Incident Response Narrative

Often times we are asked, what does the NCSF do? Much of what we do remains confidential, unless the people we work with feel comfortable sharing their experiences. Recently a group that we have worked with sent us the below statement, which we are happy to share with you.

For over a year now, Folsom Street Events has been under attack by anti-gay and religious right groups from across the country. The attacks have been relentless. They have threatened our major sponsorships, picketed our events, called upon public officials to denounce us, and rallied their troops against our community. As a small organization with only two staff members, we do not have the capacity to stand up and respond to these continuing assaults.

We contacted the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom to access the Incident Response program. Within hours, we spoke with a highly trained and knowledgeable media and PR consultant for support. In addition to her moral support, we received a meticulous training for our Board of Directors and staff, preparing us to better manage these attacks. Also, the program consultant was able to field all media inquiries - and serve as a positive voice for our community - during our events, so that we could focus on our production duties. We can't thank NCSF enough for their good work and for being there when we needed them.

Demetri Moshoyannis
Executive Director
Folsom Street Fair

Sweden takes sexual behaviors off their disease list

The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare is declassifying sexual behaviors
as mental illnesses to avoid strengthening prejudice against the behaviors, the Swedish news service
Tidningarnas Telegrambyra reported last week. The diagnoses which will soon disappear from the disease
registry include sadomasochism, fetishism, fetishistic transvestitism, transvestitism, gender identity
disorder in youth, and multiple disorders of sexual preferences.

NCSF applauds Lars-Erik Holm, the head of the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen),
who made the decision to declassify the behaviors because they are not illnesses in and of themselves,
nor are they something perverse. "These diagnoses are rooted in a time when everything other than the
heterosexual missionary position were seen as sexual perversions," Holm said.

"The NCSF's DSM Revision Project has the same goal to change or remove these harmful diagnoses from the
American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistic Manual (DSM)," says Susan Wright,
spokesperson for NCSF. "We know from the hundreds of requests for help that NCSF gets every year through
our Incident Response program that the Sexual Sadism, Sexual Masochism, Fetishism and Transvestic
Fetishism diagnoses in the DSM reinforce the negative stereotypes and stigma against alternative sexual
behaviors."

To support NCSF's DSM Revision Project, please sign the petition (www.ncsfreedom.org) that will be sent
to the APA urging them to adhere to scientific research when revising the diagnoses in the DSM. To find
out more about this project, read the NCSF and the ITCR: NCSF Foundation's White Paper posted on
www.ncsfreedom.org

Kinky is NOT a Diagnosis!

DSM Revision Petition

The DSM Revision Petition is gathering signatures from individuals and organizations calling on The American Psychiatric Association (APA) to adhere to empirical research when revising the diagnoses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

Statements currently within the DSM Paraphilias criteria are contradicted by scientific evidence therefore NCSF must conclude that the interpretation of the Paraphilias criteria has been politically b not scientifically b based. This politically motivated interpretation subjects BDSM practitioners, fetishists and cross-dressers to bias, discrimination and social sanctions without any scientific basis.

Petition:
"We, the undersigned, support the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) own goal of making its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) a scientific document, based on empirical research and devoid of cultural bias. A diagnosis of a mental disorder can have a severe adverse impact on employment opportunities, child custody determinations, an individual's well-being, and other areas of functioning. Therefore we urge the APA to remove all diagnoses that are not based upon peer-reviewed, empirical research, demonstrating distress or dysfunction, from the DSM. The APA specifically should not promote current social norms or values as a basis for clinical judgments."

To sign, go to: www.thepetitionsite.com/1/DSMrevisionpetition (You can make your signature anonymous on this secure petition site so it doesn't appear on the Internet)

To find out more about the DSM and the Paraphilias section, read the NCSF & ITCR: The Foundation for NCSF's "White Paper on the DSM Revision" at www.ncsfreedom.org
For more information, email: DSMrevisionpetition@yahoo.com
Please distribute to organizations and individuals and ask them to sign on!

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A joint Project of NCSF and ITCR: The Foundation of NCSF

The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom is a national organization committed to creating a political, legal, and social environment in the United States that advances equal rights of consenting adults who practice forms of alternative sexual expression. NCSF is primarily focused on the rights of consenting adults in the SM-leather-fetish, swing, and polyamory communities, who often face discrimination because of their sexual expression.

National Coalition for Sexual Freedom
822 Guilford Avenue, Box 127
Baltimore, MD 21202-3707
917-848-6544
media@ncsfreedom.org
www.ncsfreedom.org