Categories
Norsk Seksualpolitikk

Diagnoseutvalget ReviseF65: Virksomhet 2004-2006

Til LLHs Sentralstyre/ Landsstyremøte/ Landsmøtet 10.-11. juni i Oslo
Sak 4: Landsstyrets beretning

Ad Diagnoseutvalget ReviseF65
Beretning for landsstyrets virksomhet i perioden 7.6.2004 – 10.5.2006

Oslo 6. juni 2006

Undertegnede ber herved om at nedenstående rapport legges til Landsstyrets beretning om Diagnoseutvalget Revise F65 og at setningen: ”Utvalget har hatt liten aktivitet i inneværende periode”, strykes.

Jeg viser til telefonsamtale med Trine Elvebakken i dag tirsdag 6. juni kl 1730.

Jeg må si jeg ble ganske paff da jeg ved en tilfeldighet oppdaget Beretning for landsstyrets virksomhet i perioden 7.6.2004 – 10.5.2006 på internett ved et Google-søk på ordet ”sadomasochisme”.
www.llh.no/filestore/Landsstyretsberetningforperioden04-06.pdf

Riktignok har både Reidar og jeg vært syke deler av landsstyreperioden, jeg etter mors død, og Reidar etter at han trakk seg fra sentralstyret. Men det betyr ikke at all virksomhet i Diagnoseutvalget har ligget død, snarere tvert imot.

Dette fremgår av rapporten Diagnoseutvalget sendte til sentralstyret og landsstyret 24. mars 2006 www.revisef65.org/10aar.html
Rapporten dekker hele perioden siden Diagnoseutvalget fikk sitt mandat i 1998/1999.

Nedenstående er bare en del av innsatsen i inneværende landsmøteperiode. Å beskrive dette som “liten aktivitet i inneværende periode” er, ved siden av at det er uriktig, svært ødeleggende for Diagnoseutvalgets renommé og videre arbeid, ikke minst fordi landsstyrets beretning er tilgjengelig for almenheten via internett.

Vi ber herved om at nedenstående rapport inkluderes i Beretning for landsstyrets virksomhet i perioden 7.6.2004 – 10.5.2006 både på internett og i trykt form.

Med vennlig hilsen Svein Skeid,
leder i Diagnoseutvalget Revise F65

 

KORT SAMMENDRAG

I landsmøteperioden 7.6.2004 – 10.5.2006 har Diagnoseutvalget ReviseF65 i samsvar med sitt mandat dokumentert det faglige grunnlag for videre arbeid, hvilket 31. mai 2006 ble publisert i verdens kanskje mest anerkjente homotidsskrift, the Journal of homosexuality. Lillesøster Norge har i landsstyreperioden fått storesøster Tyskland med sine 80 millioner mennesker til å kopiere vårt diagnosearbeid og arbeide mot samme mål som oss. Diagnoseutvalgets fagfolk har i landsstyreperioden fått verdens ledende psykiatere i tale og som det mest profilerte nettstedet for sm/fetisj-befolkingen i Norge blir www.reviseF65.org sitert og bidrar vesentlig til artikkel(serier) om fetisj/sm, blant annet i form av fire sm/fetisj-artikler i Dagbladet 26. mars til 16. april 2006.

Etter at rapporten ble oversendt 24. mars har SMia og Diagnoseutvalget spilt inn tv-dokumentar om diagnosearbeidet som blir ferdig redigert før LLHs landmøte finner sted. Vi har reagert skriftlig overfor diskriminering fra Arbeiderpartiet på selveste første mai (www.revisef65.org/1.mai_2006.html), og vi har hatt et viktig møte med Arbeiderpartiets homonettverk om den videre politiske delen av vårt arbeid (se virkemidler under).

DIAGNOSEUTVALGETS MÅL OG MANDAT SLIK DET FREMGÅR AV LLHS PLATTFORM, ARBEIDSPROGRAM OG LANDSSTYRETS MANDAT AV 03.10.1998:

MANDATETS MÅL: På sikt er det ambisiøse målet å fjerne ufaglige og stigmatiserende sm- og fetisjdiagnoser fra WHOs og norske helsemyndigheters ICD-lister.

MANDATETS VIRKEMIDLER:
1) Menneskerettslig og faglig kompetanseutvikling
2) Menneskerettslig og faglig kunnskapsdatabase på internett
3) Skape forutsigbare arbeidsforhold og øke takhøyden innad i homo- og sm-bevegelsen
4) Synliggjøring, holdningsdanning og kunnskapsformidling innad og utad
5) Nettverksbygging nasjonalt og internasjonalt, blant annet få andre land til å starte tilsvarende arbeid
6) Faglig og seksualpolitisk støtte fra organisasjoner og miljøer
7) Arbeid overfor politiske helsemyndigheter

DIAGNOSEUTVALGETS ARBEID I LANDSSTYREPERIODEN 5.6.2004 – 10.5.2006

Journal of homosexuality

31.5.2006: I landsstyreperioden er viktige sider av Diagnoseutvalgets mandat oppnådd i form av faglig og menneskerettslig dokumentasjon på hvorfor de stigmatiserende sm- og fetisjdiagnosene må fjernes (jfr landsmøtevedtak 2000). 31. mai 2006 ble dette materialet publisert i the Journal of Homosexuality (dobbeltnummer om SM: Vol. 50, 2/3)).
https://www.haworthpress.com/journals/jdispresults.asp?sid=39MA6KALRAJP9PFHHJ5B02W33S3DF952&sku=J082
(mandatets punkter 1,4 og 5).

“Ledende autoriteter”

2006: Artikkelen publiseres i løpet av året parallellt i Haworth-boka ”Sadomasochism: Powerful Pleasures” der artikkelforfatterne Skeid og Reiersøl på bokomslaget fremheves som “ledende autoriteter på området”. www.haworthpress.com/store/product.asp?sid=ECQ6A4851X9C9LXDJP0JD300C0WUD8VB&sku=5794&AuthType=4
(mandatets punkter 1,4 og 5).

Tyskland starter diagnosearbeid

29.10.2004. Tyskland, med sine 80 millioner innbyggere, har i landsstyreperioden sluttet seg til Revise F65 sitt arbeid i regi av den tyske BDSM-organisasjonen BVSM e.V, etter at Diagnoseutvalget holdt møter og foredrag for 30 sm-aktivister i Berlin 3.-5. september 2004 (i samsvar med mandatets punkter 2, 4 og 5).
www.sm-news.de/menu.php?link=news&newsid=2092 (29.10.2004)
www.bvsm.de/index.php?id=151&backPID=118&tt_news=39 (4.1.2005)

“Aktiv og synlig gruppe” (mandatets punkter 1, 2, 3 og 4)

Diagnoseutvalget ReviseF65 er, blant annet via nettsiden www.reviseF65.org, i løpet av inneværende landsstyreperiode blitt “den mest aktive og synlige gruppa som jobber med seksualpolitikk og menneskerettigheter i forhold til sadomasochister og fetisjister i Norge” (blant flere kilder: sitat fra Wikipedia www.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReviseF65). Et Google-søk 4.6.06 gir for eksempel “Revise F65” 5100 treff, “LLH-Oslo” 1770 treff og Norges største SM-organisasjon “SMil-Norge” 756 treff. Dette skyldes kontinuerlig oppdatering (www.revisef65.org/updates.html) i landsstyreperioden og oversettelse til et titalls språk, siste tilskudd var oversettelse til italiensk 29. mars 2005.
www.manettematte.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=366&mode=&order=0&thold=0

Kunnskapsdatabase (mandatets punkter 1, 2, 3 og 4)
www.revisef65.org/updates.html

I landsstyreperioden er flere artikler produsert og publisert på nettsidene av faglig og menneskerettslig betydning for diagnosearbeidet:
7. november og 29. desember 2004 kom Diagnoseutvalgets unike artikkel med case-materiale om vold mot og diskriminering av fetisj/sm-befolkingen i norsk og engelsk språkdrakt (www.revisef65.org/diskriminering.html) som allerede refereres i fagtidsskrifter (www.sexologinytt.se/2_05/4.htm). 29. desember kom flere egenproduserte artikler, blant annet om sm-bevegelsens historie og historien om lær/sm-homoer som minoritet i homominoriteten.www.revisef65.org/psykopatologi.html viser at det ikke er mer sykelighet blant sm-ere enn andre folk. www.revisef65.org/antall.html antyder at det finnes 5-10 prosent sm-ere i befolkningen. Diagnoseutvalget betalte over 6000 kroner for å få SINTEF-rapporten som viser at sm- og fetisj-diagnosene, liksom den tidligere homofili-diagnosen, i praksis er sovende – men misbrukes desto mer (lagt ut 9. mars 2005 www.revisef65.org/sintef.html). 28. oktober 2005 kom den diagnoserelaterte artikkelen “SM – myter og fakta” i kjølvannet av sm-debatten på Gaysirwww.revisef65.org/myter1.html. Denne folkeopplysningsartikkelen ble også lagt ut på Gaysir og LLH-Oslo sine nettsider.

Internasjonale kongresser

ReviseF65 var i landsstyreperioden representert med foredrag på to internasjonale psykiatri-kongresser i tillegg tll nasjonale fagkongresser. På nettsidene til den svenske sexologiforeningen, gir Xenu Cronström et grundig referat av diagnose-foredraget til psykiater Reidar Kjær ved den årlige konferansen til The Norwegian Society of Clinical Sexology i Trondheim september 2004.www.sexologinytt.se/3_04/3.htm (www.revisef65.org/firenze.html) (mandatets punkter 1, 4, 5 og 6)
Utvalgets leder har deltatt på to internasjonale menneskerettighetsarrangementer i landsstyreperioden: Møter og foredrag ved Folsom Europe i Berlin 3-5.9.2004 og Kinkfest i London desember 2004 (mandatets punkter 4, 5 og 6).


UTDRAG AV DET ØVRIGE ARBEID, KRONOLOGISK:

2004, 5.-6. juni. Etter 10 års kamp, ble dobbeltminoriteter og diagnosearbeidet til ReviseF65 inkludert i LLHs politiske plattform på landsmøtet i Trondheim (mandatets punkt 3)www.llh.no/Organisasjonen/Dokumenter/filestore/Politiskplattform.pdf

2004, 19. juni. Diagnoseutvalgets leder Svein Skeid holdt tale under åpningen av Skeive Dager i spikersuppa Oslo, hvilket også dannet grunnlaget for en kronikk om seksuelle dobbeltminoriteter i Blikks september-utgave (mandatets punkt 3 og 4).

2004, 19. juni. Som rollemodell og offentlig synlig lærhomse gjennom 25 år har Diagnoseutvalgets leder Svein Skeid gjort noe med livet til ungdom i komme ut-fasen(e). Møte med “Kristopher” (25) fra Lillehammer på London Pub etter Åpningen av Skeive dager gjorde sterkt inntrykk. I en alder av 11 år var undertegnede eneste offentlige rollemodell og inspirasjonskilde for Kristopher, hvilket hadde avgjørende betydning for hans identitetutvikling (mandatets punkt 3 og 4).

2004, 26. juni. Sammen med byrådsleder i Oslo Erling Lae, delte Diagnoseutvalgets leder Svein Skeid ut Homo ærespris 2004 på Rådhusplassen i Oslo (mandatets punkt 3 og 4).

2004, December 29. Oversikt over SM-bevegelsens historie lagt ut på Diagnoseutvalget sine nettsider www.revisef65.org/historie.html

2004, December 29. Oversikt over SM/fetisj og homobevegelsen 1886-2005 lagt ut på Diagnoseutvalget sine nettsider www.revisef65.org/homobevegelsen.html

2004, December 29. Sikker, sunn og samtykkende: Et moral-etisk verdigrunnlag for fetisj/sm-bevegelsen, lagt ut på Diagnoseutvalget sine nettsider www.revisef65.org/sikker.html

2005, 29. mars. Diagnoseutvalgets hovedartikkel oversatt til italiensk. I alt er våre nettsider nå oversatt til et titalls språk.
www.manettematte.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=366&mode=&order=0&thold=0

2005, mai. Lansering av sikrere sex-heftet ”SM- og fetisjsex mellom menn” utgitt av Helseutvalget for homofile i samarbeid med SMia og SLM og støttet av Sosial- og helsedirektoratet. Smia og Diagnoseutvalgets leder satt i redaksjonskomitéen.
www.helseutvalget.no/tpl.html?catid=33

2005, juni. Diagnoseutvalget var en aktiv og synlig del av mangfoldet under Europride i Oslo 2005 der distribusjon /utdeling av vårt ferske sikrere sex-hefte var en viktig del av innsatsen. Bildereportasje på www.revisef65.org/europrideoslobilder.html

2005, 22. juni. SMia-Oslo, som primus motor i Diagnoseutvalget, feirer 10 årwww.gaysir.no/artikkel.cfm?CID=10627

2005, 23. juni. Diagnoseutvalgets foredrag ved Teologisk fakultet ved Universitetet i Oslo der viktige kontakter til diagnosearbeidet i Frankrike ble etablertwww.revisef65.org/europrideOsloLecture.html

2005, 27. oktober. Diagnoseutvalgets leder Svein Skeid deltok i paneldebatten ved oppstarten av fetisj/sm-gruppe for lesbiske i regi av LLH på på SinPecado i Oslo.

2005, 13. november holdt ReviseF65/ SMia og SLM foredrag for sexologistudenene ved Høyskolen i Agder.

2005, 8. desember. Diagnoseutvalgets leder Svein Skeid presenterte utvalget på LLHs seminar ved Universitetet i Oslo www.gaysir.no/artikkel.cfm?CID=11112

2006, april. Medarbeiderne hos klinikk Sexologen, med Dagbladets Gro Isachsen i spissen, støtter arbeidet til Diagnoseutvalget Revise F65 i annonser på samtlige av deres nettsiderwww.sexologen.no

2006, 24. april – 10. mai. Innspilling av tv-film om Diagnoseutvalgets og Smia-Oslo sitt arbeid. Opptak blant annet i lokalene til LLHs sentralstyre.

2006, 1. mai. Alle parolene til Diagnoseutvalget fjernet fra Arbeiderpartiets online 1. mai-tog. Reaksjon overfor Ap fra utvalget og SMil-Norge.

2006, 22. mai. Representanter fra LLHs sentralstyre, ReviseF65 og SMil-Norge hadde møte med Kjell Erik Øie og Arbeiderpartiets homonettverk for å meisle ut den videre politiske strategien for diagnosearbeidet.

2006, 31. mai. Svein Skeid og Diagnoseutvalgets psykolog Odd Reiersøls artikkel ”The ICD Diagnoses of Fetishism and Sadomasochism” publiseres i et dobbeltnummer om SM av the Journal of Homosexuality.

2006, 23. juni. Lars Joakim Ringoms SM-dokumentar “lærhomsen” har premiere på Nonna i Grønlandsleiret 23. Filmen får engelske undertekster i løpet av sommeren.

 

Categories
English Sexual politics

UK report – August 2003

IML 2003 is official supporter of the ReviseF65 Project

Eric and Svein have been rallying support for SM human rights in the UK during august 2003. Representing the ReviseF65 project, they have held four workshops with in all more than fifty people attending. At all the workshops there were represented different gay and straight SM/fetish leaders and mental health specialists from several countries, and during August the number of members on the ReviseF65 mailing list has increased by 50 percent. One of the workshops received the visit of International Mr Leather, John Pendal. Afterwords he decided to support officially the ReviseF65 project.

International Mr Leather, John Pendal (picture left) published August 26th that ReviseF65 is one of five projects that he will support during the year he holds the title. This should provide a good opportunity for informing people about our project work.

John Pendal is one of very few Europeans who has been awarded International Mr Leather. He got the title at the IML contest in Chicago May 25th 2003. He has taken this year off, to give the role his full attention.

Eric and Svein met him at Europride in Manchester 2003. The ECMC leather club MSC Manchester Superchain had invited John to walk in front of their leather-section in the Europride parade Saturday 23rd 2003. For some time Eric and Svein have had mail contact with MSC‘s hon secretary Ian A. He helped us to get a location for our ReviseF65 workshop in Manchester. Friday 22nd Ian presented us to John (picture right) and Sunday John surprisingly attended our ReviseF65 workshop at Malmaison Hotel. It was very interesting and a big honour for us to be able to present our work to the International Mr Leather.

After the lecture we met John at Manchester Legends Bar celebrating MSC Superchain‘s 20th birthday. We asked him if he would consider the possibility of becoming an official supporter of the ReviseF65 project. He answered “yes” immediately and asked Svein to be photographed together with him in front of the Norwegian flag to demonstrate his support (see the upper picture in the right column).

On Monday we wrote John a mail from an internet café in Manchester and thanked him for his support. Tuesday Ian Gurnhill in Spanner Trust (picture left ) told us that John had linked up the ReviseF65 project on his IML Link page. Friday August 29th, we met John and his partner David at the Hoist leatherclub in London. This is John‘s home club where he received the title “Mr Hoist 2003” in February. John told us that he now also had linked the ReviseF65 project to his Support site. This means that ReviseF65 is one of five projects that IML 2003 endorses. This support is of course a big inspiration for us in our work.

In addition to the workshop at Malmaison Hotel, Eric held a “women only” workshop Sunday August 24th at UK’s First International Womens‘ SM Conference in Manchester. On his first trip to the UK, Svein held a successful workshop at the SM Pride festival in London Saturday August 2nd. Another workshop was held at Central Station, Kings Cross, London Thursday August 28th. This lecture was one hour delayed because of the big power-failure (picture right) that stopped all traffic at London‘s Underground system for hours.

The four ReviseF65 workshops attracted from 4 to 40 participants each. At all the workshops central human-rights activists attended. Discussions, dinners and strategy meetings with these SM/leather leaders gave us feedback which will be important for our continued project work.

In addition, our two visits to the UK gave us the opportunity to take a lot of SM/fetish pictures, which we consider an important ingredient of the Revise F65 website.

Categories
Norsk Seksualpolitikk

Årsberetning 2003

Årsberetning for Diagnoseutvalget ReviseF65

2003 overgikk alle de høye forventningene som vi hadde på slutten av 2002. Diagnoseutvalgets arbeid er i 2003 satt på den politiske og faglige dagsorden både nasjonalt og internasjonalt. Det er lagt et solid faglig grunnlag for utvalgets videre arbeid i form av psykolog Odd Reiersøl og Svein Skeids artikkel som ble endelig godkjent for publisering i The Journal of Homosexuality 21. august, samt psykiater Reidar Kjærs foredrag “Do we need all the Paraphilias?” som han holdt på den internasjonale diagnosekongressen i Wien i juni. Den første artikkelen kommer også i bokform på forlaget Haworth.

Utvalget har også satt spesiell pris på at LLH sentralt har engasjert seg sterkt i året som gikk med økonomisk støtte både til planlagte og uforutsette utgifter. Under Skeive dager i juni ble utvalget arbeid indirekte hedret av LLH da Svein Skeid ble tildelt Homo ærespris 2003. LLHs ledelse har også åpnet opp for mangfold i organisasjonen ved eksplisitt å inkludere sadomachochister, fetisjister og transepersoner i forslag til ny plattform for LLH. Som kronen på verket, kunne LLH-leder Tore Holte Follestad 28. november overlevere til Helseministeren det første offisielle og offentlige initiativ fra Diagnoseutvalget til våre politiske myndigheter.

En annen overraskende milepæl i 2003 var støtteerklæringene fra Homofile og lesbiske legers forening (HLLF) og Norsk Forening for Klinisk Sexologi (NFKS) på deres styremøter 29. april og 8. mai 2003.

Mange aktører

Overstående resultater hadde ikke vært mulig uten innsatsen til minst et par dusin ulike personer som har inspirert og utfylt hverandre gjennom de åtte årene som er gått siden 1996. Noen av dem, fordi de har gitt vesentlige bidrag, andre fordi deres bidrag har vært avgjørende for utvalgets eksistens i sin nåværende form. Folk har til dels kommet og gått, men kontakten med og tilbakemeldingene til organisasjonene har sikret nødvendig nyrekruttering.

Det er også viktig å presisere at utvalgets medlemmer i løpet av et år utfører et utall større og mindre administrative og faglige oppgaver, arbeid som ikke alltid syns like godt utad, men som er helt påkrevet for diagnose-arbeidets videre utvikling. Dette kan inkludere uformelle møter, referatskriving og moderators godkjenning av nye deltagere på mailinglista. Sekretær Bent har i høst også skrevet en artikkel om Diagnose-utvalget til julenummeret av SMil-bladet. Listemoderator Ole har skrevet en artikkel om Diagnose-utvalget i det danske Pan-bladet.

Diagnoseutvalget har i 2003 avholdt seks møter; 30/1, 27/3, 22/5, 14/8, 18/9 og 20/11 med gjennomsnittlig seks tilstede hver gang.

