Recipe for a Run

(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #211, June 27, 2003)

Most people who attend leather runs arrive at the beginning of the run, have a weekend’s worth of fun, and leave when the run is over—probably without giving much thought to how much effort is involved in pre-run planning and preparation, actual operation of the run, and clean-up afterward. According to one long-time club member, “It’s like planning and hosting a wedding—every year!” I beg to differ—it’s actually more work than a wedding, unless your wedding plans include four dungeons.

Here’s a recipe that shows what’s involved in putting on a leather run. The Knights of Leather recently used this particular recipe to make this year’s Tournament XV; the result served 75 people. But with a little tinkering and a few ingredient modifications the same basic recipe could be used to prepare a Black Frost (Black Guard), Gopher (Atons), or any one of the many runs that leather clubs everywhere present each year.

First, procure a place to hold the run by calling the State of Minnesota and reserving a group campsite in a state park. This must be done months in advance, and the call must be perfectly timed or you’ll find that some Boy Scout troop or church youth group has already booked the site for the weekend you wanted.

Next, come up with a theme for the run (this year’s Tournament theme was “Little Dungeon on the Prairie”). You will be applying this theme to almost every aspect of the run.

With your theme in mind, make food and beverage plans—a Saturday-evening banquet plus four other meals, plus two early-riser breakfasts, plus round-the-clock snacks and beer, sodas and water, for (in the instance of this year’s Tournament) 75 people. Plan your menus and make your shopping list. Be sure to make arrangements for run participants who have special dietary restrictions.

Oh, and if your campsite doesn’t have kitchen facilities, figure out how you’re going to cook and serve all this food—and who’s going to do it. (Tournament is blessed with two things: a campsite with a full food-service kitchen, and two caterers named Joy and Michelle d/b/a Rainbow Creations to handle the food-preparation duties.)

Again keeping your run theme in mind, design, produce and distribute advertisements, posters, flyers, press releases, registration forms, etc. Also get something about the run on the club’s website. Arrange to accept registrations by mail or e-mail and payments via credit card or an online payment service like Paypal. Process registrations as they come in by mail or online.

Entertainment and education are important parts of a run, so find people to present run-themed workshops, seminars, demonstrations and other events. To give just one example from this year’s Tournament: plan a workshop on ponyplay, then design and build (from scratch) a covered wagon and arrange to have it pulled around the campsite by four (human) ponies.

Line up other leather clubs to host evening cocktail parties (at Tournament XV the Chicago Leather Club hosted one on Friday evening and the Atons of Minneapolis hosted one before Saturday’s banquet).

Plan your dungeon layout and logistics (the Knights plan called for four different dungeons filled with varying equipment). Also plan placement of tiki torches for nighttime illumination of the paths between the main lodge, bathrooms, cabins and dungeons.

Prepare run packets, one for each participant, filled with a run booklet, run pin and/or run t-shirt (all of which you have previously designed and produced), safe-sex supplies and other sundry items. Also prepare table decorations for the banquet and award plaques for the closing ceremonies.

Several days before the run, go shopping. The caterers will buy the food, but you must buy beer, sodas, water, snacks, safe-sex supplies, insect repellent (!), tiki torches and fuel, and other supplies.

Once all the preparations are made and the supplies are procured, it’s time to actually make the run happen. Here’s how the Knights did it this year:

Thursday evening: Disassemble dungeon equipment in various members’ dungeons. Rent a 26-foot truck and load it with disassembled dungeon equipment (and tools for reassembly), beer, pop, water, tiki torches and fuel, safe-sex supplies, insect repellent (!!!), run packets, table decorations, covered wagon, etc. (Do you know how much stuff a 26-foot truck will hold? A lot.)

Friday: Drive to run site. Unlock all cabins and other buildings and start settling in. Unload truck. Set up dungeons, reassembling all dungeon furniture (including three steel cages). Stock dungeons with firewood, candles, and safe-sex supplies. Fill tiki torches and install throughout campground. Get beverages iced. Check in guests as they arrive. Light tiki torches at sundown. Have dinner, welcome guests, present workshops and cocktail party, build campfire, open dungeons. Play if you have any energy left.

Saturday: Present more workshops and seminars during the day. Replenish firewood, candles and supplies in dungeons. Refill tiki torches. Decorate main lodge for banquet. Light tiki torches at sundown. Present cocktail party and banquet, build campfire. No matter how tired you are, if you’re going to get any use out of all that dungeon equipment, this is your last chance.

Sunday: Have breakfast. Present awards and bid farewell to run participants.

Take dungeons apart, disassembling all dungeon furniture. Load truck with all dungeon equipment and all the other leftover supplies. Sweep out dungeons and clean fireplaces. Collect tiki torches. Pick up trash from all cabins. Clean all bathrooms. Sweep all cabins and close up. Clean main lodge and kitchen. Drive back to city, unload everything from truck and return it to truck rental office. Reassemble members’ dungeons.

Monday: Start planning next year’s run.

