Steve Lenius

Leather columnist and writer, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota Great Lakes Mr. Drummer 1994

For seven years Steve Lenius has written the biweekly "Leather Life" column in Lavender Magazine; past topics include "Bottoming to God", "Leather Lesbians: Baby on Board" and "If We Chose IML Like We Elect The President of the United States (or vice versa)". The column is available on the Web at www.lavendermagazine.com (also at www.leatherpage.com) and has appeared iin the Gayly Oklahoman.

He is currently working on a book incorporating some of his past columns; he will present his first-ever author's reading from the book-in-progress at Tribal Fire 2002. He will also present a workshop on "Working With the Media", in which he will attempt to condense over thirty years of printing,publishing, advertising and media experience into one hour (while still allowing time for questions from the audience).

For the past several years Lenius has helped organize Minnesota's annual Leather Pride celebration. One of his projects this year is working with both the Leather Archives and Museum and the Minnesota Historical Society's "Out of the Closets and Into the Museum" program to document and preserve leather history and heritage. He will be one of the judges at this year's International Mr. Leather contest in Chicago over Memorial Day Weekend.

Lenius does occasional public speaking as a representative of the leather/BDSM community. Other interests include promoting safer sex, encouraging safe/sane/consensual BDSM play, exploring leather and gay spirituality (he is a student of A Course in Miracles), and working with gay male victims of domestic abuse. He is a survivor of an eighteen-year abusive relationship and is working on a book about that, too.

The son of a minister of the Moravian Church in America, Lenius had a thoroughly idyllic Midwestern boyhood. He was born in Fargo, North Dakota,
and lived in Kellner, Wisconsin and West Salem, Illinois before moving to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area at the age of 12. He currently lives with his partner, Bill, in Golden Valley, Minnesota (a suburb of Minneapolis).

Writing is in his genes--his mother, Mary Borhek, is the noted author of two books, My Son Eric and Coming Out To Parents, which are perennially recommended by Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, also known as PFLAG.

A proud gay "dinosaur", Lenius came out as a gay man in 1974 and after years of furtive interest had his leather coming-out in 1993. A professional graphic artist, he has designed logos, buttons, t-shirts and dog tags for many GLBT and Leather celebrations. A show-tune aficionado, he has a passion for musical theatre and hopes one day to add "lyricist" and maybe even "composer" to his string of accomplishments.

Three Book Recommendations:

The Gay Mystique by Peter Fisher. With a copyright date of 1972 it's strangely wonderful how much of this book still rings true. See especially the chapter titled "How Dangerous Is the Gay World?" in which Fisher discusses Leather, SM and Fantasy. This book represented my first exposure to leather?I read it at the age of 19 and knew I was interested, although I didn't have a chance to act on those interests for another 18 years.

The Leatherman's Handbook II by Larry Townsend. This is the book I read at age 37 that helped me decide to give this leather thing a try.

LeatherPage.com. Joe Gallagher, webmaster. Okay, so it's not a book--it's still required reading and one of the best places to find out what's happening in the leather scene. They also have a great collection of leather columnists and pundits from everywhere, in whose company I am proud to appear.

Bio current as of 4-1-02

2002 Presentations:

Readings from Leather Life: The Book - Leather columnist and author Steve Lenius will read selections from his book-in-progress, a collection of his “Leather Life” columns written over the past eight years. Possible selections: ”If We Chose IML Like We Elect The President of the United States (or vice versa)”, “Recipe for a Leather Vest”, “Leather History: The Summer of 2028”, and the ever-popular “Bottoming to God.” The column is available on the Web at www.lavendermagazine.com (also at www.leatherpage.com) and has appeared in the Gayly Oklahoman.

The Media Game: The Rules, How to Play, How to Win - Does the idea of working with the media intimidate you? Have you found it difficult to get media coverage for your event or cause? Find out the secrets of working with the media, and getting them to work with you, at this workshop in which over thirty years of printing, publishing, advertising and media experience will be condensed into one hour (while still allowing time for questions from the audience).