Ropes and more with Race Bannon

Many consider the leather community in flux – the Internet has diminished our need for bars, bars and play spaces are struggling, many feel the Title Circuit has become too politically correct – where do you see the community heading?

The community, and I’m not entirely sure that’s the appropriate word, is doing what all maturing entities do, changing. How can leatherfolk be surprised that their network of fellow sexual adventurers and the culture in which they reside are changing? It’s just the way things are. Over time everything changes. The only thing we can do is manage the inevitable change individually, and sometimes collectively, so that it moves in a positive versus negative direction for us.

The internet has dramatically changed the landscape. It’s lowered the bar for entry into adventurous sexuality. Some consider this a negative, but I’ve never really understood why we shouldn’t make it easier rather than harder to find the sexual expression we all find fulfilling. I think there are more pros than cons to the internet’s impact on kinky sexuality.

The title circuit has essentially become its own subset of the larger leather scene that is itself a subset of an even larger more all-inclusive network of kinky men. There’s no reason the title system can’t exist and be enjoyed by those who like that sort of thing. The danger lies in title promoters and titleholders believing that the title winners actually represent the larger body of kinky men. They might, but it’s by no means typical that they do. And I say that having many titleholders as close friends and with a lot of respect for what many of them have done with their sexual subculture notoriety.

I see the community, to use your word, heading in some very nice directions, but experiencing some growing pains. For so long the kinky among us were incredibly clandestine. It was not the topic of any but the most private and protected of conversations not all that long ago. Even now, it’s only in a few urban areas and within a few networks of people that it’s talked about casually and without hesitation. So the leather community, considering its relative newcomer status as a mainstream pursuit for many, is doing just fine. My belief is that it will continue to follow the path of any other similar subculture. It will continue to splinter into smaller, tightly knit groups that share common, specific sexual and social interests. Those groups will be held together loosely by some larger identifier. Right now we call that larger identifier the leather community. I’m not sure what it will be called in the future. Leather as a word doesn’t seem to cut it anymore with many guys. It’s too specific. Too restrictive. I just don’t know what else it might end being called, but I actually see things improving overall.

The future belongs to the individualist, not to the conformist. The easier access to sexual and relationship options, wider sharing of knowledge and skill enabled by technology and social networking, and more flexible work lives that mean more lifestyle flexibility, all seem to be contributing to a scene I actually like better than its predecessor. I see all of these things having the potential to contribute to a much better sex and social life for all of us. There are those few naysayers who seem to feel the entire leather scene is going downhill, but I just don’t see it. I just see change. And for me it’s good change. I’ve always tried to embrace change. As the saying goes, the tree that bends in the wind survives, the tree that resists the wind breaks and dies. I think we’re bending just fine.

Did you have a role model/mentor in the early stages of your kink exploration?

In the very early stages, no. I was gay and sexually active fairly young. And my kinky explorations started young as well. But it was still that closely held thing I did with virtually no one knowing. Once I was on my own I dove into the gay and leather realms quickly and without hesitation. I never questioned either my attraction to men or to adventurous sex. Both always seemed natural to me. Once I embraced my kinky self as a more out and public player, many men (mostly men, some women) came into my life and provided the guidance or opportunity to learn. There were a few leathermen who had taken me in as playbuds and friends by the time I was 19. I learned a lot from them. But most of my early explorations weren’t taught or guided by others, but rather were my own self explorations and I used my good friends to act as sounding boards when questions came up. Later some men came along like Tony DeBlase and Guy Baldwin, both of whom were amazingly influential on my life and my sexuality. Over the years I’ve been extremely lucky to be able to call some very smart and savvy kinky people my friends. In a sense, they’ve all been my mentors and role models.

Looking back on your career – what was your greatest achievement and any regrets?

I’ve had a bunch of careers, but I assume you’re asking about my involvement with leather and kink. I’m probably proudest of my involvement as a primary coordinator of what came to be called The DSM Project. It was an effort to influence the wording in the book (DSM) that psycho-therapeutic professionals turns to when researching the criteria by which they diagnose mental health issues. We were successful in changing, in some significant ways, how the psycho-therapeutic community officially views kinky sex. As for regrets, perhaps that I didn’t play more and work less. I say that having loved virtually every job or career I’ve had in my life. I don’t keep doing something I dislike for long. But I think finding time to play is so damn important. Most of us don’t do it enough.

