Every month, droves of people enter a Queens club in search of pulsating music and an open dance floor.
But something other than drinks and a DJ awaits partygoers as they sift through the crowds and into the backyard: free dental screenings.
This is Body Hack, a monthly event and mutual aid fundraising initiative that collects thousands of dollars for the transgender community by tapping into one of the city’s most potent resources – its lush nightlife scene.
Nowadays, a mammoth-sized dance club that straddles Ridgewood-Bushwick border, is the venue of choice for Body Hack, with the events advertised as “for trans people, nonbinary cuties and the people that love us.”
The cost of entry for each partygoer is funneled into a rotating list of organizations that benefit the trans community.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of people are in attendance at any one Body Hack party, creating an opportunity to directly interact with large swaths of the trans community at once. A night at Body Hack often includes walking past vendors with tables with information on anything from hormone injections to how to use Narcan.
And since December, Body Hack has worked alongside the Brooklyn Harm Reduction Outreach Cooperative to provide something new in its toolkit. At each event, a secluded area in the Nowadays backyard houses a licensed dentist who screens partygoers at no cost. With the help of loupes and single-use disposable hand mirrors, the dentist does screenings. If any issues are found, like cavities, the patient-slash-partygoer is presented with a recommended list of places for dental care, including those that offer sliding scale payments or services for those without health insurance.
Dozens of people are able to sit before the dentist each Body Hack because it’s a screening, rather than a full check up. The lines are often long, with partygoers often told to wait for a text message alerting them to come back to the dentist when it’s their time to go.
“I saw that there was a lack of dental care in the queer community for a couple reasons,” said the dentist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concern about professional retribution for performing services outside of a standard practice. (Gothamist confirmed their credentials as a licensed dentist.) “The most obvious one is lack of access — be it lack of coverage — or dental trauma. If you’re traumatized at a young age, you’re not gonna want to go to the dentist.”
In addition to higher rates of suicide, substance use and overall mental distress, LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers are also more likely to not have a regular health care provider and to have cost be a barrier for regular medical care, according to the most recent report from the state health department. The report found that a combined 13% of queer New Yorkers reported not having health insurance – more than double the rate of their peers.
The very first Body Hack event took place at Mood Ring — a Bushwick bar known for its astrology-themed cocktails and a backroom for dancing — eight years ago with these statistics in mind. At the time, people would just pass around the bucket and put cash inside as a means to fundraise.
But when the pandemic forced clubs and bars to close their doors, Body Hack existed only through its digital presence, hosting 24-hour hack-a-thons on Zoom. It was this exact existence online that allowed Body Hack’s mission to reach the trans community outside of the New York metropolitan area.
Cielo Felix Hernandez was one of those people who first learned of Body Hack from her bedroom in Richmond, Virginia. Hernandez, a Puerto Rican trans woman, eventually moved to New York City — where it would be easier for her to obtain gender-affirming hormone therapy to aid in her transition — five years ago.
After she moved, the artist began volunteering with Body Hack, making flyers for its events. She is now one of the small handful of New Yorkers who now run it.
“I joined Body Hack because of how inspiring it is to be able to have a resource and share it with a community that isn’t necessarily always able to access it,” she said. “It also helps people meet each other and connect because Body Hack exists past the space that we’re creating. People are able to meet one another, share their experiences, their resources and build community. That’s kind of the point on top of the fundraising.”
Running Body Hack is no easy feat. Hernandez said that organizers meet online to plan for each monthly event because their schedules are too busy to meet in-person. The bulk of the organization involves creating a lineup of DJs — many of whom are trans people of color — and working alongside vendors, harm reductionists, security and the technical team in touch of lightning and sound.
So when the harm reductionist organization that tables at their events suggested bringing a dentist into the fold, Hernandez said she and others were game.
“When hundreds of people are convening each month, the fact that dental care is being offered is huge for protecting our community and putting them in the right direction toward taking care of themselves,” she said.
Lys Hanlon — who runs the organization that partners with the dentist — said that the dental screenings will be available at Body Hack “as long as our dentist wants to be a part of the team.”
“My team is at this point incredibly dedicated to doing harm reduction at Body Hack,” Hanlon said. “Some months, Body Hack is the only event that we do harm reduction. Other months we’re slammed every single weekend with events that we’re doing. But, we never miss a Body Hack.”
And while it’s clear that dental screenings are a hit, it’s only just the start.
The harm reduction organization is looking into providing flu shots at Body Hack in the fall.
The next Body Hack event will be a 30-plus-hour event that will take place over Pride weekend at Nowadays, starting on June 27. Proceeds from this event will go towards the Black Trans Liberation Kitchen and the Celebration of Black Trans Woman Cookout.
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