2009 Grand Marshals: Dustin Lance Black, Cleve Jones, Ann Kronenberg & Hon. NYS Gov. David Paterson

Route: 52nd & 5th avenue, down Fifth Avenue, ending at Greenwich Avenue

The March began as an annual civil rights demonstration beginning the year after the Stonewall Riots in 1970. Over the years its purpose has broadened to include recognition of the fight against AIDS and to remember those we have lost to the illness, violence and neglect. It has also evolved to include being a celebration of our lives and our community.

To watch the March step-off you should be in the 50s or upper 40s on 5th Avenue. For larger crowds and high energy, anywhere in the village is ideal. For smaller crowds, many enjoy watching in the 30s, 20s, and teens on 5th Avenue.

This event is free and open to the public. No tickets are necessary. More info here.

The new location for the Suspension party on Saturday, June 27 is: 37 West 26^th Street, between 5^th and 6^th Ave. Spread the word!

10 PM – 4 AM with an After party from 3 AM to 7 AM

This venue is a theatre with no alcohol being sold or served. BYOB permitted. We will have a non alcoholic bar for your mixing pleasure. You just supply the booze we got the rest. This is a positive sexy event with freedom and self expression being applauded. Support the gig: Creatively dressed individuals, fetish or formal wear, women or men $20.00 per person. For those dressed mundane as in all black street cloths $40.00. Jeans and sneakers not allowed at any price. After party additional cost is $5.00 to $15.00 (in all black.)

Full play equipment for all to use: 15 suspension points, multiple spanking stations, crosses, bondage beds, cages, lazy bondage ottomans, and benches. All for your enjoyment. Tonight we go for the world record of bondage suspensions. At exactly 1 AM all riggers in attendance will lift their subjects at the same time. The result will be an exciting new world’s record. Riggers please bring your rope rings and subject to participate in this unique opportunity.

If you’re of legal drinking age, then an event you don’t want to miss is the 26^th Annual Leather Pride Night (LPN) Auction and charity benefit party. Tickets for Leather Pride Night are $15 in advance, and $20 at the door; see the announcement, crossposted from various sources, that follows for details:

The 26^th annual Leather Pride Night Auction will take place on Saturday, June 20^th, 2009. This year the festivities will be at Splash, 50 West 17^th Street. Splash’s doors will open for LPN at 6:00 PM, and the auction will run from 7 PM until 10:00 PM. Liquor, beer, wine and soft drinks will be provided at a cash bar. Light finger food will be served. A sign language interpreter will be present throughout the evening. This year, as every year, there will be a team of bootblacks to keep your boots and shoes looking sharp. All tips go toward the event’s total for the beneficiaries. We encourage everyone to come early to view the items up for auction, get your boots blacked, and be seen!

Jo Arnone, LPN’s veteran auctioneer, will preside over almost a hundred items being auctioned, including leather and latex fetish clothing, unique toys and equipment, art objects, event passes and tickets, and much more.

Leather Pride Night is sponsored by ten NYC S/m-leather- fetish organizations: Gay Male S/M Activists, Iron Guard BC, Lesbian Sex Mafia, MAsT Metro NY, MetroBears NY, New York boys of Leather (NYboL), Pariah’s MC, The Eulenspiegel Society and ONYX NY and many committed individuals.

Over the years, Leather Pride Night has donated over $300,000 for local and national charities. This year, Leather Pride Night will donate the 2008 Auction proceeds to: The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, Carmen’s Place, Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, By The Grace of George: The Pitbull Angel Fund and as is customary, an annual donation to Heritage of Pride, the producer of New York’s annual Pride Parade.

Tickets for Leather Pride Night are $15 in advance, and $20 at the door. Paypal payment is available at the LPN website. Tickets can also be obtained at any of the sponsoring organizations or the beneficiary organizations, as well as the following supporting commercial venues: The Baroness, David Samuel Menkes Custom Leatherwear, DomSubFriends, Purple Passion / DV8, The Leather Man, Passional, Nasty Pig, Le Chateau Exotique and Come Again.

[…]

The Leather Pride Night Committee is dedicated to promoting freedom of sexual self-expression, and actively works to improve the image and understanding of S/m and fetish lifestyles. It meets on the first Thursday of the month (October through June) at 8:00PM at the LGBT Center, 208 West 13^th Street.

There is no photography or cellular telephone usage allowed at the event. Media photography inquiries can be directed to Darrell at Darrellblackandblue@yahoo.com

LPN is run by volunteers! If you want to volunteer, send email to LPNnyc@aol.com

Now that Summer is here, that means TES Fest is just around the corner. The TES Fest announcement, crossposted from various sources, follows:

The Eulenspiegel Society (TES), the oldest and largest BDSM education and support group in the United States, is proud to announce TES Fest 2009 being held over the 2009 July 4^th weekend. TES Fest 2009, a four-day kinky conference, will take place from July 2 – July 5, 2009 in Piscataway, New Jersey.

