5 Questions – Answered by Travis Creston Detwiler
Longtime friend and Mr. San Francisco Leather 2007, Travis Creston Detwiler, answers my questions.
Periodically I’ll ask someone within one or more of the sexuality or relationship communities 5 specific questions. 5 seems like enough questions to elicit some interesting responses but not so many as to overwhelm the reader. I’ll often ask different questions depending on the person.
For this post I’m asking the questions of a friend with whom I’ve recently reconnected and who I respect considerably, Travis Creston Detwiler.
Travis Creston Detwiler is a former Mr. San Francisco Leather 2007 and has been an active member of the leather scene locally and nationally. Travis and I lost touch with each other after he moved from San Francisco, but luckily we’ve reconnected through social media and then eventually a wonderful recent lunch together in my second home city of Palm Springs, California, where Travis now resides.
In 2009, I asked Travis these questions and he kindly agreed to let me republish them again here. I think his answers have withstood the test of time.
One of the reasons I wanted to republish these answers is that Travis is one of my touch points for decency, compassion, and an incredibly positive outlook on life. Those qualities are demonstrated in how he leads his day-to-day life and also in how he views leather and kink.
1. If you could offer people in your community just one bit of advice based on your experience, what would it be?
Simply: always be yourself… genuinely and authentically. Don’t waste too time and energy in your head trying to imagine what is the politically correct or appropriate way to behave. You’ll love yourself more and be a lot happier if you maintain integrity. Plus, it makes life so much easier.
2. Is there anything you see as particularly positive going on in your community right now?
I love the movement towards gender neutrality. San Franciscans are becoming more aware that “male” and “female” are merely illusions. This baseline compartmentalization denies and restricts our society. We are all created equally, period. I’m quite proud to live in this bay of pigs where the notion of gender equality makes perfect sense.
3. Is there anything you see as particularly negative going on in your community right now?
I’m concerned by the perceived “connecting” that occurs in various twittery digital formats. Younger generations are becoming so accustomed to rapid fast, text-type dialogues that the need to master eye-to-eye contact in social situations is no longer a valued skill set. There are great and fascinating aspects to the digital age we’re living in; however, maintaining balance between the computer and human experience is a growing concern!
4. How could your community best be improved?
I think our greatest asset toward improved community is the benefit of our collective appreciation and admiration of our differences. Imagine how strong our community would be if we didn’t judge others, or ourselves, so harshly. I believe our youth are coming of age at a time when they can truly gain strength by virtue of the inclusion, tolerance, and lack of judgment afforded them. This creates stronger individuals who can seriously improve our community.
5. Think ahead 10 years. Where do you see your community heading?
In ten years, I hope to see a world that’s enlightened and empowered by equality. Our digital world allows for the possibility to create global communities that are more focused with precision accuracy on the individual proclivities we share. I hope we’ll incite a healthy love of self that propels globalization in a way which unites us instead of further dividing us into compartments. Each of us is part of the whole and as we move forward I hope we realize this all-encompassing potential. We’re in the same boat. We always have been, we always will be… that will never change.
You can follow Travis on his Daily Discipline Delivers Instagram.
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