According to an article written by Greenie for her colors project that was written for the leather archives back in 1998 or 1999, the Wasatch Leathermen Motorcycle Club was a gay male SM motorcycle club that was founded by ten original members.
According to an article written by Greenie for her colors project that was written for the leather archives back in 1998 or 1999, the Wasatch Leathermen Motorcycle Club was a gay male SM motorcycle club that was founded by ten original members.
The organization consisted of a 1st Master, a 2nd Master and a 3rd Master. These titles were similar to what groups would call an organization hierarchy such as a presidency. There was a Pledge Master responsible for new recruits, a Record Master responsible for various secretarial duties and a Bond Master responsible for funds and treasury type duties. Membership was limited to only 15 Members at one time, but there were associate memberships available with no number limitations.
The Wasatch Leathermen hosted a motorcycle run starting in 1985 called the Falcon Flight. They would ride up Wolf Pass, Utah, which is 10,000 feet in elevation.
The Club Colors were designed by a cartoonist named Greg G, who was the 2nd Master of the Club and also a founding member. The six sides of the colors signify: Brotherhood, Harmony, Leather, Discipline, Pride, and Charity. If a member left the Club, they were required to return their member patch to the club.
There is not a lot of information on the Utah Chapter of the Knights of Malta that I could locate. They were a Levi / leather social group that was around back in the late eighties and early nineties. Some of the activities they would be involved with would be to provide aid for people in need in the gay and lesbian community. An example of this was when they helped out a couple with Aids one Christmas by paying some of their bills and providing them with food.
The Rocky Mountain Dragons was founded March 17, 1995 by Troy, Jim, Casey, Bill, Dusty, Harold, and Paul. They created the group because they believed that there was a need for a leather social group that didn't revolve around sex. Their mission statement was "Unity through Service." They met at member's homes and then at the Stonewall Center before it closed.
They helped the aid's food bank for several years by providing food baskets. A fundraiser for the Mr. Ms Utah Leather contest was held at the Sun called "Dungeons and Dragons." Some of the scenes included a mummification scene, a wax scene, and a musical number performed by the Rocky Mountain Dragons. The Rocky Mountain Dragons and The Wasatch Leathermen MC joined together to produce the first Leather Weekend in Salt Lake City. It was held on May 4th at King's, a private club, and it produced Utah's first leather titleholders. This group disbanded in January of 1999.
Utah Power Play started out as a 3x5 card posted on the board at the Stonewall Center in Salt Lake City in the spring of 1995. It gave a brief description to the effect that they were looking for other people interested in BDSM and the sharing of knowledge and information. It had a phone number and was signed with the pseudonym of Spike. Hazel J was the originator of the group and five other people responded to the ad: Ronnie N, Sunny C, Beverly B (aka Phoenix), Rachael M, and Grant H, most of whom Hazel already knew through other avenues. The first meeting to discuss the formation of a group for those interested in BDSM in the Salt Lake area was held in Hazel's parents' driveway, while Hazel changed the oil in her car. This meeting occurred in mid-April of 1995 and various people among those gathered volunteered to do the jobs that were needed to get the group started, including checking out the Stonewall Center as a meeting place and arranging to use a room as a meeting space. Hazel set up a phone mailbox so that people could contact the group for information. A half page flier was written up announcing the formation of the group and the scheduled time and date for the first meeting and several hundred fliers were printed. In the following couple of weeks, several people distributed the fliers everywhere they could think of that seemed appropriate: all the sex stores, the few slightly kinky stores, the Stonewall Center, and at the Gay and Lesbian Pride celebration. That was the only planning/organizing meeting held before public meetings began.
Power Play was officially founded in May of 1995, with their first open public meeting held on May 4th at the old Stonewall Center. It's Purpose: "Power Play is a non-profit, pan-sexual educational/support group open to all adults 18 years or older. They help to teach the safe practice of the many varieties of BDSM and other activities. They offer a place to meet others with common interests, while providing a supportive network for the leather community."
