I joined an organization called Gay Male S/M Activists (GMSMA) years ago because I was curious and attracted to the leather-s/m lifestyle. What an adventure it has been. This group has introduced me to a leather-s/m community which is very welcoming and exciting. There is a kind of culture here, complete with a diversity of skills and tools, roles and rituals. In this culture, anyone is a potential participant.

Over the years, I learned that GMSMA, and in fact, the leather-s/m community as a whole, is grappling with an ethnic riddle. Even in large multiracial cities like New York, there are not that many people of color (meaning "non-Whites") visible in the leather-s/m community. Why not? Perhaps some are uncomfortable with this lifestyle or its social connotations. Perhaps many people of color are just not interested. Whatever the reasons, I believed the issue warranted some exploration and outreach. Being Chinese and a member of GMSMA, I knew I was statistically a "minority within a minority." Like GMSMA, I believe this community could become more racially inclusive if it invested more efforts in outreach to people of color.

Lately, due to outreach efforts from several organizations, the community has been alive with "S/M and People of Color" forums around the country. GMSMA facilitated a few, so did the National Leather Association, Men of All Colors Together NY, the Outcasts, and even the Leather and S/M Fetish Contingent for the March on Washington. As a contributor to three of these events, I gathered a few interesting observations from these forums.

Many participants at the forums expressed that leather-s/m publications such as Drummer and The Leather Journal need to do more to promote ethnic diversity. These publications are often regarded as a reflection of the community. If people buying these magazines see that the photos and illustrations are predominantly White, it's no wonder that they think the community is of interest mainly to Whites. Furthermore, it's untrue that there are not enough people of color in the community to photograph. For instance, in the 1992 Northeast Drummer contest in New York, the first runner up was Chinese and the second runner up was African-American. Yet oddly enough, in the write-up about this contest, Drummer did not publish a single photograph of these two other winners. With no pictures, there is no living proof of participation! And so the myth goes on that people of color are just not interested in this community. If this community wants to be more racially inclusive, publications need to change their old habits and join in the community's outreach. Racial diversity in a publication will go a long way to inspiring diversity in the community.

At the forums, I had encountered two serious and opposing phenomena taking shape in the community. For whatever reason, if a leather-s/m group is founded by Blacks or if the majority of its leadership is Black, some at the forums had concurred that there is the perception that this is a "Black" club, just as the Cosby Show is perceived by many as "Black" entertainment. People involved in these groups expressed concern that they were having a difficult time getting non-black members from the community to join their multiracial group. They wonder where the solidarity and the support for diversity is which the community so often touts?

On the other side, there are those who want leather-s/m groups which are exactly the opposite, for "people of color only." These people contend that they have been ignored for too long and they need a space to address issues not generally possible in "White-dominated" environments. Since the community already has men-only, women-only, and gay-only groups, people of color-only groups will just add to the dimension of choices.

Looking at these two issues of racial inclusion and exclusion, there is one thing we must not forget. We have many devoted enemies out there who want nothing better than to legislate us out of existence. When we mobilize against them, each and every color in our community must stand together, united, and fight as one.

Over the years, the homosexual leather-s/m community has gained political strength as more and more people became a part of it. Issues today range from convincing the medical establishment to recognize that s/m is not a mental sickness, to fighting for the rights of British citizens who are unjustly imprisoned for engaging in safe, sane, and consensual s/m.

People of color may carry different priorities. Gay or not, people of color are still not welcome to live in certain White neighborhoods. Some are still denied jobs or other economic opportunities. Some still feel that police enforcement and the law are unfair and that the L.A riots are mere signs of more to come at the next incident. As more and more people of color join our leather-s/m community, we should not assume that they will adopt our issues and leave their issues behind. The goal of our community outreach is not to assimilate all newcomers but rather, to share in each other's interests. We encourage people of color to share our community's issues, but likewise, our community should be able to work with theirs. Imagine how powerful our outreach could become if leather-s/m organizations such as GMSMA got together with people of color organizations such as Men of All Colors Together (MACT) and sponsored anti-racism, anti-violence, or safe-sex projects. The bridge may be a small one, but it shows the leather-s/m community really cares.

On the other hand, if people of color see that the leather-s/m community does not take any interest in sharing their concerns and there appears to be no room in our community's agenda for their issues, then the message is quite clear that our outreach is one-sided and therefore, will ultimately lack credibility. Our community should not forget that when we do outreach to people of color, we are not aiming solely to increase their numbers, but rather, to increase their representation within our community.

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