New Girl in Town

On the street, the Manhattan traffic was noisy as ever, and somehow that was
very comforting to me. I was terrified, and I needed something to remind me
that this was really happening. As we walked I noticed that all eyes seemed
to be on me! Had they found me out? I asked Margo what was going on, and she
responded. “Don’t worry! All men, whether they know it or not, look at all
women all of the time. It is just biological. You are a pretty girl, so all
the women will look too, and compare you with what they think they look like.
All those looks are a compliment! Just relax, and enjoy it!” It took a while
yet after she said that to me, but after we had been out for half and hour I
was starting to calm down.

Margo stopped in front of a bar called “The Gilded Grape”. I knew the place.
It was the only real transvestite bar in New York City. “Let’s have a
cocktail!,” she announced, and maneuvered me to the door. I hesitated. I
wasn’t sure that I wanted to do this! A walk on the street was one thing, but
talking to people up close in a bar was quite another! “Stop worrying!,”
admonished Margo. “All the girls here are guys. Why not go in?” She was
right. That bar was probably even safer than the street. Why not indeed?
Margo opened the door, and we went in.

The scene inside was familiar. I had not been inside “The Gilded Grape” too
often, but I knew it well enough. There were two bars. One near the front
door where Edie, who looked more like a Beauty Queen than a Drag Queen, was
barmaid, and a bar at the back where Emma held court. Emma was a biological
woman of some forty years who looked and acted like the puppet “Madam” from
the comedy act of “Whalen and Madam.” Indeed, Whalen had been a regular at
another Gay Bar where Emma had once worked, and had based the character of his
puppet on her! It was to this rear bar that Margo led me.