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Monday, June 12, 2006

AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM ARI GOLD

A letter to my community of friends and family,

While I have always in the past tried to keep my emails light and happy with all of my career successes, for the first time I am compelled to say something that I feel very strongly about, something that is quite serious, regarding the terrible, disgusting, despicable and infuriating thing that happened to my very dear friend and beloved artist to the worldwide gay community Kevin Aviance. Perhaps I need to write this for myself for my own therapy, but this time, I don’t care. Most of you have probably already heard that Kevin was the victim of a hate crime. He was verbally and physically assaulted by 5 guys and is now recovering in the hospital from a fractured jaw and a busted knee. His face is swollen and he has bruises on his forehead. His jaw must be sewn shut for at least 2 weeks in order to heal. Coincidentally or not, this has happened to Kevin during gay pride season...a time when us gay performers make a huge portion of our yearly income. I don’t need to go into more details regarding the assault and beating as it has already made the cover of the Post, the Daily News and received coverage in the New York Times and all national news programs including CBS, NBC, and FOX. NYC Mayer Bloomberg has called the crime “unacceptable.”

Kevin is strong and he is thankfully doing well. His spirit is as strong as ever. I have personally received an outpouring of mail from people who have expressed their concern. But I do need to take this opportunity to step on the proverbial soap box and say that in case anyone was wondering why we have to be “out” artists or “gay artists” and why we have to make our sexuality an issue and in case anyone has questioned why we are fighting for the right to be married—THIS is why. NOT because so many of us hold marriage as something that we want so badly (although many of us are in real positions of needing those rights when it comes to our real lives with our partners)...but because we need to teach our children and society at large that EVERYONE deserves EQUAL treatment and that EVERYONE deserves to have the same CHOICES as everyone else. If we DON’T have the same CHOICES and if we DON’T have the same rights, we are continuing to spread a message that some people are not as valuable as others and therefore we can beat them and throw them to the curb as was done to Kevin. Incidentally, the 5 people that perpetrated this crime were from the ages of 16 to 20. If we let our President make an amendment for THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY that TAKES AWAY peoples rights as apposed to giving people their rights, then we are saying that what happened to Kevin is OK. And it’s not OK.

Kevin you are a hero. You have been a personal hero to me since I first came out and started to go out to gay clubs. Having grown up in Yeshiva, Gay clubs were the first spaces I knew of where I felt like it was OK to be who I am. And there you always were, Kevin—showing us that we can be whoever we want to be and that despite our differences, we are still a community. Without you in the club world, without your art, without your music, without your performances, I don’t know if I would have ever felt like we really are one community. You have continued the legacy that the drag queens started during the Stonewall Rebellion—being the first ones on the front lines fighting for our civil and human rights. You have been a cherished and loved best friend to me for over 10 years and you were also one of my very first supporters and continue to be a great supporter of artists like myself who are not afraid to be who they are in a world that is clearly still run by hate. I know I speak for many when I say that we are grateful that you have been there for us and grateful that you are here still and that your sprit remains “So Alive” after something that might have taken down a weaker person. Thank you for not being afraid to speak out against the crime done to you even when they physically tried to steal your powerful voice away. Thank you once again for being proud of who you are no matter what the circumstance. We all wish you a very speedy recovery and we can’t wait to see you again and the joy that you bring to our lives. You are the rhythm and soul of this community. We love you, Kevin.

Sincerely, ARI GOLD

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Posted by Ru on Monday, June 12, 2006 at Monday, June 12, 2006 | Permalink

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