How D.C.’s Ballroom Culture Is Pushing Back Against Anti-Black and LGBTQ+ Attacks

WASHINGTON — “The category is femme boys!”

As Nicko Garçon announced the next field of contestants at the Equity Ball on Friday, participants in bold, metallic, futuristic dresses and military-inspired costumes stepped forward. A panel of the judges nodded in approval, handing out scores. 

The ball marked the first time Garçon worked as an emcee, and he learned quickly that you have to have stamina to keep the crowd hyped. That was no problem, as the 24-year-old Washington native commanded the stage and room, and was named the evening’s award-winning emcee. 

For Garçon, being recognized for his quick and witty ability to narrate the scene around him was empowering, as was the ball itself.

“No matter what you guys [anti-LGBTQ legislators] do, no matter what bills you pass, we cannot be erased, we will always be and you can’t stamp us out,” Garçon told Capital B after the event. 

The Equity Ball is just one of dozens of balls across the country that are continuing a long tradition of “chosen families” and those who adore them celebrating the diversity of Black and Latino LGBTQ+ people.

The event’s organizers turned categories into battle cries against the recent attacks on Black and queer communities. Standing on the shoulders of their elders, the region’s LGBTQ+ community brought ballroom culture to Washington’s historically Black Shaw neighborhood. As the neighborhood is gentrifying, organizers say it’s important for the ball to stay in the neighborhood. Once called the “Black Broadway,” Shaw was the epicenter of Black-owned businesses and culture during Jim Crow, and years later it was where conversations about DC Black Pride started, they say.

Ballroom culture has become more mainstream in recent years, thanks in part to performers such as Beyoncé and her “Renaissance World Tour”; FX’s Pose, a drama set at the height of the AIDS epidemic in New York; and others. However, they’re only a window into the ball scene and not the real deal, attendees and performers told Capital B.

At Howard Theatre, voguing, death drops, and chants were used as an expression to defy attempts to erase and shut out the very people who’ve contributed to the fashion, pop culture, and the most popular slang used today: Black queer people. 

Ballroom houses, chosen families within the queer community, came out to compete in categories meant to celebrate and rally behind LGBTQ+ people. Among attendees were the House of Balenciaga and House of Xclusive Lanvin, both of which have been recognized on international levels for their contributions to fashion, advocacy, and long-lasting legacy in ballroom culture. 

“The ballroom was built off of us not being accepted in a culture,” said Eyricka, the mother of House of Xclusive Lanvin. “We went and built our own safe haven for our babies and our future.”

During the four-hour ball on Friday night, same-sex couples held hands and cisgender, trans and nonbinary people were celebrated through categories and showered with praises, trophies, and cash prizes for their creativity and innovative designs. The floor was adorned with the steps of attendees voguing toward the stage, dressed in futuristic styles and clothing paying homage to Black women like Michelle Obama.  

“A part of what a ball does is to create a safe space, to uplift the sheer humanity of folks in that community and also remind us we are all connected,” said Marcus Anthony Hunter, the executive director of United by Equity, a National Black Justice Collective host partner of Equity Week. 

Opening the ceremony, Hunter said that sexual orientation and gender identity didn’t matter to those who enslaved and trafficked Black people from Africa. Hunter called on the crowd to embrace and unite against those who only see an opportunity to oppress. 

“Part of what reparative justice and equity are about is getting to the root of harm,” he said.
“We were all enslaved people chained to one another regardless of our class, education, sexual orientation, or gender identity.” 

The ball was part of the third-annual Equity Week, hosted by NBJC. Among the judges were Rayceen Pendarvis, a notable member of the queer community for her contributions to DC Black Pride, founded in 1991 across from Howard University. 

With Juneteenth and Pride Month overlapping, many people reflected on how their racial identity and LGBTQ+ identity shaped one another and their experiences in the world. 

“Honestly, it feels amazing to be here and to be with people who started Pride. The statement is even louder,” Garçon said. 

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