WE NEED YOU! Apply for the 2012 Dyke March Committee →
The Toronto Dyke March organizes the Dyke March and all affiliated events leading up to and during Toronto Pride. The committee is politically-engaged and community-oriented. We strive to operate within a feminist, queer, and anti-oppressive framework that is both collaborative and celebratory. We work toward creating spaces that allow the experiences, pleasures and identities of ALL queer women to not only exist but also thrive.
Given the specific focus of the Dyke March on queer women as well as our commitment to diversity, we encourage all applicants to self-identify.
Please submit your completed application to dykemarch@pridetoronto.com by November 28, 2011.
Volunteer Opportunities!
Many of the organizations that support our communities while also making them fun, vibrant, and exciting places to be exist only because of their lovely volunteers. Donate your time, energy, make friends, make change.
Here are some organizations that are currently seeking volunteers:
The 519 Community Centre: http://www.the519.org/volunteer
Various positions available.
SOY: Supporting Our Youth: http://www.soytoronto.org/mentoring.html
Volunteer to help mentor LGBTQQ youth.
LGBT Youthline: http://www.youthline.ca/volunteering.php
Provide an empathetic ear and important information to isolated and at-risk youth throughout Ontario. Online and on the phone, Youth Line volunteers provide a province-wide free and anonymous peer support service for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, 2-spirited, queer and questioning youth in Ontario.
Planned Parenthood Toronto: http://www.ppt.on.ca/volunteer.asp
Peer-to-peer volunteers provide information on sexual and reproductive health directly to clients with support from PPT staff. Deadline to apply is Oct. 8, 2011.
T.E.A.C.H. volunteers - Teens Educating and Confronting Homophobia (T.E.A.C.H.). Emphasizing skills-building and partnership, T.E.A.C.H. trains dynamic youth peer facilitators to lead anti-homophobia activities that encourage participants to think critically about homophobia and heterosexism in their communities and the issues faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth.
The Centre for Women and Trans People at the University of Toronto: http://womenscentre.sa.utoronto.ca/volunteer/
Positions ranging from food justice to trans discussion groups to special events and more.
Dyke March Toronto: You too can join our fab group of feisty, dynamic dykes! We’ll soon be seeking a new Co-Coordinator, committee members, and lots of other volunteers to help with not only organizing the Toronto 2012 Dyke March but also with all the community meetings, discussion panels, special events and outreach that happens throughout the year. Stay tuned for the call and get your resumes ready!
Happy Celebrate Bisexuality Day!
Here’s Ani Difranco’s ‘Bisexual Anthem’ In or Out. Much loves from us to all you amazing bisexuals out there! Thank you for being who you are and for rocking our socks.
Also, there’s lots of bi links up on the DykeMarch Toronto Facebook page today. Check them out!
My City Lives video of Toronto Pride 2011. The Dyke March in ACTION!
You can also watch it here: http://mycitylives.com/#!/video/toronto/pride-toronto—mcl-original-content-/4e663e728b0316327b00064f
The Dyke March Committee will be attending the Trans Rally and March tonight.
We love our trans committee members, family and friends and supporting them is very important to us. Trans people take a lot of shit (there’s really no other way to put that). Even Pride Toronto, an organization for the celebration of “LGBTTIQQ2SA” people, has a rather atrocious record when it comes to its treatment of trans communities.
Let’s show Pride, Toronto and Ontario (considering the upcoming provincial election) that trans people matter; we need a Pride that supports trans communities with space, funding and education; we need councils, services and governments that protect gender expression and identity as human rights; and we need healthcare that is compassionate, accepting, accessible and self-directed. We need ALL of these things NOW.
Come tonight to support and celebrate. Let’s all remind ourselves that gender is fluid and that our identites are works of art.
Here’s the run-down:
The Trans Committee will be at Norman Jewison Park at 6pm tonight. Come help them make the banner for the March! Crafty community collaboration? Love it!
The Trans Rally is at 7pm at Norman Jewison Park. They have GREAT speakers lined-up. Details here.
The Trans March is at 8:30pm and will move south down Church Street.
Afterward, check out South Stage for the Trans Pride “Gende(R)evolution” line-up. Details here.
Finally, a reminder that ALL Dyke March events are trans positive and this include our events - rally, march, scrawl and party - tomorrow.
