LGBTQ+ community members and allies filled the Los Angeles LGBT Center in Hollywood Friday night for its inaugural Queerceañera.
The celebration was an inclusive take on the coming-of-age quinceañera tradition throughout Latin America and the United States, which are often regarded as out-of-reach status symbols, especially for queer people.
Hollywood keeps calling this Emmy-winning drag queen, but she’s staying in Brownsville, Texas, for a reason.
“A quince is kind of a privilege to have. You have to have a lot of money to put [one] on,” said the event’s emcee, Salina EsTitties, who competed on the 15th season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
“For a safe space like [the center] to do this... I feel like this is so important. Why haven’t we done it sooner?”
Guests began the night with a quince-style cocktail hour and mixer in the courtyard. Many arrived in formal wear to celebrate the quinceñeras they never had.
For many Latinx queer people, events and spaces like the ones the LGBT Center provides are some of the only places where they can feel free from judgment.
“This is family,” said Andreaka Rivera, who works for the center. “It means everything to be able to come into a space like this and be able to just be authentically you and loved and have that combined with your culture.”
“I think it’s so important for us as a community to support one other. To galvanize, connect, celebrate and expand our queer joy,” said attendee Sir Christopher Saint, a Los Angeles native.
For “Drag Race México” host Valentina, getting to experience that joy on her own time and her own terms is key.
“You extend yourself to allow the queer joy of the things you didn’t get to accomplish in your adolescence, in your childhood, and you wear it with honor now,” said Valentina, who will embark on a yearlong ambassadorship with the center to uplift and support outreach within the Latinx community.
“The queer community allowed me to find myself. To find my talents outside my home where I couldn’t feel like I was myself.”
The southeast L.A. native was honored at the event along with singer and star of Netflix’s “Glamorous” Miss Benny.
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1. Valentina accepts her honoree award at the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Queerceañera. (Juli Perez/For De Los) 2. Miss Benny walks off after accepting her honoree award. (Juli Perez/For De Los)
Having grown up in a conservative community in Texas, Miss Benny described how she lacked examples of queer representation. “I remember the first time I saw a happy queer person was through the internet... What that did for me is it gave me an outlet to sort of find moments of queer joy and validation I wasn’t getting at home,” she said.
The co-host of ‘Drag Race Mexico’ sat down with columnist Suzy Exposito to discuss her illustrious television career, her Chicana pride and the freedom of being nonbinary.
The night included a baile sorpresa by emcee EsTitties, who was joined by dancers from Queerchata. The MC then further captivated the audience with a solo drag performance.
Guests took to the dance floor for a tiempo de vals dancing hour to enjoy themselves in liberation and celebration.
“It’s called ‘the center’ for a reason. El centro. This is where we gather. This is where community happens,” said the center’s director of communications Oliver DelGado. “But most importantly, this is where we come to be ourselves,”
