Hello and happy Pride! We’re beyond excited to bring you our biggest issue yet (so big, in fact, that it might get cut off if you’re reading this in your email—just click “View entire message” and you’ll be able to see the entire post). Keep reading to check out our extra long calendar, a bonus event feature, and a little queer history on a lesser-known sapphic symbol. Turns out there’s more to life than the humble carabiner.
Our featured artist is J Cameron Ringness, but you can call them Cam. They’re an artist, architect, and organizer originally from Cleveland, Ohio, living and working with their dog, Goose, and partner, Wren, in Ridgewood.
Cam works closely with the homeless community and was a teacher and mentor for previously incarcerated women at the Women’s Prison Association. They led the design of the New Statue of Liberty Museum on Liberty Island and are currently the lead designer for the New Children's Museum of Manhattan to be completed in 2028.
As an artist, they paint colorful, large-scale pictures capturing ordinary life and the people they know, meet, and love, and celebrating everyday spaces, with a focus on the queer & trans community.
They also play bass, draw comics and work as a foley artist for Wildshape Sound.
We’re changing it up this time around in honor of the (gay) holiday season. Our featured writing is a short piece on the labrys, or double-headed axe, by Sacha Lewis. Sacha is an undergraduate History of Art student. They are passionate about the interconnected ways in which art reflects an enmeshed personal and global history. In their study of modern and contemporary art, they hope to explore its ability to create space for social influence.
Next up: gURLSlikegIRLS! It’s the playpen, the party, and the pulse. They’ve built a world where Black femmes and queer cuties feel seen, desired, and celebrated, not just included. Their vision is to throw signature parties that double as portals: to connection, femmehood, and the soft chaos of queer nightlife done right. Check them out on June 6 at The Bush for their Pride party, and follow them on IG to know when you can catch the next one.
Our second feature zones in on more queer history. We’ve come so far in the decades since the Stonewall riots, but the fight is far from over. Whether you’re marching in solidarity, participating in mutual aid, making art, building community, or just loving out loud, you’re spitting in the face of our oppressors and you fucking rock.
There’s a LOT going on this month, so we had to stretch out our calendar and bring you double the events! This Pride is definitely not a sprint, it’s a marathon—and this is only the first half of it. I hope you’re hydrated.
We’ve got vintage markets, trans cinema, and our own pride party, Dykes and Dolls on the Loose! Tickets are sold out, but keep an eye on our IG to know when we release more online. If you miss out on that, there will be a limited quantity available at the door, so show up early if you want to party with us. We’ll have baddies in fishnets and leather, and I’ll be stomping around in my Demonias. You do not want to miss this one.
Dykes and Dolls is always available for free, as we believe community events should never be behind a paywall. We distribute copies around Brooklyn and Manhattan twice a month, usually at the following locations (but keep an eye on our Instagram around release day to see where they end up):
Honey Moon Coffee Shop
Hive Mind Books
Cubbyhole
Ginger’s Bar
Soft Butch
Wyckoff Starr Coffee Shop
Nook
Principles GI Coffee House
Botani Cafe
If you’re loving the zine and want to support us, we do accept donations to help fund production. The more funding we have, the more copies we can get out to our community. Click here to contribute.
We’ve also started a $5 a month mailing list if you would like a copy of the zine mailed to you twice a month. Click here to sign up.
Issue 8 drops on June 16th, and it’s another double feature. Snag your copy IRL, or subscribe here on Substack for the rest of the month’s events.
Did you know our calendar stays up-to-date via Google Sheets? Click here to check that out.
Follow us on Instagram @dykesanddolls to keep up with daily events and new issues.
Thanks for reading! We’ll catch y’all next time.
-Dykes and Dolls
Reading from across the pond (Southend UK)! While I will probably never get to go to any of your events I think this is a brilliant idea and also a great way to platform queer artists ! Thanks for sharinb