Need ideas for Dyke March costumes, outfits, chants and sign slogans? We’ve got you covered.
For costumes, outfits, check out Queeries’ photos of the Toronto Dyke March from 2002 - 2009.
For chants (out, proud and LOUD), check out our list on the DykeMarch Toronto page.
For sign slogans, check out another list on the DykeMarch Toronto page.
There. Now you have no excuses!
Happy Pride! Happy almost Dyke Day!
Queeries just posted a great article on the Dyke March.
Please read it here.
“On this 30th anniversary of lesbian/Dyke Marches in Canada, it’s worth asking ourselves some challenging questions. What is the purpose of this event? Should it be so closely tied to Pride? How can it remain relevant in a social landscape that is at best fragmented and at worst apathetic? Though the Dyke March may always be a work in progress, the contributions of past organizers and participants have established a legacy that can’t be erased.”
The unfinished project of gay activism →
We’ve come a long way, but there’s is so much more to do.
How are your signs coming for Saturday?
We’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback on our efforts to bring vibrant and dynamic politics back to the Dyke March, and we need your help to continue this. Your help means bringing your signs, slogans, banners, chants, excitement and outrages to the March. A sign isn’t going to cost much to make (less than $5.00 for a foam or bristol board, broom handle or dowel and a marker or two at a dollar store). Also, a snazzy and snappy sign will get people’s attention and they will then tell you how cool/pretty/handsome/amazing you are. They will probably want to take your picture, too, which is fun because you’ll look great in your March outfit. AND you can re-use your awesome signs for the Trans March and the Pride Parade. Finally, you might spark some insight in someone. Cheap! Effective! Fame! Change!
But maybe you’re stuck for ideas? Try song lyrics or quotes. Or try out some of the phrases below. Now you really have no excuse. Sign it up, dykes! Let’s show Toronto what we’ve got!
My Pride is political.
My pride doesn’t have a price tag.
Pride without pride tags. But you can buy me a pony/bike/flowers/cupcakes.
Queer is not a brand name.
Radical queers resist.
Not gay as in happy, but queer as in f*ck you.
Language is power, but I’m more than a label.
I’m a dyke, but you can’t call me that.
We recruit.
Welcome to the black triangle.
Pussy power (or dyke/trans/cunt power etc)
Q.U.E.E.R. Questioning Understandings of Equality for Everyone’s Revolution.
A movement is people moving.
Wild tongues can’t be tamed; they can only be cut out.
Proud…. (dyke, lesbian, bisexual, femme, butch, boi, amazon, stud, transwoman, mom, dad, parent, dyke of colour…)
Proud _____ dyke.
Support… (queer youth, trans rights, immigrants, Palestine…)
I love my (straight boyfriend, butch partner, femme friends, allied neighbours…)
Respect sex-workers.
Stop homo/bi/transphobia.
Tolerance is not acceptance.
Trans rights are human rights.
Sex is not destiny.
Gender is fluid. Express yourself.
We aren’t going away.
Our diversity includes you.
Straight isn’t normal; it’s just more common.
Together we are stronger.
Dykes united will never be divided.
Our love is possibility.
Gay marriage should be one option of many.
Get your legislation out of my relationships.
Get your laws off my body.
Get over your heteronormative patriarchy.
Stereotypes are boring; now, pass the lentils/turn up the Ani/where are my Birkenstocks.
No one is illegal. Queers without borders.
Dykes don’t need correcting. Stop corrective rape.
It isn’t easy being rainbow.
Fund our festival.
Corporate Pride steals queer control.
Corporate Pride is not community celebration.
Get your logos off our struggle/fight/celebration.
Check your privilege.
Pride is a privilege. (Some of us just want to exist.)
Love is bigger than bodies.
Her kiss is revolution.
Act out. Act up. Act now.
Be the change you want to see in the world.
The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.
Every transwoman is a brave survivor.
Only 1/12 transwomen will die of old age.
Don’t be afraid to deviate.
How are your signs, chants and outfits coming for this Saturday’s TORONTO DYKE MARCH?
