History of New Mexico Leather
& Alternative Communities
Overview • Venues • Artisans • Groups • Events • Media • Individuals
History is a foundation that helps us approach the future with more understanding. Awareness of history helps us realize not just what came before us, but also understand how things have changed, are changing, what was attempted, successes, struggles, and the great time had by many in alternative lifestyle communities. It reminds us that time passes by quickly and to be sure to be kind as you travel through your journey through these alternative communities.
Media
Many forms of media influenced the alternative community culture of New Mexico. This media consists of publications, magazines, newsletters, books, movies, and eventually the rise of social media. This started with Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) that allowed phone dial-up connections to other computer systems. These were eventually replaced with Internet Relay Chat (IRC), the World Wide Web, and social media apps. While many groups, venues, artisans, and events eventually had their own media presence through newsletters and websites, this page focuses upon cross-community unique websites that contributed to our alternative communities.
New Mexico Media
This is a roughly chronological series of media activity within New Mexico or about New Mexico's leather and alternative communities. These items are primarily popular media that do not fall into the research category.
Media from and for New Mexico's leather and alternative communities is primary intended for local communication and consumption. They include publications and venues for communicating and entertaining - such as theaters, hard copy newsletters and online media.
1895-
New Mexico Daily Lobo
New Mexico Daily Lobo, commonly called the Daily Lobo, is the independent student newspaper of the University of New Mexico. Its institutional history begins with The Cactus in 1895, followed by The Mirage, the U.N.M. Weekly, and the New Mexico Lobo. It adopted the New Mexico Daily Lobo name during the twentieth century and remains a student-run publication serving both the university and the larger Albuquerque community. <a>
​
Daily Lobo it is not specifically a Leather, LGBTQ, or alternative lifestyle publication, but the influence it has on New Mexico is tremendous - repeatedly covering sexuality, queer life, alternative relationships, sex-positive businesses, as well as Albuquerque’s Leather, BDSM, fetish, goth, burlesque, and related communities. It acts as a bridge between students exploring their identities and the people, organizations, businesses, events, and educational resources beyond the UNM campus. Because of this, we highlight some historic examples from the Daily Lobo:
​
-
In 2010, the newspaper published the recurring sex-and-relationships column “Doing It in the Duke City.” Its subjects included safer anal sex, sex toys, pornography, communication between partners, threesomes, nontraditional relationships, and environmentally conscious sexuality. Several columns by Hunter Riley connected readers with Albuquerque’s Self Serve Sexuality Resource Center. The publication also printed student reactions and letters debating the value of openly discussing these subjects, making the newspaper itself a forum for changing attitudes toward sexuality. <b>
​
-
Also in 2010, Daily Lobo reported on the conflict between Albuquerque zoning officials and Pornotopia, an adult-film festival created by Matie Fricker and Molly Adler. Its coverage treated the dispute as an issue involving sexual expression, censorship, zoning, and the effort to present adult media in a positive, educational, and empowering environment. Follow-up reporting documented the cancellation of both the original festival and a less-explicit event that would have included burlesque and free-speech performances. <c> <d>
​
-
“BDSM and polyamorist communities alive and well in Albuquerque,” a particularly significant 2013 feature, examined Sanctuary Above the Crypt, fetish performance, BDSM, polyamory, and Albuquerque’s overlapping goth, queer, and kink communities. The article interviewed Julian Wolf, also known as Jack D. Nimble, and discussed bondage, flogging, wax play, role play, safewords, negotiation, consent versus abuse, and compersion. It also provided the date and location of an upcoming Sanctuary Above the Crypt event, directly connecting potentially interested readers with the community it described. <e>
​
-
The newspaper continued this bridging role through coverage of UNM sexuality programs, SexUality Week, alternative relationship structures, and local sex-positive institutions. A 2024 profile of Self Serve described its feminist and queer ownership, educational classes, body-inclusive practices, community programs, and continuing visits to UNM to provide sexuality education. <e>
​
Daily Lobo reaches young adults during a period of identity formation and personal exploration. Two directions the Daily Lobo has likely influenced New Mexico’s alternative communities are:
-
It made alternative communities more visible and understandable to students, while also giving community educators, performers, organizers, and businesses access to new generations of participants.
-
Its articles, photographs, columns, letters, event notices, and advertisements provide an important contemporary record of the changing relationship between university life and New Mexico’s wider Leather and alternative communities.
​
[Future work on this seciton: We need delve deeper in history via the 1986–2001 microfilm repository, looking for references to AEL, Motorcyclemen of New Mexico, Sandia Leathermen and Leatherwomen, Albuquerque Leather Daddys, Pride Gym, Tease Leather, local title contests, and bar advertising.]
​​​​
Sources: timeline.unm.edu/item/founding-of-the-new-mexico-daily-lobo-student-newspaper.html <a>, dailylobo.com/staff/hunter_riley <b>, dailylobo.com/article/2010/10/zoning_issues_pause_porn_fest <c>, dailylobo.com/article/2010/11/porn_show_organizers_even_censored_too_risky <d>, dailylobo.com/article/2013/01/bdsm-and-polyamorist-communities-alive-and-well-in-albuquerque <e>, dailylobo.com/article/2024/02/self-serve-but-not-froyo <e>.
1971-
The Guild Cinema
The Guild Cinema is a small movie theater in Albuquerque's Nob Hill that is supportive of foreign films, alternative films, and alternative communities of New Mexico, located at 3405 Central Ave NE. This cinema has moved through a number of owners and was on the verge of closing when it was acquired by local Albuquerque residents in 1998. It was threatened by a national chain but survived. In 2003, the cinema was transferred to it's next set of owners. An extensive history is at guildcinema.com/history.
One key cross-alternative-community showing at The Guild is the international Hump Film Festival produced since 2005 by Dan Savage, which features pansexual explorations of 16-23 sexual, alternative community, leather, and BDSM shorts. Another showing across town is the Way OUT West Film Fest produced by CLOSET CINEMA, an Albuquerque-based nonprofit organization dedicated to showcasing queer cinema in an attempt to highlight the richness of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender experience. Way OUT West tends to show at theaters across Albuquerque. This history lists The Guild both as MEDIA and on the VENUES page because it brings external movies to New Mexico, but is also a venue where our community interacts.
​​​​
Sources: qrd.org/qrd/www/usa/new_mexico/qnm-a-z-g.htm, guildcinema.com, humpfilmfest.com, filmfreeway.com/WayOUTWestFilmFest, wayoutwestfilmfest.com.
