According to Arce, the parties were a reaction against the criminalization of Latinos through the rise of the industrial-prison complex and the passage of Proposition 187, as well as the economic devastation of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act.

"[6] Party crew events have been described as a "resistant cultural practice," which allowed Latino youth to reject the criminalization and misrepresentation they experienced in the 1990s.

[10] Infamous, a party crew in East Los Angeles, was known for throwing “T-parties,” which were events specifically for LGBT Latinos.

[11] According to Cal Poly Pomona professor Anthony Christian Ocampo, T-parties occurred in the late-1990s and were mostly held in backyards, parking lots, as well as locations such as a laundromat and an auto repair shop.

[11] In his book Brown and Gay in LA, Ocampo writes many of the young men dressed like cholos.