Lady Justice: When and how did you first realize you were interested in leather/BDSM/fetish?

Sir Julian: I find these kinds of questions fascinating because there's a whole lot of psychology behind them. I grew up in Great Britain until the fourth grade, and one of my favourite American shows at that time was the Dukes of Hazzard. I used to fantasize about tying up the Duke boys and torturing them, stripping them down and doing all kinds of fun, but unspeakable, things to them. At the time, of course, I didn't have the epiphany that I must be into leather/BDSM/fetish, but looking back, I certainly see it.

When I came out in college, I preferred to spend my time at The Ranch, which was a country/western gay bar in Albuquerque, NM. The Ranch had a back bar at the time that catered to the leather scene, but they didn't have a dress code. I picked up a lot of guys from that bar, but we always had vanilla sex, so it wasn't until my late 20s that I consciously began to explore leather sex. The signs were definitely all there.

Lady Justice: What are your hobbies?

Sir Julian: Currently, I'm exploring home brewing, lamp work glass and writing. I have a few hobbies in which I seem to consistently participate, and those include painting, drawing, photography, movies, music, hiking and camping. I have a keen interest in sustainability and community building, so I guess you can call those hobbies as well.

Lady Justice: What is your favourite quote?

Sir Julian: "The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote." -- Kosh Naranek (a character from the Sci Fi series Babylon 5)

Lady Justice: Do you feel there is anything vital missing from today's leather community?

Sir Julian: I think there are a couple of things missing from today's leather community. The first one is a sense of class. I'm not saying it’s completely missing, because trust me, I've met and known some extremely classy leather people, but overall, there seems to be a lack of the almost aristocratic feel that I remember from my earlier interactions with the leather community. Basic manners and an appreciation for the "finer things" don't seem to have the value in our community that they once did. And I don't mean to single out the leather community on this; it's largely missing from society as a whole.

Secondly, I miss a real sense of unity. I know it’s a total cliché these days to say that and everyone seems to be beating the "leather unity" drum, but it’s very true. The way I know it’s true is that in thinking about this question I thought of a dozen or so things that I've seen missing from the community, but then I'd say to myself, "That only applies to this city," or "That doesn't apply to my leather family," or something like that.

Honor is something that is very important to me. It's an underpinning of the spiritual philosophy to which I subscribe. I've seen a huge lack of honor in the leather community. I really think about it's those elements in the community that are stirring shit, creating drama, and trying to drive wedges into the community, that exhibit this lack of honor. I was at Pantheon of Leather, in Chicago, a couple weekends ago, and thankfully most of the people I met took honor as seriously as I do. I think we need to foster greater unity, and this may sound harsh, but part of doing that may involve rooting out or shunning those elements of the community that lack honor and would drive us apart for their own selfish ends.

Lady Justice: What is your definition of a "leatherman"? What are his responsibilities?

Sir Julian: That is a thought provoking question. For me a leatherman is someone with a passion for leather and kinky sex, who knows what he likes, how he likes it, and isn't afraid to demand it. A leatherman is intelligent, confident, strong, and masculine, but he's also sensitive and sensual, and has a strong sense of honor. He knows what his Will is, and does it.

I think a leatherman's responsibilities include keeping his word, being a guide and mentor to those new to the community, taking care of his body, and keeping himself healthy so he can take care of his boy. I think, of course, that educating himself on things like safety, technique, and social issues is essential, so he can educate others.

Lady Justice: Which roles in the Leather BDSM lifestyle do you fit? How do the following words compare to you: Master, slave, dominant, submissive, sadist, masochist, Daddy, etc...

Sir Julian: I definitely see myself as a "Sir". I'm dominant, sometimes demanding, strong, strong willed, and sometimes even a little bull-headed. I have a strong desire for structure and order, and I have no problem making sure things arrange themselves according to my own particular vision of structure and order.

