What's New

As of December 2006, this updates page is now merged with the general updates section for this domain. Do a Find search on those pages for The Leather Research Reference Shelf (in all caps, if your Find search is case-sensitive).

May 2006

Links to other major leather research sites have been added, including the newly opened Colors of Leather site, as well as the links-rich Penitential Arts site.

>>> Leather Books in Alternative Formats

Links to three novels by Laura Antoniou, writing as Sara Adamson. All three links lead off-site.

The Marketplace (1993). In electronic braille and DAISY format at Bookshare.org (membership required).

The Slave (1994). In electronic braille and DAISY format at Bookshare.org (membership required).

The Trainer (1995). In electronic braille and DAISY format at Bookshare.org (membership required).

[The remainder of this month's updates duplicates the updates found on the What's New page for Dusk Peterson's General Sites.]

>>> In Print

My essay "Drag Queens, Leathermen, and Telling the Truth: Franny and the Life of John Preston" is now available in the new Arsenal Pulp edition of John Preston's Franny, the Queen of Provincetown. The essay examines the author's attitudes toward gender, and how they were shaped by his time as a gay activist and as a leatherman. The new edition also includes contemporary reviews of Franny from Drummer magazine, as well as additional material.

>>> True Tales: An Erotic E-zine of Masculinity and Power (adults only)

Regional works about the past seven decades of gay life are offered in the October 2005 issue of True Tales, from Jack Fritscher's account of a dark healing ritual in a San Francisco bathhouse to John Preston's tale of a lonely leatherman in Provincetown.

The issue also examines the world of desire in New Orleans in the past and present, provides a link to erotic photos on imprisonment, and offers the first annual True Tales Leather Journalism Awards.

>>> Leather in Lawnville (adults only)

The following story has been added:

Bad Habit. "Lawnville's Hamburger Palace is the sort of place where opposites meet. You come here for Saturday lunch, and you'll see three-piece-suited businessmen eating with rednecks, housewives eating with long-haired artsy guys, and a homophobe eating with the local pervert."

The narrator shows off his boy to a skeptic.

Tags for this story.

>>> Leather Culture, 1945-1985: A Bibliography of Printed and Online Resources

The following has been added:

A long review of the Website by the Guard Post, the newsletter of Twilight Guard.

>>> E-mail Lists and Blogs

I now have a blog community, gayleatherlit, devoted to discussions of my leather writings. Website and book updates that are related to leather will also be posted there. A second blog community, powerfic, is for other people's stories on emotional bonds between men of different ranks, including leather stories.

I've also started an e-mail list, duskpetersonbooks, which will carry only notices of my upcoming books. If you already belong to the duskpetersonupdate list (formerly duskdarklingupdate), you don't need to join this one, since book notices will be sent to both lists.

>>> Honor

Toward the end of 2005, I was nominated for the Mid Atlantic Regional Award in the Pantheon of Leather Awards 2006, sponsored by The Leather Journal. This is the American leather community's top community service awards. I assume that the anonymous person who nominated me did so for my leather writings and editing, as I can't imagine that I'd receive this sort of honor for sorting magazines at a leather flea market (the only other type of community service I've done).

My congratulations to the winner of this year's Mid Atlantic Regional Award, Mary Elizabeth Boyd.

September 2005

True Tales is currently offering daily updates on the effects of Hurricane Katrina on leatherfolk. See the Hurricane Katrina Report.

In 1986, the gay leather magazine Drummer published a "Maimed Beauty" issue on the eroticism of men with disabilities. The issue featured contributions by Michael Agreve, Felice Picano, Mark I. Chester, and photographer George Dureau.

Nearly twenty years later, True Tales reunites the original four contributors and adds new perspectives on leather and disabilities from Jack Fritscher, Rob Ridinger, Aubrey Hart Sparks, and others.

The August issue of True Tales also includes news on the International Deaf Leather and International Deaf Bear contests, D.C.'s Capital Pride Parade, the Master/slave Conference, and a proposed M/s and D/s Flag.

