Leatherati

Check out the Leather Sir/boy and Community Bookblack live event

Last night was the kick off.  Check out the coverage on Leatherati Live

Mr Pittsburgh Eagle Leather 2010

Another one joins the tribe:

Mr Pittsburgh Eagle Leather
Friday, November 6 - Meet and Greet
Saturday, November 7 - Contest starts at 10:30 PM

details at TRLC.net 

It's time to broaden the "Marriage Equality" discussion

The discussion to date has been all about whether two men or two women should be allowed to marry.  Increasingly that's a no-brainer "yes" answer as more and more of so called main street folks figure out that there are worse things to worry about than two guys wanting to share a tract house and a mini van.

But do you notice who gets thrown under the bus in every marriage equality discussion?  

News to Abuse: Chicago Politics - Rubber on Halstead - Atlanta Eagle Aftermath

Here's hoping he's wrong

Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune offers a second thought opinion about Jack Rinella's political future:

When I wrote last week that sexual orientation is unlikely to be an issue in the upcoming Democratic primary race on the Northwest Side between incumbent Rep. Deb Mell and challenger Joe Laiacona (they're both gay, a first at this level of politics in Illinois) I did so having not pursued a tiny clue buried in the Windy City Times interview with Laiacona:-- that he formerly wrote a column under the pen name "Jack Rinella" for Gay Chicago Magazine.

Capitol Fax publisher Rich Miller called my attention to a brief article from the Windy City TImes in June noting:

Laiacona—who wrote the column "Leather Views" for Gay Chicago magazine for many years under the name Jack Rinella...is also on the board of directors of the Leather Leadership Conference, Inc.

A visit to Jack Rinella's home on the web indicates that among the books he has authored are:

"Philosophy in the Dungeon"
"The Toybag Guide to Clips and Clamps"
"The Master's Manual: A Handbook of Erotic Dominance"

Whatever consenting adults want to do behind closed doors is fine with me, really. But my political-analyst side sees dim electoral prospects for a man so openly enthusiastic for highly unconventional sexual activity.

Or am I just being old school?

Time Out Chicago dives in to the Rubber world with this on Mr International Rubber.

Straight people love latex, and we’re not talking Trojans here. “The straight women’s community is probably the biggest consumer of latex gear in the world,” says William Schendel, co-organizer of the 13th annual Mr. International Rubber 2010 (MIR,mirubber.com) happening November 6–8. “It’s straight men who are driving that. They like to see these women in tight, form-fitting, shiny outfits. It’s kind of a way to turn your woman into Barbie with really sexy gear.”

Of course, many gay men love rubber, too. So much so that the pageant-style competition—which includes presentations, interviews, live demos of rubber play and an audience vote—has ditched its old digs at Cell Block, where more than 600 rubber fetishists annually have taken part in the event, for the more spacious Center on Halsted.

Get the full story here  And don't forget that Leatherati will be blogging live from MIR all next weekend on the Leatherati Live stream.

The Atlanta Eagle post-raid aftermath continues as this blog reports

With it’s insistence that the gay liaison to the Atlanta police remain as co-grand marshal of the massive gay pride march next week, The Pride Committee is telling the 62 guys who had their civil rights trampled on to drop dead.

Six weeks ago, the Atlanta police threw everybody in a gay bar called The Eagle–including sixty year old men–to the ground, handcuffing them face down on the floor (many were laying on broken glass), confiscating their IDs, and shouting homophobic slurs. After two hours, they finally let everyone go. Without a single arrest of the patrons.

Stonewall anyone?

So it came as quite a shock when the Atlanta Pride Committee named the city’s gay police liaison as co-grand marshal of the quarter million person+ parade (coming up this weekend). On the 40th anniversary of Stonewall, no less.

