Ms/Mr/Mx Keystone Leather, Keystone Pet, & Keystone Bootblack

CONTESTANT RULES & APPLICATION

Please read in its entirety!

2025 APPLICATIONS: Completed applications must be received by or before midnight on Thursday, August 15, 2024. They should be emailed to KeystoneLeather@gmail.com, with “Contestant App” in the subject line.

CONTEST ENTRY REQUIREMENTS: 

This contest is an event of the Pennsylvania LGBTQIAPK+ community. All contestants must be at least 21 years of age at the time of the contest, be a US citizen and must identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, gender non-conforming or gender fluid members of the Leather Community. The Keystone Leather Contest is a not-for-profit event. You must be a full- or part-time, resident of Pennsylvania with proof of residency, to participate. Contestants may only run for one title. The choice must be indicated on the application. Please do not hesitate to ask questions about this rule if you are unsure which title to run for. You have choices!
All contestants are required to bring a basket for auction.  The auction proceeds go to the winners travel funds.
The contest is not an official feeder contest to any other Leather contest, but winning Keystone titleholders are encouraged to compete in additional regional, national and/or international contests. Each winning titleholder will receive a starter travel fund to use to participate in other contests in a social, official or contestant capacity, as they see fit. Additional funds must be raised by the titleholder once the official travel funds are depleted, if they wish to continue to travel. To protect the contest, its integrity and its owners/producers, it will be at the discretion of the owners/producers of the Keystone Leather Contest whether prospective contestants with a past felony conviction will be allowed to run for a title. 

JUDGING METHOD:

Full-point (non-Olympic) scoring will be used in selecting the winners of the contest. The Olympic Scoring System will only be used in the event of a tie. If both the non-Olympic and Olympic scores are tied, the judging panel will meet to break the tie. Keep in mind that judges do not look for the most handsome or pretty face, most muscular and/or erotic body, but rather the person who best typifies the ideal leather person. This involves the personal subjective judgment of each contestant's leather/fetish image, participation in the leather community, physical appearance, attitude, personality, self-assurance, and "presence.”

FRATERNIZATION WITH JUDGES:

Contestants and judges may fraternize informally in public situations. Private meetings or personal contact between judges and contestants during the contest weekend are absolutely prohibited. Any behavior that might create even the appearance of bias will be brought to the attention of the Keystone Leather Contest owners/producers and other judges, who will decide if the disqualification of the judge and/or contestant would be prudent. To avoid accidental violation of propriety, all contestants and judges must display their respective identification badges whenever they are in public places during the contest weekend. Owners/Producers have absolutely NO say or influence over the judges and/or contestants. The judges' scores are final.

JUDGING CATEGORIES AND SCORING:

There will be 5 judged categories = 200 points, with up to 5 additional bonus points. Due to Pennsylvania law, genitalia MUST be covered for all categories:

Judges Interview (no longer than 15 min) (Maximum 40 points):
There will be a brief, private interview with each contestant during the day prior to the contest, to get to know the contestant better.

Informal Leather (Maximum 40 points):
Contestants will appear on stage in bar or casual wear of their choice. They will be introduced to the audience. Each contestant will be asked to give a quick background about themselves.

Hot Wear [female identifying] (Maximum 30 points):
Contestants will appear in what they feel to be their "hottest" or most fetish-themed leather/BDSM/fetish attire. This segment is not an "exotic fashion show" or "body competition", but an exploration of their leather lifestyle, and will be judged as such. Each contestant should choose garments that best reflect their leather background and "attitude," so as to convey a clear message about themselves and their desires to the audience and judges.

Jock Strap [male identifying] (Maximum 30 points):
Contestants will appear on stage in what they feel to be their "hottest" jock strap. This segment is not an "exotic fashion show" or "body competition", but an exploration of their leather lifestyle, and will be judged as such. Each contestant should try to emphasize, by their choice of a jock strap and leather accessories, what they believe is their "hottest" look to the audience and judges.

Mx-identifying contestants may choose how they wish to present for the Hotwear/Jock Strap segment.

Formal Leather Image (Maximum 50 points):
Contestants will appear on stage in formal leather attire of their choice. They will make a brief statement about why they would like to hold the title of Mr/Ms/Mx Keystone Leather, Keystone Pet or Keystone Bootblack 2024.

Social Skills (Maximum 40 points):
Contestants will mingle with the crowd, introducing themselves and selling 50/50 raffle tickets, with the proceeds going to the contestant travel funds. This will not only show the judges how much each contestant interacts with the public, but also allow the public to “vote” for contestants based on personal interaction.

Bonus Points (up to 5 points per title): will be awarded to the TOP THREE ticket sale contestants in each category.
The contestant in each category with the most sales will receive 5 bonus points added to their final score.
The contestant in each category with the second most sales will receive 3 bonus points added to their final score.
The contestant in each category with the third most sales will receive 2 bonus points added to their final score.
If there are less than 3 contestants entered in each category, 5 bonus points will still be added to the final score of the receiver of the most ticket sales, and 3 bonus points added to the receiver of the second most ticket sales.

