Introduction
Queer LA Motorcycle Clubs
By Declan Creed and Lindsay Weinberg
"We’d throw the tent on the back, throw the trick on the back, and get on the motorcycle and ride away”
-John Laird.In this section, we have chosen to explore the history and tradition of gay motorcycle clubs, one of which is the oldest still-running gay organization in the country. The Satyrs, who take their name from the mythical creature known for both woodsiness and an insatiable sexual appetite, began in 1954, a year after the Mattachine society officially stopped existing, although its demise began earlier [MATTACHINE WAS COOPTED, CK FADERMAN] (Satyrs).
In this chapter, we address the “club as gay subcultural formation,” seeking to theorize and understand how the ga(y)thering people from across the city to participate in events creates a subculture of aesthetic belonging--in short, we investigate every way a community is bound; whether that is through participation, official membership, or rope. We explore the importance and use of space, from the road to the woods into which they rode and still ride, the relationship between authority outside the club and the club itself, and the nature of camp and camping--where they can intersect and what they mean. We also seek to, on a broader scale, investigate who archives what, and why certain things are chosen over others. As the gay leather motorcycle man becomes more a stereotype than a fetish, and motorcycle club membership does not rise, we are forced to ask if any archiving this history is simply collecting a last few specimens of a dying breed. There has already been some work done to preserve the history of gay motorcycle clubs, most of it by the MCs themselves. Here is one example.
Our first section, Pitching a Tent, focuses on space. Leading with a theoretical framework provided by Foucault, we analyze spaces historically claimed by, and denied to, gay MCs in Los Angeles. We will also interrogate notions of “straight invasion” and “gay flight” so that we might better understand the complex interactions of criminality and legality with regards to gay expression in urban or rural environments. For further exploration, one can go "Off the Beaten Path" to see more about (WHATEVER THAT ONE'S IS ABOUT). The second section, Tricking the Fuzz, will focus on how queerness becomes regulated through laws, ordinances, socioeconomic access and more. If our first section is an explication of the “motif of mobility,” this section will speak to how such freedoms become curtailed over time. Utilizing the work of Tom of Finland, we hope that this section allows us to better understand and record the relationships between leather clubs and suburban control. "Fuck The Police" describes the rocky give and take of the queer community's relationship with the police on a conceptual and on a physical level--from "Uniform Days" and fetishization to raids and parades. Last, we finish with Welcome to Bondage Camp, an analysis of queer escapes and the changing landscape of sexual expression in Los Angeles. How can we “read lines’ between serious sexual fetishization and intentional camp? Are such distinctions even useful when speaking about the confluence of bondage, leather and gay motorcycle aesthetics? This section, guided by two important works from Leo Bersani, seeks to shed light on these questions and others. We continue off (or, in this case, on) the beaten path with Media In Tension, an inquiry into Drummer Magazine and more of the conflict between fetish and fear.
In addition to these three written reports, we have created an interactive map of Los Angeles which contains information on the routes and campsites frequented by Gay MCs over the last several decades. While not a complete list of locations or events, we hope that our map helps to “redraw” the boundaries of queer LA, to archive the ways in which historically queer spaces have been paved, outlawed or renamed over the history of the city. New York may have stolen the title of “America’s first gay city,” but it can’t hold onto it forever.
This page has paths:
- ROUGH RIDERS: Leather, Whiplash, and Defense of Queer Space Lindsay Weinberg