Leather: A Queer History (feat. Race Bannon)

About this episode

This episode explores the significance of leather in the gay community with guest Race Bannon, highlighting its cultural, historical, and activist roles.

To access the full version of this episode, join our Patreon . Our community awaits with legs open and lips parted 🤤 www.patreon.com/historicalhomos – LEATHER. It's hot, it's taut, it's everything everybody else is not. But when did it become so big in the gay community? My guest today, Race Bannon , leather community activist and co-host of the On Guard podcast, taught me a few things I never knew about leather that I bet you don't either: 1) Leather is all about play: it seems hyper-masc and dark. But really it's a bunch of beautiful horny people expressing themselves erotically and inventively. In a world where adults are never allowed to play, leather allows all people, queer or not, to explore their true selves. 2) Leather literally saved lives. The leather community was at the vanguard of the AIDS epidemic, providing sex education and support to show gay men in particular how to express desire and intimacy without penetrative/fluid-exchanging sex. 3) Leather is a protest! Leather began because queer men wanted to be seen as masculine - in the 1950s, that was radical. And in the 1980s, The Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco, which is now one of the biggest leather…

People in this episode

Host: Sebastian Hendra

Guest: Race Bannon

Topics covered

• leather culture
• queer history
• AIDS activism
• masculinity
• community support

Keywords

• leather
• queer community
• AIDS epidemic
• Folsom Street Fair
• masculinity
• sexual expression
• activism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: On Guard, Patreon

Places: San Francisco

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