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afrodiaspores:
crankyskirt:
lustnspace:
San Francisco 1978
Who is the lovely on the left, though?
This image is so beautiful, and I wish there was a back story attached. I am a sucker for Black folks being tender with each other, adorning each other… which is part of the many reasons why I’m such a fan of “QueenS” by THEESatisfaction (which came to mind when I saw this photo).
I found the caption, “Arnold makes up: Jerry Kirby’s fellow singer and ‘girlfriend’ helps a bandmate with his eye shadow.” It turns out that “Arnold” is LZ Love, born Arnold Elzy in Chicago; at 16, she was performing with the legendary disco star, soul singer, artist, and former Cockettes member Sylvester James (“Sylvester”). Now living and performing in Austin, she had this and more to say in a 2010 interview:
“Sylvester would walk in as a beautiful gay man with his drag and start painting his face, transforming before your eyes,” remembers Love. “And when Miss Thing was finished, she was a radiant, outrageous, gorgeous [B]lack goddess…Watching Sylvester gave me the tools as a young [transsexual] teenager to put myself together.”
“I want to tell parents, ‘Love your children for who they are so they can love themselves for that.’ My mother always knew who I was. I came to her at the age of 16 and said: ‘I feel I’m different. I don’t know if I’m gay or what, but I am different.’
“She said: ‘You’ve always been different, but honey, there’s nothing wrong with being different. Whatever you do, be the best.’ Before my father passed, he knew I was different, and he said, ‘Whatever you do, hold your head up.’”
Thank you so much for this! I love this photo that much more with all this great information added.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/59a4188a401ae6f41fd5b342b79a7f1e/tumblr_mn6zqhvobm1r7vejfo1_500.jpg)
San Francisco 1978
Who is the lovely on the left, though?
This image is so beautiful, and I wish there was a back story attached. I am a sucker for Black folks being tender with each other, adorning each other… which is part of the many reasons why I’m such a fan of “QueenS” by THEESatisfaction (which came to mind when I saw this photo).
I found the caption, “Arnold makes up: Jerry Kirby’s fellow singer and ‘girlfriend’ helps a bandmate with his eye shadow.” It turns out that “Arnold” is LZ Love, born Arnold Elzy in Chicago; at 16, she was performing with the legendary disco star, soul singer, artist, and former Cockettes member Sylvester James (“Sylvester”). Now living and performing in Austin, she had this and more to say in a 2010 interview:
“Sylvester would walk in as a beautiful gay man with his drag and start painting his face, transforming before your eyes,” remembers Love. “And when Miss Thing was finished, she was a radiant, outrageous, gorgeous [B]lack goddess…Watching Sylvester gave me the tools as a young [transsexual] teenager to put myself together.”“I want to tell parents, ‘Love your children for who they are so they can love themselves for that.’ My mother always knew who I was. I came to her at the age of 16 and said: ‘I feel I’m different. I don’t know if I’m gay or what, but I am different.’“She said: ‘You’ve always been different, but honey, there’s nothing wrong with being different. Whatever you do, be the best.’ Before my father passed, he knew I was different, and he said, ‘Whatever you do, hold your head up.’”Thank you so much for this! I love this photo that much more with all this great information added.
