A fun slice of Titleholder History from the Sydney Star Observer
Thirty years ago this May, an Aussie leatherman conquered the USA. Patrick Brookes’ still unmatched success as the only Australian to win the International Mr Leather Competition, in Chicago in 1980, may present a challenge or represent an aspiration for current members of the leather scene, but for the somewhat shy architect who donned that sash, it was nothing more than fun and fantasy. “I don’t really understand people who say their lifestyle is ‘being a leatherman’. Do they live and go to work in leather? To me, it’s just an image of a particular fantasy,” Brookes told Sydney Star Observer from the inner-west home he designed and built.
“Everybody has a different fantasy, so that produces a different image. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, with the right image.”
After winning a host of local competitions and titles, Brookes was cajoled by friends and the Star’s founder, Michael Glynn, into jetting to Chicago to take part in the second-ever International Mr Leather competition.
A press release from Temptations Direct explains it all...
The downturn is making British people kinkier, according to one of the UK’s top online sex shops, Temptations Direct (http://www.temptationsdirect.co.uk ). With a focus on their purse as well as their pleasure, cash-strapped adults are swapping a night out in the pub for a sensational, BDSM-inspired night in the bedroom with handcuffs, clamps and restraints, turning this country into the United Kinkdom.
Temptations Direct is one of the UK’s five largest online retailers of adult goods. During 2009, it witnessed the sales of fetish products growing significantly more than adult products in general. And, recently, sales of fetish goods ahead of Valentines Day 2010 more than doubled on sales in 2009. In particular, there was a sharp rise in demand for novelty fetish items such as furry handcuffs.
We did a great interview with Jeff Jarnigan back at MAL which left us very impressed with this hardworking titleholder.
At the MR SECC 2010 Leather weekend Jeff finally got to take a deep breath and begin to contemplate relaxing as he passed his duties over to the new Mr SECC Leather. But knowing Jeff it's only a momentary pause before he's back in the saddle.
Third Rail Media was on hand for the 2010 Mr San Diego Eagle Leather contest. The winner goes on to compete at the Mr San Diego Leather on March 20th 2010.
New Owners for Piston's Bar in Long Beach
Pistons Bar in Long Beach, CA has a new chapter in its long history of serving the gay leather community. On Saturday, February 20th new owners Robert Stace and Koby Bennett took over from long-time previous owner John Clifton.
Piston's has operated continuously at the same location for 44 years, previously known as Mike's Corral and Wolf's and finally with the current name since 1996. Pistons features several monthly events catering to the fetish crowd including Friday night gear nights and FIST Central on the 4th Saturday of each month.
Pistons is also the home bar of Mr Pistons Leather, Mr LA Leather Bear, Mr Golden Leather and Mr Long Beach Leather, and plays host to numerous Imperial Court events throughout the year.
New owners Robert and Koby actually met at a Pistons beer bust almost 13 years ago and were legally married in California in November 2008. They are excited with their new venture and have numerous changes in store to bring Pistons to a new level of service to the Long Beach leather community including the addition of a large parking long behind the bar and the upgrade to a a full liquor license.
Best of luck guys!
New Energy for California Leather Sir/boy
Mike Russell, International Leather Sir 2003 and Producer for the California Leather Sir/boy and Community Bootblack contest, promises that California is poised to once again become "mecca" for our community. And the hard work being put in by Mike and his team are proving that they're on the way.
The Northern and Southern California titles were combined in 2009 and the first year out of the gate had a few rocky spots. Things couldn't be more different this year. The production team, led by Mike, have been pounding the pavement for months drumming up interest, lining up sponsors and cajoling possible contestants statewide.
In case you didn't know, the contest has moved to Palm Springs to the weekend of April 23 - 25 and will be hosted by the Barracks Bar, which happens to be managed by International Leather Sir 2002 Dale Breunig. The contest winners will go on to compete at ILS/b/IBB over the Dore Alley weekend in San Francisco.
