We'll admit to a bias (yes, only one, ha ha) and say that Dykes on Bikes is always our favorite part of the San Francisco Gay Pride parade. We can't help it, but there's something about them that gives us goosebumps and makes us a little teary (and we're neither a dyke nor a cyclist, so that ain't it). We love those dykes and their bikes, and are annoyed by the continued refusal of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to allow Vic Germany, Dykes on Bikes president, to register "Dykes on Bikes" as a federal trademark.

Are they being denied this trademark because they don't have rights to the use of this phrase? You might think so, because there are an awful lot of unrelated groups using "Dykes on Bikes" to describe their group. But you'd be wrong, because instead it has been rejected because "on the grounds that 'dyke' is vulgar, offensive and 'scandalous.'"