Download the Consent Counts workshop here

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See which states have sent in reports; please click here.

Consent Counts
At Creating Change 2007, a group formed to take on the work of decriminalizing leather/kink/fetish/BDSM (leather). Right now, laws that protect people from things like battery could be used against those involved in consensual adult behaviors. What needs to happen is to prevent this from happening while at the same time not weakening the laws that protect those who are victims of violence. This may take 12-15 years to become a reality.

Why decriminalization?
The goal of this project is to create language that clarifies what we do as consensual adults and to make it clear that existing criminal laws, such as battery, should not apply to our activities.  On a broader perspective, the goal is to decriminalize consensual sex, rather than just limiting the drive to just BDSM.  This project is not working to legalize BSDM with laws that protect our community.  We believe that focusing on decriminalizing our activities is the most effective and direct way to have a positive impact on our community at this time.

How will this happen?
Over the next year, we will gather input from members of our community. After the public process inputs will be compiled into a report and presented at a national leather event in 2008, posted on the internet and forwarded to the national organizations.

To begin this work, the first step was to create a resource that can be used in the local leather communities. What the local communities are experiencing and thinking will provide input to the national level group on how to take on this task. This grassroots discussion about what consent means is valuable to the leather community and can also be used when working with non-leather groups.