"Do You Identify As Dykes and Dolls?"
A letter from the team
Hi everyone! The title of this zine has led to a few questions about whether or not there are any dolls on our team. We’re sorry for any hurt or confusion that has come up as a result, and we really appreciate the feedback—this is a community project, so community input is always welcome. It felt important to address this concern somewhere that allowed for a more nuance than an Instagram comment or story highlight, so here we are.
Dykes and Dolls was founded by two lesbians, one cis and one trans. Our other members are queer, non-binary, and trans. In a time when the trans community is especially vulnerable, we felt as though there was an opportunity to bring lesbian, queer, and trans communities together. We named this zine for the community it serves, because we never wanted there to be a question as to whether the dolls—or any trans person—would be welcome. Queer spaces should include trans people, and our goal has always been to make these communities more accessible by organizing and dropping free calendar zines with all the local lesbian, trans, and queer events we can find. Trans women, specifically Black trans women, face the most discrimination in the queer community. As lesbians, as queer people, as trans people, we will always do everything we can to listen to and amplify the voices of trans women.
With each event we host, we donate proceeds to grassroots organizations that help trans communities. In only four months of making this zine, we have featured four trans femme focused events—not to mention the innumerable events listed in the calendar itself. And above all, we’re showing up. We are building bonds with our local dolls, because their place in the queer community is one that matters to us more than anything.
The team that began this was just a little friend group who was lucky enough to have the right skills to make our idea come to fruition. Anna has a Master’s degree in community building. Abbey is a professional artist with years of publishing experience. Lota also works in publishing and is involved in the indie literary scene in the city. And Mary Michael, who started the calendar, moved to NYC specifically in search of queer community.
When we began, we never expected to gain the traction we have, and we are so grateful to you all for that. But things have gotten big, and that means we need more help! We’ve opened up applications for new team members and volunteers to assist us as we make Dykes and Dolls even more accessible to the queer community of NYC. Our hope is to not only improve the zine, but to right this wrong and make our team more comprehensive. We want our team to look like the community it serves. For that reason, going forward, we would love help and insight from anyone who identifies with “dyke” or “doll.” We aren’t nightlife experts, we aren’t social media pros, and we aren’t dolls—there is a lot our team could use!
Our goal is to create as many free zines as possible, make events easier to find, and connect our communities. The five of us care deeply about New York and the local trans and lesbian communities here. Our hope is that more than five of us will be behind the scenes on this project soon.
With love,
Dykes and Dolls