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these girls are considered by a lot of the straight world as freaks of nature. >> i have pulled my first trick right here. >> the ballroom scene is a fantasy, an oasis, a paradise. >> i don't like being referred to as a male or he. >> for many transgender girls, there is no escaping the haunting question -- who am i? for them it is not a philosophical exercise but a daily struggle between being male and female. for 21-year-old isis, it is a feeling that is hard to describe. >> this is who i am. this is how i've always been. it feels weird. it feels awkward and

uncomfortable most times. it's kind of like holding a big secret and only you know. but you feel like even if you tell everyone, nothing is going to be done about it. and for a long time, you know, i just prayed about it, and just, i guess i would be delivered from the feelings that i had. >> isis is among the 750,000 to 3 million americans who according to the national center for transgender equality make up the transgendered population. it carries a heavy social stigma and caused a crisis in angelika's family. her mother freaked out. >> basically, i got the "how dare you? how could you do this? you're passing yourself off as a man like you're a woman. you're not -- i mean, you have male organs and such. once my stepfather found out about that, he walked out of the house. >> angelika, now 21, says that to restore peace in the family,

she was forced to cut her long hair, but relations are still so strained that her mother won't talk to us about it. >> that situation was hard for me. all very hard for me. and i haven't forgiven her yet. >> deasja has always known that she was female. but deasja says her mother was too overwhelmed by her own problems to be interested. >> my mom's like hey, so what, who cares? i don't care. >> hello, mother. you on your way home? all right. my mom's a little bit upset. but hey, that's what happens. i watched my mom, like, years ago, and the way that she cried and screamed when she would argue with my stepfather, the things that she had going on in her life made me feel like i wasn't wanted. >> deasja was brought up partly by her grandmother in harlem, but that didn't make deasja's transition any easier.

>> well, my family was very religious. so when i came out to my family, they got very upset at that. like my aunt stopped speaking to me. she cried. my cousin, he attacked me. he punched me like really, really hard, like really hard. >> deasja left, and at 17 she was suddenly on her own. isis, who also lives in new york city, is on her way to maryland to visit her mother and aunt. >> i haven't been home too many times. that's about it, transitioning. >> isis's empathetic aunt rita knew isis's secret before she was told. >> he used to do a lot of voguing, you know, a lot of feminine stuff. i just like waited for him to, you know, come in his own time and tell me. i'm against it 100%. but my family thinks i'm for it

100% because i support my neph -- my niece. >> fear of rejection always stalks transgender kids. >> you hear stories about families disowning people. i know it's hard to throw it at people like that, but i want to tell them and also to see what their opinions are going to be. >> it was a sad day for isis's mother cherie when she learned that her son darrell, who she calls "d," wanted to be her daughter, isis. >> yeah, i cried. it hurt. it really did. because then i felt like, where did i go wrong? >> these are my senior pictures when i graduated from high school. >> the memories captured in the photo album seem to belie the present. >> i boyed it up a little for the pictures. i look more masculine, i guess, because they would be memorable. it's weird, because when i look at this, i don't see myself. maybe because i haven't seen the pictures in so long, but it just

looks like i'm looking at somebody that i knew, like my brother or something. looks like i'm looking at a brother. >> why did this happen to me? what did i do wrong? you know? why did this happen to me? i was a good mom. >> my biological father is right here. he's deceased now. he was kind of like a deadbeat father. my mother was pregnant with me, that's when he broke up with her. >> no, sweetie, it was the other way around. i broke up with him. >> why? >> because he was into drugs and everything, and i -- i just wasn't -- you know, i wasn't into that. >> okay. look at this. look at that picture. >> you're like a little girl right there. i had no clue, and my sister said, well, she could tell. and i just didn't see anything. >> "d," you know, wants me to say "she," but it's kind of

hard, because you've been "he." the "she" just won't come out of my mouth. >> and isis's 17-year-old brother, derek, has a hard time accepting that the brother he knew as iddarrell is now a girl. >> they always were together. they did everything together. whoever watched one watched the other one. maybe two or three times through their whole life were they separated. >> only a few weeks after a sibling's name was legally changed to isis, derrick had darrell tattooed to his arm. >> he's embarrassed of me. you embarrassed of me? >> yeah. you used to be a dude. our life growing up, we was close. we was real close.