PHOTO: Some of the people who made this year’s Knights of Leather Tournament XV happen. They’re smiling because they just finished loading the 26-foot truck.

International Mr. Leather 2003—Silver Anniversary

(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #210, June 13, 2003)

To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the International Mr. Leather (IML) sash is taking a trip to London. John Pendal, sponsored by The Hoist bar in London, United Kingdom, was chosen International Mr. Leather 2003 from a field of 58 contestants. Here are some photos of the silver-anniversary IML weekend that started Thursday, May 22 and continued through the evening of Memorial Day on Monday, May 26.

Photos #P5240159, P5240158, P5240157: The lobby of the host hotel, Chicago’s Palmer House Hilton, for the weekend became the world’s largest leather bar—and the most crowded.

Photo #P5240005.JPG: There was something to please everyone at the Leather Market, which occupied two floors of the Palmer House.

Photos #P5240153, P5240016, P5240014, P5240012, P5240010: Some photos from Saturday night’s “Pecs & Personality” prejudging, which was held in the Grand Ballroom of the Palmer House.

Photo #P5240002: Minneapolis Eagle owner Ed Hopkins, left, and Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2003 Gregg White, right, at Saturday afternoon’s Minnesota Party.

Photo #P5240151: IML Founder Chuck Renslow, left, is presented by Lenny Broberg, International Mr. Leather 1992, with a certificate of recognition from the California State Legislature declaring Sunday, May 25 “International Mr. Leather Day” in the State of California. Throughout the weekend Renslow and the IML organization also received awards and commendations from the Ministry of Canadian Heritage, the city of Chicago, and both San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and the San Francisco city/county board of commissioners.

Photo #P5250009: Many previous International Mr. Leather (IML) titleholders were on hand for the anniversary weekend. Shown here are IML 1996 Joe Gallagher, left, and IML 2000 Mike Taylor, right.

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Photo #P5250088: The International Mr. Bootblack contest is always held concurrently with the International Mr. Leather contest. Here International Mr. Bootblack 2003 Richie Chameroy (sponsored by Daddy’s Bar/Powerhouse Bar of San Francisco) is presented with his trophy by last year’s International Mr. Bootblack Mike Lanzini.

OR

Photo #P5250087: The International Mr. Bootblack contest is always held concurrently with the International Mr. Leather contest. Here International Ms Bootblack 2002 Kari LaVecchia puts the winner’s medal around the neck of International Mr. Bootblack 2003 Richie Chameroy (sponsored by Daddy’s Bar/Powerhouse Bar of San Francisco) as last year’s International Mr. Bootblack Mike Lanzini looks on.

OR

Photo #P5252134: The International Mr. Bootblack contest is always held concurrently with the International Mr. Leather contest. Here the new International Mr. Bootblack 2003, Richie Chameroy (sponsored by Daddy’s Bar/Powerhouse Bar of San Francisco), poses with his trophy.

Photos #P5252076, P5252075, P5252074, P5252073, P5250063, P5250062, P5250061, P5250059, P5250039, P5250034, P5250032, P5250031: Some photos of the contestants onstage during Sunday night’s contest and show at the Congress Theater in Chicago.

Photo #P5250051: This year’s judges and tallymasters. Left to right: judges Peter Fiske of San Francisco; Joe Harnett of Sallinis, Ireland; Chris Holmgren of Toronto; Michael Horowitz of Forest Hills, N.Y.; Bob Maddox of Chicago; Andy Mangels of Portland, Ore.; Larry Manion of St. Louis; International Ms Leather 1987 Judy Tallwing-McCarthy of Forks, Wash.; and International Mr. Leather 2002 Stephen Weber of Washington, D.C.; tallymasters Phyllis Darcy of Thornton, Colo. and Jim Dohr of Chicago.

OR

Photo #P5250049: This year’s judges. Left to right: Peter Fiske of San Francisco; Joe Harnett of Sallinis, Ireland; Chris Holmgren of Toronto; Michael Horowitz of Forest Hills, N.Y.; Bob Maddox of Chicago; Andy Mangels of Portland, Ore.; Larry Manion of St. Louis; International Ms Leather 1987 Judy Tallwing-McCarthy of Forks, Wash.; and International Mr. Leather 2002 Stephen Weber of Washington, D.C.

OR

Photo #P5220011: This year’s judges. Left to right: International Mr. Leather 2002 Stephen Weber of Washington, D.C.; International Ms Leather 1987 Judy Tallwing-McCarthy of Forks, Wash.; Larry Manion of St. Louis; Andy Mangels of Portland, Ore.; Bob Maddox of Chicago; Michael Horowitz of Forest Hills, N.Y.; Chris Holmgren of Toronto; Joe Harnett of Sallinis, Ireland; and Peter Fiske of San Francisco.

Photo #P5252081: The International Mr. Leather weekend was packed with entertainment. Opening Thursday’s contestant introduction ceremony was the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus singing a medley of the national anthems of all countries represented in the contest. Disco legend Linda Clifford performed Saturday night in the lobby of the Palmer House. Sunday’s contest and show featured entertainment by singer/commedienne Sharon McKnight (“Songs to Offend Just About Everybody”) and, shown above, an amazing performance by acrobats of The Midnight Circus.

