Atons 2026 Installation Banquet

Good evening everyone, and thank you for being here. For those who do not know me, my name is Parker Brancato, I use He/Him pronouns, and I am your 2026 President for the Atons. I am honored to receive this title, and look forward to this opportunity. As we enter our 54th year as a club, the oldest leather club in Minnesota, and the 6th oldest leather club in the world, I am incredibly excited.

I want to take a moment again and thank all of our outgoing officers for their incredible work this last year. Without all of your hard work, we would not be the club we are today, so thank you. In the last year, we had some amazing things happen. We were able to be a part of unveiling and walking down the largest leather pride flag in the world during pride. We also had our bathhouse themed pool party in the summer, and it was extremely successful. The one thing we did as a club last year that I am very excited for, is that this is the first full year that any person can be a full member of the club, regardless of their gender identity. This is a huge step forward for us as a club, and one I am proud of us making. I do know that there were some grumbles about this change, and to those who are questioning why we made this change, or those who are not happy about it, let me tell you this. We are not removing our history of being a gay men’s leather club, that will always be a part of who we are, however it is way past time we moved into the 21st century and get with the times. Our community is becoming more diverse as time has gone on, and I believe it is up to us to show the community we are welcoming of everyone, regardless of their identity. I want the Atons to be a club where everyone is accepted and welcomed. It is past time we stop limiting ourselves.

Especially now, when the world is targeting members of our community for just being who they are, and ICE is targeting everyone who gets in the way of their corrupt “justice”. When the world is trying to remove our trans siblings from existence just because they are who they are. When they come for one of us, they come for all of us. We are a community, through and through, and it is up to us to protect and support one another during these challenging times. I know I will never fully understand all the hardships that people face being a cis-gendered white man who can be straight passing at times. But what I do know, is that I can do everything in my power to make sure those who are being targeted are protected and safe during these incredibly difficult times. I would also like to see us as the Aton’s further step up and show the community that we are a safe place for all, and that we will do everything in our power to protect one another. I know we are a social club, and we each have our own limits, so this is my call to action to everyone: however you can, whenever you can, show up and support your local community. If that means physically being present at places being targeted (not just the TCL area, but everywhere), do that. If it means gathering information and sharing it across your social media and your personal connections, do that. If it means financially supporting businesses that are being affected, do that. If it means just being there for your friends and family, supporting them during this scary time, do that. But most important of all, make sure to take care of yourself. Do not let yourself get burnt out from all the stress of everything going on. Each and every one of you is important to this community, and you are important to me, so please do not forget to take care of yourself.

As we move into 2026, I am incredibly excited to see the things we do as a club. We have our 25th leather run coming up in September (Mt. Olympus, at our new site Norway Point), which I am excited to be a part of, we are exploring other options for events and L&L’s that do not necessarily revolve around the bars, and of course, we are celebrating our 54th year as an organization! With this upcoming year, I will do my best to lead us well, but there are times I may slip, and I may fail. But as a good friend told me, it is better to try and fail, than to never try at all.

Thank you all once again, I look forward to this upcoming year.