THE GRINDR PLEASURE BALL, BACK FOR THIRDS
“A lot of us grew up pretending to be somebody else, and this is just us turning the tables on that.” - Tristan Pineiro, Chief Marketing Officer at Grindr
“We’re here to celebrate,” publicist Kelly Cutrone says in The Cervantes Room at the Chelsea Hotel’s restaurant El Quijote—a sultry, cavern-like private dining area decorated in shades of gold, carmine, and oak. Tristan Pineiro, Chief Marketing Officer at Grindr, nodded along. Martinis and champagne sparkled in the candlelight and a luxurious ensemble of dishes were generously spread: oysters, slivered almonds, cheese, bruschetta, steak, and lobster.
This intimate dinner was the preamble to the third iteration of Grindr’s Pleasure Ball Halloween party, held in support of the app’s global social impact initiative committed to connecting 10 million LGBTQ+ people to HIV prevention by 2028.
“Halloween has always been a big cultural moment for the queer community,” Pineiro tells VALŪS. “A lot of us grew up pretending to be somebody else, and this is just us turning the tables on that.”
The costuming of identity is reclaimed and used not as a sublimation tactic but a way to amplify the most campy and original parts of one’s self. This masquerade becomes an embodiment of the psyche à la Freud, wherein the subtleties of desire, previously hidden, materialize and function as a kind of armor.
The invite-only party was held in an industrial warehouse surreptitiously situated by the West Side Highway, an appropriate moniker for the queer community’s life and subsequent resilience on society’s fringe. The theme, Future Lovers, was centered around an extraterrestrial decadence, with each room accoutered with sleek, futurist furniture and waiters holding trays of brightly-colored libations and other “intergalactic” treats. Festooned in silver lamé, body glitter, and alien-eyed sunglasses, the partygoers flitted from the dance floor, graced by the symphonic brilliance of DJs Tommy Hart and Griffin Maxwell Brooks, to the various bars, mezzanines, and rooftop lounge.
Ballroom icon Dashaun Wesley hosted the night’s costume contest, with the best-dressed attendees displayed on the circular stage before a panel of illustrious judges, including Cutrone, Pineiro, nightlife icons Susanne Bartsch and Joey Arias, and celebrated fashion designer Christian Siriano.
Though the main and most satisfying course served that evening was actress, comedian, and incipient pop star Meg Stalter, best known for her roles in Lena Dunham’s Too Much and HBO’s Hacks. The irreverent diva took to the stage in an astronaut costume and sang provocative and clubby bangers like “Prettiest Girl In America” and “GAY.” Right before “I Need You,” a comparatively slower and more sentimental tune in her repertoire, Stalter told the audience to get on FaceTime with someone they loved, prompting a sea of phones bearing the amused expressions of loved ones as they virtually watched the scene unfold.
The intent to celebrate, inaugurated by Cutrone in The Cervantes Room, reverberated through the venue even deeper than the swells of bass from the DJ booth that night. The Pleasure Ball, as Pineiro explains, is about “reflecting our users’ lives back to them.” It’s more than a Halloween party, it’s a toolkit for survival—one that doesn’t just nourish the queer community but lets them feast. The event is growing bigger by the year and Pineiro’s ambition is that it’ll rival the Met Gala. “Because why not?”
Photos courtesy of Sansho Scott at BFA
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