Guild Cinema, Albuquerque, in August 2022. Photographer: David Simpson.
A fun alternative community film festival shown at Guild Cinema, Albuquerque.
1981–1989 (documented)
Common Bond Ink
Common Bond Ink was an Albuquerque gay and lesbian community publication produced by Common Bond. Appearing regularly throughout the 1980s, it provided local news, commentary, interviews, advertisements, community-resource information, and a Gay and Lesbian Calendar.
Its contents documented far more than organizational announcements. Articles preserved recollections of earlier gay and lesbian life in New Mexico, reported on churches and community organizations, and discussed relationships and other concerns affecting local readers. Elizabeth “Liz” Canfield, the first straight member of Common Bond’s original board, wrote a monthly relationship-advice column titled “Dear Liz.” <a>
​
Advertisements also recorded bars, private clubs, businesses, and other gathering places that might otherwise have disappeared from the historical record. A June 1983 issue, for example, contains an advertisement for the 8300 Block, a men’s private club on East Central Avenue. <b> Common Bond also produced the Gay and Lesbian Guide to New Mexico, which collected information about organizations, churches, businesses, gathering places, and other statewide resources. Editions or supplements are documented during the later 1980s, including Common Bond’s Gay and Lesbian Guide to New Mexico in 1989. <c>
​
Although Common Bond Ink was not specifically a Leather or alternative community publication, it is an important contemporary source for reconstructing the broader environment in which those communities developed. Surviving issues are held by several archives, including the New Mexico History Museum’s Fray Angélico Chávez History Library, Albuquerque’s Special Collections Library, and the New York Public Library, which is a source for a broader set of publications in New Mexico. <d>
​​​
Sources: commonbondnm.org/liz-canfield-life.html< a>, elpalacio.org/2026/06/cruising-the-mother-road/ <b>, rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMM07301.html <c>, nypl.org/sites/default/files/archivalcollections/pdf/lgbtperi_0.pdf <d>,
1989–~2002 (documented)
Out! Magazine - New Mexico’s Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual News Magazine
Out! Magazine was an Albuquerque-based LGBTQ+ community magazine published by Out!, Inc. Contemporary archival records document it by March 1989 under the subtitle New Mexico’s Gay and Lesbian News Source. By 1993, some issues carried the expanded title New Mexico’s Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual News Magazine, explicitly recognizing bisexual readers within the publication’s identity. <a> <b> This magazine covered statewide news, politics, health, community organizations, arts and entertainment, books, events, and other matters affecting LGBTQ+ New Mexicans. It also included photographs, artwork, resource information, classified advertising, and advertisements for local businesses and gathering places.
​
Roy Reini served as editor during at least the later years of publication.
Although Out! was not specifically a Leather publication.
Note: This Albuquerque publication began several years before the unrelated national Out magazine launched in 1992. The precise first and final publication dates remain unconfirmed; 1989–at least November 2002 represents the presently documented range.
​​​​
[This entry will be further researched through exploration of issues. A March 1997 issue is identified as Volume 7, Number 10 and Issue 93. Archival holdings also document Issue 107 from June 1998. A surviving 32-page issue published in November 2002 included statewide news, columns, entertainment, book reviews, resources, classifieds, and local advertisements. Its principal features addressed prison death of gay-rights pioneer Harry Hay. ]
​
Sources: rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMM07301.html <a>, wilcoxarchives.org/repositories/2/archival_objects/3553 <b>.
1991 (publish date of Trust, The Handbook)
Bert Herrman (author)
Bert Herrman, considered one of the world's most respected experts on handballing, resided in the area of Mountainair, New Mexico - in the town of Tajique with his partner Guy Seiler. He was the editor/publisher of "Trust/The Handballing Newsletter" and author of "Trust, The Handbook - A guide to the Sensual and Spiritual Art of Handballing," published in 1991. Bert earlier resided in the Castro district of San Francisco. Other works include "Being • Being Happy • Being Gay," a leading book on budling gay/lesbian self-esteem and "Mountainair, N.M., Centennial History, 1903-2003." He obtained a house in New Mexico for a fisting retreat.
​
The author created a retreat in Tajique, NM, intending to create a fisting retreat there. After Bert passed away on a trip in Hawaii, Guy Seiler took ownership of this property and the copyright to the hand book. The property is now an Air B&B, Casa Manzano.
​​
Sources: Interent, Craig Dill (interview 25Aug2024), Guy Seiler (interviews, 27Sep24, ?).
1992-2020
Weekly Alibi
A long-time staple of information for our alternative and progressive communities of Albuquerque and New Mexico was Weekly Alibi, also known as The Alibi. It was a free weekly newspaper distributed free to many public locations such as grocery stores and entertainment venues. It appealed to the broader normative community with news, events calendar, commentary, film reviews, restaurant guide, venue awards "Best of Burque," and much more. But The Alibi was progressive, listing alternative community events and also hosting the Alibi Fetish Ball events. See the EVENTS page of this history for more about these activities in Albuquerque. This publication was originally called NuCity, but changed its name due to a similar Chicago newspaper entitled Newcity. The last edition of Weekly Alibi was published in August, 2020.
​​​
Sources: Wikipedia, alibi.com.
1992-2005
The Adult Playpen
The Adult Playpen started out as an online Bulletin Board System (BBS) that transitioned to a website. Operated by Qaz, a Wiccan, the site had information on "Leather, S&M, Fetishes, Transvestites, Transsexuals, Gay, Latex, and Swinging." It was aligned with AEL (Alternative Erotic Lifestyles) group in Albuquerque. Qaz was 27 years old in 1999. The BBS apparently started about 1991 or 1992. It was advertised in AEL's newsletter in 1992. <a> Later it transitioned to a website in 2000. Qaz lived in Albuquerque working at Voicestream when he started this, eventually moving to the Seattle area then Las Vegas, Nevada. He intended to set up a swinger club there. While in Albuquerque, Qaz, participated in establishing AEL With Diva Marie.
​​
Sources: theadultplaypen.com on web.archive.org (1999-2005), Diva Marie (interview 22Sep24), <a> AEL Newsletter, Vol 1, Issue 2, 22Aug1992.