Be sure to bring your slogans, signs and chants, banners, costumes, and other mind-bending, stereotype-smashing, celebratory, in-your-face dyke-tastic spectacles to the Dyke March on Saturday, July 2. It’s been quite the year for queers in Toronto and beyond, and this is the time for us to speak out about our outrages and excitements. The March is going to be a seriously good time this year. Join with us to take a stand and claim public space - our city streets - as our queer space, to give dykes a face, to party, to politicize, and to make a riot of a good time.
Queering the Dyke March →
Article on the Dyke March by Toronto bisexual activist and feminist scholar Margaret Robinson. Amazing how years later many of our struggles are the same.
March with the Dyke March contingent for Toronto’s Annual Pride Parade!
This is our parade and we think all queers should be a part of it if they want.
No fees. No registrations. No restrictions. Just friends and celebration.
Bring your banners, signs, voices, costumes, politics, beliefs, groups, friends and smiles! Groups and individuals all welcome. We invite you to use this space for your own messages and issues, your own enragements and excitements.
With over ONE MILLION participants and spectators, the parade is an opportunity to represent the diversity of our dyke communities and to shout out about what’s important to us. Let’s represent. Let’s be proud and LOUD.
Please help us out by spreading the word and by RSVPing. We’re aiming to have ONE HUNDRED friends, new and old, with us!
Keep watching for more info!
Questions?
Post, message, tweet @dykemarchTO or email dykemarchtoronto2011@gmail .com
DYKE DAY 2011
Join with us to be out, loud and proud, to take a stand and claim public space - our city streets - as our queer space, to give dykes a face, to party and make a riot of a good time, and to inspire each other.
RALLY - 1 PM - NORMAN JEWISON PARKETTE
Amazing speakers. Amazing energy. Amazing dykes of ALL types.
Speakers include queer activist Angie Umbac, Toronto City Councilor Kristyn Wong-Tam, youth activist and 2011 Honoured Dyke Leanne Iskander, members of Honoured Group the Trans Health Lobby Group, and the politically fierce and poetically fantastic spoken word artist Lishai Peel.
MARCH - 2 PM - CHURCH @ HAYDEN
March, strut, scream, sign, chant, roll and dance your way through the city streets. Take up space. Take a stand for what excites and inspires, frustrates or upsets you. Bring your beliefs and outrages. Bring your slogans, signs and chants, banners, costumes, and other mind-bending, stereotype-smashing, celebratory, in your face dyke-tasic spectacles.
PARTY - CHERRY BOMB - 9 PM - REVIVAL (783 College Street at Shaw)
Experience Pride CHERRY BOMB style, with a fabulous ALL LOCAL lineup of talent to make your night Blast OFF! This is the CHERRY BOMB event of the year. You don’t want to miss out!
https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=120127414740207
Dyke Pride 2011
Get your calendars out! Pride is coming and so are a lot of amazing official, affiliated and independent events.
Here’s what we’ve got on tap:
JUNE 22
…An Evening of Political Dialogue, Performance and Dancing
https://www.facebook.com/e vent.php?eid=230903313589315
JUNE 22
Pride Cab 2011
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=228413860517806
JUNE 22
Pleasure Palace Women’s and Trans Bathhouse
http://pleasurepalacetoronto.com/events.html
JUNE 23
Learning Tactics and Strategies with ACT UP
https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_206768736000668&ap=1#!/event.php?eid=230687950281277
JUNE 23-JULY 2
Lesbian Vampires of Sodom
http://www.pandemictheatre.blogspot.com/
JUNE 24
Graffiti Girl Pride Party @ Slack’s
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=210817475623742
JUNE 26, 2011
***STONEWALL TO***
Celebrate Queer Liberation in all its variances.
MEETING POINT: QUEEN’S PARK
START: NOON
END POINT: THE 519 ON CHURCH WHERE WE WILL COLLIDE, COLLABORATE AND CRUISE WITH BACK TO OUR ROOTS!
We will gather. We will march, roll, stroll and dance. We will scream, sing, chant and chat. We will break stereotypes. We will break the city and corporate stronghold. And then we will meet at the 519 and share loving revolution with BACK TO OUR ROOTS!
