Calling All Wannabees

(Published in Lavender Lifestyles Magazine, Issue #17, January 19, 1996)

During the time I’ve been writing this column I’ve been introduced as LavLife’s leather columnist to quite a few people. Their reactions vary from a polite “pleased to meet you” to various degrees of fawning and drooling (just kidding!) Seriously, though, there has been one curious reaction that I have heard many times over. It is this: “Oh, so you’re into the leather scene? Me, I’m just a leather wannabee!”

I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me that I hear this “leather wannabee” response so often, because for many years I was a leather wannabee myself. Shortly after coming out at age 19, I was doing—ahem—”research” when I discovered Drummer Magazine. It was unlike any other gay magazine I had ever seen until then; the men were different than the men I saw in In Touch or David (and certainly different than the men in Playgirl, which was my primary source of beefcake at the time).

The men in those other magazines ranged from ruggedly handsome to overly pretty. The Drummer men, however, were in a class by themselves. I almost didn’t know it was possible for anyone to be that rugged and that masculine. Even fully clothed in leather, they exuded more sex than a lot of the naked guys in the other magazines. Of course, the Drummer men got naked too, and that was phenomenal. And then they started doing unspeakable things to each other’s bodies, which was scary. (“Gosh, doesn’t that hurt?”) Scary, but also strangely, secretly, somewhat shamefully attractive; it repulsed me when I thought about it, but some of what I saw in Drummer kept showing up in my fantasies for years.

As I got older, I kept my leather fantasies to myself. The thought of a big, masculine leatherman even wanting to speak to someone like me seemed outlandish. And the thought that I could actually meet that leatherman on his own turf was beyond outlandish—it was impossible. If I would have had the gall to actually put on leather and invade their territory, I felt like I would have been recognized as the phony I was and laughed (or thrown) right out the door.

I wasn’t even a leather wannabee. I was a leather wish-I-could-but-know-I-can’t-be.

Well, obviously a few things have changed, the first and most fundamental being my attitude towards leather. Once I gave myself permission to actually interact with leatherfolk I discovered that those tough people in leather were actually very friendly and accepting. And I discovered that leather is about inclusion, not exclusion.

Moral of story: If something about leather attracts and excites you, you don’t have to be “just a wannabee.” Give yourself the freedom to explore all the facets of leather life, and you’ll be amazed at the new vistas you’ll discover. You may really get off on certain aspects of the scene; other aspects may not be to your liking. You get to choose what works for you and what doesn’t—you don’t have to buy the whole package in order to be a “real” member of the leather community.

You, too, can be a member of the leather community. I personally invite you to come check it out. You don’t have to be intimidated. We won’t bite.

Unless, of course, you want us to.

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If the various international titles are the leather community’s version of Miss America, then the upcoming Pantheon of Leather (sponsored by The Leather Journal) is the leather community’s version of the Academy Awards. This year, 380 individuals, businesses and organizations are nominated to receive awards in twenty-one categories including man, woman, club and business of the year, as well as various regional awards. Among the nominees for this year’s Midwest Regional Award are Madison’s Alvin Robinson (the current Great Lakes Mr. Drummer), as well as J.D. Laufman, Heartless, and Your Humble Columnist, all from the Twin Cities. Congratulations, J.D., Heartless, and Alvin; I’m honored to be included in such esteemed company.

The awards will be presented Sunday afternoon, February 11 at the 1996 Pantheon of Leather VI in New Orleans.

Upcoming Events

Sunday, January 21: The Atons present Snow Ball/Winter Sleaze, Gay 90’s Dance Annex, 4-9 p.m. $5.00 admission includes beer, sodas, food. “Best Buns” and “Sleaziest Jeans” contest. Hanky code information available (and hankies for sale!)

Friday-Sunday, Feb. 16-18: The Black Guard presents Black Frost 19, “Spurred On In ’96.” Registration deadline Feb. 1.

New Year's Resolutions

(Published in Lavender Lifestyles Magazine, Issue #16, January 5, 1996)

Happy New Year! By now we’ve done our celebrating, so let’s get down to the business of resolutions.

It seems like every year, a few days before Christmas, I always have at least one friend who is hospitalized with pneumocystis. This year was no different and no easier. Six months ago he was robust; it was jarring to see how frail he had become. I thought to myself, “Why does he have to go through this? He shouldn’t have to. Nobody should have to.” Life and the universe didn’t seem terribly fair at that point.

As I left the hospital, for some reason I remembered a poster I saw last September in San Francisco that asked an intriguing and sobering question: “What have you done lately to stop AIDS?”