and then you started changing. we can't be as close as we used to be, though, because you're not my brother no more. >> yeah. that's very hard. that's very hard for everyone. it's -- i mean, even though i'm looking at him and i see a girl, it's still hard. >> i pray to god that he would change d's heart and d would snap out of it and be like, hey, i want to be a man again. you know? that's what i pray for. >> she wanted to know if prostitution was involved, if anything of a corrupt nature was involved. >> i was thinking that my child got into some kind of cult thing. that was the first thing i was thinking. go! wow! go power oats! go! go power! yayyyy!

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transgender kids like sasha, deasja, angelika, and isis are often considered social misfits,

but some of them have found a community where they feel at home, where they fit in. it is known as ballroom, a mostly black and hispanic gay underground culture where transgender people can be themselves. it's a safe haven, an outrageous party, and a cutthroat competition all in one. kids who compete represent different teams called houses. >> a house basically is a support structure for an individual who joins the house. >> deasja and sasha belong to the house of la perla. its members come to this unassuming residence in new jersey. they don't actually live here, but to them it is sort of an emotional home. >> well, this is like the closet where we keep like all of the ballroom stuff and like all our clothes and stuff at and whatever. but i keep mine in here in my bag, so therefore, nothing turns up missing, because you know how girls are. i come over here for like weeks at a time. >> juan is the founder of the house of la perla and its father.

he's a gay man who's been active in the ballroom community for a decade. he runs an event planning company and is involved in organizing the upcoming latex ball. juan says that in his house kids like sasha, who's practicing voguing, can find that unconditional acceptance they don't get from anywhere else. >> these girls are considered by a lot of the straight world as freaks of nature. you know? the things that they call them are, you know, i won't even repeat because, you know, it's just disrespecting my kids. >> but kids on the edge will do what they have to do, and the members of some houses are involved in drugs, shoplifting and prostitution. according to juan, some house fathers demand sexual favors from their members, but he insists that his role is only to help the kids. >> these kids have lots of issues that need to be heard. their needs are different than most. but i do find all have the same underlying issues. you know, and that's just that

they want to be accepted and they want to be loved for who they are. i accept the kids for who they are and what they do. they call me father, dad, father mostly. >> i just feel like i'm one of their daughters. like i just feel like i was -- i was like his birth child. i just wanted to be in it, be in the house and get to know everybody in the house and be part of the family. >> sasha had a difficult childhood. >> my parents was never really in my life. so i grew up in philadelphia, in north philly. i lived in my grandmother's house of five kids. my mother was really out doing what she wanted to do, partying. my father too. >> deasja is another child of juan's, and they go back a ways. >> this is one of my first children. >> i call juan father because like he's been there for me like since like forever, like

forever. remember that halloween that we went bowling? >> yes. >> oh, my god. it was a hoot. when i'm sick of the world and i don't want any more of it, i come over here. he's like my backbone. like he makes sure that i'm all right. he makes sure things are going right in my life. >> that's what a parent is supposed to do. that's what a father does. you know, i'm always there to support my kids in any way possible. >> everybody has a mom that they're born with or whatever, but i think it's sad when you're not really that connected with your immediate family and your real family and being in a lifestyle, you tend to like adapt to people who look after you, who care for you, like parents do. >> ballroom was originally only in new york, but houses have spread to many big cities and are all over the internet. and that's where a boy in maryland who felt like a girl discovered people who felt the same way. for isis, one mouse click led to another, and eventually to the house of tsunami and tremaine,

