Saturday, AUGUST 22, 2026
Terminal 5
610 West 56 Street
New York, New York 10019
6 pm: Doors Open
6–10:30 pm: QueerMart
6:30 pm: Show Begins
2:00 am: Doors Close
This event is free and open to all community members 18 years and older!
Check out The Latex Ball Facebook page for latest updates! Please note that this is the OFFICIAL Latex Ball® Facebook page.
The Latex Ball® 2026: The Celebration Ball
Our most unique event of the year, The Latex Ball® is an essential part of GHMC’s programs, providing a sense of community for mostly Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ youth and adults in the House and Ball community.
In the face of everything happening around us, we are turning the volume all the way up. We aim to rekindle a sense of joy and celebration by reintroducing vibrant colors into our Ballroom experience. This year’s Latex Ball is a full-on celebration of love, creativity, color, and unapologetic expression.
Our community has always found a way to shine through every challenge, every loss, every moment that tried to dim our light. From the height of the HIV and AIDS epidemic to today, we have survived, thrived, and shown up for each other with power, resilience, and heart.
The Latex Ball utilizes the Triple E—Education, Entertainment, and Empowerment—approach to HIV prevention, substance use, and positive sexual health messaging. The event features competitions in dance, voguing, and fashion, and incorporates messaging that links the community to resources that help prevent the spread of HIV.
The House & Ball community are the original influencers.
From the margins to the mainstream, from Madonna’s “Vogue” to Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour this community has inspired fashion, music, and culture for the past hundred years. The Latex Ball continues this tradition while raising awareness, fighting stigma, and providing vital resources. Our attendees include over 3,000 young, socially savvy tastemakers and our robust press and social amplification reaches tens of thousands more annually.
Today, House & Ball culture has risen to a new height of mass media appeal and this cultural phenomenon is celebrated on award-winning shows like “Pose,” HBO Max’s “Legendary” and “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
The Latex Ball®: Heritage
House & Ball culture was born many decades ago in Harlem. Today, the community includes over 20,000 in New York City, with thousands more worldwide.
The House & Ball community is made up of houses which act as supportive social structures for LGBTQ+ folks. This structure provides a surrogate family for those whose sexual orientation often results in rejection and homelessness. As a surrogate family, a house has a house mother, house father, and children who take on the house name as their surname. Balls are events at which house members walk (or compete) for trophies, cash prizes, or respect. Participants often dance or vogue, while others compete across a variety of categories that celebrate fashion, culture, and art. Members of these houses, both young and old, regularly compete in balls and other related activities throughout the year.
SPONSORS
STATEMENT
Serge Adam
