Venus Xtravaganza was an up and coming performer in New York City's underground ballroom community. She had landed a spotlight in Jennie Livingston's Documentary 'Paris is Burning' highlighting New York City's drag scene and some of the challenges members of the community faced. On December 21, 1988, Venus' life would be cut short when she was strangled and left under a bed in room 113 of New York City's Duchess Hotel. Her murder is still unsolved. This episode we talk about the life and legacy of Venus, the challenges that members of the LGBTQ+ community face in the 1980's that still exist today, as well as the history and evolution of the underground ballroom community, voguing, and House Xtravaganza.

Episode Transcript

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Human Rights Campaign- ⁠⁠https://www.hrc.org⁠⁠

Movement Advancement Project- ⁠https://www.lgbtmap.org⁠

Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network- ⁠www.rainn.org⁠

National Institute of Mental Health- ⁠https://www.nimh.nih.gov⁠

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The intro theme for this podcast are sections of Nightmare Machine by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), CC BY 3.0 <⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠>, via Wikimedia Commons