[HN Gopher] A History of Leather at Pride: 1965-1995
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A History of Leather at Pride: 1965-1995
Author : hprotagonist
Score : 23 points
Date : 2021-09-18 19:57 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (aphyr.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (aphyr.com)
| Centmo wrote:
| Came for the photos. Left disappointed.
| LForLambda wrote:
| Down
| mrlonglong wrote:
| No it is not, and if you are representative of the majority
| then $deity help HN.
|
| There was a clue in one of the posts.
| kradeelav wrote:
| I wish I had known earlier that Brenda Howard (Mother of Pride)
| was leather-adjacent, if not outright identified as Leather
| herself. Would've been many years of shame evaporated right there
| had Leather history been more accessible, and on a lighter note,
| it always amuses me when younger folks argue against "leather at
| pride" not knowing her direct involvement.
|
| This was a fantastic essay, and I'm glad it was written and
| posted separately. Thank you. For others reading this comment,
| links that may be of interest and further research:
|
| - Leather Archives - (http://leatherarchives.org/) incredible
| museum that collects the lived history of those who found
| themselves in this subculture and identity.
|
| - "Leather Resources" (http://kradeelav.com/leather-
| resources.html) Showcasing some of the Leather-related links that
| I've slowly collected over the years while trying to track down
| and preserve even a little bit of history. Extremely fun rabbit
| trails from here. :)
|
| (I write this post as a bisexual woman in a long-term
| relationship with another woman. Leather is the only LGBT+ label
| I remotely felt at home in, for many private/personal reasons.)
| aphyr wrote:
| For cishet folks on HN: this writing isn't about or for you. I've
| seen a lot of this community's homophobia, misogyny, transphobia,
| and generally reactionary political drift over the last 12 years
| --including replies to my technical writing. I know _exactly_ how
| this conversation is going to go if it happens here. I 'm asking
| y'all not to have it.
|
| I'm returning a 403 on HN referrals to aphyr.com as a mild
| discouragement. I hope you'll respect this.
| seibelj wrote:
| That's a very aggressive posture. I would say HN is one of the
| best moderated places online where people of opposing beliefs
| can debate in good faith. I think casting the entire community
| as -phobic is very unfair.
| [deleted]
| klyrs wrote:
| Here's the thing though. When it's a predictable outcome that
| somebody in the crowd will post x-phobic responses to a given
| story, then it's completely unreasonable for an x-person to
| expect a lack of x-phobia. If you were more concerned about
| the frequency of x-phobia in this community, rather than
| taking offense at people speaking about the negative
| experiences at the hands of this community, perhaps the
| community wouldn't have the reputation that it does.
|
| Blocking on referers is a defensive move, not at all
| aggressive.
| hprotagonist wrote:
| submitter, cishet dude, and long-time admirer of your work
| here.
|
| I posted the link because i was impressed with your usual style
| and level of detail and thoughtful work.
|
| it wasn't my intention to feed the trolls; perhaps i haven't
| spent enough time on Svalbard? :)
| camtarn wrote:
| As a queer HN'er - thank you for writing and compiling this!
| It's quite some amount of work. Like you say, it's so important
| for a community to know its own history.
| mkr-hn wrote:
| HN is a bit better on transphobia than it was. I haven't seen
| anyone misgender Chelsea Manning lately without being flagged
| into oblivion, for example. Cause for optimism.
| goatsecxkirk wrote:
| I went to the pride parade in Seattle in ?2012? and was disgusted
| by the public sexual acts that I saw. I don't know why some
| people weren't arrested for indecent exposure or other sex
| offenses.
|
| Edit: why was this flagged? Public sexual displays are not
| alright no matter the context
| [deleted]
| dang wrote:
| All: This post is on topic because of the interesting historical
| material. HN is for intellectual curiosity
| (https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html).
|
| If it excites stronger emotions (or sensations) in you than
| intellectual curiosity, please don't post to this thread. There
| are 28 other things on the front page to read*, and we don't want
| tedious flamewars here.
|
| (* maybe avoid the covid leak debate thread too)
| [deleted]
| goatsecxkirk wrote:
| I went to the pride parade in Seattle in ?2012? and was disgusted
| by the public sexual acts that I saw. I don't know why some
| people weren't arrested for indecent exposure or other sex
| offenses. Why was this comment flagged in the other thread?
| Public sexual displays are not alright no matter the context
| hprotagonist wrote:
| you could actually read the essay, for a start:
|
| _We should remember that expressions of variant sexuality are
| not only a form of individual expression, but also a public
| good. Many asexual people and families enjoy seeing leather in
| Pride. Leather contingents demystify the community, reduce
| social stigma, create opportunities to meet and talk with
| kinksters, and help people discover new desires. Public
| floggings can balance misconceptions that impact is "just about
| pain," and illustrate the possibility for emotional connection.
