"It's a big loss for the community," said actor Hailie Sahar, who is preparing to play Java in a biopic and was one of her primary caregivers over the last two years. "She started an LGBTQ+ movement before there was really an LGBTQ+ community to rally behind her."
Lady Java, as she was also known, worked as a drag queen, singer, dancer, comedian and 'female impersonator' at a time when cross-dressing was forbidden without a permit... running in circles with L.A. luminaries such as Lena Horne.
In 1967, Java joined the American Civil Liberties Union in a lawsuit challenging her arrest by Los Angeles police for performing in drag without a permit... the ordinance was repealed two years later.
Her comedic beats were on point," said Sahar, also a transgender woman of color known for her performance as Lulu Abundance in the award-winning FX series "Pose."
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