Sunday, November 23, 2008

Harmless Halloween fun or how Boulder wants to make innocent young men and women sex offenders…

In thinking that there is nothing wrong with a little naked fun and knowing just how diverse Boulder, Colorado can be, runners in the harmless Halloween event that streak down the Pearl Street Mall wearing nothing but carved jack-o-laterns on their heads are now facing criminal charges with indecent exposure that under Colorado law would require that these persons register as sex offenders.

During this event Pearl Street is lined with people who have come to expect a small segment of runners wanting to have a little fun since the 1999 to run down the street naked while attempting to balance hollowed out pumpkins in the cold Colorado evening on October 31.

It seems to me inexplicable that a groups of streakers who decided to participate in an inoffensive run that I might add is rapidly becoming a yearly tradition and helps to provide Boulder with a certain cache of a carefree and diverse city, could even possibly be considered close to what I label a sexual predator.

Throughout time men, women and children have been raped, molested, abused and exploited making their lives hell and halting forever the ability to have normal relationships and a healthy view of themselves and the people around them. So explain this to me Lucy, how in the world does something as innocent and totally non-violent and non-sexual as a late night streak ever get qualified in the same breath as rape or molestation?

I contend there is something wrong with Boulder and the rest of the world when they decide to focus on something as trivial and light-hearted as this when daily thousands if not millions of people face inexplicable intolerance and pain at the hands of others. I hope that Boulder and all other cities that react in this manner take just a moment to reflect on their priorities and then maybe get off of their asses and start dealing with those issues that need dealing with and helping those persons that are truly being hurt and mistreated, accepting the Pumpkin Run for the harmless cultural event that it is

I’ve provided the link to the Pumpkin Run site as well as the link to the last Rocky Mountain News article on the 2008 run:

I’ve also archived the RMN article in the event that the link should become expired
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