Hazel and Ronnie became co-presidents and Phoenix was named the secretary, with Grant becoming the treasurer. Sunny held a major part in the group's organization as she was asked to fill in for various positions. As personal matters took some of the founders away from Powerplay or Utah and no new elections were held, Sunny eventually became the only officer left, although there were others at the time who were still helping to run the group. However, rather than burn out, she called a meeting and told everyone who came that she was unwilling to be the only one with any official duty to run Powerplay. It was at this time that the first Powerplay Council was formed and it has continued to have responsibility for running the group ever since.
A decision was made at that meeting that some of the people would serve a six month term and some a three month term, and that all terms would be three months long after that, with the seats that were up for election alternating with each election. The original council was composed of five council members and one alternate. Those six were all the people we could muster who would agree to actually make the commitment and do the work to make Power Play continue. Once the Council was in place, Power Play began to stabilize and to become better organized, eventually becoming a legally incorporated organization. As things continued to get better and increasingly stable, council members were willing to commit to a six-month term.
Some of the first activities of Power Play included walking as a group at first Pride Day Parade in Salt Lake City and selling Pepsi products at the Pride Day Celebration as a fundraiser for the group. They also handed out flyers to promote the group to interested individuals. They have made an effort to have a booth at every Pride Celebration since. Shortly after the weekly meetings began, many of the attendees started to meet at Dee's restaurant for coffee and more informal conversation after the meeting ended. Meeting at Dee's was never an actual Power Play meeting. It was always a social time after the regular meeting. It became a regular practice to go out for coffee after meeting for Power play for a very long time and we met at Dee's most every week, though occasionally meeting somewhere else. Dee's got so used to us coming that they started having our table space set up for us before we arrived. In early 1997 some of the people started going to the Deer Hunter (a local gay bar) for drinks instead of to Dee's for coffee, so the after-meeting get-togethers became divided.
After the Stonewall Center closed, the group was held at a private residence of one of the members until the Gay and Lesbian Center opened and the meetings were moved there. The group most recently was holding their meetings at a private residence that had been converted for gatherings. The group dissolved due to legal difficulties in 2003.
During the time that they were holding the meetings at a separate residence after the Stonewall closed, there was dissention from a group of people who came from Ogden (a town about 45 miles away) as to how things should be run and they decided it was kind of far for some of them. So a small group of around eight members ended up leaving Power Play and holding their own meetings in a separate residence in Ogden. Their group lasted less than a year before disbanding.
During the summer of 1997, several people who took the leather lifestyle seriously decided they wanted to learn more about it. So they went to Michael A, who is a highly regarded and respected member of the community, and they convinced him to create a class for those founding members to be able to learn and improve their knowledge of the leather lifestyle. They started holding classes in June of 1997 and continued until they graduated in March of 1999. During this time they had to read several books varying from self-improvement books to books that dealt directly with the leather community and its history, and many other varieties in between. The purpose of this was to help the students broaden their knowledge of themselves, as well as learning about the leather community as a whole. They had several national presenters who came and did presentations for the class on various theories and techniques that were their specialties. They also had to learn the art of boot polishing, which was no easy task: in order to graduate, a student would have to get his or her boots polished so that it would pass inspection. This inspection consisted of holding a quarter to the boot with a flashlight and the date had to be readable in the reflection. This may seem simple at first glance, but many students learned about patience through this process. This part of the class later became a form of recognition: when people from different areas would go to events together, people would see their boots and ask if they were from Salt Lake. Not only did they have book reports and presentations to give, they would also cover things such as spirituality and energy and how it plays an important part in the community. There were eight students who graduated from the first class two and a half years later. The idea was for them to pass on what they had learned to others and improve the community.
