Gilbert Marcus Hernandez, longtime leather columnist for the Bay Area Reporter in San Francisco, died Oct. 8 due to complications from diabetes and arteriosclerosis. He was 77.
Known to everyone simply as “Mr. Marcus,” he traveled extensively to leather contests and events across the country for almost 40 years. But, as for all of us, there was more to him than met the eye.
For example, very few people knew that Mr. Marcus had been married. He met his future wife while working at the Pentagon in 1952, then joined the Air Force in 1954. After being stationed in Europe and Vietnam, he earned an honorable discharge in 1960. That same year, he divorced his wife and moved back to his hometown of Los Angeles. In 1968, he moved to San Francisco to escape the epidemic of entrapment and bar raids being conducted by the vice squad of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Not a member of the leather community initially, Mr. Marcus was adopted by the bartenders at Folsom leather bars like CB’s, The Stud and The Ramrod. He eventually became a bartender and worked as a manager in various leather bars for 12 years. He also wrote for the Advocate when it was still a newspaper, and for Drummer Magazine before he joined the Bay Area Reporter in 1971, shortly after it was founded.
A fixture at leather competitions, he judged an estimated 250 contests throughout his life. In 1980, he was asked to judge the second International Mr. Leather contest in Chicago, after which he was invited back every single year, eventually being named head judge and later judge emeritus.
Never one to back away from scandal or controversy, Mr. Marcus was famous for his sarcastic — and sometimes vicious — sense of humor, which only made his column more entertaining. In fact, scandal is how he ended up as judge emeritus at IML. After he was caught having sex with a contestant, some community members demanded that he be removed from his position and banned from ever judging the contest again. Instead, IML founder Chuck Renslow named him judge emeritus, which allowed him to remain on the panel, ask questions and announce the finalists, but not to score the contestants.
Mr. Marcus’ deep love and affection for the leather community was readily apparent. He wrote with passion about its commitment to countless charities and familial connection to each other. He came to its defense swiftly and zealously whenever members were denounced as “freaks” or outcasts, especially when the criticism came from within the gay community itself.
In a 1996 interview, Mr. Marcus said, “To this day, no matter how hard I try to put the leather community in a favorable light, they still look down on us as the tired old leather queens … All these people work hard and raise a lot of money. They sacrifice a lot.”
We have lost an ardent spokesperson for our community and a tireless documenter of our history. When asked about a possible book, Marcus replied, “I am working on it slowly. Everyone is screaming, ‘You got all the pictures. You got all the facts. You got to put it in writing. It is going to die when you go.’ I am not getting any younger, so we’ll see.”
Philadelphia Leather Pride Night
On Nov. 7, Philadelphia will host its first annual Leather Pride Night, from 7 p.m.-midnight at Voyeur Nightclub, 1221 St. James St. Conceived as a charity event with proceeds going to our history and to our future, it promises to be a night filled with fun and excitement. There will be live entertainment, a traveling historical-archives display, bootblacks, raffles, door prizes, drink specials, a silent auction and a live auction conducted by Jo Arnone, famous throughout the leather community as a dynamic and entertaining auctioneer. There are also plans for a memorial tribute to Mr. Marcus. Admission to the event is $15 in advance or online and $20 at the door.
Beneficiaries for the event include the Leather Archives & Museum, the Leather Heart Foundation and By The Grace of George: The American Pitbull Angel Fund. The Leather Archives & Museum, based in Chicago, preserves the history and memorabilia of the leather lifestyle for historical, educational and research purposes. The Leather Heart Foundation is a new tax-exempt organization designed to provide assistance to local community members facing financial hardship due to medical, job or housing issues. It will also have a Parental Rights Legal Response Fund and may offer grants to other organizations. By The Grace of George assists people who need help caring for their animals, so they don’t have to choose between caring for themselves and caring for their pets.
The event’s stated purpose is “to celebrate the Philadelphia area pansexual leather and BDSM communities, focusing on the support of charitable organizations.” Producer and current Mid-Atlantic Leatherwoman Cowboi Jen explained, “Leather sees no boundaries. It embraces gay, straight, bisexual, male, female and transgender. We wanted to do a major event that’s designed for everyone, like Leather Pride Night in New York City.”
The host hotel will be the Comfort Inn Philadelphia Airport, 53 Industrial Hwy., Essington, which will host a vendor mart and the LA&M Traveling Archives on Sunday. For more information, visit www.plpn.org.
UPCOMING EVENTS
— LIBERTY BEARS MEETING & SOCIAL: Nov. 7 at The Bike Stop, 206 S. Quince St.; meeting from 5-6 p.m. and social from 6-10 p.m.
— PHILADELPHIA LEATHER PRIDE NIGHT: 7 p.m.-midnight Nov. 7 at Voyeur Club (formerly Pure), 1221 St. James St. $20 at the door.
— PHILADELPHIANS MC SOCIAL AND KINKY KARNIVAL: 8 p.m.-midnight Nov. 14 at The Bike Stop.
— DIABOLIQUE BALL: 9 p.m. Nov. 21 at Shampoo, 417 N. Eighth St. This year’s theme: Steam Punk! (future-retro-techno). Tickets are $35 in October, $45 Nov. 1-15 and $60 afterward or at the door.
— SANTA SATURDAY: 1-6 p.m. Nov. 28 at Club Paradise, 101 Asbury Ave., Asbury Park. $15 at the door.
— WOOF! PHILLY: Every Sunday at 5 p.m., The Gold Club, 1416 Chancellor St., until further notice; see www.woofphilly.com for DJ and dancer schedules.
Questions? Comments? Opinions? Contact Jim at [email protected].