1995-1996
New Mexico NEWSLEATHER
New Mexico NEWSLEATHER was a short-lived community newsletter of five issues published in Albuquerque by Diva Marie and Leslie Anderson. It was driven by the great energy and success of Diva Marie and Leslie and intended to be published every two month, starting in September 1995 with the final volume dated May 1996. Diva made photocopies to distribute. It was short lived because the Internet was becoming a convenient place to publish news rather than in print. Leslie and Diva were very busy at this time and couldn't easily continue the effort. Leslie won the 1996 Ms. NM Leather title and became quite busy. Contributors over time included Casey Newkirk, C.J. Diamond, Steve Weardon, Jeff Tucker (IML), Lee Lambert, Cindy Bookout, James Peters, Eric Senff, Janet Ryan, and Viola Johnson.
​
Click the issue list below or issue cover image to open a PDF of the issue.
​
​
Sources: Diva Marie (interview 22Sep24), New Mexico NEWSLEATHER Issues 1-5 from LA&M Archives.
1998-1999
Queer New Mexico / Gay New Mexico Directory
Gay new Mexico Resource Directory at qrd.org/qrd/www/usa/new_mexico/directory.htm, from web.archive.net, capture from 26Feb2005.
Queer New Mexico was an early statewide online resource created and maintained by Albuquerque webmaster Jon-Carl Lewis. Its interconnected pages included the Gay New Mexico Directory, regional resource guides, community events, and an alphabetical “Queer New Mexico A to Z” directory.
​
The website organized information by both subject and location, with resource pages for Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces and Mesilla, Los Alamos, southwestern New Mexico, and southeastern New Mexico. Listings included community organizations, gathering places, bars, businesses, churches, health services, political and educational groups, publications, entertainment, and other resources useful to LGBTQ+ New Mexicans and visitors.
​
The directory also documented New Mexico’s Leather and alternative communities. Surviving listings identify Alternative Erotic Lifestyles (AEL), Sandia Leathermen and Leatherwomen, Tease Leather, and other businesses and organizations. Its coverage of Pride Gym and related community spaces also preserves information relevant to New Mexico’s Leather and sexual-subculture history. <a> Pages were being actively updated during late 1998 and early 1999. The alphabetical directory is copyrighted 1999 by Jon-Carl Lewis. Regional pages identify him as webmaster and contact person. <b>
​
Although it was not specifically a Leather website, Queer New Mexico demonstrates how early internet directories began replacing printed guides, newsletters, telephone trees, and word-of-mouth referrals. Its surviving pages preserve organizations, venues, contact information, and community connections that have otherwise largely disappeared from the public internet. The pages are now preserved within the Queer Resources Directory archive. The exact beginning and ending dates of the original website remain uncertain; 1998–1999 describes the presently documented surviving pages rather than its complete period of operation.
​​
Source: qrd.org/qrd/www/usa/new_mexico/directory.htm best accessed through web.archive.org <a>, qrd.org/qrd/www/usa/new_mexico/directory-nm-se.htm <b>,
1998-2005
BDSM New Mexico
BDSM New Mexico (more later) was an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) discussion group for discussions about the BDSM lifestyle. IRC is an early text-based chat system for instant messaging that allows group communication. Moonvine and their dominant Barddas, from Clovis, NM maintained the chat channel and the webpage. They had an objective of starting a munch group in the Clovis area. This IRC seemed to have little forum traffic, with a little only in 1989-1999, but had other reference materials.
​
Source: come.to/bdsmnewmexico on web.archive.net (1999-2005).
2005-2006
New Mexico Leathermen's Network
New Mexico Leathermen's Network was a short-lived online community set up by Boy Randy, aka PosLeather, that provided a means for gay leathermen of New Mexico to network and connect with each other. The site defined "leathermen" as a generic term to represent gay men who are into the extreme BDSM/fetish lifestyle. The website included a discussion forum, calendar, personalized photo profiles, and a links section. The site referenced other contemporary organizations (Leather Wolves, AEL, NM:TNG, Desert Pandemonium, Rio Grande Leather, Pride Gym).
​
Sources: nmleathermen.net on web.archive.org (2005-15Aug2006).
2008-2014
New Mexico Fetlifers (NMFL)
New Mexico FetLifers (NMFL) was founded in November 2008 by Sera Miles. It coincided with the establishment and rise of the online "Fetlife" platform earlier in 2008. However, NMFL was more than an online meeting place, Sara, Brittany Vick, and Saint St. James created large, ambitious local events, so created in-person activities such as the “Evolution of the Revolution" (EvoRevo) conference which hosted national speakers including the founding representatives from of Fetlife. See the GROUPS and EVENTS page for more information about NMFL.
This listing recognizes an online Fetlife community, group 2377 <i>, yet that record is lost because the NMFL groups on Fetlife were purposefully removed by the owners. <a-i> Yet NMFL's Google Calendar <j>, set up and maintained by Jim <a>, was found to still exist in 2026, and was captured into a database by this Alternative Community History Project for archival and analysis purposes. It was established by NMFL as a service to the community, as a resource to find all events. It contains 1,524 records (events) with 1,480 of them containing textual descriptions of many events organized by multiple organizations. Calendar activity peaked at 76 scheduled occurrences in October 2011, remained especially strong through 2012–2013, and declined during 2014. The following graph shows the number of monthly postings on the calendar.​​​
NMFL's calendar provides great historical research for many organizations in New Mexico, particularly through the developed database of worksheets. <k> For NMFL, the calendar identifies “NMFL’s Last Hurrah” on September 13, 2014, providing an exact closing event consistent with the reported September 2014 cessation. Additionally:
-
NMFL open board meetings appear from January 2010 through August 2012. <k>
-
NMFL’s programming included play parties, socials, PERV educational events, Bizarre Bazaar, safer-sex and personal-safety programs, FetLife 101, Kinky Parents, bullwhip instruction, M/s dynamics, breast bondage, community fundraisers, and anniversary events. <k>
-
The PEP office at 149 Jackson NE appears repeatedly as an educational and organizational venue. <k>
-
Nancy Ava Miller’s Edgewood properties appear repeatedly as social and play spaces. <k>
-
Several event listings direct participants to Sera Miles, strengthening the documented operational relationship among Sera, NMFL, PEP, and Nancy’s spaces. <k>​
​​
Resources:
​
Sources: Sera Miles (interview 19May24-11Aug26) <a>, Eldest Saint (interviews, online text) <b>, newmexicofetlifers.com on web.archive.net (2011-2014) <c>, New Mexico Secretary of State Corporate Business Search <e>, Master Dennis (interview 7Jul24) <f>, GROUPS <g>, EVENTS <h>, fetlife.com/groups/2377 <i>, calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/newembed?ctz=America/Denver&src=newmexicofetlifers@gmail.com <j>, NMFL Google Calendar Worksheets by the NM Alternative Communities History Project <k>.
