Chris Gallant is learning that in politics, apparently, a leather harness can become campaign news. The openly gay Democratic nominee for New York’s 1st Congressional District has found himself under a very 2026 kind of microscope after old BDSM modeling photos resurfaced online.
And honestly, can we talk about why this is still considered shocking?
Yes, Those Photos Are Real
Gallant, 37, is running against Republican incumbent Nick LaLota after winning the Democratic primary. He is also an Army National Guard veteran, Black Hawk helicopter pilot, former air traffic controller, and volunteer firefighter.
Then came the photos.
The images show a younger Gallant modeling leather and fetish gear for Mr. S Leather, a San Francisco retailer specializing in leather and BDSM products. According to his attorney, Sara Azari, the photographs came from a private, consensual session involving Gallant and his then-partner, with whom he was in a committed four-year relationship. Gallant was also friends with the store’s owner and had agreed that selected images could be used in connection with certain products.
So, essentially, he modeled.
People do this all the time. They model clothes, watches, underwear, shoes, fitness products, perfume, and just about everything else brands can put in front of a camera. Gallant’s particular assignment simply involved a lot more leather and chains.
READ: Who Is Chris Gallant? Meet the Openly Gay Veteran Turning Heads in NY Politics
Apparently, Kink Is Still Scandalous
The strange part is not that Gallant has a history involving BDSM. The strange part is the idea that this somehow tells voters whether he can do his job.
Being into kink does not make someone less capable of serving their community. Neither does having posed for fetish gear years ago. And being openly gay certainly does not mean someone should be expected to present a permanently sanitized version of queer life just because they decided to run for office.
According to The New York Post, Gallant’s attorney has pushed back against attempts to turn the images into political ammunition, saying they have no bearing on his record, qualifications, judgment, or ability to serve. Gallant has also asked Mr. S Leather to remove the photographs, and the company complied.
That distinction matters. Consent to a private shoot and limited product use is not blanket permission for anyone on the internet to redistribute intimate material forever.
We All Have Side Quests
There is something almost hilariously relatable about the whole thing.
Before politics, Gallant had a life. He had relationships, friends, jobs, interests, and, apparently, a brief modeling side quest involving leather gear. None of that erases his military service or his work as a firefighter, nor does it automatically tell us anything about the kind of representative he would be.
If anything, the bigger question is why queer candidates are still expected to prove they are respectable by pretending the messier, sexier parts of queer life don’t exist.
So yes, Chris Gallant modeled BDSM gear.
And?
Maybe voters should judge him on what he actually plans to do in Congress, rather than whether his younger self looked good in leather.
And remember, we’ve all seen those pictures of Melania.