(Photo courtesy Dyke Nite Orlando)
The Good Page features positive LGBTQ+ news in Central Florida and Tampa Bay, uplifting and inspiring stories highlighting locals in our community. Here, we speak to Dyke Nite Orlando.
Celebrating the alternative LGBTQ+ community comes easy to Dyke Nite Orlando with events catered on inclusion and safety.
Dyke Nite is a network of DIY queer event collectives throughout Florida, and in Orlando the group is celebrating with A Unity T-Dance: D.T.F. at Anthem Orlando on Aug. 23.
From 12-9 p.m., there will be a rotating lineup of DJs and go-go dancers, and there is only one house rule: no phones on the dance floor.
T Madan-Felten, an organizer of Dyke Nite Orlando, says events are created for lesbians, transgender and queer people because they have been to local events that don’t feel as inclusive.
“I would like to see more for the queer weirdos, like everybody all together,” Madan-Felten shares. “And we’re really lucky to have several queer nightclubs in Orlando. So, to get to put something on at one of them feels monumental in some ways.”
The night will include a variety of DJs including Madan-Felten, whose stage name is DJ Dyketopia. They will be DJing for the first time and feel excited to contribute to creating a safe and welcoming environment for attendees.
Other DJs included are DJ Gay-Z, Mr. Bitch, Dada Breach, Dalédi and Taína. All the DJs are gay men, lesbians and transgender people from Orlando, Tampa and Miami. The organizers wanted there to be a range of DJs.
Joe Rulo who is DJing under the name Dada Breach says it’s a privilege to work with Madan-Felten and the other organizers because he feels they have created such a welcoming space for guests.
“A lot of the times when you go to a club in Orlando, it is kind of catered toward gay men specifically,” Rulo says. “I feel like Dyke Nite within the past few years has really created a space for women within the LGBTQIA community. I’m really excited to partner with them to create an event that brings everyone together.”
The event is called a Unity T-Dance because T-Dances originated as a joint effort between single gay men and lesbians in the 50s and 60s, Rulo shares. Due to anti-gay legislation, same sex couples couldn’t be together, much less dance together and if police were called, everybody would switch dance partners with the opposite sex so they would not get caught.
Rulo says they wanted the event to be rooted in the solidarity created in the LGBTQ+ community. The dance party will be built for community and connection.
Rulo says celebrating queer joy is in itself a political act of resistance and living in Florida is inherently political.
“The fact that we are living here, we’re always going to be subject… to the political bodies around us,” Rulo shares. “It’s a celebration of our joy in spite of the fact that there are a lot of people who don’t want us here, but we will always be here. This is our home too.”
An organizer of Dyke Nite who goes by Cherry says being an organizer of a queer space feels very special to her as it grounds her in knowing she a part of a lineage of queer people who stood up and fought back.
“The reality is that this ‘political climate’ has always existed, queer people have historically always been fighting homophobia and those that wish to oppress us. When I’m in queer spaces I think about our queer elders who fought for our rights and refused to assimilate.”
Madan-Felten hopes to see the continued growth of Dyke Nite Orlando as the group looks to create more events. They encourage the community to follow their pages on social media to stay up to date with events.
The Unity T-Dance will be the first time Dyke Nite Orlando has hosted a dance party, and the organizers are hopeful to see attendees be their true selves.
“The fact that this is an all-day dance event is kind of like a celebration of legacy, a celebration of the joy that we can all come together and dance together,” Madan-Felten says.
For more information on tickets, visit AnthemOrlando.com.
Interested in being featured in The Good Page? Email Editor-in-Chief Ryan Williams-Jent at Ryan@WatermarkOutNews.com in Tampa Bay or Central Florida Bureau Chief Bellanee Plaza at Bellanee@WatermarkOutNews.com in Central Florida.
Sign up for the Watermark Out News eNewsletter and follow us for more:
BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | TikTok | Threads | YouTube
