For over 25 years Derek has been a leader of the UK BDSM community, volunteering with many social and political groups during times when the community has been under attack from the state. In 1981 he set up the social and educational organization SM Gays, which he led for over 15 years. SM Gays pioneered the provision of education on BDSM for the gay community.
In 1991 Derek helped establish the Countdown on Spanner political campaign that lobbied against the criminalization of SM activities. Now the Chair of Spanner Trust, Derek is currently working against proposed UK legislation that would criminalize possession of many BDSM images. He's also taking the UK government to court to again try to make consent a valid defense to charges of assault in SM cases.
Derek's energy and commitment have lit up a range of associated activities. He provided invaluable support to the success of Sadie Maisie, London's ground-breaking SM dance club; Gummi, still London's premier rubber venue; and Bulk, London's largest club for bears and big men. Tyger Tyger, a much-missed club for tattooed and pierced men, was also his baby.
The UK chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence canonized Derek in the early 1990s. He took the name "St Derek of Human Bondage". In 2007 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the UK's Erotic Awards.
Hailing from Washington, DC, Frank is a former Mid-Atlantic Leather, holding that distinction in 1993, and competed in the 15th IML competition with a Top 5 placement. As the premier emcee of the Leather community, Frank has emceed nearly every national and international competition, including International Mr. Leather, International Ms. Leather, International Drummer and Drummerboy, Mr. Europe Leather, Mr. Europe Drummer, Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather weekend, American Brotherhood weekend, Mr. and Ms. Olympus Leather as well as the International Leather Sir and Leather boy competitions.
Frank is a fraternal member of the Centaur Motorcycle Club of Washington D.C., the Utica Tri's MC of Utica, New York, The Lords of Leather of New Orleans, Pittsburgh Leather Central of Pennsylvania, the Potomac MC of Washington D.C. and MotorSportClub Amsterdam. Frank is a member of the boards of American Brotherhood Weekend and the Pantheon of Leather Community Service Awards. He is a past board member of Ms. World Leather and DCI productions that produced the Drummer / Drummerboy & International Leather Sir / boy from 1997 through 2007.
Frank is a member of Mama's Family from San Francisco where he was provided the given name of "Mama's Leather Diva". He is also the recipient of the National Leather Emerald Award given by the Washington State Mr. Leather Organization, the Pantheon of Leather Reader's Choice Man of the Year and many other numerous honors.
black, a.k.a. Ian Turner, is a Canadian Top and bootblack who lives in Toronto. In addition to bootblacking, he is fond of floggers, signal whips, clothespins, abrasion, and other twisted activities.
Ian has engaged in SM since the mid-1970s and became involved in the organized leather community in 1992. He is a member of Delta International and was on Delta's Board of Directors for three years, including two years as Chairman. He is an associate member of Chicago Hellfire Club and The 15 Association. He has presented workshops on a variety of topics, including whipping and bootblacking (though not at the same time!). Currently, he is the Coordinator of the Bootblack Toronto Contest, which takes place annually under the auspices of the Mr. Leatherman Toronto Competition.
At the 1998 Mr. Leatherman Toronto Competition, Ian received the Courtlan Forsey Memorial Award for contributions of lasting significance to the leather/SM community. In 2001, he won the Canadian Award at Pantheon of Leather and won the title Bootblack Toronto 2002 at the Mr. Leatherman Toronto Competition. In June 2007 at the Eastern Canada LeatherSIR/Leatherboy contest, he was awarded the first ECLSb Community Builder Award.
For Caro this all started in the 1970s in New York City, where she first became enthralled by the sight of thousands of Leathermen lining West Streets. In those "early days" in NYC, Caro was part of TES and could frequently be found at Hellfire, the Flamingo, the Anvil and anywhere else Tom of Finland was part of the decor. A few years later she was involved with fund-raising efforts for various AIDS organizations such as GMHC, AmFar and Project Open Hand.
In the late 1980s she moved to SF where she began teaching and speaking. Since then she has taught classes at events such as LLC, IMsL, CLAW, Beyond Vanilla, Tribal Fire, TES, Threshold, and Heart of America, and been the keynote speaker at Raven's Ball and Florida Fetish Weekend.
In 2007 Caro was head judge for the Olympus contest and Mr. Florida Leather Bear. Other recent judging duties include Mr/Ms Ottawa Olympus, Florida Olympus and Mr. Leather Ottawa- Outaouais XV.
Caro's community involvement includes being a member of Mama's Family, (Mama's Tyrannosaurs Regina) and serving on the Executive Board of the National Leather Association International. She was one of the founders of the Philadelphia NLA-I chapter and in 2007 received the Pantheon of Leather President's Choice Award.
Mikel Gerle is the current International Mister Leather 2007. In addition to the IML title he is proud to also hold the titles for Mr. Los Angeles Leather 2007, and Oil Can Harry's Mr. Leather 2007. Mikel is 42 years old, was born in Nebraska and raised in Wyoming and Idaho. He now calls West Hollywood home and works as a Management Specialist and City Academy Coordinator for the City of West Hollywood.
