The Fabric of Their Lives
The leather community as a subculture has enjoyed both internal progress and a wide chasm of public misconception since its humble beginnings in post-World War II America. Having been mislabeled by the media as the taboo stepchild of the larger LGBTQ community, and relegated to the strict confines of the BDSM world, the leather community is now enjoying a wider visibility—and an even wider demographic—going into the second decade of the 21st century.
In Portland, Vancouver and Southwest Washington’s leather scene, participants no longer consist of burly bears and gay bikers alone, but rather a cross-section of straight male and female, lesbian, bi, trans and genderqueer members, with a presence in the community unlike ever before. And while the leather community may still be in a struggle for equal footing in the larger fight for LGBTQ subculture acceptance—anyone recall the online uproar over Oregon Leather Pride’s sex sling during Portland Pride?—every facet of its scope and diversity will be on denim-free display from August 6 through August 15 during Oregon Leather Pride 2010.
Oregon Leather Pride began as a weekend event in June of 1989, and was held during the 20-year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and the 12th Portland Pride Festival. The festivities gained momentum in 1991 when the weekend event was stretched into an entire week’s worth of leather-clad shenanigans, soon taking on more leather, BDSM and kink groups to carry the weight.
In 2003, several of the Portland area’s most involved leather and leather-friendly groups—including the Portland Leather Alliance, Blackout Leather Productions, the Imperial Sovereign Rose Court and Bad Girls—met to discuss creating a more unified Leather Pride Week. The result was the Oregon Leather Pride Committee.
Ben Brown, Jr.—Portland HIV/AIDS activist, five-year Oregon Leather Pride Committee member and Mr. Oregon State Leather 2007—is the current chairman of the OLP committee and the engineer of what has become the biggest Oregon Leather Pride to date—an event spanning 11 days, with 11 presenting groups during 24 events for the delight and education of all levels of leather lovers.
