This was a matter of implementing a shop policy with regard to custom work and alterations, and the disagreement was in no way based on the individuals being men of color. We are deeply saddened that the specific interaction in question was, in any fashion, construed to have any racial overtones.
As an institution, we take our role in the wider community very seriously. Throughout the worst of the AIDS epidemic, many HIV positive individuals found both employment and a safe home at The Leather Man when confronted by fear and discrimination elsewhere.
The Leather Man has a long history of employing women, people of color, and transgendered individuals in both sales and management positions. Civil liberties and the right to openly be who you are have been principles The Leather Man has upheld throughout the decades. In this pre-Stonewall era, being gay, let alone being a Leather Man could result in arrest, persecution, and discrimination. The Leather Man was founded in 1965, a period in American history where the Civil Rights Movement was just gaining traction and the Gay Rights Movement was barely in its infancy. A number of rumors and misinformation about a supposedly racist incident taking place in our shop have been making the rounds on social media.
