SM Bisexuals c/o Central Station, 37 Wharfdale Road, London N1 9SE, UK  E-mail: ungagged@andelain.demon.co.uk  Website: http://bi.org/~smbi   To join our mailing list, write to us at the above address. Ungagged is free, but we rely on donations to keep it going since it costs over 60p per issue to send out. If you can, please send some 2nd class stamps, or a cheque to 'SM Bisexuals'

What a strange situation to be in.

I was sitting naked in a toilet cubicle. In front of me was a carrier bag, pushed under the door ten minutes earlier by my Master - a man I had had the pleasure of calling Sir for the last three months. Hopefully in this carrier bag were some clothes which I could put on before going outside and finding him. He had already taken the clothes I was wearing when I came in, so I had no choice at all about what to wear. I knew he would have picked out something from our collection of respectable, skimpy, daring and downright rude clothes, but had no idea what. And it looked like a very small carrier bag!

To be more precise, I was as naked as I could get. I still had the neck-chain on which he had locked onto me over two months ago, the padlock dangling down for all to see. And I had a thick metal cock ring on, secured by a ball weight - two halves of a metal doughnut bolted together around the top of my scrotum, the bolt head holes having been filled in with wax. As I looked down, my cock was staring up at me, firmly erect, but I had been ordered not to touch it. This morning I had been freed from a week secured inside a chastity belt, only to have the cock ring and ball weights secured on. I was desperate to get some stimulation from my hard cock, but I knew that my Master would ask me if I had broken any orders, and I could not possibly lie to him.

So I sat, horny and frustrated, staring at the carrier bag. Inside it was an electronic egg-timer, which my Master had set before pushing it under the door, but I didn't know how long it was set for, nor how long was left to go.

I listened as men came in and out of the toilet, constantly paranoid that one would be a cleaner and would open up the cubicle I was in and find me naked except for my hardware, or that Sir had not put the timer in, or set it for several hours, or worse that there would me no clothes at all in the bag.

Suddenly I heard what seemed like a deafening fire-alarm sound, until I realised it was only the timer that I had so long waited for, sounding in the quiet of the cubicle. I hurriedly opened the bag and bashed the button on the timer before anyone asked what I was doing with an egg-timer in a toilet.

And then the moment of truth - I took out of the bag a small handful of shiny black Lycra. I shook it out, and saw it was a pair of cycle shorts with a small amount of material going up to the chest, over the shoulder and down the back. As I put it on I remembered when my Master and I bought it - it was the 'Teen' section of a workout shop, designed for young boys to show off their muscles. It was several sizes too small for me (by design), and so was very tight. The very narrow shoulder straps and huge arm holes explicitly showed off the bungling physique I didn't have.

I could feel the tightness of the material over my arse and up my crack - that felt great. But I got quite a shock when I looked down to see the perfect outline of my still hard cock in the shorts - they were so tight, no detail of my anatomy was left to the imagination. I tried hard to think of something non-sexual to make my cock a little less 'pronounced', but with all the hardware in there, it would never reach decency.

If I had been on my own doing this, and had a bag of clothes with me, I would then have decided to give up and put my jeans on. But in this case I had no choice but to go out into the world and find the rest of my clothes.

I took a deep breath, adjusted my bulge, and stepped out into the world…

SM in the National Gallery? Surely not. Oh, yes there is! Go down to the National Gallery on a rainy day and have a look in Room 29. First have a look at the Velazquez, Christ after the flagellation contemplated by the Christina Soul, painted about 1628.

Jesus is shown sitting on the ground with his hands tied loosely together by one end of thin rope. The other end is looped round a pillar and secured with a slip-knot. There is a heavy rope round his neck, presumably a halter for leading him. Spread on the ground around him are the instruments of flagellation:

• Two long brush birch rods, of four branches, each tied in two places with cord
• A bloodstained hank of four loops of rope
• An unknotted rope cat of six strands

Afterwards, transfer your attention to the Zubasan, St. Francis in Meditation, painted about 1623. The Saint wears a worn brown habit with faun patches. His head is half hidden by the hood of his habit, his hands are entwined in ecstasy. There is a skull before him. Round his waist he wears a prominent girdle of one centimetre thick rope with the end whipped and two stopper knots. Although the knotting pattern is probably that of the holy order, the dark background and the emphasis placed on the rope and on the skull carried by the Saint, plus the strong composition based on the dark robe, makes the painting a meditation on both pain and death. SM has never been so respectable.

