The Gay Black and Latino Ballroom Scene is a competitive and familial culture created as a place for black queer inclusion and friendly competition. Paris is Burning is one of the first documentaries to chronicle the life of gay and trans people of color. The documentary follows several trans Black and Latino "houses" (chosen families) who compete against one another for money and trophies. Evolving from formalized competitions between drag queens for beauty, talent, and fashion, each ball or contest combines elements of realness, the ability of trans people to effectively pass as their expressed gender, the dance style created by the Voguing scene, and different categories for recognizing and honoring queer black people for their excellence in fashion, mannerism, dance, design, etc.
Scene from the documentary Paris is Burning. Request access to the full video at the library's website through the e-streaming database Kanopy.
Kiki is a 2017 documentary about a new and very different generation of LGBTQ+ youth who have formed an artistic activist subculture, named the Kiki Scene.
