International Mr. Leather

For other uses, see IML (disambiguation).

International Mr. Leather
Logo by Dom Orejudos (Etienne)
IML 2007 at the Chicago Theatre
Nickname	IML
Status	Active
Genre	leather kink fetish BDSM
Frequency	Annually, Memorial Day weekend
Location(s)	Chicago, Illinois
Country	United States
Inaugurated	1979 (1979)
Organised by	International Mr. Leather Inc.
Website	www.imrl.com

International Mr. Leather (IML) is a multi-day conference and competition celebrating the leather, kink, fetish, and BDSM communities. Established in 1979, IML is held annually in Chicago over the Memorial Day weekend, drawing participants from around the world.

Events include speakers, socials, themed dance parties and a leather market. IML contestants qualify for the competition either by winning a lower-level feeder competition of a bar, local or regional leather contest, or by being sponsored by a leather-related bar, business, club, or organization.

IML organizers also produce the International Mr. Bootblack competition.

History

The forerunner of the competition was the 1970s "Mr. Gold Coast" contest held at Chicago's Gold Coast leather bar, owned by Chuck Renslow and his then-partner, Dom Orejudos. The "Mr. Gold Coast" contest became one of the bar's most popular promotions causing the need to locate the competition to a larger venue in 1979, upon which the title was changed to International Mr. Leather.

In 1984 Ron Moore became the first black man to win International Mr. Leather. [1] In 1997, his sister Genelle Moore won International Ms. Leather, which made them the first siblings to hold international leather titles. ^{[2] [3]}

In 1986, former IML contestant Steve Maidhof formed the National Leather Association (NLA). ^[4]

The leather pride flag was designed by Tony DeBlase, and he first presented the design at the IML competition on May 28, 1989. ^[5]

The International Bootblack Competition was added to the IML program in 1993. In 1998, the coed competition was spun off into two separate competitions: International Mr. Bootblack (IMrBB) and International Ms. Leather.

Since 2009, IML proceeds have been placed in a trust to benefit the Leather Archives and Museum (LA&M). ^[6] LA&M, which Renslow and Deblase co-founded, is the custodian of IML records. [7]

IML established in July 2009 the policy that IML Leather Market participation would exclude "any entity which promotes barebacking or distributes/sells any merchandise tending to promote or advocate barebacking." However, IML did not consistently enforce the policy and in 2019 announced that it would repeal it. [8]

In 2010, Tyler McCormick became the first openly transgender man, the first wheelchair user, and the first person from New Mexico to win International Mr. Leather. ^[9]

The Congress Plaza Hotel has hosted IML guests and festivities every year since 2015 (but the contest itself has often been hosted at offsite venues such the Auditorium Theater). ^{[10] [11]}

In 2019, Jack Thompson became the first openly transgender person of color to win International Mr. Leather. His win also marked the first time black men won consecutive International Mr. Leather titles. ^{[12] [13]}

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant shutdowns and cancellations of large gatherings throughout the world, in-person IML events in 2020 and 2021 were cancelled. IML resumed in May 2022. ^[14]

IML contest criteria

Preliminary round

Contest finalists are selected following:

1. A preliminary interview with each of the nine judges, up to 8 minutes in length, are held in private (60% of the preliminary score).
2. Stage presence and personality at a Saturday "Pecs and Personality" event (40% of the preliminary score).

The judge's highest and lowest scores for each contestant on each criterion are dropped, and the contestant's remaining seven scores are tallied to determine the 20 contestants with the highest combined scores to proceed as finalists at the Sunday IML contest event. The only time that the dropped scores are included in the tally is when there is a tie for the 20th place; the contestants in question have their dropped scores included in the tally but if the stalemate continues then each of the nine judges must vote for only one of the two contestants. Preliminary judging scores are not carried forward. There are also two tally masters.

