Dyke March Canceled for San Francisco Pride, Organizers Say

Updated 6 p.m. Wednesday

There will not be an official San Francisco Dyke March this Pride weekend, according to organizers.

The long-running Pride institution has been taking place at Dolores Park since the 1990s, but a recent change in leadership has prompted organizers to put it on hold. They plan to use Saturday — the day the march would normally take place — to recruit community members and plan ahead for Pride 2025.

“It’s going to take a lot of community healing,” said one member of the new group, M. Rocket. “There’s been so much unrest over the years and then so much disconnection during the pandemic.”

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dyke March organizing committee has dwindled due to a combination of factors, including inter-community conflicts around racism and trans-inclusion, the deaths of several leaders, and burnout. The remaining members of the group resigned earlier this month.

“Marginalized groups [and] communities don’t always have the time and resources available to get through difficult times, such as reviving after a global pandemic,” said Rocket in an emailed statement. “Many of us are working class, holding down multiple jobs to stay afloat in one of the most expensive cities in the country.”

A new five-person steering committee met for the first time Wednesday afternoon. They plan to hold several town hall meetings and work out details with a sponsor for the start of the new fiscal year, Rocket said.

But a march may still happen on Saturday afternoon. Dolores Park is a hub for lesbians, queer women, and gender nonconforming people at SF Pride, so an unofficial celebration could form organically, said a member of the new group, Koja Ray.

“A few people have come together who are willing to do this initial work,” Rocket said. “A really large piece of this effort is to ensure that BIPOC are in leadership roles.”

Pride weekend kicks off Friday, June 28, with the 20th annual Trans March in Dolores Park. Saturday, June 29, is also the official Pride festival at Civic Center Plaza and Sunday, June 30, is the Pride Parade down Market Street.

“As one of the many marginalized communities in the LGBTQ+ world, dykes are underrepresented and do not have many of the spaces that other groups have,” Rocket said. “So dykes taking to the streets is a matter of taking space, of being visible, to be able to stand up and be proud and celebrate our art and our culture.”