Judy Tallwing McCarthey

She attended American Indian boarding school and Catholic girls' school.[2]

In 1987 she became the first International Ms. Leather.[3][4]

That same year, she was the leather community's keynote speaker at the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.[5]

From 1988 to 1992 she was co-chair of the National Leather Association.[6]

In 2020 she became the first woman of color given the Leather Leadership Award at the Creating Change conference.[6]

At one point, she operated the fetish clothing manufacturer Mr. S Leather, founded by Alan Selby.[7][8][9]

• 1989 – Woman of the Year award, shared with Shan Carr, as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards.[10]
• 1996 and 2001 – Forebear Award, as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards.[10]
• 2003 – Lifetime Achievement Award, as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards.[10]
• 2020 – Leather Leadership Award, given at the Creating Change conference.[6]

A video of her speech at International Ms. Leather in 1987 is shown in the exhibition “A Room of Her Own” at the Leather Archives & Museum.[11]

Her art is in the American Visionary Art Museum.[2][1][12]

She is of African, Apache, and Tewa descent.[13]

She has six children.[2]

She is openly lesbian and involved in BDSM.[11]

• Website of Judy Tallwing McCarthey