His community involvement includes annual fundraisers for a variety of organizations including Aid for AIDS, the Van Ness Recovery House, the West Hollywood Recovery Center and Hot 'n Dry, the country's largest gathering of sober gay men. Mikel is dedicated to raising awareness about the dangers of crystal meth use and bridging the generation gap in the Leather/BDSM/fetish communities.
Affiliations include the Los Angeles Leather Coalition, Southern California Gay Sports Bikers, LA Frontrunners and The AIDS LifeCyle Ride. As International Mister Leather Mikel has been busy traveling to Canada, Europe, and all over the USA. Mikel's interests include riding his BMW R1150R motorcycle, riding gear, boot blacking, black boots, anything SciFi, two-stepping, German dark rooms, floggers, restraints, and electricity.
Nigel hails from England where he worked as an engineer and also served as an officer in the Royal Air Force Reserve. After moving to the U.S. in 1988 to pursue a career in the machine tool industry, he enjoyed the States so much he proudly became an American citizen in October 2000. Nigel has traveled extensively throughout the country and currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio where he is the owner of Below Zero Lounge, an ultra-plush martini lounge that serves an eclectic mix of clientele.
In the mid-nineties, Nigel became involved in the leather community assisting in a number of contests from Drummer to IMSL. He became Mr. Miami Valley Leather in 1997 and Mr. Queen City Leather in 2003. Currently, Nigel is the producer of Mid States Leather in Cincinnati. His first contestant winner, Mike Taylor, went on to win IML 2000. As the community evolves in the Midwest, Nigel is a proud supporter and contributor to many organizations, including GLLA, Lady Ravens Leather Ball, Cincinnati's Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, STOP AIDS Cincinnati, Caracole Inc., and various local theatre and arts organizations. Nigel is honored and proud to be judging the 30th Anniversary of IML.
A Chicago resident the past 16 years, Boy phil has been active in the leather community for more than a decade. He is the founder of Windy City Boys Troop, the Chicago boys club that works to foster the next generation of leather boys. His first leather club was Sober Safe Sane Consensual Club Chicago and he is an associate member of Trident Windy City. He's worked over the years at Cellblock (first as a bar staff member and currently as part of the special events staff) and was commonly the "demo bottom" for their educational fetish nights. He's done volunteer work at the Leather Archives and Museum and assisted in fundraisers for the NCSF. He is the holder of the 2002 title Illinois Leather boy.
Currently Boy phil is a stage crewmember for International Leather Sir & Leather boy and is one of the co-producers of Illinois Leather Sir Leather boy. He has been the Contestant Wrangler for International Mr. Rubber and the Mr. Cellblock contests for the past few years and also been a presenter at Gay and Pansexual leather events mostly in the Midwest. Boy phil has worked for IML as the Assistant Press Liaison in 1997 and the Press Liaison in 1998, and he's featured in the documentary "In God we Trust in Leather we Lust". Outside of leather, Boy phil has played rugby for the Chicago Dragons RFC and is currently working on his Masters Degree in Social Work.
Thor Stockman is old enough to be your Daddy. Gather 'round his rocker, boys, and he'll tell you tales of LBI (Leather Before the Internet) that will curl your hair. He started reading Drummer magazine from Issue 3 at the tender age of 18, and came out into the leather scene in San Francisco's notorious South of Market back when there were more leather bars than you could shake a codpiece at.
In the early days of GMSMA (Gay Male S/M Activists) he earned his merit badges by handling PR; designing and editing its newsletter and many other special publications; and producing and contributing to numerous programs on subjects as diverse as boots, uniforms, cigars, s/m erotic art and photography, as well as the infamous S/M Quiz Shows. He coined the term "Leather Pride" for the first-ever Leather Pride Night back in 1984 and created the first Leather History Timeline, which was later expanded by Tony DeBlase. Currently he produces the "S/M at the Movies" film clips presentations that show how mainstream movies portray leather and s/m, often negatively, to the public at large. These presentations have been shown to organizations and at film festivals and museums around the world. He's proud to be helping select a future leader and fundraiser for the leather community.
Vick Germany lives in San Francisco and has been a part of the leather community for over twelve years. She (yes, the pronoun is correct, but do not call her "ma'am.") joined the women's SM group the Outcasts, which became "The Exiles," and has been a continuous member.
In 2002 Vick won the SF Dyke Daddy contest, which led to the following highlights for that year: organizing the first ever "dykemobile"; judging the 20th Annual SF Leather Daddy's contest; raising fetish fashion funds at Ms. World Leather; and becoming a member of Mama's Family (Mama's SF Dyke Daddy). Vick organized the "Revels of Venus" event for leather women and produced the 2003 SF Dyke Boy/Girl contest. Her charity was the Women's Cancer Resource Center.
Vick has remained active in the SF Bay Area leather community as a board member of the Inter-Club Fund (ICF) and as the President of the San Francisco Dykes on Bikes Women's Motorcycle Contingent. She has organized rides to Fresno, Chico, Santa Cruz and San Jose Gay Pride Parades, co-chaired the Pride Parade line-up, and worked the motorcycle parking at Folsom St. Fair. Vick has judged several contests, including Mr. Hayes Valley, Mr. SF Leather, SF Daddy/boy, Northern California Sir/boy, Mr. and Ms. Alameda County Leather, and IMsL