Jahna Erica Steele (29 September 1958 — 24 January 2008
[Clarke, Norm (January 26, 2008)]
''Las Vegas Review-Journal
The ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'' is a daily subscription newspaper published in Las Vegas, Nevada, since 1909. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada and one of two daily newspapers in the Las Vegas area.
The ''Review-Journal'' ...
'') was an American
transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
entertainer and
Las Vegas showgirl
A showgirl is a female dancer or performer in a stage entertainment show intended to showcase the performer's physical attributes, typically by way of revealing clothing, toplessness, or nudity.
History
Showgirls date back to the late 180 ...
who was voted Las Vegas' "Sexiest Showgirl on The Strip" in 1991,
[Anderson-Minshall, Jacob (March 1, 2007)]
Las Vegas Showgirl.
''San Francisco Bay Times'' "
Las Vegas Entertainer of the Year, 1992", and "Most Beautiful Showgirl, 1993".
[Archerd, Army (November 14, 1994)]
Caron dances back in time.
''Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' She was fired after being outed as a
trans woman
A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...
by a tabloid television show. Steele made numerous film and television appearances, including hosting a transgender beauty pageant featured in the film ''
Trantasia
Jeremy Stanford is an Australian actor and director, known for his role of Tick/Mitzi in the initial stage run of the musical ''Priscilla, Queen of the Desert''.
Career
In 2022 it was announced that Stanford would be joining the cast of '' Wa ...
''.
Early life and career
Born in San Antonio, Texas, Steele was a
Miss Gay USA pageant winner in the Texas finals under the name Jhoana Reis.
[Roberts, Pudgy (1979). ''The Great Female Mimics'', Volume 5, Issue 3, p. 39. Mark Lithographers] In her early twenties, Steele under went
gender confirmation surgery
Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a transgender or transsexual person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender, and alle ...
, also known as sexual reassignment surgery.
She then left San Antonio and moved to
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
, following her sex reassignment surgery. She later changed her name legally to Jahonau Erica Steele. She joined the cast of the ''Crazy Girls Revue'' at the
Riviera
''Riviera'' () is an Italian word which means "coastline", ultimately derived from Latin , through Ligurian . It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of Liguria, in the form ''Riviera ligure'', then shortened in English. The two areas ...
in Las Vegas during the late 1980s. In 1991, Steele was voted "the sexiest showgirl on The Strip".
[Stein, Martin (July 22, 2004). . ''The Las Vegas Weekly'']
Outing and its effects
Most people in Las Vegas, including the producer who hired her and her costars, "knew she was transgender but didn't care."
[Broverman, Neal (March 25, 2008)]
Death of a showgirl.
''The Advocate
An advocate is a professional in the field of law.
The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to:
Magazines
* ''The Advocate'' (LGBT magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States
*''The Harvard Advocate'', a literary magazin ...
'' She was outed on a 1992 edition of the television program ''
A Current Affair
''A Current Affair'' may refer to:
* ''A Current Affair'' (Australian TV program), 1971–present Australian current affairs program that airs on Nine Network
* ''A Current Affair'' (American TV program), a 1986–1998 American television news ...
''. Following her outing by ''
A Current Affair
''A Current Affair'' may refer to:
* ''A Current Affair'' (Australian TV program), 1971–present Australian current affairs program that airs on Nine Network
* ''A Current Affair'' (American TV program), a 1986–1998 American television news ...
'' people began questioning Jahna's womanhood and asking if she was a girl, to which she'd reply, "Well last time I looked, for the past 25 years."
The story of her outing and its negative effect on her showgirl career was featured in ''
The National Enquirer
The ''National Enquirer'' is an American tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1926, the newspaper has undergone a number of changes over the years.
The ''National Enquirer'' openly acknowledges that it pays sources for tips, a common practice in tabl ...
.''
[Staff report (1992). 'Sexiest show girl' in Vegas fired because she used to be a MAN! '']National Enquirer
The ''National Enquirer'' is an American tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1926, the newspaper has undergone a number of changes over the years.
The ''National Enquirer'' openly acknowledges that it pays sources for tips, a common practice in tabl ...
''
After being fired from ''Crazy Girls Revue'', Steele was a frequent talk show guest and sang in nightclubs across the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
before moving to
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
. She also appeared as a guest star in a second-season episode of ''
NYPD Blue
''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble c ...
'' ("
Don We Now Our Gay Apparel"), playing the character Candace La Rue.
Steele was additionally on the
''Maury Povich Show'' in the early 1990s. Following her outing as being a transgender woman, she received much publicity leading her to be on various talk shows such as the ''Maury Show''. When asked about her experience on the show, Steele stated, "...
he show
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
it was much more based on education and kindness. Now it's about exploitation and freakism, and like, 'We fooled you. Hardy-har-har. This is a man.' Which is just so insulting to somebody who's lived such a distressful life, because it's not easy growing up with a gender-identity disorder."