Fagstoff

Det er gjort et betydelig arbeid med nettsidene også i 2003, etter etableringen året før. I september ble hele den engelske forside-layouten endret med en klarere faglig del, og en menneskerettighets-del, for å gjøre sidene mer tilgjengelig for fagfolk. Kathrin Passigs unike F65 diagnose-bibliografi, som kom på slutten av fjoråret, ble oppdatert i oktober 2003. Blant annet er nye fagartikler av Charles Moser/Peggy J. Kleinplatz, Dorothy Hayden og Maria Cristina Martins/Paulo Roberto Ceccarelli lagt ut på hovedsiden. Sistnevte ble holdt som foredrag på den 16. verdenskongress i Sexologi i Havanna på Cuba 10.-14. mars 2003, der også Charles Moser bidro med foredrag.

Den viktige Danmark-artikkelen er oversatt til engelsk av Lars S, og “Om utvalget” er oversatt til engelsk av Svein. Den brasilianske legen Beatriz Kotek har oversatt sidene våre til portugisisk.

Case-materiale

Også utvalgets norske nettsider har fått et stort tilfang i 2003. Hele sm/fetisj-nyhets-arkivet til Skeive nyheter gjennom åtte år, ble i våres totalt omarbeidet, oppdatert og lagt ut på utvalgets nettsider. Den norske ICD-10-teksten ble lagt ut i oktober, og ikke minst: i forbindelse med brevet til Helseministeren, ble et unikt case-materiale om diskriminering og vold mot sm/fetisj-populasjonen lagt ut på nettet.

Etter etableringen av telleverk på hovedsiden 15. oktober, har vi hatt 1989 treff fram til 15. desember, hvorav 1721 unike besøk. Det vil si 33 om dagen eller ca 226 i uken. Både SMil og LLH har i 2003 lenket opp utvalget på sine hjemmesider.

Moderator Ole har netto godkjent over 40 nye medlemmer av mailinglista i år, mot 32 i 2002. Ole og Svein har skrevet en ny veiledning til diskusjonslisten der det blant annet presiseres at språket på diskusjonslista er engelsk og at man ved å svare på en [reviseF65]-mail, sender dette til samtlige deltagere på listen for å gi informasjon eller sette i gang en diskusjon. Fordelen med en mailingliste er at man kan svare når man har tid. Deltagerne trenger ikke være online på samme tid. Likevel kan man ha en dialog gående, også med (fag)folk som ikke nødvendigvis deler utvalgets syn i alt og ett.

Bare i løpet av august økte antall medlemmer på diskusjonslista med 50 prosent og det har aldri vært så mange innlegg på lista i løpet av en måned. Dette kan mye tilskrives Reidars foredrag i Wien, samt Sveins workshop under SM-pride i London 2. august. Reidar holdt også foredraget “Er fetisj- og sm fremdeles sykt?” under Homodagene i Sør i Kristiansand 6. juni, på Potpurriet under Skeive Dager i Oslo 24. juni og på Nonna 24.oktober. Reidar hadde også et timeslangt møte med Charles Moser under årsmøtet til the American Psychiatric Association, APA, i San Francisco 16.-22. mai.

Eric og Ann Kristin representerte Diagnoseutvalget ved Nytelsesfestivalen i Grimstad 8.-10.august, samt overfor sexologistudentene ved Høyskolen i Agder 15.-16.november.

Eric og Svein holdt i løpet av august fire workshops i England for over femti personer totalt og en rekke fremtredende deltagere, blant annet International Mr Leather, John Pendal (bildet), som etterpå bestemte seg for å være moralsk verdenssponsor og promotor for Diagnoseutvalget ReviseF65. I mai 2004 vil han offisielt besøke Norge under SLMs Valhall-weekend. Svein tok hundrevis av bilder til Diagnoseutvalgets nettside som illustrerer verdigrunnlaget Sikker, sunn og samtykkende, både med heterovinkling (SM-pride) og homovinkling (Europride).

Spleiselag

Psykiater Lars L kartla i sommer i hvilken grad “våre” diagnoser benyttes her til lands. Det viste seg at diagnosene er svært lite brukt, men ikke helt ute av bruk. Lars sitt søk hos Sintef medførte en uventet regning på over 6.000 kroner, som ble dekket av LLH.

Diagnoseutvalget etablerte i 2003 for første gang et budsjett for å dekke utgifter som nevnt ovenfor. LLH, SLM, SMil og Smia bidro i fjor med over 40.000 kroner til å finansiere utvalgets virksomhet. Regnskap for 2003 og budsjett for 2004 vil foreligge til utvalgets møte 15. januar.

For Diagnoseutvalget

Svein Skeid

Diagnoseutvalgets mandat bygger på LLHs plattform og arbeidsprogram etter vedtak på Landsmøtene i 1996, 1998, 2000 og 2002. Deltagende foreninger er LLH (Petter M), SMil-Norge (Ann-Kr), SLM-Oslo (Øivind A) og Smia (Eric B). Utvalgets kontaktpersoner er sekretær Bent H og webmaster Svein Skeid. Ole Johnsen er moderator på mailingslisten. Fagmedlemmer er psykolog Odd R og psykiater Reidar K. De seks sistnevnte har deltatt siden diagnoseutvalget fikk sitt mandat av LLHs Landsstyremøte 3. oktober 1998. Utvalget supplerer seg selv for til enhver tid å representere de deltagende foreninger, prosjekter og faginstanser.

Categories
English Sexual politics

Annual Report 2003

The ReviseF65 project
ReviseF65 in a new Haworth book

An article by Dr. Odd Reiersøl and Svein Skeid on the Revise 65 project will be published in a forthcoming special, double issue of the US periodical Journal of Homosexuality on SM. The article will be published simultaneously by The Haworth Press INC as a book on SM.

2003 has been a successful year for the ReviseF65 project and the most active until now. The production this year of professional articles and lectures constitutes a solid basis for the long-term work towards the removal of SM and Fetish diagnoses. The article and lectures set focus on the lack of scientific basis for today’s diagnoses and that they lead to discrimination and violence against the SM, Fetish and Transvestite population. With this, an important first part of the committee’s mandate has been fulfilled.

The ReviseF65 committee asked for, and received support on April 29 and May 8 from the Norwegian Association of Gay and Lesbian Physicians (HLLF) and the Norwegian Society for Clinical Sexology (NFKS).

We have had a tight collaboration with our mother organization, LLH, the Norwegian National Association for Lesbian and Gay Liberation. On June 28, during the Gay Pride Week, the ReviseF65 webmaster Svein Skeid (picture), was honoured with the Gay Person of the Year Award. It is very encouraging for the further work to revise the Fetish and SM diagnoses, to receive such a prize from LLH.

LLH leader Tore Holte Follestad also delivered a letter from the ReviseF65 group to Mr. Dagfinn Høybråten, Minister of Health (Christian Democratic Party) on November 28. This laid out the professional and human rights arguments which underlie the move to take away the SM and Fetish diagnoses. This is the first official initiative from the ReviseF65 group to Norwegian political authorities.

Professional articles and lectures

Psychologist Odd Reiersøl’s 2002 article “SM: Causes and diagnoses”, can be read atwww.reviseF65.org/reiersol1.html. So far, this article has been translated into German, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and Russian, in addition to English. On August 21, 2003, Odd Reiersøl and Svein Skeid’s article “The ICD Diagnoses of Fetishism and SM” was finally accepted for print in a forthcoming special, double issue of the US periodical “Journal of Homosexuality” on SM. The article will be published simultaneously by The Haworth Press INC as a book on SM.

On June 20, 2003, psychiatrist Reidar Kjær (picture) made the presentation “Do we need all the Paraphilias?” at the International Psychiatric Conference on Diagnosis in Psychiatry. This was held in Vienna Austria and arranged by the World Psychiatric Association. Dr Kjær also held lectures (in Norwegian) entitled “Is SM and Fetish still a disease?” at the Gay Pride Days in Kristiansand on June 6, at the Gay Pride week in Oslo on June 24, and at the SM house “Nonna” October 24.

On March 10-14 2003, two members of the ReviseF65 mailing list; the Brazilian sexologist and clinical psychologist Maria Cristina Martins and the psychologist, psychoanalyst, Ph.D. in Psychopathology and Psychoanalysis by Paris VII University, Paulo Roberto Ceccarelli, presented a survey about SM and Fetish diagnoses at the XV World Congress of Sexology in Cuba. Their article, “The so-called “deviant” sexualities: Perversion or right to difference?”, can be read at the Revise web site. Dr. Charles Moser also gave a lecture about the paraphilia diagnoses at the same conference. Moser and Peggy J. Kleinplatz’ article “DSM-IV-TR and the Paraphilias: An Argument for Removal”, can also be found linked up from the ReviseF65 main page.

The web pages and the mailing list

The ReviseF65 index page was totally renovated in 2003, with separate professional and human rights sections. In the professional part you can read Dorothy Hayden’s interesting article “Is Sadomasochism a mental pathology?“.

Kathrin Passig’s exclusive special ReviseF65 version of the Datenschlag’s BISAM bibliography, which was established late 2002, was updated in October 2003. The bibliography is divided in two parts, one for the revision of diagnoses, and one for “Recommended general publications”.

Included in the Human rights section is information about the support to the ReviseF65 project from the International Mr Leather, John Pendal (picture). Eric and Svein met him during Europride in Manchester. He attended one of the four workshops we held in England during August. Pendal made public on August 26 that ReviseF65 is one of five projects that he will support during the year he holds the title. This should provide a good opportunity for informing people around the world about the Revise work. Svein also held a workshop during SM Pride in London August 2, and took hundreds of pictures of the SM Pride parade. Picture gallery from Europride in Manchester can be found here.

During 2003, the article about how Denmark removed the diagnosis of Sadomasochism in 1995 wastranslated into English. The Brazilian physician Beatriz Kotek has translated our web pages to Portuguese.

During August, the number of subscribers of the ReviseF65 mailing list increased by 50 percent, due to Reidar’s lecture in Vienna and Svein’s workshop in London. The list moderator, Ole, approved 40 new members to the list in 2003. At the end of the year, we were 87 members on the mailing list. Still we think there is low activity on the list. We hope that new members will present themselves and that people will express their opinions about and experiences of the diagnoses in question.

Svein Skeid, leader

Categories
English Sexual politics

ReviseF65 meets SM Germany

Report from Folsom Europe 2004

In 2004 the federal German organisation BVSM e.V. – Bundesvereinigung Sadomasochismus e.V. – started the work to remove the diagnoses of Sadomasochism, Fetishism and Transvestic Fetishism from their national version of ICD, International Classification of Diseases, published by the World Health Organisation, WHO. This is important because, as with the earlier diagnosis of Homosexuality, the more countries that stop using stigmatizing national SM and Fetish diagnoses, the bigger is the possibility that WHO will follow suit.

The ReviseF65 committee, located in Norway, had important talks with activists from German SM organisations both during Europride in Cologne in 2002, and held a workshop during the Folsom street weekend in Berlin September 3.-6., 2004. This brings hope to intensify the work towards SM/fetish prejudices in general, and the efforts to delete stigmatising SM and Fetish diagnoses from the ICD classification, in special.

ReviseF65 attended Europride in Cologne 2002. Among other things, we had important talks with german SM-activists, and was interviewed by the magazine of SMart-Rhein-Ruhr e.V.. This organisation is running 15 BDSM-communities within 11 towns in Germany. The SMart-Info brought a lot of information about the ReviseF65 efforts to delete stigmatising SM and Fetish diagnoses from the ICD classification published by the WHO – World Health Organisation.

Three weeks before the first Folsom Europe street fair in Berlin 2004, the ReviseF65 committee got a very warm invitation from the BVSM e.V. – Bundesvereinigung Sadomasochismus e.V. to meet them at their Folsom Street Fair booth to present and to inform people about our work. This Federal German organisation had been built up in the two years since I last visited Germany.

At a very short notice, together we were able to organise the production of 500 ReviseF65-flyers in both English and German which was distributed by Ole Johnsen and Svein Skeid from the ReviseF65 committee together with Erik Weisdal during the ten hour long Saturday street fair. As if there wouldn´t have been enough work organising the BVSM booth, Raven and Jayneway managed to organise the possibility for Svein to hold a lecture on Sunday, 5th, the day after the Folsom Europe. Within few days they found a space we could use for free and even organised a wonderfull buffet. Nearly 30 SM activists from organisations all over Germany, Austria and Holland visited the lecture and took part in the discussion afterwards. During the talks at the buffet it suddenly came to happen that what was planned as a nice afterhour for the Folsom weekend transformed into a network meeting of SM activists.

Before, during and after our stay in Berlin September 3.-6., 2004, we learned that central SMart-members I talked to in 2002, was founding member of the new federal SM organisation BVSM e.V., and that one of the main goals of BVSM is to work for the deletion of SM and Fetish diagnoses from the national version of the ICD in Germany. Both SMart-Rhein-Ruhr e.V. and BDSM-Berlin e.V. also support the ReviseF65 project.

This is very important because, as with the earlier diagnosis of Homosexuality, the more countries that stop using their national SM and Fetish diagnoses, the bigger is the possibility that the World Health Organization will follow suit. This far, the diagnoses of Sadomasochism and Transvestism is completely out of use in Denmark since 1995. In the U.S., Sadomasochism, Fetishism and Transvestic Fetishism is considered to be a healthy form of sexual expression as long as it does not impair the daily functioning of the subject.

The Gay Movement more than 30 years ago considered it of fundamental importance to first delete the diagnosis of homosexuality from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), before any further major human rights improvement was possible. If a group is considered mentally ill, very few people will listen to your arguments aiming at reducing prejudice in society.

The ReviseF65 movement apply the same judgement today. We consider unprofessional and stigmatising SM and Fetish-diagnoses as possibly one of the biggest obstacles to the acceptance of our human rights. Abolishing them is a very important step in the effort to reduce prejudices towards the SM-Leather-Fetish-population.

The pansexual ReviseF65 committee, located in Norway, sets focus on the lack of scientific basis for today’s diagnoses and tries to stimulate the building-up of an international activist and professional network to delete these diagnoses.

One thing I am sure of. The BDSM community is able to reach our goal ourselves. We are not dependent of the Gay movement. But we can learn from their experiences as I referred to in my lecture during the Folsom weekend. Don’t expect anybody to fight for your freedom from discrimination, if you don’t do it yourself.

Like the earlier diagnosis of Homosexuality that is no longer applied by the WHO, the SM and Fetish diagnoses are rarely used in clinical practice as a means to assist people. On the contrary the stigma attached to the diagnoses justifies various forms of harassment and discrimination of this sexual minority by the society. The ReviseF65 group can document that people are losing their jobs, the custody of their children etc., because of their SM-love, lifestyle and self-expression. Much of the discrimination is directly or indirectly a result of the diagnoses.

The ReviseF65 representatives look upon the Folsom Street Fair in general, and the Sunday ReviseF65 lecture in special as a big success. We have got feedback from our German friends that this visit and our contact can lead to closer cooperation and stronger efforts to delete the sm/fetish diagnoses.

All european Leather-SM-Fetish communities were invited to participate. One of the goals with The Folsom Europe Street Fair (like the mother arrangements in the US and Canada) was to strengthen the bonds within the Leather-SM-Fetish community, to raise money to several social projects like hiv and aids, and to reduce SM-Fetish pre-judgements by stepping in to the open public. The arrangement was supported by the City of Berlin, the Berlin Police, the Industrial Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Berlin and the Berlin Tourism Office.

What impressed us Norwegians most, besides all the people at the lecture, the wonderful weather, the very well organised street fair and all the proud and friendly leather/SM people of all colors, interests and sexual orientations, was among other things, the booths with leather- and rubber-men fighting hiv and aids, the Association of Gay and Lesbian Police Officers Berlin-Brandenburg e.V., the police Berlin with it’s contact persons for homosexual lifestyles, and not least all the SM activists at the booths of BVSM e.V., BDSM-Berlin e.V. and SMart-Rhein-Ruhr e.V. .

Svein Skeid

Leader of the ReviseF65 commitee

Categories
Other languages Professional work

Wir brauchen ICD-Arbeitsgruppen Entfernt SM und Fetisch Diagnosen

Trotz neuer Forschungsergebnisse hat sich der Blick der Psychiatrie auf die Themen SM, Fetischismus und fetischistischer Transvestitismus (TV) kaum geändert in den letzten 100 Jahren.

Die meisten Wissenschaftler, die US Psychiater und der Staat Dänemark haben im letzten Jahrzehnt Lederleute als gesund eingestuft. Trotz dieser Tatsache werden Fetischismus, fetischistischer Transvestitismus und Sadomasochismus immer noch als Geisteskrankheit gebrandmarkt von der Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO), die nächste Revision des WHO Diagnosehandbuchs ICD-10 ist abzuwarten. Diese Revision wird in wenigen Jahren stattfinden.

In den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika wurden 1994 die Diagnosen im DSM – dem Diagnostic & Statistical Manual – bedeutend überarbeitet. Sadomasochismus wird als eine gesunde Ausdrucksform der Sexualität betrachtet, so lange das Alltagsleben der betreffenden Person nicht beeinträchtigt wird.

Wie früher die Diagnose Homosexualität, die bei der WHO nicht mehr existiert, werden die SM und Fetisch Diagnosen selten in der ärztlichen Praxis benutzt, um Menschen zu helfen. Im Gegensatz dazu rechtfertigt das Stigma, das diesen Diagnosen anhaftet, diverse Formen der Verfolgung und Diskriminierung dieser sexuellen Minderheit in der Gesellschaft. Die ReviseF65-Gruppe kann dokumentieren, dass Menschen ihre Arbeitsplätze, das Sorgerecht für ihre Kinder usw. verlieren wegen ihrer Vorliebe für SM, diesen Lebensstil und ihre Selbstentfaltung. Diese Diskriminierung ist großteils eine direkte oder indirekte Folge dieser Diagnosen.

Vor über 30 Jahren betrachtete die Schwulenbewegung es als eine wichtige Grundlage, zuerst die Diagnose Homosexualität aus der International Classification of Diseases (ICD) zu entfernen, bevor überhaupt weitere Verbesserungen in Bezug auf die Menschenrechtssituation möglich waren. Wenn eine Gruppe als geisteskrank betrachtet wird, hören nur sehr wenige Menschen Deinen Argumenten für den Abbau von Vorurteilen in der Gesellschaft zu.

Die ReviseF65 Bewegung hat heute dasselbe Ziel. Wir betrachten unprofessionelle und stigmatisierende SM- und Fetischdiagnosen als eines der größten Hindernisse, die dem entgegenstehen, dass für uns die Menschenrechte akzeptiert werden. Die Abschaffung dieser Diagnosen ist ein sehr wichtiger Schritt in den Bemühungen, Vorurteile gegenüber der SM-Leder-Fetisch-Bevölkerung abzubauen.

Das pansexuelle ReviseF65 Komitee mit Sitz in Norwegen konzentriert sich auf die fehlende wissenschaftliche Basis der heutigen Diagnosen und versucht, ein internationales Netzwerk von Aktivisten und Experten aufzubauen, um diese Diagnosen zu entfernen.

Was kannst Du in Deinem Land tun?

Wie früher bei der Diagnose Homosexualität; je mehr Länder ihre nationalen SM und Fetisch Diagnosen entfernen, desto größer ist die Wahrscheinlichkeit, dass die Weltgesundheitsorganisation folgen wird. Nationale ICD-Diagnosen können nur von Gruppen in den entsprechenden Ländern entfernt werden. Diese Arbeit muss von der SM-Leder-Fetisch-Bewegung selbst gemacht werden. Du kannst nicht erwarten, dass irgendwer für Deine Freiheit gegenüber solcher Diskriminierung kämpft, wenn Du es nicht selbst tust.

Die Hilfe von Individuen ist immer willkommen, aber effektiver ist es, lokale und nationale Arbeitsgruppen zu gründen, um die betreffenden Experten für mentale Gesundheit anzusprechen.

Beispiele für nationale Strategien

Wir denken, dass, abhängig von der fachlichen und politischen Situation des Landes, die Strategie entweder lokal oder national begründet sein sollt.

  • Erwerbt die Unterstützung von sexualwissenschaftlichen, psychologischen und psychiatrischen Gesellschaften auf nationaler Ebene. Die Erfahrung mit den Diagnosen über Homosexualität hat gezeigt, dass diese Organisationen der Schlüssel für die nationale Entfernung von Diagnosen sein können.
  • Beeinflusst die politische Gesundheitsverwaltung, die SM und Fetisch Diagnosen von der nationalen Liste der psychiatrischen Diagnosen zurückzuziehen, wie es der Dänische Gesundheitsminister 1995 getan hat.
  • Verbreitet die Information über die Arbeit von Revise F65 über die ICD und verlinkt die Webseite. Wenn Ihr informiert und Eure Stimme gehört werden soll, dann beteiligt Euch an der Email-Diskussionsgruppe auf http://www.revisef65.org/moderator.html und informiert andere darüber.
  • Kooperiert mit anderen schwullesbischen und Fetisch/SM Initiativen, um nationale Strategien für die Abschaffung der Diagnosen zu planen.

Unterstützung des ICD Projekts

Das ReviseF65 Projekt wurde aufgrund einer Initiative der nationalen Versammlungen der Norwegian National Association for Lesbian and Gay Liberation (LLH) 1996 und 1998 eingerichtet.

