Gay biker
Assless Chaps and other Leather Paraphernalia; How a WWII Era Biker Club Revolutionized the Gay Community
A group of mostly gay veterans who remained in Los Angeles after WWII created the Satyrs Motorcycle Club in
Satyrs launched the gay motorcycle club culture and heavily influenced the leather community in L.A. One of their signature activities, the Badger Flat Run, is an annual event where members ride to national parks and celebrate sexual expression. This tradition continues today, making Satyrs one of the longest continuously running gay organizations in the United States.
Founded in mostly by a group of gay veterans who stayed in Los Angeles after World War II, the Satyrs Motorcycle Club is one of the longest continuously running gay organizations in the United States. Satyrs launched the gay motorcycle club culture and heavily influenced the leather community in L.A. for over half a century. One of their signature activities, the Badger Flat Run, is an annual event where members commute to national parks and celebrate sexual expression. This tradition and the club con
The Satyrs Motorcycle Club is the oldest gay continuous motorcycle club in the United States. Established in in Los Angeles and still going strong, they have become one of the best known gay MCs in the country.
When we look at such an MC, we are looking at more than just the history of the time and the club. We are also looking at such themes and issues as camp, bricolage, and identity politics on the one hand, and questions of sexual orientation, real or imagined, overt or covert, latent or manifest, on the other. We are looking at how the nexus of two identities – gay and motorcyclist – self-imposed as skillfully as imposed by society at large, plays out in general and private.
While there have been gay and lesbian motorcyclists almost as long as there possess been motorcycles, things don’t verb interesting until World War Two ends. Perhaps too interesting. The first images in popular culture of the gay motorcyclist look to be intertwined with postwar and Cold War politics, often reflecting and coopting the images of mainstream motorcyclists in the process.
The tale o
A crew of burly, bearded men wearing black leather pants, hats, vests, and jackets appeared in the doorway of Rockbar, a dive at the very edge of the West Village in Manhattan. They looked around, confused, at the the sight of long-haired guys in broken glasses wearing comic-book T-shirts. I realized this bar must normally be the group&#;s haunt of choice and the nerdy comedy show I was there to see was perhaps not first on their list of amusements. They turned and walked out, not before I saw the back of one leather vest—a yellow circle enclosed by a blue and red male symbol and the words Empire Municipality MC.
A few months later, I&#;m waiting in a coffee shop for &#;Evil&#; Ed Caraballo and Chaz Antonelli, the current president and secretary, respectively, of what I have learned is the Empire City Motorcycle Club, or ECMC. The club is one of the oldest all-riding, all-gay, all-male motorcycle organizations in the world. Founded in by a group of 12 bikers from the New York metropolitan area, the club celebrated its 50th anniversary in October While other motorcycle clubs have perh
Gay Bikers Motorcycle Club (gbmcc)
Gay Bikers Motorcycle Club "gbmcc" began in as a club for gay men and women bikers in the UK. With a current membership approaching , we are the largest gay biking club in Europe. Our members come from all over the UK and there are an increasing number from Europe and Overseas.
Our members are of all ages and backgrounds. We naturally have varied biking interests, but we are primarily a road-riding club. Riding experience ranges from novice through to advanced riders and club racers. It is our interest in motorcycles and motorcycling, which brings us together.
The club offers its members a lively programme of events as well as support and friendship. Membership of gbmcc is uncover to all, provided that you own and ride a motorcycle and are comfortable in the company of other LGBT+ members