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Salon Roi entrepreneur Roi Barnard reflects on five decades in business

Stylist recalls AIDS epidemic — and Marilyn’s calming presence

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Roi Barnard, gay news, Washington Blade
Roi Barnard on the roof of his business Salon Roi. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

For some — perhaps gay men disproportionately — the draw of a grand staircase is irresistible. Especially if one has logged much time in square-footage-starved city quarters. 

Roi Barnard looks proudly around his eponymous salon at the staircase and wall beside it decorated in images of Marilyn Monroe. 

“Fifty years I’ve been walking that staircase like Carol Burnett,” he says. “The staircase first sold me on this location. The shop can be whatever you want it to be. It can be elegant because of the staircase. It’s unique and they’re disappearing.”

Roi Barnard (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Barnard still works at Salon Roi, though he sold it 12 years ago and has recently cut back his hours since a heart attack. It celebrated its 50th anniversary in business at the same location this month (Aug. 9). Ten years in, the Marilyn mural was created. Now an official D.C. landmark, she’s about to be refurbished. Barnard is celebrating the milestone with the publication of his book “Mister, are you a Lady?” A documentary is also being planned. 

Still, it’s Marilyn’s face just as much as his clients who continue to inspire him. 

“I first saw her in ‘The Asphalt Jungle’ when I was 10,” he says after having his picture taken in front of her mural painted on his roof. “I remember thinking how sad she looked despite her smile. Like me back then. After she died, I wanted to bring her with me. Now she lives on here.” 

For Barnard, the movie legend is more than a mere decorative element. He sometimes speaks of her as if she’s still around. 

“We’re going out on the roof for a picture with Marilyn,” Barnard says as he’s halfway out the bathroom window. “Come join us.”

It’s hard to believe this nimble 81-year-old survived not only ’70s excesses, the ’80s AIDS crisis and various waves of conservatism, but also a recent heart attack. He says he did it with his salon and a little help from his friends. 

Roi Barnard (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

“They’re my family,” Barnard says of his clients and staff. “And those who have been with me from the beginning, we’ve survived a lot. You can see it in their eyes.”

“I would say one part of the attraction of working here for me is not only the beauty of the building but also the family aspect,” says Zakiya St. Rose, a bisexual 28-year-old aesthetician at Salon Roi. “Everyone in my book (of clients) feels loved and cared for, and that’s a part of Roi’s legacy.”

Salon Roi, an upscale salon inside a cozy Woodley Park townhouse, began its life in 1969 as Charles the First, the unisex brainchild of Barnard and his former partner, Charles Stinson. 

“We were co-owners and lovers,” Barnard says. “The late ’60s and early ’70s were so incredibly wild. Be glad you weren’t there then because you probably wouldn’t be here now. Times were that wild.”

While Barnard was in a stable relationship and didn’t do drugs, he did enjoy diamond earrings, long fur coats and driving a gold Rolls Royce to Studio 54 on weekends with Stinson. At discos, they would go out on the dance floor and throw up cards in the air granting one free haircut like cost-effective wishes.

“That’s how we got them in,” he says. “We had a big house off 16th street with a big Marilyn Monroe swimming pool. Charles and I were so public and so out there. I was just coming off a fashion modeling career and we were not afraid.”

Still, he remembered challenges, even from gay folks.

“Gay people were afraid of us back then. We had a better time in the straight community,” Barnard says, frowning. “The gay community liked us but were afraid of us because we were out and they could get fired back then, especially if they worked for the federal government.”

Barnard remembers those pre-Stonewall times when, ”We had to hide everything.”

He remembers paying to go to a private party to meet other gay men and a half-hour after he left, it was raided by police. Some of the men he knew had their names printed in the paper and “they were told not to come back to work. They lost everything.”

He and Stinson each married lesbians because, “that was what you did at the time.” But times changed and a taste of freedom led to men wanting more, both gay and straight. 

“Half my clientele are straight men,” Barnard says. “They love being pampered. Before the ’60s and ’70s, men didn’t have much choice when they went to the barber. Then suddenly they had a lot more freedom in how to wear their hair. And one cookie leads to a whole box.”

This new desire for freedom led Barnard and Stinson to open a unisex salon. One goal was to spread the love to government workers. Their client lists grew from federal workers to senior officials. 