Die 21te Europäische Konferenz der ILGA in Pisa, Oktober 1999, entschied, das ReviseF65 Projekt zu unterstützen, und bat den Vorstand um Hilfe beim Zugang zu Informationskanälen.

Die Generalversammlung der ECMC in Milano, August 2000, beschloss einen Antrag auf Einrichtung einer Gruppe mit demselben Ziel.

Die Vorstände der Norwegian Association of Gay and Lesbian Physicians HLLF (rechts) und die Norwegian Society for Clinical Sexology NFKS (links) entschieden 2003, das ReviseF65 Projekt zu unterstützen.

Beteiligte Organisationen
Das ReviseF65 Projekt besteht aus SM/Leder/Fetisch Männern und Frauen, die Organisationen von Leder- und SM-Schwulen, -Lesben, -Bi- und -Heterosexuellen repräsentieren, sowie Experten aus der Sexualwissenschaft, Psychologie und Psychiatrie.

LLH, Landsforeningen for lesbisk og homofil frigjøring – Norwegian National Association for Lesbian and Gay Liberation

SLM-Oslo, Scandinavian Leather Men, Oslo

Verkstedet Smia-Oslo

SMil Norge


Gesunde Leder-Leute
Foto von der Europride in Köln 2002.

© ReviseF65.org

Ziel des ReviseF65 Projekts ist die Entfernung der Diagnoseschlüssel Fetischismus, Transvestitismus und Sadomasochismus aus der Internationalen Klassifizierung der Krankheiten, die von der Weltgesundheitsorganisation veröffentlicht wird.


Diagnoseschlüssel zur Diskriminierung – die ICD-10 und die sexuellen Minderheiten

Kink-Aware Professionals in Berlin

BVSM e.V. (Bundesvereinigung Sadomasochismus) kooperiert mit dem ReviseF65-Komitee bei den Bemühungen, die stigmatisierenden SM- und Fetischdiagnosen aus der von der WHO (Weltgesundheitsorganisation) veröffentlichten ICD zu entfernen. Die BVSM arbeitet an der Streichung dieser Diagnoseschlüssel in der nationalen ICD-Version von Deutschland.
Die Ziele der BVSM sind die Bereitstellung einer Plattform für Projekte und ein Netzwerk von Aktivisten, Wissen zu sammeln, Forschung und Lehre zu unterstützen, Information bereitzustellen, Interessenvertretung und Werben um Akzeptanz in der Öffentlichkeit.
BVSM-Archiv: wissenschaftliche BDSM-Bibliothek und historisches Archiv für die Szene.
AK Psychologie: der Arbeitskreis beschäftigt sich mit Psychologie, Sexualwissenschaft und verwandten Themen; der AK ist korporatives Mitglied der BVSM.

SMart-Rhein-Ruhr e.V. unterstützt das ICD-Projekt und hat den Abbau von Vorurteilen gegenüber SM in der Gesellschaft zum Ziel. SMart arbeitet seit 1992 mit Nichtregierungsorganisationen zusammen, seit 1996 mit nationalen wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaften und kooperiert mit ReviseF65. SMart hat 15 BDSM-Communities in 11 Städten in Deutschland.
BDSM-Bibliothek & Archiv: Wissenschaftliche BDSM-Bibliothek mit Material über das DSM und die ICD, Medizin, Psychologie, Soziologie, Philosophie, Theorie, Literatur, Kunst, Geschichte und Kultur. Beinhaltet ein Archiv der BDSM-Subkultur in Deutschland und ein Pressearchiv.

BDSM-Berlin e.V. setzet sich in Zusammenarbeit mit der “Norwegian Association for Lesbian and Gay Liberation” (LLH) dafür ein, Fetischismus und Sadomasochismus als Diagnosen aus der ICD-10 entfernen zu lassen. BDSM-Berlin organisiert auch Öffentlichkeitsarbeit und ein Verzeichnis von deutschen “Kink Aware Professionals“.

Der Papiertiger. Encyclopedia of BDSM-terms. Eine Enzyklopädie des Sadomasochismus.

Die Datenschlag-Chronik des Sadomasochismus.

Categories
English Seksualpolitikk Sexual politics

Mandate, background and some of the Revise F65 efforts since 1994

Revise F65:
Professional and health political work 1994-2009

NB: LLH in 2016 changed its name to FRI – The Norwegian Organization for Sexual and Gender Diversity.

 

The award-winning work to remove SM and fetish diagnoses is groundbreaking because health care professionals and human rights activists cooperate across sexual orientation and across borders to lay a foundation and set the premises for a pioneering human rights reform.

By Svein Skeid

The ReviseF65 committee is a subsidiary of LLH, the Norwegian LGBT Association, with a political mandate from all the biennial LLH National Conventions since 1996. ReviseF65 also has a mandate from the international lesbian and gay movement (ILGA 1999), The European leather club confederation (ECMC 2000) and the federal German SM organization (BVSM e.V. 2004). 

The LLH mandate

The purpose of Revise F65 is to remove Fetishism, Transvestism and Sadomasochism as psychiatric diagnoses from the ICD, the International Classification of Diseases, published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and translated into national versions world wide (mandate from the 1996 biennial national convention of LLH).

The mandate was based on a national survey conducted among the nearly two thousand lesbian and gay members of LLH, “rejecting discrimination of leather, SM and transgender people, and judging this diversity as a valuable resource” (according to the 1998 LLH convention).

According to the 2000 LLH convention (picture), Revise F65 “shall establish a professional basis for the work and lobbying official authorities to remove the diagnoses.”

At the 2004 LLH convention, the Revise F65 mandate was explicitly expressed in the organization’s political platform. This is especially important and a big victory because the Norwegian gay and lesbian movement often ”forget” to include their SM/fetish minority in their budgets, working plans and the previous political platform from 1996.

Professional and human rights work

Even though the main purpose is to abolish SM and fetish diagnoses, Revise F65 is also involved in general work against discrimination and harassment of fetishists and sadomasochists. Some of this work is mentioned here.

In addition to national work, Revise F65 also have an international mandate to motivate other countries to remove their national versions of the SM/fetish ICD diagnoses. The more countries that remove their diagnoses, the greater is the possibility that the World Health Organization will follow suit. This is what happened in many countries in the years before the World Health Organization removed homosexuality as a diagnosis from the ICD classification in 1990.

Inbetween formal committee meetings there has been national and international network building, lectures, workshops, participation at congresses, seminars and festivals. We have been giving interviews, publishing articles, film production, book contribution, periodicals, and lobbying of official health politicans and mental health professionals.

The ReviseF65 project concerns both gays, straights and transgender people. Therefore the ReviseF65 committee consists of leather/SM/fetish men and women representing organizations of leather and SM gays, – lesbians, bi- and heterosexuals, as well as professionals in sexology, psychology and psychiatry. Several dozen people have been involved during the years to a greater or lesser degree on a national basis. Even more people on an international level.

The name “F65” is a chapter in the International Classification of Diseases describing the so called “paraphilias”, earlier called “perversions”. It also contains other paraphilias. Obviously, we primarily want to delete the SM and Fetish diagnoses concerning consenting adults.

Background

Today we know that SM and fetish people played an important role in the modern gay rights movement from the very beginning in Norway and world wide. We were central in establishing the gay and lesbian organization in Norway in the 1950’s. Many leading persons in the gay movement have later been into fetish and SM, and still are. ”Without a face”, we are working for the welfare of gay and lesbians in general. Nevertheless, as a minority within a minority, gay and lesbian leather people experience discrimination within the homosexual movement.

When Norway’s first fetish and SM club, Scandinavian Leather Men (SLM), was founded in 1976, the gay leather members were regarded as violent and reactionary nazis. When the pansexual SM-organization SMil was established in 1988, leading Norwegian psychiatrists called it’s members ”violent” and ”disturbed persons” not being able to feel empathy.

The impetus behind the F65 repeal movement was the flourishing of SM pride, with fetish men and women parading through the streets during Gay Pride week. Leather people were tired of being object of derision in the tabloids.

The group Lesbians in Leather founded in 1993, was a precursor of Smia, founded in 1995, a human-rights group for lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transgendered people.  All these groups, namely Lesbians in Leather, Smia and ReviseF65 are subsidiaries of LLH, and were founded by Svein Skeid.

From 1993 to 1997 Smia campaigned and set about fund-raising (£ 2000) in favour of the defendants in the British Spanner Case, which started in Manchester 1987. We gained support of several dozen Norwegian political organizations, including women‘s rights groups and trade unions, not to mention the unanimous backing of the Lesbian and Gay movement.

In 1997, the Revise F65 committee was formally established by Smia, individual transgender people, and mental health professionals. SLM and SMil joined the committee in 1998, thus the coalition continued to grow.

Long term project

Since 1996, the Norwegian Board of Health Supervision, the Norwegian Directorate of Health and Social Welfare (since 2002), andthe Norwegian Directorate of Health (since 2008), has supported Smia’s work financially to strengthen the self-esteem and identity of gay leather men as part of strategies to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. Stigmatizing fetish and SM practices, in our opinion, amounts to an insult against healthy leather-people and, therefore, runs counter to effective public health and safer sex education efforts. It seemed like a paradox that the same official health authorities who grant money to LLH, SLM and Smia, who encourage a positive identity for fetishists and sadomasochists for the HIV prevention and other issues, also represent the agencies that employ the discriminatory and stigmatizing diagnoses of these practices.

The American Psychiatric Association, APA, considerably revised their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) spring 1994. Fall 1994 and May 1995 Dual-role transvestism and the SM diagnoses were repealed in Denmark. Both decisions were founded on research showing that SM is no disease.

Inspired by these incidents, the Norwegian gay and lesbian organization in September 1994 and June 1996 asked the Norwegian Health Authorities for help to bring about the same changes in Norway. The answer from the Norwegian Board of Health Supervision was totally negative.

We then realized that our initiative would be a long term project.

 

 

March 8, 1996. Smia was thrown out of the International Women’s Day parade in Oslo because of our slogan “SM is interplay, not violence”. The mistaken blending of SM and violence were introduced by the Austro-German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing and is still kept alive by the ICD chapter F65.5 Sadomasochism.
Decision by the March 8 committee in Oslo Februar 20, 1997 (letter and telephone from Turid Kjernsli in the March 8 committee) (The newspaper Klassekampen March 8, 1996).

July 1998. The online newspaper skeivenyheter.no wrote about SM/fetish diagnoses and BDSM human rights in the years before revisef65.org was established.

November 1998. SM – A sexy diagnosis. “Removal of SM and fetish diagnoses is one of the most important tasks of the human rights group Smia.” Smia is the prime mover behind the Revise F65 group. Report in the monthly gay and lesbian magazine Blikk.

Participants in the ReviseF65 group in 1996 promoted the democratic revision of the rules and policy of the gay leather umbrella organization “European Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs”, ECMC, so as to address issues of sexual politics. In 2000 the more than 50 ECMC member clubs, following a proposal by SLM-Oslo, decided to support the Revise F65 effort.
The gay and lesbian magazine Blikk Desember 1998. “Fri tanke”, the magazine of The Norwegian Humanist Association December 10, 1998.

January 1999 professional leader [fagsjef] Ellen Hagemo in the Norwegian Board of Health Supervision wrongly contended that “we cannot just change the national version of the ICD diagnoses”. (According to report from Revise F65 meeting January 20, 1999.)

The umbrella organization for European gay and lesbian rights, European ILGA, issued a statement at it’s 1999 conference in Pisa, Italy, supporting the efforts to remove the diagnoses from the ICD. The Revise F65 member Ole Johnsen also gave a workshop.

February 19, 2000. Svein Skeid (picture) was awarded honorary member of the SLM leather organization for his work over twenty years for BDSM human rights and the BDSM community, including the work to remove fetish and SM diagnoses.

The LLH Convention in 2000 once again approved the ReviseF65 project, which “shall continue until the goal is attained”.

November 18, 2001. Svein Skeid held a presentation about SM human rights, including the Revise F65 efforts, at the University of Agder, Norway.

The Revise F65 web site, established in 2002 in Norwegian, English, German and Portuguese, along with the corresponding mailing list, has facilitated national and international networks. In 2002 the ReviseF65 group had mail correspondence and personal contact with activists and professionals or held lectures in Norway, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, The Netherlands, Russia, Canada, Hong Kong, Brazil and USA. Updated 2012: Iceland, Sweden, Finland, South Africa, Chile, Taiwan, Cuba, Australia, Italy, France, Scotland, Czech Republic and Poland.

“There is something very exciting about connecting up with others who work towards the same goals across the world. Thank you for making this possible.”
Peggy J. Kleinplatz, Psychologist , sex therapist and sex educator teaching at the University of Ottawa, Canada, July 30, 2002)

The web site has also given Revise F65 a good opportunity to disseminate a range of material about its work. Psychologist Odd Reiersøl’s 2002 article “SM: Causes and diagnoses“, in particular, was a great inspiration both in Norway and abroad. To our knowledge, the article has been translated into German, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and Russian, in addition to Norwegian and English.

In november 2002 member of the Revise committee Eric Barstad (picture) attended the lesbian SM congress WALP in Amsterdam. 148 participants from eleven countries listened to her briefing about the diagnoses, and during a mini workshop she made important international contacts.

The story and effort of the ReviseF65 project was printed late 2002 in the Bulletin of the Norwegian Society for Clinical Sexology. The ReviseF65 committee asked for, and received support on April 29, 2003 and May 8, 2003 from the Norwegian Association of Gay and Lesbian Physicians (HLLF) and the Norwegian Society for Clinical Sexology (NFKS). NFKS state:  “The Norwegian Association for Clinical Sexology in its support wishes to emphasize that the use of psychiatric diagnoses in relation to homosexual, heterosexual and bisexual fetishists, sadomasochists and transvestic fetishists is stigmatizing and therefore an encroachment upon this group as a whole” (letter of June 11, 2003).

“We have been working with the Revise F65 diagnoses for some years now and we realise that it has a long way to go. But if I live till I am eighty, and we are taken off the sick list at that time, I will be fairly pleased. You can compare it with the fight for gay and lesbian human rights. It took a long time for them to be deleted from the sick list too.” Svein Skeid (52) interviewed by the SMil magazine no 4, 2002.

Dr. Charles Moser (picture) held a a lecture for the American Psychiatric Association’s APA’s annual meeting in San Francisco May 16-22, 2003. Revise F65 project psychiatrist Reidar Kjær had a one hour long talk with Dr. Moser in connection with the APA Conference.

On June 20, 2003, psychiatrist Reidar Kjær (picture) held the presentation “Do we need all the Paraphilias?” at the International Psychiatric Conference on Diagnosis in Psychiatry. This was held in Vienna Austria and arranged by the World Psychiatric Association. Dr Kjær also held lectures (in Norwegian) entitled “Are SM and Fetish still diseases?” at the Gay Pride Days in Kristiansand on June 6, at the Gay Pride week in Oslo on June 24, and at the SM house “Nonna” October 24.

On June 28, 2003 during the Gay Pride Week in Oslo, Svein Skeid was honouredwith the Gay Person of the Year Award, because of his SM human rights work in general, and the ReviseF65 work to remove SM and fetish diagnoses. The award was an acknowledgement to everybody that has supported and contributed to the ReviseF65 work (and that is many people!). Among them the contributing organizations LLH, SMil, SLM, Smia and our specialists in psychology and psychiatry. The award is also an acknowledgement to everybody working for an open and inclusive leather/SM/fetish society.

LLH leader Tore Holte Follestad personally delivered a letter from the ReviseF65 committee to Mr. Dagfinn Høybråten, Minister of Health (Christian Democratic Party) on November 28, 2003. This laid out the professional and human rights arguments which underlie the move to take away the SM and Fetish diagnoses. We never got any answer to this letter.

Two days later, November 30, 2003, SMia and Revise F65 also sent the application “Diagnoses, discrimination and HIV” to the Norwegian Directorate for Health and Social Affairs [avd. Forebyggende sosial- og helsetjenester] asking them to remove stigmatizing psychiatric diagnoses from the Norwegian version of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). We never got any answer to this question either.

March 10-14, 2003, two members of the ReviseF65 mailing list; the Brazilian sexologist and clinical psychologist Maria Cristina Martins and the psychologist, psychoanalyst, Ph.D. in Psychopathology and Psychoanalysis by Paris VII University, Paulo Roberto Ceccarelli, presented a survey about SM and Fetish diagnoses at the XV World Congress of Sexology in Cuba. Their article, “The so-called “deviant” sexualities: Perversion or right to difference?”, can be read at the Revise web site. Dr. Charles Moser also gave a lecture about the paraphilia diagnoses at the same conference. Moser and Peggy J. Kleinplatz’ article “DSM-IV-TR and the Paraphilias: An Argument for Removal”, can also be found linked up from the ReviseF65 main page.

The ReviseF65 index page was renovated in 2003, with separate professional and human rights sections. In the professional part you can read Dorothy Hayden’s article “Is Sadomasochism a mental pathology?“.

After ReviseF65 lectures and strategy talks in Cologne 2002, Berlin 2004, and Fulda 2007, the federal German BVSM e.V. organization since 2004 is working towards the same goal as ReviseF65 – to delete the national German version of the F65-diagnoses. The same do Smart Rhein-Ruhr, BDSM Berlin, Papiertiger, die Datenschlag-Chronik des Sadomasochismus and Das Fetish & BDSM-Referat Uni Ulm.

After five workshops at Europride in Manchester 2003, SM Pride in London 2003 and Kinkfest in London 2004, Revise F65 cooperates with Spanner Trust and International Mr Leather 2003, John Pendal, who became our official supporter and world wide ambassador. He also visited Revise F65 in Oslo, May 2004.

http://www.revisef65.org/UKreportIML.html

http://www.pawscave.dircon.co.uk/IML/support.htm

http://www.pawscave.dircon.co.uk/IML/being10.htm

http://www.revisef65.org/smpride.html

http://www.revisef65.org/manchester.html

Lectures on Revise F65 were given at two international psychiatrist congresses and onesexology congress in 2004.

In 2004 Revise F65 established a bank account and made it possible to use a “Make a donation”-button on the ReviseF65 webpage.

In November 2004 Revise F65 published a case study indicating that stigmatizing psychiatric diagnoses legitimize harassment and violence towards the fetish/SM population.

We also published evidence that SM/fetish people have no higher degree of psychopathologythan the rest of the population. Revise F65 also tried to carry out our own research projects. But in spite of several attempts, we didn’t succeed. The efforts were aborted due to lack of support from the educational and political institutions approached.

According to Wikipedia, “ReviseF65 is now [2004] by far the most active and visible groupworking with sexual politics and human rights for sadomasochists and fetishists in Norway.”

 

 

2005

May 2005 the leader of Smia and Revise F65 contributed to the brochure S&M and fetish sex between men, dealing with how to go about sadomasochism and fetish sex between men safely without transmitting HIV and other kinds of sexually transmitted infections. Supported by the Norwegian Directorate of Health and Social Welfare, translated to English December 4, 2007.

June 23, 2005 the Revise F65 leader Svein Skeid gave a lecture on the subject: “SM – health or disease?” at the Faculty of Theology (!) in Oslo, Norway for 90 gay and lesbian christians from all over Europe.

Revise F65 not only cooperates with mental health professionals. October 17, 2005, we published the article ”SM and the law”, concluding that SM or sadomasochism is legal in Norway as long as consent is given and no serious injury is inflicted. It is illegal to leave somebody helpless in bondage, and a safeword is highly recommended. The author of the article, Halvor Frihagen, is a lawyer in Oslo, Norway.

2006

At the international Labour Day May 1, 2006, the Norwegian Labour Party arranged an “Online May Day March” where everybody was encouraged to propose online slogans for Mai 1-banners. The banner “Say no to discrimination of homosexuals” was approved by the webmaster. SMil and Revise F65 proposed “Say no to discrimination of BDSM people”. The banner was removed. So was the slogan “Remove fetish and SM diagnoses”. SMil and Revise F65 wrote letters to the Norwegian Labour Party protesting against censorship of kinky friendly slogans in an online May Day 2006 parade. We also had a meeting with the gay and lesbian Labour Party group.

The short film “The Gay Leather man” (“Lærhomsen”) with participants from SMia, SLM and Revise F65, was shown for the first time June 23, 2006 in Oslo. The 25 minute long documentary, which in a humorous way demystifies the most common prejudices against fetishism and sadomasochism, has later been shown for several educational purposes in addition to film festivals including Lillehammer Norway, Volda Norway, Gay Days in Oslo, Fulda Germany, Stockholm, Cleveland, San Francisco, Kiel Germany, and several times at CineKink New York. English subtitles.

An article by Cand. Psycol Odd Reiersøl and Svein Skeid on the Revise 65 project published in Sadomasochism, Powerful Pleasures (2006), concludes that The ICD diagnoses of Fetishism, Transvestic fetishism and Sadomasochism are superfluous, outdated, non scientific and stigmatizing. The article was published simultaneously in a special, double issue of the periodical Journal of Homosexuality Volume 50, 2/3.

Revise F65 in 2006 established a cooperation with The National Leather Association’s Domestic violence project and published an article about the differences between SM and violence.

