The Avengers
The Twin Cities Avengers is a group of activists devoted to issues facing lesbians and lesbian visibility. Of the meetings I have attended we mainly worked of the 2007 Dyke March and butting heads with the Twin Cities Pride Committee.
Dyke March is a protest march which raises lesbian visibility against the backdrop of Pride. Often a lesbian presence is ignored at Pride. A lot of the focus and the events are aimed towards gay men. A vast majority of the members of the Pride festival committee are gay men. Their personal biases show through in dealing with lesbian’s, bisexuals and trans gendered people at pride. In the past Pride members have aggressively tried to suppress the Dyke March. The event has not only been ignored by the Pride Committee by members in the past who have tried to bring awareness to the event in Loring Park during pride have been kicked out of the park and threatened with police action. Many members of the committee have labeled the Dyke march as a “disturbance,� and failed to recognize the importance the march plays in building community. This year the Pride Committee reorganized giving us an opportunity to address Prides failure to work with the Avengers and Dyke march in the past. As a gay male and member of the Avengers I was put to work to harass members of the Pride Committee, as they may be more inclined to listen to my voice. A sad commentary of the Pride Committee that they would continual ignore the other members of the Avengers yet listen to me. The tactic worked and we were able to obtain a booth at Pride, something that has not been able to happen for several years, and get formal positive recognition and promotion of the Dyke March by Pride.