WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

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- People, the world's teeming with them.

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I'm a person, you're probably a person

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and everyone you know,
they're people, too.

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And we're all different.

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A bus driver isn't the same
as a candlestick maker.

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Your local mail carrier isn't the same

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as Supreme Court Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

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And that's great because
the world would be

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kind of stupid if we were all the same.

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So let's see what we can learn

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by talking to a real person.

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Let's see what we can learn by talking

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to Mr. Leather.

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(upbeat pop music)

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We've all seen beauty pageants.

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They're kind of weird,
a little out of touch,

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maybe a little polite.

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I mean, look at this.

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What are these, what are these hoops?

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What?

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This is boring.

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- [Voiceover] Oh okay, see.

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Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.

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What you're seeing here is
Mr. Los Angeles Leather 2016.

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Whoever overcomes the stiff competition

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will go on to compete
against fellow Mr. Leathers

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from around the world with the hopes of

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becoming International Mr. Leather 2016.

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This hallowed contest
has been held annually

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since 1979, but before we dig too deep.

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Can you sum up Mr. Leather in a few words?

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- Miss Universe of the gay, leather world.

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- Alright, yeah.

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That's a few words.

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That man on the right, the one

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that looks like an ad for sex cologne,

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is International Mr.
Leather 2015, Patrick Smith.

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- The Leather Community is largely

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a subset of the LGBT community.

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It's for guys who dress
up in their leather

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and it makes them feel confident and sexy.

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Leather culture's been
around since, they say

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it probably dates back
to post-World War Two,

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when a lot of the guys
came back from overseas

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and they remained in the coastal cities

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and wore their hypermasculine,
leather uniforms.

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Nowadays, though, you see leather

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including all sorts of people.

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Masculine, feminine, it doesn't matter.

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- [Shane] And the contestants
vying for the title

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of Mr. Leather are all
different sorts of people.

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Young and old, Djs, business owners,

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community activists, fathers.

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But they've all got one thing in common,

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they're damn proud of who they are.

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♫ Gave proof through the night

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♫ That our flag was still there ♫

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- [Shane] What's involved
with the contest?

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- You go out, you give a speech

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wearing your full leather uniform.

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- I look out into the audience tonight

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and I know there are a lot

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of hot, kinky (beep) out there.

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- I would be very proud and honored

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to represent us as L.A. Mr. Leather.

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- Do you wear like one sort of outfit

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for the whole thing or is it like a--

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- No, it's all sorts of different looks.

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- It's like Whoopi Goldberg at the Oscars.

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- Exactly.

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(sexy Jazz music)

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You slowly start shedding the clothing

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throughout the night.

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- [Shane] Yeah, yeah.

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- So it goes into the harnesses,
getting a little slutty.

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- That's how it happens, yeah.

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See, just like Whoopi
Goldberg at the Oscars.

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As the outgoing International Mr. Leather,

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Patrick sits behind the
judges' table this year,

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prepared to give up the title,

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but it's been a busy year for him.

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The title is more than just looking good

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in a piece of cow hide, there's a

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philanthropist side as well.

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- I spent four years up in Canada

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working in politics and a lot of people

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have done very political
things and activist things

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with leather titles.

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So that was sort of what drew me into

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that aspect of it.

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So I've been traveling all over the world

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to places where it's pretty
scary to be gay still.

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So I went to Uganda, I
went to Egypt and Morocco

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and the Ukraine and places where people

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are jailed or murdered
just for being openly gay.

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So my goal was to go out to these places,

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learn what the situation is over there

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and come back and do
fundraising and raise awareness

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for their situations.

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- [Shane] And in the
same way that they fight

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for the rights of the
LGBT community at large,

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these guys also fight for each other.

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- Some point in my life, I
stopped including myself.

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But it was my leather family, they were

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the ones that came and
said, "David, come back.

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We want you just the way you are."

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- [Shane] When it comes
down to it, the world

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isn't as accepting as we'd like to be,

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but in spite of that, there's
a lot of love out there.

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- The friendship, the
support, the diversity,

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the mentorship, it is what defines us

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and it's what makes us strong.

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We open doors for each other.

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That is why representing
this title for you

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has been among the
greatest honors of my life.

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- [Shane] How's it feel after this year?

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- You know, it's bittersweet.

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On one hand, it'll be nice
to have lazy Saturdays

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on the couch back.

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On the other hand, it's
a really cool feeling

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walking into a venue and
everybody knowing who you are

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and what your name is
and everything like that.

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- [Shane] You're not
gonna be forgotten though.

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- No, I'll fade slowly into
obscurity is more like it.

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- You'll just disappear.

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- I love you, Los Angeles.

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It has been a privilege and a honor.

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Thank you.

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(audience applauds)

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- [Shane] I learned a
lot from Mr. Leather,

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but above all else, you
should be passionate

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about the things that make you unique.

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Wear your identity fiercely,
even if that involves

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throwing on some nice, ass-less chaps

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and letting those little
butt cheeks hang out.

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Yeah, that's a good
thing to learn, I guess.

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(gentle music)

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- [Voiceover] Your Mr. L.A. Leather 2016,

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Jeffrey Erdman.

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(audience applauds)