Civic Season Guidebook 2025 (1) - Flipbook - Page 22
EMBRACE IN
The gardens
meet your guide, PEPPER LABEIJA.
I am a legend of the ballroom. Born in 1948, I grew up in a world that often
refused to see Black queer people’s beauty, brilliance, and stories as equal.
But in the ballroom scene, where we could perform, dance, sing and model
freely, we built a space to be seen, celebrated, and embraced. As a drag queen
and longtime Mother of the House of LaBeija, I built a community and
became a leader in New York, New York.
My life has always been about embracing others by creating spaces where
love, acceptance, and belonging could thrive, showing that true community
is not defined by blood, but by the bonds of resilience, identity,
and unwavering support.
Excluded from mainstream drag and
beauty pageants, Black and Latino
LGBT people created the ballroom
scene in 1960s Harlem, NY. The
