INIQUITY NEWS 18

INIQUITY NEWS #18

Tuesday, 22 Feb. 2000

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Wow. The year 2000! The world didn't end, New Years Eve was Safe and Sane and the foremost thing on a lot of people's minds is who will be our next president. A TON of Cool Fetish Stuff is happening. In fact, I have received SOOO much news that this is again going to be a whopper issue. I'm happy to say it is almost all Good News: A Variety Of Legal Battles WON in Our Favor, Amazing Data on the Fetish Community, Online "Cyber-Toys" and More! ;-)

Amongst the Good News, a Club INIQUITY, aka The INIQUITY Fetish Ball, is being planned for this coming April or May! Stay tuned for more details as they develop! ;-)

The next coolest piece of news is about how far reaching the "INIQUITY Aesthetic" really goes. According to our amazing hit log, the INIQUITY Website is getting page requests from 63 Different Countries!!! Guess what the top four foreign countries are? Well oddly enough (or maybe not) Germany ranks first, followed by England, with Japan and Canada running neck and neck for 3rd and 4th place. According to the same statistics, within the INIQUITY Website one of the top two pages requested is the Events page, followed by the Club Iniquity page and the Dress Code page. Think about it -- what does this tell you about the kind of people who visit INIQUITY? It says to me that we now have statistical proof that The IQ is a bunch of people who LIKE TO PARTY, and who like to LOOK GREAT while doing so! ;-)

Nonetheless, we are not resting here at IQ HQ. In fact, in the next few weeks INIQUITY hopes to significantly increase our coverage of MORE EVENTS happening ALL AROUND THE WORLD -- and I am not just talking about all your wonderful reviews that you send in! I am talking about an attempt to make the INIQUITY Events Page into an AMAZING Source to find out about Fetish Parties EVERYWHERE that are about to happen with at least several days advanced notice! Here at IQ HQ we are increasing our staff to improve our journalistic coverage of Events.

That said, EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU should consider yourself invited -- and even requested -- to help out by sending INIQUITY ANY INFO on Fetish Events and Parties which you think the INIQUITY Community will be interested in happening anywhere in the world! Please note that INIQUITY does not reprint reports on "munches" or other BDSM "society meetings" unless such a meeting is a Workshop open to the public.

WE DO WANT (and Happily Invite) ALL YOUR REPORTS AND INFO ON:

LARGE SCALE FETISH EVENTS (i.e. Rubber Ball, L.A. Fetish Ball, Europerv, etc.)

SEASONAL EVENTS (i.e. Stiletto, Black Rose, Folsom Street Fair, etc.)
LARGE S&M PARTIES & FUND-RAISERS (i.e. Open Dungeon Parties, Legal Fund Parties, etc.)
OTHER FETISH-FASHION EVENTS (i.e. Fetish Dinners, Private Fetish/BDSM Parties With Special Invitations for The IQ, etc.)
MONTHLY FETISH CLUBS (i.e. BOUND, Alter Ego, etc.)
REGULAR / ONGOING / WEEKLY CLUBS OF A SINCERE FETISH-BDSM NATURE (i.e. The Power Exchange, etc.)

Our goal is to make the INIQUITY Events Page one of the BEST SOURCES to find out about Fetish Events ANYWHERE!!! ;-)

Next Item: if you've been in any of San Francisco's Fetish Shops lately you may have seen the Super-Cool new INIQUITY Website Flyers (soon to be in Fetish Shops across America -- if you would like to help get these cards out there please send an e-mail ASAP to Cards@ClubIniquity.com). The original artwork on these wallet-sized cards comes from the talent of local Fetish Artist Danielle Bedics, who was recently featured in SKIN TWO. It's literally a two-sided work-of-art! Check it out! ;-)

I also have the results of the Survey conducted last issue regarding the format of INIQUITY NEWS. The overwhelming majority voted that things stay exactly as they are. The second most popular option (trailing far behind) was to mail out a Hyperlink "Table O' Contents" which would click through to an Archived Issue of INIQUITY NEWS at the IQ Website. Perhaps in the future we will be able to subdivide our efforts so that each and every IQ Member (that's YOU who get this mailed to you) will be able to receive INIQUITY NEWS in their most preferred method. At this time however, the idea of the super-fancy HTML "page" a la CNN with "headlines" was pretty much shot down because most people didn't want to deal with such a huge download (as I kind of expected). Conversely, the Table O' Contents idea was mainly discouraged by readers because they enjoy getting the WHOLE INIQUITY NEWS delivered right to their desktop to read at their leisure. :-)

