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Crystal LaBeija

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Crystal LaBeija
Crystal LaBeija in the filmThe Queen(1968)
Born1930s
Died1990s
NationalityAmerican
Other namesCrystal LaAsia
OccupationDrag performer
Known forCo-founder ofball culture

Crystal LaBeija(born 1930s, died 1990s) was an American drag queen andtrans womanwho co-founded theHouse of LaBeijain 1968.[1]The House is often credited as starting thehouse system in ball culture.She became a mother figure for homeless LGBTQ youth.[2]

Career

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In the early 1960s, before the emergence of regular balls, New York's drag culture was divided along racial lines—the Pattie Girls (white), the La Chanels (black), and the Delightful Ladies (Latina).[3][4]Via the latter group, it became common parlance of the moment to use the phrasela bella—Spanish for "the beautiful" —to enhance one's image or merely describe another person.[5]Crystal, originally working and competing on theManhattandrag circuit under the name of Crystal LaAsia, was widely known for her beauty and later adopted the phrase as her permanent moniker, with a rearticulated spelling ( "Beija" ) of the -ll- sound inbella[ˈbe.ʝa].[6][7]In the 1960s and 1970s, drag queens of color were expected to whiten their appearance to help their chances at winning competitions and they often faced racist environments.[8]LaBeija was one of only a few African American drag queens to be awarded a "Queen of the Ball" title at a drag ball organized by whites during this era.[9]In 1967, she was crowned Miss Manhattan.[10]

LaBeija subsequently competed in the 1967 Miss All-America Camp Beauty Pageant held atNew York City Town Hall,a competition documented inThe Queen(1968). In a scene towards the end of the documentary, LaBeija, upset with the perceived racism of the white-run balls, accused the pageant organizerFlawless Sabrinaof rigging the judging in the favor of a white queen, Rachel Harlow.[11]

Refusing to participate further in a discriminatory system, LaBeija worked with another black drag queen, Lottie LaBeija, to host a ball just for black queens. She agreed to participate in the event so long as she was highlighted in the ball.[9]This event, the first to be hosted by a House, was titled "Crystal & Lottie LaBeija presents the first annual House of Labeija Ball at Up the Downstairs Case on West 115th Street &5th AvenueinHarlem,NY "and took place in 1972.[12]It was the first time the term "House" was used, coined by LaBeija in order to market the event, which would be a huge success.[13]

LaBeija continued to work as a drag performer and activist throughout the 1970s and 1980s.RuPaul's first experience of a drag performance was seeing LaBeija perform a lipsync routine at a nightclub in Atlanta in 1979.[14]

Death

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In 2019,Rolling Stonereported that LaBeija died ofliver failurein 1982.[15]However, in 1993, theNew York Timesreported that Labeija was still alive and had attended a revival ofThe Queenat theFilm Forumin New York.[16]The article reported that LaBeija was still "a fixture in the drag world" and had a reunion of sorts with contest winner Harlow. "She was very very lovely to me", Harlow is quoted as saying. "She came up to me and kissed me and said hello... She left before the end."[17]

Legacy

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LaBeija and The House of LaBeija have had a lasting influence on ball culture and popular culture.

The opening credits of the television seriesTransparentfeature footage of LaBeija from the filmThe Queen.[18]

The novelThe House of Impossible BeautiesbyJoseph Cassarais a fictional account of New York Ball culture and features characters inspired by LaBeija and members of The House of LaBeija.[19]

The television seriesPosefeatures characters and events inspired by LaBeija andball culturein New York City. The character Elektra Wintour, played byDominique Jackson,delivers reads[20]similar to the LaBeija's speech at the end ofThe Queen.

A Season 3 episode ofRuPaul's Drag Race All Starsfeatured drag queenAja LaBeijaimitating Crystal during theSnatch Gameepisode.

The current House of LaBeija appeared in the third season of the ballroom competition seriesLegendary.