Final round

Each of the 20 finalists is judged at the Sunday IML contest on a scale from 0 to 100 in the following order:

1. Leather image (up to 40 points).
2. Presentation skills that include a contestant speech (up to 40 points).
3. Physical appearance (up to 20 points).

The highest and lowest scores for each finalist are dropped, the remaining seven scores are added together, and the top three scores designate the second runner-up, first runner-up, and winner, International Mr. Leather. A tie for the title is resolved by adding to the tally the dropped scores of the two contestants; if the stalemate continues then each of the nine judges must vote for only one of the contestants in question.

IML contest winners

The following is a table of IML contest winners:

IML Year	IML winner	Winner's preliminary title or sponsor	Winner's city	Field of contestants	Contest's Location and Host Hotel
1979	David Kloss	Mr. Leather Brig	San Francisco, California	12 men from 6 U.S. states	Grand Ballroom of the Radisson Hotel
1980	Patrick Brooks	Mr. Leather Australia	Sydney, Australia	18 men from 7 U.S. states and Australia	Grand Ballroom of the Radisson Hotel
1981	Marty Kiker	Sponsored by The Brig & The Phoenix	San Francisco, California	36 men from 3 countries incl. 11 U.S. states	Park West
1982	Luke Daniel	Mr. Drummer	San Francisco, California	46 men from 14 U.S. states and Canada	Park West
1983	Coulter Thomas	Mr. Texas Leather	Houston, Texas	44 men from 15 U.S. states and Canada	Park West & Allerton Hotel
1984	Ron Moore	Mr. Leather Colorado	Denver, Colorado	30 men from 14 U.S. states and Australia	Park West & Allerton Hotel
1985	Patrick Toner	Mr. Chaps San Francisco	San Francisco, California	27 men from 3 countries incl. 14 U.S. states	Park West & Allerton Hotel
1986	Scott Tucker	Mr. Philadelphia Leather	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	28 men from 14 U.S. states	Park West & Lake Shore Hotel
1987	Thomas Karasch	Mr. Leather Europe	Hamburg, Germany	31 men from 3 countries incl. 14 U.S. states	Park West & Days Inn
1988	Michael Pereyra	Mr. Leather San Diego	San Diego, California	42 men from 3 countries incl. 20 U.S. states	Clubland at The Vic Theatre & Executive House Hotel
1989	Guy Baldwin	Mr. National Leather Association	Los Angeles, California	48 men from 22 U.S. states and Canada	Clubland at The Vic Theatre & Executive House Hotel
1990	Mark Ryan	Mr. Boston Leather	Boston, Massachusetts	42 men from 3 countries incl. 22 U.S. states	Clubland at The Vic Theatre
1991	D Cannon	Mr. CC (of Palm Springs)	Los Angeles , California	50 men from 3 countries incl. 24 U.S. states	Clubland at The Vic Theatre & Executive House Hotel
1992	Lenny Broberg	Mr. San Francisco Leather	San Francisco, California	56 men from 22 U.S. states and Canada	Aragon Ballroom & Executive House Hotel
1993	Henri ten Have	Sponsored by Motor Sportclub Amsterdam (MSA)	Amsterdam, Netherlands	51 men from 5 countries incl. 23 U.S. states	Aragon Ballroom & Congress Plaza Hotel
1994	Jeff Tucker	Mr. San Jose Leather	San Jose, California	49 men from 5 countries incl. 21 U.S. states	Congress Theater & Congress Plaza Hotel
1995	Larry Everett	Mr. Oklahoma Leather	Collinsville, Oklahoma	50 men from 6 countries incl. 26 U.S. states	Congress Theater & Hyatt Regency Chicago
1996	Joe Gallagher	Mr. Leather New York	New York, New York	49 men from 6 countries incl. 25 U.S. states	Congress Theater & Congress Plaza Hotel
1997	Kevin Cwayna	Mr. Minnesota Leather	Minneapolis, Minnesota	53 men from 5 countries incl. 24 U.S. states	Congress Theater & Congress Plaza Hotel