“Why couldn’t we help both men and women?” Barnard says. “Hair is hair. But it caused quite a media frenzy at the time. You see, women went to beauty parlors and men went to barber shops and the twain shall not meet.”

So Barnard and Stinson bucked convention and opened their shop to everyone, but not without controversy.

Barnard recalls being a guest of Maury Povich on D.C.’s “Panorama” and being asked to name-drop his more exclusive clients. He refused. Later, the secretary of defense stopped by his salon to thank him personally. Barnard’s stylists took care of the secretary’s entire family and to this day he is proud to serve the grandchildren of the first children he styled. 

“The children saved us,” he says, memories of the AIDS crisis giving him a haunted look.

The repression of the ’50s gave way to the freedom of the ’60s and the flamboyance of the ’70s, but the crisis of the ’80s threatened to take that all away.

“Everybody was scared,” Barnard says. “In those early days people were getting sick, a lot of people, and we didn’t know what was going on. People were losing their shops.”

He seemed unable to shake the fear of the time. 

“We still have the same eyes. I can see the ravages of war in the eyes of the girls who survived it with me. I lost five gay male hairdressers — major hairdressers,” Barnard says. “They were up-and-comers. Rising stars. I was mentoring them to open their own shops one day because that is what you do. But then suddenly they got sick and were gone. All of them. Gone.”

He says what happened in his shop happened in many shops in many other cities all over the country. Barnard jokes that before the crisis the term “gay hairdresser” was redundant but afterward, women took control of the industry because they had to. 

“We were hit hard in those days,” he says. “Robin Weir, who used to do Nancy Reagan’s hair, had a big salon on P Street. Maybe 25 or 30 hairdressers. He came to say goodbye. So many salons were closing and the owners coming to say goodbye to me.”

He describes how the crisis worsened and how salons started to look like hospital wards as sick stylists kept working despite losing their eyesight, getting tired and having to conceal blotches on their skin. 

“No one knew they were dying back then,” Barnard says. “No one knew what was going on. They were just desperately trying to get through their day. You know when you get sick you think you’ll get better and that there is a better day coming, but it didn’t come. For some it never came.”

To help his business survive, Barnard had to make two tough decisions. One was to get an instructor’s license and train all the female assistants “to the once-pompous boys” to do hair. 

“Not a single girl got sick,” Barnard says. “It was do that or lose the shop.”
The other was to leave Stinson and buy out his stake in the shop. 

“I thought drugs were changing Charles,” Barnard says. “Not a brain tumor caused by AIDS.”

Stinson, Barnard says, was becoming increasingly unstable toward his staff, his clients and his partner. Barnard had to take action, though now older and post-heart surgery he looks back with regret. 

“I should have taken him in,” he says looking around the nail room. “I could have let him work here while we watched over him and took care of him. We shouldn’t have left him alone.”

In those early days of the crisis, before Stinson knew he was sick, both he and Barnard were invited to Georgetown University to explain what they knew about gay life. The goal was to learn what about their “lifestyle” was filling the hospital wards with men who should be in the prime of their lives. 

“Our secrets were killing us,” Barnard says. “So I told them. I told what I knew.”

Barnard and Stinson took straight but intellectually curious doctors to gay bars around town and told of back rooms where sketchy sex could be had easily “in pitch dark with five, 10 men.” 

“At one bar a homeless man walked in off the street,” Barnard says, wrinkling his nose at the memory. “And right into that back room. Even if they couldn’t see him, which was a blessing, they had to be able to smell him, right?”

Barnard’s squeamishness may have saved his life.

He and Stinson introduced the doctors to Jim Graham, the director of a little walk-up clinic on 18th street called Whitman-Walker. Gay men frequented the clinic to treat “VD” or venereal diseases, now called STIs or sexually transmitted infections. 

“Jim didn’t like me telling them our secrets,” Barnard says, shaking his head. “But they had to know. We were dying.”

Back rooms began to close, but Barnard felt he needed to do more so he took his styling scissors on the road. He started doing hair for sick young men to help them feel beautiful again. He also joined DIFA, the Designing Industry Fighting AIDS. 

But like war nurses who suffer their own forms of PTSD, seeing the constant death began to take its toll. 

“One of my beautiful young friends got sick,” Barnard says. “He had these purple spots all over his face. His flesh just hung from him. His skin …”

Barnard was there to cut his friend’s hair but, “I just couldn’t do it.”

