Lolita Wolf's Predictions & Predilections

Volume 10, Number 22 © Copyright 2004 by Lolita Wolf – Material may not be reproduced in whole or in part without prior written consent of the copyright holder. The views expressed herein are exclusively those of the author and do not represent the views of any other person or any organization with which the author may be associated.

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QUOTATION OF THE WEEK

“Trust your instinct to the end, though you can render no reason.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

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CINEKINK

I feel like such a slug. I spent so much time at the movies this past weekend. Why? It was Cinekink! Cinelink is the annual film festival in NYC that features SM, poly and other alternative lifestyles.

The kickoff party started with a live auction fundraiser at Remote Lounge. The beneficiary is a documentary about Barbara Nitke vs Ashcroft. I was the auctioneer. There were over 25 items for sale. Each one was numbered and each one had a corresponding number duct taped to Boymeat’s hairy body. So, anyone who won a bid for an item was able to come up to the stage and rip the duct taped number off of Boymeat. Each number hurt and many people were interested in hurting him. At the end, to satisfy the crowd, I put a big piece of tape across his chest and auctioned off the privilege of pulling it off. A woman bid $55 just to pull that piece off! It was amazing to see the lust in her eyes, and to see Boymeat doubling over in pain.

We spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the movies. We did not get to every showing but we did get to most of them. The fare ranged from really great to really awful. Really great were “Mango Kiss” and “Crossing” (in spite of the stupid FTM character). “Born In A Barn” was a fabulous documentary on pony play. I liked “Slaves,” but it seemed to confuse most of the audience who seemed to have a difficult time distinguishing that the film was not real. My award to the worst movie went to “Proinhibition” – the plot sucked, it wasn’t sexy, the sound quality was bad and it was boring. “My Leather Jacket” inspired me. It was a fun little documentary with terrible production values. I thought that if this is acceptable quality, then I might try my hand in making a movie, too. Anybody got a video camera??

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NCSF CALL FOR ACTION

CUFF APPEAL TO THE IOWA BOARD OF REGENTS

Many in the SM-leather-fetish communities are familiar with the progress of the case concerning Cuffs. For those of you who aren’t, here is a short synopsis:

Cuffs is a student organization at Iowa State University, “an educational and social discussion group for people interested in BDSM, fetishes and other expressions of safe, consensual and non-exploitive human sexuality”. ISU found them guilty of assault for having a demonstration on safe SM practices – in this particular case, for demonstrating the safe zones for flogging on a fully-clothed individual.

In Iowa, assault has an exemption for “voluntary participants in a sport, social, or other activities.” The only time SM activities have been tested in the Iowa courts for falling under this exemption was in the 1985 case of State vs. Collier. In that case, a pimp beat up his prostitute and shot a gun at her because she had
stayed out all day with a client doing drugs and stiffed her pimp. The pimp claimed that the beating was a SM birthday present. The Iowa Court of Appeals decided, in a 3-1 vote, that the activity did not fall under the exemption for assault. However, the decision stated that the majority “believe it is more appropriate that its meaning be interpreted on a case by case basis” and that “the sadomasochistic activities involved in this case expose persons” to the unreasonable risk of serious injury. Just as importantly, it cited that the state’s responsibility in looking after the “moral welfare” of its citizens outweighed personal privacy rights – the exact argument recently overturned in Lawrence vs. Texas (Texas sodomy case).

At ISU, one person (Bethany Schuttinga, Director of Judicial Affairs for the university) served as investigator, prosecutor, judge and jury, and found Cuffs guilty of assault a process so inherently flawed that it has already come up for change this fall. The case has been winding its way through the appeals process,
and is scheduled to come before the Iowa Board of Regents at their Nov. 3 & 4 meeting. However, the Board of Regents does not have to even hear the appeal.

We are asking members of the Iowa SM-leather-fetish communities in particular, (though everyone is welcome) to write to the Board of Regents and ask them to hear this appeal and obviously to rule in our favor. Below are three sample letters to the Board of Regents, two of which have been written in such a manner that the person sending the letter would not be outing themselves.

Please take the time and effort to contact the Board of Regents in this cause. It will be most effective if you send in your letter with your full legal name and address, and if you personalize it a bit. Please send them in anytime up until the November 3rd date!

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Letter from someone who doesn’t want to out themselves. Remove the identification of yourself as Iowa citizen and taxpayer if you don’t live in that state. Points to the flaws in the process:

Board of Regents, State of Iowa
11260 Aurora Avenue
Urbandale, IA 50322-7905
Phone (515) 281-3934 / Fax (515) 281-6420
bboose@iastate.edu

Dear Members of the Board of Regents,

As an Iowa citizen and taxpayer, I have been appalled and outraged by the actions of the Iowa State University administration in regards to its investigation and probation of Cuffs, a student organization dedicated to the discussion of alternative sexuality. Bethany Schuttinga, Director of Judicial Affairs for the
university, served as investigator, prosecutor, judge and jury. Not surprisingly, the group was found guilty after being investigated, charged, and convicted by the same person. It is my understanding that the university judicial process has changed since the investigation, but this only emphasizes the unjustifiable nature of the decision reached regarding Cuffs.

I urge you to review this case and bring this matter to a just and fair end.

