Dyke-TV

homepage : http://www.dyketv.org/
e-mail : staff@dyketv.org

category : TV / Video / Film

FROM SITE

In the early 1990s, Linda Chapman, Ana Simo and Mary Patierno started Dyke TV, the first (and only) cable access TV show by, for and about lesbians. Using the tagline, "Television to incite, subver, provoke and organize!" the founders sought to document rising lesbian activism and to provide a viable platform for lesbian voices to enter the realm of popular culture. The first show aired in June 1993 on a Manhattan cable channel to a viewership probably composed entirely of Linda, Ana and Mary and all of their friends. Since that modest beginning, the Show and the organization have grown enormously.

Our mission today is to place media tools at the service of lesbian visibility and empowerment. The Show now airs on over 78 public access cable channels throughout the country, and for the past ten years has documented the lives of lesbians from Memphis to Modesto. As an organization, Dyke TV has developed into a state-of-the-art community media resource center through which lesbians have access to: digital video equipment; instruction in all aspects of video production and editing; and countless opportunities to create documentary and creative pieces for the Show or public screenings in New York City. Operating from a multi-racial, multi-generational perspective, we especially encourage those traditionally underrepresented in mainstream and LGBT programming, including lesbians of color, lower income women, seniors and youth. With these efforts, Dyke TV hopes to contribute realistic, inclusive lesbian voices to the public discourse about our lives.

Dyke TV is generously funded by the Astraea Foundation; Funding Exchange; Gill Foundation; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; New York Funding for the Arts; New York State Council for the Arts; the North Star Fund; and a host of individuals who offer us financial and in-kind services and support.