On January 7, 1904, the city council of Bellingham, Washington, passed a new ordinance defining misdemeanors, which included a ban on cross-dressing. Mayor Alfred L. Black approved the ordinance on January 9. City Clerk William H. Hildebrand published the new ordinance in the local newspaper three days later.
“Ordinance No. 11,” Bellingham (WA) Herald, January 12, 1904, p. 7.
Ordinance No. 11 (An Ordinance Defining Certain Offenses Which Shall be Misdemeanors in the City of Bellingham, State of Washington, Providing Penalties Therefor, and Repealing All Ordinances in Conflict Therewith), Article 2 (Offences Against Public Morals and Decency, Indecent Exposure, Etc.), Section 1:
Whoever shall appear in any public place, or in any place exposed to the public view within said city, in a state of nudity, or in a dress not belonging to his or her sex, or in an indecent or lewd dress or shall make any indecent exposure of his or her person, or be guilty of any lewd or indecent act or behavior, shall, on conviction be fined not less than five dollars or more than fifty dollars and costs.