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  • [MUSIC PLAYING]

  • SPEAKER: When you think of motorcycle gangs,

  • this is what most people imagine,

  • a group straight out of "Sons of Anarchy."

  • Thugs and criminals who probably terrorize the road every time

  • they ride out.

  • But not all motorcycle gangs have the same agenda.

  • MICHAEL SHARKEY: Hi, my name is Michael Sharkey.

  • And I'm a portrait photographer living in Brooklyn, New York.

  • This is just one of many photographs

  • I made that day, documenting the Empire City Motorcycle Club,

  • or ECMC, New York City's oldest gay biker gang.

  • The club was formed in 1964 at a time when

  • there were very few places in the city gay men could

  • gather and be themselves.

  • SPEAKER: When the club was founded more than 50 years ago,

  • the LGBT rights movement was in its infancy.

  • Older members recall how coming out was a big risk.

  • MICHAEL SHARKEY: While researching the project,

  • I had the pleasure of speaking with one of ECMC's oldest

  • members, Emil Solis.

  • He joined the Empire City Motorcycle Club

  • with his partner Bill in June of 1965.

  • And he told me at that time it was very dangerous.

  • You could be fired or evicted if your boss or landlord didn't

  • like the way you looked.

  • SPEAKER: And there was also the very real threat of violence.

  • So the Empire City Motorcycle Club

  • really provided a sanctuary from all that.

  • And today members often comment that it gives them

  • a sense of unity too.

  • MICHAEL SHARKEY: The reason I titled the series, Brotherhood

  • of Men, is because in the course of speaking to each

  • of the members, it became clear that the most important thing

  • to each of them was a sense of family and camaraderie,

  • friendship, and brotherhood.

  • SPEAKER: The Empire City Motorcycle Club was and still

  • is an integral part of the gay community in New York because

  • of the sense of brotherhood.

  • The club events and group rides bring together

  • like minded folks from the gay community,

  • which is what compelled Michael to take pictures of them.

  • MICHAEL SHARKEY: As a gay man, I'm certainly

  • drawn to gay subjects.

  • But I think more generally, I'm drawn to marginalized groups

  • and to subjects that exist outside the norm.

  • These guys are obviously doing something

  • that they truly love and with people that they really

  • care about.

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