1. My bizarre love triangle
2. When Blasphemous Gays Rip into Christians the MSM says Diddly Squat
3. Miller Officers Receive S&M Photos; Boycott to Extend Beyond Sunday's Event
4. Violet Blue wants to spank the SF Weekly at Folsom Street Fair
5. Preacher Caught In Sexually Explicit Chatrooms
6. Queen of kink
7. Catholic Group Threatens Battle With Miller Beer Over Racy Ad
8. Woman accused in dominatrix case appears in court
9. Keep it safe, sane, consensual
10. Dominatrix Submits To City's Wishes
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.
My bizarre love triangle
by Kat Wilder (opinion column)
Marin Independent Journal (Marin County, CA)
September 30, 2007
IN LIFE and in love, people have often asked me to do pretty weird stuff.
I have been asked by a friend to accompany her while she checked out a
woman she thought her husband was having an affair with (I did; he was),
I've been asked to lie about my age so I could take part in an
experimental drug trial (I didn't), and I have been asked by a boyfriend
to – well, let's not go there.
And then there was the time that I was asked to be a married man's lover
while he and his wife began an experiment in free love.
"You want me to what?" I asked Trey as we slurped on our mocha
Frappuccinos not too far from his office.
I was doing some consulting work at his firm, and he and I became friendly
– OK, flirty – but he was married, happily, and that was the end of that
for me. I don't bust up marriages, happy or not.
One day he confided in me. His wife was a virgin when they got married,
and he often wondered if – or, actually, when – that was going to be an
issue. Two years after the honeymoon, the rumblings began.
"I want you to be my lover," he said as he licked the tiny clouds of
whipped cream that remained on the edges of his cup, the diamond chips in
his gold wedding band glinting in the sun. I couldn't help but notice he
had a wonderful command of his tongue.
"Well, let me tell you what's going on."
And then he did. He and his wife, Jeanie, had been toying with the idea of
having an open marriage – at least for a few months. She wanted to
experience other men, and what was fair for her was fair for him, they'd
decided. Just talking about that and fantasizing what it might be like was
enough to re-energize their sex life, he said. "It's crazy, but we can't
keep our hands off each other!"
[continued]
To read this entire article, go to:
http://www.marinij.com/lifestyles/ci_7042403
To respond, write to: the author at katzwild@sbcglobal.net or the
editors at opinion@marinij.com
When Blasphemous Gays Rip into Christians the MSM says Diddly Squat
by Doug Giles (opinion column)
TownHall.com
September 29, 2007
Can you imagine if a group of Christians got together and made a
photograph advertising their upcoming rally, and in that photo they
deliberately went out of their way to tick off homosexuals?
What do you think would happen? Do you think the mainstream media would
cover it? Do you think Katie Couric, Chris Matthews, Swill Maher and the
other liberal curmudgeons would wade in and condemn the Christians and
call 'em hatesr… meanies… or… or… something?
However, what does the Main Stream Media do when the tables are turned and
the queer crowd spits on the Christian community by showing a bunch of
S&M/B&D mooks as Christ and his disciples in an advertisement for the foul
end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it Folsom Street Fair this weekend? Probably
nothing.
Yep, the MSM will, most likely, defend Folsom's unwholesome flotsam as
freedom of expression, artistic creativity and a progressive step away
from the puritanical social mores that have for too, too long frowned upon
their dream of an annual Tommy and Timmy Testicle Pageant.
For the uninitiated, what exactly did the way-too-creepy gay crew at
Folsom do? Here's the poop (literally).
You remember Da Vinci's painting of Christ, The Last Supper, don't cha?
Well the Wizards of Odd, yes the marketing crew at Freaks-R-Us, decided it
would be cool to market their "Street Fair" by replacing Jesus with some
black/gay/S&M dude and then… then… swap the disciples out for a bunch
of randy bondage boys and… and… (they weren't finished) switch the
bread and wine – which represents Christ's sacrificial body and blood
given as a ransom for man's sin – with a bunch of rubber-fisted dildos,
together with a broad selection of other fetish crap made only for the
fetid critter.