There have been several classes since then and Michael A has taught each one. The majority of the curriculum has remained the same. However, the length of the time it takes to graduate and the order of things that were done in each class has varied due to the dynamics of how each group bonded and their willingness to learn. Also taken into consideration was the fact that these classes would have guest presenters from out of town who would teach on various topics as well. Not everyone who has started taking the classes has graduated. Several find that they don't like the idea of learning about themselves. Others simply decide that it is not for them. Most of those who have completed the class have come to have a greater understanding of and respect for the community.
Conservative Kink was founded in November of 1998, by Sandra B and Phillip G. It was founded as a special interest group to meet the needs and interests of the Male-Dom/fem-sub component of the Salt Lake BDSM community. Conservative Kink existed for nearly three and a half years, but was surrounded by too much controversy and too little interest from most of the community to make its existence viable. This group disbanded in August of 2001.
The idea for UPEX came as early as July of 1997, but the first official meeting was much later. The founding members were Michael G, Celeste M, Lannea C, Christopher B, and Jodi B. Celeste had met with the founders and leadership of Arizona Power Exchange, and she based her vision of UPEX on the values held in esteem there - fellowship and mentoring. She wanted a true and unique organization that not only preached the ideas of safety, but that gave people the tools to actually practice safety in their daily BDSM lives, while at the same time allowing the incredible diversity of the leather culture. Celeste and Michael talked about starting 'something' that would hold the Old Leather traditions in a place of honor while embracing New Leather values to ensure growth and opportunity for everyone. They believed firmly in the tenets of "Safe, Sane, and Consensual" and "Zero Tolerance for Intolerance" and the latter became the official motto for the group. Meetings were held at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center and flyers were made and passed out at adult and leather businesses.
One thing that was imperative was the forming of the bylaws. They needed something comprehensive that got their views across, but was flexible enough to ensure the growth of the organization. They decided that the bylaws must be a "living document" subject to change as the needs of the organization changed and the leather culture grew. Majority rules and voting rights were instituted to all members in good standing so that no one person would be able to dictate the direction of their diverse culture.
The first board of UPEX was organized from the founding members, and the first election was held six months later; every board thereafter was voted into office by the membership body on an annual basis. Anyone who chooses to could run for any board seat as long as they were a member in good standing and did not hold a conflicting office with any of the other local organizations.
For the most part, those interested in the group tended to see themselves as submissives rather than bottoms, and Dominants rather than Tops. UPEX focused largely on the mental D/s aspects of BDSM a little more than the physical SM techniques, although of course those still play a major part. There's everything "right" and nothing "wrong" with either approach, simply a difference in the flavor of the group. Meetings were classes, demonstrations, and roundtable discussions with everyone having an equal voice.
The group dissolved in 2006 due to political disagreement between some members and gradual decline in interest.
The Wasatch Leathermen's Association is a social organization for individuals who share a common interest in the leather lifestyle. It is founded upon the principles of Brotherhood, Pride, Respect and Service. It exists to facilitate the individual growth of its members; to foster a better understanding of the lifestyle; to teach safe, sane, and consensual sexuality; and to enhance the community through charitable events.
The Wasatch Leathermen's Association held its first meeting on April 29th, 2001 at Club Blue. Bryant B is credited as one the forces that helped lay the foundations of the WLA. The first chairperson was Neil S, the co-chairperson was Rod F, and Kenny was the secretary. There were 20 men in attendance at that first meeting. The officers in 2002 were:
In their short time, they established two major events: the "Mr Salt Lake Leather Competition" and the "Blue Alley Fair," which was held at the end of summer.
You could also find them arresting people on a regular basis at the UGRA rodeo and Pride day events for the Jail and Bail, to raise funds for a variety of charitable programs such as PWACU (People with Aids Coalition,) Utah Aids Foundation, and Angel Tree. People paid to have their friends arrested and placed in a cage and then the person who was detained needed to convince someone to pay their bail to get them out of the cage.
This group dissolved in 2005 or 2006 due to lack of those interested in running the organization.
