Eventually, there would be about 175 partygoers, but this smaller group arrived early - showing identification and proof of COVID-19 vaccination at the door, first - for orientation and a consent workshop, which Hacienda requires for guests who are new to sex parties, new to Hacienda parties, or both. The party that evening, Fucked-Up Fairytale, was slated to start in earnest in a half hour. The basement - and the rest of the three-floor brick townhome above it - was owned by Hacienda, which functions both as a live-in community and an organizer of sex parties and educational workshops.
Lining the periphery of the room were beds - mattresses on the floor with dark-gray sheets - on which, in a matter of hours, many of these people would be having sex. Many wore costumes: There was a young woman with fairy wings, a devil-angel duo, a trio draped in ivy. On a Saturday night in August, in a cavernous basement in Bushwick, Brooklyn, about 60 people milled around under a ceiling covered in cherry-red twinkly lights.
