Sexual Freedom Parade at Naughty in N'awlins!
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By Samia Mounts
When John and Jackie Melfi invited me to be their guest at this yearâs Naughty In Nâawlins, an annual swingersâ convention that happens every summer in New Orleans, I was really excited and grateful. For one thing, Iâd finally get to meet John and Jackie, this awesome couple who brought me on as an essayist here at Openlove101 and have been giving me so much support and love ever since.
Iâd get to return to New Orleans for the first time in eight years, and if youâve ever been, you know how magical, romantic, mysterious, and wild that city is. Plus, I freaking love swingersâitâs so much fun getting to know people whoâve managed to question societal conventions and rise above the restrictions of our sex-negative culture...
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Okay, so I LOVE THE SEXUAL FREEDOM PARADE.
John and Jackie were the King and Queen of last yearâs convention, so they got to ride on a float waving and wearing crowns â so fancy! â while I flitted around like a fairy sprite trying to meet as many people and see as many things as possible. There were people from every walk of life, some in fantastical outfits, some in casual clothes, but almost everyone wore whiteâa cleverly subversive way to call out the cultural convention of fetishizing sexual âpurity.â Lots of people held signs with messages like, âMy body, my choices,â âMake love not war,â âSwingers have more fun!â and âI love my wife AND her best friend!â (See photos here).
The best part of the parade was seeing normal, vanilla people, even families with kids, on the sidewalks taking great pleasure in the sex-positive spectacle we were creating. There wasnât a hint of judgement coming from any direction. Everyone felt free, everyone was smiling. The energy in the air was so positive and alive! I loved every second, and it was the perfect way to start a fantastic convention experience.
From there, things just got better. Every new person I met was warm and welcoming, and I never once had an issue with consent. The convention staff were outfitted with T-shirts that read âASK FIRSTâ in large letters, and the theme of consent and communication was highly visible throughout the weekâŚ
Click here to read on!
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Race Bannon Advocacy Award
Presented to Gayle Rubin
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By Russell J. Stambaugh, PhD
This year, NCSF awarded the Race Bannon Advocacy Award to author and leather activist Gayle S. Rubin. She elected to be awarded from the stage at Up Your Alley Fair on July 28 on Folsom Street. I introduced Race who made the presentation as the music muted and the dancers stopped gyrating for five minutes!
Gayle was awarded for her long history of effective advocacy, including her scene and academic writing, her role in founding Samois, the first Lesbian Leather organization, her service to kink as an historian, including her work on the board of the National Leather Archives and Museum, and work on the Leather Historical District in San Francisco. Thanks Gayle! This is a small recognition for a colossal contribution!
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Download these Consent Signs to post on your social media and print out to put on the wall at your club or event.
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Choose the consent slogans that best fit your consent culture, and let everyone know what your standards of conduct are with eye-catching images.
There are 22 Consent Signs to choose from!
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Consensual Non-monogamy Support Survey
Please fill out the survey by the Consensual Non-monogamy Task Force of the APA's Division 44. Support the work being done by this group of mental health professionals!
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Incident Reporting & Response
3rd Quarter 2019 Report
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NCSFâs Incident Reporting & Response received 58 reports & requests for assistance from individuals, groups and businesses in July, August and September 2019. This is compared to the 43 requests received in the 2nd Quarter of 2019.
NCSF maintains the confidentiality of those who come to us for help, however we balance that need with the need to report the services we are providing and to provide the community with a record of where the need is the greatest.
- 24 groups or people dealing with groups requested resources
- 15 requests for resources and information involving criminal legal matters
- 8 requests by professionals or for referrals to kink and polyamory aware professionals
- 6 reports regarding civil matters
- 5 reports involving child custody
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NCSF Thanks!
3rd Quarter 2019 Donations
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NCSF thanks
CLAW
for donating $3,000 to the NCSF Foundation to provide education for professionals about BDSM-Leather-Fetish practices. The funds were raised at CLAW 19 held April 23-27 in Cleveland, Ohio.
NCSF thanks the
Red Dragons Riding Club - Old Dominion Chapter
, a Coalition Partner of NCSF, for their donation of $1,625.00 to NCSF in August!
Thank you to
School of Hard Knox
for raising $1,341 as their Coalition Partner fundraiser for NCSF! The funds were raised at their Kinky Karnival/Fall Festival on August 3rd.