Getting the "sex" back in sexual

Things are looking good in SF apparently.  This from Christine Borden at SF Appeal online: 

If your week is feeling a bit peppier than usual, it's probably all the sex. Not the sex you're having (though maybe it is--I'm not you), but the general sexy vibe in the city. Does it feel like a warmer October week or is it just me, San Francisco?

This past weekend, early Halloween revelers and the sexually adventurous writhed at the Cow Palace for the Exotic Erotic Expo and Ball. Clad in a knee-length leopard print dress, I was most decidedly overdressed, as you can see if you're flipping through the very NSFW photoset below. I was an Exotic Erotic Ball virgin, so I didn't know any better. Plus, I was there in a professional context, so there had to be some modicum of decency, right?

Get Online, Get Informed, Get Off

Gay and lesbians are well-known (and courted by advertisers) as prolific early adopters of technology.  The conversation is ongoing about the impact that being online has had on our traditional meeting and cruising places, namely our leather bars.  

This article from EdgeBoston.com is more information for consideration.  Check it out here

Get Ruff at Leather Pride Weekend in Amsterdam

Looks like another hot event with tons of guys in gear!  It's last minute, but what the hell...details at nighttours.com

Pretty good read on "Gay Leather Bars"

We're always on the hunt for articles and sites that help illuminate our history.  The article below came from the Cuirmale site in the Netherlands.

The best and easiest places for leathermen to meet each other were and are of course the leather bars all around the world. In the mid 1950's the first ones were opened. That was just after the first specifically gay motorcycle clubs were founded. According to Tony DeBlase (former publisher-editor of Drummer magazine and creator of the leather flag in 1989) one of the first bars opened in Los Angeles in the mid-fifties, but by 1957 they also existed in New York and Chicago.

Gear Guide to the weekend - October 27, 2009

News to Abuse: Best Buns - Mr Leather Europe - A New Breed of Gay

It was the ass-less leather chaps that did the trick.

WILTON, Calif. -- A risque rodeo party for charity caused controversy in Wilton, Calif., over the weekend.

The Saturday night event was a fundraiser for Shriners Hospital put on by the Capitol Crossroads Gay Rodeo Association.

One parent told KCRA Sacramento news that he witnessed a "Best Buns" contest in plain view from his driveway; which featured men dancing in chaps and jock straps.

"They had more than best buns: They had everything out there naked, and you can see it plain as day," longtime Wilton resident Monty Stanley said. "What I witnessed there and what you saw on that camera is not different than pornography."

Read the rest of the article at wwwclickondetroit.com

Pieter Claeys of Amsterdam is the new Mister Leather Europe

Saturday the 3rd of October, Pieter Claeys won the Mister Leather Europe 2009 contest on behalf of Motor Sportclub Amsterdam (MSA). For one year Claeys is now an ambassador for Europe’s leather community and will take part in the International Mister Leather contest in Chicago in May 2010. 

The Mister Leather Europe contest is an annual event of the European Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs (ECMC), which was held in Rome this year under the organisation of the ECMC member club Leather Club Roma. 150 attendants, coming from leather clubs as fas as Iceland, Estonia and Switserland decided about the contest’s final outcome together with a jury consisting of club presidents and Ralf Lauritzen Rasmussen, Mr Leather Europe 2008.

Read more about Pieter

A New Breed of Gay (from a quite interesting viewpoint)

Living in the Arab world has its disadvantages. There’s no open gay culture that the common man can be exposed to, leading to packs of homophobic wolves running free, preaching their non-acceptance towards this different breed.

We all know and witness the stereotypical version of a gay man. Clad in skin-tight t-shirts, these somewhat effeminate men walk like ramp models, snap their fingers and say “fabulous, dah-ling” at anything that pleases them. Busted!

The conformists suddenly remember all the holy rules of living in an Islamic state, and Kevin J is dragged away by the coppers, right when he was about to offer that cute guy on the other side (me!) a daiquiri. I was going to decline and tell him that I don’t swing that way, but the pigs got to him first. And then a few days later, everything changed.

Continue the story here