EP52: The Most Gorgeous, Special Thing on Earth: Venus Xtravaganza

Step into the vibrant world of 1980s New York City’s drag scene with Venus Xtravaganza, a trans femme queen from the House of Xtravaganza, featured in Paris is Burning.

We celebrate Venus’s radiant spirit and lasting influence on both the drag community and mainstream culture. We also explore her enduring legacy through the new documentary I Am Your Venus, premiering at Tribeca Film Festival, which introduces her story to a new generation.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:23

I have a lot of feelings about Venus. She was just funny and bright and you could just see it. You could just see it in her eyes. She had that gaze that immediately drew you in. And really funny too. She would drop some lines throughout the documentary that had me screaming. It was great.

Speaker 1: 0:43

Venus dreamed of owning a car, finding love, being a model, having her surgery, getting married in a church wearing white, owning a home in the Peekskills or in Florida and adopting children. Who doesn't want that? Come on, guys, the church in white. That's neither here nor there. I'm pagan. There I'm Pagan.

Speaker 1: 1:10

Hey y'all, welcome back to Life Through a Queer Lens. Today we are going to be discussing the absolutely indomitable story and life and queen of the scene, venus Extravaganza. Venus was one of the many queens to star in the documentary Paris is Burning, which was about the 1987 to 1989 New York City drag scene. Many, if not all, of the direct quotes in this episode from Venus will be from Paris is Burning. I heavily recommend you all go check that movie out. It is phenomenal. I've watched it twice in preparation for this episode. It's fantastic. It's truly such a beautiful peek into queer life at that time when many of us weren't around and is truly a wonderful homage to the spirits of the people of that time, like their energy, their essence and their performances and the marks that they would make on society. Through all this.

Speaker 1: 2:09

A lot of the lingo that was being used is lingo that is nowadays surging into the mainstream, which was fascinating to see and realize that so much of modern lingo is directly derived from that time and it's something where you know it. You know that because you hear people discuss that. You hear people discuss the fact that much of modern mainstream lingo and colloquialisms and such are derived from Black and queer culture and that's something that you hear it and you understand it as truth, because you're not a shitbag and you're willing to hear out other people and recognize that maybe, if it's not something you directly have heard or experienced, that doesn't mean someone's lying to you. Y'all get it. But actually hearing these words that I recognize in modern spaces back in the 80s was actually crazy. Hearing these words in their original context, with their original speakers, if you will. It was very much bringing that idea right into the real world and putting it right in your face. So even those who try to deny it can't, which was just extremely fascinating.

Speaker 1: 3:27

The documentary is available on HBO Max to stream for free if you have a subscription. There's also donning the old One Piece hat and pirating, but it's each their own. I'm not gonna, but just if anyone wants to know where it is readily available, easily, without need for pirating, it's available on HBO Max. On top of that, I Am your Venus is another documentary going around right now at the Tribeca Film Festival and it's premiering for the first time this year at the Tribeca Film Festival. So, as of right now, that documentary is not available for viewing outside of the Tribeca Film Festival, but that did just come out this year and is making the rounds as of this episode. So yeah, so from there.

