For Us, By Us, And Full of Bass: How Gay, Gayer, Gayest Built A Home For Black Queer Joy

Featured Image: Founders of Gay, Gayer Gayest (L-R) Kennie Doram, Janaiah “Jay” Lloyd, Kylah Williams, and Kiara “Keys” Lache. Photo by Kae @multifacetedkae.

On a humid July night in Bushwick, the bassline from a house remix of Kaytranada & Charlotte Day Wilson’s “What You Need” vibrates through the walls of a packed rooftop. A DJ flips from early 2000s R&B classics to 2010s rap, then sneaks in a bit of drill, just enough to make the crowd lose it. Drinks hover around $15, which feels merciful in New York City, and the dance floor is moving like one long exhale. The air smells like summer sweat, Lattafa Yara, and rejoicing. 

Everywhere you turn, there’s most likely someone you recognize: a familiar face from a past party, a failed talking stage, or your no-contact ex. It’s giving The Chart from The L Word—interconnected, messy, and still somehow perfect. At a Gay, Gayer, Gayest party, that’s just the norm.

Depending on the night, the crowd hits anywhere from 400 to 600 people. The sweet spot is folks in their 20s, mostly between 22 and 28, with a handful of thirty-somethings who refuse to miss out on the vibe. The energy is always high: lots of ass shaking, laughter, and a kind of easy camaraderie that makes even strangers feel like family. Most of the crowd is Black, femme, non-binary, and trans. Everyone is beautiful. Everyone looks like they belong.

I’ve never left disappointed.

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Founded in June 2024 by Kylah Williams (she/her), her sister Kiara “Keys” Lache (she/her), and friends Kennie Doram (they/she) and Janaiah “Jay” Lloyd (she/they), Gay, Gayer, Gayest (GGG) has become one of the city’s most essential Black queer nightlife collectives.  

What started as a joke between friends is now a thriving community, and a movement built on joy, safety, and undeniably good energy.

“Last year, we were all out for Pride, and Jay had named our group chat ‘gay, gayer, even gayer, gayest,” Kennie recalled. “We were all out at some party at 3 Dollar Bill and made this TikTok about everybody being gay—we kind of made a scale of gayness. It was a running joke, and we decided that it would be a smart idea for a party.” The group laughed, remembering it. 

“Who was the gayest then?” I asked. Gold star lesbians, Jay and Kennie, point to themselves. “It might be the man-hater in me,” Kennie laughed. 

This wasn’t the first time they’d ruminated on the idea of a party of their own. The idea first struck them back in 2021. The four of them were discussing how few spaces existed for queer women in New York City, and even fewer specifically for queer Black women. “I was really prone to going to straight parties with my friends,” Jay said.

 “And I was really prone to going to gay male parties,” Kennie added. “We’d been joking about starting our own thing forever. Kylah always threw house parties, so when Jay moved to New York that summer, we were all together all the time.” They began hosting small house parties for their circle of friends, long before their now-popular party collective existed. 

By the summer of 2024, their rooftop events and Pride block parties were drawing hundreds of people. Their Halloween house party later that year went viral, jumpstarting the confidence to throw more.“There was a lack of spaces severely,” Kennie explained. “There were either Black parties or gay parties, but there was no specific space for Black lesbians.” Jay adds: “The mix of that, and also our marketing—Kylah does social media full-time, and she’s good at what she does—definitely helped.”

They make it sound simple, but their rise is rooted in intention. Every GGG event centers Black women, femmes, and QTNB people of color, without apology. Kennie explained: “I get on the mic and say it. We make sure it’s in our mission statement, in our captions, on our flyers. We make sure if we have people on the flyers, they’re Black women. And at the parties, I do a round every party just being like, yes, for Black women.” They continued, “Like BIPOC but the ‘B’ is bolded and in 200 font.” 

“Italicized!” Jay interrupted. 

“We’re all four Black women,” Keys added. “So it’s for us, by us.”

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While GGG’s events are open to everyone, you feel the difference in who’s prioritized. That delicate balance of inclusion and protection is what makes their parties so electric. It’s why I, and so many others, feel comfortable there. Most people look like me. The space feels like ours.

Their Pride block party this June—the one that practically shut down the block—was one hell of a way to begin both Pride and summer. “The fact that it was on June 1st, starting off Pride, we had big expectations. We wanted to kick off the month right,” Kylah said, lighting up. “We got our favorite DJs, brought [the party] back the Bush, where we had our first events—it just felt full circle.”

Running a queer party collective in New York City isn’t cheap, but the founders have built a network of spaces that support their vision. “We pray,” Jay jokes, laughing. “But it’s easy for us to get support from queer Black woman spaces like the Bush. They actually reached out to us first about hosting our first event there.”

When they collaborate with venues, it’s always symbiotic. GGG brings the crowd, and the venue provides the resources. “Even places that aren’t really queer-centered have shown us a lot of love,” Kennie said. “They see the energy we bring and just let us do our thing.”

But what truly sets them apart is how they curate vibe. Their Nike-collabed “Bigger, Fatter, Wetter (PURRR)” party was packed wall-to-wall with femmes and QTNB folks of color. And this past Juneteenth, they took that same energy outdoors for their Prideteenth picnic in Prospect Park, a celebration of being both Black & LGBTQ+. The lawn turned into a living moodboard of friends, blankets, and booties in motion, with DJ Talia Goddess spinning under the trees and a crowd that actually followed the “hydrate ho” rule. It was a community in the sunshine and proof that GGG can turn any space into home turf. 

That sense of purpose—of joyful, unapologetic Black queer energy—makes GGG more than a party. It’s activism through existence. “Black women gathering—that’s activism,” Keys said. “We couldn’t even gather before. So the fact that we can all be here now, look cute, have fun—that’s activism.” 

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Each event carries the DNA of their first house parties: safety, security, and a homegrown sense of belonging. They even post “house rules” before every event to remind guests that it’s a shared space built on respect. “As long as we’re prioritizing and uplifting each other,” Jay said, “and making sure the reason we’re there is to shake some ass and have a good time, that’s what matters.”

Even as they grow, the founders keep their mission grounded. 

“People stop me all the time and just say thank you,” Kennie said. “They’ve seen me on social media complaining about these spaces not existing, and now they do. That’s the most heartwarming part.”

Each founder balances full-time jobs—photography, social media, international business—while running GGG. “Event planning is a lot,” Jay mentioned, “but people taking time to express gratitude makes it worth it.”

And they’re not done yet.

“We’ve talked more about traveling than having one set venue,” Jay said. “I like venue hopping. It keeps things fresh.” She added, “I’d love to go to places that don’t have huge Black lesbian scenes—or they do, but have nowhere to go. Like, I was in Miami, and there were so many Black lesbians but no events. So yeah, expanding there.” 

It’s easy to imagine Gay, Gayer, Gayest becoming the blueprint for the next generation of queer nightlife—mobile, magnetic, and unfiltered.

Before the end of the interview, Kylah laughs and says, “Let us know if you’re coming to our Halloween party.”

And yes, I’m tempted. 

Because I know what to expect: bass-heavy beats, beautiful people, and a night that feels like home.

Do you need Halloweekend plans? Gay, Gayer, Gayest is daring everyone not to ghost them this year. Celebrate Halloween Eve (October 30) in your best costume for a chance to win $150. Click here for tickets. Prepare for it by tuning into their spooky playlist, too!