AUSTIN -- There's a brand new push by friends of the late Leslie Cochran to rename a block of Sixth Street in his honor.
Tracy Frazier and Ruby Martin have started a petition drive, and if they gain enough signatures in support of the idea, they'll take the proposal to the Austin City Council.
"He was a destination for some people. They would come to Austin just to have a Leslie-sighting," said Martin.
Leslie, who died in 2012, frequently hung around The Black Cat Lounge, a club that once stood in the 300 block of Sixth Street.
"Just something where it pays homage to someone who continued the city's love for creativity and individuality, and that's something I think that Austin really cherishes and wants to keep as we're changing and growing," said Frazier.
Leslie was a homeless man, known for dressing as a woman, who posed for pictures with tourists signing autographs in downtown Austin. He became such a fixture that a company made refrigerator magnets in his likeness. In 2009, Leslie was brutally attacked downtown and received a severe head injury, and he died three years later.
Friends of Leslie are also frantically trying to raise the remaining $10,000 they need to finish a documentary on Leslie started years before he died. The Kickstarter campaign for Leslie's documentary ends in five days. Go here for more information on the documentary.