Speaker 1: 4:09

Those are the two documentaries that show Venus and either revolve around her directly or she is a participant in the documentary. As with Paris is Burning, she is not the focal point there are many queens and drag houses and it's basically all about that scene at the time. But she is one of the focal points of the documentary Paris is Burning and she is the focal point of I Am your Venus. So now let's jump into the woman herself Venus Extravaganza. Venus was born on May 2,. Venus was born on May 2nd 1965, and was murdered on December 21st 1988, at only 23 years old, during the filming of the Paris is Burning documentary. Her body was found four days later, on Christmas Day, having been strangled to death in the now-defunct Duchess Hotel under one of the beds. To this day, her case has gone unsolved, which is one of the reasons that I personally felt very drawn to doing this episode today was after watching Paris is Burning, just as like a personal wanting to watch and learning of her murder during the filming and then looking into it and recognizing that 30 years later, this case, like so many other trans women who have been murdered, has yet to be solved or even given a shit about by the police, ignited that spark. That said, I have to talk about her. I never even knew she existed, but I have to talk about her Now. It definitely fills me with that hope because part of the urge of this documentary is the New York. I think it's the New York City Police that has jurisdiction over her case, but it's the New York City Police Department reopening her cold case. That's the main push of the documentary is hoping that the NYPD will reopen her cold case and hopefully, with this episode maybe we can just add another voice to that pile of. We need to reopen her cold case. We need to provide justice to her memory, for her family, for the people who loved her and still love her, who are still here, who have also since passed, for the other members of the extravaganza house who have also been murdered. It's necessary to find some sense of justice after over 30 years. She was killed in 1988. It has been long past time for justice. So during Venus's time in the ballroom scene, she performed within the house extravaganza, becoming the right hand of the mother of the house, angie Extravaganza, who according to the Paris is Burning documentary, would be the one to identify her body and notify her family of her passing. The police couldn't even be bothered to do that. So next time you wonder why queer people don't trust cops, what have? So next time you wonder why queer people don't trust cops. What have they ever done for us besides blatant persecution? Acab for life. Anyway, during the documentary, angie, while speaking about Venus, stated I miss her. Every time I go anywhere I miss her. That was the main daughter of my house. So Angie loved Venus. That was her main daughter of the house extravaganza, and that's I said. When they say, like mother of the house, the daughters of the house, like that meant something. You know how queer people call each other sisters it's family. It means more than just your best friend. That is especially during this time period where many queer people were being kicked out of their homes. That was your family. That was sometimes the only family you had. That was your family. It hurt the entire house deeply to lose Venus. The house extravaganza is still active to this day. Many of the houses actually in this documentary, including the house La Beige, is also active to this day. I recommend looking into their websites. They are fantastic. The present day, mother of the house seems like an absolutely wonderful person. A recommend checking them out. I think they're on Instagram. I don't know if they're on TikTok, I didn't actually check that out for sure but yeah, check out their socials, give them a follow. Tell them we sent you brothers, two of which would later be described as having alpha male mentalities in their youth. According to an interview with her nephew. That was done with Billboard. So Venus's nephew did an interview with Billboard in which he stated that his uncle and I believe it was his father in their youth definitely held some of that toxic masculinity, alpha male mentality that led to them pushing Venus away. She began going by the name Venus in her early teens, as she would say, in Paris is Burning. I was about 13 or 14 years old and I used to do it behind my family's back, just dressing up, until they finally caught on with it. Venus lived with her grandmother for most of her childhood, with her grandmother being the most accepting in her family at that time. But in her early teens she moved out and came to New York where she would come out as trans and perform drag within the house extravaganza. So, yeah, it's fantastic she was able to come to New York and let so many young queers of that time find family, find acceptance, find joy in her truth, in her true self, in who she was always meant to be, and through that she was able to figure out what she really wanted from life, figure out her dreams, because she was finally able to recognize and love who she really is. And it's such a beautiful thing. And that happened through coming to New York and interacting with queers just like her and recognizing that these women are beautiful and they are just like she is. She even says that in the documentary it was her 15th birthday party that was thrown for her by Hector Extravaganza, who was the founder of the House Extravaganza, and at this party he bought her a cake. And at this party she met a whole bunch of trans people and a bunch of trans femmes, and they were all so beautiful and she recognized that there is hope in this. She has a chance. There is something more to this pain that she's feeling and to the disconnect that she was feeling, and that's such a beautiful thing. I love that. I love that she was able to come to New York and live her truth truly and deeply and surrounded by people who accepted that truth. During Paris is Burning, venus tells the interviewer about an experience she had while hustling. As she puts it, the man she was with realized she was trans and called her a freak, claimed she was trying to give him AIDS and threatened to kill her. She stated I was really terrified so I grabbed my bag and I just jumped out of the window. Now I don't like to hustle anymore. She had stopped hustling. As Paris is Burning in Venus, herself puts it after this encounter and the doc describes a meeting she's going to have that evening with a dear old friend, in which they will just go out to dinner and he'll buy her a new dress. She states that these are the encounters she has nowadays and 95% of the time they don't ask to go to bed with her. Nowadays, 