This year’s International Mr. Leather (IML)—the gay community’s largest annual leather event in the world—is seeing a healthy uptick in attendees for 2010, according to IML coordinator RJ Chaffin, thanks to a rebounding economy. (Yes, even tough leathermen feel the sting of escalating travel costs.) Now in its 32nd year, IML has evolved from the “Mr. Gold Coast” bar contest held at Chicago’s Gold Coast leather bar in the ‘70s, to an international conference and competition for leather men and women, although an overwhelming majority of attendees are gay men. Held annually in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend since 1979, IML attracts everyone from the casual voyeur to the seasoned fetishist. more ›

The American Association for the Advancement of Science, the self-proclaimed "world's largest general scientific society", is meeting this weekend right here in Chicago for what is promising to be a huge event, starting today and running through Monday. As many as 10,000 attendees from 60 different countries will be traversing the city, attending workshops and seminars. The focus of this year's convention will be Global Warming. Says AAAS president James J. McCarthy, "Today, the warming of our planet is unequivocal, and human activities are a primary cause. Within the next few human generations, the effect of these climate changes could put the survival of many species at risk." more ›

A fight broke out at a convention minority journalists here in Chicago. The topic: Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade, who was speaking at the convention. more ›

Who’s your daddy? Gary Iriza, Mr. Palm Springs Leather 2008, is your daddy, sir. Iriza took the leather sash at the XXX International Mr. Leather (IML) Competition Sunday night. (The XXX stands for 30th anniversary, people.) IML is a beauty pageant of sorts, celebrating masculinity and a lifestyle of leather. IML has its roots in the Mr. Gold Coast contest, held in the historic Gold Coast Leather Bar. It expanded to a larger venue in 1979, and with the larger venue came the expanded “international” title. more ›

Aside from small-scale studies linking sexual-minority youth with high suicide attempt rates, there isn't a ton of concrete information about the higher risk of suicide among GLBT youth — U.S. data does not track sexual orientation as a factor in suicides. Still, there was a study in New Zealand that showed that they were six times more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual peers, and it seems generally agreed upon that the risk is... more ›