Let us remember those who fought. Continue to spread love. Continue to spread awareness about the AIDS and HIV epidemic and in hopes that things can change.

Remembering all the souls we lost. Remembering all the souls who fought. Spread awareness, not hate.

Silence still equals Death.

This episode has such an impact

✨Behind the scenes — Pose S3E5✨

📸: Andrei_Schawartz/ Instagram.

Such beautiful and detailed pieces of art

Lee Laa Ray Guillory wins Queer|Art's Illuminations Grant for Black Trans Women Visual Artists

Lee Laa Ray Guillory wins Queer|Art’s Illuminations Grant for Black Trans Women Visual Artists

New York’s Queer|Art—founded in 2009 by filmmaker Ira Sach’s to support a generation of LGBTQ+ artists that lost mentors to the AIDS Crisis of the 1980s—has just announced that Lee Laa Ray Guillory is the winner of the organization’s second annual Illuminations Grant for Black Trans Women Visual Artists. The New Orleans-based interdisciplinary artist will receive a $10,000 cash grant,…

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a deep documentary. please take the time to watch this if you can.

Consuela Cosmetic: Self-described as "a fair skinned Black male, self-made star, show personality, couture specialist, liar, cheat, scam-artist, credit card fraud, blackmailer, extortionist; Victim of circumstance, a leader, role model & at this present time...a person dealing with AIDS."

Watch her 1996 documentary for free here.

THE SERVE!!!

“She’s going to cast a spell on you now” Ballroom Icon Ashley (St.Clair) Icon chews the Witch Doctor beat in 1993

Welcome to the Black Feminist Ballroom

This tiny corner of the internet serves to celebrate and uplift the work of black trans women, and to take a peek into the history of the "ballroom scene"- a rich community that allows queer people of color to:

find a chosen family, shelter, community, and care

express/perform gender

safely present as the gender they identify with when it may not be safe to present that way outside of the ballroom

have their art be uplifted and critiqued by peers

be inspired by other artists and performers within their community

be safe from discrimination experienced in primarily white spaces

create art through fashion, makeup, body alterations, hairstyles, and dance

We can't take credit for any of the beauty and effort seen here. We are only here to amplify the art that these women have made.

Come with us as we remember and celebrate drag, family, art, beauty, and gender!

Gia Love as Miss Black Extraordinary for The Ganzy 🏆

Miss Black Extraordinary (“MBE”) embraces and sheds light on Black and trans-women in the most sophisticated and respectable way. For this project, The GANZY worked with Gia Love (she/her) as the sole muse. Gia Love is a Black trans woman from New York City, who amplifies conversations surrounding body, race, and trans identity through her work as a model and activist. We are highlighting Black beauty in a way that mirrors triumph and victory amongst Black trans women that exist in this world.

creative mastermind & stylist: Melquan Ganzy

photographer: Myesha Evon Gardner

muse: Gia Love

featured writer: Hope Giselle

hairstylist: Dylan Ali

mua: LB Charles

nail tech: Tru Violet

graphic designer: Matthew White

creative assistant: Lyric J Harris

assistant hairstylist: qur5n

lighting/gaffer: Evadne Gonzalez

studio: Holyrad Studio

(via myeshaevongardner)

A phenomenal actress, creating history.

MJ RODRIGUEZ. NEVER FORGET THAT NAME. THE FIRST TRANS WOMAN NOMINATED FOR EMMY IN A MAIN CATEGORY

Feminism that isn't inclusive just reinforces the patriarchy's power.

Your feminism isn't feminism if it doesn't include women of colour, disabled women, poor women, women from different classes of the society, women of different body types, trans women, queer women, old women and women from different cultures and religions.