its founder and father, who makes his living as an accountant. >> tremaine is the ideal father because he's trustworthy and i know in the ballroom scene there's a lot of i guess you'd say incest, honestly, a lot of parents who take in kids and who have sex with them and who expose them to drugs and sex and all types of different things. and tremaine is nothing like that. as soon as i met him, we kind of just clicked off right away. >> so isis became a member of the house of tsunami. and that made her mother nervous. >> i was thinking that my child gotten into some kind of cult thing. that's the first thing i was thinking. you know, i was talking to my aunt one day and i was talking to her about like, what is the house? and she's like, oh, you know, the house, she said, you know, i don't think it's anything positive about it. and i just had to go and see for myself. i wanted to talk to him, you know, let him know, okay, i

understand that you're the house father and everything, and you know, then they have someone that's the house mom and everything, but i'm still the mom. >> before my mother came up, i was really, really nervous because, like i said, i knew that tremaine was a really strong person. and i knew that my mother was a very strong person. >> the things that her mom said was like -- it was a little alarming to me. in this situation, isis's biggest fears had come true where we were kind of battling with, i would say, my daughter, and isis's mom would say "my son." she wanted to know if prostitution was involved, if anything of a corrupt nature was involved with the house scene. >> on the contrary. tremaine sets high standards for his children. >> i want them to be successful and have careers. i want them to have houses of their own. not apartments, but houses.

children, families, and to love themself and to love others. >> you know what? because what tremaine told me that he was doing with these kids, he's just trying to be that person there for them, like a mentor, i guess. i kind of seen him like a mentor maybe. >> i love you. >> i love you, too. >> oh, luna. >> angelika and luna are playing around with ballroom supplies in luna's apartment. >> bet you have this in pink. >> i wore this on halloween last year. >> oh, yeah, halloween last year. >> yeah, it's like my lena horne wig. i'm like, yeah. so i like that. >> do i look like britney? >> you look like fitney. >> luna, who works at the gay men's health crisis, heads the house of legacy. >> i've actually had people say so wait, is it a house, is it like a group home? >> yeah.

>> um, no. it's not physically a house. some people look at it as a team and some people look at it as a family. so i just look at it as both. because you still have to do ballroom things, but also you do things outside of ballroom. >> in many ways, luna acts as a mother to angelika. >> some kids call me mommy. i'm father to some, and i'm mother to others. it may sound nuts to people that don't know, but for us it's something -- it's a normal thing. >> like you can talk to your house mother about things that, you know, maybe your biological mother just wouldn't want to hear. >> our pretend family is just as important as our real family. >> i don't like being referred to as a male or he. >> i want curves. >> i want to dress. i didn't want no hips, i didn't want no butt. i wanted breasts. thing i need. [ hand ] seriously? the last thing you need

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a few days before the latex ball, angelika is shopping for a gown that will make her look like the queen of the world 2050. clothes are essential to passing as a woman. >> i definitely want people to know that i don't like being referred to as a male or he. that, you know, i prefer the pronoun she, that i am a female. i feel as though i'm a female, and you know, that's how i want to be looked at. that's how i want to be perceived. >> outside of the ballroom world, passing as a woman can be nerve-racking when walking in the street, shopping or stopping for a drink at a restaurant. >> i'm constantly worrying like every day, are they going to find out? i had someone yell at me on the street like, you know, "tuck it away." and yeah, stuff like that is very hurtful and embarrassing. it gives me doubts about how passable i am.

it, you know, really hits deep, like you know, it cuts me -- you know, i just feel like a great sadness. >> but she's not giving up. >> i've thought about it, yes. it's crossed my mind because, you know, because this lifestyle is incredibly difficult and hard, and it hurts, and it feels like it never ends. >> sasha is at the very start of that endless trek. testosterone blockers and female hormones help fool mother nature to turn boyish kids into a physical approximation of women. they all long for a curvaceous figure, but it is slow to develop. >> all right. >> you're probably like 210. >> i still weigh 120. >> i just want to weigh like 135, 140. you know, because i always wanted to gain weight my whole life. so, now i know with the hormones and trying to eat more that it's

more of a possibility for me. so i want to gain weight. and get all my weight in my curves, that's what i want. i want curves. >> the desire for a feminine silhouette that will convince the rest of the world tempts some kids to take dangerous steps. >> i wanted breasts. i didn't want no hips. i didn't want no butt. i wanted breasts. all i ever wanted was breasts. and change is not happening fast enough. and you want to fit in as well. i think it was my 21st birthday if i'm not mistaken that i had went and i had got pumped for the first time and i had got my breasts done. >> pumping usually refers to illegal injections of industrial grade silicone. >> they stick you and they keep on and they keep on, and it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. it's stretching and pulling, and like it literally felt like my nipple was just going to explode.

