© 1994 Rich Grzesiak, all rights reserved.
In the opening scenes of the motion picture Die Hard, movie macho Bruce Willis arrives at LAX and gets his first kamikaze taste of California Culture: a buxom blonde tackles her boyfriend, her legs pinioning his crotch in a sexy form of jujitsu as she covers him with kisses. (You'll see another side of leather, L.A. and Bruce Willis in the kinky recent film Pulp Fiction).
It's a sight you get used to in L.A., a city the locals christen as "Beirut West," with their usual form of gallows humor.
When I first moved to L.A. I had more sex in 6 weeks than I experienced in the prior 6 years. No brag, it's just the local way of saying hello.
Sex is a major form of commerce in Los Angeles - more porno videos are lensed here than in any other American city (it's no accident Madonna used to live in West Hollywood). With unemployment a popular if unavoidable lifestyle in Southern California (40% of all jobs lost in the Bush recession disappeared in L.A. County), it's also no accident a fair number of nubile male youth have worked here in some aspect of the skin trade to make a quick $500.
The stereotyped Southern Californian is tanned, fit and fertile—unsurprising, considering that the motion picture business ["The Biz"] dominates the local economy. As a result, on any given day, my guess is there are more handsome, sexually available homosexual men roaming the streets of L.A. than any other American city.
L.A. prides itself on its differences, and that quality filters down to the local leather subculture: it's kinkier, wilder, quicker, easier, more high tech and fashionable than any city in these United States. What other city offers massage schools billed as an "Institute of Psychostructural Balancing" without batting an eyelash? What other town would feature more column inches for modeling/massage ads in its two main gay papers' advertisements than any other type of business? What other city can boast no fewer than four businesses that have been featured as the centerpiece of a sex video? (the Eagle, Faultline, Explode and Probe). Just when you think you've finally defined L.A., it shakes and rattles and burns your eyes with a new look.
This feature provides a personal view of the leather scene, but it doesn't purport to be all encompassing or even authoritative: when you're trying to describe one of the largest cities in the world (480 net square miles), it's hard to be concise let alone objective. What I will try to provide are basic signposts of a city that moves so fast it's changing as I type these words.
If you're visiting L.A. it's critical to have access to a car: the public transportation system here is still in its infancy compared to the other great cities of the world. That's important because, unlike other major cities, L.A. really has no real city center—it's more spread out (like a cartwheel) than any other urban area.
So, too, are the bars. While some claim Silverlake as the only part of L.A. for The Real Leather Scene, others quickly realize there can really be no center for a city so rich and diverse: West Hollywood, Long Beach, Burbank and other areas boast their own slice of the leather world here.
Let's start with Silverlake. An area popular with gays in their thirties and forties, it appeals to anyone who wants to be an urban cowboy. There are more than several bars, businesses and sex clubs of appeal to leathermen.
One of the main bars here is the Faultline. Formerly known as "Griff's", the Faultline reopened in early 1994. With a good sized bar and comfortable outdoor patio, it's one of the most popular local watering holes, with its own small parking lot, leather shop ("Wayne's Leather Rack"), and video system. Open every night except Tuesday, it becomes "Aftershock" on weekends (from 2 to 4 AM). On Saturday evenings, its ad slogan—"Leather Ethic Observed"—is strictly enforced. The owner (Sean) wants his bar to be a community center and he periodically offers the patio as a performance space for local artists and musicians.
Another excellent and very popular bar is the Gauntlet II, a place where everyone goes to be seen—and to see. It's one of the social centers of Silverlake leather culture.
Cuffs is small and excellent and dark and very cruisy and in the words of one patron, "the bar that time forgot." "If I had to go to just one leather bar in L.A. where I really wanted to score, that would be the one," claims one friend about Cuffs.
There are two popular sex clubs in Silverlake: the King of Hearts and Basic Plumbing. Both offer reasonably priced memberships and are conveniently located.
I must also mention Videoactive, a local video store that is gay owned and leather friendly. It's one of the few video stores in L.A. offering many hard to find leather-levi/S&M videos for rental.
There are three main leather bars in West Hollywood: the Eagle, the Spike, and the newly opened 7702 SM Club. The Eagle is very popular and frequently crowded on weekends, while the Spike has its own leather shop and faithful clientele. The 7702 SM Club advertises itself as "for men who know what they're after and where to find it." The Eagle boasts it's "West Hollywood's ONLY leather cruise bar"—a claim some would debate—while the Spike brags about "a step towards the edge and beyond."
Moving to the mid-Wilshire district, we find one of the hottest private sex clubs in L.A., Explode, whose manager rightly claims it's "not for the timid, weak or shy." If fisting is an interest, you definitely should visit there. Where else could you find a tailoring shop, maze, patio, tower, B&D tables, sling rooms, lounge, full W/S facilities, and the "best lit sex club in L.A." (per the manager)? The video Handball Express was shot there. The au courant crowd of leatherfolk visit but I would steer clear if I was out of shape, not into extreme kink, or just uncomfortable with this type of scene.
Remember that just as there is no center to L.A., you'll find leather bars from The Valley to Long Beach.
The Valley boasts any number of gay bars. The Bullet is very popular, especially on weekends, and has a very cozy outdoor patio. Its happy hour attracts an interesting neighborhood crowd, and alcohol is reasonably priced.
Long Beach is another oasis of leather bars. (Long Beach is also one of the largest cities in California, and about an hour from West Hollywood). There's more of an ethnic mix in Long Beach than you'll encounter in other parts of L.A., which is either an enduring part of its charm or the bane of its existence, depending on your point of view.
Bulldogs, Mineshaft and Wolf's all claim their own following and loyalties and will appeal to different aspects of your interest in the leather scene.
Coming up in January, 1995: Leatherfest Los Angeles (1/27 thru 1/29/95) as well as the Southern California Masters and Slaves Contest on the last Saturday in January (1/28). Contest info is available from Bullock Leather and Accessories [at (213) 665-5343], while details on Leatherfest L.A. is available by dialing (213) 960-5774.