Dyke march
Larger metropolitan areas usually have several Pride-related happenings (including picnics, workshops, arts festivals, parties, benefits, dances, and bar events) both before and after the march to further community building; with social outreach to specific segments such as older women, women of color, and lesbian parenting groups.
Other cities where dyke marches may be found in the United States include: Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Long Beach, Minneapolis, Oakland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland (Maine), Portland (Oregon), San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, DC, and West Hollywood.
Beyond marching throughout the city, a manifesto was handed out and the Avengers created a “float”: a bed on wheels full of kissing dykes.
After learning about this manifesto, lesbians from Los Angeles created a large banner for their contingent, and those from Philadelphia constructed a vagina statue that was carried through the streets of Washington D.C.[13][14]
[15]After the second annual Dyke March in New York City on June 25, 1994, there was a lack of media coverage of the event in spite of attendance numbers reaching 20,000.
[16] The Lesbian Avengers confronted the organization about this oversight, and GLAAD re-issued the press release with the addition of a sentence acknowledging the absence of mainstream media coverage about the march.
[23] The 2012 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.
[citation needed] The London Dyke March emphasizes diversity, including bois, queers, femmes, butches, and lipstick lesbians.
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 and in protest of the discrimination, harassment, and violence they face.
[30] The march begins in Mission Dolores Park with speeches, performances, and community networking; and ends in the Castro District.
After a 12-year absence, the march returned in 2019 with "Dykes Against Displacement" as its theme, in protest of the elimination of low-income housing due to gentrification.
[35] In 2017, Chicago Dyke March (CDM) organizers singled out three women carrying Jewish pride flags and began questioning them on their political stance in regards to Zionism and Israel.
After a discussion, organizers asked them 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".
[42] March organizers later released a statement maintaining that the women were asked to leave due to their "Zionist stance and support for Israel", and not the use of Jewish symbols.
[43][non-primary source needed] In 2018, members of the local Jewish LGBT community expressed reluctance to attend that year's march, citing concerns about safety and alienation.
[50] In response to the policy, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt stated, "It is outrageous that in preparing to celebrate LGBTQ pride, the DC Dyke March is forbidding Jewish participants from carrying any flag or sign that includes the Star of David, which is universally recognized as a symbol of the Jewish people....Banning the Star of David in their parade is anti-Semitic, plain and simple.
"[49] A coalition of progressive Jewish-American groups denounced the ban in a joint statement,[49] and the National LGBTQ Task Force withdrew their support for the DC Dyke March.
Within thirty minutes, this statement was deleted and replaced by another that referred to the first as a "mistake" that did "not reflect the official stance of the Dyke March", adding that the organization "unapologetically stands in support of Palestinian liberation".
