The past three weeks the streets of San Francisco have been filled with porn stars, leather people and Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

The infamous Castro Theater was home to this year’s GayVn Awards, held the last weekend in March. Porn stars, personal trainers and massage therapists from around the world were in town hoping to take home a trophy for “Best Top or Bottom in a Scene,” “Best Three-way,” “Best Cum Shot” etc. Quite the serious occasion, these boys went on and on in their acceptance speeches thanking God, their mothers, gym coaches and everyone else who taught them to be the best porn stars they could possibly be. The real fun was the after party at Wunderland, where some of them went about proving why they deserved to win a trophy over others. From what I saw, some of them proved their points. If they performed in their videos as well as they did at the party, they might have won something.

The following weekend I was a judge for the Mr. San Francisco Leather Contest. Since I was in San Diego for the past eight years, I wasn’t privy to the drama that had surrounded the contest. I prefer it that way. Mr. San Francisco Leather is steeped in tradition and has produced some outstanding leaders in the leather community. A group of men who just happen to be Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence decided this tradition was too important to let die like the Ms. San Francisco Leather contest did many years ago. The leather world needs more men like these… habits and all.

The most difficult part of any leather contest is the pre-judging, which is usually held early on Saturday morning. This is to make sure the panel is tired, hungry, cranky and judgmental as hell. Each contestant, including Bryan Duke, Mr. Hayes Valley sponsored by Marlena’s Bar, and Mike Schuman, Mr. Deviant Leather sponsored by The Truck Bar, brought his own unique qualities to the contest. However, it was Brandon Clark, Mr. Powerhouse Leather and Lance Holman, also sponsored by the Powerhouse, who proved to be the frontrunners. From the judges’ standpoint, either of these two men could have won the contest and only a critical mistake would separate them. That mistake came in the speech category when Lance went over the time limit, costing him the title. Brandon’s onstage persona was perfection. His speech was interesting, engaging and delivered extremely well. I don’t even remember what he was wearing for the jock strap portion of the contest, because whatever it was it was just too much clothing for a body like that. Don’t believe me? Check out his BigMuscle.com profile “sfmuscl” number 3823. Brandon will compete with Mr. Mike of the San Diego Eagle in Chicago at IML this May. I know Mr. Mike will be well prepared and will NOT go over the 90-second speech time limit.

This past weekend was the 30th Anniversary of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. More than 300 nuns descended upon “Fagdad-by-the-Bay,” like Sister Bertrille caught in a San Francisco wind storm. This was “Nun World Order – Easter in the Park.” There were hundreds of habits in every color, shape and size imaginable but mostly big and pink. I spent eight years in catholic school, but I never saw so many people having as much fun as we did in Dolores Park this past Easter. It was good to see some of the Sisters from San Diego in attendance, too. They always seem to know where the good parties are.

Next week, I’ll be in the state capital for a party hosted by Mr. Bolt Leather, Rick Russell. The weekend after that I’ll be in Cleveland for C.L.A.W. (Cleveland Leather Awareness Weekend). It’s leather travel season, so hope to see you on the road.