OR

Photos #P5250090, P5250091, P5250092, P5250093, P5250094: The International Mr. Leather weekend was packed with entertainment. Opening Thursday’s contestant introduction ceremony was the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus singing a medley of the national anthems of all countries represented in the contest. Disco legend Linda Clifford performed Saturday night in the lobby of the Palmer House. Sunday’s contest and show featured an amazing performance by acrobats of The Midnight Circus and, shown above, entertainment by singer/commedienne Sharon McKnight, who sang “Songs to Offend Just About Everybody.”

Photos #P5252108, P5252113: The International Mr. Leather 2003 team. Left to right: Second runner-up Stephen Blackwell, Mr. Los Angeles Leather 2003 (sponsored by the Los Angeles Leather Coalition); International Mr. Leather 2003 John Pendal, Mr. Hoist 2003 (sponsored by The Hoist London); and first runner-up Donald Dotson, Mr. Suncoast Eagle 2003 (sponsored by Suncoast Resort Hotel of St. Petersburg, Fla. and the Tampa Bay Leather Co.)

Minnesota’s Leather History

(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #209, May 30, 2003)

“Daddy, where did the Minnesota leather scene come from?” Pull up a chair and Dad will take you through the history of leather in the Twin Cities and Minnesota year by year—more or less.

Before 1972: When I asked local leather pioneer Grant Tracy what the leather scene was like in the Twin Cities prior to 1972, he told me this: “There were no organized leather groups in the Twin Cities. There were always several people in leather at the old Sutton’s and on the fringes of the other regular bars. You’d go into a bar and there might be two or three guys wearing jeans and a t-shirt and a leather jacket. And then there would be guys from out of town, and you’d just run around and spend the weekend with them. But as far as places to go, there really weren’t any.”

1972: A truck driver from out of town convinces several other guys that they should all start a Twin Cities leather club. Things move quickly until the truck driver skips town with all the money from the club’s bank account. The remaining men decide that a leather club is still a good idea, but this time, according to Tracy, they “do it the right way, legally, with a charter.” Tracy and his lover David Berquam are among the men who sign the charter that establishes the Atons of Minneapolis. Later that year the club presents Aqua One, its first run.

1973: The members of the Atons find they can’t sustain the energy to present another run the next year.

1974: Atons membership dwindles, no one takes a leadership role, and for awhile it’s just guys hanging out in each other’s homes.

1975: In an effort to get more community involvement, the Atons open up their club meetings and hold a St. Patrick’s Day party that is open to the public.

1977: The Black Guard of Minneapolis, the area’s second leather club, is founded with six members. The new club helps the Atons present their Gopher III run.

1980: The Black Guard holds an Anniversary banquet at a restaurant called Richard’s. Fifteen people attend (including a female member named Nancy).

1981: Minneapolis sends two contestants to the International Mr. Leather (IML) Contest in Chicago, now in its third year. The Y’all Come Back Saloon sends Paul Fruehling, and local leather shop Goliath’s Leather Emporium sends Rick Bowler. Goliath’s also presents a leather fashion show at this year’s Black Guard anniversary banquet.

1982: IML contestants from Minnesota: Bob Bartels, “Mr. Leather Saloon,” representing the Y’all Come Back Saloon; Milo Smith, representing The Atons; Timothy Walloth, representing The Black Guard; and James Wells, “Minnesota Leatherman,” representing Goliath’s Leather Emporium. Also, The Black Guard presents its first Black Frost run.

1983: Kirk Soderholm represents The Black Guard in IML. Bob Jansen opens The Main Club in Superior, Wis., which will serve as an outstate outpost for the northern Minnesota leather community.

1985: The Knights of Leather, a women’s leather club, is founded in January with five charter members. Responding to the AIDS crisis, former Atons president George Moore holds the first local safe-sex seminar for the leather community.

1987: Bob Guttman represents the Atons in IML and attains the rank of semifinalist.

1988: Marcus Mack competes in IML as “Mr. Bottoms Up Leather/Levi ’87,” representing Bottoms Up Bar. He also attains the rank of semifinalist.

1989: The first Minnesota Leather Encounter (MLE) weekend is held in October. Saturday’s big event is the first-ever Mr. and Ms Minnesota Leather contests. Mark Cady wins the men’s title and competes in the 1990 IML contest, where he is a semifinalist. There are no women contestants and hence no women’s title is awarded.

1990: At the second MLE weekend, again in October, Dean Preston and PJ Knight are sashed as the new Mr. and Ms Minnesota Leather titleholders. Preston competes in IML 1991 while Knight competes in the 1991 International Ms Leather contest. Also, Pete LaSha is doing leather-community coverage for Gaze Magazine (Lavender’s forerunner).