>>> Leather Culture, 1945-1985: A Bibliography of Printed and Online Resources

The following link has been added to the United States page:

"A Question About Leather History" (2002-3). Butch-Femme.com. An online discussion about leatherdyke history, with many personal reminiscences from 1968 onwards. (Two pages.) [Mainly Lesbian, with some Gay and Heterosexual]

>>> International Directory of Online Leather Magazines and Newsletters

The following link has been added:

Simply Service. "Written by and for those in service-oriented relationships." Archived at the above URL; distributed monthly through a Yahoo Group e-mail list, SimplyService. 2005-present. [Pansexual]

August 2005

Due to interest from True Tales readers in a breaking news item posted there, two articles from the August issue have been published early: an interview with the creators of a new Master/slave and Dom/sub Flag, and a speech delivered by the designer of the flag at the Master/slave Conference 2005.

The remainder of the August issue will be posted later this month. The issue includes writings by Felice Picano and Mark I. Chester.

>>> Transcend: Leather Spirituality News and Links

The following items have been added to the Links page:

Quotes. Inspirational quotations, including quotations from leatherfolk.
General and secular. Pansexual. [Mistress Blair.com]

Sacred Exchange: Stories of Spirituality and Transcendence in Dominance and Submission. Edited by Lisabet Sarai and S. F. Mayfair.
General. Pansexual.
 

Interview with the editors [Clean Sheets]

SlaveCraft: Roadmaps for Erotic Servitude. By a grateful slave, with Guy Baldwin.
General. Gay.
 

Excerpt [Sensuous Sadie's Domain]

Excerpt and Table of Contents [Amazon.com]

Excerpt and Table of Contents [Google Print]

Review by Aspirant [Slave's Path: Diary of a spiritual modern day slave]

Review by Tammy Jo Eckhart [Ds Nexus]

Review by Mistress Blair and jim [Mistress Blair.com]

Reviews by Sir Stephen [The Restraining Order]

Review by Mark Thompson. There is a fee for accessing this article. Also in print in White Crane Journal (scroll down). [Lambda Book Report]

Going Deep: Topspace, Bottomspace, and Sado-Erotic Ecstasy. By Chris M. A ten-part essay on the spiritual experience in SM.
General. Pansexual (from a heterosexual perspective). [White Light / Black Leather: Writings on the Spiritual Practice of SM]

The following items have been added to the Organizations page:

Ashram West. A gay spiritual community in Los Angeles whose teachings are based on traditional Hindu Tantra. The community was founded by a leatherman, has an outreach to the leather community, and hosts a leather contest.

Ashram West.

Mr. Ashram West Contest.

Gay Tantra Group. Yahoo Groups e-mail list for Ashram West.

Review of William Schindler's Essays on Gay Tantra. A book by the founder of Ashram West that includes an account of his participation in the International Mr. Leather contest. [White Crane Journal]

Interview with William Schindler. By Jason Clark. [Temenos]

>>> International Directory of Online Leather Magazines and Newsletters

The following links have been added:

Trident International: Trimest. 2004. [Gay]

ShipMates: The Ship's Log. 2004-present. [Gay, Lesbian]

The following link has been updated:

The Dominant's View. Current issue, with issues #15 onwards archived (dates unknown). This is a large site; the easiest way to find gay or lesbian material is through keyword searches. [Pansexual]

>>> Leather TOCs: Tables of Contents for Leather Magazines

The following item has been added to the Linkspage:

Cuirmale Gay Leather Fetish History. A history of gay leather in the U.S. and Europe, especially in England and the Netherlands. The "Gay Leather" and "Personal Histories" section include information on European and American leather-related magazines from the 1950s onwards.

>>> Leather Culture, 1945-1985: A Bibliography of Printed and Online Resources

A new Historiography section has been added to the United States page. It consists of the following links:

Antoniou, Laura. "Still Unsafe At Any Speed But Making Good Time." The Marketplace (February 27, 2005). [Gay, Heterosexual, Lesbian]

Johnson, Viola. "Leather History." Viola Johnson. On the importance of preserving leather history. [Gay, Lesbian]

—. "Leatherfolk of Color History." Viola Johnson. On the importance of preserving the history of leathermen and women of color. [Gay, Lesbian]

Ridinger, Rob. "Woven Lives: The History of Leather Households." Masters And slaves Together (May 16, 2005). A discussion of the difficulties of "documenting the past of the variously patterned households and family structures constructed by men serving in the roles of masters and the leathermen drawn to both them and their vision." With tips to households on how to preserve their history. [Gay]

The following links have been added to the International and United States pages:

Lei and Mark. Cuirmale Gay Leather Fetish History. A history of gay leather in the U.S. and Europe, especially in England and the Netherlands. Covers the topics of bars, clubs, magazines, and clothing. Includes visitors' personal recollections of leather life from the 1940s to the early 1970s.

