On Saturday, June 22, from 7-11 p.m., VAE Raleigh will be hosting the 2nd Annual Opulence Ball. The event celebrates transgender activist Marsha P. Johnson and LGBTQ+ people of color and their contributions to contemporary LGBTQ+ culture in the form of “ball culture.”

Beginning in the 1920s, ball culture refers to the underground subculture of New York LGBTQ+ groups who would compete in balls, where they would walk in categories for prizes, according to Grinnell College. Groups of competitors would form houses or families to support individuals who could not freely express their identities. Balls became a safe space for LGBTQ+ youth of color to be themselves.

Trey Roberts and Zen Stewart, a local musical artist known as ZenSoFly, are the organizers of the event. Roberts explained the details of the night, saying there will be several local performers and runway competitions that are open to everyone.

“On the night of, we’re going to have DJ Gay Agenda performing some music for people to dance to and have fun to,” Roberts said. “We’re going to have two live performances from two local artists: ZenSoFly and Asa. We’re going to have a pop-up drag performance some time during the night from Asia of the Body Party at Ruby Deluxe. Then we’re going to have a runway walk at the end of the night where anybody is welcome to come, and anybody is open to walk in the categories.”

Roberts listed the categories as Country Club, Royalty, High Fashion Kink, 2000s Pop Stars and Rich Husband’s Funeral, and encouraged attendees to use their imaginations and dress in what they think the categories mean.

A portion of the proceeds from the event will be donated to the LGBT Center of Raleigh. Lara Oliver, community outreach coordinator for the LGBT Center of Raleigh, explained that the Opulence Ball is bringing awareness to the people of color that LGBTQ+ culture benefits from.

“It’s a celebration of not only queer culture but also queer people of color, who created so much of what we think of as contemporary queer culture, that so many people attribute to cisgender gay white men,” Oliver said. “I think it’s important to attribute the culture that was created by people of color and keep that in mind as we honor Stonewall coming up and remember the Pulse shooting that targeted queer people of color, and just to know that the backbone of our culture is with people of color who fought back against a culture that wanted to see them go away.”

Stewart said this event is intended to celebrate the good of the LGBTQ+ community and the activists who have paved the way for current members of the LGBTQ+ community.

“Every day we’re out here trying to be ourselves, and some people look at us sideways, but this is our way of celebrating our lifestyle and the good with it,” Stewart said. “We just want people to be able to come to one place and celebrate this month of pride, and just have a good time with everybody and celebrate what all of the activists have done in order for us to even be able to do this.”

In the spirit of celebrating the LGBTQ+ activists, Stewart said there will be a tribute to Marsha P. Johnson at the event. She encourages attendees to bring flowers, notes or anything they would like to leave for Johnson.

Roberts thanked VAE Raleigh for allowing them to host the event in their space. VAE Raleigh is a nonprofit art gallery that supports local artists in Raleigh and gives them a place to showcase their work.

Alamo Drafthouse will be providing prizes to the winners of the runway walks. Oliver encouraged anyone who can not attend this year’s Opulence Ball to attend the screening of Paris is Burning on June 21 at 7 p.m. at Alamo Drafthouse.

“It tugs on your heartstrings and really grips you with what life was like in New York during that time period,” Oliver said. “It was post-Stonewall but during the height of so much of the AIDS crisis, and so many people were going ‘missing.’ There’s so much going on at that time, and just like this celebration of life that so many in our community had in defiance of the hatred and in defiance of people wanted us to die, is just so important.”

The event is currently sold out, but Stewart and Roberts plan to organize the event again next year.