One change you might note in INIQUITY NEWS is that from now on you will find INIQUITY's "Submissions, Sign-Ups, and Fair Use" section at THE VERY END of every issue rather than in the beginning. People who are NEW to INIQUITY and INIQUITY NEWS should probably take the time to read that section at the end called "Stuff For New Readers" (heh, catchy title, aye?). ;-)

Oh yeah, one last thing before we get onto the inimitable TABLE O' CONTENTS: Ever wonder if The IQ (that's short for ALL YOU READERS out there) have any kind of Influence in the World Of E-Commerce? Well Guess What: You Most Certainly DO! After my announcement to the INIQUITY List a few weeks ago regarding the ongoing SALE at SYREN RUBBER CLOTHING, Syren saw one of their Biggest Sales "Spikes" Of The Year! The Owner Himself commented that it was definitely from INIQUITY, easy to calculate seeing as how all INIQUITY Members must use the INIQUITY Password ("Iniquity") to get any sort of discount. So CONGRATULATIONS Folks -- We Just Proved Ourselves To Be A Viable Economic Force in the world of Fetish Commerce! Therefore, IF ANY OF YOU KNOW OF A SALE going on ANYWHERE in the Fetish Universe, Drop Me A Line so I can get the Word Out! As Fetish Merchants come to respect the Purchasing Power of the quality community of The IQ, hopefully more and more of them will be prompted to offer all of us an INIQUITY Discount. :-)

And now it is time once again for
Everyone's Favorite:

Table O' Contents:

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Visit the INIQUITY Website at: https://clubiniquity.com

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Club X & DNA: A Variety of VICTORIES!

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I am happy to say that the new year started off on a wonderful note with two Major Victories scored for the BDSM / Fetish Community. The Biggest News is that The San Diego Six of Club X, who were arrested for "Vice" when holding a perfectly legal BDSM party with all their licenses and permits in order, were all entirely acquitted! The second victory involves the DNA Lounge in San Francisco, who had become the latest target for an anti-nightlife regime amongst the city government. A well-run grassroots effort turned that situation completely around. :-)

San Diego Six
(thanks to all of you who forwarded me this message)

In their own words:

"PROSECUTION CALLS IT QUITS!!!!
ALL REMAINING CHARGES TO BE DROPPED!!!
THE SAN DIEGO SIX WIN!!!

Deputy City Attorney, Tristan Higgins-Goodell, informed defense attorney, Andy Zmurkiewicz, that the City Attorney's office will no longer pursue its cases against the individuals cited during the October 29th, 1999, Vice Unit raid on a Club X play party. The charges against these individuals will all be dropped. This will take place as each individual case holds its Pre-Trial Conference, which will all take place later this month. Today's announcement is a major victory for the San Diego Six! It is a major victory for the leather/ SM/ fetish community here in San Diego, and also throughout the Nation. In short, WE WON and won BIG!!!

While the Deputy City Attorney did not share her office's motivation for coming to this decision, the complete defeat and rejection of their first case had something to do with it. In that major decision, the jury completely rejected the Prosecution's case against Crickett, the first of the Six to go to trial. In a twelve to zero vote the jury found Crickett not guilty of the Lewd Acts charge facing her. That jury further commented that they felt the Prosecution's case was "weak" and that the whole thing "was a waste of time."

These strong words by the jury against the Prosecution seem to have finally had an effect. We were fearful that it might be otherwise and that the Prosecution might have proceeded with at least one more case, if for no other reason than to prove their initial defeat wasn't simply the Defense being lucky. Fortunately, someone in the City Attorney's office thought better of this and decided to call the whole thing off. This saved them any further humiliation in court as well as saved the tax payers of San Diego from having anymore of their money wasted in a pointless trial.

While the Deputy City Attorney's announcement holds true today, it will still take some time for it to be put into actuality. Each of the individuals will still have to go through their Pre-Trial Conferences so that the process can fully take effect. That means more time in general and more court time for the defense attorneys in specific. This does not in any way diminish the importance of what occurred here for this was the minimum that would be expected. The Six were, in fact, prepared for much worse - each having to go through their own trial process! Not now though!

Time will tell just how much of a precedent can be drawn from this case. Club X will be working with attorney Zmurkiewicz to determine how to best apply the results of this victory - both here in San Diego and elsewhere. Together with the other leather/ SM/ fetish groups here in San Diego, Club X will also be retaining an attorney to review its policies and procedures, as well as those of all the other participating groups, with an eye to making them even better and harder for Vice to subvert. Look for more information about this in the near future.

