#nyc collection

[a-gay-a-day]

Paris is Burning

Paris is Burning is a 1990 film that centers around the ball scene in New York. It takes its name from the annual ball held by Paris Dupree, which was also called Paris is Burning.

It is a short documentary, only around 40 minutes long. However, the ball scene is extremely complex. This film explores houses, which were groups of performers, categories, which were different types of presentation, and many other things, such as the intersection between drag queens and transgender women. It also explains where the term throwing shade and voguing came from, which were the most interesting parts to me.

I would highly recommend everyone watch it, since it is not only informative but also very emotional. My favorite quote is from Venus Xtravaganza, and perfectly encapuslates the feeling of being trans: "Some of them say that we’re sick, we’re crazy. And some of them think that we are the most gorgeous, special things on Earth.”

[winterhill-aria]

NYC necklace from Bulgari’s Wild Pop high jewelry collection

[lyrawhite]

Brick by Brick by Helena Lopes

[a-gay-a-day]

Club 82

As most queer clubs were, Club 82 was run by the mafia. Specifically, it was run by the Genovese crime family. The club was extravagant and the shows were often filled with over-the-top outfits and performances.(The source I provided there is super cool, I would recommend taking a look).

The night club was shut down in 1953 along with other queer nightclubs in Greenwich village, due to the rumors of it being run by the mafia, which rumors were, in fact, started by the wife of the owner of the club. It faced license loss because of this. Mrs. Genovese also filed for divorce after making these accusations. (The source for this information is also terribly interesting. It's a newspaper clipping, I would recommend checking it out.)

Though the nightclub employed primarily queer performers, it was patronized by many heterosexuals, looking for novelty in their nightlives. A program of the club is provided here.

(The Wikipedia page for Club 82 could use some additional information. Putting that out there for anyone here who enjoys editing Wikipedia, as I don't currently have time.)

[a-gay-a-day]

Drag Balls

The ballroom scene was a Latino, African-American, and queer subculture that emerged in the late 1800s. These balls were typically a response to drag pageants, which had judge panels consisting of mostly white people. Though there is a significant amount to be said about the rules in drag balls, and the way drag balls were run, I would like to talk about the impact that these drag balls had on history and culture. 

However, houses were an important part of drag balls. These houses would consist of a found family, usually between black queer people, typically transgender who were in need of support. These houses would win prizes and participate in drag balls. People would typically forgo their own last name and take upon them the name of their house. 

The first known drag ball was at the Hamilton lodge, and it was held during a time where segregation was still upheld in the USA. The ball itself was integrated, but racism was still present, and all of the judges were white. Therefore, only white people won these competitions. This racism spurred the non-white community to hold balls of their own, which quickly became more prominent than the white-run drag balls. 

[a-gay-a-day]

Marsha P. Johnson

The Wikipedia page for Marsha P. Johnson does not use any pronouns to refer to her. On the Wikipedia talk page, discussions can be found about pronoun controversy regarding her page. (I would not recommend reading the talk page. It’s quite disheartening.) However, I have decided to use she/her pronouns since the majority of quotes about Marsha by people she was friends with refer to her as she/her. Drag queens and trans women were much less separate then than they are now, and choosing pronouns to use for people is never a neutral decision. 

Marsha P. Johnson was born in 1945 and died in 1992 at age 46. She was a founding member of the gay liberation front and a co-founder of the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries. In addition to these groups, she was involved with many other queer liberation groups during her time. 

In her earlier drag career, she referred to herself as “Black Marsha,” but later changed it to “Marsha P. Johnson,” explaining that the P. stood for “Pay it no mind.” When questioned about gender, she would also respond “Pay it no mind.” 

When discussing the word transvestite, she said, "A transvestite is still like a boy, very manly looking, a feminine boy,” and distinguished this from transsexual, which she referred to as someone on hormones and getting surgery. It is unclear if she meant that transvestites and transsexuals had different goals for their presentation, or if she meant that the two groups were in different stages of their presentation.

[a-gay-a-day]

The Stonewall Riots

Stonewall is one of the best-known pieces of gay history, but there are a number of myths about it as well as missing context. (Also, a shoutout to the National Park Service for having easy and readable yet reliable sources on this!)

The stonewall bar was run by the mafia. It was raided often, but the police did not bother the stonewall inn very much because of owners would pay off the police, in order to make sure the raids were not severe. Despite stonewall being a relatively shitty bar, it was one of the only bars in NYC that allowed gay people inside, since gay people drinking at all was considered a crime.  

There are three stories of how the riots started, and no account matches up. The first one involves Stormé DeLarverie, also known as the stonewall lesbian. She either yelled for someone to help her, or punched the officer herself. The second story involves Sylvia Rivera, a trans woman who hit an officer with her purse. The third involves a person who simply refused to get in a police car, and in doing so, knocked the policeman over. There was no brick. 

This post will likely have a follow up at some point, focusing on specific people and events in stonewall. 

[youcanfindmeinthewild]