marchers carrying the seattle dyke march sign

Seattle Dyke March & Rally 2023 Recap

Powerful speakers, exhilarating performers, a unifying march, and a beautiful Seattle summer evening in Volunteer Park just scratches the surface of everything that happened at the 2023 Seattle Dyke March & Rally. We were so honored to spend a few hours celebrating the identities of queer women and dyke-identified folks across the gender spectrum, and recognizing all the beautiful work our community does to fight injustice and make the world a safer place for the LGBTQIA+ community. 

Every participant in the Dyke March & Rally represents a core part of our mission and why the march & rally exist. Our performers remind us of the joy and talent that exists in our community, and the pleasure that comes with celebrating who we are. Our speakers remind us of our history, how we’ve gotten here, and the work still to be done. And you, our incredible Dyke March community, are the reason we do this. Coming together to be in community, uplifting one another, and enjoying the experience of marching through Seattle streets and telling the world who we are — the march and rally exist as a safe space where we can enjoy these experiences to their fullest extent. 

© Naomi Ishisaka

The rally began with a warm welcome from Miss Indigo Blue. Dressed in her (first) stunning outfit for the evening, she introduced Ramona Ahto, who is a member of the Yakama Nation and is also Quinault and Cascade. She led the rally in an opening prayer, reminding us to honor our histories and ancestors. At 82 years old, Ramona is a cornerstone of our community and consistently does her part to speak up against discrimination against 2 Spirit and LGBTQIA+ people.

© Naomi Ishisaka

Following Ramona was our first speaker, Elayne Wiley, who is a founder of the Gender Justice League. She was back to Volunteer Park from the previous day, where she helped organize Trans Pride Seattle, to share her experience as a transwoman in our Dyke community. Her inspiring words of inclusivity and cross-community support were echoed by our crowd, who cried out against her feelings of imposter syndrome and emphasized the belonging of trans and non-binary members of our community. 

Belonging and intersectionality were common themes on our stage this year, and were spoken about extensively by our speakers from GenPride, Judy Kinney and Regina “Queen” King. GenPride is a “senior-focused” organization in Washington for LGBTQIA2S+ adults, and Judy and Queen shared the importance of being mindful of our “Rainbow“ elders, and how we can all work to ensure that those 55 and older have resources to live safely, with dignity, and in community. Social isolation and protection for older adults are challenges that are often overlooked, and GenPride reminds us that all members of our community need our continued love and support. 

Joy, love, and support are some of the key reasons that the Dyke March exists. As organizers, we hope and exist to create a space where our Dyke March community feels safe, empowered, and joyful. Jill Mullins took the stage to represent the Seattle Dyke March organizers, and emphasized the importance of demanding joy in our lives. To better inspire that joy for all involved, she also shared the exciting news that Seattle Dyke March will begin transitioning to become the Seattle Dyke Alliance — an organization that still hosts the annual March & Rally, but will be better able to host events throughout the year. The Alliance hopes to become a hub for queer and dyke-identified Seattlelites, offering spaces and resources for safety, fun, and connection. 

That connection is one of the most amazing feelings at the march — the reminder that you are not alone. People who share your love, identity, feelings, and experiences are all around you, and they are there to celebrate with you or empathize with whatever you’re going through. Jess Leslie from The Trevor Project spoke to us about the importance of this exact thing: the power of community and support networks to prevent suicide. The Trevor Project is the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQIA+ people. Jess shared the harrowing reality of suicide rates amongst young LGBTQIA+ people, where more than 1.8 million members of our community seriously consider suicide every year. But, she also shared what is possible when we exist together and support one another. When we stand together actively against discrimination, transphobia, homophobia, racism, colonization, and xenophobia, we’re able to create spaces of love and support for those who need them most. 

Our featured speaker of the Dyke March was Li Nowlin-Sohl on behalf of the ACLU LGBTQ & HIV Project. As a Senior Staff Attorney with the ACLU, Li has worked on significant cases that ensure that LGBTQIA+ people can live openly without discrimination and enjoy equal rights, personal autonomy, and freedom of expression and association. Li emphasized the history of Pride and its origins as an uprising. She also stressed that we must keep going — even as new legislation passes that better protects our community, other legislation constantly emerges to undo that work. Li urged everyone to stay vigilant, particularly to the more than 500 anti-LGBTQIA+ bills introduced this year, and to always remain active in our resistance to protect our collective future. 

