Friday, June 28, 2002

Inside IML: A Judge’s Notebook

(Full-length Leather Life column published on Lavender Magazine website, Issue #185, June 28, 2002; a shorter version appeared in print.)

Wednesday, 8 A.M.: The train pulls out of St. Paul bound for Chicago and the International Mr. Leather (IML) 2002 contest weekend. (The host hotel this year is the Hyatt Regency Chicago, the largest property in the Hyatt Hotel chain.) I have been at the contest every year since 1994, but this year I will be seeing it from a very different and somewhat exclusive angle: In addition to my press badge, I will be wearing a badge identifying me as one of the weekend’s judges.

Packed in my carry-on bag is a document I have been thinking about and constructing for the last three weeks: a five-page description of all the qualities I feel the man selected to be IML 2002 must possess. My theory: if I have a very specific image of the man I’m looking for, I will recognize him when I see him; if, on the other hand, I don’t know what I’m looking for, I’ll probably wind up with something else.

Wednesday, 9:30 P.M.: This is surreal. Stefan Mueller, the outgoing IML 2001, has invited everyone to kick off the weekend at, of all things, a roller skating party (proceeds benefit the Leather Archives and Museum). I haven’t roller-skated since high school. But I skate most of the evening and have a good time: I only fall down once, and I am able to avoid getting blisters on my feet. It’s an odd but effective way to meet and interact with some of the contestants I’ll be judging this weekend.

Thursday noon: At the Judges’ Orientation Session I meet my fellow judges and we all meet Billy Lane, who competed in IML in 1998. He has been one of the judge handlers ever since, although this is his first year as Judges’ Coordinator. We also meet his two assistants, John Brook and Bruce Saari, who promise to assist us in any way possible this weekend so we can concentrate on judging.

In addition to outgoing IML Stefan Mueller, my fellow judges are Jerry Acosta, American Leatherboy 1999, from San Francisco; Pat Baillie, International Ms Leather 1995, from Albuquerque, N.M.; HervĂ© Bernard, International Mr. Drummer 1998, from Paris, France; Patti Brown, general manager of The Leather Rack in Washington, D.C.; Brian Dawson, International Mr. Drummer 1989, from Los Angeles; Wayne Nesbitt, Mr. DC Eagle 1998, from Washington, D.C.; and Judge Emeritus (and fellow leather columnist) Marcus Hernandez, aka Mister Marcus, of San Francisco.

This is the first year of a new, revamped judging process for IML, and we’re the guinea pigs. For the last several years a chief judge (Thom Dombkowski) has run the judging proceedings and provided continuity by returning year after year. But no longer—this is the first year of IML’s new “no repeat judges” policy. IML has given us only a few basic judging ground rules and is going to trust us as a group to come up with a judging process. We have the option of choosing a chief judge. We decide not to, although Brian, as the “point person,” is always the first to speak to the contestants when they enter and Stefan usually asks each contestant their final question.

In previous years the tallymasters have been in the judging room to act as timekeepers, but this also has changed. It is up to us, the judges, to choose a method of timekeeping. Three judges volunteer to share those duties, but Jerry will end up being the sole timekeeper for the weekend’s interviews—using the countdown timer on his cellular phone.

Dividing the time available for interviews by the number of contestants leaves us with eight minutes per contestant. That hardly seems like enough, but if we exceed that time limit we not only increase our own workload, we also throw off contestant and staff schedules for meals, rehearsals and photo sessions. We decide we’ll just have to make it work.

Thursday, 1:30 P.M.: The judges are officially introduced to the IML contestants at their orientation meeting. There is some social time and I speak to a few of them, but not as many as I expected. I am making mental notes of who takes the trouble to introduce themselves to me and who doesn’t—some of the contestants seem to look right through me.

Thursday, 9 P.M.: Opening ceremonies. This isn’t an official judging event, but I still take notes on how all the contestants present themselves and compile my “eye candy” list. (So do several of the other judges.)

As in other years, all the contestants get at least a polite response from the audience, while several contestants are obvious audience favorites and have larger cheering sections. The purpose of the evening is to draw contestant numbers to determine the order of competition for the rest of the week. Contestants are introduced in alphabetical order; each draws an envelope and gives it to Tom Stice, the weekend’s emcee (who holds the titles of Southeast Drummer 1998 and International Slave 1995). While Stice opens it (I notice they use really good glue on those envelopes), the contestant states his name, title, and what city/club/sponsor he is representing. Stice then announces the contestant’s number and is then supposed to hand the number to the contestant. Unfortunately, quite a few of them walk offstage without taking their number, making Stice run after them to give it to them. (This happens every year—opening night jitters, I suppose.)

