Please Do Not Say No One Wants to Join Leather Houses
I recently overheard a comment at a Leather Munch that struck a deep chord in me. Someone said that people nowadays don’t want to join reputable Leather Houses anymore, that instead, they simply go off and form their own. Hearing that was both disheartening and upsetting, because for me, for my Masters, and their other slave (my leather sister), that statement couldn’t be further from the truth.
There was a time when we longed to join a Leather Household. We wanted to learn, to serve, and to grow under the guidance of those who came before us. We weren’t looking to reinvent the wheel or take shortcuts, we wanted to earn our Leather, to stand tall in the traditions, values, and integrity that Leather is supposed to uphold.
But when we reached out to a few Houses we deeply respected, each and every time we were turned away. The response was always the same: “You already have enough people, just start your own.”
That rejection was devastating. Not because we weren’t capable of building something ourselves, but because our genuine desire to learn and be guided was dismissed. It felt as if the very values we respected so deeply were being gatekept. The message we heard was, “We don’t have the time or interest to teach you, if you’re Leather, then just be Leather.”
So that’s what we did. We gave up looking, and instead, we created The House of Koch.
Let me tell you, building a Leather House from the ground up is not an easy path. It requires humility, patience, study, research, trial and error, and a commitment to educating ourselves and each other. It is work, real work, but it is work worth doing.
Our hope in forming The House of Koch was not just to have a space of our own, but also to create what we could not find, a House that would never turn away earnest seekers who wished to learn. We want no one else to experience the sting of rejection that we did, knocking on doors only to find them closed.
So when I hear people say that no one wants to join Houses anymore, I cannot agree. People do want to. Many still crave the mentorship, the structure, the guidance, and the family that a Leather House can provide. The truth is that far too many are simply being turned away, whether from disinterest, burnout, or gatekeeping, by those who claim to be inclusive and welcoming, yet cannot be bothered.
Please, do not say that no one desires to join. People do. We did. Others still do. The tragedy is not a lack of desire, it is the refusal of some Houses to open their doors and hearts.
For us, Leather has always meant integrity, honor, respect, and service. If we truly value those things, then we must also value those who come after us, those who hunger to learn, and those who simply want to belong.
That is why the House of Koch exists today, not to replace what came before, but to ensure that the doors remain open for those who wish to walk this path with sincerity.