For the past 12 years, the Boston Dyke March has remained committed to offering a non-commercial, fundamentally grass-roots alternative to Boston's Pride celebration. We provide an ever-improving venue for influential speakers and artists, high-quality performances and a growing number of community-based organizations.....Our top priority is to provide a dynamic and welcoming space for participants of all sexualities, genders, races, ages, ethnicities, sizes, economic backgrounds, and physical abilities. We strive to create a place where political and social change can be expressed and inspired.
Everyone is invited and welcome to march. No registration is necessary. Bring banners, noise makers, puppets, friends, fun. - BostonDykeMarch.com
why we LOVE the boston dyke march!
Boston Dyke March, June 8th 6PM
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3 comments:
I think it's interesting to read about the priorities of the Boston Dyke March.
Interesting when juxtaposed with the flap last year on craigslist about trans men participating.
more interestign still when juxtaposed with my experience of participating in the march, I have NEVER felt welcome as a gay man.
Well, at least in some past years, gay men weren't welcome. I have watched dyke marches in San Francisco and Boston, and each time I went (not last year, though, to either) I understood the marching space was only for people who identify along the spectrum of dyke identities--from bisexual sorority girl to stone butch, but not including gay male leather daddies or hetero transwomen. If they advertised that everyone was welcome, and people weren't cool, or if they said they specifically wanted allies marching, then that does suck. But what I know about the Dyke March tells me that it was founded by dykes who wanted a grassroots alternative where they were visible, in addition to a Pride celebration that was male-dominated and increasingly funded by corporations. So with that origin in mind, the presence of a gay male might seem like an encroachment, and maybe in an extreme sense, the first step of many leading to the March's eventual gentrification. And while I'm not exactly a fan of splitting society down into segregated segments, there is something to be said for folks who are dealing with similar oppressions to organize exclusively. Since dykes have often had to work hard to carve out space for their own, it also could be pretty discouraging to feel like that wasn't still respected. So even if a gay male marcher's intentions were noble, that doesn't make his presence automatically so. BUT, obviously, if a local dyke march committee said you were welcome, and didn't disseminate that information and get people to chill out, that is their bad.
Also, I think it's really interesting that the 2007 Boston March is advertising itself as totally open...I wonder how, or if, this will change the way the march looks or is structured...and the issue of transmen attending is a real hot button issue that I could argue either way on.
I have been to the Dyke March 2 years in a row with QueerToday stickers and such, and my sissy queer self has only received a VERY warm welcome from the organizers and the marchers.
Of course, you can't judge an entire march based on a few participants' actions.
I have to absolutely agree with Kacey that if the Dyke march organizers did not want gay men there that would be okay with me because I believe in safe spaces for people to organize and discuss without the presence of the oppressor from time to time.
I wasn't aware of the craigslist flap last year - but I was aware that trans men were welcomed and celebrated as far as I knew. In fact trans men led the march in years' past with their shirts off - you can see the photos at massresistance.
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