(Image: The Cuff Complex)

(Image: The Cuff Complex)

By Kali Herbst Minino

The Cuff Complex is celebrating 30 years of what it calls “Life, Lust and Debauchery on Capitol Hill” with an all-day party running from 3 PM to 3 AM this Saturday.

In 1993, The Cuff started as a concept from Scott Rodriguez and Tim F. for a “a positive social outlet for people who were into Leather, Levi’s and Uniforms.”

The surprisingly massive space has continued  with a mission to provide the “the best queer experience in the city.”

Since its creation, the club has changed ownership multiple times. Randy Fields purchased the club in 2004. Following Fields, a group of investors took over the business in 2013. Then, in late 2019, right around New Years 2020, Joey Burgess, who also owns Queer/Bar, took ownership of the club and his Burgess/Hall company that includes a collection of neighborhood businesses remains the owner today.

When Burgess purchased the club, he said preserving The Cuff as a neighborhood institution and putting it in queer ownership was at the core of adding the leather bar to his business family.

Surviving through the COVID-19 pandemic, The Cuff has remained the neighborhood institution it set out to be. According to Kitty Glitter, a host for the club’s 30th anniversary party and involved with social media management for the club, The Cuff remained a community core throughout the pandemic because of its outdoor patio. Being a safer place to gather, it also garnered a more diverse audience.

Promoting a sense of inclusivity like the one garnered through the pandemic remains an ongoing goal of the club even as the generations who created it fade away.

In 2013, Jeff Hennes, the long-time head of security for The Cuff who retired with the 20th anniversary to concentrate full-time on his E Pike Doghouse Leathers shop, told CHS a story about Cuff attendees bringing their families to the bar — and losing them to the good times.

“Folks are always amazed on how big the Cuff is,” Hennes said. “With the front bar, the dance bar downstairs. the patio and the ‘Dog Run’ so it is easy to lose someone. What is great, it that you can dance, cool off outside or just hang out and chat with friends and meet new friends. There is a space for everyone.”

“Daddy Jeff” passed away late in the summer of 2021. Doghouse Leathers continues under new ownership — and people are still getting lost in the Cuff.

For the Cuff’s Saturday celebration, the club has partnered with the Tom of Finland Foundation, an organization that devotes itself to protecting erotic art. Glitter says the foundation had been involved with The Cuff years before making plans for the celebration. The event is Tom of Finland themed, and will feature fun like free buzz cuts, a Tom of Finland photobooth, flash tattoos, a boot black station, dildo cornhole, and “free wieners and salacious drink specials.

Glitter hopes attendees can stay for the whole event so they don’t miss out on anything.

Tickets are $30 and can be purchased at cuffcomplex.com.

The Cuff is located at 1533 13th Ave.

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