Featureshoot.com shared with us Extraordinary Photos of a Gay Motorcycle Club in the 1960s. I've had the article bookmarked for a while and wanted to share it with you all, but didn't know what angle to take when posting it. But then I wrote the piece Pride- All About Money, Business, And Product Placement? It got me thinking, where are the groups of men like these in the 2010s?
I do live in the gayest place in the United States, Wilton Manors. I think sometimes that may be a negative. With 15 or so gay bars within 6 blocks of each other, it seems that is what the community may be centered around. Going out, hooking up, and which bar is busiest this night and where should we be to be seen. When vacations are planned, the beaten path to the gay cruises is worn into the ground or we hop on a flight to Provincetown or Ogunquit or San Francisco where our other homes are located.
Do you plan your vacations around gay culture, popular gay haunts, gay prides? I was refreshed to see these photos from the '60s where the men were out doing what they wanted to do together, on the road, on their bikes. There weren't towns with 15 gay bars or cities that were internationally known for their Pride events. Men wanted to just be with men and do what they liked. Here's an excerpt from the Featureshoot.com piece.
It was a sunny weekend in 1967 when photographer Sylvan Rand hopped on the back of his friend’s motorcycle and headed for a sequestered farm in the New Jersey countryside. As the hours passed in a haze of food, cigarettes, love, and bikes, he joined in the festivities of an unofficial motorcycle run, where gay men gathered to enjoy each other’s company in an insulated, utopian setting.
The group was composed of ordinary men, men who worked hard throughout the week and made their sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle of metropolitan life. The pervasive image of the motorcycle enthusiast of the era was defined in large part by the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, but the photographer stresses that these were not in fact the “tough guy” bikers of popular culture; the beauty lay in part in the fact that they were just regular people relishing their days off. – Featureshoot.com
Since we can go to the bars and be social with fellow gay men, do we not search out for those connections, those activities, that we can bond over. Were these bikers more tightly bonded together because of '60s politics and non-acceptance? Was their time together more special than our gay social groups of today?
I think the last two big events my friends and I went to were 1) 16 of us went on a gay cruise and 2) 14 of us flew out to attend Austin Pride. I don't think there is anything wrong with doing those things, but I am still kinda jealous of the motorcycle gang.
Now this is probably more of a reflection on what I do and am not doing and that is maybe why I didn't share it with you all before. There's the simple belief that if you don't like something you are doing, change it and if you want to do something, do it. I guess I'm a little stagnant when it comes to my own social change.
Looking at cities with large gay populations, there are gay sports teams, rugby, baseball, softball, etc as well as gay ski weekends, things I don't have interest in doing in my spare time. But maybe I am sharing this to see what other people do out there to be a part of the gay community while doing something they love that is outside of the bar scene and the see-and-be-scene scene.
Have you started a gay group to fill a void in your life?
What group(s) do you belong to that help fulfill your existence?
h/t : Featureshoot.com
All images © Sylvan Rand
Thank you Adam for your
Thank you Adam for your thoughtful reflexions.
I liked how your pictures
I liked how your pictures were not too sexual. They were more about the friendship and brotherhood based around a mutual event, hobby, past time.
Thank you for your work.
Adam