Liza Conners. played by Hollis McLaren, escapes from a mental institution and goes to live with her friend, Robin. They last knew each other in high school, he is now a hairdresser with a flair for female impersonations. He satirises such well-known American vocalists and actresses as Judy Garland, Mae West, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Barbra Streisand.

Liza encourages Robin to make the break from the salon and go to New York. As he says about Toronto, any city that features Bavarian accordionists at its supper-clubs is hardly likely to tolerate a drag queen.

Robin is an immediate success in New York, while Liza is determined to have a baby.But her child is still-born, and Robin returns to carry her off from the clutches of her straight friends and psychiatrists. As they dance together in a gay bar in New York, he tells her 'You're alive and sick and living in New York — like eight million other people '.

Outrageous has been described by Variety as 'the best film made up to now on drag shows, the gay world, and the trials and tribulations of the homosexual'.