Dyke March

Dyke March at Gay Pride in Toronto, Ontario, Canada 2007

A Dyke March is a mostly lesbian-led gathering and protest march much like the original gay pride parades and marches. Dyke marches usually occur the Friday or Saturday before LGBT pride parades and larger metropolitan areas have related events (parties, benefits, dances) both before and after the event to further develop community often targeting specific community segments (older women, bar events, arts, parenting groups, etc.) The purpose of a Dyke March is to increase lesbian visibility and activism.

Dyke Marches are now held in Berlin, London in Europe and Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa, and Vancouver in Canada as well as Seattle, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Portland, Maine, San Diego, Oakland, Minneapolis, New York City, and other cities around the United States.

Beginnings

Topfree participants in a Dyke March in Washington, D.C., in 2005

One of the first documented lesbian pride marches in North America took place in May 1981, in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The march, which attracted approximately 200 lesbians, was part of the Bi-National Lesbian Conference.[1] In October 1981, an organization called Lesbians Against the Right organized a second march in Toronto, Ontario.[1]

The first nationwide Dyke March was held in Washington, D.C., on April 24, 1993.[2] This event was planned by the Lesbian Avengers. Over 20,000 women marched.[2] The large turnout can be attributed to the fact that the Dyke March coincided with March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation.

San Francisco

San Francisco Dyke March, June 2008

The first San Francisco Dyke March was held a few months later, in June 1993,[3] and is still celebrated every year on the last Saturday in June.[4] The Dyke March is informal, with marchers creating their own signs and most people showing up to participate, rather than to just watch. The streets along the march route are lined with enthusiastic spectators in support of the women.[5] The march begins in Mission Dolores Park with speeches, performances and community networking and ends in the Castro District.[3] The San Francisco Dyke March has high attendance numbers yet remains a peaceful and well-organized event.

In the early years the San Francisco Dyke March Committee (a small group of volunteers) never applied for nor received a permit from the city,[5] exercising the First Amendment right to gather without permits and often changed its route to avoid the police.[6]

New York

New York City Dyke March, June 2011

New York City's Dyke March is another tradition. In the 1970s, separate Lesbian Pride marches were held, for several years, but they did not become a continuous tradition. The Dyke March was renewed by the NY Chapter of the Lesbian Avengers in June 1993 (after the success of the Dyke March in Washington).

On the Saturday before Pride, participants gather in Bryant Park as they prepare to march down Fifth Avenue towards Washington Square Park. The Dyke March is open to everyone who identifies as a 'dyke'. Because of this, allies and others who do not identify as 'dykes' have been asked to stand on the sidewalks and cheer on the marchers. As with the San Francisco Dyke March, the organizers do not seek out a permit, and put a high emphasis on the political. Even though there are many club nights and parties after the March, the event is not so much about entertainment as it is about highlighting the presence of self-identified women within the LGBT community. Each year approximately 15,000 women attend this event.

The reason for the creation of the various Dyke Marches was to protest what many women saw as the control of Gay Pride events by white gay men at the expense of lesbians in general and women of color in particular. Many of the Lesbian Avengers were also concerned that New York's Gay Pride March was losing its political edge as it became more accepted by the city and courted by corporations.

Seattle

Dyke March at Seattle PrideFest, June 2017

Seattle's Dyke March occurs the Saturday before Pride with a Rally with speakers and performers[7] who are women identified and queer identified from 5 to 7pm. The Rally is held outside at Seattle Central Community College. The Rally is ASL interpreted. For the better part of the last decade of Dyke March, organizers do seek a permit. Since about 2007, the march audience has been about 1,000 women, and the permit ensures the streets are clear for Marching.

Chicago

The Chicago Dyke March occurs each year around the anniversary of the Stonewall riots, June 28, 1969.[8] The Chicago Dyke March has been in operation since 1995, beginning in the LGBT-friendly neighborhood of Andersonville. In 2008 organizers announced that it will remain in each new location for two consecutive years. The March was held in Pilsen in 2008 and 2009, in South Shore in 2010 and 2011, in Uptown in 2012 and 2013, in Humboldt Park in 2014, 2015 and 2016, and in La Villita in 2017. The planners of the Chicago Dyke March move the location of the march every two to three years to increase queer visibility throughout all neighborhoods in Chicago.[9]

