Throwback: When Patrick Brookes was crowned Mr Leather Australia
Image: The Sydney Star (the former name of the Star Observer); vol.1, no.22 with the winner of the 1980 International Mr Leather Contest, Patrick Brookes, on the cover.
THERE was anticipation in the air, and the stakes were high. Patrick Brookes had just been chosen to represent Australia as Mr Leather in the 1980 International Mr Leather contest and a red carpet event was being hosted at Stranded, a popular gay haunt in Sydney.
The contestants all arrived in Mercedes limousines, greeted by the who’s who of the leather community. It was a glittering, stud-filled affair, and one that took place on the heels of the first national Mr Leather competition the year before. The club was full, the Tooheys was flowing, and Brookes was a favourite with the crowd.
The support for Brookes was electric, and he carried it with him all the way to Chicago, where he became the first – and only – Australian to take home the crown.
(The Sydney Star is what the Star Observer was known as in 1980.)
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**This article was first published in the October edition of the Star Observer, which is available to read in digital flip-book format. To obtain a physical copy, click here to find out where you can grab one in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra and select regional/coastal areas.
