Pride weekend kicked off in earnest on Saturday evening with the 20th annual New York City Dyke March along Fifth Avenue.  Some 20,000 lesbians—plus supportive gay boys, trans folk and heteros—took to the streets as marchers carried placards, shouted chants, ate fire and reminded us that the fight is far from over. Unlike the official Pride procession on Sunday, the Dyke March is a protest action, not a parade, and doesn’t get official sanction from the city.

“We recognize that we must organize amongst ourselves to fight for our rights, our safety, and for visibility,” say organizers. “Thousands of dykes take over the streets every year in celebration of LBTQ women and to protest against ongoing discrimination, harassment, and anti-LBTQ violence in schools, on the job, in our families, and on the streets.”

Click through for more images from the 2012 NYC Dyke March. And submit your own Pride photos in the GayCities Pride Photo Challenge to win great prizes.

Photos: The Dusty Rebel