Menardier, Lars. "Visit to a Leather Club," MANège #3 (November 1965). Posted at Cuirmale Gay Leather Fetish History with an English translation by Quirt. An article from a Danish magazine describing a Copehagen leather club. Includes an interview with one of the members. [Gay]

June 2005

>>> True Tales: Gay Leather News, Narratives, and Fiction (adults only)

This site has been moved to its own domain and expanded into a magazine publishing narrative news, narrative nonfiction, and fiction. The magazine will also link to leather art and photography.

Those who have visited the site since its last official update will have noticed that a 1978 photography by A. J. Epstein, showing Stompers boot story and leather art gallery, now graces the entrance page.

The links page has been greatly expanded, a submissions page has been added, and the home page has been altered to tell more about the site's new mission.

The June issue is now up, with the following articles:

EDITORIAL: Bloodprint: Robert Davolt and the Legacy of Drummer. A consideration of the role Robert Davolt played in helping establish the legacy of the world's most famous gay leather magazine.

FEATURE: Tributes to Robert Davolt. Tributes throughout the Web, in images and text, as well as links to writings by and about Mr. Davolt.

NONFICTION: Friend, Dad, Mentor, and Teacher: Memories of Robert Davolt. By Earl A. Coffman. Mr. Oregon State Leather 2003 recalls how Mr. Davolt entered into his life.

NONFICTION: Hug a Novice. By Kirk Read. A newcomer turns up at Mid-Atlantic Leather . . . wearing brown leather.

FICTION: Tryout at the Bondage Club. By david stein. A glimpse of the New York Bondage Club . . . and two men's attempt to break past the limitations of fantasies about master/slave relationships.

FICTION: Cruel Fate. By David C. Set in a bar below hills scarred by forest fire, this darkly haunting tale describes an unlikely encounter between a top and a sneaker-shod young man who just won't let him alone.

>>> Leather Culture, 1945-1985: A Bibliography of Printed and Online Resources

This site has been greatly expanded to include regional sections. The following sections have been added:

International. Europe, France, Spain, the United Kingdom.

The Southwest. Arizona, California, Colorado, Texas, and Utah.

San Francisco.

The home page is now devoted to the United States.

The Southwest and San Francisco pages have many new links – too many to list here.

The following items have been added to the International page:

Was ist die LFC? History of a collection of German clubs, within the context of the history of leather and fetishism in Germany. In German. [Gay?]

Allbavarian Kink. The Memorial section has profiles on Tony DeBlase and Franz Usorg. The Museum section has images of posters, tee-shirts, and other memorabilia. In German. (Linked to an inner page because of the lack of a link on the home page, but visitors under eighteen not admitted.) [Gay]

The following items have been added to the United States page:

Colors of Leather. An e-mail list set up to track leather club histories and club colors. The Photos section of the list currently stores over 600 club patches, while the Files section includes a list of nearly 1500 clubs, some with their founding dates noted. [Gay, Lesbian]

Leather History. An e-mail list. Especially good for anecdotal, personal histories. [Gay, Heterosexual, Lesbian]

Sonnenfield, Daniel. "Leather Titleholders" (1998). Daniel Sonnenfield's WWW Playground. An incomplete list of international and San Francisco titleholders, dating back to 1979. [Gay, Lesbian]

"Additional Reference Material." (2002). BDSM: Debunking the Myths. Skip down. A supplement to david stein's bibliography.  [Gay, Heterosexual, Lesbian]

"Blacks/People of Color in BDSM" (2001-4). A Website devoted to resources on this topic, including historical resources. [Gay, Heterosexual, Lesbian]

"Leather Dissertations." Penitential Arts: Everything Else You Wanted to Know About Leather and BDSM. [Gay, Heterosexual, Lesbian]

The following item has been updated:

Berlinger, Cain. Black Men in Leather. Self-published, 1999. (Available through KinkyBooks.) [Gay]

>>> Leather TOCs: Tables of Contents for Leather Magazines

The following magazine has been added:

Checkmate. Gay. National magazine.

