Thug Rocco from Sudbury wins LeatherSIR; boy alex from Kingston wins Leatherboy

(Toronto, Canada) – Organizers of the Eastern Canada LeatherSIR/Leatherboy 2012 contest weekend are pleased to announce the winners of the regional titles. The ECLSb 2012 contest was held on Saturday, February 18 in Toronto.

When the scores were tallied, Thug Rocco from Sudbury, Ontario, claimed the title of Eastern Canada LeatherSIR 2012, and boy alex from Kingston, Ontario claimed the title of Eastern Canada Leatherboy 2012. With only one contestant running for each title, each contestant had to achieve a minimum score of 70% to win.

Sir Rocco and boy alex will advance to compete at the International LeatherSIR/Leatherboy 2012 contest weekend, Thursday, July 26 through Sunday, July 29 in San Francisco, coinciding with the Dore Alley leather street fair. (See http://www.LeatherSIR.com for more information.)

The ECLSb contest weekend ran from Friday, February 17 through Monday, February 20 (the provincial holiday). The official Meat & Greet with contestants, judges and attendees was held Friday night at Black Eagle Toronto. The ECLSb Contest took place Saturday afternoon at Goodhandy’s, followed by a Victory Party later that night at Black Eagle Toronto that coincided with a Toronto Leather Pride and Toronto Ontario Rubber Network (TORN) bar night. About 40 Saturday night survivors were up in time to join the new ECLSb titleholders at the Sunday Victory Brunch at the Churchmouse & Firkin. The weekend event with the most sex and sweat was the Squeal Leather Party held Sunday afternoon at Steamworks. Monday was a day for socializing, and saying good-bye to out of town guests and judges.

The panel of judges for the ECLSb contest included: International LeatherSIR 2011 Alan Penrod, from Atlanta (GA), who served as head judge; International Leatherboy 2011 pup Nitro, from Atlanta (GA); International Community Bootblack 2011 Luna, from Oakland (CA); Eastern Canada LeatherSIR 2011 Master Chuck, from Sudbury (ON); Eastern Canada Leatherboy 2011 boy iain, from Toronto (ON); and International LeatherSIR 2009 Tony Palazzo. The panel was expanded to six judges from the traditional five, to resolve a conflict of interest that stemmed from a personal relationship between the Sir contestant and Master Chuck. Master Tony judged only the Sir contestant, while Master Chuck judged only the boy contestant.

Contest staff included: Tally Master boy Alex Dunlop, from Toronto (ON); Judge’s boy Pup Kalen, from Toronto (ON); Den Daddy Dan Madden, from Toronto (ON); Stage Manager Fenn, Mr International Rubber 2010, from Toronto (ON); and, Box Office Manager was Gloria McIsaac, from Toronto (ON). Returning as emcee for the sixth year was Tom Stice, International slave 1995 and Southeast Mr Drummer 1998, of Chicago (IL).

The contest also marked the official step-down of Eastern Canada LeatherSIR 2011 Master Chuck and Eastern Canada Leatherboy 2011 boy iain.

During the contest, a special Boy’s Spirit Award was presented in memory of Andrew MacDonald, Eastern Canada Leatherboy 2005, who passed away in July 2011 following a battle with cancer. The Boy’s Spirit Award was presented to ECLb’11 boy iain, in recognition of his outstanding commitment to the leather community, player’s lifestyle, and educational outreach and volunteer work.

The 2012 ECLSb Community Builder Award was presented to Paul H, of Toronto, for his volunteer work and support of ECLSb and Rough House (www.RoughHouse.ca) over the past year.

LeatherSIR/Leatherboy are “player’s titles,” erotic titles representing the sexual side of gay leather men. The primary goal of ECLSb is networking and outreach, to help educate the community about leather men, our erotic expression, traditions and history — and of course, BDSM and hot leather sex. Contestants were judged in four categories: Interview; Speech & Image; Physique; and Leather Sex Fantasy scene. The contestant’s interview portion took place prior to the contest; the three remaining categories took place on stage during the contest. Contestants had to incorporate the theme of “Retro” into their fantasy scene. The fantasy portion is what sets the ECLSb contest apart from many other contests styled after the International Mr. Leather and Mid-Atlantic Leather formats.

Presenting Sponsor of ECLSb 2012 is Steamworks (www.steamworksonline.com), the official bathhouse of Eastern Canada LeatherSIR/Leatherboy. Major Sponsors are Priape (www.Priape.com) and Squirt.org (www.Squirt.org). Community Partners included Goodhandy’s (www.goodhandys.com), Black Eagle Toronto (www.BlackEagleToronto.com), Churchmouse & Firkin (www.firkinpubs.com/pubs/churchmouse-and-firkin), Leather Masters (www.LeatherMasters.com) and , and CLAW / Cleveland Leather Awareness Weekend (www.CLAWinfo.org).

Since 2005, Eastern Canada LeatherSIR / Leatherboy contest weekend has been produced by Brandon Matheson (Eastern Canada LeatherSIR 2004) and Dan Falkenham (Eastern Canada Leatherboy 2004).

---