Photography: Prisma Compositional
Video: Paradox Productions
Interview: Paul Hofman
She walks into the Pride Amsterdam office laughing. Amber Vineyard has just landed from Oslo. These months she’s flying across Europe to judge, take part in, and share her knowledge at various balls organised by ballroom communities across the continent. Voguing, the famous dance style, is part of ballroom culture. “There is still a lot of work to do.”
Although Amber felt deeply honoured when she learned in February that she had been chosen as an ambassador for Pride 2019, she was also thoughtful about how to shape her ambassadorship. The community she belongs to is made up mainly of people of colour, who often face racism within the LGBTQ+ community and have not always felt represented at Pride. The essential contributions of people of colour are also frequently forgotten when Pride history is told. “I stand for radical inclusivity.”
Mother
Amber is the ‘mother’ of the House of Vineyard, under which name she organised her first ball in 2013. She founded the house—the first Dutch ballroom house—in 2015. A house functions as a chosen family for people in the ballroom community.
Vogue
“Voguing is a stylised dance form that originated in the Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ scene in New York. It’s the dance style associated with ballroom culture. Many people know the dance moves but know little about the culture behind them. Bringing that context to light is an important part of my ambassadorship.”
Oppression
“If you want to celebrate the glamour and spectacle of balls and voguing, you must include the communities for whom this culture exists. We cannot forget that the ballroom scene was created by and for Black and Latin communities who face systemic oppression.”
Lifestyle
People think Madonna invented ‘vogue’, but nothing could be further from the truth. For her it was a phase; for us it’s a lifestyle. Critically: “Madonna came through and picked up some elements of voguing, but she didn’t give anything back to the voguing community. I don’t hate her, but she simply isn’t from the scene.”
Safe
For LGBTQ+ people, those houses were a safe haven, particularly for Black people and other people of colour. And they still are. Today there are fifteen houses in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Brussels and Antwerp, among other places. The largest ballroom community in Europe is in Paris. Within the ballroom world she has become a recognised figure. Amber: “Because here LGBTQ+ people who fall outside social norms have a place to be the norm themselves. Trans women of colour, who globally face especially violent forms of oppression, are the superstars of the ballroom scene. Many people in the ballroom scene were not understood by their families and surroundings and ended up in those houses where their ‘house mother’ took on a role model function.”
Judgement
She quietly tells how she fled her parental home at a young age. As a child she always felt ‘different’ from others. Her parents watched her ‘strange’ behaviour with dismay. They disapproved of her rebelliousness and independence. “I was really out there.” She bubbled with creativity. Her father hated her for it. To to this day she has no contact with them. “House of Vineyard shows me what it means to form a family. It is a safe space where I can express myself freely and be boundlessly creative,” she says. Her house became a place where everything Amber loves and cares about comes together. “Everyone can be themselves and has room to shine. Looking back to the eighties she notes that it was then difficult for LGBTQ+ people to dress and behave without being judged, or rather, condemned.”
Free-thinking
Times have changed, but there is no place in the world where you can be yourself as fully as at a ball. Nothing is required and everything is allowed. “Freedom and differences are celebrated there. We may think we live in a liberal society, but trans people, and especially Black trans women, still often have to present themselves differently or hide to be accepted.”
Fighting
The LGBT community has had to fight hard for its rights. She emphasises that we are far from finished. That is why it is so important that the balls have endured. They enjoy huge popularity, but this is certainly not just entertainment. “Ballroom is a space where art and activism meet. In that sense ballroom is a form of protest, of resistance, and it is a radical celebration of our existence and our right to occupy space.”
Horrific
She now has eighteen kids in the House of Vineyard. Last year something terrible happened to her and some of her kids after the Canal Parade. That experience is etched on her retina. She pauses: “We got into a taxi after the party. We were beautifully dressed, covered in glitter. When we stepped out the driver accused us of leaving his car full of glitter. He didn’t just verbally assault us; he physically attacked the Black trans woman in our group. The police even had to get involved. In one word: horrific.” Despite this experience she is looking forward to the upcoming Pride.
History
She recognises the enormous responsibility she has as an ambassador. “You will find me in many places.” On the theme ‘Remember the past, create the Future’: “You must never forget history, why we are here and how a previous generation fought for our rights. Pause and consider how we arrived here.” On Pride: “Besides being a celebration, it’s also a reminder that much work still needs to be done. The community alone cannot change the world. We need allies who step up, not only to celebrate but to raise their voices alongside us so that we create not only a brighter but also a safer Pride and a clearer, more inclusive future for all of us. That’s what I’m here for!”
Pride ambassador since 2019
