6: Origin Story

Shaun Dawson looks back on returning to Assigned Sex years after the 2019 short film, talking about what’s shifted since their first time directing and how their relationship to work, money, and being visible as a Black genderqueer storyteller has changed. They get into why the original film centered Black church, gender roles, and a preacher’s kid named Angel, and how watching Paris Is Burning for the first time cracked something open around seeing Black and Latinx queer and trans life on screen.

In this episode of Assigned Sex, Unarchived , Shaun breaks down why the project is coming back now as a podcast instead of a film, what it means to “unarchive” work they’d been hiding for years, and how a recurring written history segment plus a companion Substack turn the show into a kind of altar for Black trans and genderqueer lives instead of just more trauma spectacle. The episode also weaves in the story of Octavia St.

Laurent , a Brooklyn‑born Black trans legend of the ballroom scene, whose life stretched from Harlem houses like St. Laurent and Mizrahi to Paris Is Burning, indie films, and HIV and AIDS advocacy.

Through Octavia’s story, Shaun sits with how she opened up more room for Black queer and trans people to see themselves as worthy of the close‑up, not just a tragic headline. Follow Assigned Sex on Facebook and Instagram at @assignedsex, and subscribe to the Assigned Sex newsletter on Substack for episode updates and extended conversations.

Credits: Host: Shaun Dawson · Engineer : Aaron Freeman · Producers : Shaun Dawson & Nandikayyy · Music : “Soul of Orleans” by John Lopke ; Street Gospel Hip Hop Piano – 75bpm – Bbmaj by nnaudio (licensed under Creative Commons)