Leather Archives & Museum: 25 Years

positions. He was later, along with Renslow
and DeBlase, instrumental in moving the
Archives to its current home.
No one should underestimate what a
stunning achievement the LA&M is. Building
institutions is no small task, and building
stable institutions out of marginal sexual
communities is nearly impossible. Maintaining
them is just as challenging. Institutions and
organizations are like buildings: if they are not
maintained, they fall into ruin. The roof will
leak, the animals will nest, and when the
plants take root the walls will crumble. The
Leather Archives & Museum will only survive
if it has the resources, personnel, and
community support to keep it going. And we
must make certain that it has what it needs to
persevere and to flourish.
I hope this narrative makes clear why the
LA&M is so near and dear to my own
passions and priorities. But it is also a
precious treasure, a crown jewel of the
leather populations. It is certainly not perfect.
I have noted with considerable despair a
tendency within many communities– and not
just the leather worlds– to gripe and carp
about everything that does not flawlessly
meet our desires and expectations. Our
institutions are often treated as if they have
the stability of major social entities: the big
museums, for example, or major universities,
or the government. But our institutions are
much smaller, much less affluent, and far
more fragile. They can and will easily fail if we
do not ensure their survival. Sure, the LA&M
needs more diversity. It needs more
collections. It needs to be more accessible.
But it also needs more space in which to
store those collections, more staff to tend to
them, more acid-free boxes and folders, and
more money to pay for it all. The LA&M is still
becoming what it can be. And it will be what
we make it.
Gayle Rubin
Ann Arbor
February 2016
With warm gratitude to Gerard Koskovich and
Jakob VanLammeren for their generous fact
checking and excellent editorial suggestions.
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