Smokeout in August

Here is a review of 2021's major events as they relate to the Leather/BDSM/Fetish/Club/Titleholder community. Much of the year was sad news, but we began to come back to life in the latter half of the year.

January 2021

On January 1, the producers of all Olympus Leather Contests announced that after the International class of 2021 is selected, Olympus Leather will be forbearing the Contest Circuit portion of the organization’s activities for the foreseeable future.

By Richard Villani, photos by Benno Sebastian and Dave Rhodes

On the weekend of December 3–5, the Tom of Finland Foundation (ToFF) presented the 26th Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival — Tom of Finland 101: Raw Anatomy. An estimated 1,400 people attended. This was the first year the Tom of Finland Art and Culture Festival was held at at Second Home and the first in-person Festival they have hosted in two years.

IML IMBB 2021 cancelled

The Renslow Charitable Foundation, owners and producers of the International Mr. Leather and International Mr. Bootblack contest, announced on June 9, that both contests were cancelled and the the contest will be held during Memorial Day weekend in 2022.

The press release stated, "....We clearly understand that things are beginning to return to some new sense of normal. However, as we look to this November as well as May 2022, we must also consider many factors in making event decisions....That said, we have decided to cancel (IML and IMBB) 2021 events....The specific key factors behind this decision include a shortened weekend program and a space-compressed vendor market with reduced hours, the financial impact to our guests in possibly attending two IML weekends six months apart, the shorter title year for the winners who have waited patiently for their moment to compete and a necessary consideration for any potential reinstatement of large gathering restrictions."

The complete press release can be found at http://www.imrl.com

Photo by Denis Largeron Photographie

The National LGBTQ Task Force presented its 10th Leather Leadership Award to Durk Dehner at the opening plenary of the organization's 30th Annual Creating Change Conference in Washington, DC on January 25. Durk co-founded the Tom of Finland Foundation in 1984 and was also first runner-up of the first IML competition in 1979. The award was presented by IML 1996 Joe Gallagher and Annina Aalto, Cultural Counselor at the Embassy of Finland. In accepting the award, Durk told the audience of over 2,000, mainly young people, "Be willing to try on different clothes of life. We are explorers and always remember that!" Many of Tom of Finland's drawings were projected on the ballroom's large screens, including the famous 2014 Finnish stamp in his honor..

A panel discussion with Race Bannon, Joe Gallagher, Eric Paul Leue, and Graylin Thornton

Is a Leather title necessary to take a leadership role? What compels contestants to run? What do we expect of titleholders and how has that changed over time? Are titleholders meeting the BDSM/Leather/Fetish community’s expectations? Are there too many title contests? Join us and our panel of title holders and community leaders for a conversation on these questions and more. There will be time for questions from the audience.

How do you feel about Leather titles? What do title holders do today? What should titleholders do? Share your thoughts with us!

Are Leather Titles Necessary? is the topic for the Leathermen's Discussion Group to start at 7:30 PM, Wednesday, January 28 in the Mr. S Studio, 358 A Eighth Street, San Francisco, California.

RSVP on Facebook. View more on http://www.SFLDG.org