1. Adult event hits the road in permit flap
2. No Pain, No Gain
3. Polyamory
4. A Friendly Hogtie
5. Vote looms for sex parties
6. SSFC squanders student funding
7. Rural swingers club violates zoning rules, officials say
1. Adult event hits the road in permit flap
2. No Pain, No Gain
3. Polyamory
4. A Friendly Hogtie
5. Vote looms for sex parties
6. SSFC squanders student funding
7. Rural swingers club violates zoning rules, officials say
Adult event hits the road in permit flap
by Christine Wallgren
The Boston Globe October 19, 2006
The New England Leather Alliance has abruptly pulled its three-day Fetish Fair Fleamarket scheduled for January out of the Holiday Inn in Mansfield — site of last winter's event — and moved it to Danvers. The chairwoman of the Leather Alliance says town officials forced her group out because they were uncomfortable with the fair's adult contents.
“I think it's discrimination," said Vivienne Kramer, “and we don't appreciate this kind of treatment."
Kramer predicts local businesses will lose about $1 million in revenue due to the fair's departure. Last year, the event — which features sexual paraphernalia and information — drew about 5,000 people, she said.
Holiday Inn officials, eager to keep the business, appealed to the town and Massachusetts Land Court on the group's behalf, to no avail.
Mansfield officials maintain they are simply enforcing local bylaws — specifically, the requirement that the group obtain a permit under the town's adult entertainment bylaw.
Last January the fair was held at the Mansfield Holiday Inn without incident, and without a required special permit, according to Building Inspector Nick Riccio, the town's zoning enforcement officer. It was the first time the event was held in town and the omission of a permit was an oversight, Riccio said.
“I wasn't even told about the flea market until a few days before it opened," he said. The New England Leather Alliance and Holiday Inn said they were unaware of any special requirements.
But this time around, town officials were determined to enforce the requirement for a permit, the cost of which is based on the square footage being rented. In the case of the Holiday Inn venue, the cost was $9,600, according to Kramer.
That was more than the New England Leather Alliance bargained for. “And even if we had paid the $9,600, there was still no guarantee we would get the permit," Kramer said. So the group decided to take its event to the North Shore.
This is the first time in the 15-year history of the event that a last-minute change of location had to be made, Kramer said. It is also the first time any kind of permit was required, even though the fair has run in Boston and several nearby suburbs.
And it was a first for Mansfield as well — no past group has fallen under the requirements of the adult entertainment bylaw, which was revised in the late 1990s.
Kramer said that while her organization is now focusing on the Danvers event, Mansfield has not heard the last of the New England Leather Alliance.
“We may plan something in the spring just to show the town we are everywhere and we are harmless," Kramer said.
The fair — which includes sex toys and other fetish paraphernalia — is the alliance's biggest fund -raiser of the year, Kramer said. Proceeds benefit such causes as domestic violence prevention and breast cancer research. Patrons of the flea market have never caused public safety problems for communities where the event was held, she said.
“If they had just come and seen the crowd at the Fetish Fair Fleamarket, they would have seen it looks like a crowd at a baseball game," Kramer said. “They are suburban middle-class people: your neighbors next door, looking to explore what interests them in their private life."
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To read this entire article, go to: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/10/19/adult_event_hits_the_road_in_permit_flap/ To respond, write to: the author at CLWallgren@aol.com or the editors at letter@globe.com
No Pain, No Gain
by Sarah Gianetto
Arizona Central
October 19, 2006
A burning cigarette poised millimeters from the flesh of her chest, the woman on stage lets her head fall back in tense anticipation — or is it ecstasy? — as the ember inches closer. I watch, waiting for cherry to meet skin, wondering how being burned becomes a fetish.
People have all kinds of fetishes, but things that leave scars? I think for a moment and realize it's not as unusual as we might think. Remember the 1996 David Cronenberg film Crash (not the triple-Oscar winner from 2004)? No? This Crash depicts stars James Spader and Holly Hunter delving into a subculture of scarred and mangled car-crash fetishists.
I think of my own fetish for vampires. They would leave scars, too. (Not that I've been bitten by a vampire . . . Or that they even exist . . . But, in theory, vampires would leave scars.)
Tonight, at the Arizona Fetish Ball 2006, held at the Venue of Scottsdale, I'm looking to find either a leash or a special ring. There are vendors' booths all over the place offering everything from raver toys and spanking paraphernalia (which a stranger asks me to demonstrate on him) to hair extensions and knives to – yes! – jewelry. On the second floor, near where an emcee auctions off a pair of feathered pasties modeled by a lovely lady in lingerie, I find Gazelle, who's selling belly dancing costumes and rings of the type I want.
