At this May’s 41st annual International Mr. Leather (IML) competition, one of the largest leather and fetish gatherings in the world, Jack Thompson made history by being the first trans person of color to win the IML title. A biracial, Black, HIV-positive transgender man (as well as a self-identified leatherman, wolf, and “a few other things,” as he coyly put it), he made a splash at the competition by being unapologetically himself, including wearing a trans flag jockstrap during the “physique” portion of the contest. “There are people in this room right now who don’t think I’m enough of a man to be on this stage,” he said during his finalist’s speech. “If you’re enough for you, you are enough.”
As the leather, kink, and BDSM community grapples with inclusivity and its increasingly mainstream nature, Thompson’s landmark victory couldn’t arrive any sooner. Humble, kind and utterly down-to-earth, his insights provide a refreshing counter to many of the narratives and stereotypes about sexual subcultures: that they are inherently unsafe, unwelcoming, and rife with misogyny, racism, and various kinds of bigotry. Rather, leather spaces can be a source of affirmation, community and connection — and community leaders like Thompson are proof positive.
We spoke with Thompson about being a minority within a minority, his experience winning IML 41, and his thoughts on that one tweet about kinks and fetishes at pride.
What was participating in International Mr. Leather like?
I’m not a very optimistic person, so I didn’t go in thinking I was going to win. I thought that I had as much of a chance as anybody else, because technically that’s true. But there’s only been one other trans man who’s ever won, and every time people ask about diversity at IML they’re like, “well, look at Tyler.”
But I didn’t feel like I didn’t belong there. I’ve been in the community longer than a lot of the guys on that stage but that doesn’t matter. My sitting in the community for a long period of time doesn’t make me a better IML than someone else. Me owning a lot of leather doesn’t make me a better IML than someone else. It’s whatever the judges wanted to see and my judges, I was very afraid of. Usually I personally know more of the judging panel; this time I only knew three people personally, one person sorta, and the rest of them I had never met before ever.
So I wasn’t afraid, I just kind of let it all out because I was like “I’m not gonna win! Maybe I’ll make podium, but I’m not gonna win.” So I might as well just be me and do whatever the fuck I’m gonna do because I’m only gonna do this once. And then I won. [laughs]
Why is leather important to you?
I’ve always thought that’s what “cool” looked like. I’ve always liked the aesthetic of leather, I’ve always liked the feeling of leather and how I’ve felt when I’m around it. The general community is political by default, because being a smaller part of a small community of people is always hard. We’re always fighting for space.
But the community is centered around sex, more than any other community. And that’s where it finds its roots and where even when shit’s going down, even when we’re all at each other’s throats, there’s still that core value of, “We’re all here because we’re kinky pigs.” When I think about leather, I think about sex, and that has a lot to do with why I’ve stuck around for as many years as I have. It’s still sexy to me.
Did you see that viral tweet about how kink doesn’t belong at pride?
Yeah, I saw it.
I found that really sad because first of all that’s so ahistorical, and also it’s weird how intent some people are on desexualizing a community that was built on sexuality.
Gay people, the only reason why we needed a pride or a march or to fight back is literally because we want to have sex and have relationships with people that society says we can’t. It’s based in sex. It’s based in relationships. It’s based in the things that they’re telling us we can’t have at our own events.
I understand the feeling of wanting to go out and show your own kinds of pride and be with your family and show them that all of this is okay, but you have to accept the rest of the community and not just your idea of what the community is. We’re regressing in so many ways.
How does leather sexuality intersect with your other identities?
I am all the things I am all the time. I don’t have a separate Facebook page for my muggle life. I’m leather all the time. I’m biracial all the time. I’m queer all the time. I’ve cultivated my life in a way where I can be all those things, I know how to read my audience and I’m not, as my mother would have said way back in the day, “pushing it in people’s faces,” but I’m also not not being very authentically me all the time.
I’m all those things while being Black. I have “passability” with being trans, which is a privilege that I sort of hate having because I think it’s bullshit. If people are gonna treat the people around me that they think are trans differently, treat us all the same fucking way or don’t. Deal with the fact that we’re all here or don’t. Don’t give me special treatment because you can’t tell that I’m trans. That’s complete bullshit. And that’s one reason why I’m so vocal about it on a bigger stage. I need people to see that I’m trans and to see that we exist in these spaces, whether or not you find us attractive, whether or not you can tell anything about us. We’re here and we deserve to be here. I don’t really pick and choose or have moments of my life where I’m not something.
There’s this misconception that kink and leather communities are just all cis white gay dudes, which feels untrue to me.
I agree. I have definitely talked to people who are like, “All the play parties I go to are full of white cis guys.” I’m like, “Really? Those are, like, none of the parties I go to.”
There’s an overrepresentation of cis white men in every space. It’s not specific to leather. For a long time, white cis men were the majority in leather spaces because they had the privilege to buy leather, to separate their lives, to have the time and space to go to events and have the passability to be a “biker” in a gang and wear leather. Those privileges haven’t been awarded to trans folks, women, or people of color for a number of reasons — money, space, just being able to walk down the street wearing leather. People aren’t going to treat you the same way they treat a white cis dude.
Representation matters, and if we keep wanting spaces and wanting to see ourselves at events and wanting to see ourselves in leather and in kink spaces and not just see white cis men, we need to keep showing up to those events no matter how uncomfortable that may be.
I loved your IML speech; it feels revolutionary for a trans person of color to get on a stage and just proclaim that he is more than good enough to an audience. How did you get to the point of feeling like you were “more than enough” and do you have any advice for other folks who are working to feel like they are enough?
I still have to tell myself that shit every day. I’ve suffered with suicidality and depression and anxiety my entire life, and that’s not just because of being trans or anything like that, that’s just generally something I’ve suffered. I hope anybody who’s feeling that way can take something out of that speech and look at themselves, even if they don’t want to, and start the process of telling themselves, “I’m enough for this. I might not actually feel that way, but I am. I don’t necessarily need someone to tell me that I’m enough because I have to believe it, but it doesn’t hurt if someone else is gonna say that.”
What advice do you have for multiply marginalized folks who are interested in leather/kink/BDSM?
For the marginalized folks, it’s the same thing: show up. It seems rough and a lot of people think, “I don’t have leather” or “I don’t have the right look to show up to these events,” but most people get their first pieces of leather from the community. They get them from volunteering, they get them from people who are like “You’re my size and I’ve gotten to know you through this event, let me give this to you.” Owning a lot of leather doesn’t necessarily make you any better or worse of a leatherperson at all. You sort of acquire leather over time.
If you have a pair of boots, go to an event and sit for a bootblack and have that experience. You talk to somebody for a good 20 minutes while they’re doing your boots and you get to know them. Little things like that will help you feel more like you’re a part of a community. The leather and gear can come later.
If it’s not the actual leather, what makes a good leatherperson?
It’s the same thing that makes you a good person in general. Being compassionate, being open minded, being respectful. People in leather and kink communities feel like we're better at consent than others because we have to discuss big concepts, like how our scenes will play out and safewords. More people should be discussing those things during sex, period. We're better about it overall but not always, and we need to raise the bar even higher if we’re going to claim that.
But yeah, just being someone who’s open to the community, who’s open to discussing things in a respectful way, and not making anyone else around you feel less than for not owning leather and not looking the right way and not being your version of what a leatherman or a leatherwoman or a leatherperson should look like. And understand that there’s no one true way to do fucking anything. That’s what makes you a good leatherperson, and that’s what makes you a good person.
Interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
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