Sex-Positive Student Organizations
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Introduction
The people who manage this web site were once the founders of an
(unfortunately now defunct) registered student organization of the same
name at University of Washington over 1995-1998. Understandably, we
have a soft spot in our hearts for college and university students who
take it upon themselves to create something similar at their schools,
and in general find the topic of what works and what doesn't in terms of
peer sex education on our nation's campuses to be an interesting one. As
such we decided to create this resource guide, listing all the
sex-positive student organizations we know of that are formally
recognized as student organizations by their colleges or
universities.
Please note that, with very few exceptions, at most the only school
funding these groups tend to receive are the same standard allotments
from student activity fees which would be granted to any student
organization that followed the procedures laid down by their school's
student activities office: in other words, all claims to the contrary,
"taxpayer money" is typically not involved.
This guide was last updated on September 27, 2007.
Organizations
Still Active
- The Sexual Information
Center, founded in 1991 at Oberlin College. This group organizes
Oberlin's annual Safer
Sex Night, and maintains an office that offers peer counseling, an
extensive lending library, and sexual health supplies.
- Conversio Virium,
founded in May 1994 at Columbia University and active almost
continuously ever since. This group has a BDSM focus, and hosts
discussions, educational presentations, author readings, and informal
social events.
- Sex Out Loud, founded in
1995 at University of Wisconsin-Madison. This group offers educational
programs on safer sex, relationships, and pleasure, and maintains an
office with regular office hours.
- Cuffs, founded in
August 2000 at Iowa State University. Similar to Conversio Virium, this
group has a BDSM focus, and hosts discussions, educational
presentations, and informal social events.
- The Alternative
Lifestyle Association (ALA), founded in 2004 at Washington
University in St. Louis. BDSM focus.
No Longer Active
- The Campus Sexual
Rights Forum at University of California at Berkeley (an
organization which was apparently closely allied with the off-campus
organization The
Berkeley Sexual Freedom League). Apparently most active over
1966-1968. Sex and sexual rights focus.
- Society for Human Sexuality (SHS), existing
from March 1995 to late 1998 at University of Washington. Sex-positive
focus inclusive of BDSM but not restricted to it. [Note: In early 1999,
SHS's newly-graduated organizers went on to help found the off-campus
non-profit facility The Center
for Sex-Positive Culture (then known as "The SPCC" or "The Wet Spot"),
which thrives to this day. They also still maintain this web site,
likewise organized completely separately from University of Washington, as
a sex information resource.]
- Sexual Identities Lifestyle Knowledge (SILK) [note: formerly
known as Sexual Minorities Aligned for Community, Education and Support
(SM/Aces)], organized in late 1995 at Bard College. BDSM focus.
- The Evangelical
Perv Association, founded on May 1, 1996, at Oregon State
University. BDSM focus.
- Sweet Entanglements,
existing from 2001 to 2002 at Western Washington University in
Bellingham, WA. BDSM focus.
- Women Happily Advocating Masturbation (WHAM) was initially
founded in 1996 at University of Wisconsin-Madison, and was re-organized
under different leadership from 2002 until 2004. According to this article, WHAM was a
group of "feminists with a sense of humor" which "fights the association
of female masturbation with male pleasure and voyeurism."
- RUST, existing from September 1997 to 2001 at Rutgers
University. BDSM focus.
- The Power Exchange, founded in 2001 at The State University
of New York (SUNY) at Albany. BDSM focus.
- We Honor All Perverts (WHAP), existing from 2002 to 2004 at
New York University. BDSM focus.
- Noire, which
existed from 2004 to 2005 at Bard College. Noire had a sex-positive focus
that was inclusive of BDSM but not restricted to it.
Thoughts
- This
article from Clean Sheets discusses the emergence of new
sex-positive student organizations on our nation's campuses, making the
point that, "What's perhaps most important is that the newly established
sex-positive groups at universities are fundamentally GLBT-friendly."
However, it also seems that the GLBT groups at universities are becoming
more sex-positive, in a manner perhaps mirroring the growing popularity
of pro-sex
feminism amongst campus feminist groups (this thought occurred to us
while reading the list of programs
and presenters for the 2005 Western Regional LGBTQIA
College
Conference).
- As can be seen above, well over half of the sex-positive student
organizations that have existed to date have had a more-or-less
exclusive focus on BDSM. However, it occurs to us that by having the
organization's focus be on sex education and sex-positivity in general
(1) you are still free to host all the BDSM events you like, (2) you may
be able to interest students beyond those curious only about BDSM, and
(3) in defending your group you will have an easier time directing the
conversation to traditional safer sex education and improving public
health (both of which are values already generally accepted within major
universities). Anyway, something to consider...
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