GMHC’s 36th annual Latex Ball generated incandescent energy on June 21, attracting a capacity crowd of about 2,500 ball goers to Terminal 5 in Manhattan for one of the New York Ballroom scene’s most anticipated Pride Month events. It’s both a celebration of the House and Ball community and, just as essentially, a sexual health fair focused on HIV prevention.
“The looks were spectacular this year across the board,” said the Latex Ball’s impresario, Luna Luis Ortiz, who is also GMHC’s Coordinator of Prevention Services. Over 40 houses showed out to invoke Ballroom magic. The chosen families for NYC’s House and Ball community, houses are mostly made up of Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ people.
This year’s theme, One Thousand Nights, celebrated the legendary creativity and resilience of the House & Ball community, who compete in 25 performance categories across Runway, Face, Performance, Realness, and Fashion. “We asked the competitors to take the categories to the next level – to push it up 1,000 notches,” Ortiz said.
“There are a lot of really creative, imaginative people in Ballroom,” he added. “We asked for high-fashion effects, and some of the costumes were out of this world.” For “A Night of a Thousand Lights,” the All American Runway category, competitors incorporated lights into their effect, and the house lights were dimmed to highlight their spectacular walks down the runway.
Ortiz said one of his favorite categories of the night was “A Night of a Thousand Beautiful Gowns” for Femme Queen Realness. “Like the beautiful queen that you are, you have been invited to a red-carpet event and the dress code is ‘Beautiful Gowns,” competitors were instructed. That was a novel twist, since people usually “come out looking like the girl next door,” Ortiz said, for Femme Queen Realness. “They pulled it off. They were gorgeous.”
For “A Night of a Thousand Flowers,” a new Gender Non-Conforming (GNC) Runway category, competitors were asked to bring to life a “display of the most creative floral arrangement you can think of.” As Runway’s debut gender non-conforming category for people of all gender orientations, it was broadly inclusive, akin to Open to All (OTA) categories, which are open to all genders and sexualities.
“It was a fabulous turnout and a fabulous ball,” Ortiz said. “We celebrated each other, and we loved each other.”
The Future of Prevention
GMHC presents the Latex Ball as part of the agency’s longstanding promise to support and celebrate NYC’s House and Ball community. Ortiz said that “We Won’t Stop,” the GMHC theme for AIDS Walk New York, applies equally to the Latex Ball. “No matter what, we’re here for you. We will always be here for you,” said Ortiz, who also runs The Clubhouse, GMHC’s drop-in space for LGBTGNC youth of color and young adults.
Gilead Sciences has partnered with the Latex Ball for several years to educate ball goers about sexual health and HIV prevention. This year, Gilead and Tenz Magazine created a glamtastic, space-age Future of Prevention campaign that spotlighted an intergenerational cast of Ballroom’s pioneers, legends, statements, and stars: Stephanie LaBeija, Rebel Alpha Omega, Tutu West, Junior LaBeija, G Xtravaganza, and Primo Donyale Luna.
The Ballroom icons shared how they protect their own sexual health – addressing HIV testing, PrEP (pre-exposure prophylactic) medication, condoms, and more – in short video conversations. To get people talking, GMHC and its event partners disseminated the videos in advance on social media, then played them at the Latex Ball.
GMHC and other HIV and AIDS service organizations also distributed materials about HIV testing and sexual health at the event.
By celebrating Ballroom artistry along with sexual health, the Latex Ball is a signature part of our outreach to create joyful, stigma-free spaces of belonging that embrace the creativity and resilience of the multifaceted communities we serve.
“Despite what is going on in the world, we’re going to keep providing this event and GMHC’s essential services for the House and Ball community,” Ortiz said. “We’ve already started talking about next year’s ball.” May the magic and power of a thousand nights continue through these tumultuous times!
GMHC presents the Latex Ball at no charge for the House and Ball community, thanks to a cadre of dedicated volunteers and our sponsors. We appreciate the generous support that made it possible from Icon sponsor Gilead Sciences; Legend sponsors Dr. Alvin Pickettay/House of Khan; Statement sponsors Avita Pharmacy, Q Care Plus, and Serge Adam; and Star sponsors Boxers NYC and Hush.
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