Langston was founded as a Black town in Oklahoma in 1890. On November 23, 1891, the town’s Board of Trustees adopted its first ordinance, which established a criminal code. The full ordinance was published in the local newspaper. The ordinance included a ban on public cross-dressing. James B. Robinson was the president and Robert S. Cox was the town clerk.
“Ordinance No. 1,” Langston City Herald, December 26, 1891, p. 4.
An ordinance to establish a Criminal Code to define certain offences and fix penalties therefor, Section 8:
Every person who shall appear in any public place in this town in a state of nudity or in any dress not belonging to his or her sex, or in any indecent or lewd dress, or shall make any indecent exposure of his or her person, or be guilty of any indecent or lewd act or behavior, or shall exhibit or perform any indecent or immoral or lewd play, or other representations shall be fined not less than five nor more than ten dollars for such offence. Adopted.