TAKE BACK THE DYKE

Every June since the Stonewall riots of 1969, gays and lesbians have taken to the streets

for Gay Pride Parades. Gays and lesbians marched side by side, but often the lesbians felt overshadowed by their male brethren. Then came the Lesbian Avengers.

History of the Dyke March

Every June since the Stonewall riots of 1969, gays and lesbians have taken to the streets for Gay Pride Parades. Gays and lesbians marched side by side, but often the lesbians felt overshadowed by their male brethren. Then came the Lesbian Avengers.

The Lesbian Avengers were founded in 1992 in New York City as a lesbian direct-action group. The Lesbian Avengers were known for their street theater and in-your-face activism. Lesbians would often “eat fire” at their demonstrations as a symbol of taking power back from those who attempt to destroy us.

The Lesbian Avengers are known for their campy direct action and street theater tactics. The purpose of the group is to identify and promote lesbian issues and perspectives while empowering lesbians to become experienced organizers who can participate in political rebellion.

Humor is often a part of the Lesbian Avenger tactic. One chant, which is in direct response to those who claim gays and lesbians “recruit” young people went like this: Ten Percent is not enough
Recruit! Recruit! Recruit!

One of their signature events is to “eat fire” while chanting, “The fire will not consume us — we take it and make it our own. The Lesbian Avengers has no national chapter, but is made up of groups all around the globe. The Lesbian Avengers are known for being open to all dykes, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people.

First Dyke March

In 1993, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force sponsored a March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian rights. The Lesbian Avengers decided to sponsor a Dyke March the night before the main march. Word spread like wildfire and more than 20,000 lesbians marched in the first Dyke March on April 24th, 1993.

Marches Pop Up All Over

Lesbians who had participated in the first Dyke March were so empowered, they returned to their home towns and cities and formed Dyke Marches of their own. San Francisco hat 10,000 dykes at their first march in 1993. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Montreal soon followed with Dyke Marches of their own. The phenomenon was begun and there could be no stopping the dykes!

Now the Dyke March is a tradition in most cities. Lesbians take to the streets, usually the night before the the Gay Pride march.

check out Dyke March.org

TAKE BACK THE DYKE (Facebook group):

“Dyke March is not a parade – it is a political demonstration of critical mass; a moment seized to revel in the strength, diversity and passion of LGBTTIQQ2SA women and trans folk.”
Pride Toronto website.

We couldn’t agree more. We want to continue pursuing these vital goals. Join us as we TAKE BACK THE DYKE by conducting our own march at the same time (Saturday, July 3rd @ 2pm, meeting at Nathan Phillips Square) keeping the aforementioned tenets in tact. It is going to be FIERCE.

Relocating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, intersex, queer, questioning, 2 spirited women, trans folk and their allies to the “wonderful new venue” in Queen’s Park is too far away from all the action. More importantly, this decision was made without consulting the communities most directly involved.

We will march, scream, strut, sign, chant, roll and dance our way through the city streets. We will have excellent slogans and chants, creative banners, costumes, and other mind-bending spectacles. In many cities the Dyke March has never operated with a permit, intentionally positioning itself as separate from the corporate sponsored/censored Pride events. It is clear from the press conference rationalizing its censorship of QuAIA that Pride Toronto is bowing to corporate sponsors and homophobic politicians who have nothing but money at the heart of their interests. We don’t need money to be proud. We are dykes. All we need is a can of lentils and some sunscreen. If you have experience marshalling, postering, sign making, cheerleading, organizing, or yelling contact the administrators here. If you don’t have this experience, we will train you in all of the above. We are recruiting! It is time to reclaim our march.

TBTD was inspired by love, need, rage, passion, grief, justice and all that vital stuff that fuels us in these glorious and troubling times. We created TBTD as a physical and psychic space for us to gather our bodies and our energy and take to the streets of Toronto. This is our city. These are our streets. This is our space. And on Saturday, July 3 we will claim it. You’re not gonna want to miss this.

TBTD intentionally organized without promoting a particular perspective, strategy or agenda. It was created from the understanding that we need space to express our individuality and celebrate our diverse community. We invite you to bring your love, rage, hurt, anger, exuberance, disgust, lust, confusion, passion, frustration and joy to this event. March for your own reasons, for your own purposes.

Come march with us if you want to take up space and be visible. Come march with us if you are coming out of the closet. Come march with us if you are fed up with having your life, your choices, your body and your politics diluted and silenced by the meek and the monied. Come march with us if you want to meet hot women and get laid. Since TBTD was first created to impress a girl, this is absolutely a legitimate reason to join in. The point is this: you should be allowed to start a revolution to impress a girl. Or whoever the hell else you want to fuck, kiss, make love to or bang.

Part of TAKING BACK THE DYKE is about taking it and making it your own. YOU ARE INVITED to be part of making this happen. Spread the word about TBTD. Join the TBTD wheatpaste brigade. Come to the marshall training on June 30 and marshall the march. Host or attend a TBTD Prep Party. Take photos of TBTD posters around town and post them to the TBTD event page or your own Facebook page. Add your own message to TBTD posters around town—there is plenty of room on these posters to do so! Document your prep parties. And then, on July 3, meet us at Nathan Phillips Square wearing your favorite or craziest shit. Bring your signs, posters, chants and rants. Bring your glitter, kisses and rad moves.

A NOTE ABOUT MARCHERS AND ALLIES: TBTD is a dyke march for queer women and transfolks. We want to be clear that this is not an exclusionary event, but rather a necessary opportunity to create and assert DYKE powered space. We invite our allies (including CIS men and straight women, lez-bros and fag hags) to SUPPORT US and CHEER US ON. TBTD is a perfect chance for our allies to show us their love and respect by devising mind-blowing spectacles of adoration or standing on the sidelines with cupcakes and cheers, basking in the light of our DYKE fabulousness. Show the dominant culture that men and straight women can, and do, stand in support of their hardworking dyke sisters, transsisters and transbrothers!

We are inspired by the creativity so many people have shown around TBTD. We hope that TBTD will inspire new and continuing creativity and activism in our community.

With glitter, kisses and rad moves,

Our community’s energy has grown in a beautiful and urgent way. Get ready to strut.”