The Man in Leather Who Refused to Be Ashamed

Congressional Candidate Chris Gallant Has a Past. So What? Don't We All?

Here's a political scandal that might make a few of you chuckle.

Chris Gallant is a 37-year-old openly gay man running for Congress in New York's First Congressional District. He's a military helicopter pilot, a former air traffic controller, a union leader, and a volunteer firefighter.

Oh, and about 16 years ago, he posed for some rather delicious photographs wearing leather bondage gear.

Apparently, somebody thought that last part was going to destroy his political career.

They clearly haven't met Chris Gallant.

The photographs, originally taken around 2010 with his then-partner, were used by Mr. S Leather, the well-known San Francisco retailer specializing in leather, fetish clothing, and BDSM accessories. They appeared on the company's website for years before being removed at Gallant's request.

Recently, those images resurfaced in the press, with the apparent expectation that Gallant would be mortified, issue a tearful apology, and quietly disappear from the political landscape.

Instead, he essentially shrugged.

In an interview with The New York Times, Gallant acknowledged that his friends have always known about his kinky side. He even joked that he makes Christian Grey, the fictional bondage enthusiast from Fifty Shades of Grey, look like an amateur.

Now, THAT is how you handle an attempted scandal.

Since When Did Leather Become a Character Flaw?

Here's what strikes me about this story.

We're talking about a man who has served his country, flown military helicopters, helped protect his community, and taken on considerable responsibility throughout his professional life.

Yet somehow, photographs of him enjoying consensual adult activities are supposed to erase all of that?

Give me a break.

If anything, I find it refreshing that someone seeking public office isn't pretending to have emerged from the womb wearing a business suit and carrying a briefcase.

And as members of a male nudist community, perhaps we understand something about this better than most.

We know what it's like to have perfectly innocent photographs interpreted as something scandalous. We know that being comfortable with our bodies doesn't automatically tell anyone what kind of people we are.

Some of us have photographs floating around the internet that we wouldn't necessarily want appearing in the local newspaper. Some of us have explored leather, kink, fetish communities, or other perfectly legal adult interests.

And some of us just enjoy sitting naked in the backyard with a cup of coffee.

None of those things determines whether we're decent human beings.

The Double Standard Is Getting Awfully Old

Let's consider something else.

In 1982, Republican Scott Brown posed nude for Cosmopolitan magazine. He later became a United States senator.

His photographs became a colorful footnote in his political biography.

But when an openly gay congressional candidate appears in leather gear, suddenly we're supposed to question his judgment, his character, and his qualifications?

Funny how that works.

Of course, voters are entitled to consider whatever they believe matters when choosing their representatives. Gallant's political positions, experience, and ability to represent his district are all fair game.

But an adult's consensual sexual interests shouldn't automatically become evidence of professional incompetence.

And there is an important distinction between agreeing to have photographs used for a particular purpose and having those same images circulated years later in an entirely different context.

The Best Part? He Didn't Apologize.

What I admire most about Gallant's response has nothing to do with his political affiliation.

It's his refusal to be embarrassed about being himself.

For generations, gay men were taught to keep certain parts of their lives hidden. Don't be too flamboyant. Don't be too sexual. Don't be too different. Don't give anyone a reason to talk.

And for heaven's sake, don't let anyone find out what you do behind closed doors.

Gallant seems to have missed that particular lesson.

Good for him.

Whether he wins or loses his congressional race remains to be seen. But he's already demonstrated something worth celebrating: an embarrassing revelation only works when the person involved agrees to be embarrassed.

Imagine how much power we'd take away from the people who try to shame us if more of us responded with that same confidence.

Because there's something wonderfully liberating about reaching the point in life where you can look somebody straight in the eye and say, "Yes, that's me. And?"

It's a lesson that applies far beyond politics.

And gentlemen, if there's one thing this community understands, it's that a man's character has very little to do with how much he's wearing.

Even when what he's wearing happens to be leather.

Source and inspiration: Dimitrios Aletras Jr., "The Democrat Congressional Candidate Who Won't Be Kink-Shamed," published in Salon, October 22, 2026. This article is an original GoNaked News commentary based on that reporting.