Cynthia Slater

Cynthia Slater (1945–1989) was the cofounder of the second BDSM organization founded in the United States (after The Eulenspiegel Society[1]), a San Francisco, California based BDSM education and support group known as the Society of Janus, which she founded with Larry Olsen in August 1974.[2][3] According to the Leather Hall of Fame biography of Slater, she said of the Society of Janus,

Cynthia Slater
Born(1945-08-07)August 7, 1945
DiedOctober 26, 1989(1989-10-26) (aged 44)
OccupationActivist, sex educator
SubjectActivism, BDSM

"There were three basic reasons why we chose Janus. First of all, Janus has two faces, which we interpreted as the duality of SM (one’s dominant and submissive sides). Second, he’s the Roman god of portals, and more importantly, of beginnings and endings. To us, it represents the beginning of one’s acceptance of self, the beginning of freedom from guilt, and the eventual ending of self-loathing and fear over one’s SM desires. And third, Janus is the Roman god of war--the war we fight against stereotypes commonly held against us."[2]

Slater's activism for women to be accepted within the gay leather scene in San Francisco during the late 1970s brought her to more mainstream attention.[2][4] Slater persuaded the management of San Francisco's S/M leather club the Catacombs, the most famous fisting club in the world, to open up to lesbians; it was originally a gay men's club.[5][4] It operated from 1975 to 1981, and reopened at another location from 1982 to 1984. Slater was also an early proponent of S/M safety, and one of the major AIDS activists and educators during the 1980s.[2] Slater hosted Society of Janus safety demonstrations during the late 1970s, cultivating a space for women within the 'plurality of gay men' already present within the leather/kink/fetish Venn-diagramatic culture.[6] According to first-hand accounts, she coined the term "SM 101", referring to the safety demonstrations and classes she presented.[7] As well, in 1981 Slater and David Lourea "presented safer-sex education workshops in bathhouses and BDSM clubs in San Francisco."[8] In 1985, Slater, who was HIV-positive, organized the first Women's HIV/AIDS Information Switchboard.[9] She also contributed to "developing and disseminating kink friendly safer sex technologies".[7]

She was photographed by Robert Mapplethorpe.[10]

She was openly bisexual.[8]

In 1989, she died of AIDS complications.[11] She is among those commemorated in the AIDS Memorial Quilt.[12]

In 1989, she received the National Leather Association International’s Jan Lyon Award for Regional or Local Work.[13]

In 2003, she received the Forebear Award as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards.[14]

In 2007, the National Leather Association International inaugurated awards for excellence in SM/fetish/leather writing. The categories include the Cynthia Slater award for non-fiction article.[15]

In 2014, Slater was inducted into the Leather Hall of Fame.[2]

In 2017, the art installation known as the San Francisco South of Market Leather History Alley was installed; in it Slater is honored with a metal bootprint displaying her name and a short statement about her.[16][17]

She is an inductee of the Society of Janus Hall of Fame.[18]

References
  1. Margot Weiss (20 December 2011). Techniques of Pleasure: BDSM and the Circuits of Sexuality. Duke University Press. pp. 8–. ISBN 0-8223-5159-5.
  2. "2014 Leather Hall of Fame Inductee Cynthia Slater (1945-1989)", Leather Hall of Fame Inductees List
  3. Ortmann, David M., and Richard A. Sprott. 2013. Sexual outsiders: understanding BDSM sexualities and communities. p.156
  4. Call, Lewis. 2013. BDSM in American science fiction and fantasy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p.5
  5. Gayle Rubin, "The Catacombs: A Triumph of the Butthole", in Leatherfolk: Radical Sex, People, Politics, and Practice, Alyson Press, 1992, ISBN 1555831877, pp. 119-141; reprinted in Deviations: A Gayle Rubin Reader, Duke University Press, 2011, ISBN 0822349868, "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 6, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), retrieved September 30, 2014.
  6. "THE JANUS SOCIETY: KISS AND DON’T TELL Cynthia Slater and the Catholic Priest", Jack Fritscher. Drummer 27, February 1979.
  7. "Chicago Hellfire Club, Cynthia Slater, and John Embry to be inducted to Leather Hall of Fame at CLAW in late April".The Leather Journal. Online Periodical. 26 January 2014
  8. "The Bisexual History of HIV/AIDS, in Photos". Faith Cheltenham. LGBT HealthLink
  9. "Stay safe during this time of coronavirus from BiNet USA". Archived from the original on 2019-02-07. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  10. "Cynthia Slater (Getty Museum)". Getty.edu. Retrieved 2019-12-30.
  11. "Cynthia Slater". Leatherhalloffame.com. Retrieved 2019-12-29.
  12. Lateef, Yasir. "The Names Project – AIDS Memorial Quilt".
  13. "List of winners". NLA International. 2019-03-14. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  14. "Pantheon of Leather Awards All Time Recipients - The Leather Journal". www.theleatherjournal.com.
  15. "NLA-I Accepting Nominations for Writing Awards". Chicago Den - The Midwest's Fetish Newspaper. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  16. Cindy (17 July 2017). "Ringold Alley's Leather Memoir". Public Art and Architecture for Around the World.
  17. Paull, Laura. "Honoring gay leather culture with art installation in SoMa alleyway – J". Jweekly.com. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  18. "Society of Janus". Erobay. 2019-07-20. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
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