TES Fest is bringing you the best BDSM presenters from all around the country! They will present classes for every level of experience, from introductory, basic to expert, and edgy. We’re covering bondage from all angles, impact play from flogging to takedowns, and D/s from multiple perspectives. We’re offering classes from the experts on
enemas, humiliation, suspension, caning, scene history, boot-blacking, cutting, and much more.

The following presenters have been confirmed for TES Fest 2009: Award winning author of “The Latina Kama Sutra, Dr. Charlie Ferrer; 2007 International Master and slave pair, Master Larry and slave barb; Kink.com’s Lochai; 2008 Pantheon of Leather Northeast Regional Award winner, Lady Sabrina and Leather Leadership Conference Emeritus Board Member, Lolita Wolf to name a few Presenter bios can be found online.

Classes will include “Sexually Transmitted Infections” with Dr. Dan, “Transition from BDSM to Master/slave” with Master Taino, “Advanced Electrical Play” with Uncle Abdul, “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Hurt Me: Playing with a Vanilla Partner” with Coraline, “In Service: Satisfaction From a Job Well Done” with Angel and Sebastian and so
much more. View the complete class listing on the TES Fest web site.

TES Fest 2009 will be full of the same fun as last year. There will be outdoor play, indoor pool parties, meet and greets, author signings, a bloggers round table, play parties, casino night, extensive vendors section, of course an amazing indoor and outdoor dungeon space designed by Frazier and the Crucible Crew and so much more. We will have an expanded Cloud Nine, our relaxation and massage salon. We will be fund raising for National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) all weekend with 2 slave auctions and prime Cloud Nine spots.

We are also proud to announce that the Leather Archives and Museum Road Show, its traveling exhibit, will bring the rich fetish history available at the LA&M out of Chicago to TES Fest 2009! Included in the exhibit will be items of importance to the history of TES.

Buy your tickets and register at TESFest.org.

From the NYC Sex Blogger Calendar:

Who: Carol Queen visits from San Francisco, joined by Rachel Kramer Bussel, Elizabeth Wood, Audacia Ray, and Sinclair Sexsmith!

When: Monday, June 8, 6-9 PM (reading will start between 7:30-8, last about an hour).

Why: Carol Queen’s coming through town and wants to collaborate with her friends Rachel and Elizabeth to make a space for connecting, schmoozing, touching base, and furthering plans for sex-positive world domination! Her SF nonprofit The Center for Sex & Culture has hosted Rachel Kramer Bussel, worked with Elizabeth Wood on her online community Sex in the Public Square, and has plans to expand its educational and cultural offerings online as soon as we can (if we can’t afford NY real estate, at least we can visit you via your computers). Come mingle with your fellow NY sex people and meet some new ones, then enjoy a reading that will surely be more salaciously smart/sexy brain candy than most people ever get on a Monday (and in some cases, sadly, EVER).

On June 12^th, the S&M and sexuality documentary film Sex Positive—The Richard Berkowitz Story opens at the Quad Cinema on 13^th Street here in Manhattan. David Oliver Cohen, the film’s producer, wrote to CV to tell us a little about the film:

The film explores the origins of safe sex through the eyes of Richard Berkowitz, a former S&M sex worker turned AIDS activist and writer.

The film is an essential educational tool for younger generations who have no real concept of how safe sex came about during the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. Richard Berkowitz is credited as co-writing the first safe sex manual in the world, “How to Have Sex in an Epidemic,” with activist Michael Callen. Richard is still around and is actively spreading his message about safe sex.

There is a large portion of the film that deals directly with Richard’s work as a dominant-for-hire.

(Emphasis added.)

I first heard about this documentary when Clarisse Thorn published her interview with the star and brought up the very good point, what does it mean to be sex positive? Safer sex practices such as the use of condoms were not always so endearingly looked upon as symbols of sex positive activism. In fact, decades ago, the opposite was true and sex involving physical barriers was exceptionally stigmatized.

As David says, the film Sex Positive is an exceptional educational tool because it documents the history of how we got to where we are. I’d encourage you to see and support the film, watch the trailer, and maybe even bring your friends along and start a discussion about sex positivity.

In a few weeks, the Lesbian Sex Mafia will be hosting Lady Sabrina as she teaches us about the intricacies of spanking.

Some people think of spanking as the least challenging of BDSM skills, requiring the least knowledge. It’s not flamboyant like singletails or edgy like knife play so it can’t be as exciting. However, in the proper hands, spanking can be a slow, sensuous climb to orgasm or a sharp, harsh discipline. It can be used to create a loving, hands-on scene, reduce the strongest person to tears or re-create a cherished fantasy.

Lady Sabrina will show how spanking can be a valuable tool in your arsenal as she discusses the different styles of spanking, value of role play, safety and use of toys.