In February of 2002 it was decided that there was a need for a women's group in the community. Ronnie N organized and set up the first meeting held on April 27th, 2002. It was decided that anyone who attended a meeting during the first three months would be a founding member. There were 20 founding members with three elected officers. The original officers were: Chairman Ronnie, Co-chairman Bullet, and Secretary Lisa.
Mission Statement: Wasatch Women of Leather (WWOL) is a social organization dedicated to creating an understanding that leather and BDSM do not mean abuse.
For them, nothing is more important than having fun together and building a safe place for women of leather to gather and support each other.
Their values:
WWOL seeks to:
Meeting places vary from month to month depending on the planned activity. Members can keep up to date with each other through http://www.myladyplz.com/wwol.htm or the group can be contacted by email myladyplz@yahoo.com
During its first 6 months, fundraisers were held for the Titleholder's Travel fund to help Ronnie N and Rod F (Mr Salt Lake Leather at the time) to travel as needed for their titles, and the Club Blue Legal Defense Fund.
WWOL also had a booth at the Blue Alley Fair and the Pride Day Celebration. They collected donations for the Battered Womens' Shelter at the YWCA. Club pins were created to interlock with the Wasatch Leathermen's Association pin to show the unity between the two clubs and a patch was designed for the group.
When Ronnie N decided to run for the Rocky Mountain Ms Leather Title at Thunder in the Mountains in Denver Colorado in 2002, it provided an opportunity for the four different leather groups to unite together in a common cause.
Utah Power Exchange, Utah Power Play and the Wasatch Leathermen's Association all donated money to her travel fund and sponsored her at the event. And even though the Wasatch Women of Leather was still new they provided plenty of support in helping her to prepare for the competition. She was the first Utah titleholder to bring the title home from Denver.
During her title year she helped organize a fundraiser to benefit the Club Blue Legal Fund. She participated in a fundraiser in Denver to raise funds for the Colorado Springs Gay and Lesbian Center that was burned down by vandals. In January of 2003, she resigned the title for personal reasons. Jae from the Denver area assumed the title and became the official Rocky Mountain Ms Leather 2002-03 from that time forth. Before stepping down, Ronnie took on this project of putting together as much information as she could on the history of the leather community in Utah so that people could see how the Utah leather community has evolved over the years. Christopher still maintains it from time to time with major changes.
EDITORS NOTES - The information herein has been compiled in 2002 and 2003 by Ronnie N from myriad information sources and many of the past and current members of the Salt Lake Leather Community by way of emails, questionaires, and personal interviews.
All items included in this archive were donated by members of the Salt Lake Leather Community for the purposes of preserving the record of our local leather history. Ronnie donated three Items from the Wasatch Leathermen's Motorcycle Club: (1) A Falcon Fight T-shirt from one of the runs they hosted, (2) A Club Pin, (3) A book of matches from one of the Falcon Fight motorcycle runs. She has also donated a Power Play t-shirt, a Journeyman III t-shirt, one pin each from the Wasatch Leathermen's Association and the Wasatch Women of Leather connected together, a Wasatch Women of Leather Club Patch, a flyer from the first leather weekend produced by the Rocky Mountain Dragons and the Wasatch Leathermen Motorcycle club featuring the Mr/Ms Utah Leather contest, along with a blank form that the contestants had to fill out in order to compete in the contest (not pictured), a flyer for the Wasatch Women of Leather and the Wasatch Leathermen's Association Club Blue legal fund raiser (not pictured), and a copy of the first original flyer for Wasatch Women of Leather (which at that time had not been named yet) that was placed at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center introducing the group (not pictured). Christopher donated two of the original UPEX club patches and a bound copy of the UPEX by-laws (not pictured). An anonymous member of the Wasatch Leathermen's Association donated the Wasatch Leathermen's Association uniform shirt. Jodi donated the printing of a new banner for the Wasatch Women of Leather so that the original could be sent to the archives (not pictured). Also, much thanks must be given to Lady Athena for spellchecking and grammatical corrections throughout this document.
LAST UPDATE: 21-May-2007
