With the goal of stimulating the debate on gender diversity and sexual orientations in the neighborhood, Dhiana founded the Acuenda collective in 2014, which celebrates nine years in 2023.
The group's name, formed by five residents from the area, is also surrounded by symbolism. The term comes from the verb "acuendar," a slang commonly used, especially by drag queens and transvestites, referring to the act of hiding the male genitalia. However, Dhiana explains that the expression has been redefined.
"Today, we practice 'desacuenda.' Not hiding, not the genital part, but the act of speaking, of going out into the street. We have to desacuenda in the world," she emphasizes.
Acuenda rescues the history of drag queen art in the peripheries and values LGBTQIAPN+ artists through productions in various artistic forms. Through the events they produce and the interest from children, the residents of Jardim Romano became closer to the collective.
"Today, the parents of the children see what drag art is. I've heard: 'Oh, I'm not going to church. I'm going to stay at the Cabaret.' Staying here in our Cabaret also fills them in some way," says drag queen Warralla Blackberry, another founder of Acuenda.