(1974) 2013-2019+
Santa Fe Reporter
The Santa Fe Reporter, an independent weekly newspaper founded in 1974, has periodically introduced Leather, BDSM, kink, consent, fetish, and related alternative communities to a general New Mexico readership. Its coverage is significant because it generally treated these subjects as legitimate forms of community, culture, identity, and artistic expression rather than merely as scandal or spectacle.
​
-
In “The Candy Man Can” (2013), the Reporter profiled Santa Fe chocolatier Chuck Higgins as he prepared to announce a campaign for lieutenant governor. The article openly identified Higgins as a former Arkansas Mr. Leather and addressed the possibility that opponents might use his Leather background against him. Higgins rejected the premise that it was shameful and emphasized the values of mutual trust and respect that he had learned through Leather. <a>
While much of Chuck's alternative community contributions occurred outside of New Mexico, such as in the National Leather Alliance (NLA), he has interacted here. Chuck was involved in the 2003 New Mexico Leather-title dispute around Black Leather Weekend, was involved in Amber Garland’s Leather Life gatherings, and continued to engage in Santa Fe and Albuquerque events.
​
-
In “How to Get Laid” (2017), Albuquerque sex educator Hunter Riley presented consent as an ongoing process of negotiation, communication, and respect. Riley specifically credited alternative sexual communities with developing consent practices that mainstream culture could learn from, while acknowledging that kink and BDSM communities were not immune from abuse. The article represents an important instance of local media recognizing these communities as sources of practical knowledge rather than merely subjects requiring explanation. <b>
​
-
In “Normalizing BDSM” (2019), JC Gonzo documented a new Santa Fe social group organized by photographer Ageliki “Kiki” Klonis for women, queer, transgender, and nonbinary people interested in BDSM. Meeting at Evangelo’s, the group emphasized social connection, inclusion, vetting, and protection from predatory behavior. The feature provides rare contemporary documentation of an organized Santa Fe kink community and of the effort to create local opportunities outside Albuquerque. <c>
​
-
In “Burlesque-esque” (2019), the Reporter examined the history and artistic range of Santa Fe’s Zircus Erotique. Director Mena Domina described neo-burlesque as encompassing BDSM, fetish, circus, drag, and avant-garde performance. Although burlesque is not itself the central subject of this history project, the article documents one of the points at which fetish imagery and BDSM-influenced performance entered Santa Fe’s broader alternative cultural landscape. <d>
​
Together, these articles demonstrate that the Santa Fe Reporter repeatedly provided serious and generally affirming coverage of subjects that received little sustained attention from other New Mexico newspapers. Its archive preserves evidence of Santa Fe’s kink organizing, Leather visibility, alternative-community consent practices, and the intersection of fetish with local performance culture.
​
Sources: sfreporter.com/archives/candy-man-can/ <a>, sfreporter.com/archives/get-laid/ <b>, sfreporter.com/archives/normalizing-bdsm/ <c>, sfreporter.com/archives/burlesque-esque/ <d>.
2017
Show & Tell Sex by Self Serve Toys
Show & Tell Sex was a six-episode podcast produced by Self Serve Toys in collaboration with KUNM, a public radio station in Albuquerque NM. Self Serve toys is a feminist sex shop in Albuquerque New Mexico, specializing in body-safe, non-toxic toys with a health and education focus. See Self Serve Toys in the VENUES section of this history. <a>
​
Episodes:
-
Show and Tell Sex: An intro and a little foreplay
-
Celebrating Masturbation
-
Just a Couple of Kinksters
-
Stories & Perspectives on Non-Monogamy
-
Masculinity, Sexuality & Dating a Sex Shop Employee
-
White Supremacy in Sex Education
​
Hunter Riley was the co-host of the "Show and Tell Sex" podcast. She is the manager of operations and outreach at Self Serve, a sex educator, speaker and social media maven. She helps young adults find their voice and comfort level around conversations about sex and sexuality. After earning degrees in psychology, Spanish and journalism, she moved on to teaching classes in English and Spanish about pleasure, sex toys, communication, safer sex, consent, oral sex, kink, non-monogamy, birth control and more! She has authored several sex columns for newspapers and online media outlets in New Mexico including the Daily Lobo, the Santa Fe Reporter and Albuquerque Free Press. She has partnered with organizations like Planned Parenthood, the University of New Mexico, UNM Hospital, Enlace Comunitario, and Santa Fe Care Center. <b>
​
Sources: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/show-tell-sex/id1243041155/ <a>,kunm.org/people/hunter-riley/ <b>.
Popular External Media
External media, those that exist primarily outside of New Mexico, can have a strong influence on the alternative communities within New Mexico. This influence evolves over time, from early days of rarity of communication toward global connectivity of the Internet.
New Mexico’s Leather, kink, BDSM, motorcycle, and broader alternative communities have periodically attracted attention from publications produced outside the state. Some provided sustained community journalism, documenting New Mexico organizations, events, titleholders, and service.
​
These publications are important not only because of what they reported, but because external coverage placed New Mexico within broader regional, national, and international alternative-community histories. The depth and reliability of the coverage varies. Some publications provide valuable contemporary historical evidence; others offer more playful recognition of New Mexico’s unconventional character.
1965-2021
Bob Damron’s Address Books
Beginning in 1964, San Francisco bar owner Bob Damron published a compact annual travel guide identifying establishments where gay travelers could find community, companionship, and relative safety. Often compared with The Negro Motorist Green Book, the address books helped readers navigate an era when same-sex relationships remained criminalized in much of the United States and openly gay establishments were rarely advertised. The guides continued in various forms until 2021, creating a nearly six-decade record of gay and lesbian travel and social geography. <b>
​
New Mexico appeared in the first edition represented in the Mapping the Gay Guides <a> database, published in 1965. It identified six destinations: the News Room, Office, and Okie Joe’s in Albuquerque; the Pink Adobe and Senate in Santa Fe; and Jacque’s in Roswell. The listings were sometimes remarkably specific: the News Room was described as “very popular,” with dancing and a downstairs side entrance, while the Pink Adobe was marked as welcoming to “girls,” a designation for women.
​
Damron also used coded symbols to describe the character and clientele of individual establishments. From 1965 through 1989, “SM” indicated “Some Motorcycle & Leather.” Beginning in 1990, “L” identified Leather, fetish, and uniform establishments more explicitly. Other codes identified cruising areas, sexual activity, private clubs, Western or cowboy clientele, women, mixed-gender spaces, dancing, lodging, and potential danger.