Minimum Scoring for a single contestant:
If there is only one contestant in any category, that contestant must still participate in all contest-related events and compete in the contest itself. A minimum score of 75% of total points allowed by judges within the contest must be achieved for that contestant to be named the “winner”.

Winners will receive the Legacy stole with removable year patch, which will be passed on each year. The removable year patch will be theirs to keep. In addition, they will receive the official Keystone Leather backpatch, which is theirs to keep.        

What is expected of the winners?

The primary duties of Mr/Ms/Mx Keystone Leather, Keystone Pet and Keystone Bootblack are to represent the Leather/BDSM/Kink/Fetish/Pet/Bootblack and LGBTQIAPK+ communities while also representing the state of Pennsylvania, in the best light possible.

At a minimum, the contest winners will be responsible for the following:

  • Attend at least one 2025 Pride event in Pennsylvania before their step down. Titleholders must be in legal leather/tasteful fetish attire and wearing their stole at all LGBTQIAPK+ events. Titleholders may also participate in other additional Prides, events, parades in & outside of PA, as they choose throughout their title year, in addition to the one required in PA.

  • Host the Meet & Greet party for the 2026 contestants the following year.

  • Host at least one fundraising event for a non-profit of Pennsylvania, of their choice. If you need help finding a charity, please do not hesitate to ask your producers.*

  • Winners of the Keystone Leather Contest may not compete for another title until their PA title year is complete and may never run for any title below the state level, which includes bar, campground, town or city titles.

  • Titleholders are REQUIRED to attend their step down.

  • Failure to complete the above obligations and/or flagrant violation of Keystone Leather rules or titleholder expectations may result in forfeiture of their Leather Title, stole, back patch, balance of travel fund, etc, at the discretion of The Keystone Leather Contest Owners/Producers.

  • Proof of travel fund use will be required in the way of receipts/some sort of proof of use. If you have a question about allowable use, please do not hesitate to ask.

Any fundraising event must be pre-approved through the Keystone Leather owners/producers. Thorough research of any similar events in the surrounding areas by supporting or any other leather family/event, must be performed prior to scheduling the event.

* All monies raised at ANY event/fundraiser must be reported within two (2) hours after the completion of said event/fundraiser to the Keystone Leather producers and counting of monies must be witnessed by either a producer of the Keystone Leather contest or a third party witness appointed by the contest Producers. Proof of presentation to the charity is required and the responsibility of the titleholder(s). Titleholders are also responsible for keeping accurate records of monies used and raised.

All questions posed to the contest owners/producers individually will be discussed between both owners/producers before answers are given.

This is YOUR title year. Enjoy it!!!

******The Keystone Leather Contest owners/producers reserve the right to add/delete any rules and/or regulations throughout the title year without prior notice.******

If there are any questions about the contest, its rules or how to answer any questions on the application, please do not hesitate to contact the owners/producers at KeystoneLeather@gmail.com.

Thank you, have fun and good luck to you all!! 

Application

Please submit your application via email by copy/pasting the following into an email to KeystoneLeather@gmail.com with the subject line "Contestant App".  (Or, you can email the same email address asking for an application.)

Please complete all sections of the application.

Mr/Ms/Mx Keystone Leather, Keystone Pet & Keystone Bootblack 2025

CONTESTANT FORM

August 30 - September 2, 2024
New Hope, Pennsylvania

Legal Name:
Scene Name:
Date of Birth:
Height:

Permanent PA Address:
If you are a part-time PA resident, what is that address?:
Residency address outside of PA:

Phone #:
Email address:

Have you ever been convicted of a felony? (This will not necessarily disqualify you from running because everyone deserves a second chance). If Yes, are you willing to discuss this with the owners/producers ahead of the contest?:

Previous leather titles held (cannot be a higher title than a state title to participate):

What do you like to do in your spare time? Hobbies/Interests outside of leather?:

Club memberships or affiliations:

Favorite piece of leather and why?:

Favorite fetishes:

Please explain your involvement with, or charity work for, your local, leather and/or LGBTQIAPK+ communities:

Please indicate which title your are running for (circle, underline or use a double asterisk ** after the chosen title):
Ms Keystone Leather
Mr Keystone Leather
Mx Keystone Leather
Keystone Pet
Keystone Bootblack

This event will be held annually. Contestants must be 21 years of age or older. Please see the Keystone Leather Contest Rules for all contest entry requirements and details. By signing below:
1) I agree that I am at least 21 years of age, am a full/part-time resident of Pennsylvania, have completed this form to the best of my knowledge and understand and comply with all contest rules and requirements.
2) I am giving the producers of the Keystone Leather Contest my permission to use my photos and likenesses, tastefully, for publicity and on the internet.

Signature:
Date: