LCFD History

The roots of the Lavender Country & Folk Dancers (LCFD) trace back to a twice-monthly gender-free dance started in September 1988 at First Church in Jamaica Plain, Boston, MA. The twelve dancers that showed up to that first dance quickly grew to 90+ dancers by the beginning of the next year. The Jamaica Plain Gay & Lesbian Contra Dance became a fount of community enrichment and social connection for the Boston LGBTQ+ community outside of the bars. Now coined the Boston Gender-Free Contra Dance, the Jamaica Plain group still dances at First Church over thirty years later.

Over the years, we’ve claimed a few names. Originally, a coalition of various gay and lesbian folk dance groups in and around Boston banded together under the moniker SEGAL (Southeast Gay and Lesbian Country Dancers) to reflect their regional spread outward to other parts of Southeast New England. As interest and participation grew throughout New England, the name had to be changed to NEGAL (Northeast Gay and Lesbian Country Dancers), to encompass the entire national region. Soon our community spread far beyond New England to New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1992, we officially changed our name to the Lavender Country & Folk Dancers (LCFD) to express the diversity found in our now nationwide community.

In the 30+ years since that first dance in Jamaica Plain, gender-role free dancing has bloomed into a movement in folk dance communities across the United States and elsewhere. LCFD continues to be an active voice in promoting gender-free traditional dancing, while organizing original dance camps in New England and providing support to other local gender-free dances and camps. LCFD enthusiastically supports the inclusion of our trans community, and holds regular trans ally trainings at our dance camps. Our board and community is comprised of folks representing different age groups, areas of the country, and gender-identities. We are committed to creating and aiding others in creating safe-spaces for LGBTQ+ folks and their allies to socialize, create joy, and simply be themselves. Join us at one of our camps, local dances, or reach out to find out how we can help in your community!

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