searing pain caused by political and racial hatred.
How should a community act to heal its suffering? The Comite de Solidaridad con Chiapas y Mexico, SOLID, Austin Women's Association, Zapatista Youth, and Our Lady of Guadalupe Church & Youth Group plan to commemorate the second-month anniversary of the bloody massacre in Chiapas (which occurred December 22, 1997, in Acteal, Chiapas, Mexico, where 45 people were killed) by holding a Memorial Reenactment of Acteal Massacre.
Whoa. A reenactment?! We don't want to pass judgment or anything, but our piddly, white, middle-class sensibilities bristle at this.... We won't lie to you, the idea of this very public evisceration of communal agony freaks us out.
It takes place at Our Lady of Guadalupe, 1206 E. Ninth (off Lydia Lane), Sun, Feb 22, 5:30pm, with services at 6pm. How incredibly harsh... jarring... distasteful.... Perhaps that is precisely the point. 495-9099.
Totally Dental!
We regret not getting earlier notice out to you about the Mardi Gras Masked Ball this Fri, Feb 20, 8pm, at the Four Seasons Hotel Grand Ballroom. After all, you need time to press your suit, spangle your gown, find an appropriate mask, and schedule a nice tooth cleaning. The annual gala is the main fundraiser for ASA's Jack Sansing HIV Dental Clinic. 406-6175.
Finally Facing a New Home
The counseling cuties at Waterloo Counseling Center have some new digs, and invite you out to their Open House, Fri, Feb 20, 4:30-7pm, at the new offices, 1524 S. I-35, #218. 444-9WCC.
Heather Has Two Mommies, Two Daddies, and an Uncle Named Bruce
Screw the United States government. Screw the State of Texas. If the "official" entities won't recognize you, do what the rich and powerful do: Find loopholes. There are legal ways to define your own family boundaries and protect your rights despite government insistence that you do not legally exist. (If you are in a same-sex couple - or more?! - then you know that of which we speak.) Come out to the workshop Family by Design, hosted by those fine, upstanding citizens at our Cornerstone Gay & Lesbian Center. The session will feature professional types: a lawyer, an accountant, a realtor, a financial consultant, a psychotherapist, and an insurance, retirement, and estate planner, all discussing their areas of expertise and shedding light on your legal rights. Come on out, even if you're not in a couple; especially if you have a thing for suits. 708-1515.
You Must Be Crazy
You understand that our snappy, smartass headlines are solely to get your attention, right? Well, good, because we ourselves have been too close to The Edge to ever make fun of the mentally ill, that's for certain. Austin's Drop-In Center needs our help. Austin-Travis County Mental Health & Mental Retardation (MHMR) can no longer foot the $12,000 per month bill. The center must become self-sustaining and how. Call the Friends of the Drop-In Center, now; find out how you can help. 441-2018. n
