Cynthia Slater (1945–1989) was an American sex educator, HIV/AIDS activist, and dominatrix. She was the co-founder 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]
Work
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/
fetishVenn-diagramatic culture.[6]
According to the
Leather Hall of Fame biography of Slater, she said of the Society of Janus,
"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]
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]
In 2003, she received the Forebear Award as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards.[17]
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.[18]
^Ortmann, David M., and Richard A. Sprott. 2013. Sexual outsiders: understanding BDSM sexualities and communities. p.156
^
abCall, Lewis. 2013. BDSM in American science fiction and fantasy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p.5
^Gayle Rubin, "The Catacombs: A Triumph of the Butthole", in Leatherfolk: Radical Sex, People, Politics, and Practice, Alyson Press, 1992,
ISBN1555831877, pp. 119-141; reprinted in Deviations: A Gayle Rubin Reader, Duke University Press, 2011,
ISBN0822349868,
"Archived copy"(PDF). Archived from
the original(PDF) on October 6, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link), retrieved September 30, 2014.
^"THE JANUS SOCIETY: KISS AND DON’T TELL
Cynthia Slater and the Catholic Priest",
Jack Fritscher. Drummer 27, February 1979.
^
ab"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
[1]
^
ab"The Bisexual History of HIV/AIDS, in Photos". Faith Cheltenham. LGBT HealthLink
[2]