An Update

An update as i begin to get my day going.

Saturday night Master stated i could use a night out after being His caregiver for a full week. i went to the local bar that i've spoken about on here before, The 501, to support slave ai's Master in their annual Mr. 501 Leather contest.

Disclaimer: What i'm about to say has been deemed quite offensive by others in the past, so if a possible uncensored opinion about how strongly i feel on this subject might offend Y/you, skip down to later in the post. Please do not send U/us feedback on what i'm about to say, it is my opinion, W/we don't live the lifestyle in the Old Guard, and quite frankly, i've been involved in the community long enough that my opinion will not change anytime soon.

So to put it out there without beating around the bush, i think Leather contests are nothing but drag shows or drag pageants where men put on attire that they don't wear in their day to day lives to become a persona that only exists on the weekends.

 i have the utmost respect for true leather people. A basic understanding of what a leather person is, from an Old Guard point of view, is someone who lives life while dressed in leather. There are people out there who truly live a leather lifestyle, who wear their leathers out to the mall, grocery store, or anywhere else in public.

Most men who participate in these contests are weekend warriors and there's nothing wrong with that. People have various reasons for entering these contests such as giving back to the community or other less respectable reasons like those that are ego driven.

Just as is the case with a drag pageant, there are several different areas where contestants compete for points to determine a winner. Some of these areas include an interview with the judge's panel, acting out a fantasy in front of the audience, jockstrap wear, formal leather attire, and so on and so forth.

In the event that only one contestant runs for a title, he must meet a minimum amount of points in order to win said title. The title isn't just handed to him because he's to only contestant.

In theory, the purpose of winning a title is to support the community and promote the organization whom decided you earned the title. In reality, what happens it the winner will hold a number of fundraisers through out the course of the year to build a travel fund to help him get to regionals, nationals, or even the international competitions. And this is where my opinion of the system is flawed.

i feel that the money raised by titleholders has more practical uses than flying someone across the country for the opportunity to earn himself the chance to carry out these duties on a high platform. The money that is raised comes from the local leather communities should stay in the local leather communities. So many GLBTQ organizations struggle with an inability to raise funds to their causes, including the subset of the leather community, and i feel very strongly that these monies should be invested back into the community and not used to give someone a vacation in Chicago, Washington, D.C. or Palm Springs.

Imagine a system where the titleholder competes for the opportunity to raise funds for an organization that he is passionate about, whether it be HIV/Aids research, prevention, outreach, education, or a GLBTQ food pantry, a gay pride event, a political organization fighting for the advancement of equality such as same-sex marriage, etc.

As a GLBTQ activist, it breaks my heart to see all this money around the world that is being raised so hundreds of men can compete potentially at an international level. To back up my claim as a GLBTQ activist, i have personally been involved in the planning an execution of fifteen different pride events up and down the East Coast, i've volunteered for leather contests, circuit parties, film festivals, youth advocacy groups, and even an organization who cares for displaced GLBTQ youth.

From a historical standpoint, back when same-sex marriage became THE issue back in 2003, the religious right continually kicked our asses because they were able to organize and raise funds to block civil unions. Back in 2003, a time when i was very much involved in GLBTQ activism, we as a community didn't have a centralized unified vision for our future that we have today.

That's where i'm coming from on the subject of leather contests and why i don't support them.

i'll step down off my soapbox now.

On Sunday, Master and i had a veg day. W/we sat around for the better part of the afternoon and watched television. Nothing too exciting.

Mondays and Thursdays are my usual allotted "free time" as Master has another commitment on both of these days. Because of His recent surgery, He is currently unable to physically perform the duties required of this commitment so i helped Him out of His work mule in terms of the physical workload.

Yesterday Master returned to work full time and i am starting to get back into my domestic routine.

i've accepted a role within the Indy Pride organization that will consume every Tuesday night until late June.