© Naomi Ishisaka

In between our speakers, we were graced with the presence of some exhilarating, titillating, and inspiring performers. Our first performer was Sara Camille Benson, a Seattle-based songwriter who sang her songs ‘Hope Begins at the End’, ‘Say It Loud,’ and ‘Nothing Left to Do but Belong.’ In addition to performing at the rally, Sara hosts monthly Singer/Songwriter events at the Wildrose and has coordinated with the SDM for quarterly Open Mic Nights at Distant Worlds Coffee. 

Next up, our stage was brought to life by King Leo Mane’s funky drag king performance. He excited the crowd with a rousing lip sync performance to a Bruno Mars mash-up, which brought many audience members to their feet to dance with King Leo and offer up some well-deserved dollar bills. When he’s not capturing the hearts of the Dyke March audience, King Leo is a resident cast member at Sissy Butch: a transmasculine showcase and Producer of Seattle’s longest running open stage night, Studio Saturdays.

Another performer who worked our stage was Tracey Wong, who performed a jaw-dropping dance performance to Diana Ross’s ‘I’m Coming Out.’ Diana’s singing with Tracey’s incredible talent and show-stopping, mid-performance outfit change made for an unforgettable experience. In addition to dancing, Tracey is an interdisciplinary artist that lights up and inspires spaces through her singing, DJ-ing, hosting, education, and space-holding work.

A favorite instrument amongst the SDM organizers is the viola — not just for its queerness and beautiful tone, but also for the incredible music that Alex Guy performs with it. Alex is the principal songwriter for Led to Sea, a magnetic chamber-pop trio that fuses classical, pop and experimental music. She offered the Seattle Dyke March audience a mesmerizing performance where she balanced her singing with her viola playing, sharing her songs ‘Have Mercy’ and ‘Hold Still.’ 

Finally, our featured performer of the night, Chiku Nance, closed out the rally with a mix of original music and beloved covers. They’re a Chamoru, queer and non-binary indie singer/songwriter whose music focuses on how they process feelings of love, grief, and struggles with identity. They shared a sample of their original music, including ‘Hurry’ and ‘Havin’ Fun,’ and encouraged the audience to get on their feet and sing along to their cover of Britney Spears’s ‘Baby One More Time’ in preparation for the march. 

This year’s march was a powerful experience in celebration, resistance, and joy. Dykes on Bikes led us through our new route and you, our community, filled the streets with your beautiful bodies, provocative signs, and loud voices that let Seattle know we’re here (and we’re queer). 

We are so grateful to our performers, speakers, and YOU for making this year’s Dyke March & Rally an event to remember. We can’t wait to see you again next year, and look forward to all the ways we can continue to improve and move forward together. 

seattle dyke march 2023 logo

Seattle Dyke March & Rally 2023 Announcement! 

We are two months away from the annual Seattle Dyke March and Rally on June 24th, 2023! We are celebrating our 29th year of the March, but as with most things, time brings change. We will still have the Rally from 5-7PM and the March will begin between 7-8PM when the Rally ends. We are moving to Volunteer Park and having an unpermitted march around the North Capitol Hill neighborhood. 

The Seattle Dyke Rally will be held at Volunteer Park on June 24th, 2023 at 5PM. As in previous years, this will be a celebration of dyke-identity from across the gender spectrum. Our stage is a place to highlight and honor the experiences, pleasures, activism and identities of queer women and dyke-identified people — that much is unchanged. If you are interested in speaking or performing at this year’s Dyke March, please reach out to organizers@seattledykemarch.org, but please keep in mind that we ask that all persons on stage be dyke-identified. The Seattle Dyke Rally is an annual event to highlight the voices of queer women and dyke-identified people across the gender spectrum, so please be respectful of this effort and uplift these voices during our event. 

