Leather Archives and Museum. (1989). Boots are made for marching flyer. Https://Leatherarchives.Org/. Retrieved 14 April 2022, from https://leatherarchives.org/ca/index.php/LoginReg/LoginForm

<aside> 💡 For the sources listed under each myth: click on the title to see more info about each source, including a link to the full text. Click on the expand arrow for just the pull quotes.

</aside>

Myth 1: Kink/BDSM representation is not appropriate at Pride Marches

Facts:

• Leatherfolk marched in the very first pride
• The “Kink at Pride” debate is as old as pride itself
• The Eulenspiegel Society has had an official presence at NYC pride since the 1970s
• The Bay Area leather community founded the AIDS Emergency Fund in response to the AIDS/HIV crisis in the 1980’s

Sources

• [A History of Leather at Pride: 1965-1995](https://beyondsafewords.notion.site/A-History-of-Leather-at-Pride-1965-1995-6c4871088a65457cad3853e314e6a5fb)
• Unsung Heroes: The Leather Community's Response to AIDS
• Unsung Heroes: Leather Community Acknowledged on World AIDS Day

Myth 2: tHinK oF ThE ChiLdREn!

Facts:

• Rhetoric about "protecting children" has been weaponized against sexual minorities by radical feminists and conservatives alike.
• Such moral panics cause demonstrable harm, and don’t actually protect children.
• This bias has been used against BDSMers in divorce and custody cases (moreso before the DSM 5 removed consensual BDSM from paraphilia diagnoses.)

Sources

• Blood under the bridge: reflections on “thinking sex.”
• Kinky identity and practice in relation to the law