​
Searching the available online (1965–2003) database provide direct evidence of New Mexico’s Leather-associated gathering places. Damron designated Depths in 1978 and the Albuquerque Social Club in 1988 as “SM,” meaning “Some Motorcycle & Leather.” After the designation changed to “L” for “Leather / Fetish / Uniform” in 1990, New Mexico listings included The Pit (inside AMC) and Albuquerque Mining Co. (AM), Cuff’s (inside Ranch) and the Ranch, Dave’s B&B, and Pride Gym. These entries help establish when particular establishments were externally recognized as serving Leather, fetish, or uniform communities rather than merely as general gay gathering places.
-
New Mexico SM listings - Some Motorcycle & Leather <e>
-
New Mexico L listings​ - Leather/Fetish/Uniform <d>
​
Note: These guides primarily reflect the experience and information network of a white gay male traveler from San Francisco, so will not include all local and minority viewpoints. Some of Damron’s classifications also incorporated racial, class, gender, and moral assumptions that are objectionable today.​
​​
Sources: mappingthegayguides.org <a>, mappingthegayguides.org/about-the-address-books/ <b>, newmexicohumanities.org/mapping-queer-history-in-new-mexico/ <c>, mappingthegayguides.org/database?year=&state=NM&amenity=%28L-1990-2005%29&sort=year&order=asc <d>, mappingthegayguides.org/database?year=&state=NM&amenity=%28SM-1965-1989%29&sort=year&order=asc <e>.
1983–1997
Drummer Magazine
Drummer Magazine was one of the most influential gay male Leather and BDSM publications of the late twentieth century. Although based outside New Mexico, it repeatedly connected New Mexico organizations and titleholders with the larger national Leather community.
​
Surviving issues documented the Motorcyclemen of New Mexico, New Mexico Gay Rodeo Association, Sandia Leathermen and Leatherwomen, New Mexico Drummer contests, and other organizations and events. Its title coverage followed Pat Sanchez after he became Mr. Southwest Drummer 1991, Chuck Floyd and Allen Gates as New Mexico Drummer and Drummerboy in 1992, James Danforth’s advancement from New Mexico Drummerboy to Southwest Drummerboy in 1993, and Dominick Zurlo’s 1994 title year. Advertising and contest reports also preserved dates and imagery that might otherwise have disappeared. An early reference is in ​Issue 25, which mentions "Depths" as a bar area in the back of Heights at 4021 Central Ave NE.
Drummer’s coverage is historically significant because it demonstrates that New Mexico’s Leather community was not isolated. New Mexico clubs, contestants, events, and fundraising activities participated in the same regional and national systems as larger communities in California, Colorado, Arizona, and elsewhere.
​​
Sources: Drummer Magazine (issues 25, 67, 108, 110, 114, 128, 130, 149, 150, 163, 172, 187, and 198) <a>, GROUPS <b>, EVENTS <c>, cowboyfrank.men (now perhaps on web.archive.net) <d>.
1989-present
The Leather Journal
The Leather Journal was founded by Dave Rhodes in 1987 as a national publication covering Leather clubs, organizations, events, titleholders, service, and community news. Over several decades, it became one of the most important external sources documenting New Mexico’s Leather history. Dave has been to Albuquerque multiple times as a judge or dignitary and reporter covering New Mexico events.
​
Its early coverage included the Motorcyclemen of New Mexico’s fifth Hot Air Run in 1989. Later reports documented New Mexico Drummer titles, Chuck Floyd’s $16,500 fundraiser for the New Mexico Association of People Living With AIDS, Pat Sanchez’s leadership and Rocky Mountain Regional Award, Sandia Leather’s “New Mexico on Fire: Leather ’96,” and New Mexico and Rio Grande Leather contests. International Mr. Fantasy Kevin Watson of the University of New Mexico appeared on the cover of Issue 87 against a Southwestern landscape.
​
Dave Rhodes personally attended the 2007 Rio Grande Leather weekend and published photographs of its organizers, titleholders, presenters, performers, bootblacks, and participants. In later years, The Leather Journal continued covering Albuquerque organizations and events, including the New Mexico Leather Bear/cub contest and Albuquerque Leather Daddys, Kinktoberfest, New Mexico Leather & Kink Fair, with articles in the July-August 2026 issue.
​
Unlike a single newspaper feature, The Leather Journal created a continuing national record of New Mexico’s participation in Leather culture. Its reporting preserves evidence of organizations, events, community service, and people that are now difficult to reconstruct from local sources alone. The Leather Journal archive, 1992 title and fundraising coverage, 2020 New Mexico coverage.
​​
1995 March 30
Bay Area Reporter
The San Francisco-based Bay Area Reporter provided notable outside coverage of New Mexico’s emerging inclusive Leather-title system in its March 30, 1995 issue. <a>
​
The report announced Lady Willow as the first Ms. New Mexico Leather and Buddy LaRue as the second Mr. New Mexico Leather, selected in Albuquerque on March 25. The article discussed the participation of eight contestants and praised the unity and pride displayed by the New Mexico community. It also identified Pat Sanchez as a prominent New Mexico Leather leader.
​
Others named in the article include J.C. Moore - owner of (Sidewinders) Ranch, IMsL Cindy Bookout, IML Jeffrey Tucker, Pat Sanchez, Sandia Leatherman, Motorcyclemen of New Mexico, Steve Benoit, James Collins, Steve Wearden, "Wild Bill Huff."
This coverage is particularly meaningful because it appeared in one of the country’s longest-running LGBTQ+ newspapers, published in a city often treated as the center of American Leather culture. New Mexico was presented not merely as a distant regional outpost, but as a community developing visible leadership, participation, and gender-inclusive Leather titles. <b> <c>
​​
Sources: cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=BAR19950330.1.44&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-------- <a>, GROUPS <b>, EVENTS <c>.
2006~2020
Find A Munch
Find A Munch, formally called the Munch+Adult Local Link (MALL) Directory, was an extensive international directory of locality-based Leather, BDSM, kink, fetish, polyamory, swinger, and other alternative-community organizations and activities. ​Motivation for directory creation was that noncommercial adult discussion groups and gatherings were often difficult to locate. Yahoo groups could be censored or deleted, while groups and munches on FetLife were often difficult to discover without already knowing their names. Find A Munch attempted to solve this problem by gathering thousands of links and short descriptions into geographic listings covering the United States and countries throughout the world. It also offered guidance for newcomers and group organizers. The site described the project as volunteer-supported community service and “a labor of love.” <a> <b> <c>
​​
Its principal named contributor was Joy, using the account name JoySpreader. Joy also promoted the directory publicly under that name. Other site material was published through generic administrative accounts, suggesting that additional volunteer assistance may have been involved. <d>
Find A Munch is listed here because the New Mexico Directory <e> has been a valuable historical record and link to NM Fetlifers Google Calendar. Its listings also preserve the names, descriptions, websites, Yahoo groups, FetLife group numbers, and apparent status of dozens of organizations and affinity groups operating or represented online around 2013–2015.
