Oregon State Leather Contest: Titles, Bootblacks, and Pets Since 1997

The Oregon State Leather Contest is the largest leather and BDSM title contest in Oregon. Since 1997 it has been run by a 501(c)(3), celebrating community members and drawing contestants from across Oregon and from southwest Washington. Titles come with sashes and bar photos. The same contest raises money, mentors people, and feeds international competitions. In 2021 the board renamed the producing organization from Blackout Leather Productions to Oregon State Leather Contest so the legal name matched the event. The board oversees the contests, fundraising, and charitable giving. Former titleholders sit on it. A state contest with that pipeline has had national reach.

Mr., Ms., Pup, Mx, Pet

Blackout Leather Productions produced the contest first. Over more than twenty years the title list widened. The 1997 contest established the basic Mr. and Ms. titles. A Pup title arrived in 2015. In 2019 the contest added an Mx title and renamed the puppy title Oregon State Pet. The Pet name covers a wider range of animal roles and still leads toward International Puppy and Handler. Pup and pet play here means adults.

Mr. and Ms. lines

Thom Butts took Mr. Oregon State Leather in 1997, and the men’s list has a winner for each year after that in the record used here. Ivarr Brockson held it for 2019–2021. The secretary roster spells the name Ivarr Brokksson. Both spellings are left as the source wrote them. Several state winners later showed up on international stages. Lucky Rebel won the state title in 2016 and International Mister Bootblack in 2018.

Ms. Oregon State Leather is less continuous. Some years had no winner because there was no candidate, or the community did not have the bandwidth: 1998–1999, 2009, and 2016. The line runs from Lynne Pierce in 1997 to MizTee in 2019–2021, and the holders include Cyd Athens, Daemon, and Coral Mallow, among others. Empty years mean the title depends on who actually enters. It is not a slot that must be filled every calendar year.

Bootblack and pet

Oregon State Bootblack started in 2011 with Nick Elliott, a founder figure of PDX Bootblacks. Three Oregon State bootblacks later won international bootblack titles, the IMBB or IMsBB winners of 2012, 2013, and 2014, and there was one additional first-runner-up finish. That is a large international bootblack footprint for a state contest. The state bootblack title was vacant in 2014 and again in 2019–2021.

Pup Blaze held a pup title in a contest that founders Billy Senjo and Jacob Cannon later donated to the Oregon State Contest. Cedar Pup held the title in 2017. The 2018 titleholder asked to be removed from the lists. From 2019 Pup Timber held it, under the name Oregon State Pet. The rename tracked a finer, wider reading of animal roles.

The board

Stormy Styles, Ms. OSL 2013, has been president since 2022. Nick Lette, Mr. OSL 2018, has been treasurer since 2020. Secretary Ivarr Brokksson and member-at-large Ree D. joined in 2022. Former titleholders sit in the governance as well as in the winner photos. From International Mr. Leather and International Ms. Leather to international bootblack and pup stages, the state contest sends representatives from Oregon and southwest Washington onto larger stages.