In LA, a queer storytelling show brings together different generations

As June celebrates Pride Month, one L.A. event centers the LGBTQ+ community in a night of listening, laughter, and stories across different generations.

“Dyke Storytelling” is a new series where queer community members from different decades tell true stories about their lives. A special Pride Month show is set for Saturday, June 21, at Dynasty Typewriter in Los Angeles.

On Saturday, six storytellers will share their personal queer journeys, and what gay pride means in an atmosphere of increasing hate and divisiveness against the community, event organizers said.

“Whether you’re queer or an ally, we invite you to hear these amazing individuals tell their tales. It’s a great way to celebrate and learn about PRIDE,” said MC Plaschke, the event’s producer, who thought up the show’s multi-generational storytelling format last year.

Plaschke, a North Hollywood film director and writer, and friends Sammy Step and Galey Caverly wanted to create an inclusive space for elder lesbians they said they didn’t see elsewhere.

“The only queer people we really knew were people our age,” Plaschke, 30, said. “It was interesting to notice my friend group didn’t really have anyone to look up to, or see who we could grow up to be.”

The “Dyke Storytelling” series has become one of very few non-club or non-bar spaces for lesbians and sapphic people in the L.A. area, Plaschke said, and typically aimed at a younger demographic.

Performers represent different decades, starting from the 1920s, through the 1970s and beyond.

Their stories often revolve around coming out experiences, navigating the world as a lesbian, or different aspects of “dyke culture,” Plaschke said. “There’s something so incredible about hearing similar experiences and perspectives across decades.”

After performing to a standing-room-only audience at the Lyric Hyperion last year, the Dynasty Typewriter will be the series’ biggest venue yet, Plaschke said.

Saturday’s performers will include stand up comedian Mo Welch, author Melissa Chadburn, independent filmmaker Naz Riahi, writer and performer Amanda-Faye Jimenez, transgender actor Eve Lindley, and standup comedian Ru Anderson.

In between performers’ sets, the pride-themed event will include trivia, reading text messages, and more LGBTQ+ community storytelling.

The “Dyke Storytelling” Pride Month show is planned for Saturday, June 21, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Dynasty Typewriter, 2511 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. Tickets are $20. For more information: dynastytypewriter.com.