Chronic Pain & Play:
This class is as much a roundtable as it is a presentation. Everyone is encouraged to participate and share how chronic pain and illness has impacted their play.
Many of us in the Leather community carry around an invisible burden; pain that is affecting how we experience our bodies and our play. Many of us are afraid to talk about our chronic pain and/or illness in negotiations, we may push ourselves to do more than what we should – and even struggle with feelings of inferiority and embarrassment. Because of this, we aren’t doing right for ourselves, or those we play with.
This class will unpack this heavy backpack and we will share experiences, ideas, and solutions that we’ve found to navigate this issue. We will learn from each other how to better negotiate with partners, ideas about workarounds for certain types of play to be able to enjoy it safely, and how to feel just as sexy in our bodies as we ever did – even if that body is just a little more broken than it used to be.
This is not a typical classroom-style presentation, it is more of a roundtable or discussion group where we share with one another and learn from one another.
Michael Raven, Mr. Route 66 Leather 2023
Michael Raven is a kinky bisexual transman in a 20+ year, 24/7 relationship with his Daddy, Shay Raven. They, together with Mama Bear Kim Sadique, make up the House of Raven. Michael is Mr. Route 66 Leather 2023 and is enjoying traveling the country, representing OKC Kink Weekend and sharing his love of Leather, as well as sharing educational presentations. He is very proud to be the first trans Mr. Route 66 Leather, as well as the first non local Mr. Route 66.
Michael started his Leather journey in Houston. Texas and served as Mr. Lone Star Houston 2016. He is proud to have been the first transgender fully patched member of one of Houston’s oldest Leather clubs, The Misfits. Michael was pinned into Mama’s Family in 2015, as Mama’s Lucky Charm. Michael currently lives in the Twin Cities area in Minnesota, and is a member of the Exiles, a San Francisco based club, and is proudly sponsored by Eagle|MPLS, Sir Rat Leather and Bondesque. Fun fact: there is a huge likeness of Michael on the wall in the Houston Eagle, done by prominent Houston artist, Scott Swoveland.
Michael is excited to be competing in IML class 46 in 2024. He believes that transmen belong at IML, and that more people welcome transmen at IML than don’t. Michael flags hunter green, white and red, all on the right.