“I excused myself to sit alone on his front porch and check in with myself asking, ‘Can I do this? God, please help me.’ I finally told him, ‘I think I’m OK now. I just need some water.’ He asked me, ‘I look that bad?’ And I said, ‘Oh buddy, yeah. Yeah, you do.’”

Barnard styled his hair and warned his friend to take a picture and send it to his family before inviting them out to see him. 

Stinson’s condition deteriorated to the point where he wouldn’t last long. Barnard sent him to a friend connected with the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California. Once known for developing a safe polio vaccine, the institute was now battling AIDS. Though well treated, Stinson would be experimented on before succumbing to the disease. 

“Over 300 people came to his funeral,” Bernard says. “Kindness came through.”

As the public learned more about the disease and the death toll eased, business slowly recovered at Salon Roi. 

“The fact that we were child-friendly saved us,” he says. “Our children in the ’80s didn’t know about AIDS. They were babies. They are still coming today with their babies.”

The business has now expanded with a spa and other services. Most of the staff still consists of women, but Barnard notes young gay men are returning to the field. Some of the old flair from the ’70s is starting to return as well. 

“Now, there is a boy who works here and is extremely flamboyant,” Barnard says. “But he has no idea what we went through before. The lifestyle had to come way down because of the backlash due to the AIDS crisis. But we came through. We survived.”

Roi Barnard says the undulations he and his business have been through in five decades would be unfathomable to Millennial or Gen Z gays. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
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Valentine’s gifts for the queers you love

Fragrances, X-rated sweet treats, candles, and more

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Put a little love in your heart. That’s what Jackie DeShannon encouraged with her 1969 hit song of the same name, and it’s never been more appropriate than in the context of our current state of affairs. Mute the vitriol this Valentine’s Day and concentrate on what really matters – those you love and who love you back. 

Gucci Guilty Love Edition

Sniffies? You’ll put the site on hold after a whiff of Gucci Guilty Love Edition on the nape of his neck – featuring captivating notes of juniper oil, orange flower absolute and aphrodisiatic Ambrofix – which one review claims to “make your brain sparkle like a fine Champagne.” Cheers to that. $25-$133, FragranceNet.com

Hunky Burning Love Pillow

Sweet dreams are on the docket when you rest your head on the Hunky Burning Love faux-suede square pillow printed with illustrations of shirtless himbos pining for your affection. An exercise in fantasy more than reality, but it beats sitting alone at a bar getting no attention at all. $30, ThePillowTopShop.com

Love Deck

What’s in the cards for your love life in 2025? Fuck around and find out with astrologist Lisa Stardust’s 70-card Love Deck, a tarot set of short spells, meditations and rituals designed to conjure enough love, passion, clarity and confidence to make Potion No. 9 jealous. $13, Amazon.com 

‘Making the Case for Equality’

We’ll continue to fight the good fight over the next four years and beyond – perhaps harder than ever – and Lambda Legal’s “Making the Case for Equality,” a detailed half-century history of our hard-won judicial victories, is a solid reminder of how far we’ve come in the war for LGBTQ+ rights. $45, Amazon.com

Lola Blankets

Schedule an at-home streaming marathon of this year’s Best Picture noms before the big night – there’s a lot to love in 2024’s Oscar picks – and the coziest way to settle in is all snuggled up in the squishiest Lola blankets, reminiscent of the adorable ripples of the cutest Shar Pei. Pick up a couple for the cuddle puddle. $109-$299, LolaBlankets.com

Asa Akira x Cake Life Cookies

Cue the collaboration you didn’t see coming: Adult film star Asa Akira teams up with award-winning trans-owned bakery Cake Life Bake Shop for its sweet-and-spicy Conversation Heart Sugar Cookies, featuring Akira’s XXX-tra special curated box decorated with NFSW phrases like “Cowgirl,” “Cream Pie,” and the ever-subtle “Anal” – that are sure to leave mouths agog at your Gaylentine’s get-together. $19-$21, CakeLifeBakeShop.square.site

Mind Games Candles

Since the late 1990s, the Backstreet Boys have implored us to quit playin’ games with our lovers’ hearts, which is probably why we play mind games instead – and now they come in luxury scents like Jasmine Milk, Tobacco Tonka Bean and Cherry Sandalwood, so you can enjoy mood lighting with your gaslighting. $135, MindGamesFragrance.com

