Leather Leadership Conference, Inc.

February 2, 2003

For Immediate Release

Contact: Cecilia Tan
media-contact@leatherleadership.org
(617) 864-0492

FOR LEATHER LEADERS, CALIFIA IS KEY

(Boston, MA) - Patrick Califia will present the keynote speech at this year's Leather Leadership Conference (LLC) in Boston, MA. LLC is an annual event bringing together activists and organizers in the leather community for networking and skills building. The 2003 conference will be held April 11-13 at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel.

This is the first time the conference will be held in New England, and the first time that Patrick Califia will address the group. Previous speakers have included such noted authors and S/M community activists as Guy Baldwin, Joseph Bean, and Viola Johnson. Califia's lifetime of writing, speaking, and rabble-rousing for alternative sexuality causes is unparalleled. He is also the parent of a three-year-old son and a licensed therapist in private practice in northern California.

Three years ago, Califia began the transition from a female to a male social identity. As an out-of-the-closet transgendered and bisexual person, he has lectured at numerous universities and BDSM events. His most recent book, Speaking Sex to Power, is a collection of essays about the politics of queer sexuality, a companion volume to Public Sex: The Politics of Radical Sex.

Prior to his gender transition, Califia was one of the founders of the leatherdyke community and a key player in the Lesbian Feminist Sex Wars. Raised in a working-class Mormon family, Califia came out in 1971 and joined the nascent women's movement and various efforts to protest the war in Vietnam. In 1978, Califia and others founded Samois, the first lesbian feminist S/M organization, which in 1980 published "What Color Is Your Handkerchief?", the first publication on that topic in the English language. A monthly advice column for gay men appeared in The Advocate for ten years. After moving to New York in the late '80s, Califia briefly edited "The Power Exchange," a magazine for women in the S/M community, and a decade later was involved in "Venus Infers" magazine as well. He has also served as the editor of erotic titles for Liberation Publications and the SandMUtopia Guardian and Dungeon Journal.

A prolific author, Califia has written Sapphistry, a definitive tome of S/M erotica, Macho Sluts, edited The Lesbian S/M Safety Manual, The Second Coming, and Bitch Goddess, and also authored two short story collections, Melting Point and No Mercy, a novel, Doc and Fluff, a poetry collection, Diesel Fuel, and other works. Every one of these books was devoured by leatherfolk the world over. Technodyke.com describes Califia as "arguably the most influential S/M commentator and pornographer working today." Califia's immense body of work has been praised by Publishers Weekly and Library Journal.

Califia began training as a therapist eight years ago out of a concern about the poor level of mental health services available to most BDSM people. He is currently working on a history of the creation of sadomasochism as psychopathology, a move which has resulted in sexual sadism and sexual masochism being perceived as mental disorders and diagnoses. He has educated and agitated within the leather community and more mainstream society about a wide variety of sexual minority issues, including censorship of our literature, state interference in our public gatherings, criminalization of private S/M behavior, the need for anti-violence work, and how we cope with living under the shadow of stigma.

"I think I was supposed to just get older gracefully and become some kind of Revered Divine Ancestress of Leatherdykes," Califia wrote in a recent essay. "I'd rather drink gasoline. I'm never going to retire and I'll never be an easy writer to follow or adore." Califia's work has always challenged notions of complacency and conformity, and that makes him the perfect speaker to address the current generation of leather community leaders and activists.

For more information, visit www.leatherleathership.org/llc7/index.htm, or call
Cecilia Tan at (617) 864-0492.

Leather Leadership Conference 7
P.O. Box 42525
Cambridge, MA 02142
http://www.leatherleadership.org/llc7/index.htm

June 16, 2002
For Immediate Release

Contact: Cecilia Tan
media-contact@leatherleadership.org

Boston's Leather Leadership Join Efforts on National Convention

(Boston, MA) -- The seventh annual Leather Leadership Convention (LLC) will be held April 11-13, 2003 at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel. The local host committee announced today that the LLC 7 board shall be led by a triumvirate of three co-chairs: Natalie Lane, Vivienne, and Michael Moran. All three have had experience in running or chairing various SM/leather/fetish community groups: Natalie on the service board of the Boston Dungeon Society, Vivienne as chair and treasurer of New England Leather Alliance (NELA), and Michael as president of The Brotherhood.

Also appointed to the board were Amy B. (secretary), Bryt (treasurer), and Cecilia Tan (media relations). The rest of the board positions are held by representatives of the individual task committees which include: Daniel (design team), Danny (volunteers), Sabrina (registration), Puppy (fundraising and sponsorship), and Mistress Ren (community outreach). Tim Davis and Match Stick will head the programming committee, and Tweekie was named as webmaster.

The task committees will meet individually, each according to their own schedule and need, while the LLC 7 board will meet monthly. At this time no more board positions will be added, but individuals wishing to get involved may volunteer to help those committees seeking volunteers. For more information, send email to info@leatherleadership.org.

LLC, Inc. is an organization dedicated to strengthening the SM/Leather/Fetish community through the development of the leadership skills of community members and fostering a greater sense of connection between and within community groups. At LLC 7, workshops and seminars will be offered on organizational management, activism, personal skills, public relations and other topics to help leaders and activists become more effective. The annual conference also provides a forum where attendees may share their knowledge and experience with one another, fostering a greater sense of unity and understanding within the community as a whole.

April 15, 2002
For Immediate Release

Contact: Cecilia Tan
media-contact@leatherleadership.org

Boston To Host Seventh Leather Leadership Conference

(Boston, MA) -- The city of Boston has been selected as the site of the 2003 Leather Leadership Conference (LLC). The selection was announced at LLC 6 in Los Angeles by the LLC national board. Boston was among several cities bidding to host the annual gathering of leaders and activists in the SM/leather/fetish communities.

The Boston host committee included representatives from over 20 groups and organizations in the six New England States and upstate New York. The conference will be held at the Boston Park Plaza hotel, one of Boston's premier convention venues, from April 11-13, 2003. The host committee included representatives from many diverse SM/leather/fetish communities, including gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, heterosexual couples' groups, social organizations, fundraising groups, and local businesses.

LLC, Inc. is an organization dedicated to strengthening the SM/Leather/Fetish community through the development of the leadership skills of community members and fostering a greater sense of connection between and within community groups. At LLC 7, workshops and seminars will be offered on organizational management, activism, personal skills, public relations and other topics to help leaders and activists become more effective. The annual conference also provides a forum where attendees may share their knowledge and experience with one another, fostering a greater sense of unity and
understanding within the community as a whole.

LLC 7 will be the first time the conference has been held in New England. Past Leather Leadership Conferences have been held in New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., San Francisco, and Los Angeles. For more information, visit www.leatherleadership.org.