The first time you heard or read about....

[Becky Blue]

Recently i was reading a book by Trans woman about her journey. She recalls as a little boy the moment she read about a Person who underwent a 'sex change' as they called it in those days and how suddenly things started making sense.

My question is when did you first hear/read/learn about CDing/Trans/Whatever and how did it impact on you?

We subscribed to a weekly magazine, that you collected and put into binders. The magazine was like a mini encyclopedia. I must have been around 12 or 13 and there was an article. I cannot remember what the article was on, but there was a couple of paragraphs about men who dress as women - called transvestites in those days. The paragraphs included a very small picture of 3 transvestites, the picture was tiny and blurry and did not show much at all. This was the 70's the article was very factual in nature and tone. I was fascinated by this and must have read those few paragraphs 1,000 times and stared at the picture. I don't think at any stage I thought this is me or anything like that, but I was totally fascinated with the concept. I cannot recall if this was before or after I first tried on my mothers clothes....But it had a huge impact on me.

[Gillian Gigs]

The first sex change would have been Christine/George Jorgensen, but I don't remember the date. As far as Cd'ing goes, I thought that I was the only one for a time. It probably would have been some of the comic actors who dressed as humour that helped me realize that I was not alone.

[BarbraAnne]

I've crossdressed on and off since I was in 5th grade. I only found out about "crossdressing" when I was 18 and in the service. It now had a name, and I knew I wasn't the only one. I'm 75 now and still going strong, and I'm the director of a Crossdressing/TG support group.

[Kas]

I think the rocky horror picture show was my first exposure to it. It's definitely did not contribute to me wanting to CD (I don't like the transvestite character) but at least made me realise it's a thing men do.

[alwayshave]

I'm wondering if it was the Klinger character on Mash, I would have been about 11.

[Lacy PJs]

My first exposure was probably the Michael Salem ads in some "adult" materials I had acquired from somewhere. I didn't think much of it at the time but do remember that one of the ads had a set of gingham baby doll pajamas and it said something like "For the girl you always wanted to be..." or something along those lines. It was after I was married that I wondered what wearing some of my wife' "frillies" would feel like and since they sure felt good when we snuggled; as they say, the rest was history. But the first item I actually tried on was a turquoise leotard. "Back then," we were the same size and it felt pretty good.

Lacy PJs

[Lana Mae]

I am with Lacy PJs on this! Michael Salem ads in Penthouse magazine! I have a picture in my head of a "man in a dress" from the past and I just felt sorry for him and I am not sure that I ever understood that! Until recently, all the prejudice and what not from that era! It is just such a sad vision of a fellow human being! Sort of a transvestite Aqualung!(if you follow Jethro Tull) Hugs Lana Mae

[Rachael Leigh]

I’m sure I was in my early teens Becky and like you I read an article about Christene Jorgason who went through sex change in the late 60s. I remember thinking is this person me is this what I am.
So here I am now some 40 years later and going into transistion my how time flys
Rachael

[sometimes_miss]

The first gender bending person I learned about, was our neighbor, who was gay. He was effeminate, wore woman's tops, but with men's pants, and women's stockings and women's shoes, and a woman's watch. He also had pearl style necklaces, and bracelets. He spoke with female vocal patterns as well. I was 10 when he moved in next door. I think I was maybe 11 when I heard about homosexuals, and recognized him as such. He was a very nice fellow; he was an actor, with occasional supporting sort of roles, but never high up enough to win any awards or anything. He had a regular boyfriend who stopped by once in a while. Mom would invite them over for holiday meals. So I knew what gay was, and also knew that I wasn't that. The first transsexual I learned about was Christine Jorgensen; that was when I was 13 or 14; I'm not exactly sure what source. Perhaps Penthouse, Playboy, or Forum magazine. That also made me wonder if THAT is what I was, but just as with homosexuality, I couldn't resolve it because I felt males were repulsive, and back then I naturally believed that if I truly were a girl, then why was I only attracted to girls? It simply didn't make any sense, wanting to be a girl, and being attracted to them as well. During my freshman year in high school, my older sister took a class in psychology, and I would sneak her textbook when I could, trying to learn why I was so mixed up. This was in the late 60's early 70's, so there wasn't much about gender role confusion back then in textbooks. Virtually everyone (adults, anyway) only knew two possibilities: Either you were straight, or you were gay. The transsexuals weren't on much of anyone's minds yet; and those who knew about them, simply considered the transsexuals either very, very mentally ill, confused, or just plain perverts. Straight people thought they were crazy, homosexual thought they were gay but just in denial, and I couldn't figure out much of it.
A few years later (around '73 or '74) once I was old enough to venture into New York city by myself, was when I started going to the huge NYC main library to read, and learned more about sexual variation and gender identity. John Money' experiments on the Reimer twins were covered at some point during that time, but I don't think they had released the twins' names. This was probably when they were still minors.
I don't remember exactly when I first read about transvestites; it would have been in my mid teens. The problem with that, was my desire to crossdress had nothing to do with sexual arousal either, which left me even more confused, as at that time, a transvestite was defined as a male who dressed up in female clothing for sexual thrills, which kind of left me out of that category, too.

