Having witnessed discrimination when representing queer talent, Lanisha “Taye’ Taylor took her experience and launched her own entertainment company
QUEER AGENT | Lanisha “Taye” Taylor recently launched her own LGBT talent agency, The Color Agency, after she witnessed past clients being discriminated against for being out. (Courtesy of FotoPhresh Photography)
Lanisha “Taye” Taylor has worked in the entertainment industry for years as a dancer, promoter, dancer and now, a business owner.
Taylor started The Color Agent LLC in April and officially launched the company mid-May. But she’d been toying with the idea for about two years around the time she was representing a lesbian rapper who was discriminated against. Taylor said she had problems getting venues to book her client when places had a certain fan base in mind or would have her open when the venue was all but empty. At other times, she’d struggle to get producers on board. So she decided to give LGBT talent a voice.
“Instead of just helping one person, I was like, ‘Well let me create an agency that can help a lot of people,” Taylor said. “Because if she was facing this discrimination, then I wanted to have a company that could help everyone.”
The Color Agent provides talent agency services from scouting, booking and promotions to marketing, consultation and placement for LGBT artists. Taylor’s agency isn’t just one type of artist, either. She currently represents an actor, DJ, YouTube personalities and a dancer. Some are in Dallas and Houston, and another is in Kansas City, so Taylor expects her company to ultimately stretch far outside of Dallas where she’s based. While not the first talent agency focused on the LGBT community, Taylor’s company is one of the first, if not the first, agency of its kind in Texas.
With LGBT artists not always understanding the entertainment industry or how to market themselves to communities outside the LGBT community, Taylor said many queer artists are locked out or put in a box. And others are looked over at gay events like Pride celebrations for straight performers. Launching The Color Agent was her way to help level the playing field for LGBT talent, she said.
“I basically established it so LGBT artists could compete or at least be parallel to their heterosexual counterparts,” Taylor said. “I just want them to be able to be in the same industry without having to go and just do things for the gay community. I want them to at least be able to compete in the same industry on a broader scale.”
Taylor is no stranger to the entertainment industry. She’s been a promoter and manger for years for both straight and queer artists, putting roots down in Dallas while often traveling for work. She’s even been on the other side of the industry when she was a dancer with a local troupe about six years ago. The group would travel around to different gay venues to perform, she said. Her experience is what made her want to go into business for herself.
“I’ve been in all aspects of the entertainment industry, so just seeing it all made me want to focus in on the LGBT community being that I am a part of it,” she said.
Courtney Wade, who goes by DJ CWade, is one of Taylor’s clients. She’s been a DJ in Dallas for about five years and has worked in both gay and straight clubs. She said as a masculine lesbian, she’s been put in a box for the type of image venues will book.
“It has definitely hindered me from being able to do certain things, reaching a certain level outside the LGBT community, me being a masculine lesbian,” Wade said. “It kind of puts me in a box.”
Wade said the agency is definitely needed in Dallas as a way to promote LGBT artists and help them move up in the local scene, calling it a “larger platform for a lot of us to showcase what we do.”
“I think it’s really big for Dallas because there’s a lot of talent in the city and a lot of LGBT talent is definitely overlooked, not only within the city but on a larger scale as well,” Wade said.
Taylor echoed that sentiment, adding that it’s time for an LGBT talent agency in Dallas and Texas to help promote the immense talent within the community while helping artists hold on to their true selves and art ventures.
“I just want to do my part for the community and offer them something because so many times they try to jumpstart their career and they have to change their clothes or change the way their music sounds and try to fit in,” Taylor said. “So I want something exclusively for them.”
For more information, visit TheColorAgent.com
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition May 30, 2014.