“I'm nervous,” he admits. “I want people to see that a gay man can also wear the charro suit with a lot of dignity.” Torres, who released a mariachi album, says: “I used to sing norteño ...

But Avitia needed more than just a hat. He bought his uniform, a flashy, charro suit, from a Los Angeles clothing company. “I didn’t want to just be like everybody else onstage,” he said.