Peter Sewally

Peter Sewally (December 12, 1803 – after 1853) was an American transgender sex worker who presented as a woman under names including Mary Jones. According to The Sun, they would wear "a dashing suit of male apparel" in the day, while dressing in feminine attire and wearing a prosthetic vagina at night to solicit sexual services for men and steal their money. They are most well known for being the subject of a trial in 1836 where they were charged with grand larceny for stealing the wallets of men they engaged in sexual acts with.

Early life At Sewally's 1836 trial, they testified that they had been born December 12, 1803, in New York City. They were assigned male at birth and used the legal name of Peter Sewally. Sewally may have been born free, and due to New York state's emancipation laws, they were at least free by July 4, 1827.

Sewally testified that they had previously served in the military and lived in New Orleans. Besides greeting clients, Sewally performed domestic tasks for the residence's sex workers.

Historians Tavia Nyong'o and Jules Gill-Peterson conclude that Sewally's biographical claims are plausible but cannot be fully verified: since Sewally's only recorded speech arose from interrogation, their accuracy merits skepticism, but some of their details align with available context.

First reported trial On June 11, 1836, a man who had solicited sexual services from Sewallywho was working under the name Mary Jonesrealized on returning home that his wallet had been stolen. "Mary Jones" was found and arrested, and when searched, was found to have male genitalia. Several more wallets were found in their room.

One newspaper discreetly reported (in Latin) that Sewally, "to sustain his pretension, and impose upon men as sexus femineus, fabrefactus fuerat pertio bovillis, (cara bubulu) terebratus et apertus similis matrix muliebris, circumligio cum cingulum!!!" According to scholar Jonathan Katz, the "clumsy" Latin says that Sewally "had been fitted with a piece of cow [leather?] pierced and opened like a woman's womb [vagina is the intended word] help up by a girdle"; Katz added that "educated, Latin-reading, upper-class men could apparently contemplate such details without harm; women and lower-class persons of either sex could not." Reports of Sewally's subsequent arrests often referred to them as "Beefsteak Pete" in reference to this prosthesis.

In coverage of their trial, on June 16, 1836, Sewally's feminine attire was given as much or more attention than did the crimes of which they were accused: they reportedly appeared in court wearing a wig, white earrings, and a dress. According to The Sun, someone in the audience grabbed the wig off their head, thereby prompting "a tremendous roar of laughter throughout the room".

The Brooklyn Museum commissioned filmmaker Tourmaline to create a short film named Salacia focusing on the life of Sewally. The short was screened at the museum from May 3 to December 9, 2019. , it is screened by the Museum of Modern Art as part of their permanent collection.