Delysia Chocolates

Inspired by Greek Goddess-of-Love Aphrodite, Delysia Chocolatier’s 16-piece, limited-edition truffle collection includes four each of symbolic Passion (almond-honey-fig), Adoration (raspberry-rose petal-hibiscus), Unity (pomegranate-strawberry), and Love (spiced wine-berry) bite-size chocolates rich enough for savoring and abundant enough for sharing. $60, Delysia.com

DIY Whiskey Hot Sauce

Variety is the spice of life in Thoughtfully Gourmet’s Whiskey-Infused DIY Hot Sauce Kit that combines your favorite cereal spirit with high-quality global ingredients, like Mexican hot peppers, to create sophisticated flavor experiences of varying Scoville heat levels, handsomely housed in fancy decanters. Recipe book, spices and seasonings included; alcohol and antacids are not. $20, Amazon.com

Mikey Rox is an award-winning journalist and LGBTQ lifestyle expert whose work has been published in more than 100 outlets around the world. Connect with Mikey on Instagram @mikeyroxtravels.

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Boomer Banks brings beats to MAL Weekend

From porn to the DJ booth, ’I’m the happiest I’ve ever been’

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Boomer Banks (Photo by Greg Endries)

If you enjoy gay adult films, there is a high likelihood you have seen or at least heard of Boomer Banks. His tattoos, muscles, masculine presence, and thick mustache have made him one of the most recognizable — and awarded — Latinx gay adult performers in the industry. This weekend, Banks heads to the nation’s capital to partake in Mid-Atlantic Leather weekend.

 As D.C. polishes its leather gay apparel for the annual MAL weekend, Banks, alongside a slew of other gay adult performers and leather lovers, is getting ready to make adult content, meet fans, buy some new leather goods, and perform in the name of sexual expression.

This year will be different for Banks compared to his past MAL weekends, though. He will still be go-go dancing as he has in years past, but this year he has a new hat on — headlining DJ. The Blade sat down with the 44-year-old performer to discuss his sex work career, the changing industry, and his passion for DJing.

On Friday night, Banks is one of three headlining DJs for the main dance event of the night, UNCUT XL. He explained that his love for music has always been there, but since the death of his best friend, with whom he connected on a shared love of music, his sets mean more than ever to him now. 

“I loved music for my whole life,” Banks told the Blade when asked about how he got started in music. “My proximity to legendary New York DJs has always been there. I lost my best friend and brother over two years ago, and it just caused a lot of changes [for me]. We both loved music so much … I was talking to one of my DJ friends [about this connection to music], and they were talking to me, and all of a sudden I’m at their studio, playing around with the controller and all that, and it just happened. Here we are, two years later, and now I’m headlining at MAL with some legendary DJs that I have been a fan of since I was young.”

Banks went on to explain that this connection and newfound passion for DJing is what has made his career shift from studio porn to a solo career easier. He also said the continued support from his house music fans has made him want to work even harder on creating memorable sets.

And create memorable sets he has. Banks has headlined events all across the country over the past two years — from Provincetown to Rehoboth Beach and even headlining Folsom, which is the biggest leather event of the year. He explained that he has one overwhelming emotion —gratitude.

“I’m really grateful that Zach [Renovatés] and everybody at Kinetic and Bunker have really taken a liking to my storytelling through music, because that’s what it is for me,” Banks said. “I like taking people on a journey. It’s usually my journey. But I read the crowd, I read energy, and I’m always smiling, and that’s the only place that I do smile. I feel like people often categorize me as intimidating, and a lot of times that’s what I got in the porn industry. But with DJing, the people are always like, ‘You’re so happy up there. You’re smiling all the time.’ And, yeah, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, and it’s exciting. I love doing it, and I’m grateful and very humbled that people are seeing that this isn’t just a gimmick.”

He went on to explain that this happiness wasn’t always at the base of his work —especially when he was involved with the studio porn system with CockyBoys and Raging Stallion. Various factors, including race, he shared with the Blade, were why it was less than enjoyable at times. But it provided a platform in which he was able to grow and gave him an opportunity to help newcomers in the industry.