| Public bondage can be an art installation. In my personal
| experience marching and performing scenes in public, people on
| the street are far more curious, supportive, and delighted to
| see pups in hoods and men in rope than the present discourse
| would have us believe.
|
| Finally: as several of the accounts in this history
| demonstrate, one's own feelings about sexual displays can
| change dramatically over time. What was frightening or
| disgusting one year can be freeing, erotic, or beautiful the
| next. This points to the possibility of Pride as more than a
| space where we impose the standard norms of an imagined unitary
| public. As a polyvocal celebration, Pride offers us the chance
| not only to express ourselves, but also to see others'
| expressions of a broad range of queer identities. With a little
| patience we can rejoice in others' kaleidoscopic queerness--and
| sometimes, if we're lucky, discover new aspects of our selves._
|
| The history of Pride is also extensively discussed and cited
| heavily. Scolds of your tone are at least as old as pride, and
| still about as tone-deaf as ever.
| goatsecxkirk wrote:
| I started reading it and then realized how long it was and
| that I don't care enough about the subject to read all of
| that. I'm going to go fist my girlfriend in public and it'll
| be ok because I'm just expressing myself, right?
| dang wrote:
| We've banned this account for trolling. Please don't create
| accounts to do that with.
| mraudiobook_com wrote:
| Walking around NYC most of the clothes the women wear would be
| right at home on a pride float. But when men dress the way women
| dress it feels wrong to most of us.
| hn_throwaway_99 wrote:
| > Consent is key to healthy BDSM practice, but the public did not
| consent to seeing these sexual displays (...). By wearing leather
| harnesses and chaining each other up in broad daylight, kinksters
| have unethically involved non-consenting bystanders in a BDSM
| scene for their own (likely sexual) gratification.
|
| Do young people have such a warped view of consent now that
| _wearing a leather harness in public_ is considered "unethically
| involving non-consenting bystanders in a BDSM scene"?? Ahh, the
| culture of "I am a greater victim than thou" hath no boundaries.
| mycodesucks wrote:
| "wearing leather harnesses and chaining each other up" is a bit
| different than just wearing a leather harness in public. But
| also how hard is it to just be civilized when you're in public?
| I don't need you to wear a suit and tie, but at least have some
| decency.
| 0xbadcafebee wrote:
| It's once a year. And the idea is to fight back against
| stigmas that have made such behavior illegal, or grounds for
| being fired, or having your kids taken away.
|
| I don't know who needs to hear this, but having gay sex in
| the privacy of your home while you're tied up in a leather
| harness should not result in those consequences. Display of
| similar behaviors at Pride are intended to tell the larger
| world that they aren't going to stop being themselves. People
| need to grow a thicker skin and get used to the idea, so that
| Pride isn't necessary any longer.
| jet_32951 wrote:
| Boundaries that delineate these celebrations have been
| explicit in SF at least since I started going in the early
| 2000s. The intent is to create a safe space for participants.
| Within that realm at those times the boundaries represent the
| presence of that space and that "normal social conduct" is no
| longer the norm.
| ThePadawan wrote:
| I personally find that the most uncivilized people always
| come dressed in suit and tie.
| mkr-hn wrote:
| Like any other thing, it depends on why someone wears it. A
| trans man wearing a traditional man's cut to celebrate
| getting top surgery at pride is probably not what you had
| in mind though.
| 0xbadcafebee wrote:
| It's especially bad in the BDSM scene. Grown adults who act
| like the kid in school who would go around telling other kids
| they weren't following the rules. They treat victimhood and
| white knighting like a job.
| delecti wrote:
| There is a case to be made about some kinks; someone with a
| humiliation kink (often exercised by being led around on a
| leash) is getting close to the line (if not crossing it) of
| non-consensually involving others in their scene.
|
| Though I agree with you that just "wearing a leather harness"
| is a pretty innocuous, and in general people don't require
| consent for their wardrobes in public. And on top of that,
| going to pride and then complaining about other attendees is at
| best a bit silly and at worst completely missing the point.
| markenqualitaet wrote:
| I think consent here is trivial to understand when you talk
| about a kink most everyone understands: naked skin.
|
| Being naked isn't per se a sexual act, obviously. I don't need
| anyone's consent exposing my body e.g. going swimming in a
| lake.
|
| On the other hand, someone getting off exposing theirselves to
| strangers is involving unconsenting strangers sexually.
|
| Wearing a harness or demonstrating the lifestyle perfomatively
| does not include strangers _in a scene_.
|
| Playing in public for e.g. public humiliation on the other
| hand, is involving unconsenting strangers sexually.
|
| It's really not that hard. These concern trolls have an agenda.
| [deleted]
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(page generated 2021-09-19 23:02 UTC)