2017 Jewish rainbow flag incident

In 2017 march organizers singled out and approached three Jewish women, including Eleanor Shoshany Anderson and Laurel Grauer, carrying Jewish pride flags and began questioning them on their political stance in regards to Zionism and Israel. After a discussion, organizers asked the three women to leave the event, insisting that the rainbow flag with the Star of David "made people feel unsafe" and that the Dyke March was "pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist".[10][11][12] This prompted widespread accusations of anti-Semitism among the event organizers.[13][14] Dyke March Chicago initially stated that the women were removed due to the flags, and asked pro-Palestinian organizations to release statements of solidarity while they crafted an official statement.[15] The Dyke March Chicago organizers later released an updated statement maintaining that the women, one of whom they described as a "pro-Israel activist", were asked to leave over their "Zionist stance and support for Israel", not the use of Jewish symbols.[16] Jewish Voice for Peace Chicago, which had members at the march, corroborated this account.[17] In the discussions leading to Grauer's expulsion from the march, she explained to organizers that she worked to make "Israel more pluralistic, accepting and accountable not only to Queer Israelis, but everyone, including Queer/non-Queer Palestinians" and stated "I believe there should be a free and independent Palestine."[18]

Germany

There is a yearly Dyke March in Hamburg and Cologne. Since 2017 also in Heidelberg and since 2018 in Oldenburg. The Berlin Dyke March occurs each year the day before Berlin Pride Parade in June. The Berlin Dyke March has been in operation since 2013 in the LGBT-friendly neighborhood of Kreuzberg.[19]

London

The London Dyke March occurs each year in June, with its first march in 2012.[20] The London Dyke March featured speakers, including a representative from the Safra Project, a charity for Muslim LBT women, and Sarah Brown, a transgender lesbian activist and former Lib Dem councilor. The London Dyke March emphasizes diversity, including bois, queers, femmes, butches, lipstick lesbians and many more.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Bearchell, Chris (June 1981). "Lesbian Pride March is a First for Canada". The Body Politic.
  2. 1 2 Cogswell, Kelly (May 18, 2012). "The Dyke March Hits 20!". The Huffington Post. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  3. 1 2 King, John (June 28, 2014). "Dyke March kicks pride festivities into high gear". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  4. ↑ Kwong, Jessica (9 March 2011). "S.F. Dyke March Needs Funds to Keep Going". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  5. 1 2 Garofoli, Joe (June 26, 2004). "Men told not to rain on parade". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  6. ↑ Reisbig, Jeanine K. (September 2004). "Zesty fiesta of Lesbian Power, Political Commitment and Joy takes place June 26" Archived March 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.. San Francisco Spectrum. Retrieved December 30, 2008.
  7. ↑ McKenzie, Madeline (June 21, 2017). "It's Pride weekend!". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  8. ↑ Stack, Liam (June 19, 2017). "New York's L.G.B.T.Q. Story Began Well Before Stonewall". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  9. ↑ Harrison, Mason (June 2010). "Dyke March winds through south side". Windy City Times.
  10. ↑ https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/When-Chicago-Dyke-March-bans-a-Jewish-Pride-Flag-Jews-should-feel-unsafe-498830
  11. ↑ Cromidas, Rachel. "Tensions Flare After Chicago Dyke March Demands Star Of David Pride Flag Carriers Leave Rally". Chicagoist. Archived from the original on June 26, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  12. ↑ Hammond, Gretchen Rachel (June 2017). "More than 1,500 at Dyke March in Little Village, Jewish Pride flags banned". Windy City Times.
  13. ↑ Matthew Rozsa. "Chicago's "Dyke March" under fire for alleged anti-Semitism". Salon. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  14. ↑ Weiss, Bari (June 27, 2017). "I'm Glad the Dyke March Banned Jewish Stars". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Photos: Chicago Dyke March Drew Hundreds To Rally In Little Village Saturday, Amid Accusations Of Anti-Semitism". Chicagoist. Archived from the original on July 3, 2017. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Chicago Dyke March Official Statement on 2017 March and Solidarity with Palestine". Chicago Dyke March Collective. June 27, 2017.
  17. ↑ "JVP Chicago Statement of Support for Chicago Dyke March Collective". Jewish Voice for Peace.
  18. ↑ Laurel Grauer (June 26, 2017). "The Chicago Dyke March Preaches Inclusion. So Why Was I Kicked Out for Carrying a Jewish Pride Flag?". Haaretz.
  19. ↑ Kühne, Anja (21 July 2016). "Wir wollen das L ein bisschen dicker machen". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  20. ↑ Pinfold, Corinne (June 14, 2013). "Community London: One week until UK's second Dyke March". PinkNews. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  • Steve Rubenstein (June 29, 2008). "Dyke Festival and March: Thousands gather to celebrate lesbians, Dykes happy to have a festivity that is completely for them". San Francisco Chronicle.
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