Category: Giving Them Their Roses
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MARTHA WASH
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martha wash is one of the greatest vocalists in music history. and i would wager my mariah carey cd collection (which at this moment is 250 plus of cds, cassettes, and vinyl) that you have shaken your ass to a martha wash record. in the late 1970s, marta got her…
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MARY JANE GIRLS
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the pointer sisters, sister sledge and vanity 6 were my earliest introduction to the miracle that is the girl group genre. as a young child trying to make sense of societal demands to be “rougher,” girl groups captured my imagination with their style, choreography, and essence while commanding me to…
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LADY CATIRIA
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Catiria Reyes, widely known as Lady Catiria, was a Puerto Rican trans woman born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. Like many young queer and transgender boricuas, Lady Catiria grew up idolizing the beloved, campy but glamorous Puerto Rican entertainer Iris Chacón. Known as “La Bomba de Puerto”, Chacón’s flamboyant, revealing outfits,…
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Earvin Magic Johnson
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1991 marked a decade of what it is now regarded as the AIDS crisis. the hope that emerged after the introduction of AZT, the first FDA approved pill to treat HIV, began to diminish after the death toll exceeded 100,000 in june 1991. by the end of the year, AIDS…
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2021 Gran Varones Fellows
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For the past seven years, Gran Varones has grown from a local initiative in Philadelphia to a national and award-winning digital project amplifying queer history, culture, and community storytelling through a Black-Latinx Queer lens. In 2018, we successfully launched the inaugural Positive Digital Arts Fellowship working with gay, queer, bisexual…
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MJ RODRIGUEZ
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the category is celebration and the winner is the incomparable miss mj rodriguez. on june 3, 2018 “pose” premiered on FX. set in the 1980s and 1990s, “pose” told the story of black and brown trans and queer young people as they built community to hold themselves together while navigating…
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GEORGE MICHAEL
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to be a global pop star who was gay but not out during the height of the AIDS epidemic meant living in closets that were never to be vacated. It meant contending with being loved and adored by a world that was simultaneously waiting with baited breath to stigmatize you…
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TONY VIRAMONTES
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years before i knew who tony viramontes was, i knew of his art. sometime in 1986, three years before i began buying music on my own, my uncle took me to my first record store. as we walked into the store, i was in complete wonderment. it was the closest…
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MARCO CASTRO-BOJORQUEZ
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often times when historians speak of those who were on the front lines of AIDS advocacy, it is framed in the activism of the 1980s and 1990s. but marco castro-bojorquez was proof that the work continued throughout and beyond what is now considered the height of the AIDS crisis. marco…
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DONNA SUMMER
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donna summer. the mere mention of her name evokes visions, feelings, and sounds of heaven on the dance floor. dubbed the queen of disco, along with sylvester, donna’s voice soundtracked the queer utopia that was the 1970s. from her 1975 seductive breakout hit “love to love you baby” to her…
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ZELMA DAVIS
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zelma davis should be a household name! as the principal vocalist of the über successful 1990s dance group c+c music factory, the liberian multi-faceted performer sang the hooks on four of the group’s #1 dance singles including two top 5 hits on the hot 100. unfortunately, after the lip-syncing scandal…
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PAULA ABDUL
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in the late 1980s, paula abdul’s popularity rivaled that of her contemporaries, janet jackson and madonna. paula had gone from being an LA lakers cheerleader to an in-demand choreographer that helped catapult janet jackson’s first three music videos from her 1986 breakout album “control” to legendary status. it wasn’t long…