Twisting Culture | Northeast Person Of Leather ‘24
Water & Boundaries
Wuzzy Acres Here I Come!?
WATER & BOUNDARIES
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By Jace The Caveat, January 27, 2024

THE CONTEST
Honestly - I’m overwhelmed about the outpouring of support for my title win! From the Philadelphia Gryphons to my Onyx siblings nationwide, I have truly found the community of people who G.U.A.R.D. me! I am so grateful, and this title is a sign that the values I project and seek here are real. Thanks to the entire NEPOL 2024 class for making this event a blast! Finn, I could not have asked for a better example and seasoned activist to lead the crowd we call home. Mr. Blk, I learned so much from you about the nature of expression and FUN when playing a character - or better yet - releasing my true character. Bastet Khepera, you never cease to amaze me with your vigor, knowledge, and lighthearted spirit. I am honored to call you an ONYX sibling.

To the maven, and visionary of Twisting Culture- Jack Jackman - thank you for this opportunity, assembling a diverse judging panel, and hearing my message beyond words.
 
“Thank You!”

When my name was announced as having won the title of Northeast Person of Leather 2024, I screamed “Thank You!” This was my cry to the regional BDSM, Fetish, Leather, and Kink community who raised me in ethics and sexual safety. I cried to my ancestors - named and unnamed - because I felt seen as a whole Person, worthy of self-care, intimacy, and community.

Spring Event Schedule
I have been so excited to explore corners of the area that do not receive a lot of attention! From Appalachia to New England, I am planning a munch to serve each state under the NEPOL circuit. Local Leather clubs are also close to my heart - grassroots groups do the legwork to impart OUR collective story.

1.    International Ms. Leather (IMsL 2024)
IMsL on Saturday (4/12/24)
2.    Shipmates 50th Anniversary Dinner
The Shipmates Club of Baltimore celebrates 50 years of Brotherhood and service in the DMV. (4/20/24)
3.    New Jersey Munch & Podcast @The House of Steele
The first munch will be hosted at The House of Steele, mentored by Master SteeleToe the Bootblack. We will also be streaming a Fireside Chat to spill the tea on our favorite topics and share some resources too! (5/11/24-5/12/24)

Journeys & Stories

I have been blessed to travel a bit locally after the competition, specifically to see my favorite artist - Dawn Richard - in NYC. Also, I celebrated a friend’s bachelor party in Boston, MA. This was an opportunity to consider my existence as a multicultural person whose 23&Me says I’m 9.4% British & Irish. New Jersey Leather 2024 was a blast, and I was excited for the first opportunity to wear my patch with pride - and a good mentor, SteeleToe the Bootblack, was covered as a Master in accordance with strong traditions.

I feared for so long that sharing my scars and stories would result in isolation -being maligned as irresponsible and “crazy” (many thanks to Devyn Stone for adjusting my internal dialogue). However, my parents - in their own way - and older siblings (one of whom is an ordained pastor) encouraged me to be confident, outgoing, and proud of my journey - scars and stories included.

I recently started an MBA program, and one interviewee for an assignment divulged their own “coming-out” peril - noting that they had seen me on Where The Bears Are. Someone I never knew personally saw my yearning for self-expression through acting, music, and social media as their first glimpse of someone mirroring their experience. They asked about where to start their own journey of acceptance - friends, family, the larger LGBTQ+ community, and sexual safety. I know now that my story is the ONLY weapon I possess for the groups I represent - Black, Queer, Underserved, and Neurodivergent.

“WHAT WAS THE REASON?!”
In an often meme’d argument from Love & Hip-Hop Atlanta, Cardi B screamed, “WHAT WAS THE REASON?!” to an adversarial co-star, when an on-screen feud was discussed at the reunion.

I have felt a sense of urgency since my youth to fight injustice. As an adult this has taken new shape - especially given the socio-economic privilege my career has granted. I have healthcare - but not everyone does. I have cultivated a dedicated support system - but many are excommunicated and further isolated, in fear of ourselves and the vulnerability which relationships demand.
I will always express myself artistically, and this has earned me a platform - but I do not need the attention. I wanted a title to spur our collective action. This is for the three-year-old within me who was economically underserved, the sixteen-year-old who could not find safe, trustworthy spaces to bloom in adolescence, the young adult who was seen as “drug-seeking” when demanding Adderall for undiagnosed ADHD, and the grown man disoriented by mania during a worldwide pandemic.

Triumph Among Losses
A wellness resource listed below (2), shows a possible road to communal and spiritual healing - “A queer stress-trauma continuum, along with a queer resilience-growth-hope continuum[…] draws upon past collective experience to meet the violence and injustices of the present, projecting queer imaginings of a future that is not conscripted or overdetermined by […] the White cis-heteropatriarchal present. The past, the present, and the future must be open, fluid, undecided, and resilient—therein, they must be queer.”
On a personal note, this title is a personal marker of a recent period where I broke ties with previously trusted friends and did my best to support ill loved ones. I have always been resilient to cope with isolation and stress - but my life now is different from my formative conditions. As a result, I practice PRICK (Personal Responsibility, Informed Consensual Kink).
Stress & trauma are part of the human condition, but resilience, growth, and hope are systemically hidden. The lessons from loss, humble my gratitude in triumph.

Who I Am
I won a “title” - so what? In my recent experience, much of the Queer world isn’t familiar with the history of Leather titles, Ballroom “Balls”, Imperial Courtship, Beautillions/Cotillions, etc. These traditions attempt resolution to our human experience - abandonment & isolation. We create our own leaders and select our own heroes. Leather titles are confirmation that we are not alone in the way we choose to share intimacy.
I needed a space to explore these aspects of myself in an environment free of secrecy, coercion, and shame. The Leather Community provided space for me and saved my life. I now do the same for others. Coming from the context of a faith-based community, I was never informed that my sexuality was part of self-care.

For more info on that basis, see these resources:
1.     Camp, Jake et al. “LGBQ+ Self-Acceptance and Its Relationship with Minority Stressors and Mental Health: A Systematic Literature Review.” Archives of sexual behavior vol. 49,7 (2020): 2353-2373. doi:10.1007/s10508-020-01755-2
2.     Menhinick, Keith A, and Cody J Sanders. “LGBTQ+ Stress, Trauma, Time, and Care.” Pastoral psychology vol. 72,3 (2023): 367-384. doi:10.1007/s11089-023-01073-z

My origin in Prince George’s County, MD - a thriving black city - formed my awareness of HBCUs, Beautillions, multicultural praise & worship, and the positivity of social hierarchy. With any collective structure, shared values and understanding are paramount. As a teenager, I volunteered with the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington. And I became a spiritualist shortly thereafter. I initially sought support for my natural Poly & Pan orientation from a local youth pastor I trusted. He saw my vulnerability as an invitation to flirt, and I distanced myself for protection - isolated again. No leader is perfect, but I can attest to the self-correction found within the Leather community.

Cornel West once said, “Justice is what Love looks like in public.” I’m a pansexual, polyamorous, neurodivergent, switchy, driven, spiritual, geeky, imperfect person. When I feel brave enough to approach my own life, I am more concerned with what I learn from my mistakes than, “getting it right”. I would rather be understood than to be liked…heard instead of tolerated…and valued instead of tokenized. I stand ready in the public square - not “woke” - but awake to opportunities for “Twisting Culture” toward equality. Let’s go to work.

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Thank you to Rodney Burger and The Leather Journal for publishing this!  Soon there is much more to come from Jace!