September 28, 2006. The lesbian, BDSM and trans activist Tore Barstad/Eric Jåsunddied 32 years old from complications related to type 1 diabetes. Eric participated in the constitution of Revise F65 and has been leader of Smia and Revise F65. Eric was a self-defined female to unisexual SM/leather/rubber transgender person. Eric participated in dozens of press interviews and seminars to demystify SM. In particular Eric held close contact with the national and international lesbian BDSM community, including the Swedish lesbian BDSM group LASH, which was a central actor to repeal fetish and SM diagnoses in Sweden.

2007

January 2007. ”With leather for freedom”. Interview with the leader of Smia and Revise F65 Svein Skeid about his BDSM human rights work for more than twenty years, included the work to remove fetish and SM diagnoses. The periodical Cupido no 1, 2007.

February 17, 2007. The leader of Revise F65 Svein Skeid informed the SLM annual general meeting about the book project ”Sadomasochism: Powerful Pleasures” (2006), which SLM supported financially. Especially I emphasized the historical role of gay leather men and women as a primary driving force behind establishment of the ReviseF65 movement, the gay and lesbian movement, the leather pride flag and the moral ethical slogan ”Safe, sane, consensual”.

In applications of February 15, 2007 and February 15, 2008, to the Norwegian Directorate for Health and Social Affairs (Departement for environment and health), SMia and Revise F65 offered to give lectures for staff members at the Directorate about the stigmatizing effect of fetish and SM diagnoses on the fetish/SM population. The offer was never replied to.

April 15-19, 2007, psychologist Odd Reiersøl (picture) gave an important lecture at the WAS-congress (World Association for Sexual health) in Sidney Australia. Mental health professionals and health politicals from all over the world attended, among them several Norwegians. The lecture was later published as the article “The Fetish and SM Diagnoses in ICD-10” in the Journal of the Norwegian Psychological Association, Vol 45, no 6, 2008, pp 754-756.

Psychiatrist Reidar Kjær May 3, 2007 held the lecture “Stigma, psychiatry and the SM/fetish diagnoses” on a sexologist seminar about Shame and Sexuality at Sexologisenteret NB 22 in Oslo. We also showed the documentary “The Gay Leatherman”.

May 7, 2007 Classification Coordinator Bedirhan Ustun, MD, at the World Health Organization in Geneva invited Revise F65 to cooperate with the work leading up to the ICD-11 revision:

“The revision process of ICD from 10 to 11 is about to start and will be revised for the 11th version tentatively in 2015. The revision work will include special attention to Chapter V Mental and Behavioural disorders (F00-F99). Thanks for your interest in the ICD work and we hope to collaborate with you in the revision process.”

June, 2007. ”After the US considerably revised their DSM Manual spring 1994 and Denmark totally repealed their transvestism and SM diagnoses 1994/95, there is not anylonger only one way to read the ICD bible”. Svein Skeid’s article ”SM – myths and reality” at the Norwegian gay web community Gaysir.

2008

July 29, 2008. During Europride in Stockholm, Revise F65 leader Svein Skeid had talks with RFSU, participated in panel discussions and gave a presentation about the Revise F65 work. We literally gave them our memory stick with all relevant political health arguments and scientific evidence.

November 17, 2008, the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) announced that Fetishism and Sadomasochism, along with four other sexual behaviours will be deleted from Sweden’s national version of the ICD diagnoses from January 1, 2009.

November 17, 2008. In a press release, the Revise F65 leader Svein Skeid characterized the Swedish decision as a victory for the fetish/SM population and for the Revise F65 strategy to motivate other countries to remove their national versions of the ICD SM/fetish diagnoses.

November 18, 2008. The Norwegian BDSM Organization SMil sent a letter to the Ministry of Health and Care Services asking him to remove fetish and SM diagnoses in Norway. In an answer December 19, 2008 the Ministry of Health and Care Services said they had given the Directorate of Health the responsibility to take a decision in the case.

2009

January 1, 2009. Inspired by Revise F65, the six diagnoses sadomasochism, fetishism, transvestism, fetishistic transvestism, multiple disorders of sexual preferences and gender identity disorder in youth, were deleted from Sweden’s official list of medical diagnoses. Except for gender identity disorder in youth, these are the same diagnoses that Revise F65 recommends be removed from the ICD, the International Classification of Diseases.

February 2, 2009, psychologist Odd Reiersøl and Revise F65 leader Svein Skeid had a short meeting at the Norwegian Directorate of Health where we delivered a memorandum with health political and professional arguments explaining why the SM and fetish diagnoses should be removed from the Norwegian ICD-edition.

http://www.revisef65.org/whitepaper.html

February 3, 2009, the Revise F65 leader Svein Skeid participated in the Norwegian tv program ”Studio fem”, demonstrating safer SM techniques and telling the audience the reason why SM and fetishism no longer are diseases in Sweden.

At a meeting with the Revise F65 committee and the Norwegian Directorate of Health May 11, 2009, Senior adviser Arild Johan Myrberg informed us that a decision to repeal Norwegian fetish and SM diagnoses can be announced fall 2009 with the intention of bringing the decision into force January 1, 2010.

September 17, 2009: Most English articles updated on ReviseF65.org, dead links removed or updated and English explanations added to several Norwegian articles.

September 24, 2009. In accordance with the invitation to Revise F65 from the WHO coordinator Bedirhan Ustun MD, May 7, 2007, Revise F65 sent an ”ICD White Paper” with health political and professional arguments to WHO’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, which is responsible for the ICD revision. The World Health Organization has now started the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases, and an ICD-11 alpha draft is expected to be ready by May 10, 2010.

http://www.revisef65.org/icd_whitepaper.html

October 12, 2009. In a mail to Revise F65 from the Norwegian Directorate of Health, Senior adviser Arild Johan Myrberg informed that a decision to repeal Norwegian fetish and SM diagnoses once more is postponed with no specified date for bringing the decision into force.

November 18, 2009, psychologist Odd Reiersøl and Revise F65 leader Svein Skeid had a 40 minutes long phone talk with Senior Project Officer Dr. Geoffrey M. Reed, responsible for the revision of the ICD-10 Mental and Behavioural Disorders at WHO’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse. Dr. Reed expressed great interest in the fact that more and more countries now remove fetish and SM diagnoses from their national versions of the ICD.

According to Dr. Reed, substantial changes in the ICD are dependent upon broad scientific and political support.

”It will be helpful for the recommendations to come from as broad an international coalition as possible, if possible with the formal involvement or endorsement of scientific and professional societies or governments.”
(Mail to Revise F65 September 25, 2009.)

November 30, 2009, Revise F65 sent a new letter to the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services expressing deep consern about the fact that the decision to remove fetish and SM diagnoses has been postphoned three times by the Directorate of Health. Supported by several psychiatrists, psychologists, sexologists and mental health organizations, we stressed that the more countries that change their national ICD versions, the bigger is the chance that WHO will follow suit.

December 4, 2009. The Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services now supports Revise F65 100%. In a letter from the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services, the Directorate of Health was instructed to remove the diagnoses of Transvestism, Fetishism and Sadomasochism from the Norwegian version of ICD-10 from 2010. The Ministry asked for a confirmation by December 21, 2009.

December 21, 2009. In their answer to the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services, the Directorate of Health pointed out that they are positive to the idea to remove Transvestism, Fetishism and Sadomasochism from the Norwegian version of ICD-10, just like Sweden has done. The Directorate strongly apologized for all the delays in 2009, and aimed to bring the case to a conclusion by February 1, 2010. “The decision can then possibly be brought into force immediately”, the Directorate wrote.

December 21, 2009. The next weeks Revise F65 will send a “Call to action” to our contacts world wide asking for testimony, quoted reference and supporting evidence from psychiatrists, psychologists, sexologists, researchers of human sexuality and organizations in order to remove Fetishism, Sadomasochism and Transvestic Fetishism as paraphilic diagnoses from ICD, The International Classification of Diseases published by WHO. Such statements should be sent to Revise F65 (mail: sskeid(A)online.no), and will be forwarded by us to WHO’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse.

As Dr. Reed emphasized, it will also be of great importance to move as many countries as possible to change their national diagnoses of Fetishism, Fetishistic transvestism and Sadomasochism.

Revise F65 recommend to abolish the following ICD diagnoses because they are superfluous, outdated, non scientific and stigmatizing.

F65.0 Fetishism

F65.1 Fetishistic transvestism

F65.5 Sadomasochism

F65.6 Multiple disorders of sexual preference

F64.1 Dual-role transvestism

See more health political and professional arguments at:

http://www.revisef65.org/icd_whitepaper.html

 

Regards,

Svein Skeid,

Leader of Revise F65

 

Examples of statements, quotes and evidence of support:

http://www.revisef65.org/europride3.html

Categories
English Fagartikler Professional work

The ICD-11 Revision: Scientific and political support for the Revise F65 reform Second report to the World Health Organization


The ICD-11 Revision:
Scientific and political support for the Revise F65 reform
Second report to the World Health Organization

Oslo, November 11, 2011

By Cand. Psychol Odd Reiersøl and Revise F65 leader Svein Skeid

Abstract

The interdisciplinary research-based knowledge in Revise F65’s second report to WHO, emphasizes that sadomasochism and sexualized violence are two different phenomena and that fetishists and sadomasochists do not present more psychopathology than the general population. The fetish/BDSM group is an equal contributor to the society and scores on the level with most people on psychosocial features and democratic values such as self control, empathy, responsibility, love, equality, and non-discrimination. Because the ICD fetish and SM diagnoses are superfluous, outdated, non scientific and stigmatizing to the fetish/BDSM minority, these diagnoses have been removed in nearly all of the Nordic countries. The diagnoses are so seldom in use, that neither care, statistics, nor research are affected by their abolition. The report concludes that a removal of the fetish- and SM diagnoses in the forthcoming edition of ICD-11, may have health promoting effects and be valuable to the society, in addition to an improved human rights situation regarding legal safety, real freedom of speech, and less experienced discrimination based on fetish- and BDSM identity and orientation.

Keywords: sadomasochism, fetishism, fetishistic transvestism, transvestism, SM and fetish identity, SM and fetish orientation, human rights

Background

As contributors to the book ‘Sadomasochism, Powerful Pleasures’, “Reiersøl and Skeid (2006) focused their efforts [with the Revise F65 reform project] and criticism on the ICD-10, concluding: The ICD diagnoses of Fetishism, Fetishistic transvestism and Sadomasochism are outdated and not up to the scientific standards of the ICD manual. Their contents have not undergone any significant changes for the last hundred years. They are at best completely unnecessary. At worst, they are stigmatizing to minority groups in society” (Krueger, 2010).

May 7, 2007, Classification Coordinator Bedirhan Ustun, MD, at the World Health Organization in Geneva invited Revise F65 to cooperate with the work leading up to the ICD-11 revision.

In accordance with this invitation, Revise F65, September 24, 2009, sent the ‘ICD White Paper’ with the professional and health political foundation for completely removing fetishism, sadomasochism, transvestism and fetishistic transvestism in the new, revised version of the ICD, that is, the ICD-11 (Revise F65, 2009e).

In a mail to Revise F65 September 25, 2009, and a 40 minutes long phone conversation November 18, 2009, Senior Project Officer Dr. Geoffrey M. Reed, responsible for WHO’s revision of ICD-10 Mental and Behavioural Disorders, invited Revise F65 to provide additional scientific and political support for the Revise F65 reform to the ICD revision process.

Introduction

In accordance with this second invitation from WHO, additional scientific and political support follows for the Revise F65 sexual rights reform, consisting of research, empirical data, official national health decisions, law commissions and consultative statements, expert opinions, testimony and careful considerations from mental health professionals, researchers, historians, national health bodies and acknowledged fetish- and BDSM authorities.

In messages to WHO’s Senior Project Officer Dr. Geoffrey M. Reed February 4, 2010 and May 20, 2011, respectively, Revise F65 informed that Norway (Revise F65, 2010c) and Finland (Revise F65, 2011b), have completely removed their national versions of five SM and fetish diagnoses. Sweden removed six diagnoses of sexual behaviours in 2009 (Revise F65, 2008), among them the same classifications as Norway and Finland deleted. Denmark withdrew the diagnoses of dual-role transvestism and sadomasochism in 1994 and 1995, respectively (Politiken, 1995:A7).

Norway and Finland removed the following diagnoses February 1, 2010 and May 12, 2011, respectively:

F65.0 Fetishism
F65.1 Fetishistic transvestism
F65.5 Sadomasochism
F65.6 Multiple disorders of sexual preference
F64.1 Dual-role transvestism

Sweden, January 1, 2009 removed the following diagnoses:

F65.0 Fetishism
F65.1 Fetishistic transvestism
F65.5 Sadomasochism
F65.6 Multiple disorders of sexual preference
F64.1 Dual-role transvestism
F64.2 Gender identity disorder in youth
(Note: Revise F65 and Norwegian health authorities did not recommend deleting the F64.2 diagnosis because it may possibly give rights to children for important medical care).

Denmark, August 19, 1994 and May 1, 1995 respectively, removed the diagnoses:

F64.1 Dual-role transvestism
F65.5 Sadomasochism

Norwegian authorities describe BDSM and fetish as ‘sexual identities’. Finnish health authorities say that fetish/SM “has to do with sexual orientation”. The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare says that as a fetishist or a BDSM practitioner, “You are not diseased. You are not perverse. You are a fully valued citizen!”

Definitions

The following terms are being used synonymously: ‘sadomasochism’, ‘SM’, ‘S/M’, and ‘BDSM’. They denote the phenomenon of consensual power exchange between adults.

Sigmund Freud connected the concepts of ‘sadism’ and ‘masochism’ into ‘sadomasochism’ in 1938 (Moser & Madeson, 1996:23). The concept of ‘BDSM’ was introduced in 1991 as a substitute for ‘sadomasochism’ which was often associated with an outdated notion of mental illness. While ‘sadomasochism’ is often abbreviated to ‘SM’, the acronym ‘BDSM’ implies a wider definition of three activities which may, but does not always, occur within sadomasochistic practice: ‘Bondage and Discipline’ (BD), ‘Dominance and Submission’ (DS), and ‘Sadism and Masochism’ (SM) (Ernulf & Innala, 1995; Reiersøl & Skeid, 2010).

Synonymously with ‘sadist’ and ‘masochist’, we will use the terms ‘dominant’ and ‘submissive’, ‘master’ and ‘slave’, ‘giver’ and ‘receiver’, ‘S’ and ‘M’, plus ‘top’ and ‘bottom’. ‘Leathermen’ may be used synonymously with ‘homosexuals into fetish and BDSM’.

‘SM or fetish orientation’ (Levitt et al., 1994:472; Wagenheim, 1998; Moser 1999b; Cutler, 2003; Hoff, 2003; Powers, 2007) includes inclination or interest for BDSM and fetishism.

We define ‘fetishism’ as a sexual orientation characterized by the desire for seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting or touching certain objects, pieces of clothing or body parts of a real or imagined partner.

The terms ‘Transvestic Fetishism’ and ‘Fetishistic transvestism’ are used interchangeably. The former is the DSM term which is widely used for research purposes, the latter is the ICD term supposedly used in diagnostic practices world wide.

Sadomasochism was normative before Krafft-Ebing

According to the American historian and sexologist Vern Bullough, sadomasochism was neither classified as a sickness nor a sin before the Austro-German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing published the book ’Psychopathia sexualis’ in 1886 (Bullough & Bullough, 1977:210; Moser, 1999b). Bullough documents that our Christian cultural tradition is permeated with sadomasochistic behavior and that Krafft-Ebing constructed a new pathology of a behaviour which had been endemic and normative in Western culture (Bullough, Dixon & Dixon (1994:59,58).

Both physical and mental pain were important in the Judaeo-Christian tradition and punishment was best if the one who did the punishing did so on a person he loved. ”Accompanying the suffering were ecstatic visions which involved a ’high’ similar to what some participants in sado-masochistic activities of today recount” (Bullough, Dixon & Dixon, 1994:57,54).

The Christian ideology accepting both pain and suffering as necessary has long made the Western world prone to accept and tolerate a wide variety of behaviors which have come to be called sadomasochistic but which before the term was coined were more or less normative in our culture. ”Krafft-Ebing, without quite knowing it, made much of Western history a study of pathological behaviour” (Bullough, Dixon & Dixon, 1994:51-59).

This view is supported by a submission to the British Home Office (Slemmings, 2005):
”The history of modern prejudice against BDSM appears to date back to the publication of Psychopathia Sexualis by Richard von Krafft-Ebing in 1886. Prior to this date BDSM appears to have been accepted as an eccentricity (especially among the rich) and as a form of non-penetrative ‘safe sex’ at a time when syphilis was still a killer disease. Among the working classes the sexual act itself was often referred to as “a bit of slap and tickle” which implies BDSM was also acknowledged and practised even by the poor and less well educated.”

Degeneration, perversion, and moralistic hierarchy

Krafft-Ebing constructed the terms ‘sadism’ and ‘masochism’ from the authors Marquis de Sade and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. In a letter to Krafft-Ebing Sacher-Masoch fruitlessly objected to the misuse of his family name (Moser & Madeson, 1996:22).

According to Thompson (1994:20), Krafft-Ebing’s theory was based on “a Victorian stereotype about male and female sexual responses”. According to Krafft-Ebing sadism was a pathological intensification of the masculine character and masochism a pathological degeneration of the distinctive psychical peculiarities of women (Bullough, Dixon, & Dixon, 1994:48).

In 1879 Krafft-Ebing wrote ’Lehrbuch der Psychiatrie’ that became ’the German bible of degeneration theory’.

He described sadism and masochism in terms of the theory of degeneration as published by Bénédict Morel. This stated that characteristics such as perversions can be inherited (Morel, 1857). In 1886, Dr. Krafft-Ebing defined SM as ‘a disturbance in the evolution of the psychosexual processes sprouting from the soil of psychical degeneration‘.

Even though Freud rejected the degeneration theory of Morel and Krafft-Ebing, and made his own theory of psychoanalysis, the doctrine of degeneration, according to Sulloway (1979:297), was long retained as a coordinate concept by many, including Freud. Freud also adhered to Krafft-Ebing’s concept of perversion and developed it further.

After 1933 degeneration became a part of the Nazi ideology (Shorter, 1997:102). The first social circles of heterosexual sadomasochists in the USA can be traced back to sexual refugees from Nazi Germany (USA Today, 2002).

“Those who combine homosexuality with sadistic and masochistic aberrations are among the cruelest people who walk this earth. In ancient times they found employment as professional torturers and executioners. More recently they filled the ranks of Hitler’s Gestapo and SS” (Reuben, 1969:135). In other words, Reuben is talking about a “double perversion” and so did several other educators. US psychiatrist Dr. David Reuben is probably the most well known. The title of his book ‘Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask)’ was one of the first sex manuals that entered mainstream culture in the 1960s, and it had a profound effect on sex education and in liberalizing attitudes towards sex. It was the most popular non-fiction book of its era and became part of the Sexual Revolution of modern America. The book was translated into 54 languages and sold in 52 countries and ultimately reached more than 150 million readers. In 1972 it was parodied by Woody Allen in the comedy film of the same name. The chapter on male homosexuality has received much criticism for perpetuating stereotypes and negative images of gay men as sex obsessed beings, of homosexual expression of sexuality as almost entirely impersonal, and of abusive “butch-queen” relationships as being typical where relationships exist at all. The author asserts very clearly that he considers homosexuality to be a perversion. Also calling into question the objectivity and usefulness of the book is its assertion that all prostitutes are lesbians and all lesbians are prostitutes.

The American National Organization for Women (NOW,) that initially condemned SM lesbians as perverse, removed their 20 years old official policy against SM from their ‘Delineation of Lesbian Rights’ policy in 1999 (Wright, 2006).

The feminist writer and cultural anthropologist Gayle S. Rubin Ph.D., observed that sexual identities are arranged in a hierarchical system ranging from monogamous married heterosexuality at the top to sex workers, sadomasochists, fetishists and those who desire across generational boundaries at the bottom. Those at the top of the hierarchy are privileged while those at the bottom are stigmatized and punished (Rubin, 1984/1993). Tiefer (1997) noted in her essay, ‘Towards a Feminist Sex Therapy’: “By ignoring the social context of sexuality, the DSM nomenclature perpetuates a dangerously naive and false vision of how sex really works,” separating what Gayle Rubin (1984) once called “the charmed circle [of] good, normal, natural, blessed sexuality” from “the outer limits [of] bad, abnormal, unnatural, damned sexuality.”

Prejudice disguised as science

The american psychoanalyst and researcher Robert Stoller (Stoller, 1991), cautioned his fellow psychoanalysts against accepting as facts about sadomasochism a set of assumptions made plausible by repetition but based on very little evidence.

He noted: “…psychoanalysts, Freud included, cooked up a soup with too few ingredients. For me, most psychoanalytic theories of sadism and masochism are boiled water masquerading as gourmet’s delight….Until recently, before loading up on facts, I had no reason to doubt the psychiatric and psychoanalytic wisdom… But then I began meeting sadomasochists…” (Stoller, 1991:9,21)

Stoller described how he changed his mind after having studied bondage and SM houses in California. “Presuming that almost everyone else is as I was, it may interest you to note my change in attitude”… “So, though I found my informants’ games unappealing (just as they may find our ‘vanilla’ practices), I no longer extrapolate and think these people are freaks” (p. 21). ”Psychoanalytic explanations will have to be more precise, more anchored in clinical data, and more modest…. it is immoral for psychoanalysts to hide their moralizing in jargon-soaked theory…. when we have little or no evidence, we do best, regarding theory making, to tread lightly, and…when we recognize the low quality of our evidence, we should go out and collect better evidence….” (Stoller 1991:9,21).

