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BY CHARLI BATTERSBY | I approached Chelsea’s leather bar, The Eagle NYC, with a bit of hesitation. I’ve been openly trans for long enough to remember when gay bars were usually off limits to trans women. And I’ve met cisgender women who claimed there was a “No Dames Allowed” policy in certain parts of the Eagle.

In fact, I was in the building for about 30 seconds before a man approached me on the dance floor and told me I’m beautiful. While I was ordering a drink, another man called me “effervescent.” These leathermen seemed happy to have me there. Or they were “cruising” me. Either way, I was welcomed.

But it was clear that transpeople are welcomed at the Eagle, just by looking at any of the monitors around the club. This was less than a week after the International Mr. Leather Contest in Chicago, and our own Mr. Eagle NYC 2025 , Zephyr, had won First Runner-Up.

There was video footage playing on a loop of Zephyr’s participation in the contest. It was June 1, the first day of Pride Month and everyone in the bar was.. well… proud.

I went up to the rooftop bar to meet Zephyr, who was holding a homecoming party to celebrate the victory. Zephyr uses nonbinary pronouns, and they spoke with me briefly at the bar. Mr. Eagle NYC 2025 was in full leather gear, as were many of the patrons. A few were in sweats or jeans. Zephyr called it a “leather and Levis” bar. 

As it turned out, Zephyr and I weren’t the only trans people in attendance. My “Transponder” alerted me to several other trans people. Later, a drag queen dressed in a leather fairy outfit arrived, probably fresh from the Queens Pride Parade.

Zephyr was quickly pulled away by an admirer. But we agreed to speak at length later. In the meantime, I was invited by a leather daddy to join the cigar smoking group at the bar.

I had skipped the Queens Pride Parade to come here instead. I felt like my presence at Queens Pride wouldn’t be missed. When I left the Eagle, on the other hand, I had a feeling that my absence would be noted if I didn’t return.

A couple of days later, I spoke with Zephyr via video call. We spoke of their childhood, and the early hints of an affinity for leather, right back to the age of four when the leather toddler got their first leather baseball cap.

“There’s always been a call to leather,” Zephyr told me. “I lived in Argentina for a little bit as a kid, which has a ‘Cow Culture.’ My mom had this custom leather suit that I remember trying to put on as a kid. And, as I got older, that ended up going more of a fetishy direction. My second leather piece was a bomber jacket. I got it in high school… It hung in my closet, I got too big for it, and eventually I gave it to one of my good friends.”

Zephyr mused about this, noting, “I think gifting leather down to the next person is one of the ways we reproduce culturally. Especially since a lot of us can’t reproduce literally, physically.”

Zephyr first started coming to the Eagle at the age of 23, right before the COVID lockdown. “I knew that this was something I wanted, but I wasn’t fully immersed,” they told me. 

The Eagle has been doing a Thursday night party called Into? for years, where people are encouraged to arrive in “gear” and show everyone what they’re into.

“I remember the first time I went, I wore a rope harness that I tied on myself underneath a leather vest. If it’s wearing what you’re into, this is something I’m very into. That helped me grow and shape myself in leather, just immersing myself in that community.”

Zephyr is obviously more than just trans and leather. “I’m many things,” they told me. “I am Latin and Jewish, which is not observed by a lot of people… Spanish is my first language.” 

We detoured a little to speak about the use of nonbinary pronouns in the Spanish language (where every noun has a gender). Zephyr told me about the increasing popularity of the pronoun “Elle” and how Spanish has a colloquialism similar to “the gay ‘She.’ “

Zephyr is also a go-go dancer, and a self-described “Go-Go Doula” who mentors new go-go dancers in the way a doula helps people give birth. “I’m helping them with their go-go birth,” Zephyr says, “But they’re still the one pushing.”

“I’m an avid reader. I usually read 30 books a year. I love going to the gym. I’m a jock. I’m a punk… I’m vegan. I don’t eat animal products.”

I immediately questioned Zephyr about being a vegan, while also being a leatherman. Leather comes from cows, after all.

