Old Guard Leather

A lot has been written and said about the "Old Guard" -- a term applied to the community of gay leather men who returned home after serving in the military in World War II and started many of the traditions and conventions that we recognize in BDSM and Leather. These leathermen didn't create the term or use it to describe what they were doing. "Old Guard" was originally a derogatory term applied to those veteran players by a newer and more inclusive generation of leather men who came later. To the new players, the term meant that their elders were conservative, even reactionary, and self-important.

In the scene, the term "Old Guard" is applied to describe practices or players that are reminiscent of the Old Guard of the recent past. A high protocol and black leather “uniform” characterize it. More often than not the title is self-designated and is not restricted to homosexual leather men. It's not unheard of for novice heterosexual male Doms to designate themselves as Old Guard without having benefited from mentorship. Sometimes the abuse of the term becomes laughable in a gallows humor way. Steven H. Bailey ("The True Master") -- who admitted to killing a play partner through his gross ineptitude -- proudly declares himself to be "Old Guard." What once was a term of ridicule among gay men has now become a sought after designation among both the homosexual and heterosexual BDSM crowd. Old Guard is now synonymous with experienced, honorable, accomplished, and masterful. However, the designation is easy to adopt. One way to avoid misunderstanding and arguments is to substitute the term "high protocol" for Old Guard.

For myself, I see leather history as a continuum of thoughts and attitudes. Each successive generation of leather has re-evaluated and discarded what didn’t work and enshrined what did. I think that we can glean the positive attributes of Honor, Duty, and Brotherhood from those that went before us. I hate to quote a religious text but the thought applies. No matter what a Dominant or a submissive calls himself; “You will know the tree by its fruit.”

In the end, my thoughts on the concept of old guard are just like my thoughts on protocols: What works for a Dominant and a submissive is what works; it is neither right nor wrong. It is what the person speaking says it is.