Earlier this week, my partner and I poured over the schedule of events for this weekend’s Pride celebration. When we learned about the DYKE and Transgender March, we were incredibly excited. Lately, we’ve been feeling like lesbians have been a little left out of the LGBT rights movement. For instance, George Takei has taken a permanent spot on the Howard Stern show, but there aren’t any recurring lesbian roles on primetime TV, my partner and I still get howled at when we walk down the street, and none of our gay male friends even want to talk about these issues.The DYKE and Transgender March seemed like the perfect solution to this feeling of exclusion.
But then another thought entered my head: isn’t the pride parade supposed to include a dyke and transgender march? Of the evermore popular LGBT acronym, half of the letters are looking to a different event to get some recognition. What does it say about pride parade events that lesbians and transgender individuals need an additional march to feel visible?