By Jennifer Howe (they/them) / Photography by Ali Vesey

As the sun sets over the glittering lights of the Las Vegas Strip, a new group of leaders rises to claim their place in the spotlight. We are thrilled to introduce the 2024 Las Vegas Title Holders, a distinguished group representing the heart and soul of our vibrant queer kink and leather communities. This year’s honorees include Mr. Las Vegas Leather, Miss Las Vegas Leather, Las Vegas Bootblack, and the Las Vegas Leather Puppy. Each of these remarkable individuals embodies the spirit of camaraderie, resilience, and passion that defines our community.

In this special editorial, we delve into the lives and minds of our titleholders through a series of questions. Join us as we explore their journeys, inspirations, and visions for the future. Get ready to be inspired by their stories of dedication, leadership, and unwavering commitment to their community.

Skylar
Las Vegas Bootblack 2024

What does PRIDE mean to you?

PRIDE means love to me. It also means acceptance. I lived too long not knowing myself and my place in the world. PRIDE has helped me feel like myself.

Why do you want to represent PROUD & Kinky and Las Vegas PRIDE as a leather titleholder?

I want to be able to represent the community in a way I know many others are unable to. I want to provide information and love for others who want to learn about the leather community and boot blacking.

What is something you would like to try to achieve with this platform?

I would like to see the community more connected. I can not say if holding this title will help, but I would like to try it with the other title holders. I believe this will include teaching and encouraging others to volunteer. If just one more person volunteers because of something I did or said, I would see this as successful.

What is something the queer and kinky community needs here in Las Vegas? How would you try to solve that?

In the past, I would answer this question with education and discussion groups. This has been changing in the last year, and those things have been addressed and seem to be going amazing under the leadership of many different people in the community. I think now more engagement from PRIDE in the kink community is needed. I hope to solve this by being a representative at events and providing support for those events.

Madame Aza
Miss Las Vegas Leather 2024

What does PRIDE mean to you?

PRIDE, to me, is about embracing and celebrating one’s authentic self without fear or shame. It’s about standing tall in who you are, regardless of societal norms or expectations, and advocating for equality, acceptance, and love for all individuals, regardless of their gender identity, sexual orientation, or kinks.

Why do you want to represent PROUD & Kinky and Las Vegas PRIDE as a leather titleholder?

I am deeply passionate about advocating for diversity, inclusion, and acceptance within both the queer and kinky communities. As a leather titleholder representing PROUD & Kinky and Las Vegas PRIDE, I see an opportunity to amplify voices that often go unheard, to challenge stereotypes, and to foster a more understanding and supportive environment for all individuals, especially those within marginalized communities.

What is something you would like to try to achieve with this platform?

With this platform, I aim to promote education, awareness, and destigmatization surrounding queer and kink identities. Success would be measured by increased visibility and understanding within the broader community, by fostering meaningful connections and support networks, and by advocating for policies and initiatives that promote equality and acceptance.

What is something the queer and kinky community needs here in Las Vegas? How would you try to solve that?

One of the needs within the queer and kinky community in Las Vegas is accessible and inclusive spaces for gathering, socializing, and support. To address this, I would work towards organizing and promoting events, workshops, and resources that cater to diverse identities and interests. This could involve collaborating with local businesses, community organizations, and venues to create safe and welcoming environments for all.

Puppy Chalupa
Las Vegas Puppy 2024

What does PRIDE mean to you?

To me, as a transmasc, queer person of color, PRIDE means everything. PRIDE gives me and many others the space to feel confident in our identities and to connect with others who feel the same in our day-to-day lives. PRIDE can also be heavy at times. Queer people are constantly reminded that we aren’t completely safe to be who we are when it comes to politics and literal human rights. PRIDE is seeing queer representation grow and flourish even through the hard times; it gives us hope for easier days and a yearning for things to be better.

Why do you want to represent PROUD & Kinky and Las Vegas PRIDE as a leather titleholder?

I want to represent PROUD & Kinky Las Vegas as a leather titleholder because I believe it will open up even more opportunities for me to be able to volunteer my time and energy to the queer and kinky community. I have always been the person to volunteer to demo bottom or come early to set up event spaces, and I would be elated to have the chance to do that more for my community at another level. My community has done so much for me over the past 12 years of being queer and five years of being kinky that the least I could do is strive to be in positions that allow me to directly give back and work for the community. I also love being able to interact with new folks from all walks of kinky queer life. I have so much to learn from the people I have and haven’t met yet and I know there’s a wealth of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding that can be taught and learned during the journey of holding a title.

