DISCO QUEENS, KINGS, AND QUEERS
Published in: Align, “From Scratch”
“Le Freak” blares loudly as a group of partier-goers step through the doors of Studio 54 one night in a bustling New York City. They are met with the sight of drag queens, celebrities, and queer people alike outfitted in groovy get-ups, snorting cocaine, and dancing until they saw the sun. A few years before, this crowd of people would have never been caught dead together— especially buying drinks for each other and participating in group orgies. Party culture had suddenly diversified and become relatively judgment-free— but how?
The year was 1977, and an almost bankrupt New York City was brimming with low rents. A diverse group of artists, fashion designers, writers, and musicians flocked to the city. This new crowd inhabiting NYC diversified the city’s population and would help foster the cultural change about to begin. Pre-existing New Yorkers also hungered for a transformation of culture and a new era of joyous celebration post-Vietnam War.
Like the 1920s post-World War I culture, people wanted to party— party hard. However, unlike the 1920s, NYC was overflowing with the crowd that could reverse the current harmful party culture. Additionally, the Civil Rights Movement and fights for LGTBQ+ and women’s rights were in full swing, forcing a more welcoming mindset and attitude among New Yorkers. People from all walks of life were eager to commingle, and the owners of Studio 54 were prepared to make it happen.
Co-owners, Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, dreamed of creating an inclusive space where all races, genders, and sexual identities were welcome and encouraged to express themselves. Their ideas came to life with the opening of Studio 54, the most infamous discotheque known, with its doors open from 1977 to 1980. The club was designed as a safe-haven; a place for all attendees to be creative in their fashion and culture as well as to explore their identity and self-expression in bold new ways.
The club was not exclusive— as long as one looked fabulous, they were welcomed in with open arms, no matter their sexual identity, gender, or race. Rubell, openly gay, was often seen guarding the door and was known to only let in people he deemed “glamorous and worthy.” Due to this unspoken dress code, attendees, even well-known celebrities, were seen sporting funky, groovy, and often scandalous ensembles. Paparazzi stationed around the club photographed these beloved celebrities in their new get-ups, normalizing the daring fashion seen at Studio 54, and therefore normalizing queer fashion as well as queer party culture. The public was suddenly in awe of the queer party lifestyle and wanted in. Rubell and Schrager had shifted the party scene forever.
Studio 54 fell in 1980 due to tax embezzlement, but fortunately, it did not also bring down the new diverse mindset it had helped foster. Instead, the new culture aided in the development of gay and ballroom culture. The new welcoming mindset helped people find a new respect for the way disco merged together black, Latino, and gay subcultures. This newfound respect for disco and various races eventually led to hip-hop recordings and other diverse art forms. Studio 54 had successfully diversified the party, music, and dance cultures for the long haul.
Formally marginalized groups who were commonly excluded from the party scene were now the main characters. They were welcomed into Studio 54 with no judgement, allowing previously close-minded individuals to gain respect for their lifestyles and cultures. No longer were people of color, transgender individuals, drag queens and kings, and queer individuals forced into the shadows.
