Gay and Transgender Divas Battle for Stardom in Bay Area's Ballroom Scene

Though Starr previously had said that criticism just made her work harder, this particular slam was now making her condemn the ball scene on this entire side of the United States. "I'm done with the ballroom scene out here on the West Coast," she said. "On the East Coast, you don't see a virgin voguer chopped." She figures ballroom stardom obviously cannot happen here, if it's a fixed game before she's even really started.

So Starr says she's booked her plane ticket for next week, arranging to stay at a friend's place. Her mom back in Virginia has her own hopes for Starr.

Eartha Goodwin

Starr wants to be a “legendary icon” in the ballroom scene and to open her own house.

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• LGBT Issues
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"Before all this gay stuff came out, he wanted to be a lawyer," Leketia Christian says. "When he was in school, he was making straight As. ... He's focused it all on gay issues. He lost concentration as far as what he wanted to be in life.

"He's probably going to be gay for the rest of his life," she continues. "I can't change that. I accept that now. But I wish he'd get off the hormone shots and go back to school."

Starr has looked into starting social work classes at a community college later this spring, but the estrogen shots aren't stopping anytime soon. First stop in New York: the club where all the ballroom kids practice. Wing it from there.

(Click to see a slideshow from the story.)