CHICAGO – Regional producers were pleased with the reversal on transgender contestants and in the clarification of the new rules on regional feeder contests.
Ms. Kendra, producer for the Great Lakes region had this response when contacted by the Great Lakes Den:
I am very happy to see that the board of ILSb-ICBB was open to communications and listened as we all worked though this past week as a leather family. Thank you to the Great Lakes leather family for believing that we could work through this together. I, along with our entire Great Lakes leather family, appreciate being able to be part of the solution. I am happy with the outcome and look forward to a continued relationship with ILSb-ICBB.
Florida, which had stated they would not hold a contest because of the changes to regional rules, was very pleased with the clarification and explanation of the new arrangement between international and regions:
The Producers of Florida Leather Weekend and Producers of the Florida LeatherSIR, Florida Leatherboy and Florida Community BootBlack have reviewed the statement released by the ILSb-ICBB Board with great appreciation to its details and the thought put into it.
We want to express that we applaud the decision to have an advisory council as well as a Historian that will focus on the history of this contest. This is a much needed and large step in creating a stronger organization. As the Region that supports the idea of licensing agreements, we applaud this decision and hope that it will allow ILSb-ICBB to continue on a successful path. Likewise we support the decision to continue with ILSb being a gay male focused contest. Moving forward, we will continue as Producers to support these new developments instituted by the ILSb-ICBB Board.
Change is always a difficult thing to create and equally a difficult thing to accept. We look forward to the new licensing agreements. It is our sincere hope that these licensing agreements will insure our continued production of Florida LeatherSIR, Florida Leatherboy, and Florida Community Bootblack and to participate in another year of ILSb-ICBB.
Northern California, one of the most vocal regions about the cisgender rule, had this response after reviewing the letter from ILSb by Deborah Isadora Hoffman-Wade:
The Producers of the NCLSb-CBB are glad that the ILSb/ICBB board reversed their position and all men who identify as gay will be included in the ILSb portion of the contest. I thank the board for revisiting this issue and for their thoughtful response to our whole community. Thank you for also clarifying the regional issues.
I am disappointed that others chose to be hateful, verbally abusive and threatening physical violence toward the ILSb ICBB board. This to me and us is abhorrent.
The Northern California Producer Team will be meeting in the next week to decide the future our our current team and contest.
As of press time, Central Plains, which had supported the changes, had not responded to a request for comment.
