The "Walking WhileTrans" Law
(1976)

In order to combat loitering for the purpose of prostitution, NY law 240.37 made it possible to arrest people in clothes that do not correlate to the gender that the officer perceives them to be. This law came to be known as the “walking while trans law” because it directly targeted transgender women. Because the law was based on intent, police could arrest anyone who was gender-variant simply for being on the street and talking to people. Although some officers would deny that they specifically targeted transgender women, a New York police officer testified in court that he was trained to look for “women with Adam's apples, big hands, and big feet.” Many transgender women are forced to turn to sex work because of discriminatory hiring practices, therefore it was easy for police to get them on this charge whether or not they were actually sex workers.