Leather Life: Pride in Ourselves during these Times!

On a wonderful (fingers crossed for good weather) Sunday morning at the end of June, a 2 1/2-year campaign will officially come to a close with the introduction of the new Minnesota Leather Pride Flag as it marches down Hennepin Avenue. Accompanying that flag will be new and old members of the queer and leather kink communities who worked tirelessly over the last few years to bring this flag into existence. This is the third leather pride flag to walk the Ashley Rukes Pride Parade — and, with the addition of 10 feet, to our knowledge, the largest leather pride flag in the world.

However, in contemplating how to write this article for the Lavender Pride Edition, I reflected on the article last year, calling everyone’s attention to how I believed the leather pride flag stands for freedom of expression for all of us. A year later, in a different political time with so many of our fellow community members hurting in various ways, how does celebrating a new leather pride flag resonate? Why is this important? Other than our Minnesota love to have the largest thing — be it spoon, candy store or ball of twine.

Full disclosure, I serve on the Minnesota Leather Pride board, and chaired — which I’m happy to say in the past tense, by the time you read this article — the Leather Pride flag fundraising committee. Part of this fundraising has included turning the old flag into items that have been sold to the community to raise funds for the new flag. This position has given me a unique opportunity to hear stories and gain perspectives during the march for a new flag, changing my perspective between initially taking up this task and the fundraising campaign’s completion.

Myself and many fellow Leather Pride Board members came out of the COVID era into the Pride season of 2022 a bit irked. Twin Cities Pride had then largely forgotten about Minnesota Leather Pride during its 50th Anniversary celebrations. We were just the group of people sweating in hot clothes that followed the other flags until the good parade entries came throwing candy. The flag campaign itself had just been a line item in our budget from years prior that noted the flag should be replaced every 12 years. We were already two years late. A new leather flag was a way to remind all of the community of our importance.

Delving into historical documents, I found an agreement with Twin Cities Pride and Minnesota Leather Pride from 2008 laying out their organizations’ responsibilities and jointly agreeing to present the flags together for the future. We knew it existed, but seeing an original document made it real. A noteworthy video exists on the Leather Archive and Museum in Chicago’s YouTube channel of the first leather flag retirement and second flag unveiling during the Twin Cities Pride parade in 2008. Pictures upon pictures existed of smiling faces with the flag at previous parades. But it was the stories of individuals that shifted my feelings of being forgotten.

A young trans woman shared that walking with the leather pride flag was the first time she had openly embraced who she was as a kinky person. A popular local drag queen shared that they remembered the leather pride flag as a kid in the parade; it was the first time they ran into the street to throw money. A long-dating couple shared that they had walked with the flag for years together before they could legally wed. Folks from around the country in the leather community have told me how they traveled to Minnesota during Pride to walk with leather in the parade, how seeing such a huge flag and loving community inspired them in their own community. A photographer warned me: never go under the flag for a photo — it is quite heavy.

During this fundraising campaign, I’ve seen countless people donate time to make donations from teddy bears to bowties, suspenders to pillows. I’ve seen people donate time and money because they loved the Leather Pride flag and the project. Over 45 individuals showed up with a few nights’ notice to drape the flag around themselves for a quick fundraising pop-up. One individual said to me, “I work hard so I can donate to causes I care about.”

Two-and-a-half years ago, I started chairing a fundraising project because I thought Leather Pride had been forgotten. Our communities taught me that not only is Leather Pride and the Leather Pride Flag not forgotten, but it is also an important part of our collective memories. So, I answered my own question by writing this article in 2025.

The new Leather Pride Flag is important during these difficult times because it will become the vehicle for new stories and new experiences. New queer generations will have their opportunity to walk down Hennepin Avenue on a Sunday in all their leather kinky glory. New couples will form, resistance will continue and opportunities to help give back to our communities will always come up. But, once a year, that big, bold striped flag with a huge heart will unfurl on the street and bring everyone walking alongside her to the same destination … Pride!

I invite everyone to see the new flag during this year’s Parade and stop by the Minnesota Leather Pride Booth for other information on the old flag and leather pride.