The San Francisco Dyke March is working around the renovation at Dolores Park this year by returning to its roots with a shorter rally taking place before the march.
Dolores Park is undergoing a multimillion-dollar renovation that broke ground in March. The park is scheduled to reopen next summer. The closure of a portion of the park has affected some groups.
In the meantime, plans have changed for this year's Dyke March, which starts at 4 p.m. Saturday, June 28 with a rally at the corner of 18th and Dolores streets. Previously, the pre-march party had been held hours earlier inside the park.
The 22nd annual Dyke March will kick off with the women's motorcycle contingent at 6 p.m. The march will go through the Mission, down 18th to Valencia, up 16th Street, and down Market to Castro Street, where it will merge into the Pink Saturday party.
"I feel that it's more important to go back to that and show people that we are not just here to throw a party in the park," said Meredith Crawford, a 48-year-old lesbian who is a committee member of the San Francisco Dyke March. "There is a message that we have, although it changes from year to year."
Elizabeth Lanyon, a 29-year-old lesbian committee member of the San Francisco Dyke March, agreed.
"There is a political aspect to the march - we are a part of the LGBT community," said Lanyon.
The committee hasn't selected a theme for this year, but Crawford and Lanyon both hinted that organizers are narrowing it down to the war on women or body image.
The Dyke March welcomes volunteers. For more information, visit www.thedykemarch.org