I enjoy being served by a willing submissive, and I recognize that some people are meant to be a Master while others are just pre-programmed to serve. I follow Crowley's Book of the Law and Thelema and The Book of the Law reminds its adherents that "the slaves shall serve". It's part of the natural order in my view. I've never been a submissive. I'm not wired that way. I definitely like to be in the driver's seat. I really wouldn't use the term sadist to describe myself. I can enjoy inflicting pain but I don't enjoy inflicting only pain. To me, it's about creating and exploring a range of sensations, so I consider myself a sensualist as opposed to a sadist. I'm definitely not a masochist. I sometimes enjoy pain, but I don't seek or crave it, and I don't run from it either. Sometimes a little pain reminds us that we're alive.

Lady Justice: What keeps you passionate about the leather community?

Sir Julian: Two things: the people, and the ability to really explore consciousness. The people that are drawn to the leather community are so amazing to me. I've met some amazing men and women that were sexy, intelligent, real, and totally unapologetic about who they are. I wish more of society worked that way. But even more than that, these people are passionate and compassionate, caring, loving and genuinely ALIVE. They're not just going through the motions of living, like so many people do.

I'm also big on a pro-sex spirituality and the leather community provides a place where I can really see and learn about what that truly means. There's a strong spiritual element to it for me. I see so many opportunities to explore human potential and the very edges of consciousness.

Lady Justice: What organizations do you belong to? Are you an officer of any of these groups?

Sir Julian: In the leather community I belong to the National Leather Association International (NLAI). I'm also a member of their Columbus chapter. I don't hold office, but I'm on the publications committee for NLAI. I'm also a pledge in Trident International, Columbus. On the pagan side of things, I'm a member and the president of Green Faerie Grove, a queer pagan brotherhood in Columbus, Ohio. We're incorporated as a non-profit and seeking our 501(c) 3 status.

Lady Justice: What is your platform in your role as a titleholder?

Sir Julian: My platform is whatever I'm feeling passionate about at the time. I respect people that have platforms as titleholders, and I've seen them do some tremendous things, but I can't limit myself to tackling one thing. It's not who I am. I'm big on a few things, like unity, the importance of continuing to search for a cure for HIV/AIDS, the importance of stem cell research, the promise of new medicine based on our understanding of the human genome, the importance of building strong local communities and strong local economies, and the fight against growing poverty. Can I solve any of these? No. That's why I don't have a single narrow platform. I can help increase awareness of all these issues, and I feel that they're all equally important and in many ways interrelated.

Lady Justice: What is your fondest memory while you were wearing leather over the years?

Sir Julian: [Laughing]. A number of years ago, I chatted online with this young college guy. He was in a fraternity, and claimed to be straight. He wanted to be tied up, restrained, and tickled. He had a serious tickling fetish. We met, and I knew right away that this kid was in denial about his sexuality. We agreed to some boundaries, and decided to play. I wasn't actually wearing leather, but a jock strap, and I had him tied down in leather restraints and rope. We played multiple times, and each time I'd push his boundaries a little bit---rubbing my cock on him, dangling it in his face. He always let me take it a little further, and after he graduated college, he moved away. About a year ago, he wrote me to reestablish contact, and he's since come out as being gay. I think it was a hot scene because I had a great time tormenting him—tickling him, edging him, doing bondage on him. But it was also hot because I know that by pushing his boundaries and comfort zone, I helped him come to terms with his sexuality. There were a lot of psychological boundaries being pushed, and I find that much hotter than the pushing physical boundaries.

Lady Justice: Have you ever conducted a workshop? What was the topic? If you were to teach more leather workshops, what topics would you teach?

Sir Julian: I've conducted a number of workshops in the pagan community on sex and BDSM. I've given a workshop on same-sex sex magick (using arousal to alter consciousness), tantric/erotic massage for gay men, and some on using BDSM techniques, like flogging, to alter consciousness in ritual. I know that I'll continue to teach along these lines, and in the leather community I'd love to teach more about the subtle energies of the body and how to affect them with our play. I'd probably also consider teaching some on bondage and flogging together, and maybe meditation techniques that I think enhance leather play.

