Recently I posted a question to my Facebook page friends asking for feedback about what people felt were issues needing improvement within the kink/leather community (I’m trying to use the word leather less often these days). One of the responses I immediately got back was “stop using the word community.” This is not the first […]

I delivered this speech on September 2, 2011 as the keynote address at the 2011 Master/slave Conference held in Washington, DC. It was originally written to be delivered on the weekend’s Traditions night, but was moved to the keynote position due to changes in the program. You can find the recorded video of this speech […]

There was a time, at least among kinky/leather gay men, when people clearly signaled their alternative sexual proclivities somehow (sometimes referred to a flagging, not to be confused with another form of flagging). Some wore keys on the left, right or in the middle to signal being top, bottom or versatile. Hankies of various colors […]

Here in San Francisco there is an interesting phenomenon happening. The leather/kink community, at least the gay men’s portion of that community, is experiencing an unprecedented revitalization. I haven’t seen this much energy and excitement in a long time. I’m loving it. Gay men in San Francisco who dwell in the kink/gear/leather realms were seeing […]

In the leather/kink world lately there is much consternation about change. Gay men’s leather bars are closing. The pansexual movement seems to be abating and reaching a more natural equilibrium. The rigidity of roles and protocols is lessening. There is more diversity in terms of the sheer number of popular kinks and scene possibilities. Young […]

The folks in the International Mr. Leather organization were nice enough to ask the guys at Leatherati.com to post the full text of the entire speech that Chuck Renslow had planned to deliver during the opening of the final competition on Sunday, May 29, 2011. Due to the need to speed the event proceedings up […]

Today a great article by Leland Carina about Community-Academic Consortium for Research on Alternative Sexualities (CARAS) was posted to Leatherati.com. I sit on the Board of CARAS and it’s an organization near and dear to my heart. Please read Leland’s article to find out a bit more about CARAS and the great work it does.

Recently I was reading Joe Robinson’s book Don’t Miss Your Life: Find More Joy and Fulfillment Now and it struck me that something he wrote about pertained to my thoughts lately about public BDSM play parties. (For those not familiar with such parties, they are held all over the United States and Europe and kinky […]

Well, Guy Baldwin has done it again. Much as he did with his recent Leather Leadership Conference keynote address, Guy’s thoughtful and articulate keynote before the crowd at the 2011 National Leather Association’s Spring Iniquity conference in Houston, Texas caused a bit of a stir. Perhaps more than a bit. The theme for the conference […]

I just stumbled upon this old interview I did years ago for The Leather Report, a kinky television show that broadcast out of Los Angeles. Thanks to the Leather Archives and Museum for uploading this. I hadn’t seen it in a while.