Born John Witherspoon, Lahoma worked with Larry Tee at the club, Celebrity in Atlanta during the mid 80’s and was a member of Tee’s band, Now Explosion. She also appeared in several low budget films with Rupaul and Tee, Including Police Woman and Starrbooty- The Mack. On November 16 1983, Now Explosion performed at the Pyramid Club and was the night that Lahoma met Videographer,Nelson Sullivan for the first time.

This would be significant because after  Lahoma moved from Atlanta to new York in the 1986, both her and Larry Tee moved in with Sullivan. Over the next three years Lahoma became one of the most prominent subjects of Sullivan’s camera; from Van Zant buying a banana, to a tense run in she had with police in 1988 over a broken tail light.

She performed at the Pyramid and the Limelight  and was the co-host of Larry Tee’s Celebriy Club in the Tunnel Basement. In 1988 Lahoma became a contributer for Project X magazine, She and Lady Bunny Wrote the regular feature “Lahoma and Bunny’s Top 10 Hot Men Chart”. She also appeared on the cover of the holiday Issue for the same year. By the following Issue (#7) Van Zant and Bunny were replaced by James St James gossip and Who’s in and out Colum’s as well as Miss Conceptions Horoscope.

By 1998, Van Zant had quit night clubbing but did appear both Party Monster Shockumentary and Shampoo Horns, that year. In 2001 Witherspoon became an editor for Parade and stayed for 13 years. In 2007, Lahoma returned Agent Page Turner, working undercover as  working girl, Pepper in Rupaul’s cult film, Starrbooty. In 2014, Van Zant became senior editor of Grapevine.