A spiritual and social event, quinceañeras are a traditional coming-of-age celebration for Latina youth. When a girl turns 15, she throws on a big poofy gown, trades her girlish slippers for heels, and organizes an elaborate party that runs her parents a bill of several thousand dollars. But the tradition isn’t accessible to everyone. Whether it’s a hefty price tag, family separation, or queerphobia, not everyone who wants a quince gets one. So now many are gifting themselves doble quinces instead.
Reclaiming and remixing traditions, doble quinces are a growing trend where Latines of all genders celebrate their 30th birthdays with quince-caliber parties. Commemorating another significant chapter in their lives — true adulthood (and all the perseverance and community it took to get them there) — these parties allow Latines who may have never been able to have a quince in their youth enjoy the festivities today and gives those who did have a quince permission to celebrate themselves once again.
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"If my 15-year-old self saw myself at my doble quince, they'd be like, 'bitch, what the fuck?"
Xitlali Celesté
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"If my 15-year-old self saw myself at my doble quince, they'd be like, 'bitch, what the fuck,’" Xitlali Celesté quips ahead of her own doble quince in Chicago back in October.
The nonbinary queer Mexican-American drag performer, writer, and teaching artist, who uses she/her and they/them pronouns, decided to give herself a doble quince, something that wasn’t available to her in her youth, as a way to honor where she’s at in her current life.
"Thirty for me marks 15 years of being out as a queer person. Thirty is also the year that I fully began transitioning,” she tells Refinery29 Somos in her episode of Mi Doble Quince, a new video series capturing the rise of the doble quince trend. “There's something to be said about celebrating these milestones because, if we've learned anything, it's that a lot of our queer ancestors and elders didn't make it this far."
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"Thirty for me marks 15 years of being out as a queer person. Thirty is also the year that I fully began transitioning."
XITLALI CELESTÉ
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The celebration also raised funds for Xitlali Celesté’s two creative startups: their drag incubator, Drag Me To Life, and their performance collective, The Front Porch Oracles.
To hear more about Xitlali Celesté’s 30th birthday party, watch their video, and then check out @r29somos for more Mi Doble Quince episodes.