Plus now, in any large city, it's pretty easy to find the world of gays -- less so lesbians, since they don't hang around bars as much, but still knowing a few out gay men would probably have given her entree. However, in her time very, very few gays were out, and finding the gay/lesbian world would have required a descent into the unknown as well as into the seamy side of life, all aside from the loss of status she would have had to embrace, at least temporarily.