In LGBTQ communities, “leather” usually refers to a subculture built around leather clothing, symbols, and a shared sense of community. It is not a single identity. People in the leather community include gay men, lesbians, bisexual, trans, and straight people. The community has its own bars, organizations, events, and symbols.
Some people in leather also take part in BDSM, which covers bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, and sadism and masochism. Many people in leather do not. For many, it is about community, style, and identity.
Where the subculture began
Gay leather culture is often traced to the late 1940s and 1950s in the United States. After World War II, motorcycle clubs spread through American cities, and many of their members wore leather jackets, caps, boots, and fitted pants. For some gay men, that look and those clubs offered a way to express a masculine identity and to find other men.
The look was shaped by film and popular culture. The Wild One (1953), starring Marlon Brando, helped popularize the leather-jacketed biker style. Photographs from the 1950s and 1960s show members of the subculture dressed in similar ways. For more on the jacket itself, see the history of the leather jacket.
The Satyrs Motorcycle Club, founded in Los Angeles in 1954, is often described as the oldest continuously operating organization of its kind in the United States.
Early bars and clubs
The Gold Coast, a bar in Chicago that opened in 1958, is often cited as the first leather bar of its kind. Its founders were Chuck Renslow and Dom Orejudos. Leather bars gave members a place to gather when other public spaces were not safe for them.
Women were part of leather communities too. Samois, founded in San Francisco in 1978, was an early lesbian-feminist group that explored BDSM. Women’s leather communities have long had their own organizations, events, and identities.
Events and institutions
- International Mr. Leather (IML) was founded in Chicago in 1979 by Chuck Renslow. It is held over Memorial Day weekend and is one of the best-known events in the community.
- The Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco has been held since 1984 and is one of the best-known leather events.
- The Leather Archives & Museum in Chicago was founded in 1991. It collects and preserves the history of the community.
The Leather Pride Flag
The Leather Pride Flag was designed by Tony DeBlase and first shown at IML in 1989. It has nine horizontal stripes: black and blue stripes alternate, with a white stripe in the center and a red heart in the upper left corner.
DeBlase did not assign specific meanings to the colors or the heart. Community members have offered their own readings over the years. Some read black as leather, blue as denim, white as integrity, and red as love. These are not official meanings. The flag is used at LGBTQ pride events and at events that support the leather and BDSM community.
Art and identity
The artist Tom of Finland, whose real name was Touko Laaksonen (1920–1991), helped shape the leather aesthetic. His drawings of muscular men in leather uniforms and jackets began to attract attention in the 1950s and became influential for decades.
Old Guard and New Guard
Leather culture became more closely linked with BDSM in the 1970s, according to some historians. Leather bars and clubs grew in number, and some became more specialized.
During the AIDS crisis, leather culture was stigmatized, partly because it was associated with gay men. Many in the community moved from the “Old Guard” model, which had strict rules about dress and conduct, to a “New Guard” with more relaxed and more inclusive norms. Historians debate how widespread the Old Guard’s strict rules were in practice, and some of its image is romanticized.
Leather style today
Common leather gear includes jackets, vests, chaps, harnesses, boots, and caps. People wear leather at pride events, bars, and community gatherings, and they wear it for identity as well as for clothing style.
Some communities once used colored handkerchiefs as a code for interests. The meanings varied by region and changed over time, so there is no single system.
Common misconceptions
- Leather is not exclusively gay men. It includes lesbians, bisexual, trans, and straight people.
- Not everyone in leather practices BDSM. For many, it is about community and style.
- The Leather Pride Flag does not represent one orientation. It stands for the leather and kink community more broadly.
- The Old Guard’s strict rules were partly romanticized. How widespread they were is debated.
Respecting the community
Leather communities have faced police raids, stigma, and discrimination. Bars and clubs were often among the few places where people felt safe, and the AIDS crisis hit the community hard.
When you write or talk about leather, use the terms people use for themselves, and do not assume someone’s identity from what they wear. For the broader history of the craft, see the history of leathercraft.