Their greatest act of resistance was simply existing

Drags, fags and trans-women were attracted to the Big Apple because they were able to find work as impersonators in a small number of Lower East Side clubs.

Decades before Stonewall, they occupied the margins of society, determined to live as they pleased, despite of the attentions of the police. Sometimes reduced to stealing to get their costumes, these girls were unstoppable, fearless and fabulous.

When a cac...