HOST OF SYDNEY MR. LEATHER 2023

OUR EVENT HOST
DEAN ARCURI
MC/PERFORMER/LGBTIQ+ ADVOCATE
HE/HIM
With a big smile on his dial, Dean Arcuri juggles many hats, whether he's kinked up, dressed in drag, or holding a camera.
Whether performing on stage, in front of the camera or behind the scenes, he is always advocating the diversity and joy of Australia's LGBTIQA+ communities. He does a hell of a lot!
His passion is hosting fetish events across the country, whether on stage or in the bedroom. It is an opportunity for him to taste the strength, creativity, and unique Aussie flavours of everyone as they celebrate what they love and what gets them off!
A Master of Ceremony at a multitude of kink & leather events, fundraisers, and competitions, including Mr & Ms Adelaide Leather, Adelaide Leather, Mr & Ms Australian Leather, and Mr Australiasia Bear Competition! A highlight was hosting Mr VicBears Comp and Mooning, where he witnessed a rendition of Wrecking Ball that he will never forget!
JUDGES OF SYDNEY MR. LEATHER 2023






-
JUDGES 2023
We have an awesome line-up of Judges for this year's Sydney Mr. Leather Competition!
-
AARON SINCLAIR
SYDNEY MR. LEATHER JUDGE 2023
KINK PERFORMER
HE/HIM/HIS
Aaron entered the world of Kink through the doors of Icebox. Hellfire was his initiation into a world of pleasure, pain, leather and fun.His formative years of discovering both his queer and kink identities took place in the dark depths of Phoenix, The Oxford hotel, the infamous Lions Den parties and SLPA (Sydney Leather Pride Association) events.
This led him to enter the kink performance space and to discover a love of needles, hooks and all things blood. Performing needle & flesh suspension shows at venues including the Sydney Hellfire Club and Qbar. Also performing with the hairy boy burlesque group, FURLESQUE.
After years of volunteering, in 2010 he became the youngest ever president of SLPA, and proudly brought Inquisition back to the DOME.
Aaron has judged numerous kink events including; Australia and New Zealand Mr Leather, Australian International Power Exchange, The first joint Mr & Mrs Leather Competition and the International Testicle Cooking Championships in Serbia.
Aaron cruised the seedy clubs and dark dungeons of Berlin for a year. After returning home he has spent the last ten years proudly flaunting his cowboy and latex fetish gear at clubs across Sydney. Modelling for the ACON "How Hard" campaign and subbing at Kink workshops, joining kink / relationship discussion panels and proudly wearing his purple hankie everywhere, if he has pants on!
-
LANI DE VIATE
SYDNEY MR. LEATHER JUDGE 2023
STUDIO KINK
SHE/HER
Lani De Viate is a director and founder of Studio Kink Sydney, which was established in 2015 along with her partners Mark and Aleni De Viate.Studio Kink is a space for people from across the kink community. It’s primarily a space for education, to run classes and workshops that cover a range of topics, from Shibari to D/s, health and safety to alternative relationship structures and everything in-between.Lani however started her kink journey back at The Sydney Hellfire Club in 2006, where she met Mark and asked him to tie her. With a response of “hell yeah!” she soon discovered the magic beneath the strands and they have been tying ever since.They have performed together in many a venue, with audiences ranging from 10 to 1500 people, across Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Japan. Some of these events include Sensual Ball, The Sydney Hellfire Club, New Zealand Fetish Ball, and some of the highest honours - Toubaku and Japan Fetish Ball. Their signature twists and turns, rockin’ and rollin’, and their intense power and energy exchange they share, continue to inspire all that see.Fast forward a few years and she now keeps Studio Kink rolling behind the scenes, and with over 600 Shibari beginners each year, weekly classes, shibari intensives, BDSM education, Mardi Gras parades and events (including GearUp), kink yoga, art shows, WYLD - RUBBER, Syd-PAH moshes and many many more - there is a lot to keep her busy!Lani is also a lover of many aspects of our combined communities, which includes leather, latex, fetish, kink, queer, poly, shibari and BDSM to name a few. And she always strives to provide a safe and inclusive space for those around her. -
LLOYD GROSSE
SYDNEY MR. LEATHER JUDGE 2023
DJ BUCK NAKED/ACTIVIST
Born in 1965 and native to Sydney, Lloyd is of a generation that came of age with the arrival of AIDS. Becoming a man became irrevocably fused with the death of men whose brotherhood was important to our wider family. Those who lived through that time will remember the fear that was always present and the courage and guts of those that galvanised and re-built community around fighting back against AIDS. Lloyd was in the thick of it. From ACT UP activist to Albion Street hotline to ACON staffer and first client services officer at BGF to the establishment and leadership of the then PLWHA (NSW), Lloyd’s was a constant , tireless and reassuring presence in a time of darkness and uncertainty.
He had tech and music running in his veins and was one of the first to in the sector to understand the opportunity it provided in helping organise their back office so they could lobby, disrupt, campaign and agitate more effectively. He switch his first professional computer on in the mid-80s and spun his first discs then too - characteristically drawn to English new wave which used the latest tech to make sound. But music took a back seat in the 90s as the AIDS crisis gripped Sydney and decimated the community. But the deep dark beat was never too far away.
He soon realised that the brethren referred to in Urban Aboriginal or in Larry Townsend’s novels were gone. Elders were dying so quickly they were unable to pass on their generational conventions, ethics and etiquette. Lloyd and a radical group of mates recognised that the knowledge must not be completely lost and set about figuring out how to reclaim and share our combined SM wisdom. He joined Sydney Leather Pride (SLPA), which at the time was dysfunctional and set about transforming it. He started the first SM Education Program which was hugely successful. He managed S(A)X Fetish store on Oxford St for six years turning it from a “leather” store to a full fetish experience. AND he built and ran one of the biggest and best equipped dungeon spaces in Australia.
In the 90’s he launched Australia’s first gay and lesbian PR Company “Out Communication”. His consultancy work with Roche Pharmaceutical’s HIV portfolio included launching the first Australian protease inhibitor and viral load test, two medical advances that transformed the course of AIDS. He also proposed breaking new ground with SLPA’s premier Leather party “Inquisition” by being the first to holistically collaborate with the AIDS Council seamlessly integrating the Kinky Safe Sex Campaign into the fabric of the party theme – the “7 Deadly Sins” was supported by “Sin Safely” (did we mention he also DJed and did a bondage show on the main stage).
While he has a remarkable professional and kinky side - it is as his DJ alter ego, Buck Naked, that most people will recognise him nationally and indeed internationally. In his own words, “Buck’s music style is deep, dark and dirty. It uses African, tribal, house and jazz rhythms and synthesized, electric and acoustic sounds. Most of all Buck ‘s specialty is to deeply connect with his dance floor and fuck its brains out.” And that’s an understatement.
Buck has been leaving dance floors begging for more from Palm Springs to Lismore since Frank Zammit’s infamous SubCulture parties. A regular at Mardi Gras, Buck’s finest hour may well have been the legendary all night set he played in the Horden Toilets at Mardi Gras 1998 and the infamous set he played at the Gay Games Black Party. -
NIGEL THOMAS
SYDNEY MR. LEATHER JUDGE 2023
Nigel has been into leather since he was a young boy and into motorbikes almost as long.
He was born in Australia and grew up in the UK, giving him the opportunity to be a member of five leather and two motorcycle clubs. Nigel was club captain and treasurer of the Dolphin Motorcycle Club (DMC) Sydney, a gay men's motorcycle club. He received the Presidential Award twice and was voted Dolphin of the Year in 2010. A highlight was representing Sydney at the International Mr Leather (IML) competition in 2005 as Mr Dolphin Motorcycle Club Sydney.Nigel has participated in a number of workshops in Australia and internationally, including assisting in Body Electric’s BDSM-based Power, Surrender and Intimacy (PSI) course for over a decade.
His interests include visiting anywhere with a leather bar, club or shop, meeting like-minded men and adding to his wardrobe.
-
TIM BALL
SYDNEY MR. LEATHER JUDGE 2023
SYDNEY MR. LEATHER 2015
Into role play, ass play, rough, cum, sweat, piss, hairy bellies, ff and anything sleazy legal that doesn’t burnt too much!
Tim has a long history with the LGBTQI+ community. He has managed gay bars and clubs including The Oxford Hotel, managed multiple Mardi Gras parade entries, Fair Day Stalls, organised safe sex sluts and drug rovers for events.
He was the Business Development / Account Manager at Star Observer, Australia's longest-running publication for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex communities.
Volunteering for decades at ACON assisting with Events and fundraising, the SAM Project (Sexually Adventurous Men), Bingay, Mardi Gras, advocating for mental health and Prep treatment.
Tim worked as the Strategic Relationships Manager at National Pride In Diversity. Assisting Diversity and HR professionals in the area of LGBT inclusive strategies, awareness, employee network/resource group implementation, advice, support and training. Contributing through business to the social inclusion agenda in Australia, to promote the health and well-being of LGBT employees by creating inclusive workplaces and minimising mental health issues associated with stigma and discrimination.
Tim won the title of Sydney Mr. Leather 2015, representing Sydney at IML (International Mr. Leather), proudly coming in the top 5!
TALLY MASTERS OF SYDNEY MR. LEATHER 2023



