By Apolonio “Apple” E. Munoz III
LA Leather Pride is right around the corner and the LALC (Los Angeles Leather Coalition) will present Bound For LA Leather, a post-holiday mixer/gear swap meet, on Sunday, January 24 at the Tom of Finland Foundation in the Echo Park District of Los Angeles, beginning at 3 PM.
Bound For LA Leather will be hosted by Sister Mariposa Patriota of the LA Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
The Tom of Finland Foundation is located at 421 Laveta Terrace, Los Angeles, CA 90026.
Bound For LA Leather will include a post-holiday mixer, LA Leather Pride meet and greet, Gear swap meet, live entertainment, a cash bar and hors d'oeuvres.
Costs are $10 general admission or $20 VIP admission, $5 convenience fee at the door. LA 30 members get in as a perk for LA 30 membership.
The Los Angeles Leather Coalition is currently accepting contributions and volunteers for Bound For LA Leather as well as LA Leather Pride. Contact them at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more details.
For more information visit http://www.lalc.info and ask how you can become an annual supporting member of the LA 30 so you can receive some of the perks of being a member of this special supporting benefactor group.
The first Ms Bullet Leather title went to Tuesday Niles on Saturday night, December 19 in a bar packed to the rafters. Cyn Duby was the runner-up.
Ms Sanctuary Leather 2015 Moon O'Neal was the emcee.
The judging panel included International Mr. Leather 2015 Patrick Smith, Mr. Bullet Leather 2015 Esteban Bartolo, So Cal Leatherwoman 2015 slave bren, Sandy "Mama" Reinhardt and So Cal Bootblack.
The LA Sisters of Perpetual performed a blessing.
Several people were pinned into Mama's Family including Bullet Bar owner Michael Lara, Mr. West Coast Olympus Leather 2014 Dave Faunce, Manual Ramirez and Master George.
Tuesday Niles will compete in the Ms Los Angles Leather contest this month along with Ms Sanctuary Leather 2016 Scarlett Sin.
A meet and greet was held on Friday night at the Bullet Bar and a victory barbecue at the same place on Sunday afternoon. All of the events during Ms Bullet Leather 2016 were well-attended and there was plenty of support from the men's Leather community. Leatherfolk from San Diego made the trip.
For more information on the Bullet Bar and its events see http://www.bulletbarla.com
By boy John Schmitt
The 2016 Great Lakes Olympus Leather and Great Lakes Power Exchange Contests were held November 7 at the 501 Eagle in Indianapolis, IN where Rhea became Ms Great Lakes Olympus Leather 2016, and Kevin and kate were chosen to be Mr. and Ms Great Lakes Power Exchange 2016.
Contest Producer boy John announced the Mactep accepted the title of Mr. Great Lakes Olympus 2016.
The judges were MS Great Lakes Olympus Leather Ms Tammy, 2015 Great Lakes Power Exchange Niki, Great Lakes Leather Sir 2013 Sir Papa Behr and owner of Abraided Leather Shane, artist and contestant handler Andi, Scarlett O'Hairy from the Bag Ladies, Indiana Leather Sir 2013 and past Indiana Leather Boy Brent.
The emcees were 2015 Power Exchange Sir Travis, 2015 Mr. Great Lakes Olympus Leather Mactep and Tri State Pup 2015 Pup Spaz.
By Paul E. Hines
The weekend of March 4-6 is the Conductors LL of Nashville TN’s 34th Leather run, Track XXXIV. A member club of the Mid America Conference of Clubs we will be hosting Leather men and women from all over the United States for a fun filled weekend of Leather, Fetish and Brotherhood. The run theme this year is Under A Big Top.
The weekend begins with Registration at 3 PM on Friday March 4 PM and the Start of Cocktail parties at 5 PM with 10-15 cocktail parties planned over the weekend. All food and drinks are included in the price of the Run (except any drinks during our bar crawls).
Transportation is provided for any events outside the host hotel. Our Final Farewell is Sunday, March 6 starting at 2 PM and every moment between opening and closing is planned with entertainment and brotherhood.
A few of the events to look forward to during the Track XXXIV: Under A Big Top run include Freak and Fetish event at Trax, hosted by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, MACC Fall meeting for all member clubs of Mid-America Conference of Clubs, the Conductors Run show (A show unlike any other), featuring Conductors LL club brothers and associates in ways you always/never wanted to see, Formal Dinner (Club Uniforms and Colors), games, bar crawls, Mr. Friendly, after hours with demonstrations/teaching and playroom time, awards along with cocktail parties hosted by clubs, bars and members.
Detail plans for the run and registration is now online at http://www.conductors.net
The Track XXXIV host hotel is the Clarion and phone numbers and information on getting our Run rate is posted on our website. Our Track XXXIV: Under A Big Top rate is only available though the beginning of February so book early.