Friday, 8 A.M.: The judges gather and prepare for the first day of contestant interviews. Continental breakfast is served. The contestants have been divided up into groups of nine or ten; the first group of contestants is ushered in promptly at 8:30 A.M.

Friday, 9:15 P.M.: Over thirteen hours later, I turn in my score sheets for the first day of interviews. We have talked to 38 out of 66 contestants. To the amazement of the IML staff, we have actually finished each group ahead of schedule—this is the first time anyone can remember that happening.

Looking back on the day, I am grateful for the fact that all the judges seem to be on the same wavelength, and we work together very well. With only eight minutes per contestant we are resigned to the fact that not every judge will get to ask a question of every contestant. But we pretty much held to the eight-minute-per-contestant time limit, and none of the judges seemed to feel he or she was not getting enough information.

Along with questions tailored to each contestant based on his entry form, certain questions have been asked of almost everyone. Surprisingly, Marcus Hernandez found very few contestants able to talk knowledgeably about ENDA (the Employment Non-Discrimination Act) and NCSF (the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom). Patti Brown found no one who knew what important and ubiquitous symbol the late Frank Moore designed (the red AIDS ribbon). Wayne Nesbitt stumped many contestants with his question about the only biological brother-and-sister team to hold the International Mr. Leather and International Ms. Leather titles (Ron Moore, IML 1984 and Genelle Moore, IMsL 1997).

As a group I am very impressed with today’s contestants. The old clichĂ© about “There’s only one IML, but all of you contestants are winners” never seemed truer. Several of them could be strong contenders for the IML title, but no one has distinguished himself as being head and shoulders above all others. Actually, that’s good. It means it’s shaping up to be a close contest, which is always more interesting than when someone walks away with the title.

Of course, that could change. We still have 28 more contestants to interview tomorrow.

But for now, it’s time to drop in on some parties at the hotel: the traditional roast for outgoing IML Stefan, the bootblack party, the Canada party, the Texas party. It’s a dirty job, but somebody has to do it.

Saturday, 6:15 P.M.: The end of Day Two of interviews (only ten hours today). Again, I’m the last one to turn in my score sheets. (Memo to self: I won’t be able to take so much time at the contest on Sunday night.)

Today we’ve seen the judging process evolve in subtle ways. Yesterday the contestants came in as a group and were introduced, and then all but the first contestant to be interviewed left the room. After we had spoken to each contestant individually, the entire group was again brought back into the room for one last look—but no more questions.

By contrast, when today’s contestant groups were brought back into the room, the conversation continued. Was there anything they didn’t get a chance to say during the interview that they would like to say now? What they were afraid we would ask that we didn’t ask? What made them most uncomfortable during the interview? It evolved spontaneously, and it seemed to work very well.

Based on the interviews I don’t have any inkling who will be chosen IML 2002. There are several contestants who I believe would fill the role very well. But that’s getting ahead of things—the more immediate parlor game is trying to guess who will or won’t make it into the ranks of the Top 20 Semifinalists, also known as “making the cut.”

Okay, here’s the Price Waterhouse moment: All 66 contestants are judged on both the interview (which contributes 70% of the preliminary score) and the Saturday night physique/personality prejudging (which contributes 30% of the preliminary score). The contestants having the 20 highest scores are announced at Sunday night’s contest and show and go on to compete in the semifinalist speech and physique segments. These men start competition as equals, because no scores are carried forward from the prejudging rounds into the semifinalist competition. Olympic scoring is used throughout, which means that each contestant’s high and low scores for each round are discarded before the scores are added up. (Games judges play: In both the prejudging rounds, where the scoring range is from 0 to 100, I never award anyone more than 90 points on the theory that fewer of my scores will be thrown out. But I wonder how many of the other judges are doing the same thing.)

