 After Ms. Leather events had been held in San Francisco since 1981, the first formal International Ms. Leather convention took place in 1987; The event moved in 2014 from the SOMA neighborhood of San Francisco to San Jose.The first International Ms. Leather was Judy Tall Wing, of Apache, Tewa, and African heritage who was a survivor of the Indian boarding schools.International Ms. Leather has had a focus on community leadership from the start; contestants must meet objectives and deadlines set before the convention, and at the event are judged on costuming, speech, a fantasy performance, knowledge of the leather scene as demonstrated in a quiz and an interview, and also organizing skills as demonstrated in having two others set up an auction table for them at the convention.