Leather Hall of Fame
International leather subculture hall of fame
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Leather Hall of Fame is an institution founded in 2009 to honor persons and entities who have made significant contributions to the leather and BDSM communities.[1]
 | |
| Formation | 2009 |
|---|---|
| Type | Nonprofit |
| Purpose | Honor contributors to leather and BDSM community |
| Location | |
| Website | leatherhalloffame |
About
The Leather Hall of Fame was developed by leather community activists Bob Miller, Jeff Willoughby, and Race Bannon in collaboration with anthropologist Gayle Rubin as a way to recognize key figures in leather history. The first induction ceremony was held during Cleveland Leather Annual Weekend in 2009.[2][3]
In addition to the founders,[4][5] past and current selection committee members have included leather activist V. M. Johnson,[6] researcher Robert Bienvenu,[7] and therapist Guy Baldwin.[8]
Inductees
Inductees of the Hall of Fame can be any individuals, organizations, or institutions that have made contributions to the leather community and the history of kinky subcultures since 1950, with contributions beginning at least 25 years ago.[2][9][10]
| Name | Inductee year | Area of achievement |
|---|---|---|
| Chuck Renslow[11] | 2009[11] | Co-founder with Tony DeBlase of the Leather Archives & Museum,[12][13][14] co-founder with Dom Orejudos of the Gold Coast bar and Man's Country bathhouse,[15] and the founder by himself alone of Chicago's August White Party,[16] and the magazines Triumph, Rawhide, and Mars[16] |
| Tom of Finland[17] | 2009[17] | Artist[17] |
| John Willie[18] | 2009[18] | Artist[18] |
| Tony DeBlase[19] | 2010[19] | Author and designer of the leather pride flag[19] |
| Frank Olson & Don Morrison[20] | 2010[20] | Founders of the first Eagle NYC bar[21] |
| Satyrs Motorcycle Club[22] | 2010[22] | One of the oldest continuously operating gay organizations in the United States[23] |
| Bob Milne[24] | 2011[24] | "[O]ne of the founders of the gay male SM movement in New York City"[24] |
| The Eulenspiegel Society[25] | 2011[25] | First BDSM organization founded in the United States[26] |
| Leonard Burtman[27] | 2011[27] | Publisher of Exotique magazine[28] |
| Samuel Steward[29] | 2012[29] | Tattoo artist and pornographer[30] |
| Irving Klaw[31] | 2012[31] | Merchandiser of fetish art imagery and films[32] |
| Guy Baldwin[33] | 2012[33] | Psychotherapist, author, and activist[33] |
| Dom Orejudos[34] | 2012[34] | Artist, ballet dancer, and choreographer[34] |
| Alan Selby[35] | 2013[35] | Businessman and leader in the San Francisco leather community,[36] known as "the Mayor of Folsom Street"[36] |
| Monique Von Cleef[37] | 2013[37] | Dominatrix[37] |
| Cynthia Slater[38] | 2014[38] | Sex educator, HIV/AIDS activist, dominatrix, and co-founder of the BDSM organization known as the Society of Janus[38][39] |
| John Embry[40] | 2014[40] | Co-founder of Drummer[40] |
| Chicago Hellfire Club[41] | 2014[41] | One of the oldest BDSM leather organizations in the United States[42] |
| Pat Bond & Terry Kolb[43][44] | 2015[43][44] | Co-founders of The Eulenspiegel Society, the first BDSM organization founded in the United States[44][26] |
| Jeanne C. Barney[43] | 2015[43] | Journalist, co-founder of Drummer[40] |
| Felix Jones[43] | 2015[43] | Co-founder of the Sixty Nine Club, a motorcycle and social club for gay leathermen, and co-founder of the first gay men's rubber club in Europe, the Rubber Man‘s Club, and co-founder of ECMC, a schedule coordinator and clearing house for all such clubs; "Pioneer of the European Leatherscene"[45] |
| James (Jim) Kane[43] | 2016[43] | Early leatherman[46][47] |
| Jim Stewart[43] | 2016[43] | Owner of bondage gear company FETTERS, designer of new bondage gear, wrote about bondage[48] |
| Larry Townsend[49] | 2016[49] | Wrote about the leather community[48] |