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=133919933352469
JUNE 26
Back to our Roots
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=154493137948007
JUNE 27
Panel Discussion on Trans Rights at Home and Abroad
https://www.facebook.com/?sk=events&ap=1#!/event.php?eid=160407727358206
JUNE 27
Rainbow Flag Raising at City Hall
We can never take for granted the social progress and victories secured by the LGBTQ community. This year with the banning of the symbolic rainbow at certain schools and the threat to cut city support to Pride Toronto, we should be prouder than ever to let the rainbow flag fly high over our city. Let’s celebrate.
Lunch will be served afterwards.
Sign language interpretation on site.
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=218615751506590
JUNE 28
Bent Pride
Just days prior to the big event, and on the heels of celebrating the support of the City, what will… Pride 2011 look like this year? We’ve assembled a group of panelists directly involved with organizing various festivities from a community perspective. We will discuss inclusive programming for all demographics, a variety of entertainment options, new directions, and what Pride means to you. Come out and meet the people that actually make Pride happen!
Drop by, listen in, and have your say.
https://www.facebook.com/?sk=events&ap=1#!/event.php?eid=218755828149543
JUNE 28
Stonewall Riots: 30th Anniversary of Bathhouse Raids in Toronto
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=207172329324633
JUNE 29
Granny Boots: Pride Edition with KATE BORNSTEIN
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=206609036049885
JUNE 30
Toronto Roller Derby 3rd Annual Clam Slam
Come watch an all-queer team from Toronto Roller Derby - The Clam Diggers - take on queer rollergirls from surrounding leagues in what’s sure to be the hottest, most action-packed event at Pride!
Clam Diggers vs. Vagine Regime
The Hangar @ Downsview Park
75 Carl Hall Road, Unit 2
Doors: 6:30pm Game: 7:30pm
$12 in advance, $18 at door
Kids 9 and under are free!
https://www.facebook.com/?sk=events&ap=1#!/event.php?eid=224941747523923
JUNE 30
Libido: Clam Slam After Party and Dyke March Fundraiser
Libido is the perfect way to set the mood and support this year’s Dyke March. Held at the Gladstone Hotel, Libido boasts something tantalizing for everyone: a burlesque theme to titillate your saucy side, the stimulation of some scintillating spoken word, and some of the city’s premier queer DJ beats for your to dance the night away!
We want your Libido satisfied! Come out on June 30 and warm up for Pride weekend.
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=113367425416498
JULY 1
Trans March
https://www.facebook.com/?sk=events&ap=1#!/event.php?eid=100649213361163
JULY 1
Love You: Lesbeaux + TXGR
To celebrate Pride and pay it forward in a big way, Toronto dance parties Transgressions (Mel Racho, Sheila Roculan) and Lesbeaux (Kyra Savolainen) will combine forces to orchestrate the city’s most raucous, queer free-for-all on July 1 at Holy Oak. They’re calling it LOVE YOU.
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=117400151681199
JULY 1
Scissors
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=151997134873777
JULY 2
***DYKE DAY 2011***
Join with us to be out, loud and proud, to take a stand and claim public space - our city streets - as our queer space, to give dykes a face, to party and make a riot of a good time, and to inspire each other.
RALLY - 1 PM - NORMAN JEWISON PARKETTE
Amazing speakers. Amazing energy. Amazing dykes of ALL types.
Speakers include queer activist Angie Umbac, Toronto City Councilor Kristyn Wong-Tam, youth activist and 2011 Honoured Dyke Leanne Iskander, members of Honoured Group the Trans Health Lobby Group, and the politically fierce and poetically fantastic spoken word artist Lishai Peel.
MARCH - 2 PM - CHURCH @ HAYDEN
March, strut, scream, sign, chant, roll and dance your way through the city streets. Take up space. Take a stand for what excites and inspires, frustrates or upsets you. Bring your beliefs and outrages. Bring your slogans, signs and chants, banners, costumes, and other mind-bending, stereotype-smashing, celebratory, in your face dyke-tasic spectacles.
PARTY - CHERRY BOMB - 9 PM - REVIVAL (783 College Street at Shaw)
Experience Pride CHERRY BOMB style, with a fabulous ALL LOCAL lineup of talent to make your night Blast OFF! This is the CHERRY BOMB event of the year. You don’t want to miss out!
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=120127414740207
JULY 3
Dykes on Parade
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=191801570868372
*We know these links are not working. Yikes! We’re sorry. They’ll be fixed soon!
