Emanuel Xavier (born May 3, 1970), is an American poet, spoken word artist, author, editor, and LGBTQ activist born and raised in the Bushwick area of Brooklyn. Associated with the East Village, Manhattan arts scene in New York City, he emerged from the ball culture scene and the Nuyorican movement to become a successful poet, writer and advocate for gay youth programs and Latino gay literature. Early years Born Emanuel Xavier Granja in Brooklyn, New York to an Ecuadorian mother, Xavier's father abandoned them after finding out she was pregnant. He was raised by his mother and her live in boyfriend, who was separated from his wife but remained married throughout the years. He was never told anything about his real father. As a child, Xavier was the victim of child sexual abuse by a relative. He grew up in Bushwick in the 1970s, at a time when it was mostly an immigrant community made up of Puerto Ricans, blacks and some Italians. He was bused during a time to a mostly white elementary school in Queens where he experienced racism. At age 16, he came out to his mother and her live in boyfriend and was kicked out for being gay. He survived the streets as an underage male prostitute at the Christopher Street West Side Highway piers and became involved with the House of Xtravaganza and the 1980s ball scene. It was during this time that he befriended many notable members of the trans world and ball community, many of whom were feautred in the documentary Paris Is Burning. After returning home under strict new rules, he graduated Grover Cleveland High School (Queens) and then attended St. John's University for several years, dropping out after receiving his associate's degree in communications. He moved to the West Village and became a drug dealer at New York City gay nightclubs. Xavier later worked at A Different Light (bookstore). He has said that he viewed poetry as an "outlet to unleash pain and anger." Professional career He self-published the poetry chapbook,Pier Queen in 1997. With the help of Willi Ninja in 1998, he created the House of Xavier and the Glam Slam, an annual downtown arts event staged at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe (and later at the Bowery Poetry Club). The House of Xavier and House of Xtravaganza collaborated to stage other more traditional ball events. Painted Leaf Press, a now