DONNE/DONNA MAE
Flashbulbs were going off left and right. I doubt anyone had ever seen the likes of someone like me made up half male and half female. It’s difficult to imagine oneself being handsome and gorgeous at the same time, but there I was, in the flesh. Looking back, this was not my intention. It began with an accident in my pantry and I wound up at the 1966 Drag Ball at Chicago’s Palmer House for an evening never to be forgotten. Folks who came up to me to talk, and gawk, didn’t know which side of my face to address. It was hilarious and worth the effort of my friends and neighbors who made it possible. Much to my chagrin, my photo wound up on the front page of the Chicago Tribune Sunday edition. I prayed my family would not notice. I planned to eventually come out to them but this was definitely not the way I intended to do it. It began with a box of spaghetti I was about to place on a shelf in the pantry. The end of the box came open, sending ...