Locally, trans leathermen fair better than they do with the Chicago Hellfire Club — trans men who are legally male are welcome to compete in the Mr Leatherman Toronto (MLT) competition and there’s no trans-exclusive policy in effect at Spearhead, Toronto’s most prominent men’s leather club.
MLT secretary Peter Kincheloe says that in order to compete at MLT contestants must have male ID.
“This is the same requirement for IML [International Mr Leather] and all contestants entering MLT must provide copies of their government identification for verification purposes. We adopted this so that the MLT titleholder would be eligible to compete at IML.
“Trans men have competed at IML. One notable one is Billy Lane who for a number of years was and may still be the judge’s coordinator for IML.”
Doug Embury, longtime member and former president of Spearhead, says he has no objections to considering trans men for membership.
“If there’s a dick there, whether through surgery or hormones, there’s nothing I would do to stop trans men from applying for membership. As long as they get three sponsors and send a letter in, there’s an interview. Then we choose if we want them in the club.”
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