Behind the Velvet Rope

“It is going to be an extraordinary evening,” I was told approaching one of New York’s exclusive night clubs, “she will be here tonight,” my guide continued. Dressed to impress, party patrons stood in high heel stilettos crowding the sidewalks as far as I could see. I couldn’t help but wonder whether I was going to be allowed in. I was not sure whether I could brush off the rejection in the midst of all this frenzy. “What kind of a place is this,” I asked, as I composed myself approaching ever closer to the epicenter that marked the entrance. “We know the bouncer, her name is Monica,” my friends giggled, as we trotted closer to the velvet rope. Well, Monica as I learned later, is actually Michael during the day. I assumed a peripheral role. I stood behind my guide and hoped that I would be able to cross the ephemeral line that separated the in crowd from those who could only fantasize what was going to happen tonight, in a few hours, just underneath their feet. Like an auctioneer, my guide waved a few hand gestures and the rope parted as others watched in envy. Surely, the line was about one city block long. An exchange had occurred in midst of all the hand shakes as my guide talked his way past the velvet rope. A small price to pay for what was going to be an extraordinary night at this club. It is here that I was going to find Amanda Lapore.

Unable to decipher the song, my feet felt a trembling sensation with every beet of the music. It was as if the sound was confined, like a prisoner, and was impatiently trying to find an escape. Walking down the stairs, through one endless hallway after another, I felt like I was a part of a game, finding my way to the center of a dark labyrinth. At the last turn, before opening the doors to the heart of it all, a guy in black marked my wrist. Now I have been branded- no longer an outsider of the community. With the opening of the double doors, the music once held captive, now lashed out quickly immersing the hallways with a forceful deep base echoing off of solid black walls, teasing those still walking through the labyrinth. I entered and it was immediately evident why so many would consider the wait in the cold worth their while. In fact, tonight was going to be different, extravagant, and glistening. Tonight is her birthday celebration and everyone gathered to make sure it was just that and nothing less for the ultimate Diva, the odalisque of the gay world, Amanda Lepore.

I have entered the underground life of the community where rules usually do not apply. Dodging my way through the wall-to-wall crowd, I inched my way closer to the table with exquisite champagne, exclusive crowd, and VIP written all over it. The table where Amanda Lepore was celebrating her ‘twenty-first again’ birthday. Before I was able to find the star of the night, I couldn’t help but notice the other tables. I have walked into a room full of Dionysian characters. Taking a drag and hiding the flame of the cigarettes, partygoers bathed under a cloud of smoke. “One at a time please,” I heard in the background as bathroom attendants begged the patrons entering the stalls. Exiting, some were all refreshed, while others exited all disheveled. It is as if the rules of society did not apply here. I couldn’t stop but think that some, would consider this hell, others would relinquish their every day life to escape to this underground paradise. In this world, getting tired on the dance floor doesn’t mean that the night is over, it just simply implies that it’s time for another refreshment break in the bathroom stalls.

Some may mistake this event for a costume party, but to those within the community it is a lot more than that. It is the ability to leave behind their every day life at work or school and transform themselves to be who they want to be perceived as. An average man by day, a queen at night, is the escape they are seeking. Logan, a student at a city college considers his gender to be female, while his sex male. Even though he is hesitant about a complete transformation to another sex, for now he is satisfied with just transforming his gender at night. “It is as if a wild animal in me is set free!” he remarked, as vibrated to the music. Most believe that transgenders were born with the wrong sex and they feel as if they are in the body they don’t belong in. “Every time I look in the mirror, I see just a girl,” he answered when asked about his transformation at night. It is a challenge, he described, to be accepted in the society as a transgender. However, the obstacles he has to face every day made him mature at a much faster rate than an ordinary student his age. There exists a big misconception about transgenders. Stereotypes associate their community as a life style based on drugs and diseases. Many successful businessmen, company executives who graduated top of their class from Ivy League colleges also comprise a big part of this community, as I quickly learned. Logan’s best friend, who also transforms at night, was given a full tuition at Princeton, because of his academic brilliance. He does not consider himself smart, but because he was frowned upon by the stereotypes surrounding him, he compelled himself to strenuous work that in the end resulted in his success. Logan and his best friend are one of the many examples of a false stereotype clouding the transgender community today. For some like Logan, it is a transformation from day to night to participate in the festivities of this party. For others it is an every day life and the means of making a living. Lady Gadiva, as she calls herself, transforms into a female and stays that way for days on end. She works as a bartender and an entertainer and described the strenuous effort and the many hours spent to transform. Unlike Logan, Lady Gadiva spends majority of the workweek as a female. Transgenders, such as Logan, look up to Amanda Lepore as more than just a transgender. She serves as an Icon for the transgender community, as someone who represents the ultimate success story because of her fame and public exposure.

My mission would not be complete until I meet Amanda Lepore herself. As I pushed myself through the crowd, there she was, stepping out of her VIP section and greeting her many acquaintances. As she thanked them for coming, I jumped at the opportunity to speak with Amanda. She is nothing like no other, neither a male or nor a female, but perfectly androgynous, the envy of Ganymede in the Renaissance. She appears completely content. Like Marilyn Monroe, America’s most famous sex symbol of the early twenties, Amanda Lepore will one day commemorate the ultimate transgender.

Celebrating amongst her friends was Amanda Lepore’s photogropher, Jermey Kost. He has known the birthday girl for decades and has had the opportunity to photograph her incessant transformations over the years. As he explained, she undergoes plastic surgeries almost on monthly bases. For the most part, he added, she has reached her ultimate look, and now she is only maintaining beauty with minor changes. Her appearance is ever changing and her body a work of art in progress. All of which have contributed to her timeless image. It was time to bring the cake. Like Narcissus who kneeled daily beside a lake to contemplate his own beauty, she stares at the image of herself rendered in frosting on a birthday cake, while others wondered if there is even a similarity to the Amanda today.

As this was not my first attempt to immerse myself into the transgender community, one thing became very clear over time. For the most part, majority of the events that I have attended consisted predominantly of transgenders and gay men with an absence of the heterosexual community. It is very rare that you find a straight couple in a trangender club. This event, however, was very different. The crowd was mixed, consisting of both gay and straight men, heterogeneous married couples, journalists and photographers. They were all here to see Amanda Lepore the celebrity figure, the Diva, the transgender that has been behind the lens of world renowned photographers, such as David Lachapelle. After all, to achieve her appearance she has gone through a numerous surgeries over a spam of decades, some excruciating and others that defy mother nature.

Because of all the stereotypes, most of which I discovered as being false, the transgender community is not accepted and probably will not be accepted in its entirety throughout many cultures. New York City is unique in the sense that the transgender community has incorporated well into the everyday life of a New Yorker who is more accepting of this community. It is perhaps in diverse and large metropolitan cities where their hope lies. In some countries, the very act of being a homosexual is frowned upon and in certain parts of the world it is illegal and even punishable by death. New York City with its tolerance has accepted different life choices. The people of New York City, whether they are homosexual or heterosexual, professional or nonprofessional, young or elderly, have made Amanda Lepore into a celebrity figure despite her difference. Indeed, Amanda Lepore celebrated her ‘21^st again’ birthday here in New York among fans and friends, but more importantly she celebrated the victory of the transgender community.