tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23075674199007293122024-03-13T05:07:28.403-05:00Leather Lifeby Steve Lenius | since 1995, leather columnist for <i>Lavender</i> MagazineSteve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.comBlogger471125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-79283468657489523782014-07-31T22:26:00.000-05:002015-06-17T22:26:44.107-05:00The “Leather Life” column: A 500th-issue look back(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #500, July 31, 2014)<br />
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Wow. Five-hundred issues. Who knew?<br />
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On June 9, 1995, <i>Lavender</i> Magazine was born, and so was this Leather Life column. (The magazine’s original name was <i>Lavender Lifestyles;</i> this column’s name for the first ten issues was “LavLife: Leather.”)<br />
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Here is how the first installment of this column started:<br />
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“Greetings! New magazine, new leather columnist. When the editors of this publication asked me if I was interested in writing a leather column for them, I immediately assured them I was. By the time I hung up the phone, I had recovered my senses, and asked myself, ‘What have I gotten myself into <i>now</i>?’ Well, I guess we’ll see.”<br />
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<i>Lavender</i> is now up to issue #500. That means this is a great time to take a look back and see “what I got myself into.”<br />
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This column, of course, has changed and evolved since that first issue. Some of the changes were driven by changes to the magazine. Other changes to the column were driven by the growth and evolution of the leather/BDSM/fetish community.<br />
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At its start, <i>Lavender</i> was printed in black ink on newsprint paper (the magazine’s cover used one more color of ink along with the black). This meant that photographs did not print very well. As <i>Lavender</i> added full-color printing to its inside pages, and then upgraded to much better paper, the quality of photographs in the magazine—including photographs in the Leather Life column—increased dramatically. That fact, along with the increasing capabilities of digital cameras, inspired me to take more pictures and include more photos in the column. (Be sure to see the Leather Pride celebration photos, taken by your humble columnist and others, elsewhere in this issue.)<br />
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In <i>Lavender</i>’s early issues the Leather Life column nearly always included a calendar section of upcoming leather events. Increasing digital connectedness (first e-mail lists and websites, then Facebook, Twitter, and other social media) meant that as time went on the column’s event-calendar function lessened, and I could devote more space to other topics.<br />
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The frequency of the column’s appearance has changed. After appearing in every issue of the magazine for many years, there was a short period when this column appeared in the magazine on a quarterly basis. Then the frequency of the column’s appearance increased to what it is currently: at least every other issue, and sometimes more often.<br />
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The focus of this column started expanding shortly after the column started, and that expansion has continued. The column’s intended audience widened from gay leathermen and leather lesbians to include the pansexual BDSM community and other kinky folks who happened to be bisexual, heterosexual, or trans- or fluid-gendered—of all ages, young to mature. And the column always has been written to be accessible to non-kinky folks as well.<br />
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The range of topics covered in this column has expanded from mostly leather to include BDSM and many other alternative sexualities and fetish interests: gear, pony play, puppy play, fire play, blades, tattoos, piercing and other body modifications—to name just a few. (Just when I think I’ve written about every fetish there is, someone comes up with a new one.)<br />
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Many kinds of relationships have been discussed in the column, including Master/slave, Dominant/submissive, Daddy/boy, trainer/pup, and even, finally—hurrah and hallelujah—marriage.<br />
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Some topics that the column dealt with in the early issues are still part of the column today: Pride, both leather and GLBT (and, increasingly, GLBTA, to include our proud allies); leather/BDSM/fetish clubs and organizations; club runs and parties; and leather contests and titleholders, both local and international. Fortunately, there is one topic appearing less often today than in the early days of the column: obituaries.<br />
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How has your humble columnist changed? I am 500 issues older, I am grayer, and I am becoming a bit of a curmudgeon (although not as curmudgeonly as my former leather-journalism colleague Robert Davolt, blessed be his memory).<br />
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So, what did I get myself into? A recurring spot in a really great magazine (both print and online); membership in several really great communities; and a really interesting, amazing—and long-running—ride of a lifetime. Cue the Sondheim music: “I’m Still Here.” And the ride isn’t over yet.<br />
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(Now for the inevitable, shameless commercial plug: Many of the articles that have been part of this column have been collected in my book, <i>Life, Leather and the Pursuit of Happiness.</i> Published in 2010, the book is available in print and e-book versions.)<br />
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Five-hundredth-issue thank-yous to all the people at <i>Lavender</i> over the years who have kept the magazine going and allowed it to reach this milestone, to everyone who has ever been written about in the column, and to everyone who has been a part of the leather/BDSM/fetish and GLBT communities, the communities that have given me so much to write about.<br />
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Finally, to my reading audience, in both print and digital forms—thanks for reading!<br />
<br />Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-17826026610267241992014-07-03T22:21:00.000-05:002015-06-19T22:51:05.774-05:00Impressions of International Mr. Leather Weekend, 2014(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #498, July 3, 2014)<br />
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The 36th edition of the International Mr. Leather (IML) contest weekend was held May 22-26, 2014 in Chicago. This was the 21st time your humble columnist has attended. In those 21 years I have seen many changes to the event. Yet the basics—masculine men in masculine attire, who also happen to be great guys with noble hearts—have remained the same. No wonder I keep coming back every year. Following is my impressionistic take on the 2014 IML weekend's events.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left to right: IML first runner-up Steve Dupont; International Mr. Leather 2014 Ramien Pierre; International Mr. Bootblack 2014 Scout; and IML second runner-up Cody Troy.</td></tr>
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<b>Thursday evening:</b> It’s the unofficial kick-off to the International Mr. Leather weekend: a “roast” of Andy Cross and Oil Tan Sam, the outgoing International Mr. Leather 2013 and International Mr. Bootblack 2013 titleholders. The roast is held in the auditorium of the Leather Archives & Museum.<br />
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When the IML first and second runners-up are two of the people doing the roasting, fireworks are almost assured, and the evening does not disappoint. The knives are out and the claws are sharpened. Sacred cows are gored, secrets are betrayed and canonical leather beliefs are blasphemed.<br />
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No one escapes unscathed—the titleholders being roasted, the people on stage doing the roasting, some people in the audience and even a few people who weren't even in attendance.But it’s all in good fun and all for a good cause (the event benefits the Leather Archives & Museum). Along with the bitchiness, there is an awful lot of love on that stage. <br />
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<b>Friday evening:</b> All 46 of this year’s contenders for the International Mr. Leather title are introduced at the official IML opening ceremonies. Then it’s time to party. The entire fourth floor of the hotel has been turned into Leather Central for the evening. While a silent auction benefiting the Leather Archives & Museum goes on in the hall, three ballrooms are filled with revelers at the San Francisco Party and Gear Blast. Approaching one of the ballrooms, I’m hit by blasts of both body heat and thumping sound waves.<br />
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Inside I see men in unitards, latex, leather aprons, sports gear, plush-headed cartoon costumes, kilts, harnesses, jocks, fatigues, spandex, cowboy gear, superhero suits, adult “boys” and human “pups” on leashes. The tribe is enjoying itself. I see all ages and all body types, and everyone seems to respect everyone else—it’s all good.<br />
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The music is not as loud as it has been in years past, so conversation is possible. I meet some men from Minneapolis and ask them if they have been to the Leather Market yet. They reply, “Only for necessities.”<br />
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I work my way down to the hotel lobby to see what’s going on there. The elevators are slow and infrequent and crowded and their own kind of (hot and sweaty) fun.<br />
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The lobby is crowded, too. A table holds printed promotional flyers for vendors and events, but the table is half the size it has been in years past—perhaps more promotion is being done online? Next to the table is a cardboard box the size of a 55-gallon drum, and it is half-filled with condoms. (Tomorrow I will see two men refilling the box to the brim.)<br />
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<b>Saturday, Leather Market:</b> I run into a gentleman who is attending IML for the first time, and he is blown away by the size of the Leather Market. “I was expecting maybe a dozen vendors set up in the lobby,” he says. Instead he found a Leather Market filling two hotel ballrooms on the fifth and seventh floors of the host hotel (with an express escalator between the two floors). The Market is filled with 120 vendors selling all manner of leather and fetish goods. There is the expected (leather apparel, boots, paddles) and the unexpected (impressive iron dungeon beds and slings made from truck tires). The Leather Market welcomes 6,000 visitors each day it is open.<br />
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<b>Saturday afternoon:</b> History is made as IML founder and Executive Producer Chuck Renslow officiates at the first legal same-sex wedding ever held at IML.<br />
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<b>Sunday:</b> This year’s IML Contest and Show is held at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Chicago’s Millennium Park. The 46 contestants are introduced, and then, based on preliminary judging, the top 20 finalists are announced. Each of the finalists shows his serious side by making a 90-second speech while dressed in formal leather. Each contestant also shows his playful side by getting a chance to own the stage and seduce the audience while wearing as little leather as possible.<br />
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While the judges’ scores are being tallied, the IML audience is entertained by—a string quartet? Yes, but the group, Well Strung, is not just any string quartet. Dressed in leather and displaying impressive physiques, these four classically trained musicians sing four-part boy-band harmonies while accompanying themselves on two violins, cello and viola. The audience absolutely loves them—I even hear many audience members singing along.<br />
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At last, the winners are announced. Second runner-up is Cody Troy, Mr. Midwest Leather 2013; first runner-up is Steve Dupont, Mr. New England Leather 2014; and the new International Mr. Leather 2014 is Ramien Pierre, Mr. DC Eagle 2014.<br />
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In the theater lobby after the contest, and on the bus back to the hotel, I see people tapping out the news of the contest results on their jungle drums (also known as mobile phones). Once again, the tribe has a new leader for the year. Let the party continue.Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-79877369125163040272014-06-19T22:13:00.000-05:002015-06-19T22:42:45.292-05:00Minnesota Leather Pride invites you to “Fly your flag”<b>Leather Pride events expand beyond June and beyond Twin Cities</b><br />
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(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #497, June 19, 2014)<br />
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The theme of the 2014 Minnesota Leather Pride celebration is “Fly your flag.” This year’s theme is incorporated into the design of this year’s collectible Minnesota Leather Pride dog tag (see sidebar). This year’s theme also will be collectively expressed by community members as they carry Minnesota’s giant leather pride flag in the Ashley Rukes GLBT Pride Parade up Hennepin Avenue on Sunday, June 29.<br />
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The first Minnesota Leather Pride event, held in the early 1990s, was one single Sunday-afternoon gathering where members of the leather community socialized after marching in the Twin Cities GLBT Pride Parade. From that humble beginning, Minnesota’s annual Leather Pride celebration has grown over the years into one of the biggest leather-pride celebrations in the U.S., with a wide array of events stretching over three weeks in June (see the schedule below).<br />
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Now the Minnesota Leather Pride celebration is growing even bigger. This year, the board of the Minnesota Leather Pride organization has had two goals: to expand beyond June by having quarterly events throughout the year, and to expand geographically beyond the Twin Cities.<br />
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The first quarterly Minnesota Leather Pride event was an afternoon-long workshop on “BDSM and Creativity” held in January (and covered in this column in Lavender issue #490, March 6, 2014). Upcoming quarterly events include a “Family Feud” of local leather clubs this coming autumn, as well as a Minnesota Leather Sir/Minnesota Leatherboy contest (part of the International Leather Sir/Leatherboy title system) in April 2015.<br />
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As part of its geographic expansion, Minnesota Leather Pride was represented at this year’s Capital City Pride, June 6-8 in Des Moines, Iowa. Minnesota Leather Pride shared a booth at Capital City Pride with two leather clubs, the Corn Haulers Leather and Levi Club of Iowa and the Titans of the Midwest. Minnesota Leather Pride also will be visible at Fargo/Moorhead Pride on August 16, and possibly other regional pride festivals as well.<br />
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Listed below are details, at the time of this writing, for most of this year’s Minnesota Leather Pride events. Other events may be added to the schedule; for the most current event details visit <MNLeatherPride.org> or follow “Minnesota Leather Pride” on Facebook.<br />
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<b>Leather Pride Fashion Show: A Grimm Fairy Tale</b><br />
<i>Friday, June 13, 8 P.M., Camp Bar, St. Paul</i><br />
Fantasy and sex meet fairy tale characters in the kick-off event of this year’s Leather Pride celebration. Admission is $8 with a 2014 Minnesota Leather Pride dog tag (or $10 without a dog tag).<br />
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<b>Kink U Master Class: Dom/sub Discussion</b><br />
<i>Saturday, June 14, 1-4 P.M., Twin Cities Leather & Latte</i><br />
An interactive discussion of the dynamics and challenges of Dominant/submissive relationships. Open to those who identify as Dom, sub, switch or none of the above. Presented by Titans of the Midwest.<br />
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<b>Bondage Slam</b><br />
<i>Sunday, June 15, 1:30-4:30 P.M., Patrick’s Cabaret</i><br />
Come to participate or just to watch. Different categories of bondage on display will include duct tape; fashion; rope; hankie code (bondage using hankies); and “fly your flag” (i.e., anything goes). There will also be a few surprise categories announced at the event. Participants will determine their method and execution of bondage. Three judges will award prizes for best of categories and best overall. Admission is $5 with a 2014 Minnesota Leather Pride dog tag (or $7 without a dog tag). Presented by MSDB.<br />
