Mirco is Mister Rubber Italy 2023

INTERVIEW WITH MIRCO, MR. RUBBER ITALIA 2023

Mirco, also known as Dark Hermes, born in 1991 in Vittorio Veneto (TV) and currently residing in Padova, recently earned a PhD in Social Sciences with a thesis on the kinky world.

Dark Hermes, why did you choose this pseudonym?
The first night I attended a kinky party at Officina in Limena (PD) on December 28, 2017, I wanted to try something new compared to what I had done in more intimate settings. Leather Big Wolf lent me a black dog slave mask and a plug tail. Even for Alessandro, the guy who acted as my master, it was his first time in a public BDSM context. At one point, a guy who was caressing me asked Alessandro what the name of "this cute pup" was, and he looked around for an answer, saw the dark rooms, and exclaimed, "Dark! Yes, his name is Dark!". I got lucky; otherwise, I might be called "Fuffy Hermes" today (laughs). The second part of the name came in 2020 along with a series of coincidences, one of which is the tattoo on my back. I decided to get it before discovering its meaning: the caduceus is the symbol of the Greek god Hermes. Hermes is a deity very much aligned with my nature: he's a messenger, eloquent, and protects both travelers and boundaries - in short, the perfect protector for a kinkster who wants to do something for the rest of the community, right? He also has the turtle as a symbol, an animal I'm very fond of for its esoteric connotations.

Tell us about your childhood, where you spent your school years, your childhood dream, your studies, your relationship with school… in short, your roots.
I grew up in a small village called Cappella Maggiore, which has Maria Maddalena as its patron saint - coincidences? I don't think so. I attended high school in Vittorio Veneto, an environment where I unfortunately encountered homophobia but fortunately also found friendship, social support, and love. After high school, I started studying in Padova. After trying a mathematics degree, I enrolled in educational sciences and later earned a master's degree in philosophy, psychology, and sociology. I fell in love with sociology and the ethnographic research approach. This led me to study various aspects of sexuality during my Ph.D. in Social Sciences in the same city under the supervision of Professors Matteo Bortolini and Vincenzo Romania. In my experience, the sociology practiced in Padova is very inclusive and open to various research topics proposed by students that were once considered taboo. For example, I had the opportunity to conduct ethnography in European clubs and cruising areas, discovering that kinksters are not just hedonists but can be compared to true ascetics who elevate their minds and spirits through their bodies, achieving very refined states of well-being and personal fulfillment. This was the theme of my research thesis. Currently, after obtaining my Ph.D., I am conducting research for the European Sex Workers' Rights Alliance, collaborating with Arcigay (of which I have been a member since 2012), and the Anti-Discrimination Center in Padova. Sometimes I teach in university contexts, and other times I work as a sex worker, both online and offline. Let's say that this year of uncertainty is the perfect condition for traveling and getting involved as Mr. Rubber!

Hobbies? Free time? Your greatest passion?
In addition to the kinky life and sex-positive activism, I have a great passion that I have pursued for 15 years, which is Aikido, a Japanese martial art that I mainly practice in Vittorio Veneto under the guidance of Master Sandro Lucagnano. I believe that kinky practices and martial arts have a lot in common; both, for example, are based on bodily discipline, technique, the harmonious development of encounters between people, and beauty!

Three adjectives to describe yourself?
Curious, kind, eclectic.

When and where did your vocation for the kinky world and your first experience with rubber come about?
Like many other people, I discovered some kinks during childhood, although they didn't have their current sexual meaning. The fact that I often wear yellow rubber is an explicit reference to my first kink! I discovered rubber by chance. For my research, I was in London, and there were parties reserved for those dressed in rubber. So, to enter, I had to wear something in rubber. I bought my first chaps, underwear, and a rubber t-shirt, and I immediately liked it from both a sexual and aesthetic perspective. I went on to buy many more gear items made of the same material. I have many other fetishes (skinhead, leather, military, sportswear, puppy), but rubber is certainly the most prevalent in my wardrobe.