In your writings, you refer to the kink community versus the leather community – what is the difference?

Words are so important, but precision isn’t always possible with broad, inclusive terms. Some of the kink community is part of the leather community, but much of the kink community is not part of the leather community. There are so many ways to be kinky that aren’t really covered under the leather umbrella. Gear pigs. Piss pigs. Fisters. Cigar fetishists. Are they part of the leather scene? Often, but not always. Many prefer to operate within their own sexual sub-subculture, or jump from group to group as their interest at the time dictates. These erotic wanderers don’t always want to be categorized or pigeonholed into a definition. Again, individuality is what’s becoming more attractive in this networked age of ours, not sexual conformity. I see this trend continuing.

Can you think of a model for play spaces and play parties?

How to create successful play spaces has been a hot topic lately, and one I’ve written about recently as well. I’ve come to the conclusion that creating truly successful play spaces that are open to anyone are successful as much by luck as they are by design. Ultimately, it’s the people that matter. No dungeon or playspace or party size can make up for an assortment of men that have been selected by some criteria. Perhaps it’s a common fetish or sexual interest. Perhaps it’s a particular demographic makeup. Regardless of how they’re chosen, the fact is they’re chosen and that’s where my view on play parties becomes somewhat controversial. The most successful play parties I’ve attended or hosted were those that were made up of a guest list that was either directly invited or invited through some controlled process. I know. It sounds elitist. It sounds like the inner circle keeping newcomers or other out. But it’s not like that at all. I’ve just seen far too many play party situations that didn’t work well and the only reason is that it was the wrong mix of guys. Notice I didn’t say they were bad players. Rather, they were just not always the right mix of guys. It’s the fact that some thought went into the craft and art of combining the right guys with the right interests in such a way as to produce the most erotic heat. That’s all it’s about. And there is a place for totally open public parties. I just don’t think anyone should be surprised when those don’t necessary produce the most intense, connected and hot play.

What role does the title circuit play?

I answered much of this in a previous question. The title circuit is quickly being seen as its own self-sustaining subculture within the larger leather scene. That’s totally OK. I might sometimes feel that a bit too much energy is expended on titles and contest events, but guys vote with their feet and if promoters can keep attracting an audience, they’ll stick around. My only concern is when the title system buys into the notion that their system is actually picking the leaders of the community. It’s not. What it is picking are often some amazing men and women who do end up doing some cool stuff, but by no means are all or most titleholders true community leaders in the sense that they have the knowledge, skill set or even the necessary passion to do so. As long as we keep some perspective, titles are fine and hurt no one.

Is the Old Guard a fantasy or did it exist?

The answer is both yes and no. The overly romanticized notion of Old Guard is a fantasy, but there were definitely some men (again, mostly men) who did form loose fraternal-style groups that acted as mentoring venues for lots of guys. Sometimes my eyes glaze over when I hear the term Old Guard because, well, it means different things to different people and it’s ultimately based on what people think actually happened that I don’t myself think did happen very often. Yes, on occasion there were formal mentoring processes and the somewhat structured protocols that many believe defined the Old Guard. They did exist, but they were by no means the norm. Early leathermen were by their very nature sexual rebels and mavericks. Forming organized groups isn’t a very rebel or maverick thing to do, and most guys weren’t part of such groups for that very reason.

How important is it to capture/preserve our history – as we see the passing of older leathermen and champions like Drummer Founder John Embry?

This is where I feel suitably inspired by my old friend Tony DeBlase. I always felt an affinity with the need to preserve history, history of all kinds, but it was Tony who convinced me how vital it was to preserve the leather scene’s history, and ultimately the history of all sexual subcultures. The Leather Archives and Museum is the physical manifestation of Tony’s and many other hardworking men’s and women’s vision and hard work. The importance of history is what it can teach us because humanity, including a sexual subculture like ours, learns from its history. At least that’s the hope, but without a documented and intelligently analyzed history of the leather scene there’s no hope of learning from it at all.

What makes a great leader in the kink community?

The same things that make any great leader. Passion. A desire to help others. Humility. People skills. An organized mind. And in the case of anyone leading within a sexual group, a total openness about that aspect of their sexuality so that they can lead from a place of total pride.

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