Suicide At The Riviera Casino
| Born | September 29, 1958 |
|---|---|
| Died | January 24, 2008 (aged 49) |
| Occupation | entertainer |
Jahna Erica Steele (29 September 1958 — 24 January 2008[1]) was an Americantransgender entertainer and Las Vegas showgirl who was voted Las Vegas' 'Sexiest Showgirl on The Strip' in 1991,[2] 'Las Vegas Entertainer of the Year, 1992,' and 'Most Beautiful Showgirl, 1993.'[3] She was fired after being outed as a trans woman by a tabloid television show. Steele made numerous film and television appearances, including hosting a transgender beauty pageant featured in the film Trantasia.
Early life and career[edit]
Born in San Antonio, Texas, Steele was a Miss Gay USA pageant winner in the Texas finals under the name Jhoana Reis.[4] In her early twenties, Steele under went gender confirmation surgery, also known as sexual reassignment surgery.[5] She then left San Antonio and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada 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 in Las Vegas during the late 1980s. In 1991, Steele was voted 'the sexiest showgirl on The Strip'.[6]
Outing and its effects[edit]
Most people in Las Vegas, including the producer who hired her and her costars, 'knew she was transgender but didn't care.'[7] She was outed on a 1992 edition of the television program A Current Affair. Following her outing by A Current Affair 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.'[6] The story of her outing and its negative effect on her showgirl career was featured in The National Enquirer.[8]
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After being fired from Crazy Girls Revue, Steele was a frequent talk show guest and sang in nightclubs across the United States before moving to Hawaii. She also appeared as a guest star in a second-season episode of NYPD Blue ('Don We Now Our Gay Apparel'), playing the character Candace La Rue.[9] Steele was additionally on the Maury Povich Show in the early 90s. 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, '...[the show] 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.'[6]
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 before she worked for a women's health facility and got certified in nonprofit management.[6] Prior to her death, she also began hosting Aleman's La Cage drag show at the Riv, and it was the last job she had before overdosing in January 2008.[6]
Transsexual beauty contest hostess[edit]
Steele made her comeback in 2004 when she hosted The World's Most Beautiful Transsexual Contest at the Riviera.[10] A documentary feature film based on the pageant, Trantasia, recognized Steele's pioneering place in the history of the transsexual community. Steele was also featured on several segments of Entertainment Tonight in connection with Trantasia. 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[11] when she died in Las Vegas.[12] The cause of death was accidental overdose of cocaine, morphine and hydromorphone.[13]
Controversy[edit]
There is some controversy over Steele's career, particularly regarding the Riviera. 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'[5] and that did not include transwomen. Several years later due to the public attention towards 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 filmed by Jeremy Stanford.
References[edit]
- ^Clarke, Norm (January 26, 2008). Jahna Steele R.I.P.Las Vegas Review-Journal
- ^Anderson-Minshall, Jacob (March 1, 2007). Las Vegas Showgirl.San Francisco Bay Times
- ^Archerd, Army (November 14, 1994). Caron dances back in time.Variety
- ^Roberts, Pudgy (1979). The Great Female Mimics, Volume 5, Issue 3, p. 39. Mark Lithographers
- ^ ab'Death of a Showgirl'. www.advocate.com. 2008-03-05. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
- ^ abcdeStein, Martin (July 22, 2004). 'Was She or Wasn't She? Transsexual beauty pageant marks the return of Vegas' most notorious showgirl'. Archived from the original on October 11, 2004. Retrieved 2006-07-31.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link). The Las Vegas Weekly
- ^Broverman, Neal (March 25, 2008). Death of a showgirl.The Advocate
- ^Staff report (1992). 'Sexiest show girl' in Vegas fired because she used to be a MAN! National Enquirer
- ^'NYPD Blue episode guide via MSN'. Archived from the original on 2006-05-12. Retrieved 2006-07-31.
- ^Clarke, Norm (May 15, 2004). Transgender star plans comeback. Las Vegas Review-Journal
- ^Pratt, Paul E. (May 16, 2007). Transsexual Former Vegas Showgirl Working on Tell-All Book.Outlook Magazine
- ^Davis, Andrew (February 6, 2008). Passages: Jahna Steele.Windy City Times
- ^Clarke, Norm (February 20, 2008). 'Jahna Steele Overdosed'. Archived from the original on January 28, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
External links[edit]
- Jahna Steele on IMDb
By Benn Ray (Atomic Books Blog, 3/21/2012)
In this month’s issue of Fortean Times (#286), local author Mikita Brottman has an article involving the curious 2006 death of Rey Rivera, a 32 year old financial writer working for Agora called “Death on the thirteenth floor”.
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Rivera fell from the 13th floor of The Belvedere (one of our favorite buildings in Baltimore, also featured in the AMC show Mad Men) and wasn’t discovered until a little over a week later when tenants began to complain about a smell.
The real mystery, Brottman’s article reveals, comes from the Masonic connections.
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“Confounding the mystery further, Rivera’s death involved a number of obscure Masonic elements, one of these being the unusual phrase beginning and ending the note found taped to his computer: ‘Whom virtue unites, death cannot separate.’ In its Latin form, this phrase was used in ceremonies performed by the Knights Templar, and it is still inscribed in the inside of Masonic rings. Rivera’s family and friends recall that, in the time leading up to his death, he had become increasingly fascinated by Masonic secrets.”
Had Rivera gotten too close to something he shouldn’t have? Was he asking questions he shouldn’t be asking? Or did he commit suicide?
Decide for yourself after checking out all the details in Brottman’s piece – which also involves an anti-government right wing extremist, FBI behavioral experts, mind control, and a meeting with a Mason the day of his disappearance.
And it all takes place in Mt. Vernon in Baltimore.