Who is Sir Lady Java? [original pamphlet]

Los Angeles: [ca. 1970]. Bifolium promotional pamphlet, folded to 8 ½ x 11 in. Item #10454

Original promotional pamphlet from the groundbreaking Black performer and first trans person represented by the ACLU, Sir Lady Java (1942-2024).

In her teens, after transitioning with support from her mother, Java began performing in New Orleans-area nightclubs. A few years later, Java moved to Los Angeles, quickly becoming an underground nightclub icon and mingling with legends like Redd Foxx and Sammy Davis Jr. A groundbreaking multidisciplinary dancer and self-described “female impersonator,” she forged friendships and collaborations with some of the most celebrated performers of her time, including James Brown, B.B. King, Quincy Jones, Ray Charles, Richard Pryor, and Lena Horne. As a screen actress, Java played herself in the 1976 Dolemite sequel, The Human Tornado. She was profiled in Jet, Hep, Ebony, Sepia, and other Black culture newsmagazines, as well as in queer publications such as the L.A. Advocate.

Sir Lady Java made history as the first transgender individual defended by the ACLU. Her case began when police shut down her act at Red Foxx’s club in October 1967, using the infamous Rule 9, which banned performers from “impersonating by means of costume or dress a person of the opposite sex, except by special permit issued by the Board of Police Commissioners.” This law was used particularly to target people of color. “Not only was it discriminatory on its face, but it was applied in a discriminatory manner,” noted historian and queer theorist Susan Stryker. “There was a number of bars that featured white entertainers at venues that catered to a largely white or mixed audience that were allowed to perform, but in Black owned clubs catering to mostly Black audiences with Black performers – that’s where the enforcement of Rule 9 seems to have taken place.” Highlighting this point, Java was actually granted a permit to perform for a charity benefit at a club with mostly white patronage merely weeks after the police raid at the Redd Foxx. This booklet dates from this period of prominence in LA and labor activism. 

An artifact from the performance career of a severely under-documented and understudied Black trans comedienne, dancer, performer and activist.

Price: $250.00