Women of color get a weekend in P'town

Provincetown regularly plays host to some corner of the diverse LGBT community. There's Bear Week, Family Week and Leather Weekend, Women's Week and Single Women's Weekend. Gays for Patsy hosts the "Spring Stomp Weekend." Sober queers head to the Tip of the Cape for the annual gathering known as Serenity by the Sea. Hell, even the gay car enthusiasts get a parade, courtesy of the Yankee Lambda Car Club. And this year, for the first time, lesbians of color are staking out their turf with the Women of Color and Allies Weekend May 18-20.

Brought to you by Girl Power Productions, a Provincetown-based company, and a committee comprised of women of color from across the country, the weekend grew out of an increased demand by Women's Week attendees for events aimed at women of color, said Lynette Molnar, the woman behind Girl Power Productions. On top of that, she indicates that organizers were driven by what we'd call "event envy." "There's sort of almost a specialty week for everyone," Molnar observes. "But it hasn't happened yet for women of color so we thought we would launch it this year."

Those who trek to Provincetown for the Women of Color Weekend will be treated to the comedy of Karen Williams and Mimi Gonzales; singer P'Tah Brown will grace a Sunday morning Gospel and Blues Brunch. Also on the roster of events is a tequila tasting, group dinners, a poolside barbeque at the Crown and Anchor and various other gatherings for gals to mix, mingle and maybe more, if all goes well.

Molnar doesn't know how many women to expect for the inaugural Women of Color Weekend, though she's willing to start small. "Women's Week started with 200 people," she points out of the 22-year-old event, noting that it now draws a crowd of about 5000 to Provincetown each fall. "We'll see, I'm sure, huge growth next year as the word gets out," Molnar also says.

The festivities were originally scheduled to take place during the first weekend in June but were moved to mid-May to accommodate Williams's schedule and to avoid overlap with June's requisite Pride celebrations. "Most importantly," Molnar adds, "there were more sort of lodging deals to be had in the third weekend of May than the first weekend of June, and we want to make it as affordable as possible."

For more information or to register for the inaugural Women of Color and Allies Weekend, visit www.WomenofColorWeekend.com.