My name is Pam Q. I earned my San Francisco Dykes on BikesÒ patch in 2018. I have been a Board member since 2018 and the Vice President since 2019. I am a native San Franciscan and I know I was fortunate to have San Francisco Dykes on Bikes as a name I grew up with.
Riding motorcycles came easy to me because I have been around them my entire life. I remember riding with my father when I was a kid, and him passing me from his motorbike through the window of the family van to my mother. I rode a motorcycle before I even drove a car. I appreciated as a young person the freedom of getting around and through San Francisco traffic, and the ease of parking a motorbike on the crowded city streets. Motorbikes became a hobby and an interest that would take me many places.
In 2018, I had a strong urge to be more connected with the motorbike community. I reached out to San Francisco Dykes on Bikes and started sitting in on their meetings at The Eagle. I really enjoyed hanging with the group and just clicked with them. I started volunteering and attending Dykes on Bikes events.
Before I knew it, it was June and Pride month and everyone in San Francisco Dykes on Bikes was working hard to prepare for the ride down Market Street. That year was my second time riding a motorcycle in San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ Pride Parade. However, new to me that year was an awareness of the history of Dykes on Bikes and the many Dykes before me that fought to protect the name and logo of Dykes on Bikes, all the way up to the Supreme Court.
I grew up in San Francisco as a young, self-identified Dyke, and am thankful that future generations, like myself, will embrace the term “Dyke” proudly in no small part because of the legacy of the San Francisco Dykes on Bikes. It is also important to me to continue to support and encourage Dykes on Bikes chapters in other parts of the world, so that others have the same opportunity as I to proudly identify as a Dyke on a Bike.
Published on March 24, 2022
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