1991: The last MLE weekend is held in October. Again, there is no women’s contest. Larry Patnoe wins the Mr. Minnesota Leather title and is a semifinalist in IML 1992. (J.D. Laufman is another Minnesota competitor in IML 1992.) Also, the Minnesota Leather Den, a second women’s leather club, is started.

1992: The Atons, Black Guard, Knights of Leather and Minnesota Leather Den cooperatively present the first-ever Leather Pride celebration the Sunday night of Pride weekend.

1993: Outpost 69, a short-lived St. Paul leather bar in the basement of Club Metro that is lit primarily by candles on the tables, is closed because people keep blowing out the candles (and then proceed to blow other things in the dark).

1995: It is the era of Sunday-afternoon leather fundraising events—some months there’s an event every Sunday. Future Lavender editor, the late Tim Lee, says some choice words about all these fundraisers in Issue #7 of his Demure Butchness zine: he touches off a round of leather-community discussion by describing them as “cookie-cutter.” He also questions the leather community’s acceptance and openness to younger people interested in leather. On a less controversial note, this year seems to be a time of new beginnings: TIES, the area’s first pansexual SM organization, publishes their first newsletter in May 1995 and holds their first monthly munch soon after. (TIES stands for “Tremendously Intense Erotic Situations.”) The Twin Cities Bondage Association is formed; it lasts about two years before being put on hiatus for lack of a hosting facility. Back in Black Leather (now Cellar Leather) starts selling by appointment only. And your humble columnist begins writing this column for the Twin Cities’ new GLBT publication Lavender Lifestyles.

1996: Back in Black Leather moves into the basement of Club Metro. The Twin Cities Bondage Association makes history at its “Camera Night” play party—the first time, as far as anyone had been able to determine, that images of a play party are simulcast over that new-fangled innovation, the World Wide Web. Sadly, the year ends tragically as The Main Club in Superior burns to the ground, killing two men.

1997: The Saloon opens The Tank, its Sunday-night leatherspace, in March. Club Metro institutes “Bootblack Leather Nite” on Thursdays. In May, Kevin Cwayna is the first man to bring the International Mr. Leather sash home to Minnesota. A new Main Club opens in Superior in July. SLAM (Sober Leather Association of Minnesota) forms. The Atons of Minneapolis holds its 25th Anniversary Run in September.

1998: The world’s largest leather-pride flag (as well as an equally big rainbow flag) make their initial appearance leading the Twin Cities Pride Parade. The Minneapolis Eagle opens its doors. The Twin Cities is home to another international titleholder as Thomas Smith wins the International Mr. Rubber 1999 title in Chicago.

1999: MSDB (“Minnesota Stocks, Debentures and Bonds”—read the initials backwards) is organized as a pansexual BDSM organization focusing on the presentation of training seminars and other educational events. Cori Ander brings yet another major title to the Twin Cities when she is named Ms. Olympus Leather 1999 in New Orleans.

2000: As part of the Midwestern LGBT College Conference, a “Coming to Terms with Radical Sex” seminar is held on the campus of St. Cloud State University; the topics are leather/SM and polyamory and the room is literally wall-to-wall people. It is the most popular breakout seminar of its time period and perhaps of the whole conference. Jazz Thomas, a/k/a Minneapolis resident David Coral, brings home the Mr. Olympus Leather 2000 sash to Minnesota. Queer Youth Exist is formed to act as “an education and safety group for youth under the age of 21 with an interest in BDSM, fetishism, or any queer or alternative culture.” (It is the Girl Scout Gold Award project of the group’s two creators.) In November, the Knights of Leather reorganizes as a pansexual leather club with seven charter members.

2001: MSDB presents its Dungeon 101 class, “Mistress Manners meets the Marquis de Sade.” Seminars are presented on dungeon etiquette and dungeon-master techniques. Also, The Cockpit Project opens, selling “luxury leather and latex.”

2002: The Black Guard celebrates its 25th anniversary, the Atons of Minneapolis celebrates its 30th. Rebecca Holmberg reprises her “Confessions of a Lesbian Dominatrix” stage presentation. The Twin City Riders, a gay motorcycle club, forms.

2003 so far: Pride Alive and the Minnesota AIDS Project sponsor a three-part leather discussion forum. Minneapolis Eagle owner Ed Hopkins opens a companion bar, The Bolt, next door. The first Spring Sting/Midwest Fetish Expo is held in April.

What’s next? Plans for this year’s Leather Pride festivities call for a kick-off event on Friday, June 20, followed by more than a week’s worth of activities leading up to the annual appearance (weather permitting) of the giant Leather Pride flag in the Twin Cities Pride Parade on June 29. Watch for further details, then come out and make some history of your own.

Lost Leatherspaces

(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #208, May 16, 2003)

When I think of all the famous and fabled places of leather’s days gone by, and I realize that I will never (or never again) be able to experience them, it makes me a little sad. This was brought home to me quite vividly on a recent trip to New York City. My host (and former partner) Ken Binder, who moved to New York several years ago, pointed out to me that the leather scene in New York City, at least for gay males, is in a period of either decline (pessimistic view) or transition (optimistic view).

