(Jewish Group) What I Learned at the D.C. Dyke March

[Behind the Aegis]

(THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP! RESPECT!!)

This past Friday, just before Shabbat began, I attended the D.C. Dyke March with a group of queer Jewish women. I came because I stand with my sisters and with the LGBTQ community, but also because I never thought I’d have to stand with queer Jewish women in order to ensure they were safe from anti-Semitism in their own community.

On Wednesday, June 5, I got a series of emails about the march, informing me of an offensive policy of banning the Jewish Pride flag. I was asked to help, along with several Jewish organizations, including Zioness, A Wider Bridge, the Jewish Democratic Council of America, and the JCRC. Immediately, I worked to amplify the voices of directly affected women, including A.J. Campbell, one of the queer Jewish women who had reached out looking for solidarity, and make sure that all queer women attending the Dyke March could attend as their full authentic self, with whatever Jewish iconography they wished. The march responded with an inflammatory statement to the Washington Blade, in which they attempted to police how Jewish women can show up in queer spaces in ways that were as ahistorical as they were anti-Semitic. The march’s leaders made no attempt, private or public, to engage with those they had hurt. Where did that leave queer Jews? And where did it leave those of us who wanted to stand with them?

Attempting to answer these questions, we created a hashtag, printed placards with the rainbow flag with brown and black stripes on top with the Magen David proudly displayed in the center, posted a Facebook event we aggressively pushed to our networks, and set ourselves up to march. We stressed that this was not a counterprotest: All we wanted was to be able to join the march and have the Jewish Pride flag flown by the queer women who were passionate about it. We wanted to shower them with love and support, and let them know if they faced anti-Semitism in queer spaces we had their backs.

---snip---

The second lesson is to show up. We so often decide to boycott those who hurt us. In our absence, anti-Semitism only grows. If we aren’t at the table, we will be on the menu. If our voices aren’t heard, other voices fill the vacuum. Showing up doesn’t always mean being in the physical space, but it does mean refusing to cede ground and simply allow anti-Semitism to engulf us because it feels safer in the moment than speaking up. Express your anger, your disillusionment, and most of all your pain at facing hatred. When we tell our stories we are powerful. If we choose not to they will be told for us, and we won’t like what we hear. We have to come when we are called and hold those we are apt to agree with accountable with even more vigor than those we are happy to see fail politically.

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[JudyM]

1. Thanks for posting this, BtA. Thought provoking piece.