Grabby Awards/Int'l Mr. Leather Weekend Kicks Off In Chi-Town

We aren't there, and given our recent spate of hangovers and VD scares we're happy not to be. But last night was the kickoff of Grabbys weekend in Chicago, and Unzipped's Zach Sire has a bunch of from-the-hip photos from Chi Chi Larue's party last night at Hydrate (those are Austin Wilde's abs in the above photo, btw). The Sword also promises some coverage, which will likely be more leather-daddy-heavy, but so far they're probably still sleeping it off.

The awards are being co-hosted by like 9 people this year, and many have said that this awards weekend has supplanted the GayVNs as the big event in gay porndom, since it's more of a party and all the leather queens are there. Sort of like the Golden Globes are to the Oscars, or something, because neither award ceremony is really based on some strict judgment of cinematic or acting merits -- they usually tend toward a Special Olympics-style, everybody-wins kind of format.

If anything major happens, or if anyone dies, we'll be sure to keep you informed.