A brilliant friend of mine, Steve Ganzell, recently posted something to his Facebook wall that I thought was so on target and well written that I asked him if I could replicate it here. It is one of the best and most important set of words I’ve read about the BDSM/kink scene in a long […]

One of the complaints I hear occasionally is that aspects of the BDSM, leather and kink scene are being co-opted by outsiders and the culture generally. The video below is a prime example of taking BDSM and fetish imagery and using it to sell a product, in this case men’s underwear. Personally, I like the […]

This is wonderful news! From the Leather Archives & Museum email announcement that was sent today: The Leather Archives & Museum (LA&M) announced today an OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) of the institution’s book and magazine collection has gone live. The OPAC can be found at: http://webopac.infovisionsoftware.com/leather/ The catalog contains bibliographic records for over 12,000 […]

Every so often I run across a new product or service that I am so excited about that I have to tell my readers about it. Today a new product, Play Spray™, went on sale and I highly recommend it. I was given an advance bottle of it to try a while ago and now […]

A friend of mine, Aaron Duke, posed the following question on his Facebook wall: “In the leather, kink, fetish, and BDSM community, we say we are ALL inclusive. Are we truly ALL inclusive or are we exclusive? What does being ALL inclusive look like? What effects has/will being ALL inclusive have on our community?” Below […]

Every so often an article I read is so well written and thoughtful that I have to share it. A friend of mine recently wrote an article published in the San Francisco Society of Janus’ Growing Pains newsletter and it’s brilliant. It says much of what I’ve been saying about kinksters coming out, but far more […]

The language we use has tremendous power. Simply using the correct word or phrase can change perceptions in profound ways. Since the BDSM and kink scene is replete with a zillion identifiers and descriptive words and phrases, you practically need a glossary to fee like you’re adequately in the know. The topic of using language […]

I just returned from a week of socializing and play in Chicago at the International Mr. Leather (IML) weekend. What a great time. At one point over the weekend I learned how to smoke a cigar. (Please, no lectures on the health implications. I’m not likely to be a frequent smoker anyway.) For many kinky […]

I delivered this speech on April 12, 2013 as the opening keynote address at Kink LINCS, a leadership and community-building symposium held in Seattle, Washington for those who are part of the leather, BDSM, kink, fetish, poly, swing and other sex-positive communities. Good evening. Welcome to the beautiful city of Seattle, and to the great […]

A while back I wrote a post titled We Need To Let The Younger Guys Take Over in which I wrote about the need for us older folk who’ve been running things for a while to step back and let the younger guys (and by implication, younger everyone) take over. I believe that now more than […]