Leather Hall of Fame 2015 Inductees

The Board of Governors of the Leather Hall of Fame is pleased to announce the inductees for 2015.

Felix Jones (1915–2003): Felix Jones was a pioneer in the leather and bike club scene in the United Kingdom and Europe. Felix founded the 69 Club a.k.a. SNC London in 1965; it was the earliest gay motorcycle/leather club in Europe. In 1969, Felix Jones and Alan Selby co-founded the Rubber Man’s Club (RMC).

Felix and SNC London were instrumental in the creation of the European Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs (ECMC), in 1974. For more than forty years, Felix Jones was at the heart of the European and U.K. gay men’s motorcycle and leather club scene. In 2002, the ECMC conferred upon Felix the title of “Honorary Patron,” their highest honor.

He was well known and maintained friendships world-wide. Felix and his partner, Jim Farant, lived in the U.S. in the 1980’s. Felix was an honorary member of the 15 Association of San Francisco from 1985 until his death.

Jones served with the British armed forces during World War II, after which he worked aboard the ocean liner R.M.S. Queen Elizabeth, and later as butler to British royals.

Pat Bond and Terry Kolb: On December 28,1970, Pat Bond, a 44-year-old New York City based chorus singer, published a classified ad in Screw magazine: he hoped the ad would help to start a masochist liberation group. The first person to answer Bond’s ad was Terry Kolb, a 27-year-old masochistic woman. More people responded to the ad, and soon, Terry came up with a name for the group, and The Eulenspiegel Society (T.E.S.) was born. Pat and Terry are its parents. (In the winter of 1971, T.E.S. members decided to include sadists as well.)

T.E.S. was modeled on the black, women’s and gay liberation movements of the late 1960s. It was the first SM political organization in the U.S., and quite possibly in the world. Thus, when the Village Voice refused to print an ad for T.E.S.,Terry Kolb protested and began to organize. In May 1971, the newspaper, while still refusing to publish their ads, did end up publishing a piece she entitled “Masochists’ Lib.” That published piece became The Eulenspiegel Society’s position paper.

Around the same time, Bond wrote the “Creed” of The Eulenspiegel Society, which subsequently shaped and influenced the agenda of almost all SM political organizations, including the Society of Janus, Samois, Gay Male SM Activists, the Lesbian Sex Mafia, and the National Leather Association.

Pat Bond remained an active member of The Eulenspiegel Society for many years, and a frequent contributor to Pro-Me-Thee-Us. Terry Kolb moved to California in the mid-1970s, where she founded a short-lived chapter of T.E.S. in Los Angeles. Later she became a member of Samois.

Jeanne Barney: As the one and only founding editor of Drummer magazine, in 1976, her editorial choices set the tone and temper which resulted in the successful launch of the single most important and first international media influence in the gay men’s leather world. The magazine’s influence played a central role in the formation of gay male leather identity. Barney’s steady hand and creative vision for Drummer’s initial run set the compass which in so many ways guides us still.

The Leather Hall of Fame was established to honor and preserve the legacy of the extraordinary men and women who have significantly shaped the history of the leather/BDSM communities worldwide since 1950.

Nominations can be made by anyone in the community. Each year three inductees are then selected by L.H.O.F. Board of Governors.

To learn about the Leather Hall of Fame’s previous inductees, please visit www.leatherhalloffame.com.

The Leather Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Brunch will be held during CLAW 15 at the Holiday Inn Cleveland South in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sunday, April 26, 2015, at noon. We invite all leather people to join us to celebrate and honor the lives and accomplishments of these great inductees. Find out more and order your tickets now at www.clawinfo.org.

CLAW is a 501©3 non-profit corporation and has donated over $500,000 to community charities.