RIO'S THE PLACE TO PEE.......

Most people believe that the cities they live in are run by impersonal bureaucrats who don’t give a hoot for the citizens that pay the taxes to keep the city almost running. The needs of the men, women and children who reside there are of no importance to the elected politicians. All the politicos care about is being elected, raising money for their personal unlisted bank accounts and watching themselves babble on local television. As some smart guy once commented, when politicians put their hand on the bible to be sworn into office they wipe their fingerprints off as soon as the cameras are turned off.

Occasionally a city surprises everyone by proposing things to benefit a small minority of its citizens. When a city does it becomes a headline story. Instead of being applauded for taking the initiative to solve some problem, city governments are tarred and feathered for trying to do the right thing. Who will ever forget the Ohio town that decided it was time to do away with local public hangings? Newspapers, radio, television and conservative religious leaders blasted the city council for trying to stifle good, clean, healthy fun. If they stopped the hangings they might try to do away with having sex with inanimate objects. The city council was recalled and each member was hung in the city square. Tom DeLay was MC for the ceremony and Bob Novak did card tricks between each hanging. Oh, the fun and joy.

Rio De Janeiro which is in Brazil, don’t you know, just passed a ground breaking bill to deal with some of its citizen’s complaints. No, they didn’t concern themselves with mundane problems like homeless people, lousy schools, high taxes or the like. Here’s what they decided was more important. For most of the people living in the city, it’s a choice of the men’s room or the women’s. But Rio is trying to give an option to those who don’t fit easily into either category. The new law would require night clubs, shopping malls, movie theaters and large restaurants to provide a third type of bathroom for transvestites. Now, instead of just bathrooms that say, “Me and Women” Rio has bathrooms that say, “Other.”

“A lot of lawmakers didn’t want to deal with this issue, but it’s a serious problem in society,” said a city council member. “It’s a way to put an end to prejudice.” The city councilman then applied some more make-up and walked away on his chic high heels.

The politician said he got the idea when dozens of transvestites showed up for a local samba show. After dancing with many of the transvestites, he said, “It was a real problem. The women didn’t feel comfortable having them in the ladies’ room and the men didn’t want them in their bathroom either,” he stated. “Alternative bathrooms could also be used by men or women who didn’t mind sharing space with transvestites.” He claimed that there are nearly 28,000 transvestites in the city – not including him.

It seems that many of the transvestites are reluctant to go out because there’s no bathroom for them. He denied that the cost of building a third bathroom would be a big problem for restaurants or club owners. “It requires an initial investment, but after that, the establishment will end up making more money because it will have a larger public. “Transvestites like to spend,” he said and he should know.

Brazil is generally more tolerant of homosexuality than other Latin American countries, which is one of the reasons he moved there from that Ohio city. We should take off our Eva Gabor wigs and loosen our pantyhose in honor of the farsighted city council in Rio.