Paris is Burning is a documentary film that captures New York City’s African American drag scene in the 1980s. It focuses on balls, voguing and the ambitions of gay men at a time where the HIV crisis was in full swing, and the thought of a show like Drag Race was unthinkable. As one of the men in the film puts it:
I remember my dad say, “You have three strikes against you in this world. Every black man has two – that they’re just black and they’re male. But you’re black and you’re male and you’re gay. You’re gonna have a hard fucking time.” Then he said, “If you’re gonna do this, you’re gonna have to be stronger than you ever imagined. You have to open the door.”
Want to understand the origins of read, shade, sashay, realness, and drag families on RuPaul’s Drag Race? It is time to educate the children. Know your history. Paris is Burning is essential viewing for queer people.
Watch the film, Paris is Burning.