The following link has been added to the Metropolitan slave page:

Correction. A correction run in Checkmate magazine after its review of Metro slave.

The following link has been added to the SandMUtopian Guardian page:

SandMUtopian Guardian: Sample Articles. (Site's warning page.) [Caution: Erotic art, erotic writings]

The following items have been added or updated on the Links page:

True Tales: Links. Links page maintained by the Webmaster of this site, covering various topics related to current leather publishing, literature, and art.

Gay Poetry Anthology Index. One of the anthologies indexed is Between the Cracks: The Daedalus Anthology of Kinky Verse. (Archived. In order to go to the inner pages of the site, plug their URLs into the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.)

>>> Leather Fonds: Archives & Libraries with Collections Related to Leather Culture

The Tips for Researching Leather Culture in Libraries and Archives section has been updated slightly to describe the different types of libraries and archives, and which people may generally use them.

The following links have been added:

Up the Stairs Community Center Archives and Resources Library, Fort Wayne (Indiana). A GLBT library with some leather books. A list of the books that can be checked out is available online.

Pacific Northwest
Library for Sex-Positive Culture, Seattle. A library for members of a community center. Includes BDSM titles: books, magazines, and file folders. The catalogue is online for members only. A partial list of titles is available through the Society for Human Sexuality. (Site's warning page.)

Sagacity Alternative Sexuality Society Library, Victoria, British Columbia. A club library with books, videos, CDs, and magazines. Mainly heterosexual materials, with some gay and lesbian. (Site's warning page.)

Peer Group, Cincinnati. A club library with books and videos. Mixed in sexual orientations. (Site's warning page.)

DSSG Book Lending Library, Toronto. A club library with books, comics, magazines, newsletters, catalogues, convention programs, and videos. Mixed in sexual orientations.

SAADE Library, Austin. A club library with articles, books, comics, magazines, newsletters, catalogues, convention programs, and videos. Mixed in sexual orientations.

Stonewall Library: Library of Congress Classification. The LC system of classifying books, annotated to show where various types of gay books are located.

The Conversio Virium BDSM Library Project. A project by a student group to donate books to the Columbia University Libraries. Lists nineteen proposed books.

The S/M Library Project. A press release from the SM/Leather/Fetish Community Outreach Project, about a plan to donate books to college and university libraries. (Site's warning page.)

>>> International Directory of Online Leather Magazines and Newsletters

This Web directory, which was previously a page within Leather TOCs, has been moved to its own site.

Some local U.S. publications have been moved up to the U.S. National/International section because their contents are aimed at a more general audience. However, they are cross-referenced under their state of origin if they contain substantial amounts of material related to local events.

The following link has been added to the Germany section:

Leder- und FetischCommunity (LFC): Stiefel-Online. In German. 1998-2004. [Gay?]

The following links have been added to the National/International section:

Leather Journey. 2004. [Pansexual]

Checkmate. 2001. For online issues, follow the link to Leather TOCs. [Gay]
This publication is indexed by Leather TOCs.

True Tales. 2005-present. [Gay]

The following link has been added to the U.S. Multi-State section:

Primal Threshold. A bar rag for Southern leathermen. 2002-current. [Gay]

The following links have been added to the U.S. states sections:

CUFSmaine: The CUF Link. 1997-2004. [Pansexual]

Cubs Club of California: The Snuggler. A newsletter for submissive bears. 2004-present. [Gay]

Ambush Mag. A GLBT magazine with extensive coverage of Louisiana leather news. Columnists: Brad Benedict. Eric A. Crabtree. drake Higginbotham. Lord Jared. Rip & Marsha Naquin-Delain. Wally Sherwood. 1997-present. [Gay, Lesbian]

Tom Santomartino: Leather Beach. Columnist for Letters from Camp Rehobeth. 1999-2000. [Gay]

SAADE: SAADE Gazette. Current issue. Older issues are available by replacing the URL for the current issue with the appropriate dates (for example, changing 2005_05 to 2005_04) or by going to the Internet Archive Wayback Machine and plugging in the URLs found on the Gazette Archives pages. [Pansexual]

Steve Lenius: Leather Life. Leather columnist for Lavender. Current column. [Gay?]