There's still some space available in the weekend contest book and other sponsorship options. Contact Mike Russell through the group's Facebook page. And hurry up and get in line if you're ready to step up as a Sir/boy/Bootblack contestant.
Nothing runs as well as it should unless you have a good Boy on hand. And that goes double for contests!
At the Mr SECC Leather Contest weekend the BIC (Boy in Charge) was none other than Glenn Deharde from the South Florida Boys of Leather. We managed to snag him for a few minutes to get his input on titles and titleholders and how Boys fit in to the community.
For decades we as Leatherfolk were forced to hide our sexuality in dark bars and darker alleys. More recently we have been allowed to come out in public in the daylight for the local annual Gay Pride Parade (provided we wore jeans under our chaps and left the single tail whips at home). While the alleys may still have a certain allure for some, it is time to claim our rightful place in modern society.
The Leather Community of Fort Lauderdale, Florida has created L-Sirs the Leather Social Intercourse and Recreational Society. L-Sirs are hosting monthly dress code social events supporting our local Leather Bar but moving on to mainstream locations. Restaurants, The Broward Center for Performing Arts, Parker Playhouse and more are all on our social calendar. Challenge yourself; Challenge your friends; Challenge your community; Claim your rightful Citizenship!
American Leatherwoman 2009 Dakota has split her travel year between travel to events and the work with her clubs that she's involved with in the Southeast. We caught up with her at SECC where she served on the judging panel.
Leatherati.com has an ongoing feature of placing a poll on the site on some topic of interest to the community. For me that provides great material for discussing the issues surrounding the poll in question. So, from time to time, when the polls complete, I'll be reviewing the responses, providing my interpretation of the results, some thoughts on the topic and the results, and looking for additional questions to ask to open discussion with the larger community out there.
The latest poll asked the big question "What purpose(s) do leather contests serve?"
First, the facts: there were 140 respondents to the poll. This may seem like a small sample but it is important to consider that nationwide polls attempting to account for the full population often will have a sample on the order of 2000 responses. 140 responses is a very healthy sample set for casual polling.
Each respondent could select up to three choices.
The results, in order by popularity:
Gather the Tribe (53.6%)
Dress Up/Show Off (30.0%)
Honor Our Heritage (27.9%)
Create Leaders (24.3%)
Fundraising (23.6%)
Pump Up Egos (22.9%)
Build Bridges (16.4%)
Bring in Newbies (15.7%)
Support Businesses (11.4%)
No Purpose (10.0%)
There is a great deal of confusion and mixed signals in our community about "protocols". The protocolists decry the disappearance of our leather traditions while the loosely defined New Guards insist that new traditions are emerging and we can't be hidebound (so to speak) by the protocols of old. As usual both sides have merit.
The leather lifestyle is by nature a radical expression of our sexuality and our personality. How can you constrain radical into a set of commandments? At the same time our experience grows from tradition and we avoid being complete outlaws by following a set of personally identified protocols that pave the way for our journey.
Here are a set of protocols originally set out by Brother Jerry in 2001 and are a pretty good base point to begin either the adoption or discussion of protocols.
No touch without permission
This is something that is relatively recent in the past few decades, but seems to be wildly accepted across the country. Respect is given to ALL members of the community
Master/Dom/Daddy as well as slave/boy/pet. No one has the right to touch another without expressed permission. In the case of a slave/pet it is usually with the permission of his master/owner.
It is considered very respectful to ask permission of everyone to touch, even if it is as simple as a hug. Permission given to touch is not about the person asking the question, it is about the person who is giving permission. If someone says No, this should not be taken as offense or personal, remember, it is not about YOU (the asker) it is about the person you are wishing to have contact with.
It is considered very disrespectful to touch without permission especially in scenarios of ass slapping/grabbing when one is going bare-assed, the grabbing or pulling of a boy/slaves collar (it can also be dangerous), harnesses, or of someone's personal belongings (whips, floggers, and even human property).
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