What motivated you to enter the Mr. Rubber contest?
I wanted to give something back to the community because the community has given me a lot in building the research I conducted and in growing as a kinkster. I believe there are many things to do to make ourselves more visible, safe, cohesive, and I want to do my best in this year!

Your first fetish trip? Age? Destination? Shy or already exuberant?
London, Fetish Week 2019. I was 28 years old. It was the year when I started living my kinky sexuality more intensely, and it was also the year I started taking PreP, so I felt much safer and couldn't wait to meet many other guys like me in a great environment!

Were you excited during the contest? How did you experience the moment on stage in Rome?
I was constantly excited and tense in front of the audience and the judges. I knew many people, but it was the first time I was so much in the spotlight in this environment. At the same time, I was relaxed and happy to "compete in a non-competitive way" with Danilo, the other contestant, a guy very similar to me with whom a great friendship was born from the beginning. We took care of each other throughout the weekend in an atmosphere of mutual respect, hugs, and very formative conversations. With a smile, a "how are you?" and a laugh, even a marathon becomes a walk!

Why do you think Italy has a distorted view of the gay and fetish world compared to other European cities like Berlin, London, Amsterdam, Antwerp, and Barcelona, where the lives of gay people seem to be more peaceful, open, and without prejudice based on race, color, social class, or sex?
I personally believe that we live in a complicated country due to its structure. We don't have cities comparable to the ones you mentioned, but a large network of small towns that reinforce a lifestyle closer to that of the countryside than that of cosmopolitan metropolises. However, what might answer your question more comprehensively is my belief that Italy has a shameful fascist legacy that we have never really been able to rid ourselves of (unlike Germany with regard to Nazism), which creeps into our lives without us realizing it. The issue is very complex, but I think it is typical of fascism to prioritize public communication that exalts one's own nation at the expense of others seeking hospitality, to elevate a single religion to a universal moral imperative, and to promote a single concept of family, as if the sole purpose of sexuality were to have children in accordance with the ius sanguinis that still prevails in Italy. Fortunately, things have changed and are changing compared to 13 years ago when I came out. What fetishists in the contexts you mentioned - which many also do in Italy - have probably done is create many places and initiatives aimed at deconstructing "decorum," the expectation that there should always be a "right" way to behave. When you don't harm other people, it's good to get rid of social expectations that want us to be heterosexual, vanilla, monogamous, "real men," romantic, possessive, jealous, orderly, clean, safe, clothed, sober, and so on. Conditions for sexual liberation exist and are much more than we imagine, and we should not confuse what is scandalous or transgressive with what is illegal. If you want to walk around your city in rubber, you might be "over the top," but you certainly are not committing a crime, so do it if you want! Let's strive to please those we like, not to please those who hate us!

Objectives during your year as Mister?
Survive?! Just kidding... Promote greater inclusivity for every kinkster, both within and outside our community; welcome newcomers to rubber and other fetishes so they can enter our world consciously and safely, learning our sex-positive values and customs; write about kink; travel in Italy to make the rubber subculture and our kinky lifestyle known through talks, Pride events, and various public and daily situations; explore other fetish contexts abroad to strengthen the community at a transnational level, learn new things, and inspire the Italian context to happily embrace what happens beyond the Alps or beyond the Pillars of Hercules.

Upcoming trips on your calendar?
Leather Friends Italia evenings in Padova and Milan, New Year's Eve in Berlin, Darklands in Antwerp, Rubber Week in Paris, the election of Italian Fetishman of the year in Milan, Evidence's birthday in Nice, Gran Canaria Pride, the election of Mr. Leather Italia and Mr. Rubber Netherlands, Pride events in Padova, Rome, Milan, and Amsterdam, London Fetish Week, and the inevitable Folsom! In the future, I would also like to participate in the Rubber Spain Ambassador election, the Fetish Week in Mas Palomas, the Mr. Leather Evidence election, and why not... a contest with a more European or international scope!

Any wishes to express?
I wish that this journey I have embarked on can be beautiful and unforgettable for me and for all the people who will walk alongside me!