[continued]
To read this entire article, go to:
http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/DougGiles/2007/09/29/when_blasphemous_gays_rip_into_christians_the_msm_says_diddly_squat?page=full&comments=true
To respond, write to the author at:
http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/DougGiles/2007/09/29/when_blasphemous_gays_rip_into_christians_the_msm_says_diddly_squat?contact=true
or comment at bottom of article
Miller Officers Receive S&M Photos; Boycott to Extend Beyond Sunday's Event
Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights (press release)
via Standard Newswire service
September 28, 2007
NEW YORK, Sept. 28 /Standard Newswire/ — Catholic League president Bill
Donohue explained the latest developments in the boycott against Miller
Brewing:
"Miller Brewing will now be known as S&M Miller, and that is because it
has apparently decided to drop anchor with the sadomasochistic festival
that it is proudly sponsoring on Sunday at the Folsom Street Fair in San
Francisco. It still refuses to pull sponsorship of this obscene event,
knowing full well that it is making a financial contribution to an
anti-Catholic group, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence; the Sisters is
one of the beneficiaries of the street fair. And last night in San
Francisco, the Sisters held a mock Last Supper, ridiculing all Christians.
"Yesterday, we sent all eleven members of the company's Executive
Committee a sample of the kinds of sick behaviors (click here) S&M Miller
is sponsoring; the packet was sent by overnight mail to the all-male
committee."
The accompanying memo says:
"It is hard to believe that if you knew exactly what kind of event the
Folsom Street Fair is that you would want Miller to be sponsoring it. That
is why I am sending the enclosed photos of this event (taken from previous
years) to you.
In the outside chance you are not disturbed by these photos, please show
them to your mother, wife and daughters.
I trust that you will do the right thing and withdraw sponsorship of this
event immediately. Rest assured that we will not walk away from this
issue. The public is rallying to our side, emboldening us to stay in this
fight for as long as it takes."
[continued]
To read this entire press release, go to:
http://www.standardnewswire.com/news/336381633.html
To respond, write to: Kiera M. McCaffrey, Director of Communications,
Catholic League catalyst@catholicleague.org or Miller Brewing at 1-800-MILLER 6
or 414-931-2000
Violet Blue wants to spank the SF Weekly at Folsom Street Fair
by Violet Blue (opinion and advice)
San Francisco Chronicle
September 28. 2007
Like any venerated holiday, the Folsom Street Fair (folsomstreetfair.com),
the world's largest daytime celebration of kinkiness, happens but once a
year. This weekend, it's leather Christmas in the city – and if the
weather holds up, we'll likely see the estimated 400,000 BDSM-lovin'
attendees sweating it out in rubber and leather (or nothing at all) to get
a taste of our very own internationally attended Disneyland for kinksters.
Folsom, for the uninitiated, is a taste of our so-called San Francisco
values and much more. For locals, it's just another weekend of
impossible-to-get taxis, leather-studded bulges on parade in the Castro
(even in Walgreens – is nothing sacred?), and strategizing errands around
the SOMA shutdown. We might forget that going to Folsom can be the
funnest, craziest, most claustrophobic, most shocking (and for some,
arousing, or a sort of homecoming) experience a grown up can have in a
daytime, carnivalesque atmosphere. You can buy as many overpriced beers,
corsets, whips, BDSM books, DVDs, and "Got Slaves?" T-shirts as you can
carry. Or have your slave carry for you, as the case may be.
Folsom is a lot of fun – and it can even be a bit trite, ridiculous,
hilarious or boring, as the mystery, fright, and hype about BDSM and kink
are (in some cases explicitly) exposed into the light of day for attendees
to view from all angles, ask questions about, and see for what they really
are about: consensual adult playfulness, in all its colors and extremes.
It's for experienced players and tourists alike, though I think the
tourists are the most important part. Not just for the money they spend in
our city, but for the chance they get to compare the reality of kink to
the media hype – hype seen everywhere from Fox News to Hollywood (where
seemingly every serial killer is dressed in a BSDM or transgender wrapper)
to last week's SF Weekly cover for its story about the death of local
anti-drug activist Joe Konopka, who was found sans pulse, in BDSM gear.
