Historically, cross-dressing has served many purposes. Disguise was certainly one purpose. During World War II, the Amsterdam-born lesbian Frieda Belinfante (1904-1994) joined the CKC gay resistance group against the German occupation. At one point she evaded arrest by disguising herself as a man for three months. The disguise was so good, she later said, that her own mother passed her on the street without recognizing her (for Frieda Belinfante, see here).

Recognition was another reason. By wearing a ‘feminine’ colour such as pink or purple, or feminine clothing, a boy or man could signal to others that he was part of the gay community, or simply rebelling against restrictive male dress.

Physical safety and comfort were other reasons. Both lesbian and heterosexual women wore (and still wear) male clothing in order to protect themselves from sexual violence, especially while travelling; to access different and better-paying jobs that are not open to women; or to be able to simply move more freely around their community.

Today, in Iran, women sometimes disguise themselves as men in order to enter football stadiums to watch their favourite teams play (click here). Tragically, in September 2019, the Iranian woman Sahar Khodayari committed suicide while facing trial after she entered a stadium disguised as a man (click here).

There are historical accounts of lesbians disguising themselves in male clothing in order to marry or live openly with their female lover (See The Tradition of Female Cross-Dressing in Early Modern Europe, by Rudolf M Dekker and Lotte C van de Pol, 1997, London: Palgrave Macmillan).