In her “vanilla life,” kink activist Liquid is a social worker who currently works with the elderly. While social work might not have an obvious connection to the kink world, the most rewarding part of both, Liquid tells GO, “is having the ability to amplify voices while providing education, resources, and tools that empower those in marginalized communities at various stages of their lives.” In her social work, Liquid has helped some of society’s most vulnerable, including the elderly and HIV/AIDS patients. As a Black femme-presenting gender fluid competitor, she has been dismantling misogyny and racism in the world of Leather and BDSM for the last 25 years. She was the only woman and the only competitor of color in the first-ever Mr/Ms. New York City Leather contest. She’s been a participant in the We Are Leather Women project, which draws attention to the contributions of women in the leather community, and uses her platform as the current Northeast Leather Person 2020-2021 “to educate, empower, and amplify voices of other Sex Workers, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, GNC/NB folx in and outside of the BDSM/Leather community.” Although she hadn’t intended to go into social work permanently, Liquid discovered she had an aptitude for it. “I was able to connect with people differently because I was able to show compassion and empathy to those who never received it from a social worker,” she says. It was a happy coincidence that this work “intersected with the work I was doing in the BDSM/Leather community.” —RK
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