What an empowering way of looking at it. Asking the question this way leaves no room for making it someone else’s responsibility. There are brilliant people in laboratories everywhere who are looking for a cure and a vaccine, and I hope they find something soon. But in the meantime, there’s a nasty little epidemic running loose out there. We know there are steps that each of us can take to stop the virus from spreading. Doing our part to stop AIDS is our responsibility both to ourselves and to others.

So I would like to encourage you to make a New Year’s resolution or two. Regardless of your HIV status, resolve to practice safe sex every time. If you have questions about what’s safe and what’s not, make a resolution to get the answers. Every sexual encounter that’s safe represents a little victory over the virus—it means that, for this one time, it didn’t get a chance to spread. It may not be a cure or a vaccine, but it’s still extremely significant.

If you’re positive, resolve to take care of yourself so you can stay as healthy as possible. Whatever that means for you, resolve to do it. And resolve not to lose hope for the future. I am meeting more and more people who have been infected for long periods of time and who are leading healthy, productive, fulfilling lives. Every one of these people represent another reason not to lose hope.

If you’re negative, resolve to do what you need to do to stay that way. One aspect of staying negative is physical: knowing what’s safe and what’s not, and choosing to be safe every time. Then there’s the mental aspect of not losing hope, not giving in to mind games. Sometimes it’s hard not to wonder why so many of my friends have the virus and I don’t. There are times I could easily slip into feeling guilty about being negative, and there are times I could easily give in to fatalism: “So many other people have it, it’s only a matter of time before I get it, so why should I bother being safe?” But none of us can afford to think such dangerous thoughts. If you’ve made it this far through the epidemic and you’re still negative, now is definitely not the time to throw in

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to write this column as a way of honoring my friend’s struggle and as a way of helping others avoid that struggle. Incidentally, since that visit the drugs appear to be working and he’s getting stronger. I hope he makes it out of the hospital. I hope he gets to go home again. I hope he gets to go to Mexico this winter—and next winter, and the winter after that.

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For the record: Two columns ago I told you that Dale Willman was traveling to Denver to compete in the first-ever Mr. Rocky Mountain Olympus contest. It gives me great pleasure to announce that Dale was awarded the prize for First Runner-up. Attaboy, Dale! (By the way, current Great Lakes Drummerboy troy traveled to Denver with Dale and obviously did a good job assisting him.)

UPCOMING EVENTS

Mark these dates on your brand-new 1996 calendar.

January 14: Whips & Wheels, 5-9 p.m., Gay 90’s Dance Annex, admission by donation. A fundraiser featuring Ms. Minnesota Leather, Mr. Minnesota Leather, Leatherman of Minnesota and Ms. Twin Cities Leather. See event posters for more details.

January 21: The Atons present the Snow Bowl!


February XX & XX: The Black Guard present Black Frost 17, “Spurred On In ’96.” Get your registration forms in soon!

Norman Rockwell—NOT!

(Published in Lavender Lifestyles Magazine, Issue #15, December 22, 1995)

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwaanza, Solstice or none of the above, Christmas Day will soon be here. Society tells us that on Christmas we are supposed to get together with the rest of our (biological) families and do Norman Rockwell scenes. If we don’t do this (either because we can’t or don’t want to) we are supposed to feel lonely and empty. The entire rest of the world is playing Ozzie & Harriet—what’s wrong with us?

We in the leather community certainly don’t have a corner on holiday stress, but we sometimes have to face issues that vanilla society doesn’t. Family issues tend to be more stressful around the holidays for gay people in general—add kinkiness to the mix and the situation can become even worse. In family and other social situations, we are often presented with two bad alternatives: stay in the closet about who we are and feel ashamed, or be out and risk feeling uncomfortable at best and being snubbed at worst.

If Christmas is supposed to be such a warm-fuzzy time of year, why is it so stressful for so many of us? And what can we do about it?

Well, we can start by looking honestly at the situation. My partner Ken has stated that, in his opinion, Norman Rockwell was not a painter or even an illustrator—he was a subversive agent, brainwashing us all into believing romantic notions of family life that even in vanilla terms simply aren’t realistic. Ken also says that even Ozzie and Harriet weren’t real; as evidence, he cites the manner of son Ricky Nelson’s untimely death (a cocaine-related plane crash, if I remember properly). There’s no reason to beat ourselves up emotionally for failing to live up to what is an illusory ideal.

