Originally Posted by
Stavros
There was a time here, in the UK, when drag was more commonly found because there were not many transexuals, and the ones who did exist would mostly not want to be seen in places that were in any way involved with the gay/drag scene. I did see one or two transexuals at the Porchester Hall balls in the 1970s, and Ron Storme's Tudor Lodge in the 1980s, but they were either focused on their transition, or from somewhere in Asia, but very few. I recall a petite girl from the Philippines in the late 1970s -one of those who I now realise I shoud have pursued- , and one stunning young woman from Thailand or Malaysia around the same time.
If I wanted to see transexuals of the kind most common now, in the 1970s I would go to Paris, Milan or Naples. I don't think the Asians began arriving in the UK until the 1990s, with Latin Americas close behind, and if the Latinos concentrated on the Continent (where Asians are rare by comparison) it was because they did not speak English -I did not go to Spain in those days so have no idea what the scene was like, and believe that other than Singapore and Thailand, the US was the best place to go.
Globalization has been the engine of change, so that now there is a greater diversity of choice. I believe drag has strong appeal, and it probably has something to do with the borderline being more obvious. But I fear drag appeals for sex alone, whereas the 'authentic' transexual can be taken out to dinner, the theatre and so on without causing a fuss. And there are some truly sexy drag queens out there, so enjoy!