Lady Justice: Please tell us more about Between the Worlds.

Sir Julian: Between the Worlds is an alternative spiritual gathering for gay and bisexual men. It’s basically an almost week long campout, featuring workshops, rituals, and social events for gay and bisexual men to explore various alternative spiritual paths. This usually expresses itself as neo-pagan, but in the past we’ve had workshops and presenters on Buddhism, Sanskrit Mantra, and a number of other topics. There’s also a strong intersection between the Pagan and kink/poly community, so we usually have workshops on topics like Tantric Massage and Polyamory. It’s a very pro-sex community, but the emphasis isn’t all on sex either. There’s a good balance of the sacred and the profane. It is an amazing gathering because we ask that participants leave their pre-conceived ideas and bar attitudes at the gate, and they actually do. There’s an amazing lack of ageism and every other kind of "ism" usually found in the gay community. I’ve seen men in their 50s dancing around the bonfire with men in their 20s and I’ve seen bears and twinks working together to build community.

I was one of the co-founders of the gathering, and I continue to be a co-facilitator. It’s been a true delight seeing my vision of a gay pagan community come to fruition. Men come from both coasts and everywhere in between to experience it. I could go on about it, but I’ll just give you the URL: http://www.betweentheworlds.org.

Lady Justice: Whom do you admire in the community? And is there anyone in it you'd like to be for 24 hours, and why?

Sir Julian: A mentor in the pagan community once told me that everyone in Magick that had come before should be respected. By doing what they did, and writing about/teaching about it, they laid a foundation that those of us new to Magick could use to go even further. Because we didn't have to start at the beginning to learn it all by experimentation, we could take what they'd learned and build on it. He called it "standing on the shoulders of giants," and every time I go out into the leather community, I feel eight feet tall because I know that I'm standing on the shoulders of giants in the leather world too.

There's no one I'd like to be for even 24 hours. I like who I am and if I were someone else, I would do things differently. The Book of the Law says that "every man and every woman is a star". I can't be who they are, or do what they do. Instead, I bring my own unique qualities to who I am and what I do.

Lady Justice: What is your stance on "Old Guard" versus "New Guard" leather protocols and rules?

Sir Julian: I know I'm going to offend a lot of people with this, but I'm pretty passionate about this topic. The debate over the "Old Guard" and "New Guard" in the leather community has strong parallels with what's happening in today's pagan community. There are arguments over traditional initiation versus self-initiation and the validity of "new" pagan paths. Basically, there's a group of pagans that learned their techniques and knowledge from a teacher, worked hard, and were initiated to be recognized as High Priests and High Priestesses. Then you have this other group that wants to read a few new age books, initiate themselves, and be recognized in the larger community as High Priests and High Priestesses. I'm sorry, but I don't think they're equivalent at all.

Both communities have a concept of a hierarchy, and I think the whole debate is about some people being too lazy to do the necessary work to climb that hierarchy. So they claim the hierarchy is the problem, the old rules don't apply, and of course, set themselves up on the top rung. It doesn't work that way. It never has, and no amount of bitching and moaning about the "Old Guard" is going to change it. That's just the way life works.

Lady Justice: Do others outside the leather community know you're into leather? If so, has that created any difficulties?

Sir Julian: I'm pretty open about who I am, and while I wouldn't say I advertise my involvement in leather, I certainly don't hide it. My family knows about my involvement, and a few co-workers know. I’m fortunate that I’ve been in my industry for a long time, so things like being a leatherman are never going to interfere with my ability to work or make a living. It's never created any difficulty for me. I'm a queer pagan leatherman, and people can either deal with it or not. I'm not going to take any crap about it, but I'm also not going to flaunt it in front of someone that isn't comfortable with it. I think it all boils down to mutual respect.

