Leather marching toward the future

Hello readers, it has been a minute since the last time I’ve written. Admittedly, in prior Pride issues, I’ve had a great subject, the Minnesota Leather Pride Flag, to write about. With that activity completed, this column needed a new direction.

After the historic times our Twin Cities community has experienced so far in 2026, I was determined to write about something positive. It seems so much of what we hear of “queerdom,” especially in the leather and kink community, involves resistance, struggle or overcoming. My question to myself was … “Can we have a minute to separate queer joy?” So I decided to write positive leather stories, highlighting observations I’ve seen in the last few months that may not be known to all folks.

We began this year in difficult circumstances with Operation Metro Surge. Traditional local and national media, with the help of bloggers and community reporters, covered numerous topics. And while kink community leader Smitten Kitten was central to the efforts of “the sluts will save us,” I witnessed some of the small stories that give wings to that slogan in the leather community.

Starting in January, I witnessed a former North Star Kennel Club Puppy titleholder, at personal risk, lead the food aid distribution at the Umbra Arts building. As a person of color, they navigated coming to the location daily to volunteer with sorting food, organizing other volunteers and communicating with other aid locations. Their efforts were key to shipping out thousands of pounds of food. 

I watched a former Ms. Minnesota Leather Pride titleholder keep folks sane with funny media posts. They were key to helping handle public relations with several organizations, and this spring helped coordinate one of the most innovative fundraising efforts I’ve ever seen, largely by dressing up and making fun of the mayor to donate money for rent relief.

A leather community member organized a public viewing of the movie “Pillion” at the Main Cinema. They filled the non-traditional space and helped foster ongoing conversations about our community. We’ve seen folks organize karaoke takeovers with leather folks at the Eagle. Leather Puppies have had free classes, photo opportunities and walkies at local parks. The bootblack socials and opportunities for classes have been numerous. From large public events to small acts, leather folk were quietly stepping up. It has not just been individuals but organizations as well. 

Among my friends, we often joke that being leather means attending meetings instead of having sex. The last few months certainly included lots of meetings. I saw leadership in all leather organizations constantly ask, “How can we help our community?” “How can we do more?” I saw Minnesota’s oldest gay men’s club — Atons of Minneapolis — adapt to the future and drop gender identity and sexual orientation from their club requirements, opening their full membership up to all individuals who espouse the ideals of leather fellowship. 

Twin Cities Leather Contest successfully added a new Fetish title. Twin Cities Fetish has no gender, orientation or fetish limits, and becomes an integral part of TCL weekend in its growth to being the longest running leather title in Minnesota history, notably also being 100% POC owned. These small positive moments reflect the growing strength and diversity of your local community.

From a new boy crying after the Sir who bought them their first harness to young transfolk or fellow POC folk feeling empowered to take up space and fully belong at a leather social, we have a lot to celebrate as our communities continue to evolve.

I’m certainly not downplaying the constant barrage of negativity that we experience in our communities. A lot of folks talk about us — both queer and leather — and during this election year, I’m sure it will be no different. It seems sometimes that our entire existence is wrapped up in resisting others and the falsehoods they place upon us.

When you are reading this in the Pride issue — whether you are a leather person or just a wonderful member of our Twin Cities communities — I’m giving permission to celebrate. Celebrate the big causes and small acts. I’m giving you encouragement to celebrate. I’m jumping up and down, hoping you celebrate … because resisting succeeds when we have a better future worth the fight.