TORONTO - It was a fist-fight not to be missed: Women duking it out with Stephen Harper on Saturday afternoon as thousands of spectators cheered them on in the ring.

Of course, this Harper - unlike Canada's actual prime minister - was crafted of papier mache.

The unlikely, symbolic guest sparred with the ladies front and centre at this year's 12th annual Dyke March - a more political part of Pride Week.

"He's got some tricky moves, so we'll have to be a little bit careful," said Savoy Howe, founder of the Toronto Newsgirls Boxing Club, just before the march began.

As this year's "honoured dyke group," the Newsgirls were defending lesbian and trans rights to the core, Howe said.

She said despite progress, groups that help people in the fringes of society, such as social workers, need more support from those in power.

"When you don't support the frontlines, everything else kind of falls apart."

It's that kind of political statement that fuels the annual march, which floods downtown Toronto streets on the day before the main event, the Pride Parade.

Some 500 people participated in this year's march, and organizers estimated an audience of 25,000 lined the route.

"It's kind of a more grassroots feel to the Dyke March, it tends to be a little more politics," said Anna Willats, who was named this year's "honoured dyke."

Willats, a longtime social activist and professor in the assaulted women's and children's counsellor/advocate program at George Brown College, headed a contingent called "dykes act up."

She said that for lesbians and trans-identified people, homophobia keeps them invisible to society.

"The Dyke March is all about saying, 'We are here. We're visible. We challenge notions of femininity. We challenge notions of what being a woman is supposed to be and we're very, very powerful."'

A brigade of gleaming motorcycles revved the march to a start. There were mothers pushing strollers, women riding tricycles, ladies and girls clad in tutus, and a smattering of naked breasts.

Some women carried signs saying "Outlaw poverty, not prostitution," while others played bongo drums and danced. And everywhere, there were rainbows.

March spectator Noreen Hardwick, 46, brought her twin sister Eileen Moore to tears when she explained that she travelled to Toronto from the southern U.S. to support her sister.

"You would never see this in Texas," she said. "You would never see so many people coming out and being (proud) of their organization and (proud) of their sexuality," she said.

Decked in a crown of multi-coloured flowers, Susan Prue, 51, was celebrating her first pride weekend with partner Gayle Ruthven, 50.

"It's nice to be here and be queer and to celebrate with all our sisters," she said with a wide grin.

"It's nice to live in a city that lets us do what we want to do and hopefully not just today but everyday."

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