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I want a car.
I wanna be with the man I love. I wanna get married in church in white.
I want children. I want to adopt.
I wanna be a professional model behind cameras in a high-fashion world.
I want this. This is what I want.
And I'm gonna go for it.
Strut, strut, strut, strut
Fuck the sidewalk
It's a runway
Fuck the sidewalk
It's a runway…
Venus is iconic.
You wanna talk about reading?
She's so famous, man.
Let's talk about reading.
My sister was Venus Xtravaganza.
Xtravaganza power!
Our House is our family.
There you go.
Venus was our family.
-She'll always be a Pellagatti. -We had each other's back.
I protected all my brothers and sisters.
Your family loves you.
Fuck the Hilton, it's the Waldorf…
I protect my kids because that's my family.
If you walk into the 7-Eleven,
you better make that motherfucker look like the runway.
We have stood the test of time.
Strut, strut…
Xtravaganza!
Strut, strut, strut, strut
Strut, strut…
I am Pellagatti.
Strut, strut, strut, strut, strut…
So I used to work over there.
After work, we'd always cruise around and have the top down,
checking out, you know, some of the ladies.
So I'd pass the red light over here
on Montgomery and Marin,
and as I… as I'm driving down the block,
right over there, I see a blonde.
Pretty sexy.
I roll the windows down, and as I pull up,
the girl turns around and looks at me,
and it's my sister Venus.
And I was like, "No."
And when she seen me, she took her high heels off,
and she made a mad dash.
I see her going down the PATH station. I try to get down there.
She jumps the turnstile.
Train comes, jumps in the train.
I miss her, so I come back. And I see my friend Sam.
I said, "You didn't see that, right?" He goes, "I didn't see nothing."
So I was like, "Okay."
Spoke to my grandmother.
I was like, "Gran, you know… dresses up like a woman?"
"Ah, mijo, where you been?"
"She's been dressing up like a woman for years." I'm like, "News to me."
Newsflash.
The funny thing was when she took her shoes off.
She's got some wheels on her.
I am Venus' older brother, second in the family.
I try to keep to myself. I'm, uh, from the old school.
My brother John is the oldest, and he tried to keep everybody in line.
And then Louie is the youngest.
It was a different time.
Everybody was trying to be a macho guy, you know.
But Venus was different from day one. From day one.
She didn't play ball like me and my brothers did. You know?
She was dancing on a corner with my ex-girlfriends.
I just wish, you know, you can go back in time
and have a crystal ball and see, you know,
what was gonna happen.
There's a lot of people in here that aren't with us anymore.
-Look-- -Where'd you get that?
-I have this in my stuff from Mommy. -Okay.
-That's Venus. -Look at the hair.
-I remember the hair dryers going. -Yep.
Mm. How--
You can see the resemblance in a Pellagatti face.
-Look at that. -Right?
Always looking good.
-Always dancing, and she was so popular. -Yeah.
-I remember. -She was not a good…
-Like in grammar school. Yeah. -Great dancer.
She was ahead of her time for sure.
They're the times that I… I… I cherish, you know,
because them other times,
I gotta tell you, like, it just was really difficult because…
Our parents.
That's-- It seemed like when you guys would leave the house for a couple days,
it gave Hoppy like a… a license
to get fucking ripped out of his mind, you know.
-Yeah. -Hoppy was our stepdad.
I didn't put up with no shit from him.
"Fuck you," I used to tell him. Even at a young age.
-I'll never forget the time… -Yeah.
We had bunk beds,
so I was on the top, and John was on the bottom.
-He was like, "Fuck him." -Yeah.
"But he's not my father. Fuck him."
And Mommy just had enough, dude. She came in the room, grabbed John.
John had an Afro back then. Big Afro.
On the radiator, yeah, she was banging my head.
She dragged him out of the bed. I'm like, "John, shut up."
-Yeah. -He wouldn't shut up.
I looked at the vodka bottle one day, I said, "You really love this shit."
I fucking bashed him right over the head with it.
Mommy-- Mommy went nuts, threw me out of the house.
I think that's the reason why Mommy moved to California.
-It was getting physical. -I told him, "I'm gonna kill you."
-So, Venus… -Kept quiet, goes to the corner.
She kept quiet, and she really didn't come out
until my mother moved to California.
Yeah.
-But I think… -We knew she was gay.
-Everybody knew. -We didn't know she was trans.
So we didn't…
-We couldn't comprehend that in 1980. -Eighty.
-Eighty-one. -I went ballistic on her, I did.
I remember I picked her up by her ankles and turned her upside down.
"There's something wrong with you. You're out of your fucking mind."
For me, when I seen,
in Paris Is Burning, my sister explain in her words,
"All I wanna do is be loved, and be married,
and have a house with a white picket fence."
When I heard that, it started making sense.
But when we found out about how she was taken from us,
that brought a lot of anger.
Yeah.
I'll tell you what got it started, to be honest with you,
is when that fucking asshole did that thing, uh…
He did an off-Broadway play,
Solve the Mystery: Murder of Venus Xtravaganza.
So that kind of opened up some wounds, and that's when we said,
"There's gotta be something we can do better than this bullshit."
We always knew what happened, where it happened, when it happened.
-At least we thought. -We thought. But we didn't know who.
Cold cases have been happening now for years.
What if there's DNA?
-Yeah. -If that's possible.
This is long overdue,
but I know the Xtravaganzas are still around.
-You know? -Yeah.
What's the chances you're gonna meet people that knew her over there?
-It's very slim. -Thin.
-Yeah, but you never know. -You never know.
Because of who she was,
I think we'll be able to get people to help us, you know?
-She deserves it. Venus deserves it. -I agree.
-Yeah. -Do what we gotta do.
Well, I always knew I was going to become a girl.
Ever since the age of maybe seven or eight years old,
I always felt like I wanted to be a pretty lady,
and I wanted to do…
fashion shows.
