#Hector Xtravaganza

[djmelowdee]

Octavia and Hector

[sadiegirl2021]

DAY ONE - FRIENDS AND FAMILY

“Blood does not family make. Those are relatives. Family are those with whom you share your good, bad, and ugly, and still love one another in the end. Those are the ones you select.”

[sasakisniko]

-Hector Xtravaganza

@deadboyween Day 5: Family

[illogicalramblings]

"Blood does not family make. Those are relatives. Family are those with whom you share your good, bad, and ugly, and still love one another in the end. Those are the ones you select."

- Hector Xtravaganza 1965-2018

[lavendershowcase]

Queer Hispanic Stories for Hispanic Heritage Month

Summaries and notes under cut

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera

Juliet Milagros Palante is leaving the Bronx and headed to Portland, Oregon. She just came out to her family and isn’t sure if her mom will ever speak to her again. But Juliet has a plan, sort of, one that’s going to help her figure out this whole “Puerto Rican lesbian” thing. She’s interning with the author of her favorite book: Harlowe Brisbane, the ultimate authority on feminism, women’s bodies, and other gay-sounding stuff. Will Juliet be able to figure out her life over the course of one magical summer? Is that even possible? Or is she running away from all the problems that seem too big to handle? With more questions than answers, Juliet takes on Portland, Harlowe, and most importantly, herself.

Winner of 2017 Silver IPPY Award for best LGBTQ Fiction, selected by the ALA for the Amelia Bloomer List in 2017

The Prince and the Coyote by David Bowles, illustrated by Amanda Mijangos*

Fifteen-year old crown prince Acolmiztli wants nothing more than to see his city-state of Tetzcoco thrive. A singer, poet, and burgeoning philosophical mind, he has big plans about infrastructure projects and cultural initiatives that will bring honor to his family and help his people flourish. But the two sides of his family, the kingdoms of Mexico and Acolhuacan, have been at war his entire life – after his father risked the wrath of the Tepanec emperor to win his mother’s love. When a power struggle leaves his father dead and his mother and siblings in exile, Acolmiztli must run for his life, seeking refuge in the wilderness. After a coyote helps him find his way in the wild, he takes on a new name – Nezahualcoyotl, or “fasting coyote” (“Neza” for short). Biding his time until he can form new alliances and reconnect with his family, Neza goes undercover, and falls in love with a commoner girl, Sekalli. Can Neza survive his plotting uncles’ scheme to wipe out his line for good? Will the empire he dreams of in Tetzcoco ever come to life? And is he willing to risk the lives of those he loves in the process? This action-packed tale blends prose and poetry – including translations of surviving poems by Nezahualcoytl himself, translated from classical Nahuatl by the author. And the book is packed with queer rep: queer love stories, and a thoughtful exploration of pre-columbian understandings of gender that defy the contemporary Western gender binary.

Pura Belpré honoree, Kirkus Best of the Year, Bookpage top 10 Book of 2023

*Personally recommended by me

The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara

It’s 1980 in New York City, and nowhere is the city’s glamour and energy better reflected than in the burgeoning Harlem ball scene, where seventeen-year-old Angel first comes into her own. Burned by her traumatic past, Angel is new to the drag world, new to ball culture, and has a yearning inside of her to help create family for those without. When she falls in love with Hector, a beautiful young man who dreams of becoming a professional dancer, the two decide to form the House of Xtravaganza, the first-ever all-Latino house in the Harlem ball circuit. But when Hector dies of AIDS-related complications, Angel must bear the responsibility of tending to their house alone. As mother of the house, Angel recruits Venus, a whip-fast trans girl who dreams of finding a rich man to take care of her; Juanito, a quiet boy who loves fabrics and design; and Daniel, a butch queen who accidentally saves Venus’s life. The Xtravaganzas must learn to navigate sex work, addiction, and persistent abuse, leaning on each other as bulwarks against a world that resists them. All are ambitious, resilient, and determined to control their own fates, even as they hurtle toward devastating consequences. 

