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THE GRAN VARONES

The Gran Varones is a legacy project that uses video and photography to tell the stories of Latino & Afro-Latino Gay, Queer and Trans men. Our stories shine light on what being “out” and “proud” means to us, our families, and our communities.

on saturday, june 11th, we screened this short compilation of gran varones stories at the philadelphia latino film festival. our goal was to highlight the specific stories of varones living in philadelphia.

we then had planned on posting this edit the following day but all of our lives changed on june 12th. since then, we have worked hard to ensure that our stories are told and heard. our goal is to continue to create and post gran varones stories from all over the country. until then, check out our humble mini-doc.

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julio mangual aka lady labelle is one of philadelphia’s most beloved afro-boricua drag queens. he has one of the first queens to organize drag shows in the heart of north philly - a world away from philly’s gayborhood - in the early 1990s. lady labelle continues to break down barriers by performing in bars and clubs that my uncle, my bother and aunts go to.

watch our latest gran varones profile video as julio aka lady label shares their story.

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andy aka alana extreme is not an amazing performer but one of the most wonderful and loving people we have met while working on this project. much love to you gran varòn!

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Legendary Philadelphia Puerto Rican drag performer shares his coming out story. This is a clip from the full length Gran Varones Documentary.

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“When I started doing drag like two years ago, they were like “You’re too feminine, you wanna be a girl.” Now things are changing, they’re like “You’re so beautiful, you look gorgeous as a drag queen and you look good as a boy.” Things are changing, I guess.” - Andi Diamante aka Alana X Treme

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“Back then, you could’t walk in North Philly being gay without getting beat up. I used to get in trouble because I fought the boys back down. So I started doing drag as a getaway. I am where I am right now and I owe it to Lady Labelle.”

- Mangual aka Lady Labelle

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