Ever been to a TG convention? It's an incredible experience, especially for a closeted, occasional CD. Pretty scary the first time you do it, too. The 1997 IFGE Convention was my debut--not only the first time I'd been Dana for more than just a few hours, but the first time in daylight!

So, I guess this year it was old hat. (Yeah, right...) We (the Hidden Woman crew from Reno) weren't staying at the convention hotel, so venturing out on the streets of San Francisco was a requirement. I ended up doing the driving for the group, so Dana was all over San Francisco!  Don't think I've ever driven so carefully in my life.

Here's two versions of the same shot--all dressed up and ready for a big Saturday night:

After the Saturday-evening convention stage show, we ventured out of the Holiday Inn. There's a club a block away called Kimo's that has drag shows every weekend.  They knew the convention was in town, and offered a couple bucks' off for any of us that wanted to come.

Interesting thing about San Francisco is that tourists come to these places. To see their first drag show; maybe even their first real Gay Person?  But it makes for an interesting mix of people.

The MC announced that some of  ``the girls" from California Dreamin' were in the audience, and asked for someone to come up and explain what it was all about. My two Reno friends, Carly and Simona, told me to go up on stage. What the heck. So, I did a little talk about who and what we are; this transgender community of ours.

But a little while later, they called me back up. This time, it was an ``audience participation" part of the show. They grabbed several tourists from the audience and stuck wigs on the guys. Gave us each a feather boa. Then put on a disco record and we each, in turn, danced up the aisle. The winner (the lovely blonde from Ireland standing next to me) won the free drink.

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