“When I got into porn, other brown men were not nice to me; other people of color [were not nice to me]. I thought that it would have been different. So when I was established, I made sure not to do that. I have a few little Banks boys that I nurtured into the industry, and, not to claim them, but it’s just so that they had someone to talk to because I didn’t have that.”

Despite some structural problems within the industry, Banks felt he was able to get what he needed from the career, including a paycheck and a platform.

“Porn did work out for me,” he said. “I was very fucking successful, and I was not white. I did the work, but I just couldn’t keep doing it any more. It wasn’t good for my mental health, and so I knew how to bow out. Who knows? It [studio porn days] might happen again. I don’t know, but I know for today, I love music. It’s my heart. I’m grateful for the platform that sex work gave me because it’s given me a heads up with the music.”

That music has kept him going. More specifically, New York house-style music has kept him going. Banks’s ability to take in the music he loves has made him a stronger DJ, he said. 

“’I’m a New York house DJ,” he said. “That’s the style that I bring. The craziest it gets is like tech house and maybe some early 2000s mid-2000s circuit music. It’s what I grew up with and what I love and what I like to put out there. I’m really grateful that I was not only showing up to these gigs, but I was absorbing the art that is music in a way that it seeped into my pores and my soul, that now I can share how I feel about music, and that’s exciting.”

 He touched on how although many people can be fans of DJ music, it takes more to become a successful DJ.

“The thing about music is you can’t fake music tastes. You can learn all the knobs and the technical parts of DJing, but if you’re not playing good music, and if the room isn’t vibing, it doesn’t matter.”

When asked about the current political climate—seeing as the host hotel for MAL weekend is a mere half mile from the Capitol building—Banks reflected on the importance of weekends like this for the LGBTQ community, which is increasingly facing the backlash of conservative politicians.

 “We are in uncertain times,” he said. “These are the weekends where we’re able to be who we are. And it’s unfortunate that we have to still have these events to express ourselves. Because a lot of these guys, they wait their whole year for this weekend to be able to express themselves. With what’s going on with the world, they’re basically being told that these are the only places they can. I know that in New York we live in a bubble. I know in D.C., we live in a bubble. But I want to show people that are coming from the middle of nowhere that they can have a good time, and even if it is for this weekend, they can rely on us. I want our community to know that I am here for them.”

You can find Boomer Banks headlining Friday’s main dance event UNCUT XL from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. at REPUBLIQ Hall (2122 24th Pl NE) and go-go dancing during Saturday’s PERVERT XXL party at A.I. Warehouse (530 Penn St., N.E.) from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. as well as on X @Boomer_Banks and on Instagram @baconlvr.

For more information about MAL events visit leatherweekend.com or kineticpresents.com.

Boomer Banks (Photo by Greg Endries)
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D.C. gets leathered up

Your guide to Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend

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The annual MAL Weekend kicks off this week with dance parties, an exhibit hall, and much more. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Half a mile from the Capitol building on New Jersey Avenue, the Hyatt Regency Washington is getting ready for one of the city’s biggest, gayest, and kinkiest weekends of the year — the annual Mid-Atlantic Leather (MAL) Weekend.

The weekend, which has a long and fabled history that spans two different hosting Motorcycle Clubs (MC), multiple host cities, thousands of LGBTQ people dressed head to toe in leather, and as the Centaur MC website explains, all began with an hour of cocktails and a cock ring. 

In 1976, members of the Links MC gathered in a room at New York City’s Waldorf-Astoria hotel to mingle and discuss shared interests (including leather and various sexual proclivities), when one of the party’s guests accidentally dropped his cock ring on the bathroom floor. The loud clang of a cock ring against the tile floor made everyone in attendance laugh. At the next party the Links MC hosted, another member intentionally dropped his cock ring on the floor too, calling back to the prior party’s fun and a tradition was established.

The event grew in popularity among LGBTQ leather lovers, moving to various East Coast cities before finding a permanent home with the Centaur MC in Washington in 1984. Since then, the city has hosted the Leather Cocktail party each year and has expanded to include an exhibitor hall, where leather makers and other kink product creators showcase their wares, the prestigious Mr. MAL Contest, and multiple high energy (and clothing optional) dance parties.

