Gay leathermen

Beyond the sensual masculine appeal of leather, wearing leather boots, accessories and gear is an expression of ones identity with the leather community. The gay male leather culture began to emerge in the late ’s out of the post-WWII biker culture.

To be a Leatherman is to be an individual within a collective. While we hold traditions that are stemmed from a long history with struggles both within and outside the gay community at large, we know the future belongs to the youth, the pups, the kinks.

I didn't know it at the time, but I needed to find a subculture within the gay community that would embrace me. The night of the party, I dressed up in a full leather daddy outfit.

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.