so it was really, really painful. you have to do it several times in order for it to get bigger. so, i'm a 34c. >> deasja didn't stop there. her bottom too got pumped with silicone, which can become hard and lumpy. >> i'm not going to lie. i do have a lump from the silicone, and i fell one time on my hip, and it swelled up, like really, really, really bad. it was like how you get a bruise on your body, but with there being something inside of you, like silicone, it can shift, it can move. >> free-floating silicone can infiltrate the body's soft tissue and, even worse, an allergic reaction to the injection itself is life-threatening. >> it's extremely dangerous. it's hazardous. and it can be fatal. you know, there have been issues where people have died from the silicone. >> but deasja has no real regrets. >> it's done, it's done. it's like the most you could do is get it taken out but then

that's a risk too. >> i was dating this guy. i wasn't sure if he knew or not. >> we don't have a vagina. we have the same thing that they had. >> some people enjoy being developed but still being the same from the waist down, but i'm not one of those people. lik. it's our slow simmered vegetables and tender white meat chicken. apology accepted. i'm watching you soup people. make it progresso or make it yourself introducing a pm pain reliever that dares to work all the way until the am. new aleve pm the only one with a sleep aid. plus the 12 hour strength of aleve. angeshe no longer smells it.odor her cat leaves in the couch, yep, she's gone "noseblind" vo: we staged an intervention to help her sister break the news. sister: to the left... this is exactly what your house smell like. for real? yes. eliminate odors you've gone "noseblind" to...

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hi, i'm richard lui with your hour's top stories. the top federal health official say ebola safety protocols used for treating thomas duncan were inadequate and new ones will require that no skin be exposed. it's common key in new hampshire after this weekend's rowdy parties coincided with a pumpkin festival. police used pepper spray on rioters and arrested 49. and heroism caught on tape. a man heard screams and rushed into a burning home and rescued the homeowner. the hero's identity is not known. now back to "born in the wrong body." ♪

isis, deasja, sasha, and angelika are getting ready for the latex ball, billed as a futuristic carnival. it is a spectacular event, but it can be hard on the pocketbook. >> you have to get hair done. you have to get a new outfit. and you have to get not just a regular outfit but like an awesome outfit, something that's going to catch everybody's attention. i can't believe this. and all of that costs money. >> angelika needs a gown fit for a queen of the world 2050. >> i love this. you know, you have to get something that screams futuristic, that screams fabulous, that screams, you know, i'm the queen of the world. yeah, $400. any other person would steal this, but i'm not like that. i work. you know, i have benefits and i do my 8:30 to 5:30 monday through friday, which not a lot of girls on the scene do.

♪ if i had a dime for every mime ♪ >> jobs can be hard to come by for transgendered kids. ♪ sasha is trying to get her ged. and has also been looking for a job. >> do you have glow sticks? >> but she has to get money from her father, juan, just to buy the glow sticks she needs to vogue at the latex ball. >> how many are in here? >> 100 pieces in there. >> juan has to help her out financially because the male name on her social security card and driver's license makes it harder to pass as a woman in a job interview. >> i know if i was to go in there dressed like this and they see my name they're going to say, well, why are you -- oh, oh, oh. and it's going to be a whole lot tougher then. i really don't want that. i'm trying to get my name changed. at the same time, i'm trying to