Where: The LGBT Center, 208 West 13th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues

Cost: $5 for members; $10 for non-members

About Lady Sabrina

Lady Sabrina has been a member of the BDSM community for over 15 years presenting for TES, Knot4Everyone, DSF, Black Rose, John Jay College, PEP and others. A BDSM educator, she’s presented on such topics as Designing Protocols, slave training, scene etiquette, flogging, hot wax, Basic Dom Skills, etc. and has acted as an informal Mentor to many in the scene.

Having a love of paddles, floggers and books, Lady Sabrina supports her habit by selling BDSM gear and fetish wear at events like Folsom Street and Leatherfest through her business, My Lady’s Toys.

Lady Sabrina is currently on the Boards of TES, NY Leather Weekend,MAsT Metro NY, Cercle des Dommes and East Coast Leather Town Hall.She’s also a member of ONYX Pearls, LPN, SCONY and FM Masters. Lady Sabrina is honored to be the recipient of the 2008 Pantheon of Leather Northeast Regional Award.

About Lesbian Sex Mafia

Lesbian Sex Mafia is a social and educational organization for women and transfolk (see membership description below) who have a positive personal interest in BDSM with other women. Our tenets are safety, consensuality,confidentiality and the right of women to explore their sexuality as they choose.

Membership in Lesbian Sex Mafia is open to all women 18 years of age or older including gay, straight, bi, and transsexual and intersexed women who live their daily lives as women, and all female-born transgendered persons who have a connection with and respect for the women’s community. For membership information and benefits please visit www.lesbiansexmafia.org.

In both popular and underground culture, the representation of dominant women has long been monotonous in both subtly and explicitly negative ways. Arguably the most well known of these representations is the “bitch” stereotype, which defines an extremely narrow and off-putting attitude for dominant women to prescribe to so that they can be considered, well, dominant. However, in reality, there are just as many ways to be a dominant woman as there are dominant women—and there are a significant number more of you than looking around a typical fetish club would have you believe.

Next Tuesday, the Museum of Sex will be hosting Midori to speak about this issue.

In today’s world, being a strong female is often equated with being a bitch. On May 26, 2009 at 7:00 PM, let Midori teach you how to overcome the bitch stereotype and find a sexy and effective style of dominance that is authentically you.

Using a special technique she handcrafted, Midori will help you find your inner power femme archetype, allowing you to pursue erotic fulfillment in sensual power play. Not your typical how-to class, you will discover the difference between constructive and destructive desires guiding you towards ways of bringing more sexual satisfaction for both you and your partner.

About the presenter:

An acclaimed writer and lecturer on a wide range of sexual topics, Midori has a degree in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, and vast indispensable experience as a pioneering San Francisco sex educator. Midori is known for her humanistic, humorous and warm classes that help people to spice up their sex lives and encourage self discovery and personal growth. A regular advice columnist for Men’s Health, she has appeared on HBO and BBC, and has been featured in Vogue, Playboy, Der Spiegel, Cosmopolitan and more. She is also the author of The Seductive Art of Japanese Bondage and Wild Side Sex.

Can you believe Pleasure Salon has been going strong for two years now? Join Patricia, Mark, and Selina celebrate its second year anniversary at the Happy Ending lounge on 302 Broome Street this April 1^st. No tricks, just fine drinks and fine company!

The Pleasure Salon has been created to build community, allowing sex-positive activists to cross-pollinate. Our gatherings bring together members of the BDSM, swinger, alternative gender, LGBT, sex-activist, sex educator, nudist, sex-magic, polyamory, Pagan, radical faerie, tantra, dark odyssey, sex-blogger, porn, pervert and sex-worker communities, and others whose passion is sex. (Let us know if we missed any one of you!) Through building networks in the sex-positive community, The Pleasure Salon hopes to help create a sex-positive world. It is a place for the open exchange of ideas and sensual expression.

We have been thrilled by the turnout at previous events. Join us in building New York’s pleasure positive community, and bring your like-minded friends to this social gathering. The Pleasure Salon embraces respect, acceptance, and non-judgmental support in this public space.

As always, Pleasure Salon is a free event, but you must be 21 years of age or older to drink. (Sorry!)

Join your friends at KinkyJews for their biggest event of the year, a Passover Seder like you’ve never experienced before!

While maintaining key elements of tradition, celebrate Passover with KinkyJews, as we have a humor and hedonism infused chocolate themed Seder with four cups of chocolate milk, chocolate covered matzah, Hillel S’mores, and more. Have a wild time with the search for chametz kit (candle, feather and wooden spoon), Passover erotica, maggid show and tell, re-enactments slavery and redemption, floggings a-plenty, new friends and fun!

The Seder will be held at Club Casbar, which is located at 117 25^th Street in Brooklyn. Early bird ticket prices expire in a couple of days, so get your tickets soon. This is the biggest KinkyJews event of the year!

Note that the Kinky Seder is three days before the holiday, on the night of April 5^th.