assumed that female impersonators were homosexual. Before, performers expected and received polite indifference to their sexuality in a theater setting. With the growth of nightclubs and the movement of the performances to them almost exclusively, a stigmatization of the performers’ sexuality, and impersonation in general, followed. Arguably, it continues to the current time.12 This did not, however, mean that impersonators found it difficult to find places to perform in Oklahoma City. In fact, the relatively high number of nightclubs and bars meant that jobs were easier to come by, post-Prohibition. A club located just south of Oklahoma City known as The Garden of Allah, a name likely inspired by the 1936 film starring Marlene Dietrich and Charles Boyer, hosted female impersonators regularly enough that they could afford to pay out-of-town performers. In 1938, a group of five female impersonators, all from the Midwest and East, appeared at the Garden to large audiences and brought a performance style that quickly earned it the attention of authorities. On February 9th, all five of the men, wearing wigs and various evening attire, were arrested by Oklahoma County sheriff deputies at the Garden. The officers responded to complaints that a “rough” floor show was staged nightly at the club, and investigators confirmed that a bubble dance and striptease were occurring. Prosecutors charged the five men with outraging public decency and held them on $1000 bond, a considerable sum in 1938. Unable to post bail, the impersonators languished at the Oklahoma County jail for almost a month while prosecutors and sheriff deputies argued over their disposition. Deputies wanted to release the men on condition that they leave Oklahoma and never return. County attorneys wanted the men to serve jail time, 12
Bolze, “Female Impersonation,” 230-248, 322-326. 124