As sweet as this victory is (and damn! It IS sweet!), it has not come without a price. On a human level, Six individuals have had their lives turned upside down by this police attack on their private, legal, adult activities. Most of these Six people had not had anything so much as a parking ticket to deal with in the past and now they were being charged with committing "sex crimes." Defending themselves from these false charges has proven extremely traumatic for these people. It has been emotionally draining to have to go through such a process even when you know in your heart that you will eventually win in the end. The Six are all breathing a huge sigh of relief today, knowing that this whole ugly thing will soon be over.

More info: check out the San Diego Six website at http://www.geocities.com/sdsixfund

It contains all the information about the Six you could ask for. This runs from all the press releases we have sent out about the Six, to a full description of the events which sparked this effort, to contact information, to their Legal Defense Fund info.

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DNA Lounge Victory
(thanks to John Patterson for this report)

DNA PUBLIC HEARING RESULTS
OBJECTIVE VERSION:
(Visit Jamie Zawinski's site at http://jwz.org/DNA for full details).

On Wednesday Feb. 2nd Jamie Zawinski and Barry Synoground (who are buying the DNA) and Rob Schneider and his brother (the current owners of DNA) led a group of concerned club-goers in an effort to achieve the right to continue operating the DNA as a nightly after hours club. The commissioners voted unanimously in favor of the DNA!!!

The points contended by the sheriff's department were: 1) allowing admittance after 2am, 2) the placement of noise limiters to reduce bass frequencies disturbing the neighbors and 3) the right to remain open until 6am on any given night.

Jamie and Barry offered to place the limiters and the other rights were granted by the commission's unanimous decision in favor of the DNA.

SUBJECTIVE VERSION:
RESULTS ARE IN -- FREAKS WIN, COPS LOOSE!!!

It was a beautiful day to be a freak. We filled that courtroom in city hall full of more purple hair and piercings than you could shake a bible at! Someone actually put up a life size Austin Powers cardboard stand up, cheezing away with a neon pink sticker saying "save S.F. Late Night Culture" on the wall of the courtroom!!!

I personally saw the sheriff of this fine city sweating bullets on the stand (how 'bout *that* for irony) while mumbling out his feeble case. The commissioners actually criticized the sheriff while he was on the stand, noting redundancy because there were already laws in place (which were outside the jurisdiction of the commission) to prevent re-entry to a club without full admission payment.

There were many passionate testimonies given on behalf of the DNA by both the young and the young at heart. One of the commissioners actually praised the Holy Cow during the hearing for "being a very good establishment" and saying he had been there many times! In the context of the discussion he was implying that he welcomed the addition of the DNA to the after hours night life scene that he seemed proud to be a part of! Adding to the three ringed circus we were entertained by the comedy laden testimony that Rob Schneider gave (you know the "makin' copieeees" guy from Saturday night Live). He cracked the court up saying that if the commission didn't grant the license that city people and tourists would "have to seek out the vibrant night life in Colma!" ~Hey wait a minute~ some of us *do* seek out "nightlife" in Colma...evil laughter...heh heh heh...

The most important point of it all was that it felt good to see a crowd of club-goers who are *usually* bitching about how everything and everyone sucks, actually come together and *do* something about it!

In Machiavellian fairness, the devil's battery of advocates may nay say that the commission was "campaigning" and they were only cool to us for the sake of purely selfish reasons. I don't think so...they may be legislators but I think they had heart, which beat in time with the rest of us who were able to save the DNA because we cared.

Please feel free to send comments, positive or negative, to me
john_paul_patterson@hotmail.com

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AMAZING Gloria Brame Survey is IN!

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(thanks to Tom)

You may or may not be aware that a survey was conducted last year of the U.S. BDSM/Fetish population. The survey, conducted by authoress Dr. Gloria Brame for free and in her own spare time (under the supervision of the Institute For The Advanced Study Of Human Sexuality), asked a number of straight-forward questions to ascertain some serious demographics about the U.S. Fetish Community. To her original request for information, she received not some piddly several dozen or several hundred responses, but nearly SEVEN THOUSAND responses from across America. This may well represent one of the most conclusive studies of people in the BDSM community ever performed.