“I see it from an environmental perspective,” Zephyr said, “Vegan leather is mostly plastic, and has a lot of detrimental environmental impact. While cow leather is not, and can last for years and years. So I don’t see a conflict, because I’m doing the more environmentally sound thing. A lot of my leather is used.”

Zephyr even wore a custom outfit made of repurposed leather scraps for the International Mr. Leather contest. 

And, it turns out it’s not entirely accurate to say that Zephyr is the first transgender Mr. Eagle NYC. When I asked if there were other trans competitors in previous years, Zephyr told me that a previous Mr. Eagle NYC had transitioned to female after their reign. “I like to say that I am the first transmasculine Mr. Eagle [NYC]. To honor that person’s experience. I have not seen another transmasculine competitor in my years of observing the contest. I know both I, and my First Runner-Up, are non-binary. Which people tend to forget, because it’s this men’s space. Even though I am nonbinary I feel aligned with the term ‘leatherman.’ Because to a certain extent it’s something you do and communicate. And also, I’m pretty butch.”

At 5’9″ and wearing 4 inch heels, I towered over the 5’4″ leatherman. And Zephyr addressed issues like size and age in the community.

“A lot of people want to put the term ‘boy’ or ‘leather boy’ on me. And I don’t identify with that. And it is a very specific thing to be, in leather. And it just doesn’t vibe with me. Sometimes you just sort of know, if that makes sense. I’m friends with a lot of leather boys, and I think they’re rad, it’s just not a positionality I identify with.”

Zephyr then made a reference to the “Handkerchief Code” about being hunter green, for Daddy.

I asked Zephyr what was on the agenda for the week leading up to  the Folsom Street East, an annual leather event that happens outdoors, drawing people from all over the country. “I’m just calling it ‘Leather Pride Week,’ ” Zephyr said. They were, of course, at Folsom Street East as well as a different leather/kink party every night. Fascination at Three Dollar Bill in Brooklyn, Mx. Kink, Cuir at Brooklyn’s Animal bar, modeling for a figure drawing class, and an armpit fetish party at Rockbar called Stank. And was back at the Eagle NYC on the 19th for Into?, which was also a Juneteenth celebration. Their list of appearances throughout Pride Months include the Drag March on the 27th and, of course, Zephyr will be at the Pride March on the 29th.

I mentioned that I had seen several other trans people at their victory party a few days earlier. “Is it working?” I asked about trans visibility.

“I think it is working because, heads up! Trans people are here. You’re going to see more of us. Buy us drinks and flirt with us. Or buy us drinks and leave us alone. We’re going to be here, so be ready for that, and don’t be an asshole. People are like, ‘How do I deal with a trans person?’ And I’m like, ‘Just don’t be an asshole.’ It’s really not that hard to talk to us. We’re complete people. Yes, I’m the first trans Mr. Eagle, but I’m also a leatherman. I also work in HIV/STI, advocacy… There are so many things we can talk about before we get to the fact that I’m trans. I do my own hair color!”

Breaking it down to thebasics Zephyr reasons all will be well “If you just talk with us like we’re people. Most of us can tell when someone is coming at us with good intent or bad intent. But, yeah, there’s more of us there and I think that’s great. We belong in these spaces. In the act of showing up you are teaching someone. If someone is in a space, there is a good chance that they belong there. So welcome people because we do belong.”

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Instagram: AnyDeviation

Facebook: Zephyr.Dee

To read Zephyr’s Mr. Eagle NYC 2025 bio, see the below text

or click here to access it on the website of the Eagle NYC.

Zephyr (they/them/él/ellos) is the first transmasculine Mr. Eagle NYC. They work as an HIV Testing Counselor and Outreach Specialist living in New York since 2013. They have been doing LGBTQ+ advocacy since 2017.
A proud member of the trans community, they use their positionality as a both provider and community member to bring high quality care to the five boroughs.

Some of their proud moments of service is connecting two undocumented uninsured newly diagnosed HIV positive individuals to care within 2 weeks at the height of Covid-19 lock down. And helping facilitate more than 600 MPOX doses at peak epidemic.

In 2022 they were chosen as an OutAthlete to promote visibility and inclusion in the CrossFit and gym space.

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