Since 1995, Steve Lenius has written a column in Lavender, Minnesota’s LGBT newsmagazine on the leather/BDSM/fetish community. Take note: Lenius doesn’t write in these columns about whips and chains and ropes and titclamps, but about the people who use them ― and the community they’ve built. Definitely non-graphic, these essays provide a good introduction to leatherfolk and the leather lifestyle for the non-kinky and the curious, as well as those in the scene.
Because Lavender is for all of Minnesota’s LGBT population, Lenius does not take an “Inside Baseball†approach. He does not assume his readers will know the difference between top grain and split grain, the ins and outs of club and contest politics, what a lime green hanky means. Instead, he respects the reader, giving appropriate background without over explaining.
From his 15 years writing for Lavender, Lenius has selected over 100 of his favorite columns. He resisted the easy route of just arranging the essays chronologically, and his book is much stronger because of its thematic organization. The first sections ease the reader in ― what to wear, what to expect in play, community ethics and mores. The bulk of the book, though, is explorations of different aspects of the leather community ― history, relationships, clubs and contests, holidays and spiritual life.
The parts of the book that resonated strongest with me are the chapter on leather subcommunities and the chapter on healthy life. The leather subcommunities that he looks at ― lesbians, parents, heterosexuals, bisexuals, transgender leather, aging leather folk, and the next generation of leather ― all have their own, sometimes conflicting needs and agendas, but Lenius ties them all up together in a leather jacket big enough to include them all. When Lenius looks at how to be healthy leatherfolk, he doesn’t just stop at safe sex, or even safe-sane-consensual. He also explores issues like drug use, rape, unsafe play, and mental health ― and his empathy for his brothers and sisters in leather bleeds through the page.
This balanced and thoughtful work fills a unique gap in most collections ― a way to explain leather to the non-leather community. Essential for public and academic libraries in places with an established or developing leather/BDSM/fetish community. Recommended for all public libraries.
Reviewed by, John Bradford
Head, Automation & Technical Services
Villa Park Public Library
