San Francisco EST. 1976
San Francisco Dykes on Bikes®
Women's Motorcycle Contingent
Soni Wolf
Photo Credit:
Jack Ottaway
News
Soni S.H.S Wolf,
September 19, 1948 – April 25, 2018
Soni Wolf was born in Germany and became a U.S. citizen as a young child, growing up in Rhode Island. Soni was deeply patriotic and served stateside during the Vietnam War as a medic in the United States Air Force. Soni moved to San Francisco in the late 1970s. It was in San Francisco that she began what became her calling – to help create, define, and defend unique space within the LGBTQ+ community. Soni was one of the founding members of the San Francisco Dykes on Bikes and was the heart of the club from 1978 until her passing in 2018. Over the course of 40 years that she was with Dykes on Bikes, she helped the organization evolve into 501©3 non-profit and helped spearhead the group’s mission to create a national and international community of women motorcyclists supporting philanthropic endeavors in the LGBTQ+ communities.
Soni also served on the board for SF Pride where she helped create a community that
celebrates LGTQ+ visibility and equality. In 2018 the San Francisco LGBTQ Pride Parade Board, in recognition of her significant contributions to the LGBTQ community that spanned decades of work, selected Soni as a Community Grand Marshall for that year’s Pride Parade.
With four decades of activism in the LGBTQ community, Soni was an inspiring part of the movement for lesbian pride and dignity and is succeeded by the thousands of Dykes on Bikes around the world who follow in her footsteps. The iconic imagery, words, and legacy of Dykes on Bikes would not be what they are today without Soni Wolf.
Authored by: Kate Brown, President, San Francisco Dykes on Bikes® Women's Motorcycle Contingent
Copyright: San Francisco Dykes on Bikes® Women's Motorcycle Contingent
Celebration
San Francisco, CA. July 2017: As some may know, our beloved Secretary Soni Wolf stepped down from administrative duties in 2017. Soni rode with the San Francisco Dykes on Bikes® for 40 years and was part of the movement in the late 1970s that brought us to the the front of Pride Parades around the world as a result. We honored Soni's decades of service to the LGBTQ community at our 2017 pre-Pride party. Please see the link below for the video feed.
Soni will always be a member of the Dykes on Bikes® and will be the only person to ever hold the title of "Secretary Emeritus". Our organization would not be where we are today with out the contributions of this legendary Dyke on a Bikes. Thank you Soni, for everything you have done to bring visibility to Dykes and help us reclaim for our own use the term "Dykes on Bikes". We can only hope to model ourselves after the example you have set for us.
