Two Dallas activists affiliated with GetEQUAL have launched a spinoff group aimed at bringing more diversity to the LGBT equality movement. Queerty has the scoop on the new group, called GetEQUAL NOW, formed by CD Kirven and Michael Robinson. I don’t know who wrote the Queerty article (there’s no byline), but it specifically calls out the Cedar Springs strip:
One needn’t look much further than their local gayborhood to see what Kirven’s talking about. On Cedar Springs, the gay strip in Dallas where Kirven lives, there’s only one lesbian bar and eight gay bars frequented mostly by white men. The gay bars have a black and Latino night once a month, but otherwise a gay person of color has to find a black or Latino bar far off the main strip. Cedar Springs has about five shops for gay men, but none for lesbians. In the magazine racks of the local video store, it’s rare to see a person of color on the cover of The Advocate, Out, Curve, Instinct, or any other gay mainstream publication that’s still around.
“There’s this idea that if you want a lesbian clothes store you should build it yourself, that if you want to be a member of this community you better have thousands of dollars for the price of admission, just to have access,” Kirven says. “But that doesn’t address the fact that queers of color often lack the education, the training, and the means to raise that money. We don’t usually get a seat at the table until it comes to needing our vote or needing tokens for a photo-op afterthought.”
Read the full article by going here.
GetEQUAL didn’t attract any participation and neither will GetEQUAL NOW. Both groups need a real purpose. Logos and t-shirts aren’t enough.
I, Daniel Villarreal, lifelong Dallas resident and up-and-coming queer journalist wrote the article. The byline in is small type at the bottom of the Queerty post. Thanks for reposting!