Stu Rasmussen first garnered media attention when he ran and won the position of mayor in Silverton, a small town in Oregon. He would become the first mayor in the US to identify as trans. Having lived in Silverton for his whole life, Rasmussen is one of the most respected and well-known members of the community and won by no small margin. He’s recently been in the news again: One of his defeated rivals filed an official complaint after Rasmussen showed up to speak at a youth leadership meeting in an outfit deemed too smoking hot. Rasmussen basically wore a bathing suit-type top and short skirt and is now being slapped with an official complaint. The town actually does have a dress code which prohibits tank tops and mini skirts and the mayor himself is taking a stand against the code.
“I was surprised, I was stunned,” Rasmussen told the media. “It’s not my policies, it’s not the intelligence and compassion that I bring to the job. They worry about what I’m wearing. How trivial, how trite.” I would have to concur. I think it’s high time we stopped deciding that people lose credibility if they exhibit sexuality or look too fabulous. The idea that certain attire need be inappropriate seems unnecessary. If we all cared more about compassion and intelligence as they pertain to doing a good job in politics and less about whether or not someone adhered to the strict dress code, well, then we’d have quite the political arena.
Then again, imagine how amazing it would be if we did pick politicians based on what they wore! Hell, on the intelligence and compassion meter I’d say Cher and Mitzi Gaynor kick George W and Dick Cheney’s ass, and then it’s just a bonus that they wear such daring magical outfits. Just think of how glittery the world could’ve been. Instead it’s just a mess.
In other outfit news, Roisin Murphy, former singer for Moloko, has basically outed Lady Gaga for stealing her style. “Lady Gaga is just a poor imitation of me. She has copied my style, she took my shoulder pads and all that.” And who’s style are you stealing, Roisin? Is it Björk’s or Grace Jones’ or Leigh Bowery’s? To date Gaga’s made headlines simply for wearing a coat made of Kermit the frog dolls made by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, a face-obscuring mask to a press conference, Saturn rings around her head during an interview with Ellen Degeneres and all that Thiery Mugler/Michael Lee-Chin ROM Crystal-inspired shoulder pad stuff. So if Lady Gaga is a poor imitation of Roisin Murphy and Roisin Murphy is a poor imitation of Björk and no one would accuse Björk of being a poor imitation of anything then I guess Björk settles this skirmish. But I say there’s room for all of these guys in the government of the future.
What would a week be without some mention of Adam Lambert? The Idol runner- up is being lauded as the strongest performer on the Idols Live concert tour (Vancouver on Jul 8 and Hamilton on Aug 14 were the only Canadian dates). He’s inspiring the audience to throw both bras and jockstraps at him. See, you closeted gay celebs? The girls will still wanna fuck you even if you come out.
Finally, in non-outfit-related news, Lindsay Lohan finally got cast in a movie that is guaranteed relative success. She will be in Robert Rodriguez’s newest flick called Machete starring alongside Michelle Rodriguez. I wonder how intense the rumour mill will be churning with those two on set together. Rodriguez has denied continually that she’s a lesbian but speculation about her sexuality has been around for quite some time. She and Lohan have both been in the gossip headlines for their hurricane tempers and they’ve both had trouble with the law. Maybe Lohan will be able to turn Rodriguez into a LUP (Lesbian until post-production).
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