OCTAVIA ST. LAURENT: Drag Performer, Model, Educator & Ballroom Icon

“Live life. Live life and do not take anything for granted. Because what you have today can instantly be gone tomorrow.”

TRQ: Octavia St. Laurent Born March 16, 1964

Drag performer, model, and educator Octavia St. Laurent was prominent in the balls and ballroom community of New York City and Harlem. Director Jennie Livingston featured St. Laurent in the documentary Paris is Burning (1990), after which she became very well known. Gender theorist Judith Butler wrote of St. Laurent’s presence in the documentary. 

St. Laurent often told conflicting stories of her childhood, but it is known she was born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 16, 1964. She claimed jazz legend Louis Armstrong to be her uncle, and that her mother sang for the Crystals. While St. Laurent identified as a trans woman, and early on proudly claiming to be a man, she came to identify as intersex and then transgender.

“A lot of transgendered and pre-op transgendered are a little shocked about my attitude in regards to not wanting to be a woman, and taking that role of womanhood. I’m no damn woman, don’t wanna be no woman. I stand up and piss in the bathroom, I don’t sit down, you know what I’m saying?” St. Laurent once said.

Ultimately, her views changed with the times. “When you are true to yourself, people look at you in a different way. Basically, I love who and what I am, and I wouldn’t be anything else.”

Of course, being true to herself meant often facing discrimination and confrontation during her nights out wearing women’s clothing in New York City’s Greenwich Village, as well as harassment from police. “Today, living as a girl is not a big deal. But then, honey, cops would arrest you just because you was a boy. I’ve been to jail a couple of times just because someone said, ‘That’s a man.’ They’d treat me like this damsel in distress, and then all of a sudden they’d come right back and say, ‘Put your hands behind your back, you’re under arrest.’”

In 1982, St. Laurent walked in balls descending from Harlem’s drag scene. In the late 1970s, drag mother Crystal Labeija formed the House of Labeija as a space to spotlight Black performers previously denied from receiving the prizes and accolades given to white drag performers. The rise of houses like Labeija’s gave queer men financial and social opportunities, not to mention shelter and companionship.

In 1990, Octavia joined the House of St. Laurent and took their name. That year, Paris is Burning was released by New York University film student Jennie Livingston. While critics called it voyeuristic and uninformed, the documentary was celebrated by gay audiences and college students. St. Laurent was a central character in the film chronicling drag performances, voguing, and the New York’s ballroom culture in which Black, Latino, gay, and transgender communities participated. The documentary’s popularity revived St. Laurent’s singing entertainment career.

Unfortunately, St. Laurent’s drug use burned through her money, and caused her to miss engagements. She continued earning money from balls where she performed and competed. Occasionally she would return to escorting and sex work. In 1993, she starred in The Saint of Fort Washington as a prostitute, acting alongside Danny Glover and Matt Dillon. Michael O’Hara featured her in the documentary, Octavia Saint Laurent: Queen of the Underground that same year.

Even though the ballroom scene started to decline, St. Laurent appeared in How Do I Look (2003) by Wolfgang Busch, to discuss her battles with drugs, AIDS, and riskier sides of sex work. The film also gives a glimpse into the house, its values, fashion and dedication to dance and runway competitions.

After filming, Heavenly Angel Octavia St. Laurent Manolo Blahnik got clean, sought treatment for her health and began planning for a career comeback. Sadly, in 2008, she was diagnosed with cancer. By 2009, the cancer spread to her lungs. She died on May 17, 2009. Michael Musto wrote in the Village Voice, “Another icon has been dimmed… Octavia radiated sheer sweetness as she pursued modelling, singing, and activism, all with the glow of a goddess.”

Television writer and producer Ryan Murphy and Jane Mock quoted St. Laurent’s words in an episode of Pose (2019):

“Gays have rights, lesbians have rights, men have rights, women have rights, even animals have rights. How many of us have to die before the community recognises that we are not expendable?” — Octavia St. Laurent

About the Authors

Troy Wise is currently a PhD student at UAL Central St Martins and teaches fashion and graphic design at London College of Contemporary Arts. His background is in marketing and is founder and co-editor of Image Amplified. He lives in, and is continually fascinated by, the city of London.

Rick Guzman earned his most recent MA at UAL Central St Martins in Applied Imagination in the Creative Industries. He currently holds two MA’s and an MBA in the New Media, Journalism and International Business fields. Co-editor at Image Amplified since its start, he lives in London, is fascinated by history and is motivated by continuing to learn and explore. 

 

Sources: 

Beenhere

DazedDigital

Village Voice