But for those who can't accept me…
I guess it's just because they refuse to see it,
and they don't wanna understand it.
A House?
They're families. You can say that.
They're families for a lot of children who don't have families.
When someone has rejection from their mother and father,
their family, when they get out in the world, they search.
They search for someone to fill that void.
I know this from experience,
because I've had kids come to me
and latch hold of me like I'm their mother.
My mother is Angie Xtravaganza, and my father is David Xtravaganza.
I had just turned 15 years old,
and they all liked me, all the rest of the Xtravaganzas.
And they decided, "If you wanna become an Xtravaganza,
you have to walk a ball first,
and if you snatch a trophy, then you can become the Xtravaganza.
The society, going to a football game, basketball,
that's their entertainment.
You know, a ball is ours. We prepare for a ball.
We may spend more time preparing for a ball
than anybody would spend preparing for anything else.
-Exactly. So true. -The ball is our world.
See how she's turning to the side? Don't look to the side, Chi.
-Your eyes should never go to the side. -You should be…
The trick of everything is your eyes.
Forget about the walk, about everything.
It's your energy, and it's…
All of this.
Juan, bring it!
Give me, give me, give me one!
Attitude. Yes.
Give me tens across the board.
Syd Xtravaganza?
Syd Xtrava… X, what? Xtravaganza!
Steph Xtravaganza, Steph Xtravaganza
Derrick, Derrick, Derrick Xtravaganza
Derrick, Derrick, yeah!
Yes!
Mother!
Mother! Mother!
Xtravaganza!
Mother!
Okay, y'all was ready for the ball with the last one.
I came into the House of Xtravaganza in 1999.
But I was 15 years old when I first seen Paris Is Burning
at my trans brother's house.
It was a turning point in my life.
Venus's story is our story.
I never got to meet her, but I feel her.
There's been many times that I almost lost my life,
and I'm still here.
I'm just lucky.
I've cried so much, I'm tired of crying. It's time for doing.
I never got to meet Venus.
I was born seven years after she was murdered.
-Seventh floor. -Okay, Jill.
What I know of her is, you know, through my family and through a screen.
She's probably up there saying, "What took you so friggin' long?"
"It's about time."
Hopefully, she's guiding a lot of the stuff that's going on here,
which I believe she really is.
To bring the team together that is moving this forward.
-Jillian. -Hello.
I finally get to meet you in person.
Hi.
-Hi. -It's so wonderful to meet you.
It's so wonderful to meet you too.
Hi, I'm Joe.
-Yes, how are you? -Pleasure's mine. How are you?
-The pleasure likewise. -Nice to finally meet you.
This is an amazing…
Yeah. We have a million questions.
-Yeah? John? -How you doing?
I'm good. Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you too. It's really, really nice of you to come.
I'm really, really thinking of my sister right now.
And…
…it's a little emotional.
-I can imagine, you know. -Yeah.
There was a perception out there that we didn't care about her,
which was so far from the truth.
Yeah, I heard some stories of the family, you know,
but you never know until you speak to the family in person.
And Louie said it best too.
Louie said, "Listen, that's Venus' other family." So…
We think it's very important that the House is involved
with everything that's going on.
Venus was not the only one murdered in this House.
This is one of the reasons I wanted to do this because it'll open up the door
for other girls to get their cases solved.
To see family members caring about that is very powerful.
-Yeah. -You know, there's a saying, um…
"Sometimes things fall apart
so they can fall together."
And that's what we're trying to do.
Okay. Sit anywhere?
Wherever you want.
Hey. How are you doing?
Gisele, that's our baby brother, Louie.
Hi, baby brother Louie.
Good morning, Gisele. Very… very nice to meet you.
-Thanks for coming in. -Thank you for what you're doing.
We know that you have been trying to reopen the investigation
into your sister's murder and, if possible, get a copy of the case.
But you've been running into roadblocks with the New York Police Department.
Monster roadblocks.
I'm a little bit surprised because NYPD is generally very victim-family friendly.
They're not a customer service agency by any stretch of the imagination,
but when it comes to victims' family members, they're usually great.
We never got anything back of hers ever, ever!
-I-- -The only thing I got back was her body.
Right. So…
-So they still have the file, right? -Absolutely. Yes.
I want to see them documents.
We're hoping to help facilitate that and, if necessary, file litigation
and ask a court to authorize disclosure of the case file for you.
The case file should have the investigative steps
that detectives had taken at the time, if there was any DNA recovered,
if there was any sort of suspects they had that they may have spoken to,
and what they did to wrap up, if they wrapped up the investigation.
Wow. What a… Amazing.
They will give us the file at the end,
and I will be able to walk you through it
and hopefully give you guys the closure that you deserve.
Yeah. That's what we want. That's the bottom line.
I got more answers from this guy in… in two days
than I did in 30 fucking years.
And excuse my language, please.
Oh. There's always one character in the family.
That's all right.
Come on.
This is, uh… this is where it all began for me.
Right on this corner. What's up, buddy? How are you doing?
-All right. -Good. Good.
-Paying attention? Okay. -I'm paying attention.
Watch this. I'm gonna show you how nuts this was.
-Aunt Priscilla was here, 342. -Yeah, all right. Huh.
Three-forty-three and a half was Meemaw.
-The Puerto Rican side. -That's the Puerto Rican side, yes.
And that's where they filmed Paris Is Burning. Right there, inside.
And that's where Venus used to watch you when I used to sleep at night.
Over here, that's where we lived.
Me, Uncle Joe, Uncle Louie, and Uncle Frankie.
Venus was there for a little bit, but then she went across the street to Grandma's.
Right here. All my family.
My aunts, my uncles, my cousins, my friends.
All of us. Come on, I'm gonna show you Grandma's house.
Crazy.
I live here in Jersey City with my grandmother.
She's the closest thing that I have to me in my family.
She has taken care of me all my life,
ever since, you could say, almost childbirth.