Face it, we leatherfolk are outlaws. We don’t always play by society’s rules the rest of the year; why should the holidays be any different? Rather than Norman Rockwell telling us what we should want, let’s ask ourselves how we really want to spend the day. Let’s not be limited by convention. Do we want to gather at someone’s home for a big holiday meal? Spend the day with just our partner, a roaring fire in the fireplace, and a sling? Have a Solstice orgy with 20 or 30 or 100 of our closest friends? (“I’m dreaming of a wet Christmas . . . ”)

Every year on Christmas night gay bars are teeming with people who have just spent the day at a family gathering and need a dose of reality, freedom and fresh air. I’ve heard the opinion expressed that anyone who would spend Christmas night at a bar is a lonely, pathetic soul. I don’t agree, and I say thank goodness that there is a gathering place where an antidote is available for those who need it. (I hasten to add that the “antidote” to which I am referring is fellowship, not alcohol.)

It doesn’t matter what other people think about how you celebrate the holiday. What matters is that it be uplifting and meaningful for you. That’s my holiday wish for all my readers—whatever you celebrate, however you celebrate it.

A final word: there’s a wonderful book by Mary Borhek called Coming Out To Parents: A Two-Way Survival Guide for Lesbians, Gay Men And Their Parents. It discusses holiday issues along with lots of other family-related topics. If you or your parents are feeling family stress I recommend it highly, and the fact that I’m the author’s son has absolutely nothing to do with my recommendation.

An Open Letter From Darlette Knox, Ms. Minnesota Leather 1995, to the Leather Community at Large:

I’m writing in this form in hopes of reaching those whom I could not personally thank for all the support. I wanted to thank everybody for coming out and supporting the leather functions and the Mr. and Ms. Minnesota Leather and the Leatherman of Minnesota contests. Without the direct support of all of you the leather lifelight in the Twin Cities would be dim.

A big thank you goes out to the leather clubs and organizations, the GDI’s, the supporters and promotors, the judges and all the attendees and entertainers. I am honored and feel privileged to represent Minnesota and will carry and present the title with pride.

Lastly, our community is growing and your continued support does not go unnoticed. All of you who come out are appreciated as well as needed, and I hope that all of you have a warm and wonderful holiday season. And again, thank you very much.

Darlette

Questions and Answers

(Published in Lavender Lifestyles Magazine, Issue #14, December 8, 1995)

What’s a bootblack? How do hanky codes work? When you talk about the “leather community,” what exactly are you talking about?

These are just a few of the leather-related questions I’ve heard lately, and those questions deserve answers. Therefore, today’s column, striving to educate, inform and entertain at the same time, takes a Q&A format.

What’s a bootblack? When a leather event advertises “bootblack in attendance,” it means there will be someone there polishing (or shining) boots. This person will probably use a lot of black boot polish and very little of any other color-—hence, “bootblack.”

How do hanky codes work? I could fill three columns answering this question. Here are the basics: Hanky in left pocket = top or dominant. Hanky in right pocket = bottom or submissive. Common colors: navy blue = fucking, grey = light SM [this was disputed, and I later published a correction: grey = bondage], black = heavy SM, red = fisting, yellow = watersports. (If you want to know what “fisting” or “watersports” are, ask me and I’ll tell you in a future column—see below.) There are many, many more, including handcuffs and teddy bears.

Keep in mind that in the dim light of a bar it’s sometimes difficult to tell exactly what color a hanky is, and some of the colors are pretty close even in the daylight. If you have a question about what color a hanky is or what it means, it’s okay to ask. It’s better to find out the color while you’re still at the bar, instead of dragging someone home only to find that the hanky you thought was navy blue is really black (or vice versa).

What exactly is this “leather community” that you’re always talking about? That was a humbling question to hear. Since I understand what it is, I just assume everyone else does too. For those of you who have been scratching your heads wondering what this “leather community” is all about, here’s as good an explanation as I can come up with.

There is no exact definition of the leather community; in order to belong you don’t have to join anything, or sign up for anything. You can join a club if you want, but you don’t have to. (That’s where another term, “GDI”—which stands for “God-Damned Independent”—comes from.) Basically, anyone who desires to be part of the community can join it.

So who are the people in the leather community? Members can be any age and any sexual orientation. There are gay men, gay women, bisexuals (people who feel attraction for both sexes), pansexuals (people who play sexually with both sexes), and even straights. Some people in the leather community don’t even wear that much leather—they may be more into latex, or spandex, or other types of fetishwear. Some members are into heavy sadomasochism, some only slightly, some not at all.

