Rio

Rio is a butch leather dyke who, together with her Mistress Marilyn, served as Northwest Master and slave 2023. She identifies as a slave, a masochist, a knife enthusiast, and a hopeless romantic who’s obsessed with service. She is currently Secretary of the San Francisco Bay Area Leather Alliance, and served as Ms. San Francisco Sober Leather in 2016.

Feeding her passion for both education and exhibitionism, she has taught, MC’d, judged, and sung, from NWLC to IMsL/BB and SELF, and demo bottomed across the country, usually under the sadistic hands of Marilyn. Active in both the Exiles and MAsT San Francisco, Rio has never met a newcomer she didn’t like, and believes in kindness, honor, respect, integrity, and flirtation.

Interview

Why is service important to you?

I was raised in a family where helping others and giving back was important, and I learned as a child that even if we are personally successful, we can’t forget others whose needs may be greater than ours. I’ve been volunteering throughout my life, doing disaster relief, working at women’s centers, writing for community newsletters, and organizing marches.

When I got into the leather scene, I was drawn to its values: respecting others, having personal integrity, and adhering to what is right regardless of the personal cost. To me this goes hand in hand with service. I was extremely fortunate to find a MIstress with similar values, and I am truly honored to serve her. I find joy in making her life easier.

As an introvert, I don’t like to be in the spotlight, but I like that my contributions contribute to Her happiness and Her achievements, and She encourages me to contribute to community as part of my service to Her. Service also fulfills my personal needs: to know that I’m useful, that I’m making a difference, and frankly, that what I help create will live past me.

Glenda Rider once said that you need to create the place you want to live in, so service to my community has always been important to me. We can’t just sit back and enjoy the fruits of others’ labors; we all need to contribute if we want it to thrive. And these days, when we’re facing so many threats, I recall Benjamin Franklin’s saying: “If we don’t hang together, we’ll all hang separately.”

Serving without thought of compensation, giving because it’s the right thing to do, is, in my mind, the highest calling.