The National Coalition of Sexual Freedom (NCSF) criticizes the DSM for not considering the latest research: “Because the scientific evidence contradicts the statements currently within the DSM, we must conclude that the interpretation of the Paraphilias criteria has been politically – not scientifically – based.” “Because of this, BDSM practitioners, fetishists and cross-dressers are subject to bias, discrimination and social sanctions without any scientific basis” (NCSF, 2010).

Victorian stereotypes in the media

Charlotte Ovesson points out that Krafft-Ebing’s outdated theories are still alive in Swedish reference books (Herburt, 2009) and daily newspapers. She describes this thoroughly in a social psychological oriented sociological study (Ovesson, 2011:37,44).

Words are manipulated, and quotes are taken out of context to increase sales and to promote the stereotype of the unpredictable male sadist without moral limits (Ovesson, 2011:26,31,33,37). Phrases like “violent sex”, “torture”, and “sex torture networks” are being used regardless of consent or non consent (Ovesson, 2011:37).

The media also construct a stereotype of the woman as a victim even though she participated actively and voluntarily in the SM relationship (Ovesson, 2011:23). At the same time dominant women are non existing and women enjoying SM sex are made invisible in the spirit of the victorian stereotype (Ovesson, 2011:32,40,44).

Even where sadomasochism is described positively it is evident that it is considered as a deviation from the heteronormative sexuality (Ovesson, 2011:35). Due to internalized shame, many SM people retain the stereotypes by repeating the prejudices. The word ‘sadomasochism’ is being used in reports about accidents and crimes that have nothing to do with sadomasochism (Ovesson, 2011:34).

The confounding of SM with violence also permeates dictionaries and encyclopedias. In a study of sadomasochism in Swedish reference books 1876-2006, Kim Herburt at the Historical Faculty at the University of Stockholm points out how the reference books seldom describe sadomasochism within a consensual context (Ovesson, 2011:6; Herburt, 2009:418,419).

Nowhere was it clearly stated that sadomasochism and other sexual deviations were illnesses, but they were described in the same way as illnesses because causes and treatments were part of the articles. The reader will therefore interpret the described phenomena as illnesses (Herburt, 2009:417; Ovesson, 2011:6).

Research on pathology

The Revise F65 literature review shows that regardless of how the research is conducted, whether qualitative, quantitative, via telephone, via Internet, or by face to face interviews, there is the following tendency: sadomasochists do not have any more psychopathology than others. This is supported for example by Gosselin and Wilson (1980). They did not find anything pathological about the SM group. SM people did not display particularly high guilt levels nor were they more obsessional than other people. Breslow, Evans, & Langley (1985) also found SM play practitioners to be non-pathological. “These figures do not indicate that depression plays any greater part in the lives of sadomasochists than it does in non-sadomasochist’s lives. It can be concluded that, on the whole, sadomasochists seem to have accepted their SM interest” (Breslow, 1999). Breslow underlines that there is no typical sadomasochist. “The average sadomasochist is unremarkable, he or she is just like anyone else, with the one exception of having an interest in SM” (Breslow, 1999).

A lack of psychopathology is corroborated in studies by Miale (1986), Moser & Levitt (1987/1995:109), Sandnabba et al. (1999), Spengler (1977), Levitt et al. (1994), Sandnabba et al. (2002), Damon (2003), and Stiles et al. (2007).

Connolly et al. (2006), among a group with bondage and sadomasochistic interests (BDSM) showed that “no evidence was found to support the notion that major disorders — including depression, anxiety, mania/bipolarity, and obsessive-compulsivity — are more prevalent among the sample of individuals with BDSM interests than among members of the general population” (Connolly et al., 2006:117). Of special interest is the Connolly investigation of personality disorders. ”Paranoia and borderline pathology, the severe personality disorders described in the psychoanalytic literature as ubiquitous among BDSM practitioners, were remarkable in their absence from this sample” (Connolly et al., 2006:108). However, “While this finding does not support those psychoanalytic notions that imply a narcissistic personality structure is present in all, or even most, it does point to the likelihood that some BDSM practitioners (in this case 30.23%) are ‘clinically significant’ on this measure, indicating the presence of greater-than-average levels of narcissistic features and possibly suffer from narcissistic personality disorder” (Connolly et al., 2006:108). There was also evidence of a significantly higher level of histrionic features compared with general population estimates. The authors caution against interpreting this as pathology in the BDSM population, for example: “It has been noted that people in the Los Angeles BDSM community meet frequently for ‘play parties’ in which a high level of exhibitionism is deemed appropriate” (Connolly et al., 2006:109). On dissociative identity disorder (DID): “there is no evidence of a higher-than-average likelihood of DID” (Connolly et al., 2006:110). As with all other research there are methodological issues and the authors of this study have a thorough discussion about it. They conducted a very high number of comparisons: “After conducting over 100 statistical comparisons, a significant result on one or more disorders seemed almost guaranteed on the basis of chance alone” (Connolly et al., 2006:111).

Schmidt (1995) and Schmidt, Schiavi, Schover, Segraves, and Wise (1998) on the DSM-IV Sexual Disorders Workgroup reported that literature reviews completed for DSM-IV revealed a paucity of data supporting the scientific conceptual underpinning of current diagnostic terminology for sexual psychopathology. McConaghy (1999) suggested that, in view of the lack of a relationship of SM with psychiatric pathology, that sadomasochism, like homosexuality, should not be classified as a DSM disorder.

There is more information on the Revise website (Revise F65, 2009k). While the situation is better now than it was in 1998, we acknowledge there is still a paucity of data and that more research is welcome.

Health promoting sexuality

An early sexual rights reform advocate, the Swedish psychiatrist, Lars Ullerstam had a book published about the sexual minorities, including homosexuality, fetishism, transvestism, SM, as well as other ‘perversions’ that don’t harm anybody. He argues in length for the rights of these people to enjoy their sexuality: “One more thing we can be dead certain of: the “perversions” allow considerable chances to achieve human happiness. And therefore the “perversions” are in themselves good, and therefore they ought to be encouraged” (Ullerstam, 1966:43)

Even though Moser & Madeson (1996:40) and Breslow (1999) warn against probable sampling bias, research indicates that sadomasochists are well educated with higher income than the average population (Breslow et al., 1985; Moser & Levitt, 1987/1995; Levitt et al., 1994; Sandnabba et al., 1999; Breslow, 1999; Alison et al., 2001; Haymore, 2002; Connolly, 2006:88).

A survey using computer-assisted telephone interviews with 20,000 Australian men and women, showed that BDSM may actually make men happier. Men into BDSM scored significantly better on a scale of psychological well-being than other men. BDSM’ers were no more likely to have suffered sexual difficulties, sexual abuse, coercion or anxiety than other Australians. “This seems to imply that these men are actually happier as a result of their behaviour, though we’re not sure why”, said Dr. Juliet Richters, of the University of New South Wales. “It might just be that they’re more in harmony with themselves because they’re into something unusual and are comfortable with that. There’s a lot to be said for accepting who you are” (Richters et al., 2007, 2008).

The implication of two studies by Sagarin et al. (2009) into hormonal changes associated with sadomasochistic activities including spanking, bondage and flogging, at the Northern Illinois University, suggests that it could bring consenting couples closer together. The increases in relationship closeness combined with the displays of caring and affection observed as part of the SM activities offer support for the modern view that SM, when performed consensually, has the potential to increase intimacy between participants. This result is supported by a qualitative study by Thomsen (2002). Several SM techniques were helpful in gaining comfort with sexual intimacy, including control/power role play, communication, trust, a sense of safety, mutual respect, an emotional bond/intimacy, and being able to get in touch with one’s body. Respondents also gained self-esteem, self-respect, and knowledge of one’s self all of which are vital to achieving comfort with sexual intimacy. Cutler (2003) and Panter (1999) also found that SM participants use SM scenes to increase the intimacy of their relationships and experience a greater sense of personal and interpersonal empowerment.


ICD Revision White Paper
Revise F65’s first report to the World Health Organization, September 24, 2009.

Reiersøl, Odd & Skeid, Svein (2006). The ICD Diagnoses of Fetishism and Sadomasochism.  In P.J. Kleinplatz and C. Moser (Eds.). Sadomasochism, Powerful Pleasures (pp. 243-262). Published simultaniously in The Journal of Homosexuality, Volume 50, Issue 2&3, May 2006.

Odd Reiersøl is educated as a psychologist at the University of Oslo. He has been working at Solverv Psychotherapy Institute in Oslo for the last 23 years as a psychotherapist with adults, couples and groups as well as educating other professionals. He also has a university degree in mathematics and mathematical statistics.

Svein Skeid is the leader of Revise F65, and has been working with gay and BDSM human rights for 30 years. He has been awarded prizes several times, included ‘Gay Person of the Year Award’ in 2003, the greatist honor of the Norwegian gay movement.

The Revise F65 project was established in 1996 with a mandate from the Norwegian National LGBT Association of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LLH). Revise F65 consists of gay and straight BDSM human rights organizations as well as mental health professionals. The purpose of Revise F65 is to remove Sadomasochism, Fetishism, Fetishistic Transvestism and Transvestism as psychiatric diagnoses from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) published by the World Health Organization (WHO).

 

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SM versus violence

The Canadian researchers Cross and Matheson (2006:144-145) found no evidence for Krafft-Ebing’s claim that masochists suffer from psychiatric illness or that SM sadists are antisocial or violent (Krafft-Ebing, 1886/1965). They neither found any support for Freud’s theory about self mutilating masochists or id-driven psychopathic SM sadists (Freud, 1900/1954, 1906/1953, 1924/1961).

‘The Leatherman’s Handbook’ by Larry Townsend was the first pioneer book that describes the psychology, communication and precautions in SM. In this way he gave the first safety rules that have been carried on for generations of gay leather men world wide. Townsend points out that emotional involvement is just as prevalent in SM as in other sexual relationships, that empathy is “the key to the game” and that the S’s “degree of insight into the M’s responses will make or break the scene” (Townsend, 1972:28).

A study by Weinberg (1994/1995) of the type and nature of SM play practices, revealed the importance of control in SM play, as well as mutual concern among its practitioners. The actual power in BDSM may lie with the ‘bottom’, who typically creates the script, or at least sets the boundaries, by which the S&M practitioners play.

The researchers Ernulf and Innala (1995) observed discussions among individuals with such interests, one of whom described the goal of “hyperdominants“. “A good top is an empathetic person who knows how to tell with the least possible feedback exactly what will blow the bottom’s mind. The top enjoys his pleasure vicariously” (Ernulf & Innala, 1995:644).

Luc Granger, Ph.D., head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Montreal, created an intensive treatment program for sexual aggressors in La Macaza Prison in Quebec; he has also conducted research on the S&M community. “They are very separate populations,” he says (Apostolides, 1999)

Fedoroff, Paul J. MD (2008:644,637) points out that sexual sadism is a heterogeneous phenomenon and sexual sadism within the context of mutual consent should not be mistaken for acts of sexual violence or aggression. “Sexual arousal from consensual interactions that include domination should be distinguished from nonconsensual sex acts.”

While consensual sexual sadomasochism may include 5-10 percent of the population (Revise F65, 2009g), ‘‘virtually all of the published papers using DSM criteria for Sexual Sadism have been done on studies of forensic populations’’ (Krueger, 2010). Even if Krueger doesn’t want to remove any diagnoses, in a report for the forthcoming DSM-V, he stresses that it is important “to distinguish individuals practicing S & M as part of consensual sexual activity from individuals who have been arrested for such activity and are in the forensic system”. “One might anticipate that therapy for those practicing S & M may involve issues other than their S & M or involve ‘‘normalizing’’ (i.e., making acceptable) their sexual fantasies or behavior (Kleinplatz & Moser, 2004; Nichols, 2006). With forensic populations, the focus would be on controlling or suppressing sadistic arousal and behavior (Krueger & Kaplan, 2002)”.

Park Elliot Dietz is a forensic psychologist who consistently tries to point out the absurdity of the link between S/M devotees and psychotic criminals. According to Dietz (1990), there are five main differences between psychotic sadistic serial murderers and SM devotees:

1. Psychotics search for unwilling partners. S/M devotees use a ‘safeword’ that the submissive can say at any time to end the scene, thus the submissive retains real control throughout the encounter.

2. Psychotics force their acts on the victim rather than aiming at pleasing the submissive (as in S/M). The psychotic sadistic acts are quite different from S/M practices, and usually include: forced anal penetration, forced fellatio, or violent vaginal-penetration with various foreign objects – rather than the penis.

3. The sadistic offenders’ demeanor is diametrically opposed to S/M devotees: usually the psychotic is detached and unemotional throughout the torture, while the S/M dominant appears to achieve a “high” or pleasure equivalent during the scene.

4. Psychotic criminals torture their victims, inflicting serious and permanent injury, trying to arouse terror in their victims. S/M devotees skillfully enhance the sexual arousal of their partner, following the rules and guidelines that were established before the scene, thus creating only the illusion that the submissive is not in control.

5. Psychotics usually have a past history of sexual crimes such as rape or incest. S/M devotees are average people who typically don’t have criminal pasts.

John K. Noyes, Ph.D. sees SM play as symbolic acts in the form of staged aggression, a kind of consensual play or acting, as distinguished from actual aggression in the form of violent, nonconsensual behavior. “As a staged aggression, it may even be in a position to defuse social violence and to put forward alternative and socially viable models of coping with aggression in a manner that minimizes its negative effects” (Noyes, 1997:30).

The sociologists took their lead from the anthropologist Paul Gebhard, whose 1969 essay ‘Fetishism and Sadomasochism’ undermined the idea of individual pathology by pointing to sadomasochism’s cultural roots, and the futility of defining a widespread and diffuse sexual practice by reference to a few “extreme” examples. He stated that S/M practices were “only prevalent in its organized form in literate societies full of symbolic meanings.” This means that far from being a manifestation of a base instinct, sadomasochism required a considerable amount of intelligence and organization (Gebhard, 1969/1995).

In a manuscript dated May 11, 1955, the Australian composer, pianist and self-documented sadomasochist Percy Grainger wrote: “Flagellantic interests may be grouped together with such games as football, wrestling, boxing in this respect: they all represent something that originally was harsh, cruel, violent and destructive, but which have now become playful rather than cruel, teasing rather than destructive, friendly rather than hostile. In other words, they are typical of a world that has shed much of its warlikeness and become really peaceable, that has replaced competition and hostility with comradeship and co-operation” (Grainger, 1955/1999).

See also: SM versus abuse (Revise F65, 2007).

Pleasure and pain

The British psychologist and medical doctor Havelock Ellis (Ellis, 1926/1995) was among the first who understood that SM practitioners are seeking pleasure, not pain. He also understood that sadomasochistic practices are confined to consensual situations. Among supporters of these viewpoints were (Thomsen, 2002), Iwan Bloch (Bloch, 1933/1994), and Theodor Reik (Reik, 1940, 1941).

Morphine receptors in the brain have been known since the 1970s; these are designed to receive endorphins, morphine-like substances produced by the body that are both powerful pain-killers and antidepressants (Bullough, Dixon & Dixon, 1994:50). The American medical doctor Lawrence Mass was wondering if the newly discovered endorphins could influence SM interactions (Mass, 1979:292). The Canadian writer, Geoff Mains, introduced the notion of endorphins as a critical component of S/M sexuality (Mains, 1984:11,64). The Danish psychiatrist Birgit Johansen, in her book “Smertens lyst” (The pleasure of pain), pointed out how the painkilling endorphins can be a possible explanation for the pain management in sadomasochists (Johansen, 1990).

Professor Emerita, Beverly Whipple PhD, and her colleagues in the 1980s did research on women, sex and pain. They found that sexual stimulation elevates pain threshold by 40 per cent and over 100 per cent during an orgasm (Whipple, 1986). Before orgasm, oxytocin, which is released from the brain, surges up to five times the normal level, which in turn causes the release of endorphins, our natural pain-killing hormones. In addition to decreasing pain, endorphins produce a spiritually elevating effect and positive perception of the environment. Most surveys are done with women, but it is certain that the pain threshold before and after an orgasm is elevated in both men and women, according to Specialist in Neurology Per Olov Lundberg, MD, PhD (VG, 2002).

Even anticipation of pain can activate a general physiological arousal which can be channelled into sexual feelings or be regarded as such by its participants. Weinberg, Williams and Moser (1984) argued that whether pain was real or apparent, light or heavy, was not important to their definition but only to the interpretation that the participants put upon it. Their definition gives as much emphasis to the psychological as to the physical (Bullough, Dixon & Dixon, 1994:50).

The balance between pleasure and pain is dependent on the situation. In a philosophical dissertation at Vanderbilt University, Nashville Tennessee, Ramsour (2002) points out that the only pain that works is what is thoroughly planned and with the correct dosage. The masochist does not gain pleasure or sexual satisfaction from accidental pain. Sadomasochists do not obtain more pleasure than others by visiting the dentist. The intensity of the pain does not determine the pleasure, but the individual balance between pain and pleasure (Bullough, Dixon & Dixon, 1994:50; Reiersøl & Skeid, 2010).

Research by Alison et al. (2001:10) indicate that tops used flagellation as a method of administering pain rather than as a way to inflict humiliation: “for the gay male group the administration and reception of pain was a more intense and real perception and that the symbolic representation of pain (humiliation) was more important for the women and the heterosexual men.”

What SM can teach us

However, most other authors point out that contrary to pain, dominance and submission or power exchange is the essence of SM/BDSM (Gebhard, 1969; Califia, 1979; Scott, 1980/1998; Kamel, 1983; Scoville, 1984; Ernulf & Innala, 1995; Cross, 1998; Weinberg, 2006:33; Cross & Matheson, 2006:158). “Pain is not the central or guiding principle of S&M. Indeed, it is not even essential to sadomasochistic activities” (Baumeister, 1988a:37; Weinberg, 1995:291). “Pain is far from unknown in S&M, but the pain is secondary” (Vail & Goode, 2007:202).

This research indicates that pain is only one of several ways to stage the illusion of dominance and submission. “The only power he’s got is what I let him have”, one of the participants in a study commented. And one master said: “To say I have the power and the control is misleading. We are out to please each other” (Cross & Matheson, 2006:157). In order to emphasize his/her authority, it is not uncommon for the master to push the limits a little to add a feeling of authenticity to the scene (Weinberg, 2006:34).

But as the examples cited above indicate, the participants do not regard the role playing as “real” (Weinberg, 2006:33). Both the power of fantasy and a mutually agreed upon definition are required to fulfill the illusion that the receiver is under total control of the master (Weinberg, 1995:300; Magill, 1982; Brodsky, 1993; Sandnabba et al., 1999; Lee, 1979:87,92).

“The imitation of humiliation is carefully constructed never to produce true humiliation. The imitation of trauma, such as when being humiliated is enacted, is not traumatic. Constant, high attention to one’s partner’s experience is more caring and safer than the blundering, ignorant, noncommunicating obtuseness that governs so many “normal” people’s erotic motions” (Stoller, 1991:21).

Besides pain, for example bondage, various fetishes and responsibility and care on part of the (almost parental) sadist may be used to maintain the illusion of a power and status differential (Cross og Matheson, 2006:157; Reiersøl & Skeid, 2010:313). In line with the results of their research, Sagarin et al. (2009) state that various aspects of care and intimacy are present at every stage in BDSM (foreplay, interaction and aftercare).

SM is symbolic power playing where the receiver as an equal partner voluntarily transfers control to the master. The master takes and administrates the control, while adapting to the wishes and reactions of the receiver (Reiersøl & Skeid, 2010; Moser, 1988:50; Weinberg, 1978/1995; Weinberg & Falk, 1980; Baumeister, 1988b; Brame et al., 1993; Miller & Devon, 1995; Hoople, 1996).

Furthermore, Weinberg (2006:33) states that “sadomasochistic scenes are both consensual and collaboratively produced (Baumeister, 1988b; Hoople, 1996; Weinberg, 1978/1995; Weinberg & Falk, 1980). What may appear to the uninitiated observer to be spontaneous behavior is often carefully planned.” “All parties to the interaction must agree to participate. Forced participation is not acceptable within the subculture; it is only the illusion that individuals are coerced that is approved by sadomasochists” (Weinberg, 2006:34).

As expressed by the American author Annalee Newitz: “Games in which power is exchanged, granted and, most importantly, controlled, can teach players how power works and what it means to defy it. As experienced players often report, S/M games are as much about trusting your partner(s) to take or relinquish power as they are about shiny boots and luscious whips. It’s for this reason that theories of consent are at the very core of S/M thought” (Newitz, 2000).