And, um, I'm her baby.
She's overprotective of me,
and, uh, she doesn't like me to be around men.
She doesn't like me to have boyfriends,
because she thinks that they're all gonna use me
and take advantage of me and get me in trouble and make me suffer.
Look at that.
She was styling, man.
She looks angry.
Like, "What am I doing here? I'm supposed to be a woman." You know?
And then, how about that?
"Jersey City Public Library."
Um… "November 17, 1988."
She just got this card before she was murdered.
They have her given name on here.
Not "Venus."
She hated that.
Her deadname is also on her tombstone,
which my brothers and I are hopefully changing it.
All right.
Good stuff.
I'm gonna pull over right up here
and shut my truck off.
How long are we gonna be on this video? Do you know?
Not too long.
The reason why I'm calling you is because I got this mail, you know,
from New York State Vital Statistics.
-You know? -Right.
-Ready? You wanna open it? -No, you can open it.
How's the weather there?
-Beautiful today. -Nice.
Yeah. Yeah.
Oh. I think this is it, bro.
This is definitely it.
Check it out.
Let me see this.
Wow. That's what we've been waiting for.
Yeah, I got two of them. Look, brother.
What's it say on the top? "Certificate of…"
"The City of New York. Vital records certificate."
You got glasses.
Uh, "Vital Records, Department of Health, Borough of Manhattan." Wow.
Go ahead.
So, "Name of the deceased…"
"…Pellagatti."
-They spelled the name wrong. -Motherfuckers.
"December 21st, 1988."
I think that's when they pronounced her dead.
Yeah, so the location, "264 West 46th Street."
"Strangulation."
-Yeah. -It's…
You know what? I… I don't want to… It's just fucking miserable.
Does this help if we were talking about trying to get
a name change or anything?
-Does that help? -Absolutely, it would help.
This is a bunch of information that we need.
-The detectives didn't tell us anything. -No.
So it was like this big mystery.
Yeah. "It's under investigation." They didn't care.
Yeah.
This fucking sucks though, looking at that.
Somebody got away with murder, and that just don't sit well with me.
So, uh, we spoke on Zoom.
I wanna make sure that what I got from you is where we're going,
which is you had a sister, Venus,
and she is no longer with us, and she hasn't been since 1988?
Correct.
She was a transgender woman, and she also has a House family.
And so both you and you folks and the House family are on the same page
that you'd like to get a posthumous name change,
like a fancy word for "now that she's no longer with us, get her name changed."
Correct. Because she was taken away from us so early,
us, as her surviving siblings, decided that,
"You know what? We're gonna do something in her honor
and give her what she would have done anyway,
and that's to change her name."
She was Venus.
Yeah.
So once you get a legal name change, you get a certified copy.
And then if there's anything else that has her name on it that you want to change,
it shouldn't be an issue to take that golden ticket copy of an order
and show it to anybody who needs to see it and say,
"Hey, this is actually her name."
"We need to correct whatever it is we need to correct."
That's great.
Part of my concern, although I'm excited,
is who's gonna come out of the woodwork and have a problem with this?
Maybe it goes super smoothly, and then maybe it's a shit show.
But either way, we figure it out.
This wasn't easy for us to do as a family.
-Yes. -I have a business, a corporation.
Is this gonna affect me getting a job because Venus was my sister?
I mean, and those people are out there.
-Yeah. -They're out there.
Understand the gravity, and I understand that that is exactly why we're doing this.
But what you feel about what could potentially happen to your business
is why people stay in the closet.
It's not easy to take on this system,
but just the very first paragraph on the page is…
-Powerful, right? -Yes.
So, "Scope of representation."
"You are seeking a posthumous name change for your sibling,
Venus Pellagatti Xtravaganza, in order to affirm her gender identity."
"You understand that to the knowledge of the attorney responsible at TAA,
this has never been attempted in New Jersey,
and there is no established procedure for the same."
"TAA has undertaken this representation of you
in order to advance the rights
of transgender and non-binary New Jerseyans."
"This is impact litigation
because its reach may extend beyond your family."
It's kind of exciting thinking that,
"Oh my God, I think we're gonna be bringing some awareness
and possibly some change."
It's a green light. It's a green light.
Oh man.
Bringing out the Jersey City in me.
When I learned about O'Shae's murder earlier this week,
I was overwhelmed.
Angry that another one of our brothers had to die.
O'Shae was a core part of the young, thriving LGBTQ community here in New York.
He represented the best of us.
He was creative, upbeat, and brought out the best in those around him
and frequently expressed his love of life through fucking dance.
That was no different on the night he was murdered.
Having to grieve the loss of a community member over and over again.
This shit is tiresome.
Amen.
I wanna recognize everyone for coming out,
coming together to create a safe space
where we attempt to process and heal.
Voguing is not a crime.
Voguing is not a crime!
So today, we will vogue in honor of O'Shae.
-Say his name! -O'Shae!
Voguing is not a crime Voguing is not a crime
Voguing is not a crime
I grew up in a world
where I thought that I was the only person like me.
-Good. -How are you?
Venus was confidence personified,
and I'm thankful that she shared her story
because it provided me the tools that I needed
to be able to share mine one day.
Oftentimes you don't get a chance.
You have your heroes in community,
and you don't get a chance to meet their biological family.
She was fierce.
-Yes. She was. -She was. She was before her time.
Yes. Yes.
And we were fortunate enough to live with her for many…
We were her siblings, so…
So this person loved Venus as much as we all did and suffered.
Maybe we can put him at ease.
-Hey. -Hey, I'm Louie.
-José. Nice to meet you. -Hey, José. I'm Joe.
-Nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you.
-How are you? -Good. Thanks.
Sit down.
Thanks for being here with us, José.
Appreciate you calling, man.
We appreciate meeting you.
I've often wondered what I would say to you guys when I met you in person.
Um…
Venus was, um…
She was my House sister and my niece.
She was beautiful. She was a free spirit.