​
Find A Munch’s social-media activity had largely stopped by 2019, and its last identifiable website revisions occurred in March 2020, when pandemic warnings were added. This directory remains online but appears no longer to be routinely maintained. Someone has been renewing the domain name yearly, last noted in February 2026 from a WHOIS search. Its surviving pages serve an archival function, preserving evidence of organizations and online community infrastructure that has disappeared from the original platforms.
​
Sources: findamunch.com <a>, facebook.com/FindaMunch <b>, x.com/FindaMunch (originally Twitter) <c>, findamunch.com/category/writings-by-joy/ <d>, findamunch.com/new-mexico/ <e>.
2010–2011
The Advocate — “Gayest Cities in America”
The Advocate’s annual “Gayest Cities in America” features recognized both Albuquerque and Santa Fe as unexpectedly strong centers of LGBTQ+ life.
​
In 2010, Albuquerque ranked fifteenth. The publication described the city as a Southwestern LGBTQ+ “hotbed,” identified Nob Hill as a gay neighborhood, and noted Exhale as the only lesbian bar between Dallas and Phoenix. In 2011, Santa Fe was similarly highlighted for its established LGBTQ+ population, RainbowVision retirement community, drag shows, and Silver Starlight Lounge, which had also been recognized by Out magazine.
​
These rankings were deliberately playful and based partly on subjective criteria. Yet they provide external evidence that New Mexico’s LGBTQ+ venues and social communities had become nationally visible outside the usual coastal centers. The Advocate’s 2010 Albuquerque listing, 2011 Santa Fe recognition. <a> <b>
​​
Sources: advocate.com/travel/2010/01/13/gayest-cities-america <a>, advocate.com/travel/2011/01/12/gayest-cities-america-february-2011 <b>.
2012–2013
Leatherati
Leatherati, a national online Leather-community publication, published at least two historical articles addressing New Mexico and the surrounding region.
​
“Leather History in Albuquerque,” published April 14, 2012 by boy bionic, <a> <d> discussed Albuquerque’s Leather history in conjunction with Spring Pandemonium, Albuquerque Leather Daddys’ “Under Cover of Darkness,” <e> and the public introduction of Albuquerque boys of Leather. <f>
​
“A Hidden Legacy: Intermountain Leather History,” <b> <g> published January 18, 2013, placed New Mexico within a broader regional history that included Colorado and other Intermountain communities. The article is particularly useful for understanding how New Mexico’s contests, organizations, and title systems interacted with neighboring states.
​
These articles were retrospective rather than contemporary reporting, but they recognized that Albuquerque and New Mexico possessed an identifiable Leather history worthy of preservation within the national community.
​​
Sources: “Leather History in Albuquerque,” Leatherati, April 14, 2012 <a>, “A Hidden Legacy: Intermountain Leather History,” Leatherati, January 18, 2013 <b>. (web.archive.net), facebook.com/leatherati/ <c>, medium.com/leatherati-online/leather-history-in-albuquerque-c03b52a5f5f3 <d>. youtu.be/x0OX2GuPsfQ?si=rwEiSZj1LzRZYLh_ <e>, medium.com/leatherati-online/albuquerque-boys-of-leather-574b83ef6e50 <f>, medium.com/leatherati-online/a-hidden-legacy-intermountain-leather-history-c5cb71269aa7 <g>.
2015-2023
The Master Calendar
The Master Calendar - Leather, Kink, and Fetish Events was a collaborative Google Calendar created to help event producers, titleholders, community organizations, and participants locate Leather and kink events. Its surviving description calls it a master list intended to connect people with information about events occurring throughout the community. <a> <b> On January 28th, 2016, the Facebook graphic displayed "The Master Calendar of Leather Events," and on September 24, 2020, as the pandemic closed the country, it changed to "Master Calendar of VIRTUAL Leather, Kink, and Fetish Events." <b> The Facebook page has 1.7K followers with its first post on January 29, 2016. <b>
​
The surviving calendar contains 715 event records dated from June 2015 through November 2023. Its activity was greatest between 2015 and 2020 and declined substantially afterward, although a small number of events were added through 2023. One existing record was modified as recently as November 2024. The calendar’s owner has not been identified.
​
The calendar was maintained with assistance from invited community contributors. Bear Mike was contacted by its owner and began contributing approximately during 2016 or 2017. He submitted many of its later New Mexico listings, in addition to other NM organization submissions. <c>
​
The Master Calendar preserves event names, dates, locations, descriptions, organizers, presenters, title contests, websites, and social-media links from across the Leather and kink communities. Its New Mexico records help document Leather Fiesta, the New Mexico Leather League, Albuquerque Leather Daddys, Onyx Men of Color, Women of Drummer, Spring Pandemonium, and other activities between 2015 and 2022. The complete calendar has been preserved in its original ICS format and converted into a searchable historical inventory by this NM Alternative Communities History Project and Domum Corium Cordis.
​
Resources:
​​
Sources: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=1sss9i67f3doc8fq1kp1cv44uc@group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/New_York <a>, https://www.facebook.com/Mastercalendar/ <b>, Bear Mike <c>.
2026 August 01
New York Post — “USA’s Most Sexually Adventurous States”
On August 1, 2026, the New York Post reported that New Mexico had received the highest “Kink Score” in a nationwide study produced by Say It With A Condom.
​
New Mexico received a score of 91.6, ahead of Oregon and Arkansas. The ranking combined sexual and adult-content Internet searches, visits to adult stores, reported frequency of sexual activity, and interest in practices including BDSM, swinging, and outdoor sex. The article characterized New Mexico as the most sexually adventurous state in the United States.
The study does not measure the strength, ethics, inclusiveness, or organizational activity of New Mexico’s actual Leather and kink communities. Internet searches and consumer behavior are not the same thing as community participation. However, the article provides an amusing example of outside media recognizing New Mexico as a place with unusually strong interest in kink and sexual exploration. It also challenges the assumption that alternative sexual cultures are concentrated primarily in large coastal cities. <a>
​​
Sources: nypost.com/2026/08/01/us-news/new-mexico-named-usas-kinkiest-state/ <a>.