The ring is similar to the one Lestat wore in Interview with the Vampire. (He used his when fangs just weren't discreet enough.) It fits on the tip of the finger and looks like a cat's claw. It's a harmless little accessory — until it gets into the hands of my date. But even then, it's nothing compared to the performance art: people getting the skin of their backs punctured with hooks that let them hang suspended above the stage; the S&M stage where a woman in vinyl holds onto her friend as she's flogged; or, most notably, the couple with the cigarette.
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To read this entire article, go to: http://www.azcentral.com/ent/music/articles/1019woman.html To respond, go to: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/sendaletter.html
Polyamory
by Stephanie Sellars (opinion column "Lust Life")
New York Press
October 18, 2006
The first time I heard the term polyamorous, I was on a date with a guy who was simultaneously on a date with another woman. There was some confusion as to whether or not it was actually a date, but it sure seemed like one when he bought us drinks, sat in between us at the bar and gave us equal conversational attention. It crossed my mind that he might be trying to set up a threesome. When she went to the restroom, I asked him bluntly, "Is she bisexual"? "I don't know", he said. "I haven't known her very long. Why do you ask"? "Well", I replied. "This situation is a little odd – why did you invite both of us"? "I didn't think you were interested", he said. "And I had already invited her before you said you were coming". "I'm dating someone, but I'm not a fan of monogamy", I said. "You mean, you're polyamorous"? He said. "Poly what? What exactly does that mean"? I asked. "It's the opposite of monogamy. Multiple partners". "Oh, then I suppose I am – what you just said".
That was two years ago. Since then I have identified, more or less, as polyamorous. When I mention this to people, they usually assume I'm a swinger, if not a heretic. Polyamory isn't just about juggling multiple sex partners. The definitions vary, but generally speaking, polyamory refers to multiple love relationships, whereas swinging typically revolves around uncommitted, emotionally detached, recreational sex. Literally meaning "many loves", polyamory includes: couples who have secondary committed relationships, triads, quads, group marriage, open marriage, intimate networks and singles with multiple romantic partners. Whatever the configuration, the common defining elements of polyamory (also known as responsible non-monogamy) are honesty, openness and consent among all parties. Liars and cheaters need not apply.
Most people find it shocking that there's actually an ethical way to have your cake and eat it too. I never had the desire to be a deceitful whore. I enjoy play parties and casual sex, but I've always craved romantic connections with more than one person. So I've had open relationships and erotic friendships. I've been simultaneously in love with two men. I've been in love with a man and a woman at the same time. I've carried on multiple relationships while feeling strong bonds with exes and peripheral lovers. I can't say that it's been easy, but throughout all these experiences, I've tried to be as honest as possible. Like many poly people, I was polyamorous long before I knew there was a name for it. Birgitte Philippides, a thirty-something artist residing in the West Village, has been polyamorous all her life, but officially only in the last three and a half years. She says, "There is one model in society for relationships – monogamy. The other is cheating – it's more socially acceptable for me to have a boyfriend and cheat on him than it is for me to openly love more than one person".
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To read this entire article, go to: http://www.nypress.com/19/42/news&columns/lustlife.cfm To respond, write to: editorial@nypress.com
A Friendly Hogtie
by Luke Navarro
SF Weekly (San Francisco)
October 18, 2006
Recently, after downing an after-work beer, my strait-laced friend Raoul unexpectedly jumped off his barstool and blurted, "I'm gonna be late to my first Shibari class!" Hmmm, some kind of sushi? "No man, BDSM Japanese rope bondage. You should come!" Images of a hogtied, ball-gagged Ving Rhames from Pulp Fiction stormed my brain. "Uh, I have papers to grade." (I teach junior high.)
My friend had just gotten into a feisty new relationship with a woman who liked a little spank-and-tie in the bedroom. Not wanting to appear anything less than a fifth-level dungeon master, he considered this outing a way to acquire "essential skills."
Twenty minutes later, after a carpe diem pep talk, the two of us were semiconfidently strutting past bondage racks and vinyl chairs with stirrups, down the dark hallways of the Citadel, Mission Street's own "community dungeon." While the place hosts classes called "Kinky Japan Revealed," "Public Humiliation," and the mysterious "Bootblacking Workshop," this evening was demurely titled "Rope Bondage Peer Workshop."
Inside was a fairly innocuous and geeky group – resembling, perhaps, a Radio Shack employee barbecue – crowded around a table, comparing rope. A grizzled old guy (someone's grandpa!) let me touch his: "Mine is marine quality tough, but softens in water." I was fondling samples of a red, hand-dyed silk variety when suddenly Raoul whipped out a 25-foot black nylon rope from his shoulder bag and whispered, "I got it from Stormy Leather on Howard. Let's do this!"
