Drag Queen Chanel Andrews performs one of Selena Quintanilla’s songs for brunch. Photo by: Delilah Alvarado
The sound of cumbia radiates down 2nd street. Following the music leads to Micheladas Cafe y Cantina, filled with a diverse crowd enjoying brunch and dancing along to a drag show.
The Q of Austin, an LGBTQ community set to empower youth in the community, threw its third annual drag brunch with the theme of native Tejana singer Selena Quintanilla, Sunday. The event was to raise awareness over sexual health in both the LGBTQ community and the Latin community. Using a popular figure like Selena, the conversation was able to gain more attention.
Event specialist Juan Benitez plans and coordinates the events for the Q of Austin. He says that a way to get their message out is by hosting fun events while throwing in messages around sexual health. This is only one event among many to raise awareness and bring people together.
“What we like doing is putting on events and through that adding messages around sexual health,” Benitez said. “That way it’s a little bit easier to swallow, but we also normalize the conversation.”
The event was able to reach many people, filling up the restaurant when the event started at noon and lasted till 3:30 p.m. Attendees not only watched a show but were offered free HIV testing and condoms at a small table inside. The Q collects data and demographics in order to localize their movement and see how they can be beneficial in Austin. Benitez recognizes that Hispanics and Latinos are at a higher risk for STDs and STIs and tries to combat that with the Q.
“We recognize that not everybody goes looking for sexual health awareness,” said Alberto Barrago, director of health operations. “Sometimes you do need to find something that people love, and kind of the intersection of like ‘hey I’m Latino and I love Selena, but I’m also at more of a risk for HIV than my white counterparts and so what can I do to talk about that?’ This captivates people in a space where we can talk about what’s important.”
Another goal of the event was to bring communities together. Attendees included black, trans, white, queer and more. Specific targets were Hispanics in the LGBTQ community, so the theme around Selena was chosen.
“Selena is the only celebrity who represents what living on the border means,” said attendee Rebecca Gorena. “Living in South Texas where it’s like we’re not Mexican enough, we’re not American enough and we have to bridge that gap constantly and that’s what Selena is to me.”
The representation of Latinx drag queens was very important for those in the community. Part of why Gorena attended was because the queens were Latin.
“Whenever you’re in Texas, you’re going to find white people who are like jumping on the capitalist train of consuming Selena,” Gorena said. “I don’t want to see white women up there dancing to ‘La Caracha’. I want to see myself dancing up there. It’s just not yours (white people).”
Selena’s influence can still be felt 23 years after her death. Her influence held true to all the drag queens who came from all parts of Texas. Each queen wore a rendition of one of Selena’s popular outfits including the purple jumpsuit she wore at the Houston Astrodome. Drag Queen Angellina DM Trailz remembers Selena being the first to sing in both Spanish and English when she was young.
“We miss her making music and I’m glad we got such great music from her and I love performing it,” Trailz said. “And as a Latin queer, gender-fluid drag queen I love to represent the community and remind people that we are diverse, we are here and queer to stay and to remember where you came from.”
Latins and Hispanics will also soon be able to get involved with their recently launched program called La Q Austin, which is completely Latin based. An event hosted by La Q Austin called Puro Pinche Pari will be happening April 28, at BT2, Austin. For more about the Q’s initiative, you can visit http://www.theqaustin.org
Opmerkingen