[DIANEF]

In the UK in the mid 70s we had a hugely popular drag act called Danny La Rue. As a kid I knew he was a guy but couldn't get my head around the fact he looked so good as a woman, and when he came on TV wearing a Las Vegas style showgirl outfit, all I could think about was 'where are his bits?' I also distinctly remember him glancing downwards and saying 'Don't worry, I've got a little bit tucked away' Obviously I didn't get the reference at the time. I'm pretty sure I soon attempted to hide mine, and liked what I saw down there. I first heard about 'Transvestites' in dodgy magazines that would turn up at school, as they do. All the boys were looking at the obvious, but I just wanted to see the articles about the 'trannies'. I was already wearing items of undies at home, but at 15 put on a dress for the first time. I knew then what I wanted to do.

[Jayne44C]

My earliest recollection is some of the women in the family talking about "queens", during a summertime cookout. I thought they were talking about the borough of "Queens, N.Y." I was probably around 8 or so and later found out my two aunts had visited NYC the night before and had seen three drag queens walking the street. I was wearing my mom's things already but, their conversation and comments didn't have any ill effect on me.

[Minnietheminx]

I know i was influenced in a different way to you ladies but as Diane says Danny la Rue was the first i ever saw dressed as a woman as a child but later it was Rocky Horror that really struck me and gave me that wow feeling that i didnt quite understand as was still a young teenager..then Freddie Mercury who i was a great fan of when he did Break Free and dressed in stockings etc. and i knew then i really had a thing for guys dressing Back then we didnt have the internet so i suppose they were all i ever saw or knew of that dressed and didnt really realise that there were guys in reality that did dress until i was older xxx

[Rayleen]

I guess when a teen, reading magasine , first about someone was gay and we saying he was sick attracted to same sex.
It did not turn me on for sure. Then when we were playing with some neighbours, we played dress up games with their Moms girdles and nighties. After that I started to read more about it and when women were visiting Mom at our house, I started envy them because I Imagine being in their cloths and would very much liked it. At first I started with panties and Bras and since then, very much felt it was natural for me.

[Ressie]

There was an article in our local newspaper sometime between the late sixties and early seventies. It was about crossdressers that got together every so often to dress as women and hang out for a weekend. One of them was quoted saying "we just have a different pastime than other men".

I think that was the first I read anything about real life crossdressers. Sounds like it was something like Keystone or Southern Comfort way back when.

I also vaguely remember an article in Life magazine when I was quite young about transexuals or transvestites. I said something to my mom about it and she said, "didn't you know about that?..."

Both of those articles meant something to me. I felt that it was what I wanted!

Just for the record, George/Christine Jorgensen had reassignment surgery in the early '50s! Walter/Wendy Carlos had the surgery in 1972.

[Jen60]

I remember seeing anissue of Esquire magazine in 1967 that had an artical on “transsexuals” as they were termed in those days, with pictures of men who had transitioned. I was fascinated by this article, kind of a “guilty pleasure.”

[JocelynJames]

There was a jerk back in high school that called everybody a “tranny” to see if he could get a rise out of you. I remember thinking “am I . I didn’t really know what I was or the definition of that term.

[Kendalli]

There are two instances that I can think of. The first when I was in fifth grade, my growth plate in my knee has chipped and a bone was growing out of the side of my leg. Anyways, the doctor's office I was going to to get it fixed apparently worked with a lot of trans people transitioning. My mother made several comments about how sinful it was. But I remember being kind of intregued and secretly wanting to learn more. Then again in highschool watching a Billy Bob movie where a trans woman gets murdered, and I became obsessed because I was like "that could be what I am". The trans not murdered bit.