get hormones at the same time. and it's not working fast enough. >> isis is saving money by making her own outfit for the ball. >> stayed up all night, and halfway through the night i realized that the outfit wasn't coming along how i wanted it to. these are the cones, and these two are the front pieces that the cone actually goes in. it goes like that. so this will be in the back. and this will come around to the front. so it's going to be really high, and this is half of the collar. my whole purpose for coming into the ballroom scene originally was because i knew i was out of school and i really wasn't doing anything as far as designing. and i thought, well, maybe if i get in a ballroom scene, it will give me a reason to design, to keep my skills fresh. >> isis has an associate's degree in fashion design from the art institute of philadelphia and high ambitions. >> he wants to be in fashion

design. he's adamant about it. i think that's what he's going to do. >> it's supposed to be like that, rita. >> i don't want my shirt all the way down here. >> i'm just telling you. >> you didn't design the shirt. >> go down and then go up like this. i bet you, do it. >> it's than type of shirt. i'm telling you. >> rita, how are you going to tell me? i'm a fashion designer. >> but she hasn't found a job in that business. so for the time being, she's just designing her own dress for the ball. the job market can be so discouraging for transgender girls that some fall back on the world's oldest profession. >> i was 17. and i was sitting on a red convertible right here. and the motorcycle pulls up. and it was a john. and i had pulled my first trick right here. but i did it because i wanted to be a woman. i wanted girl clothes. i wanted this, i wanted that. there was no other way that i was going to get it. >> while there is a market for transgender prostitutes, not all customers know the woman they just picked up has a penis.

>> i had a bad experience. a guy had picked me up, and he claimed that he didn't know. i was like really, really scared because he was talking about he was going to pit me and he should slit my throat. and i was like extremely, extremely scared. so like when a car pulled up like to the red light, i just opened the door, and i just, like, ran, i just ran and i didn't stop running. i just ran and ran and ran. but you know what? like i said, a girl's got to eat, and it didn't stop me. >> finding a job can be very tough, but probably nothing is tougher for trans girls than finding a lasting relationship. isis is at mcdonald's with her friend mario, and a stranger hits on isis. >> who are you? are you a star? >> maybe. this is me and my best friend mario. we are not on a date. >> mario's gay and i'm straight. >> though anatomically male, she's speaking as a woman, a straight woman. isis ignores her admirer, but he doesn't give up. >> a lot of days, no.

a lot of days -- >> for trans women, the variations on the dating theme seem as infinite as changes in their wardrobe. >> it's hard to decide, you know, if i want a straight guy or if i want a gay guy or bi guy or if a guy -- you know, what kind of guys are attracted to me? it's really hard because a guy who's gay who i really like, he might not like me because i'm a transitioning. so if i was to date a gay guy, what would be the outcome of that, you know? so you know, then i think about okay, welcome, i might want it date a straight guy, who now are the majority of people who hit on me. >> isis is not in a relationship now. >> i don't want anybody to see me until my transition is complete. some people enjoy being developed but still being the same from the waist down.

but i'm not one of those people. >> isis hopes to have gender reassignment surgery and stay celibate until marriage. deasja is a big name in the ballroom world and has no shortage of admirers. >> i tend to like meet people that only want to be around me because they say, oh, guess who i was with? i was with deasja. oh, guess who i'm dating now. guess who i'm dating now. deasja. so i tend to get that a lot. >> but what deasja dreams about is a lasting relationship. >> i want to get married and i want to wear the dress from "sleeping beauty," like at the end. she has on this dress where her fairy godparents is, like, changing the color of the dress and has this collar with long sleeves and it comes out. it's really pretty. but i want it in white. white and lavender. and i want to sing the song from the movie, too. ♪ i know you, i looked at you once upon a dream ♪

>> i think life is a dream, life is a fairy tale. face it, we can never find anybody to marry us. i'm going to get married. trust me, i am. i mean, i was engaged once. i was going to get married. >> deasja's fiance was a trans man, a man who started life as a girl. >> we lived together for like a year and a half straight and we were going to get married. that was my world. but -- well, that was something special in my world. that's what i meant to say. but he cheated on me with a girl named rasia, a real girl at that. that had like destroyed me for a long period of time. i was like erased from the picture. i had two rings, too. i pawned them both, after the breakup. yeah. let's get out of here. >> romance for trans girls can get very complicated. >> i was attracted for her because she looked like a female walking down the street.