Antonio Lopez has other selected works of art

here is the link: https://www.theantonioarchives.com

Café Society. Paris, France 1975 by Antonio Lopez

https://youtu.be/P-qmxQGoYS8

blessed are those who mother the children the world left alone to mind themselves. blessed are the queens who build a queendom for these children to survive and thrive. pepper labeija was both mother and queen and on this mother's day weekend, we speak her name.

born on november 5, 1948 in the bronx, new york, pepper became the mother of the house of labeija (pronounced la-BAY-zha) in the 1982 after the founding mother, pioneer and visionary crystal labeija died.

under pepper’s leadership, the house continued to pave the way for both drag and ballroom culture. the family structure that has long been the foundation of black and brown ballroom houses was created by the house of labeija and pepper played an integral part.

pepper and the house of labeija rose to international prominence when they house featured in the 1990 documentary film, “paris is burning.” the film is notable for helping to introduce ballroom culture to mainstream popular culture and explored issues such as AIDS, poverty, gender-based violence, anti-blackness and homophobia.

pepper spent most of her life providing refuge for black and brown trans and queer young people during and after the height of the AIDS and crack epidemics. like many of the house mothers of her time, pepper helped to cultivate a space where black queer and trans people could live out their fantasies and those fantasies included a universe without homophobia, transphobia and racism.

on may 14, 2003, mother pepper labeija became an ancestor when she died of a heart attack at the age of 54.

in a new york times tribute printed on may 26, 2003, douglas martin wrote, “pepper was the last of the four great queens of modern harlem balls; angie xtravaganza, dorian corey and avis pendavis all died in recent years. these four exuded a sort of wild expressionism that might make las vegas girls seem tame.”

happy mother’s day, pepper! thank you for all of the new earths you helped to create when they tried ours down.

STRIKING A POSE: A HISTORY OF HOUSE BALLS

The following is an article published on cdfa.com- see the bottom of the post for a link to the article.

“Good Morning revolution: you’re the very best friend I ever had. We gonna pal around together from now on.”- Langston HughesBlack, brown, queer, unapologetic, deviant and revolutionary!New York City is the birthplace of drag culture. The underground drag ball scene dates back to 1920s Harlem, during the height of the Harlem Renaissance.  It was a time when black queer folks could comfortably lose themselves in refuge and acceptance at a social arena dubbed The Hamilton Lodge.   The Annual Hamilton Lodge Ball, dating back to 1869, is the aboriginal documentation of what can now be the provenance of the ballroom scene. It’s allegiance to the black, queer community was a narrative of art, self-expression, freedom and fluidity. This was a place where having cognizance and acceptance was king, or more notably, Queen.During the Harlem Renaissance, drag ball culture was considered taboo and illegal; and although popular amongst the LGBTQ community, the scene attracted just as many straight, artistic, and curious voyeurs, anxiously anticipating a night of communion and revelry. Prudence was not allowed! This was a no–judgment zone, if you were ever to partake my friends. One can only imagine the valiant displays of what we now call Pride, a retrospective of a bygone era.Jennie Livingston’s classic documentary Paris is Burning and, more recently, Ryan Murphy’s Pose personify the flamboyance of the “house culture” scene, primarily focusing on the Black and Latino LGBTQ community, circa late 1980s in New York City. The transformation from Drag Ball to House Ball lends adulation to its infatuation for the industry of fashion.The light has not dimmed on the movement. The culture is still thriving, especially here in New York where the Latex Ball, held at the Highline Ballroom, continues to bring the community together, and, in doing so, revolutionizes the meaning of family.

https://cfda.com/news/striking-a-pose-a-history-of-house-balls

Drag has a history of favoring white, European features. House balls were the BIPOC queer safe space where much of drag culture as we know it had its birthplace.

"From its inception, ballroom houses offered security for Black and Latinx queer, gay and trans people. These houses became more like families than teams, led by house “mothers” or house “fathers” to guide and groom their house “children” for the world.

'In ballroom, houses offer the primary infrastructure upon which the scene is built,” explains Glover. “It provides the basic kind of kinship structure, and also demonstrates alternative possibilities for what kinship can look like. Moving away from this reliance on one's biological family, and complicating ideas of a family of choice.'"

https://www.history.com/news/drag-balls-house-ballroom-voguing

Connie Fleming New York. 1990

We love the royal elegance given by Avis Pendavis in this photo!

Chantal Regnault

Avis Pendavis, 1991.

Chantal is a (cisgender) female photographer who traveled to New York in hopes of finding some artistic inspiration. When she came into contact with the Harlem ball scene, she showcased the incredible work of many black trans performers through gorgeous black and white photography.