[Trione]

In 1967 I went thru basic training with a guy named Jorgensen, The first Transgender was named Christine/George Jorgensen, So one time we teased this guy about was he any relation, he got real serious and said he was a cousin and the family didn't talk about it. Never another word was said. What a long ways we have come and yet we are still in the middle ages as far as CD ing goes.

[Gillian Gigs]

Talk about a flashback to the old days. I remember those Michael Salem ads and wished so hard I could find a way to order something without getting caught. Alas, I could not figure out how to do an order without someone finding out, so it never happened. I remember those ads in Penthouse when I was in my late teens.

[michelleddg]

I believe my first encounter was Jim Bailey on the Ed Sullivan show around 1965. Hugs, Michelle

[docrobbysherry]

Finocchios in San Francisco in the 60's on a college band bus tour. I assumed they must be gay to dress like that!:brolleyes:

[Becky Blue]

Thanks for all the great replies girls

Funnily enough I never connected the concept of transvestites (as they called them) with gays, maybe I was naive about sexual things at that age.. but something in that picture and short few lines really resonated with me. I also didn't see the Danny La Rue type drag acts as the same thing, i simply saw them as actors playing a role..

[Jaymees22]

I went to a party with my parents when I was around 5 or 6. The host of the party told us he went to another party where he had danced with Christine Jorgenson, he said she was a good dancer. After we left I asked my mother who Christine Jorgenson was and she explained to me that she used to be a man.

[nvlady]

I first learned that people could transition when Christine Jorgensen made the news. I was very intrigued by the fact that he could become she although I knew I would never want to go that far. I'm thinking I was only about thirteen or fourteen at the time so that would put it in the late fifties. When I finish here I'm going to google her so I can see when she made the news.

[OCCarly]

I first learned gender transition was possible in 1981 or 1982 when I saw Dr. Renee Richards on television in a “Where are they now—five years later” segment five years after her famous lawsuit. That catalyzed my first attempt at transition. It would take three more attempts and thirty five years for me to succeed.

[Teresa]

Becky,
We had a very blunt demonstration in an early biology class, we had just received new text books and the head of biology and an assistant opened the page on male and female anatomy . The assistant said , " Here we go boys , a sex change in five easy cuts !!" and then went into some detail of what went where !
We all looked at other in stunned silence , after the lesson was over I hung back to ask why anyone would want to do that , my CDing had already started by 5 or 6 years and found I had an inner conflict with what he had just described. To answer me he just shrugged his shoulders and replied , " Why not ?" . I often think about his reasons for subjecting a class of young boys to that revelation .

As far as my first insight into another CDer I read a feature about Danny La Rue , that was when I first discovered other men did wear women's clothes and I wasn't alone with that need. He was more than a drag act as he dressed from a young age .

[Diane Smith]

My grandparents had a subscription to Look magazine, and sometime around 1966 (I would have been nine at the time), they published an article reviewing Harry Benjamin's groundbreaking book, "The Transsexual Phenomenon." I read the review, over and over, with great interest, when no one was around to look over my shoulder. I had also heard about Christine Jorgenson sometime before that in a conversation with my mom when her name came up on the TV news or something, although I am fuzzy about the details.

Shortly after that, an actual copy of Benjamin's book appeared at my grandparents' house. I do not know to this day whether my grandpa was just interested in it as a work of social science worth checking out - that would not have been entirely out of character for him - or if it spoke to his own feelings. There is some other slight evidence that he may have been confused about his gender and sexual identity, but there is no one alive now to give me any further insight or details. I'd like to say that I read the book from cover to cover, but in fact, I was afraid to be seen showing too much interest in it, so I just scanned it and looked at the picture section when I could arrange a few minutes alone with it. Still, it meant that I was at least somewhat aware of gender issues in the wider society starting around age 9 - 10, and felt a strong personal connection.

- Diane

[Charlotte7]

There were a couple of things from my early days. The first was a 1979 BBC documentary called 'A Change of Sex'. To me, this was a bleak and troubling description of, possibly me. I think it more or less stopped overnight any (embryonic) thoughts I may have had about 'changing sex' as it was called then. It didn't stop me dressing. Then, a little later there was a news headline in one of our tabloid newspapers along the lines of 'Man with mystery tropical disease forced to change sex'. The whole story though was untrue and only put out the way it was as the person transitioning was a 'middle class businessman' and it was deemed prudent to explain his becoming Stephanie, not through his innate transgenderism, but the result of a mystery illnes. As back in the early 80s, what other reason was there?

