Hide pride

Every Memorial Day weekend, Chicago becomes the kink capital of the world, as thousands of men and women of all sexualities—but mostly gay guys who dig wearing cured cowhide—converge for the annual International Mr. Leather festivities. The centerpiece is the contest for the title, sought by more than 50 studs this year. Hurdles include a preliminary interview, Saturday 27’s Pecs and Personality contest (picture the Miss America swimsuit competition with beards, biceps and jockstraps), and the next day’s finals (including entertainment by comedian Bruce Vilanch). It all wraps up Monday 29 with—what else?—the Black and Blue Ball.

Past victors have hailed from almost everywhere…except here. But when the reigning International Mr. Leather, a South African vegetarian, relinquishes his vest Sunday, Mr. Chicago Leather 2006, Robin Czar, 36, hopes to finally break that hometown curse.

Time Out Chicago: When did you first have an inkling that you had a leather fetish?
Robin Czar: Watching the movie Cruising with my mother. [Laughs] I was about 12. My parents are big Al Pacino fans, and my mother kept turning it off—“This is sick!”—then she’d turn it on again. You could tell she was intrigued. I also had three gay uncles. One of them was a police officer into the leather scene, and the other was a drag queen, of course. The third was actually a Broadway dancer.
TOC: Wow, they hit almost all the archetypes. Besides the usual gay suspects, who partakes in this fetish fantasy weekend?
RC: IML is like coming to Mecca for the leather community. There’s definitely a pansexual presence. I’ve recently been meeting a lot of leatherwomen—heterosexual and lesbian.
TOC: What do you most enjoy wearing?
RC: I like my harness; it feels good. My chaps, of course. My leather jock, which my partner doesn’t want me to wear out [in public] too much.
TOC: Most contestants for the International Mr. Leather title have a history of activism or community service. How do you give back to the community?
RC: I used to be very complacent about any gay-rights issues, but recently I’ve focused a lot more on community. My big issue is gay marriage. Back in Detroit, my [first] partner died in 1997. I couldn’t be with him when he died because the hospital wouldn’t let me past the waiting room. I had no rights. Then I had to deal with his family coming over to my home and taking things out, without any acknowledgement of our years together, or the fact that I took care of him. So I’m going to work as long as I can for gay marriage. But if it’s not passed, what I’m asking people to do, what I’ve done for myself and my husband of three years, is: Go to a lawyer, draft wills, powers of attorney. Protect yourselves.
TOC: You work at a top hotel here in Chicago. The staff of the IML host hotel must have the best stories about the weekend.
RC: Yeah, I hear a lot of stories. One guy left a lot of sex toys lying around his room, and the housekeeper lined them all up in order of size. And she didn’t know what to do with the sling they brought to the room, so she put a pillow on the sling, with a mint on the pillow.
TOC: How long until IML inspires fashion knockoffs, like the red carpet does after Oscar night?
RC: Every once in a while, you’ll see a contestant in some creation, and then you suddenly see it in every leather store.

Highlights

Contrary to popular belief, the IML has something for veterans and virgins alike.
Friday 26–Monday 29: Take your id shopping at the Leather Market at the Palmer House Hilton. “Whatever you want, it’s there. If you don’t know what it is, it’s probably there as well,” Czar says. “Every time I go to the vendors’ mart at IML, I see something I’ve never seen before.”
Saturday 27: Chicagoan and International Ms. Boot Black, Suka Malone, cohosts the International Ms. Leather 20th-anniversary party.
Saturday 27: The Brotherhood of the Phoenix—a neopagan order of queer men—presents a ritual celebrating sex and spirit.
Most events take place at the Palmer House Hilton (17 E Monroe St, 312-726-7500). Visit www.imrl.com.