>> deasja once dated winston, who is still a good friend. >> i don't know if i could say this, but when we used to have sex i used to tell her to cover her stuff because i didn't want to see it, but it was something in my head. it was an illusion thing. it just didn't go with -- it just didn't match the top. at first i was so nervous i didn't know what to do. >> we don't have a vagina. we have the same thing that they have. >> it just didn't feel right, like me seeing her and with that. like it just didn't -- i was just having sex with females at that time. i never had sex. she was like my first guy -- guy/girl. >> in luna's apartment angelika is being made up for the ball. >> your makeup is coming out so great. >> thank you. >> joann's luna's best friend like for years. >> inevitably, the chatter turns

to the subject of dating. >> i was 18, and i was dating this guy that i wasn't sure if he knew or not. i didn't come out and say it. yeah. >> had boobs already. >> yeah. >> really? >> yeah. uh-huh. and you know, i broke up with him because i kind of came to the conclusion that he didn't know. so, i just wanted -- >> how did you put off having sex, though? >> easy. i just -- i was like i'm not ready, i don't want to rush into it. and yeah, that was it. >> oh, you lucky girl. >> it wasn't easy, trust me. he was hot. like he was really sweet, really handsome. he was a sweetheart. he brought me flowers, and -- i get emotional. wait. sorry, tear. >> angelika heads toward the

ball dreaming of love and acclaim. >> when i'm on the runway, i am a celebrity. >> we're from ohio. so this kind of stuff doesn't happen back there. and it's really cool to be a part of. you need to catch the 4:10 huh? the equipment tracking system will get you to the loading dock. ♪ there should be a truck leaving now. i got it. now jump off the bridge. what? in 3...2...1... are you kidding me? go. right on time. right now, over 20,000 trains are running reliably. we call that predictable. thrillingly predictable. i lochecked bag.free with my united mileageplus explorer card. i have saved $75 in checked bag fees. priority boarding is really important to us. you can just get on the plane and relax. i love to travel, no foreign transaction fees means real savings. we can go to any country and spend money the way we would in the us. when i spend money on this card i can see brazil in my future.

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time and money. awesome. awesome! awesome! awesome! awesome! (all) awesome! i love logistics. ♪ the latex ball, the biggest on the ballroom calendar, is held at the roseland ballroom in new york. >> come inside. join the festivities. >> the doors open at 8:30, and the spectators are coming with high expectations. >> this is the experience once a year, and it's amazing. intricate costumes, beautiful makeup. people going nuts. and a crazy competition. >> we're from ohio. so this kind of stuff doesn't happen back there and it's really cool to be a part of.

>> it is where deasja, sasha, angelika, and isis can fulfill their dreams of love and acceptance and live a fairy tale of their own making. >> waiting to get in there. so we've got to make sure we go through the proper procedures. >> entrance is free, but before admission to fantasy land everyone is asked to fill out a survey and answer questions on hiv. sponsored by the gay men's health crisis, the flashy event serves to encourage aids prevention. >> did everybody get tested today? >> no alcohol is permitted during the latex ball, but that fact does not discourage the approximately 5,000 people who fill the hall. >> welcome to the latex ball. we're going to start in a minute. we're waiting for the performers. this is a fabulous night. so as soon as people come in the back, we'll get started. >> that was my house! >> the la perlas are in the room! >> they take their seat at the house table. >> where's the brush? >> right here. >> makeup brush. >> the makeup brush.

>> tension is already mounting, and it's going to be a long night for everybody. >> never starts on time, so. >> it is midnight before things really get going. >> ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 16th annual latex ball! make some noise! >> the ball has finally begun. hundreds of contestants will compete, or in ballroom parlance, walk the ball in more than 1 of 25 or more separate categories. and now as the fun begins, the real world fades into fantasy and for the duration of the and for the duration of the ball the kids can escape from stigma that is common in their every day lives. it is the one place where they're not only accepted but celebrated. sasha is dressing for her category, called drags performance. it calls for a costume in the colors of the rainbow, and deasja helps her put it on just right.