She was funny. She was feisty too.
She was comfortable with who she was.
And families don't realize the damage that they do.
The House of Xtravaganza was composed…
of people who were scarred because of their family's neglect.
Venus was one of those.
I have found peace in my life. I have made peace with a lot of things.
Thirty years ago, I wouldn't be so sure
that this would go as civil as it's going.
And I'll be honest.
Because I held a lot of resentment
just from talking to Venus
and the pain that she felt.
She… she had bad things to say about her family?
-Not bad things, per se. -Because I find that hard to believe.
-Really? -Yeah.
How so?
Because, you know, we come from a broken family.
Mother and Father split up.
Um…
-Venus lived with my grandmother. -She did.
My grandmother was like her mom.
She didn't feel that love from the rest of her family.
-Her brothers or her family per se? -He's saying everybody.
Oh.
Yeah, and that's probably the reason why she went and explored a new family
with the Xtravaganzas. Right?
Right.
I could only say, like, I don't blame Venus
because where was she getting her love?
Where was she getting her recognition and her prize and her flowers, you know?
But I also have to say, like,
that I will stand here and say, like, "I love my sister."
-You know? -It wasn't that you guys didn't love her.
I'm sure she came and bitched and moaned because I gave her hell.
Part of it may have been true, but that she felt rejected…
-That's understood. -Yeah.
But I knew Venus before she was Venus,
you know, as her little baby brother.
I have that deep, you know, bond of a sibling.
Okay?
That was…
That was real.
And sure, at the time, maybe things came out where it was confusing.
You know, how can I understand something I know nothing about?
But I understand her pain because how much she loved us and her family
and how she must have felt.
And that breaks my heart too.
Because who did this to my sister
stole her from you
and stole her from us.
And I… I am truly sorry for your pain.
But I know one thing.
I will stand with my brothers and say, "We loved our sister."
Maybe we didn't know how to really show it the way she needed it.
I'll live with that.
But as I stand here today, I'm gonna say how much I loved her
and mean it from the bottom of my heart.
And I believe you. You know why? Because you're here.
-It means a lot. -And in life, we evolve.
-Right or wrong? -Yeah, we do.
-Absolutely. -Evolution. We all have to.
So this used to be her neighborhood.
-Yeah. -Yeah.
To be here is very personal to me.
Diving into who Venus is and what she went through.
Here it is, 343 and a half.
-Oh Jesus. -Are you serious? And a half.
-And a half. -And a half.
-Point-five. -Oh, wow.
-So this used to be… -So this is the house where she lived.
-Oh wow. -Was nurtured.
It's wild to be here 34 years after she's murdered.
And so much has changed, but at the same time,
so much has not changed.
To be Puerto Rican, Italian, and trans,
what it meant.
What her home meant as a sanctuary, right?
What her bedroom meant as a space that she could envision
that one day someone like you could be possible.
Yeah. How important this is.
-Yeah, I love this. -This is so important.
-We know this is important. -Right.
But for it to be recognized by the other communities…
Absolutely.
How can we landmark this?
We need to make those conversations happen.
Yes.
Oh, look at all the Xs.
-Okay. -Xtravaganza!
Okay.
"What's the matter, Pedro?"
-"You going through it?" -"Are you going through it?"
What is wrong with you, Pedro? Are you going through it?
You're going through some kind of psychological change in your life?
-She went back to being a man. -You went back to being a man?
Touch this skin, darling.
Touch this skin, honey.
Touch all of this skin.
Okay? You just can't take it.
I am looking for a bag that I placed here many years ago.
You know, I had my spikes in it. I had baseball gloves in it.
I had shit from California,
where I played baseball, and I had photos of my dad
and the gift I had for Venus
for Christmas.
The first women item that I ever got for her.
It was a Halston bottle for women.
It was a perfume spray.
Halston.
I don't know if they still make it, but, you know, we had no money.
But I had a few bucks then. So she would have liked it.
I had it wrapped up, put it under the tree, and then…
the unfortunate thing happened.
We had no Christmas that year.
I would always talk to her and tell her,
"Please, be careful out there."
"It's crazy. You're in New York." You know, cocaine wars.
And it was… it was very scary.
Seventeen hundred and thirty-four people
have been killed in New York this year.
New York City had its highest homicide rate ever in 1980,
and that has renewed calls…
Since crack has been around
and has turned the streets into shooting galleries,
crime, including murder and other violent crimes,
has just skyrocketed.
We're scared to ride the trains in the day. We don't ride them at night.
I was with a guy, and he touched me down there.
He felt it, and he seen it, and he totally flipped out.
He said, "You fucking faggot. You're a freak."
"You're a victim of AIDS, and you're trying to give me AIDS."
"What are you, crazy? You're a homo. I should kill you."
You know, stuff like that.
And, like, I was really terrified, so I just jumped out the window.
I grabbed my bag and just jumped out the window.
She was like my right hand, as far as I'm concerned.
I miss her. Every time I go anywhere, I miss her.
That was my main… the main daughter of my House, in other words.
I used to tell her, "You take too many chances."
"You're too wild in the streets. Something's gonna happen to you."
But that was Venus.
She always took a chance. She always went into a stranger's car.
She always did what she wanted to get what she wanted.
The DTs came to me with a picture of her murdered,
and I was the one that had to give all this information down to her family.
I remember my mom calling.
She said, "Get to your grandmother's. Something terrible happened." And…
my father had a station wagon at that time.
We just went… really quiet.
No words were said,
you know, until we got to where we were at the medical examiner's office,
and so we talked.
Me, Joe, and my dad.
And he said, "Go get your brother."
"All right."
I went with the examiner or whatever.
I said, "Pull out the hand," because Venus had a mark on her hand.
She had a hawk.
Did you ever see a hawk?
It was some medicine from when she was a baby.
Meningitis. It spilled on her.
Put a little burn, but it healed like a hawk.
