This bio is completely incomplete. (grin)

Elaine was a columnist for Xtra West newspaper for a few years… here are some links to her articles on Xtra.ca:
http://www.google.ca/search?q=site%3Axtra.ca+%22by+Elaine+Miller%22

Women’s parties run by Miss Andrea.

This posting needs quite a bit of work, no? Please give us your info! Click the contact link and drop us a note!

Feel free to add comments with your own corrections facts, and memories. (Vituperative and slanderous comments will be deleted)

Elaine reminisces:

In 1994 or so (if I get less lazy, I’ll look into my archives and pinpoint the date) there was Allies in Diversity, a leatherwoman’s conference held in Vancouver. It was put on by KA (must check to see if she’d like to be named here), with an enormous amount of help from volunteers, and attracted queer women from SF, Seattle, Vancouver, and beyond.

Allies in Diversity comprised an entire weekend of workshops, demos, fun, playing, and learning with other women. There were probably about 100 participants.

It was held in a huge private mansion-like home (in the Very Ritzy Area Of Town) that had been gutted of belongings and furniture, and re-decorated for the weekend. There were dungeon-furniture-filled rooms, tarped-off rooms, and theme rooms, and a massage room, and a what-is-your-fantasy area, and a dressup room, where you’d go and borrow fetish/fantasy clothes and then return ‘em.

The *entire* yard and grounds were enclosed in opaque tenting material by a professional firm. One was safe from prying eyes even in the outdoors. The neighbours had all been put on notice that we were having an enormous private family gathering. I can’t imagine what they thought of our “family outfits” as we filed in and out of the tenting at the front gate.

There were security dykes and facilitator dykes, and demo-giving dykes, and how-can-I-help-you dykes, and it was my very first women’s conference, and I almost died from the sheer wonder of it, plus of course I got no sleep at all, because I was involved in the working end as well as the playing end.

I can’t say it was the first ever in Canada, because I’m only speaking for the West Coast (because I’m not always aware of the East Coast’s goings-on), and only speaking of my own community involvement since the early nineties, ’cause before that I was in Vancouver but hadn’t yet come out into the Vancouver Dyke community. So there might be another one that came “first”.

Women’s playparties run by Janna and Otter from Womyn’s Ware

Feel free to add comments with your own corrections facts, and memories. (Vituperative and slanderous comments will be deleted)

Bride of Pride is both the name of a specific event (queer women’s playparty during Vancouver Pride weekend), and the name for the group of women who organize 3 -4 events per year.

http://vancouverleather.com/brideofpride/

The inaugural BoP event was on August 5th, 2006, during the Pride Weekend. It was held at the Anza Club.

Here’s the poster for the first event:

The Bride of Pride collective consists of the following members (in no particular order):

(list to come)