We’re Looking For A Few Good Leathermen!
Open to residents of
Applications for Leather Sir/boy and bootblack contestants are available for those wishing to throw their proverbial “cap” into the ring.
Any
The contest is a feeder contest for Great Lakes LeatherSIR and leatherboy which will be held on August 20th through the 23rd of 2009. The winners of that contest will advance to represent the Great Lakes region at International LeatherSIR and leatherboy in
To show our commitment to educating the community as well as providing representatives for it, the producers of the
If you’d like more information about the
More information is also available on the web at:
http://www.myspace.com/olsbcontest
http://www.greatlakesleather.org/
INTERVIEW WITH MS BETH  Lady Justice: Who are you? Please describe yourself in 30 words or less. Ms. Beth: I am a lifelong Indiana resident, a mother and grandmother, and a Leather dominant. I was Indiana Ms leather in 2005. Lady Justice: When did you first realize you were interested in leather/BDSM/fetish? And how? Ms. Beth: I have had BDSM fantasies since before I thought about sex but I did not act on them until about 5 years ago. My husband finally decided that he could no longer live as straight and he went to live with a partner who is a leather boy. He introduced me to Tammie Nelson, who was IMsL in 2003, and I learned about the Leather community and I was hooked! Lady Justice: What are your hobbies? Ms. Beth: I am a potter and leatherworker. Lady Justice: What is your favorite quote? Ms. Beth: It is from a book by Anne McCaffery "Who wills....can, who tries...does, who loves...lives." Lady Justice: How long have you been involved in the leather community? Ms. Beth: 5 years. Lady Justice: Do you feel there is anything vital missing from today’s leather community? Ms. Beth: With the availability of BDSM and Leather sites on the web there are a lot of people out there who claim to be "Leather" who have no idea what the Leather Community is really about. The idea that if you want to be a Leatherman/woman you have to earn it, has no meaning for many of them. They think that if they put on a piece of leather and act a part, then they are Leather. They miss the essential point, that if you are Leather it is your life, you don't put on an act and put it aside when your leathers are in the closet. The gritty, dirty, raunchy, in your face core of Leather folk is still out there, but sometimes it seem like we are being drowned in wannabes. Lady Justice: What is your definition of a “leatherwoman”? What are her responsibilities? Ms. Beth: To me, a Leather woman is a person who self identifies as a woman, has a love of leather and the lifestyle, and lives with leather as a part of her life, even when she has to be in the 'nilla world. Her responsibilities would vary depending upon the role that she chooses to play in the community; a titleholder might have very different responsibilities from someone who stays closer to home. But I believe that any Leather person has a responsibility to help educate the newer members of the community about what Leather means to them. Lady Justice: Which roles in the Leather BDSM lifestyle do you fit? How do the following words compare to you: Master, slave, dominant, submissive, sadist, masochist, Daddy, etc… Ms. Beth: I am a dominant with sadistic and masochistic tendencies. Lady Justice: What keeps you passionate about the leather community? Ms. Beth: My Leather family. Lady Justice: What organizations do you belong? Are you an officer of any of these groups? Ms. Beth: I am a member of IMAS (Indiana Masters and sub missives, slaves, switches). I am also a member of NLA Indianapolis. Lady Justice: I know you've judged many leather contests, and you judged me my first time out of the chute! What do you look for in a titleholder? Ms. Beth: I remember! The first thing I look for is a passion for the Leather life. If you are not passionate about leather then why would you want to represent it and how good of a job would you do? I look for the person to be articulate, communication is essential. I look for a love of people and how people react when you interact with them. If a leather women can get, and keep, the attention of gay leather men when there are hot leather men all around, then she has something good. If a leather Sir or boy can get and keep the attention of a gay leather man and keep the conversation on a topic other than sex in a sexually charged atmosphere, then he has something good. Lady Justice: What is your fondest memory while you were wearing leather over the years? Ms. Beth: When my husband "gave" me his boy (who was also his partner) for the weekend while I was competing at IMsL in 2006. The love in the room at that moment was something special. Lady Justice: Have you ever conducted a leather workshop? What was the topic? If you were to teach more leather workshops, what topics would you teach? Ms. Beth: I have given a talk to several local groups that are BDSM and leather friendly, but not strictly leather, about being a titleholder. Lady Justice: What is your stance on “Old Guard” versus “New Guard” leather protocols and rules? Ms. Beth: The problem with labeling protocols "Old Guard" and "New Guard" is which protocols