“Her Feminine Bridegroom” : cross-dressing women in New Zealand history
Ref: NZ Truth, 13 June 1929, Page 7. There have always been cross-dressing women in New Zealand, many of whom have worked in traditional male jobs, and lived in lesbian relationships. Occasionally in the past, they came to the community’s attention after being charged for criminal offences such as acting under false pretences. Hokitika-born Bertha Victor was taken into custody for vagrancy in Sydney , in 1906. Known as Bert Rotciv (Victor spelt backwards), she continued to cross-dress upon her return to New Zealand the following year and was charged several times for being a rogue and a vagabond, and for drunkenness while “masquerading in male attire”. Ref: NZ Truth, Issue 81, 5 January 1907, Page 5, "Bert Rotciv".