Leatherati

Rugby Star "Supports" Gay Sports Day

 As reported by the PinkPaper.com, Rugby star and gay icon Ben Cohen is showing his support for this weekend’s Gay Sports Day by signing a jock strap and t-shirt for giveaway in a charity auction. 

The framed t-shirt featuring a picture of Ben and the signed jock strap are just a few of the items which will be put up for sale at the sports event taking place in Spring Gardens in Vauxhall on 30 August.

Other items in the auction include made-to-measure rubber jeans, leather wrist restraints and a top harness. There will also be a raffle during the day to win items donated by Clone Zone, Gay’s The Word and Regulation. 

Proceeds from the event which will feature teams compete in a drag relay, handbag throwing and a 50m mince race will go to support organisers of the day GMFA, the gay men’s health charity, and the Royal Vauxhall Tavern>

Part of the proceeds will also be given to two organisations that help look after the local Vauxhall community - Vauxhall City Farm, a working farm that volunteers transformed from a derelict piece of land back in the 70s, and The Friends of Spring Gardens, which helps maintain the land where the sports day takes place. 

Editor's note - We're VERY curious to know if the rubber jeans, leather wrist restraints, and harness are Ben's as well!

Live Blog Tonight - West Coast Rubber Preview

Hey everyone!  We've added a whole bunch of new live blog tools to Leatherati and we're giving them a test run tonight as an intro to West Coast Rubber. We'll be blogging live from the Eagle LA for their monthly Rub Out.  

Check it out on Leatherati Live and let us know what you think.  

Power Exchange or Shut Up And Lick My Boots?

I guess you could call this a reaction to a reaction to a reaction.  Huh?

I ran across an article by Lera Gavin in a blog called Ask a Domme that piqued my interest.  In the blog entry, our Pro Domme in question is reacting to another blogger who took issue with her style of writing saying she had a misguided approach to BDSM and contributed negatively to the culture she was representing.  Huh?

She thought Lera was an untrained, ignorant and possibly dangerous Pro Domme.

None of that is what caught my interest.  I liked the part where Lera expressed her beef about "every pompous pseudo-academic who tries to turn BDSM into a politically correct activity. BDSM is not some therapy session which enables "self growth." "  Go on, I'm interested!

I love the next part:  "The true art of BDSM is all about power, fear, and suffering. Scary? Well, it's supposed to be. No professional dominatrix wants to seriously harm a client, but if you don't see at least a hint of real fear in your submissive's eyes, you're not doing your job right. In a way, old school feminists were right, S&M does eroticize power and violence, and all the PC jargon such as "sex positive," "personal empowerment," and "energy exchange" are just a way of avoiding this inconvenient truth. A dungeon is not a place where you come to boost your self-esteem. Exactly the opposite."

I know a lot of players will disagree with this point of view and agree with the original dissenter that Lera's application is dangerous.  Maybe, but I'm convinced that the thing that attracts most of us to the scene is the raw emotion, fear, and heart pumping jazz that we get from operating on the edge.  And sometimes that edge is sharp and we get cut.  The blood reminds us that we're alive and feeling.

My heart rate went up 20 ticks just writing about it!

Great Lakes Leather Alliance

Another successful Great Lakes Leather Alliance weekend just wrapped up in Indianapolis, IN.  This was the 9th annual GLAA event and ran from August 20 to August 22, 2010.

Attendees enjoyed over 24 workshops, an onsite dungeon, five contests, numerous cocktail parties, a movie theatre, 24 hour pool and hot tub access and a wonderful atrium hospitality area.

The new GLAA titleholders (left to right) are:

Master Dan Great Lakes Master 2010
dawn Great Lakes slave 2010
Pandora Great Lakes Ms Leather Pride 2010
pup snuggles Great Lakes Leatherboy 2011
Mr. Monte, Great Lakes LeatherSIR 2011
Piglet, Great Lakes Bootblack 2010

Congratulations to all these winners for their hard work and dedication. 

The weekend event had over 400 in attendance and the hotel sold out almost 2 months prior to the event.  You should definitely plan to join in all the fun next year for the 10 anniversary celebration.

More information at www.greatlakesleather.org

BDSM Popularity Growing Among Seniors

Check out this really interesting article on the web blog Gapers Block. 

Years ago when I was an emerging kinkster from Nebraska (where any type of adventurous sex life seemed to die after age 30), I was thrilled to meet Daddy Alan Selby , then in his early 60's, and discover that in fact oldsters not only play but play hard! Now that I'm in my 50's, I'm planning on going strong for decades to come.

NW LeatherSIR/boy & Community Bootblack

Northwest LeatherSIR/boy & Community Bootblack Contest Sept. 3 - Sept. 5, 2010

BLUE COLLAR is the theme for this year's Northwest LeatherSIR/Leatherboy and Community Bootblack Contest, to be held at the The Cuff Complex, 1533 13th Avenue, Seattle, on September 4th. Doors open at 6pm, and the evening's festivities will begin promptly at 7pm. 

The contest will feature Leathermen, leatherboys and Bootblacks from the Northwest competing and being judged by a panel of judges comprised of Leatherfolk from the local and national leather communities. Contestants will compete in the categories of Interview, Leather Image & Speech, Physique and Fantasy.

