This weekend, while attending (more on that later), I learned that IML 2010 is Tyler McCormick, a disabled transman. Never before has a transman won IML, and never before has a disabled man won IML (though IML 2009 was Jeffrey Payne, who – like me – is late deafened). That he was judged to be the world’s number one leatherman is phenomenal, in my opinion. I set out looking for more information about him.
Unfortunately, was pure hate. Not just misogyny, not just transphobia, not just ableism. Hate. The Advocate reported neutrally on the contest, but the comments are overflowing with ugly emotions that make me terribly sad. Commenters refer to Tyler as female, using female pronouns, as possessing “disgusting” genitalia, as “hiding his female ass in his chair,” etc. Only a very few people pipe up and say hey, maybe we should realize that we are exhibiting the very discrimination that the heterosexual vanilla community would like to direct at us.
I doubt Tyler is bothered too much by comments like that; I’ve never met an IML winner who wasn’t incredibly secure in his identity. But it breaks my heart that people would be so hateful. A win for a minority is a win for all of us. Those comments do not reflect the leather community that I know and love. The leather people I know would never be so shallow and hateful. It just makes me sad to see such anger and hate expressed by so-called leathermen.
Added: Found of Tyler’s involvement in the contest; more hateful comments there too.