Long Beach Dyke March to take place this week

Long Beach Dyke March

Women participate in the 2014 Long Beach Dyke March. Photo: Yvette Jessica.

The Long Beach Dyke March will take place this week, and the flyer says it all.                                       

“Calling all Dykes! Queers! Women and Allies!

“Now is the time to stand together.

“Our right to love!

“Our right to marry!

“Our right to choose what we do with our bodies!

“Come march with us in community and solidarity.

“Bring posters. Bring friends. Bring noise makers.

“Bring big dyke energy now”

The goal of the Long Beach Dyke March is to “increase lesbian visibility and support the rights of all women regardless of labels, including bisexual and transgender women.”

Disparities in health care, equal pay, LGBTQ+ rights, domestic violence, and hiring opportunities are some of the problems women face.

“This is not a parade but an exercise in civil rights to peacefully assemble,” the flyer says.

The dyke march will take place Friday at 7 p.m. at Bixby Park.

Organizers have not yet released information on the march route.

The first dyke march in the United States took place in Washington, D.C. on April 24, 1993, and was attended by more than 20,000 women.

It coincided with the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation.

The march was intended as a woman-only event, organized by the Lesbian Avengers who encouraged gay, bisexual and straight men, as well as other supporters, to cheer from the sidelines.

Dyke Marches also have taken place in San Francisco, New York, and West Hollywood.

Dyke marches usually take place the Friday or Saturday before Pride parades.

The Long Beach march will take place during Long Beach Pride weekend.

About the author

Phillip Zonkel

Award-winning journalist Phillip Zonkel spent 17 years at Long Beach's Press-Telegram, where he was the first reporter in the paper's history to have a beat covering the city's vibrant LGBTQ. He also created and ran the popular and innovative LGBTQ news blog, Out in the 562.

He won two awards and received a nomination for his reporting on the local LGBTQ community, including a two-part investigation that exposed anti-gay bullying of local high school students and the school districts' failure to implement state mandated protections for LGBTQ students.

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