Lead up to American Brotherhood Weekend
After talking it over with my Daddy and my puppy, I decided to participate in the American Brotherhood Weekend contest. This is a contest that puts forward the American Leather Family, comprised of the American Leather Man, the American Leather Woman and the American Leatherboy.
The next big question for me was whether to run for American Leather Man or American Leatherboy. I talked with several men that I respect, and ultimately it came down to 3 questions.
1. How do I identify to the world?
2. Would I be willing to run without my collar?
3. Could I justify running for American Leather Man when I am a collared boy, and there is a contest for the boy role?
The answers are as follows:
1. I identify as a boy. I have a Daddy. Can't get much more straightforward than that.
2. No, I would not take my collar off to participate in a contest.
3. I looked at this one from multiple angles, and ultimately found that I could not justify running for American Leather Man when there is a contest for the boy role. Not without doing a disservice to my chosen role.
Once I had come to a decision on what title I was going to go after, I began the work of getting ready. Tom D. (Mr San Deigo Leather 2002) took me under his wing and we worked through the introduction speech, formal speech, and he gave me a couple of ideas for songs for my fantasy. We worked together to build the list of what I would be wearing throughout the weekend, and finally, just before heading off for the contest, he put together a mock interview panel with Annie R. the first Ms. World and Mike R. International Leather Sir 2003 to help me work through potential questions that may have come up.
As time ticked down, I worked out my fantasy, wrote up my two speeches, and started practicing them. The fantasy piece was the hardest to work out as the two people going with me are among the busiest people in San Diego.
Cobi volunteered to do my leathers so they would be spotless for the contest, and slave Jeff worked with me helping out by being my errand boy during those final days before the contest.
The treck to American Brotherhood began long before the actual event itself, and the preparation paid off in ways that I would not understand until I looked back on the event its self.