Marcus Hernandez: Mister Marcus. Leather columnist for the Bay Area Reporter since 1971. 2005-present. [Gay, Lesbian]

Jack Rinella: LeatherViews. Leather column for Gay Chicago Magazine. 1992-present. [Gay, with some Pansexual]

Wichita Organization of Leather Fetishes, Inc.: WOOLF Watch. 2004-present. (Site's warning page.) [Pansexual]

National Leather Association – Atlanta: Divergence. 1997. (Links to 1998 issues are broken.) [Pansexual]

The following items have been updated:

Association Motor Club Rhône-Alpes: MCRA Publication (PDF file). In French. 2004. (Site's warning page.) [Gay?]

SandMUtopian Guardian. (Home page.) For sample articles, follow the link to Leather TOCs (Site's warning page.) [Pansexual]
This publication is indexed by Leather TOCs.

>>> Transcend: Leather Spirituality News and Links

The following items have been added to the Links page:

LeatherJews. LiveJournal community. Information on the community.
Jewish. Pansexual.

Urban Aboriginals: A Celebration of Leathersexuality. By Geoff Mains.
General. Gay.
 

Review by Jim Drew [Seattle Men in Leather Newsletter]

Review by Sensuous Sadie [Sensuous Sadie's Domain]

Interview with the editor of the 2002 edition, Mark Thompson. By Sensuous Sadie. [Sensuous Sadie's Domain]

Vision, Passion & Direction: The Right Stuff for Authentic Leaders. By Skip Chasey. Keynote speech for the Leather Leadership Conference IX.
General. Pansexual. [Leather Leadership Conference, Inc.]

The following items have been added to the Organizations page:

PUP. Information on a documentary film about Master Skip Chasey and Pup Tim, co-founders of PLAY Los Angeles. The film includes discussion of their spiritual lives. [Wise Orchard Productions]
 

pupumentary. Yahoo e-mail list for the film.

Hand in Glove: Inside the Christian Ministry People of Leather Among You. By Margaret Wappler. Article on PLAY Los Angeles, Skip Chasey, and his leather family. [Nerve.com]

>>> Topman: Online Writings by and about John Preston

The What's New page of this site has been updated.

>>> Essays by Dusk Peterson

This new subdirectory has been added to the domain. It includes a leather history section with the following essay:

The History of DS and Its Kin. Traces the history of a leather term.

April 16, 2005

The following story has been added to this site:

Clothesline. "You can tell a lot about a guy from where he shops." An encounter with clothesline at the Lawnville 5&10 leads the narrator to discover his neighbor's secret fantasy.

>>> Buried Treasure: Online Male Homoerotic Fiction Recommendations

A new Satires and Parodies section has been added, which includes two leather porn parodies, Ian Philips's Toad & Foucault's Pendulous.

April 8, 2005

A new nonfiction site that's a bit too spicy to be part of The Leather Research Reference Shelf. This news column publishes erotic and non-erotic narrative news articles about events that take place in the gay leather community, such as contests, conferences, and activities occurring in clubs, businesses, and other leather organizations.

>>> Transcend: Leather Spirituality News and Links

A new addition to The Leather Research Reference Shelf. Transcend is an independent, interfaith site carrying leather spirituality news. Transcend also links to sites with articles related to gay, lesbian, and pansexual (mixed-orientation) leather spirituality. Articles that are in favor of leather spirituality are linked at this site, as well as articles that are opposed to leather spirituality.

>>> Leather Culture, 1945-1985: A Bibliography of Printed and Online Resources

The following links have been added:

Andriette, Bill. Leather Scene in the USA & Canada. The Guide (September 2004). Includes passages on the history of leather in ancient times, in the 1930s, and from the 1950s onwards. [G]

Dombutch. "A Little History." Dombutch's Corner of the World. Memoir of a leatherwoman who was mentored in the mid-seventies by a leatherwoman who entered the scene in the 1960s. [L]

>>> Leather TOCs: Tables of Contents for Leather Magazines

My thanks to Rick Storer at the Leather Archives & Museum for alerting me to very good news: leather periodicals are finally being professionally indexed. EBSCO announces that it will be adding The Leather Journal and Leather Times (newsletter of the Leather Archives & Museum) to its GLBT Life database. (Leather Times is also indexed by Leather TOCs.)

