- The US star's '80s-themed queer party launches to mixed reviews.
- When the news broke that Frank Ocean was launching a 1980s-themed queer party in New York, glitzy images of the 1990 film Paris Is Burning came to mind. The influential queer film documented the New York ballroom scene, capturing how the black, Latino, trans and gay members of the queer community held each other up through nightlife. When the deadly AIDS crisis reared its head, ballrooms acted as homes, educational centers and resource pools for those affected.
The morning after PrEP+, which launched on Thursday, the internet broke with criticisms of Ocean's invite-only party. Many long-standing local artists expressed disappointment at being neglected an invite. The party was promoted as an homage to what the '80s queer club scene would have looked like if the HIV-prevention drug PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) had been invented. But when I walked into the misty tunnels of BASEMENT, the scene only reflected a standard New York night among the artistic elite. I was forced to dodge several cameramen throughout the evening, despite the event's "no cameras" house rule. It also grew increasingly difficult to overlook the lack of queer, black, Latino or people of colour at the party. As historically the most vulnerable groups to HIV and AIDS, it felt consoling when I occasionally found small pockets of these folks in the dark corners of the club.
At an event like this, one would also hope to hear genres with distinctly queer influences, namely vogue beats and house music. Yet the endless dance floor mainly delivered old-school hip-hop, soul and electro. While queer artists have certainly had their foot in all these genres, it felt strange that the sounds with the most intimate ties to ballroom history were not prioritized. This nagging cultural disconnect might be explained by the lack of local queer DJs on the lineup. The world-renowned Parisian duo Justice headlined and the night also featured Sango, Bouffant Bouffant, SHERELLE and SXYLK. In conversation with SXYLK, one of the only queer DJs on the bill, he underscored the importance of hiring exclusively black and brown DJs from New York for events like this, as these communities are "still navigating the wreckage" of the AIDS crisis. "The intention behind creating this type of event and space must be followed up with active inclusion or it just becomes another Brooklyn party," he said. "It's important to stress that the actual money needs to go to these communities."
There was also a glaring absence of discussion about HIV stigmatization and PrEP at the event. (Plus, there was no mention of the drug's inaccessibility to most people, at a high cost of $1,780 per month). Ocean responded to these criticisms, saying, "Awareness isn't always what we'd hope it would be... I'm happy that folks are talking about the subject in the first place." I question how effective it is, though, to spread awareness about a drug that very few people have access to, and furthermore without the resources and informational tools necessary to guide people towards healthy, safe-sex practices? Doing this only serves to perpetuate the notion that HIV, a virus that many radical people lived with in the '80s, is unclean, demoralizing and to be avoided at all costs.
PrEP+ was a club night with overwhelming potential, impaired by the trap of celebrity and a misguided premise. There's no denying the night's novelty aspect. Fans were starstruck—herds were turned away from the VIP room all night. Many probably woke up still reeling over the two unreleased Ocean tracks that got played. And when else do you have the opportunity to see an elusive superstar casually two-step with you at the club? But if novelty is all the night can offer, rather than provide an inclusive black, queer and trans community-oriented gathering, honoring the past and present artists and activists doing the work, this should be transparent in future promotion.
Photo credit /
Hannah