Welcome to the Center for Sex Positive Culture. The Center is a non-profit, membership-based community center located in Seattle, Washington.

Hurray for Sex Educators!

Tue, 10/16/2007 at 14:16

Good afternoon.

It's been a great day today so far, although I did wake up at 5:30 AM with hot flashes (I know, TMI). But they got me up and going and I've accomplished a lot already and the day is not even half done.

There's a lot of great happenings going on in the Greater Sex Positive Community. We are seeing a huge growth in what is being offered in terms of adult education. Teri Ciacchi, David Funden, Robert Allen, Jennifer from Libido Events, Bondage Max, Betty Martin and Robby Pellet, Veronica Monet, the girls at Babeland and myself are just drop in the bucket. It's exciting to be part of such an illustrious group of educators.

I'm not going to list all they are doing, however I'm encouraging you to click on their names above and check out their web sites.

A word about our educators and the sex positive education that they provide. There's a pervasive conversation among the various sex positive communities around the country that education should be free or very, very inexpensive. In my opinion that attitude is disrespectful of our educators and all the work they put into creating sex education for all of you. I believe that we value what we pay for. That said, I do understand that some of you are not always able to pay the price for the workshops you want to attend. There are several ways that you can attend workshops at reduced rates. First, write the presenter and volunteer. Sometimes they need someone to make copies for them, drive them to events or just take care of their food and drink during the event. Be creative. Also, when there is a workshop at the Center, we do occasionally have scholarship funds available.

Speaking of scholarships, did you know that donations to our scholarship fund are tax deductible? The Scholarship fund is run by the Foundation, which is a 501 (c) 3. If you want to donate to the fund, just send me an e-mail (director@sexpositiveculture.org) and put scholarship fund in the subject line.

NATIONAL COALITION FOR SEXUAL FREEDOM NEWS

National Coalition for Sexual Freedom -- Media Update

October 15, 2007

media@ncsfreedom.org

1. Magazine's ads effectively stretched the bounds of art

2. Changes in University non-discrimination policy could spark ambiguity

3. Hanging out for the cause

4. Strip club is planned near bondage parlor

5. Trial in sight for Bedford dominatrix case

6. Media, critics get whipped into frenzy by Leather Fest

7. S&M Death Raises Legal Questions

8. Convicted hedge fund exec apologizes

9. Embrace your kink

10. The leather of the land

11. 400,000 people, and no media?

NCSF Media Updates represent a sampling of recent stories printed in US newspapers, magazines, and selected websites containing significant mention of SM-leather-fetish, polyamory, or swing issues and topics.

These stories may be positive, negative, accurate, inaccurate - or anywhere in between.

NCSF publishes the Updates to provide readers a comprehensive look at what media outlets are writing about these topics. NCSF permits and encourages readers to forward these Updates where appropriate.

read more . . .

A Survey For You To Take!
From Lolita Wolf

I am asking you to please participate in this quick and anonymous survey: the second national Survey of Violence & Discrimination Against Sexual Minorities

Who is running this survey? Larry Iannotti, LCSW, is a professional social scientist and practicing therapist getting his doctoral degree through the City University of NY. Susan Wright is the Media Spokesperson for NCSF, and is accredited as a research assistant affiliated with CUNY. Both Larry and Susan are friends of mine and I trust them. They are activists and want to help the BDSM-leather-fetish community. For more information, please call Susan at 917-848-6544, or Larry at 212-465-1917.

Being conducted in cooperation with NCSF , this survey includes all of the questions asked on NCSF's ground-breaking 1998 Violence & Discrimination Against Sexual Minorities survey, and includes new questions on personal, business, and Internet discrimination experienced by BDSM-leather-fetish practitioners.

The 1998 survey found significant discrimination and violence occurring against BDSM-leather-fetish practitioners. The new data may be used in court obscenity cases to prove that sexual minorities have been chilled on the Internet because of fear of prosecution. The survey also includes space for individuals to write about the discrimination they have faced, which will be helpful in illustrating the consequences of the negative stereotypes about BDSM-leather-fetish activities.

Please take a minute to fill out this anonymous survey even if you have not been a victim of violence or discrimination. Everybody please do it! As of right now, it has been mainly white men who have responded, and they want to get answers from people of color and women, too.

This is a community-wide effort and you can help: 1. Please fill out the anonymous survey. 2. Please contact surveybdsm@gmail.com to receive hard copies for your event or for distribution to your members. 3. Please send this announcement to your email lists and/or post it in your blog, LiveJournal, MySpace and other online forums.

Thanks! Lolita Wolf

National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) is a national organization committed to altering the political, legal, and social environment in the U.S. in order to guarantee equal rights for consenting adults who practice forms of alternative sexual expression. NCSF is primarily focused on the rights of consenting adults in the SM-leather-fetish, swing, and polyamory communities, who often face discrimination because of their sexual expression.