By Yuval David
NEW YORK — Just days after the New York Dyke March formally banned “Zionist” participants, LGBTQ+ Jews and allies are left asking a painful question: Is there still space for us in the progressive movement we helped build?
As a gay, Jewish activist who has worked for over two decades in LGBTQ+ advocacy, I’ve seen plenty of ideological battles. But this latest decision to exclude Jews who identify with Zionism marks a breaking point. Not just because it is discriminatory to force Jews to participate in a litmus test, but it betrays the very values the LGBTQ+ movement claims to champion: inclusion, equity, and solidarity in the face of hate.
Here is what I believe: The Dyke March’s anti-Zionist policy is anti-Jewish and antisemitic—plain and deliberate—and it must be called out as such.
Zionism, to most Jews, is not a political accessory; it is the belief in the Jewish people’s right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland. That belief spans continents, denominations, and generations. 80% of American Jews feel attached to Israel, according to a 2021 Pew study. By declaring that Zionists are unwelcome, the Dyke March has declared that most Jews are unwelcome. Because Zionism is inseparable from Jewish identity and peoplehood.
Let’s be clear: this is not about legitimate critique of Israeli government policy. This is about blanket exclusion based on identity. The Dyke March is not lobbying for policy changes or promoting peace; it is drawing ideological purity lines that erase Jews from queer spaces. That’s not activism. That’s bigotry.
And it is part of a trend.
In 2017, the Chicago Pride March expelled Jewish marchers for carrying rainbow flags with the Star of David. In 2019, the D.C. Dyke March banned Israeli and American flags while waving Palestinian ones. In 2024, LGBTQ+ activists ignored the rape and torture of Israeli queer people during the October 7 Hamas massacre and instead aligned with those who criminalize homosexuality. Now, in 2025, the New York Dyke March has codified its antisemitism: Zionists are banned, full stop.
What’s missing from this conversation is the staggering hypocrisy.
Israel is the only country in the Middle East where LGBTQ+ people have legal protections, can marry, and live openly. It is also the only country in the region offering asylum to LGBTQ+ refugees fleeing countries like Iran, Syria, and Egypt, where being gay is punishable by death. And yet, Dyke March organizers would rather align with regimes that torture LGBTQ+ people than allow Jewish lesbians with rainbow Star of David flags to march.
Even more galling: the march’s exclusionary policy likely violates its public event permit. If any other group were banned from a public LGBTQ+ space—based on race, religion, or nationality—the public outrage would be swift and deafening. But because the target is Jews, too many remain silent.
I have been sounding the alarm about antisemitism in progressive and queer spaces for nearly a decade. I’ve watched slogans of “liberation” be twisted into tools of erasure. I have sat in strategy meetings where Jewish suffering is treated as inconvenient. I have seen how some social justice movements, funded by actors hostile to both Jews and LGBTQ+ people, weaponize intersectionality to justify exclusion.
But this time, the hypocrisy has sparked a response.
A new initiative, Shalom Dyke, has launched as a haven for queer Jews who refuse to be erased. Their message is simple: you cannot claim to fight for justice while excluding Jewish voices. You cannot wave the pride flag with one hand and draw ideological red lines with the other.
If the Dyke March truly stood against “racism and anti-LGBTQ+ hatred,” it would turn its outrage toward regimes that jail and kill queer people—not toward Jews who believe in their people’s right to exist. What we are witnessing is not solidarity. It is performance activism that sacrifices Jewish safety for applause.
The LGBTQ+ movement must decide: Will it stand for everyone, or just for those who pass a political litmus test?
The Dyke March has made its choice. Now the rest of us must make ours.
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Yuval David is a Jewish and LGBTQ+ advocate, Emmy Award and multiple film festival winning journalist, actor and filmmaker, and international advisor to nonprofit and human rights organizations and politicians.