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SLING SHOTS by Paul Ciantar Canadian Leather Man 2004 & Mr Leatherman Toronto 2003 |
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 Photo credit: Unknown INTERNATIONAL
(?) MR LEATHER On May 24 to 27, 2007 at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago the 29th annual International Mr. Leather (IML) Contest was held, and once again the International Leather Community is up in arms over the results. What began as a leather title contest designed to bring together leather folk and communities from far and wide has evolved into something quite different. It is now one of the largest events in Chicago’s annual convention calendar, generating millions of dollars in tourism revenues. It has grown into a 4-day weekend of parties, profits, and politics. This event draws tens of thousands of leather men and women from all over the world. It also draws a great deal of criticism and contempt. Ironically, it is the contest itself which generates most of the international ill-will. Every year a panel of 9 judges is assembled. The reigning titleholder always has one vote in choosing his successor. The other eight judges are invited by the IML organizers. In what is supposedly an “international” competition, the judging panel has never had less than 6 American judges (out of 9). Most often, there are 7 American judges. The contest also has few rules over who can enter. There is no set “feeder” system. As long as you are legally male and someone pays your entry fee, you can compete at IML. This, and the fact the contest is always held in the USA, has created a situation where typically 90% (or more) of the 50 to 70 contestants are American. With such overwhelming statistical and national bias in both the judging panels and contestant base, it should not be surprising that in 29 years the title has been awarded to an American citizen 25 times. Not surprisingly, such statistics have also contributed to the declining participation and support of the event from other countries. This year, out of 52 contestants only 3 were Canadian and 3 were European. Not one of the non-American contestants was scored high enough by the judging panel to make the top 20 who then compete in the final competition. Again…not surprising since this year every single judge selected for the panel was American. The only non-American vote on the panel was Bo Ladashevska from Montreal, who won the IML title last year. Bo is the only Canadian who has ever won the IML title in the contest’s 29 year history. The IML organizers claim they could not find any Europeans or Canadians who were willing to judge. Being rather well-connected in the international leather community myself, I find this claim utterly ridiculous. When the “All American” judging panel was announced in January of 2007 there was a cry of “foul” from many leather communities outside of the USA. I personally asked dozens of prominent leather folk in Canada and Europe whether they’d heard of anyone who’d been asked. Not one single person knew of anyone who’d been asked. Of course, I don’t know every single leather person in the world; but still, this looked really bad. The organizers of IML may have actually asked a few Canadians or Europeans to judge; but it doesn’t sound like they tried very hard. They claim everyone they asked to judge declined. While doubtful, it would not be particularly surprising since IML (a for-profit event which generates dump truck loads full of money) refuses to pay for the judges’ travel expenses. All you get is a hotel room for a few nights, and the “honour” of judging. Besides, the IML title has very little credibility outside of the USA. Why? Try to imagine if one country decided to hold the World Champion Gymnastics Contest every year. Every year they’d only allow 1 or 2 foreign judges on the judging panel of 9. Every year 90% of the contestants would be from the host country; and 6 out of every 7 winners were also from the host country. What organization would spend thousands of dollars to send their athletes to such an event? Who, outside of the host country, would regard the winner as the true “World Champion”? Several prominent leather folk (including myself) have publicly presented our concerns about the fairness of the event to both the IML organizers and to the international leather community. Unfortunately, when such feedback is presented to the IML organization and its supporters in the USA, the response is typically “stop whining”. They are not interested in changing anything. Why should they? These people are benefiting quite nicely from the status quo. IML Weekend has become little more than a cash cow and a very piggy circuit party. Relatively few people attend the actual contest. Most go to dance and have sex all weekend. Considering how the leather community spends so much energy espousing their opposition to drug use and unsafe sex, one might find the idea of such an event rather hypocritical. The reality is that while you will likely see some ten to twelve thousand guys dressed in leather at IML, 90% of them are just circuit boys wearing leather “costumes”. Every year, the Mr. Leatherman Toronto Contest organization works very hard to help their community. They provide social and educational events for people interested in various fetish lifestyles. Their titleholders work very hard to raise money for local charities. MLTC is a registered not-for-profit organization which donates thousands of dollars to organizations like the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation, Supporting Our Youth, and the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives. The organization also spends about $2000 every year to send Mr. Leatherman Toronto to compete at IML. Having been through the process myself, and knowing what the IML contest has become, I would like to see the MLTC organization consider how that money might be put to better use. Congratulations Mr. Leatherman Toronto 2007 Steve Martin who represented us with class and dignity at IML this year. You are a fine example of our community, and together with your fellow titleholders Bootblack Toronto 2007 Eli and Mr. Leather Fellowship 2007 David Kraft, you are making an outstanding contribution through all your fundraising efforts. Congratulations also to International Mr. Leather 2006 Bo Ladashevska from Montreal and International Mr. Bootblack 2006 Benjamin from Vancouver. As the first Canadians to ever win either of these titles and because of all your hard work trying to make your titles "international" again, you have earned the respect and gratitude of your community. We are immensely proud of you all. We always enjoy hearing from our readers. Please do not hesitate to send praise, constructive criticism, comments, and column suggestions to leathertigger@hotmail.com © 2007, Douglas Connors, Positive Body Image Productions |
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