1998	Tony Mills	Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather	Washington, D.C.	62 men from 7 countries incl. 24 U.S. states	Congress Theater & Congress Plaza Hotel
1999	Bruce Chopnik	Mr. Rocky Mountain Leather	Denver, Colorado	52 men from 5 countries incl. 23 U.S. states	Congress Theater & Congress Plaza Hotel
2000	Mike Taylor	Mr. Heartland Leather	Columbus & Cincinnati, Ohio	60 men from 7 countries incl. 25 U.S. states	Congress Theater & Congress Plaza Hotel
2001	Stefan Müller	Bavarian Mr. Leather	Munich, Germany	63 men from 7 countries incl. 27 U.S. states	Congress Theater & The Palmer House Hilton
2002	Stephen Weber	Mr. Texas Leather	Dallas, Texas	66 men from 7 countries incl. 28 U.S. states	Congress Theater & Hyatt Regency Chicago
2003	John Pendal	Mr. Hoist	London, United Kingdom	58 men from 5 countries incl. 25 U.S. states	Congress Theater & The Palmer House Hilton
2004	Jason Hendrix	Mr. D.C. Eagle 2004	Washington, D.C.	58 men from 5 countries incl. 23 U.S. states	Congress Theater & Hyatt Regency Chicago
2005	Michael Egdes	Mr. Ramrod	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	52 men from 6 countries incl. 25 U.S. states	Navy Pier Skyline Stage & Hyatt Regency Chicago
2006	Bo Ladashevska	Mr. Leather Montreal 2006	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	51 men from 5 countries incl. 18 U.S. states	Chicago Theatre & The Palmer House Hilton Hotel
2007	Mikel Gerle	Mr. Los Angeles Leather 2007	Los Angeles, California	53 men from 5 countries incl. 23 U.S. states	Chicago Theatre & The Palmer House Hilton
2008	Gary Iriza	Mr. Palm Springs Leather 2008	Palm Springs, California	51 men from 6 countries incl. 21 U.S. states	Hyatt Regency Chicago
2009	Jeffrey Payne	Mr. Texas Leather 2009	Dallas, Texas	54 men	Hilton Chicago
2010	Tyler McCormick	Mr. Rio Grande Leather 2010	Albuquerque, New Mexico	52 men	Congress Theater & Hyatt Regency Chicago
2011	Eric Guttierez	Mr. Leather Europe 2011	Paris, France	53 men	Harris Theater & Hyatt Regency Chicago
2012	Woody Woodruff	Mr. Michigan Leather 2012	Waterford, Michigan	49 men	Harris Theater & Hyatt Regency Chicago
2013	Andy Cross	Mr. San Francisco Leather 2013	San Francisco, California	51 men	Harris Theater & Marriott Michigan Ave. Chicago
2014	Ramien Pierre	Mr. D.C. Eagle 2014	Washington, D.C.	46 men from 5 countries	Harris Theater & Marriott Michigan Ave. Chicago
2015	Patrick Smith	Mr. Los Angeles Leather 2015	Los Angeles, California	52 men from 8 countries incl. 23 U.S. states	Park West and Harris Theater & Congress Plaza Hotel
2016	David "Tigger" Bailey	Mr. New Jersey Leather 2016	Howell, New Jersey	59 men from 7 countries incl. 25 U.S. states	Park West and Harris Theater & Congress Plaza Hotel
2017	Ralph Bruneau	Mr. GNI (Gay Naturists International) Leather 2016	Los Angeles, California	63 men from 13 countries incl. 23 U.S. states	Auditorium Theatre & Congress Plaza Hotel
2018	James Lee	Mr. Kentucky Leather 2017	Lexington, Kentucky	71 men from 15 countries incl. 27 U.S. states	Auditorium Theatre & Congress Plaza Hotel
2019	Jack Thompson	Leatherman of Color 2019	Baltimore, Maryland	68 men from 15 countries incl. 26 U.S. states and Puerto Rico	Auditorium Theatre & Congress Plaza Hotel
2020	Contest cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021
2022	Gael Leung Chong Wo	Mr. Leather Belgium 2020/2021	Ghent, Belgium	60 men from 11 countries incl. 23 U.S. states	Arie Crown Theater & Congress Plaza Hotel
2023	Marcus Barela	Eagle LA Mr. Leather 2023	Los Angeles, California	54 men from 10 countries incl. 21 U.S. states	Auditorium Theatre & Congress Plaza Hotel

