YWCA Dayton celebrates Pride 2023
YW first recognizes that pride is a protest that would be nothing without the Black transwomen who started it all. Pride month has been celebrated annually in late June to commemorate the Stonewall Riots, which took place in late June 1969. Started officially by the “shot glass heard ‘round the world” that was thrown by activist and icon Marsha P. Johnson after police raided the Stonewall Inn (a gay bar) in New York City, these riots lasted for six days. Their legacy is carried on today through Pride marches, parades, and other events all around the world.This year during June, YWCA Dayton will be recognizing the impact Q+ individuals have had on history and community, locally and nationally. YW will also be out in community at
- Pride Parade, in downtown Dayton this Saturday, June 3, 1 to 4p.m.
- Pride in the Park at Dayton Metro Library, also Saturday June 3, noon to 3 p.m.
- PFLAG Pride 5K, Sunday June 4 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Nycia Lattimore, YWCA Dayton Crisis Services Manager, is also president of the Greater Dayton LGBT Center, and said Pride is important to her as a YW employee."Pride is important to me professionally because it shows our organization's commitment to diversity and inclusion," she said.Q+ individuals face disproportionate rates of sexual violence and gender based violence and within the LGBTQ community, transgender people and bisexual women face the most alarming rates of sexual violence."At YWCA Dayton, we're making sure that we're being inclusive and intentional in the work we're doing, and that we are calling attention to that disparity," Mady DeVivo, manager of YWCA Dayton's Rape Crisis Center.Additionally, due to discrimination and bias, Q+ individuals are often reluctant to disclose sexual abuse or seek help following sexual violence.DeVivo noted that it is important for YWCA Dayton's Rape Crisis Center and Hotline to be intentional when serving as a resource to Q+ survivors, to understand how to help and not retraumatize.Barbara Ward, YWCA Dayton associate director of advocacy and outreach, said it is important that YW continues to shed light on the intersections of gender-based violence and the experiences of the Q+ community."We walk in the intersection of eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all, with the emphasis of for all all," Ward said.