What do all these judging mechanics mean in the real world? It means, as Billy Lane tells me: “All these men you’ve just finished interviewing? Two out of three of them will be disappointed tomorrow when they don’t make the cut.” That’s sobering. And I realize that I will be disappointed too, because there are at least 45 of them I would like to see make the Top 20. There are 25 speeches I won’t get to hear and 25 men who I won’t get to see strut their stuff onstage Sunday night. But that’s the agonizing, excruciating part of judging this contest. In the candy shop that is IML, how on earth can anyone choose only twenty? How on earth can anyone choose only one?

Saturday, 9 P.M.: The Physique Prejudging, also known as “Pecs and Personality.” The contestants, who are wearing as little as they dare, walk the stage and let the audience admire them. They are then asked a question based on the information on their contestant application forms; their response will ideally be as witty, entertaining and seductive as possible. Some contestants look hot but don’t do so well answering their question, while others who might not have the best physique get a tremendous audience response because they give the perfect answer to their question. Things move at a good pace and the evening goes by rather quickly. (But next time, IML, please give the guys some background music to strut to—after the applause stops, it’s hard for anybody to be sexy against an aural backdrop of utter silence.)

Sunday morning: Free time—what a concept. Other than a group photo shoot at noon, the judges have nothing official to do until we board a bus at 5:30 P.M. for the contest and show at the Congress Theater. I finally get a chance to wander the Leather Market (116 vendors, something for everyone) and have my boots shined by one of the fourteen contestants in the International Mr. Bootblack Contest, occurring concurrently this weekend with IML. But that’s another column.

Sunday, 6:30 P.M.: The contest gets underway. There’s a prison motif going on this year, with the contestants being presented as prisoners in a line-up. The jockstrap review contest segment is supposed to happen in the prison’s shower room, but due to a problem with the showerhead scenery the audience only gets to see the towels (and very large jockstraps) hanging on the wall. That is still enough to set the scene, however.

Later: The Top 20 are announced. Fourteen of them are on my personal Top 20 list. (Some of the other judges have a higher batting average, picking seventeen or eighteen out of twenty.)

We hear the first ten contestants give their speeches and see the second ten strut their stuff. There is an intermission, then the second ten contestants speak and the first ten strut. It all seems to be happening extremely fast—I try to pay attention to what they’re saying or what they look like, scribble a few notes, and calculate a score for them in comparison with all the other semifinalists.

The contestants are not making it easy for us judges. They’re all good. They’re all excellent. It’s a twenty-way tie. I am convinced that IML Executive Producer Chuck Renslow and Coordinator Bill Stadt are sadists, gleefully watching the judges in agony. I’m not the only one who is feeling this way: Brian Dawson, who is seated next to me, at one point pounds his fist on the table in frustration and says something on the order of, “They’re all too good! How can we choose?”

I jettison all thoughts of Olympic scoring and trying not to have my scores thrown out. If the content of someone’s speech is amazing and the delivery is flawless, they get the highest score I can give—likewise if their leather image, personality and attitude make me think, “It doesn’t get better than this.”

9:45 P.M.: Stefan Mueller is in the middle of giving his farewell, “step-aside” speech. I, however, don’t have the luxury of listening to it right now because I am feverishly trying to get my score sheets done and handed in. (I’m tape-recording it, though, so I will be able to listen to it later.)

I hand the scores to Billy Lane, and then it hits me. It’s over. I’m done. Mission accomplished. The adrenalin, which has been pumping continuously for three days, shuts off. In clinical terms I think this would be called a “delayed stress reaction.” It is now safe to let the enormity of the weekend’s undertaking come to the surface and overwhelm me.

The rest of the evening is a blur. Stefan finishes his step-aside speech by serenading the audience with charming renditions of “Wind Beneath My Wings” and “When Will I See You Again.” Then, while tallymasters Craig Beardsley and Jim Raymond busily punch numbers into their adding machines, diva extraordinaire CeCe Peniston entertains the crowd and calls Stefan to the stage for a brief duet.

10:30 P.M.: The winners are announced: 2nd runner-up Herb Kaylor, Mr. DC Eagle 2002; 1st runner-up Borisz Mos, Mr. Leather Holland 2002; and the new International Mr. Leather is Stephen Weber, Mr. Texas Leather 2002 from Dallas.

I think to myself: I’m very happy with the outcome, proud to think that I helped achieve it, and profoundly grateful for being given the chance to judge. Then I mentally remove my judge’s hat, shift back into columnist mode, and rush the stage with the rest of the press.

