Ronald Murray, also known as Father Ron ‘drama,’ is a founding father of the House of Xclusive Lanvin.
One of the curators of the House, and a visible figure not just in Ohio’s ballroom culture, but throughout the Midwest and nationally, Ron walks us through the long and fruitful history of the ballroom culture and the language of Vogue which was created within this community.
This is a small glimpse into the underground culture known as the House and Ballroom Scene.
Ron wants to reclaim ballroom culture’s narrative for queer communities of color since its appropriation by pop culture decades ago. House and Ballroom culture has been instrumental in changing the lives of the participants/members and has been influencing mainstream pop culture since the early 80s. With reference from celebrities such as Madonna in her song Vogue, and even the popular RuPaul’s Drag Race has paid homage to this culture and community.
This underground scene has existed for more than 40 years as an underground community/culture. The 1990s documentary Paris is Burning was the first glimpse in this community. While the culture has been mainly within the LGBTQ of communities of color, it has recently regained mainstream acknowledgment as the focal point of the hit Ryan Murphy Show POSE on FX and My House on the Viceland channel.
Ronald G. Murray is a community leader who lives in Columbus, Ohio with more than 20 years of training, education advocacy, counseling, and social work experience, beginning years ago as a youth HIV/AIDS advocate consultant. Ronald is committed to educating the community about and advocating for the House and Ballroom community as a safe and worthy community to provide outreach, education, community support, and visibility within our local and national community.
