Just yesterday, I blogged here about "suspension," the icky next frontier in extreme piercing, straight outta K-zoo.

Today, the Seattle P-I reports a small group of "suspension" practitioners who planned to demonstrate their bizarre fetish in this coming Saturday's famed Fremont Solstice Parade have been disinvited from the proceedings.

They've banned a group that marched last year from making a reappearance in Saturday's parade -- this time dressed up as pirates with two people suspended on a pirate ship float from hooks in their skin.

The debate over the group, People Undergoing Real Experiences, has pitted those concerned about limiting the freedom of expression in a neighborhood that so values its uniqueness it has a giant statue of Lenin against those worried about freaking people out.

Monica Miller, the parade's director, said board members of the Fremont Arts Council, which runs the parade, made the decision in a 7-2 vote during an emergency meeting Saturday after failing to reach a consensus.

She said the majority worried it would disturb children, scare away financial sponsors and could possibly cause injury, not necessarily to the people suspended by piercings but to spectators. "One fear that was brought up was that people might be shocked, pass out and injure themselves, or we'd be liable for psychiatric damage," Miller said.

Sure, I get it. No one could be similarly disturbed by Fremont's monument to the spiritual godfather of at least 50 million 20th Century killings in the name of communism, whereas a few sick dorks hanging from hooks on a pretend pirate ship might not only frighten children (good point) but also engender emotional disequilibrium for adults. Ask not what is the greater evil: Lenin, or the practice of "suspension."

Now that free expression has been stifled in Seattle by the parade organizers, the ACLU cannot be long to the fray.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at June 14, 2005 06:26 PM

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