Research & History
Substantial scholarly or historical works about New Mexico’s leather and alternative communities may include items such as formal academic scholarship, published historical books, community-produced histories, and researched presentations and handouts.
Academic researchers and community historians have documented portions of New Mexico’s LGBTQ+, Leather, kink, motorcycle, sexual-freedom, and other alternative-community histories. These works differ from contemporary newspapers, magazines, newsletters, and websites because they look backward, drawing upon archives, interviews, oral histories, photographs, organizational records, and other historical evidence to interpret how communities developed.
​
Some are formal scholarly works produced through universities or academic presses. Others are community histories written by people who participated in, organized, or preserved the communities they describe. Together, they provide historical context that cannot always be recovered from surviving media coverage alone.
2009
Gary L. Kieffner — Riding the Borderlands
Historian Gary L. Kieffner completed his doctoral dissertation, Riding the Borderlands: The Negotiation of Social and Cultural Boundaries for Rio Grande Valley and Southwestern Motorcycling Groups, 1900–2000, at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP).
​
The study examines a century of motorcycle history in the U.S.–Mexico Borderlands and the broader Southwest. Rather than treating motorcycles only as vehicles or motorcycling as recreation, Kieffner explores how riders used motorcycles, clubs, clothing, symbols, and collective action to construct identity, community, resistance, and personal liberation. Particular attention is given to gender, race, ethnicity, marginalization, media representation, motorcycle-rights activism, and relationships between riders and government institutions.
​
Kieffner combined archival research and historical documents with interviews, participant observation, and approximately thirty years of personal experience within motorcycle culture. His research included conversations with members of motorcycle clubs and rights organizations in New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, California, northern Mexico, and other parts of the Southwest. This insider access allowed him to document people and organizations that were seldom represented accurately—or represented at all—in conventional historical sources.
​
For New Mexico alternative-community history, the dissertation is particularly valuable for its documentation of the Sirens Motorcycle Club. Kieffner identified the Sirens as an American Motorcyclist Association-sanctioned, patch-holding women’s motorcycle club founded by Maria Bautista in 1988 after she rode with the Leather and Blues Motorcycle Club in San Francisco. He also recorded Maria’s roles as club president and “Keeper of all Knowledge of Sirens.” His research incorporated an October 2000 Albuquerque interview with Sirens members Delores “Whitedog,” who served as club security, and Heather.
​
The dissertation also documents New Mexico motorcycle-rights organizers, women’s leadership within ABATE of New Mexico, Albuquerque motorcycle-club participants, and successful opposition to a universal motorcycle-helmet ordinance in Sunland Park. These accounts place New Mexico riders within a larger history of Southwestern political activism, cross-border relationships, resistance to stereotyping, and community formation.
​
Riding the Borderlands is much broader than a Leather or LGBTQ+ history, and it does not attempt to provide a complete history of the Sirens. Its importance to this project lies in preserving rare firsthand evidence about the club while placing New Mexico’s women riders, motorcycle organizations, and Leather-associated club traditions within a larger regional history. It demonstrates that these communities were not isolated local curiosities, but participants in interconnected social and cultural movements spanning the Southwest and the U.S.–Mexico border.
​
Sources: Gary L. Kieffner, Riding the Borderlands, University of Texas at El Paso, 2009.
2017-present
Dr. PJ Sedillo (author, community leader)
Dr. PJ Sedillo has been active in the Albuquerque alternative community as an out and positive role model and activist for human rights issues. He was the President and Co-President of Albuquerque Pride (1989-2010).
​​
As co-president of Albuquerque Pride with Pat Baillie, PJ interacted frequently with the Leather and alternative communities, to represent them in the New Mexico Pride Parade. PJ, Pat, and Pride eventually decided that The Sirens, a leatherdyke organization in Albuquerque, would lead the opening of Pride Parade, ensuring a more constant representation of Leather in that event. <a>
​​
PJ is a native of Albuquerque, receiving his BA degree in Elementary Education from NM Highlands University, Masters in Special Education and Doctorate from the University of New Mexico in Education with an emphasis in gifted and counseling. He was an educator in Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) and is a professor at New Mexico Highlands University. He helped obtain job security for all APS employees with a non-discriminatory sexual orientation policy included in each employee contract. He married legally in Canada in 2003 to his husband Tony Ross and legally fought in court against APS to become the first same-sex couple in the USA to receive spousal benefits. <a>
​
Some of PJ's other works:
-
If These T-Shirts Could Talk: 50 Years of GLBTQ+ Pride in Albuquerque (1976–2026).
-
June 2026 New Mexico in Focus Pride-history segments.
-
July 2026 ¡Colores! program, “50 Years of LGBTQ Pride in Albuquerque.” <d> <ed>
​​
Sources: Dr. PJ Selillo (interview 20Sep24) <a>, nmhu.edu <b>, Internet <c>, newmexicopbs.org/productions/newmexicoinfocus/50-years-of-lgbtq-pride-in-albuquerque/ <d>, pbs.org/video/50-years-of-lgbtq-pride-in-albuquerque-buehld/ <e>.
Dr. PJ Sedillo, New Mexico Highlands University, former President and Co-President, Albuquerque Pride.
2022
“NM Leather History” by Steve Wearden
On August 1st, 2019, Steve Wearden presented a mostly oral overview history of New Mexico Leather community at Sidewinders Ranch in Albuquerque. Attending this educational session was one of the inspirations for Bear Mike to pursue the extended history in this project. About twenty community members gathered in the stage area of Sidewinders Ranch at high-top tables as Steve presented his oral recollections supported by a short 5-page paper handout. No detailed notes were taken of Steve's oral recollections. <a> Steve was well qualified to present this history; <b> however, his discussion was focused on his personal experience, not more broad coverage of history before his experience, such as the group Hijos del Sol. A PDF of the presentation can be found here.
​​
Sources: Bear Mike, attending presentation <a>, INDIVIDUALS <b>
Tyler McCormick & Steve Wearden
2022
The Whistle, PBS
The Whistle is a video produced by "what do we want films," about an hour long, aired on PBS and describes as, "The fascinating story of a secret code created by and shared among young lesbians in 1970s & 80s Albuquerque as a means of self-identification and finding community. The first-person film documents and reveals both humorous and heartbreaking stories, often told by participants in the same breath." <b> <c> It aired on PBS 21 April 2022. It describes many venues around Albuquerque used by the lesbian community. Director StormMiguel Florez is a queer Xicane trans man, who came out and identified as a dyke in 1987, during his freshman year at Del Norte High School in Albuquerque. <a-c>
​
Sources: pbs.org/video/the-whistle-6xaazf/ <a>, press release, 30 Jun 2022 - newmexicopbs.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/co-brandable_press-release_THE-WHISTLE_6.2022.docx <b>, dykewhistle.com <d>.