>> i'm not nervous at all. ♪ >> for her first round of voguing, sasha has the runway to herself. >> you start feeling it. there's nothing like it. >> but if she gets a 10 from the judges and goes another round, she'll be in a head-on battle with another girl with a perfect score. the nine judges on the panel include juan and tremaine. >> give her a round of applause. >> she makes it through to another round. >> once you get up there and once you start, you can't stop. ♪ >> sasha's confidence is as great as her energy. >> in the ballroom scene i'm one

of the best. >> but all the confidence in the world can't save her from the dreaded horn. that means you're out. chopped. >> all right, all right. >> everybody gets chopped. i'm not going to get my chance all the time. >> but the night is just getting started. isis, competing for the house of tsunami, is getting ready for her category, female figure runway, open to anybody who is or pretends to be a woman. >> i really like the category because i can battle everybody. >> tonight, the competitors' outfits must evoke the notion of a futuristic cotton candy girl, which means there will be a lot of pink on the runway. >> once i hit the runway i'm not worried. >> on the ballroom runway a transgender girl has the chance to earn the respect that so often eludes her in everyday life. the daring design of isis's

costume is pushing the envelope. >> i'm taking risks with this outfit that i've never taken before. >> but she wows the judges with her walk and outrageous costume. isis, having won her round, now watches her competitors. >> and hold, and hold. >> it's clear that she'll face the girl dressed in candy wrappers next. ♪ keep on walking, keep on walking, walk, walk ♪ >> it's an adrenaline rush. we'll see how it comes out. ♪ keep on walking ♪ keep on walking ♪ and pose and pose >> one, two, three, four. >> the verdict is in. >> ice give the sisters a round

of applause! >> isis wins and walks off validated with her trophy in hand. [ applause ] it's a long night. and angelika is waiting for her category to come up. >> i'm a little anxious now because everything is kind of running slow. i'm a little excited. more anxious than anything. >> she'll be walking femme queen face for the very first time. >> that's a structure in your face and your skin has to be clear. you have to have cheekbones. and yeah, it's basically femme queen face. >> finally, it is time for angelika to go change for her category. >> i practiced a lot to prepare myself for this ball because i thought this could be the perfect break in my ballroom career. >> as queen of the world, she waits at the runway, intent on boosting her status in the ballroom world. she enjoys the attention that she craves. >> everybody's looking at me. i am a celebrity. when i'm on the runway, i exude that presence that, you know, you're a celebrity. >> she's the queen of the world.

judges? [ horn ] >> good job, sweetie. >> but even in the fantasy world of the ballroom, the competition is brutal. angelika got chopped. >> i tried so hard. and you work so hard. it hurts. so you know, i had myself a little cry. >> the fairy tale is over for angelika, at least for the night. >> when i really feel like i want to vogue, it's a way of expressing myself and just, like, letting it out. >> i want to be legendary. i want everybody to be screaming my name. >> i want to be a powerful, beautiful woman, a goddess. ot i. yeah. it's in the shop. it's going to cost me an arm and a leg. that's hilarious. i'm sorry. you shoulda taken it to midas. get some of that midas touch. they'll tell you what stuff needs fixing, and what stuff can wait. all right. next time i'm going to midas. high-five! arg! did not see that coming. [ male announcer ] get the midas touch maintenance package including an oil change for only $24.99. and here's a deal,

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synchrony financial. engage with us. [ male announcer ] when you see everyone in america almost every day, you notice a few things. like the fact that you're pretty attached to these. ok, really attached. and that's alright. because we'll text you when your package is on the way. we're even expanding sunday package delivery. yes, sunday. at the u.s. postal service, our priority is...was... and always will be...you. californians are discovering the real risks behind prop 46. it was written and paid for by the trial lawyers to make them millions... while, for the rest of us, health care costs go up. no wonder every major newspaper in the state opposes prop 46. they say 46 "overreached in a decidedly cynical way." it's a ploy "for trial lawyers to enrich themselves." and prop 46 has "too many potential drawbacks

to be worth the risk." time to vote no on prop 46. among the many performers who come out to the balls, some have earned the title of legend, which is high recognition in ballroom. and deasja la perla got it for voguing. ♪

