ABOUT
Full name: Bowie LeBlanc
Date of birth: October 31, 1993
Age: 29
Gender: Trans womanÂ
Pronouns: She/Her
Birthplace: New Orleans, Louisiana
Religion: Voodoo
Occupation: Co-owner of The Broom Closet + a burlesque dancer at Restricted Access Cabaret
How long have they been in Bradford Springs: Four years
Where do they live?: Downtown with River Patel and Fox Lennox
Wanted Connections | Stats | Headcanons
BIO
TW: bullying and mentions of transphobia
*People from New Orleans refer to their aunts as âteedyâ
New Orleans was no stranger to the occult, to the extraordinary. It profited off of it, turning it into a gimmick for foreign, drunken tourists to smile and laugh at as they opened up their wallets to buy voodoo doll keychains with no real power or potential as keepsakes. Underneath the commercial sanitization, however, there was a real culture there. The LeBlancs knew that, long before Beau came along.
Hallows Eve amplified the cityâs desire to capitalize off of its wicked history, and those who were native to the Big Easy knew better than to venture anywhere near the French Quarters. The sun had long set, and the insects singing their merry chorus in the night could hardly be heard over the merriment in the streets. There was no need for the moon and the stars to light the night sky, the neon signs did the work of a midnight sun.
But miles away, along the outskirts of the city limits where the noise turned from roars of a crowd to neighbors sharing a laugh over a drink or two, Beau LeBlanc entered into the world at 12:03am on Halloween morning at home to April LeBlanc, a single mother, and the family awaiting the babyâs arrival.
And a happy, healthy, beautiful baby boy they were.
Raised by their mother and their Teedy Kenyatta*, the sisters were the first to notice Beau wasâŚdifferent. Bowie, as they were affectionately called, was gifted, gifted like many of the LeBlancs that came before them. After all, New Orleans was a magical place, and Beauâs ancestors were practitioners, priestesses of the Voodoo that made the city so infamous.
But Beau was different in other ways too. They didnât like being called a boy. It felt wrong and invasive, clashing with who they really were. So one day, at the age of eleven, they went up to their mom and aunt, announcing they actually felt more like a she than a he and would like to only be called Bowie. There was no fuss, no hysteria, just a simple shrug and acceptance. Bowie was a girl and would be treated as such.
Nothingâs ever that simple though, is it? As the saying goes, kids can be cruel, and oh, were they cruel.
It wasnât like Bowie was very popular to begin with. The LeBlancs had a reputation, rumors and legends trailed them in their community. Good Catholic parents told their little obedient children to stay away from Bowie. He comes from devil worshippers. And the kids listened, but that changed when Bowie began presenting more feminine, coming to school in dresses and skirts. The general disregard for them turned into attention for the wrong reasons. Taunting became relentless, endless, and the adults who were meant to protect them would look the other way.
Bowie never needed the friendship of their classmates, though. They were extremely close to their family, and outside of their relatives, they had the only friend they needed. They had River. The two were already close, but when Bowieâs family took them in after the tragedies transpiring after Hurricane Katrina, they were inseparable. Soulmates whoâd undoubtedly shared past lives, who were fortunate enough to find each other in the one they presently lived. Whatever loneliness the kids at school tried enforcing on them, they had love in abundance at home.
As Bowie grew into a teenager, they stayed in tune with their religion and the gift they harnessed. When it seemed the bullying would take a turn towards violence, Bowie didnât break a sweat or shed a tear. Instead, they turned to the practices of their family, calling upon their ancestors.
First, it was Emma Lee Granger, whose gorgeous, red hair went from shedding more than usual to falling out in clumps. And then it was Jenny Kane, who couldnât talk about the roaches coming out of the bathtub faucet without crying. Jackson Huckabee, who got into a freak accident that ended his chances of ever playing baseball again. It was a shame, really. He could have made it to the pros, that one.
There was no proof, but it had to be Bowie, right? They were a satanist freak, who had been bullied by the three for years. Fear trumped any desire for retaliation, and finally, Bowie was left alone. They survived the rest of high school with River, unscathed and at peace, finally ready to leave it all behind them. Hugging and kissing their family and River goodbye, Bowie went off to Pratt in Brooklyn for fashion design. And despite loving the city, all it had to offer, and the amazing, open-minded people they met, it was only a matter of time before they fell irreversibly homesick. Just shy of their 20th birthday, Bowie dropped out of college and returned to the one place they loved more than any place in the entire world. They returned home.
As an adult, Bowie thrived in New Orleans. The second time they came out, this time as non-binary, was met with the same indifferent shrug and acceptance. They laughed and loved, living at home with their mother while working at a LGBTQ+ bar in the Quarters. Life was fun. Every shift was a party, and the people she worked with became another family. It was the life Bowie was meant to live. A life that was bright and loud and flamboyant, surrounded by people who accepted one another. They were the same people who threw Bowie a going away party when they decided to join River in Colorado.
It was an easy decision, one fueled by how much they missed having their best friend in their life. With the unexpected news of the small trust left behind by Riverâs parents and the idea of opening up their own metaphysical shop together, Bowie packed up their things once again and made the move. That was four years ago, and Bradford Springs had been unlike any place they had ever visited, much less lived. It was an adjustment, but it was a place they grew to love â though they still received care packages from New Orleans regularly. However, life was a little quieter, a little slower than it had been in the city, and they loved being surrounded by nature. A natural born people person, they also loved how much easier it was to run into a familiar face or make a new friend. They had two jobs they loved, one as co-owner to The Broom Closet with their best friend, and another as a burlesque dancer at Restricted Access. Bowie curated a life for themself in Colorado, happily taking up space in a world so different from the one they grew up in. With the right community, on a good day, it almost felt like home.
*Bowieâs back to using she/her pronounsÂ