There is a whole spring and summer ahead with club runs all over North America. Track XXXIV: Under A Big Top is one of the first. Some have been going for more than 50 years such as the Run to Badger Flat hosted by the Satyrs Motorcycle Club in California over Labor Day Weekend in September. Between the beginning of March and September there will be nay a weekend without at least one Leather/Levi, BDSM club or motorcycle club run from which to chose.
Scarlett Sin bested Mary Connolly to win the Ms Sanctuary Leather title and Michael Morales earned the required amount of points to be named Mr. Sanctuary Leather on Saturday night, December 5 at the Sanctuary Studios LAX in Lennox, CA.
Ms Sanctuary Leather 2015 Moon O’Neal served as the emcee.
The contest opened with a blessing by the Los Angeles House of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
The judging panel was headed by Ms So Cal Leather 2015 slave bren, Ms Sanctuary Leather 2014 Shae Flanigan, Mr. Sanctuary Leather 2014 Alpha Zigzag, The Leather Journal publisher and editor Dave Rhodes, So Cal slave 2014 Indigo Black and Mr. West Coast Olympus Leather 2015 Matthew Mullins.
A meet and greet was held on Friday night at Pistons bar in Long Beach and a victory barbecue closed things out at the Bullet Bar in North Hollywood on Sunday afternoon.
Moon O’Neal will compete for Ms. Los Angeles Leather 2016 and Michael Morales will vie for Mr. Los Angeles Leather 2016. Upon completing his year as Mr. Sanctuary Leather 2015, Prometheus was presented his Los Angeles Band of Brothers patch and Moon O'Neal was inducted into the Southland Leather Title Sisters in a similar ceremony.
Of course there was a Mama's Family photo shoot.
For more information on the Sanctuary Studios LAX check out http://www.sanctuarylax.com
By Adam Forrest
The Southern California Bondage Club is excited to announce some big changes for 2016. Starting with their January event, their regular monthly men's bondage play parties are moving to a new venue, Sanctuary Studios LAX, at a new day and time. Their parties will now be held the second Sunday of every month at 7 PM - Midnight. The first party of the year will be held at Sanctuary LAX on Sunday January 10 at 7 PM.
To celebrate the move, the club is very proud to be hosting a very special demo at its inaugural Sanctuary LAX party by the great LA bondage artist and photographer Domasan. Known for his freestyle bondage work and his distinctive thick red rope, Domasan is a founder of the So Ca Bondage Club and know for his demos at Avatar LA, the Folsom and Dore Alley fairs and for Recon. His photographs have been exhibited at Rick Castro's Antebellum Gallery and published in Berlin's Boner Magazine and Mascular Magazine. His work is enjoyed by many in the community, and around the world, on his Facebook, tumblr, flickr and Recon accounts.
Club President Jeff Rathaus stated, "With the ever increasing amount of exciting leather and kink events scheduled every Friday and Saturday night in the region, our club is hoping that the kink community will find they have fewer scheduling conflicts on Sunday evenings and join us to relax, kick back and have some wild fun to wind up their weekend. With the hard work of many members and volunteers, the So Ca Bondage Club celebrated it's 10th Anniversary this past year. The current board feels that this move will strengthen the club so it can continue to serve the kink community of southern California for many years to come."
The club's new venue, Sanctuary, is a clean, very well-equipped dungeon-atmosphere facility, with several St. Andrews' crosses, bondage horses and tables, cages, stocks, hoists, a jail cell room and even an open shower room. It is three times larger than their previous space.
The So CA Bondage Club has been organizing play parties for more than 10 years. Their events attract a broad spectrum of men for bondage and BDSM play. Experienced players and newbies are all welcome to play at their own speed in a safe, sexy environment. At each session there's always a wide cross-section of guys, of different ages and fetishes, playing out hot scenes. If you're new to the scene, it's a great safe, friendly place to learn, practice or just watch until you're ready to play yourself.
Sanctuary Studios is located at 10914 S. La Cienega Blvd., just off the 405 freeway near LAX. For directions, or for more information on the club and to join their mailing list, check out http://www.socalbondage.com
Photos by Domasan
By Thornton J. Young
The team behind the Fourth Annual Alamo City Leather and Fetish Weekend (ACLFW), led by Sir Steven Parker, has been working hard at planning and coordinating all the moving parts for the event being held February 5-7 at Fitzgerald's Bar and Live Music in San Antonio, TX.
“I really want to make this year something everyone can enjoy, regardless of their kink," Parker said in his home just north of San Antonio proper. “My goal since the very beginning has been about developing three key
things within the local community: to create an event that provides inclusion, acceptance, and exposure to all sorts of kinks and fetishes."
