Tower Stunt Was Well-Rehearsed -- Transsexual's Protest Reputedly Aimed At Discriminatory Laws

The woman who spit fire and danced bare-breasted atop an electrical tower at the Ship Canal Bridge yesterday morning had been planning the stunt for weeks - even making a practice climb of the tower several nights ago.

Ara Tripp, 38, of Olympia was arrested and jailed on misdemeanor charges of indecent exposure and trespassing shortly before 9 a.m. after she descended from the tower and surrendered to police.

Tripp climbed the 150-foot tower on the Ship Canal Bridge along Interstate 5 before dawn, but waited until southbound traffic was heavy around 7:30 a.m. to take her top off. She danced, played air guitar and made flames and smoke shoot out of her mouth.

Her protest, Tripp said, was over discrimination against women and laws that allow men to take their shirts off but not women.

"I see guys with boobs bigger than me with hair on them, and it's legal," she said.

"She really wanted to stop traffic and get arrested," said Robin Toye, who drove Tripp from Olympia. "She would have been disappointed if she hadn't been. She even had her license taped to her ankle to make it easy for the cops."

Toye said Tripp, a post-operation transsexual with many strong opinions, hoped the stunt would make headlines and lead to offers to appear on radio and TV talk shows.

Tripp was released on bail last night after spending about 12 hours in custody.

Tripp chose yesterday for the stunt because her wife - the woman she married when she was still a man - was out of town. Tripp's wife had strongly disapproved of the stunt.

"She's out of town, but she's not going to be happy," Tripp said. "I'm going to be grounded."

Toye said he and Tripp packed a platform for dancing, 600 feet of rope, walkie-talkies, cameras, vodka, lighters, a disguise and $1,000 for bail.

Tripp climbed the tower wearing a hard hat, hiking boots, cut-off jeans and a fake mustache and beard. She intended to say she was a utility worker if anyone tried to stop her, Toye said.

Once she got to the top, she tried to pull the platform up but it was too heavy, so she told Toye she would dance on the platform atop the tower instead. She climbed up and down several times, looking for optimum footing and waiting for the sun to come up. At one point, her fake beard fluttered to the ground.

Toye said the show really started around 8 a.m. when Tripp began throwing flames by slugging vodka, spitting it into the air and lighting it on fire, a self-taught trick he said she has performed at street fairs.

Traffic slowed as commuters caught sight of the fire-breathing woman on the tower and ground to a halt when police and rescue workers arrived before 8:30 a.m.

Electrical power to more than 5,000 City Light customers was lost when the utility company shut off the line to protect her.

"She knew people would be stuck in traffic, and she knew the power would be shut off, but she figured it was a little inconvenience. I mean, people have accidents out there all the time, and she wanted to make a statement," Toye said.

Last night, Toye posted Tripp's $690 bail for the misdemeanors; each carries a penalty of up to a year in jail and a fine of $5,000.

She was held at the King County Jail in what jail administrators called special custody, in part in case other inmates found out she is a transgendered person, Tripp said.

"It might be a little dangerous for the others to see me in the general population, so they put me in with the loonies," Tripp said.

She said she has a court date for Sept. 22 on the charges of indecent exposure and criminal trespass.

"I'll plead guilty," she said. "It's pretty obvious."

Information from Seattle Times staff reporter Julie Peterson is included in this report.