By Dennis Richmond Jr.
The LGBTQ+ Community is celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month for the 29th time. The first LGBTQ+ History Month took place in 1994. Founded by Rodney Wilson, a high school teacher in Missouri, the month-long observance celebrates different factors of the community. Perhaps the two most important factors of this community are resilience and popularity. According to a Gallup poll, over 7% of Americans identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community. That number has doubled in the past decade. With numbers creeping to 10%, the LGBTQ+ is here and is here to stay.
Today, many teenage boys could walk across their high school hallways holding their boyfriend’s hand. Many girls could take their girlfriends to prom. Adults in the community could even get married now. When I was in high school, about a decade ago, the supreme court was yet to strike down all state bans on same-sex marriage. When I was in high school, we didn’t have rappers like Santana and Lil Nas X. We had a few songs that meant something. Macklemore made a song called “Same Love” and Frank Ocean made a song called “Thinking Bout You.” Macklemore’s song has since garnered over a quarter billion views on YouTube.
As we identify LGBTQ+ History, it is imperative that we recognize our legends, statements, stars, and icons. One icon is Kevin JZ Prodigy. Prodigy, a vouge performer, and solidified ballroom commentator is from Philadelphia, PA. Kevin has been in the game for almost two decades and shows no signs of stopping. Beyonce’s song “Pure/Honey” off her 2022 album Renaissance featured Prodigy. People across the world vogue to chants created by Prodigy- especially in New York. There’s nothing like a nice warm, “bam-bam-sha-wam,” to move the girls. Prodigy is an icon.
Ballroom culture itself is over 50 years old in New York. Popular slang terms have seeped out of the Ballroom scene and into mainstream media. “Messy,” “Shade,” “Giving,” “Carry,” and “Tea,” are all popular words that even non-LGBTQ+ folx use today. Perhaps one of the most iconic visuals to come out of Ballroom is the 1990 American documentary film, Paris Is Burning. The documentary chronicles the Ballroom Scene in New York City.
Whether you support the LGBTQ+ Community or not, one this is for sure, and two things are for certain. The Community has a history and it’s important to know that history. Why? Because nothing happened today, just happened. It all took time and it all took folx before us to make it happen. Ancestors and Trancestors.
Dennis Richmond, Jr., is an author and journalist focused on the Black, Latinx, and LGBTQIA+ Community. He has covered HBCUs periodically for six years at Yonkers Rising. Richmond lives in Yonkers. Follow him on Twitter @NewYorkStakz.
