Nearly 70 people attended this year’s Deaf Lesbian Festival (DLF) held at Center on Halsted July 18-21.
Attendees came from across the country and abroad for a weekend of workshops, entertainment and social gathering.
This is the first year that the festival, now in its seventh year, has been held in the Midwest. The festival, which meets every two years in a new location, typically gathers between 50 and 200 attendees. This year was the first DLF had an international presence as it partnered with the International Deaf Lesbian Festival, which was founded last year.
Over the four-day festival, attendees partook in events ranging from speed-dating to bus tours to a silent auction. The weekend focused on the promotion of leadership skills and empowerment in the workplace. At the closing ceremony, attendees gathered for a speech by Dr. Eileen Forestal, director of interpreters at Union County College, who spoke about the deaf lesbian history. The weekend ended with a trip to Montrose Beach and a Dyke Ball in the evening.