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<b>You Say Kink, I Say Leather, Part 2</b><br />
<i>Thursday, June 19, 7 P.M., Camp Bar, St. Paul</i><br />
Continuing a discussion that started last November, this will be an open discussion about the leather and kink communities—where they overlap and where they differ. Presented by PEPRMNT.<br />
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<b>Two Seminars: “Customs, Conventions and Protocols” and “The Art of Flogging”</b><br />
<i>Saturday, June 21, 1-4 P.M., Bondesque (707 W. Lake St.)</i><br />
“Customs, Conventions and Protocols” will discuss ways of integrating these three concepts into alternative-lifestyle relationships. “The Art of Flogging” will cover everything from making your own flogger to using a flogger to create erotic pleasure with maximum effect. Admission is $7 with a 2014 Minnesota Leather Pride dog tag (or $10 without a dog tag). Presented by Leather Journey.<br />
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<b>Leather Pride Motorcycle Ride</b><br />
<i>Sunday, June 22, 10 A.M., meet at 1610 Harmon Place</i><br />
Presented by Knights of Leather.<br />
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<b>Reading and Exhibition: The 8th Annual Leather Pride Anthology</b><br />
<i>Monday, June 23, 7-9 P.M., The Saloon</i><br />
An evening of locally created kinky poetry, art, short fiction and photography. Authors will read from their works; art and photography will be displayed; and printed copies of the Anthology will be available for purchase. Presented by the BDSM Creative Collective.<br />
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<b>Leather Pride Swap Meet</b><br />
<i>Tuesday, June 24, 7-9 P.M. (vendor setup begins 6:30 P.M.), Camp Bar, St. Paul</i><br />
Vendors can swap as well as sell their items. No charge to attend, mingle, swap or negotiate a sale; $5 per vendor table or space. Presented by MAsT (Masters And slaves Together), Twin Cities chapter.<br />
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<b>Cigar Smoker</b><br />
<i>Thursday, June 26, 8-11 P.M., Eagle/BOLT Bar (patio)</i><br />
Bring your favorite cigar; enjoy a summer evening on the patio with smoke and conversation. Presented by the Atons of Minneapolis.<br />
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<b>Floggapalooza</b><br />
<i>Friday, June 27</i><br />
Get your Pride Weekend off to a flogging good start at Floggapalooza. At this writing, event time and location are still being determined; check <MNLeatherPride.org> or Facebook for details.<br />
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<b>Minnesota Leather Pride booth at the Twin Cities Pride Festival</b><br />
<i>Saturday, June 28, 9 A.M.-5 P.M., Loring Park</i><br />
When you visit the Pride Festival, be sure your visit includes a stop at the Minnesota Leather Pride booth.<br />
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<b>Ashley Rukes GLBT Pride Parade: Leather Flag March</b><br />
<i>Sunday, June 29, meet before 11 A.M. at 3rd St. & Hennepin Ave.</i><br />
“Fly your flag” as you march with members of the Minnesota leather/BDSM/fetish community and help carry Minnesota’s giant leather pride flag. Parade steps off at 11 A.M.<br />
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<b>Minnesota Leather Pride booth at the Twin Cities Pride Festival</b><br />
<i>Sunday, June 29, 9 A.M.-5 P.M., Loring Park</i><br />
After the parade, visit the Minnesota Leather Pride booth as you spend the afternoon in Loring Park at the Pride Festival.<br />
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<b>2014 Minnesota Leather Pride Dog Tag</b><br />
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“Fly your flag” by wearing your 2014 Minnesota Leather Pride dog tag, the latest in a long and distinguished line. This year’s dog tag also gets you discounts at certain Minnesota Leather Pride events (see the event schedule). Get yours for $7 while supplies last at participating businesses (see <MNLeatherPride.org> or Facebook for details) and at Minnesota Leather Pride events. Dog tags will also be available for $10 at the Minnesota Leather Pride booth in Loring Park during the Pride Festival.Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-80549887721976780802014-06-05T22:13:00.000-05:002015-06-17T22:29:40.551-05:00Leather and Social Capital, 2014(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #496, June 5, 2014)<br />
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Your humble columnist, you may recall, is currently a student at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minn. For a course titled “Ethics in the Age of the Internet” I wrote a paper concerning the Internet’s recent effects on democracy and community. (Heavy stuff, right?)<br />
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As I was writing that paper, of course, I was also applying the concepts I was discussing in it to the leather/BDSM/fetish community. Although I was pessimistic about the Internet’s effects on democracy as a whole, I was pleasantly surprised when I thought about the effects that the last decade’s technological innovations seem to be having on our community.<br />
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Return with me to 2005, when I published a column (<i>Lavender</i> #272, Oct. 28) titled “Leather and Social Capital.” According to Dr. Robert Putnam, a professor of public policy at Harvard who was featured in that column, social capital is defined as “features of social organization such as networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit.”<br />
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In the “Leather and Social Capital” column, I discussed a description by Dr. Putnam of the way social connectedness had plummeted in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Among the factors Putnam blamed for the decline were television, suburbanization, and a decline in entertaining. Putnam also noted the decline of long-established social organizations, institutions and frameworks such as the American Legion and VFW. Putnam wondered what kinds of social organizations would evolve to fill the social needs that used to be filled by these organizations (or, alternatively, how organizations would re-invent themselves to stay relevant).<br />
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At that time Putnam believed the Internet might be one key to reestablishing connections among people. He predicted that the Internet would either evolve into a “super telephone,” which would help to keep us connected, or a “super television,” which would further isolate us. Putnam noted that “You don’t make friends over the telephone,” but rather that telephones are used to keep us connected to people we already know.<br />
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That was in 2005. In 2007 the iPhone was introduced, and compared to what had gone before it was certainly a “super telephone.” The iPhone combined a telephone, a camera, a touchscreen computer and an Internet connection in one pocket-sized device. Other smartphones followed, and they have revolutionized the multiple ways in which people communicate—not only voice and text messages, but also video chats, photographs and homemade movies delivered to one or multiple persons as soon as the images are captured. (And, contrary to what Putnam said above, you certainly can use any number of apps on your phone, including Grindr, to meet new people and make new friends as well.)<br />
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Smartphones can increase our sense of connection to people far away, but what about real-life, local connectedness? Facebook, which was opened to the public shortly after the “social capital” column was published in 2005, also could be considered part of that “super telephone” phenomenon (although smartphones also function as a “super televison”). In a breathtakingly short time, Facebook has become a popular piece of Internet infrastructure used for maintaining our connections to our social networks, both local and long-distance.<br />
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In the case of the Twin Cities leather community, Facebook has become one of the primary methods of publicizing real-life events where people actually show up in person and, like, you know, talk to each other face-to-face. Rather than replacing face-to-face social interaction and diluting community connections, Facebook is being used to facilitate face-to-face interaction and to strengthen community connections. I consider that a positive development.<br />
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There is also Fetlife, which debuted in 2008 and which has been called the “kinky Facebook.” But I think it’s interesting to note that a large group of local gay leathermen use Facebook rather than (or in addition to) a more specialized social-media platform like Fetlife. Even with the limitations imposed by Facebook’s terms of service, Facebook can be made kinky enough to be useful.<br />
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In 2005 I described a frequent topic of leather-community conversation: “What’s happening to our community? Why are traditional leather clubs graying, with few younger members in sight? Why is it harder to find contestants for leather contests? Why does it seem as if people don’t go out as often as they used to?” I am happy to report that the situation does not seem as dire in 2014, a time when younger people are actively building “social capital” by using new technologies to perpetuate, evolve and strengthen the leather/BDSM/fetish community.<br />
<br />Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-23299373242528071842014-05-08T22:12:00.000-05:002015-06-19T22:38:44.700-05:00Bound for IML<b>Jason Little and Greg Menzel to represent Minnesota at 2014 International Mr. Leather Contest</b><br />
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(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #494, May 8, 2014)<br />
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Jason Little and Greg Menzel will be representing Minnesota (as Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2014 and Mr. Twin Cities Leather 2014, respectively) in this year’s International Mr. Leather (IML) Contest, Memorial Day weekend in Chicago. I recently had a chance to ask them a few questions.<br />
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<b>What attracted you to leather?</b><br />
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<i>Jason Little:</i> A few experiences in college that I didn’t know at the time were necessarily kinky, but looking at them, they were pretty darn kinky. So I really was already into kink before I made the association between kink and leather. And then when I went to the Eagle, that sense of community and mutual respect and trust really hooked me.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greg Menzel and Jason Little.</td></tr>
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<i>Greg Menzel:</i> I’ve always liked leather, just the look, the smell, the feel of it. Even as a kid, going into Wilson’s Leather and smelling the store was one of my favorite things. As for the community, the whole sense of brotherhood is really important—same thing that attracted me to the ideal of the Greek system when I was at college.<br />
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<b>How are you preparing for IML?</b><br />
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<i>JL:</i> Practice, practice, practice! Practicing interview questions for the onstage interview and the offstage interview. Getting all the things I need to look right onstage. Going to the gym. Trying to connect with as many people as possible who have had some of the experiences that I'm going to go through, to ask them what advice they have for me.<br />
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<i>GM:</i> I’ve been trying to read as much as possible and getting all my gear ready. And I’m absolutely terrified of talking on stage so I’ve been talking to some people about that.<br />
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<b>What do you want to accomplish with your title this year?</b><br />
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<i>JL:</i> Part of the reason I ran for Mr. Minneapolis Eagle was because I’ve had great experiences helping new people get into the community—people who might not fit the typical leatherman image but who have something to contribute to the community. I wanted to use this title to reach out and make them feel welcome, and give them a chance to contribute to the community. I also feel really strongly about reducing the stigma around HIV, and this title gives me a platform to further that message.<br />
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<i>GM:</i> My goal was getting myself more involved, and then seeing if there are ways to bring communities together more. You’ve got a lot of young people, and then you’ve got some of the Old Guard, and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of conversation between the two groups. Some people are a little afraid to walk into an Old Guard kind of group. I know I was intimidated sometimes. But as I put myself out there more, it was easier to find people who were willing to talk and help, and I want to see if there's something I can do to be a part of that.<br />
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<b>What are your thoughts now as you look forward to the upcoming IML contest weekend?</b><br />
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<i>JL:</i> My first time at IML I made so many lifelong-level friendships that I remember it was really hard for me to leave. I know that this year’s going to be a very different experience because of how busy I’m going to be. But at the same time I’m so excited to see those friends I’ve made before, and to make even more friends and more connections.<br />
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<i>GM:</i> It looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun. I feel like there’s a lot of stress to it, and I’m going to be shuttled around from one location to another and one event to another. I’m really excited for the last party, the Black & Blue Ball—from what Jason was saying, it sounds like a lot of fun. It seems like it’s going to be a whirlwind before that.<br />
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Both Little and Menzel have send-off events planned. Little’s will be May 10, starting at 9 P.M. at the Minneapolis Eagle, held in conjunction with the Eagle’s monthly Gear Night. Menzel’s will be held in early May at The Saloon, where he is one of the bartenders; for date and time information, see Menzel’s titleholder page on Facebook (“Greg Menzel Mr. Twin Cities Leather 2014”), the Twin Cities Leather page on Facebook (“Twin Cities Leather & Latte”), or the Twin Cities Leather website (<twincitiesleather.com>). Come out and wish them both good luck in Chicago as they represent the local leather community at IML. (For more details about the IML contest weekend, visit <www.imrl.com>.)<br />
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Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-73050554669560138982014-04-10T22:11:00.000-05:002015-06-19T23:17:51.869-05:00Leather Lens: Mr. Twin Cities Leather 2014(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #492, April 10, 2014)<br />
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This year’s Mr. Twin Cities Leather Contest weekend, held Friday, Feb. 14 through Sunday, Feb. 16, was packed with something for everyone. The weekend started Friday with a Meet-and-Greet-the-Contestants evening and a Red & Black Ball in honor of Valentine’s Day. On Saturday afternoon, Kink U presented several classes, and Sunday’s Victory Brunch was followed by more Kink U classes, an afternoon beer bust and a rubber/kink shower contest in the evening. All of the weekend’s public events were hosted by The Saloon.<br />
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But Saturday evening’s contest was the high point of the weekend, and it was full of surprises. One of the evening’s entertainers did a wicked Michele Bachmann drag impersonation. The outgoing Mr. Twin Cities Leather 2013 titleholder, Kyle Truss, did a step-aside striptease in which he literally stripped off the accoutrements of his title year. And The Atons of Minneapolis did an official presentation of their club colors to Twin Cities Leather & Latte.<br />
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The evening’s three contestants (Tim Holden, Boy Cody and Greg Menzel) each gave entertaining performances during the Talent portion of the contest. Holden wore what looked like a medieval robe as he performed a takedown on Tim Hotchkin; Boy Cody performed some of his favorite moments from classic movies; and Menzel, a bartender at The Saloon, demonstrated his drink-mixing talents. When the judges’ scores were totaled, Menzel was awarded the Mr. Twin Cities Leather 2014 title and sash.<br />
