Help Us Celebrate Trans Artists in Texas!
Hiiii everyone! <3 My name is p1nky and I am a trans pop musician, nightlife producer and arts organizer living and working in Austin, Texas. I moved to Austin six years ago and over this time I have been blessed to discover the amazing community of trans and queer artists making such important and life-saving work deep in the heart of Texas. As some of you may know I grew up in a very conservative part of Mexico, which always forced me to feel isolated and hide big chunks of my identity – it was not until I found community and a home in Austin that I was able to flourish into the happiest version of myself. From what I have learned, Texas holds a community of trans and queer people that have learned to care for each other and heal together, a group of people that has taught me how to heal and inspired me to grow.
And I am forever indebted to the community in Texas for it.
This is what has inspired my work as a space-maker. Over the last four years my partner Y2K and I, have been opening spaces and producing events that center the work of trans and queer artists through different mediums, ranging from music, to performance, to drag and visual arts. Through this journey our work has received two Best Of Austin awards and we have been presented as the future of nightlife in The Austin Chronicle’s cover page. Through our arts organizing, we aim to design dynamic spaces and projects that celebrate queer artistry and community and that puts money directly in artist's pockets.
Which brings us to our biggest project ever: GIRLS LIKE US !
GIRLS LIKE US is a film and live music video experience by Texas, celebrating the work of trans artists in Texas. The feature-length special, features starring live music performances by Texas-based Lorelei K, Belladonna, Quentin Arispe and p1nkstar, as well as special appearances by national talent like Rayna Russom, Ariel Zetina and more. During the cinematic special artists and friends perform live music and choreographies through futuristic custom-built sets and light installations created Y2K, making GIRLS LIKE US unlike any other livestream concert.
GIRLS LIKE US is designed to bring together creative communities and center, celebrate and pay trans and queer talent. We aim to amplify the work of a community of underrepresented artists in Texas, as well as to produce beautiful visuals to document our community.
GIRLS LIKE US is presented by Hotel Free TV, directed and produced by p1nkstar and Y2K and captured under the camera direction of Hannah Varnell.
We are in the midst of production but we need more funds to make our dreams happen. Although we have been working to fundraise over the last couple of months, we have made it to production with a limited budget and we need more funds to be able to complete the project.
We are trying to fundraise $5000 by January 28. This will allow us to complete the project by being able to:
– pay for the remaining materials and equipment for our production
– pay all collaborators and crew involved (a team which consists entirely of trans and queer creatives)
– offer small production stipends to a team of volunteers that have been working tirelessly to make this happen
– raise the performance fees of all artists and performers in the project
– cover the cost of rapid COVID-19 testing for performers to ensure the production remains safe
– ensure that we are able to finalize all of our post-production processes on time for release
We would love your support. If you are able to, please consider donating to this project. If you are not in a position to donate but know someone who might be interested in supporting this project, please share far and wide. We are looking for all the support that we can receive and we are also accepting donations via Venmo at @p1nkstar
We want to see this project come to life for everyone to see the amazing community of queer artists that Texas has been fostering for years and we truly believe that this is the biggest project that we have ever worked on ever!
Thanks so much for your time <3