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Edited on Wed May-04-05 10:18 AM by IanDB1
Hi Everyone,
Please let everyone know about this most interesting fundraiser for NCSF. The site
is up at www.orgyforworldpeace.com so people can actually register now for the
event on May 14.
Glenda Rider
Fundraising Coordinator
NCSF - National Coalition for Sexual Freedom
Welcome to Orgy for World Peace
www.orgyforworldpeace.com
Orgy for World Peace is different than your average porn site. We present feature
live web events with all proceeds going to not-for-profit organizations that work
to build a better world. Our events are an expression of our love for life and
sexual freedom. These events are exclusive to members of this website and broadcast
through the Homegrown Cams system. Performers are not paid to perform. They
participate in our events because of their love of sex and to support our worthy
causes. We sponsor these events for the same reasons. We do not take a cut. All
bandwidth and technical expenses are covered by us as our way of helping make the
world a better place.
Next Event
May 14th, 2005
8-10 PM EST
Homegrown Video (www.homegrownvideo.com) and Come As You Are (www.comeasyouare.com)
are proud to celebrate Masturbation Month with this exclusive webcam event. 5
lovely gals will be taking it all off and getting off in the name of the freedom of
sexual expression! All the proceeds for this fabulous event will be going to the
National Coalition for Sexual Freedom.
--------
History of the NCSF: Hard at Work to Defend Your Rights
May 2003
The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) was formed in 1997 by a small group led by Susan Wright under the auspices of the New York SM Activists. The goal was to fight for sexual freedom and privacy rights for all adults who engage in safe, sane and consensual behavior.
In September 2002, NCSF reaffirmed its grassroots mission to assist the alternative sexual communities, in particular SM, fetish, swing and polyamory practices. NCSF also continues to form alliances with other organizations defending sexual freedom rights. For example, NCSF holds a seat on the National Policy Roundtable and actively participates in GenderPac's Lobby Day and Creating Change, the national activist conference for the LGBT community.
NCSF receives its leadership direction from a Board of Directors that is elected by our Coalition Partners. The Coalition Partners are all non-profit educational and social groups created for SM, leather, fetish, swing and polyamory practitioners. The NCSF staff are volunteers who devote their time and energy to carrying out the missions and tasks set for them by the Board of Directors. The first five organizations who joined NCSF reflected its goal to be a national organization: the National Leather Association--International, Gay Male S/M Activists, The Eulenspiegel Society, Black Rose and Society of Janus. Currently, NCSF has over 30 Coalition Partners that are geographically diverse (New York to California, Texas to Wisconsin), and reflect a diversity of sexual orientations.
Early Successes for NCSF
The 1998 Violence & Discrimination survey revealed the extent of discrimination and persecution that exists against the SM-leather-fetish communities. NCSF found that 36% of SM practitioners have been victims of harassment and that 30% have been victims of discrimination. This discrimination resulted in 24% losing a job or a contract, 17% losing a promotion and 3% losing custody of a child. This survey helped NCSF gear our energies towards issues that matter most to our constituents.
NCSF also lent assistance to the local communities in San Diego and Baltimore, to help to stop the selective enforcement of zoning and public indecency laws against the SM-Leather-Fetish communities. Next, NCSF assisted the local communities in Attleboro MA and Washington DC as those cities faced the same selective enforcement that had been attempted in Baltimore and San Diego. NCSF continues to work with State Attorney Generals and local District Attorneys to help educate these authorities about SM, swing and polyamory practices to prevent dangerous precidents from being set against adult consensual sexuality.
NCSF and the Media
As an advocacy organization, one of NCSF's strategies has been to educate the media about issues facing the SM-Leather-Fetish, swing and polyamory communities. You can help by signing up for NCSF's media updates list media@ncsfreedom.org. This weekly email will alert you to stories about alternative sexual expression in the news, and will give you contact information so that you can respond to an editor to let them know if you liked or disliked an article and why. We also give you tips on how to write a letter. Even if your letter is not printed, these letters influence how editorial decisions are made in the future.