The researchers Patricia A. Cross Ph.D. and Kim Matheson Ph.D. (Cross & Matheson, 2006:147) found no evidence for Baumeister’s contention that masochists were more inclined to engage in escapist behaviors such as drug-taking, day-dreaming, or fantasizing than the comparison group (Baumeister, 1988a, 1989). Breslow (1999): There is a myth that masochists are high level corporate executives who need to be dominated and humiliated in order to help relieve business pressures. The people responding to the questionnaire had a large range of occupations, including, but not limited to: Medical doctors, lawyers, college professors, psychologists, social workers, fireman, policeman, carpenters, computer programmers, communication systems analysts, forest service employees, members of the armed forces, artists, housewives, clerks, postal employees, as well as welfare recipients, etc. Although a myth exists that SM interests are limited to corporate executives who have high pressure jobs and need SM to “unwind,” or “relax,” it is apparent from this list that sadomasochists have a variety of occupations, which range across all socioeconomic groups.

According to Reiersøl & Skeid (2010) both the dominant and the submissive must be involved in all the phases of foreplay, interaction and aftercare to achieve the important balance of safety and excitement (Pagh, 1985:56, Mains, 1984:65; Califia, 1979; Kamel, 1980; Lee, 1979; Weinberg, 1995:294). During the foreplay, or negotiation phase, security procedures, personal limits and safe words are agreed upon, so that the game can be interrupted in case something feels wrong to either party (Moser, 1998; Califia-Rice, 1994/2000, 1993/2002; Miller, 1995; Wiseman, 1996). This phase may also be non verbal, communicated by clothing, body language and various signals. 90 percent of the communication that takes place during the interaction phase is probably non visible for the uninitiated. The authority of the master is dependent upon her ability to empathize and communicate, as well as knowledge about what turns the partner on. The aftercare, or the landing phase, gives an opportunity to evaluate the session, for example by talking and cuddling to get grounded after the high that was produced by the endorphins during the interaction phase.

The author Annalee Newitz writes: “It’s from S/M theory that we’ve developed the concept of ‘safe words’: established phrases that signal the end of a scene (many people use the easy-to-remember ‘yellow’ to request a slow down, and ‘red’ for stop). But more importantly, S/M theory has inaugurated a whole new way of engaging in sexual communication. In the S/M community, communication is at the root of all sexual satisfaction” (Newitz, 2000).

Charlotte Ovesson writes in her study of sadomasochism in Swedish daily newspapers, 2007-2011, that “when sadomasochism is regarded as sick, that is a problem for those who are sadomasochists, but it is also a problem for the rest of society that does not learn what people with a non normative sexuality know” (Ovesson, 2011:28). Clinical psychologist Edith Thomsen Ph.D. thinks that society could learn a lot by listening to SM negotiation, because it applies to sex in general just as much as to SM (Thomsen, 2002).

The australian writer, broadcaster and researcher Kath Albury Ph. D., points out how “the practice of BDSM offers heterosexual women a structure for sexual negotiation that can also be seen to undermine the conventions of compulsory heterosexuality. ”Unlike the high level of risks — of unplanned pregnancy, STIs, regret or insufficient consent — involved in traditional heterosex, where sex ‘just happens’ (Holland et al, 1998), BDSM is generally expected to involve advanced negotiation and preagreed signals (i.e., a ‘safeword’) to indicate slow down or stop (Califia-Rice, 2000, 2002; Miller, 1995; Wiseman, 1998). This participatory approach offers a radical alternative to relationships, sexual or otherwise, in our lives in which we do not feel empowered to negotiate, sexual or otherwise (Albury, 2002:176-181). Summary by Heckert (2005:25).

SM and equality

Unlike Krafft-Ebing, Sigmund Freud saw sadism and masochism as being two forms of the same entity, and he noted that they were often found in the same person. Sadism and masochism are flexible roles where the sadist and the masochist often switch the dominance during the interaction, depending on the type of activity, from time to time, or as a means of personal development (Freud, 1938:570; Weinberg & Kamel, 1995b:17; Miller & Devon, 1995; Reiersøl & Skeid, 2010).

According to Weinberg (1995:293) many authors have found that a significant number of sadomasochists are flexible, with the ability to switch their chosen role. (Breslow et al. 1985; Moser and Levitt, 1987; Califia, 1979; Gebhard, 1969/1995; Kamel, 1980; Moser, 1988; Naerssen et al., 1987; Spengler, 1977; Weinberg, 1978/1995). Weinberg points out that for many people it seems like the content of the role play is essential and not the particular role that each participant takes (Weinberg, 1995:293).

“Pat Califia (Califia, 1979/1995) discusses the politics of society, men usually being the ones in positions of authority, and how in SM play that is not necessarily the case. She feels that is one of the reasons that many members of society, especially those with authority, dislike SM play” (Thomsen, 2002). Liz Highleyman (1997), argued that, “SM play involves interpersonal power exchange, which is diametrically opposed to real world authoritarian roles, which are typically unidirectional. One participant is always on top, and the other is always on the bottom. Except in rare circumstances, the victim of the cop, soldier, or warden does not have the opportunity to ‘exchange’ any power whatsoever” (Highleyman, 1997). Research on 184 Finnish sadomasochistically oriented individuals found that two-thirds indicated having much flexibility in being able to switch from masochistic to sadistic positions (Sandnabba et al., 2002).

The French philosopher, sociologist, historian and self-identified sadomasochist Michel Foucault emphasizes how SM differs from social power: “What characterized power is the fact that it is a strategic relation that has been stabilized through institutions. (Through) courts, codes and so on . . . the strategic relations of people are made rigid. The SM game is very interesting because it is a strategic relation, but it is always fluid. Of course, there are roles, but everybody knows very well that those roles can be reversed. Sometimes the scene begins with the master and slave, and at the end the slave has become the master. Or, even when the roles are stabilized, you know very well that it is always a game: either the rules are transgressed, or there is an agreement, either explicit or tacit, that makes them aware of certain boundaries” (Halperin, 1995:86; Gallagher, 1989/1994).

The European Fetish and SM movement has a long tradition working against racism and Nazism. For example, in 1998 the homosexual umbrella organization ECMC, with its 50 European member clubs clearly condemned “racist and Nazi attitudes, statements, actions, and membership in such anti democratic organizations”. Such manifestations are according to their objectives incompatible with membership in ECMC (European Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs) (Revise F65, 2004f).

Tyler McCormick was elected International Mr. Leather 2010. McCormick, a female-to-male transgender man who uses a wheelchair, bested a field of 50 contestants, from across the U.S. and around the world. This is another example of non discrimination policies within the SM and fetish movement (Revise F65, 2010b:6).

Safe, sane and consensual

Weinberg, Falk, Lee and Kamel (1983) studied the SM environment in San Francisco and New York during a seven year period from 1976. They found that the SM community had developed their own techniques, rules, tenets, structures, language and organizations in order to reduce possible damage (Thompson, 1994:122).

Likewise, the clinical psychologist Edith Thomsen found in a qualitative study (Thomsen, 2002) how “the different techniques and activities involved with SM play are infused within a structure consisting of rules, that are mutually agreed upon in advance by the participants, and framed within a context of mores held by the SM community”.

Kama Sutra, written by Vatsysayana, year 100-400, described safe practice of several types of activity which we today can call sadomasochism: erotic striking, biting, scratching, and different accompanying cry of pain. According to Moser “SM behaviors are seen throughout history, dating back at least to ancient Egypt and the Hindu culture in India…” (Moser & Madeson 1996/1999:34). There is evidence of the masochistic side of SM play in the 1500s, in Europe, of its spreading during the 1600s, and being widespread by the 1700s” (Baumeister 1989/1997:9).

“In 1788, the French doctor Francois Amedee Doppet, at the end of his article “Das Beisseln und sein Auswirkung auf den Geschlechtstrieb”, gave safety tips for flagellants. This is the first known SM safety text in modern time.” (Leather History Timeline, 1999)

Larry Townsend who wrote “The Leatherman’s Handbook” in 1972 was the pioneer who described the psychology, communication and the safety rules in SM. Technical and psychological skills were transferred from experienced to inexperienced leathermen. Even though the value of Townsend’s book has been doubted, by for example Scott (1998:xi), he did give the first hints about security rules which have been taken, expanded, and carried further by later generations of leathermen (Townsend, 1972).

As a stigmatized minority within a minority, gay leathermen were hit hard by the AIDS crisis in the beginning of the 1980’s. Simultaneously the epidemic resulted in more focus on non-penetrative sexual practices as alternatives to unsafe sex. SM is relatively safe sex that does not produce children nor does it result in sexual diseases. The latter may have contributed to the increasing popularity of sadomasochism among homosexuals (Newitz, 2000).

In the wake of the AIDS epidemic, the American gay SM group GMSMA for the very first time used the phrase “safe, sane, consensual” in 1983. Since then “safe, sane, and consensual” has become one of several recognized moral ethical principles and cornerstones of SM activity (Stein, 2002; Revise F65, 2004e).

Townsend’s message about empathy and practical SM advice were expanded to contain prevention of HIV and AIDS. In Europe, the half hundred member clubs of the gay leather umbrella organization ECMC, European Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs, published Safer sex-manuals, in many countries financed by the national heath authorities. Switzerland and Norway were the first, in 1990 and 1991 respectively (Loge 70, 1990). In Norway, this cooperation with the health authorities was the first seed that in 2010 led to the repeal of the fetish and SM diagnoses. People are not protected against STDs by labelling them as ill (Revise F65, 1997).

BDSM women

According to Weinberg (2006:32), the assumption that there were few women in the BDSM culture has been rejected. There is an increasing amount of research on this issue (Alison et al., 2001; Moser and Levitt, 1987/1995). Breslow, Evans, & Langley (1985) reported a significant number of women in the SM subculture. By combining the data of Breslow et al. (1985) and Levitt et al. (1994), a ratio of four male masochists to each female masochist was found (Moser & Kleinplatz, 2005). Fedoroff (2008:640) argues that “surveys have found no difference in frequency of sadistic fantasies in men and women.” On an internet questionnaire of 6997 Fetish/BDSM practitioners, 43 percent were female and 57 percent male (Brame, 2000). In the national Norwegian fetish and SM association SMil Norway 40 per cent of the 356 members are female (SMil-Norge, 2010).

Breslow (1999) pointed out that the Freudian myth that women don’t have SM interests doesn’t stand up to examination. ”It is evident that there are enough SM women to allow many men and women to find each other and enter into long term relationships.” The Canadian researchers Cross, PhD and Matheson, PhD (2006:146) found no evidence suggesting that sadomasochists espoused anti-feminist, patriarchal values or traditional gender roles to a greater extent that the non-SM-group.

Female Fetishism

The ICD is stuck with the notion that fetishism is almost exclusively a male phenomenon. “Fetishism is limited almost exclusively to males” (from the diagnostic guidelines in the ICD-10).

Gamman and Makinen (1994) refer to numerous studies that document female fetishists. These authors have reviewed psychoanalytical reports. After extensive reading of clinical data they concluded: “women made up a significant number of the case studies cited and yet the clinicians each claimed their own female patient was a ‘rarity’” (Gamman and Makinen, 1994:6). “At least a third of the psychoanalytic literature we have looked at contains detailed references to women who fetishise” (Gamman and Makinen, 1994:96). They further claim that more examples of female fetishists have gone undetected. “This is because, on the whole, fetishists do not see their problem as abnormal; case studies tend to arise when a fetishist enters analysis because of some other personal problem” (Gamman and Makinen, 1994:98). They think that the “phallocentric” theory of fetishism in psychoanalysis contributes to the ignoring of female fetishism: “The primacy Freudian theory gives to the fear of castration and the phallic mother has, we feel, created a blindspot that prevents the analysts and psychologists from seeing the evidence in front of their own eyes” (Gamman and Makinen, 1994:98). Being psychoanalytically oriented themselves, they offer an alternative theory of the origin of fetishism based on conflict at the oral stage, resulting in separation anxiety which in turn can create fixation on certain objects that may be sexualized (Gamman and Makinen, 1994:117). A conflict at the oral stage could of course be at least as troublesome as at the phallic stage, but conflicts do not necessarily result in pathology. Neither do “fixations”. Developing fetishes might just as well be considered healthy adaptations.

Female fetishism is underestimated also because women traditionally, for cultural reasons, were more sexually inhibited than men. Women have in fact been regarded as non sexual. As women become more aware of their sexuality, they let themselves fantasize and take initiative to various types of sex. It is reasonable to assume that there will be a lot more evidence of female fetishists as the years pass by. Unfortunately there has been very little, if any, demographic research on fetishism.

There has been several studies on SM populations, but even in that area more research is needed. We have, in our experiences, encountered many fetishists, both men and women. In our experience it is not unusual that women get sexually turned on by wearing men’s clothing, for example male underwear.

The authors of the book Different Loving (Brame et al., 1993), say:

“We believe that both genders are equally likely to be fetishistic, but that from childhood on, men are apt to be more aware of the erotic connection because their arousal is visible. As adults they are more assertive in seeking out encounters and discussing the interest. Women are liable to be unaware of the connection between object or act and personal arousal. And since women are usually discouraged from acting on their sexual impulses, they probably are more likely to hide their desires, even from themselves” (pp. 360-361).

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Discrimination

The American lesbian SM-group Female Trouble in Philadelphia in 1994 published the study “Violence against SM Women within the Lesbian Community” (The “Jad Keres Report”). Based on 539 questionnaires completed by lesbian sadomasochists, the study documents that 56% of them were subjected to some form of violence from vanilla lesbians because of their SM orientation (Jad Keres Report, 1994; LLC, 1998).

Even though it seems that women are more likely than men to be discriminated against, both men and women are targeted on a large scale. The NCSF Violence & Discrimination Survey, 1999, found that 1/3 of over 1000 leather/fetish/SM persons surveyed suffered violence, discrimination and persecution — losing their job or even their children because of their sexual lifestyle and identity (NCSF, 1999).

The most up to date and the largest material that we have found is an online, internet-based survey carried out by the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom with 3,058 respondents (NCSF, 2008), showed that 37.5% of the participants indicated that they had either been discriminated against, had experienced some form of harassment or violence, or had some form of harassment or discrimination aimed at their BDSM-leather-fetish-related business. 60% of the respondents were not ‘‘out’’ about their BDSM interests; the stress of being closeted and/or coming out promotes distress and impairment in these individuals, similar to that experienced by homosexuals. 11.3% of the total number of respondents reported being discriminated against by professional or personal service providers like medical doctors and mental health practitioners. The study included respondents from 41 countries, including Europe, in addition to the United States (83,4%). More women than men responded to the survey and more women than men were discriminated against (NCSF, 2008). Susan Wright states that “Legal complications and interpersonal difficulties are common consequences of the stigma and discrimination against BDSM practices.” “Pathologizing unusual sexual interests has led to increased discrimination and discouraged individuals from seeking treatment for physical and mental health problems” (Wright, 2010).

Revise F65 has written two reports, including case studies from Norway, that confirm the NCSF’s findings (Revise F65, 2004c; Revise F65, 2011a). The latter was submitted to the Norwegian Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion, Audun Lysbakken, October 11, 2011.

NCSF’ finding that 60% of the respondents were not ‘‘out’’ about their BDSM interests, illustrate an important point about non visibility of the BDSM group. People in the pride parade in Oslo, 2011, typically wore masks as a protection against being identified. This is a problem when fighting against discrimination and for equal rights. We do not know how many of the BDSM people in Oslo who chose not to participate in the parade, were ashamed of showing themselves in public. But we do know that even though the diagnoses are removed from the Norwegian diagnostic register, there is still a danger of discrimination, for example in the work place. Shame is apparently a problem that is related to discrimination. When people are shamed by others, they often internalize that shame. This is particularly true for people in a group subject to discrimination. Knowledge on stigma (Goffman, 1963) shows that many psychological, physical, and social problems are not due to the person herself, but due to taboos, prejudices, and discrimination imposed by the surroundings (Reiersøl, 2002; Reiersøl & Skeid, 2010).

Repressed sexual desires and distress over BDSM interests may signify socially imposed, internalized BDSM negativity (Nichols, 2000) similar to feelings of shame and internalized homophobia sometimes experienced by gay clients (Nichols, 2006; Falco, 1991). Richters et al. (2008) point out that distress to BDSM participants also can be caused by legal persecution (Ridinger, 2006; White, 2006) or social or professional disapproval (Kolmes et al., 2006; Nichols, 2006). Double minorities are especially vulnerable. For example people who are both homosexual and fetishists may have to come out of at least two closets, first as homosexual, then as a fetishist, and maybe also as an SM practitioner (Reiersøl & Skeid, 2010).

Childhood trauma?

According to Powers (2007), various case studies have tried to show a connection between sadomasochism and pathological family relations during childhood (Blos, 1991; Blum, 1991), but these reports lack empirical data. Others have asserted that the majority of BDSM people have been subjected to childhood sexual abuse (Bass & Davis, 1998). Empirical studies indicate, however, that the frequency of SM people who report early damage or sexual abuse are about the same as for the rest of the population (Santilla et al., 2000; Brame, 2000; Moser, 2002). The SM group had not experienced more corporal punishment during childhood (Gosselin & Wilson, 1980). A survey using computer-assisted telephone interviews with 20,000 Australian men and women, BDSM’ers were no more likely to have suffered sexual difficulties, sexual abuse or coercion or anxiety than other Australians. Researchers said the study helps break down the reigning stereotype that people into bondage and discipline were damaged as children and were therefore “dysfunctional” (Richters et al., 2007, 2008).

One would think that if sadomasochism is due to childhood trauma, the SM diagnosis would be applied more than it actually is. Information from Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish health authorities show that the diagnosis has virtually not been in use in modern time (Revise F65, 2005/2011). American studies show that out of a total of 446 million outpatient ambulatory consultations to therapists and medical doctors, not a single person was diagnosed with sexual sadism or sexual masochism (Krueger, 2010).

A study by Powers (2007) indicate that some participants find BDSM activities to be an empowering, erotic exploration that resolves emotional or physical pain from childhood abuse, physical disability and illness. While trauma is no more common in BDSM participants than in the general population, erotic encounters can lead to “transformative intrapsychic, spiritual and interpersonal growth” (Powers, 2007; Schnarch, 1991; Maltz, 1991). In this way, healing may occur via corrective emotional experiences that transform and reintegrate a participant’s relationship with the past (Kleinplatz, 2001). This should not be surprising since clinical work with survivors of child sexual abuse (Courtois, 1993) suggests techniques paralleling those described by observers and practitioners of BDSM play (Powers, 2007; Kleinplatz, 2006; Thomsen, 2002). Adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse have difficulty trusting others and often have a great need to be in control (Courtois, 1988). The consensual exploration of trust and control are two integral elements of most BDSM play that allow participants to discover sexuality in an environment that may feel safer to them. It allows participants to consensually redefine past and present trauma through new, positive experiences (Haines, 1999). BDSM play provides a structure in which the participants can experiment with sexual activities and emotional intimacy within specific boundaries to overcome inhibitions that have evolved from part interactions (Thomsen, 2002). This may allow them to achieve emotional and sexual communication in ways that they had not been previously able to obtain. A qualitative study of eight SM practitioners in long-term committed relationships showed that SM enactments can be healing tools and tools for transformations (Hoff, 2003).

Prejudiced therapists

Reiersøl and Skeid (2010) write in the Journal of Psychological Health Work that “therapists holding prejudiced attitudes towards BDSM are at best unable to help their clients. In the worst case, they risk making their patients worse. This situation is parallel to the problems that lesbians and homosexuals used to encounter within the health care system” (Revise F65, 2011a).

Quantitative and qualitative studies confirm that psychotherapists show negative, uninformed and judgmental attitudes towards SM practice. The negative attitudes ranged from the therapist asking ignorant and judgmental questions to instances of client abandonment. Some of the SM practitioners reported avoiding any reference to SM to their psychotherapist because they feared the therapist’s reaction (Hoff, 2003, 2009; Moser & Levitt, 1987/1995; Moser, 1988; Queen, 1996; Kolmes, Stock and Moser, 2006). The psychologist and sex-therapist Margareth Nichols (2006) found that stigma will cause the practitioner to narrow the focus of therapeutic interaction to the BDSM sexuality against the will or desire of the client. Moser (1999a) stated that “health care professionals cannot give top-notch care to someone whose lifestyle they don’t understand or don’t approve of. Sexual minorities cannot get the best that the health care system has to offer if they refuse to use that system, or if they withhold information out of fear or shame.”

Animal kingdom

(Wiseman, 1996:14: “If you think there’s such a thing as “natural” sex, consider the variety of sexual expression found among animals.”)
Not only are SM and fetishism natural parts of human diversity. SM-type behavior is known even in the animal world where Ford & Beach (1951) contend that biting and aggressive behavior are common. Kinsey et al. (1953) found SM-type behavior prevalent in animal cultures. They noted that twenty-four different mammals other than humans bite during coitus, and Gebhard (1976:163) concluded that “from a phylogenetic viewpoint, it is no surprise to find sadomasochism in human beings”. According to Bagemihl (1999) the animal kingdom embraces a whole spectrum of sexual behaviour like different kinds of fetishism, transgenderism, erotic biting and even non-violent play-fights.

Ethology: Sign Stimuli.

