International Mr. Bootblack [Edit]

The International Mr. Bootblack competition, also known as IML Bootblack (IML BB), is a bootblacking competition that was added to the International Mr. Leather (IML) program starting in 1993.

There was not originally an International Ms. Bootblack contest separate from International Mr. Bootblack. In 1996 International Ms. Leather 1993 and then-International Ms. Leather owner and producer Amy Marie Meek became the first woman to judge International Mr. Leather, and then and there she got the idea for the International Ms. Bootblack contest. During the International Mr. Leather 1996 judges’ downtime, Amy Marie visited the bootblacking area and watched the International Mr. Bootblack contestants work their stands and collect their ballots. At the time, the International Mr. Bootblack contest was only three years old, and it was the only place where bootblacks in the leather community could compete at the national or international level. International Mr. Bootblack, a 100 percent ballot-based contest, was open to all sexes, and women-identified individuals did compete. However, back in 1996, the International Mr. Leather Weekend and Contests were in the early years of attracting women-identified attendees, let alone International Mr. Bootblack contestants. While all the International Mr. Bootblack contestants had high skills and leather hearts, Amy Marie observed that the overwhelming majority of the men attendees tended to gravitate toward the men-identified bootblack contestants. It was then that she concluded that, so long as the contest was judged by ballot counts alone, it would be a long time before women would have enough visibility (regardless of skills) to actually win the contest. Prior to the International Ms. Leather 1998 Weekend, Amy Marie proposed breaking the International Mr. Bootblack contest into two separate international-level bootblack contests: one for women and one for men. In this scenario, the International Bootblack contest for men would remain a part of the International Mr. Leather Weekend, and the International Bootblack contest for women would become part of the International Ms. Leather Weekend. Chuck Renslow agreed to this revision in the international contest system. The first International Ms. Bootblack title was awarded in 1999.