Parallel Play, a new #mask4mask social group, brings together LGBTQ+ folks who are looking to socialize with other COVID-cautious queers.
Founder Anna de Ocampo Kain conceived of Parallel Play in partnership with the Filipino arts and music organization Kababayan Collective. As pandemic restrictions on gathering loosened, Kababayan and Kain began hosting outdoor clothing swaps and COVID-cautious beach meet-ups for folks who wanted to socialize but were still weary of meeting up indoors or unmasked.
Kain soon realized that there was a growing community of LGBTQ+ folks who felt cast aside by more mainstream queer gatherings as masking and other Covid precautions became a thing of the past. “I felt so ostracized from my community as an immunocompromised queer person, and constantly having to ask people in my life to, you know, give me information to keep me safe,” Kain told Windy City Times. They began dreaming of a recurring event that could bring together Covid-cautious queers in a safe and welcoming environment.
Kain eventually became acquainted with Alyx Rice, a manager at the Andersonville retail and event space Raygun. “I was talking about some performance art spaces that I’ve been in recently, and telling them I’ve had this vision for the last year or two of a space where people are masking and exposure to pathogens isn’t going to be an inhibiting factor for people,” said Kain. “Alex was like, let’s do it.”
The duo hosted a trial run of what would become Parallel Play’s recurring social mixer, Dilly Dally, for Kain’s 30th birthday party this past November. The party went so well that Kain put together a proposal to host a series of recurring events at Raygun under the Dilly Dally label, and Parallel Play was born.
“Truthfully, I assumed these events would be 40 people or less, and mostly people I know,” said Kain. “Then the first event that we had in April, we had almost 100 people in and out of this space.”
Parallel Play next hosts their next Dilly Dally mixer on June 15 at Raygun. The event will feature a dance floor with tunes by DJ Dickey Black, a curated clothing swap, karaoke and a “speed friending” activity—like speed dating but for besties. A suggested donation gives Dilly Dally attendees a ticket that can be exchanged for food and beverages. The event will be emceed by parallel players Amanda Payne and Fred Cavair Robinson.
In keeping with the Covid-cautious vibe of the group’s events, attendees to the June Dilly Dally will be required to wear masks with an outdoor space available for prolonged unmasked time when eating or drinking. The space will also have four air purifiers provided by Clean Air Club, a crowdfunded organization providing COVID-cautious gear to Chicago’s music and performance venues.
Kain also wants to ensure the space is accessible for neurodivergent folks, those with disabilities and people with complex medical histories. As such, the event will also feature plenty of seating for those with chronic fatigue symptoms, free bottled water and an area for folks to relax if they are feeling over stimulated.
Queer people are disproportionately likely to suffer negative consequences from COVID-19 due to various social factors and medical complexities specific to the LGBTQ+ community. This is why spaces like Parallel Play are so important, said Kain. “We are already a community disproportionately marginalized in many ways. So COVID, and the way that it impacts our communities, and particularly the growing Parallel Play community is turning out to be a disproportionately BIPOC space, are not going to be served by health care when they need it, if and when we become disabled and need to seek that care.”
According to Kain, a Kn95, like the hanky code or green carnation of previous generations, has become a sort of LGBTQ+ bat signal: I’m here, I’m queer, I care about your health and mine. A poem they wrote titled, “Masking is the new queer flagging. Pass it on.” has been shared thousands of times since they first posted it to Parallel Play’s Instagram in early May.
“I think that there is a really smart, really mighty group of people within the queer community who are digging their heels in heels in and saying, no, we are not going to serve someone else’s agenda and act like there is not mass death and disablement happening, because it makes people money for everyone to pretend like it is not happening.”
As Kain looks toward the future of Parallel Play, she hopes to continue to make the space more accessible for all LGBTQ+ folks and allies who would like to attend. Past Dilly Dally attendees have noted the lack of accessibility of Raygun’s second floor which previously hosted the event’s karaoke set-up. For their upcoming June Dilly Dally, Kain and the rest of the Parallel Play team have decided to double the event’s activities across Raygun’s two floors so that each is accessible to guests using mobility aids. As outlined in a recent letter addressing these concerns, Kain is currently looking for a fully ADA compliant space for future Dilly Dally events: “I want to connect the dots between ebullient, giving, wonderful people and to create a spiderweb of care between us. I want us in a fully accessible space. It is the goalpost and we will make it happen as soon as we can. I wish to build things together that are beautiful and vibrant beyond what we could ever build alone.”
Tickets for Parallel Play’s Pride month Dilly Dally can be found here.