'Lowest Of Low' Find Sisterhood On Streets

Angry residents of Old Goucher held a meeting with police in May to demand more patrols and arrests. Police put up new surveillance cameras on East 21st Street, their blinking blue lights a warning. This is where Kimbrough concentrated her efforts Saturday. "Keep this street quiet, and we're OK," she said.

But Kimbrough's thoughts mostly deal with the bigger picture - believing that removing the stigma of being transgender will let people feel accepted and more willing to go back to school and apply for jobs, and maybe get off the streets.

One worker, whom Nicole calls an aunt, said she got a job interview but needed money for a bus to get there. The worker was arrested on Calvert Street turning a trick for bus money, missed the interview and missed out on the job. She found another one as a clerk, was fired when the employer learned that she was a he dressed as a woman, only to get the job back after complaining.

"I don't need to trick this week because I got a job," the worker said while sitting on the steps of a rowhouse on East 21st Street, talking with Nicole and still dressed in her job uniform complete with ID tag.

Next week? Might be a different story.

Nicole said a good night brings in $600 and that clients include doctors and lawyers. During the interview, Nicole's eyes darted over to every car that went by.

It was 1:30 in the morning, homeowners were trying to sleep, streetwalkers were trying to work and customers were slowly circling the blocks trying to be discreet, looking for a forbidden entertainment that has turned a quiet neighborhood into a boisterous sex zone.