LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
PAST Out |
by Liz Highleyman |
What is the History of International Mr. Leather?
Since its inauguration in May 1979, International Mr. Leatheralong with similar title contestshas played an important role in building and sustaining the GLBT leather/SM community. During the heyday of the gay leather scene in the 1970s, communities made up of both the "Old Guard" from the 1950s and '60s and of younger gay liberationists created countless leather bars, bathhouses, and motorcycle clubs. Several of these local entities held informal contests, among them Chicago's Gold Coastone of the country's oldest leather barsowned by Chuck Renslow and his lover Dom Orejudos (better known as the erotic artist Etienne). John Lunning won the inaugural Mr. Gold Coast contest in October 1972, making him, according to a timeline compiled by Tony DeBlase, "the first leather titleholder." The Gold Coast event became increasingly popular, and by the end of the decade Renslow moved it to a local hotel, changed its name to International Mr. Leather (IML), and invited bars around the world to send contestants. The first IML contest, in May 1979, featured a dozen candidates in full leather and swimwear (changed to jockstraps in later years), parading under crystal chandeliers before an audience of about 300 men. The contestants, wrote Jack Fritscher in the September 1979 Drummer magazine, typified "the new homomasculinity calculated to blow the righteous socks off straights overdosed with stereotypical fags." David Kloss, an oil rig worker representing The Brig bar in San Francisco, won the first title. Before long, local and regional contests sprung up to select representatives to send to Chicago; candidates sponsored by leather businesses and organizations were later included. By the mid-1980s, the typical field had grown to 40-50 contestants, and an elimination round was introduced to select 20 finalists. The audience likewise grew, reaching 1,500 when the contest moved to Memorial Day weekend in 1984. IML expanded to encompass a long weekend of events, including the Black and Blue Ball, a leather vendors market, and dozens of official and unofficial hotel parties. Publicity for the 1980 contest billed it as "a Leather Mardi Gras, Motorcycle Run, New Year's Eve, and Roman Orgy all rolled into one fantastic weekend." Cruising was a priority from the start, often leading to interesting interactions with hotel guests attending proms and weddings. Today, out of the thousands of leatherfolk who descend on Chicago each May, only a minority actually attend the Sunday night title finals. While 1980 IML Patrick Brooks hailed from Australia, some two thirds of the winners during the first 10 years were Californians. The second and third decades saw a broader regional distribution, as well as greater diversity with respect to race/ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Though primarily a gay contest, some bisexual men and a few heterosexual candidates have participated. The first openly transgender contestant, Billy Lane, reached the finals in 1998. But the title has yet to be held by a Chicagoan. IML was the forerunner to a plethora of leather title contests. International Mr. Drummerwhich had a more explicitly sexual slantwas conceived around the same time, but the original titleholder (Val Martin) was selected by Drummer publisher John Embry. The first actual contest was held in 1981, and a Drummer Boy contest was added in 1989. Coinciding with San Francisco's Folsom Street Fair for most of their run, the Drummer contests continued under different owners until 2001, after which they were replaced by International LeatherSIR and International Leather Boy. The first International Ms. Leather (IMsL) contest, won by Judy Tallwing McCarthey, took place in San Francisco in March 1987. Initially, most candidates tended to be butch lesbians whose style mirrored that of gay leathermen, but in later years contestants included more femmes and women of all sexual orientations. After moving around for several years, IMsL returned to San Francisco in 2007. IML added a bootblack competition in 1993 that was originally open to all genders. Since women were at a disadvantage in attendee balloting, however, the IML bootblack contest became men only, and a women's version was added to IMsL. Many other new title contests arose in the 1990s, including the American Brotherhood Weekend Leather Family (man, woman, boy, and girl), International Mr. and Ms. Deaf Leather, International Mr. Rubber, and International Master and Slave. According to DeBlase, IML was essentially conceived as a beauty pageant. But by the mid-1980s, the AIDS epidemic and a repressive national political climate had ushered in an era of activist titleholders, beginning with 1985 IML Patrick Toner and 1986 IML Scott Tucker. Contest winners were increasingly expected to serve as community leaders participating in fundraising, education, and advocacy. While historian Gayle Rubin has argued that the title system was an effective way to quickly recruit new people at a time when leaders were dying too fast to be replaced through traditional means, it tended to select winners based on appearance and stage presence rather than organizational skills. Many of the most effective leaders, she wrote, would "never parade across a stage in a jockstrap." As the leather community has evolved over the past decade, IMLalong with its successorshas largely reverted back to its original purpose as a social event and, in Renslow's words, a "leather family reunion." Liz Highleyman is a freelance writer and editor who has written widely on health, sexuality, and politics. She can be reached at PastOut@qsyndicate.com. For further reading: Baldwin, Guy. 1993. The Leather Contest Guide: A Handbook for Promoters, Contestants, Judges and Titleholders (Daedalus). Beam, Joseph. 2004. International Mr. Leather: 25 Years of Champions (Leather Archives & Museum). |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 18, No. 06 May 30, 2008 |