In this introduction to his book on Ballroom culture in Detroit, Bailey talks about the importance of created community and family in Ballroom spaces, a brief history of the origins of Ballroom culture in Detroit, and the prejudice that Black queer people face. The author interviewed thirty-five Ballroom members (some multiple times) and actively participated in Ballroom performances while conducting research on the community around him. His book is the culmination of both his research as an ethnographer and his lived experience as a Black queer man. Bailey conducted fieldwork on the group he researched for six years, and five of those years he was a performer; the majority of the people he interviews are Butch Queens (gay men), with five Femme Queens (trans women), two Butches (trans men), and one cisgender lesbian. This reading is useful to my research because it talks about the deficit structures in the Detroit community that allow for the creation of the asset of Ballroom culture, and describes the relationships between community members. This study is extensive in its length (six years), but limited to the scope of Detroit specifically, and centers the experiences of cis gay men, with little focus on trans identities. I will use this chapter as a reference point for attitudes towards Black LGBT people in Detroit, and the feelings of Black queer people in Ballroom culture toward their community.
In this article, Bailey talks about the unique ways that Ballroom members can help provide support and prevention practices for its members with HIV/AIDS. Bailey distinguishes “intervention” from “intervention,” the former sustained by practices within a community rather than from outside of it, and specifies three forms: social epistemology, social support, and prevention balls. Bailey’s research focuses on members with AIDS in Ballroom communities, and the balls and community that he references are specific to Detroit. This is useful to my paper because it shows an overlooked asset to the Ballroom subculture (Bailey says that HIV/AIDS within the Ballroom community is under-researched), and provides a very humanistic approach to the community, whereas my other references are more academic/technical. This article is limited to the Detroit area, and not much formal research is cited; there is no formal study or survey. Bailey concludes that community is essential to living with HIV/AIDS, and that since Black people with the virus in Detroit don’t have access to the same resources that white people do, ballrooms rewrite the narrative of labeling Black queer people from “a community at risk” to a community of support. I’m hoping to use the interview of one of the house members with AIDS as a real life example of the tangible benefits of being in the Ballroom community.
This is a study conducted by three Black women on the intersection identities of Black bisexual and gay men. It talks about the oppression that Black gay men experience, both in terms of their status as Black men, and their sexual identity within Black communities and the white queer community. Bowleg also talks about the positive aspects of being a Black gay man, like being more introspective, more politically aware, and seeking new opportunities. Bowleg concludes that just as there are unique societal disadvantages to being Black and gay, there are also unique benefits that exist at the intersections of these identities. The study is limited; only 12 men were interviewed, 3 of them are bisexual, and most are educated middle class men. I will be using this in my paper to talk about deficit and asset structures associated with Black gay male identities.
This article talks about Black gay male identity through three perspectives: interlocking, up-down, and public-private. Interlocking is intersectional (the identities cannot be separated); up-down positions one identity as more important than the other (Black identity and gay identity); public-private is that the importance and visibility of each identity shifts depending on location and surroundings. The researcher interviewed 50 gay Black men in Philadelphia and New York City between 2003-2003. The limits of the research are that only gay Black men were interviewed (no bisexual men) and that they are all living in bigger cities, so it may not reflect the experiences of men in other areas. It also doesn’t reflect the experiences of closeted gay men. The researcher concludes that the way that Black gay men experience their gender, racial, and sexual identities in different ways and are not a monolith. I will be using this article to talk about the intersection of Black male and gay identities.
This article is about Black placemaking and how it exists in different contexts. Hunter and Robinson ask for Black spaces to be looked at through a positive lens that recognize Black agency, rather than focusing on deficit structures. The essay focuses specifically on Chicago and Black gay clubs, Black Little League teams, and Black online spaces. I will be referencing the introduction in my paper, which talks about the importance of Black placemaking in general, and ties into the Lugones article I’m using, which says that community building is vital to dismantling oppressive structures. The essay concludes that celebrating Black spaces doesn’t negate the structural disadvantages that Black people deal with, but serves as a reminder that Black spaces are valuable places that are worth preserving.
