The Southern European League of fetish clubs is borning!
Next December, Rome will become the stage for a moment that will mark the history of the European fetish and leather community. During Fetish Pride Italy 2025 (5–8 December), the official founding ceremony of the Southern European League of Fetish Clubs (SEL) will take place: a new network of cooperation and brotherhood that brings together some of the most active and recognised clubs in Southern Europe: Evidence (Nice, France), Gear Club Portugal (Lisbon, Portugal), ILBS – International Leather & Boots Spain (Seville, Spain), and Leather Club Roma (Rome, Italy).
A pact of brotherhood
SEL was born from a simple but powerful idea: fetish and leather clubs are not only event organisers, but genuine community spaces, places of memory and identity, capable of building bonds of support and solidarity among people, generations, and countries. At a time when social, cultural, and political challenges are increasingly complex, Southern Europe has decided to take a step forward, strengthening its voice and presence through an alliance that does not erase differences but values them.
The Southern European League is not designed to replace or overlap with existing structures, nor to be a closed framework. On the contrary, it presents itself as an open pact of brotherhood and collaboration, founded on a shared base of values and culture, while respecting the identity, autonomy, and traditions of each club. It is a space for dialogue and cooperation, not for substitution or competition.
Founding values
The SEL statement of values recalls principles that have always belonged to the leather and fetish community, but which today take on renewed strength and urgency:
-
Brotherhood and solidarity: mutual support between clubs, individuals, and communities;
-
Respect and consent: at the centre of every relationship, both inside and outside events;
-
Inclusion: welcoming all identities, genders, and orientations, without barriers or discrimination;
-
Pride: living one’s sexuality and desires with courage and without shame;
-
Memory and future: safeguarding leather tradition while innovating with creativity.
These values are not mere words on paper but a political and cultural compass that will guide the League’s actions and projects, reinforcing the awareness that the fetish community is an integral part of the broader LGBTQIAPK+ movement, sharing the same fight for visibility, dignity, and rights.
Why SEL was created
The idea of a Southern European network comes from the awareness that brotherhood and bonds among fetish clubs can become a virtuous model in challenging times for LGBTQ+ communities. Together, we are stronger.
SEL was created to:
-
rediscover and promote the authentic values of the leather communities in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean;
-
share resources, experiences, and know-how, pooling energies and best practices;
-
create new opportunities for meetings, exchange, and cultural enrichment;
-
reaffirm the historic and central role of fetish & kinky communities, and in particular the leather community, within the LGBTQ+ context and movement;
-
promote inclusive, sustainable models of “community-making,” for the benefit of the entire European and Mediterranean fetish & kinky scene.
In short, SEL was born because we believe that unity creates strength, and that together we can bring more visibility, more opportunities, and more quality to the leather/fetish scene.
An open network
A key feature of SEL is its non-exclusive nature. The Southern European League is not a confederation or a closed federation: it is an open alliance that encourages and welcomes the participation of other Southern European and Mediterranean clubs that share its values and vision.
This means that SEL does not put up barriers, but rather presents itself as a catalyst: a common space where different realities can recognise themselves, strengthen each other, and find greater visibility and international recognition.
Rome, the stage for the foundation
It is no coincidence that the founding act of SEL will take place in Rome, during Fetish Pride Italy, one of the most renowned and international fetish events in Europe. Rome represents a crossroads city, capable of welcoming people from across the continent, and Fetish Pride Italy has, for over ten years, been a meeting place that combines culture, sociality, and pride.
The signing of the Southern European League during the gala dinner of Fetish Pride Italy 2025 will not therefore be a simple formality, but the starting point of a new paradigm of cooperation, where memory and future, local identities and international scope, tradition and innovation can coexist and grow together.
Looking ahead
With the birth of the Southern European League, the fetish community of Southern Europe is equipping itself with a new tool to face the challenges of both present and future: from building more inclusive spaces to defending the fundamental values of respect and consent, from promoting leather culture to opening up to the perspectives of new generations.
SEL is an invitation to think and act together, overcoming sterile divisions, building bridges, and strengthening the bonds between clubs and people. It is proof that Southern Europe is not a geographical periphery but can become a laboratory of solidarity, inclusion, and fetish pride, capable of making a unique and irreplaceable contribution to the international community as a whole.