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Contest emcee was Karri Plowman, assisted by Luke Wallrich, both of Twin Cities Leather & Latte. Judges were Tynan Fox, an educator, speaker and blogger; Tim Balfanz, general manager of The Saloon; Sir Jack Duke, International Leather Sir 2012 from Dallas; Rod McCoy, aka “Onyx Rod,” Leatherman of Color 2011 from Washington, D.C.; Andrew Bertke, President of the Atons of Minneapolis; and Daniel Hennagir, Mr. Twin Cities Leather 2011. Tallymaster duties were handled by Michael Kramer. Entertainment was provided by Lucy Furr and Nocturna Lee Mission.<br />
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As Mr. Twin Cities Leather 2014, Menzel will represent Twin Cities Leather & Latte and Minnesota’s leather community in the 36th annual International Mr. Leather competition (<www.imrl.com>), May 23-26, 2014 (Memorial Day weekend) in Chicago.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhwc2pSupYuBSDFzZeJYZ8umS5WbouzO5W4u_K0WjhtWhkduWldlNSI5mLZc2DbcGVKv6fKhqv5bPHWU1wxU3nqKJgNXL4CWs3zSj9to4lDxFlL2J06paNl5l18TUTJWZ18MgcEi7B3Ov/s1600/DSCF7212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhwc2pSupYuBSDFzZeJYZ8umS5WbouzO5W4u_K0WjhtWhkduWldlNSI5mLZc2DbcGVKv6fKhqv5bPHWU1wxU3nqKJgNXL4CWs3zSj9to4lDxFlL2J06paNl5l18TUTJWZ18MgcEi7B3Ov/s400/DSCF7212.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greg Menzel, Mr. Twin Cities Leather 2014, moments after being awarded the title.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The contestants in the Mr. Twin Cities Leather 2014 contest. Left to right: Tim Holden, Greg Menzel (Mr. Twin Cities Leather 2014) and Boy Cody.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boy Cody (kneeling) performing great moments from his favorite movies during the Talent portion of the contest.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjGi7p0m8STC9X6Z_DpSvlwumo67Vx7or356_OVd74bm-PINNKpk2I-XTRsPeCEKxQKvbFwL0wRq5zFjaGSjDba1eW9f-Gg7Hd3dhey8CJA7vLDBnW1-eJ3cRKYpyFpNGCzZkfPnsZ70GO/s1600/DSCF7052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjGi7p0m8STC9X6Z_DpSvlwumo67Vx7or356_OVd74bm-PINNKpk2I-XTRsPeCEKxQKvbFwL0wRq5zFjaGSjDba1eW9f-Gg7Hd3dhey8CJA7vLDBnW1-eJ3cRKYpyFpNGCzZkfPnsZ70GO/s400/DSCF7052.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greg Menzel demonstrates his bartending skills during the Talent portion of the contest.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiUM0ZnK0N318xgXlaGWh9VjhUSzWHZbl30i-g-dEEGewXzkMv4hkBijdOR0NRm2ZsuWfDBthWLLuY5m1qSGILb6r8LP8bGhGFXxaV0zXDuW83FW9df8d5UXc278DQCfB6sOe0JsjLlt2g/s1600/DSCF6978.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiUM0ZnK0N318xgXlaGWh9VjhUSzWHZbl30i-g-dEEGewXzkMv4hkBijdOR0NRm2ZsuWfDBthWLLuY5m1qSGILb6r8LP8bGhGFXxaV0zXDuW83FW9df8d5UXc278DQCfB6sOe0JsjLlt2g/s400/DSCF6978.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greg Menzel demonstrates his bartending skills during the Talent portion of the contest.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Y1CVQl7lw7V6dm0cvNEG_qz-UgGMMeiMKZAwjlGq3sMggMe5Iw0zpIB0yJMKb4keE0ECYCvV72gUWf4JkDmH2taA1lcZJjZ1PRXVrA2Vgd9SCKx4ZsraRhsRj2etXENfj_jV3Z9HKWec/s1600/DSCF7196+-+Version+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Y1CVQl7lw7V6dm0cvNEG_qz-UgGMMeiMKZAwjlGq3sMggMe5Iw0zpIB0yJMKb4keE0ECYCvV72gUWf4JkDmH2taA1lcZJjZ1PRXVrA2Vgd9SCKx4ZsraRhsRj2etXENfj_jV3Z9HKWec/s400/DSCF7196+-+Version+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The moment of truth: Kyle Truss puts the Mr. Twin Cities Leather sash on Greg Menzel while Boy Cody reacts.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizBc6IC_qbWe1rAJ9P5kGwrQgkJ_LGKNSDSwWxwCYFG9UlY5G9g164LosvSyUt2502uYkl0KAutjdsYqQh-0cK9uAw_dUJEoOSaOr-JUeKELmwsPCKMmzcqAQPE3Sd_l6tGShRiy5N5ReI/s1600/DSCF7228.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizBc6IC_qbWe1rAJ9P5kGwrQgkJ_LGKNSDSwWxwCYFG9UlY5G9g164LosvSyUt2502uYkl0KAutjdsYqQh-0cK9uAw_dUJEoOSaOr-JUeKELmwsPCKMmzcqAQPE3Sd_l6tGShRiy5N5ReI/s400/DSCF7228.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greg Menzel, Mr. Twin Cities Leather 2014 (second from left), with the three owners of Twin Cities Leather & Latte: from left, Luke Wallrich, Tynan Fox and Karri Plowman.</td></tr>
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<br />Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-17817684142699093212014-03-13T22:10:00.000-05:002015-06-17T22:10:36.009-05:00Leather, BDSM and Creativity(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #490, March 13, 2014)<br />
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We all know the stereotype: Gay men are creative. Hairdressers, designers and florists—what more do you need to know?<br />
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Well, if it could be argued that this particular stereotype reflects reality, I would argue the stereotype is too limiting. I see all kinds of creative people around me. Gay men, yes, but also lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered people—we are a creative community that is constantly inventing new ways of living, loving and relating to the world and the society around us. And we take delight in creatively documenting our inventions, using many and varied literary and artistic media.<br />
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Then there are the members of the leather/BDSM/fetish community, who also find extremely creative ways to express themselves and their sexuality, and who delight in creating novel ways to structure relationships.<br />
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Are we, the members of the GLBT and leather/BDSM/fetish communities, really that much more creative than people who are not members of these communities? I can think of several reasons why we might be. Because we have, in some respects, turned our back on many of the conventions of society's rulebook, we might have the freedom to think differently. Maybe our perceptions are less filtered by orthodoxy and are therefore more open to alternative ways of looking at things. Maybe we're more innately creative because we need that creativity to survive in a world that can be hostile.<br />
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But creativity, like musculature, needs to be exercised if it's going to develop. It was in this spirit that on Sunday, January 19, I attended an afternoon-long workshop on “BDSM and Creativity.” The workshop was a joint presentation of the BDSM Creative Collective and Minnesota Leather Pride. More than a dozen people attended, among them writers, illustrators, a painter and a photographer. All modes of creative expression were welcome.<br />
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The workshop was facilitated by Lady Carol, who also produces the annual BDSM Creative Collective Anthology that has been a part of the annual Minnesota Leather Pride celebration for the last several years. (Lady Carol presented a similar workshop the following weekend in Madison, Wisconsin.)<br />
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Lady Carol started the workshop by asking some questions: Why do we create? Why do we write, paint, sculpt, do photography, or whatever—and why especially about the BDSM part of our lives? Here are some benefits of exercising our creativity given by workshop participants:<br />
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• Documenting our experiences by writing, drawing or painting lets us relive and re-experience them. It makes them real.<br />
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• Telling our stories by writing things down, or otherwise documenting them, puts us in touch with ourselves and helps us discover and accept who we really are.<br />
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• Being creative is a way to explore new territories, feelings, situations and voices. It can also be a kind of alchemy, a way to transmute darkness into enlightenment.<br />
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Having discussed why we valued creativity, Lady Carol then had us do an exercise: We had 20 minutes to write or draw or envision “someone in the BDSM lifestyle who is in a different role than you are.”<br />
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The group dispersed to various corners of the building and started creating. I fired up the writing app on my iPad, raised my fingers above the virtual keyboard—and ran headlong into writer's block. I couldn't get started because I couldn't think of anything to write. I grabbed the first “different role” that sprang to mind—write about someone who is female—and started writing about a female domme who lived on an estate and liked to throw parties. Once I got started, the ideas and images flew from my brain through my fingertips onto the iPad screen.<br />
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The group reassembled and everyone shared their creations. Then Lady Carol gave us two more assignments: Write a short poem (in ten minutes) and write about making preparations for an impromptu BDSM scene (again, ten minutes).<br />
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The point of these exercises was not necessarily to create finished products in ten or twenty minutes. Maybe we started creating something during an exercise that could be fleshed out later, or maybe we didn't. But at least we stretched and flexed and strengthened and toned our creativity.<br />
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So now it’s your turn. Go do something creative. Envision, dream, explore—and then capture it by writing it down or drawing it or painting it. (Lady Carol said that much of what she writes in her head never makes it to paper.)<br />
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It might not turn out to be a masterpiece. But, then again, it might. You never know until you try.<br />
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Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-15634875234051986342014-02-13T22:08:00.000-06:002015-06-19T23:36:18.369-05:00Exclusive “Leather Life” interview: Joseph D.R. OLeary, author/photographer of Of Beards and Men(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #488, February 13, 2014)<br />
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<i>I recently interviewed Joseph D.R. OLeary, the creator, photographer, author and publisher of a new book called <b>Of Beards and Men.</b> The interview took place in OLeary’s office at his farm just outside the Twin Cities area of Minnesota.<i></i></i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Author Joseph D.R. OLeary</td></tr>
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<b>What all do you do? You’re a photographer, you have your own design firm, you’ve got a farm—</b><br />
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I went to school for design. I always did photography on the side. I had my first camera when I was eight. I had a darkroom growing up, I was always interested in it. But I really liked design and focused on design for my schooling. I started Veto Design in January 1992, the year I graduated [from Minneapolis College of Art & Design]. I did photography here and there while I was living in Minneapolis. And then eight and a half years ago, when I moved here, I had the luxury of having a couple barns that I could remodel into a studio. And that’s when I got more serious about the photography—now I can dedicate a whole space to this, and keep things there, I don’t have to like shuffle things around as much.<br />
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The farm, at various points we had chickens, we had goats, we had different things. Right now we don’t have anything—except the dog.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN2M0XqeQUQuvAgBKEeRfXMQo9dKzYP5frbUpqUZuV_W227BaoHOXaREIG7jwEoVNdPMrAVIfVoRq4jfgYkUsEHeK5xLxObYa7SU7LKL3WBDoRt4WiP35dxBp5qfFqalgOxtL8KvEEtlNV/s1600/OBAM_Hardcover_spine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN2M0XqeQUQuvAgBKEeRfXMQo9dKzYP5frbUpqUZuV_W227BaoHOXaREIG7jwEoVNdPMrAVIfVoRq4jfgYkUsEHeK5xLxObYa7SU7LKL3WBDoRt4WiP35dxBp5qfFqalgOxtL8KvEEtlNV/s400/OBAM_Hardcover_spine.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a><b>Why beards? Why a book of photographs of men with beards?</b><br />
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Several reasons. I was doing a portfolio of women’s fashion because I wanted to get jobs in the fashion industry. And it wasn’t working very well. When I would contact somebody they’d be like, oh, your work is great, I’d love to work with you. Then they would find out that I lived out here, and they wouldn’t show up. I had probably a 50% show-up rate.<br />
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So that was one thing. Secondly, my brother died in a car crash in December of 2011, which kinda made me spiral out of control a little bit. This project was a way of connecting with people to tell their story, so that it’s documented in a book for, like, an eternity. Because I felt like my brother was taken from us too fast, and unexpectedly, so his story was never told in this way.<br />
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And then I got Lyme disease in 2012, which I had for six months to a year prior to when they discovered it. It was crippling, I was on crutches for five months during 2012 and nobody could figure out what was wrong with me. I was just trying to motivate myself to keep on going, keep moving forward, and this project just kinda came out of it. So it was a way of connecting with people, you know, trying not to drop out of society because I was sick and hurting from my brother’s death.<br />
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<b>But why men with beards? You could have taken photographs of anybody or anything.</b><br />
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Well, I think because the women weren’t showing up, I thought, let’s change to men. And I felt beards were just—I would look at old books, like my partner has a book of some of his relatives. There’s 20 brothers in this photograph, these 20 brothers are standing in a V with Mom and Dad in the center, and every one of them had a beard or a mustache. And it was like, wow, there’s something so attractive about this, you know? My dad always had a beard the entire time I’ve been alive. Beards represent masculinity. It’s one physical difference between men and women, you know, men can grow beards.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwbTbUnt0DvKG_UVmKJXCVYoMN7o9kqBonhyk8t0P4geFH2uBbun_D8ojVlFrC_f6o_D4H5W2o9ZAmJA9cOfF6wxvdQAIzoLbscj8uiOn9qLmzrMIjWEHNxmqSQXnKE7A8n7Q2ieIdfpLm/s1600/Chris_M237.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwbTbUnt0DvKG_UVmKJXCVYoMN7o9kqBonhyk8t0P4geFH2uBbun_D8ojVlFrC_f6o_D4H5W2o9ZAmJA9cOfF6wxvdQAIzoLbscj8uiOn9qLmzrMIjWEHNxmqSQXnKE7A8n7Q2ieIdfpLm/s400/Chris_M237.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chris</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>How did you find guys to photograph?</b><br />
<br />
I made postcards that said “Is your beard ready for its closeup?” and dropped them at various public places around town. I started putting it online on Facebook—you know, is there anybody out there with a beard who wants to get photographed? It was really slow at first because people weren’t sure what it was all about and, well, what is he gonna do with me while I’m at the studio? I had a couple people who said, well, I’m not into beard fetishes. And it’s like, well, it’s not a fetish, it’s just you have a beard and I’m making portraits of men with beards. Slowly, once people started seeing the photos, it was like, oh, I get it, and then it was easier to get people to come out here.<br />
<br />
<b>Tell me about the photographic style of the book.</b><br />
<br />
When I first started the project, I handed out postcards at the Minnesota Beard-off in 2012. I showed up at First Avenue and I was handing out these cards, and before I even left the bar I already had people taking pictures of themselves and e-mailing their selfies to me. This was on Saturday night, and I think I had my first shoot on the following Wednesday. I photographed him, probably for a half-hour, and I was kind of uncomfortable because I didn’t really know what I was doing. The next guy came maybe a week later, and I photographed him. I had six or seven of them done at one point, and I was looking at them, thinking they don’t feel different enough or unique enough, there’s no style to them yet. I haven’t figured out what my voice is about this project. I wasn’t bringing anything new to this subject matter.<br />
<br />
That’s when I photographed one guy with a pipe—he was number 6 or 7 or 8—and when he brought his pipe I was like, that’s it, I need people to bring something.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCe4OqQiS3MVI151PtFKJpbW1qKWHHn4V28hMGdJR0nIqTcgVwyrZ-QlDNcuc3pqevT9BMn7osugT8ZZ45VOX63vwCF2fipnX0DljzpEpth8m4ePRoeaiN8JXJvcZFpwI0nUnuvlLMjbox/s1600/Jesse_D467.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCe4OqQiS3MVI151PtFKJpbW1qKWHHn4V28hMGdJR0nIqTcgVwyrZ-QlDNcuc3pqevT9BMn7osugT8ZZ45VOX63vwCF2fipnX0DljzpEpth8m4ePRoeaiN8JXJvcZFpwI0nUnuvlLMjbox/s400/Jesse_D467.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jesse</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>You needed props.</b><br />
<br />
Yeah, I needed a prop, something that defined that person. So I asked them to bring a couple changes of clothes, and a prop or two that defined them professionally, personally or spiritually, and then just waited for them to show up. The first few guys that I photographed, I invited them back and I re-photographed them.<br />
<br />
