ABSTRACT
Gender non-conforming (GNC) people in Victoria historically found themselves occupying an uncertain space between being treated as criminal subjects and not being formally legislated against within the law. Victoria has never formally made wearing clothing assigned to another gender illegal; however, GNC individuals have often received scrutiny from the criminal justice system. This chapter examines how Victorians ‘masquerading’ as another gender in the first two decades of the twentieth century were arrested and charged under offensive behaviour/vagrancy laws. Focusing primarily on those termed ‘female masqueraders’ (female-assigned people presenting as male), this chapter analyses factors which shaped how masqueraders experienced the criminal justice system, examining how female masqueraders who were perceived as young and respectable were more likely to be understood within a framework of ‘acceptable’ masquerading than those who did not fit this archetype. Using case studies, I discuss the ways masqueraders were identified, charged, sentenced, and presented in the press.
