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Between October 9 and 11, Euzko Etxea of New York hosted its first Diversity Weekend, aimed at reclaiming the plurality within the Basque communities, as explained to EuskalKultura.com by Aitzol Azurtza, organizer and former president of the club. The festival, an evolution of the Gayaldi, included several cultural activities, including two  film screenings, an exhibit and a book presentation, as well as a party and a dinner. 

New York, NY, USA. With the inclusion of two films, a book presentation, and a photo exhibit, Gayaldi became Diversity Weekend at the Euzko Etxea of New York, from the 9th to the 11th, earlier this month. “Iban Ubarretxena, the president (of the club), proposed to expand the concept of the festival beyond the sexual reclaim and we all liked the idea,” said Aitzol Azurtza. “It’s not just a reclamation of gays’ and lesbians’ rights, but also of the women’s rights, of the rights of different races… We claim that one can be Basque regardless of where you were born, or where your parents are from, or the color of your skin. The goal is to be inclusive.”

The two films that were shown were Jon Garaño and Jose Mari Goenaga’s 80 egunean (For 80 days) and Ibai Vigil-Escalera’s Mama, please forgive me. The former tells the fictional story of two elderly women and their sexual lives, and the latter is a documentary about a youth having difficulties with coping with life, in New York City. After the screening of 80 egunean, there was also an informal discussion about the film.

The exhibition of Brock in a dress (A sneak peak), by Navarrese photographer Koitz, was a great success, in the words of Azurtza, who praised the work of the artist: “It’s a very interesting exhibition. Powerful and meaningful. His photos of the exhibition about Fire Island were very striking but these ones are deeper. Every picture has a story that the viewer has to find.” Although the exposition was widely praised, Koitz explained that it’s still an unfinished project that will take him two or three more years to evolve and conclude.

Courageous looks

The festival also included the American presentation of the book Begirada ausartak (Courageous looks) − a compilation of testimonies of gays and lesbians from the Basque Country that lived under the Franco regime. Ramon Aizarna, a Zarautz, Gipuzkoa native New Yorker, was the epicenter of the event, since he suffered the dictatorship’s oppression over the LGTB community, before moving to the US, 30 years ago.

As Azurtza said, there was an interesting Q&A after the presentation, since attendees showed concern about Aizarna’s experiences. How did they flirt? Where did they usually meet? How did they recognize other gays and lesbians? And, as the title of the book perfectly sums up, it was their looks, their courageous looks that gave that information. There was a secret language under Franco’s dictatorship "that transcended the issue of the nation’s liberation."

On Saturday night a crowd met at the Euzko Etxea to join the Gayaldi party that kicked off at 10pm and finished quite late. This year there were no go-go dancers, since that brought up a discussion amongst the members that has not been solved yet.

The closing event was a dinner, free of charge, and served on Sunday evening. Most of the attendees were Americans and, even if the turnout was not huge, Azurtza thinks this first Diversity Weekend was a success and showed his will to organize it again, next year: “We have to organize this every year, with the same name and the same reclamations.”

Words of protest

As organizer, Azurtza reflected upon the festival: “I think this festival helps Basque communities to accept their diversity. To accept that Basques are not homogeneous and monochrome. And with that claim, the festival also supports women’s rights, and political rights, but also the rights of disabled people, for instance. We don’t have any disabled members in our club, but how would we treat them if we did? With this festival we want to make people aware of these situations. Some Basque Clubs may have a narrow vision of what being Basque or Basque-American means. We have to celebrate the Diversity Weekend every year, to shake people’s conscience. To tell some people ‘open your eyes!’.”