Photo by Becky Duffyhill
Audio By Carbonatix
When guests walk into NEBULA on July 11, Haus of Other wants them to feel as if they have stepped through a portal.
“When you first walk into the space, the plan is to have a sort of warp area,” explains organizer and Haus of Other founder Gary Adrian Randall. “Then when they first emerge, we’re going to separate the space into different areas. So there’ll be an area that kind of feels like deep space, then there’ll be an area that kind of feels like an alien jungle and then we’re hoping to create an area that feels like an actual nebula.”
This is all part of the Denver-based queer creative collective’s plans to transform the People’s Building in Aurora into a sci-fi setting for one of its immersive experience fundraisers. The party’s theme, “We Are All Aliens,” is playful on the surface. Underneath the glow and glitter, Randall says, is a serious response to the fear immigrant communities are facing across the country.
“Creativity is the way that Haus of Other creates,” Randall says. “The goal is to raise awareness and raise funds for organizations, but the vehicle is a celebration of the humanity that exists within all of us, and that should be the thing bringing us together — that diversity is a beautiful thing. That diversity was the whole point of this country, and I want to showcase that, but also in a fun, tongue-in-cheek sort of way with the aliens in space theme.”
Photo by Becky Duffyhill
NEBULA begins at 7 p.m. July 11 at The People’s Building in Aurora. A portion of ticket sales will benefit the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, with additional fundraising planned throughout the night for other organizations that provide legal defense and support for immigrants.
“I think that most people have a connection to some immigrant in one way or another,” Randall says. “And I think more people need to be standing up and talking about it. Like, my mom, she passed away eight years ago, but I know that she’d be really proud of me for just standing up for a community. Even coming from a marginalized, oppressed community, even coming from a community that is also in danger of being sent to these camps, we’re the people that need to stand up.”
Randall notes that he started the Haus of Other website six years ago but didn’t do anything with it until the time was right. That moment arrived in January 2025.
“It just really hit me that queer people were going to need a safe space with everything that was going on with the administration,” he says. “We’re gonna be experiencing a lot of frustration, and we also have not really organized in any way.”
That concern became Haus of Other, which began with monthly crafting nights where queer people could gather, make art and vent through creativity. Soon, the crafting nights became the foundation for immersive theme parties. Participants made decorations that would later help transform event spaces, and the parties raised money for queer organizations and causes.
The first immersive party took place in April 2025, during Randall’s birthday weekend. Haus of Other has since supported organizations including Trans Lifeline, YouthSeen, The Delores Project, The Alexander Foundation, The Center on Colfax, Colorado Health Network, Aurora Pride and the Gay Games bid.
“It was a lot in one year, which told me that our community needs something like this,” Randall says. “Haus of Other, really, for me, is a way to organize the marginalized community, and it’s a way to give people a creative outlet, whether it’s the crafty nights or the immersive theme events. We’ve had a lot of fun in the past year just working with different charities and organizations.”
Photo by Becky Duffyhill
Haus of Other was created to support queer people, but Randall said the word “Other” was always meant to reach beyond one identity. That thinking led him to immigrant advocacy. His mother, who was originally from Malaysia, came to the United States from Saudi Arabia after knowing his father for only three weeks. She raised her family, worked hard and relied on government programs that were available to help her build a life.
“I saw how hard she worked, just to get food on the table,” Randall says. “All the immigrants that I know are very hard workers. It’s this whole narrative that this administration and other administrations have tried to sell us, which is that they’re lazy and criminals. It’s such a lie.”
He adds that the personal connection made NEBULA feel necessary, especially as friends and community members fear deportation or detention.
“We do need to start supporting other communities, and the immigrant community specifically, with what’s going on in the detention centers,” Randall says. “It’s insane. There’s no excuse for it to be happening in this day and age, but it’s also not surprising that it’s happening in this day and age, given that history repeats itself. The difference now? We have the internet. We have communication. We have a foothold in society, and we can’t let that be erased, so the inspiration behind Nebula is that we are all aliens.”
The sci-fi theme is both cosmic and political. Randall sees it as a reminder that humanity is bigger than borders.
“If you want to go all the way back to the beginnings of time, there’s stardust and carbon in our veins that came from the universe,” he says. “We’re cosmic beings. But if you want to go back a few hundred years, we’re all immigrants. This country was made from immigrants.”
Photo by Becky Duffyhill
He adds that the point is not to throw an “anti-ICE event” disguised as a party, but to create a celebration of shared humanity while still naming the harm immigrant communities are experiencing.
“The way that we’re gonna sort of balance that is we’re inviting organizations that provide the legal defenses for immigrants,” he says. “We’re hoping to get a few people that have been through the system to speak at the event and tell people their stories, to just raise some awareness.”
The event’s design will lean fully into the theme. Guests will enter through what Randall described as a warp-like tunnel with lights before emerging into a space divided into different environments: deep space, an alien jungle and an area meant to evoke a nebula. Crafty Grant, Randall’s business partner, is creating small alien creatures and other immersive details to tuck throughout the venue.
As with other Haus of Other events, guests are invited to dress up but not required to. Randall is making his dream costume: a Xenomorph inspired by the “Alien” films. Maya Blasingame, another business partner and Afro-Latina activist who helped guide the event’s advocacy partnerships, is planning a costume inspired by Diva Plavalaguna from “The Fifth Element.”
“There’s never any expectation that people are going to go dress up to the nines,” Randall says. “But that being said, some people really do.”
The night will include a costume showcase, a costume contest, drag performances, a vendor market, a scavenger hunt and live music from STARLUX, a band Haus of Other has worked with before. Randalls says the main goal of NEBULA and all Haus of Other events is to do something rather than allowing fear and frustration to curdle into helplessness.
“Everybody, right now, should be using their privilege as an American to do something,” he says. “It doesn’t matter what that is or how small.”
Photo by Becky Duffyhill
Haus of Other already has more planned, including Inferno, a Halloween party inspired by hell, the seven deadly sins and Catholic iconography. The idea, Randall said, is to turn condemnation into spectacle: “They say that we’re going to hell, so let’s go, and let’s make it as beautiful and stunning as possible.”
For now, NEBULA is the next portal. Randall hopes people leave with more than photos of costumes and memories of a party.
“I want people to leave this event with a greater understanding of what’s actually going on in these detention centers and a greater sense of belonging,” he says. “I want them to feel a sense of connection to their humanity.”
NEBULA is on Saturday, July 11, at 7 p.m. at the People’s Building, 9995 E. Colfax Ave, Aurora. Admission is $15-25. Learn more at hausofother.com/nebula.