Leather Archives & Museum: 25 Years

Foundations: Dom Orejudos, the artist Etienne
I
am an archives volunteer at the Leather
Archives & Museum, an archivist by
profession, and an unabashedly proud
Etienne devotee. Some of my earliest
experiences of self-acceptance and
celebration as a young leatherman involved
locating my desires within Etienne’s
amazing artwork in the pages of Drummer,
In-Touch For Men, the Storytime series and
the complete Meatmen comic. I couldn’t get
enough of his art! I made visits to the Glad
Day Bookstore in Toronto while still a
student to gobble up all I could find of his life
and artwork.
When I heard of Dom’s passing in the gay
press, I think it was the first time I had ever
cried over the loss of someone I didn’t even
personally know. More than anything or
anyone else, Etienne lead me to the LA&M.
By the late 1990’s, I had heard that his
works had been collected, preserved, and
exhibited there; I knew I had to make a
pilgrimage, if for no other reason than to feel
his presence, thank him in spirit, and offer
my own services to help preserve his legacy
in any way I could.
The first time I visited the LA&M and entered
the Auditorium, I was overwhelmed—blown
away, actually. A sense of profuse warmth
washed over me and I sat down, quietly and
by myself, surrounded by all these
wonderful original murals. My emotions
overwhelmed me and tears just started
rolling down my face. I think it was so many
things: the joy of being with his spirit; being
in Chicago, where his leather life and lore
began. And simultaneously feeling sadness,
knowing that he left us far too early, like so
many of his generation and those since. To
be honest, those same feelings still wash
over me every time I enter the LA&M.
Most know and celebrate Dom Orejudos as
the gay erotic artist Etienne and/or Stephen,
but he was also a dancer, choreographer,
humorist, voracious reader, observer,
teacher, lover, storyteller and kinkster. He
was a devoted and caring man to both his
biological and chosen families. Dom was a
man of immense talent, humility and honor.
Founding Editor-in-Chief of Drummer
magazine and gay historian Jack Fritscher
described him as, “a sweet, gentle man.”
Domingo (‘Dom’) Francisco Stephen
Orejudos was a man whose life and art was
intrinsically woven into the evolution of gay
and Leather culture in the second half of
twentieth century America. His legacy
remains a beacon for Leather and Kink folk
around the world, and his story opens the
door to enjoying and learning all the Leather
Archives & Museum has to offer. More than
perhaps any other person, his spirit
pervades the LA&M and its raison d’etre, the
Etienne Artwork Collection.
Dom Orejudos, the artist Etienne
Born of Italian and Philippino parents in
1933 Chicago, Dom Orejudos grew up with
an impish and driven desire to draw, often
sketching in grammar school class. As a
young adult, his early influences included
famed gay artist George Quaintance, whose
classical style and settings were reflected in
Dom’s seminal works in the 1950’s and
early 1960’s. His men were often presented
in period and situational settings and this
would become a trademark of his
renderings. Etienne, however, took gay
erotic art to new levels Quaintance only
35