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Animal 'Rights' Activists Confront Homosexuals Over Leather 'Pride' By Michael L. Betsch CNSNews.com Staff Writer January 17, 2003
(CNSNews.com) - Hundreds of leather-clad homosexuals hailing from across the country were confronted by animal "rights" activists Friday as they kicked off Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend in Washington, D.C. Avoiding condemnation of the leather enthusiasts, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) sent homosexual activists to offer "cruelty-free" alternatives to the alternative lifestyle crowd.
PETA first learned of the leather event when CNSNews.com asked the animal "rights" group if it would be opposed to thousands of leather fetishists and dozens of erotic merchandise vendors flaunting their fondness for leather clothing and bondage equipment in the nation's capital over the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday weekend.
PETA was told that the event's sponsor, Centaur Motorcycle Club (Centaur MC), had booked every room in the Washington Plaza Hotel so it could host more than 30 exhibitors peddling their BDSM (Bondage, Discipline, Sadism, Masochism) equipment and leather clothing in a "leather exhibit hall." The hotel would also provide the stage for a leather "boot black" polishing competition.
PETA Advocates Cruelty-Free 'Pride'
"We decided to come to the Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend in our 'pleather' [false leather] and 'animal friendly' gear so we could show our gay friends that you can have just as sleazy a look without killing any animals," said Dan Mathews, a homosexual PETA campaign coordinator outfitted in "pleather" from head to toe.
Mathews said he and his fellow PETA activists, a transsexual and a cow mascot, did not travel to Washington to antagonize or condemn the leather event and its participants. "We're just [trying] to get them to think about things," Mathews said. "They're just an unthinking crowd when it comes to this issue."
Ignorance of animal cruelty issues among the leather fetish crowd is a growing problem, especially among older enthusiasts who never heard of animal rights when they were younger, Mathews said. The Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend, he noted, is PETA's first official protest of such an event.
"It's something that many of us in PETA who are gay have done in our social lives for many, many years," Mathews said. "But I think it just shows that as the [leather] scene circuit stands, we want to make sure people know that animals pay a very hideous price for their sins."
Kayla Worden, who identified herself as a transsexual and a PETA campaign coordinator, said there are many "vegan erotic products" available online. She said PETA actively promotes such online stores on its own World Wide Web site.
Mathews said he and Worden intend to encourage the homosexual leather enthusiasts to show their true "pride" this weekend by standing up for animals and choosing compassion over cruelty.