05/19/2026
Message from Chuck Rodocker, Owner - Touché
Recent grievous actions have caught us off guard. One innocent life was tragically ended while in the prime of his life, two lives have been shattered and countless lives have been changed. The early stages of our grief were based on speculation and theories as we waited for more facts to evolve, with every new fact becoming more unimaginable. It is true the man, (who shall remain nameless), was a past Mister Chicago Leatherman (2009), he was briefly
employed and a volunteer. We have been in the process of removing his pictures from the wall at Touché and from our website.
Touché now finds itself in the cross hairs of disbelief and accountability implying we knowingly allowed a violet man into our ranks and into the leather community. This is far from the truth. We had no knowledge of him having violent or threatening behavior, nor was any information ever shared with us. It is being said, we should have known he was violent as if holding us to the standards of the mental health experts and law enforcement personnel. We
understand this blame may be a way of processing grief and anger.
We, too, are grieving and processing these recent events. The social media attacks unfairly ask us to grieve one way: their way. Do not imply there is one way to grieve. Do not imply processing grief has to be immediate and justice handed out swiftly. Allow us, our staff
and others the time we need to process the loss and harm done to the leather community and to ourselves and the staff.
There have been many things out of our control such as the original Touché burning down, the scourge of the AIDS epidemic and COVID, but we have been there pouring our support in ways unmatched by other bars. We have never boasted of this, but we never thought we would have to defend our reputation and ourselves in the community. Hate and violence have never been tolerated, and yet IML puts itself in dangerous situation to be judge
and jury. It is using a play straight out of the Steve Bannon MEGA playbook to set the environment for a mob mentality to spread a false truth even to the point of not allowing Touché to defend itself.
It is important to note; we are not taking the bait presented by social media and the IML board for us to make conclusions of an ongoing investigation where motive can range from evil to mental illness. The IML board has arbitrarily excluded Touché without any contact nor input making us persona non grata. When asked for the opportunity to discuss this, we were given the response of “there is nothing you can say... a decision has been made.” It is our hope the IML board makes future decisions based on complete information and may find itself not being pandered to by vested interest groups who choose to profit by tarnishing our reputation.
Touché is here 52 weeks out of the year. We aren’t here for just one weekend. We pride ourselves on celebrating this weekend with IML and we still do. We will continue with our week’s activities welcoming all. We have never used IML for profit. We gladly incur
additional expenditures that forbid us from making profit. We do not increase drink prices over this weekend. We do not have a cover charge for our events (except for a nominal fee or New
Years Eve). We do not exploit ourselves at the expense of IML. Touché prides itself in being an Original Charter Sponsor of IML
The ownership of individual gay bars is diminishing, and its value is being underplayed. Attacks on independent bars impacts safe spaces for LGBTQ+ communities.
The recent post mentions IML will not tolerate hate or violence, yet you had warned us that our current contestant might be met with such. You warned us that during the interview process judges might very well ask him questions related to the reasons for IML dropping our sponsorship. This and other questions are best suited toward Touché management, which you refused to hear from, but want our contestant to possibly answer. You sparked the fire for mob
mentality against a contestant and yet provided no additional assurances that he would be safe from the hatred you say you are so much against.
It is not our wish to criticize this year’s IML festivities and events. We are aware of the money many people have invested to attend IML 2026. Their efforts and enthusiasm should be rewarded with as much fun and s*x as each person wants. It is our hope they learn the value of the leather community, educate themselves on how to play safely, and possibly even meet the love of their life.
Welcome to Chicago. Welcome to Touché. Welcome to International Mister Leather.
Yours in Leather,
Chuck Rodocker, Owner