And that's when I said, "Pull out the hand."
"Let me see."
And there it was.
I knew that was her.
And it was… It's something you don't wanna remember.
You don't wanna see your sister decomposed like I did.
Yeah.
Terrible.
What I'm looking for, I did not find,
and that sucks.
I was just thinking, when I was younger,
I always felt like Venus' presence was, like, protecting me.
My mom, I told you, would take us to the car
when they'd argue, and we'd have to sleep in the car.
And Venus, even at that age,
was protecting me and holding me.
I can remember that like it was yesterday.
-How are you? -Very well.
How do you feel?
I'm all right. I just wanna see what's going on.
We'll see what the deal is once and for all.
My mind is, like, moving 100 miles an hour.
Ready?
That coffee's horrible. I'm letting you know right away. Horrible.
It's ironic that the meeting fell today because today's the 34th anniversary.
-Right? -That's right.
This has been a little bit of an odyssey from our perspective.
We didn't get a physical copy of the entire file for you.
Uh, what we were able to get, which we're gonna give you today,
is a very high-level summary of the investigation,
but some of the details that we learned from the file
are not gonna be easy to hear.
So Venus's body was found at the Fulton Hotel.
Uh, she was under a mattress.
Uh, there was a plaid scarf tied around her neck tightly.
She clearly had ligature marks, uh, on her wrists,
so that confirms that she was bound before she was murdered.
Her body was discovered by a housekeeper, uh, but the police interviewed her.
The police interviewed a number of other hotel employees,
but the bottom line is,
as of the… the time of the murder,
there were no live suspects,
and so the trail could have gone cold there.
So in February 1990,
the police were able to identify someone by the name Robinson.
And the way this name came to them,
he was incarcerated in Nassau on an unrelated rape case.
This guy Robinson
called the detective who arrested him in Nassau County
and confessed to the detective
about murdering a prostitute in a Manhattan hotel.
He-- The DD-5 from that one
does not say the words, "I strangled her."
It literally just says, "I bound her,"
and then says,
"Once I believed that, that she was dead, um,
I put a mattress over her to hide her body."
And then, apparently, within a day or two of that confession happening,
he hangs himself.
This is what gets me. This is what gets me.
You're in jail on rape.
Why in the world do you wanna confess to a murder
if you're in jail on rape?
-John, people have consciences. -Oh, you think so?
-Yeah, I think so. -You think so?
I just can't get over a fact
somebody's in jail, and you're too fucking naive,
the both of youse, to think somebody's in jail on rape--
John, you don't think this ever happens? It happens.
-You think people wanna say-- -They commit…
Yeah, they kill themselves, but they don't admit to killing people.
I mean, obviously,
he said something that only the murderer would know.
-Where did this guy live? -We don't have any details.
You don't have any of that information?
I'm telling you what's in the police file.
I don't know what's true or not, but I very much agree with you
that it's really unusual
for a guy that is in prison for a rape
to confess to a murder.
Maybe he knew he was gonna take his own life.
Well, maybe, yeah.
Is there anything in the file
saying that this physical evidence
may be pointing to a suspect?
So Lieutenant Russo did say that, to give you guys closure,
NYPD would reopen the case and see if there was corroborating evidence.
Like you said, if there was DNA,
they would reach out to the medical examiner's office
and see if they also had DNA or any other evidence.
You should do what you feel is necessary,
but in my humble view,
that's just gonna tell you what you already know,
which is that this guy argued with her,
and it escalated, and he strangled her.
And I didn't know about the…
having her hands tied. I didn't…
Oh man.
Damn.
He's gotta be a fucking jerk-off because she was tiny anyway.
So… a piece of shit.
-A coward. -Yeah, a coward.
Absolutely. I said that.
Part of me is mad at Venus.
I'll tell you what. She was cracking.
She smoked crack.
-Yeah. -She liked to party.
She was still a human being. It doesn't matter.
Regardless of what she did, she was still a human being.
Nobody deserves that.
Everyone has issues. Nobody's perfect.
I know that better than anyone.
I wanna see the file. I wanna see that file.
-This is… -I know. I know.
John, I mean… What else do you wanna see?
-I want to see it though. -I'm okay.
Youse do what you wanna do. Just do what youse wanna do.
-Agreed. -Too many inconsistencies.
They got the guy's name. They know who he was.
-He did it. -Oh my God.
What else are we gonna-- What is the investigation gonna show?
-Can it bring Venus back? Huh. -Mm-mm.
I told youse that before. She ain't coming back.
It's not for nothing. This is very painful for me.
-I understand. All right. -I can't sit through this stuff.
-Okay? -We got the information, John.
We know who did it.
But I understand your point,
but that's what's gonna eat you away.
You know what we could do is just remember Venus right now.
-Look at this beautiful sunset. -Yeah.
Yeah, that's a beautiful sun.
-Holy cow. -Jersey City.
Yeah.
Wow. Beautiful.
Let me see that copy one more time.
-Yeah. I'm good, bro. -Yeah, same here.
I'm good.
Losing my sister made me…
It weakened me. You want the truth? It weakened me.
You have your regrets. "What did I do wrong?"
I was more worried about my image than her.
I'm gonna go meet a friend of my sister's.
I wanna ask her,
"Hey, listen, tell me the stories now that I didn't know."
"Maybe that would, uh…
help me understand my sister better."
Venus had all brothers, so if she had a sister, it would be you.
So she would confide in you,
and she would tell you things that we don't know.
So I'm… I'm… I'm looking to find out
what…
what it was like with her, hanging out with her.
Venus loved her brothers,
but she felt safe in a different way around me, okay?
She had a room in my apartment.
She made it her room, okay?
And that was the room,
that was her serenity, when she wanted to get away.
She never used a key, always went through the fire escape,
but she was comfortable, see?
And, you know…
That's crazy. Do you see what I'm saying?
It's what I'm saying, but the thing was
I adored that crazy girl.