NCSF thanks
Jaiya
, a NCSF Coalition Partner, for donating $1,460 to the NCSF Foundation during the third quarter of 2019!
Thank you to
Portland Leather Alliance
for donating $1,000 to the NCSF Foundation in September to support the Northwest Consent Summit!
NCSF thanks
James Dunyak
, NCSFâs New England Advocate, for donating $600 to the NCSF Foundation from July-September, 2019!
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NCSF at the
American Psychological Association in Chicago
APA Conference
August 7-11, 2019
NCSF hosted the only exhibit that dealt with sexuality and consenting adults. Thank you to everyone who came by the NCSF table in the Exhibit Hall to talk about our advocacy and to get educational materials on kink and nonmonogamy. NCSF also signed up therapists and educators on our Kink Aware Professionals database which provides Sex-Positive Support for Kink and Nonmonogamy.
NCSF handed out nearly 1,000 of our new
Consensual Non-monogamy for Mental Health Professionals
brochure that was created with the APA Division 44's Consensual Non-monogamy Task Force. The brochure contains recommendations for supporting CNM therapy clients, common issues in therapy, and institutions/systems-related recommendations. (Pictured above are the CNM Task Force Co-Chairs Drs. Amy C. Moors and Heath Schechinger with Susan Wright.)
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Kelly Beaton, Membership Coordinator, Board Members Susan Wright and Russell J. Stambaugh, PhD.
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The NCSF resources were in high demand among attendees, poster presenters and presenters.
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NCSF was a Proud Sponsor of Journey! Leather Conference
NCSF was proud to help sponsor and attend
Journey! Leather Conference
, held in Atlanta, GA from August 9-11.
The Journey! Conference is a pleasure positive, BDSM event offering an educational format for dialogue, learning, and exploration of topics critical to Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) and their allies in kink and alternative lifestyle subcultures.
Ceyda Trei, Coalition Partner representative, and Keira Harbison, Vice-Chair of NCSF, accepted a Community Service Award on behalf of NCSF from Master Sable representing Journey Con.
NCSF is looking forward to next year's event in Ft. Lauderdale on July 23rd.
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More places we've been this quarter
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J. Tebias,
NCSF Board Member and Titleholder Outreach Director,
manned the NCSF table at
Dore Alley
in San Francisco in July.
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Arizona Power Exchange (APEX)
, a Coalition Partner of NCSF, presented the Consent Collective, a day-long event on September 28th. We began with a town hall session where we identified various consent issues, and then dived in deeper. There was also education on: writing a consent statement, dealing with consent incidents, and creating a consent response team for group leaders. The concessions and raffle proceeds benefited NCSF!
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Thank you to the
Players Club
for donating $500 raised as their annual Coalition Partner fundraiser. The funds were raised as part of San Antonioâs annual Fiesta Event held every April, where organizations design and sell Fiesta Medals with a portion of the proceeds designated for their favorite charity. Players Club chose NCSF as their charity!
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The Benefits of Coalition Partner Membership
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NCSF hosts a Coalition Partner Town Hall online every Quarter to discuss important issues facing our communities today. This month, we are talking about regulations and laws that impact on clubs, including Sexually Oriented Business laws.
At our last CP Town Hall, we talked about planning for lobbying State legislatures to adopt the new Model Penal Code on Sexual Assault which has a definition of consent. This webinar was recorded exclusively for Coalition Partners. Join NCSF today and take advantage of all our Coalition offers!
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Show your support for NCSF and your appreciation for consent culture with products from our NCSF and Consent Counts shops! Every purchase helps us work harder and spread our message to more people. There's a wide variety of merchandise to choose from, highlighting NCSF or the Consent Counts logo.
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Media Updates and Web Features
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NCSF Media Updates are a sampling of recent stories printed in US newspapers, magazines, and selected websites containing significant mention of BDSM-leather-fetish, polyamory, or Lifestyle issues and topics. These stories may be positive, negative, accurate, inaccurate or anywhere in between.
NCSF publishes the Media Updates to provide readers with a comprehensive look at what media outlets are writing about these topics and to urge everyone to make comments that dispute stereotypes about alternative sexuality. NCSF permits and encourages readers to forward these Media Updates where appropriate.
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NCSF is a grassroots coalition run by volunteers.
Your donations go directly to our advocacy efforts.
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Get In Touch!
822 Guilford Avenue
Box 127
Baltimore, Maryland
21202-3707
(410) 539-4824
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