For many fans, RuPaul’s Drag Race introduced the world to Honey Davenport as a larger than life performer with sharp wit, polished looks, and one unforgettable entrance line: “This honey is raw and unfiltered.”
Now, years after strutting into the Drag Race workroom, Honey has delivered those same words with an entirely new meaning.
The season 11 alum, whose real name is James Heath Clark, has officially been crowned International Mr. Leather 2026, becoming one of the most talked about winners in recent memory. The annual International Mr. Leather competition, often called IML, is a legendary multi day gathering celebrating leather, fetish, kink, and BDSM communities from around the world. Winning the title is considered one of the highest honors within the leather community, and Honey’s victory feels especially meaningful for fans who have followed their journey both on and offstage.
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From Drag Race to Leather Royalty
Honey competed at IML as Mr. Palm Springs Leather 2026, bringing glamour, activism, vulnerability, and queer joy to the stage.
Before the competition, the 40-year-old reflected on the phrase that has followed them throughout their career.
“When I walked into the work room of RuPaul’s Drag Race, I said my tag line. When I walked on the International Mr. Leather stage, I spoke my truth.”
That emotional connection between drag and leather has become central to Honey’s identity in recent years. Speaking on the Dads and Daddies The Podcast, the crowned winner explained that their introduction to leather culture came through community. Their leather father, Wil Wever, would attend drag performances and hand out leather hankies to Honey after shows. Eventually, one Muir cap, some DJ sets, and a move to Palm Springs later, the former RuPaul Drag Race contestant found themself fully immersed in the leather and fetish scene.
And honestly, the way they describe it makes perfect sense.
“Leather is drag to me, drag is a kink,” they shared, adding that the different pieces of their identity finally came together while living in Palm Springs.
A Win Bigger Than One Title
According to the official International Mr. Leather contestant description, Honey is a “multidisciplinary artist, activist, and proud member of the Palm Springs Leather Order of the Desert.” But fans already know that reducing Honey to just one title has never really worked.
Over the last two decades, the multi-hyphenate has built a career spanning drag, DJing, activism, fashion, music, and television while consistently advocating for marginalized voices within queer spaces. Their IML win feels like a celebration not only of leather culture but also of the increasingly fluid overlap between queer performance art, nightlife, kink communities, and radical self expression.
Honey’s visibility matters because they refuse to separate those worlds. Instead, they proudly connect them.
Their official bio describes someone committed to “unity, sophistication, and the exhilarating pursuit of queer joy,” and that spirit clearly resonated with the judges and audience alike.
The Internet Is Obsessed
Unsurprisingly, queer fans online are eating this up.
For longtime Drag Race viewers, Honey’s IML victory feels like a reminder that queer journeys rarely move in straight lines. Sometimes the queen you first met in sequins and wigs evolves into an international leather titleholder inspiring an entirely different corner of LGBTQ+ culture.
And somehow, Honey Davenport makes that transformation look completely natural.
Raw and unfiltered indeed.
