In October 2023, following the Hamas attacks and Israel’s retaliatory violence against Palestinians, some queer organizers felt a call to action. Hundreds of nightlife workers formed DJs Against Apartheid. The group’s mission statement points out that queer nightlife was founded “with the clear intention to uplift the marginalized.”
As of July 2024, they’d raised $34,000 in support of Palestinians, as well as NYC-based Fund the Inside, which provides commissary relief to incarcerated QTBIPOC. For many, overlapping advocacy for Palestinians and trans people is instinctive.
To lift the vibes — connecting a desire for community, shrinking communal spaces, and a thirst to get involved – organizers host everything from thrift swaps for Gaza to Queer Comedy for Gaza to techno nights. It’s not always an easy stand to take publicly – some party organizers declined The Emancipator’s interview request for fear of exposure. But others are loud: Body Hack requests partygoers donate $20 per person at the door, more if you’re White or cisgendered. In the traditional nonprofit world, most funds are raised through expensive galas, auctions, tables and celebrity guests, but the mutual aid playbook is different. Two nights before their December party, the Body Hack Instagram posted: “I don’t care how cold it is … Imma need you to shake that ass for mutual aid.” Someone dutifully comments, “Shaking my ass for mutual aid with my drains in,” meaning that he will show up even recovering from his top surgery, no questions asked.