The Weekly's cover shouted "Sex & Murder," in bold black with "S" and "&
M" in bright red. Inside, the article attempted to explore Konopka's death
– there is still no official conclusion as to whether it was foul play, or
an opportunistic scene-gone-wrong with a shady character tying the
proverbial knots. The article begins as an unbiased bio about Konopka, but
is undercut by the message that kink and BDSM are dark and highly
dangerous habits that can kill you. The article's conclusion states that
Konopka's (allegedly) BDSM-scene-related death isn't "the first time a
bondage session has gone awry." In one of the final paragraphs, we're
cautioned that "Any time anybody plays, they are literally trusting the
other person with their life." We're also referred to the article's (in
print only) sidebar, misleadingly titled "Safe Words", which does not
explain in any way what a "safeword" is, but cites four reported deaths
from 1985-present where BDSM was somehow involved – or not. The first
instance is simply a reported discovery of a naked body in handcuffs.
[continued]
To read this entire article, go to:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2007/09/28/violetblue.DTL
To respond, write to: the author at violetblue@sfgate.com or the
editors at letters@sfchronicle.com or comment at bottom of article
Preacher Caught In Sexually Explicit Chatrooms
by Brian Collister
WOAI TV (San Antonio, TX)
September 28, 2007
He is the leader of a local church who is living a double life. This man
of God is surfing adult chat rooms on the internet where people live out
their sexual fantasies. First, we want to warn you this story deals with
sexually explicit matter and may not be suitable for your kids.
It's a place in cyberspace where men are the master and women are their
submissive sex slaves.
Chat rooms filled with explicit sexual conversations involving bondage and
torture.
A woman we'll call "Annie", but who asked us not to show her face, said
she frequents these chat rooms.
Over the past year she's been having online chats with a man who uses the
screen name "Diablos4u2."
Annie gave us what she said are the chat logs of their conversations. In
them, he describes what he wants to do to her in very graphic detail.
She described for us what was in those chats, "Just extreme deviant sexual
acts. Drag me around by my hair. Forced oral gratification. Forced sexual
servitude."
In the chats, he called her a slut and even said she needed a spanking.
The rest was too graphic to show you.
When she asked who he was, he replied, "I am a public speaker in San
Antonio. Discretion is a must for me…I am respected in this community
for the facade I present. It has to be maintained."
Later he gave her the name Corin Miller, said that he is married with two
children. He bragged of having extramarital affairs with women he's met in
these chat rooms.
They also spoke on the phone and talked using web cameras, but Annie got
suspicious and did some research to find out who Corin Miller really was.
Starting out with his fake name and cell phone number, her research
eventually led her to a church website and to the church's preacher,
Reverend Ron Stringfellow.
"I kept thinking I was wrong. The very first thing I thought was, 'No way.
That couldn't possibly be him,'" Annie told us.
Stringfellow is the leader of the congregation here at the Medina Valley
Assembly of God Church just outside Castroville.
[continued]
To read this entire article, go to:
http://www.woai.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=a33661ef-cc7d-46a2-a2e6-a7836a60ff76
To respond, write to: the reporter at BrianCollister@woai.com or the
editors at GregDerkoski@woai.com
Queen of kink:
Viola Johnson visits Dallas to spread the leather gospel
by Daniel A. Kusner
The Dallas Voice
September 27, 2007
This week, a huge room inside the John Thomas Gay and Lesbian Center
morphed into a parlor of perv. On the wall hangs a poster for London's
Royal Rubber Orgy. A reading table holds the collected editions of Dungeon
Master newsletters. In the corner, an exhibit illustrates the 15-year
history of Dallas' very own International Master and slave contest.
Guiding visitors around the kinky collection is Viola Johnson, a leather
librarian, if you will. Earlier this week, she packed up her staggering
stockpile of literature, memorabilia, photography and ephemera and drove
from Philadelphia to Dallas for Beyond Vanilla XVII, the annual weekend of
workshops and social events that's organized by National Leather
Association of Dallas. Throughout this weekend, Dallasites can dip into
Johnson's collection to celebrate a vibrant history and revive a passion
to preserve.
