INDIANAPOLIS – The twelfth annual Great Lakes Leather Weekend gathered kinksters from across the country again for kink education and five contests.
A few of the states were able to keep ahold of some of the titles awarded this year. Illinois kept the Great Lakes Master/slave title with Master Michael and slave angie winning the patches. Sir Mark Eddy brought the Great Lakes LeatherSir title back to Michigan for a second year in a row and boy paul kept Great Lakes Leatherboy in the Hoosier state. Indiana gained another regional title with Lynn winning Great Lakes Ms. Leather Pride. Minnesota gained a new title with Kai winning for bootblack. (Editor’s Note: Full disclosure, Master Michael, slave angie, boy paul and contestant Daddy Jay are all contributors to the GLD.) Other contestants included Miss Karen, Daddy Jay and Master Steven and slave kim of Kentucky; Sir Ernie of Indiana and Bootblack Pup Astro of Illinois.
The winners of each contest will go on to international contests. Michael and angie will go on to the International Master/slave Contest at South Plains Leatherfest in Dallas. Sir Mark and boy paul will compete at International LeatherSir/boy in August 2014, also in Dallas. Kai will have the option of competing at International Community Bootblack in Dallas or at International Mr. Bootblack in Chicago during IML. Lynn will be able to go on to International Ms. Leather in San Jose, Calif., next year.
Only the Leatherboy contest had a single competitor, with all the others having at least two states represented, though all contestants had to win at least 70% of possible points to place. While Kentucky made a strong showing with contestants in Master/slave, LeatherSir and Ms. Leather Pride, it brought home no titles this year. However, the state was very well represented during the weekend with at least a third of attendees coming from the state. In fact, it became a running joke during the weekend that Louisville was where people went for fetish fun. A few Chicagoans were less sure of that, but the Kentuckians were definitely making a strong case for their state’s largest city being a kink capital.
There were also classes on bdsm, bondage, power exchange, pony play and more through out the weekend, plus a Fireside Chat with Master Alex, head judge of the Master/slave contest and a founder of MAsT International. There were also fundraisers, cookouts and a nightly shuttle to the 501 Eagle, Indianapolis’s leather bar.
Indianapolis’s kink community turned out in force to support the weekend with Indianapolis Masters and Slaves (IMAS), Kinky Indiana Submissives and Slaves (KISS), MAsT: Indianapolis, the 501 Eagle and local HIV testing service Step Up hosting receptions and sponsoring the weekend. Michigan also contributed heavily through LIFE Detroit and the Michigan Band of Brothers.