International Mr. Bootblack

IMrBB logo

The International Mr. Bootblack (IMrBB) Competition runs throughout the IML weekend. Contestants are given a location in the IML Leather Market at which they perform bootblacking services. Weekend ticket package holders (as well as judges, contestants, and vendors) are each provided with a bootblack ballot which is redeemable for one shine by the bootblack of the voter's choice. Bootblacks are free to shine the boots of any person, regardless of whether that person has a ballot, although it is made clear that the ballots are the means by which the winner will be determined. Tipping is not required, but is quite common.

The bootblack contestants work during the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of IML during the time that the Leather Market is open, a total of approximately 20 hours over three days. In previous years, the bootblacks were allowed to shine boots and collect tickets at all times during the weekend. Since 2001, the bootblack contestants have established a gentlemen's agreement at the start of the weekend that they will not shine boots or accept ballots except during the established competition hours. This agreement was conceived to give the contestants the freedom to take time to enjoy the weekend without feeling the pressure to always be bootblacking.

At its inception in 1993, the competition was called the International Bootblack Competition, and both men and women were allowed to compete. In 1998, it was announced that the competition would be changed to the International Mr. Bootblack Competition and that a separate competition solely for women would be held at International Ms. Leather. This change was made largely because it was commonly held that women had a significant disadvantage competing for ballots from the mostly gay male IML attendees, who often base their bootblack selection at least partly on their sexual attraction to the bootblack. Since 1999, competitors for IMrBB are restricted to persons over the age of 21 who can provide a valid government-issued form of identification that identifies them as male.

The winner of the International Mr. Bootblack Competition is announced (along with the first and second runners-up and the winner of the Brotherhood Award, on which the IMrBB competitors vote and which is roughly analogous to the Miss Congeniality Award from various traditional beauty contests) at the Sunday contest, immediately following the announcement of the top 20 IML finalists.

In recent years, largely because of coordination of the contest by David Hawks, International Mr. Bootblack 2000, the Bootblack Competition has begun to develop adjunct activities. An IMrBB party is held in a hotel function room on Saturday night, offering food, music, and a silent auction, the proceeds of which go to the travel fund of the winner. Likewise, during the competition hours in the Leather Market, volunteers man a table to answer questions and sell IMrBB Travel Fund pins, which also adds to the travel fund. These sources of revenue have provided the various titleholders with significantly more money to aid their travel to distant events during their title years. The money is controlled by the contest coordinator, and any access to the funds must be accompanied by proof of the travel outlay.

Starting in 2013, the IMrBB contest has implemented a judging system to select the winner. Contestants are evaluated by a panel of judges on the basis of their technical bootblacking skills, how they present themselves on stage and in public and what they say in an interview with the judges. Ballot voting still makes up a percentage of the contestant's total score.

IMrBB contest winners

The following is a table of IMrBB contest winners:

