One of my first jobs when i came to NYC was at a drag boutique known as Lee's Mardi Gras. It was my first exposure to the transvestite/transexual scene. I took it not because I had an interest in drag. I didn't. I just needed a job. I only lasted 8 months there because it was such a bizarre assault on my reality. Outfitting men with bras, wigs, girdles, high heels was more than i could mentally handle at that time. Most of the clientele consisted of straight, sometimes married, men. It was quite a bizarre scene that involved fetishism, exhibitionism, humiliation scenes and even adult baby scenarios. This was back in 1983. Lee's Mardi Gras was an institution and a central figure in the transgender liberation movement through the 1970's. He was actually a really great guy with a good heart. His life & death a few years ago was written up in an excellent article in the New York Times.