Anyone you'd like to thank?
First and foremost, I want to thank those who believed in me on the evening of December 10, 2022; I won't disappoint you! I thank Mr. Rubber Italia 2022, Pan, who inspired me during his tenure. Matteo and Vincenzo, without whom I probably wouldn't have made it here. Dionysus for accompanying me on my first rubber purchase, Tetrakleion for helping me preserve it until now. The clubs that will support me but that I already knew and loved: Leather Friends Italia and Leather Club Roma, as well as The Italian Puppy, where it all began, and Leather & Fetish Milano, which warmly welcomes me on every occasion! Arcigay for teaching me to fight for myself and for us. And finally, the numerous sponsors who will make this very eventful year possible!

Giampiero is Mister Leather Italia 2022

Let’s meet our new Mister Leather Italia, Giampiero!

Giampiero, “Leathergi Gp”, born in 1975, in Pavia, resident in Milan, tax and tax consultant.

GIAMPIERO, OR AS WE ALL ABBREVIATE, GIAMPI, TELL US ABOUT YOUR CHILDHOOD, WHERE YOU SPENT YOUR YEARS AS A SCHOOLBOY, WHAT WERE YOUR STUDIES, YOUR CHILDHOOD DREAM, YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH SCHOOL.

I had a common and quite carefree childhood and preadolescence, maybe I was a bit of a spoiled child, but still with my feet on the ground and thanks to my parents I understood the importance of sacrifice and work; I do not have very linear memories of that period: I loved walking a bike, watching Lady Oscar on TV (the signs were there) and being with older people.

I had no dreams and artistic ambitions; I would have liked to be a teacher… project shelved when I understood what it really meant to teach and the fundamental importance on the growth of the subjects.

 

HOBBIES? LEISURE? YOUR GREAT PASSION?

In the past I played volleyball for some time but my main hobby, even if with sufficient results, is the gym that I also use as an outlet therapy for a day spent on numbers and regulations.

In my free time, in addition to meeting friends and weekly going to my parents in Pavia, I certainly love traveling, visiting museums, modern and contemporary art in particular, and listening to music, the most accessible and assimilable art form.

 

THREE ADJECTIVES TO DESCRIBE YOURSELF?

Sincere, self-deprecating, sometimes repetitive in actions.

 

WHEN DID YOUR VOCATION FOR THE KINKS, FETISH AND LEATHER WORLD DATE BACK?

I always say this: I admired men with black leather gloves and from here began my first confused sexual fantasies; In the adolescent period I had my first pollution wearing a pair of gloves!!

Since then, they have always been an essential element of my code

The first relationship at the age of 18 was with a motorcyclist in an outdoor situation that was not exactly safe and even that experience weighed heavily on what is my way of being leatherman, master and man.

 

WHEN AND WHERE DID YOUR FIRST EXPERIENCEIN CONTACT WITH LEATHER TAKE DATE?

In 2001 in a bar in Vienna whose name I do not remember at all I saw a guy completely dressed in leather and I was fascinated! I didn’t do anything in that situation, not because I felt out of place, but I said to myself: one day I will be like this.

 

WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO MR. LEATHER, AFTER YOUR FIRSTEXPERIENCE AS A CANDIDATE IN MAY 2019?

At first, I was hesitant, not because I didn’t believe it, but because of the unfortunate situation that involved all of us: it was like starting from the zero point without a path, a base etc …. Then I convinced myself not to lose all previous efforts even during the pandemic and for the support I had from people who already believed in me.

 

YOUR FIRST FETISH TRIP? ETA’? DESTINATION? SHY OR ALREADY EXUBERANT?

This is a question that I would like to answer by articulating a step-by-step discourse.

From 2001 to 2011 I was engaged to a man older than me,  preciso, imaginative and experimenter, a lover of travel, and,  thanks to him,  I approached leather attending both the Milanese fetish evenings, and  several cities such as Amsterdam, Berlin, Habmburg, Copenhagen, Gran Canaria, San Francisco and starting to buy the first boots, the first leather trousers and accessories; But it was a parenthesis relegated to travel and evenings and did not bring development to the community even if it allowed me to meet many people that I still see with pleasure today.

