Tennessee Leather Tribe

Tennessee Leather Tribe Advertisements posted by other individuals or groups, even leather-oriented ones, will be deleted; appropriate forums exist for them already.

This is the official page of Tennessee Leather Tribe: a gay fraternal organization based in Memphis, Tennessee, dedicated to the traditional gay leather/Levi/SM/MC culture. This page is solely for the T.L.T., its members (full and associate) and friends to discuss topics of direct interest of the T.L.T., not for cross-posting ads for other irrelevant events.

02/23/2026

Moving on to the letter C:

C is for Camaraderie: The good times we have with our friends in (and out of) leather.

C is for Chile, Chili, and Chilly. They all sound the same to us gringos, but they're very different things.
Chile a hot pepper that can be harvested young while green and then preserved, or left to ripen until red. The most famous are from Hatch, NM, a village about 40 miles north of Las Cruces. The flavor of Hatch chiles is said to come from the particular varieties grown there, the chemistry of the soil, and Hatch's weather patterns.
Chili is the iconic thick stew from Texas that incorporates chile peppers and sometimes includes beans.
Chilly means a bit cold. We used it a lot in Memphis, but it's definitely not the word to use for Wisconsin winters. We can think of several words to use for that, none of them repeatable here!

C is for Christmas: In the rest of the country, Christmas is a major religious holiday in late December. In New Mexico, Christmas is one possible answer to the official state question.

C is for Cocktail: Thrown together with liquor and who knows what else, a staple of MC leather events, whether eye-opener, main, or aftermath. Just remember that blue is evil, "Motor Oil" will make you sick, and the best course of action if you see "Effluvia" is to not ask questions and just run.

C is for Colors: A leather club's emblem, proudly worn on one's vest and protected with one's life. Ours are being respectfully retired.

02/05/2026

We hope the Argonauts of Wisconsin had a great anniversary event. While we've got that dictionary open, moving on:

B is for BBQ. Our specialty! BBQ sauce must, in our opinion, be tomato-based, thick, smoky, a touch sweet, and optionally the slightest bit hot on the back of the palate, like "it's comin' up a cloud." It's best slathered on anything that'll hold still long enough. The name "barbecue" comes from the indigenous Taíno name "barbacoa," meaning their ancient pit-based cooking technique. And there's a regional Mexican variant originating with goat meat called "birria" that's now becoming popular.

B is for BLACK. Black lives indeed matter, and Happy Black History Month, by the way. It's also our favorite color for leather. Black as our souls! And one mustn't forget black hankies. We're only wearing black until someone comes up with something darker.

B is for BLUE. Just ask about our signature cocktails. "Blue is evil." And we find BLACK and BLUE an especially exciting and always fashionable color combination.

B is for BOLD. We're nothing if not that. We're sure our friends would agree.

B is for BROTHERHOOD. It's always been our philosophy that brotherhood (inclusive of our sisters, of course) comes first. And we'll always be your true blue (see BLUE, above) brothers in leather.

B is for BURROW. That's what we do in the winter when it's cold. Or it's something we're likely to do when we're plotting something nefarious. Like now. 😈

It's January and you know what that means: cold weather! Or if you're in Wisconsin, it's F #$KING COLD WEATHER!.. um, ...
01/17/2026

It's January and you know what that means: cold weather! Or if you're in Wisconsin, it's F #$KING COLD WEATHER!
.. um, AND it's also the yearly anniversary of both Tennessee Leather Tribe and its big sister up north, the Argonauts of Wisconsin. We're turning 32 and they're turning 52.

So what is an Argonaut, anyway? Let us open our Webster's:

A is for absent: What T.L.T. mostly was in Wisconsin this past year.
A is for ambiguous. Yeah, we're being that.
A is for anniversary...
A is for ARGO: The brand of cornstarch John T Moberly had to put down his nether regions to squelch chafing when he lived in the South.
A is for Argonaut: "a member of the band of men who sailed to Colchis with Jason in the ship Argo in search of the Golden Fleece." Wow. I didn't know the guy in the hockey mask could sail. Imagine that.
A is for AWOL: the state T.L.T. will be in until we resurface at a date to be determined.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, T.L.T., AND OUR ARGONAUT BRETHREN!

