It was during this time that he befriended many notable members of the trans world and ball community, many of whom were featured 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.

[6] In the mid-90s, he helped introduce spoken word poetry to the LGBTQ+ community by staging successful monthly events, "Realness & Rhythms", in the basement of A Different Light (bookstore) in NYC.

[7] "In the same era (as Tongues Untied by Marlon Riggs), we got Emanuel Xavier's exceptional Pier Queen, a book of poetry by a queer Latinx author that overlaps thematically and in tone.

"[8] With the help of Willi Ninja in 1998, he created the House of Xavier and the Glam Slam,[9] an annual downtown arts event staged at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe (and later at the Bowery Poetry Club).

[citation needed] He appeared in the Wolfgang Busch documentary How Do I Look and co-starred in the feature film The Ski Trip.

El Museo del Barrio staged a choreographed dance presentation based on his spoken word album Legendary in 2010.

[21] In 2023, he hosted The 35th Annual Publishing Triangle Awards and announced a new book, Love(ly) Child, for Fall 2023.

He has also performed a rendition of his poem "Americano" with Grammy Awards nominated Latin jazz musician, Bobby Sanabria.

As a former homeless teen, he has staged benefits for groups such as Sylvia Rivera's Place and Ali Forney Center.

PEN America invited him to read his poem "Americano" at the Writer's Resist rally on the steps of The New York Public Library in protest of the Trump administration in 2017.

The same year, a week long exhibit was staged to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his poetry collection Pier Queen.

In October 2005, Xavier was brutally gay-bashed by a group of about 20 young men in the Bushwick area of Brooklyn.

[24] The American Library Association selected Xavier's poetry collections If Jesus Were Gay and Nefarious for its Over The Rainbow Books lists for 2011[25] and 2015[26] respectively.