Much of New York’s leather scene has historically been in and around the notorious (and appropriately named) “meat-packing district,” which was the area south of 14th St. between 9th Ave. and the West Side Highway (now renamed the Joe DiMaggio Highway). The docks and piers that used to be cruising grounds have long been cleaned up, and the truck trailers that served as sex shelters haven’t been there for years. Fabled leatherspaces including The Anvil, The Mineshaft, The Ramrod and The Toilet (yes, it really existed) closed their doors long ago.

Until recently the meat-packing district still was home to several leather venues—but now all but one of these are gone, too. The Eagle and The Spike closed in 2000 (after 30 and 20 years, respectively). That left only Johnny-come-lately LURE (an acronym which stood for Leather/Uniform/Rubber/Etc.). But in April LURE also closed its doors after nine years of operation.

Recently, The Eagle reopened under new management a few blocks from its former location, making it currently the only leather bar in the area.

J’s Hangout, which recently closed, used to host a variety of sex parties; some of the parties have moved and some have disappeared with J’s. Neighboring establishments Hellfire Club and Manhole were forced out by their landlord, according to “Peter Boots’ Gay SM Leather Fetish Guide to New York City” (www.peterboots.com). Wallyworld, another sex-party venue, disappeared with the death in 1999 of local party impresario Wally Wallace, who was also associated with both The Mineshaft and later LURE. The meat-packing district has gotten so squeaky clean that, in Binder’s words, “Even the tranny hookers are gone!”

What happened? Until recently the answer was often politics, most recently in the guise of former mayor Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to “clean up” (his words) or “sanitize” and “Disney-ize” (some other peoples’ words) New York City by tightening and enforcing regulations on sex-related businesses.

Fighting political battles is tough enough, but it’s almost impossible for leather to win economic battles, and money is what was at the root of the most recent round of closings. As one of the last remaining “ungentrified” areas on Manhattan, the real estate in the meat-packing district became too valuable. Buildings that used to house bars, dungeons and playspaces are now home to upscale restaurants, clothing shops and art galleries. Millions of dollars are being spent to turn the meat-packing district into the next Tribeca, which itself was the next Soho.

New York, like any major city, is constantly changing, but Binder is one of many who aren’t sure they like these most recent changes: “Even if I didn’t spend a lot of time at LURE or J’s Hangout, those kinds of places were one of the reasons I moved to New York. I was just glad to know those places were there—and now that they won’t be there, I’ll miss them.”

It’s not just New York’s leather scene that has been changing lately. Christopher Street, the epicenter of the Stonewall uprising that gave birth to modern gay culture, is no longer the gay mecca it once was. The Leatherman store is still there, but many of the other gay shops have closed. After dark, Christopher Street isn’t even a terribly safe area anymore, according to Binder: “On weekend evenings, young street thugs come in on the PATH trains from Jersey and take over.”

The gay life that used to be on Christopher Street moved north to Chelsea (between 14th and 34th Streets around 7th and 8th Avenues), a neighborhood that then went from rough and raw to buffed and beautiful with the influx of the city’s most gorgeous gay men. But now even that neighborhood is changing. Binder, who lives in Chelsea, says his condo building was until recently entirely gay-owned, “but all the recent sales of apartments in my building, apartments that were bought and fixed up by gay men, have been to straight couples who are pregnant.” I asked him where he thought the next gay neighborhood in New York would be, and he told me that the general feeling among gay New Yorkers is that there might not be one: “Maybe the concept has outlived its usefulness. As we become more accepted and integrated into the fabric of society, that’s what happens—there’s less need for a gay ghetto or enclave.”

These kinds of things are not unique to New York, of course. On San Francisco’s Castro Street, which has long been one of the most visible gay neighborhoods in the world, area residents must share the sidewalks with gawking tour groups. Many leatherfolk moved from the Castro to the South of Market area in the early 1990s only to have that neighborhood then stolen from them by the dot-com crowd—who later slunk out of town once the dot-com craze bombed.

By way of postscript: The unfortunate fact is that nothing lasts forever, and I will never be able to visit legendary places like The Catacombs in San Francisco or The Gold Coast (in any of its incarnations) in Chicago. But we can all be thankful that leather historians at The Leather Archives & Museum (<www.leatherarchives.org>) and elsewhere have made it a mission to collect and preserve memorabilia and pictures and stories of these wonderful vanished places.

My Ideal IML

(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #207, May 2, 2003)

Last year at about this time I was contemplating my duties and responsibilities as a judge at the 2002 International Mr. Leather (IML) contest. I had the idea that it might be easier to make an informed and sound choice of the next IML if I had a very clear understanding and image of the qualities I felt an IML titleholder must possess. After careful consideration I made a list of those qualities. Then I tried to distill them all down into one word.

As a warm-up act for IML 2003 (the 25th anniversary! <www.imrl.com> for details), here’s my list from last year presented as a thought-provoker and discussion-starter. This list is mine—yours might be different, so feel free to agree or disagree.