| MSC Hamburg e. V.[50] | 2017[50] | Gay leather club[50][51] |
| Peter Fiske[50] | 2017[50] | Leatherman[52] |
| Durk Dehner[50] | 2017[50] | Co-founder of the Tom of Finland Foundation and the Tom of Finland Company[53][54] |
| Black Leather ... In Color[50] | 2018[50] | Leather magazine written by and for people of color[55] |
| Society of Janus[43] | 2018[43] | The second BDSM organization founded in the United States (after The Eulenspiegel Society);[26] it is a San Francisco, California-based BDSM education and support group[56] |
| International Mr. Leather[43] | 2018[43] | The world's oldest continuously operating international leather and fetish event[57] |
| Leather Archives and Museum[43] | 2019[43] | Community archives, library, and museum[58] |
| Fakir Musafar[43] | 2019[43] | A performance artist considered to be one of the founders of the modern primitive movement[59][60] |
| Samois[43] | 2019[43] | The first lesbian BDSM group in the United States[61] |
| Pauline Réage[43] | 2020[43] | Pen name of Anne Desclos, author of the sadistic erotic novel called the Story of O[62][63] |
| Jim Ward[43] | 2020[43] | Body piercer[64] |
| MLC Munich[43] | 2020[43] | Gay fetish club[65] |
| Jack McGeorge[43] | 2021[43] | A founder of Black Rose, an officer of the Leather Leadership Conference, a Director of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, and a Chairman of the Community-Academic Consortium for Research on Alternative Sexualities[66] |
| Jack Jackson[43] | 2021[43] | The first president of The Eulenspiegel Society; to “signal that he was forever one with the title”, The Eulenspiegel Society has not had a president since, leaving him as its only one[67] |
| SM Gays[43] | 2021[43] | One of London's first gay men's support groups with a focus on BDSM[68] |
| The 15 Association[43] | 2022[43] | One of the oldest BDSM clubs, founded in 1980, in San Francisco[69] |
| Gay Male S/M Activists (GMSMA)[43] | 2022[43] | Organization for gay men focused on BDSM in New York[70] |
| REX[43] | 2022[43] | Gay fetish artist[71] |
| SNC London[43] | 2023[43] | First gay motorcycle/leather club in Europe[72] |
| John Sutcliffe[43] | 2023[43] | Fetish clothing designer and publisher of the fetish magazine AtomAge[73] |
| Robert Meijer[43] | 2023[43] | Founder (in 1974) of RoB brand, a brand of gear for leather and other kink, first sold in Amsterdam; RoB stores expanded to Berlin, London, Paris, New York City, and San Francisco[74] |
| Dave Rhodes[43] | 2024[43] | Founder (in 1987) of The Leather Journal, a publication about the leather community, and judge of over 450 leather contests, including judging International Mr. Leather four times[75] |
| Jill Carter[43] | 2024[43] | The first Black International Ms. Leather (in 1996)[76] |
| Constance Slater[43] | 2024[43] | Author and owner of Dressing for Pleasure Exotic Boutique[77] |
| Geoff Mains[43] | 2025[43] | Author of, among other publications, the book Urban Aboriginals: A Celebration of Leather Sexuality (1984)[78][79] |
| Charles Guyette[43] | 2025[43] | A pioneer of fetish style,[80] the first person in the United States to produce and distribute fetish art,[81] and regarded as the mail-order predecessor of Irving Klaw;[82] later known as the "G-String King,"[83] he is best remembered for his fetish photographs, some of which featured sadomasochistic content[84] |
| Drummer[43] | 2025[43] | A magazine which focuses on “leathersex, leatherwear, leather and rubber gear, S&M, bondage and discipline, erotic styles and techniques”[85] |
| Catherine Robbe-Grillet[43] | 2026[43] | Writer of sadomasochistic writings including The Image, actress, and dominatrix[86][87][88] |
| Race Bannon[43] | 2026[43] | Leather, LGBTQ, polyamory, and HIV/STI prevention organizer, educator, writer, speaker, and activist[89] |
| Master Taíno[43] | 2026[43] | Leather organizer[90] |