Crossdressing and Lesbianism

Among the seventy-four laws found in פרשת כי תצא, is the commandment against cross dressing. A man should not wear the dress of a woman, and a woman should not wear the clothing of a man.

The classic reason for this Mitzva is that it could lead to promiscuous behavior. Therefore, there should be a distinct dress code for men and women.

Included in this Mitzva is the prohibition for a man to color his hair, as well as shave his armpits. It was felt that these were practices done primarily for women, so if done by a man it would fall under the general category of cross dressing.

Rabbi Elie Munk wrote that this Pasuk regarding a dress code for men and women, was meant to be a warning against lesbianism. There is very little written on the subject as it is one that is generally kept quiet.

Before Rabbi Munk, the only source I was aware of, was the Rambam in Mishna Torah. He mentions there that a woman who has a lesbian affair is not disqualified from marrying a Kohein. The Rambam also wrote of the decadence of Egypt when the Jews were enslaved there.

He said that they were so decadent that men married men and women married women. This is the symbol that represents the decay of society.

Being moral is so essential to society. This is why the Torah was so strict that it even made the prohibition of cross dressing, one of the 613 Mitzvot.