[faltenrock]

The first TS woman I heard about and actually saw her TV was 'Romy Haag', a woman originally from Belgium. I think she used to have a club in Berlin, she also acted in a movie, she must be about 65 years old now.

[Lacey New]

I recall from my early teens hearing about Renee Richards and Christine Jorgenson but I did not really read or know anything much in depth about them . I was even afraid to research them as I thought trying to read about them in a library would be considered perverted. But later, as I began to get access to Playboy, I would occasionally see small advertisements for a place in New York City called Michael Salem’s TV Boutique. The advertisements were simply a sketch of an androgynous looking young person daydreaming about a woman in a dress. At that point, I knew that the idea of cross dressing was very appealing.

[donnalee]

Christine Jorgenson was early '50s ('53 to the best of my recollection) and was highly publicized. There were others prior to her but not as well known.

[sara66]

I think it was All in the Family. I was 12ish. They had a female impersonator on a couple of episodes. And there always was Donoghue always had on transvestites.
Sara

[Elizabeth G]

I don't recall the first time I heard these terms but I do remember a very early time. I was probably about 12 or 13 at the time and this was way before the internet (mid to late seventies) so I have no idea where I had heard the term "transvestite" but I must have heard it somewhere because I clearly remember going to my local library and looking it up in the card catalog. I found a book I believe was titled "Transvestites and Transsexuals". I remember nervously finding it on the shelves and quickly grabbing it when no one was around and then covering it with another book and sneaking off to a quiet corner of the library to read it. This was when I first learned that I want the only person on the planet that cross dressed.

[Ressie]

My grandparents had a subscription to Look magazine, and sometime around 1966 (I would have been nine at the time), they published an article reviewing Harry Benjamin's groundbreaking book, "The Transsexual Phenomenon." I read the review, over and over, with great interest, when no one was around to look over my shoulder.

- Diane
Thank you Diane for resetting my memory. I said Life magazine in my post (#14) but I was thinking it might have been Look magazine. I would have been 12 or 13 in 1966. I wish I had a copy of that today!

[Connie D50]

I think like Jamie mash was my first connection. Then confirmed with Renée Richards tennis player. I was dressing long before Mash.

[Jennifer in CO]

As for many of you, I had already been dressing for some time when I found out what "we" were called. In my case, it was Flip Wilson in the early 70's but mainly Christopher Morley in the movie Freebie and the Bean from 74. I was presenting female as well as he in the movie at the time but while he was a villain(ess) I only saw how freely he moved about in public and was accepted since you couldn't tell he wasn't a girl. It quite literally "opened" my front door to the world.

[NicoleScott]

I had little interest in Jorgenson and Richards reports. I wasn't like them - I just wanted to dress up.
Case histories about fetish-driven crossdressers in psychology books, Penthouse Forum, Michael Salem's, Centurians catalog (I bought one), and other books, magazines, and catalogs, but I don't remember the first to get my attention. I was influenced at a very young age by womens' magazines and catalogs. I don't remember the age I discovered "What? There are others like me?"

[alesha]

I remember vividly the first time I found out about SRS. I was in 7th grade and one of my good friends was talking about a man who got surgery to become a woman. He saw it on some talk show. My jaw dropped, I was so happy to find out that it was actually a possibility and not something I just fantasized about.

I don’t remember when I found out about cross dressing as a separate thing. I’ve been wearing women’s clothes since I could remember and didn’t know that you could be a cross dresser without wanting to transition.

[Fiona123]

I knew about SRS sense maybe the late 60s or early seventies. There were articles in Time Magazine I think about Renee Richards. I did not understand crossdressing to be a thing until much much later. It was yet even later perhaps in the last 5 Years that I understood myself to be transgender.

[Dana44]

I saw it in manganese and we founds them in and out shack and wow they looked good. Never knew you could do that until I read about it. I was like 12 at the time.

