The Queer Women’s March Organizers kindly replied to a request for an interview and give their account on what happened to Ms. Boyne that scary night.

How did the march come about? Who decided there was a need to march for this?

Our friend, Kristen Boyne, was attacked outside of Rainbow Foods in Uptown on her way to get ice cream two Thursdays ago by two men, calling her a “fucking dyke,” etc. They began kicking her and punching her in the stomach and in the head. We had to take her to the ER where she was treated with a CT Scan, as well as an ultrasound. Basically, three of her friends decided that this was a completely disgusting “hate crime” and that we will not let it go unnoticed and would make our voices heard.

How did the woman who was attacked respond or feel about such a march?

While Kristen was on edge because of all of the publicity surrounding the march and her attack, she was very grateful to her friends to have planned this, as well as to the media and peers that were there to support her.

Uptown, Lowry Hill and Lyn-Lake has its periodic share of violence and robbery but nothing of this sort has been reported before. Do you feel this incident represents a growing percentage of LGBT hate crime as OutFront noted?

We do feel that this incident represents a growing percentage of LGBT hate crime. These kinds of crimes happen all the time, however, many of them go unreported. Unfortunately, these two men messed with the wrong group of friends and with a strong group of women, who would NOT let this crime go unnoticed! We wanted to make our voices heard, for Kristen, and for our community.

How many people did you say attended?

We are estimating that somewhere between 300-400 people marched on Thursday night.

Some categorized the event as a rally especially with some periodic chants referencing LGBT rights and the marriage issue — beyond the issue of safe streets. Do you have any comment on this?

Obviously, our main concern is safety in our Uptown streets, but we wanted to bring the fact that this was a “hate crime” to people’s attention, as the assailants referenced Kristen as a “dyke” and it seemed to be the only reason for the attack. We feel that queer women are often under-represented in the GLBT community, thus the name for the Queer Women’s March, however, we welcome not just queer women, but the entire queer community and allies, as well.

Do you expect any future marches or events?

Currently, we are working on fundraising for Kristen, as she will have been out of work for at least three weeks and needs assistance with her medical bills. Alicia Leafgreen, one of the speakers at our event, is donating $1.00 from every CD sold for the next two weeks, to Kristen’s cause. Also, there will be an event on March 5th, called “Lure,” at Trocaderos Nightclub, for Queer Women, which will donate part of the proceeds to Kristen’s medical bills. In addition to these events, we are hoping to fund raise, via the website, as well as plan other events to raise awareness. We are hoping to make this an annual event, as well!