Lady Justice: What qualities about yourself do you like the most, and the least?

Sir Julian: I like that I’m very passionate about the things in which I am involved. That can sometimes express itself as a temper, as lust, or just as a strong drive to do the right thing, but it’s a quality that I like. I enjoy being alive. I also like that I’m a good listener. I often find myself taking the role of confidant for others, and people seek me out for advice. I think that’s a testament to both my ability to listen and my overall ability to be grounded in the moment, and give advice that’s simple, yet practical. I also have an uncanny knack to compartmentalize things. People sometimes have trouble understanding that I can shove deeply traumatic events aside to process later in the interest of living in the now or getting the job done. I can also totally separate things like business and friendship. I can be totally pissed off at someone in a business setting, and when quitting time rolls around, I’m ready to go hang out and have a beer, and be friends.

What do I like the least? I always struggle with this question because I refuse to regret things, and I think even those sides of my personality that are negative are there for a good reason. Hell, some of the positive things, like the ones I’ve mentioned above, can have an edge to them, and be "negative". But there are a couple things I know I wouldn’t mind working on. As much as I live in the present, and for the present, I’m a terrible perfectionist, so I can be my own worst critic, and I keep revisiting past mistakes. That’s something I need to change. I’m also bit impulsive, and because I live so much in the now, I don’t always plan for the future. As a result, I’m terrible with things like saving money or planning investments. The future just isn’t that real to me most of the time. It’s all about what I’m doing now, or even in the next 6 months. While I don’t think it’s positive to always live in the future, some long term planning on my part wouldn’t totally suck.

Lady Justice: If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be? And if you could change anything about others, what would it be?

Sir Julian: Six pack abs. No, not really. I don’t think I would change anything about myself. I think there are certainly lessons I need to learn, and things I can do better, or differently, but fundamentally, I am who I am, and while experience somewhat shapes that, changing things about myself would make me a different person. Would I be a better person? Maybe, I would, but maybe not. I’ll work with the hand I was dealt, and try to pick those experiences and lessons that are going to shape me in the most positive way.

Would I change anything about others? Specific others, or just people in general? Specifically, I’d have to say no changes necessary. In general, however, I think people and society need to be less materialistic, less focused on the past and the future, and more rooted in the now, and I think people need to open their minds to a broader range of possibilities. I think humankind is really on a threshold. We can either go really wrong from here, or we can evolve as a species and really move into a golden age. I hope for the latter.

Lady Justice: Do you keep updated on topics like "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", the "Employment Non-discrimination Act (ENDA)", or other important issues that affect the LGBT community? Which ones are important to you?

Sir Julian: I try to stay well informed on a variety of topics. While I keep up with GLBT issues, they're not always the ones that have the greatest importance to me. I do follow the gay marriage debate, the gays in the military debate, the hate crimes debate, etc. I'm a firm believer in that GLBT people receive the same rights as everyone else, but some of these issues aren't that personally important to me. For example, gay marriage: I never felt that as a community we should try to emulate what the straights are doing, but that we should forge our own path. As such, marriage really doesn't matter to me. However, I also see marriage as a predominantly religious institution, so I don't think legal rights should be conferred with a predominantly religious institution. All of us know about separation of church and state. In fact, we should only recognize civil unions in this country for the purpose of legal rights and allow people to call it whatever they want on the spiritual side: marriage, hand fasting, etcetera.

I really stay on top of the HIV issue. There's so much incredible research being done today, and HIV has gone from a death sentence to a manageable chronic illness. However, there's still a lot more to do. One thing I find distressing at times is how uneducated some people in the pansexual leather community are about HIV. I've known people that were officers in leather organizations that couldn't deal with knowing someone who was HIV positive, and were just really poorly informed about people living with HIV and HIV prevention. I think this is where the GLBT community really needs to take a leadership role.

