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In my years in the leather community I have planned events large and small, private and public, and the continual question that arises is "where can we have it?" This is not a simple question, and there are many factors to take into consideration when choosing an answer. Some venues have refused to host us, others have wished they had listened more carefully before hosting an "off-color" event, while others have been supportive and welcoming. What follows are my experiences with finding a home for the Fetish Fair Fleamarket (the largest single leather event in New England) and my suggestions on choosing space for any leather-oriented event.

The Fetish Fair Fleamarket began in the ballroom of the Somerville Holiday Inn. Why a hotel? Several reasons leapt to the fore. One, as a vendor event we wanted to encourage as many attendees as possible and I felt that a neutral environment (unlike a gay bar, or a church) would make people the most comfortable. Two, when you rent a hotel space, table rental, set-up, and janitor services are generally included in the price. Three, the hotel we picked is one with free parking, as well as being public transit accessible. Four, generally we were able to reserve a block of rooms at a cheap rate for those coming from out of town or who wanted to stay over after the event. Five, hotels are already covered as far as event insurance, catering licenses, performance licenses and so on are concerned. Usually, all you have to do is book the event and run it with minimal paperwork.

When I booked the event I tried to make it very clear what the nature of the event was without scaring my catering contact. My generic description was "a vendor fair for people into leather and fetish fashions... many of our members are gay or lesbian and we look like sort of a cross between the Hell's Angels and Madonna." (This was back when Madonna was into her S/M-chic phase.) If they didn't flinch at gay/lesbian, biker gang, or leather-clad slut, I figured we'd be fine. As it was, the attitude of this particular Holiday Inn was "we don't care who you are as long as you don't break anything, make a mess, or do anything illegal." They had hosted psychic fairs, casino nights, all manner of events. They did not seem concerned that we would shock other guests. The very first flea was held the same day as a sweet sixteen birthday party in the pool area right across the hall from us, and only hours before a wedding took over the same ballroom.

As I found out two years later, when after four fleamarkets we had outgrown the space, we lucked out on that one. The next place I tried was another Holiday Inn in the Boston metro-area, this one in Brookline, MA. I knew that this particular Holiday Inn had been used by a local adult ed group to host a famous dominatrix giving an Intro to SM course, and that Grand Opening sexuality boutique had hosted Raelyn Gallina doing a demo there. I figured, no problem. Lulled into a false sense of security, I neglected to give my heavy spiel...

Mere days before the event my catering contact called me quite flustered and upset to ask me "Now, what exactly kind of event is this? You know this is a FAMILY hotel." Family has got to be one of the most mis-used words in modern American English, because to me it can't possibly mean what the "family-values" Republicans seem to think it means. Heck, in my slang, "she's family" means "she's a lesbian." I explained again to my contact about the National Leather Association and "alternative sexual lifestyles." "Well," she said, not comprehending, I think, "would you say that there'll be anything sold that is... off-color?" I said if you mean does it have to do with sex, certainly yes. She told me she didn't think the event "could go on." But that she would talk to her manager about it. I offered to fax her a list of vendors and what they sell. I did so: whips, floggers, books, corsets, jewelry, dildos.... Really, I think, the dildos were the only thing I'd find questionable at first glance. I explained that children would not be allowed into the room. While she was discussing it with her manager, I called a lawyer.

As it turned out, "her manager" didn't have a problem and the event went on as planned. Everyone on the hotel staff who worked with us that day was friendly and courteous, and some of the front desk staff even mentioned how nice it was to have an event like ours going on there. But it was educational to find out that the way the anti-discrimination laws are worded in the state of Massachusetts, they could not legally boot us out on the basis of our sexual lifestyle. Of course, that was after the contract was signed. The next time we went to schedule a fleamarket I called them back to find out if they would be willing to have us again, since, after all, there had been nothing but positive feedback. I got the same woman as a contact and she informed me in a chilly voice "I don't think so." Then she added (and I don't know if it is true) that they'd had a change of management "even more conservative than the last bunch"--and I let it drop.

Our next hotel was the Copley Westin, a much more upscale hotel than the previous. This time I carefully gave my spiel. Everything was set for our pre-Christmas show, until about two weeks before when the fateful phone call came: "what is the nature of this event, exactly?" This time our contact was very cordial and professional. They never dreamed of trying to break our contract, but they were very uptight and she and I ended up having to do a lot of damage control with upper management there. Once again we heard the argument that we might cause other guests of the hotel to complain. A children's Christmas party would be in progress in another function area. I issued notices to all the vendors to keep their fetish wear under wraps if leaving the ballroom, and provided shopping bags so shoppers could keep their toys under wraps as well. As it turned out, attendance was better at the Westin than at any other flea (twice as big, in fact), something which I think the upscale environment encouraged. But management was not on our side, and they threw various stupid obstructions in our way on the day of the event, like refusing to let vendors take their merchandise through the lobby for fear someone might see it, but then refusing to allow the freight elevator to be used.

