"I met her in a club down in old soho
Where you drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry-cola...

She walked up to me and she asked me to dance
I asked her her name and in a dark brown voice she said Lola..."



"Well I'm not dumb but I cant understand
Why she walked like a woman and talked like a man...

Girls will be boys and boys will be girls
Its a mixed up muddled up shook up world except for Lola..."



"Well I left home just a week before
And I'd never ever kissed a woman before
But Lola smiled and took me by the hand
And said dear boy I'm gonna make you a man..."



"Well I'm not the worlds most masculine man
But I know what I am and I'm glad I'm a man
And so is Lola..." *



Lola's Story
Lola was kicked out of her home at the age of 15 when she came out to her parents as a woman. She lived on the streets for years, going to homeless shelters when they could accommodate her, and sleeping under bridges when they were too full to take her in for the night. She could barely make enough money pan-handling to eat, and being transgender and homeless was unable to find a proper job. She turned to prostitution in order to afford the hormones she needed to offset the hormones she was born with and make her more comfortable in her own body.

Being on the streets was very difficult for a young girl, and she was abused by both customers and police alike. In one such incident she was beaten up, had her head shaved and was left in a ditch. The bruises have faded, and her hair will grow back. The scars on the inside will take longer to heal.

Now she works in a club in the city's gay district. She doesn't get picked up by the police as often, and the customers are mostly regulars. It's still a hard life, but there's less violence to worry about. She's even saved up enough for a small apartment. Someday she hopes to get a real job and be able to afford the surgery to make her body fully her own.**

*Lyrics from "Lola" by The Kinks
**Story based on the many transwomen in similar (oftentimes worse) situations.