When Women Wearing Pants was Considered Perjury

 On January 11, 1929, Santa Ana police arrested Catherine Rosina Wing, 25, for perjury for posing as a man, dressing in men’s clothes, but also on suspicion of a Mann Act charge. “The Mann Act”, actually titled the White Slave Traffic Act, passed in June, 1910, was used to arrest far more than people forcing women into prostitution. It was used to arrest interracial couples, infidelity, homosexuals, and sometimes men in relationships with underage girls. 

Back in 1927 Catherine, posing as Kenneth Wing, had married Eileen Garnett. I’ve heard that rather than 18, Eileen was 16, and her parents were initially happy their 16-year-old wed, but had the marriage annulled when they found out Kenneth’s sex. Wing was released by the DA, who said that while she committed technical perjury', by misrepresenting the Garnett girl’s age at the time of the marriage. Miss Wing was not otherwise guilty of an offense in going through the ceremony or masquerading as a man, since the statutes apply only where someone has been damaged, and Garnett wasn't harmed.