Sometimes it took a long time to get the right photo. My photo shoots, the first ones were about a half hour to 45 minutes. As the project went on, they got longer and longer and longer. I would say three and a half hours ended up being the shortest, and sometimes as much as five, six, seven hours. Because I was enjoying the conversation so much, I didn’t want to just take their photo and tell them to get out of here. I wanted to know these people, and I felt like I became friends with all the subjects that I spent a lot of time with. We had great conversations. There was times when I was crying because we were sharing stuff that was unbelievable! I felt like, in a way, these guys have all become my brothers. It was such a personal project to me.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZHe-rsCnmZWFCMrKAjJHesH4z4lqaMYkKGNEenJtEqOm9g3tg5iXkj6qfwYFmUUG7KoN7ta8BeH9JLm6yi1SH_582-FULFDoR0Fk5nRcL4z0fAq21AjL-ljZ_DuBb9HOtiiqhNaV70wOD/s1600/Tim_M149.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZHe-rsCnmZWFCMrKAjJHesH4z4lqaMYkKGNEenJtEqOm9g3tg5iXkj6qfwYFmUUG7KoN7ta8BeH9JLm6yi1SH_582-FULFDoR0Fk5nRcL4z0fAq21AjL-ljZ_DuBb9HOtiiqhNaV70wOD/s400/Tim_M149.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tim</td></tr>
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<b>Why did you use Kickstarter to create this book?</b><br />
<br />
Originally my idea was that it would just be a print-on-demand book—I’ll take the photographs, I’ll design it, put it out on a website, let people buy it if they want. I photographed people, and I got to, like, 50, and the project kept evolving, and more and more people got excited about it. At one point I was doing three photo shoots a day. I finished photographing the hundredth guy much earlier than I expected. So I kept on photographing, because I was having so much fun. There was gonna be 100 people in the book, it ended up being 140. There were only supposed to be 168 pages in the book, it ended up being 212. I was gonna print in China to keep the expenses low, but I printed in Minnesota, which is a lot more expensive. There was only gonna be one version, there ended up being three. I kinda kept amping it up, because I was happier and happier with the photos, and people were more and more excited. The Kickstarter campaign had a goal of $27,000, I raised $40,000. So—I ran with it.<br />
<br />
The Kickstarter project got a lot of press internationally. During the campaign I was contacted by people in Israel, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, England, the Netherlands. Everybody was writing articles about it, and it was featured on forty-some different websites. The Huffington Post covered it. It was amazing. It blew my mind. The day that I launched the Kickstarter campaign it was an instant Kickstarter staff pick. It become the most popular local pick for the Twin Cities.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6CClqqJ0cpR2atUDVizZNtJaHT2_HwFAKI3KdICYlxJBPF6WCY2mMwQPk4S7BHT4CUeosSsD7XGbwVWuje1PwlsiXoqCKwbVlpkSxyjHI3Skf3axOW3xCQXBgxbstM5eRskadAq9glJ5g/s1600/John_M227.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6CClqqJ0cpR2atUDVizZNtJaHT2_HwFAKI3KdICYlxJBPF6WCY2mMwQPk4S7BHT4CUeosSsD7XGbwVWuje1PwlsiXoqCKwbVlpkSxyjHI3Skf3axOW3xCQXBgxbstM5eRskadAq9glJ5g/s400/John_M227.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John</td></tr>
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<b>What did you do yourself, and what did you outsource to various helpers?</b><br />
<br />
I did everything from designing all the promotional materials for it, to designing the book, to taking the photographs, to writing all of my stuff in the book. I did have [art critic] George Slade write an essay, [photographer/educator] Doug Beasley wrote a critical essay, and Andy Sturdevant [an arts writer based in the Twin Cities]. [The book also includes a fourth essay by author and photo historian Vicki Goldberg.] Anastasia, a friend of mine, ended up editing the bios—I went through and did my first edit, and then gave them to her to edit them so that each biography was in the owner’s voice and said what they needed to say, but there’s a consistent style to them.<br />
<br />
But, yeah, everything was my doing, essentially. I was at the printer from 10:00 on a Friday to noon on a Saturday, checking the pages as they were printed. When I was at the bindery the last two days before my book launch, I folded all the dust jackets.<br />
<br />
<b>You folded them personally yourself?</b><br />
<br />
Personally myself. We were trying to get it done, and I knew I had a Saturday book launch and I needed to get as many books done as possible. And I shrink-wrapped a bunch of books, too.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpPf4XrfdSJqO8Ga7SFq4hyyS4yHf632OhgP2hBjaR7-k_gvj6oIoC-p0RaGCnLoAdyvaUBB0r94IXUTl3y7fi6rtXRwEJQ6KMYoapYMlEYg2WxkgFKE44Td3qLxJD0cucx1rUoe90yjoO/s1600/Justin_P62.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpPf4XrfdSJqO8Ga7SFq4hyyS4yHf632OhgP2hBjaR7-k_gvj6oIoC-p0RaGCnLoAdyvaUBB0r94IXUTl3y7fi6rtXRwEJQ6KMYoapYMlEYg2WxkgFKE44Td3qLxJD0cucx1rUoe90yjoO/s400/Justin_P62.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Justin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>So, you designed the book, you took the pictures, you did all the pre-production work, you oversaw the printing and binding, and you did all the promotional materials as well.</b><br />
<br />
Yeah. One benefit I think I had in overseeing everything was that I have twenty years of design under my belt, so I know the questions to ask. Every detail, I lived and breathed it.<br />
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<b>Why was the book printed and bound in Minnesota instead of in China?</b><br />
<br />
I had gotten a book from another photographer, and this book was so beautiful, I’m like, this is what I want mine to be. And in the back of the book it said “Printed in China.” And then another friend said, you really need to check out this other printer in Singapore. I knew it would cost a lot less to print in China or Singapore. But I really wanted it printed in the U.S., because I feel like everything’s getting sent to China. I won’t even shop at Wal-Mart, why would I send my book to China to be printed, even though I loved the printing that China was doing?<br />
<br />
And then as I was talking to a lot of the guys in the book when I was photographing them, they were like, don’t print it in China. This is a book about these men, and it all feels local and regional, so keep it local. People are gonna be upset if you print it in China.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS7BdYoYNYTBCoQXsVisS1GwxENuU_KxOdPrOUo06FwfFHTTUP2BCUPO6LhwJioDq79uWvy3ISND1oeTTic3heSBOc39cYT8RrPCGjTAZzBjYno03b3w-0HCRUsuurs0FO1ZuzXZWD6XBO/s1600/Nellie_N42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS7BdYoYNYTBCoQXsVisS1GwxENuU_KxOdPrOUo06FwfFHTTUP2BCUPO6LhwJioDq79uWvy3ISND1oeTTic3heSBOc39cYT8RrPCGjTAZzBjYno03b3w-0HCRUsuurs0FO1ZuzXZWD6XBO/s400/Nellie_N42.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nellie</td></tr>
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<b>Are you pleased with the way things have turned out?</b><br />
<br />
I’m blown away by how well Kickstarter worked. I’m actually super-pleased about the whole project. I was able to have complete control over a creative project from the get-go, with nobody telling me what to do, and see where it goes—to see if I can make the right decisions all along the way. And in general, I feel like I have, I don’t think I made too many errors. I just wanted it to be completely my own decision. It’s a little nerve-wracking, but I think it’s fun, too.<br />
<br />
The project has been getting a lot of gallery representation. It was in New Hampshire [Drift Contemporary Arts Gallery, Portsmouth], Florida at the Morean Arts Center [St. Petersburg], the Kiernan Gallery in Virginia [Lexington], and the Netherlands [Galerie Mooiman, Groningen]. It was in the Center Forward exhibition at The Center for Fine Art Photography [Fort Collins, Colorado].<br />
<br />
I didn’t want it to be a gay book and I didn’t want it to be a straight book. I wanted to appeal to everybody—male, female, straight, gay. My grandmother, who’s 101 years old, has this book sitting out on her coffee table. And that is awesome, you know, that excites me. I feel proud of that.Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-38824961989039572812014-01-16T22:07:00.000-06:002015-06-20T14:29:46.609-05:002013 Atons Holiday Fundraiser Benefits Aliveness Project and Clare House<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #486, January 16, 2014)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the food donated to the food drive.</td></tr>
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On Sunday evening, Dec. 8, The Atons of Minneapolis welcomed the holiday season with their annual Holiday Fundraiser. The event was held in the Bolt Underground.<br />
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Food, drink and camaraderie were in abundance, and the bidding for silent auction items was intense. Everett Allen Photography was on hand to take pictures of attendees with Naughty Santa (Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2013 Ryan Brown), and Great Lakes Bootblack Kai was shining boots and polishing leathers.<br />
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The fundraiser included a food drive that collected over 500 lbs. of food and other supplies to benefit the food shelf at The Aliveness Project. Donations at the door and through the silent auction totaled over $1,300 and benefited Clare House.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shopping at the silent auction.<br /><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lotsa raffle tickets.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Merry Christmas to all!</td></tr>
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Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-55243763426854088472013-12-19T22:06:00.000-06:002015-06-20T14:46:52.701-05:00Leather Lens: Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2014(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #484, December 19, 2013)<br />
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Jason Little captured the sash at the Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2014 contest, which took place at the Minneapolis Eagle complex Nov. 15-17. This year’s Mr. Minneapolis Eagle contest was the largest and best-attended in the event’s history and attracted an unprecedented number of out-of-town visitors.<br />
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The weekend started with a Greet-the-Meat party Friday evening in the Minneapolis Eagle. On Saturday afternoon the contestants had their private interviews with the judges, while other weekend attendees enjoyed a Kink U session discussing “Kink on a Budget.”<br />
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As Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2014, Jason Little will represent The Minneapolis Eagle and Minnesota’s leather community in the 35th annual International Mr. Leather competition (<www.imrl.com>), May 23-26, 2014 (Memorial Day weekend) in Chicago.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The contestants in the Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2014 contest. Left to right: Ivan E. Nuñez, Jason Little (Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2014), Tim Hotchkin (first runner-up) and Bernd Geels.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP3GGU0bSsCMMel7D6Kx4EYpj8FFUSWTo9I2vWF3qWhxPgzwkj3FWIdaY-M3CxbcwyrlHGDEqJEmtLNSw6ixHTJtWctdZZfXEQY_2TQkC0MSjCJlPMKT0G_bhEE2f6C8o1celgq8G22wCW/s1600/DSCF5699.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP3GGU0bSsCMMel7D6Kx4EYpj8FFUSWTo9I2vWF3qWhxPgzwkj3FWIdaY-M3CxbcwyrlHGDEqJEmtLNSw6ixHTJtWctdZZfXEQY_2TQkC0MSjCJlPMKT0G_bhEE2f6C8o1celgq8G22wCW/s400/DSCF5699.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ivan E. Nuñez during the contest’s traditional Keg Walk segment.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5WcItbXw3jAYT21lXDDeHpJLhe0DtW-xMRskARmt6aQHuShvQrJ375t2E8-9XlgrOSwz-qVqwZ5tAXhM2YyMrbGWBZh_0OlC0h71b7mH9G14N7rykwHfcXrRFuiEMbqyk_1b29pvwyafh/s1600/DSCF5754.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5WcItbXw3jAYT21lXDDeHpJLhe0DtW-xMRskARmt6aQHuShvQrJ375t2E8-9XlgrOSwz-qVqwZ5tAXhM2YyMrbGWBZh_0OlC0h71b7mH9G14N7rykwHfcXrRFuiEMbqyk_1b29pvwyafh/s400/DSCF5754.jpg" width="321" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tim Hotchkin during the Keg Walk.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisBUmbrG3VectMx1H9q1MgSTJ5LUm2WNZoTP20RPp-UkhaCgWQq2IfVvjXtwoOGG53TB143U6rWaWT1scgxDKq0z44OIZ1DhwZIvotlZwOkaAX7JZSViZbuuGF8NWopUEXI6AN4EqhxE0r/s1600/DSCF5833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisBUmbrG3VectMx1H9q1MgSTJ5LUm2WNZoTP20RPp-UkhaCgWQq2IfVvjXtwoOGG53TB143U6rWaWT1scgxDKq0z44OIZ1DhwZIvotlZwOkaAX7JZSViZbuuGF8NWopUEXI6AN4EqhxE0r/s400/DSCF5833.jpg" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bernd Geels during the Question-and-Answer portion of the contest.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrPqpNrH7YsDknMvvXrpHV0xJKHgtOoOG2VPkd3Efz_Mxwnmjjq8HruHQF54u-qyONHvIYOcyM5rHxFNClK2JX7Tj-F_9u9AX1EXQQOG7DbxfHk44tZ6U36-q1iY-TGGcCgsd3_AXUCDHD/s1600/DSCF5878.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrPqpNrH7YsDknMvvXrpHV0xJKHgtOoOG2VPkd3Efz_Mxwnmjjq8HruHQF54u-qyONHvIYOcyM5rHxFNClK2JX7Tj-F_9u9AX1EXQQOG7DbxfHk44tZ6U36-q1iY-TGGcCgsd3_AXUCDHD/s400/DSCF5878.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jason Little during the Erotic Fantasy portion of the contest.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheJ77wVIl9_ORpOqsi3a7QTZa7x6DS5h17ieC5i-SPmCuUtvTfujW8DyHq1R48L7TKI7fqjbzHD9gCPdXfNOn1q8GRirVa5hiveXLSnrOrZV3X4qJKSPX8_sg4aKS2mcZQN3xEcLBB9eeP/s1600/DSCF5653+-+Version+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheJ77wVIl9_ORpOqsi3a7QTZa7x6DS5h17ieC5i-SPmCuUtvTfujW8DyHq1R48L7TKI7fqjbzHD9gCPdXfNOn1q8GRirVa5hiveXLSnrOrZV3X4qJKSPX8_sg4aKS2mcZQN3xEcLBB9eeP/s400/DSCF5653+-+Version+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seen at the pre-contest party are three out-of-town guest judges for this year’s contest. Left to right are Andy Cross (Mr. San Francisco Leather 2013 and International Mr. Leather 2013); Nick Zuko (Mr. Chicago Leather 2013); and Thib Guicherd-Callin (Mr. Santa Clara County Leather 2012 and first runner-up for International Mr. Leather 2013). Other judges were Daddy Don (International Puppy Trainer 2012); Derek Harley (Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2012); Ryan Brown (Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2013); Tommy Rosengren; and Lady Carol.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFb1UkiWGfhGo2JRRG_U4Pehd351Od3nlhDDknCRU6ep_LJHa5_C5_bzGRQuvKMPdI60xblp7oZh18U4G2yYlDNVQ-5HSGB05SUgy0Gcc5EWFEmSeZcFfptUM06PUnQikB3FeXStrQ_gyL/s1600/DSCF5977.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFb1UkiWGfhGo2JRRG_U4Pehd351Od3nlhDDknCRU6ep_LJHa5_C5_bzGRQuvKMPdI60xblp7oZh18U4G2yYlDNVQ-5HSGB05SUgy0Gcc5EWFEmSeZcFfptUM06PUnQikB3FeXStrQ_gyL/s400/DSCF5977.jpg" width="361" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jason Little, the new Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2014, waves to the crowd as his predecessor, Ryan Brown, watches from the wings.</td></tr>
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<i><br /></i>Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-57953492604012307642013-11-21T22:03:00.000-06:002015-06-20T14:53:13.121-05:00Interview with Andy Cross, International Mr. Leather 2013<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglRtfTVEPw0BnP5W8P2m6wkCNI5knJ3GqdOivfkTry1AS3HwecOvKXm1eKDX4XBqnxIdCZ_-mYy7D-ZWDXYxNn_99MMtcLNNLN72TLx3zeaYu6ip-5dbf1CYJJgFRjSTP6lUgoGHgAaret/s1600/482LENIUS-AndyCross-DSCF3385.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglRtfTVEPw0BnP5W8P2m6wkCNI5knJ3GqdOivfkTry1AS3HwecOvKXm1eKDX4XBqnxIdCZ_-mYy7D-ZWDXYxNn_99MMtcLNNLN72TLx3zeaYu6ip-5dbf1CYJJgFRjSTP6lUgoGHgAaret/s400/482LENIUS-AndyCross-DSCF3385.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy Cross, International Mr. Leather 2013. </td></tr>
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(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #482, November 21, 2013)<br />
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Andy Cross, the current International Mr. Leather (IML) titleholder, will be in Minneapolis this weekend as one of the judges of the Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2014 contest. I recently called him in San Francisco and asked a few questions.<br />
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<b>Did you have any childhood inklings that leather might someday be an interest of yours?</b> My first memory of leather—and it has stuck with me all these years, so it’s pretty formidable, I guess—is when my uncle, my father’s brother, came to visit us one time. He was a motorcycle guy and came in wearing chaps and a leather jacket. I wasn’t so much attracted to him as attracted to the leather. I remember, he let me wear his jacket, and I thought it was the coolest thing. I loved the smell of it. There was just something that was inherently manly and sexy about the leather for some reason. And it’s been a turn-on ever since.<br />
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<b>What went through your mind when your name was called as International Mr. Leather 2013?</b> It was so great because I wasn’t expecting it at all. And I think the thing that meant the most to me was that there were a lot of San Francisco people in the audience, some of the guys who had helped me prepare.<br />
