“Hail, hail, the dykes are here ...” Lesbian Feminist Liberation demonstration at the Museum of Natural History, New York (1973). Video via the Love Tapes Collective (Vimeo | Facebook).
"In New York there was a week-long celebration August 19-26 to commemorate the 53rd anniversary of women's suffrage ... The highlight of the week was sponsored by the Lesbian Feminist Liberation group ... The lesbians, about a hundred strong, and accompanied by a huge (over one story high) lavender female dinosaur and the Victoria Woodhull Marching Band (the first feminist marching band) picketed, sang, and chanted in front of the Museum of Natural History. The women were protesting the sexism of the displays, which refer to everything as having been accomplished by 'mankind,' and which credit men for the achievements of women. The women also attacked Christian-oriented displays, which show how Christianity 'saved' the 'savages' — usually from religions and cultures which were matriarchal. The lesbians demanded that such exhibits be removed and that permanent exhibits on herstory of women and the herstory of lesbians in particular be set up, with a woman anthropologist in charge. The demonstration was lively, cheerful, and peaceful, and all seemed to have a good time, including the little children who delighted in the lavender dinosaur on their way to a Sunday visit to the museum. Only a few museum guards and several of the children's parents seemed a bit apprehensive ..."
— Karla Jay in The Lesbian Tide, Vol. 3, No. 3 (October 1973).
