A symposium sponsored by APA's Division 44 (The Society for the Psychological Study of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Issues) seeks to "normalize" those who engage in BDSM behaviors.
Billed as "Variations in Love--A Research Agenda for Studying BDSM Sexuality and Polyamory," the symposium was chaired by Dr. Richard Sprott who teaches for the "California State University system and for a private Catholic University in the San Francisco Bay area."
The symposium featured panelists Gary Wynn and M.D. Katherine Frank, Ph.D., both from Olney, Maryland. Other panelists included Rick Storer who is a member of the Chicago Leather Club and the Chicago Hellfire Club. Mr. Storer has been involved with the Mr. International Leather Weekend. Another panelist was Vivienne Kramer, an admitted activist, who joined the "kinky community" in 1995 and is the treasurer and chair of the New England Leather Alliance. Ms. Kramer is also the chair of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom. A final panelist was David Ortmann, a social worker from San Francisco.
A commonality among all the presenters was support of or direct involvement with the Community--Academic Consortium for Research on Alternative Sexualities (CARAS).
The "academic" participants admitted that there was no research on these alternative sexualities and associated this dearth of research with the stigma associated with such activities but all seemed supportive of "de-pathologizing" such behaviors.
Rick Storer was brief in his comments as was Vivienne Kramer. Mr. Storer indicated that he was a nonprofessional and that most of his "data" on alternative sexualities came from conversations with gay men. He noted that fetish events occurred around the country on virtually every weekend where individuals gathered to share their "pride."
Mr. Storer noted that most such events were private because of fears of being "outed." Many practitioners of these alternative sexual behaviors feared their participation would have negative consequences for them in their families and in their careers. According to Mr. Storer, men who engage in such kinky activities were able to separate such activities from the other parts of their lives which he classified as "very normal."
Vivienne Kramer focused on consensual bondage and sado-masochistic behaviors and noted that with consent such activities were against the law, even in Massachusetts because "spanking, whipping and floggings were considered assault and as such, participants could not consent."
Kramer noted that those who engage in such activities, and were "outed", ran the risk of work place difficulties even though such encounters were private and consensual. She was emphatic in her insistence that individuals had a right to assemble, the right to have a "dungeon" and the right to have a "fetish party". She complained of the stigma associated with such activities and the difficulties in locating venues for such activities.
"The law," stated Ms. Kramer, " based on science and solid, scientific research would go a long way in removing the stigma associated with BDSM."
Katherine Frank talked about consensual non-monogamy which she defined as "swinging and polyamory." She prefers to use the more scientifically-sounding term, "consensual, non-monogamy." The question she posed was whether or not consensual, non-monogamy was damaging to a committed relationship. She concluded with the notion that more research needed to be conducted to answer her question.
Finally, social worker David Ortmann focused on the normality of alternative sexualities and advocated for the removal of the stigma associated with such behaviors.