From: The Economist Cities Guide Tuesday, July 26, 2005 6:56 AM Subject: Economist.com Cities Guide: San Francisco Briefing - August 2005
The US Patent and Trademark Office has rejected a request to trademark “Dykes on Bikes”, the name of a group of lesbian motorcyclists famous for rolling through San Francisco’s streets every June, at the head of the gay pride parade. The Dykes on Bikes sought trademark protection after learning that a Wisconsin woman wanted to sell motorcycle leathers and other clothing under a label of the same name.
Federal patent attorneys ruled that the name was vulgar, and offensive to the general public—they cited Webster’s dictionary, which says “dyke” is often disparaging. But that ruling seems to have missed the (admittedly post-modern) point the group is trying to make. They argue that appropriating a derogatory word like “dyke” subverts its power as a slur, just as gay men regularly use “queer”. To prove their point, they have recruited linguists, psychologists and scholars to help explain the evolution of the word “dyke” over the past 40 years, and they plan on appealing against the office's decision.
Leigh www.leighm.net