Postscript: It’s late Monday morning, Memorial Day, at a restaurant just down the street from the Hyatt where some friends and I are having brunch. As I walk up to the buffet line I see Stephen Weber and his partner Blaine standing by the door. Stephen sees me and flashes me a big smile, and I walk over to talk to them. It turns out this is a reality-check: Last night Stephen was celebrated all over town as the new International Mr. Leather, but that makes no difference this morning—the restaurant has stopped seating people for brunch, so he and Blaine will have to go elsewhere. After the whirlwind of the previous evening one would think they would have to be hungry and exhausted, but they handle the situation well. The irony of the situation doesn’t seem to dawn on either of them. Good for them—I hope they handle the rest of the year’s inevitable misfires and disappointments with such grace.

Friday, June 14, 2002

Lavender Up Close and Personal: Jennifer Gordon

(Article published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #184, June 14, 2002)

PHOTO: Jennifer Gordon

The items surrounding Jennifer Gordon in her South Minneapolis basement office can be divided into two categories: A) computer equipment, and B) kitsch of the best, or in her words the “cheesiest,” kind. Her office is a perfect reflection of Gordon’s life these days—which is a good thing, since lately that’s where she seems to be spending most of it.

You know those “Velvet Elvis Design” ads (“Where Graphic Design Is King”) you always see in Lavender? Jennifer Gordon is the woman behind Velvet Elvis Design. (She says her nickname, “Velvis,” “has grown on me—like mold, but I’ve finally gotten used to it.”) As Senior Creative Designer for Lavender Magazine she creates many of the other ads and many pages of editorial as well, and she also helps with proofreading.

And her work for Lavender is only the tip of the iceberg. Gordon, through Velvet Elvis Design, produces an astounding amount and variety of both printed materials and websites. For many years much of it has been for the GLBT community and much has been pro bono: Pride logos (in 1998 and 2000), flyers, buttons, Pride Guides; ads and logos for bars and clubs; logos, flyers and program books for the leather community (she holds the title of Ms. Minnesota Fantasy 1999), the women’s/lesbian community, and the Imperial Court of Minnesota. She designed this year’s Nebraska Pride logo and will be creating their website.

Then there are her non-GLBT clients, which include realtors, web-radio stations, mail-order companies, and an auto-parts supplier. “Hipsterz,” which are journals and diaries that she designed, are available at a SuperTarget near you. Her work is, seemingly, everywhere. No wonder she spends so much time in front of her computer screen.

Born in Minneapolis, she attended third through sixth grades in Redondo Beach, CA, seventh grade in Minneapolis, then eighth through tenth grades in Hollywood (John Marshall High). Then, she says, “I dropped out, got my GED, got married and got divorced.” She considered being a lawyer “because then I could spend all day in courtrooms, arguing.” She worked in real estate for awhile: “taxes, escrow, really boring stuff.”

In 1983 she went to California and made a vitamin catalog for her step-dad: “He gave me a catalog and a stack of paper and said ‘Here, learn how to do this.’ So I had a whole summer off, not wearing pantyhose to the office. Then when the catalog was done I got a job where I had to wear pantyhose and do the whole escrow thing again. I lasted, like, two days—‘Fine, I give up, I’ll just go to art school.’ Which I should have done in the very beginning.”

She didn’t think she would get into Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD), but she applied and was accepted. She proudly graduated MCAD in 1994, after which she sat in her basement and taught herself “everything that MCAD didn’t know they should teach me, like the whole web thing which was just getting going then and wasn’t a required course yet.”

She picked the name “Velvet Elvis Design” at 4 o’clock one morning “after trying a hundred other web domains and finding out they were all taken. I said it was ‘cheesy as a velvet Elvis’ that they were all taken, and click! Velvet Elvis was available.” Her partner at the time, Karen King, did a mean Elvis Presley karaoke imitation, which is where the phrase “Where Graphic Design is King” comes from. Gordon’s advertisements for Velvet Elvis often feature a crown, which makes sense in light of the “King” motto. And they always feature the image of a magic 8-ball, which Gordon says “just evolved.”

In 1998 she placed an ad with Lavender for one of her clients and placed an ad for Velvet Elvis Design at the same time. Shortly thereafter she got a call from the magazine asking her if she wanted to put together that year’s Capital City Pride book. She did, and she also ended up putting together the Twin Cities Festival of Pride book for 1998 and 1999. She’s been doing graphic production work for Lavender ever since.