>> girl! are you gonna make a name? are you gonna make a name? >> tonight, she's on the stage in a cat outfit and really gets into her performance. >> when i really feel like i want to vogue, it's a way of expressing myself and just like letting it out. >> voguing has brought deasja a measure of acclaim. >> you can either have 15 minutes of glory and fame, meaning that everybody will love you for 15 minutes. it seems like they really genuinely care for you. >> it's no surprise that deasja wins and confirms her legendary status. it's a moment to enjoy. but it is fleeting. >> it seems like 15 minutes, because it can be like two months or whatever and then you're like old news. it's like celebrities in the gay world, is celebrities. i don't think that nobody cares

for me, not in this circle here. >> ladies and gentlemen, get your asses home. >> another latex ball is over. there will always be winners and losers, and sasha is taking her loss in stride. >> you know, it's all been fun. that's what it's supposed to be about. >> angelika, too, is not discouraged. she's got dreams outside of the ballroom, of being a singer. >> i always wanted to be a performer. i want to be on stage. i want to be a mainstream singer. since i'm trans, i know that's going to be ten times harder for me, but i want that acceptance from the world. >> it is a need for appreciation that starts with her biological mother. >> i wish deep down that i had a mother that would tell you that she loves you. because i used to always tell

her i loved her, and i wanted to hear it back from her. but you know, i've been able to sustain without it. i don't know if i'm going to be able to forever. >> a few days after the latex ball, deasja paid a visit to harlem and her family, who remembered her as a young man. >> your niece and your nephew and everybody else. >> they are? >> yeah. >> i used to date him younger. yes. he was good. he was nice. he was a gentleman. he was good. >> they didn't like it when he became a she, but it doesn't seem to faze them anymore. >> it's his life. he chose to be this way. that's the way -- you know, you have to accept him. you don't stop loving him because of his lifestyle. >> oh, my god. >> she's just legendary, is one word that only can describe her. legendary. her style is unique. she's deasja. >> where did this pants color come from?

>> last time i was around here, it was like '98, '99. they're still doing the same thing. they have kids and their kids have kids. so i have made the joke saying, well, damn, thank god i don't have ovaries. i really got an overwhelming feeling. like, i don't want to be emotional and stuff like that, but it was really good seeing them. >> isis's dreams for the future started in childhood with a character called storm. >> this is storm. i'm obsessed with storm from the x-men. storm represents a powerful woman, and i want to be like her, you know, even though she's a comic book character. i want to be powerful. i want to be a powerful beautiful woman, a goddess. >> isis aims high but also has attainable dreams. >> thank you, thank you so much. >> the good news is that isis got a job at the gay men's health crisis. >> congratulations, girl. >> she now has a steady job while she looks for ways to break into the fashion industry.

and she is among the lucky few in other ways. her mother is finding ways to cope with the fact that her son has become her daughter. >> i wasn't so accepted to everything, but i look at it like this. like i said, i just see a costume on my child, and i love my child dearly, so there's nothing that "d" can do that will make me stop loving her. >> she still has a hard time saying she, but is 100% behind her child's dream of becoming a successful fashion designer. >> that's what i hope for, and i'm here to help in any way i can. >> the percentage rate of successful transgender is very slim. but if you look at the percentage rate of successful women, it's very strong. so my biggest thing is to let them understand that you belong in this society. don't allow anyone to push you out of it

ocean beach, california, a suburb of san diego known for its surfing and sunny weather. but it also plays host a growing homeless population of runaway youth, kids who have come from all parts of the country to live on the beaches and the streets, many of them runaways, many of them women, like 23-year-old cassandra. >> they arrested me at a bonfire in oceanside. >> and 18-year-old niki. >> i decided i'm not going to do anything except for smoke pot. >> yeah! >> because i feel that i might be pregnant. >> like many women who live on the streets, both quickly have attached themselves to men for companionsd