NCSF's Media Outreach Program has developed a package of materials that provide information about NCSF and the communities we represent. This program provides education and training to groups and individuals on how to effectively interact with the media.
One example of NCSF's advocacy efforts took place in the Attleboro MA coverage in July, 2000. In the first media reports regarding the Attleboro arrests, the incident was characterized as a "sex club" raid. Within 48 hours, a coordinated effort led by NCSF and the local community to educate the media resulted in a major change in the characterization of the arrests. The tone of the coverage went from defending the actions of the law enforcement officers to questioning their judgment and several reporters raised legitimate questions about possible civil rights violations.
From February to May 2002, five SM conventions were targeted by Concerned Women for America, American Family Association, and the American Decency Association. NCSF worked with each event to counter sensationalized attacks in the media as well as resisting action by local authorities who attempted to shut down some of these SM conferences. The attacks took place in the midwest against My Vicious Valentine and International Mr. Leather in Chicago, Bound by Desire in Michigan, Tribal Fire in Oklahoma, and Beat Me in St. Louis in Missouri.
Incident Response
In 2003, nearly 600 contacts were made between NCSF and individuals, groups, attorneys, prosecutors, and businesses who requested assistance. Each incident sometimes required only one or two phone calls, but many evolved into much larger projects such as the series of attacks by religious political extremists against SM conferences in the midwest.
In 41% of the incidents, NCSF assisted individuals. The largest category of incidents involved parents who were engaged in child custody and divorce cases. Parents continue to experience difficulties gaining child custody due to their interest in SM, swing or poly activities. NCSF worked with a number of attorneys representing parents accused of being unfit because of their alternative lifestyle interests. In many cases, because of information we were able to provide, the courts decided that alternative sexual expression alone was not cause to impugn a parent's ability to be a good parent. Individuals also consulted with NCSF on a variety of other issues, including: the legality of obscene materials, guidelines for posting sexually frank information on websites, the law regarding private parties, and dealing with personal media exposure.
In 2002, NCSF also opposed zoning and other local regulatory measures against those who practice some form of alternative sexual expression. NCSF assisted the swing communities in Florida and Phoenix by holding open-forum discussions about how to affect zoning regulations and current litigation against lifestyle clubs. NCSF also worked with the Gay and Lesbian Activist Alliance (GLAA) to lobby against the Washington DC's Alcoholic Beverage Control regulation 905, which has been used to prohibit SM play in local establishments with liquor licenses even when liquor isn't being sold or consumed.
Law Enforcement Strategies
Early in 2000, NCSF launched the Law Enforcement Outreach Program (LEOP). This program is designed to educate law enforcement officials about our communities, and educate members of our community regarding the risks of selective enforcement and how to minimize the risk of becoming a target. NCSF has published a number of pieces of literature for this program and has assembled and trained a team of individuals from across the country to deliver the educational presentations developed by the NCSF-LEOP. New presentations are always being developed by the LEOP team.
We Need You!
In the past decade, alternative sexual expression has become much more visible to the general public. As we continue to move into the streets of mainstream America, we face an increasing number of attacks against our right to freedom of sexual expression. While the battles that NCSF has waged have been successful, our resources are depleted. NCSF will continue to defend against these attacks, but the success of that fight depends on your support. You can provide that support by becoming an individual member of NCSF, volunteering to join the NCSF staff, making a donation to NCSF, or encouraging your group to become a Coalition Partner of NCSF.
There are many ways to volunteer to help NCSF. You do not have to be "out" to help. Tell others about NCSF or distribute our literature. Initiate or help out at a fund-raiser with NCSF as a beneficiary. Check out the rest of this website and you'll find everything from Calls to Action to our Incident Response program. Every step you take helps us further the sexual freedom movement!
National Coalition for Sexual Freedom
822 Guilford Avenue, Box 127
Baltimore, MD 21202-3707
e-mail: ncsfreedom@ncsfreedom.org
phone: 410-539-4824
© 2005 NCSF
Last update: 2/2/05; 10:50:16 PM
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