Voguing for our lives. Again

From the article:

This month marks the 30th anniversary of The Latex Ball — one of the largest voguing events in New York — which was started by GMHC, then known as the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, as a way to create awareness around H.I.V. and AIDS in the ballroom community. This year it was canceled for the first time because of the coronavirus.

The ballroom scene began in the 1970s as a competitive arena for drag queens, who are grouped in “chosen families” called houses, and later as a haven for black and Latino L.G.B.T.Q. people. More recently, the focus during the coronavirus pandemic has been on survival and support. Now, the community has shifted to a call for justice and a collective grieving for black lives lost.

The deaths of Tony McDade, a black transgender man, who was shot and killed by police in Tallahassee, Fla., last month; Nina Pop, a black transgender woman who was found stabbed to death in Sikeston, Mo., also last month; and the recent news that New York City’s Department of Corrections will not be bringing charges in the case of Layleen Polanco, a transgender Latina woman who was found dead in her cell at Rikers Island last year, have all galvanized the community.

Be sure to watch the TikTok and Instagram-linked videos for some amazing dance and protest.