13 Things I Loved About the Mr./Ms./Bootblack Los Angeles Leather 2019 Contest

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Writer's Note: No images will go with this listicle. Those of us who were there will know, and for the rest, you have an imagination, why not use it?

1) Hearing the crowd’s cheers get louder and louder for the contestants each time they came on stage, They wanted to see the contestants succeed. They were here to see the contestants bring it and bring it they did. By the end of the contest, the cheers turned into roars--a very Daoist action, akin to how the crowd would roar when the lights went down at a Prince concert. 

2) Aric Wilson coming to the stage for his physique section—just two words: HAVE MERCY! When a nearly naked man still leaves you with all your faculties of imagination, that’s something special. Next level special.

3) Emcees Jasun Mark and Jeremy Ronceros giving each of the contestants a kiss and hug as they came to the stage. The new sensibility in sexuality and gender expression makes it possible for us all to open up and blossom. 

4) The part of Ben Johnson’s step-down speech when he reminded us all that Leather events should be fun, followed by one of  the most salient things i’ve ever heard in a step-down speech: “We can’t have fun if people are deliberately using the wrong words to talk about who we are. We cannot have fun if we don’t have our basic needs met. We cannot have fun if we’re not allowed in the room.” (I’m still feeling that one.)

5) Getting a picture with IML #40, James Lee (such a sweetheart), and getting to trade stories about contestants who have come to us with their “I don’t know. Can I get back to you?” answers, agreeing on why they’re necessary. But James, the picture taken of us is blurry, can I get a rain check?

6) Getting to spend time with my new San Diego Leather family and introducing them around. Feeling connected to them in a way that hadn’t felt possible in years, as well as the realization that it also took me bringing my presence back into the picture. To quote Nuit from the Book of the Law, “Invoke me under my stars.”

7) Seeing the trans community take the stage and win titles. Per #4, when you stop trying to keep people out of the room, they come in the room. They show up and play full out. The presence of such people should be second nature to us by now, because this should have always been the way. Always.

8) Related to #7, I look forward to the good things that Elliot Musgrave, Serafine Sawyer, Pup Rowdy and Bobbee Trans Mooreman have in store for the community. It’s your turn to shine, let us all bask in your collective glow.
9) Duke Ruff, the new LA Bootblack. Innocently naughty. Confident, genuine, warm, fetching, sexy, study. He melted every heart in the crowd with his glowing presence on stage and endeared us all to him even more than we already were. You got this, Duke!

10) Ms. Los Angeles Leather’s fantasy (the only one). Seeing Persephoni act out the images in her mind’s eye on stage in front of us should have reminded us all of what we felt like when we first realized it was okay to be our kinky selves. 

11) Meeting Eric DeLeon, Mr. LA Leatherbear 2019, before he went into the contestant’s area. When he recognized me and I leaned in to hug him, he let me know that he was here for me if I needed to talk about a certain act of hate I witnessed. Here he was, about to compete in a contest with a legacy a mile long, and he wanted to let me know he was there to help if I needed it. A truly selfless act from a class act.

12) Watching the LALC Chair, Gus Norris see the contest all the way through to the very end. I respect him enough as it it, but last night took that respect to a whole new level. His presence reminds me of what dedication and tenacity is about, and it reminds me that I have that spirit coursing through me, too. Gus, you are a good mirror. 

13) The last one is really about all of Us who were at the contest, there for a common cause. Though approaching this cause from many different angles, we all were there to raise up the same Spirit. That spirit We raise up is greater than the sum total of All of Us, by orders of magnitude. Blessed Be.
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Look for New Horizons For Fifty in upcoming issues of The Leather Journal. Also, find NH4F here:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/NewHorizonsForFifty 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLnRDVMNb4E&t=23s (Tapestry concept video).

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