The Long Beach City College “POSE” virtual watch party event, held over Zoom, viewed and discussed the LGBTQIA+ community and their hardships that are expressed within the show.
POSE is an American drama television show featured on FX starring, Michaela Antonia Jaé “Mj” Rodriguez, Billy Porter, Dominique Jackson, Indya Moore, and many more inspirational transgender individuals.
“This is the largest primetime show that has majority cast members who are from the transgender community. It also contains a group on the other side of the camera that are transgender, as well,” said Student Equity Coordinator and avid show watcher, Dr. Jerome Hunt.
Not only does the show call attention to the lifestyles of New York City’s LGBTQ community, but it also highlights underground drag ball culture in the 1980’s.
Ball culture consists of competitions where individuals, usually drag queens, perform and compete under different genres and categories. Some of these categories can be, “Bring it like royalty,” as shown in the episode, where the competitors dressed like queens and kings from the aristocratic era.
Emerging in the 1920’s, balls consisted of mainly white men putting on drag fashion shows. As time went on, ball participation increased and became a safe space for queer people of color.
As said in the show, “Balls are a gathering of people who are not welcome to gather anywhere else.”
The show began with a captivating scene, leading us through one of many different acts that showcases the risks that houses (groups) take in order to achieve greatness on the competition floor. The members of the community continued on to watch the support that the “siblings” in the “House of Evangelista” exhibited towards one another.
These “houses” were not specifically structural places, but more of a kinship. They consisted of members of the LGBTQ+ community that created families within themselves. Even though they aren’t blood related, they would call themselves family because they would create a nurturing space for one another. These houses were also important at balls, because they would each showcase what each house has to offer, and create a reputation for them.
“This is really a monumental show, because it is not just being told from someone else’s perspective about the community. It is the community telling their own perspective and shedding light on stories that are not widely known.” said Hunt.
After the show, the viewers had a chance to sit in and participate in a discussion. The discussion consisted of those in the LGBTQ community and their allies sharing how the show opened their eyes and why topics like these are important.
“When we use the acronym LGBTQIA+, a lot of people tend to jump over the T, transgender. And this show really helps bring transgender identity up to the forefront. Even just talking about the idea of passing other transgender women.” said ally and first time show watcher, David Brahl.
Overall, the discussion helped a lot of people realize how important it is to continue supporting the LGBTQIA+ community.
As we are in June, it’s important to learn more about how to support one another and what everyone can do to be stronger allies for the queer community.
To learn more about ball culture click the link below: