A letter from Bob Miller, President/Executive Director of CLAW
Bob Miller here, Executive Director of CLAW Corp., the non-profit community charity that produces an annual leather conference for men in Cleveland, Ohio every April.
At CLAW we believe that our interest in leather, fetish and BDSM is natural and healthy. We learned that—and continue to learn that—from each other, in person.
CLAW started 20 years ago, inspired by the unique, life-altering experiences had at Int’l Mr. Leather weekend in Chicago and Mid-Atlantic Leather weekend in Washington, DC. Created without a leather contest, CLAW was to become something interactive and different. The ideas and dedication of countless talented people grows our event and organization every year. Our attendees’ kinky perversions are celebrated, and for a few days every year, CLAW is the happiest place on Earth.
Over Thanksgiving weekend the “happiest place on earth” will be at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. We extend huge thanks to the management of the Bonaventure for allowing us exclusive use of their magnificent property to build our magical 5-day utopia, and for the hard work of their staff to make it successful.
CLAW 21 is the collaborative effort of dozens of California based community leaders including the LA Leather Coalition and Leather Pride Committee, Avatar LA, Payasos, Tom of Finland Foundation, PIGsolvents and Guys2 events, Anthony John and JustFor.Fans, nastykinkpigs.com, the B&B Uniform Club, the Barracks Palm Springs, and many other organizations and individuals from around the country and beyond. No-one “owns” CLAW. It is a community charity that belongs to all of us.
We are very grateful to the publishers of The Fight for helping us introduce CLAW to you. In the pages that follow you’ll discover some of the depth and breadth of our schedule of events. Some highlights:
More than 70 kinky education sessions on bondage, S&M, power dynamics, fetish, health, and community, led by more than 80 dynamic presenters. We’re especially proud to host CARAS’s annual conference within ours. A CLAW beneficiary for many years, CARAS promotes excellence in academic research on alternative sexualities and helps disseminate the results of that research. Find out more at carasresearch.org.
Over Thanksgiving weekend the “happiest place on earth” will be at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
The Mr-S-Leather sponsored leather vendor mart in the California Ballroom will be a major hub of activity all weekend as Black Friday meets black leather and kink vendors from all over North America. Legacy Master Sponsor SquarePegToys® hosts its annual MisFit toys sale on Friday afternoon. Priced to be sold by the armful, SquarePeg donates 100% of the sales to our community charities.
The CLAW 21 party schedule is led by three in-house dance parties with world famous DJ’s: Friday and Saturday night in the subterranean Pasadena Exhibit Hall, and a Sunday Tea dance on the 4th floor plaza pool deck.
We’re proud to host the first ABDL playground at a leather event, sponsored by ABUniverse.
Come join us at CLAW 21. Memorable volunteer opportunities await those wanting to help. Merchandise donations of all sorts are welcome. Proof of COVID19 vaccination is required to attend.
Visit clawinfo.org for more information about everything.
With CLAW 21, we will now produce two big events every year: CLAW in Cleveland in April, and the Leather Getaway in Los Angeles next Thanksgiving.
It’s been 2.5 years since our last in-person event. The world has changed forever. Life is more difficult now. We hope CLAW 21 is a big step forward into the bright light at the end of the very long tunnel we’ve all been navigating. Let the happiness of being together begin anew this Thanksgiving.
With love and respect for all,
Bob Miller
President/Executive Director
CLAW Corp.