Born Both: An Intersex Life by Hida Viloria

My name is Hida Viloria. I was raised as a girl but discovered at a young age that my body looked different. Having endured an often turbulent home life as a kid, there were many times when I felt scared and alone, especially given my attraction to girls. But unlike most people in the first world who are born intersex–meaning they have genitals, reproductive organs, hormones, and/or chromosomal patterns that do not fit standard definitions of male or female–I grew up in the body I was born with because my parents did not have my sex characteristics surgically altered at birth. It wasn’t until I was twenty-six and encountered the term intersex in a San Francisco newspaper that I finally had a name for my difference. That’s when I began to explore what it means to live in the space between genders–to be both and neither. I tried living as a feminine woman, an androgynous person, and even for a brief period of time as a man. Good friends would not recognize me, and gay men would hit on me. My gender fluidity was exciting, and in many ways freeing–but it could also be isolating. I had to know if there were other intersex people like me, but when I finally found an intersex community to connect with I was shocked, and then deeply upset, to learn that most of the people I met had been scarred, both physically and psychologically, by infant surgeries and hormone treatments meant to “correct” their bodies. Realizing that the invisibility of intersex people in society facilitated these practices, I made it my mission to bring an end to it–and became one of the first people to voluntarily come out as intersex at a national and then international level. Born Both is the story of my lifelong journey toward finding love and embracing my authentic identity in a world that insists on categorizing people into either/or, and of my decades-long fight for human rights and equality for intersex people everywhere.

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

In Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado blithely demolishes the arbitrary borders between psychological realism and science fiction, comedy and horror, fantasy and fabulism. While her work has earned her comparisons to Karen Russell and Kelly Link, she has a voice that is all her own. In this electric and provocative debut, Machado bends genre to shape startling narratives that map the realities of women’s lives and the violence visited upon their bodies. A wife refuses her husband’s entreaties to remove the green ribbon from around her neck. A woman recounts her sexual encounters as a plague slowly consumes humanity. A salesclerk in a mall makes a horrifying discovery within the seams of the store’s prom dresses. One woman’s surgery-induced weight loss results in an unwanted houseguest. And in the bravura novella “Especially Heinous,” Machado reimagines every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a show we naively assumed had shown it all, generating a phantasmagoric police procedural full of doppelgängers, ghosts, and girls-with-bells-for-eyes.

Finalist for the 2017 National Book Award for Fiction, Winner of the National Book Critics Circle's 2017 John Leonard Prize, Winner of the 2017 Bard Fiction Prize, Finalist for the 2017 Kirkus Prize, Finalist for the 2017 PEN/Robert Bingham Award

[pattybypatricia]

⁠“Sangue não cria família, cria parentes. Família são aqueles com quem compartilhamos bons e maus momentos, e ainda assim os amamos no final. São esses que devemos escolher.”

Hector Xtravaganza

[itgetsbetter]

It's #HispanicHeritageMonth and today we're remembering Hector Xtravaganza!

After being rejected by his family for being gay, Hector stumbled upon New York City's ballroom community in the 1980's where he found a chosen family and discovered Voguing. He joined House of Xtravaganza, the first primarily Latine ballroom house with the notorious Angie Xtravaganza as House Mother, and quickly garnered a name for himself on the runway.

But Hector didn't stop there - after being diagnosed with AIDS in 1985, he began to use his ballroom notoriety to support HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns - from founding the House of Latex Project with the Gay Men's Health Crisis to reach members of the LGBTQ+ Black and Latine ballroom communities, to appearing in official treatment campaigns with the NYC Department of Health.

Later in life, he became House Father and House Grandfather, and even consulted for the show Pose to help depict the ballroom scene accurately. March 9th is officially Hector Xtravaganza Day in NYC in commemoration of all his work - thank you for being an icon and an activist, Hector!

[demidelanuit]

Follow me on INSTAGRAM @demidelanuit

Hector Xtravaganza, as seen in Paris Is Burning, 1990...

[granvarones]

the year was 1982.

new york began the year as one of the most dangerous cities in the united states with a record 637,451 reported felonies by the end of 1981.one year into what is now known as the AIDS epidemic but before the urging of activists during a july 27 meeting a new york to adopt the term “AIDS”, much of the media, researchers and medical providers called it “GRID (gay related immune deficiency syndrome,” “the gay plague” or “gay cancer.” the city’s underground club begins emerge into the pop consciousness after the release of madonna’s debut single “everybody” becomes a club hit. however, new york’s gay clubs are still under siege by the city’s police who still routinely raid clubs. on the night of september 1982, the NYPD violently raided blues, a manhattan gay club primarily patronized by black and latino queers and trans folks. police locked the doors and beat patrons for more than an hour sending 35 club-goers to the hospital. police were never charged.

this is the new york that hector valle, a 22 year-old vibrant puerto rican gay man with a flair for style, existed in. hector was widely known throughout the community and dance clubs for his elegant and athletic style of vogue. while not formally a part of any ballroom house hector was enchanted by new york’s growing ballroom scene, and made the bold decision to start his own house – the house of extravaganza (original spelling until 1989). hector set out to recruit members from the pre-gentrified christopher street pier from the legendary queer dance utopia, paradise garage which would helped inform the xtravanganza culture. one of the first official xtravaganzas included a young puerto rican trans woman who later become an icon in her own right – angie xtravaganza.