Date	IMrBB winner	Winner's preliminary title or sponsor	Winner's city	Number of contestants
1993	David Morgan	DC Eagle	Washington, D.C.	?
1994	William Shields, Jr.	Chicago Eagle & Chicago Hellfire Club	Chicago, Illinois	?
1995	Tim Cousins	DC Eagle	Washington, D.C.	?
1996	Todd Nelson	The Cuff	Seattle, Washington	?
1997	Driller	SF Eagle & Daddy's Bar	San Francisco, California	?
1998	Matthew Duncan	Centaur MC	Washington, D.C.	?
1999	Robert Ehrlich	DC Eagle	Washington, D.C.	?
2000	David Hawks	Mid-Atlantic Bootblack 2000 (Centaur MC)	Washington, D.C.	?
2001	Paksen Burrell	Mid-Atlantic Bootblack 2001 (Centaur MC)	Washington, D.C.	?
2002	Michael Lanzini	The Lure	New York City, New York	?
2003	Richie Chameroy	Daddy's Bar & Powerhouse Bar	San Francisco, California	?
2004	Alan Tunstall	The Barracks Bar & Avatar Club	Los Angeles, California	8 men
2005	BooBoo	Great Lakes Leather Alliance & Laws Leather	Cleveland, Ohio	9 men
2006	Benjamin Palmer	PumpJack Pub & Priape Vancouver	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada	5 men
2007	Spot	Great Lakes Leather Alliance	Lansing, Michigan	5 men
2008	Bootdog	Alameda County Leather Corps	Oakland, California	5 men
2009	McG	Bootblack Toronto 2009	Toronto, Ontario, Canada	6 men
2010	Tim Starkey	Boston Ramrod	Boston, Massachusetts	5 men
2011	Jim Deuder	NYC Bootblack Roundtable, The Leather Man NYC & the Eagle NYC	New York City, New York	6 men
2012	Nick Elliott	Oregon State Bootblack, 2011	Portland, Oregon	2 men
2013	Sammy Sklover	Oregon State Bootblack, 2012	Portland, Oregon	3 men
2014	Scout	Eros SF & the San Francisco Eagle	Oakland, California	7 men
2015	Bamm-Bamm	International Leatherboy 2012, SF Eagle	San Francisco, California	6 men
2016	Erick Joseph	Alaska State Bootblack	Anchorage, Alaska	?
2017	Ryan "Pawlish" Garner-Carpenter	Independent Candidate	Cincinnati, Ohio	3 men
2018	Lucky Rebel	Mr. Oregon State Leather 2016	Portland, Oregon	?
2019	Kriszly de Hond	Mr. Puppy Europe 2015, XXXLeather's House Bootblack	Zaandam, Netherlands	4 men
2020	Contest cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021
2022	Alistair LeatherHiraeth	Bootblack Europe 2020	Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom	3 men
2023	Contest cancelled due to staff resignation [15]

Recognition

• In 1995, “Chuck Renslow – IML” was one of the recipients of the International Deaf Leather Recognition Award. ^[16]
• In 1999 IML received the Business of the Year award as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards. ^[17]
• In 2007 and 2012 IML received the Large Event of the Year award as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards. ^[17]
• In 2010 IML was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame. ^[18]
• In 2018, IML was inducted into the Leather Hall of Fame during Cleveland Leather Annual Weekend 2018. ^{[19] [20]}

See also

• LGBT portal

• LGBT culture
• Mister Leather Europe
• National Leather Association International

