Ridg wh the Olst All-Gay, All-Male, All-Ridg Motorcycle Club

Contents:

• DYK ON BIK & GAY MOTORCYCLE CLUBS THE U.S.
• RIDG WH THE OLST ALL-GAY, ALL-MALE, ALL-RIDG MOTORCYCLE CLUB
• LONGG AND BELONGG: TOWARD A CULTURAL HISTORY OF GAY MOTORCYCLE CLUBS THE US
• STORI OM L.A.’S PNEERG GAY MOTORCYCLE CLUBS ARE TOLD THROUGH USC’S ONE ARCHIV
• HANGG OUT WH RSIA'S ONLY GAY MOTORCYCLE GANG
• GAY MOTORCYCLE CLUBS:
• GAY MOSW · CY GUI
• THE 5 BEST MOSW GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS MOSW

DYK ON BIK & GAY MOTORCYCLE CLUBS THE U.S.

The advent of gay motorcycle clubs the last half of the 20th century was grew out of a need for eedom, safe haven, and above all, pri. Jog a gay biker club provid support, safety, mararie and eedom to a group of people who stggled to fd those thgs an anti-gay society.

RIDG WH THE OLST ALL-GAY, ALL-MALE, ALL-RIDG MOTORCYCLE CLUB

Te to s name, Dyk on Bik (DOB) is a motorcycle club prised of gay, bisexual, and transgenr women that supports the larger LGBTQ muny through ridg events and fundraisers.

This is a closer look at how a small group of gay women motorcyclists planted the roots of one of the largt and most wily known gay motorcycle clubs the world, and how current Dyk on Bik members ntue that legacy 2020. A uple dozen gay women motorcycle rirs had joed together at the start of the para, and one person the group ma a ment about “dyk on bik.

” The gay women’s motorcycle club then went back to urt, head up by San Francis lawyer and longtime club ally Brooke Oliver. She sometim spoke about the pri she felt ridg her motorcycle wh other gay women durg those dozens of pri paras: “To ri down Market Street wh all those people lookg and appldg and sharg and ridg wh other women on motorcycl has got to be one of the highlights of my life.

LONGG AND BELONGG: TOWARD A CULTURAL HISTORY OF GAY MOTORCYCLE CLUBS THE US

Today, this gay women’s motorcycle club is officially lled the San Francis Dyk on Bik Women’s Motorcycle Contgent (SFDOBWMC).

STORI OM L.A.’S PNEERG GAY MOTORCYCLE CLUBS ARE TOLD THROUGH USC’S ONE ARCHIV

The signifince of the pk triangle is a heavy one: Begng the 1930s, German Nazis ed the symbol of upsi down pk triangle to intify gays ncentratn mps. But durg the AIDS crisis the 1980s, gay activists om ACT UP retook the symbol, flipped the triangle and created inic posters that ntaed the words “Silence=Death. The first gay motorcycle club was the Empire Cy Motorcycle Club, found the 1960s for gay men, followed the Rabow Motorcycle Club, which was tablished San Francis 1971 for the whole LGBTQ muny.

HANGG OUT WH RSIA'S ONLY GAY MOTORCYCLE GANG

While other motorcycle clubs have perhaps been active for longer perds of time (at least one group disput that they are the olst all-male, all-gay group), Empire Cy is the only one that requir, and has always required, all of s members to ri a motorcycle. "Beg a gay biker, beg a group, you fd yourself wh people who have the same terts, the same fort level, " he go on.

Though E stopped ridg 1996, he is currently an ECMC Emer member, meang he don't have to own a bike or license signatn, or pay the 1960s, when E joed, "gay" was not somethg you discsed and "out" was not somethg you were. "E lowers his voice when he says the word "gay, " even though we are chattg the lobby of The Center, as New York's Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgenr Communy Center is known. Followg ECMC's history is a b of a Forrt Gump-like experience of gay history post-1950: E himself was a member of the Mattache Society which, tablished 1950, was one of the earlit gay rights anizatns the untry.

GAY MOTORCYCLE CLUBS:

ECMC also predat the fluential Stonewall Rts 1969; E actually participated Christopher Street Liberatn Day, which is now nsired the first ever gay pri para, 1970. ECMC survived the AIDS crisis of the 80s and 90s; and today some members have married their partners wh the passage of gay marriage New York State.

GAY MOSW · CY GUI

"Today, ECMC is vol about s existence—members wear those aforementned leather jackets and vts whout fear of repercsn; they rec members at fairs like Folsom Street East, the largt outdoor fetish ftival on the East Coast; and they hold meetgs the first Wednday of every month at The Center, which all terted men and prospective members are wele to be a member of the ECMC, you mt be a gay man over the age of 21, you mt own a motorcycle, you mt be sured for said motorcycle, and you mt be licensed to ri a motorcycle. Open to both members and ved guts, the meetgs are a great way to nnect wh like-md dividuals wh our gay motorcycle muny. Associate membership is opened to all gay/gay iendly applints 21 years of age or olr and mt receive two-thirds affirmative vote of the active membership.

THE 5 BEST MOSW GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS MOSW

We are lookg at how the nex of two inti – gay and motorcyclist – self-imposed as well as imposed by society at large, plays out public and private.

While there have been gay and lbian motorcyclists almost as long as there have been motorcycl, thgs don’t get tertg until World War Two ends. The first imag popular culture of the gay motorcyclist seem to be tertwed wh postwar and Cold War polics, often reflectg and optg the imag of mastream motorcyclists the procs.