Me (right), my partner, and our friend before Unicornitopia
As a 90s kid, I think unicorns are great—especially those from Lisa Frank’s colorful world. I’m 24 and that love of unicorns, glitter, and other rainbow fantasies is still holding strong. Whenever there’s unicorn-themed makeup or accessories, you can bet I’ve tried it out.
In LGBTI culture, the figure of the unicorn is one many of us can admire and relate to. They’re basically queer icons.
So when my partner came up with the idea of going to Brooklyn alternative club House Of Yes, of course, I wanted to go to Unicornitopia—their unicorn themed party.
With my partner and our friend, we doused ourselves in glitter and rainbows, got giant cocktails, and set off on our unicorn-themed adventure.
The adventure didn’t last long.
I was already pretty anxious going into this. As a introvert who would rather stay home cuddled up with my puppy than be out all night at clubs, this was a new experience for me. I was completely out of my comfort zone.
My puppy, Lily, dressed in her unicorn costume
We danced for a little, but then I started to feel sick. Blame it on the alcohol (which, honestly, I’m not a huge fan of). My partner and I went in search of somewhere to sit down for a little while.
A shot from House Of Yes’s Unicornitopia party (Photo: Erica Camille)
It was really nice to just sit back and people-watch. A couple of folks came by and sat on the bench next to us. We chit-chatted. They were really friendly and cool. Basically, in any other circumstance, I probably would have enjoyed myself.
But then I couldn’t find my friend. The next 40 or so minutes was spent looking for her. Pushing my way through crowds of drunk dancers and desperately trying to get the glitter someone threw at my face out of my eye, I was miserable.
I just wanted to go home.
So much of LGBTI culture is based around clubbing and drinking. I thought it would be fun to experience what life would be like as a Club Kid for a night. After all, I did really enjoy Party Monster.
Another pic from Unicornitopia (Photo: Erica Camille)
But alas, I realized as much as I like unicorns and as much as I want to be part of LGBTI culture, these environments are just not for me. As someone who lives with severe anxiety and OCD, I just can’t fathom how this is fun for some people.
So count me in for a board game night or a movie marathon. I’m here for small, intimate get-togethers with a few friends. But clubbing? It’s just not for me.