Footnotes

1. ^ Bean, Joseph W. (2004). International Mr. Leather: 25 Years of Champions. International Mr. Leather, Inc. and The Leather Archives and Museum (1st ed.). Las Vegas: Nazca Plains. ISBN   1-887895-38-8.
2. ^ Davolt, Robert (2003). Painfully Obvious: An Irreverent & Unauthorized Manual for Leather/SM. cover design by Steve Diet Goedde. Los Angeles: Daedalus Publishing. p. 212. ISBN   1-881943-19-4.
3. ^ International Mr. Leather, Inc. "Contestant Application" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-03-24. Retrieved 2005-12-21.
4. ^ "Leather Archives & Museum Announcement". Twitter. 2009-05-25. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
5. ^ "IML Makes History". Will Clark World. 2009-07-15. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
6. ^ International Mr. Leather, Inc. "Official IML Scoring Procedure". Archived from the original on 2005-12-22. Retrieved 2005-12-21.
7. ^ International Mr. Leather, Inc. "IML 2004". Archived from the original on 2006-03-24. Retrieved 2005-12-18.
8. ^ International Mr. Leather, Inc. (2005-05-30). Michael Egdes Named International Mr. Leather 2005 Memorial Day Weekend in Chicago. (Microsoft Word). Press release. Archived from the original on 2005-12-23. Retrieved 2005-12-19.
9. ^ "International Mr. Leather – Bootblack Contest". Archived from the original on 2006-03-24. Retrieved 2006-04-14.
10. ^ "International Mr. Leather – Past Bootblack Winners". Archived from the original on 2006-03-24. Retrieved 2006-04-14.
11. ^ International Mr. Leather, Inc. (2007-05-27). Mikel Gerle Named International Mr. Leather 2007. (Microsoft Word). Press release. Archived from the original on 2007-07-21. Retrieved 2007-05-30.
12. ^ "International Mr. Bootblack 2013 Press Release" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-07-19. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
13. ^ Source for 1979 to 2003: Bean, Joseph W. (2004). International Mr. Leather: 25 Years of Champions. International Mr. Leather, Inc. and The Leather Archives and Museum (1st ed.). Las Vegas: Nazca Plains. ISBN   1-887895-38-8.
14. ^ Source for 2004 to 2008: "International Mr. Leather - History". Archived from the original on 2009-02-20. Retrieved 2009-03-15.

References

1. "Displaying items by tag: International Leather". The Leather Journal. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
2. "Cuir Underground". www.black-rose.com.
3. "Leather Archives & Museum". Twitter. 23 May 2020. Retrieved 28 Aug 2022.
4. "Finding Aid to the National Leather Association Collection of Records". Leather Archives and Museum. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
5. "Leather History Timeline". Leather Archives & Museum. Archived from the original on 2010-08-03. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
6. "Leather Archives & Museum Announcement". Twitter. 2009-05-25. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
7. "KANE, "DRUMMER," AND DEBLASE — Rick Storer, Leather Archives & Museum — San Francisco Leathermen's Discussion Group". Sfldg.org. 2014-10-22. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
8. Villarreal, Daniel (2019-04-15). "Exclusive: Chicago's International Mr. Leather Event Will Soon Repeal Its 'Bareback Ban' on Vendors". Hornet . Retrieved 2024-03-29.
9. "Tyler McCormick, International Mr. Leather 2010 - Leatherati Online". Leatherati.com. 2011-01-04. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
10. Ambrosius, Andy (2015-05-19). "IML 2015 going back to its Chicago roots May 21-25". GoPride Chicago. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
11. "Barela wins International Mr. Leather title". Windy City Times . 2023-05-30. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
12. "Jack Thompson Is the First Trans POC to Win International Mr. Leather". www.out.com. May 26, 2019.
13. Rhodes, Dave. "Jack Thompson is the first Trans POC to win IML title - The Leather Journal". www.theleatherjournal.com.
14. "Event Schedule". International Mr. Leather. Retrieved 2022-07-11.
15. "Bootblack Contest". International Mr. Leather, Inc. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
16. "International Deaf Leather | AWARDS". July 4, 2021.
17. "Pantheon of Leather Awards All Time Recipients - The Leather Journal". www.theleatherjournal.com. Archived from the original on 2015-03-25. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
18. "Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on 2015-10-17. Retrieved 2015-06-28.
19. "CLAW". Clawinfo.org. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
20. "> Home". Leatherhalloffame.com. Retrieved 2019-12-18.

External links

• Official website
• IML Winners
  • International Mr. Leather 1996: Joe Gallagher
  • International Mr. Leather 2003: John Pendal
  • International Mr. Leather 2004: Jason Hendrix
  • International Mr. Leather 2005: Michael Egdes
  • International Mr. Leather 2007: Mikel Gerle
  • International Mr. Leather 2008: Gary Iriza
  • International Mr. Leather 2009: Jeffrey Payne