Thousands gather to celebrate lesbians
Pastor Dale Morgan
Thousands gather to celebrate lesbians*
Dykes happy to have a festivity that is completely for them
Steve Rubenstein, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Sarah Hamburger, 19, and her sister Naomi, 29, enjoy the ... The crowd
at Dolores Park is seen before the start of the... The crowd at Dolores
Park before the start of the annual ...
Rainbow flags fluttered and motorcycles squealed as thousands of
lesbians thronged to Dolores Park Saturday to hug, march, celebrate,
holler and pump each other up at the annual Dyke Festival and March.
There were dykes on bikes, dykes with tykes and, on stage, there were
dykes with mikes. They roused the crowd to scream, sing and cheer
themselves hoarse.
Even the smoky skies and the air quality warnings didn't keep women from
filling every empty patch of grass in the park.
"This is the one event in San Francisco just for lesbians," said Jane
Upadhye of San Francisco. "The gay pride parade is primarily for gay
males, and the clubs and bars are mostly for gay men. There's not a lot
for gay women."
Dawn Viccaro brought her fox terrier, Nathan, for his first Dyke March,
even though the brochures said that males were asked to "support the
march from the sidelines."
"It's a very positive feeling, just being here and expressing who you
are and what you're about," Viccaro said. "It's a cool experience. There
was a time when people were very afraid to do this."
Casen Maldy and her partner, Terra Rokusek, showed up in complementary
rainbow T-shirts. Maldy's said "Going to the Chapel" and Rokusek's said
"And We're Gonna Get Married."
Maldy said the couple plans to postpone getting married until after the
statewide vote on same-sex marriage in November. It was legal in San
Francisco once before and then, after it was overturned, there was much
heartache and, for a time, no refunds on canceled marriage licenses from
the county clerk. Many couples seemed once bitten and twice shy.
"We're going to wait," Maldy said.
The festival and parade were great, she said, because it was "nice to
come out and not be the odd one in the crowd and have people look at you
when you hold hands."
On stage, the Bomberas de la Bahia troupe pounded conga drums and sang
Puerto Rican love songs. And Dr. Joan Gabriella Heinsheimer led the
crowd in a mass breast self-exam. She urged women to join her and her
colleagues on stage and remove their tops.
"Breast cancer is curable if found early," she said. "If you're willing,
take off your shirt. Come on, girls!"
Many pulled off their "Be Visible! Dyke March" T-shirts and followed
along as the doc conducted an exam on herself.
"Learn to examine your whole breast," she said. "Use three fingers and
start in the armpit and go all the way around. Learn to feel what's
normal. If you have a sense something is wrong, find a doctor who will
listen to you."
After the exam, the festival continued with rock singers, belly dancers,
men in drag, hip-hoppers and impromptu dancing on the grass before the
women lined up behind their fabled dykes-on-bikes motorcycle cortege for
the grand nocturnal march.
Thousands of lesbians and their supporters streamed through the Mission
District Saturday night in a parade that stretched for 10 blocks.
Onlookers tossed down Mardi Gras beads from apartment windows. Street
bands blared on sidewalks. Music blasted from open cafes. From windows
hung banners that read, "We Lykes Dykes," "Dykes Forever" and "Dykes
Welcome But It's Time for Bush to Go."
The marchers were decked out in feathers and leathers. Some wore outfits
that made them look like Zorro, Barry Bonds, Cat Woman, a matador and
Super Chicken.
One marcher, Jill Lessing, has participated in gay pride events for 30
years. She was using a three-wheeled motorized scooter, making her a
dyke on trike.
"It's hard to be in a parade in one of these things," she said. "Too
many streetcar tracks and potholes. But it's important for disabled
lesbians to be visible and out there."