Thursday, March 24, 2016

Silicon Valley welcomed the NCSF Coalition Partners

SAN JOSE - The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom's annual Coalition Partner Meeting took place March 4-6, 2016, in San Jose, CA. For the first time, the annual meeting was made accessible by video conferencing for Coalition Partners and NCSF staff members, so they could actively participate in the meeting.

"Opening up the NCSF annual meeting to everyone regardless of whether they can travel will allow more people to get involved in our work," says Susan Wright, spokesperson for NCSF. "NCSF has made a lot of progress over the past 19 years fighting for our rights, and we are seeing a drop in persecution because of our successful efforts with the American Psychiatric Association. We look forward to more progress with our new American Law Institute project to make consent a defense to BDSM in criminal proceedings."


Some highlights from NCSF:
  • The first NCSF Consent Summit will take place on April 23rd in Seattle 
  • Over 60 people have signed up to take NCSF's BDSM and Intimate Partner Violence Training with workshops scheduled through the next quarter
  • NCSF worked with the American Association for Sexuality Educators Counselors and Therapists Alt Sex SIG to produce "A Taste of Kink" at the AASECT annual conference in Minneapolis last June
  • NCSF introduced the new Got Consent? brochure on communication and negotiations
  • NCSF launched a series of FAQs for groups and events on how to deal with consent violations 
  • NCSF directly helped 198 people, groups and businesses in 2015 through our Incident Reporting & Response
  • The Kink Aware Professionals database was accessed by 1,800 people, a 30% increase over 2014
  • NCSF exhibited and presented at over 33 events in 2015 
  • NCSF gave 38 interviews last year including a big media push around the 50 Shades of Grey movie launch
The annual reports and financial statements are posted on the NCSF website.

Saturday afternoon was devoted to discussing the services NCSF provides to people who are non-monogamous, and how to further develop the resources people need, like help with housing, child custody and legal forms of protection. The CPs and Board members also discussed a proposal on Disabilities and Sex Workers, which dovetails with NCSF's mission to defend the right of consenting adults to have freedom of sexual expression.

Saturday evening, the NCSF staff, Board members and Coalition Partner reps attended the San Francisco's Leather Alliance Weekend main event, the Mr. SF Leather Contest, where 10 amazing contestants vied for the sash. NCSF congratulates Mr. San Francisco Leather 2016: Cody Elkin (Mr. Lonestar 2016)!

NCSF's Consent Counts Discussion on Sunday drew a crowd of 38 people who were eager to discuss various issues of consent. It was a wonderful showing of interest and support from the local San Jose community.

The new NCSF Board of Directors consists of:

Kevin Carlson - Chairman (Boise, ID)
Keira Harris - Secretary and Volunteer Coordinator (New Orleans, LA)
L.V. "Sassy" Reese - NCSF Treasurer (Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN)
Jim Fleckenstein - NCSF Foundation Treasurer (Manassas, VA)
Susan Wright - Media and Incident Reporting & Response Director (Phoenix, AZ)
Judy Guerin - Consent Counts Director (Washington, DC)
Julian Wolf - Newsletter Director (Albuquerque, NM)
Mercury - Literature Director (Nashville, TN)
Devin MacLachlan (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
Allena Gabosch (Seattle, WA)
Billy Lane (Philadelphia, PA)
Jackie Harris (St. Louis, MO)

NCSF looks forward to seeing the Coalition Partners in the Midwest for the 2017 Annual Coalition Partners Meeting.

Please support NCSF by becoming a member, volunteering or donating today! NCSF is here to help you, so please help us!

National Coalition for Sexual Freedom

2 comments:

  1. These are really popular places in the city for private events for corporations like us. It can be hard to find the right venue for big events. The right size event space NYC, that is flexible fits well. Thanks to you.

    ReplyDelete