by Boymeat
So, NYC’s annual Leather Pride Night is tomorrow night – Saturday, June 16th. And while I am sure this is a sentiment very late in the writing, I feel like there is a whole new generation of people who maybe don’t know much about the event, or have been in recent years and found it noisy and crowded, and all such of other reasons making it not very high on the their social plans list.
Thus, this note. A love letter to my favorite evening every single year.
Leather Pride Night is to me a magical evening. To understand its magic is to look past the surface, and see the evening for the true wonderfulness it is.
It is more than just a fundraiser. Yes, we raise good money every year for many worthy charities. We organize the evening in such a way that no matter your budget, there is some way for you to contribute your dollars to a greater cause.
But that is no reason to love an event.
Yes, it is a wonderful evening to see and be seen. People come and dress in their finest… you see leather, latex, uniforms, tuxedos, sissy maid outfits and tough bikers. Every categorization of leather and latex and fetishwear is represented and proudly. It is a pretty, pretty, PRETTY evening.
But that is no reason to love an event.
Yes, Leather Pride Night is one of the last remaining iconic evenings in New York City that connects us to its very history. This will be LPN’s 29th event. TWENTY-NINTH. That is an incredible run, and one that I hope does not stop. It connects us so much with a history that rich and delicious. For example, how the event was founded by the legendary organization Gay Men S/M Activists, or known better as GMSMA, as a fundraiser for Heritage of Pride, the organizers of the Gay Pride Parade. How because of the funds raised from LPN, leather/kinky people were able to be recognized as a true part of the GLBT community, and for years had their own section in the annual parade.
But that is no reason to love an event.
Do you want to know why I love this event?
Its because for an evening, one single evening, all of New York City’s sexual deviants find a way to gather under one roof and party and talk and spend and focus on a singular goal – raising money for good charities. That for one evening, the gays can stand with the lesbians who can stand with the hets who stand with the bisexuals and pansexuals and genderqueer and queer… that the bears and the leathermen and the drag queens and the boys and the girls and everyone imaginable find a way to ignore their differences and come together as one. As one city. As one community. As one gathering of all.
To stand in that room and look around, and relish in all of the mixed company. To feel linked in some small but major way to people you might not have ever seen before, and will never see again. It is an evening where those from 30 and 40 years ago come out one more time, and come face to face with the new leaders of the scene. It is where stature and status and sexuality and gender and top and bottom and switch and all of those boxes we put ourselves in fly out the window and we breathe and drink and laugh as one.
That is the magic of Leather Pride Night.
That is why I work on this event every year, gladly, without any pause or concern. That is is one of the few projects I have ever worked on in the scene that gives me endless satisfaction, endless pride.
The magic of LPN.
I hope you will join me tomorrow night.
See you there.