95% of the time they don't ask to go to bed with her. So there was, like many trans women, especially during this period of time where it was damn near impossible to get work legal work as an out trans person, many trans women were forced to do sex work, and the film frames it as hustling rather than sex work, and I do believe that's just like the terminology of the 80s, though I am not 100% sure. But due to the dangers of being a trans woman, she no longer was doing sex work and was just instead basically I don't want to say escort, because I feel like that's still a form of it it was basically like going out, just going out for dinner with these people and providing company that's the word I'm looking for. She was providing company to these people in exchange for some presents and some nice things and things that made doing her drag performances and her ball show performances easier, like new dresses and things of that nature is easier, like new dresses and things of that nature. Everyone's got to survive, get that bag. I understand no judgment, but just knowing the experience she would describe in the documentary of almost being killed by that man, to then die during the filming in such an eerily similar, if not maybe even exact same we don't know the situation, we don't know who did it. We know only that she was found strangled to death under a hotel bed. That is all anyone really knows about what happened to Venus, and it's the kind of foreshadowing that shatters your heart Like. It's the kind of like on the second watch through, when she was describing that encounter, I could, I just couldn't stop sobbing, because you know what's coming, what's right on the horizon, and there is nothing more devastating than that, truly. And as I said, she was 23. I'm 28. And even that sometimes I like to joke that I'm ancient, but I'm not my father died at 41. And even that is painfully young. 23 is nothing, that's nothing, that is no time. She had barely any time to live out her dreams and yet still embraced herself so truly and deeply and lived her truth and was so full of energy. I'm telling you guys, you have to watch this documentary and just watch the way she does anything. It is an energy that is so undeniable and beautiful and ethereal and she's like a little fairy. She reminded me so much of a fairy or a pixie or a sprite or just some mythical being, I don't know. She was so magical, truly, and even just that short bit of knowing her through paris's burning goad, so much of a soul that would have changed the world, a soul that truly a queer saint, I don't know. I don't know. I have a lot of feelings about Venus. She was just so funny and bright and you could just see it. You could just see it in her eyes. She had that gaze, the whole documentary, every time she was on screen she just had that gaze that just immediately drew you in and made you want to learn more. And really funny too. She would drop some lines throughout the documentary that had me just screaming. It was great. So Venus's dreams. Venus dreamed of owning a car, finding love, being a model, having her surgery, getting married in a church wearing white, owning a home in the peaks, skills or in florida and adopting children. Who doesn't want that? Come on, guys. The church in white, that's neither here nor there. I'm not, I'm pagan, but she just wanted such a beautiful regular. She just wanted to live. She just wanted to live. She dreamed of owning a car, get falling in love, wanted to be a model more than anything, and she could have too. 100. When venus is first brought into par is Burning into the documentary. It is during a section of the documentary where they are discussing queens who can leave the ball and get home safely because they pass. They are discussing queens who can leave the ball and get home without being bloody, without being robbed. They are discussing queens who pass. And I think there's again such a haunting level of foreshadowing bringing in Venus who, again, I do not like passing, non-passing mentality, anyone who identifies as whatever girl. All you have to do is identify as that and you already pass. In my eyes. You know what I mean. Like all you have to do is tell me and you already pass in my eyes. We're good, but Venus would be described again. They brought her in at this exact moment for a reason because she would be described as a trans woman who passes. She would be described as a trans woman who passes. She would be described as a queen who passes, and still he did not keep her safe. Which makes me have to pose the question to transphobes what the fuck else do you want? What do you want? What more can we do? And the answer that they're not going to say because they're a bunch of fucking bitches is they want us dead. But they're not going to say that. They're going to say oh no, we just don't want you to put it in our face, we just don't want you. No, you don't want us to be here anymore. I'm not stupid, don't play me like I am. Yeah, let's just be honest with ourselves for a second. Have a good hard look in the mirror and recognize what you really want out of this situation. It didn't save her. What else do y'all want? The answer is what happened to Venus? That's what they want. They just don't want to actually say that because they're more insulted by being called bigots than the actual bigotry that they're willing to spew. I rest my case. Venus's first lines in Paris is Burning. I also find to be very impactful, very just gut-hitting, very gut-wrenching again, especially upon second watch, through knowing how this story ends. Some of them say we're sick, we're crazy, and some of them think that we are the most gorgeous special things on earth. That's really cool. I don't know. I like that a lot. I think that's why I included that, because I just I really liked that quote. Yeah, it's true, like the people I was just addressing, some of them say we're sick, we're crazy, and some of them think we are the most gorgeous special things on earth. That's true, I promise I do. I promise that is true. There are cis people out there who do believe that. I promise. It might not feel like it now because a lot of not great people have megaphones, but I promise and just know that this queer, this non-binary trans masc ass bitch, absolutely thinks that you are the most gorgeous and special thing on earth. And I love you and I need you to stick around Because we got to be the queer elders, we got to be here for that. We got to be Pink Pony Papa screaming at Chappelle Roan when we're all 80 and she's 82. Or, chapel Roan, I'm sorry, please don't come for me. You know what I meant. Guys, I'm not feeling well today. Shark Week started for me literally an hour before I started recording. I'm not. My brain is leaking. We