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<b>How has your title year been so far?</b> It’s been busy, but it’s been fantastic. It’s definitely been the ride of my life. I’ve met so many people and seen so many cool things.<br />
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One of the most rewarding things is that I’ve had the opportunity to visit communities and tell them what other communities do. For instance, one of my very first trips was to Des Moines, and they have a really large young leather community there—which is fantastic! Then I go to another community, and in talking to them they say that they don’t have the young leather community. I have the opportunity to spread the fire, so to speak, and say Des Moines does this, and it attracted all these young people.<br />
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And I get to visit cool places. I was in Alaska a few weeks ago. I’m going to Europe in a few months. I was in Texas a few days ago. And I’m going to Los Angeles on Thursday.<br />
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<b>And you’re coming to Minneapolis to be one of the judges for this year’s Mr. Minneapolis Eagle Contest.</b> I am. I’m looking forward to it.<br />
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<b>What other contests have you judged as IML?</b> I’ve judged Mr. Michigan Leather, and I just judged the Mr. Third Coast Leather contest in Houston. Next week I judge the Mr. Regiment Leather contest in L.A. I have a lot of contests coming up in November, and also in January and February.<br />
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<b>As you judge the Mr. Minneapolis Eagle contest, what will you be looking for?</b> I’ll be looking for someone that I want to talk to. Especially in an interview, I’m not necessarily looking at the content of their answers or what their opinions on certain things are, because everyone has their own opinions. I’m looking to see if they’re genuinely a nice guy, and if I approached them in a bar or at a party, would I want to talk to them? Would I want to hear what the leather community is like in Minneapolis if they were telling me? That’s really the most important thing that I look for.<br />
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<b>What do you want to accomplish during your title year?</b> That was actually one of my questions during the IML interview. The question actually was, fast-forward a year and you’re IML—what would you want to be remembered for? And my answer was kind of what I already said, being a conduit of information between regions or communities. I mean, that’s how we grow as a community, and that’s how we change, and I think growing and changing is essential.<br />
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<b>Have you thought about what you want to do after your title year is over?</b> Sleep in at least for one weekend! But other than that, like I said before, I’m having the ride of my life, and I love it right now. So I guess I’ll have to cross that bridge when it comes.<br />
<br />Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-58980807448931200092013-10-24T22:02:00.000-05:002015-06-17T22:05:43.215-05:00Kink U Debuts, and Twin Cities Leather Adds Latte(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #480, October 24, 2013)<br />
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The leather/BDSM/fetish community strongly believes in education. In that spirit, a day-long educational event called Kink U Minneapolis was presented on Saturday, Sept. 14 at the Minneapolis Eagle/Bolt Underground.<br />
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The day was divided into five segments. The first, a demonstration and workshop on bodily-impact play, was presented by Jazz Thomas, assisted by Kyle Truss, Mr. Twin Cities Leather 2013. That workshop was followed by a panel discussion of Master/slave and Dominant/submissive relationships. In addition to Thomas and Truss, panel members were Randy Ingram; Bud Lile; Jayson Glynn, Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2011; and Slavepup Axel, International Puppy 2013, visiting from Washington, D.C. The discussion was moderated by Ryan Brown, Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2013. During this segment lunch was provided by Twin Cities Leather.<br />
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The remaining three demonstration/workshops of the day were rope and bondage, presented by Creg; electrical play, presented by Sir M; and flogging, presented by Randy Ingram and Bud Lile.<br />
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At the conclusion of the day’s demonstrations and workshops, the crowd moved to an evening barbecue hosted by Twin Cities Leather and held at the company’s new retail space (see below). Then it was back to the Minneapolis Eagle for a special Gear Night which incorporated the launch of the North Star Kennel Club, a new Twin Cities club for (human) pups and their handlers.<br />
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Kink U Minneapolis was produced locally by Ryan Brown and Jason Zahlen and regionally by Titans of the Midwest (<www.titansofthemidwest.org>), a regional organization focused on kink education. (Other Kink U seminars have been presented in Cincinnati, Des Moines and Kansas City.) Event sponsors included the Minneapolis Eagle/Bolt Bar, Twin Cities Leather, and the Atons of Minneapolis and the Knights of Leather who provided presenters.<br />
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More Kink U workshops are being planned as part of the upcoming Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2014 contest weekend. That contest takes place Saturday evening, November 16, when Ryan Brown will sash his successor. One of this year's judges will be a special guest: Andy Cross, the current International Mr. Leather. If you want to compete, email 2012mme@gmail.com for an application.<br />
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Local fetish-gear merchant Twin Cities Leather, formerly located in the Loring Park area, has moved to a new location at 2717 Hennepin Ave. S., just north of Uptown in Minneapolis. With the new location comes a new name: Twin Cities Leather & Latte. Yes, the leather shop will be combined with a coffeehouse and community meeting space—a place to meet, eat, caffeinate and shop for gear and accessories. As far as the owners know, there is nothing like this anywhere else.<br />
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In the spirit of Twin Cities Leather’s mission and motto of "Community First," the owners have created a space that will be welcoming to everyone in the neighborhood and beyond. The interior features blue and gray walls with white woodwork and red accents, and light streams through the many windows. In nice weather, a front terrace and a back deck and yard provide plenty of outdoor seating. A wheelchair ramp makes the space accessible and welcoming to everyone.<br />
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Twin Cities Leather has always sought to provide the highest quality in both merchandise and service, and they are applying the same philosophy to the beverages they serve. Coffee will be supplied by locally-based Roastery 7 Artisan Coffee, and one of the offerings will be “a unique Leather & Latte coffee/espresso blend.”<br />
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Twin Cities Leather & Latte wants to be a gathering place, a supplier of community needs (apparel and other goods), a good neighbor in their urban neighborhood, and a visible and proud manifestation of the Twin Cities kink community. That community appears ready to support this kind of business, as evidenced by the fact that a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter.com raised 40% more than its goal.<br />
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Find out more at Facebook.com (search for “Twin Cities Leather & Latte”) or call them at (612) 756-9TCL (756-9825)—one number for either the store or the coffeehouse. By the time you read this they should be open for business, so stop by and check them out. And watch for their Grand Opening festivities.<br />
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Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-38219177164167956792013-09-26T22:00:00.000-05:002015-06-20T14:56:21.366-05:00Leather Literature Review: Sexual Outsiders by David Ortmann and Richard Sprott(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #478, September 26, 2013)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ1g2q6g00TC7-F_awZI1c6VmHfn4lKPowO02AoTMIVYzTeekTXjaGfZS997O9oWSGt5nFpp5qi9ro_rUtuSCjUUhKQQInux5jyxLxMXnBhPKA_kCuhZT2-Nfn1gPJ961TzszkL0g1XI3g/s1600/SexOutsidersCover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ1g2q6g00TC7-F_awZI1c6VmHfn4lKPowO02AoTMIVYzTeekTXjaGfZS997O9oWSGt5nFpp5qi9ro_rUtuSCjUUhKQQInux5jyxLxMXnBhPKA_kCuhZT2-Nfn1gPJ961TzszkL0g1XI3g/s400/SexOutsidersCover.jpg" width="261" /></a></div>
When your humble columnist was getting into leather (many, many years ago), the go-to book for newly minted gay leathermen was Larry Townsend’s <i>The Leatherman’s Handbook.</i> This book was, to say the least, enlightening. But I would not have wanted to show it to my therapist at the time, to say nothing of my parents or other family members.<br />
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My, how times have changed. <i>Sexual Outsiders: Understanding BDSM Sexualities and Communities</i> is a great new resource suitable for multiple audiences including those curious about or newly into leather, BDSM, fetish and kink—and, perhaps, their therapists and loved ones as well. For all these readers, authors David M. Ortmann and Richard A. Sprott have written a book that is a modern, reasoned, evenhanded introduction to the alternative sexual worlds of leather, BDSM, fetish and kink.<br />
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Ortmann and Sprott have a wealth of expertise to share. Ortmann is a psychotherapist and sex therapist in private practice, and much of the book consists of fascinating personal stories of some of his patients. In many instances, these stories are presented in the patient’s own words.<br />
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Sprott is a research psychologist and the executive director of the Community-Academic Consortium for Research on Alternative Sexualities (CARAS), an organization dedicated to furthering scientific investigation and scholarly analysis of understudied sexualities. And indeed, the book makes the very clear point that leather, BDSM, fetish and kink are woefully understudied, and that the many gaps in society’s understanding of these alternative sexualities have many negative consequences.<br />
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The authors use the personal stories in the book to illustrate the tremendous variety of people who make up the leather/BDSM/fetish/kink community, as well as to show how that community works. A large part of Ortmann’s and Sprott’s message is that this community has, in fact, developed around these alternative sexualities. This community is large, widespread and sophisticated—and a tremendously valuable resource for its members. Several times throughout the book, the authors stress the undesirability of trying to do BDSM in isolation and the desirability of participating in this community as a way of enhancing one’s kink journey.<br />
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Sexual Outsiders is written to appeal to several different audiences:<br />
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• The book could serve as a good basic introduction to leather, BDSM, fetish and kink for people new to, or curious about, these alternative sexualities.<br />
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• It could serve the same purpose for therapists and other health professionals responsible for the care and treatment of kinky people.<br />
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• Readers who do not identify as kinky, but who have a family member or friend who does, will find answers to many of the questions they may have.<br />
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• Finally, longtime members of the leather/BDSM/fetish community will enjoy reading the personal stories of the people profiled in the book, and will find the authors’ commentary throughout the book thought-provoking.<br />
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(Here’s a private tip for longtime community members: As you read this book, try to put yourself in the position of someone new to the community, or even outside the community. Your empathy, as well as your appreciation for what the authors have created, will increase greatly.)<br />
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Because the book is addressed to so many different audiences, however, some readers might encounter challenges. Although the authors’ writing style is generally approachable, readers who are not therapists or mental-health professionals may be put off by instances of therapist-speak sprinkled throughout the text. Similarly, readers not acquainted with the basics of Freudian, or especially Jungian, psychology may occasionally feel out of their depth.<br />
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But these are, in the end, minor quibbles. In <i>Sexual Outsiders</i> Ortmann and Sprott have created a worthwhile addition to the leather/BDSM/fetish/kink community’s canon of literature about itself, as well as a useful contribution to the scholarly and academic literature about alternative sexualities.<br />
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(<i>Sexual Outsiders: Understanding BDSM Sexualities and Communities</i> by David M. Ortmann and Richard A. Sprott. 173 pp. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.)<br />
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<br />Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-11777189061190214482013-08-29T21:59:00.000-05:002015-06-20T14:59:31.303-05:00Hardy Haberman Discusses Leather Traditions and Protocols(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #476, August 29, 2013)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9nMGjh0HmviTvN6xaw5u8E_ippCcabN7QykSTRudvPLwih7YPcMwPZu7ULSuEMOACHAPwSNvIeCX5qK7EFAs8Uj9WaxPK6qFSBU92LLpyL5ppJwpy56dy3xg6Ge9zMSMSUAJe2f3MRtQK/s1600/DSCF4088-HardyH-Mpls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9nMGjh0HmviTvN6xaw5u8E_ippCcabN7QykSTRudvPLwih7YPcMwPZu7ULSuEMOACHAPwSNvIeCX5qK7EFAs8Uj9WaxPK6qFSBU92LLpyL5ppJwpy56dy3xg6Ge9zMSMSUAJe2f3MRtQK/s400/DSCF4088-HardyH-Mpls.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hardy Haberman and an Old Guard artifact.</td></tr>
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Noted leather community author, filmmaker, educator and activist Hardy Haberman was in the Twin Cities recently to present a lecture on leather traditions and protocols, and the “Old Guard” who supposedly created them. Haberman spoke at In The Heart Of The Beast Theater on Saturday afternoon, June 22. The lecture was part of this year’s Minnesota Leather Pride celebration and was sponsored by Leather Journey.<br />
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Haberman started with a description of how he got into the leather scene in the mid-1970s—and, as part of that process, discovered for himself the leather traditions and protocols of the time. He then offered a condensed history of the gay leather community’s formation and development in the 1950s and 1960s. He talked about what some consider the “halcyon Old Guard days” of the 1970s and how the decimation of the leather community in the 1980s by AIDS led to the creation of new traditions and protocols.<br />
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Haberman noted that many of leather’s traditions and protocols came from military life, and later from gay motorcycle clubs, but he also noted that there is no one fixed set of Old Guard protocols written on a scroll somewhere. Haberman also made the point that every leather generation thinks of itself as New Guard and the generation before as Old Guard: “All of us have an Old Guard. It's whoever taught us.”<br />
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Many of the Old Guard protocols Haberman grew up with are hardly revolutionary: “#1, you respect your elders. #2, you don’t speak to somebody you don’t know until you’ve been introduced. It’s common courtesy! If you get the Miss Manners book and look at etiquette, you have Old Guard traditions and protocols, with the exception of a few kinks thrown in. It’s not rocket science.”<br />
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Haberman then offered his thoughts on a few leather community values.<br />
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<i>Honor:</i> “Honor is being true to yourself, being true to your community, being authentic. A person who’s not honorable is not authentic, right? So—how much honor is there in Sir Grand Dom of the Universe on Fetlife.com who has 25 cyberslaves but has never shown his face in public?”<br />
