Leslie the Transvestite

R.I.P. Leslie. You always made my trips to Austin so very memorable. I hope you’re wearing your cheerleading outfit beyond the pearly gates!

I will let my old review stand as I’m not one to second guess, but Leslie had balls. I’m pretty sure everyone knew that LOL. I won’t forget him anytime soon.
Who will take his place as the mayor of weird? Is it over?

Austin icon Leslie Cochran dies
Leslie Cochran — the city’s flesh-​flashing, cross-​dressing, attention-​loving, frequently homeless mascot, unofficial ambassador and sometimes mayoral candidate died at age 60 on Thursday, March 8, 2012 at 1 a.m.
See ya Leslie.

Rest in peace Leslie! (03/​08/​2012). New York’s Naked Cowboy ain’t a cinder compared to your flame!
Best walking Austin icon; He kept it at it’s weirdest.
He had a bra. He sported a thong. His heels always topped mine on 6^th Street.
He’s run for mayor, and I still think most politicians are more crazy than he ever was; I’m seriously surprised he never won. He knew no strangers and gave drag-​street Longhorns great advice about life. He shared his mistakes so that we could learn from them. And when we walked to class, or work, things just seemed «lighter» if he could be spotted.
Talk about gorilla marketing at it’s finest, I once saw him run across HWY 290 on a Sunday morning after church at St. Austin’s. He was sporting his typical skimpy leopard apparel sprinting at full hang-​over speed, and I thought to myself, «Thanks, God. I was missing that terrific start to my week. Things aren’t so horrible and serious after all!»
Rest in peace, ‘olé pal.
«Lickety Split, Sarah! I’m goin’ down Lickety… Split!»

The Austin Statesman got it right today: «An Austin icon is dead, and Austin just got a lot less weird.»
How many places in the country had a beloved cross-​dressing homeless man garner an appreciable portion of votes for mayor? Well, Leslie did it in 2000, a time when Austin really mattered and the «Keep Austin Weird» motto actually held weight.
I still remember the first time I saw this dude. Admittedly, my initial reaction was somewhere between baffled, shocked, and disgusted. I asked a knowing friend who explained the history of Leslie to me and how a sizable portion of the city’s motto can actually be attributed to him.
It’s not a surprise that as the demographics of Austin change, so did Leslie’s popularity. Even when I lived in Austin back in the late 90s, places like the Electric Lounge and Liberty Lunch were closing. Sushi restaurants and Starbucks began to sprout up in south Austin. I remember feeling that I was on the fringes of experiencing something great. At the time, Leslie was at the height of his popularity. Today, Austin has a strikingly corporate feel. Much of what I loved about the city has long ago been buried. Walking through Austin these days feels like visiting a ten year old burial site. It is why my visits to my adopted hometown have become less frequent. It is why Leslie stated near the end of his life that he was thinking about moving. Austin simply isn’t the same city.
Some of the denizens of Austin these days don’t even know the guy. They don’t realize that he was a central figure in speaking out for the rights of the homeless and the brutality that they faced on a daily basis from the Austin police force. They don’t know that he didn’t just make rambling crazy statements when we ran for mayor on a surprisingly well-​reasoned platform. Simply, they don’t know their own city’s recent history.
At the end of the day, many people won’t care. But they are wrong. Leslie’s passing marks the official date that an entire generation of Austin died. The city will never feel the same to me.

