LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Leather BeachAn Interview with Mr. Double L |
As the Rehoboth Beach leather community grows, so will it's place on the map of the nationwide leather community. Having a leather title holder all its own has gone a long way in getting the beach leather community noticed. Recently, I interviewed our first leather champion, who won the title, Mr. Double L, last summer. Since then, he has been busy with community service and serving as an excellent spokesperson for the beach gay community. Not only that, Jon went on to place in the Mid Atlantic Leather contest in January, a very prestigious national title. How has your year as Mr. Double L been going? It has been an amazing yearone I would never have seen myself in a year ago. I have made new friends and enjoyed representing the Double L and Rehoboth Beach at the various Leather events throughout the Mid Atlantic Region. I can tell you, I could never have placed 1st runner up at Mid Atlantic Leather (MAL) if had not been for the support and friends of the Leather communities in Rehoboth Beach and Washington, DC, and Mark and Johnthe owners of the Double L. They all have been my mentors and offered encouragement, guidance, and friendship. What types of activities and fund raisers have you been involved in? I sponsored a fund raiser on New Year's Eve at the Double L to raise money for the Sussex County AIDS Committee. I attended the grand opening of the Leather Archives and Museum in Chicago during the month of February. In March I attended Scarlets bake sale at the DC Eagle and was elected to be one of the Vannas. This is an annual fund raising event where baked goods like you have never seen before are auctioned to the highest bidder. I will say that my entry won best individual entry and highest price of $450. The latest event I attended was an Easter Basket auction where the top three winners of MAL got together and raised over $1,600 with the proceeds to be donated to the Leather Archives, Whitman-Walker Clinic in DC, and the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center Project. How do you feel the Rehoboth Beach leather community is developing? I feel the Rehoboth Beach Leather community is developing as Rehoboth grows and becomes more of a year round community. I doubt Rehoboth will ever be a large leather community but the Double L certainly is packed during the summer with a great cross section of the gay community and that tells you something. For the first Mr. Double L Leather contest, over one hundred people attended with nine contestants. That is almost unheard of particularly in the first year of a leather contest. This year I am expecting to almost double the number of attendees which will make it one of the largest Leather events in the Mid Atlantic region. Do you think the word is finally out that Rehoboth Beach has a leather bar? I HOPE SO!! I know that whereever I go, from Norfolk to Philadelphia to Chicago, people have heard about the new Mr. Double L Leather contest in the little resort town of Rehoboth Beach and are talking it up. Several people have heard about the Double L, Rehoboth Beach and that I won first runner up at Mid Atlantic Leather. That is a big step for the first year of a Leather contest and lots of exposure for Rehoboth Beach. Do you relate to the bear community, especially the Eastern Shore Bears, and do you think that the leather and bear communities can work together for common goals? I certainly relate to the bear community because I accept the diversity in each of us. However, I feel we are more similar than different and our communities overlap a great deal. The Double L is home to both communities and I am glad we have a place to mix both communities. The Eastern Shore Bears have been great supporters of the Mr. Double L Leather contest and supported my fund-raising events. I look forward to participating in an Eastern Shore Bears event and being asked to support a fundraiser. What does being Mr. Double L mean to you? Representing the Double L Bar, leather community, and city of Rehoboth Beach. To step forward and be an outspoken representative of the men and women of the gay community. Upon entering the Mr. Double L Leather contest in August 1999, I promised to give my time and talent to the men and women of the Leather community, to be a pro-active member of the Leather community, and never offer anything less than my best. Since being awarded the title, I have taken the following steps toward meeting that promise: sponsored a fund raising at the Double L benefiting AIDS care and the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center Project, spoken to civic groups about AIDS awareness, distributed information about Metro Teen AIDS to highschool counselors and teachers, and represented the Double L community at various regional Leather events and fund raisers. I am extremely proud to represent the Rehoboth Beach gay community. I heard that you placed highly at the Mid Atlantic Leather competition, do you think you will enter more contests? This is a tough question. Right now my focus is on the Mr. Double L Leather 2000 contest during the weekend of August 25-26, and making it an event Rehoboth will remember. We are expecting over 200 people to come into town just for this event. As you may have heard, we rented the wine cellar at Nassau Vineyards for the first Black Dance to be held after the contest. It will run from 10:30 - 4:00 a.m. on August 26th with a DJ from New York, laser lighting, a sound system that will rock, and an open bar! To answer your question specifically, I have been asked to think about entering certain contests next year and I will admit that thought is rumbling through the back of my brain. For now, I want to do my best to represent a community I feel extremely connected to Rehoboth Beach. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 10, No. 7, June 16, 2000. |