Lady Justice: What is the last book you read that deals with leather and the last book you read that is a non-leather topic? Why did you choose those books?

Sir Julian: I'm an avid reader, but I tend to have multiple books that I'm reading at once. I've been reading a number of leather books lately, and the last one I completed was The Master's Manual by Jack Rinella. I don't always agree with Jack on some of his views, particularly some of his opinions regarding Old Guard versus. New Guard, but I especially like the way Jack approaches leather from a very spiritual, esoteric viewpoint. He's very passionate about whatever subject he's discussing, and I enjoy that immensely.

As for non-leather, I read a lot of technical books for work, and a lot of pagan writing for my work in the pagan community, and business books as an entrepreneur, so I rarely find time to read fiction. The last books I've read: Service Oriented Architecture (information technology, so it' would put most people to sleep) I can enjoy technical books. I've always said I could have fun at an insurance seminar. I read Magick Without Tears, by Aleister Crowley, and the last fiction I read was Neil Gaiman's American Gods.

Lady Justice: Tell us more about your lifestyle in the BDSM leather world. What are you into, and what's the one thing you've always wanted to do but haven't yet done?

Sir Julian: I’m pretty eclectic, so my life in the BDSM leather world reflects that. I’m always into lots of dirty talk, animalistic sex, and the psychological aspects of play including role play. As for the physical, my interests change over time. I’m currently into sensory deprivation and CBT, and have lately been keenly interested in sounds and urethral play. I enjoy flogging and spanking too. For the most part though, I’m much more into the domination-submission (D/S) aspects of BSDM than the sado-masochism (S/M) aspects. I’m far more turned on by that, and I think that it ties into my spiritual viewpoints as a Thelemite. In a lot of ways, D/S is a way of life for me even if I’m not in a D/S relationship at the time. I can’t really think of anything I haven’t done yet that I really want to try. If there’s something that interests me, I usually try it.

Lady Justice: When you flag, which colours do you wear? Do you wear them on the left or the right?

Sir Julian: I rarely, if ever flag. If someone is intrigued enough to want to play with me they can ask what I like. I much prefer direct communication to flagging and all the other stuff that can be misunderstood or that seems to be embraced by the game players. If I do flag, it depends on my mood but typically navy blue, red, pale yellow or grey all on the left.

Lady Justice: Do you have a dungeon or play space? If you do, tell us about it. If you don't, tell us how you would design your dungeon.

Sir Julian: There’s a small place space in the basement of my house. My housemate built it awhile ago, but it rarely gets used. There’s a sling, a dog kennel, and a number of other things. I honestly don’t know that I would design a physical dungeon. It’s nice to have equipment and a regular place to play, but most of the hottest scenes I’ve had have been pretty spontaneous, and occurred in places like hotel rooms, apartments, or offices,. I guess you could say my favourite dungeon is between the ears of a hot boy.

Lady Justice: Do you remember your first time in a leather bar and what was memorable about it?

Sir Julian: I do remember my first time in a leather bar. It was the leather bar in the back of The Ranch in Albquerque, NM. I was just out of college, and working as a retail manager. I went out wearing some skin tight 501's (commando of course), and my black motorcycle jacket. I walked in there like I owned the place. It was such a thrill. The men were men. You didn't choke on cologne. You didn't see shaved chests, and people were just real and friendly. There was definitely a lack of the posturing you found at the dance clubs and other gay bars.

At the time, even though I certainly put out a vibe of being self-assured, I was very insecure and uncertain of my own attractiveness. I'd never really seen myself as someone who was attractive or sexually desirable, but suddenly I was turning heads and getting a lot of attention. It was a real shot in the arm to my self confidence, and I think it was because, in the leather bar, I could just be myself and be up front about what I wanted and how I saw things, rather than having to deal with the bullshit and games that were being played elsewhere. In fact, [grinning] within about an hour of being there the first night, I had this really hot guy back at his place, down on all fours, and lubed up. We went at it like wild dogs for hours and I've been hanging out in leather bars ever since.