Second, since the Rally will be hosted at Volunteer Park, that is also where the March will begin from. Since we are marching unpermitted and without police involvement, we have moved to this new location to protect the safety of our marchers and limit disruption to Seattle public transportation. There are risks associated with participating in an unpermitted march, and we completely understand if anyone is uncomfortable participating. If you plan to participate, please know your rights and come prepared

Want to attend the Rally and not the March? That’s fine! However you choose to show up during Pride is valued and appreciated. In addition to the Rally, we will also be hosting a number of other events throughout Pride and during the rest of the year, so this is not your only opportunity to find community! 

Why are we moving? 

There are logistical reasons, like trying to find a venue that will make sound easier through access to electricity, but the main reason we are moving is to have a March and Rally on Capitol Hill during Pride weekend that better aligns with our values. Historically, the Seattle Dyke March has been a permitted event at Seattle Pride. We have spent several years attempting to find a way to safely do a march that does not require a police escort. We have been unable to get traction on changing the law or the interpretation of the law which requires a police management of controlled intersections. We have also been unable to secure the volunteer force sufficient enough to block streets to feel like we could safely do a march through a busier neighborhood. This move allows us to keep the March, while making sure that we keep people safe. 

In addition, without being permitted, we won’t be able to coordinate with King County Metro about bus routes. The Dyke March is mindful about how important access to reliable public transportation is and our historic route needs coordination with King County Metro. 

Why is it important to us to have a march without a police escort? 

We are sure that the vast majority of people familiar with the values of Dyke Marches understand why the institution of policing is problematic. The Seattle Police Department has a long, troubled history. Throughout the 1900s, the Seattle Police Department was considered corrupt due to the collusion with criminalized gambling and sex work

In 2010, Seattle Police killed an innocent Native American woodcarver, John T. Williams. The Department of Justice investigated, and the Seattle Police Department has been under a consent decree since 2011 to attempt to correct its racist/biased policing that is so pervasive it was found to violate our constitutional rights.  

In that time, we have witnessed many other incidents of violence and death at the hands of police. 

We also witness the ways SPD disrespect the civilians it is supposed to serve and protect. In the middle of the CHOP/CHAZ protests, the SPD engaged in radio chatter about Proud Boys coming to the Capitol Hill to try and scare people into leaving. 

Last year, with the rising levels of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, when trying to discuss how SPD would respond to protestors, SPD made it very clear that they would do nothing to prevent protesters from attempting to infiltrate our permitted event — something that we have seen in the past. The way the police will stand by when someone is yelling and screaming obscenities, hateful rhetoric, and clearly attempting to start conflict. The only time they would get involved is if the protester assaulted someone, and the person who was assaulted was willing to file a complaint. The police made it clear that if anyone in the March attempted to keep the protester out, they could be subject to arrest if they touched the protester and the protester complained. 

The reality is that having SPD at our event is inconsistent with our values. We should have never done a permitted route if it meant SPD had to escort us. We should have stopped having the escort after the killing of John T. Williams. We should have stopped after the killing of Charleena Lyles. We should not have done our first post-pandemic march with a permit. But we cannot keep marching with a permit even though we failed to do better in the past. 

How will the route change impact other parts of the March? 

Dykes on Bikes will be joining us for the 2023 march, but in a different capacity than previous years. Due to the new route, we are not confident that the more narrow streets will be able to accommodate the Dykes on Bikes and their need to do circles to prevent damage to vehicles from idling at low speeds. Therefore, Dykes on Bikes will begin the march, but the riders will move to block intersections as the march continues.  

We are checking to determine whether we will be able to have the accessible bus on our route. If not, we will be exploring other options so people who want to be a part of the March but have barriers to walking the entire route can still participate. 

It is a challenge, giving up our historic route and knowing that we may lose some of the incredible feeling of community that is collectively marching through the main streets of our gayborhood. It is hard navigating what will be safe for our community, knowing many people may not even know what the difference between a permitted and unpermitted march are. We trust our community of Dykes will understand and support this decision. We look forward to marching in community in ways that feel safe. Figuring out what our future Marches will look like is going to be a work in progress. We invite your feedback — you can always reach us at organizers@seattledykemarch.org.