Gordon is a high-femme lesbian. “I couldn’t imagine being anything else. Remember, I grew up in LA, where we wore makeup to school in sixth grade. And high heels, too.” She remembers “crying through my whole wedding when I was sixteen, just knowing I was doing the wrong thing,” but she didn’t really identify herself as a lesbian until seventeen or eighteen. “And then for awhile, every time I broke up with a girl I went out with a guy to see if I still hated it—for like five years. And then the last time I just said, ‘Well, you know you’re gonna hate it, so just save yourself the agony.’ So I did.”

One of the few things capable of getting Gordon away from her computer is her daughter, who is just finishing up third grade: “She’s doing great—she’s healthy, she’s bright, she’s artistic, she wants to be a veterinarian and a graphic designer.”

Gordon collects any kind of bad Elvis paraphernalia and anything else that is, in her words, “cheesy.” There are stuffed Gumby figures hanging from the ceiling in her office, and on shelves are many other examples of vintage kitsch “like the hula doll—it dances and plays music, so it’s very cheesy. Or a Chia Pet—it’s so cheesy you don’t have to take it out of the box.” She’s also on a Spam kick now, but those items are upstairs in the kitchen. Appropriately enough, she has two paintings of Elvis on velvet: one she bought, unframed, on Ebay for $40, and one a friend brought back from Mexico: “It cost $9—and that one has a frame.”

The fact that Gordon is a product of South Minneapolis crossed with Southern California has given her a unique aesthetic sensibility. She delights in retro-50s design, taking its “cheesiest” elements and making them into ironic fun. This design ethos is exuberantly displayed on her website, <www.velvetelvis.com>, where visitors will find a client list and examples of past work, jokes, music, poetry, links, all done in that inimitable Velvet Elvis style.

Ticket to Pride: Pride Every Day, All Year

(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #184, June 14, 2002)

It’s June, the season of GLBT Pride and Leather Pride—time for our annual trek up Hennepin Avenue with our flags flying, our leather shining and our heads held high. Wouldn’t it be great if life could always be like this?

Well, maybe we can’t march in a parade every day, but there’s no reason we can’t show our leather pride in months other than June. The key is simple: Get Involved. Choose an aspect of leather or a cause you believe in, and invest something of yourself in it. Among your rewards will be a heightened sense of pride in yourself and your leather tribe.

Just for starters, here are ten ways to show your pride every day and make it last all year. You can probably think of many more. Consider this a call to action. Please don’t overlook item #10—it’s especially important right now.

1. Attend a leather community event. The next time you hear about a club run, a leather contest, a class or training seminar, or a fundraiser, put it on your calendar and show up to support it.

2. Volunteer to help with a leather event. After attending a few events, maybe you’ll be moved to the next level: helping to make an event happen—anything from a local event all the way up to a major international leather gathering. They all need volunteers.

3. Join a club. It’s a great way to get involved and to meet people. There are clubs for every taste and orientation, and they all welcome new members who are sincerely interested in participating in club life. If you still can’t find one that matches what you’re looking for, start your own—how do you think all those other clubs got there?

4. Volunteer at the Leather Archives & Museum in Chicago. Spend a weekend (or as much time as you can spare) surrounded by our leather heritage as a Vacationing Volunteer working with the collections or doing administrative work. They even have volunteer opportunities that don’t require travel and can be done from your home. For more information visit <www.leatherarchives.org> and click on “Get Involved.”

5. Volunteer with the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF). For a long time our community and our sexual freedoms have been attacked by various right-wing groups, and NCSF is leading the charge against them. Over the past four years NCSF has emerged as a leader in the defense of our rights to privacy, free speech, freedom from discrimination and freedom to engage in non-traditional, consensual sex practices. They are truly an amazing organization that is fighting multiple battles on multiple fronts and doing a very good job. If you’re tired of reading news reports about the problem, volunteer with NCSF and be part of the solution. Visit <www.ncsfreedom.org> and click on “Volunteer Opportunities.”

6. Volunteer for a GLBT cause or event—but do it as someone who’s into leather. Take your pick: the Pride Committee, District 202, Outfront Minnesota, the various GLBT musical groups, church groups, softball, bowling, rodeo or any other group. Get involved, and don’t hide your leather.

7. Volunteer for a non-GLBT cause or event—but do it as someone who’s into leather. I know leatherfolk whose causes include breast cancer, lupus, multiple sclerosis, disabled children, and the list goes on. Working for causes like these is a way to make our leather culture visible to the wider public.