2023
Wide-Open Desert
A Queer History of New Mexico
​Wide-Open Desert: A Queer History of New Mexico was written by historian Jordan Biro Walters and published by the University of Washington Press. It examines more than seventy years of LGBTQ+ life in twentieth-century New Mexico. The book shifts attention away from the large coastal cities that dominate many queer histories and instead explores how New Mexico’s distinctive cultures, landscapes, and movement between rural and urban environments shaped queer identity and community.
​
Biro Walters examines two-spirit Indigenous people, Chicana lesbians, white queer artists and writers, and other LGBTQ+ New Mexicans. Individuals discussed include Diné artist Hastíín Klah, literary editor Spud Johnson, ranchera singer Genoveva Chávez, Cherokee playwright Rollie Lynn Riggs, activist Harry Hay, and Chicana lesbian couple Nadine Armijo and Rosa Montoya. This book also examines Santa Fe art circles, land communes, universities, Albuquerque social life, Los Alamos and the Cold War security state, and the development of gay and lesbian civil-rights activism.
​
The research draws upon archival records, newspapers, government documents, documentaries, poetry, artwork, photography, and approximately thirty oral-history interviews. Many of those interviews were conducted with the LGBT Educational Archives Project and are preserved in the Bennett Hammer LGBT Collection at the University of New Mexico’s Center for Southwest Research. Book excerpt and research methodology.
​
Wide-Open Desert is not specifically a Leather history; it documents the broader cultural and social environments from which New Mexico’s Leather, kink, and alternative communities emerged. It is particularly valuable for demonstrating that queer life in the state was not merely imported from coastal cities. New Mexicans created interconnected communities through migration, personal relationships, art, literature, bars, education, and cultural activism.
​
This book received the Western History Association’s 2024 Robert G. Athearn Book Award. The University of Washington Press describes it as the first comprehensive study of queer life in the twentieth-century American Southwest. <a>
​
Sources: uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295751023/wide-open-desert/ <a>, Discussions between Bear Mike and Jordan Brio Walters at LA&M.
Bear Mike and Jordan Biro Walters, author of ​"Wide-Open Desert - A Queer History of New Mexico" met at Leather Archives & Museum while performing independent history research there on 17Oct2024.
Other Media
This is a listing of other media that do not warrant stand-alone listings above due to topics not fully aligned with alternative community focus of this history. However, they may have secondary influence over these communities due to overlaps in communities by individuals focused on leather, BDSM, and alternative lifestyles.
“All Is Not Dead Here in the Desert”: This 1992 UNM master's thesis by Daniel L. Evans documents the development of Albuquerque’s organized gay community from 1971 through 1991, including Juniper, MCC, the Gay Co-op, Common Bond, civil-rights organizing, and the effects of AIDS. It provides useful institutional context for the period during which Albuquerque’s early Leather organizations emerged, but it does not substantially examine Leather, BDSM, fetish, or motorcycle-Leather communities.
-
digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds/index.2.html
​
El Palacio, the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs’ magazine, has published researched features recovering overlooked parts of the state’s queer history. “Cruising the Mother Road” is particularly relevant to this project, documenting Albuquerque’s historic bars, cruising culture, Leather nights, and venues such as the 8300 Block, Albuquerque Social Club, and Sidewinders. Together with “Filling Gaps in the Archive,” these articles help place Leather, sexual subcultures, and other alternative communities within New Mexico’s broader cultural history, although neither is primarily a Leather or BDSM history.
-
elpalacio.org/2024/05/filling-gaps-in-the-archive/
-
elpalacio.org/2026/06/cruising-the-mother-road/
​
GO Magazine — “Santa Fe: Experiencing ‘The City Different’” is a 2017 national lesbian publication described Santa Fe as so gay-friendly that queer women were broadly integrated into city life rather than concentrated in a single gay district. It provides an outside lesbian perspective not presently represented by The Advocate’s more general rankings.
-
gomag.com/article/santa-fe-experiencing-city-different/
​
Hyperallergic — “The Importance of Small-Town Queer Histories” is a 2024 national arts publication presented Santa Fe as a historically important queer center and examined Walter Cooper’s Unbuttoned alongside Christian Waguespack’s Out West exhibition. It directly asks why regional queer histories matter and recognizes Santa Fe’s artists, gathering places, social networks, and historical preservation work.
-
hyperallergic.com/the-importance-of-small-town-queer-histories-walter-cooper-christian-waguespack
​
Proud Out Loud, the New Mexico Lesbian and Gay Political Alliance newsletter, documented in Albuquerque during 1983–1984. Cornell archive
​​
Santa Fe Women’s Community Magazine and Sister Lode: Santa Fe Women’s Community Magazine, documented during 1973–1974, and Albuquerque’s Sister Lode, published from 1978 through 1987, were feminist publications available to New Mexico lesbians. They provide early context for the lesbian-feminist networks that preceded much of the state’s organized Leatherdyke history. Neither publication focused specifically on Leather or BDSM, but both help document the broader social and cultural environment from which later women’s alternative communities emerged.
-
digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=hist_etds
-
catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/7134298
​
SquareUp!: A Magazine for Gay and Lesbian Square Dancers and Their Friends was published quarterly in Albuquerque by editor Mike Staples from 1994 through 2001. The magazine connected gay and lesbian square dancers internationally while documenting Albuquerque’s Wilde Bunch and the 1992 Diamonds in the Desert convention. Although not focused on Leather or BDSM, it records an adjacent alternative social community that challenged traditional gender roles and created inclusive forms of participation and belonging.
-
wilcoxarchives.org/repositories/2/archival_objects/3981
-
mywikis-wiki-media.s3.us-central-1.wasabisys.com/iagsdchistory/SquareUp%21_Issue_20.pdf
​
​​​
Note: The history compilation on this page is courtesy of and Copyright 2024-2026, Domum Corium Cordis, House of Leather Heart. Have more ideas to contribute or critique of these thoughts? Additional information or corrections to the history content? Let us know. Write head@houseofleatherheart.org.