The Meat-and-Greet is on Friday, September 3rd, at Doghouse Leather, Seattle, Washington. There will also be a continental victory brunch at Lady Lydia's Dungeon

Co-Emcees for this event will be Lamalani Severts, International Ms. Leather 2009; and Lynnda Hale, Ms. Oregon State Leather 2006. 

The Northwest LeatherSir/Leatherboy & Community Bootblack Contest is produced by Generic Leather Productions of Washington, a 501(c)3 Nonprofit Corporation, whose mission is to produce events that raise money for charities that benefit the alternative sexuality community.

The Northwest Region of the International LeatherSir/Leatherboy Contest system is comprised of the following US States: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.

For further information contact the Executive Producer, Gene Romaine, at g_romaine@msn.com

Strict Dress Code Events - Coming Up!

Get the Gear back on!

Gear Up - perv party on Saturday, September 4th during the West Coast Rubber weekend in Los Angeles.  Gear Up is multi-sex/uality 21+ only with dedicated men's play space and runs from 9 PM to 3 AM.  Tix and details at www.westcoastrubber.com

FetishMenSanDiego is hosting a STRICT DRESSCODE night at the San Diego Eagle on Wednesday, September 15, 2010, starting at 8PM. For full details and the dress code rules, check out FetishMenSanDiego.org and get on the mailing-list, too!

Anvil Club - extreme dress code party at a private dungeon in North Hollywood, CA is coming up on Saturday, October 23rd from 10 PM to 4 AM.  Anvil Club is men 21+ and entrance by approved application only at www.anvil-club.com

Full disclosure - both Gear Up and Anvil Club are produced by the parent corporation of Leatherati under the DBA of L8XGuys

South Plains Leatherfest

South Plains Leatherfest & International Master/slave Weekend
February 25-27, 2011 in Dallas, Texas

Whether you‚re interested in Master/slave relationships, cutting edge SM, awesome play parties, or want to support your regional Int‚l Master/slave 2011 contestant pair -- you‚ll find what you‚re looking for when you join 500+ leatherfolk from across the country at South Plains Leatherfest / International Master/slave Weekend in Dallas, February 25-27, 2011. 

Weekend package registration is just $99 through 12-19-10.  

You can find details on the weekend including, seminars, play parties, contest, sponsorship, vending and volunteer opportunities at www.southplainsleatherfest.com 

Blackout XV in Ft Lauderdale

ONYX, the National Fraternity for gay and bisexual Men of Color in the Leather lifestyle, invites you to join them for Blackout XV, their Annual Weekend Run of freaky fun & fellowship.  This year, the ONYX Mid-Atlantic Chapter will host Blackout XV in Fort Lauderdale from Thursday, October 7th through Monday October 11th.  

Scheduled events include: 

• Welcome Reception
• How Low Can You Go Bar Crawl, Part I
• Vendors Marketplace
• ONYX University
• BDSM Demonstrations
• How Low Can You Go Bar Crawl, Part II
• Fellowship Dinner, Lips
• Buze Cruze on the Sin Ship

Full Registration is $100 for the Weekend, which includes:

• Entry and transportation to all official events
• Breakfast/brunches, lunch and dinner per schedule
• Swag Bag, Blackout 15 T-Shirt, Souvenirs and Surprises

Registration increases to $120 after September 1 and onsite Registration will be $135.  Check out www.onyxmidatlantic.com for more information.

Step-Up, Dance and Celebrate in Toronto

From August 13th to 15th, 2010, our Northland correspondent, J.J. Deogracias traversed through three major fetish events happening in Toronto that weekend in many, many, many outfits.

Mr. Rubber Toronto 2011

At the Mr. Rubber Toronto (MRT) step-down/step-up party on August 13th, the outgoing MRT 2010 the current reigning Mr. International Rubber, Fenn kicked off the event with one swing around the stripper pole at Goodhandy’s Pansexual Playground, and joked, "That was the action you get… for not getting any contestants ". In his step-down speech, he thanked all the people and sponsors who helped him out during his title year and all those whom he slept with “whose names [he] couldn’t remember” while bantering with members of the audience.


After making the audience laugh with his impromptu stand-up, Fenn introduced the man who stepped-up as his successor as Mr. Rubber Toronto 2011 – Mikiki. Introducing himself to the audience, Mikiki is a coordinator of the Poz Prevention program with the People With AIDS Foundation, which provides sexual health and engagement for gay positive men. Mikiki hopes to connect people in the fetish scene to   organizations like PWA Foundation through this title, and looks forward to playing and working with everyone during his year. To round off Mikiki’s appointment as MRT 2011, Fenn passes to Mikiki a rubber vest that was given to Fenn originally with the wrong year, which Fenn amended with duct tape and drew “2011” on the duct tape with felt marker.

Despite no competition for MRT 2011, the crowd was entertained by Mistress Victoria doing a fire play demo on Fenn and myself, and pup Smokey and Fenn mummifying the new MRT to the stripper pole and accessorizing the mummification with the international rubber flag in duct tape.