-Okay. -So it was okay.
Maybe at her family's, they would have gotten on her case,
or she may have felt like they would have gotten on her case.
Well, that's the difference though.
But Venus loved her brothers, the family and everything,
and she made it clear that she loved you, John.
She really did.
I did a lot of shit to her,
not to toughen her up, but, you know, I…
And I did a lot of shit to fuck her up too.
Mikey was a baby. I told her, "You can watch him, and I'll pay you."
But I said to her,
"If you take the kid out, do not dress like a woman."
I did say that to her, so…
And I kind of feel fucked up about that now because that's who she was.
But out of respect, she would wear sweatpants, a sweatshirt,
put her hair in a ponytail, and have Mikey in a carriage.
You know, so…
You don't say that. I should have never said that, but I did.
-You have pictures of my sister in here? -I do.
This is a really nice picture.
-It is. -Let me see.
So cute.
-This is at a ball? -Yes.
I remember she had gotten a taste of the first show of her in drag,
and then we just started talking about names.
So we come up with a few.
One said Tiny, the other one said Little Bit, Peanut,
and I was like, "Just stupid names," you know?
And I kept remembering that song just crossed my mind, "Venus."
It was, I think, Frankie Avalon. And I said, "What about Venus?"
And her eyes lit up. She goes, "Oh, that sounds so nice."
"And I wanna be different." So she said, "That's gonna be my name."
And that's how she got it.
And it fit her so well because it was different, you see?
Yeah.
And that's…
that's her name.
Hey, Venus
Oh, Venus…
I think this is the front.
Gotta get this big ol' head in this tiny hole, darling.
Ooh.
She's being born.
Mirror, mirror on the wall…
Who's the fem queen at the ball?
Yeah, I feel like
ballroom has really given me the confidence to step out.
When I'm in the ballroom, the chin is up, the head is high, the eyes are straight.
I take a lot of that with me in and out of ballroom for protection.
It has taught me how to be confident just walking the streets of New York City.
Everywhere I go, just making sure
that I'm really, literally putting my best foot forward
when I pump.
-Hello. -Syd! How are you?
I'm good.
Oh my God! Where's Amara?
There. Yeah.
Hello!
It's been so long time to see you!
I know!
So I received a call from Detective Decker
of NYPD's Cold Case Unit.
-They started looking into the case again. -That's great.
We had talked about the possibility that the evidence might have been lost,
either at the NYPD warehouse fire or during Hurricane Sandy.
He was actually able to locate three items,
including the ligature that was used.
And the suspect, when they did the autopsy,
they took a DNA sample from him.
It's called a stain card.
And so NYPD was also able to take a piece of that stain card.
And so they're going to test both of those to see if there's a match.
Well, there's no disputing that.
-If it matches, we… we got our answers. -Yes. Mm-hmm.
Listen…
-Ms. Deanna, thank you so much. -Of course.
Unbelievable.
That's unbelievable.
Where did this idea come from to have this house be a landmark?
Venus Xtravaganza was a trans woman
who was in the House of Xtravaganza.
She joined the House at the early stages
when the House first started.
So she has a huge history in ballroom as well.
And Venus was Puerto Rican and Italian,
and she lived in New Jersey, in Jersey City.
This is where Venus Xtravaganza was raised.
She basically was a trans woman
who inspired and influenced a whole culture and a generation.
You know, she inspired me, she inspired so many girls,
and she was a trendsetter and a pioneer in our community.
And so showing the world this public acknowledgement,
it would be a form of justice for the House of Xtravaganza,
for the family, and for Venus,
and for the trans community, and for the gay community.
For all of us, really.
And if it's the one thing we can tell our community right now is,
"You deserve a home."
All right. Thank you very much for the very passionate testimony.
You've taken us through this. I think it meets all these criteria.
So I'm prepared to make a motion to recommend this to the planning board.
Congratulations.
-How are you? -How are you?
-Good. Lovely to see you too. -Good to see you.
-Wanna see what it looks like? -Yeah.
Yeah, check this out. All right.
"Name is hereby corrected to Venus Pellagatti Xtravaganza,
the name legally used by decedent during her lifetime,
effective immediately."
"Ordered on this 29th day of August 2023."
My birthday!
-Really? -Yes.
-Awesome. Yes. -Isn't this awesome?
This has never been done.
As far as I know, this has never been done before.
-So this is groundbreaking. -Little bit.
-No, a lot of bit. -A lot of bit.
So this court order, even though it was entered in Hudson County,
is good anywhere in the United States.
-Okay. -Anywhere in New Jersey.
Any place that has to follow a court order,
which is pretty much most places,
pretty much everywhere, has to follow that.
You know, let's, uh… let's get a new tombstone for her.
And then the other thing I would do is just get her death certificate changed.
We owe that to her.
And I think she wants me to do that because this all happened on my birthday.
On your birthday.
So I think she's trying to tell me something.
-That's incredible. -You know?
The way that we can make it
so that it's easier for other people to use
or to do or to set a precedent, legally,
is to ask the court to issue a written decision
and then try to get that decision published.
We're okay with that. I'm gonna frame it.
It's gonna go downstairs right next to the Baltimore Oriole,
New York Knicks, all that good stuff.
Take the Knicks down. I don't know, but that's your house. You do what…
-Indianapolis Colts. -A lot of colors down there.
-It'll be very colorful. LGBT T-shirt. -There's your LGBT T-shirt.
Oh my God.
Come on, give me some.
You have it all. You got it all.
-This is good, man. This is good stuff. -Yeah.
I've come from being a young,
loud little flaming queen from the Village
to a mature young lady, competing in balls.
I want to start a career
in professional modeling.
I'm just hoping for the best.
But if things don't ever work out, you never know…
Maybe one day I'll meet a rich millionaire,
and he'll take me all around the world.
So would you prefer to debut in another country,
or would you wanna debut in New York City?
They really want me to save my high fashion virginity
for Europe.
