New York City in the 1980s, reinvigorated by the prior era’s sexual revolution and the ascendance of the Gay Liberation Front, saw an influx of queer people to downtown Manhattan and the rise of the underground ball scene. At the same time, the AIDS epidemic devastated the gay community as Ronald Reagan and his Moral Majority refused to intervene.

• CeCe McDonald
• Chase Strangio
• Brontez Purnell