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History
(With Some Mythology)
Leather History and More
Largely Leather History plus LGBTQ+ History and Some Marginalia for Leather and BDSM History
- The Leather History Timeline by Tony DeBlase and others
- Other Versions of the LHT and Similar Timelines
- History of Our Leather-S/M-Fetish Subculture and Communities: Towards a Bibliography compiled by slave david stein
- A Brief History of Leatherbars (Featuring the DC Eagle) by Chris M.
- About Larry Townsend
- About Drummer Magazine
- About Jack Fritscher, PhD
- About Jeanne C. Barney
- ChatGPT and the Truth About Jeanne C. Barney by Ambrosio
- About Guy Baldwin, MS by Ambrosio
- About Tom of Finland
- About Tony DeBlase and the Leather Pride Flag
- Tool Box Bar, 1963 by Justin Hall: A two page history in comic format.
- American Leather Goes Mainstream: Anger, Arnett and Life Magazine by Chris M.
- About Kenneth Anger and Scorpio Rising by Ambrosio
- Life Magazine Looks at Homosexuality (1964)
- Time Magazine Looks at Homosexuality (1966)
- Delta Diary 1996 by Chris M.
- Marginalia on the Old Guard, Leather Traditions, and BDSM History by Ambrosio
- The Daughters of Bilitis and The Ladder by Ambrosio
- Leather Culture by Matthew D. Johnson
- JackFritscher.com
- The Leather Archives and Museum (LA&M): The Chicago institution that preserves our leather history. The timeline on this site was originally a project developed by Tony DeBlase for the LA&M.
- The Leather Journal: The Leather Journal was founded in May 1987 to provide for the Leather community's hunger for news magazine that covered clubs, organizations, and events.
The Mythology of the "Old Guard"
If people start telling stories not as they were, but as they would like them to be, that procedure can be used by anybody for any purpose. So I think that we need to be consistent in the truth.
- Robert Bryan, Stonewall participant
- The Mythology of the "Old Guard"
- Old Guard? If You say so. By Joseph W. Bean
- The Old Guard History, Origins and Traditions By Guy Baldwin, M.S. (from The Ties That Bind)
- Old Guard, New Guard By Gayle Rubin
- The Myth of the Old Guard By Jack Rinella
- Multiple Tops: Master, Mistress and Daddy Makes Three By Master L.J.E. An Old Guard view of 'Net Generation polyamoury.
- Marginalia on the Old Guard, Leather Traditions, and BDSM History by Ambrosio contains "Leather's Military Heritage," "Six Contrasting Definitions of the 'Old Guard,'" "Napoleon Bonaparte's Imperial Guard," and "What was the First Use of the Term Old Guard in a Leather Context?"
- Rover's column in the December 1973 issue of California Scene Magazine: Earliest documented use of the phrase "old guard" in a Gay Biker --- and possibily Leather --- context (depending on whether you think Gay Biker qualifies as Leather.)
- Why Old Guard? by David Masterson
If we are demanding that our history be respected, then we have to respect it ourselves. You have to apply the same criteria to our history that it be worthwhile, that it be accurate, that it be well-researched. We should recognize our warts as well as our flowers, as it were.
- David Carter, Historian
BDSM History
Less about Gay Leather History and More about Pansexual (i.e., largely straight) BDSM History
- A Brief History of the Black Rose of Washington DC by Chris M.
- Greenery Press and Jay Wiseman
- About the POWERotics Foundation and Hans Meijer
- A Brief History of the Black Rose of Washington DC: Part One by Chris M.
- Black Roses and Pink Flamingoes: The BR10 Anniversary Event and how it changed our Club by Chris M.
- Gifts of the Circle: A Chronicle of the Hook Pull performed by Fakir Musafar and Cleo Duboise at Black Rose 2002 by Chris M.
- Some Notes on William Moulton Marston, Wonder Woman, and Loving D/s by Ambrosio
Historical Psychology
WIITWD on the Internet: BDSM Online in the 1990s
- WIITWD:
- What It Is That We Do
The World Wide Web began to become more widely available in the mid 1990s and it became a catalyst for the growth of BDSM. It was an excellent source for information --- and disinformation as well.
- About BDSM Usenet Newsgroups: In the mid-1990s, visiting newsgroups was a great way to learn about WIITWD. The resource on this page are mostly offered as historical documentation.
- About the POWERotics Foundation and Hans Meijer: The POWERotics Foundation was one of many Internet publisher with BDSM themed web sites. It no longer exists, but many of the articles by its chairman, Hans Meijer, are still available on-line and still relevant. Some are on EvvilMonk.org.
Related: Protocol, Ethics, and Manners
They don't strictly qualify as history, but they're closely related.
