Dykes on Bikes (DOB) is a chartered lesbian motorcycle club with 22 chapters, numerous affiliations, and 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. They are known for their participation in gay pride events such as Pride parades, and significant LGBTQ+ events like the international Gay Games. 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. 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." 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. 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. 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. History The term "Dykes on Bikes" was coined at the first gathering of the 1976 San Francisco Pride parade. The connection between lesbians and motorcycles, however, existed before this official naming. Motorcycles have regularly appeared in lesbian fiction, and the term is sometimes used derogatorily against any woman rider who isn't with a man. According to Harley-Davidson historians, female riders did everything men did from long distance riding to enjoying lazy Sunday afternoon rides with friends. World War II As the US entered World War II in 1941, women were provided opportunities to