Clothes call
Marking the 30th anniversary of a Houston milestone
Copyright 2010, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Aug. 17, 2010, 10:09PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/7157750.htmlHow far has Houston come in the last 30 years? Consider this milestone: On August 12, 1980, the city repealed its Ordinance 28-42.4 — the "cross-dressing ordinance" that allowed cops to harass the patrons of gay and lesbian bars. Wearing fly-front jeans was enough to send a lesbian to jail.
The ordinance also meant that law student Phyllis Randolph Frye risked arrest any time she left her house. Female hormones had softened her body, but Frye was still 5'10", with the ramrod posture she'd learned during her old life as Phillip, an Aggie cadet. She stood out — she would always stand out — so she developed a strategy to deal with the world: Smile, hold your ground, and work the system.
