Queer Onda El Paso

09/20/2026

NEW EPISODE OF QUEERONDA EL PASO!

Episode 37: The Next Ten Years at the Borderland Rainbow Center

What does the future look like for LGBTQ+ community in El Paso? In our latest episode, Q***rOnda El Paso looks ahead at the next ten years of the Borderland Rainbow Center—its vision, its impact, and what’s next for the community it serves.

Tune in and join the conversation about the future of LGBTQ+ community, connection, and support in the Borderland.

🎧 Episode 37 is out now! Listen, share, and let us know what you hope to see in the next ten years.

***rOndaElPaso ***rOnda ***rVoices

09/18/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1BuCHaRGG4/?mibextid=wwXIfr

09/18/2026

🎤✨ THE MONSTERS BALL TURNS 20! ✨🎤

For 20 years, The Monsters Ball has brought El Paso together for one unforgettable night of costumes, creativity, music, dancing, and giving back.

Every Monsters Ball, a new theme. Each year, a new Ball. And for our 20th anniversary, we’re celebrating the legends who gave us the music, fashion, and moments we’ll never forget.

✨THE MONSTERS BALL POP ICONS ✨

You’re showing up, El Paso. Only 60 tickets remain!

🔥 EARLY BIRD TABLE SPECIAL ENDS TUESDAY 🔥
Gather your crew of 10 and reserve your table for $750 through Tuesday. After that, tables are $1,000 or SOLD OUT.

📅 Friday, October 23
📍 Ardovino’s Desert Crossing
⏰ 6:30 PM–Midnight

Come as your favorite Pop Icon, or simply come ready for a night of great food, music and dancing, fabulous costumes, a live auction and plenty of surprises 💃🏾🕺

While we'll be celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Monsters Ball, we’ll also be supporting the Borderland Rainbow Center as it celebrates its 10th anniversary and a decade of service to our community 🎉

20 years. Countless memories. One legendary night.

Gather your people. Pick your icon. Let’s make the 20th one for the history books.

A Night of Legends. A Future of Pride.

🎟️ For info, tickets, tables, and sponsorships: https://bit.ly/MonBall26

🔥 And stay tuned... our live auction experiences are coming, and you’re going to want to have your paddle ready! 👀

09/18/2026

Your party. Your people. Your own private drag show. Yes, really.

One of the auction experiences at The Monsters Ball Pop Icons is “Strike a Pose,” a private drag affair with brunch or dinner, fabulous food, flowing drinks, Franklin Mountain views, and some of El Paso’s favorite drag performers bringing the glamour, camp, and chaos directly to your table.

This one feels very birthday, very anniversary, very “we deserve something ridiculous and fabulous.”

Bid live at The Monsters Ball Pop Icons on October 23 at Ardovino’s Desert Crossing.

Get your tickets or donate at www.borderlandrainbow.org

Come ready to bid. This one is going to be divine.

09/17/2026

Authorities in Turkey detained at least 162 people over the weekend in a series of raids on gay bars and the homes of LGBTQ+ activists. Police also searched the offices of six LGBTQ+ associations.

Authorities detained an additional 150 people Tuesday as they gathered outside Istanbul’s Caglayan courthouse to protest the raids that took place over the weekend.

The crackdown is part of an operation called "My Family Is Safe.” Same-sex relationships are not illegal in Turkey, but homophobia and transphobia remain widespread.

09/15/2026

Be proud of who you are. Like, really proud.

Q***r, trans, questioning, loud, quiet, still figuring it out, completely sure of yourself, somewhere in between... all of it belongs here.

You do not need to shrink yourself to make other people comfortable. You do not need permission to take up space. You do not need to become easier to understand.

You belong. You matter. And honestly, being exactly who you are is pretty damn cool.

09/14/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/188H84YuRy/

Turkey calls it “My Family is Safe.”

LGBTQ+ people are facing police raids. 🌈

Authorities detained at least 47 people in a crackdown targeting LGBTQ+ groups, according to prosecutors cited by Reuters.

The Associated Press reports that LGBTQ+ rights and HIV support organizations were targeted, with police entering offices and raiding gathering places.

Authorities say the investigations concern alleged criminal activity, including prostitution and obscenity.

Turkey’s Human Rights Association condemns the operation as political repression that seeks to stigmatize an entire community.

The allegations are not convictions.

And the impact reaches beyond the people taken into custody.

When community organizations are targeted, the people who turn to them for information, connection and support have reason to feel the consequences, too.

These are people with families of their own.

Partners. Parents. Siblings. Friends waiting for news.

Protecting families should include protecting LGBTQ+ people and the people who love them.

Our community in Turkey deserves safety, dignity and the freedom to organize. ❤️🌈

Via Reuters / AP