Leather subculture denotes practices and styles of dress organized around sexual activities that involve leather garments, such as leather jackets, vests, boots, chaps, harnesses, or other items. Wearing leather garments is one way that participants in this culture self-consciously distinguish themselves from mainstream sexual cultures. Many participants associate leather culture with BDSM practices and its many subcultures. For some, black leather clothing is an erotic fashion that expresses heightened masculinity or the appropriation of sexual power; love of motorcycles, motorcycle clubs and independence; and/or engagement in sexual kink or leather fetishism.
The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) is an American sex-positive advocacy and educational organization founded in 1997. NCSF has over one hundred coalition partners, and over sixty supporting members. NCSF advocates on behalf of adults involved in alternative lifestyles with respect to sexuality and relationship composition, specifically for tolerance and non-discrimination of those so identified, as well as education for adults involved in such lifestyles. The organization's main office is in Baltimore, Maryland.
The Eulenspiegel Society, also known as TES, is the first BDSM organization founded in the United States. It was founded in 1971 and based in New York City.
Samois was a lesbian-feminist BDSM organization based in San Francisco that existed from 1978 to 1983. It was the first lesbian BDSM group in the United States. It took its name from Samois-sur-Seine, the location of the fictional estate of Anne-Marie, a lesbian dominatrix character in Story of O, who pierces and brands O. The co-founders were writer Pat Califia, who identified as a lesbian at the time, Gayle Rubin, and sixteen others.
Folsom Street Fair (FSF) is an annual BDSM and leather subculture street fair, held in September that concludes San Francisco's "Leather Pride Week". The Folsom Street Fair, sometimes referred to simply as "Folsom", takes place on the last Sunday in September, on Folsom Street between 8th and 13th Streets, in San Francisco's South of Market district.
Harvey John "Jack" McGeorge II was a Marine, a Secret Service Specialist, and a munitions analyst for the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), as well as being a frequently recognized regional leader for BDSM advocacy and education.
Barbara Nitke is an American art photographer who specializes in the subject of human sexual relations. She has worked extensively in the porn and BDSM communities.
Gayle S. Rubin is an American cultural anthropologist, theorist and activist, best known for her pioneering work in feminist theory and queer studies.
Cecilia Tan is an American writer, editor, sexuality activist, and founder and manager of Circlet Press, which specializes in science fiction erotica, a once uncommon genre; its publications often feature BDSM themes. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She also writes about baseball, but is not to be confused with a writer of the same name who specializes in Asian cookbooks.
International Mr. Leather (IML) is a multi-day conference and competition celebrating the leather, kink, fetish, and BDSM communities. Originally established in 1979, IML is held annually in Chicago over the Memorial Day weekend, drawing participants from around the world.
SouthEast LeatherFest (SELF) is an annual adult fetish event for the BDSM, leather, and kink communities based in the United States' Southeast and centered in Georgia with regional and smaller related events held throughout the year.
V. M. Johnson, also known as Viola Johnson, born in 1950, is a leatherwoman, leather activist and author.
National Leather Association International (NLA-I) is a BDSM organization, based in the United States with chapters in various cities in the United States and Canada. It was founded in 1986 as the "National Leather Association" (NLA), as a national integrated organization including gay leathermen, kinky heterosexuals and bisexuals, SM lesbians and transgender sadomasochists, and representing their interests in the face of prosecutions. Adding "International" to its name in 1991, the organization staged "Living in Leather" gatherings until 2002. After a period of decline around the turn of the millennium, NLA-I has become more active again and runs a series of awards for fiction and non-fiction writing. NLA-I’s records can be found at the Leather Archives and Museum.
FetLife is a social networking website that serves people interested in BDSM, fetishism, and kink. On its homepage, FetLife describes itself as "Like Facebook, but run by kinksters like you and me." The "Fet" in the name refers to "fetish". FetLife distinguishes itself from competitors by emphasizing itself as a social network rather than a dating site. It is on principle supportive of fringe sexual practices.
Trevor H. Jacques was a Canadian author, activist, sex researcher, and IT consultant based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His research and writing were in the area of consensual BDSM, sexual fetishism and sexual health. He was also a BDSM switch.
Folsom Street is a street in San Francisco which begins perpendicular to Alemany Boulevard in San Francisco's Bernal Heights district and ends perpendicular to the Embarcadero on the San Francisco Bay. For its southern half, Folsom Street runs north–south, but it turns northeasterly at 13th street. It runs through San Francisco's Bernal Heights district, Mission District, SoMa District, Yerba Buena District, and South Beach district.
Mollena Williams-Haas, formerly Mollena Williams, is an American writer, BDSM educator, actress, and former International Ms. Leather (2010).
Bill Schmeling, better known by his pen name The Hun, was an American artist, known for his explicit, homoerotic fetish illustrations and comics.
The Outcasts was a social and educational organization for women interested in BDSM with other women that was founded in San Francisco in 1984. It grew partly from earlier groups, the Society of Janus and Samois. Gayle Rubin was a co-founder of the organization. Other members included Dorothy Allison, Pat Califia, and Dossie Easton.