Profile of My Perfect IML*

1. Physical/Material Attributes

A. Looks: Attractive is a must. Beauty is nice, and built and buffed is nice, but sometimes those qualities can actually work against attractiveness. Attractive means approachable, not intimidating, so attitude is not what we’re looking for here. Nice eyes, good grooming and a winning, genuine smile contribute to attractiveness.

B. Age: Immaterial. IML can be 25 or 65. While age is immaterial, maturity is very definitely a necessity. IML should be old enough to be mature and young enough to have the stamina to do the job.

C. Education: A plus. But intelligence is more important. (See #2 below.)

D. Money: At the very least IML must possess the Basic 5 to which Guy Baldwin alluded in his speech at last year’s Leather Leadership Conference: job, home, car, telephone and enough disposable income. Looking at the reality of holding a title, the amount of disposable income needed is a significant consideration, along with the willingness to spend it on being IML. Holding a title should not be an honor that bankrupts the titleholder.

E. Status/Prestige/Social Position: Nice as long as they don’t interfere with attractiveness and approachability, but not essential.

2. Intellect

A. Level: My preference is higher as opposed to lower. More intellectual horsepower means a better representative for the community, one who is more able to deal appropriately with people, situations and ideas.

B. Use: There’s book-learning and there’s street-smarts. IML probably needs more of the latter than the former.

C. Wisdom: This is really what we’re looking for. Wisdom is intelligence used in the service of spirit or principles; this makes ideas a means to an end. The opposite of wisdom is intelligence used in the service of the ego, in which case ideas are used to measure self-worth and to impress others; the ideas become an end in themselves.

3. Interests

A. Hobbies: IML should be someone who is really into leather. That should go without saying, but some IML contestants are still new to the scene and inexperienced. While they probably won’t win the IML title, the experience of competing in IML can still be a priceless learning and growth opportunity for these contestants.

B. Work: IML needs an adequately paying job (see #1D above). But to be able to fulfill his obligations he also needs schedule flexibility and enough time off. IML should be “out” at work and have an employer who supports his holding the title.

C. Leisure time: IML should have lots, and be willing to give it up for a year. He should really enjoy being IML and thrive on it.

4. Values/Way of Life

A. Religion: Open to any or none.

B. Spirituality: An understanding of and interest in the spiritual aspects of leather would be an asset (see #7, below).

C. Ethics/Morals: An understanding of, respect for, and commitment to the leather community’s code of ethics and sense of morality is essential. Again, this should go without saying, but unfortunately the judges can’t necessarily count on it being present in every contestant.

D. Way of Life: Respect for the leather way of life is essential—except how do we define it? Who gets to define it? For example, does IML have to be a heavy player? Not necessarily, but he must be comfortable with and knowledgeable about that scene, since he will be a spokesmen for its devotees. IML must be able to represent all aspects of our way of life effectively and believably, even though he may not partake of all of them.

5. Psychological/Emotional Attributes

A. Capacity for intimacy: Essential. He must have the ability to be open and to share himself with others.

B. Emotional maturity and balance: The counterpart of the above. IML must have a well-developed sense of decorum, appropriateness and boundaries, so as neither to take advantage of others nor to be taken advantage of by them. In other words, for just one example, the position shouldn’t go to his head—he shouldn’t become a sex addict just because he can have his pick of the bar, and he shouldn’t feel he must sleep with everyone out of titular obligation. He must be comfortable with himself, self-assured, honest, and kind.

6. Creativity/Passion

These would be definite assets, obviously. IML must be able to be new, interesting, fresh, exciting, and novel.

A. Playfulness: IML must have the ability to laugh at himself and not take either himself or the title too seriously, at least not all the time. He will be the butt of many jokes during his title year and must be able to accept ribbing graciously.

B. Talents: He must be outgoing, able to meet people and schmooze comfortably, able to be “on” when necessary, comfortable on stage and in front of large and small groups, able to be the center of attention, to work a room, to command and hold a crowd’s attention.

C. Level of energy and joy: Must be high and boundless.

7. Spirituality

The man suited to be IML must possess a commitment to leather ethics and principles as well as to a path of truth, integrity and service. He should treat the title and the community with gratitude, realizing he has been given an extraordinary opportunity to play an important role in the community’s life.

8. Essence

IML doesn’t have to try too hard. He makes it look easy to be IML—and for him, it is. Former IML chief judge Thom Dombkowski has spoken about the King Arthur legend, the one knight who easily pulls the sword from the rock after all others have been unable to do so no matter how hard they tug. The selection of the new IML may seem similarly preordained, perhaps because on some level it is. It’s just up to the judges to recognize him when he shows up.

One word to describe My Perfect IML

Actually, I have two. As I made my list last year I decided the one word to describe IML was “Ambassador.” After last year’s IML judging process was over I decided that I needed to add another one-word description that I learned from my fellow judges: “Leader.”

Here’s hoping the judges at this year’s International Mr. Leather contest find their perfect IML.

