30th Anniversary of Houston Crossdressing Ordinance Repeal

Today is the day 30 years ago that an ordinance was passed by Houston City Council that repealed Section 28-42.4 of the city’s Code of Ordinances, more popularly known back in the day as the anti-crossdressing ordinance.

It had been on the city's legal books since 1904 and was used by HPD during the oppressive leadership reign of hated police chief Herman Short to harass the Houston GLBT community.

Thanks to a 1972 lawsuit by transwoman Anne Mayes that got an injunction against the Houston Police to back up off her and quit using it to harass her and the 3.5 years of hard work of my activist mentor Phyllis Frye, the transpeople of my generation and beyond could walk the streets of Houston without being arrested or harassed by the Houston po-po's for wearing the apparel of the opposite gender.

And now, a link to a 2006 OutSmart magazine story by Ann Walton Sieber about the repeal