While you were keeping cool indoors this weekend, more than 500 people showed up to the annual Down To Float pool party, an event hosted by Impulse Group Dallas. The candy-themed party featured a drag fashion show and performances by Vanessa "Miss Vanjie" Mateo, a contestant from the 10th season of RuPaul's Drag Race.
First and foremost, this was a pool party. I was wearing a T-shirt, jeans and sneakers. A man took one look at me and said in the nicest way possible, "Honey, I think you're too straight for this."
Men wore brightly patterned speedos and giant sunglasses. Poolgoers kept afloat with inflatable Tootsie Rolls, lollipops and beach balls, and there was no shortage of dancing. It felt like the party of the summer.
Impulse Group is an advocacy group that promotes healthier lifestyles for gay men, and the group has hosted the last four Down To Float parties in the backyard of a house on Royal Lane. I found myself inside that house, among the models of the fashion show. One of them was drag queen Aubry Roach, a D-FW local who also known by the drag persona Bleach.
"It's a lot of hard work but it's a lot of fun," Roach says about being a drag queen in Dallas. "Not many get to drink while they're working, yell at people and not get in trouble for it -- they just love you more."
I quietly watched the models get ready for the show. They were modeling the summer collection of The House of Avalon, a Los Angeles-based fashion brand. The clothing was mostly white and black with pops of neon blue and orange. Bleach was wearing a swimsuit that looked like swirls of ocean water blending into a sunset. She looked great.
While it seemed like fun and games, the event didn't stray from messages of advocacy. Beyond the fashion show and pool party, Impulse Group allowed attendees to exchange drink tickets for HIV testing and AIDS advocacy games.
"We test people in the community, and for those people that are reactive, we get them into care and we get them on medication," says Erik Vasquez, events director of Impulse Group Dallas. "We do our part to help stop the spread of HIV."
After the models strutted down the runway in the backyard, Miss Vanjie wowed the crowd with two dance numbers in 100-degree weather while adoring fans watched. What a way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
Correction: An earlier version of the story reported that there were more than 200 people in attendance. The final count was more than 500.
