ABSTRACT
Homosexuality was a catchall term for a variety of activities in the first half of the twentieth century, and demarcating differences and emphasizing that there was a variety of behaviors both homosexual and heterosexual was an important task in pre- Stonewall America. Virginia Prince was a major factor in this movement. He, or rather she, since it was by her feminine persona that she was known, was the founder of the transvestite movement in the United States and around the world. Her emphasis on the heterosexuality of what she believed to be the majority of cross-dressers challenged traditional ideas about sex and gender, emphasizing that many behaviors which had been subsumed under the category of homosexuality were separate and distinct behaviors from a person’s sexual orientation. Because the public’s tolerance for transgendered persons was closely allied to its acceptance of homosexuality, Prince’s “crusade” for a medical and psychiatric reconsideration of cross-dressing was an important factor in a growing public acceptance of same-sex preferences as well as in gender behavior.