(*The eight categories are taken from a list of the ways in which people relate contained in If the Buddha Dated by Charlotte Kasl—one of the best books on human relationships I have ever come across. Highly recommended.)

Humor: The International Mr. Saliva Contest

(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #206, April 18, 2003)

Of all the many and varied leather titles out there, one has been quietly distinguishing itself since 1991—or was it 1992? Whichever—one of those two years saw the birth of the International Mr. Saliva contest as part of the Pantheon of Leather community service awards. It was started by a group of international titleholders as a spoof of leather contests and titles; Pantheon of Leather founder (and Leather Journal publisher) Dave Rhodes was its first honoree/victim. In the ensuing years it has taken on a life of its own, successfully resisting all efforts to kill it.

There are several things about International Mr. Saliva (or “the Saliva contest” for short, since the initials IMS are already in use by International Market Square in Minneapolis) that make it unique among contests and titles. It is one of the few titles, if not the only one, named after a bodily fluid, although the organizers had the good taste to choose a bodily fluid that is both pansexual and at least somewhat acceptable to mention in polite society.

For the past several years the contest has been co-emceed by Kay Hallanger and Frank Nowicki, both former Saliva titleholders. Hallanger notes that “The Saliva contest is a true international title, although it has never been won by anyone outside the United States. It has, however, been won by someone from California.”

Also noteworthy is the fact that in its comparatively short history the Saliva contest has evolved faster in its breadth of contestants than any other contest. Today it is the first, and still the only, pan-species event. According to Hallanger, “Our contestants have been various animals, including but not limited to homo sapiens, and plants. This contest is open to any gender as well as the genderless and the polygendered. We are open to organic and inorganic forms. We are even open to new guard and old guard, as long as the latter has a sense of humor.”

This is not just window dressing, allowing different species and forms to compete but offering them no real chance of winning. The Saliva contest’s inclusiveness is genuine, as evidenced by the fact that several non-human contestants have won the competition or at least come close. The first runner-up of the 1995 contest in Houston was The Doberman, and Hallanger says he lost “only because when we tried to put the sash on him he kept biting, and that just wasn’t what we were into.”

Actually, only one plant has ever competed, but Plant (a stage name only—no one knows what its real name was) competed gamely for two years before finally capturing the title during its third competition in 2001. Plant appeared on stage decked in Christmas-tree lights and occasionally sprayed water (at least we think it was water) on other unsuspecting contestants. (Your humble columnist was a contestant against Plant in 2000 and was cautioned not to bring my camera onstage unless it was waterproof.) The first year Plant competed it received stiff competition from the inorganic contestant Chair.

Some people have stated on numerous occasions, always incorrectly, that the Saliva contest has no rules. This myth has started because the rules are changed each year so contestants can’t prepare for the contest. Actually, according to Hallanger, “We prefer not to use the word ‘rule’ for the contest, because rules are very harsh and arbitrary, and we kind of change them as we go. So we only have one rule but we have several guidelines.” Here are some of those guidelines:

• Contestants are drawn from a small pool of living things who either detest this title and all it represents, or from others who are willing to suck up to the judges for any title whatsoever.

• To save time, the winner is selected prior to the contest, and then other contestants are selected to fill out the evening. Contestant selection is generally non-consensual and without prior notice. Contestants need not be present in order to compete.

• The winner need not be a contestant. “In fact,” says Hallanger, “we have found that it saves the winner’s energy if they don’t have to compete—we just let the others wear themselves out.”

• There are always two judges, both former International Mr. Saliva winners. Olympic scoring is used, in which the high and low scores are thrown out, which makes things easier for the tallymaster.

Those are some of the contest’s guidelines. The one firm rule is called the Nowicki rule, and it was introduced after Nowicki’s one-year reign: “If the winner takes the title seriously, and attempts to do fundraisers or appearances, the winner shall be relieved of the title and their name stricken forever from all future mention.”

The Saliva contest continues to be part of the Pantheon of Leather/Olympus Leather Contest weekend. At this year’s event, after the above guidelines and rule were read as an introduction to the contest, members of the audience were rolling in the aisles with laughter —until several of them were summoned to the stage to compete. (Those who didn’t want to compete had left the auditorium by then.) The one and only judging event was the “lick event,” in which contestants had to lick co-emcee Nowicki’s armpits and were graded on how well they licked them.

When all the licking and judging was done, this year’s lucky winner was Mr. Southeast Drummer 1991 Vance Reger, who created this year’s rubber-chicken sash not knowing that he himself would be wearing it. Reger’s response: “I am totally underwhelmed.”

PHOTO: International Mr. Saliva 2003 Vance Reger, who crafted this year’s lovely rubber-chicken sash never suspecting that he, as the winner, would be forced to wear it.

Gregg White: Activism, Swedish and Leather

(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #205, April 4, 2003)

Gregg White, the new Mr. Minneapolis Eagle and this year’s Minnesota contestant in the International Mr. Leather (IML) contest, has always set his sights high: “When I was a kid,” he says, “the job I wanted without fail—and everything else would be failure—was secretary-general of the United Nations.” (He lists Dag Hammerskjold, the second secretary-general of the UN, as one of his heroes.)

