CLAW 2021 held November 24-28 at the Westin Bonaventure in Down Town Los Angeles has come and gone. The huge space with events going on at the same time in the lower convention rooms and suites and halls on the top section of the world-class piece of architecture made it difficult for attendees to get an idea of just how many Leatherfolk were there. CLAW producers did let The Leather Journal know there were over 400 volunteers
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There were activities on a floor with an outdoor pool and on the hotel rooftop. The Avatar play party was full most of the hours it was open. We talked with several vendors who reported their sales were good and a couple others said the would break even. No one we visited complained of low sales. On the other hand, many of the educational workshops and classes drew a handful of people each. The crowd size at the Leather Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony looked like it was close to those of the induction ceremonies held in Cleveland. It is also pertinent to note that CLAW was last held in Cleveland over two years ago so many were happy to get their CLAW fix.
Big events were the Vendor Market, presentations and skills classes, Thanksgiving dinner for early arrivals, Avatar hosted seven Hercules dungeon parties which covered 35 hours, Titleholder Dinner, Bound and Beautiful, numerous silent auctions, LA 30 and Tom of Finland Foundation Cocktail Reception on the 35th floor, BLUF Dinner on Friday night, B&B Corps Parade of Colors, Testosterone - Friday Opening Party by Nasty Kink Pigs plus other parties, Sanctuary Studios LAX and Avatar supplied most of the dungeon equipment for presentation and dungeon parties, the Barracks hosted the Fetish Alliance party, seven parties hosted by LA's Payasos throughout the weekend including Encuerado and Clownfucker, 12 different Speed Dating sessions, Tom of Finland Foundation's Kinky Art Show with 168 pieces by 38 artists, Dominate dance, cigar parties, various video presentations of which some made their debut at CLAW, Pet Play Community Mosh, International Leather Family Dinner, Bad Boys Spanking Party, Original Pride documentary on the Satyrs Motorcycle Club, Leather Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Anthony John Productions' Mister - The Tea Dance, and the closing party - King And Queen Roast by LA drag queens and porn stars.
CLAW was held over Thanksgiving weekend, in a new city and at a humongous hotel. There were glitches, but not any more than one might expect for a first-year event and under the circumstances CLAW had to deal with, pandemic and all.
The Vendor Market was huge and cold have been expanded if needed. Among vendors were Barking Leather, EM City, Square Peg Toys, Drew Kramer, NCSF, PIG Solvents, Leather Daddy Skin, Bob Mizer Foundation, Mr. S Leathers, LA Leather Coalition lounge section designed by Michael Lara of the Bullet Bar, Bear Trancer, Off Kilter Kilts, Tribal Son, Peter Fiske Whips, author Alex Ironrod, Team Friendly, Moose Leather, Leather Archives & Museum, Timoteo Leather, Barracks, and about 20 others.
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The list of presenters at CLAW LA appear on the CLAW web site and there were approximately 80 sessions by about 90 presenters. A handful of classes were canceled due to sick presenters who could not make it. The classes were on the first floor in one section which had about 10 rooms making their access one of the easiest parts of the weekend.
Some of the presentations were Everyone Has A Leather Story, Rimming - The HOLE Story, Cruising - From Tearooms to Chatrooms, Bending The Cane, Sensual Rope Bondage, Attending Events On a Dime, Torture Interrogation, Leather 101, PIGS - Perverted Interracial GuyS, Wedgies and Bullying 101, Spanking as a Lifestyle, Diaper Up After Bedtime, The California B&B Corps - 53 Years of Men in Police Uniforms, Boots, and Gear, Receiving Service, Cigar Play with Jesse and Ken, Pup and Pet Play Introduction, Payasos LA Roundtable, Introduction to BDSM Electro, Kinky Naked Yoga, Tying For Beginners, Forbidden Worlds - Kink Under Communism, Running The Gauntlet, and a ton of others.
Several presenters were Rick Boehle, Jesse Rosenberg, Andrew Winters, Hardy Haberman, Ashtray Boner Kain, Matthew Jensen, Chris Wright-Garcia, Joe Gallagher, Dave Rhodes, Joel Royal, JR Raymond, Sarah Beth, Payaso Chipa Guasu, Bob Joel, Race Bannon, Drew Kramer, Durk Dehner, Sharp, Carolyn Meeker, Jeremy Rigger, Gordon S. Morris, Peter Fiske, Al Parso-York, Bob Miller, Boy Shannon, Rostom Mesli, Slave Phil, Shibari Sean, Todd Harris, Jim Neuman, Robert Green, AJ Earl, Ellen Friedman, Pup Kodi, Kristofer Weston, Amp Somers, Domenic Ford, Stephan Ferris, Jack McGreal, Jim Ward, Paul King, Ben Graham, Sarah Beth, Bear Mike and Bear Marvin, and many others.
There was more than usual for the Leather Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Sunday afternoon with two years of inductions for emcees Gabriel Green and Durk Dehner to present. The 2020 inductees were Jim Ward, Pauline Reage and MLC Munich and the 2021 inductees were Jack Jackson, Jack McGeorge and SM Gays. Special tributes were made to the Satyrs Motorcycle Club and Daniel Dumont. The inductees for the next Hall of Fame induction, to be held at CLAW 2022 in Cleveland in April, are Rex, GMS/MA and The 15 Association.
Several CLAW 2020 and 2021 awards were presented during the International Leather Family Dinner on Saturday night including Cleveland Volunteer of the Year Award - Az, Virtual CLAW MVPs - boy Shannon and Tyger Yoshi, Los Angeles Volunteer of the Year - Marcus Fabro, Frontier Volunteer of the Year - Greg Neely from Toronto, and CLAW Cornerstone Award - Master Noel LeBoeuf.
We cannot list all of the sponsors but there were a few who made major contributions including Square Peg Toys, Tom of Finland, Mr. S Leather, Jim Neuman, the Barracks, PIGSolvents, Just For Fans and ABuniverse.
Several Leatherfolk were pondering names for the anachronism CLAW for Los Angeles. Someone suggested LA Leather Awareness Weekend - LA LAW, while others came up with CLAW - California Leather Awareness Weekend. It might well become CLAW LA if producers decide to do it again next year.
CLAW XXII will return to the Westin in Cleveland on its normal weekend, April 28 - May 1.
https://clawinfo.org/attending/claw-21-la-event-schedule/skills
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The Leather Journal was founded in May, 1987. The Leather community was hungry for news magazine that covered clubs, organizations and events. TLJ has successfully met that need for 34 years. We have adapted to change more than once and when the Internet came about we were there by adding www.TheLeatherJournal.com