After winning Mr. 3rd Coast Leather in 2012, Sir Steven wanted to bring the Leather community to San Antonio in a way that it hadn’t been before. When he started the event, he felt there wasn’t really a place that welcomed
all groups, and in 2013 during the first ACLFW he was pleasantly surprised to see people come out of the woodwork and participate.
That first year had humble beginnings, with an emphasis on education in different areas of kink, and small but excited turnout. The buzz around the event proved that there was a need for a place where people could learn, but Sir Steven didn’t stop there. The following year he added the Mr. Alamo City Leather contest, now entering its 3rd year. An addition to the event that premieres this year is the Alamo City Bootblack title.
“I wanted to be able to provide bootblacks an outlet to compete locally, and a way to hone their skills. Also, it is a way for them to display their passion for the art of bootblacking. It is all about raising awareness and status within the subculture locally."
That doesn’t mean that people don’t come from all around the country. The evidence is in the swelling number of attendees. Last year, ACLFW reported the largest number in attendance yet, and they are preparing for even more people to come through this year.
While aspects of the weekend have been changed and improved, one thing has remained constant – the desire for education to be a large purpose of the event.
“Friday night is all about having fun and being sexy, letting your kink show in a place where there is no judgment, and where someone might see something and say ‘hey, that looks kind of interesting.’ Saturday provides people with the chance to learn more about kinks and fetishes they might not know about, and also expand their knowledge about the things they are into."
Classes include things like electroplay, mummification, flogging, submission, and other areas that many find interesting. They are set up so that those who are new to kink and Leather can learn the basics, and those who are more advanced can learn something from a different class. Offering the option as to which class to watch has always been important, so multiple classes are happening at the same time, giving everyone a chance to take away something new.
Through education, ACLFW hopes to bring all the communities together, including the communities that might normally separate themselves across the lines of sexual preference. The event is open to all sexual identities; be it straight, gay, pansexual, transgender, or any other self-identification.
“A large part of the weekend is about networking. Getting out and meeting people in your community, as well as those you might not normally socialize with. This is a way to build healthy relationships between people. Not behind a computer screen, or an app, but rather face-to-face. I think that is really important in the steps to understanding and accepting each other."
This mission will be carried on by the creation of a 501(c)(3), the Alamo City Leather and Fetish Workshop. The purpose of the group will be to continue education throughout the year, provide a group for safe and accepting play parties, and to strengthen the sense of unity between the kink communities within San Antonio.
Proceeds from the event will be donated to two benefactors:; Project HOT and the Leather Heart Foundation. Project HOT is an HIV awareness organization in Alamo City that is also working on bringing a PrEP clinic to San Antonio. The Leather Heart Foundation is an organization dedicated to providing financial assistance to individuals of all sexual orientations within the Leather, BDSM, M/s and fetish communities.
“Really, it’s about getting everyone together, celebrating our kinks, having a blast, and doing some good while doing it."
For tickets and more information, including host hotel and event location, or to apply for Mr. Alamo City Leather or Alamo City Bootblack visit http://www.aclfw.org
By Rob Silver
Rick Boehle, from Los Angeles, California won the title of Mr. CMEN Leather 2015 at CMEN's West Coast Gathering in Malibu on September 10. Randy Dieter, from Polk City, Florida, was the runner-up. The 2015 Gathering marked the organization's 20th Anniversary.
Rick has actively volunteered as part of West Coast Gathering leadership for the last decade. He is looking forward to representing CMEN at local Leather community events and plans to compete in the International Mr. Leather contest in May 2016.
The judging panel was composed of all former Mr. CMEN Leather winners including Head Judge Mr. CMEN Leather 2004 Mark Lager, Mr. CMEN Leather 2009 Danny Brookshire, Mr. CMEN Leather 2013 Gordon Kirk, Mr. CMEN Leather 2013.
Mr. CMEN Leather 2003 Rob Silver served as emcee.
California Men Enjoying Naturism (CMEN) is an international social organization for gay and bisexual men who enjoy naturism.
CMEN's West Coast Gathering is the largest naturist event for gay and bisexual men on the West Coast. This 10-day event takes place in the Malibu hills each September and features outdoor recreation, social activities, seminars, workshops and evening entertainment. Activities allow men to have fun together, share their interests and develop new friendships. First held in October 1999, the West Coast Gathering has grown to draw 400 to 450 male naturists each year from throughout North America, the Pacific Islands, and Europe.
CMEN also hosts smaller naturist gatherings in Northern California and Tennessee, and other naturist recreation and social events in the greater Los Angeles area throughout the year.
For more information visit http://www.CMEN.info
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
