Gender is complicated. While those around us try to dictate gender to us from the moment we are born, those opinions may not reflect our reality. Even after we figure out what is best for ourselves, society will still try to define us within a limited range of gender roles. Pepper LaBeijadid not neatly fit into any gender role, and she turned that truth into a career and a life. Her stage surname comes fromthe House of LaBeija (la-BAY-zha), which will be discussed later in this essay. Each member takes the surname of the group, so to differentiate between group members, this essay will use Pepper instead of LaBeija for the rest of this article.
Pepper was born on November 5, 1948, a babyboomer, in the Bronx. Not much else is known about her early life except that that her family name was Williams and that when born, she was identified as a boy.
Pepper was known around NYC and the world as an amazing drag performer and fashion designer for the drag ball or house ballroom culture – the FX series Pose is about that community. Pepper’s theme drew upon Egyptian motifs for her performances, which won her over 250 trophies. She also produced drag balls, taught modeling, and designed clothing. Still, most of the world outside of NYC and the drag ball communities didn’t know anything about the drag ball culture until the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning. While the film itself could be seen aseither exploitation or explanation, the events and communities it showed were and still are needed.
The Royal House of LaBeija was founded in the 1970sby Crystal LaBeija to help people of color thrive in the drag pageant culture that had already been a vibrant part of NYC for decades. The standard of beauty within the drag pageant community of the time reflected mainstream American culture: lighter skin was considered better, and participants with darker skin won fewer awards. The House of LaBeijastarted hosting its own balls to combat that discrimination. Around 1981, Pepper became House Mother. Pepper had been in the 1968 documentary The Queen and was an active performer. While functioning as the head of the LGBTQ family, she also brought the House and their communities into public light through appearances in documentaries and talk shows such as TV Transvestite(1982), Paris Is Burning (1990), The Joan Rivers Show(1991), and How Do I Look (2006).
While Pepper had breast implants to help with herdrag performance, she still sometimes dressed in masculine fashion off stage. When asked if she would get a sex-change operation, she cited the fact that being a woman could be a disadvantage in society as one reason not to do so. There is also evidence that Pepper used the name “William Jackson” when not performing but still used feminine pronouns regardless of what gender her clothing may have signaled. Pepper had at least one child with her lover, Pamela Jackson, but after Jackson’s death in 1992 and Pepper’s declining health because of type 2 diabetes, the daughter was primarily raised by a maternal grandmother.
Pepper LaBeija died on May 14, 2003 from a heart attack. As a testament to her and her House Father Tommy’s work, the House of LaBeija is still going strong,with over 100 members worldwide.