Astro Rafael, transmasculine, harm reductionist and psychologist, with experience in street and party outreach action through the É de Lei Drop-in Center and the ResPire project, thinking about subjective and singular care, speaker and creator of digital content on harm reduction and mental health.

The Ballroom scene, which emerged in the 1970s in New York as a safe space for Black and Latino trans women, has long served as a place of resistance, self-expression, and community in the face of violence and discrimination. It became a crucial hub for care and support, particularly during the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. The principles of the Ballroom scene, such as respect for individuality and lived experience, align with Harm Reduction (HR) practices, which emphasize connection, care, and belonging.
Since 1998, the É de Lei Drop-In Center, a NGO, has worked to promote HR and HIV prevention in Brazil. In 2011, they launched the ResPire project, initially focusing on electronic music festivals and the LGBTQIAPN+ community, offering safe spaces for dialogue, support, and drug testing. By 2023, the project expanded to reach the Ballroom community, which is predominantly made up of Black and Latino LGBTQIAPN+ individuals, especially trans people.
That year, the ResPire team distributed over 2,000 condoms, 2,000 water-based lubricant, 140 HIV self-tests, and 3,723 informative pamphlets on HR to the Ballroom community, in São Paulo. Alongside the distribution of these supplies, ResPire provided education on safe substance use and HR strategies through training and collaborations with the Ballroom community. The impact of these HR actions can be noted by the feedback we have received and invitations to mediate roundtable discussions and other formative activities.
Therefore HR strategies in spaces like Ballroom have proven to be extremely important, since Ballroom serves as a "technology for life," while HR operates as a survival strategy, empowering these communities to reclaim spaces and build a more inclusive future.