January 24, 2025

In conflict with the already-registered www.OregonLeatherPride.com, OSLC (Oregon State Leather Contest) registers the domain name www.OregonLeatherPride.org and redirects it to www.oslcontest.org/oregon-leather-pride-week

April 2, 2025

OSLC announces on social media: “Leather Pride Week will begin August 1, 2025, with the contest on August 9. This year will be full of surprises, so stay tuned!”

May 27, 2025

Oregon Leather Pride, owners of www.OregonLeatherPride.com, is officially registered with the State of Oregon as a Public Benefit Non-Profit organization. President is Hilary Key, Secretary is Blast Danon, Registrar is Ray Hudson.

May 31, 2025

OSLC (Oregon State Leather Contest) announces on social media:

“To Our Beloved Leather Friends and Family,

It has come to the attention of the Oregon State Leather Contest (OSLC) Board of Directors—the same board that has proudly organized Oregon Leather Pride Week annually since 2002 (until the pause brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic)—that a separate group has begun organizing their own version of Oregon Leather Pride Week.

This group has reached out to local Leather organizations and individuals while representing themselves as acting with the approval or endorsement of OSLC. We feel it is essential to clarify that this group is not sanctioned by OSLC, nor do they represent

OSLC, its board, or its 501(c)(3) charity status.

We deeply value autonomy, diversity, and the right of every community member to choose which events to support and attend. However, transparency matters. To avoid confusion, we want to be clear: the only officially recognized and OSLC-sanctioned

Oregon Leather Pride Week events and communications are published through the following platforms:

• www.oregonleatherpride.org

• instagram.com/oregon_leather_pride

Official OSLC-Sanctioned Oregon Leather Pride Week Events

August 1–10, 2025

August 1 – Cigar Social @ The Eagle Portland

August 2 – Leather Vegas @ BDSM Brewing Company

August 3–7 – (Events TBA – Stay Tuned!)

August 8 – Contestant Meet & Greet @ Badlands PDX

August 9 – Oregon State Leather Contest @ Badlands PDX

Followed by the Victory Party @ The Eagle Portland

August 10 – Victory Brunch @ (Hotel – Announcement Coming Soon)

We remain committed to fostering connection, integrity, and celebration within Oregon’s Leather, fetish, and BDSM communities. We invite you to join us for a powerful, joyful, and unified Oregon Leather Pride Week.

In love and leather,

The Oregon State Leather Contest Board of Directors”

June 1, 2025

Oregon Leather Pride Week is fractured as OSLC refuses to work with other community members who raise concerns. On May 31, they released a factually inaccurate press release on Instagram and Facebook that claims THEY were the founders of Oregon Leather Pride Week in 2002 and that they have been “proudly organizing… annually” since then. When corrected on multiple factual inaccuracies with their statement, by Oregon Leather History Project curator (and Oregon Leather Pride Week co-founder) Andy Mangels, OSLC refused to make corrections, and blocked him from their Facebook and Instagram pages and emails.

CORRECTIONS to OSLC’s purposely misleading statement:

1 – BLP (or OSLC) did NOT found Leather Pride Weekend or Oregon Leather Pride Week. BLP/OSLC did not even exist in 1989, when the events were started.

2 – BLP (or OSLC) have not been “proudly organizing… annually” since 2002. BLP was a PART of Oregon Leather Pride Committee from 2004-2019, along with MANY other organizations. In 2020, Oregon Leather Pride Committee disbanded, and BLP organized a Virtual Oregon Leather Pride BBQ. In 2021-2022, no Leather Pride events happened.

In 2023-2024 OSLC made token references to “Oregon Leather Pride,” but did not name any events that, nor partner with any other organization (thus negating the founding purposes of Oregon Leather Pride).

3 – OSLC has unilaterally decided the 2025 dates for OLPW without public consultation with other groups. They have only interfaced with a handful of community groups at this point, and have purposely gatekept other groups and individuals out, including the Oregon Leather History Project, and members of the community that include POC, people with disabilities, past titleholders, and past board members.

4 – The only “confusion” and non-“transparency” which OSLC mentions arises from false information and incorrect history by OSLC, and OSLC hijacking the name of a community-based event, then posting their own lookalike URL three years after the www.OregonLeatherPride.com was registered.

The state-registered group Oregon Leather Pride, running the open website www.OregonLeatherPride.com, is running their calendar with true inclusion and transparency, with representatives from multiple groups. They are not gatekeeping other leather/fetish groups, and they are not blocking events or people. They are standing fast to the true purpose of Oregon Leather Pride: to bring together myriad groups in a supportive and inclusive environment, without gatekeeping, racism, sexism, and ableism.

August 1-10, 2025

Oregon Leather Pride Week

All events listed at www.OregonLeatherPride.com