do what we can to survive. Angie, who was the mother of the house extravaganza at the time, of Venus living there and subsequently passing away, would state, when asked about losing Venus, that's part of life. As far as being a transsexual in New York City and surviving, that, not all of us are going to make it, that not all of us are going to make it that there is always risk, that there is always that risk. Reward is a constant running through of the head. Is this encounter, is the reward of this encounter, worth the risk of them murdering me? That is every. That's the argument Is the wrong person, and that person turned out to barely even be a human fucking being, but instead a piece of scum that gained sentience and decided to make it everyone else's fucking problem. I will stand on that. That's a hill I am happy to die on Um. But to end on a happier note, for the filming of I Am your Venus, the director, kimberly Reid, united Venus's biological and ballroom families, the Pelagatis, and the present mother of the house extravaganza, giselle Extravaganza. Through this, a lot of peace and healing was found, which I'm not going to go into too deeply in this episode just because of the fact that I'm hoping, once this film becomes available, you will all try to see it I know I'm going to Again. It's called I Am your Venus, I'm your Venus, like the slogan for the Venus Razors. Just think of that and it'll stick in your head, because that's honestly how I've been remembering the name of this documentary. I'm so sorry. It's a good click reminder in my brain. I will share, however, something really cool and heartwarming from this documentary that I found in an article. More than 30 years after her death, her surviving biological family will be honoring her memory by getting Venus's name posthumously legally changed so they can order a new tombstone for her grave coming very soon. Venus either already has been or will be buried the way she always should have been, with the name that she was born to have. That she knew in every atom of her body on that stone, just like it should be. And you know what? All I gotta say is, if the name that I have chosen isn't the one on my stone, y'all motherfuckers better be vandalizing my grave. Vandalize it. I give you permission. Play this video in court. If anyone's got a problem with that, I don't care. If the wrong name is on that tombstone carve, the right one into it, absolutely. Name is on that tombstone, carve the right one into it. Absolutely, that's queer love, ugh, okay. Anyway, after that relatively emotional note holy shit, I knew I was I said that was gonna be happy, but you know. But yeah, I definitely implore you all to go check out. Paris is Burning. I will do my best to add a petition to request the NYPD reopen Venus's case to our link tree. If you would like to check down below and go check that out and sign that petition, I will hopefully have that added by the time this episode drops, if not even sooner, but I will do my best. But please go check that out and if that's in there, please go and sign it, because justice, it's time. It's been time. It has long since been time and this one case of justice might just be enough to then domino effect into more and more. Our femmes need justice. Our dolls deserve this. Our trans femmes deserve justice. It's time. It's been time. Marsha P Johnson too, reopen all those cases. If I can find petitions for both of those, I'll add them both. They'll both be down there. Go check those out. But yes, with that, I will close up today with our interesting fact the first love ball in 1989, shown partially within the documentary. Paris is Burning was started by activist and event producer Suzanne Barczyk and returned for the third time this year on June 25th, once again raising funds for HIV AIDS research and support for the most marginalized communities. So that's pretty cool. The Love Ball is back as of this year. I don't know if they're going to do it again next year, but it seems like they might. It seems like they might be bringing it back pretty continuously, which is really nice, and I heavily recommend checking out Paris is Burning again because they show the love ball partially in there, which was historic for the fact that it raised, I believe, $300,000 or $190,000. I can't remember which of those numbers, but it raised a lot of money for HIV AIDS research, which at that time was one of the largest, if not the largest, fundraiser specifically for HIV AIDS. So yeah, and I believe the house extravaganza performed there, which is fun, and there's a lot of other houses that are shown in the documentary that performed at that love ball and they're all great. There's a lot of things that you'll probably recognize within the documentary, like voguing and willie ninja, who popularized voguing and was in the down to vogue music video by malcolm I can't remember their last name. Hold on deep in vogue. I'm so sorry, willie. Ninja was in the deep in vogue music video by Malcolm McLaren in 1989. So these are queer icons that are also like recognizable icons to a certain extent in the mainstream world as well. I heavily recommend checking it out. It's great. It's a very fun piece of queer history and queer joy and a good reminder that, while we see a lot of these photos of queer history and queer activism and queer civil rights or just civil rights in general, even in black and white and as if they were taken in like the 1800s, all of this happened in like our parents' time. My father was born in 1965. Stonewall happened in 69. Colored photography existed in that time. They show us this stuff in black and white to make it seem like it was so long ago, but all of this stuff happened in our parents' lifetimes. That's really important to remember. Venus was murdered the same year. My boyfriend was born 1988. That is not that long ago. You know what I mean. Again, don't let yourself be tricked into thinking that these people were monoliths of their own time and there is no way that they have any connection to the present day, because that is plain and simply not true. They are the direct line to the present day and it is not that long ago. It's not that long of a line. The line is shorter than we have all been told. So, yeah, stay safe, stay, queer. I love you all so much. I actually had a really nice time filming today, even though I have felt like poop. So thank you for that. And thank you, venus, for just everything that you did with your life to spread queer joy and love and positivity and your essence with the world around you, because so long as I and people like me are alive, your memory is not going anywhere. Your memory will stay floating around in the ethereal forever. So stay safe, stay, queer. I love you all. Thank you.