The Origins and History of Leather Pride and the Mr. San Diego Leather Title
By Mr. San Diego Leather 1984 - Mark Holmes

This is a story with a murky beginning and and unfinished ending. It's also just as much a call for information as it is informative. Any information that readers can provide to correct any mistakes or add to the story presented will be welcomed, as a complete story when finished will be added to the Leather Archives currently based in Chicago, Illinois in order to safeguard our history for future generations......

My local story begins in 1982, as that's the year I left flying jets in the Air Force to come to America's finest city to find a new life and career. At the time, there were two leather bars here, the Hole, which still exists and is the venue for this year's 2002 Mr. Leather San Diego Contest on March 2nd, and the Loading Zone, a small bar on India and Date that's now the Pensione Hotel. I had been in town for at least a year before I heard about the Mr. Leather Contest at the Loading Zone, where I opened the first of my three custom leather shops, Hard Labor Leather. Anyone that could provide the name of the winner in 1982 and before please feel free to mail me at the address at the end of the article.

In 1983, A Mr. Steve Desdier, who, I believe, lives in San Francisco won the title and represented us at the International Mr. Leather Contest in Chicago (the reason for the contest's existence), to represent the city in front of the world. The contest was given to him to run the following year. That year was 1984, where I won the title. Steve was off to find a new life in SF and handed the reins of the contest to me.

The owners of the Loading Zone sold the bar to Fred Atchison, who also owned a women's bar called Club, which reopened as BULC (get it?) and became the hottest dance/leather bar in San Diego. The venue was considerably larger, shown even today as the location is now home to the Casbah club and brings in big name events.

With the larger venue available and a growing population (and leather population) here, the timing was perfect to move the contest even though the Loading Zone had another year in business. BULC was being renovated so we made the guess that with some good advertising and great contestants that we could fill a larger venue, and that year Rick Jamieson became Mr. SD Leather 1985. It was a much larger crowd but being held at Mr. Dillons (now Richs') the crowd got lost in the building and we decided to move it the next year to BULC, where it remained from 1986 through at least 1989 and perhaps further (any help here from the peanut gallery will be greatly appreciated).

The Winners
1983 Steve Desdier
1984 Mark Holmes (of Hard Labor Leather living in San Diego
1985 Rich Jamieson (died of AIDS-related illness in 1987) (Anyone
have a photo of him?)
1986 Jim Keene (Living in El Paso Texas)
1987 Joe (Still serving the nation proudly)
1988 Michael Pereyra (The first and so far only Mr. Leather San Diego
to win the International Mr. Leather Title - Currently lives in Los
Angeles)
1989 Ed Wynnant (Last known to be living in Seattle) (Anyone have a
photo of him?)
That year I decided to sell my leather business to the Crypt and moved to Los Angeles to (for the first time in six years) live under the same roof as my partner and try my hand at an acting career in movies, tv and commercials. I relinquished the ownership of the contest that year.
The contest had grown from a small group of leathermen to a packed venue of leathermen and women which provided great candidates for the International Title as well as benefited several charities, and I was very grateful for all the support of the community through some tough times. We lost a lot of our brothers but I know they'd be proud to see the way we've grown and carried on. We were the first part of the community to be hit hard, and the first to respond when we knew what we had to do.
Here's where you readers could help us out immensely:
1990 Tom Rinas (died of AIDS-related illness) (Anyone have a photo of
him?)
1991 William O Webster II Aka Taurus (currently a bartender at Wolfs in
Palm Springs)
1992 Jeff Barrett (currently active in San Diego's deaf community)
1993 Ed Morgan (picked up the contest after winning and ran the
contest for several years, and now works at Daddy's bar on the Castro
in San Francisco) (Anyone have a photo of him?)
1994 Zak Topor (Still living in San Diego)
1995 Daniel Green (Still living in San Diego)
1996 No Mr. San Diego Leather for this year, the contest was
transitioning to a new producer.
1997 Mark O'Keefe (Living in Eugene, OR) helped start the Leather
Ministry at MCC
1998 Tom Chavez (Current owner of the contest, living in Salt Lake City). Tom (first runner up) took over the title when Mr. San Diego Leather 1998 Marty Blanco died.
1999 Michael Hargiss (Second-Runner-up at IML, currently living in
San Francisco)
2000 Mark Chipman (Living in San Diego) Active with SDLRT - San Diego Leather Response Team)
2001 Woooffdaddy Lou - Still actively involved in San Diego.
2002 - Tom Dickerson - The current titleholder.

Where the contest took place and any related info in the years between 1990 and 1998 would be appreciated as well. Tom Chavez returned from IML as we all did, as a changed man who realized the size and scope of the Leather Movement for the first time. However, Tom came home with a plan of action and had reinvented the contest. To become involved, not only with the leather community but the whole gay/lesbian/bi/trans/queer community and forged connections with those disparate groups that prior to then were more or less separated and worked separately. The way men and women in the leather community began working together for common goals and fundraising was raised to a new level. During several years, nearly a third of Something Special Food Pantry's annual budget was raised during Leather Pride week, much to his doing.
He also returned to something we began back in the eighties where there was a leather pride week, involving not just one bar or business but organizations , motorcycle clubs and clubs across the community to be involved in leather pride week. Under the Banner San Diego Leather Pride, it's become an annual event attended by leathermen and leatherwomen from around the country and in fact, the world.

As to the future of Leather Pride, it's up to you, readers. If you've never attended a leather event, you're encouraged to take the leap this year at one of the dozen or so different events happening during the week ending with the Contest at the Hole on Mar. 2. You might find your niche in a community that's growing by leaps and bounds, and have a lot of fun doing it.

Thanks for your interest, and if you can help me fill in the blanks I've laid out here, it would be greatly appreciated and will be passed on to the Leather Archives for a permanent record. You can contact me at hawgs@cox.net