GAY BIKERS MCC
Pride and joy
The Gay Bikers club is approaching its 50th birthday. STEPHEN DOBIE meets the club’s members and finds out why its support remains crucial
PHOTOGRAPHY
MAX EDLESTON, GBMCC ARCHIVE AND MEMBERS
“It’s about making friends and having a common interest. Social isolation is a problem we all have”
I
t’s about enjoying the hobby we love but in an environment
where we’re totally safe to be who we are,” says Kevin Bazeley, chair of the Gay Bikers Motorcycle Club (GBMCC).
The GBMCC was founded in 1977, just 10 years after the Sexual Offences Act 1967 began to legalise homosexual acts in England and Wales – albeit with a higher age of consent than heterosexual acts (the discrepancy wasn’t fixed until 2001). Add to this the Aids crisis of the ’80s and ’90s – and the ruthless reporting of it by some of the British press – and you can see why so many gay people remained closeted and communities such as this club were so crucial.