If these masterpieces have put you in the right mood, perhaps it might be worth looking at the El Greco, Christ driving traders from the Temple, painted about 1600. It is not as SM painting but interesting in that the whip Christ uses seems to be a four tailed whip made of two double leather straps. One wonders if these were meant to be reins borrowed from the stable where he was born.

Intriguingly, in Room 9, there is another painting on the same subject, Bassano, The purification of the Temple, painted about 1580. Here, Christ is shown using a four tailed cat of twisted rope.

There’s not much more SM in the National Gallery, but before you leave it is probably worth looking at Room 8, where you cannot fail to see a painting so erotic that for years the critical area has been painted over. This is Bronzino, An Allegory with Venus and Cupid, painted about 1545. Not really SM, but Venus and the two boys, Cupid and Folly, are all nude and painted in a provocative and erotic way.

BiFest

The London Bisexual Festival (BiFest) is the first ever festival in the UK about Bisexuals and Bisexuality. It takes place at the University of London Union, Malet Street, London W1, on 13^th February 1999, from noon till round midnight.

Entertainment will include musical acts such as Tom Robinson and Single Base, and comedy from people such as Stefan Leekie and Laura Swift. There will be an exhibition of cartoons from Rachael House, stalls, bars, and other events throughout the day.

The event will be kicked off with a parade through London.

For more information, call 0956 896 589, e-mail BiFest@bi.org, see the website at http://bi.org/~BiFest, or write to London BiFest, PO Box 3325, London N1 9EQ, UK

SM Pride

The SM Pride event this year is on the weekend of April 17^th 1999. There will be workshops, discussions, demonstrations, a march through the streets of London and a big party. It’s a pansexual celebration of consenting adult sadomasochism.

The SM Pride organisation (formerly known as Countdown on Spanner) exists to challenge prejudice against the SM community. They run a stall at the Fetish Fair where you can buy T-shirts or pendants, or pick up a free copy of SM-Pride News, the parish magazine of pervery. Or you’re welcome to visit their committee meetings on the last Sunday of every month at Central Station (address on the front cover).

You can write to SM Pride for more information - please send an SAE to SM-PRIDE, PO Box 10937, London, N15 6PE

SMBi Winter Bizarre

The SM Bisexuals Winter Bizarre is a jumble sale with slave auction and other events. It’s on Sun 24^th Jan at Central Station from 1pm to 7pm. Entry is free, and proceeds go towards the Chain Letter photocopier repair fund. If anyone would like to donate items to sell (needn't be kinky), or be auctioned or would like to help in any other way, please e-mail Irisrose98@hotmail.com or see Ginny or Sioux at SMBi.

 
 

Resources

Rather than list every club, group and event going, and so duplicate the work of other publications, we decided to list here ways of getting hold of up to date information on what’s happening

 

SM Information

‘Informed Consent’ maintains a list of SM related events as well as mailing lists of current events and announcements, but is currently only available through the Internet.

Bisexual Information

‘Bi Community News’ maintains a list of Bisexual events, both on the Internet and as a paper-based publication

Lots of bi information can be found on http://bi.org

SM Bisexuals

Bi Helplines

London Bi Helpline - 0181 569 7500 Tuesday, Wednesday 7:30pm-9:30pm, Saturday 10:30am-12:30pm

Edinburgh Bi Helpline - 0131 557 3620 Thursdays 7:30pm-9:30pm

SM Bisexuals is a UK-based group targeted at, but not exclusively for, bisexuals into all aspects of BDSM, and their friends.

