Founded by Chuck Renslow and Tony DeBlase in 1991, its mission is making “leather, kink, BDSM, and fetish accessible through research, preservation, education and community engagement.

"[1][2][3] Renslow and DeBlase founded the museum in response to the AIDS crisis, during which the leather and fetish communities' history and belongings were frequently lost or intentionally suppressed and discarded.

[11] After consulting his friend Tony DeBlase, Renslow set about creating a new museum to forever preserve not just Orejudos' art and legacy, but also that of other leather artists and trailblazers.

"[11] (According to former LA&M president Jon Krongaard,[13] families of AIDS victims intentionally erased their leather and fetish legacies because they found it "sick or perverse.

[11][14] They could afford only $3,000 of the $60,000 down payment required to buy the Greenview Ave property, so they appealed to International Mr. Leather attendees, who raised $58,000 in donations in a single night.

[17] In May 2006, the LA&M's executive director Rick Storer participated in a panel discussion entitled "Censorship & Sexually Explicit Materials" at the 2006 LGBTQ Archives, Libraries, Museums and Special Collections (ALMS) Conference.

[5] The museum also holds art by Chuck Arnett,[4] Giacomo "Jack" Bozzi (Adam),[24][25][26] David Grieger,[27] Beau Lee James,[28] Charles Kerbs (MATT),[29] Michael Kirwan,[30] John Klamik (Sean),[31] Touko Valio Laaksonen (Tom of Finland),[4] Donald Merrick (Domino),[32] Mike Miksche (Steve Masters),[33][34] Olaf Odegaard,[35] Jacki Randall,[4] Rex,[36] Al Shapiro (A. Jay),[37] Joe T,[38] Dennis Walsh,[39] and Bill Ward.

[40] One of the museum's largest paintings is The Last Supper In a Gay Leather Bar With Judas Giving Christ the Finger by Steven Brown, inspired by the artist's struggle to reconcile faith and sexuality.

[6][49] In 2009, the LA&M acquired the 25-box collection of papers of Robert Davolt, author and organizer of the San Francisco Pride leather contingent, and former editor of Bound & Gagged.

[6] Hundreds of oral history recordings, videos and transcripts by leather and fetish trailblazers such as Joe Laiacona (better known by his alias Jack Rinella)[57] and Larry Townsend are also available to researchers.

[67] LA&M also displays ephemera from historic gay establishments, such as a glory hole from Man's Country in Chicago,[68] and a dress code sign from the Mineshaft in New York City.

[70] Body modification artifacts in the collection include Cliff Raven's tattooing memorabilia; stories, artwork, and stencils by Samuel Steward;[71][72] publications by Fakir Musafar;[73] and photographs belonging to Sailor Sid Diller.