My exposure to goth music began in 2025 when I attended a Twin Tribes concert in Anaheim, California. The venue was dimly lit, but piercing strobe lights illuminated concertgoers’ dramatic goth makeup looks. With a twinkling guitar and a flitting dark-electronic tune in the background, the singer of the opening band condemned violent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids across America, garnering strong cheers from the audience.
Going into the concert, I had no idea what to expect. I was admittedly nervous at first, wondering if die-hard goths would sense that I was a novice in the scene. But as the trembling clamor reverberated through my body, our shared political identity as immigrants and human rights activists melted the aesthetic differences between myself and other concertgoers. Although ICE protests typically transpire in the streets or at government facilities, the Latino goth community demonstrated how subcultures can resist politically through unconventional means.
The typical perception of a goth person is someone with a pale complexion who meets Eurocentric beauty standards. However, the reality is that goths come in all kinds of colors and shapes. In Los Angeles, Latinos dominate today’s goth scene with events like Gothicumbia. Although popularity has picked up recently, the Latino goth identity is a relatively recent amalgamation. Jennifer Vasquez, a Latina woman from Los Angeles, recalls the beginnings of her goth identity: “During the late 1990s, I didn’t see many Mexican-American goths, let alone any that identified as BIPOC.”
In my interview with Hauntina, a popular goth and horror influencer, she noted that the goth scene in Southern California has become more diverse, although there are still goth events where people of color struggle to feel accepted. “There’s … certain nights that I don’t necessarily frequent as much because I don’t feel fully embraced there yet,” Hauntina expressed. “But I think that’s why it’s important to create our own spaces. My friend Rey — who goes by Gothtio online — created his own night called Sex Beat … A lot of Latinos go there [and] a lot of people of color.”
Latin traditions and gothic aesthetics complement each other well by embracing cosas de espantos, or “spooky things.” Latinos and goths both closely observe spirituality, death, and the paranormal, tapping into subjects that are otherwise hushed by many cultures. Día de los Muertos, for example, intimately honors and celebrates deceased loved ones with ofrendas decorated with candles, colorful fruits, and vibrant marigolds. But the Latin gravitation toward the macabre is not without a deep melancholy. Latin America’s violent history with colonialism and the Catholic Church explains Latino people’s close relations to death and spirituality. In essence, it is a collective grieving carried across generations. “It’s the … intersectionality of being Latina, being a woman, being alternative in culture,” Hauntina reflected. “You know, that’s always going to be a part of who I am, and I’ve always embraced it.”
Mexico’s goth scene, also referred to as the Oscura scene in Mexico City, grappled with strict conservatism that opposed alternative aesthetics, thwarting the early emergence of the Mexican goth subculture. But Caifanes, a goth-rock band formed in Mexico City, propagated alternative aesthetics by including cumbia in its repertoire. Their innovative music reached wider audiences, and as Caifanes dressed in traditional goth attire, the goth style was increasingly accepted and diffused across Mexico. The goth subculture also spread to Los Angeles in the 1980s, flourishing through goth clubs. Moreover, the intersections between Latino and goth culture allowed fresh musical innovations. During his childhood, artist and musician Leafar Seyer was smuggled into the United States from Mexico and received amnesty during the Reagan era. His upbringing was beset with pain, as he was involved with street gangs and faced poverty. Seyer thus pioneered the cholo goth genre to explore his Latino culture and street gang experiences through goth music.
In retrospect, goth resistance to ICE comes as no surprise. Historically, the goth subculture has prided itself on being unconventional and a counterculture to the establishment. In the late 1970s, goth music emerged in the United Kingdom as a subculture from post-punk clubs. The subculture challenged the status quo by embracing total ennui and morbid superstitions. For example, Christian imagery is typical in goth culture, though not in the worshipping God sense. Oftentimes, crucifixes and crosses pair paradoxically with vampires and other satanic elements. “As forbidden, culturally maligned images, they serve to shock … As if to say that what society fears and despises most is in fact the essence of itself,” Tricia Henry Young writes.
Bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, and Bauhaus are considered to be the first pioneers of goth music and aesthetics, with many rocking all-black clothes, bold eyeliner, and edgy hairdos. During the 1980s, many bands embraced nihilism to rebel against Margaret Thatcher’s neoliberal conservative government, which dismantled the welfare state, privatized industries, and introduced free-market economics. The Smiths, a British band that goths often enjoy, mourned the country’s decline through their somber lyrics.
Today, the Trump Administration has faced massive backlash for its dehumanizing and vicious deportation agenda. But the goth community has been clear about resisting and protesting ICE. In October 2025, the Department of Homeland Security promoted its anti-immigrant agenda using The Cure’s “Friday I’m in Love” song in a social media post. Days later, the posts were removed on Instagram and X by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s takedown requests. This was a deliberate act of political resistance against an oppressive regime.
Likewise, Latino goths have openly condemned the administration’s immigration agenda through merchandise, social media, and at shows. Hauntina worked with LosGothsCo., who DJs Latino goth mixes at events, to create merchandise that condemned ICE, using memorable slogans like “Disintegration not Deportation” and taking inspiration from The Cure’s song, “Disintegration.” Much of the merchandise sold out, and the proceeds were donated to the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights organization. For Hauntina, this collaboration was meaningful because she “wanted to do something tangible,” and she was able to materialize resistance through her goth subculture.
Goths model merchandise against ICE. | Image Source: Instagram
At the same time, the Latino goth community faced challenges with political controversies. LosGothsCo. announced that it was dropping out of the Los Darks event, a goth festival hosted in Santa Ana, California. In an Instagram post, LosGothsCo. explained that the organizers of the event were affiliated with Make America Great Again (MAGA), although they denied any affiliation. This sparked mixed reactions within the Latino goth community, especially because the tickets were nonrefundable. People expressed anger at the lack of research on the event, others announced their refusal to attend, and many declared that they would wear “Fuck ICE” merchandise in protest.
Concertgoers attend Los Darks festival. | Image Source: Anonymous
At the event itself, performers joined concertgoers in politically resisting ICE and its inhumane policies. During London After Midnight’s set, images condemning the current administration flashed on the large screen, such as Elon Musk’s infamous Nazi salute at President Donald Trump’s inauguration parade. Caifanes also boldly dedicated a performance “to everyone who believes in human rights.” As they performed, heart-wrenching images of ICE protests, killings, and deportations of Latino children played behind them.
The Latino goth community continues to grow with expanding acceptance of alternative subcultures, online popularization, and dedicated spaces for members. At the same time, oppressive anti-Latino politics in the United States cannot be separated from the Latino goth identity. But Latino goths refuse to ignore or yield to their active subjugation. Instead, the Latino goth community has transformed activism into a terrific resistance through atmospheric music and an embodiment of ennui, defying not only social norms but also the despotic regime.
Featured Image Source: Facebook