-
TALLY MASTERS 2023
We have an awesome line-up of Tally Masters for this year's Sydney Mr. Leather Competition!
-
KRYPTO
SYDNEY MR. LEATHER TALLY MASTER 2023
GOLDEN RETRIEVER
HE/HIM
Krypto is a young at heart Golden Retriever identified service pup who is very active in the Sydney Pup Community.
A serial volunteer who is no stranger to coat checks and other activities organised in his role as Vice President of SYD-PAH. Krypto advocates that there is a place for anyone in the pup community and Gender, Race, Age and Sexuality should never be a barrier.
He lives by the motto “Be unashamedly yourself in life, be so you it hurts, as life is too short”. His kryptonite is pats, scritches, boops and good tea (loose leaf not shade).
-
RUBBERMATT
SYDNEY MR. LEATHER TALLY MASTER 2023
AKA MATTHEW GREVINK
LATEX DESIGNER
HE/HIM
Rubbermatt AKA Mathew Grevink, has been working with the rubber and fetish community in Sydney for over two decades. His involvements include; Manacle bar, Sydney Rubber ball, Inquisition, Sydney Rubber, Fetish Australia and The Hide.
He placed second runner up while competing at Mr. International Rubber 2004, and won the title of Pride of the Hide 2021!With a talent for design and a passion for all things latex, he started his own brand of custom latex, Rubbermatt Design.