In the 20th century, New York was characterized by a vibrant diverse night and cultural life. One of the most unique and famous phenomena was the Ballroom culture. It was extremely extravagant. All the participants of drag balls changed into various bright and unusual outfits. Men came in women’s clothes and women came in men’s. They took part in various contests for the reality of the image and also danced. Read more on newyorkski.info.
Peculiarities of the Ballroom culture
The history of drag balls dates back to the end of the 19th century. Then the first of them began to be held at private houses and mansions. The founders of this movement were black and Latin American gays, as well as transgender and queer people. Drag balls became a place where they could freely express themselves without scorn and judgment. In New York, such events originated in the 1920s in the Harlem area.
Drag balls have been held for many decades. Their popularity grew very quickly. However, at the beginning of the 20th century, such events involving transgender people were considered completely illegal and prohibited. Such changes in the cultural life of New York led to the fact that drag balls became even more popular. Despite the ban, they began to be held secretly.
What did they do at drag balls?
This event in New York gathered homosexuals, transgenders, bisexuals and other people of non-traditional sexual orientation. They were all of different races and genders. Women imitated men there and vice versa. Such an event was held in the 20th century in the Harlem Hamilton Lodge No. 710.
Various queer shows and contests were held at such balls. For example, the participants dressed in fancy costumes and performed in front of the panel of judges and the public.
In addition to shows and contests, dances in the vogue style were arranged. It was a complete improvisation. Drag queens were inspired by various poses of models from the most fashionable magazines and showed them on stage as a dance. Vogue was a special dancing style among homosexuals and transgenders. It was their form of expression.
Such drag balls gave people of different sexual orientation a sense of community and support. After all, in ordinary life, such people often faced discrimination and violence. Drag balls gave queer people an opportunity to express themselves and challenge societal norms and expectations.
Criticism and problems
However, in the 20th century, drag balls were criticized a lot. Some people condemned the event for promoting queer people and spreading harmful ideas about gender and sexuality. Others criticized the balls for being out of reach for the lower classes of society, who could not afford expensive costumes and entrance tickets.
Despite criticism, New York’s drag balls in the 20th century allowed LGBT people to express themselves and interact with each other. Despite the criticism, this culture did not die and it exists in the LGBT community even in the 21st century. Such events are held not only in New York but all over the world. They have a huge impact on the queer community. In the 1990s, a movie about New York drag balls called Paris is Burning was released.
A huge problem arose in this community in the 21st century. It was the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It has greatly affected the entire global community, as transgenders of color and men who have sex with men are at high risk of getting the virus. At the beginning of the 21st century in the US, men who have sexual contact with men accounted for 61% of all HIV diagnoses. Young black men are particularly at risk of getting the virus. For example, in 2009, the percentage of black men aged 13–29 who had sex with other men and were diagnosed with HIV increased by 48%. Therefore, at the beginning of the 21st century, many medical institutions asked the community to talk about sex education, conduct free HIV testing and organize events to promote safe sex. Later such a ball was launched in New York. It was called the Latex Ball and the Gay Men’s Health Service organized it.