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Mission Statement The NCSF is committed to creating a political, legal and social environment in the US that advances equal rights for consenting adults who engage in alternative sexual and relationship expressions. The NCSF aims to advance the rights of, and advocate for consenting adults in the BDSM-Leather-Fetish, Swing, and Polyamory Communities. We pursue our vision through direct services, education, advocacy, and outreach, in conjunction with our partners, to directly benefit these communities.
NCSF Can Help... If you are seeking a Kink Aware Professional (KAP) please click here. Our KAP program allows professionals who are friendly to BDSM, swing and poly individuals to list themselves as "kink friendly." It serves as a resource for people to self-refer for help from theraputic, legal and other professionals who will not prejudge based on the consensual adult activities of our constituents. We've recently added documents for_How to Choose a Kink Aware Therapist_ in long and short form as well as a booklet gearded for those in the theraputic community that focuses on poly issues. Please click here for more information or to access the documents. If you are seeking assistance or our Incident Response program, please click here. Criteria for acceptance include
consideration of whether a significant issue relevant to NCSF's primary constituencies is at stake, what
impact can be realized for our constituents as a whole if NCSF gets involved, and whether existing resources
allow for a case to be handled effectively.
DSM Revision Project The American Psychiatric Association has formed working committees to revise by 2011 its Diagnostic and Statistic Manual (DSM), the definitive resource on the Diagnostic Criteria for all mental disorders. Statements currently within the DSM Paraphilias criteria are contradicted by scientific evidence, therefore NCSF must conclude that the interpretation of the Paraphilias criteria has been politically – not scientifically – based. This politically motivated interpretation subjects BDSM practitioners, fetishists and cross-dressers to bias, discrimination and social sanctions without any scientific basis. We call on the American Psychiatric Association to remove or drastically restructure the Paraphilias section in the DSM. The American Psychiatric Association's Paraphilias Subworkgroup Agrees: Kinky is NOT a Diagnosis! In the proposals for the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual (DSM-V), alternative sexual behavior has been depathologized. NCSF applauds the American Psychiatric Association's Paraphilias Subworkgroup's revisions which state that you can be a fetishist, transvestite, sadist or masochist without having a mental disorder. More work needs to be done but this is an important first step! To find out more, click here . Included is relevant pr, responses from the revsion committee members as well as our responses to them. To get updates on the profress of the DSM Revision Project you can visit the DSM Revision Blogspot.
Consent Counts Project In 2007, NCSF organized a leather leadership roundtable at the Creating Change conference to discuss the goals of the BDSM-leather-fetish communities. The number one priority was determined to be the decriminalization of BDSM. A subsequent townhallmeeting at LLC was held to further discuss this goal and to establish an outline for a working plan for this 10-15 year project. This is a community wide project with participation by national groups as well as activists to help determine the plan to accomplish this goal. Earlier this year, it was determined that it would be in the best interest of this project for NCSF to take a leadership role. Since NCSF had already established the DSM project as a major area of focus, it made sense to also add the Consent Counts project as a major focus. Judy Guerin, former Executive Director of NCSF and long-time sexual freedom activist, recently re-joined NCSF as the Consent Counts project director. Click here for more information about Consent Counts.
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