In March 1947, a Florida court ordered the Ha Ha Club — a nightclub famous for its “female impersonators,” as they were called at the time — to close after declaring it a public nuisance. The order ...

“When I started out, that’s what we were called,” Tina Louise says of being referred to as a “female impersonator” or, better still, a “female illusionist.” “The ‘drag’ thing was just a derogatory ...