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<i>Integrity:</i> “Integrity means all aspects of your life are integrated. It means that you are authentic. It means that when I say this is who I am, it’s who I am. It means that I’m not afraid. It takes courage. As kinky people we have no protections whatsoever. If you have children and you can get in a messy divorce, your partner who used to tie you up can say, ‘She’s kinky and shouldn’t have those children.’ Those children can be taken away because you’re kinky.<br />
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“So I understand why some people can’t be out. But until we come out as kinky people and live our lives authentically, we will never have any kind of protection, we will never have any kind of equality, and we will always be hiding in the shadows behind that screen name.<br />
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“The more of us that are out, the more difficult it is for other people to push us back into the closet. I wear my club colors to church. We have a whole pew of leathermen. We sit right down in the front. We want people to know that we are there, too—that we are part of the blessed community. It becomes more difficult for people to exclude you when they see you and they know you.”<br />
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<i>Community:</i> “Community means that you show up, you help out, you become active. You can participate by showing up, but you can participate even better by getting involved. Getting involved gets back to integrity. It means you put your ass on the line, you put your name out there, you become visible. There’s a risk, yes. It’s scary, yes. Everything we do is scary.”<br />
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<i>Authenticity:</i> “Authenticity is one of the values that I think was Old Guard when I came into the community, and still works today. Create a protocol and a lifestyle that works for you. Live into it. Because someday you’re going to pass that knowledge on, and you’re going to be somebody else’s Old Guard.<br />
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“You’re going to be an example. As leather people, we’re an example for the leather people that come after us. The way we behave, the way we treat each other, the way we play, is going to get passed down. And it’s going to attract people who want what we have. Be who you are, be honest, be out there—and see what happens.”<br />
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<br />Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-37741344958267977872013-08-01T21:58:00.000-05:002015-06-17T21:59:04.775-05:00Pride in Pictures(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #474, August 1, 2013)<br />
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Issue 474 was the 2013 Pride in Pictures edition. I submitted some photos but no captions or cutlines.<br />
Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-39669721978191340412013-07-04T21:57:00.000-05:002015-06-20T15:09:38.486-05:00Knights of Leather Celebrate 25th-Anniversary Tournament(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #472, July 4, 2013)<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8AeWaTvmwzhJxSbONVHcL2CPt5ZBOCG5HkgPF2VDiMejbo5ny8aP5mVZNvJGwDPPguvHE_tA0vtjvDe0Fc1vpLkoTTGhCmiZUkUvnRtyul4TAQK-Rekh7x_DGD_71SiI_dk4FqIUf_7qa/s1600/DSCF3546-Knights-Tourn-25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="391" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8AeWaTvmwzhJxSbONVHcL2CPt5ZBOCG5HkgPF2VDiMejbo5ny8aP5mVZNvJGwDPPguvHE_tA0vtjvDe0Fc1vpLkoTTGhCmiZUkUvnRtyul4TAQK-Rekh7x_DGD_71SiI_dk4FqIUf_7qa/s400/DSCF3546-Knights-Tourn-25.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Members of the Knights of Leather.</td></tr>
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The Knights of Leather recently held their silver-anniversary Tournament 25 run. In keeping with this anniversary the theme of the run was, simply, “Silver.”<br />
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The Knights Tournament run is modeled on medieval tournaments, a weekend of games, rituals, camaraderie, a formal banquet—and rustic, rough-hewn, candle-lit dungeons in the woods. This year’s run was held the weekend of May 31-June 2 and was sold out, with more than 100 people in attendance. Those 100 people included representatives of 10 clubs, organizations, and groups. In addition to Minnesota, attendees came from North Dakota, Iowa, Illinois and Texas.<br />
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Many members of another Twin Cities club, the Atons of Minneapolis, attended this year’s Tournament as a show of support and solidarity with the Knights. The Atons, who last year celebrated their 40th anniversary, played a part years ago in helping the Knights of Leather form as a club.<br />
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Founded in 1985 in the Twin Cities as a club exclusively for leatherwomen, the Knights were reconstituted in 2000 as a pansexual leather club. Although there were clubs for leatherwomen on both coasts, The Knights of Leather was the first club for leatherwomen in the Midwest.<br />
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In attendance at Tournament 25 was PJ Knight, the club’s first pledge (or “squire”) and now the most senior member of the club. On Friday evening Knight hosted “Tournament 101,” an orientation session and tour of the grounds for those who had never before attended Tournament. Later on Friday evening, the traditional ceremony of remembrance was held around the campfire.<br />
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On Saturday afternoon PJ Knight and your humble columnist were two members of a five-member panel sharing their memories concerning local and national leather history. In addition, available all weekend in the main lodge were notebooks, photo albums, and scrapbooks documenting the history of both the Knights of Leather and Minnesota’s GLBT and leather communities.<br />
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Eight other educational seminars and workshops were presented on Saturday as well. Topics included switching, tops playing with tops, slave positions, pet play and “rope scenes for all.”<br />
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In keeping with the weekend’s “Silver” theme, both decor and guest attire for Saturday evening’s formal banquet were filled with glittery, shiny, silvery, sparkly things. The pre-banquet cocktail hour was hosted by The Atons of Minneapolis.<br />
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So what comes after 25? Next year the Knights will present Tournament 26, the theme of which was announced during the Tournament 25 weekend as “Alphabet Soup: Kink from A to Z.” For more information about Tournament 26 and the Knights of Leather, visit <http://www.knightsofleather.com>.<br />
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Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-32111744563351231972013-06-20T21:56:00.000-05:002015-06-17T21:57:24.696-05:00Andy Cross is International Mr. Leather 2013(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #471, June 20, 2013)<br />
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Fifty-one contestants from six countries competed in the 2013 International Mr. Leather (IML) contest held Memorial Day weekend in Chicago. Branded as “IML XXX5,” this year was the 35th annual contest (and the twentieth year your humble columnist has attended). This year’s IML contest and related events were attended by an estimated 18,000 guests.<br />
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This year’s IML weekend had a new host hotel in a new neighborhood: the Chicago Marriott Downtown/Magnificent Mile on North Michigan Avenue. Because the host hotel sold out quickly, IML also made arrangements with three other adjacent hotels.<br />
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But it appeared that most of the weekend’s socializing revolved around the host hotel’s lobby bar, ironically named “Rush.” (Yes, “Rush” is the street outside the hotel, but it’s also a famous brand of poppers—I mean, room odorizer.) The Twin Cities’ own Miss Richfield made an appearance on the bar’s video screens, courtesy of travel website Orbitz.com.<br />
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The weekend-long IML Leather Market featured 120 leather and fetish vendors, clubs and organizations. The market was on both the fifth and seventh floors of the host hotel, and there was express escalator service between the two floors. With up to 6,000 visitors every day, the Market was packed.<br />
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Friday evening’s Opening Ceremonies and Saturday evening’s Physique Prejudging (also known as the “Pecs & Personality” event) were held at The Vic Theatre, which was the venue for the IML contest several times in the late 1980s (and which reminded old-timers of The Congress Theater, the contest’s venue from 1994 to 2004 and again in 2010). Sunday evening’s Contest and Show event returned to The Harris Theater in Millennium Park, a venue also used for the Contest and Show in 2011.<br />
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(Bus transportation, a formidable responsibility with so many events not at the host hotel as in some previous years, was ably coordinated this year by Twin Cities resident Jason Bribitzer-Stull.)<br />
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Master of ceremonies for all three weekend events was Lenny Broberg, the IML titleholder from 1992. Also seen during the weekend were previous IML titleholders from 1994, 1996, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010 and, of course, Woody Woodruff, the outgoing International Mr. Leather 2012.<br />
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Chuck Renslow, IML founder and Executive Producer, was around during the weekend in spite of some recent health challenges. Renslow had triple-bypass heart surgery in January; while recovering from that he fell out of bed, broke three ribs, and subsequently developed pneumonia. IML coordinator Jon Krongaard handled Renslow’s speaking duties at the Friday and Saturday evening events, but on Sunday evening Renslow both welcomed the crowd to the Contest and Show and announced the winners at the end of the contest.<br />
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Competing this year from Minnesota were Ryan Brown, Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2013 (who placed as a top-20 semifinalist), and Kyle Truss, Mr. Twin Cities Leather 2013. Also competing from Minnesota in the 21st annual International Mr. Bootblack Competition (held concurrently with the International Mr. Leather Contest) was Bootblack Mike, who finished the bootblack contest as First Runner-up.<br />
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Entertainment at Sunday evening’s Contest and Show was a one-woman performance by singer Beverly McClellan, as seen on NBC’s “The Voice”—and boy, does she have one (a voice, that is). Combine Janis Joplin, Etta James, Bonnie Raitt, and Melissa Etheridge—and then multiply by ten. She plays a mean guitar and a soulful piano, too.<br />
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After McClellan’s performance it was time to announce the outcome of the contest: Andy Cross, Mr. San Francisco Leather 2013, was named International Mr. Leather 2013. First runner-up was Thib Guicherd-Callin, Mr. Santa Clara County Leather 2012; second runner-up was Robert Miller, Mr. Leatherman Toronto 2013.<br />
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(Cross becomes the sixth IML titleholder from San Francisco and the second with the title of Mr. San Francisco Leather. The first? Well, that would be this year’s master of ceremonies, Lenny Broberg—Mr. San Francisco Leather 1992, who became IML 1992.)<br />
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Named as the new International Mr. Bootblack was Sammy, from Portland, Oregon. The Jeffrey Payne Lifetime Achievement Award, a relatively new addition to the IML weekend, was presented this year to Rick Storer, Executive Director of the Leather Archives & Museum.<br />
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Next year’s IML weekend will be held May 23-26, 2014, and the Chicago Marriott Downtown/Magnificent Mile will again be the host hotel. Rooms may be reserved starting on June 20, 2013—book early by visiting <imrl.com>.Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-27431814661813871372013-06-06T21:53:00.000-05:002015-06-20T15:07:11.873-05:00Minnesota Leather Pride 2013 features appearance by Hardy Haberman<b>This year’s theme: “Perfect Union/Coming Together”</b><br />
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(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #470, June 6, 2013)<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV6JC2nI7E41OJ3bWgPIfvX1dQCbBSJzvH9I-UNa5c1l0T8W6X-raLzAl7qDQHFtgN0R7BbwHpZH6lJZJfVCb0OyEFlmoC5P5IheXn4EA0Vc7Fw3kG2D98fY-VHiG0G2UFw4O5o8cLOzAE/s1600/hardy_leather.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV6JC2nI7E41OJ3bWgPIfvX1dQCbBSJzvH9I-UNa5c1l0T8W6X-raLzAl7qDQHFtgN0R7BbwHpZH6lJZJfVCb0OyEFlmoC5P5IheXn4EA0Vc7Fw3kG2D98fY-VHiG0G2UFw4O5o8cLOzAE/s400/hardy_leather.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hardy Haberman</td></tr>
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Internationally known author, filmmaker, leatherman and gay activist Hardy Haberman will be making a speaking appearance in the Twin Cities as part of this year’s Minnesota Leather Pride celebration. Haberman’s appearance is just one of many events taking place June 14-30, 2013.<br />
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Minnesota’s Leather Pride celebration has been bringing Minnesota’s leather/BDSM/fetish community together since the mid-1990s. The celebration started as a single-afternoon, post-Pride Parade get-together at the Gay 90s in Minneapolis. Within a few years, however, it had grown to its present form: a multi-event celebration spread over several weeks in June, culminating in the annual Ashley Rukes GLBT Pride Parade up Hennepin Avenue and the Twin Cities Pride Festival in Loring Park.<br />
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This year’s Minnesota Leather Pride celebration mixes perennial favorite events like Floggapalooza with new events including rope and electrical play demonstrations and a Leather Pride bicycle ride to complement the traditional Leather Pride motorcycle ride. Also new this year is a Recovery in the Lifestyle twelve-step meeting and an “Adventures in Fetish” leather/fetish fashion show (followed by “FUNdRaver! 2,” a rave dance party).<br />
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One of the goals of this year’s Minnesota Leather Pride (MNLP) planning committee is to encourage more involvement by local leather/BDSM/fetish community members in planning the theme and events for this year’s celebration. MNLP representatives attended many community events, parties and meetings last December and January to gather community input. Community members were given a chance to vote for one of three proposed themes, either with a paper ballot or online, and were asked to suggest ideas for new MNLP events.<br />
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Besides new events, the board also has added new venues for Minnesota Leather Pride events. New venues The Southern Theater, In The Heart of the Beast Theater and Clare House join returning venues Camp Bar, Patrick’s Cabaret, Smitten Kitten, The Minneapolis Eagle/Bolt/Bolt Underground complex, and Loring Park.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_TqV9D4_qYhyphenhyphenvMqtnSJTUBXbrtP35Qke8De-leV6teV1EDw1sytvgVgEnel1qY4LmvN6-P_eyV5L4Jj4d3jILrMLwUSXQzZuIPGygp1S8fCWJYZT2SG76A93ljG2o8cxVjLNc5C6omy0n/s1600/2013_MNLP_Dog_Tags_forflyer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_TqV9D4_qYhyphenhyphenvMqtnSJTUBXbrtP35Qke8De-leV6teV1EDw1sytvgVgEnel1qY4LmvN6-P_eyV5L4Jj4d3jILrMLwUSXQzZuIPGygp1S8fCWJYZT2SG76A93ljG2o8cxVjLNc5C6omy0n/s400/2013_MNLP_Dog_Tags_forflyer.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
The Minnesota Leather Pride dog tag for 2013, the latest in a long and distinguished line, looks great and also provides discounts at certain Minnesota Leather Pride events (see sidebar). Get yours while supplies last at participating businesses (see MNLeatherPride.org for details) and at Minnesota Leather Pride events.<br />
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The theme of this year’s Minnesota Leather Pride celebration, “Perfect Union/Coming Together,” was chosen to show Minnesota Leather Pride’s support for marriage equality in Minnesota. Now that marriage equality is the law in Minnesota, this year’s theme can signify celebration of that fact.<br />
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<b>Minnesota Leather Pride 2013 Events</b><br />
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<i>Reminder: Visit <MNLeatherPride.org> for full details and the latest updates.</i><br />
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<i>Friday, June 14:</i> <b>Electrical play demonstration</b> presented by the Electrical Play Group. 8-10 P.M. Camp Bar, 490 N. Robert St., St. Paul.<br />
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<i>Saturday, June 15:</i> <b>Recovery in the Lifestyle (RITL) meeting.</b> Open to anyone living the leather/BDSM/fetish lifestyle in any Twelve-Step Recovery program. 7-9 P.M. Clare House, 3105 23rd Ave. S., Minneapolis.<br />
