Hi, I’m Karen Ma’am (or MsPierced or just Karen!) and I’ve been part of the leather/kink/BDSM community since 1991—ever since I tied up my first boy in a University of Florida dorm room.
When Florida passed the “Don’t Say Gay” law in 2022, I knew I couldn’t stay on the sidelines. I attended my first Equality Florida meeting and haven’t looked back. I also brought a decade of political organizing experience from my time lobbying with the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)—skills I now bring home to serve my people, my community.
That’s why I founded Boots on the Ground—a new activist collective built by and for our community. Because while I was doing the work, I wasn’t doing it with us. And we can do it so much better, louder, bolder…and with way more leather.
Here’s the truth: no authoritarian regime in world history has withstood organized resistance from just 3.5% of the population. That’s about 11 million Americans—and we’re nearly halfway there. The “Hands Off” protests in April 2025 brought out 5 million people nationwide. The June 14th protests were even bigger. We can win—but only if we show up.
At Boots on the Ground, we’re not here to endlessly rehash Trump headlines. We’re here to study our history, honor our elders, and build something that lasts. We are students of the movements that came before us—Stonewall, ACT UP, the Black civil rights movement, and the suffragists who fought for decades before they saw change.
Like Senator Cory Booker said at a sit-in on April 27, “Do you think we got the right to vote for women because a bunch of men on the House floor got together and said, ‘On the count of three, women get the right to vote?’ That’s not how it happened… change doesn’t come FROM Washington. It comes TO Washington.” We are bringing the change. Together.
Some things we talk about might not resonate right away. Hell—if you had told me a year ago to change my spending habits, I would’ve rolled my eyes. But now? Changing how I spend to match my political values brings me joy. I’ll give you the tools and information. You choose what to do with them. This is your journey, too.
And look—Democrats are in the minority in both Florida and in Congress. We’re going to lose battles. But we don’t have to make it easy for them. We will speak up. We will organize. We will resist. Every. Damn. Time.
This isn’t a sprint. This is a movement. And movements take endurance.
If you’ve ever sung in a choir, you know: when one person needs to breathe, the rest hold the note. And that’s how we’ll do it—together. We move forward, always forward.
All of my presentations and resources will be available for free—for personal use or to share with your local communities. Because knowledge is power, and we’re done being quiet.
Because our rights aren’t a fetish—they’re fundamental. Let’s lace up.