Obama Spokesman: The President-Elect Will Not Be Attending Mid-Atlantic Leather

Somebody at ABC figured out that the Obama inauguration happens a couple of days after the 25th Annual Mid-Atlantic Leather (MAL) Weekend in DC and wondered if the President-elect would be dropping by.

Thousands of tourists pouring into Washington, D.C. for President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration will be sharing the nation's capital with a few thousand predominantly gay leather fetishists, in town for their annual convention. Next January 16th, 17th and 18th brings the 25th annual Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend to Washington, D.C. Hosted by the city's Centaur Motorcycle Club, "a group of men with an enthusiastic interest in motorcycles, leather and other men," the event is expected to draw between 2,000 and 3,000 attendees, according to spokesman Larry Barat.

Obama's swearing-in on Tuesday, Jan. 20, is expected to draw between 500,000 to four million people. Many will likely arrive the weekend prior to sightsee and attend inaugural balls and other parties. A spokeswoman for Obama said the president-elect would probably not attend any of the Leather Weekend events. "Let's just say it's likely the president-elect will be occupied with many other activities" surrounding the inauguration, said Linda Douglass. Leather Weekend attendees wearing their gear in public may provide visitors in town for the inauguration with something to talk about back at their hotel, but in general inauguration planners say they don't expect the overlap to be an issue.

The MAL spokesman says he expects attendance to be down somewhat this year due to the lack of available hotel rooms.