BearsLeather

Trey ONYX becomes the first out trans man to win Mr. San Francisco Leather title

Kyle Jackson

On Saturday, August 17th, The San Francisco Bay Area Leather Alliance hosted the Mr. San Francisco Leather and San Francisco Bootblack Contest at the Folsom Street Foundry. 

This year marked a huge first, as Trey ONYX became the first out trans man to win the Mr. San Francisco Leather Title. The moment was captured perfectly, as Trey was joined by his partner, Girl Complex, and their friend Bianca as they raised their fist slightly in the air showing their Black Pride. The picture in itself depicts the reality that representation in all areas of the LGBTQIA+ community matters.

Trey Onyx, also known as “Dude Complex”,  has been a longtime volunteer and advocate for the LGBT+ community. He began his leather journey by volunteering his time with the Knight Hawks of Virginia. As his journey into leather commenced, Trey also became a member and volunteer for the Alameda County Leather Corps.

As a member and one of the first out Black trans men in the United States Coast Guard, Trey helped pave the way for other LGBTQIA+ members by coordinating various events such as speaking panels and a variety of official Coast Guard Pride festivities.

Trey has used his position within the various communities to uplift others by becoming a featured speaker for the LGBTQ Speakers Bureau, while also continuing his role as a longtime outreach leader for Black trans men nationwide. Trey’s desire to cultivate visibility for himself and other gay and bisexual men of color in the leather community lead him to become one of the founders of ONYX Northwest, where he currently serves as President.

Congratulations to Trey ONYX on his win! We hope he has an amazing title year!

Kyle Jackson

Kyle Jackson (He/Him) is Senior Staff Writer at Gray Jones Media, and additionally works as a writer, editor and theatre artist/actor. A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, he studied at Dillard University, received a BA in Theatre from Morgan State University, an MS in Arts Administration from Drexel University, and completed the British American Drama Academy’s Midsummer in Oxford Programme in 2017. Having lived in Baltimore, the Washington, DC area, Philadelphia and New York City, he now resides and works in London, United Kingdom.

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