Research by Tinbergen and others showed that stimuli stronger than the naturally appearing sign stimulus may be more effective in releasing behavior. For example, oyster catchers and other birds prefer to sit on a huge super-normal egg rather than on a normal-sized egg. This phenomenon is seen in other types of intimate behavior among birds. For example, an artificial, super-normal model of the beak of a herring gull has been perceived as more attractive than the real one (Fantino & Logan, 1979). In our thinking this can be interpreted that fetishism is a phenomenon occurring not only among humans, but also among other species. That means that fetishism is not uncommon. Rather it is a natural variation that may occur depending on the kind of exposure an individual is subjected to.

Birgit Johansen is a Danish psychiatrist who wrote a book about fetishism, largely based on her own psychotherapy practice. One of her objectives is to normalize fetishism. She equates a fetish with an ‘erotic pleasure point’. Such pleasure points can be animate and inanimate objects, scenarios, behaviors and erotic zones in a person’s body. In her thinking, everybody is a fetishist to some extent. She sees nothing problematic about fetishism. To the extent that people may be bothered by their inclinations, she helps them accept their sexuality and sometimes expand their range of pleasure points for more satisfaction (Johansen, 1988).

Transvestic fetishism/Transvestism

Blanchard (2009) acknowledges implicitly that there are ego-syntonic well-adjusted transvestites. He still argues for keeping the diagnosis with some alterations.

In his reference list is a survey by Langstrom and Zucker (2005). The sample for the study consisted of 2450 randomly selected men and women aged 18 to 60 from the general population of Sweden who agreed to participate in a larger study of sexual attitudes and behaviours. Items concerning cross-dressing behaviours were embedded in the survey questionnaire. One item asked (the dependent variable): “Have you ever dressed in clothes pertaining to the opposite sex and become sexually aroused by this?”

A total of 2.8% (n = 36) of the men and 0.4% (n = 5) of the women reported that they had ever become sexually aroused by cross-dressing. Most of these men (85.7%) reported that they were only sexually attracted to women and none reported a main or exclusive attraction to men. Among the variables that were NOT significantly associated with cross-dressing behaviour among men were socioeconomic status, history of sexual victimization, satisfaction with life in general, psychological and physical health, or current psychiatric morbidity. Among the variables that were significantly associated with cross-dressing among men were being separated from parents during childhood, being easily sexually aroused, having same-sex sexual experiences, use of pornography, and masturbation frequency.

Blanchard is following a traditional basic assumption about a “syndrome” of Transvestism (also called Transvestic Fetishism) consisting of four elements. “These four elements are: (1) cross-dressing (2) associated with sexual arousal (3) in a biological male (4) with a heterosexual orientation. ”This clinical consensus is supported by the available epidemiological data (Langstrom & Zucker, 2005)” (quotes from Blanchard, 2009). While Langstrom’s study supports the notion that there are more men than women who fit the (1) and (2) criteria above, it does not, however, support the idea that this constitutes a syndrome or that it should be diagnosed. If a phenomenon is to be called a “syndrome”, there must be strong enough evidence that this phenomenon constitutes medical or psychiatric pathology. In our opinion this is not sufficiently substantiated in Langstrom’s article. Blanchard does not refer to any other “epidemiological data” in the article mentioned.

Potentially problematic results from this study were: “Transvestic fetishism also was strongly related to experiences of sexual arousal from using pain, spying on others having sex, and exposing one’s genitals to a stranger.” There is no clarity in the report of what this really means, if for example these strangers were informed, whether they consented or not. The authors point out some limitations of this study, and cautions about the fallacy of drawing conclusions about cause and effect. One could speculate that people who get specially easily sexually aroused are more likely than others to be sexually aroused by just about anything, including “exhibitionism” and “voyeurism”. There is no reason to believe that problematic sexual behaviors or transgressions originate in transvestism. We will also argue that people who may have their sexuality diagnosed may be more likely to be sexually transgressive than others, because acting out some kind of alternative sexuality will likely be perceived as a transgression. A self image of somebody sexually transgressive could easily create self fulfilling prophesies. Also: diagnosing a specific kind of sexuality will probably increase the likelihood of becoming ego dystonic which in turn could increase the likelihood of transgressions.

An earlier study from 1996 (Brown, et. al., 1996) suggests that cross-dressers not seen for clinical reasons are virtually indistinguishable from non-cross-dressing men using a measure of personality traits, a sexual functioning inventory, and measures of psychological distress.

In an article, Moser and Kleinplatz provide a case study of a person who could be diagnosed with transvestic fetishism. They give a convincing argument for removing this diagnosis: “Should this behavior, which can be regarded as adaptive rather than distressing, be construed as psychopathological? The rationale for pathologizing a coping skill is questionable.” (Moser and Kleinplatz, 2002).

Basen together with Langstrom (2006) published a book about “unusual sex”. They try to evaluate the current thinking about the paraphilias including SM, fetishism and transvestic fetishism. Included in the book are interviews with several practitioners. ”Our goal when starting on this book was to try and understand sexual deviation or paraphilia. We encountered the project with some prejudice. We were mentally prepared for meeting “weird” people who could even be dangerous. But we met people who, apart from having statistically unusual sex, for the most part were obviously ‘usual’ ” (Basen & Langstrom, 2006: 255,256). “Socially speaking, we experienced people who comprised an average segment of the Swedish society” (Basen & Langstrom, 2006:256). “Our basic view is that every one has the right to assert his or her sexual peculiarity as long as it does no harm. It is of course not acceptable that people suffer due to intolerance and prejudice. If so, the attitudes of society should be targeted – rather than giving treatment to the individuals” (Basen & Langstrom, 2006:260, 261). We want to point out that one year after the survey by Langstrom and Zucker (2005), Langstrom in 2006 has taken a more accepting position to these sexual minorities. And we again want to emphasize that Blanchard (2009) mistakenly claims that Langstrom and Zucker’s article corroborates the notion of a “syndrome” of Transvestic Fetishism. We will further argue that such a claim could contribute to intolerance and prejudice.

According to Eisfeld, who in 2011 gave an oral presentation at the 20th World Congress for Sexual Health, there have been instances of Transvestic Fetishism being used against male to female transsexuals. People who have been seeking help for sexual reassignment have been rejected by psychiatrists who have diagnosed them with Transvestic Fetishism and therefore they have not been taken seriously as having Gender Identity Disorders. If the diagnosis of Transvestic Fetishism stands in the way of giving people appropriate treatment, this is in our opinion an additional reason to repeal that diagnosis. Eisfeld also had a comment concerning the B criteria of the paraphilias: It would be important to add that the distress, as expressed in the B criteria, is not caused by discrimination or external prejudice. (Eisfeld,J., 2011)

Masturbation

Since fetishism is very often practiced with masturbation, we have chosen to devote a section to this topic. Mostly, at least up till now, masturbation has been looked upon as a substitute for sexual intercourse. What if we reverse the order and say that intercourse could be a substitute for masturbation? There are indeed fetishists, and others, who prefer masturbation to intercourse, even if intercourse is available to them. That the ICD puts such a premium on intercourse (as seen in the definition of fetishism), sometimes creates a pressure to have intercourse for the sake of performing. These kind of performances are probably not the healthiest ones. Masturbation, whether performed as solo activities or in settings with a partner (or partners) may under certain circumstances be more satisfying, especially when it comes to fetishistic practicing.

Even though masturbation no longer has the kind of stigma that it used to a hundred years ago, when it was mostly thought to create severe illnesses and degeneration, it still is largely looked upon as a second rate activity. That is for example implied in the ICD definition of fetishism. We don’t see any advantage in always having intercourse as the ultimate goal of sexual activity in this day and age when the population explosion is threatening the planet. If masturbation is perceived as an equally valid sexual practice, much of the stigma connected to fetishism could be avoided, and the pathologizing of fetishism, due to lack of intercourse, would be absurd.

So far the most extensive written work we have found on masturbation is the 300 page plus book by Martha Cornog. It contains thorough accounts of the history of attitudes towards masturbation, as well as more modern viewpoints, whether solitary or shared pleasures (Cornog, 2003). Masturbation and intercourse may also blend into one unified act. A documented example with a known visual artist, who was a stocking fetishist, Pierre Moliniere, can be found in an essay by Peter Gorsen (Moliniere, p.22).

SM/fetish and love

Baumeister (1989, 1997) asserted that long lasting and committed love relations between SM people were rare and non functional. The sparse research in this area contradicts that assumption. Steady, committed, relationships between SM practitioners are according to Cutler (2003) reported by several authors (Young, 1973/1979; Baldwin, 1993; Califia, 1993/2002, 1994/2000; Bean, 1994; Campbell, 2000). According to Dancer et al. (2006:85), there is no reason to assume that deep and caring emotions contradict the establishing and maintaining of long lasting SM relationships, as reported by Brame et al. (1993), Gosselin, Wilson & Barret (1987) and Moser (1988). Qualitative and quantitative studies by Cutler (2003) and Dancer et al. (2006:82), respectively, indicate that “SM relationships are numerous and often highly functional” and that “SM relationships were long-lasting and satisfying to the respondents.” The latter consisted of committed relationships where the respondents live in a full-time so-called 24/7 SM slavery.

Bienvenu and Jacques (1999) found that 89% of 940 BDSM respondents had been involved in a BDSM relationship at some point in their lives and that 77,3% of 816 BDSM respondents were currently involved in a committed BDSM relationship. In a BDSM/Fetish Demographic Survey by Brame (2000) 55 per cent of 6997 respondents were ’permanent partnered/Married’ (38%) or lived in ’committed relationships’ (17%). It is, however, unclear whether the relationships in the Brame study were BDSM or ‘vanilla’ relationships.

Identity building

Norwegian health authorities have since 1996 pointed out the necessity in health preventive work to fight stigma and discrimination and give gay leathermen a positive SM-identity in order to stop the HIV and AIDS epidemic (Revise F65, 1997).

Revise F65 has all along cooperated with the Norwegian health authorities. This includes working on the repeal of the stigmatizing fetish and SM diagnoses. According to the governmental HIV prevention plans, the life circumstances of a group affects the ability to protect oneself against sexually transmitted diseases. One key concept in the prevention strategy is “identity building”. A central part of the strategy is to help marginalized and stigmatized groups to boost their “collective self respect” in order to empower the individual to feel the self value needed to protect oneself against STD.

“As for the repeal of the homosexuality diagnosis in 1982/1990, the deletion of the national and international fetish diagnoses is maybe the human rights reform that will have the highest significance for the self confidence and identity of the SM and fetish population. This gives increased possibilities for taking responsibility for own health and to protect oneself against sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV” (Revise F65, 2009h).

Nordic sexual reform

As Finland repealed the diagnoses of Fetishism, Fetishistic transvestism, Sadomasochism, Multiple disorders of sexual preference and Dual-role transvestism May 12th 2011, these sexual preferences, sexual identities and gender expressions related to sexual orientation are no longer diseases in Norway, Sweden and Finland (Revise F65, 2011b). Denmark withdrew the diagnoses of dual-role transvestism and sadomasochism in 1994 and 1995, respectively (Politiken, 1995:A7). Revise F65 regards this as an important human rights reform affecting a sizable minority (a low estimate is probably one million people) of the Nordic population (Revise F65, 2009g).

SM and fetish identity

Norwegian and Nordic health authorities now officially use the concept of “sexual identities” to describe the fetish/SM population (Helsedirektoratet, 2010a). In 2010 fetishists and sadomasochists were explicitly and officially included in the group of sexual minorities together with the rest of the Norwegian LGBT population (Helsedirektoratet, 2010b).

There are several reasons to consider fetish and SM sex as identities or orientations. First of all, more and more of the people coming out tell us that they feel their sexuality as an orientation or identity. Secondly, this feeling of identity starts very early in life, during childhood. It is also common knowledge among clinicians trying to “cure” these conditions, that such efforts in general are futile. This is the same as for homosexuality (Hoff, 2003; Wagenheim, 1998; Moser, 1999b).

Conclusions

The interdisciplinary research-based knowledge in Revise F65’s second report to the World Health Organization concludes that sadomasochism and sexualized violence are two different phenomenona. The fetish/BDSM group is an equal contributor to the society and scores on the level with most people on psychosocial features and democratic values as self control, empathy, responsibility, love, equality, and non-discrimination. There is no typical fetishist, transvestite or sadomasochist. Except from the sexual interest and identity, he or she is like everyone else. These people do not present more clinical psychopathology or severe personality pathology than the general population.

Revise F65’s first report to the World Health Organization concluded that the ICD-10 does not distinguish between consensual SM and harmful violence, and that the ICD fetish and SM diagnoses are superfluous, outdated, non scientific and stigmatizing to the fetish/BDSM minority.

Research in this second report indicates that reference books, dictionaries, encyclopedias and daily newspapers, pass on this confounding of SM with violence, subjecting BDSM practitioners, fetishists and cross-dressers to discrimination and social sanctions because of their fetish/BDSM interest, identity and orientation.

Based on these professional and health political reasons, Sweden (2009), Norway (2010) and Finland (2011) decided to totally remove the diagnoses of Fetishism, Fetishistic transvestism, Sadomasochism, Multiple disorders of sexual preference and Dual-role transvestism. Denmark withdrew the diagnoses of dual-role transvestism and sadomasochism in 1994 and 1995, respectively. This sexual rights reform probably affects one million people of the Nordic population, as a low estimate, and the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare concludes that the diagnoses are so seldom in use, that neither care, statistics, nor research is harmed by their abolition.

This second report concludes that the society can have somewhat to learn from the participatory approach of people with an alternative and non normative sexuality. At the same time every democratic society must be evaluated on the basis of how it treat it’s minorities.

The Nordic countries and the rest of the world experience a wave of sexual reform that gives hope to millions of people with fetish and BDSM orientation. The World Health Organization is the only instance that has the power to remove the badge of stigma from the forehead of millions of people.

On the basis of these two reports, it is our opinion that a removal of the fetish- and SM diagnoses in the forthcoming edition of ICD-11, will liberate human resources which will benefit society. Resources that today are used to live disguised in fear of social sanctions, may in the future be used differently. Then these resources will have health promoting effects and contribute in valuable ways to the society. We will see an improved human rights situation regarding legal safety, real freedom of speech, and less experienced discrimination based on fetish- and BDSM identity and orientation.

 

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Spengler, Andreas (1977). Manifest sadomasochism of males: Results of an empirical study. Arch Sex Behav 1977;6:441–456. Retrieved November 11, 2011, from http://www.springerlink.com/content/xr3052m52714414n

Stein, David (2002). Safe, Sane, Consensual. The making of a Shibboleth (PDF). Retrieved November 11, 2011, from http://www.boybear.us/ssc.pdf

Stiles, Beverly; Clark, Robert E. & Hensley, John (2007). Aspects of healthy sexuality within the BDSM lifestyle. Paper presented to Achieving Health, Pleasure and Respect, 1st World Congress of Sexual Health (18th World Congress of World Association of Sexual Health), Sydney. Abstract OP2-11 in Abstract book, Boulogne Billancourt: Regimedia; 2007.

Stoller, Robert J. (1991). Pain & Passion: A Psychoanalyst Explores the World of S & M. New York, Plenum Press.

Sulloway, Frank J. (1979). Freud, biologist of the mind: beyond the psychoanalytic legend. New York: Basic books.

Thompson, Bill., Ph.D. (1994). Sadomasochism: Painful perversion or pleasurable play?. New York: Cassell.

Thomsen, Edith (2002). Techniques of SM that are helpful in gaining comfort with sexual intimacy for survivors of child sexual abuse who practice SM play. Unpublished post-doctoral dissertation. Center for Psychological Studies: Berkeley. Retrieved November 11, 2011, from http://cpsphd.com/dp_ediththomsen.htm

Tiefer, Leonore (1997). Towards a Feminist Sex Therapy. In Marny Hall, Ph.D. (ed), Sexualities, Binghampton, NY: Harrington Park Press.

Townsend, Larry (1972/1993). The Leatherman’s Handbook. Los Angeles, LT Publications. (Original work published 1972).

Ullerstam, Lars M.D. (1966). A Sexual Bill of Rights for the Erotic Minorities. Introduction by Yves de Saint-Agnes. Translated by Anselm Hollo. Grove Press, Inc.

USA Today (2002). Sex scores its own museum in the city. Maria Puente in ‘USA Today’ Sept. 30, 2002. Retrieved November 11, 2011, from http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2002/2002-09-23-sex-museum.htm

Vail, D. Angus & Goode, Erich (2007). S&M. An Introduction. Extreme Deviance, p.202. Los Angeles, CA: Pine Forge Press. Retrieved November 11, 2011, from http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/19083_PART_VII___Engaging_in_S&M_Sexual_Practices.pdf

VG (2002). Sex like bra som morfin mot smerte [Sex as good as morphine against pain]. The Norwegian newspaper VG, March 31, 2002. Retrieved November 11, 2011, from http://www.vg.no/helse/artikkel.php?artid=2918924

Wagenheim, Susan D. (1996/98). Testimony from Physicians and Psychiatrists for the S/M Policy Reform Statement from Susan D. Wagenheim, M.D. A board-certified psychiatrist. Retrieved November 11, 2011, from http://www.revisef65.org/NOWSM.html

Weinberg, Martin S., Williams, Colin J., and Moser, Charles (1984). The social constituents of sadomasochism. Social Problems 31: 379-389.

Weinberg, Thomas S. & Falk, Gerhard (1980). The social organization of sadism and masochism. Deviant Behavior: An Interdisciplinary Journal 1, 379-393.

Weinberg, Thomas S. & Kamel, G.W. Levi (1983). “S&M: Studies in sadomasochism”, N.Y.: Prometheus Books.

Weinberg, Thomas S. (1995). S&M: Studies in dominance and submission. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.

Weinberg, Thomas S. & Kamel, G. W. Levi (1995b). S&M: An introduction to the study of sadomasochism. In T. S. Weinberg, Ph.D. (Ed.), S&M: Studies in dominance and submission (pp. 15–24). Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.

Weinberg, Thomas S., Ph.D. (1978/1995). Sadism and masochism: Sociological perspectives. In T. S. Weinberg, Ph.D. (Ed.), S&M: Studies in dominance and submission (pp. 119-137). Amherst, NY: Prometheus. (Original work published 1978).

Weinberg, Thomas S., Ph.D. (1994/1995). Sociological and social psychological issues in the study of sadomasochism. In T. S. Weinberg, Ph.D. (Ed.), S&M: Studies in dominance and submission (1995, pp. 289-303). Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. (Original work published 1994).

Weinberg, Thomas S. (2006). In Kleinplatz & Moser (Eds.) Sadomasochism: Powerful pleasures, p.32-35. Binghamton, NY: Harrington Park Press, Inc.

Whipple, Beverly (1986). Effects of Vaginal Stimulation on Pain Thresholds in Women, (Doctoral Dissertation, Rutgers, The State University of NJ, Newark, NJ), Dissertation Abstracts International, 47.

White, Chris. 2006. “The Spanner Trials and the Changing Law on Sadomasochism in the UK.” Sadomasochism: Powerful Pleasures. Binghamton, NY: Harrington Park Press. Co-published simultaneously as Journal of Homosexuality 50(2/3):167-87.

Wiseman, Jay (1996). SM 101: A realistic introduction. San Francisco: Greenery Press. Arch Sex Behav (2009) 38:186–200.

Wright, Susan (2006). Discrimination of SM-identified individuals. In P. J Kleinplatz & C. Moser (Eds.). Sadomasochism: Powerful pleasures, 217-231. New York: Harrington Park.

Wright, Susan (2010). Depathologizing Consensual Sexual Sadism, Sexual Masochism, Transvestic Fetishism, and Fetishism. Archives of sexual behavior. Volume 39, Number 6, 1229-1230. Retrieved November 11, 2011, from http://www.springerlink.com/content/p1314043464r7560

Young, Ian (1973/1979). Sado-Masochism. The New Gay Liberation Book. Len Richmond and Gary Noguera (Eds.). Ramparts Press, Palo Alto, Calif. Also published as the article “S/M” in the Sweedish magazine Revolt #9, 1973.

 

Categories
Norsk Seksualpolitikk

Oslopride 2011

Fetish/SM/Leather pictures from The Christopher Street Day Parade in Oslo 2011

During the Christopher Street Day Parade in Oslo June 25, 2011, Gay and Straight fetish and BDSM organizations celebrated that fetishism and sadomasochism are no longer diseases in the Nordic countries.



Click on the pictures for bigger versions. All pictures by Svein Skeid

Etter den finske friskmeldingen 12. mai 2011, så har “hele Norden” nå friskmeldt fetisjister og sm-ere. Diagnosearbeidet har blitt en norsk suksesshistorie og internasjonal “eksportartikkel”. Diagnoseutvalget Revise F65 fortsetter å jobbe overfor Verdens helseorganisasjon for å oppnå tilsvarende endringer internasjonalt.


Se også bilder på Dagbladet.no

Paraden 2010

For andre år på rad gikk den årlige paraden under Skeive dager i Oslo fra Platous gate på Grønland. 30 blide deltagere fra SLM, SMil, SMia, Wish Oslo og Diagnoseutvalget Revise F65 gikk med “Sunn, sikker, samtykkende”-banneret og krav til Verdens Helseorganisasjon om å fjerne fetisj- og SM-diagnoser. Bilde til høyre fra Rådhustrappa: Stor glede over at hele Norden nå er friskmeldt.


