Social hosted a group of small group of kinksters at the Bay Area Derby Girls (B.A.D. Girls for short) roller derby last Saturday, July 11. I am still buzzing from the excitement.

When we got there at 6:30, there was already a line. I knew it was going to be good. We raced inside and grabbed seats on the front row. Score! We had a small group, just seven, but we held our own cheering and booing like seasoned fans. The best part about the roller derby is that you don't have to learn a lot about rules to figure out how it works. You can pick out the lead jammer from by the glittery star on her helmet (and, well, because she is the one they are trying to beat to all hell while she tries to score points).

We laugh and celebrate too little right now. The economy, joblessness, IOUs from the State, Prop 8 all press upon our good humor and make us just a little crankier.

So when there's good reason to celebrate, we should all take pause.

At this Saturday's Janus Munch, two longtime Janus members will commit to each other in marriage. Todd is a former Janus webmaster and still doing work as historian. Mary was part of the Growing Pains team. They've known each other for three and a half years and now they're sealing the bond.

I've recently been introduced to the "kink scene" or the "BDSM scene". Those names make sense to me as far as my understanding of kink being related to exploring sex, role play, specific activities and social events. I've also seen the name "leather scene" and that is the part I don't understand. I have no interest in leather. In fact, I don't consume animal products, so wearing leather clothing is something I would never do. So what exactly does "leather scene" mean compared to "kink" or "BDSM"?

Now available for download.


June 2009 Growing Pains

The 39th SF Pride Parade is underway and we're a part of it! The Leather Contingent is the 138th group to march out of 210! Pretty amazing to see so many folks supporting equality for us all. We'll send updates via our Society of Janus Twitter feed as we start to march. And visit us at the Pride Celebration today at Civic Center -- we're part of Leather Alley. Happy Pride!