An Open Letter to Dykes, the NYC Dyke March Committee, & Anyone Who Wants to Build a More Just World
Shalom, Dykes was born out of a painful reality: many Jewish dykes no longer felt welcome in spaces that once felt like home.
For decades, members of our community marched in the NYC Dyke March as lesbians, queer people, feminists, activists, and Jews. But in the years leading up to and following October 7, many experienced growing hostility, exclusion, and erasure connected to their Jewish identity, Zionism, and connection to Israel.
In March 2025, the NYC Dyke March Committee formally elevated anti-Zionism as a core organizational value. For many of us, this was not an isolated act, but the culmination of years of being silenced, and alienated in the face of ever-narrowing definitions of who belongs in queer spaces.
In response, Shalom, Dykes released an Open Letter affirming that Jewish dykes should not have to abandon their history, identity, safety, or relationship to Jewish peoplehood in order to participate in queer community.
The letter became a rallying point for Jewish and allied queer people seeking a different vision: one rooted in mutual care, complexity, curiosity, and the belief that queer liberation must include Jews too.
Read the full open letter below. We invite you to sign, share, and join our growing community.
The NYC Dyke March was founded in 1993 to create a space where all dykes could be visible,
taking to the streets with our joy, rage, and celebration exactly as we are. On March 14, 2025, the NYC Dyke March committee betrayed this founding purpose. By asserting anti-Zionism as a core value over responding to the urgent threats to our communities–attacks on trans existence, healthcare access, immigration rights, and physical safety against rising hate crimes–the NYC Dyke March committee abandoned its role as a leader in the queer justice movement.
Many of us have expressed concerns that the focus on anti-Zionism in queer spaces harms our
ability to address critical queer issues and restricts Jewish visibility. In the past two years, the NYC Dyke March Committee silenced Jewish members who raised concerns about the language used in their statements on Zionism. While not all Jewish dykes share the same views, we assert our collective right to define our safety, history, and connection to our core beliefs. We stand firmly with the definition of Zionism supported by the majority of Jewish communities, now and throughout history: a movement for a safe haven in our ancestral Homeland.
Across queer movements, our language and identities have been co-opted and twisted in ways that reflect historic antisemitism and embolden antisemitism today. As queer and trans people, we know how dangerous it is when others believe and act on distorted perceptions of who we are and what we believe. Queer spaces like the Dyke March are meant to center queer mutual care, safety, and liberation. When they require most members of the Jewish community, like us, to disavow our own history and safety in order to belong, they replicate the very systems of oppression they claim to resist.
We will not abandon our history, nor our commitment to dismantling unjust systems. We want a future where dykes can feel as free every day as they once did on the day of the dyke march.
We know there are more people who share this vision with us. Let this letter offer you the courage and the language to re-center the mission of queer justice.
We’re asking you to support this vision to create queer spaces that are for all of us: Share this letter and sign it here to join Jewish and non-Jewish, queer and allied friends, individuals, community members, and organizations who have committed to joining us in courage, curiosity, allyship, and mutual respect. Reach out to us at shalom@shalomdykes.com to learn more and ask us anything, including the hard questions. We have resources and will be hosting live conversations.
We are building upon the legacy of those who have long fought for a better world.
Shalom, Dykes!