-Okay. -For Paris, so…
They're casting for Paris the end of this week, probably Thursday,
so I really could get called any day now to just get on the flight.
-Yeah. -Pack my bags and work internationally.
That would be so beautiful.
Part of getting ready for Europe was getting a new ID and…
My ID still says my deadname and everything.
So now I'm still walking the Earth, legally, as…
You know? It's gonna be that.
No! The name that shall not be mentioned.
-Oh my God. -I pay it dust.
To be honest, I feel like some of the girls get triggered by it.
My parents still call me by my deadname, so it gets very like…
Oh, how's that?
It's really, really like…
It's funny, to be honest, because I give woman
when I come through the door, so it's almost like,
"Okay, when I get bags, are you still gonna be calling me…?" You know?
You know, I think I must have been pretty crazy,
because I don't understand what happened with me, but I was like,
"No one's gonna call me that!"
And, yeah, they never did.
So John called me and told me that Venus' name is officially
Venus Pellagatti Xtravaganza, so she's gonna have both her names.
-It's legal. -Wait, so they changed the tombstone too?
-They're gonna change it. -That's a major, major, major step.
Yeah.
I think it's beautiful that her family wants to give her that respect.
-Absolutely. -All together, as a family.
I did talk to Detective Decker with NYPD.
Really?
So he says, "A bit of bad news." I said, "Okay, what's going on?"
He said the first DNA they sent out came back
and ruled out that this kid, Robinson…
It just don't match up with what they had under her fingernails.
-So it remains an open case. -That's fucked up.
He's not gonna close the case. It's reopened.
-But I never, never… -That's…
When we left Jim's office, you know, I wanna put this to bed too.
-I made a point. -You did. I'm glad you did.
"Fuck this," I said, "I don't care."
I was 98% sure that this was the guy who did it.
-Of course. Yeah. -I can't believe this. This is like…
Yeah. I believe it.
-They have DNA, right? -They have some DNA, yeah.
So isn't there a database?
That's what I asked.
"Is there something you can run through a computer?"
Exactly.
But then again, that's a shot too, 'cause…
-Are we allowed to do that? -I don't know. I gotta ask.
-This is fucked up. -It's bad.
-There's a killer still out there.
We gotta hope that whoever's in that computer
has a criminal offense or did something.
No, not necessarily. The people, they do their family history.
-Yeah. Ancestry… -Ancestry.com.
-They put their DNA in there. -Yeah.
-You might find somebody like that. -You never know.
-Let them do their job. -Yeah. Yeah.
We need to talk to Jim again and see what our next moves are.
That's it. But this is like a never-ending…
Never-ending.
It's like years and years and years, same shit.
It's gotta be really hard for you, thinking that you knew what happened,
and now it's possible that it happened a different way.
But for today's purposes, I want you to understand
that although the tests excluded the suspect,
as a contributor to the DNA samples that were tested,
it didn't do anything more than that. It's not definitive either way.
So no one can tell you,
based on the DNA that was taken,
how it was stored, whether it was degraded.
There are a lot of questions that we have.
Uh, for example, there's certainly mixtures of DNA on some of the samples.
I think you guys understand that they took some samples from Venus' fingernails.
There were some from the scarf
that they believe may have been used to strangle her,
but they don't know that for sure.
So that doesn't mean that the person that you know as the suspect is innocent.
Certainly doesn't mean that he's guilty.
It means that there is a healthy degree of skepticism from the new team
to make sure they look back at the old team's work.
You know, I just…
Again, I believe we've made so many big strides here,
and I'm so grateful for everybody.
It's just… I'm already feeling
like I may never know the… you know, the truth of who did this.
I don't think that's gonna happen.
It hurts, but this is very important,
that we're raising our voices for someone like Venus,
and that alone fulfills me
and makes me feel much better about…
life itself,
because there are people that love us and support us,
brothers that love their sisters.
To see them come together like this is really inspiring for me.
What you all have done to bring light to this issue
and to help the entire community
is so much more
of a meaningful advancement of her legacy than finding out
with a significant degree of certainty who was responsible for this.
And I just hope that the pain of not knowing who did this to her
to a mathematical certainty is over… overshadowed
by all the good that has come from bringing people together
to remember her and how important she was.
Thank you, Jim.
It doesn't mean that it's hopeless, but it's very difficult.
"City Ordinance 23-070, Historic Preservation Review Procedures,
Venus Pellagatti Xtravaganza House, 343.5 8th Street."
This is a public hearing on this ordinance.
Any member of the public wishing to be heard,
please come up to the podium and state your name for the record.
Hello. My name is Amara Velasquez Xtravaganza.
How are you doing, council members?
"I am here today to pay homage to my sister,
Venus Pellagatti Xtravaganza."
"Venus and I are both Latina trans women,
both Puerto Rican and Italian,
both authentic in our self-expression,
both a part of the House of Xtravaganza."
"Venus's house being preserved as a state and national landmark
would truly show the rest of America how to celebrate queer people."
"It is so important for trans people
to see themselves reflected in society,
to be included and to receive support from the systems that govern us."
"We need queer historical spaces
so we can reflect on all that we have fought for
and all that we are still fighting for."
You know, what happened to my sister, it's tragic.
What you guys are doing, if you vote yes,
is, um… is a step in the right direction.
This is history in the making.
It is something to be a beacon of light
to those who need us, collectively, to lift up their voices.
This initiative is absolutely important.
This is not just about Latinx trans women,
as Venus was, or Black trans women.
It's not just about LGBTQ people.
It's also about you.
Because none of us can be free,
none of us, unless we all are free. Thank you.
I just want to say, I didn't know about this story
until the legislation was put forth.
But I just want to commend all of the speakers that come up
because this… I mean, this stuff looks easy.
It's not easy.
It's not easy. You open yourself up to all types of attacks,
verbally, physically.
