Queer Skins

In my hunt for some new boots to complement my rubber gear, I've become fascinated by Queerskin culture. It wouldn't be a big leap for me to experiment in this sub-culture. The men are so hot!

"There He goes walking down the street, Boots and Braces, he looks so sweet!"

Ok, so I changed the gender in this line from a song called "Heart like a Lion" by an Oi! Punk band called Pressure Point. Over in Europe these days (especially in England and Germany), those into boots and braces seem to be growing in numbers. What, you may ask, am I referring to? Well, the Queer Skin movement seems to be attracting more and more young gay men, and melding with the leather and rubber crowd.

Queer Skin you ask? Yes I mean gay skinheads. The word skinhead for many gays in North America evokes thoughts of Neo-Nazis and fag bashers. Many wonder why then gay men would dress, and identify as a skinhead. Well, I hope by the end of this article that you may have a better insight about what skinheads are and aren't, and where Queer Skins fit in the leather world.

The history of skinheads starts in England some time in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It actually started as a melding of working class English culture and the culture of newly arriving Jamaicans. This is why that for many skinheads, Ska (which is a derivative of Reggae) is the music of choice. Jamaican you say? If you thought all skinheads were racist, well not quite. The "Nazi" skinheads came some time later. In the late 1970s and1980s especially, a political party called the National Front started in the UK. These guys make the Alliance Party look left wing, if that were possible. Their motto was pretty simple, "England for the English". They went to many working class neighborhoods and "recruited" young disaffected men, who also happened to be skinheads. They used them do to their dirty work beating up immigrants, and general bad deeds to those not quite English enough. This type of activity was also used by various Neo-Nazi organizations in Europe and America. In response to this, a movement called SHARP (Skin Heads Against Racial Prejudice) started up. Those who identify as SHARPs like to remind people that skin culture started as a melding of two different racial groups, and isn't about the whole white power thing.So where do queer skins fall into all of this? Like many gay male sub-cultures have done before, this is an adoption of a traditional masculine look. For some gay men, who don't feel like they fit into a sometimes materialistic, and narcissistic gay world, the harder edge of skin culture is attractive. The birth of skinhead culture is forever tied to the working class. This is perhaps the appeal to some gay men, to whom the masculinity inherent in the blue collar world is thought of as sexy. In fact, so popular the skinhead look is with gay men in England, that "straight" skins I know who have been over the pond in the last few years say that skinhead culture there is now pretty much gay culture. If you see a skin walking down the street there is a good chance he is gay.

So what makes a Queer Skin? Well skinhead culture is more than just the close and buzzed off hair. There is a certain amount of macho bravado involved. I know more than one queer skin that thought the movie "Fight Club" was more a soft porno flick than Hollywood movie. Also there is this love of being anti-politically correct. In my many travels I have met skinheads who range from SHARPs to guys verging on being Neo-Nazis. The one thing they all have in common is that they don't mince words. They never seem to worry about offending people with their socio-political view, which ever way they lean. This bluntness and living life with no apologies may be what attracts gay men in the first place. Skins just are what they are. There is no need to apologize for it, including being gay.
One can't talk about Skinhead or punk culture and not talk about music. Oi!, Punk, Ska, PsychoBilly, as well as "Alternative" Rock and Metal, are all part of the listening selections for many skins. In mainstream gay culture, dance, show tunes, folk, and R & B reign supreme. Not that I have anything against any of those types of music, but I like a little variety in life. Vaseline night, which is a rock/punk themed gay dance night in Toronto, and the Black Eagle on its "Skinhead Nights", plays punk and Oi in an effort to diversify the music scene for gay men and women. There are even gay punks bands like Pansy Division around who write great little tunes with a totally gay point of view.

The clothes, boots, braces (suspenders), buzzed hair and tattoos are also all part of the culture. Standard clothes are jeans or bleachers (which are bleached out jeans), rolled short with a shirt or polo shirt. Yes skins can be label whores in the sense that British brands like Fred Perry, Lonsdale, and Ben Sherman are popular. Trad-skins wear British boots, often 10 or 14 hole. Gay skins have seemed to get into the 20 hole and higher as well. Doc Martens are one brand favored. I tend to like Gripfasts and Undergrounds myself since they have screwed in soles. The suspenders are part of legacy of working class England. Also popular are gig shirts of your favorite punk band (I am quite proud of my Dropkick Murphy's and Flogging Molly Ts!). Then you add the tattoos. Most skinheads I know, gay or straight, are addicted to the tattoo needle. Often skin tattoos have to do with the wearer's ethnic background. Most skins are proud of their heritage, be it Irish, English, Scottish, German, French, Japanese, African, or what ever. Remember not all skins are racist, and not all skins are white either. There are also tattoos that are specific to skinhead culture (the crucified skinhead is one), tattoos of favorite bands, tribal designs, you name it.

In the end, the reason for this article is to further describe aspects and the diversity of the leather community. Skinheads tend to end up bunched up with the leather crowd on many levels. Sexually most Queer Skins are on the kinky side of things. If you go on WorldSkins.Com, you will find more than a few guys into "agro", which is the term for very rough sex. Many skins also view themselves as leather folk, though many will say Skin first. Skinheads tend to live the life 24/7. The music they listen to, the clothes they wear, what they drink, eat, do, and think, and what they do for work, are all often tied to being a skin, and the blue collar culture it was based on. Also, there are many skins that cross over into rubber culture. There are even rubber/latex clothing makers that make latex fetish wear based on traditional skin wear.

Just one other note; there are women skins as well, who are usually referred to as Chelseas. I have met more than a few Chelseas in my time who are either lesbians outright or bi. I think the attraction for gay women to the whole Skinhead/Chelsea look and lifestyle is that it is unapologetic and the "don't mess with me attitude".

In the end the whole skinhead thing can be wrapped up in being proud of who you are, which is not a bad thing. At times, this can be taken a little too far, but too many of us in gay land are ashamed of who we are. As I mentioned before, being a skinhead is about being proud of who you are, and never apologizing for it. So OI! (which kind of means a "shout out") to my skin brothers and sisters.On a side note, I was pleased to attend and represent Edmonton at Mr. Leather Toronto (MLT) on November 30. My partner Dan and I had a great time. Congratulations to all the contestants, any one of them would have made a good Mr. Leather Toronto. The winner this year, and now Mr. Leather Toronto 2003 is Paul Ciantar. He will be representing Toronto in the International Mr. Leather competition this May in Chicago. The folks at MLT also hand out a sort of Mr. Congeniality award each year, which is voted on by all the contestants. This year the Mr. Leather Fellowship award went to Steven Penticost. I think both these men will do a great job.

Anyone considering running for Mr. Edmonton Leather, the contest will be June. Keep your eyes peeled, as this year Northern Chaps is hoping that contestant sponsors will all hold individual preliminary contests.

Mike is a former Mr. Edmonton Leather.