Following accusations of discrimination and bias, comic book advocacy group The Valkyries have announced their disbandment, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The group released a statement via their Twitter account, saying in part, “When an organization stops supporting marginalized women, it is failing at supporting women.”
The statement comes just over a week after a previous statement was released in response to criticism that the group was failing to fully represent the concerns of women of color. Released Aug. 29th, the original statement read, “We fully take ownership of the fact that there are issues concerning the inclusivity of the group and are striving to do better. We plan to release a statement after [a scheduled administrative] meeting detailing how we plan to directly address these issues and how we envision the future of The Valkyries, whatever that may be.”
The Valkyries were formed in 2013 by then-comic retailer Kate Leth in an effort to connect women working in comic book retail. The group boasted a membership of approximately 600 members and was active on social media while appearing at conventions and industry events to promote diversity and inclusion in the comic book industry.
The group has since deleted their statement, replaced by a new one here that reads, “Our statement from earlier today has been widely criticized, which is well-deserved. We made a serious mistake, and are sorry. In appearing to place blame on women of color, we added insult to injury. We apologize to everyone who has been hurt by it. We also recognize that it was wrong not to bring our concerns to our members privately before announcing plans to disband. They deserved to have a say in the matter, and we apologize for taking these steps without consulting them.”
The group’s Twitter manager further commented, “The hope was that new groups would form, with a plan and a stated purpose from the start. I’m not 100% sure exactly what will happen but I’m very sure we shouldn’t go making announcements when we’re emotionally drained and exhauted [sic].”
