Dear Lucesco,
What is the real purpose of a leather event and why should we keep having them?
Thanks,GetOutaTheHouse

Dear GetOutaTheHouse,

Your question has hit a nerve with a number of kinky people all over the world in the last few years; identified in all sorts of sub-categorizations such a leatherfolk, rubberists, fisters, tea partiers, I mean tea baggers… Technology has added a new and disruptive layer to meeting and connecting with other like-minded sexual explorers. Along with other factors, such as associations assigned to certain generations of men and women, costs of doing business, and the ebb and flow of leaders or mentors, our kink culture and identifiable community is changing over time.

In reality, this has always been the case. There have always been gradual or sudden shifts in the way we communicate and collect. When the telephone was invented, people wondered why they would use a device to say hello to people who they saw on the street everyday. As usual, the need to connect and gossip fueled the industry. The very leather bars that we lament losing were not always present and yet kinky people have always found a way to find one another. And this is the crux of the issue, what are the ways that we can keep finding and connecting to one another. 

 

Leather events offer a variety of ways to achieve this. Events can be centered around a method to lose inhibitions (such as drinking alcohol), a shared sexual interest (a piss party), a process (electing contest winners), or something unrelated but completely enjoyable to do together (such as the new Leathermen at the Movies group in SF).

For many reasons, alcohol is simply losing its mojo to be the sole attraction for people to get together. It definitely is time to analyze which leather events still serve their purpose to connect like-minded people together. Some bridge the live and online world better then others, some remain vital and responsive, others not so much. We can debate what events are worthwhile endlessly, but while we do, a voting process is taking place beside us. Players are voting with their time and money every day. And everyone has the power to vote, so don’t lose yours.

Respectfully yours,
Lucesco for Leatherati

Leatherati’s kinky librarian has been an actual librarian for most of his career. Thirty-five years ago while reading the Hardy Boys novel While  Clock Ticked ( http://bit.ly/nzb7es ), he realized that he wanted to be one of the boys tied up and its been a drive on the side roads ever since.

Lucesco has been in several Daddy/boy, Master/slave, and polyamorous relationships in addition to his non-rolebased ones. His relationship to the kink community evolves as his relationship to himself evolves as well.
With this evolution in mind, he is now accepting your questions about having consensual and respectful kink sex in the real world. Doors are open at the Kink Public Library at Leatherati.
Feel free to submit your own questions with our easy online form or directly via email to askleatherati@leatherati.com