As the clock ticked down to the New Year’s Eve ball drop and 2022 became 2023, dozens of LGBTQ+ people and allies gathered at a black-tie event in New York City’s Hudson Yards Mall. With paid tickets required for entry, fancy-clothed guests stepped into a room with sweeping westward views of the Hudson River.
Heavy bass reverberated from towering speakers as Aquaria, the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 10 and the night’s headline act, took the stage at 11 p.m. The famous drag queen-turned-DJ donned a dark wig and a sequined two-piece outfit. She spun music for the crowd into the early hours of the new year.
Video obtained by LGBTQ Nation shows Gomez, who used homophobic slurs and anti-queer rhetoric in her failed Missouri GOP secretary of state primary run, dancing to Aquaria’s music set alongside several queer attendees. Partygoing sources said Gomez appeared to enjoy herself at the Voss Events-hosted gathering.
A campaign expert told LGBTQ Nation the video exemplifies the growing hypocrisy of politicians using queer hate speech. Multiple Republicans have participated in queer cultural events, dressed in drag, or had intimate same-sex relations in their personal capacity, all while publicly advocating for bans on books, outlawing drag queen events, and spreading anti-trans propaganda.
In a statement, Gomez confirmed the veracity of the videos. She also questioned how the video of her dancing at a club would be released before videos of Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jeffrey Epstein – both of whom prosecutors allege engaged in sex acts with minors – are released to the public.
PragDem