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A vengers in A ction
The Lesbian Avengers plan Portland's annual Dyke March in classic
grass-roots form— sans the aid of Pride Northwest by Katy Davidson
it*
W hen sign-
wielding Lesbian
Avengers (left)
staged a
dem onstration
May 17,
a Bible-quoting
opponent (right)
was conveniently
on hand
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and all marchers are instructed to meet in the
t seemed like a typical day on the South
Park Blocks near Portland State Universi N orth Park Blocks at 6:30 p.m.
T he Portland chapter of the Lesbian
ty. U nderneath a canopy of green leaves,
Avengers
was started in 1993 by Hillary Smith
throngs of backpackers marched between
classes, chatted, stopped for a smoke. O ne
and 30 other women, and the group bombarded
couple necked beside a large tree, one long
Southeast H aw thorne Street for the city’s first
haired hooligan jammed some chords on a beat-
Dyke M arch the following year. Though the
up guitar. A nother goofy-looking character, in
Avengers have phased in and out of existence,
high-tops and a sandwich board, preached the
1,000 women showed up at last year’s march.
word of the Lord from atop a concrete riser.
T he Avengers are proud to keep the march
T hen came the divine interruption.
as grass-roots as possible by not using sponsors or
“I can’t believe there’s a preacher here,” blue-
city permits.
haired Erin Sexton said.
“T he Dyke M arch is not a function of Pride
“1 know— we’re so lucky,” Erin Savage
Northwest,” Sexton says. “It’s not for commer
replied excitedly.
cial purposes, only for visibility.”
Behind the trunk of a wide tree, a small
According to Lisa Roth, a longtime lesbian
group of Lesbian Avengers painted the finishing
activist from San Francisco, the nation’s first
touches on several signs bearing slogans such as:
“official” Dyke M arch crashed through Wash
“Save yourself, be a dyke,” “Bigots bum in hell,"
ington, D.C., in the early 1990s. It was a collab
and “Tremble hetero swine.”
orative effort by several groups.
After six more Avengers showed up, the
In 1993, three organizations in San Francis
group exploded onto the scene, toting their
co— A C T U P W om en’s Caucus, W omen
signs and shouting pro-dyke sentiments toward
Against Imperialism and Prairie Fire— joined
the preacher and a crowd of onlookers. They
forces and prepared to go to the March on
passed out flyers with information about the
W ashington, “dreading that it would be male
Oregon Citizens Alliance’s proposed ballot ini dominated, which it was, and male-oriented,
tiative, commonly called the “Student Protec which it was,” according to Roth.
tion A ct.”
W hile in D.C., the groups decided to do
If approved by voters in the November gen something “very visible, very feminist, very fun,
eral election, the act could ban support groups,
very in-your-face, and for women only.” They
gay-straight alliances, and AIDS education in
planned a march with no permit and no cover-
Oregon’s public schools.
your-breasts policy, then discovered that the
Naturally, the PSU event morphed into an
New York chapter of the Lesbian Avengers was
all-out shouting match between the Avengers
planning to do a dem onstration in front of the
and the preacher. A t one point, when the
W hite House on the same day.
preacher called the women insecure and gross,
The San Francisco groups informed the
one Avenger yelled, “Insecurity? I’ll show you
Avengers about their plan, they agreed to join
insecurity!” then proceeded to make out with
forces, and more than 20,000 women marched
another Avenger in front of the crowd.
across the national mall together.
Though the outrageous scene garnered more
After the success in W ashington, the groups
giggles than outright support, the crowd seemed
flew back to San Francisco to march again on
to side more with the Avengers than with the
the night before the city’s pride parade. Since
self-annointed messenger of God. O ne female
then, the Dyke M arch has spread to New York,
student walked by and exclaimed, “I support the
Los Angeles, Chicago and other major cities
homosexuals!” After watching the melee for a
and is traditionally done on the eve of pride.
while, another student said, “America’s a great
Though the Lesbian Avengers spearhead all
country. I feel so much better now.”
of the Dyke M arch planning in Portland, it is
These Lesbian Avengers are the same feisty
more of a community-wide effort in other cities,
women who put on Portland’s annual Dyke
such as San Francisco. R oth says the SF
March.
Avengers have always been quite a small group,
Traditionally, the Dyke March is held on the
but they have always worked on the Dyke
eve of the Portland pride parade. Though the
March com m ittee as individuals.
Avengers make it clear their march is not affili
ated with events organized by Pride Northwest,
H To get involved, or to get more information about
it’s evident they hold the Dyke March on thè
the L esbian A vengers , call (503) 452*5408.
night before because so many lesbians are
already in town.
K aty D avidson is a Just Out staff writer. She
This year, the Dyke March falls on June 17,
may be reached at kary@justout .com.
I