Leslie Cochran Hospitalized (Austin, West: neighborhood, buy, living in)

[AGA]

What was the KVUE update? I missed it

[mickey65]

They had interviewed a couple of girls named Leslie that knew him - but I wouldn't describe as "close friends", and showed a bunch of old pictures and video clips of him, and basically gave the same update on his medical condition as being "grave" and the hospital not being able to release any info on him.

KVUE promised to keep us updated on any new news on him tho...

http://www.kvue.com/news/local/stories/101209kvue-LESLIE-WH.20ec67582.html (broken link)

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

I saw the clip on Leslie and my feelings were it was sickening. The clip goes on to talk about how he drank too much, smoked too much, cross dressed, and wore a thong. Then all of that is described as "entertaining", especially when the college students would harass him.

What Leslie suffered from on the streets of Austin is abuse as far as I'm concerned. But keep in mind I've only been a witness to what is seen on tv, and what I read on the internet, in the papers and on forums.

From what I've seen he's been mocked, used for "entertainment" and then now held up as an "icon". I've always seen this whole thing as some of Austin turning the homeless into "pets", "sideshows", and part of the "keep Austin weird" campaign. It sickens me.

The guy has more guts than I'd ever have to be sure. I feel bad about the whole damn thing. I hope he can recover. Leslie is courageous.

What kind of health care do the homeless have in Austin anyways??

[TexasHorseLady]

Austin didn't turn Leslie into anything - and I hardly think that they could, if Leslie is anything like the impression I have of him (and several other people I know who've had conversations with him have had similar impressions). What Austin did was give Leslie a forum where he could be himself, express his unique and different attributes, and not only not be looked down on for them, but accepted and celebrated (and even get a few votes for mayor). There's more there than the surface that you see, and I think that might be his entire point that he's trying to get across in this years' long performance he calls his life.

You're right about him being courageous. And he does have his weaknesses, just like every other human being on the planet.

As for health care for the homeless in Austin (or anywhere, come to that), interesting question to which I don't have an answer.

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

I'm sure there are people in Austin that share your view. I simply do not agree with it. What seems to happen is people think "oh how funny, look at the drunk out-of-it homeless guy that wears a thong". "Celebrity" status??

Where is the talk about health care, substance abuse/addiction, mental health care, the homeless and how their lives are the rest of the 23 hours most of you don't see them.

Homeless are sick and dying but token "we've given them a forum of expression" just doesn't cut it with me. That's my opinion and all this other stuff is white-wash.

[TexasHorseLady]

Okay, here we go, a REALLY quick google turns up resources for the homeless in Austin:

Frontsteps.Org which provides, in collaboration with area hospital systems, health care for the homeless.

ARCH - Healthcare for the Homeless

Those are just the two biggies that I found right off the bat. There's apparently LOTS of resources for the homeless in Austin, based on that quick search. (Took me seconds to pull them up.)

When I said, "that's a question to which I don't have an answer", what I meant was, "That's a question I haven't googled yet."

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

Google searches and reality are two completely different things to me.

[TexasHorseLady]

So, you're saying that the resources that I linked to above don't exist? I'm sure St. David's and Seton and the City of Austin and such will be very interested to know that.

I'm not saying that life on the streets isn't hard - not at all. But you wanted to know what resources there are in Austin for the homeless as far as health care is concerned, and I pointed you to a couple of pretty heavy-duty ones.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Austin didn't turn Leslie into anything - and I hardly think that they could, if Leslie is anything like the impression I have of him (and several other people I know who've had conversations with him have had similar impressions). What Austin did was give Leslie a forum where he could be himself, express his unique and different attributes, and not only not be looked down on for them, but accepted and celebrated (and even get a few votes for mayor). There's more there than the surface that you see, and I think that might be his entire point that he's trying to get across in this years' long performance he calls his life.

You're right about him being courageous. And he does have his weaknesses, just like every other human being on the planet.

As for health care for the homeless in Austin (or anywhere, come to that), interesting question to which I don't have an answer.

Just out of curiosity.....what is it about Austin that they would tolerate someone like Leslie (cross-dressing, thongs, panhandling) in downtown on a very main street?

Having spent most of my life in relatively conservative West Texas, where he wouldn't have been tolerated 5 minutes, I had to ask the question. Why is he considered courageous?

I'm not trying to start a fight. It's an honest question. I've never understood all of the hoopla surrounding him.

As Sis lives south of Austin, I do get down there from time to time.

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

So, you're saying that the resources that I linked to above don't exist? I'm sure St. David's and Seton and the City of Austin and such will be very interested to know that.

Please, don't put words in my mouth.