Today, White is still “pretty driven to get as much done as I possibly can—that’s why I have three jobs.” Understand those three jobs—Director of Development for OutFront Minnesota, Swedish-language instructor; and evening manager at The Minneapolis Eagle—and you understand much about White.

For over eight years White has been the full-time Director of Development for OutFront Minnesota, the state’s leading GLBT political and social-service organization. “When I first started it was still the Gay and Lesbian Community Action Council, and it was 90% a direct-service social agency, which was appropriate when it was founded. Over the years it has moved to being more of a political and community-building organization.”

White says that the agency accomplished much for the GLBT community over the years, but “one of the things they did not do in those days was build a donor base. They didn’t have the money to hire a development director, and if you don’t have a development director it’s hard to raise money. The year before I started there they raised just over $17,000 from individuals.”

Now, with White as development director, the annual amount of money raised by OutFront Minnesota is in the $350,000 range. “When you have $350,000 that you didn’t have before, you can do a whole lot more for your community. We’ve changed names, we’ve changed our look” (one of White’s responsibilities at OutFront Minnesota is corporate identity), “we are much more visible, we’re much more participatory. We have a gazillion ‘touches’ every year.” (White explains that in organizational parlance a “touch” is a contact with an individual.) “But it’s a chicken-and-egg thing. How did we get 2,000 people at the State Capitol for the OutFront GLBT Lobby Day? It takes a lot of work and a lot of money.”

Raising money for GLBT community causes has long been an avocation for White. “Way back, when I lived on Marshall Avenue in St. Paul, I always threw an autumnal equinox party every year. And this new thing called GRID was coming along, Gay-Related Immune Deficiency. The Minnesota AIDS Project had just been formed, and I said, ‘You know, guys, they are dirt poor. You come to my house for a party, you can throw ten bucks in the pot.’ People thought I was crazy—nobody was doing fundraising like that within the gay community back then—but they contributed, and in those days a thousand bucks for the Minnesota AIDS Project was a hell of a lot of money.” White later developed and hosted a series of monthly fundraisers for the Minnesota AIDS Project at local nightspot Norma Jean’s.

White’s knack for fundraising was taken in a new direction in 1985, when White took the newly-developed HIV test and tested positive. Aside from prompting him to get in shape and run his first marathon, it inspired him to take the visionary step of founding Philanthrofund, the third GLBT community foundation in the nation. Donations to Philanthrofund are tax-deductible and, according to White, ensure that the donation will “forever, in perpetuity, help the GLBT community of Minnesota. Every single GLBT person in Minnesota should make some kind of recognition of Philanthrofund in their will. I can tell you clearly and easily, Philanthrofund Foundation is the thing in my life I’m by far most proud of.” For his long-time community activism White was named the first Minnesota recipient of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Leadership Award (now called the Wavemaker Award).

White’s second job as a Swedish-language instructor is consistent with his having adopted Swedish as a second language and heritage. White was born Irish Catholic (“with a little bit of German”) but after a year of high school in Sweden as an exchange student he returned there to study Scandinavian political science and Swedish ethnology at Uppsala University. He also holds a degree from the University of Minnesota in Scandinavian languages and literature (with minors in international relations and technical theater).

If you see White working his third job at the Eagle, and you notice the yellow and blue stripes on his black leather pants, don’t jump to the wrong conclusion—the stripes don’t stand for hankie colors. Those are the colors of the Swedish flag, and the pants are similar to what Swedish motorcycle cops wear. (He got the pants at Mr. S. in San Francisco twelve years ago and is justifiably proud of the fact that he can still wear them.)

One of White’s many ambitions is “to move back to Sweden and live there for another two or three years. I’d love to have my current job, development director, but for RFSL, the Swedish equivalent of OutFront Minnesota. Unfortunately, given the Swedish system, they don’t understand fundraising as a whole. You’d have to teach the nation what fundraising is about—like, ‘Why make a charitable contribution, doesn’t the state take care of that already?’ So that’s a challenge in that regard.”

When asked what he would bring to the IML title if he won, White’s response was “Experience. You know, I’m 50—I have wisdom. It is true that you gain wisdom as you get older. You get it the hard way, but you get it. I’ve also been around the block in a lot of ways. I’ve been HIV-positive for seventeen years now, I’ve seen people come and go.

“I have a very strong sense of where I feel the community is going. We had the sixties when we were all going for sexual liberation—straight and gay. We had the seventies and eighties when we were fighting for legal civil rights, but we now realize that’s not enough. What we are now doing is, we are community-forming. We’re doing the exact same thing that the Italians did twenty years after they arrived in New York—we’re building a community and an identity. And that’s the next step. A lot of us haven’t quite seen that yet, and I hope I can help communicate that idea—that we have a history, we have a future, and that we are now community building in a big way, becoming an integral part of American society.”