The history of MSC Belgium

The name of MSC Belgium

Although today, MSC Belgium exists in active support of all fetishes, the name tells more about its roots.  MSC Belgium’s name was mentioned for the first time in 1978, taking over the activities of the first leather and motorcycle club which was created in 1971 under the name of MS Belgica.

Background

Even though homosexuality was legal in Belgium at that time, the creation of a gay club such as MSC Belgium was quite a challenge. Homosexuality still had a bad image in the general public, so you can imagine that wearing leather clothes in public was reserved to the most adventurous of our ancestors. In the 70’s and 80’s, very few bars and meeting points existed for what we call now Our Community. Our meeting points (bars, parks, public toilets in train stations, etc.) were often raided by the police and the fear to be outed that way to our families and employers was huge. MSC Belgium played the role of creating a safe haven were kinky men would wear their leather clothes, ride their motorbikes with other gay men, enjoy their sexual fantasies and socialise with like-minded men around a common project like MSC Belgium.

Gaining recognition

The reputation of MSC Belgium was so high in the 70’s and 80’s that the annual event at the Chalet Robinson in Brussels attracted hundreds of people coming from all over Europe and was considered by many as one of the best events in Europe.

Aids Epidemic

In the 90’s, a big disease with a short name killed many of our members and MSC Belgium naturally found new roles and new objectives for its members : raising awareness about Aids, promoting safer sex practices, creating a solidarity movement among the members and raising money for our members in need of a treatment, a little extra comfort in hospital or regular visits in hospital. When the biological families of our friends simultenously learned about the illness and the homosexuality of their dying beloved sons, most of them were rejected and left with just the members of their chosen family to take care of them. But thankfully, this became history. But it should be remembered as an essential part of the history and role of MSC Belgium.

Until today, MSC Belgium highly values the promotion of save sex, in the wide range of the word.

Emergence of social media

The emergence and development of social media in the late 90’s was also a turning point in the role played by MSC Belgium. The access to sexual parters became so much easier that it could have been a life sentence for our club. To the contrary, MSC Belgium evolved to become a more social club, attracting a new generation of leather and fetish men in need of human and social contacts. New fetishes became more visible and MSC Belgium could evolve to also include these new fetishes alongside motorbikes and leather, such as rubber, puppies, ...

Although many things have evolved for the good, still many challenges remain ! The ambition of MSC Belgium is clear : Unite the Belgian LGBT fetish community. Be visible and bring fetish lovers together through a range of social activities.