Although cross-dressing has existed in Brazil since colonial times, the late 1950s marked a dramatic increase in transvestitism in Brazil’s urban centers. While female impersonators performed in theater acts in the Teatro de Revista, gay clubs offered the initial stage for entire drag acts.

Rogéria (pictured below) became an international drag star after beginning her career in Rio’s drag scene. Click here for more pictures of Rogéria.

On the streets, more men dressed as women to work as prostitutes. The emergence of a strong travesti street presence, coupled with the increasing popularity of drag shows, led to a popular conflation of homosexuality and transvestitism.

A transvestite on the streets of Rio