Johnson is an old guard pack rat – the kind who can't seem to part with
any of the smutty treasures that touch her life. Growing up in New Jersey,
she was blue-dog Republican. In college, she studied English literature
and history. But one day, a leather daddy gave her an eye-opening volume
about spanking and beating titled, "Curiosa: As Told By a Flagalent".
Johnson directs me to the sacred 1885 text, and she allows me to
delicately page through it.
She vividly recalls the first time she read it – almost 40 years ago – and
how it introduced her to her first lesson in Leather 101: To serve.
Coming out as gay and coming out as "leather" are apparently two distinct
processes that are usually mutually exclusive. Ever since Johnson cracked
the spine of "Curiosa", she began saving practically every scrap of BDSM
history she could find.
"Basically, I moved the contents of my house to Dallas", she laughs.
[continued]
To read this entire article, go to:
http://www.dallasvoice.com/artman/publish/article_6793.php
To respond, write to: kusner@dallasvoice.com
Catholic Group Threatens Battle With Miller Beer Over Racy Ad
by Josh Gerstein
The New York Sun
September 27, 2007
PALO ALTO, Calif. – A Catholic group is threatening an all-out battle with
Miller Brewing Co. after the firm distanced itself from a raunchy San
Francisco street fair but apparently did not end its sponsorship of the
event.
The Catholic League has expressed outrage over the poster for this year's
fair, which takes place on Sunday. The poster, which evokes a renowned
Leonardo da Vinci painting, "The Last Supper," shows semi-nude men and
women in bondage attire seated at a table cluttered with sex toys, whips,
and various restraints.
After protests from the Catholic League and another conservative group,
Concerned Women for America, Miller said Tuesday that it was asking to
have its logo removed from the poster.
"While Miller has supported the Folsom Street Fair for several years, we
take exception to the poster the organizing committee developed this year.
We understand some individuals may find the imagery offensive," a Miller
spokesman, Julian Green, said in a statement sent by e-mail.
The president of the Catholic League, William Donohue, said his group
recently discovered that fair organizers are holding a "Last Supper With
the Sisters" event to "prepare your mortal flesh for the kinkiest weekend
on Earth." The gathering is to benefit a group Mr. Donohue called
"anti-Catholic and misogynist," the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. The
sisters call themselves "queer nuns."
Mr. Donohue faulted Miller for refusing to cut ties with the fair in light
of the "Sisters" connection. "This is an ethical and marketing fiasco of
colossal proportions," he said. "It really is "Miller Time". Miller has
decided to side with a small band of depraved and bigoted gays against
Catholics – and Protestants."
The Catholic activist said he would announce some kind of action against
Miller today. "The collision course that Miller wants with Christians is
now on," he said.
The nonprofit group that organizes the fair, billed as "the granddaddy of
all leather events," issued a statement Tuesday defending the poster and
saying it was not intended "to be particularly pro-religion or
anti-religion."
Asked about the Catholic League's latest complaints, a spokesman for the
fair, Patrick Finger, said, "We have no further comment on this issue."
[continued]
To read this entire article, go to:
http://www.nysun.com/article/63472?page_no=2
To respond, write to: editor@nysun.com or comment at bottom of article
Woman accused in dominatrix case appears in court
by Rob Ryser
The Journal News (Lower Hudson area, NY)
September 24, 2007
BEDFORD – The woman accused of running a dominatrix den out of a farmhouse
she rented from a Yeshiva was in and out of Town Court yesterday with
little drama after her lawyer asked for a delay until next month.
Sandra Chemero, dressed in the black skirt suit, pumps and sunglasses that
she has worn on previous court appearances, did not answer questions.
Her lawyer would not elaborate outside the courtroom, either.
Judge Kevin Quaranta granted the request to delay the case until Oct. 11
and repeated his desire to schedule a trial before the end of the year.
"My goal for everyone in this courtroom is for a swift and certain
conclusion," the judge said.
