6 days ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Dyke March to return to S.F. during Pride Weekend following leadership shakeup
The San Francisco Dyke March plans to return in full force this Pride Weekend after last year's festivities were abruptly canceled due to an internal shakeup.
'Since the end of February of this year, 7 committees formed and got down to the business of hosting a Dyke March in the traditions of years past, focusing on Dyke visibility and disability access,' organizers wrote in a statement released on Monday, June 23. 'Because of the volunteer efforts of these dedicated, devoted Dykes and their tireless and generous spirits, the Dyke March is back.'
Now under new leadership, a pre-march rally is set for 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 28, at 19th and Dolores streets, and will feature performances by local acts Skip the Needle, jazz pianist Tammy Hall, and comedians Marga Gomez and Leigh Crow.
The march immediately follows, leaving from 18th and Dolores streets and traveling its usual route to the Castro and back to Dolores Park. Dolores Street between 18th and 20th streets will be closed to traffic all day to accommodate crowds.
Organizers ask that allies cheer from the sidelines while 'all Dyke contingents and individuals,' as well as cisgender and transgender women, participate in the march.
'Dykes (and Queers) are craving connection to each other in these turbulent times,' M Rocket, interim project director, told the Chronicle. 'Finding a way to channel the need for connection into a broader effort to support the community on this large scale is exciting and so gratifying, to feel like we've done something that may make a difference in the hope for real change.'
A series of challenges — including deaths among its leadership and burnouts — prompted organizers to call off the 2024 event. Still, thousands gathered at Dolores Park for an impromptu Dyke March.
Organizers said that they consulted the community to compose a collection of value statements that anchor the event's core mission.
'We dykes are against war, imperialism, all forms of genocide, including the ongoing US-backed genocide in Palestine,' part of the statement, shared to Instagram on Sunday, June 22, reads. 'We oppose the use of political, institutional, and military power to oppress marginalized groups of people, including Native peoples, Black people and other people of color, immigrants, asylum seekers, people with disabilities, and transgender individuals.'
The Dyke March heavily relied on grant funding in previous years, but the 2025 revival is largely made possible by community donations. Organizers launched a fundraiser in March and have received nearly $65,000 of its $100,000 goal as of Monday.
But there is still plenty of work to be done even after Pride Weekend to secure the future of the Dyke March.
The event's 'new organizational membership model' will be unveiled at the fifth public Dyke Town Hall meeting on Aug. 20. An election for the new board is scheduled for Sept. 27.
