It's taken 42 years, but tonight I dressed as Danielle and ACTUALLY went somewhere.......with people. I know that for many of you, this is no big deal. For me, tonight was transcendent.
As courageous act go, mine was but a small step. I went to a gay bar and watched a drag show in Dallas. Here is my story....
-I walked out the side door of my hotel towards my car. It was then I realized that my heart was not pounding, like I had in the past when I've ventured for a simple car ride.
-I drove to the club, parked three blocks away. As I strolled down the street, I passed people. I looked at them and smiled. Maybe they were thinking, 'look at that crossdresser'. 'So what', I thought.
- I passed three police officers at the entrance to the club and smiled again.
- I got carded at the door. The hostess said that 'there was NO way I was 42'. I smiled again.
- I went upstairs and ordered a drink. The bartender called me 'sweetie'.
This was the first time I had ever been in a gay bar , and the first time I've seen a drag show in person. It was great fun. Some of the girls were spectacular. There was a boyfriend & girlfriend and their male friend sitting behind me. At one point, right after one of the performers showered a great deal of attention on the boyfriend -much to the delight of the girlfriend - the other male friend tapped my shoulder to tell me that it was funny to watch a straight guy's first time in a gay club. I said, 'Well its my first time too'. I actually enjoyed the moment when he realized I was not just a pretty blond in front of him.
A few minutes later somebody else came to me, just to tell me they thought I was beautiful. I thanked him and smiled.
-When I went to the bathroom, I looked at the M and the W, and then walked right into the womens bathroom. It felt right.
- After the show was done, I walked out with several of the performers. On thing about walking behind three 6'-3" tall drag queens is that everybody we passed was too blinded by their awesomeness to spend much time staring at me.
-I drove back to the hotel, and walked right in the front door.
-I then took a couple of quick photos of myself before writing this post.
For the first time, in forever, I feel peaceful.