Her questions all probed into fundamental elements of the ordinary lives and backgrounds of people into some aspect of fetish/bdsm contact-activity (i.e. she screened out mere voyeurs). People's jobs, parents, & childhood were amongst the subject matter questioned. Needless to say the results, if taken as a serious cross-section of the American BDSM/Fetish community, present some genuinely inspiring statistics (such as data which suggests that Fetishists have a strong tendency NOT to repeat the domestic violence patterns of their parents!!). :-)

That said, I don't want to bias your own appraisal of the statistics any more. I HIGHLY recommend you read the survey results for yourself and see what conclusions you draw. :-)

The URL for the Survey Results (and a copy of the original Survey) can be found at:
http://www.gloria-brame.com/domidea/survey.html

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Fetish In The Media: Ads, TV, and Music

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(thanks to sj, Jen, & Shaydee)

PEOPLE Magazine ran an ad for the new Pontiac Bonneville which shows a bow-tie next to a black spiked collar, implying a "Fetishy" edge of Daring & Exciting side by side with Classy. BOTH elements make the "Bonneville driver" (pictured black and shiny of course). Fetish & Class -- funny, that's also how I feel about the INIQUITY Crowd... ;-)

Keep your eyes peeled for two new shows on TV which promise to be very corset-laden to say the least, one Historical and one Futuristic. "JACK OF ALL TRADES" is about a Colonial Secret Agent, who most likely will need lots of black leather and black velvet to stay nicely hidden in the shadows. "CLEOPATRA 2525," another show produced by the creators of Xena, immediately wardrobe's the main characters in LAYERS of Latex, Leather &PVC!!! My kind of show! Check out the actual clothing designs as well. Literally "Future Fetish Fashion"! :-)

It appears from your feedback that the #2 winner for "most Fetishy rock star" is Joan Jett. Several of you have written in mentioning that her newest album, which just happens to be called FETISH, is really quite good. Some say it makes great "scene" music, others like making Fetish Toys with this album as inspirational background music. The songs have titles like "Love Is Pain" and "Black Leather." Apparently these days when Ms. Jett performs live she tends to go onstage clad in black latex or leather, and lately has a flogger at her side (which she does use!). There is also some mention of a red handkerchief (if you don't know what that means lets just say it equates with very hardcore play.). Kudos to Ms. Jett for such an enlightened performance. :-)

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Iniquity Artist's Model Search

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The very talented Danielle Bedics, the artist responsible for the incredible imagery on the new INIQUITY Website Cards you will soon be seeing everywhere, is in need of MODELS (female). Ms. Bedics is a professional photographer whose work has appeared in SKIN TWO. Her art combines Fetish photographs of beautiful females with an impressive futuristic-alien and / or fantasy design via computer enhancement. The result is sort of Lewis Carroll meets H.R. Geiger. When I first saw her work I knew I wanted her to design the INIQUITY cards. To see Ms. Bedics work, grab one of the new wallet-sized INIQUITY Website Cards, or if you are outside of San Francisco at this time then send an e-mail requesting the image.

If you have an interest in modeling for Ms. Bedics, send an e-mail ASAP to:
Models@ClubIniquity.com

This is in fact the beginning of a new service that INIQUITY will be adding to it's repertoire, that of keeping a database of Fetish Models. A great many artists and photographers regularly stop by INIQUITY's virtual doorstep to inquire as to whether or not we can refer any models to them. Some pay well, others are novices who trade portfolio work, still others offer a variety of differing compensations. All are reputable. :-)

If you are interested in being added to this Fetish Model database, send details of the kind of Fetish Art Modeling you would be interested in doing -- Still Photography, Video, Live Performance (runway work, stage, being body-painted, etc.) -- as well as where your limits are (i.e. what you will and will not show, what you are comfortable doing, Fetish elements that you are ok with such as bondage, etc.). Please Be As Detailed As Possible. That way we will better be able to hook you up with the Artists best suited to your temperament and vice-versa.

Be sure to be absolutely honest about your bottom-line needs for your time, i.e. will you accept a barter arrangement? Perks? Or do you absolutely require cash for your time? If you require cash, then be sure to state what is the LOWEST pay you will work for -- we never hear complaints about someone being paid too much. :-)

If you can send a scanned photo of yourself as well it will be kept absolutely confidential and only shared with artists who could be prospective employers, seriously speeding up the process of employment. You have our word that said photos will never be seen or used for any other purpose. Be sure to state any and all Previous Experience you may have as well. Think of this as something of an online Modeling Resume (although we really don't need to know about your schooling or your last job unless it refers to relevant training). :-)

Currently this "INIQUITY Modeling Agency" service is primarily (but not exclusively) for female models simply because we get requests for female models about ten times as much as we ever get requests for male models. Nonetheless, we DO get occasional requests for models of both sexes, so guys don't feel daunted. We get model requests for ALL KINDS of jobs, from Fetish Fashion Photography to Live BDSM Theatre to Runway Modeling. Soon we hope to have a separate page for this new service at the INIQUITY Website, where jobs will be posted for your perusal. :-)

NOTE: Are you a Fetish Photographer / Videographer / Painter / Sculptor or any other kind of Fetish Artist who needs models? Get into the INIQUITY Artist Database! Send a scanned photo representative of your work with a description of what you do and the kind of models you generally seek to employ. Please state your TERMS (Pay/Compensation) as specifically as possible. As models come in we will be looking through our Artist Database first to hook up the talent. :-)

(Please also note that INIQUITY's role in this process is to hook up Artists and Models, and not to monitor the behavior of either. Our interests are of professional assistance and we expect anyone who uses our services in either direction to maintain a similar professionalism. Complaints about either an Artist or a Model will be taken seriously and in a worst-case scenario the offending individual will be dropped from our service.)

