In collab with @jukuz & @kikilounge_berlin

Ballroom Culture – not to be confused with Ballroom Dance – has enjoyed an influx of mainstream interest in recent years through TV shows like Pose, Legendary, and, to some extent, Rupaul’s Drag Race. Even though the increased visibility and commercialization of ballroom has raised awareness about and engagement with the issues faced by the members of its community, who are queer and predominantly of color, it remains often superficial and performative at best. However, the everyday experiences of discrimination, harassment, and marginalization dealt with by queer migrants and BIPOCs remain inadequately addressed, and frequently, they find themselves without support from their biological families due to a lack of understanding of their queerness. Ballroom has, since its inception in the 1960s, Harlem, provided alternative homes and families to particularly black and Latinx queer people who were commonly ostracized by their own kin. In this sense, at its very core, Ballroom has always been about creating a community for queer people of color by queer people of color. In the early 2000s, the Kiki scene emerged parallel to the major Ballroom scene and offered youths an age-appropriate entry into Ballroom and a safer space to participate in.
The concept of „Kiki Lounge“ as a space of intersection between Ballroom and social youth work was first implemented at GHMC & Hetrick-Martin-Institute and nowadays can be found at youth centers all across the United States. In this format, adolescents and young adults receive guidance and training from senior members of the ballroom community while simultaneously having access to social counseling and social pedagogical support.