← Back

Marching to the Beat of Their Own Drum: History of the New York City Dyke March

Each year, thousands of self-identified lesbians take to the streets of New York City for the annual Dyke March, where participants march from Bryant Park to Washington Square Park in a proud display of protest and community. And while the New York Dyke March has become a local tradition, the first Dyke March, however, orginated far outside the bounds of our neighborhood. The very first Dyke March took place in Washington, D.C., in April 1993. The Lesbian Avengers, ACT UP groups from Los Angeles and Philadelphia, and Puss n’ Boots in L.A. banded together and organized a protest for lesbian rights and visibility the night before the scheduled LGBT March on Washington.

Photo Source: NPR

The Dyke March’s origin was, in many ways, two fold: like Pride, it aimed to promote equality for LGBTQ+ communities and push for structural change on a governmental level. But it was also a response to the overwhelming control of LGBTQ+ spaces by white, cisgender men. The march sought to uplift an often underrepresented and marginalized segment of the community—lesbians. And more specifically, lesbians of color.

Some 20,000 lesbians and their allies took to the streets of Washington D.C and marched from Dupont Circle all the way to the National Mall. One marcher shouted: “This is the largest lesbian demonstration in the history of the world!

The impact of that night was immediate. Within two months, cities like San Francisco, Atlanta, and New York organized their own iterations of the Dyke March in conjunction with local Pride celebrations. Organized by the NYC Lesbian Avengers, the first New York Dyke March in 1993 had people march from Bryant Park to Union Square, where the nonprofit Heritage of Pride was holding their own event. 

Photo Source: NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project

The Lesbian Avengers formed out of the East Village Queer arts and activism scene in 1992. Founded by activists Ana Maria Simo, Maxine Wolfe, Sarah Schulman, Anne-Christine d’Adesky, Marie Honan, and Anne Maguire, the group’s first official meeting was held at the Lesbian and Gay Community Center in the West Village at 208 West 13th Street. Over 50 women gathered to mobilize around lesbian visibility and survival through grassroots activism.

Unlike Pride, which occurs annually the next day, the Dyke March lacks a permit or any coroporate sponsorships—solidifying itself as a protest, rather than a rally, where partipants practice their first amendment right to speech and assembly. Yet, like Pride, the Dyke March is high energy, full of banners and floats—advocating for equality and liberation. 

Photo Source: Lesbian Avengers

The theme of the first New York Dyke March was Lust for Power and the partipants were encouraged to fill out signs that read “I Lust For…” to be proudly displayed on a float that followed the parade’s path down Broadway—shedding light on lesbian love and affection for all to see. Roughly 1,000 people came out for the Dyke March in 1993—a lower number than anticpated, largely due to the limited planning time. 

Activist Edie Windsor at the NYC Dyke March

The following year, the NYC Dyke March saw massive growth and coincided with the Gay Games and the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. Consequently, the 1994 march drew a crowd of some 20,000 marchers, including many lesbians of color. Unsure how to control and communicate with the 20,000 marchers gathering in Bryant Park, the Avengers turned to a group of drummers whose beats signaled the start of the march. The march still starts in Bryant Park, but since 1996, the route now travels down Fifth Avenue, landing marchers in Washington Square Park, in the heart of our neighborhood. The beating drums have endured to present day and are still used to communicate with such a large crowd of protestors. Today, the drums still beat, the signs still wave, and the marchers still march—each year reaffirming the Dyke March as a powerful act of resistance, visibility, and community.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *