Central Florida Leatherman 2014 Phoenix Colt Pendragon shares his views on the leather community

Orlando – Phoenix Colt Pendragon was named Central Florida Leatherman 2014 at Parliament House Resort in January and has since used his title as a way for outreach, education and uniting the leather community in Orlando and across the state. He has been a part of the leather community for two decades and enjoys the leather lifestyle just as much today as he did when he first explored it.

We chatted with Pendragon, who is also the Mr. SECC Leather runner-up, to learn more about his involvement, what the leather community means to him and how his title has helped promote the leather community across the state.

WATERMARK: How did you get involved in the leather community? What attracted you to it?
PHOENIX COLT PENDRAGON: Originally I was attracted to just the appeal of guys in leather, and that kind of turned me on. And as I got to meet the actual guys who were wearing it and learning more about it—thatreally drew me in.

Describe for us what the leather community is all about and what it entails.
It’s really hard to describe what being a leather man isall about. I mean being in leather, it’s a family. Once you really get into it, you find that you’ve become a part of a greater family within the LGBT community, and it’s a very close network of people. You get to know everyone within it and look forward to seeing them.

What is leather to you? If you could describe the leather community in three words or adjectives, what would you choose?
Wow, that’s hard (laughs). Well, first would be “family.” Second one would be “exciting.” And “sexual.” I get a sexual feeling when I see someone in leather. It’s a big turn-on for me.

How has the leather community evolved?
Well, the leather community did evolve from the military. A lot of it is based around the military. You know guys couldn’t be open about who they were and what their preferences were back then as much as we can now. So that’s sort of how it came about, and flagging to other men to say what they were into. And of course you get the dominant/submissive part of it which is based a lot around the military attributes as well.

I think as we’re moving forward from what we like to call “Old Guard,” which is what our roots are, into what they’re calling now “New Guard,” it’s evolving so much because we are a little bit more progressed. That’s because people don’t have to hide so much who they are and what they’re into.

I think that with the Old and the New, we’ve all got to realize that we all coexist and we’ve got to accept everyone, and that’s what it’s all about. We accept everyone for who they are and what they are into and not judge them for that saying, “Well, you can’t be a part of our community because you’re not doing it the way Old Guard does it.”[We must keep] our roots and accept someof the new ideals as well because we all evolve. Without that we aren’t going to grow our community.

Can you talk a little more about emerging trends within the community?
Probably the most prolific thing is the puppy community. I think we are getting so many people that find it easy to get into the puppy state of mind, being submissive. We never really had that much when I started in leather. We had the boys and masters and slaves and all that. But I think it gives kind of a breath of fresh air to it.

I also think that it’s kind of giving people a safe way out. I think that there are so many people who are choosing to be a puppy instead of a boy because being a boy is a little more restrictive.I think that’s the newest emerging thing that has kind of taken over. And it’s in a good way; I like it.

Do you think the leather community is sometimes mislabeled or misidentified?
Actually, I do. I think that sometimes when people see leather [folks], they think we are generally into all this pain and crazy stuff. They’re scared because they don’t understand until they come up to people and really talk to people about it.

I’m told a lot that I intimidate people when I’m in my leather, I think basically because they don’t understand it. And I think that’s with everything within our community. A lot of people don’t understand unless they ask and find out and get answers.

I definitely think people have a very big misconception about leather people and that all we do is bondage and beat people and stuff like that. There are other sides to us besides all that. We’re real people with everyday lives as well. That’s just a small portion of some other things we like to do.

Where do you think the leather community comes into play with the progress of the LGBT rights movement?
I think that the leather community carries a lot of our gay history, and if we didn’t have a leather community a lot of that would be lost. How our roots were, with the cruising and showing people what we’re into, they’ve really lost a lot of that over the years.

But you also have a lot of people in the leather community that are fighting for different rights. Like right now, PrEP is real big. So we actually have a lot of title holders within the community who are fighting to help get that more out there and acknowledged because it’s something that can help prevent the transmission of HIV. You have a lot more people who are within the leather community who are about it because we are such a close family that we can get the word out there, and we really feel strongly about those issues.

So what was it like winning 2014 Central Florida Leatherman? How did you get into the contest?
Actually, this was the second year that I competed for Central Florida Leatherman. The previous year I was first runner-up, so I competed again this year.

As far as my experience, being a titleholder this year has been one of the most amazing things that I’ve done within the community. I never actually thought that I would be holding a leather title, and the brotherhood and the sense of a family and being a part of something greater is just remarkable, especially going to IML and being a part of that.

My 46 brothers that I have there, we are so tightly bound together even though we are across the country. I know there are 46 guys out there who any point and time if I needed something or I needed someone to talk to, they would be there. That brotherhood and being a part of that family has made it all worth it.

It is a lot of work. People think that when you get a title that it’s just all fun and games and it’s all about the sex and whatever. I think that’s a common misconception. It’s actually a lot of work and takes a lot of time and money and dedication to go out to events and represent and try to build the community. Because ultimately that’s what it’s all about.

We’re out there to represent the community as a whole and reflect who they are and everybody else across the country and across the world.

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