Botitas World is a brand aimed at building community

Zizi Bandera (they/them) and Ty Curiel (he/him), came together to form what is now Botitas, a small business brand and organizing space for Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous and People of Color to celebrate and embrace identity, ethnicity and community. 

The co-founders of last Saturday’s Botitas event "Cafécito and Comunidad” say they had to close the RSVPs because they reached capacity and were afraid of having issues with the City of Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department that issues parking permits and sets a limit for the number of people allowed to gather at Elysian Park. 

“It’s our first event here and it’s an amazing turnout,” said Bandera. “TikTok blew us up.”

Bandera referenced the TikTok video they posted announcing the event and says that they woke up the next morning to see that they had well over a hundred RSVP’s for the event that they expected would only have a couple dozen people. 

“We had someone who is part of our community call up the councilmember for this district and was able to talk to whoever is in charge of Rec and Parks to OK more capacity,” said Bandera. “[Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, CD-1] also got us the tables and permits.”

Bandera stresses that the amount of people who reserved a spot for the event comes to show the need for space like Botitas. 

“I thought it was going to be maybe fifteen, twenty people,” said Bandera. 

The space is held intentionally for the BIPOC community within the broader LGBTQ+ community, with the intention of centering BIPOC voices that can otherwise be erased, marginalized, sidelined or silenced in broader community conversations. 

“Our focus is to have these community spaces and to serve our trans Latine community in Los Angeles and beyond,” continued Bandera. “We thought about making this project a nonprofit, but we wanted to really have full agency and control over [it], in terms of the needs of our community.” 

Bandera says that going the nonprofit route has its own challenges and obstacles because of different stakeholders. They stress the importance of their community being the stakeholders in this business journey. 

“I’ve been working in community organizing, mobilizing around LGBTQ and immigrant issues for almost fifteen years now and I’ve always wanted to create something that was for us, led by us–queer, trans, Latine and intergenerational,” they said.

Bandera says that they were inspired to create this space for QTBIPOC because of a report released earlier this year pointing to a loneliness epidemic that disproportionately affects LGBTQ+ people over their heterosexual peers. 

The report states that “…LGBTQ+ youth exhibit higher rates of loneliness, social isolation, and depressive symptoms than their heterosexual peers. Moreover, LGBTQ+ youth grappling with loneliness are less likely to reach out for help regarding their mental health concerns.’

The other co-founder of Botitas has different reasons to have started this business journey. 

“Botitas is one thing today and another thing tomorrow,” Curiel said. “Our idea came from wanting to create a brand–something that you can wear when you’re out and about in the city. A brand that is backed by people who resonate with you as Latin [American] folks, queer, trans and that’s what we are.” 

Curiel also states that the current state of politics also plays a major role in his idea to create Botitas. “We want to [create these spaces], especially in this time and age where there’s a rhetoric of people spreading hate.” 

This event is in a public space, encouraging people who show up, to gather in a space that supports sobriety. The offerings included cafécito, pastries and games. 

Earlier this year during Pride Month, Curiel says Bandera and he were looking at historic news articles and photographs of LGBTQ+ life in Los Angeles during the 1950s and 60s, from an exhibit at the L.A. Public  Library and that’s when it hit them both that none of the people in the photos looked like them. They did not feel represented. 

This moment urged them to reconsider what it means to them to feel represented, heard and seen–thus bringing about the idea for Botitas. 

Follow @Botitas.World on Instagram and TikTok to get more information on upcoming events.