Silence = Death

In the early nineties, ACT-UP's rallying cry warned society that Gays and Queers were no longer willing to remain passive about the lack of AIDS/HIV funding. Dissent “unleash(ed) power,” forcing changes that enabled greater accessibility to new medications. Associated with this visibility, Queer Studies programs began appearing in colleges and universities to examine the politics of this dissent. As a result, a new generation found voice never to be silenced again.

The Leather Archives and Museum was born in tandem with the emergence of this new scholarship. More than a collection of artifacts and curios, the Museum serves its community by encouraging research in alternative sexuality and Leather history. Because these subjects fall outside of the mainstream discourse, scholars find it challenging to obtain funding from public sources. And for this reason, the Museum has created its Visiting Scholar program.

During last few decades, the privatization of the arts and education has challenged the role of the independent scholar. Seldom does a corporation fund a work out of altruism. Scholars are required to work within the dictates of the funding source. Scholarship must reinforce the discourse of which the funder is part. This poses a challenge for those researchers who want to examine subjects outside of the biased of this discourse. In particular, the subject of alternative sexuality.

I encourage you to give to the Leather Archives and Museum's Visiting Scholar Program. By encouraging independent research we create our own discourse outside of the traditional bias. And as a result, we create a voice that can speak to the next generation of Leather and kink folk.

See LAM's webpage for giving to the Visiting Scholar Program at http://www.leatherarchives.org/amlibweb/scholar.htm.