Feeling angry from the country’s disarray? Might as well channel that rage and have some fun while doing it.
A queer-led anti-Trump party is happening on March 8 in honor of International Women’s Day. The party is set to be a positive celebration of womxn, people of color, and the LGBTQ community—all whom have been threatened by discriminatory policies that have come out of the White House since January 2017. Party guests can expect a heart-pumping variety of music performances, burlesque acts, comedy, drag, and art exhibition at The Footlight Bar in Ridgewood.
Local queer musician and activist Sarah Soller-Mihlek, who co-organized the event, said the gathering was inspired by the community’s collective outrage.
“Everyone is just so angry,” Soller-Mihlek said. “We just need a positive place to put [the anger] and to talk about it… There’s just so much crap happening all the time, especially to women of color, and to queers…. Enough is enough.”
As a gay woman of Filipino heritage, Soller-Mihlek has organized similar events to raise awareness on diverse social issues and support the communities most affected, including a previous resistance-themed party in collaboration with the ACLU.
This year’s International Women’s Day celebration will be fundraising donations to benefit The Center for NYC’s LGBTQ Community. Soller-Mihlek said she wanted to give back to a place that had helped her through rough times.
“[The Center] kind of saved my life,” Soller-Mihlek told Bushwick Daily over the phone, explaining her complicated upbringing as a queer in a religious immigrant family. “[The Center] has always been a community that’s welcoming and open. And that’s something that I’ve found to be really important and inspiring.”
Co-organizers writer Amy Klein and drag queen MC Divina GranSparkle tapped Brooklyn’s artsy queer community to curate the event’s line-up.
Among the artistic performances scheduled to bring down the house are local bands Ratas en Zelo, Hair Club for Jen, and Soller-Mihlek’s own group TinVulva, burlesque artist Veronica Viper, and comedian Elsa Waithe.
The exhibit will celebrate the experiences of women, LGBTQ+ folks, and POC in America. All artists and performers have generously donated their talent to bring the party to life.
“Once I called one or two people it was like a whole army of angry queers who just wanted to get together and do something,” Soller-Mihlek said of the outpour of support. “Everyone has just been like, sparkly, let’s do this. Let’s come together.”
The resistance-themed celebration will be held on March 8 from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. at The Footlight Bar in Ridgewood.
Cover photo courtesy of Irina Groushevaia.