You know, this stuff is not easy, um…
I just wanna commend you and just…
If we're going to embrace diversity, let's embrace diversity.
Let's not be selective in what we want to embrace.
Motion to close the public hearing
on City Ordinance 23-070, Councilperson Prinz-Arey.
Aye.
-Councilperson Boggiano. -Aye.
-Councilperson Saleh. -Aye.
-Councilperson Solomon. -Aye.
-Councilperson Gilmore. -Aye.
-Council President DeGise. -Aye.
Motion carries, six-zero.
The council members Ridley, Rivera, and Watterman…
Congratulations.
Let's go party.
Party. I wanna see what's happening, man. I'm looking forward to this.
If Venus was here, she'd run away with the biggest trophy.
We're off to the ball. Maybe I'll meet Cinderella tonight.
Yeah? What are you gonna do with glass slippers?
Let's see which one fits.
Which way are you going now? I think we gotta go this way.
Yeah, let's go with the lights.
Touch this skin, honey Touch all of this skin, okay?
Okay?
You just can't take it
Okay?
You look so beautiful.
That's really impressive. That's pretty…
That's… Wow.
Okay?
Overgrown orangutan
Okay?
Touch this skin, honey Touch all of this skin
You just can't take it
I still grieve.
That's never gonna change.
But I, uh…
I'm understanding a lot more now
than I was when all this process started
because I did get to meet really a lot of good people.
Good, good people.
And they made me understand a lot better.
Venus was somebody special.
Very proud of her and what she did, her accomplishments.
I wish we could have done more for her.
You always feel like,
"Tomorrow we'll catch up. Tomorrow we'll do this."
But when tomorrow never comes for a person,
that's the most difficult thing to deal with.
I wish she was here.
The first thing I would say is, "I'm sorry."
-Hey. So happy to see you. -Long time no see.
-How are you doing? -I'm good.
-Sit down. -All right. You got it.
Go for it.
Am I good here?
You are. Let me turn you a little. Move up some so that you're not…
Up? Okay.
-So you're comfortable. -Yeah.
Here we go, Venus.
I was telling somebody,
22 years this November, I'll be clean and sober.
I was in San Francisco, and I just did not wanna exist, man.
And I didn't know what I was gonna do.
I just closed my eyes, and I just seen Venus talking to me.
I really felt it.
You know, I felt her saying to me,
"You cannot give up. You have to get help."
You know, "You're needed here."
And I was.
You know?
Wow, it looks beautiful, Jas.
Everything is just all falling into place.
Like I told them, she's finally getting her roses.
-Yes. I love it. -Her flowers, you know?
The house is landmarked.
-It's a beautiful thing. -Yeah.
We tried to keep everything as original as possible as we worked.
Some stuff wasn't possible.
Holy shit, man.
I found something while I was fixing up.
Really?
-Sure. -That's a brooch.
-That belonged to Venus. -Can I see?
Do you remember that? Venus used to wear that.
-Wait a minute. -We found it inside a wall.
-It was your grandmother's. -Never heard of it.
Venus broke it and put it on something,
and your mother had a fit, your grandmother had a fit.
-I remember this. -Let me see it.
-Yeah. Wow. -Crazy.
-I wanna look at it. -Wow. That's forever ago.
-Beautiful. -Let me get a picture.
-Take it with you. Absolutely. -Thank you.
Really, thank you so much.
It does.
You're an Xtravaganza, and you're the mother of the House,
and I want you to have that.
Well, thank you.
I'll hold it very dear.
We're family,
and, uh, we'll always be here for you guys.
Just hit us up, you know.
These two families can exist together
to create an even greater human being.
Venus Pellagatti Xtravaganza's home
is now our home.
Gisele, come on, baby. Get in here.
Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
Yes. We all get in there.
-Come on. -Jillian, come on. Helen, get in here.
-Come one. -Come on, Jill.
Venus.
-Yeah, X! -Okay, listen. I guess I'm a member now.
-Venus. -Venus.
-Awesome. Yes. Yeah! -She's got it
She's got it
Baby, she's got it
I'm your Venus
I'm your fire, your desire
Yeah!
I'm your Venus
I'm your fire, your desire…
Jersey, let me hear you in the name of Venus Xtravaganza.
Happy Trans Day of Visibility, today and every day.
Trans lives matter, baby.
Clap for me like that
Just clap for me, just clap Just clap for me like that
I wanna see
Just for me
My brother, Syd Xtravaganza
The trans man
The OTA
The bold, bold
That old way bold
I say show us the old way, Syd
Show us the old way, Syd
Show us the old way
The one and only
That's Syd Xtravaganza
When you talk about vogue
You have my father José Xtravaganza
Show us how you do it, pa
Give it up for José Xtravaganza
All right, all right
Amara, here to give you that pump
That international pump
I said touch this skin
Touch all of this skin, honey
Touch this skin
Give it up for Gisele Xtravaganza
I said Gisele Xtravaganza
I said that…
Gisele
Gisele Xtravaganza
I said Joe Pellagatti
I said Joe Pellagatti…
Here I am.
Good, Joe
Come give us a walk, Joe
In the name of Venus In the name of Venus, Joe Pellagatti…
That's right!
Give him a round of applause
Louie, where you at?
I said Louie, Louie, Louie
Louie, where you at?
I said Louie, Louie, Louie
Let me hear some noise For John Pellagatti Xtravaganza
DJ, pump the beat, X, X, X
Xtravaganza!
X, X, X
All of this skin, honey
All of this skin
All of this skin, all of this skin
All of this skin, honey
All of this skin
All of this skin, all of this skin
All of this skin, honey
All of this skin
All of this skin, all of this skin
All of this skin
All of this skin, all of this skin
All of this skin, honey
All of this skin
All of this skin, all of this skin
All of this skin, honey
All of this skin
All of this skin, honey
Oh wow. Okay. Oh wow.
Everybody, go home. Everybody, go home.
Everybody, go home. It's over.
Go home!