fall under which label? Everyone that I have talked to about it has a different idea about what "Old Guard" means. Lady Justice: Do others outside the leather community know you’re into leather? If so has that created any difficulty? Ms. Beth: Most of my friends and family know that I am Leather. I do not talk about it to my mother and step father, they are very religious right, but if they bring it up they will be told as much as they want to know. I won't hide it from them. Lady Justice: What qualities about yourself do you like the most? The least? Ms. Beth: Most? My youthful outlook on life. Least? My damn body, it's getting old! Lady Justice: If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be? And if you could change anything about others, what would it be? Ms. Beth: If I could change anything, I would like to live as a man for a while just to see how different it really is from being a woman. I would like to make people accepting of the differences of others. I don't want everyone to be the same; I want people to celebrate the differences that make us such a unique and diverse people. Lady Justice: What does your husband think of your leather life? Ms. Beth: He is a Leather Sir who has had several collared boys. He is very supportive. We are still married; even though we live apart we are still very much a family. Lady Justice: How do you balance your private life and your leather life? Ms. Beth: The only way that they interfere with each other is that my school schedule has caused me to miss most of the NLA meetings this past year. Lady Justice: What is the last book you read that deals with leather and the last book you read that is a non-leather topic? Why did you choose those books? Ms. Beth: I am reading "The Leatherman's Handbook" right now, slowly because of the demands of school. "Slavery, Atlantic Trade and the British Economy 16600-1800" is the other one. "The Leatherman's Handbook" I am reading because it is a classic and I think that every Leather person should read it, the other was assigned by my history professor. Lady Justice: When you flag, which colors do you wear? Do you wear them on the left or the right? Ms. Beth: All on the left: black and white checked, light pink, dark pink, teal blue, hunter green, red. Lady Justice: What's happening in Indiana for leatherfolk? Ms. Beth: We have an exciting new development in Indiana Leather. The K.I.S.S. group (Kentucky Indiana submissives/slaves/switches) is producing the Indiana Leather Title contest. They are not strictly a leather group, but they have quite a few Leather members and they are really doing a great job in the local community/ Lady Justice: Do you have a dungeon or play space? If you do, tell us about it. If you don’t, tell us how you would design your dungeon. Ms. Beth: We do not have one yet. Dave and I bought a "fixer upper" house. We are living upstairs while we get the downstairs ready and then we are going to fix an upstairs as a dungeon. The upstairs has 2 bedrooms and a great room. We plan on putting 2 crosses and a spanking bench in the larger (12 X 24) bedroom and have the other bedroom free for whatever. The great room will be a gathering area. Lady Justice: Do you remember your first time in a leather bar and what was memorable about it? Ms. Beth: The first time I was in a leather bar was at the 501 Eagle in Indianapolis with Tammie Nelson and Sir Jamie. I had a very short haircut and I was wearing my brand new leather jacket (it was Feb) and I kept getting hit on by leather men because they thought that Sir Jamie was bringing in a new boy! Lady Justice: Let’s pretend that you’re placing a 35 word personal ad in the column. How would it read? Ms. Beth: Dominant Leather woman looking for a submissive. If woman, must be interested in TT. If man must be interested in CBT. Both must like dildo play. If compatible, permanent collaring is a possibility. Lady Justice: What do you think our community needs to successfully move into the future? Ms. Beth: Solidarity; I see nothing more dangerous to the community that the infighting that I have seen in the recent past. Lady Justice: Would you like to tell us more about any of your new endeavors? Ms. Beth: I have been too busy as a student to have any new endeavors! Lady Justice: Is there anything else you’d like to share with us? Ms. Beth: I know it is not easy for some, I'm not good at it, but we all need to be aware of what is going on around us politically. Our lifestyle is more open than it has ever been in the past and some think that this means that we don't need to worry, that we have arrived, that we are here to stay out in the open. We all need to realize that we could lose everything that we have gained in acceptability with one stroke of the government pen. We need to be aware of what legislations are in the works both for and against us. And be ready to act when and where we can. Lady Justice: Where can we find you online? Do you have e-mail, business information, or a web site you’d like to share with us? Ms. Beth: My e-mail addy is indianamsleather2005@yahoo.com. I don't have a personal website, but you can find our leather/fetishwear business at http://www.squarehedgehog.com |
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