Fare thee well, Leslie. We lost a truly special Austinite this morning.
Here’s what I wrote on a talk thread here last week when Leslie was taken to hospital, after collapsing on his way to leaving town to go back to his old haunt in the Rockies:
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«Here’s wishing Leslie (and Albert) all the best. Perhaps he felt this coming on and wanted to go back to Colorado to say goodbye to old friends.
Leslie might seem like a quaint icon now, but back in the ‘90s he spent all night almost every night pulling his little four-​wheeled house/​contraption around dirty 6^th, with huge banners on the side asking the APD why they picked on the homeless so much, and banners addressing various other very real local social issues.
He was one of the most visible homeless advocates at a time when that issue was ignored as much as possible, and I think he became a hero of sorts here for having the balls (and thong) to put his ass out there every day and every night for a lot of folks who couldn’t speak for themselves. I wonder how many folks who have a fridge magnet of him know of his history here. Life is strange.
While being a very visible and mostly friendly freak, Leslie has also been a great Austinite in many ways.
Send the brother some good vibes so he can get back to the Springs.
Blessings to his family as well, who are really nice folks.»
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Here’s what I didn’t write, but will now.
I used to buy Leslie booze on occasion (and once bought him a tasteful rhinestone thong), and sometimes I’d sit and drink it with him at Congress and 4^th on a bench under a wonderful tree. This was after he’d abandoned the cart and was kipping down on South First. He still wandered downtown at nights and wasn’t yet in bad shape.
Leslie deeply loved a good belt. It made him visibly happier and satisfied for a while and he’d launch into some wildly entertaining tirades. I knew I was enabling an addict but also knew that he had a safe place to go and sleep, finally, and that perhaps giving him a drink or two would briefly save him wandering down 6^th waiting for a similar offer. Which he would do, often becoming a mean drunk. I tried to steer him in the happy drunk direction. But, honestly, I was just being selfish.
Because over our half-​dozen visits under that tree, I got to know a little bit about Albert, the man he was before becoming Leslie, Austin icon and fridge magnet. (The profits from those better go straight to the ARCH from now on.) He didn’t like to be called Albert any more (Leslie was his middle name and suited his transvestite feelings better), but on one night he opened up about his past and his family and man it was wonderful, but so sad. He had a lot of pain beneath that wacked out façade, as do most homeless folk. But he also had an incredibly weird sense of humor that kept him going; you try being an openly transvestite homeless person! Only humor and a strong sense of irony will pull you through the years in that role.
Leslie truly loved his family. He mentioned his favorite sister a number of times and you could tell how much he missed her, but for his own reasons he said he «wouldn’t be going back home». Which brings us to the point of this review.
For all the publicity, Leslie became famous not because he was a nutjob pushing a cart, but because that cart really meant something. He was truly a political dissident speaking out against a system he saw as unjust and corrupt. Very few of us have the guts to do that, and NONE of us so openly and truly brazenly. Some of the APD were not big fans of his. I’ll leave those stories to those who saw the bad things; I only heard about them.
In 1998 I spent almost every night on dirty 6^th, going from one of the dozen-​plus free live music clubs to another. And almost every time I’d leave one, there was Leslie pushing his cart. What a sight. He confirmed to newbie me that Austin was indeed a place where weird was not only tolerated but encouraged. The police mostly let him be. It was an uneasy truce. But it was a truce. (His run for Mayor was certainly quite unforgettable, wasn’t it?)
And then big money showed up and that Austin disappeared.
The New Austin is not a place with space for a Leslie. And he knew it.
Million dollar condo buyers want Leslie on their fridge, not on their doorstep.
Now he’s gone, and he will no doubt become part of the Austin Marketing Campaign TM. But fuck that to hell and back, as Leslie would say.
Hey Austin, let’s do this instead:
Start a new homeless shelter.
Name it after him.
And let’s all start taking a deeper look at how we treat our homeless people.
That would celebrate the best of Albert Leslie Cochran.
The man who made Austin weird… in the best way.

If you haven’t interacted with Leslie, you’re missing out. Sometimes lucid, sometimes incomprehensible, he’s always interesting. Not many cities would embrace someone like him, but fortunately we do.

Leslie is on Unilocal?!
WELL GIVE EM 5 STARS!!!
He’s truly the star of Austin, and shows everyone our special wierdness here in the heart of Texas. If you see him, say hi. You wont regret it.

I first saw Leslie as a teenager when his skirt was blown up outside of St. Mary’s Cathedral on a blustery day on the way to Mass. He even improvised a Marilyn Monroe routine to boot. My parents were horrified; I just thought it was hilarious. There’s nothing quite like viewing a man wearing a thong right before a Catholic service, and in some ways, it actually fits.
I bought the mix-​and-​match Leslie magnets (from which he gets a cut) on South Congress as a gift for an ex-​pat Austinite living in Dallas. They adored it.
If I had been in town during that particular mayoral election, I would have voted for him, no questions asked.
My personal experience with Leslie would be years later while I was trolling the 5^th Street bars with my friend K on a random evening in the summertime. Details remain hazy, but somehow we all ended up inside of Beso Cantina. We enjoyed a margarita or two. Yes, I got a picture with him, but unlike the drunken people who snap a photo and leave, we actually sat and talked for quite some time. Actually, he talked, and I just listened (probably the first time in my life I’ve ever done THAT). I slipped him the cash I had floating around in my man-​purse and we said our goodbyes.
I absolutely love this city, and Leslie. I wish I were half as popular as he is, although somehow I suspect if I paraded around on 6^th Street in a thong, I wouldn’t get *quite* the same results that Leslie does.
Or would I?
Stay tuned.

Leslie helped me up after I drunkenly fell down across the street from the governor’s mansion (pre-​arson) while my friend was barfing in the bushes. She asked if I wanted to borrow her tutu, but I politely declined.
Honestly, it doesn’t get much sweeter than that.

I truly love Leslie.
It is so cool to get to run into Leslie all over Austin, which has happened many times in the 4 years since I have lived here. As you know Leslie is a local homeless man who dresses in short shorts (or sometimes a g-​string), fancy tops and many times make-​up.
Leslie likes to walk Congress a lot and I have spoken to him while working on my laptop at Jo’s, or while eating outdoors at Guero’s. Sometimes he carries dog biscuits in his pocket and he has fed my dog these a couple of times that I have run into him.
I am glad he is back in good health after being in ICU earlier this year. If you see him be sure to try and help him out, especially if you take your picture with him or something. He is a good man.

