Cheers to 10 and transformation!
10/04/2026
Cruise Family!
Can you believe it?! Cruise LA is 10!
As we reflect on the past DECADE we cannot express our gratitude enough for each of YOU. We’re honored to have played, partied, gathered, and fu—well you get the idea—together. Now, as we turn the big 1-0, we’re excited for what awaits us in this next chapter.
For those of you with a love of numbers or symbols like us, ten can mark the completion of a cycle, a start on the precipice, or a door closing. For us, 10 also marks potential, change, and the infinite possibilities found in queer space we make together. To say, with the decade marks an exciting moment for transition. The moments leading up to our birthday have brought much needed conversations and reflection with many of you. About the new queer-kinky experiences you're craving, the dreams of title-futures, the collaborations and vendors you love, the hurdles we’ve faced, the support we want to provide, and the emergent needs of an always changing community.
So, with our birthday, comes a desire to bring it back to basics. To check in with the experiences that started Cruise and the experiences we’re still yearning for.
As we ring in October, we also hear the big lingering question. When is the contest?!
The Mx. Cruise LA Leather and Cruise LA Bootblack titles started to address the gaps that still remain among contests and patched-representatives. In fact, these issues within the LA’s Leather bar scene was the catalyst for Cruise’s early inception by our founder, Pony Lee. Years later, Elliot—the first trans Mr. LA Leather—and Pony dreamed of building a contest that would center the contributions, work, and PRESENCE trans and queer people have always had in our communities, yet were rarely given the recognition or platform we deserved on our terms. A contest that valued the moments that make title runs so memorable—the circle of support that comes with the borrowing, lending, and crafting of leather; the confidence that comes with voicing your vision and values; the indescribable comradery among title siblings; the moments in preparation and anticipation; finding new ways to be of service to your community.
With the birth of each title-babe, we’ve also received excellent feedback to help cultivate a more dynamic and supportive infrastructure that can guide and nurture our titleholders’ visions. We believe titles should also be responsive and adaptive to emergent insight. And we want to make sure, as Pony and Elliot take their well deserved retirement from Cruise production, that we regroup, incorporate feedback with intention while also honoring this transition with some stillness.
So, this year we’re taking a pause on the contest— our monthly party continues—to honor the decade and our current title holders. Over the next year, we're excited to take this opportunity to regroup and reimagine Cruise LA, our title infrastructure, increase opportunities for cross-party collaboration, and bring back the demos, workshops, and old school Cruise experience you love. The title will be back bigger and better than ever in 2028!
We invite you to STILL come celebrate our title holders and their step aside this month at Eagle LA with a party big enough to handle both of these power houses! We got performers, silent auction, raffles, music, demos, a community appreciation BBQ, and of course, step aside speeches by Kyle and Vega.
Title-Babes Community Bash:
A night of debauchery in honor of Mx. Cruise LA Leather 2026 Kyle Holiday & Cruise LA Bootblack 2026 Vega
DATE: October 17, 2026
TIME: 4pm-2am - Schedule TBA!
ADMISSION: $7 after 8pm
(Please RSVP so we know how much food to get!)
We’re also thrilled to celebrate 10 with our exhibition opening for the 2026 Circa: Queer Histories Festival, presented by One Institute! Join us tomorrow as Cruise LA spills into (and all over) Human Resources gallery space!
Cruise LA: 10 Years Deep
LOCATION: Human Resources, 410 Cottage Home Street Los Angeles, 90012
EXHIBITION RUN: 10/3-10/11
In the year(s) to come, we look forward to continuing the Cruising tradition of bringing queer and trans Leather to the Eagle—our home—alongside you. We look forward to bringing on a new generation of Cruise producers and volunteers. Without you, there’s no Cruise.
Cheers to you, Cruise family, and happy birthday to us all!
In leather,
Your Cruise LA Production Captains,
KD, Margaret, and Row