Trade in the corporate-sponsored, balloon-clad parade floats typically associated with Pride for hand-painted protest signs with phrases like “Fuck I.C.E.” and “Deport White Men,” and you’ve got the 26th Annual Dyke March — “a demonstration of our First Amendment right to protest, which takes place without permits or sponsors,” according to the official Dyke March website.The first Dyke March dates back to 1993 as a way for lesbians to assert power and visibility in a world that did not recognize them. Innately political and true to its roots, it serves as a celebration of reclamation and defiance in the form of an actual, physical movement. It has since grown to include folks who identify as queer, bisexual, and transgender, is body-positive, and is anti-racist. The Dyke March serves as a platform to unite those who share a history of oppression, regardless of socioeconomic status, age, physical ability, and immigrant status. This isn’t a parade.
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“This day is about gender and identity,” said Valentina Osario, 23, a publicist and immigrant from Colombia with family who came over illegally. “Pride was always a protest. It was started by trans women of color Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, and it’s important to keep that spirit of rebellion, anger, and unity alive.”In speaking personally with attendees, I felt a solidarity and connectedness that I never have before as a white, Syrian-American, Jewish, queer woman. The strength surrounding me was palpable. While watching the drumline bang in unison under the triumphal arch in Washington Square Park, I got choked up. “People have died to be here,” I thought, “and now look at us.”Hanna Bormann told me, “It feels good to be around a bunch of other dykes.” She is 22, a trans-butch dyke, and a college student from Massachusetts. “I feel very recognized here, within my own identity, which I don’t always feel in my own community.” When asked if she would attend next year, she exclaimed, “Absolutely. This is so great! Look at all these dykes!”To capture a portrait of that expansive community, I set up a pop-up photo studio at the march.
Carrie Sutherland and Boom Boom Gallagher.
Jess White.
Kari Paul.
Simone Nicole.
Rio Santisteban.
Hanna Bormann.
Claudette and Sheila Reynolds.
Izzy Levy.
Amanda Hunt.