What is Leather Pride?
Similarly to one's sexuality - which can be about love, lust, or both, Leather and Kink are not inherently nor exclusively about sex.To a large extent, they’re about community building. LGBTQIA+ kink lifestyles and the leather community often go beyond sexual intimacy; they are built upon traditions of service, informed risk-aware consent, and chosen family.Many people - especially people in the LGBTQIA+ community - find family, healing, safety, and a home within kink. Despite this, most people face judgement for being a part of the Leather or other BDSM communities.Leather Pride and the flag are somethiinng for the community to rally behind, a way for individuals to own their identities, and embrace their sexuality.
The Flag
When it comes to the flag itself, the creator stated:"The flag is composed of nine horizontal stripes of equal width. From the top and from the bottom, the stripes alternate black and royal blue. The central stripe is white. In the upper left quadrant of the flag is a large red heart. I will leave it to the viewer to interpret the colors and symbols."The creator wanted the meaning behind the flag to remain open, so people could find the meaning in it that they needed. That said, two common interpretations are as follows:" The red heart is for love, the white stripe for purity in an open, honest and understanding relationship, the black stripes for leather and the blue ones for denim (Jeans fabric) - both materials that are frequently worn in the scene.""Black: the color of S/M followers; blue: for the followers of Jeans fetish; white: solidarity with the novices of the S/M-scene; the heart: S/M has nothing to do with raw violence, but is practiced with mutual respect, consent and understanding."While designed as a symbol for the leather subculture, it is also widely used within the entire BDSM (bondage & discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism) subculture - that said, there are other flags for other parts of BDSM and Kink subculture as well.
History
The leather community, which is under the umbrella of kink, has deep historic roots in queer spaces, dating back to the 1940s.Leather bars were safe spaces for queer people in the 1950s and 1960s, which allowed the creation of a chosen family and community for queer youth estranged from unaccepting families.Perhaps more notably, leather daddies and other members of the kink and leather communities fought alongside the patrons of the Stonewall Inn (which - outside of the leather community - were predominantly lesbians, trans women of color, and homeless queer youth) during the historic riots.
Additionally, during the AIDs crisis, leathermen and lesbians of the leather community were some of the first to take up the responsibility of caring for ill members of the LGBTQ+ community, throwing parties and BDSM events to raise funds for medical bills, acting as their nurses, and often being among the only people willing to provide companionship to the sick and dying.
& When it Comes to Pride?
Leather people were involved in the organization of, and participated in, the very first Pride parades.For example, Leatherman Peter Fiske (who frequented the Stonewall Inn and was at the Compton’s Cafeteria riot in 1966) marched in the first San Francisco Gay Freedom Day in 1970 wearing a leather vest and chaps.In 1983—before the corporate Pride sponsorship— New York’s leather community responded to NY Pride's budget crisis by throwing a fundraiser at a prominent leather bar - and they raised enough money to ensure that Pride happened the following year.By 1985 Leather Pride Night contributed a sixth of NY Pride’s budget, and in 1987, Heritage of Pride remarked that LPN “raised more money for the New York march and rally than any other event HOP has been involved with” —a relationship which continued well into the 2000s.Leather people also served as Pride organizers and marshals. At the national scale, leather people were explicitly included in queer organizing efforts by the late 1980s.
One of the mothers of the pride movement - Sylvia Rivera - put it well in her "Y'all Better Quiet Down" speech.Privileged members of the LGBTQIA+ crowd are actively leaving behind queer people who don't fit into a "respectable" paradigm.Pride was not meant to be a corporate-backed, sanitized event - and ultimately what the 'no kink at pride' debate is about is making pride more 'acceptable' in heteronormative, corporate society - the same thing barring trans women and black queers from pride was about in years past.
The controversy over whether kink should be allowed at Pride is simply the latest in a line of questions about who is considered a part of the queer community and who gets to participate in queer spaces - and it is simply the latest in an ever evolving trend of conservatives and capitalists trying to sanitize pride and erase the unique expression of the Queer Self.
Ultimately, this debate has happened in the past with trans people being in pride, drag queens, black Queers, and so on - these communities are who we owe the freedom we have to.They belong. Period.
FAQ: LEATHER + PRIDE
Why fight to be sexual at Pride? In short, we're not. Leather and Kink are not inherently sexual! Many scenes are entirely non-sexual, and are done for other reasons (healing, comfort, community, dynamics, etc.) Leather and Kink being at pride is not sexual, no one wants to fuck in the parade, and no one's getting off on wearing their chaps and vest.
What about the kids? Kids have existed at pride for 50+ years with the leather community. Yes minors should be at family friendly pride events! And seeing a pup play fetch with their daddy - an entirely nonsexual happening - isn't a deterrent to that. The "think of the kids" argument is just a rebranding of the same argument that was weaponized against homosexuality, and then trans people - and even today is used against people in the drag communities.
Why expose ace people to that? Actually a lot of the greater Kink community is asexual or on the aro/ace spectrum, and many people in the asexual community report that the BDSM community helps them form non-sexual relationships. Remember: Kink isn't inherently sexual.
It makes me uncomfortable though. That's fine! Straight couples making out in public makes me uncomfortable - but we aren't trying to bar them from kissing in the park. Discomfort at seeing things we don’t want to see is a part of public life, and reckoning with and growing through discomfort is an intrinsic part of every queer person’s journey to self-acceptance in a world which exerts immense pressure around normative gender and sexuality.
Why do you have to wear _____? Most gear worn at pride events - play muzzles, for example - is worn honor history.
Additional Problems With This Debate
Historically things that are now normalized were seen as kink or sexual. For example, drag, which we now see the conservative public fighting to re-criminalize and re-demonize.
Controlling dress because you deem it 'too sexual' by your standard is a common conservative talking point used to control women and LGBTQIA+ individuals.
Using consent as your argument when there is nothing sexual happening at these events - you are just referring to not consenting to people dressing in a specific way - waters down actual consent issues.
IMPORTANT NOTE: I am not a spokesperson for the community. I am not speaking for every member of the community. I am compiling answers I have to common questions + historical facts for easy reference.For note, the person writing this carrd is neither cisgender nor heterosexual - they are also a part of the Leather community.
Sources used to compile this carrd are as follows - much more information not included here can be found at these links, and each link cites further resources