In Provincetown, Womxn of Color Weekend celebrates 20 years

Provincetown has long been a home for LGBTQ+ individuals, families and businesses. This week, Womxn of Color Weekend returns to the Cape Cod enclave to celebrate the organization’s 20th anniversary of bringing together LGBTQ+ women and people of color.

The milestone is an important one, said Jha D Amazi, the organization’s current executive director.

"For 20 years, we have been curating a space of belonging, of community, of strength-building, of respite.  I think this year in particular, it [Womxn of Color Weekend] is needed in a way that it hasn’t in previous years,” she said.

Womxn of Color Weekend, originally called Women of Color and Allies Weekend, was founded in 2006 by Lynette Molnar, an organizer who moved to Provincetown in 1995. She loved the vibrant and expanding LGBTQ+ community there, which had robust programming throughout the year.

“But when I looked at Provincetown's schedule of events,” Molnar said, “there was nothing for people of color on the annual calendar.  The roster of events communicates who belongs and representation in community spaces matter.”

Tourism during the spring and summer months increases the Provincetown population to over 60,000 from around a modest 4,000 people. While the area has been a LGBTQ+ haven and destination for decades, data shows that tourists who visit are predominantly white and wealthy.

Molnar started organizing events for people of color within an existing annual event called Women’s Week. Eventually, the idea surfaced to create a separate program. Molnar, who isn’t a woman of color, felt she shouldn’t be the one to organize it but was encouraged by local restaurant owner and woman of color Lorraine Najar to do so.

“We got other national organizations involved,” Molnar said. The Human Rights Campaign and the National Center for Lesbian Rights donated and contributed seed money to help launch the event, she said.  It consisted of a weekend of programming featuring performers and speakers of color.

A few years after its founding, Amazi attended Womxn of Color Weekend as a young college student.

“I had come out late in high school, didn't really have the vocabulary, didn't have the community, felt very isolated,” said Amazi. “ I had no idea that there was an entire spectrum for all sorts of people." But when she attended WOC Weekend, that shifted. Amazi described seeing busloads of people of color arrive in Provincetown for the event.

“That was the most galvanizing experience I’d ever had in my young adulthood.  It affirmed everything I needed to say, ‘Yes, this is who I am. I will be okay. I will be loved. I will be supported. I will be happy. I will thrive,’" she said.

This is the experience Amazi and Molnar want to offer to others as the organization moves into its 20th year. The programming has expanded to five days this year. “The idea is to really stretch this into an entire week,” said Amazi.

Events like workshops, a fashion show and a film screening are scheduled at different locations in Provincetown like Waters Edge Cinema and The Commons.

Eventually, one of the organization’s goals is to get to “a place where we have enough resources and support to where we can offer either reduced costs to attend or proper scholarships or financial support,” Amazi said.

Cost can be a barrier for people of color who want to attend Womxn of Color Weekend, said Molnar. “ Guesthouses are being bought up by corporations, or guesthouses are selling and becoming private homes. That has really put a lot of pressure on the rates of rooms.”

In addition to the expense and difficulty of finding a place to stay, attendees generally have to worry about the rising prices of groceries and gas. “Folks are making hard decisions about whether or not they can attend,” Amazi said.

This financial squeeze isn’t just relegated to would-be attendees. According to a 2025 report, philanthropic funding for Black LGBTQ+ organizations fell by 41% from 2022 to 2023. The organization itself has seen a decrease in resources over the past few years.  "Funds were already limited,” said Amazi. “BIPOC queer-led organizations are pulling from the same pools of money. And then those funding pools are just drying up.”

In spite of the financial challenges, Amazi and Molnar feel the need for Womxn of Color Weekend is even greater than it was before.

“We are all trying to survive in a time where every aspect of our identities as queer women of color is under attack,” said Amazi. “ The world wants us to be isolated and separated. They don't want us gathering because that's where our strength comes from.”

Womxn of Color Weekend runs June 3 - 8 in Provincetown.