IML weekend 2011 | Live report and photo gallery

International Mr. Leather's Leather Market

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   IML 2011 Leather Market at the Hyatt Regency Chicago

  Photo: Max HermanDSC_4125.jpg147862091
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   IML 2011 Leather Market at the Hyatt Regency Chicago

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   IML 2011 Leather Market at the Hyatt Regency Chicago

  Photo: Max HermanDSC_4128.jpg147862133
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   IML 2011 Leather Market at the Hyatt Regency Chicago

  Photo: Max HermanDSC_4130.jpg147862154
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   IML 2011 Leather Market at the Hyatt Regency Chicago

  Photo: Max HermanDSC_4131.jpg147862175
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   IML 2011 Leather Market at the Hyatt Regency Chicago

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   IML 2011 Leather Market at the Hyatt Regency Chicago

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   IML 2011 Leather Market at the Hyatt Regency Chicago

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   IML 2011 Leather Market at the Hyatt Regency Chicago

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   IML 2011 Leather Market at the Hyatt Regency Chicago

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   IML 2011 Leather Market at the Hyatt Regency Chicago

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   IML 2011 Leather Market at the Hyatt Regency Chicago

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   IML 2011 Leather Market at the Hyatt Regency Chicago

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   IML 2011 Leather Market at the Hyatt Regency Chicago

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   IML 2011 Leather Market at the Hyatt Regency Chicago

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   IML 2011 Leather Market at the Hyatt Regency Chicago

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   IML 2011 Leather Market at the Hyatt Regency Chicago

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   IML 2011 Leather Market at the Hyatt Regency Chicago

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   IML 2011 Leather Market at the Hyatt Regency Chicago

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   IML 2011 Leather Market at the Hyatt Regency Chicago

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 IML 2011 Leather Market at the Hyatt Regency Chicago

Photo: Max Herman

Everyone I've spoken to remembers very little of this past IML weekend, which is always a good sign. I have a knack for spending Memorial Day weekend elsewhere, so this was my first IML in a while and I had a lot of fun. I managed to take a few notes:

Friday, May 27

10:28pm
Arrival at the Hyatt Regency, the host hotel for the weekend. Thousands of people are flooding the hotel lobby, which means it's almost as crowded as Sidetrack on a weekend night. Leather daddies, pups and their handlers and lots of Boystown boys sporting their first harness abound. "IML is about reconnecting, sharing a beer and feeling sexy about yourself," one friend tells me. I hug another friend and wind up all sticky from his latex.

11:01pm
After spending $16 at the lobby bar on two vodka sodas served in Dixie cups, my friends explain that IML is all about renting a room at the host hotel for the weekend and setting up your own bar. We head to their room for beverage refills. One of my friends strips off his latex. His dick has turned purple from wearing his cock ring too tight.

12:07am
There are three free parties happening simultaneously as part of the weekend kickoff, the Uniform party, the Gear party and the San Francisco Folsom party. The Uniform and Gear Parties are all about mixing and mingling, while only the SF party is DJ-driven. Everyone seems to be floating freely among the three.

1:31am
Back in my friends' hotel room, I'm very drunk and flirting relentlessly with an acquaintance of mine, which is very inappropriate. The four guys who have rented the room have started stripping off their clothes and are pairing up. The rest of us get the clue and return to the parties. The sexual energy is high and everyone seems on the prowl. There's lots of canoodling and making out. I'm seeing a lot of dicks. Wondering what kind of diversity training the hotel staff undergoes before the weekend begins is the only intelligent thought I can still manage. By 2:30am I call a cab.

5:55am
My bedroom is spinning.

10:01am
In line at Hot Doug's (my hangover cure). The line is already 50 people deep and I realize how strange it is to see such a large gathering of people not wearing assless chaps and military gear.