Leather Cocktails in 2013. (Washington Blade archive photo by Tyler Grigsby)

MCs comprised exclusively of queer members have been documented since at least the mid-1950s, with the Satyrs Motorcycle Club of Los Angeles being one of the earliest known examples. During the McCarthy era, when LGBTQ individuals were subjected to brutal discrimination due to unfounded fears that being queer was synonymous with being un-American or even suggested Communist leanings, the groups provided an essential refuge. While such fears were baseless, the formation of these clubs offered a vital safe space for queer people to express themselves in an environment where their identities were not just stigmatized but often criminalized. These MCs became much more than places for sexual expression — they were havens of protection and solidarity, offering a sense of community that would have been nearly impossible to find in the hostile, post-WWII social climate.

This year’s MAL is set to be the biggest year yet with four days of kinky queer fun. It all begins on Thursday at the Hyatt Regency Washington (400 New Jersey Ave., N.W.) with the Full Package/Three Day Pass Pick-Up from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Here guests who have purchased a Full Weekend Package can collect their wristbands.

On Thursday from 9 p.m.-3 a.m., the MAL kick-off Kinetic BOOTCAMP dance party will whip you into shape as international DJs Alex Lo and Dan Slater start off the weekend right. The venue has not been named yet, but Kinetic Events, which oversees this year’s official MAL dance parties have said the space will soon be announced and will “be complete with play zone designed for maximum seduction.”

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

After beginning MAL weekend on the dance floor, Friday is full of events to keep the kinky vibes going. From 3-10 p.m., guests who have not picked up their Full Package Pass on Thursday can continue to collect them in Capital Room A on the lobby level (located behind the north tower elevators) of the Hyatt Regency Washington. If you haven’t purchased a pass, no worries, both day and weekend passes for MAL hotel events are available for purchase online or at the hotel’s entrance from 3-10 p.m. 

The passes vary in price depending on what day(s) you attend. The 3-day pass is $45 plus processing fees and provides access to the Hotel and Exhibitor Hall for the entire weekend, as well as the Mr. MAL Contest on Sunday. The Single Day Pass is $20 plus processing fees and allows access to the Hotel and Exhibitor Hall on either Friday or Saturday. The Sunday Day Pass is $30 plus processing fees and includes access to the Hotel and Exhibitor Hall on Sunday, along with entry to the Mr. MAL Contest. To purchase your pass online visit at sickening.events/e/mal-weekend-2025/tickets or at the hotel’s entrance. 

To get in an elevator up to a hotel room a staff member will check for a hotel room wristband. Non-registered guests can only access host hotel rooms if they are escorted by a registered guest with a valid wristband. Registered guests are permitted to escort only one non-registered guest at a time. Non-registered guests with a wristband who are already in the hotel before 10 p.m. may remain until midnight. However, non-registered guests without a wristband will not be admitted after registration closes.

A scene from the 2024 Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather competition. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The Exhibit Hall is located on the ballroom level below the lobby. This year is slated to have 29 exhibitors selling leather and kink goods that range from harnesses to jockstraps and everything in between. The Exhibit Hall will be open on Friday from 4-10 p.m., on Saturday from 11 a.m.-6 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

Back by popular demand, DC Health is partnering with Nasty Pig to provide preventative health services including MPox vaccines, Doxy PEP, HIV Testing, Narcan kits, and Fentanyl test strips. Their booth with these services will be available on Friday from 3-10 p.m. and on Saturday from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. at Capital Room B (located behind the north tower elevators next to Room A). 

Also on Friday, the Centaur MC is holding its Welcome Reception from 6-8 p.m. on the ballroom floor. After the Centaur’s Welcome Reception, there will be an International Mister Rubber (IMR) Social from 8-11 p.m. in Congressional Room A. 

Friday night’s dance party KINETIC UNCUT XL will be at REPUBLIQ Hall (2122 24th Place, N.E.) and has been billed as “largest and most debaucherous MAL event yet” with a “labyrinth of play zones” and two dance floors. DJ and adult film creator James Anthony kicks off the night and then allows for you to choose where to dance — either in room 1 with DJ Alex Ramos playing tribal beats or room 2 with DJ and adult creator Boomer Banks playing a tech house set. The dance party goes from 10-4 a.m. so make sure those boots are shined and ready to move. 

