WASHINGTON, D.C. � Lambda Literary Award winning author and activist will speak at the kickoff of this year�s DC Dyke March.

The 12th annual march and rally starts at 1 PM on Saturday, June 11, at Dupont Circle.

The pre-march rally features guest speakers Leslie Feinberg and Stacey Long. A post-march rally features musical performances by Mara Levi and Angie Young.

Leslie Feinberg, author of Stone Butch Blues, Transgender Warrior and Trans Liberation, is the recipient of several major awards for GLBT literature. Ze is well-known in the U.S. and internationally as an activist and speaker who works to help forge a strong bond between the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans communities. As a trade unionist, anti-racist and socialist, Feinberg also organizes to build strong bonds of unity between these struggles and those of other minority movements.

Stacey R. Long is the partner of the late Wanda Alston. Alston, an appointee of Washington, D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams and head of the city�s office of LGBT Affairs, was murdered in March.

Mara Levi's original, catchy, intelligent style of rock and roll, powerful voice and politically-charged songwriting won her an Honor Award from the Great American Songwriting Contest. One of her newer songs, "The Homo Song," was nominated for Outmusic�s Out Song of the Year 2005. Levi will be followed by D.C. singer songwriter Angie Young who's currently laying down tracks for her first LP to be independently released later this year.

The theme of this year�s march, �think outside the boxes,� seeks to affirm that homogeny cannot help the queer movement. Every day folks along the queer spectrum are embracing and inventing new ways of describing their identities including ways of honoring shifting and multiple identities. As assimilationist, mainstream GLBT organizations try and convince the straight majority that �we�re� just like them, more and more people get left behind. We are not just like the straight majority and are proud of our unique and diverse ways of living and identifying.

Dykes, lesbians, bisexuals, feminists, queers, genderqueers, transpeople and their supporters of all races, classes, ages, ethnicities and religions from the DC metro area will unite for the event. In keeping with the herstory of the march, participants will march the streets of DC in a non-violent, non-permitted celebration and demonstration of queer identities, power and rage. The march radically promotes activism, visibility and empowerment.

The first Dyke March was held here in Washington, D.C. in 1993. Organized by the Lesbian Avengers the March, called �the largest lesbian event in the history of the world�, drew 20,000 participants to Dupont Circle.

GENERAL INFORMATION:
Location: Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C.
Time: 1 p.m. on 6/11/05
Press and general information: Al Miner, March Organizer: 202-265-0336
Website: http://www.geocities.com/dcdykemarch/