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by pessimizer 485 days ago
I was asking about any law that made gender expression illegal. Using any kind of terminology.
2 comments

In that case, yes there were. They were generally worded as anti-crossdressing laws, but that is what they were. Here's a quick excerpt from the wikipedia article on cross-dressing that sums it up well:

> The birth of anti-cross-dressing laws (also known as masquerade laws and the three-article rule)[31] stemmed from the increase in non-traditional gender expression during the spread of America's frontier, and the will to reinforce the two-gender system which was threatened by those who deviated from it.[32] Some of the earlier cases of US arrests made due to cross-dressing are seen in 19th century Ohio. In 1848, Ohio passed a law which prohibited its citizens from publicly presenting themselves "in a dress not belonging to his or her sex," and during the 1850s, over 40 cities in the US went on to pass anti-cross-dressing laws.[33] By the time the US entered WWI, over 150 cities had passed anti-cross-dressing ordinances.

Impersonating a woman/man was a crime. See the intro to this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X__VKNw0XiI&t=234s