Dykes on Bikes

Dykes on Bikes

Abbreviation	DOB
Founded	4 July 1976
Founded at	San Francisco, CA, U.S.
Type	501(c)(3)
Purpose	Lesbian motorcycle riders
Region	US, Canada, Australia, UK
Membership	22 chapters
Road Captain/President	Kate Brown
Website	www.dykesonbikes.org

Dykes on Bikes (DOB) is a chartered^[1] lesbian motorcycle club with 22 chapters,^[2] numerous affiliations,^[3] and 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.^[4] They are known for their participation in gay pride events such as Pride parades, and significant LGBTQ+ events like the international Gay Games.^[5]

The loud bikes and presence remain at the front of the parade for security and logistical reasons, and a celebrated place of honor today as a symbol of LGBT pride, defiance, liberation and empowerment.^[6] The contingents are fiercely independent and self-reliant in the DIY and feminist traditions and have been studied as a social phenomenon as a "complex, multilayered form of consumption-related cultural resistance that raises awareness of social injustice and discursively informs social meanings in everyday life outside the festivals."^[7]

Along with drag queens, the DOB have been criticized for not portraying a more acceptable image of LGBT culture. Supporters, however, counter that they are highly visible icons of gay pride who refuse to assimilate and conform to mainstream society gender roles, and indeed remind of the butches and queens who helped lead the Stonewall riots launching the modern gay-rights movement.^[8]

The Dykes on Bikes have been criticized for using the term dyke in their name. When registering their name as a trademark in the United States, the group faced a battle to demonstrate that the word dyke, and related terms such as terms diesel-dyke, bull-dyke, and bull-dagger, have in fact been re-appropriated as self-referential terms of endearment and empowerment distinct from lesbian and indeed awards and events utilizing those names are now used by the LGBT community.^[9] In keeping with the tradition of motorcyclists' rejection of the norms of middle-class, middle-America, the Dykes on Bikes teach, by example, that women can be masculine and challenge the dominant sexual and cultural expectations of what a woman is and what she can do and achieve.^[9][10]