8. Find a mentor. Or be one. Filling either role will make you a better leatherperson and a better just-plain-person, too.

9. Read a book. Classic books by writers such as Guy Baldwin, Joseph Bean, and Larry Townsend have stood the test of time. Let yourself be mentored by our community’s authors.

10. Write a letter. If there’s an issue you feel strongly about, let your voice be heard! Praise the good and noble; lobby against the bad and intolerant. Write a letter to your congressman and/or senator; TV and radio stations, magazines, newspapers and other media outlets; and businesses both supportive and non-supportive. A suggestion: Write your first letter to the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago to thank them for hosting the International Mr. Leather weekend in spite of a reported 1,000-plus angry phone calls from members of religious right-wing groups. Hyatt representatives have publicly taken the stand that “Hyatt Corporation doesn’t discriminate against anybody.” Send your letter of thanks and support to the attention of Thomas Pagels, General Manager, Hyatt Regency Chicago, 151 E. Wacker Drive, Chicago IL 60601. Or send an e-mail to <tpagels@chicagoregency.hyatt.com>.

The leather community is what you make it—what we all, together, make it. Your contribution counts. When you get involved, you’ll feel more like a part of the community and the community will be better off because of your involvement. Yes, all these statements sound like cliches. But they also happen to be true.

Wednesday, June 12, 2002

When Men Were Men and Videos Were Films: Joe Gage’s Kansas City Trilogy

(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #186, July 12, 2002)

In the modern age in which we live, if you want to enjoy an all-male erotic entertainment you simply pick one up at the video store, bring it home, pop it in your DVD player or VCR, and proceed to get your rocks off. It’s easy, convenient, and cheap. It’s the video equivalent of a frozen entree—all it lacks is flavor, texture and interest.

Compared with much of the gay male porn that’s being made today, the films that make up Joe Gage’s Kansas City trilogy are gourmet feasts. The films (Kansas City Trucking Company, 1976; El Paso Wrecking Company, 1977; L.A. Tool & Die, 1979) were all greeted with enthusiastic acclaim from critics and viewers alike when they were first released, and they continue to be revered today, selling well on both videocassette and DVD. They are widely considered to be among the finest products of the golden age of gay male erotic filmmaking and supreme examples of a lost art. They really, truly don’t make them like this anymore. (What was it that Norma Desmond said in Sunset Boulevard about the pictures getting smaller?)

Male erotic films made prior to the mid-1980s were very different from modern-day gay male videos. The process of making them was different, their content was different, the way in which they were viewed was different, and the society and the milieu in which they existed were very different from today’s world.

In 1976, when Kansas City Trucking Company was released, Stonewall had happened only seven years before. Vietnam was still a raw nerve in the American psyche (and is part of the storyline of L.A. Tool & Die). AIDS had not yet exploded. Gay life was pre-condom, pre-video, pre-digital, pre-virtual and pre-Internet. Gay men could be found hanging out in tearooms instead of chatrooms.

In those pre-VCR days very few people had their own film-projection equipment, which meant that watching what was then known as an “all-male” film was a communal experience. One went to a slightly-seedy theatre with a name like “Adonis” or “Gaiety” or “Bijou” and watched the movie on a theater-sized screen in the company of other men. The action in the theater usually mirrored what was happening on the screen. The floors of the theater were sticky, and it wasn’t just spilled soft drinks. (Oh, and the patrons of those theaters probably stopped at the newsstand to pick up the latest copy of Drummer on the way home. Just as video killed film, the Internet has killed many magazines.)

Gage and many of the other makers of gay male erotic films of the era took their task seriously. Their films were certainly drenched in sex, but they also strove to make both an artistic and a political statement. (In those days having sex, and lots of it, was a political statement.) Comparing these films to most modern-day porn videos is like comparing the lushness, sweep and spectacle of Gone With the Wind with the crass coarseness of the latest “reality televison” dreck, or like comparing a fine erotic photograph from Colt Studios to the type of amateur male nude snapshots with which the Web is awash.

