Gulf Coast Leather Sir/Woman/boy/Community Bootblack

Good Evening Everyone,

It was another great weekend. Friday and Saturday evenings we had the Gulf Coast Leather Sir/Woman/boy and Community Boot Black contest at the Dallas Eagle. I co-emceed with Ms. Solitaire and I have NEVER had more fun emceeing a contest. We were the kinky version of (as someone in the audience said) Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. Although that dumbfounds me a bit, as Solitaire isn't a red head and I'm not Cuban nor was Solitaire begging to be in the show; she WAS the show!! But hey . . . we take our compliments wherever we can get them. But I would like to thank her for being the inspiration for my newest fundraising event, Cleavage for Charity. (If you know Solitaire, you know what I'm talking about!)

The contest was great. The photo attached is one of Sir Raul (International Leather Sir), Mark Frazier (my mentor and great friend) and myself. I would like to congratulate the winners: Leather Sir: Sir David; Leather Woman: Lady Minx; Leather boy: John DeLorme; and Bootblack: Syr Evan. They will all represent the Gulf Coast Region very well in San Francisco in October (and Lady Minx will represent at ImsL).

Thursday I leave for my first out of town trip. To San Francisco for Gay Pride. A huge thank you to the Leather Community, Brandon Clark (Mr. SF Leather), and Jay Hemphill for getting everything ready for me to be able to ride in the parade, the fundraiser organized, event planning, etc. It will be an awesome experience for all of us and I finally get to spend some time with my sash wife, Lamalani! I'll keep everyone posted.

I will no more return from San Francisco, then turn right around and head to Chicago for International Deaf Leather. I am truly looking forward to this event, too. It will be a great time as well. I'll definitely provide details during the event!!

My travels over the next six weeks are fast and furious. You can see my calendar at www.iml2009.com. If I am in your area, make sure to come out and say hello.

Also, I wanted to speak a little about the Sharon St. Cyr Fund (SSCFund). It is a charity organization currently being formed (501c3) with the vision of supporting the Leather Archives & Museum, National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) and "Bears". Once 501c3 status is attained, the SSCFund will also serve as a Foundation to help other organizations and charities raise funds by offering national, and in some cases international exposure. The SSCFund will have a national presence through the web and through regular media and speaking engagements of its founder.

The mission of the SSCFund is that together, with the community, the SSCFund will create different programs to raise money solely to assist organizations that are in need of higher profiles and working capital to accomplish missions for sexual freedom, sexual equality, and for organizations that serve sexual minority communities.

The SSCFund was founded by me, in an effort to ensure that the visibility awarded to me as a title holder would benefit the community long after the title was passed on to another IML.
The namesake of the SSCFund is Sharon St. Cyr, my mother, who passed away when I was 3 years old. She was a stay at home mom, but always supported everyone with extended arms and an open heart, and has been a constant source of inspiration and solidarity in the work I have done to benefit the Alternative communities. Sharon St. Cyr was born and raised in Maine, and her resting place is in Rumford, Maine.

More information will be available soon, so please watch closely.

I'll close for now. Take care.

Your Leather Brother, Jeffrey