OFF THE WIRE
By Darian Trotter
Fox San Antonio
Members of the local motorcycle community say they're tired of being
turned away from bars and restaurants because of what they're wearing.
The controversy centers around the vests that identify which motorcycle club a biker belongs to.
Darian Trotter tells us how local bikers are banding together.
"It's upsetting you feel kind of like a second-class citizen."
Members of the local motorcycle community have had enough.
"Motorcycle clubs are not gangs," David Lewien said.
They're fed up over claims of being turned away from bars and restaurants when wearing their motorcycle vests.
It's a restriction commonly referred to as no "colors" allowed.
"We're
not going to serve you because you choose to ride a motorcycle and you
chose to wear a vest.Regardless of who you are in your day to day life
we're going to stereotype you just based off of a piece of clothing that
you wear," Ben Ackerman.
To bikers their vests and patches are symbols of their club affiliation.
"Part of who we are, part of our identity. When we ride this is who we are."
And that's why they think they should be able to wear them.
They say banning vests is essentially stereo-typing the entire biking community.
"That
we're all son's of anarchy and that we're all out there robbing and
selling drugs and that's not the case," Ackerman said.
In a nut shell they think it's unfair and a form of discrimination.
"We're
outcasts, we're not inclusive to the rest of the community. Undesirable
to the rest of the community maybe," Lewien said.
"Why because I chose to wear a vest and ride a motorcycle. I'm not breaking any laws, I'm not doing anything wrong."
They've
become so frustrated that they've started a Facebook page to boycott
local businesses where motorcycle vests are not allowed.
"I'd
like us to be able to go to where we want to go to eat and drink and
have a good time without having to worry about if we are going to be
turned away at the door,"Lewien said.
We reached out to management at three businesses on the boycott list, but none has commented.
