Dyke March NYC 2024 in (NSFW) pictures

The 2024 NYC Dyke March brought thousands to the streets of Manhattan’s 5th Ave on Saturday (6/29). The annual protest march, which begins at Bryant Park and wraps up at Washington Square Park, has no corporate sponsorship and eschews heavy police presence, with marshals linking hands at intersections to protect marchers. This year’s theme was “Dykes Against Genocide,” and a statement from organizers reads:

In recognition of the ongoing violence faced by millions of persons across this world and of what our community has experienced this last year, we, the New York City Dyke March (NYCDM), are proud to stand against ethnic cleansing, violence, and dehumanization, and shed light on the multiple atrocities that are happening concurrently. We will approach the work this year, united in our mission, and come to the table willing to fight for the humanity of all people in this world.

As of May 2024, the degradation of lives has been more rampant than ever. Currently, there is mass violence in:

• The DRC or the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where over 6 million have been killed; more than 6 million have been displaced. (Council of Foreign Relations, International Rescue Committee)
• Ethiopia, where violence in the Tigray region continues and has now spread to the Amhara region, which has taken upwards of 600,000 lives (Council of Foreign Relations) and internally displaced more than 3.45 million people. (International Organization for Migration)
• Haiti, where more than 6,500 persons have been killed in the last two years (UN High Commissioner for Human Rights); additionally, more than 300,000 persons have been internally displaced, which is a vast undercount. (International Organization for Migration)
• Myanmar, where the death toll has been at least 50,000 since 2021, including at least 8,000 civilians (Action on Armed Conflict); with approximately 2.3 million people internally displaced. (United Nations)
• Palestine, specifically in the Gaza Strip, where more than 35,000 have been killed and more than 77,000 have been injured (CNN); more than 1.8 million persons have been displaced, and more than half are children. (United Nations)
• Sudan, where more than 15,000 have been killed; more than 9,000,000 have been displaced, and more than half are children. (The Washington Post)
• Ukraine, where there are more than 30,000 civilian casualties and nearly 3.7 million internally displaced people. (UN High Commissioner for Human Rights)

In addition to the ethnic cleansing, violence, and dehumanization, we also recognize and amplify that other mass atrocities are currently unfolding, due to historical and contemporary colonial projects, despite not always being recognized by the international community or the general public.

These are just as deserving of our attention and solidarity.

We honor those who have been targeted, harmed, and martyred.
We stand in mourning with their families, friends, and homelands.
We grieve the people who have been taken from us.

This year, we, the New York City Dyke March Planning Committee, dedicate our 2024 Annual March, and our fundraising efforts, to them.

Many marchers carried signs calling for Palestinian liberation, and organizers requested that attendees wear masks, “In order to truly stand in solidarity with disabled, chronically ill, immunocompromised dykes, and those protesting in solidarity with Palestine who have become the most recent targets of a proposed mask ban in the state of New York.”

Also present, as ever, were beloved traditions like the fantastic Fogo Azul drumline keeping everyone within earshot dancing; the Queer Big Apple Corps playing marching band renditions of pop songs, including Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls;” and the celebratory dip in the Washington Square Park fountain many take at the end of the march route. See pictures from the day (some are NSFW) by Amanda Hatfield below.

See also: pictures from Friday night’s NYC Drag March.

See pictures from Friday night’s NYC Drag March HERE.