My first ever fetish trip was the Leatherpride in Antwerp in February 2013 (and in September of the same year the Folsom in Berlin) and I already had a clear idea of the leatherman I wanted to be, but I had not yet arrived and not for shyness but for awareness. 

Positive solo experience that served me.

Finally, in 2017/2018, during a 4-year story with a person who I consider important, intelligent and sensitive, and who knew my way of being, but did not fully share it, I had my debut in the community at a social level that led to the candidacy in 2019.

 

EXCITED DURING THE CONTEST? HOW DID YOU LIVE THE EXPERIENCE ON STAGE IN ROME THIS TIME?

I was in an adrenaline rush but very very serious and controlled (I did not recognize myself); I was concise deliberately without being too dispersive as I sometimes am. I felt the weight a lot this time and I lived it well until a minute before the interviews.

Then I closed myself to hedgehog until the proclamation of the second classified, which among other things, I want to point out, was very good. When there was the proclamation on stage, I was super happy and proud even if I did not openly show it by holding back the emotion.

Then the evening went very well.  A great moment.

 

WHY DO YOU THINK ITALY HAS A DISTORTED VISION FOR THE GAY AND FETISH WORLD COMPARED TO OTHER EUROPEAN CITIES? SEE BERLIN, LONDON, AMSTERDAM, ANTWERP, BARCELONA, WHERE FOR US GAYS LIFE PASSES IN A MORE PEACEFUL WAY IN CONTACT WITH OTHERS AND WITHOUT PREJUDICE OF RACE, COLOR, SOCIAL BELONGING, SEX?

Perhaps the most difficult question and for all the instances present in the LGBTQ+ world as well as for our community.

I believe that our country has a fair degree of acceptance of diversity as long as they do not make noise or create difficulties or challenges. In Italy there is more a gap of belonging to social statuses that perhaps brings out a differentiation. Progress has certainly been made, but as long as someone at the top is not sensitive to inclusion issues, homophobic episodes of racial intolerance and bullying that are inconceivable in a civilised and advanced reality will surely continue to happen.

 

GOALS DURING YOUR YEAR AS A COACH?

Being the next-door Mister, so I can invite myself over to dinner since I don’t know how to cook, and I only have yogurt in the fridge.

Jokes aside, I will try to be available to everyone, both for the associations I represent, and for the people who will have the curiosity and interest to enter a community like ours.

I don’t set myself any other personal goals, but let’s see what happens in the future.

 

UPCOMING TRIPS ON THE CALENDAR?

Padua – Rome – Gran Canaria – Berlin – Manchester – Nice – Madrid: these are the safe stages for 2022.

Then we will see to add and something else in the future.

And logically I will be present at all the major events in Italy.

 

ANYONE TO THANK?

Everybody… now it’s my must…

Jokes aside, I thank the Italian clubs (LCR and LFI) who gave me the opportunity to live this experience, my brothers Cosimo and Matteo and my groupie Max the pup. 😉

 

GIAMPI aka LEATHERGI

 

 

 

 

 

LFI Meeting Weekend is CANCELLED

All the events of LFI Meeting Weekend 2020 are CANCELLED due to the actual public health conditions and respecting Government disposals.

We invite you to keep in contact with us following Leather Friends Italia on Instagram, Facebook and Telegram.

Hoping to meet you very soon,

our bests,

LFI Board

LFI – Meeting Weekend 2020 Statement, Oct. 11 2020

Dear Members and Friends,

As the Board of Leather Friends Italy, we have always been committed to creating the best opportunities for all Leathermen and Fetishmen to meet and fun.

Since the end of the lockdown, we have already organized three moments of celebration, always in compliance with all the regulations and common-sense rules, which have made our first two Fetish Social of Padua and Milan and the Fetish Party of Verona safe events.

The next event, scheduled in Milan from October 30th to November 1st has kept us busy for months: aperitifs, parties and brunches that we have been carefully organizing to guarantee you the best fetish and social experience the beautiful city of Milan can offer you.

