A subculture of gay men participates in a radical form of sexuality and community known as leather. Through intimate forms of encounter, using such tools as pain-pleasure, bondage and role-play, leather can bring a shift of consciousness and a new vision of the self. This innovative book pioneered in sensitively exploring and celebrating leathersexuality. As relevant today as when it was written 20 years ago, Urban Aboriginals is an intimate view of the Gay male leather community. Within its pages, Mains explores all aspects of this prominent yet widely misunderstood scene.

Author Biography

Geoff Mains was born May 29, 1947. He had a doctorate in biochemistry and spent much of his professional career in Vancouver, B.C., where he was a member of the faculty of the Forestry Department at the University of British Columbia. In 1984, he was employed by Environmental Science Associates in San Francisco, enabling him to move to the city, "which he considered his true home" (San Francisco Bay Guardian obitituary). Mains will be best remembered in the gay community for his groundbreaking book, "Urban Aboriginals: A Celebration of Leather Sexuality" (1984). He also wrote a powerful novel about San Francisco in crisis, "Gentle Warriors." Mains died of complications arising from AIDS on June 21, 1989. He was 42 years old.