Rule No. 9
Rule No. 9 (also simply Rule 9)[1] was a city ordinance in Los Angeles, California, which made it illegal for performers to "impersonate by means of costume or dress a person of the opposite sex" without a special permit from the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners.[2][3] Enforced in 1967, this outlawed cross-dressing and drag,[4] and effectively criminalised transgender performers. It was notably used to prevent transgender dancer Sir Lady Java from performing.[5]
Background[edit]
In Los Angeles, cross-dressing and any form of public gender non-conformity had been outlawed since 1898 under Municipal Ordinance 5022. The Ordinance was amended in 1922 to allow a fine of $500 and 6 months in jail to be given to those in violation of the order. In 1940, the Board of Police Commissioners developed what would later become Rule No. 9 by requiring bar owners to get written permission from the Commission in order to host cross-dressing performers.[6] The text of Rule No. 9 stated:[1]
No entertainment shall be conducted in which any performer impersonates by means of costume or dress a person of the opposite sex, unless by special permit issued by the Board of Police Commissioners.
Performers had to be wearing at least three items of 'properly gendered' clothing to avoid violating the ordinance.[6]
Use against Sir Lady Java[edit]
Sir Lady Java was a transgender entertainer and go-go dancer who became famous for her impersonation of Lena Horne.[6] In September 1967, she was set to begin performing at the Redd Foxx,[note 1] a club on La Cienaga run by Redd Foxx.[2][7][8] LAPD officers told the club's management to cancel Java's performance, invoking Rule No. 9, but it went ahead as scheduled. The police threatened to arrest the owner or revoke the bar's liquor license if she was allowed to perform again.[6][4] The club applied for a permit in October 1967 but was refused.[6]
Java picketed the club, arguing the ordinance violated her right to work and challenged it in court with the ACLU.[3][7][8] At the time, California's anti-masquerading law had already been declared unconstitutional, meaning that the acts Rule No. 9 prevented from being on stage were legal on the streets.[2][9]
The courts ruled that only club or bar owners could sue the police department, but Java and the ACLU could not find anyone willing to join the suit.[3] Rule No. 9 was struck down as part of a decision by the California Supreme Court in 1969 where a different cabaret law was challenged and defeated.[10]
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c "Sir Lady Java Fights Fuzz-y Rule Nine". The Los Angeles Advocate. No. 3. November 1967. pp. 1–2.
- ^ a b c Marc Stein (2019). The Stonewall Riots: A Documentary History. NYU Press. pp. 101–102. ISBN 9781479816859. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
- ^ a b c d Khary Polk (Summer 2013). "Malcolm X, Sexual Hearsay, and Masculine Dissemblance". Biography. 36 (3): 571–572. JSTOR 24570210. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
- ^ a b "The Work of the ACLU: Linking Gender Identity and Gay Rights". ACLU. Archived from the original on 29 April 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
- ^ James Gilliam (17 December 2010). "Pride: Sir Lady Java and the ACLU/SC". ACLU of Southern California. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f Treva C. Ellison (2015). Towards a Politics of Perfect Disorder: Carceral Geographies, Queer Criminality, and Other Ways to Be. University of Southern California. pp. 96–100.
- ^ a b "Feminist to Know: Sir Lady Java". Uterish. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
- ^ a b "That's Life". Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. 16 November 1967. p. 37. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
- ^ Marina Manoukian (14 December 2020). "The Untold Truth Of Trans Rights Hero Sir Lady Java". Grunge.com. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
- ^ Emma Powys Maurice (12 November 2020). "Pose star Hailie Sahar to play trans rights hero Sir Lady Java in new biopic. Yes, a trans actor has actually been cast in a trans role". Pink News. Retrieved 19 June 2021.