Yesterday's quick appearance in court was in contrast to the suspect's
last time before the judge on Sept. 10.
On that date, the suspect's lawyer, George Galgano Jr., questioned a
Bedford police detective for an hour about the legality of a search
warrant that led to Chemero's arrest.
Galgano contended that because the detective listened to no more than a
few minutes of an 80-minute surveillance tape between an undercover
officer and Chemero, what the detective heard was out of context.
But Bedford Detective Michael Roche argued the opposite, saying what he
heard the suspect say about offering kinky sexual services fit other
evidence used to obtain the search warrant, including anonymous tips of
prostitution at the house and a Web site with an address and telephone
number corresponding to Chemero.
The neighboring Jewish Orthodox seminary said it had no idea anything was
going on in the home; its officials ordered the suspect to leave after her
arrest.
Chemero was charged in February on a misdemeanor prostitution charge and a
misdemeanor weapon charge relating to a stun gun. She was accused of
offering sexual acts for $275 per hour, police said.
[continued]
To read this entire article, go to:
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070925/NEWS02/709250321/1023/NEWS07
To respond, write to: the author at rryser@lohud.com or the
editors at letters@lohud.com or comment at bottom of article
Keep it safe, sane, consensual:
Fetish followers should respect but experiment
by Melissa Johnson
The University Daily Kansan (University of Kansas)
September 21, 2007
To say that the term "fetish" has become convoluted when compared with its
modern meaning might be a gross understatement.
Encyclopedia Britannica explains that the term derives from the idea that
a fetish "referred to a charm thought to contain magical or spiritual
powers". Sigmund Freud borrowed the term and likened it to an object of
sexual fixation, thereby creating today's most common definition.
DiscoveryHealth.com defines fetishism as "a fixation on an inanimate
object or body part that is not primarily sexual in nature and the
compulsive need for its use in order to obtain sexual gratification".
The term fetish can also refer to strong sexual preferences that make
sexual gratification difficult. In everyday usage a fetish simply refers
to the kinkier aspects of sex and not the psychological aspects.
Fetishism is primarily a male phenomenon. Shoes are among the most
frequent items to be the focus of a fetish, and, of course, women's
panties.
Discovery Health says fetishism is a branch of paraphilia, a condition
where a person's sexual pleasure depends on activities that are atypical
and extreme.
Other paraphilias include sadomasochism, exhibitionism and voyeurism.
These behaviors should be engaged by consenting adults.
Some fetishes can create problems with comfort levels in relationships.
"Different people have different ethics and morals. There is also the
issue of what's legal", said Charlene Muehlenhard, professor of psychology
and women's studies at KU.
"Depending on how the person exercises or carries out their fetish it
could present no problem, or a very serious problem. A person would be
better off with a partner who is understanding or who has a compatible
fetish", she continued.
[continued]
To read this entire article, go to:
http://www.kansan.com/stories/2007/sep/21/fetishes/
To respond, write to: eschmidt@kansan.com
Dominatrix Submits To City's Wishes
staff writer (via wire report)
KMGH TV (Denver, CO)
September 21, 2007
INDIANAPOLIS — A dominatrix has agreed not to run her bondage and
discipline business in Indianapolis' residential areas, a deal that would
end a two-year legal battle with the city, WRTV-TV in Indianapolis
reported.
Melyssa Donaghy operated what the city called a "sexual torture" business
in her home.
The city asked a court to close the business in November 2005, saying it
violated zoning regulations.
Kobi Wright, an attorney for the city, said an undercover police
investigation that year "made it very clear that it was an illegal sex
business operating in a residential neighborhood."
Donaghy said that over the last two years, her business was nonsexual,
educational and promoted "a non-promiscuous lifestyle and respect for
women."
According to her Web site, she practiced domination and submission arts.
[continued]
To read this entire article, go to:
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/irresistible/14170556/detail.html
To respond, go to:
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/contact7/index.html
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Generally, for a letter to be published, it's important to include your
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swinging and polyamory at media@ncsfreedom.org. Comments to the editor of
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###
A project of NCSF and ITCR: The Foundation of NCSF
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.
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