In this article, researchers conduct a survey of AAMSM (African American men who have sex with men) who participate in ballroom culture to analyze the resiliency, strength, and social support within the Ball community to better provide HIV prevention and support to this group. They surveyed 263 people at House, Ball, and community events, and asked participants about their motivations for joining the House and Ball community, what their experiences with racism and homophobia were like, and how connected they felt towards their communities. They also held eight focus group discussions with 45 participants from seven different Houses in LA, each lasting 1.5-2.5 hours, and were recorded and transcribed. This article was useful because it has data directly from Black men in the Ballroom community and talks about their personal feelings alongside the more quantifiable data, like how many of the people surveyed had experienced prejudice because of their racial or sexual identities, and how connected to parts of their community they felt. The limitations of the research are the lack of formal measurement of what resiliency, shamelessness, and safety look like, and they also only focused on one Ballroom community. The study concluded that AAMSM feel support from their House and Ball communities, and that being surrounded by people who support them and have similar life experiences and identities significantly improve their quality of life. I will be using this research as a basis for the common challenges the Ballroom community faces, and how these challenges bring the community members together and unite them within their subculture, and the importance of the community.
Paris is Burning is a documentary that was released in 1990 in New York that interviews House Mothers and their children, as well as other people who attended the Balls. Livingston collected footage from Balls and recorded interviews with participants. She focuses on New York Ballroom culture, and includes both trans and cis perspectives, but focuses mainly on a few main interviewees. I think that this film will be useful because it features trans perspectives, while most of my other sources are about Butch Queens. This film is limited in that it has been criticized for being made by a white woman who didn’t compensate the people who participated, and also focuses on a small focus group. The film doesn’t necessarily draw any conclusions of its own, but ends with showing viewers the violence that trans women experience when Livinston has a clip of an interview with Venus Xtravaganza talking about the life she wants to live, and a few minutes later her House Mother reveals that she was murdered in a hotel. This work is important because it’s a well-known and used resource about the Ballroom community, and provides trans perspectives.
This is an essay about decolonizing feminism and the intersectionality of gender, race, and class status, as well as other aspects of identity. Lugones talks about what she calls “the coloniality of gender” as a means to dehumanize people from marginalized groups and justify violence towards these groups. It is considered an important feminist text, and does a good job of breaking down the origins of the mistreatment of people of color, and as I am going to connect it to my essay, the treatment of gay and trans people. Lugones concludes that the solution to dismantling an oppressive colonial gender system is by building community and supporting one another, which I will connect to Black placemaking in Ballroom culture.
This is a film by a Black gay filmmaker from the 1980s about the Black gay experience. It is a mixture of footage of gay Black men, spoken word poetry, and performances. It is not confined to a particular place, but mainly focuses on cis gay men and the complexity of living within that identity. I found this film to be useful because it is from the perspective of a Black gay man and touches on the feelings of isolation and rejection that come with being excluded from both mainstream Black and white communities. It is limited by not being about any specific research or study, but I think it’s still useful because it’s artwork in the form of performance from the Black gay community, similar to how Ballroom culture is a performance. Though the film is about hardships, it is also about Black gay joy, and concludes that Black queerness is not shameful and should be celebrated. I will be using this source in my paper to talk about the loneliness and exclusion that gay Black men feel when they are deprived of community.
This is a chapter from a nonfiction book written by a Black queer man who has been a part of Ballroom culture for several years, and is the most recent source I have. The author interviews several of their friends who are established ballroom members, and also provides their own experiences. The chapter I used focused on Tucker’s feelings about found family and community inside Ballroom culture, and cites seven interviews with House Mothers about their feelings on family in the community. This source is useful because it focuses on the perspective of the mothers, not just the children. The limitations of this chapter are that it’s not a formal peer-reviewed essay, and the interviews aren’t from the perspective of ethnography, but are more informal. Tucker concludes that the gay family unit within Ballroom culture is vital, and helps improve Black queer lives and communities. I will use this research to talk about House Mothers, since my other sources focus more on their children.