When community organizer Jordyn Sun hit her 10-year anniversary of living in Koreatown, she decided to pour her energies into something creative and community-oriented. In early June, a coworker reached out about holding a birthday party at the restaurant Love Hour—one thing led to another, and before Sun knew it, she had a queer pop-up event on her hands.
Hotpot is a monthly LGBTQ+ dance party based in Koreatown. The event rotates amongst K-town establishments, from restaurants to coffee shops, with a DJ playing hip hop music and a pop-up chef serving small bites. Although hot pot is not actually served at the party, the name itself arises from a community-based ethos. While everyone is welcome to attend, the party is geared towards queer people of color.
“I’m seeing now more than ever the absence of a regular ongoing queer space in Koreatown, and how cool it would be if we had a monthly space where queers could go and reflect all the diversity and cultural complexity of this neighborhood,” said Sun.
The first event at Love Hour in June ended up being just Sun and a bunch of her friends, but the party soon expanded organically by word-of-mouth hype. Sun recruited creatives she knew to help with graphic design, photography and merchandising.
Brockstar, who has helped host several Hotpot events, first met Jordyn at a Pride event this June and soon jumped on as one of the main MCs. “Koreatown is the most densely populated area in Los Angeles, but we don’t have a gay bar, and it’s not like there aren’t gay Asians,” said Brockstar. “What I think is really beautiful about Hotpot is that everybody comes in with such love and joy and we’re just ready to fellowship.”
Hotpot has only held a few iterations of its party so far, but one thing that stands out is that it’s a free, grassroots-built event. On a recent Saturday night at Red Room on Olympic Boulevard, partygoers crowded into the two-story crimson-tinted coffee shop and wine bar.
Downstairs, diners snacked on Mexican-inspired fusion dishes from trans chef Costillas (Antonio Ramirez), munching on chicharron pinwheels topped with shichimi togarashi and yuzu and snacking on cauliflower ceviche sweetened with Thai chilis. Upstairs, a throbbing dance floor bumped to hip-hop and rap beats.
“It feels like a creative community serving its own community,” said Jeanne Heo, one of the photographers for Hotpot. “I love that it’s centering BIPOC, and it’s in K-town, a place where it’s hard to find parking, so it’s either people who live there or like that community. Everyone’s shaking ass.”
In a year that has seen an influx of new queer spots in Los Angeles, from the Ruby Fruit in Silverlake to Honey’s at Star Love in East Hollywood, Hotpot is a welcome addition to a rich, immigrant-filled neighborhood that has historically lacked queer spaces. Sun has very intentionally partnered with Koreatown establishments in an effort to keep the party integrated with a community that has a deep and complex racial history.
“I don’t want Hotpot to be watered down into this corporate diversity soup,” said Sun. “It’s more than just a party to me—it’s a community space, and it’s about reflecting the immigrant and working-class beauty that’s already here.”
While Sun has expressed nervousness about growing too big too fast, she has emphasized that any iteration of the event will be by the people, for the people. “Hotpot is a very communal dish. Everyone chips in a little bit," said Sun. "It’s accessible, and everyone gets to add their own little flavor to it.”
Hotpot will be popping up at Love Hour on October 11th. Follow them on Instagram to keep track of upcoming events.