Venus Xtravaganza: Jersey City Ballroom Icon Honored During Pride Month

The name of Venus Xtravaganza holds an enamored weight in New Jersey’s LGBTQIA+ community, one that bridges two families into one resounding voice: the Pellagattis, her biological relatives, and the Xtravaganzas, her chosen kin.

Growing up in an Italian-American and Puerto Rican household with four brothers, Venus found community and acceptance in New York City’s vibrant ballroom scene as a member of the House of Xtravaganza. Her formidable spirit and authentic voice remain a source of strength for trans advocates and allies today.

More than three decades later, she was honored during the city’s Pride Month celebrations at an Aug. 19 event hosted by the Jersey City Free Public Library (JCPL).

Trans Violence in Context

In 1988, Venus was a rising talent in New York’s underground ballroom scene. She was murdered only months before the release of the seminal documentary called “Paris Is Burning,”  which showcased her life and the lives of others in the ballroom scene.  The 23-year-old was discovered dead in room 113 of the Fulton Hotel, her body hidden beneath a mattress. Police believe she was strangled to death, though her murderer has never been identified. 

Venus’s murder is not an isolated tragedy: the transgender community has been a targeted group amongst the LGBTQIA+ with some of the highest rates of violence throughout the decades. Over 5,000 transgender individuals have been killed due to violence since 2008, according to a figure by the Trans Murder Monitoring Project.

A comprehensive analysis by UCLA’s Williams Institute, based on federal surveys and state health data from 2021–2023, revealed that more than 2.8 million individuals aged 13 and older in the U.S. identify as transgender nationwide, a marginalized group who are still faced with opposition to this day. 

Ballroom Legacy and Tragic Loss

Venus’ appearance in “Paris Is Burning” offered one of the most widely seen portrayals of a young trans woman living openly and authentically in her era. Her story has continued to resonate, with many in the trans community citing her as a source of inspiration for her fierce attitude and relatable conquest of identity.

Set against the turbulent backdrop of the late 1980s and early 1990s, the film portrays gatherings of the ballroom scene, as both a fashion spectacle and a political act of embracing one’s own runaway of self-expression in an era that sought the elimination of the transgender community. 

Later on in the documentary film “I’m Your Venus,” which was released in 2024, sought to reopen the unresolved murder case of Venus, while piecing together the life of the pioneering transgender icon and her Pellegatti and Xtravaganza families. 

Her case remains open, and the investigation is ongoing. She was buried under her birth name at Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington, her true identity obscured for years. In 2023, her family corrected the record, posthumously restoring her name and replacing the tombstone to reflect who she truly was.

In one particular scene, Joe, her brother, finds a library card from the Jersey City Public Library issued on November 17, 1988, a month prior to the murder of Venus.

Modern Remembrance and Advocacy

At the August event commemorating her life, members of the JCPL emphasized the need to counter erasure in the trans and LGBTQIA+ community by removing history, instead of acknowledging its own existence. 

“We are really happy that we can continue on her legacy, and right a wrong,” said Kate Davis, the assistant director of JCPL, to New Jersey Urban News. “The life of Venus shows us how far we have come, and our fight to protect history instead of erasing it.”

The childhood home of the transgender icon was designated a historic landmark in 2023, at 343 ½ Eighth Street. The decision was approved by both the Jersey City Historic Preservation Commission and a unanimous vote at the Jersey City council.

Members of Venus’ family spoke on the process of cherishing the life of their sister and embracing a line of members into the new familyhood, one threaded together by Venus.

“This is unbelievable, this is my neighborhood, this is us, my brothers and I, we stand with the community (LGBTQIA+). We want to make things better,” said Venus’s brother Joe Pellagatti, to the crowd of members who attended the event. “You should be able to walk out here without having to worry about someone hitting you over the head with something because of the way you look.”

In the same vein, John Pellagatti, the eldest of his brothers, spoke on learning from the mistakes of the past and welcoming a new resolve, acknowledging that it was challenging at the beginning to accept her identity as a transwoman.

In the documentary, the Pellagatti brothers take on a journey of healing and self-revelation while discovering who Venus was and what she aspired to become.

“Yes, we are truly family, believe it we are truly, truly family,” he said, honoring the life of his sister. 

The Pellagatti family was presented with a plaque honoring the name of “Venus Pellagatti Xtravaganza,” removing her previous dead name from the library card.

Dominique Jackson, a renowned actress and executive producer of “I’m Your Venus,” called it a “victory won in the fight for identity.”

“Our existence is on a spectrum, not a binary, and so there will be many, many, many versions of us, each with our own unique story and experience that should be shared and appreciated for the comprehension of what diversity means,” Jackson said.