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The INCREDIBLE "Fetish Doll" by SKIN TWO!

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(thanks to L. at S2)

You just gotta see this. When I logged onto the SKIN TWO Website and saw this fantastic online Cyber-Toy, I laughed out loud and immediately knew that The IQ had to hear about this one in particular. I told my friend at SKIN TWO about it and they were gracious enough to send me the direct URL below so the entire INIQUITY List can go check out their Fetish Doll, even if you are not a member of SKIN TWO. :-)

So what is the Fetish Doll? Imagine a paper-cut-out doll of yester-year who you dress up in Fetish Clothes. Now imagine that you can not only change the Race of that doll with the touch of a button, but you can also change Hair Style and even Tan Lines!!! Hehehehe. Absolutely brilliant (right about now you are probably saying, "Gee Arcane, you're kind of easily amused, aren't you?"). Take my word for it -- it is a riot. :-)

But the Most Impressive element of the FETISH DOLL is what it portends for the future: A level of Online Shopping which will be SUPREMELY interactive! Imagine that one day you log into a site just like Fetish Doll, use your web-cam to take a photo of your face, and enter your body measurements into some fields at the website. Then you click a button and VOILA! You are looking at your computerized body with your face, and you then proceed to try on various pieces of Fetish Clothing (or any number of other kinds of clothing or accessories) simply by pointing and clicking. One minute you are sitting at home, the next minute you are personally shopping in the Virtual SKIN TWO Showroom! :-)

Check out the current SKIN TWO Fetish Doll now at:
http://www.skintwo.com/fetishdoll

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Controversy Regarding D.C. March
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(thanks to Susan, FemDom, Ann, & Artesia)

On April 30th, the Gay-Les-Bi-Trans community will be holding a massive march in Washington D.C. with speakers to express concerns about Freedom of Sexual Expression, Gay Rights, and other relevant issues. Apparently there seems to be some controversy around whether or not the Leather contingent should be joining the march, dubbed the MMOW, or Millennium March On Washington. Reports have come in that some Leather Community members do not want to touch the MMOW, while others feel slighted because the Leather (BDSM) Community did not receive an open invitation to join in the march. As one Leather Community member put it: "I have been very interested in MMOW, but more so on the negativity towards the Leather Community. We had to pull teeth to be welcome. The powers that be at MMOW finally and reluctantly agreed to include us. It was getting to the point the that Leather Community was threatening to attend the march if only to protest."

The bottom line issue at the MMOW is Freedom and the Right to Practice One's Sexuality without Discrimination. One of the authors of the movement to get the Leather Community included in the MMOW wrote, "Personally, I feel that these concerns include privacy rights and personal freedom for consenting adults, inclusion and non-discrimination, and the right to not have our children taken away because of our personal choice of lifestyle. I feel that these issues embody many of the so-called mainstream GLBT issues."

One of the issues is: Who Will Speak for the Leather Community? Amongst others, Joseph Bean, the well known BDSM author, is being considered to address the assemblage. But even more important than WHO is IF. The main issue right now is Getting the Leather / BDSM Community into the March as an accepted part of the platform. As one speaker said, "If we want to see leather on the MMOW platform, we need to speak up as individuals. A stack of e-mails from us would help support this case."

Therefore, once again The IQ can help. If you feel so inclined, follow the directions below as to where to send your e-mails: "Action -- MMOW is reaching out to the leather community, it's better late than never, and we have a seat at the table folks, so speak up with your issues, its now or never. E-mail Michael Crawford (MCrawford@mmow.org), who is doing outreach to the leather-fetish-mc-kink community, and please CC to Mark Martin (MMartin@mmow.org) who is gathering input on speakers."

More info: www.mmow.com

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YES, there's more!!
Click here to go to Part II of Iniquity Newsletter #18

For any and all comments, stories, reviews, or just dropping digitally by to say hello, please use my Contact Form.
Please direct issues regarding glitches or problems with the actual website to Chance Wheeler

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