It’s a pretty diverse and wide-ranging group which happens to be united by several characteristics. We tend to be drawn to things and activities, sexually and in other areas of our lives, that general “polite” (or “vanilla”) society frowns upon and says we should feel ashamed of. We tend not to feel ashamed of them, however, but to celebrate them instead. That makes us outlaws, but for a lot of us that just adds to the excitement. We may sometimes find ourselves ostracized and shunned by “polite” society for what we see as flimsy reasons. Because we don’t appreciate being shunned, it behooves us not to shun anyone else just because they may see things differently that we do. That means the leather community, at its best, is a very open and accepting group of people.

Now, an invitation: If you have a question, send it BY MAIL to my attention c/o Lavender Lifestyles. I can’t promise I’ll answer them all, but I’ll answer as many as I can. And if I don’t know the answer, someone else probably will. (Please, no phone calls. The LavLife staff are wonderful people, and I’d hate to put them in the spot of having to take all those messages for me.)

——

Good Luck to Dale Willman: On Saturday, December 9, our own Dale Willman will be competing in the Mr. Great Plains Olympus competition at the Triangle in Denver. (For the record, a Ms. Great Plains Olympus winner will also be chosen, but Dale won’t be in that competition.) The winners go on to compete in the first-ever International Mr. and Ms. Olympus competition February 10 in New Orleans. This international contest is part of the Pantheon of Leather and is presented by The Leather Journal.

Leatherman of MN/Ms. MN Leather

(Published in Lavender Lifestyles Magazine, Issue #13, November 24, 1995)

The Leatherman of Minnesota/Ms. Minnesota Leather contest was held Sunday, Nov. 5 in the Gay 90’s Dance Annex. In spite of talk about the community being burned out on contests, those in attendance certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves. Darlette Knox won the Ms. Minnesota Leather title, while runner-up BK took the Ms. Twin Cities Leather title. The new Leatherman of Minnesota is Thomas (who was runner-up in the recent Mr. Minnesota Leather contest). True, Thomas was the only male contestant, but he still had to earn the title. In situations such as this, the contestant must score a certain minimum number of points or the title is not awarded. (I was at a contest in Omaha last year where that happened; the only male contestant didn’t score enough points and the current titleholder was asked to hold the title for a second year.) Congratulations to Darlette, BK and Thomas; I thought you all presented yourselves very well.

The show was ably cohosted by Beth Kelley (Ms. Leather Madison) and new Mr. Minnesota Leather Michael deLeon, who did quite well in his first experience as an emcee. Crowd-pleasing fantasies were presented by Dale Willman and troy, Darlette Knox and strong>Nickie, Beth Kelley and Goo, and Tiffany Cartier, the new Miss Gay 90’s (who performed three fantasies!).

Man Bites Community, cont’d.: The recent potshots aimed by the Club Kids at the leather community in Demure Butchness #7 certainly have the community talking. This week’s topic: young people and “pretty boys.”

The Club Kids point to a paradox: At most leather events you hear lip service paid to the concepts of unity, acceptance and inclusiveness. Yet one Club Kid has been told he was too much of a “pretty boy” to fit into the leather community, and another was told that he was too emotionally immature and should try again later when he could “handle it.”

Great Lakes Drummerboy troy responds that although he’s young, he certainly feels welcome in the community. In an interview, Atons president B.D. Chambers made the point that yes, the leather mentoring system has broken down due to AIDS and the community hasn’t had a chance to rebuild it yet. “It’s not we don’t welcome young people,” says Bruce, “but no one likes someone who’s pretty and knows it and thinks he’s prettier than everyone else. There are people who will show up at the Halloween party, for instance, and have some fun but who then won’t talk to you on the street, because you aren’t pretty enough or fashionable enough. And they aren’t afraid to tell you about it. The way to get involved is to show up at events and talk to people. If you show up at events, but you just stand around and make faces at people who don’t fit your image, you’re not going to meet people or get involved in the community. And you will find other people standoffish.

“Bitchiness aside, there are valid points to this diatribe. We do need to be aware that we need to find a way to reach out to new people and to make ourselves accessible. We need to rebuild or replace the old mentoring system, so that as people express interest in leather they can find a way to hook in and learn about the community and lifestyle.

“It’s good to take a moment to reflect on our attitudes — are we being standoffish? Are we thinking that just because they’re good-looking they must be “pretty boys” and therefore unapproachable? Self-analysis can be useful, and having someone in our face about it, while not fun, does give us a moment to ask ourselves these questions.”

