Making an inclusive collective party or building LGBTQ+ community? Tensions in LGBTQ festival events in American Mardi Gras

Small-scale festival events run by the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community that are part of larger urban festivals like Mardi Gras are often pulled in two conflicting directions. There is pressure on these events to be inclusive collective parties that support heterosexual attendees. Also, LGBTQ events are an important site for developing community cohesiveness and solidarity, which may be hampered by too much heterosexual attendance. This article analyzes the tensions between these two (at times) conflicting aims during small-scale LGBTQ festival events in Mobile, Alabama.