Sincerely,
Your Name

Letter from someone wanting to point out the need for education:

Board of Regents, State of Iowa
11260 Aurora Avenue
Urbandale, IA 50322-7905
Phone (515) 281-3934 / Fax (515) 281-6420
bboose@iastate.edu

Dear members of the Board of Regents,

As a citizen of Iowa and a taxpayer, I urge you to review and overturn the suspension of Cuffs, an Iowa State University student organization dedicated to the discussion of alternative sexuality.

On November 10, 2003, members of Cuffs had a demonstration on safe practices used by people who practice an alternative sexuality called SM. The point of the demonstration was to educate the audience in how to use these techniques safely. The people involved were fully clothed and freely agreed to take part in the demonstration. Furthermore, no complaint was filed by anyone involved or present at the meeting.

After the student newspaper reported on the event, including a photo of the demonstration, the Office of Judicial Affairs decided to investigate. Charges were filed and Cuffs was put on probation after being found guilty of “assault”, because it was believed that there was an intent to cause pain an intent that the participants said was not there. Despite the fact that there are many student organizations on campus where there is an intent to cause pain (sports clubs, paintball, medieval combat), these activities are allowed to continue. The use of a twenty-year-old, tremendously dissimilar court case involving an abusive pimp and his prostitute to undermine the educational effort of Cuffs runs counter to everything an institution of higher learning should stand for.

Please review the case against Cuffs, and encourage education at Iowa State University.

Sincerely,
Your Name

Letter from someone who is out and supports SM as legal:

Board of Regents, State of Iowa
11260 Aurora Avenue
Urbandale, IA 50322-7905
Phone (515) 281-3934 / Fax (515) 281-6420
bboose@iastate.edu

Dear Board of Regents,

I am a citizen and taxpayer of Iowa. I am also part of the approximately 10% of the population that enjoys a type of alternative sexuality known as SM.

I was very happy to find out that there was a student group on the Iowa State University campus called Cuffs that supported discussion and education into alternative sexuality. As with so many activities (for example, just about every sport or activity-related club at ISU), SM is a safe activity when practiced by participants who have been taught correct techniques. Indeed, a recent study showed that the most common injury among SM participants was sprained ankles – from wearing high-heeled shoes!

I was astonished to read that the ISU administration was investigating, charging, and then putting on probation a group that was merely educating its members in how to practice this form of alternative sexuality safely! I was even more shocked to read the rationale behind the decision. According to her statements, Ms. Bethany Schuttinga used a 20-some year old court case about a pimp beating up a prostitute, shooting at her with a pistol, and then later claiming it was consensual (the prostitute denied that it was consensual). While even that decision said that any future cases should not consider it to be definitive and that each case should be looked at on its own merits, Ms. Schuttinga decided to use it as the basis for deciding that Cuffs was guilty of assault – for someone showing how to swing a “flogger” safely onto someone who was fully clothed! Both parties said it was consensual (as did the audience), both parties said there was no pain intended or inflicted. However, Ms. Schuttinga (who acted as policeman, district attorney, judge and jury in the case!) somehow decided that there was pain intended and inflicted anyway. While I’m sure a simple experiment would have answered that question, I’m also equally sure that such experiment never occurred.

I respectfully request that the Board of Regents review this case and overturn the decision.

Sincerely,
Your Name

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A project of NCSF and the NCSF Foundation

The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom is a national organization committed to creating a political, legal, and social environment in the United States that advances equal rights of consenting adults who practice forms of alternative sexual expression. NCSF is primarily focused on the rights of consenting adults in the SM-leather-fetish, swing, and polyamory communities, who often face discrimination because of their sexual expression.

National Coalition for Sexual Freedom
822 Guilford Avenue, Box 127
Baltimore, MD 21202-3707
410-539-4824
media@ncsfreedom.org
www.ncsfreedom.org

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Black Rose XVII
November 5-7 in New Carrollton, MD
http://www.br.org
(I am teaching Sensory Deprivation & Control, Spanking and CBT)

GMSMA Leatherfest
November 13 in NYC
http://www.gmsma.org
(I am teaching Sensory Deprivation & Control)

Mr. International Rubber Blowout Weekend
November 12-14 in Chicago, IL
http://www.mirubber.com

Spanksgiving
November 12- 14 in St Louis
http://www.STL3.com/events

Servant’s Retreat
November 19-21 in Queens, NY
http://www.bdsmclasses.com/

Just Play ’04
November 26-28 in Baltimore, Maryland
http://hometown.aol.com/justplayplayhse/just_play04.htm

4th Annual NYC Bootblack Roundtable
December 4 in NYC
http://www.mistressblair.com/NYCbbRT04.htm

Fetish Fair Fleamarket
December 17-19 in Boston, M
http://www.nla-newengland.org/
(I am teaching Mummification and Piercing)

The Crucible New Year’s Weekend
December 31 – Jan2 in New Carrollton, MD
http://www.the-crucible.com

Mid-Atlantic Leather
January 14-16 in Washington, DC
http://www.leatherweekend.com

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LINK OF THE WEEK

I went to Cinekink and met Buck Angel who is doing porn as The Man with a Pussy:
http://transexual-man.com/

Have fun! Play safe!

Lolita Wolf

Lolita speaking only for Lolita, of course!

http://www.LeatherYenta.com