UPCOMING EVENT

Atons “Making the Streets Safe For Santa” Party
Sunday, Dec 3, 4-9 pm, Gay 90’s Dance Annex and Men’s Room.
With a theme like this, you know it’s going to be good. Entertainment of all sorts is planned including a self-defense instructor (!). Vince will be cutting hair and a leather Santa or two will be there, posing with patrons for pictures. Food, keg beer and sodas will be provided. Admission is $8 at door, or $5 with non-perishable food items or a new (non-giftwrapped) toy. The food items and toys will be given to the Aliveness Project while door receipts benefit the Queer Street Patrol. The Atons has a voice-mail line for questions; or for leather technophiles, their e-mail address is ATONSMPLS@aol.com.

Contest Winners

(Published in Lavender Lifestyles Magazine, Issue #12, November 10, 1995)

As George Bush would say, it’s been Contest City around here lately, but contest attendance has been rather light. For those of you who weren’t there, here’s what you missed at the Mr. Minnesota Leather contest and the Mr. Gay 90’s Leather contest.

Mr. Minnesota Leather:

Six men competed for this title on a recent Saturday afternoon in the Gay 90’s Dance Annex. The show started with high-energy precision dance troupe 202 Jam (the audience loved them). Later in the show, comedienne Jody Maruska drew big laughs and much applause.

Contestants John and Gary performed their fantasy together (the first fantasy I’ve ever seen that included a cellular phone!). Thomas performed a hot shaving fantasy in a jockstrap. Norm did a classic S&M (stand & model) fantasy, but did it so very well. LaRon’s fantasy got the biggest audience reaction due to his wicked Bette Davis impression. Michael’s fantasy featured special guest star Dr. Bob (and slave) doing a heavy-duty bondage demo.

The erotic attire contest segment could have been better. This was not the fault of the contestants, who did the best they could under very bad circumstances—bright, flat lighting and absolute silence. Memo for next year: it’s much easier to be seductive when you have some sexy music and lighting getting the audience in the mood.

The results: 2nd runner-up, LaRon; 1st runner-up, Thomas; and the new Mr. Minnesota Leather, Michael DeLeon. Congratulations and best wishes to all.

Mr. Gay 90’s Leather:

In previous years this contest, held in the Men’s Room Bar, has been loud, boisterous, rowdy—but certainly never boring! What happened this year? Did the entire audience overdose on Prozac? The first contestant strutted his stuff and got absolutely no reaction from the (small) crowd. The off-stage announcer said, “You can clap if you want to.” I tried to start some applause, but it didn’t work. Three more contestants met the same lack of response. Finally, Bill Thompson took the stage in a spectacular chain harness and got some applause, as did Lee Sickler, the last contestant. Congratulations to winner Bill Thompson; thanks to you there will be another good-looking leatherman’s portrait hanging on the wall of the 90’s. And to Bill and the other contestants: Please don’t let this rather lackluster contest experience dim your enthusiasm for leather in general or leather contests in particular. Any of the contestants would be a welcome addition to any other leather contest.

Man Bites Community:

Fellow LavLife columnist Timothy Lee also publishes a ’zine called Demure Butchness. Issue #7, “The Nasty Issue,” more than lives up to its name as Timmer & Co. diss just about everybody. There are references to the leather community sprinkled throughout its pages, but the most vitriol is found on pages 40 and 41, in which the “Club Kids” bitch about various aspects of the community, including this column, which they say is “usually about surface previews of upcoming events at the Gay 90’s.” They’re right when they say “That’s calendar listing materials.” But so far, there is no local newsletter (like they have in Seattle, for instance), and I’ve never seen a local leather calendar other than those formerly issued by the Atons. Quite often at leather events I’ve had people tell me they wouldn’t have known about the event except for this column. That tells me it’s filling a need within the community.

The Club Kids say they would like some “education and outreach” columns. Well, I’ve written columns that dealt with topics such as my leather family, or ways to take “safe, sane and consensual” beyond the dungeon and apply it to other areas of life. I got good feedback on those columns, and I’d like to do more of the same, but I only have so much space available in this magazine.
The Club Kids have much more to say about the current state of the local leather community. If you want to be outraged, or just see some sacred leather cows gored, pick up a copy of Issue #7 of Demure Butchness. You may agree, you may disagree, but it will certainly make you think. Available at A Brother’s Touch or Dreamhaven Books or send $3 to Demure Butchness, Minneapolis, MN. (And no, Timmer did not pay for this plug, either monetarily or in trade.)

