Judges
dave- Head Judge
dave is a 56-year-old, cisgendered, gay male from North Carolina. Although single, dave is collared to Sir Rai Guerra from Asbury Park, NJ and is in a unique dynamic with Nick from the Atlanta, GA are. dave has been active in the leather/kink/bdsm community since the Fall of 2001. dave’s focus is on service. dave holds the leather titles of Southeast Leatherboy 2004, Southeast Bootblack 2011, and American Leatherboy 2014
Lady Abrams
Lady Abrams hails from Raleigh, North Carolina and proudly serves as the 2025 NC BootBlack. Her pronouns are She/Her/Lady, and she identifies as a demisexual Pleasure Dom. She has been an active member of the leather community for over six years, playing an integral role in the Raleigh leather scene and throughout the broader Carolinas region.Mycalyne
Mycalyne is a Bootblack from Birmingham, Alabama. She has been a 24/7 slave to her owner, SirThomas205 since 2004, but has only been out and about in the community since 2009. While she will always and forever be owned by SirThomas205, she is a switch to everyone else.
She has been a member of The Red Chair, where she has served in various capacities, including being on the Board of Directors from 2019 to 2022. She is the founder of NEWK (New Experiences With Kink), core and founding member of CABLE (Central Alabama Birmingham Leather Enthusiasts). Was CABLE’s treasurer for 3 years and President for 2 years. Mycalyne was honored to be Southeast Bootblack for 2019 through 2021! Her current leather-relevant titles include Secretary of CABLE, SELF Bootblack Contest Coordinator, SELF Bootblack Programming Co-Director, and Head-of-Household for her Leather Family, Menagerie.
Lady D
My name is Reverend Deborah Harrison but I am known as Lady D. I am a 35+yr Lifestyle
Domme, an ordained minister and also a certified master hypnotherapist. I ran (People
Exchanging Power) P.E.P Atlanta, created PEP4POC and founded and also helped re-launch
Onyx Pearls Southeast. I was Ms. Southern Coastal States Leather from 2000 to 2013. I have
judged and emceed many contests, given keynotes and taught classes throughout the country.
My personal commitment is to help make this community stronger and to continue Jill Carter's
philosophy of Each One, Teach One.
Captain Lyte
Captain Lyte (they/them) is a gendervoid, polyamorous, Filipino American residing in Summerville, SC.
They have been in the Leather and BDSM lifestyles for nine years and serve their communities through education, mentoring, fundraising, and advocacy.
Captain identifies as a Switchy, little jackalope with a passion for Bootblacking, worshipping their Daddy, and teaching others about creating inclusive spaces, events, and types of play. More specifically for chronically ill, disabled, and trans and gender expansive people.
They are the PETriarch of their Leather family Casa de la Unicorn, a Leather house that is centered on community service, allyship, and education.
Outside of the culture Captain is a Babaylan-inspired animist, Death Worker, officiant, and artist. They enjoy sugar in cloud form, ridiculous shark movies, and collecting tiny art.
Judges’ Liaison
Tris
Tris is a powerhouse service bottom who spent a solid decade haunting the Seattle kink scene like a very organized, leather-clad poltergeist. If there was an event happening, chances are she staffed it, fixed it, ran it, ruined it, or whispered something snarky behind the scenes that made it better. As Washington State Ms Leather 2014, she wore her title with pride—and like a warning label with just enough menace to make one stand up straighter.
And then, she did the unthinkable and relocated to the South. She means well. Bless her heart.
Tris is a self-starting Leatherwoman, media junkie, and professional behind-the-scenes puppet master. You know that one person quietly making sure the dungeon doesn’t catch on fire, the cigars are properly lit, and the keynote speaker has water? That’s Tris. She thrives in chaos—as long as it’s well-scheduled and there is a spreadsheet.
Tris identifies as a mouthy, irreverent, “come at me, bro” kind of bottom—the type who’ll question your capabilities mid-scene, then ask if your aim is off on purpose. She’s been known to co-top the occasional masochist, mostly for sport and snacks, but also to see what the hype is about and remind folks that bottoms … do bite back.