Frank Ocean's visual album,Endless,contains a clip of LaBeija on the track "Ambience 001:" In A Certain Way. "[21]

The Crystal LaBeija Organizing Fellowship offers a 1-year fellowship, "open to all Black and Brown, trans, gender non-conforming, and non-binary individuals who belong to the ballroom community".[22]The fellowship empowers fellows "to address the issues impacting the lives of transgender women, transgender men, gender non-conforming, and non-binary people in the house ball community via community building, economic empowerment, advocacy, and activism through wellness and social justice lenses."[22]

See also

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References

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  1. ^"History Royal house of Labeija".House of LaBeija.2022.RetrievedOctober 19,2023.
  2. ^Street, Mikelle (August 19, 2016)."The Iconic Drag Queen Behind Frank Ocean'sEndless".Vice.
  3. ^"Pioneers".RetrievedMay 4,2024.
  4. ^Project, NYC Trans Oral History."Vivian Lopez Ponce".NYC Trans Oral History Project.RetrievedMay 4,2024.
  5. ^"Marlow Monique Dickson".The Outwords Archive.RetrievedMay 4,2024.
  6. ^Cruz, Samuel (2013).Christianity and Culture in the City: A Postcolonial Approach.Rowman & Littlefield.ISBN978-0-7391-7675-7.
  7. ^"bella".Wiktionary, the free dictionary.May 3, 2024.RetrievedMay 4,2024.
  8. ^Street, Mikelle (February 16, 2018)."5 Things to Know About Ballroom Icon Crystal LaBeija".Billboard.RetrievedAugust 25,2018.
  9. ^abLawrence, Tim."'Listen, and you will hear all the houses that walked there before': A history of drag balls, houses and the culture of voguing "(PDF).ezratemko.com/.
  10. ^Tourjee, Diana (Winter 2017). "The Marlow La Fantastique Show".Aperture.229(229): 40–47.ISSN0003-6420.JSTOR44898156.
  11. ^Nyong'o, Tavia(November 27, 2018).Afro-fabulations : the queer drama of Black life.NYU Press.ISBN9781479856275.OCLC1031956694.
  12. ^"'Listen, and You Will Hear all the Houses that Walked There Before': A History of Drag Balls, Houses and the Culture of Voguing.London: Soul Jazz, 2011 ".timlawrence.info. July 16, 2013.
  13. ^"The Church of OVAH: Transcendence in the House Ballroom Scene · ArtsEverywhere".ArtsEverywhere.June 20, 2019.RetrievedOctober 12,2020.
  14. ^Wortham, Jenna (January 24, 2018)."Is 'RuPaul's Drag Race' the Most Radical Show on TV?".The New York Times Magazine.RetrievedApril 19,2020.
  15. ^Portwood, Jerry (December 16, 2019)."Why 'The Queen' Documentary Is an Essential Queer Time Capsule".Rolling Stone.RetrievedJune 13,2021.
  16. ^Grimes, William (March 27, 1993)."'The Queen' on the Runway Again ".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedJune 13,2021.
  17. ^Portwood, Jerry (December 16, 2019)."Why 'The Queen' Documentary Is an Essential Queer Time Capsule".Rolling Stone.RetrievedMay 11,2020.
  18. ^Vider, Stephen (October 23, 2014)."There's an Amazing Bit of History Hiding in Transparent's Opening Titles".Slate Magazine.RetrievedJuly 5,2022.
  19. ^Jacques, Juliet (May 24, 2018)."The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara review – disco, drag and tragedy".the Guardian.RetrievedJuly 6,2022.
  20. ^Romano, Nick; June 07, Kristen Baldwin; EDT, 2021 at 12:38 PM."Ranking Elektra's 20 best reads on 'Pose'".EW.com.RetrievedJuly 5,2022.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  21. ^"There's A Tiny Piece Of Queer History Hiding In Frank Ocean's Visual Album".The FADER.RetrievedJuly 5,2022.
  22. ^ab"Crystal La'Beija Organizing Fellowship".Crystal La'Beija Organizing Fellowship.RetrievedJuly 5,2022.
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