Why
Do We Have a Dyke March Anyway?
Although men
and women have always worked side by side for
the causes that support GLBT people, in 2001
a group of Buffalo women decided they wanted
to have a second marching event that would
highlight the experiences of lesbians and
transgendered women in our local community.
This move caused some concern on the part of
many GLBT community members, including women,
who wondered why a group of women would want
to be "separate" from the main
event. After all, women had always been part
of the planning, and welcome members of the
Pride Parade. Why did they feel the need to
"make their own" parade? As one of
the founding co-chairs of that event, I
wanted to share the history of our local Dyke
March in an effort to acquaint you with and,
thereby, preserve a piece of our local GLBT
history.
As is true of
many local Buffalonians, the lesbians of
Buffalo enjoy traveling to other cities to
take part in their Pride celebrations. After
one such visit, a few women from our
community noticed how other cities such as
New York, Toronto, San Francisco, and Los
Angeles sponsor an event they all call "
Dyke March", usually held the evening
before the main Pride parade. They wondered
if we could do the same here. After all in
2001, Brooklyn's (NY) Dyke March was
celebrating its 10th anniversary. These few
local women began by asking if women and
trans women here would even be interested in
having a Dyke March. A meeting was convened
by Margaret Smith, at the Buffalo Arts
Council early in February and 15 people
showed up.
No one who
was present felt a Dyke March was a bad idea,
however there were concerns about who could
and should attend, and how we could make it a
safe space for people who wanted to be there,
but were not " out". We voted on
chairs (Robbie Butler and Julie Carter (me)),
and set another meeting. At the next meeting
the group decided that full participation
from the community would be key to a
successful event, so we set about getting the
word out to college GLBT groups, email lists,
listservs, other gay organizations, the local
gay press, and put posters up at bookstores,
coffee shops, and the bars. When we began to
plan the actual first event, we had grown to
30 people.
Since there
were a few members of the Pride Board in this
new group, the question arose, "should
we be a part of Pride, or a separate
organization?" We turned again to other
cities for models. Toronto Pride and Toronto
Dyke March were a unit, the Dyke March being
a subcommittee of Pride. In Lost Angeles, on
the other hand, the Dyke March appeared to be
a totally separate entity from the larger
celebration, and when Robbie and I visited
L.A. to attend their Dyke March, we could
sense their separateness. It was located in a
different neighborhood, had little
advertising, and very little support from the
press despite the huge amount of Pride
related materials produced. Toronto, on the
other hand, seemed to value its Dyke March,
making it the kick-off event of the weekend,
including it in all press materials; and as a
subcommittee, its budget would be managed
through the larger organization, although it
supported itself through various fund raisers
throughout the year. Seeking to expand its
scope in welcoming all facets of the
community, Pride Buffalo welcomed the idea
and a new committee was born. That committee
received the full support of the board and
various board members joined the committee to
ensure its success.
Interestingly,
there was never a question of whether men
would be welcome at the event. Since most of
us were closely associated with gay men
friends and loved ones, their support and
participation was assumed. Unfortunately, we
did a poor job of getting that out as a
distinct message to the men's community, and
we realized that suspicion was brewing - a
kind which painted the planners and
participants as somehow anti-man. There were
even a few emails, listserv conversations and
one actual petition to stop women from having
a march, attempts which were met with
confusion and disbelief by the Pride Board.
What never seemed to seep out to the full
community were the numbers of men who helped
plan, implement and march in the event, such
as marshals, committee workers, and even male
"Nickel City Radicat" cheerleaders,
a central feature of the event. Perhaps the
lack of information about male participation
was due to the fact that few critics came to
the event to witness this support.
The second
criticism we faced was that Pride was
financially "supporting" the Dyke
March, which for the first year, did not make
enough money to pay for the $500 worth of
expenses we incurred. However by the second
Dyke March 2002, we were more than paying for
ourselves through Dances, Health Fairs, and
in kind contributions. The Dyke March dances
and other events have contributed greatly to
Pride Buffalo's income.
As time goes
on, I have heard people say they assumed
there always was a Dyke March, which is both
satisfying and funny. That we tend to forget
our struggles is good, but we can also lose
track of our history - something I hope I
have helped to preserve here on this website.
Julie Carter
Founding
Co-Chair, Dyke March Buffalo
What is the
Dyke March Committee?
The Dyke
March is a working committee of Pride
Buffalo, Inc. dedicated to creating a space
for women to create, celebrate, and activate
a multitude of diverse perspectives in the
Buffalo pride community and the Western New
York region.
The events
that the committee currently hosts are the
Halloween and Valentine dances and the Dyke
March, which takes place during pride
weekend.
Interested in
getting involved? Please email us at
info@pridebuffalo.org for our next meeting or
for further information.
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