July 15: The Body Shop
7-9 pm at The Black Hart of St Paul
Almost 40 years ago, the Knights of Leather, a women’s leather club, and the Black Guard of Minneapolis, a men’s leather club, joined forces to host a leather night for everyone in the back room at the Town House. It was a night built on the idea that leather doesn’t care what group you belong to, it just wants you in the room.
This month, the Twin Cities Leather Dykes and the Atons of Minneapolis are bringing the night back in the exact same space it started. Join us for The Body Shop, an evening of cross-group leather socialization the way it used to be done: everyone welcome, everyone mixing, no separate corners.
Twin Cities Bootblacks will be on hand, offering leather care throughout the night, so bring your boots and gear.
Back in the 80s, that kind of night mattered more than ever. We had a president who hated us and a government that didn’t care we were dying, and the leather community built its own spaces to survive and celebrate anyway. That rebel energy is worth remembering, and worth recreating in the same room where it started.
Come dressed in your leather, come ready to meet folks outside your usual crowd, and come carry a little bit of that history forward with us.