International deaf leather community comes to Philly
By Jen Colletta
PGN Staff Writer
© 2008 Philadelphia Gay News

The City of Brotherly Love welcomed about 100 members of the international deaf leather community last weekend for three days of workshops, fundraisers and competition.

International Deaf Leather 2008 took place at various locations throughout the city, and participants made the trip to Philadelphia from around the world.

This marks the first time that Philadelphia hosted IDL, which is now in its 18th year.

IDL 2008 was also the first to offer workshops for participants, as opposed to some conventions in which attendees sit through hours of dreary educational sessions; the IDL workshops were meant to be informative, but also entertaining and interesting. All workshops took place at the William Way LGBT Community Center.

Veronica Bound, of Passional Boutique, conducted “A Basic Bondage Class,” in which she taught attendees the ins and outs of certain bondage positions and showed them how to become “rope experts.”

boy alex hosted a session in which he demonstrated basic leather care and bootblacking, and Eric Siglin led two discussions on the personal journey those in the leather community take as they learn to embrace their interests and on the dynamics of Daddy/boy relationships.

In addition to providing forums for the IDL community to reach out to one another, the weekend was intended for participants to reach out to the Philadelphia LGBT community.

IDL attendees gathered at The Bike Stop July 18 for a night of fun and fundraising; the IDL party garnered between $700-$800, which will be donated to Calcutta House and Philly AIDS Thrift.

“We were very pleased with the amount that we raised,” said IDL spokesperson Alex Lewis. “It was a good bit of money that will be able to go to some great organizations.”

The party moved back to the William Way Center Saturday night for the annual IDL competition, in which members battled for the titles of International Mr. Deaf Leather and International Deaf leatherboy 2008.

International Mr. Deaf Leather 1997 Patrick Richardson kept up the energy as the night’s emcee, and current International Mr. Leather Gary Iriza served on the panel of judges, marking the first time the current IML titleholder judged the IDL competition.

Joining Iriza on the panel was International Mr. Deaf Leather 2007 Jerry Garmany, Ms. Baltimore Deaf Leather Karen Taylor, International Mr. Deaf Leather 1994 Jose Granda and Mr. Rainbow Alliance for the Deaf 2003 Mike Canfield.

The competition began with Richardson introducing the contestants, who then each had the chance to give a speech on why he felt he was deserving of the top IDL titles. All of the contestants were then asked to describe their fantasy and act out the performance if they so desired, which Lewis said provided a humorous treat for the audience members.

Next, the competitors modeled their “fetishwear,” which Lewis said is “the leather version of swimwear.”

At the end of the night, the judges chose Marc “Sir Y” Burton as International Mr. Deaf Leather 2008 and Alan “boy taz” Arble as International Deaf leatherboy 2008.

For more information on IDL, visit www.internationaldeafleather.org.

Jen Colletta can be reached at jen@epgn.com.