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<i>Sunday, June 16:</i> <b>Unity Through Rope demonstration</b> presented by MSDB. 2-5 P.M. Patrick’s Cabaret, 3010 Minnehaha Ave. S., Minneapolis. $10; discounts with 2013 Minnesota Leather Pride dog tag and for MSDB members. If desired, BYOR (bring your own rope).<br />
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<i>Friday, June 21:</i> <b>Twin Cities Leather “Adventures in Fetish” fashion show and bootblack party.</b> 7:30-9:30 P.M. Followed by <b>FUNdRaver! 2 rave dance party,</b> 10 P.M.-2 A.M. Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis. $10 for each event; discount with 2013 Minnesota Leather Pride dog tag or with combination admission to both events.<br />
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<i>Saturday, June 22:</i> <b>Guest speaker Hardy Haberman</b> presented by Leather Journey. 1-4 P.M. In The Heart of the Beast Theater, 1500 E. Lake St., Minneapolis. $10; discount with 2013 Minnesota Leather Pride dog tag.<br />
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<i>Sunday, June 23:</i> <b>Leather Pride Motorcycle Ride</b> presented by Knights of Leather. 10 A.M. departure; meet at 1610 Harmon Place, Minneapolis.<br />
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<i>Sunday, June 23:</i> <b>Leather Pride Bicycle Ride</b> presented by PEPRMNT. 10 A.M. departure; meet on Midtown Greenway in front of Freewheel Bike/Midtown Bike Center, 2834 10th Ave. S., Minneapolis.<br />
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<i>Monday, June 24:</i> <b>BDSM Creative Collective</b> presents readings from its 2013 Leather Pride Anthology of Art, Poetry, Photography, and Short Fiction. 7-9 P.M. Smitten Kitten, 3010 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis.<br />
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<i>Tuesday, June 25:</i> <b>Leather Pride Swap Meet</b> presented by MAsT Twin Cities. 6:30-9:30 P.M. Camp Bar, 490 N. Robert St., St. Paul. No charge to shop; $5 to vend.<br />
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<i>Thursday, June 27:</i> <b>Cigar and Pipe Smoker</b> presented by Atons of Minneapolis. 8-11 P.M. On the patio of the Minneapolis Eagle/Bolt/Bolt Underground complex, 515 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis.<br />
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<i>Friday, June 28:</i> <b>Floggapalooza</b> presented by Knights of Leather. 9-11 P.M. Camp Bar, 490 N. Robert St., St. Paul.<br />
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<i>Saturday, June 29:</i> Visit the <b>Minnesota Leather Pride booth</b> at the Twin Cities Pride Festival. 9 A.M.-5 P.M. Loring Park, Minneapolis.<br />
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<i>Sunday, June 30:</i> March with the Minnesota leather/BDSM/fetish community contingent, and help carry the giant leather pride flag, in the <b>Ashley Rukes GLBT Pride Parade.</b> Meet at 10 A.M. at 3rd St. and Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis. Parade steps off at 11 A.M. Also, visit the <b>Minnesota Leather Pride booth</b> at the Twin Cities Pride Festival. 9 A.M.-5 P.M. Loring Park, Minneapolis.<br />
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Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-39079543342593403132013-05-09T21:52:00.000-05:002015-06-20T15:11:02.465-05:00Sash Brothers: Joint Interview with Ryan Brown, Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2013 and Kyle Truss, Mr. Twin Cities Leather 2013(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #468, May 9, 2013)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kyle Truss and Ryan Brown.</td></tr>
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This column is a double interview with the two local titleholders (also known as sash brothers) who will be representing Minnesota at the International Mr. Leather (IML)contest in Chicago, Memorial Day weekend. Ryan Brown is Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2013, and Kyle Truss is Mr. Twin Cities Leather 2013.<br />
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<b>Who’s helping each of you prepare for IML?</b><br />
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<b>KT:</b> My club brothers, the Atons, are really stepping forward. Anything I need—I just have to ask. The Knights of Leather are helping out with morale support. They’re a pansexual group, so they’re not tied to IML as closely as the Atons are, but they’re still behind me a hundred percent. The local community has really stepped up and said whatever you need, just ask and we’ll help. It’s been very, very exciting.<br />
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<b>RB:</b>I have to agree with exactly what Kyle said. The local community has been awesome. Everyone is willing to help out and be a part of my journey as long as I’m willing to ask.<br />
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<b>What do each of you want to accomplish with your title?</b><br />
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<b>KT:</b> The Twin Cities Leather title is owned by Twin Cities Leather, the local fetish shop. Their motto is “Community First,” and that’s kind of what I’ve always embraced with what I do. That’s why I work with Leather Pride—to be a part of the larger community. Part of what I want to do with my title is that there’s always seemed to be this divide between the gay leathermen and the pansexual leather groups. I’d like to pull both communities closer, and see more gay men at pansexual events and more pansexuals at queer events.<br />
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<b>RB:</b> One thing I’ve gotten passionate about, based partly on my travels, is seeing other communities and the amount of community-based education they do. I want to see more of that here in the Twin Cities. I had the great opportunity to host a rope event at the Eagle, and I was blown away by the turnout at the event—especially considering how quickly it came together. There was less than a week of advertising for it, yet we had fifty-five guys at the bar. That said to me that there’s a real hunger for more opportunities for knowledge.<br />
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<b>How are each of you involved in the local community?</b><br />
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<b>KT:</b> Basically through my work with MN Leather Pride. One of the things Leather Pride is looking at doing is to not focus everything on the week before Twin Cities Pride—to have workshops, demos and classes all throughout the year. I’m also a member of the Atons and an associate member of the Knights, my brothers and sisters.<br />
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<b>RB:</b> HIV stigma has been a huge piece of what I’ve been doing, even before becoming Mr. Minneapolis Eagle. I’m involved with the Mr. Friendly project to reduce HIV stigma, and now I’m also on the Community Action Board of the Minnesota AIDS Project. Today I was at the state capitol meeting with legislators, talking about the importance of funding not only for continuing AIDS prevention efforts, but also for the quality of care for people living with HIV. I’ve also done the Red Ribbon Ride. And if Spring ever gets here, softball season will be starting—I play with the Minneapolis Unicorns.<br />
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<b>What are your thoughts as you look forward to IML?</b><br />
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<b>KT:</b> Mostly panic. I just want to make sure that I’m not trying to be anything other than who I am, and kind of keep myself in check so that I’m not trying to put on a show when I get there—just remember to be authentic. Yes, to care about what other people think, but not to the point where I’m changing who I am deep down.<br />
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<b>RB:</b> In the lead-up to IML, there isn’t a whole lot different than what I’m already doing. There’s a little bit of traveling involved. I’m continuing to learn about the community. I’ve got some fundraising events coming up for the Aliveness Project next week. And I’ll be continuing to chat with people in the community. I agree with what Kyle said—gotta be yourself, there’s no one else to be.<br />
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<b>What IML send-off events will each of you be having?</b><br />
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<b>RB:</b> My send-off party will be Saturday, May 11, 9:00 P.M. at the Eagle-Bolt Bar, which coincides with Gear Night at the Eagle.<br />
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<b>KT:</b> My send-off party is still being scheduled, so people should check my Facebook page or my blog for details [see below].<br />
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<i>Find Ryan Brown on Facebook at <www.Facebook.com/mme2013>; find Kyle Truss on Facebook at <www.Facebook.com/MrTCL2013> or read his blog at <go-boy-go.blogspot.com>.</i><br />
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Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-54695756781065040082013-04-11T21:50:00.000-05:002015-06-17T21:51:29.081-05:00Power, Education and Society(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #466, April 11, 2013)<br />
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If you haven’t seen your humble columnist out and about lately, it’s because I have gone back to college. I now am enrolled as a degree-seeking student in the College of Individualized Studies at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul. My objective is to complete the BA degree I abandoned long ago, back when dinosaurs still walked the earth.<br />
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However, even after I abandoned structured higher education, I still continued to learn through experience—and much of that learning has come from my involvement in the leather/BDSM/fetish community. Now that I have returned to higher education, I am discovering the value and importance of our community’s knowledge and cultural values.<br />
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One unexpected feature of my college experience so far is that one word seems to suffuse all my classes, and indeed the general learning culture of Metro State. That word is “power.” In many of my classes we discuss how power operates in our society and in other societies. We discuss who has power and who doesn’t. We discuss how power is acquired and lost. We discuss how power is used, misused and abused. We discuss—all together now—dominance and submission.<br />
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To me, these discussions about power sound familiar. I already have learned much about the dynamics of power because I am part of a community built around the dynamics of power.<br />
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Members of the leather/BDSM/fetish community learn about power. Then they go further—they use the knowledge they have acquired to play with power. Whether we’re talking about a scene in a bedroom or a dungeon, or a dominant/submissive, sir/boy or master/slave relationship, it’s all about who has power, who doesn’t, and how power is used, exchanged and played with.<br />
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My studies at Metro State have made me realize there is something paradoxical about the leather/BDSM/fetish community. Within it everyone—dominant, submissive or switch, top or bottom, master, madame, mistress or slave—is accorded an equal measure of personal power if they choose to exercise it. The community’s culture declares that no member of the community has lesser status because of their chosen role. In the rare instance that a community member thinks his or her lofty role as a master or mistress makes it okay to mistreat or abuse submissives, other community members will intervene to tell them that such behavior is not acceptable.<br />
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Yet, to the rest of society, members of the leather/BDSM/fetish community historically have been given less respect and social status than other supposedly “normal” people. Society has given us the label of “perverts” and then told us we should be ashamed of that label. Ironically, society has tried to strip us of our power, the thing around which our community revolves. Once power is taken away it is rarely given back—it must be actively reclaimed.<br />
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One way we reclaim that power, individually and as a community, is by educating ourselves and others. Education is important because it is empowering both on a personal level, such as enabling someone to get a better job, and on a public level, such as enabling oppressed communities to cast off labels like “queer” or “pervert.”<br />
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The empowering nature of education is why the GLBT community has Creating Change, an annual leadership and activism conference, and why the leather/BDSM/fetish community has the Leather Leadership Conference—and this year, the Kink Lincs Leadership and Community-Building Symposium (April 12-14 in Seattle). These conferences are examples of learning by and for the community.<br />
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Another way to reclaim power is by educating the members of the society that is trying to take away that power. Such educational efforts were essential in defeating the Minnesota marriage and voter I.D. amendments last year. The BDSM community’s “Consent Counts” project is an important educational initiative aimed at removing shame and stigma connected with BDSM sexuality.<br />
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The more I have studied the dynamics of power, education and social change at Metro State, the more I have become convinced of the correctness of something I wrote in this column in 2008: “So many members of our community have so much to offer the wider society. If politicians professing to be God-fearing Christians have made such a mess of things over the last few decades, it might take a bunch of people formerly known as ‘pervs’ to make things better.”<br />
<br />Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-3565469068258148372013-03-14T21:49:00.000-05:002015-06-17T21:50:28.676-05:00Kyle Truss is Mr. Twin Cities Leather 2013(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #464, March 14, 2013)<br />
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Kyle Truss and Tommy Rosengren were the two competitors in this year’s Mr. Twin Cities Leather contest weekend, with Truss being awarded the title and sash. Twin Cities Leather, the new leather-and-gear store in Minneapolis, presented a weekend-long slate of events in connection with this year’s contest.<br />
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The weekend started Friday night, Feb. 15, with a “Meet the Candidates” event followed by a Black Party. The main event, the Mr. Twin Cities Leather Contest, took place Saturday evening, Feb. 16. The contest was followed by “LeatherBOMB! A Victory Party” with DJ MF.<br />
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Sunday, Feb. 17 brought a Leather Brunch sponsored and prepared by Cuppa Java, followed by a victory beer bust. All events were held at The Saloon in Minneapolis, one of the weekend’s sponsors.<br />
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Saturday night’s contest and show included judged segments in leather image; onstage question and answer; speech; and talent. In the onstage question-and-answer segment, Truss was asked by one judge, “What are you most afraid of?” His answer: “In all honesty—this, right now,” referring to being onstage before the crowd at the Saloon.<br />
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Truss’ talent presentation combined a magic trick using a deck of cards with electrical torture featuring a big, industrial-strength, nasty-looking electrical switch. Rosengren’s talent portion was a demonstration of how to make the perfect banana split—using an accomplice’s bare chest as the serving vessel. To conclude his talent demonstration, Rosengren invited members of the audience to sample his ice-cream creation.<br />
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Emcees for the weekend were Karri Plowman, one of the three co-owners of Twin Cities Leather, and Camille Collins. Entertainment Friday and Saturday evenings was provided by Chanda Lehr. The entire weekend was dedicated to the memory of the late David Olaf Brown, a/k/a Danielle Charbonneau.<br />
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Contest judges were Andrew Bertke, Atons of Minneapolis; Tynan Fox, Twin Cities Leather; Tony Halverson, The Saloon; Daniel Hennagir, Mr. Twin Cities Leather 2011; and your humble columnist. Tallymaster was Randy Ingram; Den Daddy (contestant handler) was Bud Lile, assisted by Jayson Glynn.<br />
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Another sponsor of the Mr. Twin Cities Leather weekend was Fuck Water lubes, many samples of whose products were handed out during the weekend. <i>Lavender</i> Magazine was the weekend’s media sponsor.<br />
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Truss will represent Twin Cities Leather and Minnesota’s leather community as he competes in the 35th annual International Mr. Leather contest (<www.imrl.com>), May 24-27, 2013 (Memorial Day weekend) in Chicago.<br />