What is something you would like to try to achieve with this platform?

Something I would like to achieve with this platform is to show that people who look like me can be an active part of the community. Black, fat, trans, none of these things should be roadblocks in the queer and kinky community, and I personally have found that lots of people who do fit into those categories have a hard time entering into these spaces because there aren’t as many examples of us to look towards. Specifically, when it comes to the pup community, most people have a very rigid view of what they think of a pup. There’s a very set vision, and I want to break down that mold and show that anyone can be a puppy, kinky, or queer. No matter what you look like or the amount of gear you have. The way I would judge the success of this goal is to actively see more gender and identity-expansive people at all types of events around the city.

What is something the queer and kinky community needs here in Las Vegas? How would you try to solve that?

I believe that the queer and kinky community in Las Vegas needs a gathering place or calendar of sorts in person or online where we can discuss community events as a whole. I try to stay on top of what’s happening in the community, but it’s hard when there are so many events and groups. I mainly use Fetlife to see events that are going on, but many events aren’t put on there, so I miss them. I really appreciate that ToolBox takes the time to share all of the community events that are coming up during their classes, and The Pup Coalition even has town hall meetings. I feel having a more centralized place or a group calendar that community leaders have access to would be beneficial.

Topher
Mr. Las Vegas Leather 2024

What does PRIDE mean to you?

PRIDE, to me, is a very broad term that represents a few things all at once. PRIDE is way more than a festival each year. It is what we embody as LGBTQIA+ people, unabashedly unafraid to be ourselves in a changing world. My own sense of pride is to be visible, hold rainbow flags, wear rainbow shirts, and never hide the colors, both of the pride flag and the leather pride flag, and not to confine this to the month of June. I do this not only to show others that I take pride in who I am but so that others know I’m safe to be around and help others in our community show their pride.

Why do you want to represent PROUD & Kinky and Las Vegas PRIDE as a leather titleholder?

I would like to represent PROUD & Kinky and Las Vegas PRIDE as a titleholder because I believe this community could use more visibility and that I could help to accomplish this. I’ve been an active member of the Las Vegas leather community for a couple of years, and I’ve been involved with several other big cities’ communities before moving here in 2019. As a member of both the local leather scene and leather clubs elsewhere (currently standing up a Veterans’ Leather Alliance with friends across the country), I believe that I could be a valuable asset to helping our city gain more visibility and a bigger reputation for both locals and those who visit our town.

What is something you would like to try to achieve with this platform?

I would also ask for open communication and the willingness to join forces with other parts of our community because our community here in Las Vegas is just like our city: spread out and with unique pockets everywhere. I view this opportunity as a chance to join hands with others and achieve real growth for the leather, kink, and LGBTQIA+ communities.

We are unlike many other big cities’ communities in that we have such a large, intense tourist flow. At times, it is hard to find a community to relate to, especially on the leather side. I would see earning this title as a responsibility and commitment to improving that. We do not currently have a leather bar here in town, and while it is a tall ask to stand up a bar in the next year, we could lay the groundwork to getting towards that. For as touristy a city as Las Vegas is, our own locals often travel elsewhere for leather festivals. A good mark of our own success would be how much “at home” our own community members feel here, right in their own backyard.

What is something the queer and kinky community needs here in Las Vegas? How would you try to solve that?

We need a home. I don’t believe this necessarily needs to be localized or restricted to a bar here in town, but rather a way to encourage those existing in essentially an underground leather club to be able to share the space and come together. This is no easy task, but I truly believe that we have to be the change we want to see in the world, leading by example. The leather and kink lifestyle lives and breathes as a part of me, and doing my best involves including and encouraging others to grow.

As someone well-versed in the kink lifestyle (well beyond the scope of my own dungeon/playroom), I truly enjoy educating others and helping them find where they are most comfortable in the leather and kink space. This applies not only to specific kinks or BDSM, but also to proper consent and what living a kink lifestyle responsibly looks like. I have no issues getting up in front of others to speak, whether to hold a discussion, a class, or a demo similar to what I did last year for the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence’s Fetish and Fantasy Bingo Night. This big city has plenty of opportunities to grow the community, and I’d like to make sure we can do it together.