The 24th Annual Dyke March is this Saturday, and, following a contentious run-in with police last year, Capp Street Crap reports that it will return to its historical route of traveling down 18th Street in the Mission.
Police last year rerouted the parade down 17th Street, a move which was motivated partly by the earlier timeslot forced by the watered down "Pink Party" and which forced the official route to bypass several important queer landmarks (think the now-closed Lexington Club). Protesters were not happy, and a group went down 18th Street anyway.
Dyke March this year begins with the usual rally in Dolores Park at 11:00 a.m. (where there will definitely not be a giant slip-n-slide), with a full day of events and musicians including Fleetwood Macrame, Vixen Noir, and Sistah Boom. At 6:00 p.m. the march is scheduled to start at 18th and Dolores Street and will head east on 18th before turning north on Valencia, then back west on 16th Street and proceeding all the way to Market and Castro.
"When Dykes took over the intersection of Market and Castro in 1993, they were fighting for their lives, visibility, safety, and inclusion," explain march organizers. "At that time, the word 'dyke' was hurled as an insult to cut us down and erase our experience. It was reclaimed as an identity as a big FUCK YOU to our oppressors."
"This day is for our lives; for the lives of those who have already been displaced, for the queer artists driving for Lyft to be able to pay skyrocketing rent, for the queer owned businesses that have shut their doors, for the LGBTQ youth sleeping on the streets, for the black and brown queers being harassed and killed by the police, for our trans family who are seeking adequate healthcare in a city that doesn’t care," organizers continue. "This is our resistance. We’re taking to the streets."
