Pride on Stage: Crystal LaBeija
Womanica
Acast Creative Studios
4.3 • 920 Ratings
🗓️ 20 June 2022
⏱️ 5 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Crystal LaBeija (unknown-1982) was a trans woman and drag queen who reinvented the ballroom scene of New York City. Tired of entering balls that excluded women of color, she decided to host her own ball and shook up the world of drag pageantry while doing it.
Special thanks to our exclusive Pride Month sponsor, Mercedes-Benz! Mercedes-Benz continues to support and stand with the LGBTQIA+ community. Listen all month long as we celebrate women whose authentic expression in their lives and bodies of work have expanded the norms of gender and sexuality in the performing arts.
History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Ale Tejeda, Sara Schleede, and Alex Jhamb Burns. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.
Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This Pride Month, Womannica is brought to you exclusively by Mercedes-Benz. |
| 0:05.0 | Together, we're honoring people who've expanded the norms of gender and sexuality in the performing arts. |
| 0:11.0 | Mercedes-Benz embraces the freedom of individual expression and continues to |
| 0:15.6 | support and stand with the LGBT-QIA plus community. Listen all month long as |
| 0:21.4 | we share stories of proud individuals whose authentic expression in their lives and bodies of work |
| 0:26.6 | have challenged norms driving society forward. Hello from Wonder Media Network I'm Carmen Borka Carrillo and this is Womannica. |
| 0:44.0 | June is Pride Month and to celebrate we're highlighting queer stars of the stage and screen. |
| 0:49.0 | They're women who expanded the norms of gender and sexuality in the limelight and behind the scenes. |
| 0:55.0 | I helped curate the month and I'm so excited to guest host this episode. |
| 0:59.0 | Today we're talking about a queen who reinvented the ballroom scene of New York City. |
| 1:05.0 | Tired of entering balls that excluded women of color, she decided to host her own ball |
| 1:10.0 | and shook up the world of drag pageantry while doing it. |
| 1:14.0 | Please welcome Crystal Labasia. |
| 1:20.0 | Crystal was a trans woman and American drag queen who entered the Manhattan |
| 1:23.2 | Drag Circuit in the 1960s. We don't know too much about Crystal's early life, |
| 1:27.9 | but we do know that she was a larger-than-life character. She wore furs and prided herself on her glamour. Her original name |
| 1:35.8 | was Crystal La Asia, but Spanish-speaking Queens called her La Veyesa, or The Beauty. The name stuck. |
| 1:45.0 | When Crystal was coming up in the circuit, |
| 1:47.0 | pageants were organized by individuals. |
| 1:50.0 | Contestants were judged on their looks throughout the competition. |
| 1:53.7 | Though these balls were multiracial, they were overwhelmingly white organized and racist. |
| 2:00.0 | Black and Hispanic queens were usually pressured to lighten their complexions. |
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