GLBT Life is available through electronic catalogues at many university libraries and some public libraries. Some university libraries will allow anyone to use their electronic catalogues.

The following donation has been made to Leather TOCs:

The Leather Archives & Museum has donated the earliest issues of its newsletter, which developed into Leather Times. These will be indexed for the site within the next few weeks.

The following magazines have been added to the International Directory of Online Leather Magazines and Newsletters:

Leather Online. 1997. [Gay, Lesbian]

National Leather Association – Indiana: Leather Times. 2003. (Site's warning page.) [Pansexual]

Mr. Leatherman Toronto: Leather Line. 2002-present. [Gay]

Spectator Magazine. Alternative sexuality magazine with leather content. 1997-present. [Pansexual]

Bound & Gagged. Subscription required. (Listed here because it's the oldest surviving gay leather magazine.) [Gay]

The following links have been added to the General Links page:

Gay Poetry Anthology Index. One of the anthologies indexed is Between the Cracks: The Daedalus Anthology of Kinky Verse.

The World's First Piercing Magazine. By Jim Ward. The editor of Piercing Fans International Quarterly describes how he drew assistance from a leather artist to start his magazine, then later distanced himself from leather magazines for legal reasons. [A]

>>> Topman: Online Writings by and about John Preston

The What's New page of this site has been updated.

>>> Buried Treasure: Online Male Homoerotic Fiction Recommendations

A link to a leather narrative poem has been added: Pat Califia's The House Boy's First Day.

January 27, 2005

New gay, lesbian, and bisexual links have been added.

>>> Leather TOCs: Tables of Contents for Leather Magazines

An International Directory of Online Leather Magazines and Newsletters has been added. It lists gay, lesbian, and pansexual publications (but not purely heterosexual ones). If you know of any other online publications, do contact me.

The following tables of contents have been added, with related links:

The Battering Ram (Rochester Rams, M.C.). Gay. Club newsletter.

Brat Attack. Lesbian. Regional zine.

Leather Times (Leather Archives & Museum). Gay/lesbian. Organizational newsletter aimed at a national audience.

Metropolitan slave. Gay. National newsletter/magazine.

SLM: Scandinavian Leather Men (Skandinavisk LærMagasin). Gay. Regional magazine.

The following pages have been updated:

Nine more issues have been added to Drummer: Tables of Contents, bringing the magazine up to January 1983. References to "the gay disease" creep into the magazine in a stealthy manner.

Drummer: Related Links has been updated with comments on Drummer by Guy Baldwin and by Drummer publisher Robert Davolt.

The General Links page now has a section devoted to Leather Publishing in the Past and Present.

The following notices have been added to the About This Site page:

If you have access to one of the magazines listed below and would like to see its tables of contents posted at this site, just contact me for information on how to help with this project. (And no, it doesn't involve giving up your beloved magazine or typing up tables of contents.)

At the moment, I'm seeking the following out-of-print issues that I don't have easy access to (since I live in an area of the U.S. where libraries don't carry such titles). Because of its historical importance, the magazine that I am most concerned to complete indexing is Drummer.
 

Drummer #1-19, 171-76, 178-79, 186, 191-94, 196-99, 201-8, 210, 212-14.

All Drummer special publications (Drummer Daddies, etc.).

DungeonMaster #7.

Metropolitan slave #4, 6-7, 13-20.

If you have access to another gay, lesbian, or pansexual leather magazine not listed there and would like to help, let me know. I may or may not be planning to index the magazine you have in mind, but in either case, I'd be glad to hear from you.

I'm also in need of in-print issues but am having to save my pennies to buy them . . . so magazine donations would be quite welcome.

I would like to thank the following organization that provided access to some of the magazines indexed at this site:

Leather Archives & Museum (Chicago).

[ HOME ] [ The Leather Research Reference Shelf ] [ Leather Fiction, History, and Magazines ] [ E-mail ]

This text, or a variation on it, was originally published at duskpeterson.com as part of The Leather Research Reference Shelf. Copyright © 2005-2006 Dusk Peterson. Some rights reserved. The text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0). You may freely print, post, e-mail, share, or otherwise distribute the text for noncommercial purposes, provided that you include this paragraph. The author's policies on derivative works and fan works are available online (duskpeterson.com/copyright.htm).