Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 21, 2006)
22 iustiout JULY 21. 2006 .'/A Oregon Leather Pride Week promotes pleasure and pain by Joshua Ryan • Photos by Xilia Faye ou may be part of the leather community if... • You like the feel of your corset because you can’t breathe. • The first thing you notice about a woman is her shoes. • You don’t use Crisco for cooking. • The sound of a Harley revving its engine makes you wet. • You have issues with authority. • A «tern voice turns you on. All kidding aside, these responses were shared on a warm mid-summer’s day by Cheryl Spector, the three-year chairwoman of the Oregon Leather Pride Week Committee. She was joined by Alycyn Britton, Ms. Oregon State Leather 2003, and Ben Brown Jr., who’s also a member of the Oregon Bears, as they sat in the center of a bustling coffeehouse in downtown Portland. The group was surprisingly laid-back. At first glance, you would think they were bankers, educators or your average public servant. OK, maybe servant is not the best term to use here— when you’re around these folks, you have to be careful throwing around words like “servant," “master” or “daddy.” For Spector, Britton and Brown, these terms take on new, often sexual meanings. In discussing their interests and attempting to define their community, the three seemed as average as the guy sitting two tables over tapping on his computer. They weren’t wearing biker clothes or chaps. They could be anyone’s sister or brother. And then you notice that beneath Spector’s light brown hair, which spills onto her shoulders and glistens in the sunlight, are hardcore “leather culture” earrings. That is, she wears a slider (an earring that rests inside the hole of your earlobe) and through it runs another earring that looks likes something a bull might wear in its nose. Dorothy, we’re not in Kansas anymore. The three devotees have been actively involved in the leather community for many years and openly discussed sex, kink, perversion and the Oregon Leather Pride Week celebration that runs Aug. 3 to 13. In fact, the only time patrons raised their heads to look in our direction was when Brown talked about loving “sweaty men that do not wear deodor ant” and when Britton talked about the appropriate protocol for attending a dungeon party (see sidebar). The leather community has been a significant part of the larger sexual minorities community for years. During the past three years, the 10-day Leather Pride Week has evolved from a series of separate events—produced by Blackout Leather Pnxluctions, Portland Leather Alliance, Bad Girls and others—into a single, integrated celebration supported by a dozen Oregon-based organizations. In fact, in 2006, these groups include the Dancing Muse, Get’er Done Community Pnxluctions,
