In an effort to build a space for queer people like myself, every Tuesday I’ll be posting interviews, opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latinx/WOC community since I am Latinx.) Welcome to Queerly Not Straight! Enjoy and leave a comment below if you have a suggestion for what I should cover next.
Sometimes you have those moments of revelation that change you. Moments where you realize how wrong or deprived you were of culture, substance, and greatness. And that moment has come for me in the form of FX’s Pose. I decided to sit down, give Ryan Murphy’s Pose a chance, and dear Lord am I a changed queer person.
I know ballroom culture. Or at least I thought I did. I knew about the flash, the dazzle, and that people made a name for themselves through ballroom. But I didn’t know, truly and deeply know, the fact that ballroom culture is about family, love, and lifting each other up; especially and even when you’re being read to filth by the crowd.
For those who have never given Pose a chance, you might be a little lost. What the hell is ballroom culture and why is this little queer Latina having the revelation of a lifetime? Because ballroom culture is the history of the LGBTQ community and we owe it to our brothers, sisters, and nonbinary fam to get to know where we came from. And that place is ballroom.
In this place, this community, young queer people found themselves. They found the rhythm and beat of their life and heart. They became part of something bigger, brighter, and more beautiful than they ever imagined. And if they were truly lucky like Damon, Angel, and Lil Papi were in episode 1, they can find a home amongst all the scary crap of the world to rest their weary head on and then rise up the next day to conquer the world!
The characters of Pose found and became part of houses aka homes and communities made by choice and not by blood like Blanca’s house of Evangelista. Houses led by people who want to pay it forward and let other queer people that they are bright, beautiful, and so worthy of love, kindness, and all the riches of the world. And it took me til Billy Porter said the following words for me to get how important Pose and every single character is to the queer community:
“You wanna reason to keep going on after tonight? There it go right there. Houses are homes to all the little boys and girls who never had one. And they keep coming every day just as sure as the sun rises. Pull up, work harder, triumph. If not today, maybe tomorrow.”
Pose is our home.
Pose is our truth.
Pose is who we are.
And I can’t believe that it took my queer ass so long to watch it. Now, this is me after episode 1. I can’t imagine what greatness lay in the future for Blanca, Angel, Lil Papi, Damon, Pray Tell, and every other queer character on this show. Take my word for it, this show is worth starting and getting to know.
So, do it.
And if anything you’ll get a healthy dose of Billy Porter. That’s more than enough reason to start any show.
Queerly Not Straight posts every Tuesday with opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latinx community since I am Latinx.)
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