Tris helped found Seattle girls of Leather and Seattle Women of Leather, mostly because she needed more meetings to go to and more group texts to ignore. As a sensual bootblack, she specializes in oil tan scenes and boot restoration that could resurrect a pair of boots from a zombie apocalypse.
Tris’s dance card is open for cigar service, waterboarding (the consensual, enthusiastic kind), and rough body play that makes chiropractors weep. She’s taught classes on leather care, the holy trifecta of sacrifice/suffering/service, and how to weaponize social media without losing your soul—or your followers. She’s been on more boards than a game of kink Monopoly, demo-bottomed her way across the country, and still finds time to wonder why her calendar looks like a murder scene.
A deeply introverted human, Tris warms up through laughter, oversharing, and people who actually want to know what she thinks—though she’ll warn you: if you ask for her opinion, she will give it… and it might involve lube and logistics.
Emcee
girl Bettie
girl Bettie is a queer, polyamorous, submissive-leaning switch currently living in Winston-Salem, NC. She has been in the kink community for over 20 years and has been a part of the Leather community since 2007. She holds three Leather titles: Ms. North Carolina Leather 2007, Ms. SouthEast LeatherFest 2008, and 2025 SouthEast Person of Leather.
When she stepped down from her role as current Ms. SELF, she accepted a place on the operational board for SouthEast LeatherFest. She worked her way up from Operations Assistant to Associate Producer of Operations, and finally to Website Content and Contest Coordination before she stepped down from the board in 2022.
Bettie has been a presenter, mentor, volunteer, and leader. Since 2007, she’s presented and volunteered for groups and events all over the southeast. From Tennessee to Louisiana, Florida to North Carolina, Bettie has been honored to serve her community in whatever capacity was required at that time.
girl Bettie loves spending time with her leather family, Casa de la Unicorn, her Leather/Levi club, the Tarheel Leather Club, and her chosen family, Unsupervised Chaos, wherever they happen to be. Her passions in play include blood and sex. She has been called by many names, but Bettie is still her favorite.
Talley Masters
Thomas
I am Thomas (he/him). I am a Covered Leatherman, as well as a Sadistic left side of the slash (Dominant, Master to My slave, and occasionally top to others). I have been a member, DM, and volunteer of The Red Chair in Birmingham, AL since 2011 and served on the Leadership team as Vice President of Facilities from 2017 through 2019 and as President from 2020 through 2021.
I am the current President and one of the founding members of CABLE (Central Alabama Birmingham Leather Enthusiasts). I enjoy meeting people while attending local events, Leather events, and other events (LLC, SELF, Frolicon, OKLF, TLC Run, SPLF).
Ben
Ben (he/him) is a cis, polyamorous, and pansexual Leatherman from Summerville, SC. He has been in the BDSM culture for twelve years as Daddy, Hedonist, and Sadist. He is Daddy to his little jackalope and founder of Leather house Casa de la Unicorn. Ben’s focus in the community is to provide an inclusive and safer space for others to learn and experience their interests and to support marginalized groups.
Den Mafiosa
Dakota
Dakota has been in the community since February 2020. Immediately going into lockdown was not ideal, but it helped her find her love of bootblacking. Once things opened back up, she finally got to experience the community firsthand. Having a community of people helped her come out of her shell and discover herself.
In her day-to-day life, Dakota raises awareness for her disability in many ways. She strives to find ways to make the world a bit more accessible for those with disabilities. This has also spilled into how she interacts with the Leather and Kink community. She loves to see others enjoy sitting in the stand for the first time, and helping other disabled bootblacks find ways to continue to black while having difficulties. She co-hosts a class/discussion with her husband, dealing with disability in the leather and kink communities.
Dakota is a Little, brat, and service sub. She has been with her husband and Dominant, Max, since 2020 when he introduced her to the world of Leather and Kink. She loves helping others and continues to encourage newcomers to show up and find their people. Dakota competed for and won the North Carolina Bootblack contest in 2023 and is now proud to serve as the SouthEast Bootblack 2025.