Plenty of Black queer joy will be on display in the coming week in Houston.
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Black Queer AF Week, organized by the Normal Anomaly Initiative, will open Saturday in Texas’s largest city and will continue through May 4. It will feature music, dancing, drag, a yacht brunch, and more.
This year’s theme is “Visibility,” something more important now than ever, says Ian L. Haddock, founder and executive director of the Normal Anomaly.
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Politicians and others campaigning against diversity and trying to quash representation of Black people, LGBTQ+ people, and basically anyone who isn’t white and straight. “We need the visibility,” Haddock says. “Our visibility is not for the people who are trying to silence us. It’s for the people who are scared — to see that we’re still here.”
The Normal Anomaly became an organization in 2021 and started a Black queer event in May of that year. In the beginning, it was a one-day music festival, and now it’s a weeklong celebration, drawing about 3,000 attendees.
A performance at last year's BQAF.Courtesy BQAF
Music is still at the heart of BQAF Week. Its music festival, to be held May 3 from 2 to 7 p.m. at Stampede Houston, will be headlined by rapper and singer-songwriter JT, a strong LGBTQ+ ally. Joining her will be Asher HaVon, the first member of the LGBTQ+ community to be a winner on The Voice; KenTheMan, who made XXL magazine’s list of the top freshman rappers of 2022; Mr. BQAF, Sevndeep; and R&B singer JeRonelle.
Other events include the Women’s Sneaker Ball, 8 p.m. Saturday at the Zoe Ballroom; Shoot Your Shot, a night of exploring relationships with gay dating coach Lamont White, 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Montrose Center; the BQAF Drag University Graduation, 7 p.m. Thursday at Play Nightlife; Mic Check, Y’all: A Communications & Media Training Workshop, led by Paris Kissell of Bekind Comms, noon May 2 at 2310 Arbor St.; a Welcome Reception, 8 p.m. May 2 at Sharespace; and a VIP Yacht Party and brunch on Galveston Bay, with music by DJ Panda, 11 a.m. May 4. The Yacht Party is sold out, but tickets are still available for other events, and several of them are free.
The attacks on Black people, queer people, and other historically marginalized communities are “really an attack on hope and joy,” Haddock says, and it’s important to restore hope and joy through events like BQAF Week.
The week will be about more than fun, he adds — it will encourage activism and empowerment. At various events, there will be discussions of marriage and intimacy, marriage equality, and the need for both cisgender and transgender women to be tested for HIV and get on pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, if they’re HIV-negative.
JT
Throughout the year, the Normal Anomaly offers a variety of programs, such as Project Liberate, which helps participants start businesses; Drag University, in which new and seasoned drag queens develop their art and advocacy; health support, which includes HIV testing; and the Transgender Allyship Collective, a partnership with trans-led organizations to train businesses, elected officials, and others on the importance of being allies. The Normal Anomaly is based in Houston but provides services around the South.
“We have been sheltered a bit in Houston because it is a more liberal space than Texas at large,” Haddock notes.
Haddock, a Black queer man, says the current attacks on the community remind him of what he experienced as a teenager — he was kicked out of his home at 16 for being queer. When he was 18, he sat outside at a Black prom, being unable to go in because the event was 21-and-over. But even from outside, he saw many Black and brown queer people. “For the first time, I felt seen,” he says.
BQAF Week will undoubtedly help many in the community be seen.
Check here for event details and tickets.