10/06/2025

A note to our friends in leather:
Because all of us active members of T.L.T. have moved to New Mexico, it is no longer logical or tenable to remain known as Tennessee Leather Tribe. I'm sure this has crossed your minds, especially in the wake of our missing the Argonauts run this year because of the move. Our recent appearance at Southern New Mexico Pride will probably be the last public appearance of T.L.T. as it currently stands.
On behalf of our members, however, I can say that our club is not dead. We'll be rebranding, but in the meantime we'll be going underground for a bit. Announcements will be made when we're ready to emerge.

04/06/2022

The members and associates of T.L.T. would like to express their profound condolences to Michael Delorme and the The Black Guard of Minneapolis on the loss of Thomas Weiland.
We knew Tom from our attending the Argonauts' run together for many years, and we always found him to have a kind heart, a listening ear, and a jovial spirit. The infamous round table will have a conspicuous absence and we look forward to seeing the rest of the Black Guard this summer.

08/20/2020

Reports have reached us that longtime first lady of Tsarus, David Seay, AKA Motherbeast, has passed away after declining health and a period of time in ICU.
We of T.L.T. wish his longtime husband, Greg Tanner, and the brothers of Tsarus every heartfelt condolence. Any further details will be forthcoming.

Also, Memphis LGBT+ community fixture Sharon Wray (Tsarus, Women of Leather, T.L.T., and bars Sharon's, WKRB, and Madison Flame) is reportedly having breast cancer surgery. We wish her all of our love and best wishes for a successful surgery and full recovery.

And the hits just keep on coming. They say passages come in threes, and unfortunately this is T.L.T.'s third goodbye in...
01/01/2020

And the hits just keep on coming. They say passages come in threes, and unfortunately this is T.L.T.'s third goodbye in just a few months.
Sean Dunham, whom we called "Bear," passed away late last night at the age of 55 from apparent heart failure.
We send our condolences to his husband/partner of 17 years. Bear was a T.L.T. member in the early 2000s, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana in 2003. We remember his infectious smile, his humor, and his genuine, selfless concern for others. We already missed him because of his moving away so many years ago, but now we'll miss him even more.

12/25/2019

2019 has been for us a year of extreme highs and lows. We celebrated our club's 25th anniversary, and then were devastated by the loss of both our longtime member Matthew Grant, and our friend and associate Lisa Loftis.

During this holiday season, Tennessee Leather Tribe remembers them, and all of you, our associates, friends, other clubs, and acquaintances. We wish you all a very merry and blessed Christmas and/or holiday of your choice, and a happy and prosperous New Year ahead.

When it rains, it pours.Tennessee Leather Tribe has lost another one of its family. We've just learned that Lisa Loftis,...
11/19/2019

When it rains, it pours.

Tennessee Leather Tribe has lost another one of its family.
We've just learned that Lisa Loftis, T.L.T. associate member and ex-wife of our alumnus member Jack Robinson, suddenly passed away this past Sunday, reportedly from complications from lupus. According to her brother no formal ceremony will be held.

We will remember Lisa as a strong and creative sister in leather. We offer our most heartfelt condolences to her family and to her other friends. We will continue to post information as it comes to us.

11/14/2019

Celebrate the life of Matthew Hamilton Grant, leave a kind word or memory and get funeral service information care of Griffin Leggett Healey & Roth Funeral Home.

It is with profound sadness that we relay the information that our longtime member Matthew H. Grant reportedly passed aw...
11/08/2019

It is with profound sadness that we relay the information that our longtime member Matthew H. Grant reportedly passed away this morning, months after having a diabetes-related stroke early this summer.
Matthew, our longest serving member besides Danny and Terry, had been a member for about twenty years. He shall always been remembered by the T.L.T. and its associates for his irreverent humor, his loyalty, his passion for boots and athletic gear, and most importantly for his friendship. He was featured a few years ago in Chicago leather club Onyx's yearly calendar.
He was integral to our brotherhood, and we shall miss him most terribly.

[We received the news of his passing through a mutual friend; we haven't yet heard from an official source. We will post an obituary or arrangement details if/when we have them. Despite their having our contact information, we have not heard anything from anyone in his family.]

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