the house of xtravaganza made their debut in 1983 and under the leadership and guidance of hector and angie, who served as house mother and father, the then not-so-experienced house quickly emerged as one of the most exciting new houses on the scene. as their popularity expanded, the xtravaganzas became a fiercely close family on and off the runway. hector’s pioneering vision was in full fruition.

in just two years, new york was rapidly becoming a different place. gentrification was beginning to change the landscape of new york’s nightlife and culture. madonna had emerged from the underground scene and was reaching pop icon status after the release of her 1984 sophomore album, “like a virgin.” And after the protest of black and latino LGBTQIA people and allies The NYPD was no longer raiding gay clubs but in the fever hystreria of AIDS panic has begun to close bathhouses. And by the end of 1985, AIDS had claimed over 5,000 people including the pioneering hector valle xtravaganza. hector was just 25 years old. the house that hector built would continue under the leadership of angie xtravaganza until her own death in 1993 at the young of age of 28. by the late 1980’s, the house broke into the mainstream appearing in both time and american vogue magazines. the house was also prominently featured in the 1990 groundbreaking documentary film “paris is burning.” and two of the xtravaganza children, josé and luis xtravaganza rocketed to international stardom as dancers for the madonna, the singer who started her career the same year the xtravaganza was founded.

almost 40 years later, hector’s vision remains stronger than ever. the house of xtravaganza continues to be one of the most influential and iconic houses in ballroom history. one of the first houses to incorporate HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment messaging into their mission and vision, the legacy of founding father hector valle xtravaganza still shines. and for someone known for his flair, this makes perfect sense.

[nerethos]

Know Our History. LGBTQIA+ Culture Started Way Before Ellen and transphobic RuPaul.

Crystal LaBeija brought forth NYC ballroom.

Paris Dupree invented voguing not Madonna.

Back row: Angie Xtravaganza, Kim Pendavis, Pepper Labeija, Junior Labeija; Middle row: David Xtravaganza, Octavia St. Laurent, Dorian Corey, Willi Ninja; Front row: Freddie Pendavis.

Members of The House of Saint Laurent (clockwise): Temperance, Terence, Octavia and Robbie, Harlem 1989.

From left, David DePino Xtravaganza, Mother Angie Xtravaganza, Danni Xtravaganza and Jose Disla Xtravaganza in 1988.

From left, Coko Xtravaganza, Hector Xtravaganza, Jose Gutierez Xtravaganza, Gisele Xtravaganza, Jose Disla Xtravaganza and Karl Xtravaganza in 2018. R.I.P. Hector Xtravaganza July 26, 1965 - December 30, 2018 🖤.

 Crystal LaBeija, Paris Dupree, Dorian Corey, Angie Xtravaganza, Hector Xtravaganza, Pepper LaBeija, Junior LaBeija, Carmen Xtravaganza, Bianca Xtravaganza, Danni Xtravaganza, Venus Xtravaganza, Jose Xtravaganza, David Xtravaganza, Octavia St. Laurent/Octavia St. Laurent Mizrahi, Willi Ninja, Sol Pendavis, Kim Pendavis, Freddie Pendavis, etc. built houses made of homes with families. They created families for survival and so QPOC would have a place where they belonged and were accepted. QPOC (this includes trans, gender non-binary, gender non-conforming people) weren't/aren't accepted in the world, because of social inequality, economic inequality, racism, and transphobia in society and within the LGBTQIA+ community. These houses allowed them to be their true selves and they were loved for being who they truly were. Because of them we are here today. These homes do the same for us today.

They created reading and shade. Not transphobic RuPaul, straight cis women on reality shows, or gay white men.

Pose is based on their lives and inspired by them ❤.

[characterarcs]

“Blood does not family make. Those are relatives. Family are those with whom you share your good, bad, and ugly, and still love one another in the end. These are the ones you select.’”

—Hector Xtravaganza, the grandfather of ballroom. 1965-2018

[bi-trans-alliance]

(source) (more on Hector Xtravaganza)

[emadra]

I am so in love with this show. If you haven't seen it yet, I seriously suggest it. It has pulled at my heart strings the entire way through. I'm already almost done with Season 2 and I'm not even big on tv shows.

[evoleposts]

I love the history and acknowledgement 😍

[iiamu]

Blood does not family make. Those are relatives. Family are those with whom you share your good, bad, and ugly, and still one another in the end. Those are the ones you select.

- Hector Xtravaganza, House of Xtravaganza

[erikbmpalabrasdeamor]

Los lazos de sangre no crean una familia, sólo parientes. La familia la forman aquellas personas con las que compartimos lo bueno, lo malo y lo feo. Y nos seguimos queriendo al final son las personas a las que hemos elegido.

Héctor Xtravaganza 1965-2018