Yanir Belasen is Mr. Leather Israel 2015, and will represent Israel in the International Mister Leather competition in Chicago.

Tel Aviv continues to justify its title of the gay capital of the Middle East and one of the leading gay capitals of the world. Last week a local competition was held in order to choose the Israeli representative for the International Mister Leather competition.

International Mr. Leather, or in short – IML, is the official World Conference of leather fetish enthusiasts in the gay community. This conference is being held for the 36th year this May in Chicago, and includes a competition in which “Mr. World Leather” is being selected, serving as a representative of the world leather community for a year. It’s just like a beauty pageant, but instead of world peace-loving girls there are buff dude participants who believe that leather and fetish can bring cultural togetherness.

Almost 100 countries send their representatives to this competition each year, and this year an Israeli representative will participate for the first time.

Five finalists faced the domestic competition held on Friday, as part of the Beef Jerky party line. The final selection was made by the party’s audience alongside international judges who came from Chicago, plus two local judges: fashion photographer and co-owner Pug lineup, Eitan Tal, and Saar Maoz, an AIDS Task Force activist.

The winner, Yanir Belasen, is an aspiring actor and singer who was famously dating singer Adam for 8 years.

International Mr. Leather 2015 will be held Friday, May 22 through Monday, May 25, 2015 (Memorial Day Weekend) in Chicago. The Congress Plaza Hotel, 520 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL will be the host hotel for IML 2015.