T J McKinsey

T J began her Leather journey in the early eighties and attended her first public event in 1992. In 1994, T J won the Oklahoma Daddy's Boy Contest, making her the first female to win a traditionally male title on a state level or above. She was an Independent Member of NLA-International for a few years and attended Living in Leather (LiL) Conferences. In 1998, T J assisted in the formation of the Oklahoma City Chapter of the National Leather Association. In 1999, she became a Charter Member. Also in 1999, she was presented the Ramrod Award for spearheading a parade entry and Leather social gathering for OKC's Gay Pride.

In addition to serving as NLA-OKC Co-chair for seven years, T J has served as Chapter Representative and Chapter Membership Chair. T J has spent the past eleven years as Tribal Fire Coordinator. Tribal Fire, our major educational event, was realized to fulfill the vision of a personal friend, with the help of several other insane individuals, aka NLA-OKC. She has been active in all facets of Chapter activities: social events, education, public relations campaigns and fundraising. For NLA-International, she has served as Membership Chair, Chapter Outreach Representative and LiL Director. T J received the NLA-I Woman of the Year Award in 2005. In 2007, T J won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Leather Association - International.

T J has presented workshops from south Texas to New Hampshire on topics such as gender, boy space, pervertibles and age play. She has also given talks to various student groups at universities. She worked in the fetish film industry for 6 years, and represented NLA on the Steering Committee for Oklahoma City's Biting the Apple Erotic Art Show.

After realizing the Leather Community was overlooked by the local Pride organization, T J joined the Pride Board, serving as Organizational Co-chair for three years and Festival Chair for eight years. In 2006, T J won the Irene Tyson Memorial Award for community service leadership in Oklahoma City.

T J's commitment to NLA-OKC is demonstrated by only missing one Chapter meeting since its formation when she was representing the Chapter at the NLA-I Annual General Meeting in 2007. She maintains that the only reason she has success in her projects is that she has the ability to build great teams of individuals, and strongly believes in responsibility, recognition and accountability.

On a more personal note, T J also likes trains and recently discovered she still enjoys camping, notably at the Michigan's Womyn Music Festival. Look for huge changes in her life before Tribal Fire 2012.

Bio Current January 31, 2012

2008 Presentation

Leatherboy/boi Gathering - with Vince
This gathering is unique and different from previous years at Tribal Fire. This year the leatherboy/boi gathering will be a round table discussion. The round table will consist of different types of leatherboys/bois both traditional and non-traditional. These leatherboys/bois will give their thoughts, experiences and feelings on topics and questions submitted by the audience. Submissions will be given as the audience enters the door on paper, to insure even the most sensitive subjects will be addressed in a comfortable environment. Questions can range from relationships, leadership, loneliness and protocols. The purpose of this gathering is to provide leatherboys/bois with information from different perspectives and types of leatherboys/bois that exist in the lifestyle to help them form their own opinions and take away a stronger understanding of what to do when confronted with issues in their journey.