Steve Lenius
Leather Life: Your Humble Columnist Is Retiring
From Issue #1 of Lavender Magazine, June 9, 1995: “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…
Leather Life: A Pride Picnic in Chaska
Pride celebrations are increasingly happening in smaller cities and towns. They no longer are held only in big cities and major metropolitan areas. Lately, Lavender Magazine has done a good job of covering these smaller pride celebrations. And I was pleasantly amazed recently when I experienced a Pride Picnic in Chaska, Minnesota—my former hometown. The fact that…
Leather Life: IML44 and IMBB30—Vicariously
After being canceled two years, the International Mr. Leather (IML) and International Mr. Bootblack (IMBB) contests were back in 2022. This year’s IML (44th edition) and IMBB (30th-anniversary edition) contest weekend event was held in Chicago, as always, May 26-30, 2022. However, although IML and IMBB were back, I was not back with them. Because…
Leather Life: Russell Waisanen – Life After The Leather Title
So you win a leather title. You spend time preparing to compete at the International Mr. Leather (IML) contest. You compete at IML. You spend the rest of your title year serving the title and the community. And then what? When your title year ends, what do you do? If you’re Russell Waisanen, Mr. Minneapolis…
Leather Life: They/Them/Us”: Kink, Pronouns, and Family on Film
Imagine a romantic comedy about two forty-something divorced people getting together and creating a blended family. Now imagine that the film’s storyline includes BDSM and kink, gender-neutral pronouns, teenage drug abuse, and conservative Christianity. And, rather than being set in New York or Los Angeles, imagine that this unorthodox romantic comedy is set in Columbus,…
Leather Life Online Exclusive: Interview with the Creators of “They/Them/Us”
Interview conducted, transcribed, condensed and edited by Steve Lenius “They/Them/Us” is a new romantic comedy film that I wrote about in my Leather Life column. The film incorporates kink and BDSM, as well as a non-binary character and the use of gender-neutral pronouns. I had the chance to interview some of the creators of “They/Them/Us”:…
Leather Life: I Had the Craziest Dream Last Night
Catching up on the news before going to bed is sometimes not a good idea. I was reading about the continuing, and so far successful, efforts of the state of Texas to ban abortions through a citizen-driven enforcement and bounty system. I also was reading about the Texas governor’s attempt to weaponize the child-protection system…
Leather Life: Tank Weekend – A Celebration of Leather and Kink Expression
For many years The Saloon has welcomed the leather/BDSM/fetish communities to occasional “Tank” parties (lately the third Friday of each month). However, during the weekend of Friday through Sunday, February 18-20, the leather and kink communities took over the entirety of The Saloon during “Tank Weekend,” a weekend-long celebration of leather and kink expression. Tank…
Leather Life: Song – “I Enjoy Being a . . .”
Happy Valentine’s Day! Let’s celebrate this Holiday of Love with some parody lyrics to a famous show tune called “I Enjoy Being a Girl.” In this column I will refashion this song so that it’s about enjoying being something else. “I Enjoy Being a Girl” is a song from Flower Drum Song, the 1957 Rodgers and…
Leather Life: Corn Haulers of Iowa Disband
Very sad news: After 45 years in existence, the members of the Corn Haulers Leather & Levi Club of Des Moines, IA, have voted to disband the club. By the time you read this, the Corn Haulers will have passed into history. For 45 years the Corn Haulers L & L Club has been a social…