The films in the Gage trilogy include such now-quaint notions as a plot, including a story arc that spans all three films of the trilogy; character development; more dialogue than just the occasional grunt or “Suck my big dick” line; artistic camerawork and lighting effects; scenic landscape and location shots; and a soundtrack that is for the most part a very complex aural montage of relevant sounds that forms a breathtaking backdrop for the sexual action on the screen. Watching the films it’s obvious that Gage was a guy who paid attention to details and wanted to take the effort to get them right. (L.A. Tool & Die took 20 days to film, which was and still is an unheard-of amount of time to spend making a gay porn flick.)

The men in these films are very different from the twinks in so many of today’s porn films. You’ll see no gym bunnies or steroid queens here, and no shaved chests or trimmed pubes—just good-looking, unpretentious, often hairy, real men having real sex with real gusto.

The trilogy was dedicated to Tom of Finland, and it’s a Tom-of-Finland world that the films portray. There are stunning scenes filled with leather and motorcycles. Alcohol is much in evidence, especially while driving. Guns are toys. There are fistfights with homophobes, and the homophobes always lose and slink away. There is lust aplenty, but also love, camaraderie and, at the end of the trilogy, romance and a fairy-tale (pun intended) happy ending. For the most part it’s a laid-back, mellow world with a happy bunch of guys-next-door (don’t we all wish?) who enjoy each other’s company. They work hard, and when the day is done they play hard (accentuate the “hard”). There is also the occasional female, usually a girlfriend, because Gage evidently liked to include something for the heterosexuals and bisexuals in the audience.

Unfortunately, the years have not been kind to these films. Many of the hairstyles are almost laughably dated, as is much of the music. Those, unfortunately, are things that can’t easily be fixed. Other problems cry out to be rectified, however: the VHS versions that I viewed started with prints of the films that were scratched, dusty and missing significant chunks of footage. Those problems were compounded with some of the worst film-to-video transfer I’ve ever seen. I would hope the film-to-DVD transfers were handled with more respect. If you want to add these films to your collection, caveat emptor. It might be worth renting before you buy. Know what you’re getting and be prepared to settle for some technical shortcomings.

Or overlook the technical shortcomings, the cheesy music, the bad (at times) acting, and just revel in the cinematography, the storytelling, the men and the sex. Those days may be gone with the wind, but we still have these movies by which we can remember them.

Upcoming Leather Events (for Calendar section)

Atons Leather/Levi Dinner
Saturday, July 13; It’s Greek to Me (626 W. Lake St. at Lyndale, Minneapolis)
Presented by the Atons, open to all. Drinks at 7 PM, dinner at 7:30 PM. Patio dining, space is limited. To make reservations or for more information call the Atons HotLine.

Atons 30th-Anniversary XXXtreme Leather Weekend
Friday-Sunday, July 19-21
Come help the Atons of Minneapolis celebrate their 30th anniversary at a weekend party of extreme proportions. Weekend fee includes lodging, meals, refreshments, and all activities. There will be a hot tub, nature trails, dungeons, games, cocktail parties, and a banquet with celebrity entertainment. For more information: www.atons.net, or call the Atons HotLine.

When Men Were Men and Videos Were Films: Joe Gage’s Kansas City Trilogy

(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #186, July 12, 2002)

In the modern age in which we live, if you want to enjoy an all-male erotic entertainment you simply pick one up at the video store, bring it home, pop it in your DVD player or VCR, and proceed to get your rocks off. It’s easy, convenient, and cheap. It’s the video equivalent of a frozen entree—all it lacks is flavor, texture and interest.

Compared with much of the gay male porn that’s being made today, the films that make up Joe Gage’s Kansas City trilogy are gourmet feasts. The films (Kansas City Trucking Company, 1976; El Paso Wrecking Company, 1977; L.A. Tool & Die, 1979) were all greeted with enthusiastic acclaim from critics and viewers alike when they were first released, and they continue to be revered today, selling well on both videocassette and DVD. They are widely considered to be among the finest products of the golden age of gay male erotic filmmaking and supreme examples of a lost art. They really, truly don’t make them like this anymore. (What was it that Norma Desmond said in Sunset Boulevard about the pictures getting smaller?)

Male erotic films made prior to the mid-1980s were very different from modern-day gay male videos. The process of making them was different, their content was different, the way in which they were viewed was different, and the society and the milieu in which they existed were very different from today’s world.

In 1976, when Kansas City Trucking Company was released, Stonewall had happened only seven years before. Vietnam was still a raw nerve in the American psyche (and is part of the storyline of L.A. Tool & Die). AIDS had not yet exploded. Gay life was pre-condom, pre-video, pre-digital, pre-virtual and pre-Internet. Gay men could be found hanging out in tearooms instead of chatrooms.