<br />Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-12117827417383701712013-02-14T21:48:00.000-06:002015-06-17T21:48:56.880-05:00“Community First”: Meet the owners of Twin Cities Leather(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #462, February 14, 2013)<br />
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I recently interviewed the three co-owners of Twin Cities Leather, the new leather store in town. Karri Plowman is the head designer; Luke Wallrich handles finances, merchandising and event planning; and Tynan Fox is working with outreach, activism and education.<br />
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<b>How did Twin Cities Leather come to be?</b><br />
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<b>Karri Plowman:</b> I had previously worked in another leather store and had left to open my own store and was having several difficulties. Frankly, there was just expertise and things that I needed to help me. And then, Luke—<br />
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<b>Luke Wallrich:</b> For my entire life I’ve been very entrepreneurial, always wanted to have a business of some kind. During discussions last year with some of the leadership of IML [the International Mr. Leather weekend], they said, your city really needs something that can put the community first, that can do something for the community that’s worthwhile.<br />
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<b>Tynan Fox:</b> Driving back from IML we had a long discussion in the car, and we realized that it’s only gonna happen if someone in the community steps up and takes leadership. And we decided that, you know, it’s time to be the grownups. It’s time for us to take some responsibility.<br />
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<b>What do you want Twin Cities Leather to accomplish?</b><br />
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<b>LW:</b> I think our primary goal is “Community First.” One of the big ways that we’re doing that, of course, is with the Mr. Twin Cities Leather competition. But ultimately, it’s to help people discover, explore, enjoy, and fortify their kinky lives.<br />
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<b>KP:</b> This is a kink leather store owned by kink leather people for the kink leather community, and that’s important to us. And with that comes quality products and great customer service. When our clients come in—and we refer to our customers as clients, because that’s how we treat them—we can answer questions that just a sex store couldn’t answer. And that client concept means conversations, and purchases, are kept between us and our client.<br />
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<b>LW:</b> Our store and workshop are in a small basement location. You come in off the back side of this mixed-use property, a mansion in one of the oldest neighborhoods in Minneapolis. It’s also a community space—people can come in and sit and chat. The major hurdle is finding us, but once people know where we are, we’re easy to get to, and they like the privacy.<br />
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<b>What can people expect when they visit?</b><br />
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<b>TF:</b> First and foremost, you can expect a friendly face. Our company motto is “Community First” for a reason—we want to make sure people are comfortable being able to shop and ask questions and get friendly answers.<br />
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<b>LW:</b> We’ve all been involved in this community for a very long time, even though we’re all relatively young individuals.<br />
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<b>TF:</b> Between the three of us we’ve got thirty years of experience.<br />
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<b>You’ll have a store on the Web, too?</b><br />
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<b>LW:</b> Our current goal is to be online with TwinCitiesLeather.com, a full e-commerce website, by the end of January, 2013.<br />
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<b>Talk a bit about the upcoming Mr. Twin Cities Leather contest.</b><br />
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<b>LW:</b> The reason we sponsor the contest, first and foremost, is that we believe the Twin Cities has a kink community that deserves representation and leadership. Contests are one of the ways we elect the leaders of our community, the people who get to go out there and be a focal point for the community.<br />
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Derek Harley, Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2012, said in his speech at IML that you have to be a beacon. There are many different ways you can be a beacon in the community, and being a titleholder is certainly one of the ways. We wanted our city to have two of those beacons that people can come to and ask questions, so really we sponsor it for that community reason. And that’s why the store itself has the motto or the slogan of “Community First.”<br />
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<i>(Twin Cities Leather is located at 300 Clifton Ave. in Minneapolis. Open seven days a week; more info at Facebook.com/TwinCitiesLeather or visit their new e-commerce site at TwinCitiesLeather.com. And check out all the events that make up the Mr. Twin Cities Leather contest weekend, Feb. 15-17 at The Saloon.)</i>Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-9665780915078785192013-01-17T21:46:00.000-06:002015-06-17T21:47:11.220-05:002012 Atons Holiday Fundraiser Benefits The Aliveness Project(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #460, January 17, 2013)<br />
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The Twin Cities leather community’s collective holiday season got off to a great start at the 2012 Atons Holiday Fundraiser. The event was held Sunday afternoon and evening, Dec. 2, in the Bolt Underground.<br />
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In addition to food, drink and a bigger-than-usual silent auction, event attendees could have their picture taken with Leather Santa and Naughty Elf (Mr. Twin Cities Leather 2011 Daniel Hennagir and Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2013 Ryan Brown). A bootblack station also was available to get those boots shined for the holidays.<br />
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The fundraiser included a food drive to replenish the food shelf at The Aliveness Project, and all funds collected at the door and through the silent auction benefited The Aliveness Project as well.<br />
<br />Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-37584773904963804332012-12-20T21:45:00.000-06:002015-06-17T21:46:11.306-05:00Ryan Brown is Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2013(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #458, December 20, 2012)<br />
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Year after year, the Mr. Minneapolis Eagle contest has been a fun and hot event that packs the bar to capacity. This year’s version continued that tradition with four great contestants, seven judges (including out-of-town judges from Indiana and Iowa) and a big crowd that was ready to have fun.<br />
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The action started on Friday night, Nov. 9, with a meet-the-contestants event in the Minneapolis Eagle part of the bar complex, followed on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 10) by the judges’ private interviews with the contestants.<br />
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Saturday evening’s contest and show was held in the Bolt Underground. The contestants were introduced during the traditional Keg Walk: holding a beer keg above his head, each contestant worked his way through the crowd from the back of the bar to the stage at the front of the bar. Once they reached the stage they were introduced by emcee Brent Fourre, who was assisted by ASL interpreter Richard Herod.<br />
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The contestants were Jake Jacobson, a sandblasting artist who sported a pair of jeans with the image of a chain sandblasted on them; Karri Plowman, leather crafter and co-owner of Twin Cities Leather; Tommy Rosengren, photographer and writer; and Ryan Brown, businessman and bicycle aficionado.<br />
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Next to be introduced were the evening’s judges: Sam Carlisle, representing the Atons of Minneapolis; Dan Beach, Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2007; Jayson Glynn, Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2011 and also a member of the Atons; Derek Harley, Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2012; Ron Kautz, Mr. 501 Eagle 2012, from Indianapolis; Jeremy Morris, Mr. Iowa Leather 2012, from Des Moines; and your humble columnist.<br />
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(The evening was, to a certain extent, a Mr. Minneapolis Eagle reunion of sorts. In addition to the past Mr. Minneapolis Eagle titleholders who were judging, the contest coordinator was Gregg White, Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2003 (assisted by Nick Pavlik as contestant coordinator/Den Daddy), and the evening’s DJ was Todd Leek, Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2000. The contest was sponsored, of course, by EagleBoltBar owner Ed Hopkins.)<br />
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The judges returned to their tables and the contestants were again brought onstage for the Q&A portion of the contest. This year’s questions included serious political questions about the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, marriage equality and access to health care, as well as lighter questions concerning dungeon equipment, experiences at past International Mr. Leather weekends, and leather Christmas trees.<br />
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The final judged portion of the contest, the Erotic Fantasy, included a description of the various types of men needed for the perfect fantasy orgy, as well as tales of sex in a dungeon, at the office and in a storage unit.<br />
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While the judges’ scores were being tallied, Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2012 Derek Harley gave an emotion-packed and heartfelt stepping-aside speech. At one point Harley was joined by his partner, Josh, who had been literally carried above the heads of the crowd and lifted onto the stage. The emotional high of that moment was later countered by a bit of mischief: At the end of Harley’s speech, some of his titleholder brothers held up signs that spelled out “W-U-Z-Z-Y,” a term of endearment for someone who is no longer a current titleholder.<br />
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It was right around midnight when the contest results were announced: Karri Plowman was named first runner-up, and Ryan Brown was named Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2013.<br />
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Brown will represent The Minneapolis Eagle and Minnesota’s leather community in the 34th annual International Mr. Leather competition (<www.imrl.com>), May 24-27, 2013 (Memorial Day weekend) in Chicago.Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2307567419900729312.post-17278994090328409212012-11-22T21:40:00.000-06:002015-06-17T21:44:45.873-05:00Thank You, Allies(Published in <i>Lavender</i> Magazine, Issue #456, November 22, 2012)<br />
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This column is being written before Election Day, Nov. 6. You won’t be reading it until after the election has been held. That doesn’t matter, because whichever way the election turns out, the message of this column is the same:<br />
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Thank you, allies. Thank you from the bottom of my very gay heart.<br />
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I wrote a column in 2005 (<i>Lavender</i> #265, July 22) about the importance of having allies. The column was based on a song, “Not In Our Town,” that I had heard sung at a recent Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus concert. The song told what happened in Billings, Montana, in 1993: the town responded to anti-Jewish hate crimes by displaying paper menorahs in a window of almost every home, whether the people who lived there were Jewish or not. The song’s chorus ended with “No hate/No violence/Not in our town.”<br />
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In that column I wondered “what would happen if large numbers of people everywhere—gays, lesbians, bisexuals, trans people and allies alike—all started wearing pink triangles” as a show of solidarity. Then I made a proposition:<br />
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<i>Wear a pink triangle. Wear it all the time. Wear it proudly. When people look shocked and say, “I didn’t know you were gay,” either tell them, “Well, I am” or tell them, “Well, I’m not — but I have a lot of friends who are, and I don’t like seeing them discriminated against.”</i><br />
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I could never have envisioned that, in Minnesota at least, that symbol of solidarity would be neither pink nor a triangle. It would be orange and blue, or blue and orange. It would take the form of lawn signs, buttons, stickers, t-shirts, billboards and even automobiles wrapped in the “VOTE NO” message.<br />
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The orange and blue symbol would be worn and displayed both by members of the GLBT community and by people who do not consider themselves members of that community, but who have nevertheless risen to the community’s aid. They saw injustice for what it was and refused to accept it without a fight. And every time I saw one of those orange and blue markers, I felt a little more hopeful about the future.<br />
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So much was so different when I came out in 1974. It was five years past Stonewall. The first Gay Pride celebration in Minneapolis had been held only two years earlier, in 1972. And, in 1971, Minnesota’s own Jack Baker and Mike McConnell had been the first same-sex couple anywhere to attempt getting married.<br />
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Nevertheless, for much of my time as a gay man, marriage was something that was for other people but not for me. In my mother's book, <i>My Son Eric,</i> she writes of my reaction to my older sister’s wedding (which, unbeknownst to her, took place shortly after I realized I was gay):<br />
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<i>Eric had said after [the] wedding, “It made me sort of sad.” “Why?” I had asked. “Because it will never be that way for me.”</i><br />
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At the time she thought I was referring to the church where the wedding had been held, which was something of a family tradition. When she later found out I was gay, it suddenly dawned on her what I had meant.<br />
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What a difference 38 years makes. I have lived through an epidemic, one that is still claiming lives. I have marched against Anita Bryant, both in Minneapolis and in St. Paul, when she came to town. I've seen the Pride celebration grow and have seen many more allies show up for it in recent years than I saw years ago. I’ve seen Minneapolis dubbed the gayest city in the country. I’ve seen the progress toward equality the GLBT community has made in so many areas. And I’ve seen the backlashes against that progress, among them bullying and, this year, the marriage amendment.<br />
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I suspect there are as many reasons for taking a stand against the Minnesota marriage amendment as there are people who have taken that stand. Some are themselves members of the GLBT community. Some have children in the GLBT community. Or parents. Or aunts or uncles. Or friends. Or coworkers. Or, perhaps, none of the above—just a sense of basic fairness.<br />
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Whatever the reason, many, many folks have come forward and said that they felt the Minnesota marriage amendment was uncalled for, and they have backed that assertion with their dollars, their volunteer efforts, and their votes. It has been truly amazing, and a more than a little humbling, to watch.<br />
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Now that at least this phase of the struggle for marriage equality will have concluded by the time you read this, there is only one thing appropriate to say when you have been the recipient of the kindness of so many thousands—hundreds of thousands—of people across the state. It’s something that perhaps our allies don’t hear often enough: I feel such gratitude for all your efforts and support. Thank you. Thank you so much.<br />
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<i>(Update: The “Vote No” forces won, and the Minnesota Marriage Amendment was voted down. Minnesota was the first state where this type of amendment lost at the ballot box.)</i><br />
<br />Steve Leniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131258328887748053noreply@blogger.com0