Leslie the Austin Legend! Always very hopeful to see him walking around in a G-​string. He walks better in heels than most of the young girls who tramp around the 6^th street area.
Rock on Leslie! It is always a treat to see you and your cheeks!
~ although a little raunchy, your jokes are funny too!

I lived in Austin for 6 months of my life and was constantly missing San Francisco…
…then something sort of outlandish happened. I met Leslie! Almost as outlandish than the many things I am so accustomed to seeing in San Francisco! Well, a transvestite who runs for mayor every term is a little unexpected for the state of Texas, but that’s Austin for you.
I met Leslie at Blues on the Green. He smelled worse than I thought he would, and was pretty intoxicated, but he welcomed us with open arms (literally) and engaged in a photo opportunity. Bless his heart.
I later heard Leslie got hit by a taxi and was in the hospital with a brain injury :(How is he doing now?
I read a few interviews from Leslie’s family, who support his lifestyle decision but will never understand it. This made me feel better, knowing he has a plethora of people who care about him– family, friends, and fans alike.
100% original… 100% awesome.

Just about every night, popped-​collared d-​bags from every suburb in Texas clamber to have their picture taken with Leslie on Sixth Street. But very few of them bother to help him out with a little cash after the cameras are put away.
That’s how he makes his living, folks. His frilly get-​up is his cardboard sign. Gotta respect the originality.
He won’t turn you down if you offer to buy him a drink, but a little cash might be more helpful. A buck or two will get him a meal or help out with his cell phone bill (yes, Leslie and that silly Bluetooth headset are pretty much inseparable).
Where some of you get the idea that he «has money» is beyond me. (Autumn C. and Erica A. couldn’t be more wrong). I step over him on my way to work every morning as I’m unlocking the front door at Café Caffeine, and if we don’t give him tacos left over from the day before he doesn’t eat all day.
Leslie is a veteran (ex-​Navy), an honest and nice person who drinks more than he should, and a straight guy who happens to like dressing up in ladies’ clothing.
Laugh at him. Take pictures with him. Make fun of him. Talk to him.
While you’re at it, take some time to laugh at or give money to the other 3,000-plus homeless people in Travis County tonight (source:
). If you don’t want to encourage the panhandling at street intersections I don’t blame you (it’s annoying and often verging on harassing). But if you can afford to help (with time or with money) you can start with ARCH and Front Steps (
).

Dammit Leslie — where the hell were you on New Year’s Eve?
You could have helped a sister out. I know this.
My ass was running around the First Night streets downtown trying to find my fucking bus with my directionally challenged self.
And the only way anyone stood a chance of getting a taxi was if they were wearing a thong. And nothing else. I wasn’t.
Son of a bitch it was cold.

After a trip to the little lass’ room one night at karaōke, I came out to find a pretty authentic rendition of Dylan’s «Like a Rolling Stone» being performed; this was my first encounter with Leslie. He was honest and up front with those lyrics, and it took some explaining from my buddies to figure out who he was and what he meant to Austin, and why he was wearing a tutu. Boy oh boy was I ever living in the best town.
I got home later to find he had his very own Wikipedia entry (
). No kidding? Coming from north Jersey/​NYC, people in his predicament are not nearly as pleasant, nor do they have online encyclopedia entries. A while later I found a «Dress Leslie» magnet book at Monkey See Monkey Do, and was fascinated by its brilliance.
The Wikipedia entry is now updated, and I’m saddened by the news. It’ll take the strength of 100 men to keep Austin as weird as Leslie has.

How do you not love Leslie? The terrible outfits, the beard, the drunkenly friendly demeanor?
If you can catch him sober, he’s a surprisingly intelligent and informed man, and a great conversation partner.
If you catch him drunk, he’s wonderfully entertaining and generally very sweet.
Leslie is the true face of Austin — individuality at any cost, and frak the consequences. Like all extremists, I wouldn’t really want to be him, but his existence (and public life) are important; they remind us to express our own individuality and not just fall in line.

I never have been given the chance to meet Leslie. But here was me in 2001 when I first saw him on 6^th street and my sister took a picture. :)
It was a tad bit of a shock for me because I had just arrived from Utah living my whole life as a nice lil’ mormon gal. ha ha ha

It’s intriguing how this town embraces him. I find it fascinating and find that I keep my eyes open just in case I see him (because I’m dying to know what’ll he be wearing next).
All the people who have conversations with him, my hat’s off to you. I’m not that intrigued. What does that say about me? Well I’m sure it speaks volumes as to the utter depths of my shallowness, and I’m A-​OK with that. I don’t need him all up close and personal.

LESLIE IS AUSTIN!!!
KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD!
Also, extra point for not being a Hipster.