Why BDSM Doesn't Mean You're Crazy... anymore.
Erik Will
A few years ago, your consensual kinks—being spanked, fetishizing feet, the desire to be tied up while having sex, and everything else rattling about your perverted brain—could have cost you everything because of how they were classified in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). Paraphilia = disorder. Imagine being in a consensual kinky relationship for years, then having that kink legally used against you in family court to take your kids away.
The hard work to change this started in 1987 by Race Bannon, Guy Baldwin, later picked up by Susan Wright of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, Dr. Charles Moser, and others paid off in 2013 when DSM was revised to say that the some of the stuff we do may be deviant, but not necessarily a disorder... in other words, a kink is just a kink.
I heard some of this story when Susan Wright spent an evening with LDG in 2014, and this article BDSM Versus the DSM is good additional read.
My deep thanks to Race, Guy, Susan, the NCSF, Dr. Moser, and other folks who were part of the effort to make this change happen!