Hells.angels gay bashings

Famous for drug busts, biker chicks, and taking out a hit on Mick Jagger, the gang has become an icon for outlaw behavior. They also have a surprising history of fluid sexuality and homoerotic. Jay Dobyns, 61, spent two years with the Mesa, Ariz., chapter of the biker gang, where one of the things he was exposed to was the organization’s strict rules surrounding sex.

david labrava

A former Hell’s Angel motorcycle gang member recently gave an interview about his time in the club, and revealed a little more than the interviewer probably anticipated when he was questioned about the “wave” that bikers give each other when passing. I hope it's okay to be grossed out at the thought of two Hell's Angels bikers making out but totally fine with two normal dudes making out because that's where I find myself.

Retired ATF special agent Jay Dobyns infiltrated a Hell's Angels motorbike gang as part of a two-year undercover operation. He is lifting the lid on the organization's strict sex rules. From handkerchiefs to haircuts , queer people have a long history of flagging their sexual preferences through their personal appearance, and tattoos have often been a key non-verbal signal. In s Chicago, future Hells Angel official tattoo artist Samuel Stewart AKA Doc Sparrow began recording the reasons why his clients — 20 per cent of whom he estimated were gay — were getting tattooed.

Cryptic symbols such as the Hells Angels Air Force patch with a winged black circle either meant the Angel had a male preference, or alternatively initiated a gay-bashing, the multiple interpretations allowing for defence in hostile homophobic environments. Butches and femmes alike would get the star inked, often on their wrists so it was easily covered by a watch to avoid being identified.

Despite this, Buffalo police soon began recognising the symbol and recording names. Today, queer tattoos have become an outlet to outwardly express and connect with our sexuality. As a femme lesbian, frustrated with being perceived as straight, this year I had a pair of scissors tattooed by my friend and dyke-centred tattoo artist, Harrow. For Harrow, who has numerous queer tattoos herself, the designs symbolise a celebration of lesbianism.

It was their own desire to be tattooed with kinky queer imagery that kickstarted this distinctive sexy aesthetic — their most recent one being a Robert Mapplethorpe image. A young girl is taken by faeries and turned into inanimate objects, meanwhile the parents mourn their child unknowing that the girl lives on as something different.

In a world where our identities are belittled every day, these practices are so important. Unlike many previous generations, this collaborative creative process of queer tattooing can now be done in a space that is safe, open and welcoming. Nova — who themselves has a queer tattoo paying tribute to the television series Steven Universe and the trans narrative of Steven — manages the proudly Black and queer-owned Hell To Pay tattoo and piercing studio.

Either with secretive suggestive symbolism or loud and proud expressions of sexuality, tattoos let us take back our bodies as our own, defining and adorning ourselves against a heteronormative society. To be inked, ultimately reminds us and the world that we exist — even when the line work begins to fade, our pride never will.