Som i fjor, gikk SLM og “Mr Leather Norway” først i kink-seksjonen. Kjempefin stemning og bra vær. Hva mer kan man ønske seg. Se også bildet i høyre kolonne.




Klikk på bildene for å se større versjoner.

 

 

Én av tre deltagere i kink-seksjonen var maskert. Det sier vel noe om behovet for fortsatt arbeid for åpenhet og mot diskriminering slik at vår gruppe skal føle seg trygg i samfunnet.


Categories
Norsk

10 år med Diagnoseutvalget ReviseF65 1996-2006

10 år med Diagnoseutvalget ReviseF65 1996-2006

Våren 2006 er det ti år siden LLHs landsmøte vedtok å starte arbeidet med “opphevelse av umyndiggjørende sykdomsdiagnostisering overfor fetisjister og sadomasochister.” 31. mai 2006 ble en viktig del av dette mandatet oppfylt da tidsskriftet Journal of homosexuality publiserte sittdobbeltnummer om sadomasochisme, volume: 50 Issue: 2/3. Her dokumenterer Svein Skeid og psykolog Odd Reiersøl at fetisj- og sm-diagnosene utgitt av Verdens Helseorganisasjon WHO ikke kan forsvares faglig. Artikkelen publiseres i løpet av året også i bokform på forlaget Haworth: ”Sadomasochism: Powerful Pleasures”. Boka har allerede fått gode kritikker og de to norske forfatterne fremstilles som ledende autoriteter på området.

“Experts such as Thomas S. Weinberg, PhD, Susan Wright, MA, Margaret Nichols, PhD, Odd Reiersol, PhD, Svein Skeid, Rebecca F. Plante, PhD, Niklas Nordling, MPsych, and N. Kenneth Sandnabba, PhD, among other stellar authorities, reveal research findings, clinical data, and critical thinking about sexuality that lies beyond “vanilla.””

Midt under Skeive dager i Oslo ble Norges første SM-dokumentar “lærhomsen” ferdigprodusert. Den fikk meget god mottagelse under visningen på Nonna 23.juni 2006. Publikum mente den var velegnet blant annet i undervisning av kommende helsepersonell. Filmen vil i løpet av sommeren få engelsk teksting.

Bakgrunn

Etter at homofili-diagnosen ble fjernet i USA i 1973 og har vært ute av bruk i Norge siden 1977, er fetisjister, transvestitter og sadomasochister de eneste gruppene i homomiljøet som fremdeles har en psykiatrisk diagnose på grunn av sin seksuelle orientering.

LLHs banebrytende og prisbelønte pionérprosjekt for å fjerne nasjonale og internasjonale fetisj- sm- og transvestitt-diagnoser ble vedtatt i 1996, og mandatet er fornyet ved samtlige landsmøter etter dette.

Med den eksplisitte innlemmelsen av sm/fetisj-minoriteten generelt, og diagnosearbeidet spesielt, i LLHs politiske plattform på landsmøtet i 2004, ble et ti år langt målrettet arbeid kronet med hell.

Den nye plattformen slår fast at det ytringsmessige og identitetsmessige mangfoldet som sm-ere, fetisjister og transepersoner representerer, er [og har alltid vært] en ressurs. Fordi sm- og fetisj-diagnosene, liksom den tidligere homofili-diagnosen, sjelden brukes til sitt egentlige formål, blir deres eneste funksjon å undergrave menneskerettighetene, legitimere vold og diskriminering og svekke forebyggende helsearbeid overfor gruppen. LLHs langsiktige mål om å avskaffe de ufaglige og stigmatiserende sm/fetisj-diagnosene, skjer ifølge plattformen i samarbeid med Diagnoseutvalget Revise F65.

Arbeidet foregår ved dokumentasjon av at diagnosene ikke har vitenskapelig grunnlag og ikke kan forsvares faglig. Ved siden av nasjonal og internasjonal nettverksbygging, skal fagmiljøer og myndigheter påvirkes til å fjerne diagnosene internasjonalt, eller anbefale at de ikke brukes nasjonalt liksom homofili-diagnosen for tredve år siden.

Hva er oppnådd i disse ti årene?

Stikkord:
* Nettverksbygging nasjonalt og internasjonalt
* faglig dokumentasjon og kompetanseheving
* støtte fra fagmiljøer
* møte med og brev til norske helsemyndigheter
* holdningsdanning og økt almen kunnskap

SM/fetisj-diagnosene kom inn i arbeidsprogrammet etter initiativ fra daværende leder av LLH-Oslo, men grunnet SMias engasjement i den britiske Spanner-saken, kom arbeidet ordentlig i gang først 18. november 1998. Da hadde utvalget fått sitt formelle mandat fra LLHs landsstyremøte 2.-4. oktober 1998. SLM-Oslo og SMil-Norge sluttet seg også til arbeidet, i tillegg til fagfolk innen sexologi, psykologi og psykiatri.

Det skal nevnes at Diagnoseutvalget også har internasjonalt mandat fra den internasjonale lesbe- og homseorganisasjonen ILGA (Europakonferansen 1999), samt fra den europeiske lærhomse-sammenslutningen ECMC (årsmøtet AGM 2003).

Mandatet og arbeidet til Diagnoseutvalget er grensesprengende ettersom det involverer samarbeid på tvers av seksuell orientering og landegrenser, samarbeid mellom aktivister og profesjonelle, mellom fetisj/transe og sm-personer, og fordi norsk homobevegelse, som den første i verden, jobber nasjonalt og internasjonalt for å fjerne stigmatiserende sykdomsstempel på fetisjister, sm-ere og transvestitter fra diagnoselista ICD som publiseres av Verdens Helseorganisasjon WHO.

Det var fra første stund klart at dette ville bli et langsiktig arbeid. Dette er upløyd mark, og mange diskusjoner gikk med til kartlegge landsskapet, definere begreper, avklare omfang og grenser for prosjektet, samt skaffe informasjon fra USA og Danmark, som i 1994/95 henholdsvis reviderte og avskaffet sine nasjonale sm/fetisj-diagnoser.

Med en så ambisiøs målsetting ville en fort kunne brenne seg ut uten å samarbeide med aktivister og fagfolk verden over.

Mailinglista (opprettet 28.8.2000) ble et viktig instrument i nettverksbyggingen, ved siden av foredragsturnéer i inn og utland.

I 2002 kom den nettsiden du nå leser på: www.reviseF65.org. Etter fire års drift hadde siten i 2005,36461 treff, og 10.000 nettsteder verden over, enten omtaler diagnoseprosjektet, har oversatt artikler eller linket til ReviseF65.org (i følge Googlesøk på ”ReviseF65” og ”Revise F65” 22.3.06).

Utvalgets nettsider er blant annet oversatt til engelsk, tysk, spansk, portugisisk, italiensk og kinesisk.

http://www.revisef65.org/europridetysk.html
http://www.revisef65.org/portuguese.html
http://www.puta.it/blog/2005/03/30/queer/in-manette-ci-andremo-assieme
http://www.desejosecreto.com.br/colunistas/revise01.htm [Beatriz Kotek, brasiliansk lege]
http://guide.supereva.com/bdsm/interventi/2005/04/205704.shtml
http://www.datenschlag.org/papiertiger/lexikon/revisef65.html
http://www.tapuz.co.il/tapuzforum/main/articles.asp?id=57&art_id=153
http://www.bdsmrealm.net/modules.php?name=Magazine&file=article&sid=343

“Alle burde lese jevnlig på sidene til LLHs diagnoseutvalg, www.revisef65.org
Svein Skeid som er sentral i dette arbeidet og i SMIA er også SMilmedlem.
SMil støtter diagnoseutvalgets arbeid.”
Femie (administrator) på SMil-forum 09.12.2005 kl 23:03

ReviseF65s argumentasjon har lagt premisser for den internasjonale debatten og blir sitert av fetisjgrupper og fagtidsskrifter verden over. For eksempel siterer den svenske sexologiforeningenDiagnoseutvalgets case-materiale om diskriminering og vold mot sm/fetisj-populasjonen.

“Ulempen med å anmelde overgrep som sub er at man kan oppleve å ikke bli tatt på alvor av politiet. Revise F65 og Smia har nettsider med eksempler på diskriminering av sadomasochister som anmelder overgrep. Vel verdt å lese.”
Tigerdamen på SMil-forum 18.03.2006 08:46

Kontaktnettet omfatter aktivister og fagpersoner i Danmark, Skottland, Sveits, Østerrike, Spania, Nederland, Russland, Hong Kong, Italia, Frankrike, Brasil, Canada, USA, Tyskland, England og Norge. Spesielt nært samarbeid har vi hatt med de seks sistnevnte landene.

Tyskland

Desto flere land som på sikt klarer å avskaffe sine nasjonale sm/fetisj-diagnoser, jo større blir presset på WHO sentralt om å fjerne diagnosene. Etter flere forelesninger og strategisamtaler i Køln og Berlin 2002-2004, arbeider den landsdekkende organisasjonen BVSM e.V. nå mot samme mål som ReviseF65; å avskaffe nasjonale fetisj- og sm-diagnoser.

http://www.sm-news.de/menu.php?link=news&newsid=2092
SMalltalk mit Svein Skeid 6.januar 2005
Revisef65-Kampagne/Porträt: Svein Skeid

England

Helt siden SMia-Oslo samlet inn (penge-)støtte til Spannersaken (1995-97) har det vært et tett samarbeid mellom SMia/Revisef65 og britiske SM-organisasjoner. John Pendal (bildet), som nå er leder av Spanner Trust, er i kraft av tittelen International Mr Leather 2003,Diagnoseutvalgets høye beskytter. I to år reiste han verden rundt som ambassadør for ReviseF65 og fire andre menneskerettighetsorganisasjoner. John besøkte Diagnoseutvalgeti Oslo mai 2004 som gjenvisitt etter utvalgets foredragsturneer i London og Manchester 2003 og 2004.

Faglig samarbeid og støtte

[…] “There is something very exciting about connecting up with others who work towards the same goals across the world. Thank you for making this possible.”
Sincerely, Peggy (Psykolog Peggy J. Kleinplatz ved Universitetet i Ottawa, Canada i mail til utvalget 30.7.2002.)

Diagnoseutvalget ba om og mottok støtteerklæringer fra styret i Homofile og lesbiske legers forening (HLLF) 29.4.2003 og fra styret i Norsk Forening for Klinisk Sexologi (NFKS) 11.6.2003. På sikt er målet å oppnå samme støtte fra Norsk psykiatrisk forening.

Utvalgmedlem og psykolog Odd Reiersøls banebrytende fagartikkel på revise-sidene 2002, har vært en inspirasjonskilde både nasjonalt og internasjonalt. Den er oversatt til flere språk.

This article sums it all up beautifully. I was so thrilled to have stumbled upon it. Similarly, you have summed up the essence of sexual oppression magnificently, and I am so thrilled to have stumbled upon you. You are brilliant.”

Psykiater LL har kartlagt at fetisj-diagnosene ble benyttet i svært liten grad i Norge i 2000-2002.

Psykiater Reidar Kjærs (bildet) foredrag “Do we need all the Paraphilias?” ble holdt på den internasjonale diagnosekongressen i Wien 20. juni 2003. Dette er et svært viktig faglig dokument som henvender seg direkte til psykiaterstanden.

Kjær holdt også foredraget “Er fetisj- og sm fremdeles sykt?” under Homodagene i Sør i Kristiansand 6. juni, på Potpurriet under Skeive Dager 2003 i Oslo 24. juni og i Grønlandsleiret 24.10.03.

Kjær representerte i 2004 ReviseF65 med foredrag på to viktige internasjonale psykiatri-kongresser. På nettsidene til den svenske sexologiforeningen, gir Xenu Cronström et grundig referat av diagnose-foredraget til psykiater Reidar Kjær ved den årlige konferansen til The Norwegian Society of Clinical Sexology i Trondheim september 2004.

Bilde av Svein Skeid og Odd Reiersøl etter forelesningen ved Teologisk fakultet i Oslo 23.6.2005.

Psykolog Peggy Kleinplatz ved Universitetet i Ottawa, Canada, og legen Charles Moser som blant annet har skrevet en rekke faglige sm-bøker, arbeider med å fjerne parafili-diagnosene fra den viktige amerikanske diagnosemanualen DSM. De er redaktører for boka ”Sadomasochisme: Powerful Pleasures” der utvalgets Svein Skeid og psykolog Odd Reiersøl (bildet) bidrar.

Forøvrig samarbeider ReviseF65 med alle typer fagfolk. En fin tilvekst til nettsidene i 2005, var artikkelen ”SM-sex i norsk strafferett” ved advokat Halvor Frihagen.

Mange mennesker bak Diagnoseutvalget

Utvalget har innhentet faglig dokumentasjon, relevant litteratur og undersøkelser, fra inn og utland, supplert med utvalgsmedlemmenes varierte bakgrunn og erfaring. Resultatene hadde ikke vært mulig uten innsatsen til et tjuetalls medlemmer og ikke-medlemmer av utvalget som har inspirert og utfylt hverandre gjennom disse ti årene.

Holdningsskapende arbeid

Diagnoseutvalget ReviseF65, med sin opparbeidede erfaring, posisjon og faglige tyngde, får også en holdningsdannende funksjon internasjonalt og i vårt hjemlige homo- og SM-miljø. Mindre fordommer blant leg og lærd er antagelig en viktig faktor for å nå målet om å fjerne de psykiatriske diagnosene.

Diagnoseutvalget er i dag den suverent mest aktive og synlige gruppa som jobber med seksualpolitikk og menneskerettigheter i forhold til sadomasochister og fetisjister i Norge.”
Fra norsk versjon av Wikipedia, den frie encyklopedi

ReviseF65 is now by far the most active and visible group working with sexual politics and human rights for sadomasochists and fetishists in Norway.”
Fra engelskspråklig versjon av Wikipedia, The Free Dictionary

De to portalene www.Gaysir.no og www.SMil-Norge.no har de to siste årene vokst seg store som internaktive nettsamfunn, og viktige SM-debatter foregår begge steder. Folk tilknyttet utvalget og dets organisasjoner har ved flere anledninger bidratt med sin kunnskap i slike debatter.

SM-debatten på Gaysir høsten 2005 hadde over 950 innlegg og resulterte i en artikkel ”SM – Myter og fakta” ved Svein Skeid, på Gaysirs, LLH-Oslos og Diagnoseutvalgets nettsider.

Svein Skeid presenterte Diagnoseutvalget på LLHs seminar ved Institutt for kriminologi og rettsosiologi ved Universitetet i Oslo 8.12.2005.

Utvalgsleder Svein Skeid ble intervjuet i mars-utgaven av månedsavisa Blikk 2004, og skrev en artikkel om seksuelle dobbeltminoriteter i bladets september-utgave. Svein holdt også tale under åpningen av Skeive Dager i spikersuppa 19. juni og sammen med byrådsleder Erling Lae, delte han ut Homo ærespris til Åpen Kirkegruppe på Rådhusplassen 26. juni 2004.

I skrivende stund (oppdatering 11.5.06), ser jeg at Dagbladets sexolog Gro Isachsen og medarbeiderne ved hos klinikk Sexologen har lagt ut støtteerklæring til Diagnoseutvalget i venstrespalten på alle sine websider. Vi observerer også at vesentlige elementer i Gro Isachsens fetisj/sm-artikler i Dagbladet april 2006 er hentet fra nettsidene til ReviseF65.

Europride 2005

Foredrag, pressedekning, fester, stands, sikrere sex info og den store paraden med 100.000 tilskuere: Diagnoseutvalget var en aktiv og synlig del av mangfoldet under årets største hendelse: Europride i Oslo 2005, under mottoet “Proud to be healthy Pervs” (motto unnfanget av Ole Johnsen (til venstre på bildet, sammen med Svein Skeid).

Torsdag var Diagnoseutvalget ReviseF65 invitert til Teologisk fakultet ved Universitetet i Oslo sentrum, for å holde foredrag om SM for 90 kristne homofile fra hele Europa (European Forum for Christian Gay and Lesbian groups). To timer tidligere hadde Kultur- og familieminister Valgerd Svarstad Haugland offisielt åpnet konferansen. Vi kom blant annet i kontakt med franske homofile som jobber med å endre samme diagnosekapittel som ReviseF65.

Som æresmedlem i SLM (Scandinavian Leather Men) – Norges første SM-forening – skrev Svein Skeid i 2005 også en fyldig historikk i bladet Lenka, i forbindelse med at foreningen fyller 30 år i 2006.

22.10.2005 deltok undertegnede på et strategimøte i Horten med styret i SMil-Norge.

Kjønnsperspektivet ble i 2005 ivaretatt av et flott nytt initiativ for SM-lesber, oppstartsmøte 27. oktober, og flere store fester i løpet av året for SM-lesber.

En oppgave som definitivt kan prioriteres høyere, er undervisning av kommende helsepersonell. 13.11.2005 holdt ReviseF65 et to times foredrag for sexologistudenene ved Høyskolen i Agder.

Politisk initiativ

Selv om Diagnoseutvalget har jobbet mest i forhold til nettverksbygging og vårt faglige fundament, er det også foretatt et helsepolitisk initiativ. 28. november 2003 kunne daværende LLH-leder Tore Holte Follestad overlevere Diagnoseutvalgets første offisielle initiativ til våre politiske myndigheter ved Dagfinn Høybråten. Det er vel unødvendig å si at brevet aldri ble besvart.

Det skal til slutt nevnes at brorparten av arbeidet i perioder har gått med til kamp i LLH internt, for forgjeves å bli inkludert i politisk plattform 1996, forgjeves å bli nevnt i Nova-rapporten 1999, for å unngå å bli radert ut av arbeidsprogrammet 2002 og uteglemt fra 2003-budsjettet.

“Du må jo være syk som tenner på sånt”. “Har du vurdert terapi?” Dette er bare et par eksempler på hva jeg som underdanig kvinne har møtt av fordommer. Eller hva med at alle dominante er å likestille med voldsforbrytere, kvinnemishandlere og voldtektsmenn? Det er ille å møte sånt, å føle at en stanger hodet mot veggen når en prøver å forklare.. derfor er for eksempel arbeidet som gjøres med Revise F65 veldig viktig (…)”
annaH på SMil-forum 09.12.2005 kl 18:05

Konklusjon så langt

Konklusjonen så langt må bli at viktige pillarer er lagt i et lite bearbeidet landskap. Flere frø er sådd enn det som er mulig å omtale her. Arbeidet har i langt større grad enn vi regnet med blitt av generell seksualpolitisk og holdningsskapende art. Vi syns selv at vi har samarbeidet bra på tvers av geografiske grenser og seksuell legning. Vi har bygget nettverk og lagt et solid faglig fundament.

Flere nasjonale og internasjonale initiativ og forsøk på forskningsprosjekter som vi *ikke* har lykkes i, omtales ikke i denne rapporten. Våre ulike strategier til enhver tid er heller ikke diskutert i detalj.

Selv om samfunnet på flere områder beveger seg i riktig retning, kan det fremdeles være en belastning å stå offentlig frem med sin SM-legning, også med diagnosesaken. Det har nok hemmet det målrettede arbeidet med å fjerne norske og internasjonale sm/fetisj-diagnoser. Aktiviteten har gått litt i bølgedaler grunnet sykdom, konflikter, andre prosjekter og den personlige slitasjen i et arbeid av så langsiktig art.

Kanskje har Wikipedia rett? Til tross for våre begrensninger, er kanskje Diagnoseutvalget den mest aktive og synlige gruppa som jobber med seksualpolitikk og menneskerettigheter i forhold til sadomasochister og fetisjister i Norge i dag.

Mvh
Svein Skeid
Leder i Diagnoseutvalget ReviseF65

 


TYSK REVISEF65-ARBEID: Etter Diagnoseutvalgets forelesninger og strategisamtaler i Køln og Berlin 2002-2004, arbeider den landsdekkende organisasjonen BVSM e.V. nå mot samme mål som ReviseF65; å avskaffe nasjonale fetisj- og sm-diagnoser. Bilde fra Diagnoseutvalgets foredrag ved Svein Skeid under Folsom Europe i Berlin 2004 med 30 representanter fra SM-organisasjoner over hele Tyskland. Foto: Ole Johnsen.

 


Møte i Diagnoseutvalget 11.10.2002. Foran fra venstre: Bent Hvale, sekretær i utvalget 2002-2004, psykiater Reidar Kjær, Øivind A (SLM-Oslo), Petter Møller (LLH sentralt) og psykolog Odd Reiersøl.
Bak fra venstre: Kelly (SMil-Norge), Eric J (SMia-Oslo) og Svein Skeid, nåværende leder i utvalget. Moderator for mailingslisten, Ole Johnsen, var ikke til stede da bildet ble tatt.

 


PRISBELØNNET DIAGNOSE-ARBEID
Homo ærespris 2003 til Svein Skeid blant
annet for ReviseF65-arbeidet