[Rosemary+]

Great thread Becky,
I’ve been dressing since pre school sneaking in to my mother closest and wearing her clothes, never told anyone and I thought I was the only one in the whole world who did it.
Well when I was about 10 or 11 my mum took my brothers and I to a street fair. Walking in front of us was a larger woman and I took no notice of her. As we walk past a group of young men they shouted out there’s a “tranny”. ( this’s was late 60’s) I didn’t know what a “tranny” was so I asked mum and she replied “it is men who like to wear dresses”, and when she uttered those words I felt a WOW feeling I’m not alone and that feeling was sheer joy. From then on I read everything I could about cross dressing. I stumbled across a text book in my high school library that had a chapter to read, I was always flicking through my mums woman’s magazines looking for articles, it was my age of discovery

[Stephanie43]

My first was Boy George (early 80’s Karma Chameleon video on MTV). I didn’t realize he was a male at first. I had already been CD’ing a Little at this point (age 8 or 9 I suppose). Needless to say I was intrigued by his look.

[Kayliedaskope]

Wow, you ladies have all brought up some memories here! Flip Wilson, Renee Richards, Boy George, Klinger from M*A*S*H, Michael Salem, Rocky Horror, and yes, Freddie Mercury in drag!

I remember the Michael Salem ads very well. I kept looking at the pictures and thinking, "No WAY that can be a guy ... no effing way..... OMG, it IS a guy!" I was amazed at how utterly beautiful these people were - they were lovely, curvy, passable, with gorgeous looks and curvy womanly figures, then SURPRISE! Needless to say (20's, raging hormones and all that), I spent many a night looking at those catalogs and magazines. I had my stash of Penthouse and Playboy, along with various other publications, but was just fascinated by Transformation Magazine and those stunning models. Back then (and still today, I suppose) they were called transvestites, transsexuals, "trannies", or even the dreaded S-word.

[laura.lapinski]

I think the first person I heard of who transitioned was Dr. Renee Richards, if my memory is correct. I was fascinated at the concept, and it was a recognition that there were others out there with the same thoughts as me.

[Sarah Doepner]

I was too young when Christine Jorgensen returned to the U.S. in the early 1950's to remember the stories from that time. However, she was the first trans person I became aware of several years later, probably in the early 1960's. As I got into Middle School there were occasional stories from time to time about older brothers who had gone to beat up transvestites. That stuck with me and even after I found an art book with photographs of transvestites in the city library when I was High School age I did my best to keep that info to myself, but at that moment I was thrilled to see the validation that I wasn't alone.

[Abbyru1]

I remember a news article in the local paper that the writer's story about a "bar" in Germany somewhere. A cop being interviewed inside sneered - the authors word- that there was only one female in the place-the bartender-and the rest were men. The article mentioned that the place was packed with a mixed crowd. That would have been the late 60's. And don't forget the Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogs with their pages of women's clothing!

[Territx]

My "very first" exposure was to the story in an (semi-)adult magazine (they have changed a lot since the one I first saw). I am not sure that there was any gay sex involved (I do not remember that aspect) but the description of shaving, getting makeup, dress, wig and stockings just hit a nerve -- I was probably 11-12 at the time. After a short period of exploring the closets of my mother and other relatives we might visit, my interest just seemed to retract (but not go away). Then, with the Penthouse letters when I was in college, my interest came back though I could not act upon it due to roommates etc. After being married for a number of years, I saw an ad in a local one-off paper for someone that would do makeovers. I built up my courage and tried it out -- I was hooked. I sometimes shake my head at the pictures from those early makeovers, the evolution of Terri's look has certainly been a positive.

[Alice B]

My interest came out of the blue and I was in my 60's. I went to the internet and read everything I could find, multiple times. Once I was sure this was something that I wanted to do and also realized it was really a part of me I started dressing and loved it. I then told my wife and refered her to several articles I had found. For me it worked.

[Ceera]

Well, the very first time I read anything about it, I didn't understand it. I was probably 12 or 13, back in the 1969 or 1970, and of all things it was in a comic book. Back then, kid's comics had ads in them, for all sorts of things. One ad that frequently appeared was for "Michael Salem's TV Boutique". It usually featured a high heeled shoe, and no real explanations. I wondered at the time what 'Television' had to do with women's shoes. :) I checked today, and they are still in business!

At some point soon after that, while I was in the late grade school years or early high school years, I heard the term transvestite for the first time. Probably from an adult explaining why an obviously male comedian on TV was dressed like a woman. But it was always in reference to a comedian crossdressing on TV or in the movies, or to someone doing it as a sexual kink.

