New York City Dyke March

Every year on the eve of the main LGBT Pride March in New York City, the Dyke March commences in Bryant Park and makes its way down Fifth Avenue to Washington Square Park. Thousands of women participate in this event that's part celebration of LBTQ women, part protest against discrimination, harassment and violence against those women. As a protest march and not a parade, there's no city permit involved, so a cadre of trained lesbian marshals leads the thousands of participants down Fifth Avenue, blocks traffic on the side streets, and follows along at the rear.

HISTORY OF NEW YORK'S DYKE MARCH

The first Dyke March took place in 1993 and was organized by the Lesbian Avengers, then a year-old New York-based political action group. Upset with perceived lesbian exclusion from the historic March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights, the Avengers staged the first Dyke March in Washington, DC in April, then held another in New York City that June. Since then thousands of area women have taken to the streets of New York every year to participate in this politically charged and edgy (think signs, whistles, noisemakers, and even some bare chests) but mostly fun and positive-vibed event. Many other cities around the country also hold their own Dyke Marches, including most notably San Francisco, West Hollywood and Chicago.

NYC DYKE MARCH 2010

This year's New York City Dyke March commences at 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 26 in Bryant Park at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue. After the march makes its way down to Washington Square Park in the Village, several post-Dyke March women's events will take place around town. The official Post Dyke March Spectacular happens at Ginger's Bar, 363 Fifth Avenue – but this is that other Fifth Avenue, in Park Slope, Brooklyn – from 8 p.m. on. Proceeds from the party go toward funding the Dyke March itself, including protest materials and training of all of those crucial marshals.

New York City Dyke March