Ball culture has been a Black/Latinx gay subculture overlooked by historians. Ball culture served as a safe space for young gay Black/Latinx men and trans-people to express themselves. The competition categories held an equally significant role in ball culture as the balls did. If not for the categories, the balls would not bring the moment where participants present their individualism amongst their peers. Although other social sciences such as gender studies and sexuality studies have explored ball culture, the focus was not on the categories. The categories became an afterthought and were compared to beauty pageants. Ball culture categories were much more than simple competition categories. Many categories had the purpose to teach "realness" and challenged homophobia and transphobia, racism, and poverty ball culture participants experienced outside the balls. This thesis specifically examines ball culture competition categories during its golden age, 1981-1993. A discussion on homo/transphobia, racism, and poverty in New York City during ball culture’s golden age lays out the groundwork on why specific categories were created and sustained themselves over time. Ball culture competition categories were separated into two themes: queerness/realness categories and race-based categories. This thesis seeks to establish why ball culture competition categories were created, evolved, and maintained as important mechanisms for Black and Latinx gay men to define themselves and their identities as individuals with self-worth.