“My Ballroom Story” is a documentary from the first-hand perspective of a New York, gay Afro-Latinx filmmaker. His mission is to create a broader understanding of why LGBTQ+ groups of an underground society called “houses”' were formed and how they created a safe space for people of color to express their creativity through dance, modeling, costume designing and throwing shade.  Felix Rodriguez has documented these ballroom events over the past 30 years and now screens his footage at educational institutions, dance schools, and theaters. He also posts clips of his footage and has over 16K followers on Instagram.  The story begins in New York City as we follow Felix’s journey, we learn about his issues coming out, pitfalls of substance abuse, and how the ballroom scene has evolved over the years. 

As the story unfolds, talking heads of members of the ballroom community, share personal stories about their experience in the ballroom scene and how it has affected them .  The arc of the film is Felix’s quest to expand the ballroom “herstory” but inevitably he explores topics such as internalized homophobia, machismo, racism among LatinX people, and surprisingly, gender discrimination that exists within the ballroom scene.  

He takes advantage of this platform to promote self-love and recruits fellow ballroom competitors to join him in fighting for their right to have their stories told. They must write books, produce films, photograph the icons and have them exhibited in museums around the globe.  LGBTQ+ people of color are as much a part of history as Anglo, white men whose stories dominate the narrative defining “gay culture” in the United States. Felix is determined to make the ballroom scene more visible. He wants everyone to join him on his mission of making these ballroom personalities known on a broader scale.

The climax of the film happens when Felix travels to Puerto Rico, where he grew up, to spend quality time with his ailing mother.  His mother, a born-again Christian never accepted his homosexuality.  When he came out to her, almost 30 years ago, she asked him to remain closeted to her side of the family because his sexuality embarrassed her – a pact Felix still upholds today.  Still, at 54, he struggles with embracing his feminine side and moderates how he acts in front of his mother.  This struggle has impeded Felix from being completely out of the closet to the world.  He confesses how by keeping this promise, he still feels a sense of guilt and embarrassment or being gay.  This guilt has prevented him from fulfilling many things in his life, including producing more stories about the ballroom scene.

As a member of a House , Felix has access to many people in this community.  The relationships he has maintained over the past 30 years make it easier when meeting new members of this scene and asking them to confide in him when he turns the camera on.  Something as simple as knowing the lingo, puts subjects at ease.  The ballroom lingo serves as a secret language that is used to bond people from this circuit.  Terms like “the coin”, “she ate it”, “I don’t see it”, “she sat her down”, “she slayed”, and “it’s ovah” are examples of terms that were born in the ballroom scene and are heavily used among each other. If you are not familiar with the lingo, use it out of context or do not know who the current legend, statement or star is, you are not really part of this community.  Because this scene has become so popular due to the success of shows like Pose, Legendary and My House , many people have appropriated this culture.  Many voguers learn how to vogue at dance schools, but are not in a house nor know anything about the culture.  The ballroom community calls them Noguers - dancers who should not be voguers.  Felix does not have this stigma, although he has never competed at a ball, nor attended a House meeting in decades, he is embraced by this community and his 30 years of experience, inclusion and acceptance into it prove it. The film concludes by featuring the steps Felix had to take to overcome his shame and guilt of being gay.