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To read this entire article, go to: http://www.sfweekly.com/Issues/2006-10-18/news/suckafreecity3.html To respond, write to: letters@sfweekly.com
Vote looms for sex parties
by Mike Goodwin
The Albany Times Union (NY)
October 17, 2006
SCHENECTADY — The City Council is expected to approve an ordinance next week to dramatically expand the types of adult businesses the city regulates — potentially closing a Union Street inn that holds sex parties for swingers.
The council's Development and Planning Committee approved the tighter regulations Monday night, setting the stage for a vote by the entire council at its next meeting to increase the number of adult businesses regulated by the city and determine where they can locate.
Lawmakers are expanding the rules that forbid pornographic bookstores and strip clubs from existing anywhere but industrial zones. The legislation would expand the list of businesses that can operate only in industrial zones to include hotels that offer room rentals for sex, pornographic theaters, escort services and nude modeling studios.
The move comes nearly nine months after neighbors began complaining that Union Street Bed & Breakfast was holding loud parties and advertising gatherings for sex on its Web site. But the inn's owner, Bob Alexson, said the parties are private affairs in his own home and off-limits to government regulations.
But committee Chairman Frank Maurizio said he expects that once the legislation is passed it will stand up to legal challenges and force Alexson to end his parties or host them in one of the city's industrial zones, the only sections of the city where sex-related businesses would be allowed to operate.
…Alexson, who promised a legal battle if the city tries to close his establishment or halt the parties, said his inn is outside the reach of the government.
"What I do in my own private home is no one's business," said Alexson, who added that his parties do not meet the qualifications to be regulated as a sex club.
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To read this entire article, go to: http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=526284&category=SCHENECTADY&BCCode=&newsdate=10/18/2006 To respond, write to: the author at mgoodwin@timesunion.com or the editors at tuletters@timesunion.com
SSFC squanders student funding
by Danny Tenenbaum (opinion and editorial)
The Badger Herald (The University of Wisconsin-Madison)
October 17, 2006
Every semester, countless students are shut out of classes that fill up within minutes of opening. Academic departments simply lack the funding to pay for the extra teaching assistants and lecturers. While not directly related, lengthy waiting lists for courses like Arabic and Urdu can seem ridiculous when we consider that another portion of our tuition money continues to be funneled into the pockets of Sex Out Loud "facilitators", who hold under-attended lectures covering topics like "BDSM and sensation play" and how to go about "pleasing yourself and your partner(s)".
Of course Sex Out Loud, a student organization with a recently doubled budget of $88,849, isn't going teach these pertinent skills without props – rest assured that our money is also going to the purchase of dildos and vibrators. President Reagan once wasted $44 billion in an attempt to use lasers to protect America from nuclear missiles. In 2003, amidst two under-funded and overly ambitious wars in Southwest Asia, President Bush allocated $1 billion to "protect marriage". And now Sex Out Loud needs a hundred thousand dollars to protect you from – um – improper masturbation technique?
Every year, the Student Services Finance Committee becomes the most hated group of students in Madison as they sift and winnow through page after page of organizational budgets, searching out and deleting attempts to make students pay for gratuitous travel expenses and other questionable uses of tuition money. This year, Sex Out Loud did their best to abuse the segregated-fee system and ultimately succeeded, getting funding for brand new sex toys as well as rent for an expanded office on State Street (the most expensive address in Madison).
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To read this entire article, go to: http://badgerherald.com/oped/2006/10/17/ssfc_squanders_stude.php To respond, write to: the author at drtenenbaum@wisc.edu or the editors at oped@badgerherald.com or comment at end of article
Rural swingers club violates zoning rules, officials say
Associated Press report
via The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette (Indiana)
October 12, 2006
A rural swingers club is facing fines of $300 per day after Shelby County officials decided it was in violation of zoning ordinances.
The club, called Topside II, was the main topic of discussion at Tuesday night's meeting of the county plan commission.
"This isn't something that you would expect in rural Indiana", said Shelby County Sheriff Tom Debaun.
Amy Butcher, executive director of the commission, said the owner, Gary James, had moved the club onto an old farm he had bought in rural Shelby County after running afoul of zoning officials in Indianapolis, where she said he had operated a similar club.
The club's Web site described it as one of the Midwest's oldest swingers clubs.
"We don't know if any of this activity is illegal", Debaun said. "All of their caveats on their Web page say they don't tolerate illegal activity, so that people who are participating in this are participating of their own free will, and they are supposed to be adults".
However, Topside II's Web site does request donations – from $5 for single women to about $30 for single men and couples – from those who attend the club about 15 miles southeast of Indianapolis.
The donations could be enough to classify the club as an adult business, officials said, and the area is zoned for agriculture and single-family residential use.
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To read this entire article, go to: http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/15741962.htm To respond, write to: letters@jg.net
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