On Saturday MAL will host its annual Puppy Mosh in Regency Ballroom C from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. During the Mosh, pups and their handlers can enjoy a playful puppy playdate while immersing themselves in pup culture. There are strict rules surrounding the Puppy Mosh. The Mosh Monitor has final say and has the right to eject anyone from the Puppy Park for violating the rules. For the full set of Puppy Mosh rules visit leatherweekend.com/puppy-park-rules/

Immediately following the Puppy Mosh the Super Hero Meet-Up will be held in Capital Room A from 1:30- 3 p.m., where cosplayers and comic book enthusiasts can gather for an erotic meetup celebrating a rendezvous of capes, curves, and vibrant spandex.

From 2-6 p.m. on Saturday, the Onyx Fashion Show will take place in Congressional Rooms A & B for people of color to highlight Black brilliance in leather. 

The Leather Cocktail Party that started it all will be held 7-10 p.m. in the Regency Ballroom. Only those with the Full Package Pass can attend and are encouraged to show off their leather and kink fantasy. 

The Leather Cocktail Party isn’t the only cocktail party happening on Saturday; from 9-11 p.m., the MAL Cocktail Party will be in Congressional Room B for other MAL attendees to mingle and get a drink. 

The last event of Saturday is the KINETIC and Matinée Group’s PERVERT XXL dance party. Beginning at 10 p.m., this will mark the first time that a dance party on MAL Weekend’s Saturday night is an official MAL event. The dance is at A.I. Warehouse in Northeast (address TBA) and has a slew of talent for the celebration. Gigi Goode from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” will “whip the crowd into submission” as DJs from around the world, including Erik Vilar (Brazil), Eliad Cohen (Israel), and Paulo (Los Angeles) play non-stop beats all night long (or at least until 4 a.m. when the party ends). In addition to drag royalty and internationally acclaimed DJs, the dance is held in a multi-level warehouse in Northeast D.C. complete with immersive lights, lasers, and play zones. 

On Sunday at 1 p.m., the Mr. MAL Contest will be held in the Regency Ballroom. This highly sought after title gives one man the power to become the Mid-Atlantic Leather man of the year. The sash and title come with some requirements though: 1. You must be male, 2. You must be a resident of North America, 3. Must be at least 21 years of age, and 4. You must self-identify as gay. Additionally, if you enter, you must be prepared to represent the title as a contestant in the International Mr. Leather (IML) Contest in Chicago on Memorial Day Weekend 2025. Currently the list of applicants has hit its limit but if you are interested and can meet the criteria you can email [email protected] to be put on a standby list.

From 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. on Sunday, MAL will hold its Game Night in Capital Rooms A & B.

Last, but certainly not least, the final event and dance party of the weekend is the KINETIC LUST party, the perfectly sensual and sexy way to end MAL 2025. The party goes from 10 p.m.-3 a.m. as Grammy-nominated Abel and DJ Sam Blacky will end your weekend right with “dark, sexy beats and pulse-pounding rhythms” as erotic porn star performances and exclusive play zones are explored. 

Each day of MAL a Recovery Meeting will be held in the Yosemite Room (located on the conference level/ second floor) from 10-11 p.m. with an additional session on Saturday from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. to provide a safe space for anyone who is struggling with addiction or for anyone who needs to take a sober step away from the weekend’s events. 

All weekend there will also be a Bootblack station where MAL attendees can get any leather goods cleaned and polished. The money donated to the Bootblacks for their work helps raise money for a local charity (that changes each year) and to cover the Mr. MAL travel fund. Don’t forget to tip.

A scene from Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend 2024. (Washington Blade file Key)

Even though the weekend is called the Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend, leather is not required. There are some rules regarding outfits though. All expressions of kink are encouraged. Attendees in years past have worn everything from leather to rubber, to furries and even regular street clothes. Just make sure that they abide by the hotel’s dress code rules — in publicly accessible spaces (lobby, hallways, ballrooms, exhibit halls), nudity is not allowed. Men may walk around the hotel shirtless, in a jock, or in chaps with a jock. Women are not permitted to be shirtless or have their nipples exposed. If you are dining, your buttocks must be covered, and at least a vest must be worn.

Please note that all events are 21+ and require an ID check, including every day of events at the Hyatt Regency host hotel. Please make sure you bring your photo ID. Also note that all MAL “Full Weekend Package” pass holders have access to the LUST Sunday Closing Party.

For any additional information on official MAL weekend events and policies, please visit leatherweekend.com or kineticpresents.com

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