MC Lenny Brobeeerg, Darren Bondy, the new Mr. SF Leather for 2011, and MC Donna Sachet. Photo by Rink.

Black Leather Sexual Splendor

A year of thundering motorcycles at bike runs, leather clothing buying binges, and man on man grappling as politicking came together in a climax at the Mr. San Francisco Leather Contest on Saturday night. Imagine hundreds of men and women decked out in their best black leather attire, some with sex toys dangling, and seething with sexual tension as they intensely eyed each other in the darkened Hotel Whitcomb ballroom on March  5. The Contest is an event of the Leather Alliance Weekend, presented by the Leather Alliance, which is a volunteer organization of 11 groups that celebrate leather, motorcycle and uniform clubs, and sexual fetishes, and they receive fulfillment from volunteering. The group presents the Leather Alley at SF Pride, group motorcycle events, and a holiday volunteer appreciation party. An almost equal number of women and men were at the contest, and they freely mingled and caroused. Funds raised go to outreach, education, and emergency grants for members who have been injured in motorcycle accidents or have become ill. 

Four contestants competed to be chosen as a leader and a spokesman for the leather community: Mr. Powerhouse Darren Bondy, Mr. Edge Leather Drew Cutler, Mr. Hayes Valley Leather JB Kern, and Mr. Citadel Jessie Vanciel. Bondy appears in the AEF Bare Chest Calendar and has been into leather and kink since he was 18. Cutler raises funds for the Castro Country Club and the St. James Infirmary sex worker clinic, and he is an international erotic film star who can be seen bartending at the Edge Bar. Thanks to the Internet and DVDs, Cutler gives pleasure to tens of thousands of people daily worldwide. Kern was barked at throughout the evening by his SF K9 Unit (human dog) supporters, and his impressive legs were an attraction at the Imperial Coronation. Vanciel has been involved with the Society of Janus, and he has been into leather/kink/fetish since he was 16.

While the contestants’ appearance in jockstraps and harnesses was a crowd-pleaser, it was the fetish performances that were the main event. Cutler’s on stage act as an eager panting  puppy with a dog’s tail stuck up his sublime butt was an hilarious balance to Bondy being beaten and bare-butt spanked, Kern’ s implanting sharpened quills into young Ava’s back while sexy Matt held her, and Vanciel caging slaves and threatening them with dismemberment. The San Francisco contest winner is of importance because he is in the running for the Mr. International Leather (IML) title which has more than three dozen contestants.

Notable guests included Sandy (Mama) Reinhardt, who organized a group photograph with some members of her 900 person charity fund raising family during the intermission, artist Mark Paron whose heart sculpture was featured in a benefit for SF General Hospital, tag team lovers Sean Kline and Philip Beers, Powerhouse manager Scott Peterson, activist Aaron Baldwin, and Empress Saybeline and Emperor Frankie.

MC Donna Sachet was as rebellious as Bette Davis in the film Jezebel  because both showed up in red gowns at grand events where black attire was expected. Sachet wore a rhinestone-studded fairy tale beautiful gown and sparkling faux ruby and diamond jewels, and her co-MC Lenny Broberg wore a splendid black and blue leather uniform with an SFPD patch. He received waves of applause when he thanked the leather community for voting him 1992 IML, which he said gave him the confidence to join the SF Police Department. Sachet and Broberg entertained the throng with clever barbs aimed at each other and at thankfully big targets in the ballroom. 

The Alliance’s president Dahn Van Laarz and his hard working staff deserve a lot of credit for a smoothly-run event, and especially Mario Torrigino, Chris Raisbeck, Vick Germany, Leland Carina, Steve Gaynes, and Jim Sullivan. The newest Alliance group, the SF girls of Leather, yelled and applauded loudly from their seats to support the men throughout the evening, and their strong presence highlighted a group that was missing: young leathermen, who hopefully will be mentored and helped to form a new organization. 

The inspirational moment of the evening was the step down of the 2010 winner Lance Holman, one of the most impressive winners in the decades of contests in the leather community. Holman is the first African American Mr. San Francisco Leather, and he was runner-up at the 2010 IML contest in Chicago. His sultry image was on the event program and website, and it was as exciting as the sexually   blatant Mr. S Leather ads in the contest program. The contest ended   with a bang when The Citadel’s Vanciel was chosen as a runner up and the Powerhouse’s Bondy was chosen as the winner. A frenzy of photography and primal mating rituals followed, and the event coordinators were thanked profusely for their efforts with hugs and deep kissing.