In recent days the COVID situation is changing, as we all read in the various news: throughout Europe, the number of daily infections is increasing significantly. And in the last few days also in Italy, Lombardy and Milan.

The situation at the end of this month is not yet defined, even at the regulatory level. We are waiting for the new government update regarding COVID rules coming in next week which will most likely contain new indications about the possibilities of holding events and the opening of entertainment premises.

In this uncertain situation, we want to make the commitment to the safety of all members, friends and our communities known. That’s why we are monitoring the situation closely and we will communicate to everyone, as soon as there will be clear indications, how LFI Meeting Weekend 2020 will be held.

We invite you to consult our channels and, if you have already registered for the event, also your e-mail in the coming days.

With the hope of meeting us as soon as possible, 
we greet you warmly,
LFI Board

Statement of the board regarding the Mr Rubber Italia 2020

Statement of the board regarding the Mr Rubber Italia 2020 event in the light of the Italian government anti-COVID-19 published March 4th, 2020

Milan, March 5th 2020

Dear members and friends,

These latest weeks have been for us Italian an unexpected and uneasy period: the spread of the COVID-19 in our country with such dimension has unexpectedly and in some way profoundly changed our everyday life.

 

The directives enacted by the Italian government from the end of February 2020, with the goals of containing the proliferation and spreading of the COVID-19 especially in the regions of Lombardy and Veneto, had us on alert for our next event, the Mr Rubber Italia 2020 election weekend of March 27th, 28th, 29th in Milan, without providing enough elements to be fully able to take an informed decision regarding the event.

 

Yesterday evening (March 4th), the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic, issued a decree with new dispositions for the entire national territory and with the aim of reducing the probability and opportunity for the virus to further spread. Such dispositions are effective immediately and will last until April 3rd included.

Article 1 letter b) of the decree suspends “[…] all events […] of any nature, […] that will take place in any place, public or private, which involving crowding of people that do not allow compliance with the interpersonal safety distance of at least one meter […]”.

 

The board of Leather Friends Italia in common agreement with the board of Leather Club Roma, co-organizer of the Mr Rubber Italia title, communicate the cancellation of the weekend that should have taken place in Milan in the days of the 27th, 28th and 29th of March 2020 and moves the election of the Mr Rubber Italia 2020 at a later date to be defined following the evolution of the situation in the next weeks.

 

The board believe appropriate to thank the candidates, members, friends, partners, and sponsors and in particular:

 

the clubs Depot, Company and Hot Dog, and the bar NoLo.So in Milan to which we are close in these difficult weeks,

 

our sponsors Latexskin, Meo, Maskulo, René Zuiderveld, Darklands, Libidex who have all kindly offered prizes for the winner and first runner-up.

 

Thank you all,

The board of Leather Friends Italia

WHAT A WONDERFUL LFI

LFI SEASON 2018/19

Season 2018/19 by LFI

Season 2018/19 by LFI

Un’altra stagione ricca di appuntamenti in arrivo!
Ecco le date per la stagione 2018/19!
Click qui per scoprire tutti gli appuntamenti.

Another Season with many parties and events!
Click here to enjoy.

Leftarm

Fetish Help Line

Leftarm

Sei attratto dal mondo Fetish, Kinky, BDSM? Vorresti sperimentare una delle tante pratiche che ne fanno parte, ma non ne hai mai avuto il coraggio?
Da oggi esiste Fetish Help Line, promossa dal rubberman Leftarm e sostenuta anche da LFI per aiutarti a fare il primo passo. Cos’è la comunità? Com’è strutturata? Come sono organizzate le serate? Quali sono i principali eventi?…
Queste sono alcune delle domande per le quali potrai ricevere risposta per fornirti le basi e aiutarti a farti nuovi amici e a compiere il primo passo verso la sperimentazione di una sessualità alternativa in modo sano, sicuro e consensuale.

Come?
Scriviendo su Telegram, anche in modo anonimo, all’account FHL_leftarm