In those pre-VCR days very few people had their own film-projection equipment, which meant that watching what was then known as an “all-male” film was a communal experience. One went to a slightly-seedy theatre with a name like “Adonis” or “Gaiety” or “Bijou” and watched the movie on a theater-sized screen in the company of other men. The action in the theater usually mirrored what was happening on the screen. The floors of the theater were sticky, and it wasn’t just spilled soft drinks. (Oh, and the patrons of those theaters probably stopped at the newsstand to pick up the latest copy of Drummer on the way home. Just as video killed film, the Internet has killed many magazines.)

Gage and many of the other makers of gay male erotic films of the era took their task seriously. Their films were certainly drenched in sex, but they also strove to make both an artistic and a political statement. (In those days having sex, and lots of it, was a political statement.) Comparing these films to most modern-day porn videos is like comparing the lushness, sweep and spectacle of Gone With the Wind with the crass coarseness of the latest “reality televison” dreck, or like comparing a fine erotic photograph from Colt Studios to the type of amateur male nude snapshots with which the Web is awash.

The films in the Gage trilogy include such now-quaint notions as a plot, including a story arc that spans all three films of the trilogy; character development; more dialogue than just the occasional grunt or “Suck my big dick” line; artistic camerawork and lighting effects; scenic landscape and location shots; and a soundtrack that is for the most part a very complex aural montage of relevant sounds that forms a breathtaking backdrop for the sexual action on the screen. Watching the films it’s obvious that Gage was a guy who paid attention to details and wanted to take the effort to get them right. (L.A. Tool & Die took 20 days to film, which was and still is an unheard-of amount of time to spend making a gay porn flick.)

The men in these films are very different from the twinks in so many of today’s porn films. You’ll see no gym bunnies or steroid queens here, and no shaved chests or trimmed pubes—just good-looking, unpretentious, often hairy, real men having real sex with real gusto.

The trilogy was dedicated to Tom of Finland, and it’s a Tom-of-Finland world that the films portray. There are stunning scenes filled with leather and motorcycles. Alcohol is much in evidence, especially while driving. Guns are toys. There are fistfights with homophobes, and the homophobes always lose and slink away. There is lust aplenty, but also love, camaraderie and, at the end of the trilogy, romance and a fairy-tale (pun intended) happy ending. For the most part it’s a laid-back, mellow world with a happy bunch of guys-next-door (don’t we all wish?) who enjoy each other’s company. They work hard, and when the day is done they play hard (accentuate the “hard”). There is also the occasional female, usually a girlfriend, because Gage evidently liked to include something for the heterosexuals and bisexuals in the audience.

Unfortunately, the years have not been kind to these films. Many of the hairstyles are almost laughably dated, as is much of the music. Those, unfortunately, are things that can’t easily be fixed. Other problems cry out to be rectified, however: the VHS versions that I viewed started with prints of the films that were scratched, dusty and missing significant chunks of footage. Those problems were compounded with some of the worst film-to-video transfer I’ve ever seen. I would hope the film-to-DVD transfers were handled with more respect. If you want to add these films to your collection, caveat emptor. It might be worth renting before you buy. Know what you’re getting and be prepared to settle for some technical shortcomings.

Or overlook the technical shortcomings, the cheesy music, the bad (at times) acting, and just revel in the cinematography, the storytelling, the men and the sex. Those days may be gone with the wind, but we still have these movies by which we can remember them.

Upcoming Leather Events (for Calendar section)

Atons Leather/Levi Dinner
Saturday, July 13; It’s Greek to Me (626 W. Lake St. at Lyndale, Minneapolis)
Presented by the Atons, open to all. Drinks at 7 PM, dinner at 7:30 PM. Patio dining, space is limited. To make reservations or for more information call the Atons HotLine.

Atons 30th-Anniversary XXXtreme Leather Weekend
Friday-Sunday, July 19-21
Come help the Atons of Minneapolis celebrate their 30th anniversary at a weekend party of extreme proportions. Weekend fee includes lodging, meals, refreshments, and all activities. There will be a hot tub, nature trails, dungeons, games, cocktail parties, and a banquet with celebrity entertainment. For more information: www.atons.net, or call the Atons HotLine.