We can’t wait to celebrate and march with you! 

Seattle Queer Film Festival

WITNESS QUEER MAGIC October 13-23 at the 27th annual Seattle Queer Film Festival.

This year’s hybrid festival features a diverse slate of queer cinema from across the globe, totaling 59 film programs comprised of 150 films. 27 countries are represented, including Poland, Germany, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Brazil, Tunisia, Taiwan, Lebanon, Nigeria, India, Iran, China, Norway, and Chile.

We have something for everyone in-person and online:
films, meetups, parties, live podcasts, and even an art gallery show!

Film Guide & Calendar: https://threedollarbillcinema.org/sqff2022filmguide

We have in-person screenings at theaters throughout Seattle every day October 13-23! Most films are also available virtually (unless otherwise noted) in all of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska October 13-23. All virtual films are captioned/subtitled.

2022 PrideFest Capitol Hill

PrideFest Capitol Hill is back in-person for Pride weekend! The event includes activations from Pine Street to Roy Street in the north, with offerings for all ages.

BROADWAY John to Roy
Street Festival featuring beer gardens, restaurants, and two stages.

CAPITOL HILL STATION PLAZA
Family Pride and Queer Youth Pride

CAL ANDERSON/BOBBY MORRIS
Various events TBA

The event is free for all. More information as we have it!

Be a SPONSOR of PrideFest Seattle Center.

Be a VENDOR at PrideFest Seattle Center.

RSVP on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/990408161682365

Image Description: An image of a large group of people marching, holding queer flags and signs from a previous Seattle Dyke March. At the top are the words Announcing: In- person Dyke March, June 25, 2022.

2022 Seattle Dyke March

The 2022 Dyke March will be an in-person event!

We are so excited to come together as a community in our usual space again. To celebrate the incredible talent and leadership in our community through speakers and performers who will inspire us at our Rally. To fill the streets of Capitol Hill with queer women, dyke-identified people, and all of the people who love us. The last few years have reinforced just how important community is, how we have to rely on each other, and reminded us that none of us can be truly free until we are all free. That we have to fight the good fight, but we must always combine that with celebration. We need to fight for each other and recharge with one another. 

We cannot wait for the 2022 Seattle Dyke March where we will highlight organizations and individuals doing the hard work and dance, sing along, move and be connected through the incredible artists and performers in our community. Join us on June 25, 2022 to fight, celebrate, and march!

 

Interested in being on our stage? Fill out our Performer & Speaker Application HERE

An image of the back of a black persons profile, overlayed with the words "TAKING B(L)ACK PRIDE PRESENTS SEACHELLA" in pink, blue, and gold. Below that it says "JUNE 25TH, 2022" in pink font.

Taking B(l)ack Pride Presents: Seachella

THIS YEAR WE ARE CELEBRATING THE UNIQUE, ELECTRIC, ARTISTIC, VIBRANT, SUMMA TIME AESTHETIC OF THE BLACK & BROWN TRANS & QUEER COMMUNITY. SHOW UP, SHOW OUT AND BE FEATURED ON OUR SOCIAL MEDIA AND WEBSITE. 

 

About Taking B(l)ack Pride: 

We seek to empower the BIPOC transgender, queer and gender diverse communities to take charge of the ways we own our joy, grief, healing, anger, celebration, pride, expression of culture and community. We create opportunities for our community to collectively and intimately take part in celebration of the complexities of BIPOC QT experiences and culture.

Seattle Queer Film Festival 2021

 

SQFF 26 is a hybrid festival. We have in-person screenings at theaters throughout Seattle, and a full virtual program as well. ALL FILMS are available to watch virtually (unless otherwise noted) from October 14–24. Check out the in person schedule here.

***To keep everyone safe for our in-person screenings, we require proof of vaccination, and masking indoors when not eating or drinking***

Our virtual program is available to people in all of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska (unless otherwise noted). The last day to purchase films is October 24th. Once you buy tickets you can watch online at watch.threedollarbillcinema.org. Online Q&A’s will be held on the Seattle Queer Film Festival Facebook Live page and Three Dollar Bill Cinema Youtube Live.