The Revised Ordinances of the City of Saint Louis. Revised and Digested by the Fifth City Council during the First Session, Begun and Held in the City of St. Louis, on the Second Monday of May, A. D. 1843. St. Louis: Chambers & Knapp, 1843. A digitized copy of the book is available on Archive.org.
St. Louis’s 1843 ordinance is known
as the first cross‑dressing law in the United States.
The cross-dressing ordinance is found in the “Misdemeanors” chapter,
Section 7, p. 303:
§ 7. Every person who shall appear in any street, alley, avenue, market place or public square, or in any other place within the city, when naked, or in a dress not belonging to their sex, or in an indecent or lewd dress, or shall be guilty of any indecent or lewd act or behavior, or shall exhibit any indecent or lewd book, picture, statue, or other thing, or who shall exhibit or perform any immoral or lewd play or other representation, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.
Section 35, p. 309 (in the same chapter) outlines the penalty for all misdemeanors, a fine from $1 up to a maximum of $100:
§ 35. Every person who shall violate any of the provisions of either of the preceding sections mentioned, shall forfeit to the city of St. Louis, a sum not less than one nor more than one hundred dollars, to be sued for and recovered as other penalties to the city.