The summer months are a great time to travel for leather folks, bears and cowboys. It’s a time we can meet leather brothers and sisters, tricks and online chat buddies at various events throughout the state and the country. Even though gas is expensive as all hell and airlines have become a nightmare, we seem to find a way to make it to Dore Alley, Lazy Bear, Provincetown, Great Lakes, Hairrison and, of course, the upcoming Folsom Street Fair.

I’ve been doing my share of traveling this summer, meeting leather brothers and sisters and tricks, but mostly concentrating on online chat buddies. Normally, I hear all kinds of good stuff about the San Diego leather community from outsiders – but not this year. Unfortunately, we’ve joined the countless other leather communities across the nation who are known for their drama and bitching instead of the good things they do.

It seems that a few of San Diego’s leather leaders have been blasting other San Diego leather leaders to people outside of San Diego. Recently, while attending a Leather Daddy’s boy contest in another city, I was approached by a prominent leather man who wanted to know what the hell was going on in San Diego and why everyone is fighting. He’d heard this person wasn’t speaking to that person because another person asked that person to do something this person didn’t think that person should be doing. Instead of handling things internally and going to the source of the matter or staying out of it entirely, this person got another person involved. Why? I have no idea.

It’s OK for one leader to disagree with another leader. It’s even OK for one leader to dislike another leader – as long as they don’t act a fool in public. What’s not OK is hanging out our dirty, filthy leather laundry for the entire leather world to see. There’s better ways to handle disputes, and if the leather leaders can’t understand that, how can they expect future leaders to understand that?

Luckily, not everyone is bitching people out, and some are actually gearing up for fall fun. Mr. San Diego Leather, Sidney McFadden, has spent the last few months learning the ways of a leather titleholder and will be presenting some exciting events in the coming months. He’s working with some of the local bar owners, business owners and gyms to revive some of our favorite events of the past. He’s also working on fitness events to help us keep our “chaps and harness bodies” throughout the fall/winter months. If you’ve never had a “chaps and harness body” then maybe this will help you get one before IML in May. I’ll share more about Sidney’s plans later.

The San Diego League of Gentlemen will host “Spanking” tonight at the Joyce Beers Center behind Trader Joe’s in Hillcrest at 7 p.m. If you’ve ever been curious about spanking (who hasn’t been curious about spanking?) then this is your chance to observe and learn. The presenters will demonstrate spanking techniques using various toys. If you’re a newbie, this will be the perfect place to learn and ask questions. If you’re seasoned, this will be the place to perfect your top-itude.

On Wednesday, Sept. 17 the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence present “Sister Suicide Scareoke” at Bourbon Street. You can actually “finger someone to sing the song of your choice.” I don’t know who came up with that line, but we’ll just leave it alone … for now. The Sisters host the event the third Wednesday of each month and proceeds benefit the Sister’s Condom Fund.

Once you learn how to spank and sing, and you have condoms in hand, head to Fagdad by the Bay for the Folsom Street Fair. Folsom is one of those things everyone should experience at least once in life. Surprisingly, Folsom is my least favorite of the fairs. It’s crowded, filled with looky-loos, and the naked people are usually very unattractive. Even worse, there are always straight people having sex out in the open. It’s true: at Folsom Street Fair straight people get naked and have sex in public. Unfortunately, much like the naked gay guys, the straight ones are usually very, unattractive too.

Drop me a line at inthepitsd@aol.com if you’re heading to San Francisco for the fair, and maybe we’ll run into each other. If not, I’ll see you when I get back to San Diego.