Forget the ugly sweaters: How a Latino leather community does the holidays

On the Friday nighttime aft Thanksgiving, a edifice country connected the 17th level of the Hotel Indigo successful Downtown Los Angeles was transformed into a leather dressing room. About a twelve friends crowded astir a king-size bed, cracking unfastened Tecates, vibing to techno location euphony from a portable speaker, and adjusting each other’s harnesses.

The flash of a integer camera went disconnected similar a strobe arsenic Yair Lopez documented his friends earlier their nighttime astatine an afterparty. They were each determination arsenic portion of the L.A. iteration of CLAW: a nationalist leather and kink normal that offers workshops, parties and assemblage spaces for radical funny successful BDSM culture. Founded successful 2002, the normal started retired successful Cleveland, but has besides held events successful in L.A. since 2021.

As others spent their Thanksgiving vacation with humor relatives astatine the meal table, this peculiar gathering was dubbed “Leather Thanksgiving” — a solemnisation of chosen family, cobbled unneurotic from assorted corners of L.A.’s queer nightlife. For Lopez and his friends, that consciousness of belonging is lone growing.

“This concatenation was talented to maine from a friend,” Lopez said arsenic helium adjusted the metallic astir his neck. “Chains with a fastener correspond that you person a dom and the different idiosyncratic has the key. I’m inactive waiting for the lock,” helium added jokingly, glancing astatine his boyfriend.

Leather enthusiasts pre-game up of the merchandise enactment for the film, “Encuerados,” connected November 28th astatine the Hotel Indigo successful Downtown Los Angeles.

(Yair Lopez / For De Los)

It was a large time for Lopez. Earlier helium showcased 3 of his photos arsenic portion of a leather creation assemblage and attended a screening of “Encuerados,” a abbreviated documentary helium appeared in, which shadowed a radical of Latino men carving retired abstraction successful L.A.’s leather community. An “Encuerados” afterparty would soon follow.

For Lopez and his friends, leather is little astir fetish and much astir kinship, information and visibility, successful a metropolis wherever queer Latino spaces stay scarce.

Lopez has go a disposable unit successful L.A.’s leather underground scene, gathering assemblage done some his creation and the spaces helium helps create. He has self-published his enactment done photos and zines; helium besides founded Contramundo, a Latino leather nighttime astatine the Bullet Bar successful North Hollywood. His assemblage enactment adjacent led to a third-place decorativeness successful the 2023 Mr. L.A. Leather competition.

He started shooting a decennary ago, moving from thoroughfare scenes and hikes to L.A.’s queer nightlife. That enactment yet led him to the Eagle, wherever helium recovered a muse and a assemblage helium didn’t cognize helium needed.

“I grew up successful a beauteous spiritual Mexican household successful the San Fernando Valley. I was made to consciousness ashamed of who I was, adjacent my ain body, truthful uncovering this felt truthful needed,” helium recalled.

Located successful Silver Lake, the Eagle is simply a bequest leather barroom that has anchored L.A.’s kink country for decades. It is besides 1 of the fewer remaining spaces for this country of queer nightlife. And portion Lopez did consciousness seen done the leather community, determination was inactive a portion missing.

“It is nary astonishment that a batch of cheery spaces are predominantly white, truthful uncovering cheery brownish assemblage is hard. But that changed erstwhile I started gathering different like-minded Latinos successful leather,” Lopez said.

One of those Latinos was Leonardo Iriarte, the archetypal Latino Mr. L.A. Leather and co-founder of Payasos L.A., a nonprofit that organizes events and communal assistance efforts to enactment Latino visibility successful the leather world.

The radical of friends ran into Iriarte arsenic they made their mode to the 18th floor, wherever helium was DJing for the nighttime successful a large, dimly lit league room.

Dressed successful achromatic leather pants and boots, Iriarte had “Mr. L.A. Leather 2011” embroidered crossed the backmost of his vest. The Michoacán autochthonal besides happened to beryllium the protagonist of the “Encuerados” documentary and big of the “” afterparty.

“When I moved to the United States successful 2001, I didn’t determination for the classical American imagination of looking for a amended beingness financially,” said Iriarte. “My intent of moving present was to beryllium escaped arsenic a cheery person.”

Latinos successful leather airs up of the “Encuerados” screening during the CLAW L.A. normal connected November 28th astatine the Hotel Indigo successful Downtown Los Angeles.

(Yair Lopez / For De Los)

And portion Iriarte did find that state helium hoped for, helium was not prepared for the racism helium would brushwood successful the leather country — particularly aft winning his title.

“I retrieve a hatred run and adjacent decease threats aft I won,” helium said. “It was scary, but it opened a doorway for different Latinos, and this abstraction has grown truthful overmuch since.”

As it gets person to midnight, the acheronian league country swells with bodies moving to Iriarte’s pulsing techno. Partygoers poured successful sporting leather chaps, chest-hugging harnesses, and adjacent tejana hats for a vaquero-leather twist.

Lopez enactment down his camera to circulate and greet friends from implicit the years. He bumped into Orlando Bedolla, manager of “Encuerados,” who archetypal met Lopez 4 years agone portion filming the documentary.

“I learned astir his photography, the zine helium was making, each of it,” Bedolla said. “I recovered him absorbing due to the fact that helium is virtually a Latino expanding Latino practice successful the leather community.”

Bedolla recalled attending CLAW L.A. successful 2021 and going to his archetypal Latino enactment determination aft getting an invitation from Payasos L.A. Inside, helium recovered a country afloat of mostly Latino men successful jockstraps, harnesses and leather. He was struck by the vigor of an underground assemblage helium didn’t recognize existed. That nighttime would go the effect for the film.

On the creation floor, colored lights flashed crossed Lopez’s visage arsenic helium tried to support way of his country key. His friends borrowed it to tally upstairs to their shared country for much drinks — and helium wondered aloud astir however messy it would beryllium aft their two-night stay.

These spaces, low-lit yet overflowing with camaraderie, connection the assemblage thing harder to find anyplace else, particularly during the holidays: the state to beryllium afloat themselves.

“When I measurement into spaces similar this, I don’t conscionable spot leather,” Lopez said, taking a sip of his vodka soda. “I spot radical reaching for immoderate benignant of joyousness and transportation we’re perpetually told is wrong. But we each privation to consciousness touched and seen — and there’s thing incorrect with that.”