How has programming transformed since the pandemic began and the focus of Cuties has shifted?
I think a lot of what has to do with, I'm looking if something is not there if I notice that there's a specific group of people, there's not something that exists specifically for them. I'm like, oh, let's just make it like the queer family picnic. It was as simple as talking to two Queer parent friends of mine and saying, 'Hey, is there something like this that exists? Would you enjoy going to something like this?' And they're like, 'Oh, my God, absolutely. I would love that.' And I'm like, 'Okay, let's do it.' You know what I mean? I don't know if it means I'm necessarily seeking. I'm not. I'm not intentionally like, what's missing? I will notice a void, and then I'm like, Okay, let's, do something like, when Cutie's was open, my partner and I hosted a polyamory meet-up for Cutie BIPOC only, and every person that came, like, every month, when we did it, there was someone that was like, 'every poly thing that I've ever been to is just all white people. I've never been to something like this.' So, it's like just noticing, paying attention, listening to the community, and noticing what's not there. And if it's something that feels attainable, then I'm like, let's just do it. Let's do it. I feel like for sure, since I've taken over, and since the shop has closed, there's been a heavy focus on the Cutie BIPOC community that wasn't there before. Of course, it wasn't there before because there weren't any Black people there. So, I realize that we can't expect white people to do this for us. We've had our most recent event that's been really popular— It's called Lespay. And it's specifically for Black lesbians. It's sold out both times; it's beautiful. Everybody fucking loves it. And it's just really nice to hear, like, I'll go in there and help set up and break down, and people are like, 'Oh my god, I love this. It's so nice to have a space for us.' Like, people like just having spaces for them.
What's your relationship with other collectives or organizations that may not be as known, and how do you navigate this landscape where spaces appear sparse in Los Angeles?
At this point, I try not to work with many white folks. I listen to my intuition and my gut when I meet people and interact with them. I'm excited about getting to do the work that I do. I also feel like, with my own boundaries, I won't let myself feel overwhelmed or let myself feel pressure like so many people are relying on me, so I have to do this— I don't do that to myself. I rest when I need to. There's this organization that we're going to be collaborating with called Queer 26, their Black run. There are a lot of virtual offerings that are for BIPOC that I see happening. So, I don't really feel, I guess to me, it doesn't feel like we're the only ones doing this work. Maybe we're like one of the more well-known organizations, but there are definitely people out there who are creating space for us, where it doesn't feel like it's all on me, for sure. I see it; I see it happening.
I really enjoy getting to do this work. Like it makes me really excited. The queer family picnic that we had on Saturday was incredible. So many parents, so many toddlers. So many people who came with like their fur babies and people who came and didn't even really interact with the group. But like, on the way out, someone said to me, 'Hey, I just wanted to thank you, it was nice just to be outside and be around people.' So a lot of the time, it feels like pretty easy and really gratifying. I think the boundaries that I have with myself, I'm gonna do what I can; other people will do what they can.
What are some ways the public can support Cuties?
We have a Patreon; it's patreon.com/cutiescoffee. For all of our events, our patrons get first dibs on them. So they'll always get advance notice; there's also merch discounts and a monthly playlist with all Queer artists. That's the best way to really support us monetarily. You can also sign up for our newsletter; we send out all of our events that way. Even like following us on Instagram, sharing our events, attending our events, inviting people to come, all of that is really helpful. Because we are still just a small business, you know, it's just the two of us. We still always need support, and I think those are the best ways. Oh, and programming. Okay, so I told you that we have readings at sunset that are coming back next month; that will be monthly. And I'm really excited. I went through the year and picked themes for each month. So it's going to be theme poetry nights. And we're going to make the queer family picnic monthly also. We're going to bring back writing for collective healing, a virtual writing workshop for GT BIPOC—one of our more popular virtual offerings. The person who hosts it, essentially, every month, he'll have a featured writer-poet, and then we'll go over their writings and the time for them to free write and work on writing projects. We have some kink and play-based events that we're going to be doing with this organization, SPLA, Sex Positive LA. We're actually doing a grown and sexy Valentine's Day event with them on February 16, so that will be fun.
Yes, we're starting a musician's club called the Cuties musicians club with a mix, Pooja Singh, who's a close friend of mine and a Queer, Trans artist in LA. And that's going to be virtual and in-person jam sessions, virtual jam sessions. We are also bringing back our self-care listening party that's going to be virtual, and it's going to be in person at Reparations Club. We're doing queer film screenings with Q 26 or Queer 26, the organization I mentioned earlier— from May through November. I believe it's called Critical Eye Film Screen. So we're gonna screen queer films and then just discuss afterward. And markets, we're going to be doing vendor markets again.