The NYC Dyke March and Origins of Dyke Marches Around the World

Lesbian Avengers Rainbow Curriculum

On April 25, 1993, almost one million LGBTQ+ people gathered in Washington, D.C. for the third March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Equal Rights and Liberation (Smith). Their demands included a comprehensive LGBTQ+ civil rights bill, funding for AIDS research, universal healthcare, and the inclusion of LGBTQ+ history and issues in school curricula, among other things, such as abortion rights and anti-racism (Platform of the 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation). Despite the progress won by the activists of previous decades, all of these issues remain pressing concerns today.

The evening before this March, a group called the Lesbian Avengers organized another march, the first ever Dyke March. “Dyke Marches” are Pride celebrations that center around lesbians and other LGBTQ+ people who identify as dykes. While “dyke” was considered a slur, it has largely been reclaimed by the community choosing to embrace the subversive connotations of the word, although some people still prefer not to use it. An estimated 20,000 people attended that first Dyke March in Washington (“Herstory”).

First Annual Dyke Pride March

Christina McKnight's Dyke March Boots

The Lesbian Avengers were a direct-action group founded in 1992 in New York City, although by 1996, there were dozens of chapters nationwide. One of their first actions was a protest in support of LGBTQ-inclusive curricula in New York City public schools, a precursor to the fight against “Don’t Say Gay” bills targeting public schools in the 2022. After the success of the first Dyke March in 1993, the Avengers decided to host another one in New York, scheduled for the day before New York’s annual Pride parade. New York’s Pride Parade is held on the last Sunday in June in commemoration of the Stonewall Riots of 1969, and the NYC Dyke March traditionally takes place the day before, on Saturday. 

Drawing off of their previous experiences in other direct-action groups, the Lesbian Avengers sought to increase lesbian visibility and draw attention to political issues ignored by straight women and/or the mainstream gay movement, which was dominated by gay men. Christina McKnight, a member of the Lesbian Avengers and owner of the Doc Martens pictured right, said in 1997, “This is a civil disobedience action. We feel it’s our right to march. The Pride march is great, but lesbians have specific rights we need to march for… We need our own space” (“NYC Dyke March”). As an example of this commitment to civil disobedience, the New York City Dyke March does not acquire permits from the NYPD. Nationally, the Lesbian Avengers did not have a unified political program — each chapter of Avengers decided among themselves what kinds of actions they would like to do — but, Dyke Marches are unified by some basic political principles: the marches are political protests and they embrace and celebrate lesbian sexuality and desire (“Herstory”). These principles are evident in the slogans of the first and second NYC Dyke Marches: “Lesbian lust for power” and “Ignite the riot.” In the years since, Dyke Marches have sprung up around the world, including in Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

While Dyke Marches are a celebration and a fun Pride Month activity, they are also always grounded in an activist mindset. Lesbian Avengers co-founder Maxine Wolfe, in an interview with Elise Dixon, said, “I always tell people when I train them for the Dyke March— you know, marshal training— your job is to make people feel safe and have a good time so they want to come back again. Because we want people to be activists. The more they feel that they’re a part of this, the more they’re going to do it elsewhere in their lives” (Dixon).

Over the years, both the NYC Dyke March and Dyke Marches in other cities have adapted different themes and position statements based on the political situation of their time and place:

International Dyke March Poster

• In 2016, the NYC Dyke March dedicated its fundraising proceeds to the victims of the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida (New York City Dyke March, “Event Page”). 
• In 2017, Dyke March contingents from all over the United States marched together in Washington at the first Women’s March to protest the election of Donald Trump due to his sexist statements and actions (New York City Dyke March, “Women’s march”). 
• In 2019, the Washington, D.C. Dyke March was called “Dykes Against Displacement” and focused around protesting gentrification and rising housing costs (Riley). This same march also banned flags that might be perceived as Zionist out of solidarity with Palestinians’ own ongoing displacement from their homes (Hurwitz).
• In 2020, the NYC Dyke March was planned for a digital format due to the Covid-19 pandemic and then canceled entirely in order to devote Dyke March resources to supporting Black Lives Matter and the Justice for George Floyd protests (“What’s the Update”).
• Although trans dykes have been explicitly welcomed to attend Dyke Marches since the early 2010s (“About the San Francisco Dyke March”; New York City Dyke March, “Thank you”), the 2022 NYC Dyke March was specifically dedicated to trans rights issues, given the new onslaught of legislative and organized right-wing vigilante group attacks against trans people that intensified earlier that year (New York City Dyke March, “Announcement”)

Dyke March Photo

As this list shows, the history of the Dyke March is one of both growing acceptance and community. Over the years, it has expanded from its original roots in exclusively lesbian issues to embrace a more diverse understanding of what it means to be a dyke and what it means to fight for the rights and liberation of dykes of all kinds. A 2022 Facebook post from the NYC Dyke March described their approach to dyke activism as follows:

“A reminder as we lead up to Dyke March that Dykes are fat, skinny, short, tall, neurodivergent, pregnant, nonbinary, asexual, trans, bisexual, lesbian, gay. Dykes have high voices, low voices, short hair, long hair, facial hair, armpit hair, girlfriends, boyfriends, children, lovers, wheelchairs, hearing aids, walkers, canes. Anyone who identifies as a Dyke is celebrated and welcome at the Dyke March. Never police another Dyke’s identity.” (New York City Dyke March, “A Reminder”)

The goal of the Dyke March, according to co-founder Marlene Colburn, is “to march and protest until we are satisfied that the status quo is balanced, and that lesbians and other outlaws enjoy equal treatment under law and in fact." Until that day comes, the New York City Dyke March is likely to remain a beloved staple of Pride Month festivities and an important reminder of the work that has yet to be done.