View source for Virginia Prince

== Arrest and conviction ==

The term "Convicted Felon" is certainly not befitting any well-respected TG activist, particularly when the alleged crime has to do with sexual issues. To understand and to put in perspective this particularly unflattering portion of Virginia's life, we must consider the sociopolitical climate of the times, the early 1960s. This was the height of the Cold War, and fighting the influence of "Godless Communism" was high on the priority list of public officials along with self-appointed guardians of the public morals. The US Postal Service was still under the influence of the Comstock Act, a 19th. century set of regulations having to do with the mailing of material deemed "obscene", along with material of the subject of reproductive choice.

In 1961, Virginia and several others became entangled in a Postal Service investigation of mailed "obscene" content, which in actuality was personal correspondence of a very intimate nature. Virginia was charged with mailing obscene material, and the Postal Service offered to drop the charges if Virginia would cease the publication of <em>Transvestia</em>.

Virginia decided to fight the charges instead of pulling <em>Transvestia</em> from circulation. She was convicted, but served no prison time.