All Good Things Must End (MAL Edition)

Monday morning at the Hyatt Regency was an interesting experience. The Leathermen were checking out, while the nuns and the throngs of high schoolers were checking in. The nuns were clutching their rosaries in hushed prayers while glancing wide-eyed at the Sodomites wandering freely without their sackclothes and ashes. The high school girls, meanwhile, were blissfully unbothered, engrossed as they were in their conversations about Justin Bieber or One Direction or whatever nonsense teenage girls talk about. Most of the teenage boys were busy making clumsy advances to the girls, but a few of the more tradeful ones were stealing glances at the Leathermen. If only they had been in that same spot 24 hours ago…

Saying our goodbyes over a non-alcoholic brunch (I never knew such a thing existed!), was Ya Brista and a couple of my ONYX brothers. We were commenting on the tradeful young boys, when our attention was drawn to a guy crying in the corner. He was being supported by several friends who alternately rubbed his back and hugged him. He was overcome with emotions at the end of an exciting weekend of…

…bonding, because that is exactly what these big leather events are.

Gay men are often more judgmental of other gays than straight people are. Imagine living a life where you could not share your deepest sexual desires for fear of ridicule or even worse. One would think that other gays would be supportive because of that whole…

…but apparently not! Now imagine that you find an event where you can be COMPLETELY yourself, where you can find someone to pee on you, fist you, or whatever, to your heart’s content. You can say and do whatever you want without the fear of judgment from some closed-minded Muggles. I’d think you’d be pretty broken up when it ended as well.

It’s even worse for some men who are not Caucasian. A Chinese man once described an argument with his family where his father described his love of leather (and other men) as “The White Man’s Infection”. I recently had some trade who described my love of toys, electricity, and spanking as “That White People Shit”. That, of course, was the exclamation point on a hookup that was already going downhill fast.

More than once during MAL, I met men who expressed a similar feeling of finally being at home. Now maybe it was because Ya Brista is one hell of a host, but more than likely, it was because they, too, had felt that bond. We all felt it, and we all felt the love hangover that comes when it ends, some apparently much more intensely in others.

For me, this was a particularly awesome MAL. Not only did we raise a ton of cash for SMYAL……we had a ton of fun in the process!

Thanks to The Centaurs Motorcycle Club for putting on Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend (MAL) Weekend. I am sure it is a herculean effort on your part, but on behalf of everyone who attended, job well done!

It’s time to start getting ready for IML. Ya Brista is working on a new piece or two. YOU… WILL… GAG!!!

Back to bed. MAL is always a beast!