In 1976 or so I heard about tennis star Renée Richards, who had undergone a sex change operation. I vaguely recall seeing an article in Playboy or some other men's Magazine about what she had gone through. But that was the first time I am certain I understood that men becoming women was something more than an actor dressing like a woman for comedic effect, or a 'kinky transvestite'.

[Beverley Sims]

I remember reading Dear Abby, articles in the Melbourne Truth, they also ran many crossdressing articles, it was the fashion and sold papers at the time.

Dear Abby was all around the world and I think she answered to many of us over the years.

Then the internet came and the newspapers began to die off.

[GeorgeA]

I'm a little surprised that no one so far mentioned the "Barney Miler" show where each man would crossdress as a bait for muggers. Some of them did a very good job of it.

[Vicky Peters]

I have been dressing for a while, thinking I an the only kid dressing in women's cloths. Than Flip Wilson came along but more important to me was the monthly Variations stories about dressing.

[Lea]

The first time I finally understood completely that I was not alone and that there are crossdressers was a Phil Donahue show. That show helped me so much. Thanks Mr. Donahue.

[Wasp]

For me it was South Park... there was an episode where Mr. Garrison gets a sex change operation and they actually showed the operation. I had no idea at the time that it was a real thing and just thought I was weird for wanting to be a woman. I immediately googled “sex change” after that and discovered that it was real and that people did undergo surgery. Then I found YouTube videos and watched as you tubers underwent transitioning. I started watching Ru Paul’s drag race, listened to How to be A Girl, followed Janet Mock on every social channel possible. Anything I could do to see that I wasn’t alone after that

[Abbey11]

In the Uk there have been many Television entertainers that dressed as women such as Danny La Rue, hinge and bracket, john Iman, the Two Ronnies. The Person who had the biggest influence on me was Rupaul, the the first time I saw her, about 20 years ago, I was just in awe and love her to this day, very glam and owns it!

[Cheryl T]

The first sex change would have been Christine/George Jorgensen, but I don't remember the date. As far as Cd'ing goes, I thought that I was the only one for a time. It probably would have been some of the comic actors who dressed as humour that helped me realize that I was not alone.

I believe that was in the mid 50's and she was the first I had heard about anyone going from male to female in any way. At that time I was already wearing my mom's things and thought I was so alone in the world, that I was the only one like this. She helped me feel better about myself and then later on seeing more about it in my teens definitely helped keep me sane.

[StephanieM]

I learned about CDing when I was 5, my dad came to pick me up from my biological mom's house to live with him and my stepmom and they told me about his "hobby".

As for TG, I heard Rene Richards on the radio in the car while riding with my folks somewhere in the early 80s, the car had an AM radio only and it was on a talk station.

[Richelle]

For me it was when the movie about Christine Jorgensen, came out in 1970. Although I had already tried on my sisters clothes just hearing about this movie made me start to think about being a woman. It has taken 45+ years to act on it, but I now acknowledge that I am a transgender women

[CONSUELO]

It was in the 1950's and I read about a man who underwent a sex change operation. He had been in the Royal Air Force and was called Robert. He made the slight change in name to Roberta. I just remember being fascinated by that news. I must have started dressing in lingerie by that time but I cannot remember making a connection between my dressing and what Roberta was doing. What was interesting though is that I really took a strong interest in that piece of news and I remember reading the articles over and over.

[Brenda Freeman]

My first real knowledge about sex change surgery would have been Dr. Rene Richards. I had seen crossdressing from Flip Wilson shows, and others but actual surgery was new to me.

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Becky :hugs:, Probably it was the DEAR ABBY column in the news paper .>Orchid...:daydreaming:...

[marlacd]

I was like many others that thought I was the only one that wanted to wear women's clothing. I didn't hear about Christine Jorgensen at all. I saw the Michael Salem ads, but I really never put two and two together on that. What did, was being on vacation in New Orleans. I was 17, and with my parents in the french quarter one evening. One bar was having a drag show, plus one that was transitioning. They were advertising her as an attraction. She was out on display, on a stool, as others were busy hawking the show to people passing by. My parents, being observant, had shuttled me acrossed the street. But I still got a good look at what was going on. The original plan was to go walk the French Quarter after we went to some band playing dixieland music. After that was over, I was very neatly told that their really WASN'T anything to the french quarter, and we went back to the hotel. The two days there got cut off and we left the next day.

Guess I never thought about it before now, but my parents were really good about telling me nothing about women, dating, and relationships. Both went to their graves not really seeing me date. (Or getting married, for that matter)