During the Mid-Atlantic Leather weekend in Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh’s Daniel DeLuca captured the title of Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather 2023 continuing a tradition of Pittsburgh being the City of Leather Champions.
Mid-Atlantic Leather (MAL) Weekend is hosted annually by the Centaur Motorcycle Club and this was the first full-on MAL since before the pandemic. The sold-out 38th annual event weekend was packed with parties and exhibitors celebrating all facets of the leather lifestyle with the main event being the Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather 2023 competition.
Dan, known to many simply as “Dan Bear”, is also the current reigning Mr. Pittsburgh Leather Bear 2023. To be crowned Mr. MAL 2023, Dan successfully competed in four rounds of the competition: interview and pre-judging, attitude and personality, jock strap, and formal leather. As the title holder of Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather 2023, Dan will represent the mid-Atlantic region in the International Mr. Leather contest in Chicago over Memorial Day Weekend 2023.
Pittsburgh has a long history of involvement and success in the leather community. Multiple local organizations have celebrated the lifestyle since the 1980s and multiple title holders have hailed from Pittsburgh. Other leather title holders from Pittsburgh have been David Spivey, Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather 2020 and 2021; C. Lee Hill, Leatherman of Color 2020; Martel Brown, Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather 2017; Joe Birdwell, Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather 2014; Bryce Caine, Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather 2013; Matthew Bronson, Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather 2012; and Doug Pamplin, Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather 2011.
Congratulations to Dan and best of luck in Chicago! Bring home the title!