Lady Justice: Let's pretend you're placing a 35 word personal ad in Leather Bear's column. How would it read?

Sir Julian: There you go placing limits on me again! Seriously though, I guess maybe something like: "Demanding, perfectionist, aristocratic dominant top seeks submissive intelligent boy for hot mind fucks, animalistic sex, deep consciousness exploration and mutual worship."

Lady Justice: What do you think our community needs to successfully move into the future?

Sir Julian: I think we need to live in the now. We have some problems in the community that we need to tackle and solve, and we need to focus on doing that in the present. The future will have new problems. We also need to work on our identity as leather people. For example, for a long time the image of a leather person was pretty much defined by the gay leather community. Most people associated leather with the biker from The Village People. I think today there’s a greater awareness of the pansexual leather community and the image of the leatherman and the leatherwoman is much more diverse than it was. However, I think one misstep that we’ve made is trying to make leather mainstream or "normal". We’re not. The people in this community are extraordinary, and when we tried to mainstream ourselves, we threw open the gates to every drama-laden person that wanted to be "special". We also need to fight against becoming a "commodity". In our attempts to make leather mainstream, so much of what we are and do has become a commodity as almost a caricature. We need to fight that caricature, and I think it boils down to defining the identity of the leather community. We can’t go back to the past, so we need to figure out where to go from here. I think in some ways more of us need to see ourselves as modern aristocrats.

We also need to be able to talk intelligently about leather and BDSM. One reason that BDSM has become a commodity is the perception that it’s all about sex. It’s not, and we need articulate, intelligent thinkers that can communicate and show that there’s a deeper level to what we are and what we do. We need people that can describe the intimacy, power and spirituality of leather.

I mentioned earlier, standing on the shoulders of giants. You don’t throw out your foundation because you find parts of it inconvenient to your current world view. We need to stand on the shoulders of those who went before us and use that foundation to take what we do even further, and to understand it even deeper. As much as I believe in living in the now, those of us that are active in leather, today, need to have an eye to the future. We need to conduct ourselves in such a way that when we’re gone, the next generation of leather folk can stand on our shoulders and see even further, go even deeper.

Lady Justice: Would you like to tell us more about any of your new endeavors?

Sir Julian: I’m usually involved in a number of projects at a given time. Between the Worlds has been a big one for years, but lately I’ve been working on a few other things. I was a partner in a web development and hosting company. The other partners wanted out, so I’ve assembled a really great and talented team and we’re in the process of forming a LLC (Limited Liability Corporation) to buy out the older company. We’re going to be doing web development, online publishing and web hosting.

One area on which we’re focusing is hosting for various niche markets like leather sites or pagan sites. So many hosting companies have acceptable use policies that are kind of subjective, so I’ve heard from leather people that they’re always a concern that someone will get a bug up their ass and shut down their site. We’re going to be creating hosting products that specifically welcome these types of sites, and our use policies will be clear and in plain English. We’re also building a lot of community-oriented sites, geared towards unifying more information on the leather community. Additionally, I’m starting a leather blog. I’d like to take my love of writing and tell more of my story, share some of the hot scenes I’ve had, and some of my thoughts on the community and where we’re heading.

Lady Justice: Do you have a fantasy you'd like to live out?

Sir Julian: I have several, but if you want to know about them, you'll have to either ask me in person (and be prepared to play a role in them) or come to Great Lakes Leather Alliance, in August, to see a sample of them.

Lady Justice: Where can we find you online? Do you have e-mail, business information, or a web site you'd like to share with us?

Sir Julian: I'm working on setting up a leather blog at www.sirjulian.com  , but in the meantime, I can be reached via email at sir@sirjulian.com . I'm also on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/julian_hill  . Our new company is called Eridu Group. Our new web site isn’t up yet, but if you email me, I can send you the URL when it’s ready.