Date:         Tue, 29 Mar 1994 16:25:33 EST
Reply-To: dionisio@INFINET.COM
Subject:      "Dragger" drug off to jail

[ Send replies to dionisio@INFINET.COM --Ed. ]

KENTUCKY OFFICIALS FIND STUDENT'S ATTIRE A DRAG

    LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (Reuter) (3-25-94) - A male high school
senior who wanted to make a point about being gay was arrested and
jailed after showing up at school in drag.

    Senior John Paul Poynter, 18, explained he came to school dressed
in an ankle-length embroidered black dress with a side split, black
low-heeled shoes, pantyhose and a wig, to make a statement about his
homosexuality and his right to openly express his true feelings.

    ``I wore the dress because I wanted to be myself," said Poynter.
``It was just a way to say this is another side of me."

    But school authorities were not impressed with his expression of
his individuality. They countered with a suspension, saying his dress
disrupted the educational process. Authorities also cited concern for
the teen-ager's safety, after students alternately jeered, applauded,
touched or taunted him.

    Said another student, fellow senior Edwin Bradley: ``I don't think
he should have been arrested. He was just minding his own business.
But everybody was messing with him. People were laughing at him and
pulling his wig off. Then the police showed up at lunch and arrested
him."

    Poynter was charged with third degree criminal trespassing and
disorderly conduct after refusing to leave the school grounds. He was
arrested and spent the night in jail.

    At his arraignment Friday morning he was assigned an attorney and
released on his own recognizance.