IML SPEECH FOR ALAN J. BOWERS
Second Runner-Up
Below is the text of Alan Bowers' IML speech that was given at IML, reproduced here with his permission.
Alan Bowers was Mr. Louisiana Leather, from New Orleans, Louisiana
The photos to the left are by Andy Mangels, Jazz Thomas, and Don Hood.

I must admit that I DO love being called "Daddy," but that
usually comes from the mouth of one or both of my children.

You see, I am a 39 year old gay father of 2 boys adopted from orphanages in Eastern Europe. I stand here as an advocate for the emergence of the Alternative Family into the public eye. Be it couples or single parents, who better than gay men and women can teach children tolerance, acceptance, and open-mindedness?

In my own example of parenting I've tried to incorporate essential core elements which are woven into the fabric of the leather community. These include: respect, honor, and discipline.

As we sit here tonight many of our
own governments-on local, state, and national levels-are actively legislating away many of our basic rights, among them the right to marry and the right to adopt.

A very charismatic and influential leader from another civil rights struggle not long ago once said, " Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

That leader was Martin Luther King and the time has come to break that silence and let the world hear with the unified voice of a loud and proud Leather Nation that we expect and demand our equal rights as members of the human family.

ALAN J. BOWERS
Mr. Louisiana Leather
www.lordsofleather.com
Personal Site
mrlouisianaleather2005@yahoo.com