UPCOMING EVENT

Black Guard Chili Feed
Sunday, Nov. 19, 4-9 pm, Gay 90’s Dance Annex
$5 gets you beer, chili, and the famously rowdy atmosphere that this event is noted for.

S.F. Simply Fabulous, Part II

(Published in Lavender Lifestyles Magazine, Issue #11, October 27, 1995)

San Francisco/Drummer/Folsom reminiscences, continued from last issue . . .

This year’s International Mr. Drummer contest was the best international leather contest I’ve ever seen. Tickets were pricey—$25 for general admission (standing) and $65 if you wanted a seat. It was worth every penny.

Our own Alvin Robinson’s fantasy was an improved version of the “personal Jesus” fantasy which won him the Great Lakes Mr. Drummer title. The audience liked it—a lot. His speech, delivered in distinctive southern-gospel-preacher cadence, also got plenty of applause.

Best fantasy music: Florida Drummer Ray Castro used Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana”—guaranteeing a big finish. His fantasy involved a painter whose portrait came to life. After getting nicely messy splashing each other with red paint (blood?), the two men embraced and stepped into a box which then spun around while spewing fireworks from its top. (How’s that for a sexual metaphor?)

Most politically-incorrect fantasy: Southern California Drummer Joe Spina’s fantasy started with the voice of a father yelling at his son that no kid of his was going to be a faggot. There was a gunshot and the audience gasped. The lights came on and we saw a twelve-foot-high cross, a kneeler—and the son, holding a gun to his head after killing his father. A priest (Spina) wrestled the son to the ground, knocking the gun out of his hand. The priest then stripped off his robes, revealing a harness underneath. What followed was an S&M scene to chilling Madonna lyrics: “You can’t hurt me now/I got away from you/I never thought I would.” Parental abuse, murder, Catholic priests and S&M in one disturbing and thought-provoking fantasy. (The son, incidentally, was Pup, Southern California Drummerboy who went on to win the International Drummerboy title.)

Spike, the muscular and gorgeous contestant from Australia, did a strip-to-naked-and-put-on-leather fantasy. You may recall that last year’s Great Lakes Mr. Drummer did something similar. But while I wasn’t allowed to be totally naked on stage, Spike was—with his back to the audience. He was standing in front of a “mirror,” which was really silver mylar, so the audience didn’t see a reflection of his front. (We just had to use our imaginations.)

The non-contestant entertainment was first-rate. Mimi=Freed poked fun at the macho hyper-masculine Drummer image and noted (quite correctly) that several of the contestants were seen lip-synching on stage! (I bet they just could have DIED of embarassment!) Vocalist Richie Waits, appearing in an androgynous dress and Cleopatra-style headdress, sang a unique rendition of “I Feel Pretty.” His final number, a wonderfully bizarre version of “Proud Mary,” exploded with energy: he became a male Tina Turner, and four backup dancers became male Ikettes. The audience was blown away. (Those four backup dancers were led by Charlie Seltz, the contest’s choreographer, who is a master dancer and choreographer—and a sweetheart besides.)

After the excitement of Saturday’s contest came Sunday and the Folsom Street Fair. 400,000 kinky people of all persuasions came out to see and be seen. Vendors ranged from the usual (t-shirts and buttons) to the unusual (a spanking booth). Colt man Steve Kelso was there, wearing too many clothes, shaking hands and giving autographs. The parties continued all night.

And then came Monday. The bars were deserted. The sex clubs were deserted. (Believe me, I checked.) Even the streets were quiet. If the previous week had been foreplay, and the Folsom Street Fair on Sunday was the leather tribe’s collective climax, then Monday was the day that San Francisco, exhausted, finally had a cigarette and drifted off to sleep.

LEATHER NEWS AND UPCOMING EVENTS

Monday, Oct. 30: Halloween Fetish party in the Gay 90’s Dance Annex (9 p.m. to closing). $200.00 first prize for Most Original Fetish Costume (Rubber & Leather).

Sunday, Nov. 5: Leatherman of Minnesota and Ms. Minnesota Leather contests, Gay 90’s Dance Annex, 4-9 p.m., contest at 5:30. No admission charge, donations accepted, all donations to charity. Beer and food will be provided. The atmosphere will be relaxed and social, with informational booths for clubs and other organizations. Ms. Minnesota Leather will compete in the upcoming International Ms. Leather contest, while the Leatherman of Minnesota will have a choice of international competitions. This event is the Minnesota Leather Den’s gift to the community in celebration of the fact that there will be a Ms. Minnesota Leather this year.