In the early 1960s, before the emergence of regular balls, New York's drag culture was divided along racial lines—the Pattie Girls (white), the La Chanels (Black), and the Delightful Ladies (Latina). Via the latter group, it became common parlance of the moment to use the phrase
la bella—Spanish for "the beautiful"—to enhance one's image or merely describe another person. Crystal, originally working and competing on the
Manhattan drag circuit under the name of Crystal LaAsia, was widely known for her beauty and later adopted the phrase as her permanent moniker, with a rearticulated spelling ("Beija") of the -ll- sound in
bella [ˈbe.ʝa]. In the 1960s and 1970s, drag queens of color were expected to whiten their appearance to help their chances at winning competitions and they often faced racist environments. LaBeija was one of only a few African American drag queens to be awarded a "Queen of the Ball" title at a drag ball organized by whites during this era. In 1967, she was crowned Miss Manhattan. LaBeija subsequently competed in the 1967 Miss All-America Camp Beauty Pageant held at
New York City Town Hall, a competition documented in
The Queen (1968). In a scene towards the end of the documentary, LaBeija, upset with the perceived racism of the white-run balls, accused the pageant organizer
Flawless Sabrina of rigging the judging in the favor of a white queen,
Rachel Harlow. Refusing to participate further in a discriminatory system, LaBeija worked with another Black drag queen, Lottie LaBeija, to host a ball just for Black queens. She agreed to participate in the event so long as she was highlighted in the ball. It was the first time the term "House" was used, coined by LaBeija in order to market the event, which would be a huge success. LaBeija continued to work as a drag performer and activist throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
RuPaul's first experience of a drag performance was seeing LaBeija perform a lipsync routine at a nightclub in Atlanta in 1979. == Death ==