Steele later returned to school, and "learned how to do things other than entertaining" so that she'd have something to fall back on, studying computer courses and working for
United Blood Services
Vitalant (formerly Blood Systems Inc.) is a nonprofit organization that collects blood from volunteer donors and provides blood, blood products and services across the United States. It was founded in 1943 as the Salt River Valley Blood Bank in P ...
before she worked for a women's health facility and got certified in nonprofit management.
Prior to her death, she also began hosting Aleman's ''La Cage'' drag show at the
Riviera
''Riviera'' () is an Italian word which means "coastline", ultimately derived from Latin , through Ligurian . It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of Liguria, in the form ''Riviera ligure'', then shortened in English. The two areas ...
, and it was the last job she had before overdosing in January 2008.
Transsexual beauty contest hostess
Steele made her comeback in 2004 when she hosted
The World's Most Beautiful Transsexual Contest The World's Most Beautiful Transsexual Contest is a beauty pageant that was held in Las Vegas in 2004 that selected the "most beautiful" transsexual in the world.
Jahna Steele was the mistress of ceremonies for the pageant, in which 35 trans wome ...
at the
Riviera
''Riviera'' () is an Italian word which means "coastline", ultimately derived from Latin , through Ligurian . It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of Liguria, in the form ''Riviera ligure'', then shortened in English. The two areas ...
.
[Clarke, Norm (May 15, 2004). Transgender star plans comeback. '']Las Vegas Review-Journal
The ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'' is a daily subscription newspaper published in Las Vegas, Nevada, since 1909. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada and one of two daily newspapers in the Las Vegas area.
The ''Review-Journal'' ...
'' A documentary feature film based on the pageant, ''
Trantasia
Jeremy Stanford is an Australian actor and director, known for his role of Tick/Mitzi in the initial stage run of the musical ''Priscilla, Queen of the Desert''.
Career
In 2022 it was announced that Stanford would be joining the cast of '' Wa ...
'', recognized Steele's pioneering place in the history of the transsexual community. Steele was also featured on several segments of ''
Entertainment Tonight
''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Para ...
'' in connection with ''
Trantasia
Jeremy Stanford is an Australian actor and director, known for his role of Tick/Mitzi in the initial stage run of the musical ''Priscilla, Queen of the Desert''.
Career
In 2022 it was announced that Stanford would be joining the cast of '' Wa ...
''. Following the success of the film, Steele continued her singing career and was the spokesperson for Tingari Skin Care System. Steele was working on her "kiss-and-tell" autobiography, ''Always a Lady'',
[Pratt, Paul E. (May 16, 2007)]
Transsexual Former Vegas Showgirl Working on Tell-All Book.
''Outlook Magazine'' when she died in Las Vegas.
[Davis, Andrew (February 6, 2008)]
Passages: Jahna Steele.
''Windy City Times'' The cause of death was
accidental overdose
A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended. of
cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...
,
morphine
Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a analgesic, pain medication, and is also commonly used recreational drug, recreationally, or to make ...
and
hydromorphone
Hydromorphone, also known as dihydromorphinone, and sold under the brand name Dilaudid among others, is an opioid used to treat moderate to severe pain. Typically, long-term use is only recommended for pain due to cancer. It may be used by mou ...
.
Controversy
There is some controversy over Steele's career, particularly regarding the
Riviera
''Riviera'' () is an Italian word which means "coastline", ultimately derived from Latin , through Ligurian . It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of Liguria, in the form ''Riviera ligure'', then shortened in English. The two areas ...
. Jahna was hired by show producer Norbert Aleman, and she quickly became the star of ''Crazy Girls Revue.'' Aleman, as well as Steele's co-show girl performers knew that she was transgender, however when Steele's trans identity was outed, Aleman fired her because ''Crazy Girls'' was an "über-straight topless revue"
and that did not include transwomen. Several years later due to the public attention toward the transgender community, Aleman brought Steele back to host The World's Most Beautiful Transexual at the Riviera. The show went on to be documented and star Steele in ''
Trantasia
Jeremy Stanford is an Australian actor and director, known for his role of Tick/Mitzi in the initial stage run of the musical ''Priscilla, Queen of the Desert''.
Career
In 2022 it was announced that Stanford would be joining the cast of '' Wa ...
'' filmed by Jeremy Stanford.
References
External links
Jahna Steele website*
Trantasia website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, Jahna
Transgender entertainers
Transgender women
Transgender female models
American LGBT entertainers
LGBT people from Texas
2008 deaths
1958 births
People from San Antonio
Drug-related deaths in Texas
Accidental deaths in Texas
20th-century LGBT people