The last time I tried to book a hotel came when I tried to book the event into the 57 Park Plaza Hotel, which is part of the Howard Johnson's chain. They have huge convention-size spaces for an extremely low rental price. I had previously attended comic book conventions there. My catering contact was very knowledgeable about leather this time. He mentioned being familiar with a few of the bars in town. I thought surely this would mean clear sailing. But this time he called back to say, before our contract was signed, that the families that own the hotel did not consider us the right kind of people. Again the words "family hotel" were used to describe the clientele they encourage. The kicker was, he had the gall to say that if I was planning any non-leather events to please consider them as a venue. My reply was "Excuse me, but you know, we have families, too. Most of NLA: New England are married couples from the suburbs. But as you've made it clear that we are not the right kind of people, you can be sure that I, my family members, and the family members of my organization, will stay clear of your hotel at all times in the future." I have been steering people away from that hotel ever since.

This left us in a quandary. There was no hotel in Boston that had function space the size we wanted (about 8000 square feet) at a price we could afford. So we began looking at other possibilities. Among them:

1) A leather bar or fetish-friendly nightclub
ADVANTAGES: No "family values" problem, supportive of the scene, encourages business within the community. You might get the place free, or even make a profit if you can staff a bar. Club members already know the location.
DISADVANTAGES: For our event, even the largest bar or nightclub in Boston is too small and with a gay or leather bar we lose that element of neutrality. Also, bars tend to be dark, smoky, and lack parking. Vendors were reluctant to have drinks or cigarette ash spilled on their merchandise. Tables/chairs/tablecloths must be rented separately, and be set up by you.

VERDICT: A bar or nightclub is terrific for certain events, some kinds of parties, demos, contests, and other soirees, but wouldn't work for our large, daytime vendor fair.

2) Community Center/YMCA/Church basement
ADVANTAGES: Low rental fees, some venues are even supportive of gay and lesbian community events like the Arlington Street Church in Boston.
DISADVANTAGES: Many places will still be freaked out by "leather," regardless of their support for vanilla gays and lesbians. And, in the case of a church, some members of the leather community may be the ones freaked out! You will probably need to provide everything: tables, chairs, tablecloths, water, cups. If you want to serve food you may need a catering license. And again, for our purposes, they were all too small.

VERDICT: If you can find a community center or church that is friendly to the leather community, by all means host events there. A masquerade ball? An annual leather-community service awards dinner and ceremony, perhaps? In an earlier age, a smaller fleamarket would have been fine in such a venue, similar to the BIzarre Bazaar held at the Women's Building in San Francisco.

3) Private Ballroom
There are function spaces not attached to a hotel, with separate entrances. If the hotel's only objection was that we might bother other guests, then this seems like an ideal solution.
ADVANTAGES: Rental price includes tables/chairs/tablecloths. They usually have parking. No separate catering license needed.
DISADVANTAGES: You still may have to deal with leather-phobia. Also, in our case, they were all off the beaten path and too inaccessible for our purposes, but this may vary in your area.

VERDICT: If there had been one with parking in the heart of Boston, we would have probably gone there, though it lacks the advantage of a hotel being able to book rooms for overnight stays.

4) Industrial lofts, theaters, performance spaces
These were the only options we had left when it came time to book the summer 1996 Fetish Fair Fleamarket. What we found was the Boston Cyclorama, a huge glass-domed space owned by the Boston Center for the Arts, as part of their four-theater complex. Logistics and overhead for the BCA were complicated and somewhat expensive, including: rental of tables and chairs, hiring security, getting one day's event liability insurance, a one day event license from the city, arranging catering, paying separately for air conditioning and on-site staff. On the other hand, the BCA were completely supportive of the event and the leather community, helping to promote the event by listing us in their upcoming events schedule, and being downright enthusiastic about seeing people parading about in full latex and flogging one another for charity. The fact that the BCA is also in the middle of Boston's gayest neighborhood also helps both in our comfort level and in attendance. A nearby gay-owned small hotel was happy to arrange to put people up. We seem to have found a permanent home with the theater-folk, knock wood.

Overall my advice is: be honest and straightforward no matter where you look, but don't be an apologist for the scene. If we admit shame we reinforce their belief that they were right to turn us away. I still feel that hotels are the best venue for certain kinds of events, leather bars are the best for others. Bear in mind those issues of size, type of event, audience, and accessibility and hopefully you'll find the right place every time.

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