We have monthly meetings in London, on the second Sunday of every month at 8pm, upstairs at Central Station for discussions and workshops on SM related subjects. Central Station is a friendly gay pub near Kings Cross station in London - address on the front cover.

Workshops we have run in the past include Temporary Bodyart, Play Piercing, Animal Roleplay, Enemas, Transformations, Suspension, Sex Toys Show & Tell, Paganism, SM Quiz and Bondage. Most events are free to attend, but a donation towards costs is appreciated.

We run The Chain Letter - the idea of this is that you send us a page of information about whatever’s on your mind (stories, questions, answers, pictures, photos) and then we send a copy of your page and everyone else’s page on to all people who’ve sent a page in. Then the following month you can send in another page, which can be responding to what others have written. Write to us if you’d like to know more - address on the front cover.

And we run Ungagged, which is free, but a donation towards costs is appreciated - if you’d like to be added to our mailing list, send us your snail mail address.

We are always looking for articles, stories, letters, pictures, etc for Ungagged and also ideas for workshops for our monthly meetings (and preferably people to run them too). Please let us know if you have anything we can publish or any suggestions for workshop subjects.

And please let us know if you’d like to advertise in the next issue of Ungagged – prices from only £10 for a quarter page advertisement, up to £40 for a full page.
 

SMBi Workshops    13th Dec Transgenderism  10th Jan Social Evening with fun and games  14th Feb The Gentle Art of Prevarication  14th March Breath Control and Asphyxiation  11th April To be confirmed  9th May Pervy Family Fortunes

SMBi Events    Xmas Party Sun 20th Dec at Central Station 1pm to 7pm  Door charge and cloakroom charge  to be announced     Winter Bizarre Sun 24th Jan at Central Station 1pm to 7pm  Slave auction and jumble sale

 

The editors and publishers of this newsletter do not accept any responsibility for the accuracy of statements made in it. The author retains copyright of any article. The editors reserve the right to edit or exclude articles submitted for publication. No assumption should be made about the sexuality of any contributor.

For references, see page *

By July 1999, SM Bisexuals will be seven years old. Starting out as a network it has encouraged two groups and a stream of activists in Countdown on Spanner. More importantly it has established it’s self in the bisexual community and challenged bi-phobia in the SM community. However, bisexual attitudes used to be considerably different before SM Bisexuals was established. The caustic battle over SM in the lesbian / Feminist movement from the late 1970’s and though most of the 1980’s; the bi-phobia bisexuals faced in the gay community; and the lack of a coherent SM Bisexual identity, all played a part in bisexuals’ reluctance to develop their own network until 1992.

It was difficult to ignore lesbian feminists thinking in the light of arguments that SM was mimicking and even encouraging racism and fascism. The call to take a stand against Nazis is rarely ignored in left wing and libertarian circles. In the UK alone the National Front had gained a substantial following by the close of the 1970’s. The Swastika was occasionally used by gay SM men in their form of dress during the 1970’s. Uniforms and black leathers (as influenced by Tom of Finland’s art as far back as 1954) has been a standard form of attire for dykes and gay men into SM for as long as anyone can remember. However, the reality behind the image did not justify the accusations of racism. Indeed, they were as opposed to racism as their lesbian and gay comrades. What in fact was happening was that lesbian’s in the UK and USA were beginning to come out as SMers. Making claim to their repressed desires, lesbians had been having SM sex - be it in small numbers - for much longer than most of their sisters were prepared to admit. And, regardless of all the incriminations of treachery to the Separatist cause - by daring to act like Men - lesbians and feminists into SM were still loyal to bringing an end to patriarchy by demolishing the male power base, as much as their sisters were. Nevertheless the need to own their desires and claim their place in lesbian feminist politics caused bitter resentment, endless conflicts and even the occasional violence from their vanilla sisters. The outcome being that lesbian’s into SM eventually split from the lesbian / feminist movement.

During the 1970’s and 80’s, lesbian, gay and heterosexual SM people began building their own networks and communities. SM Gays started their regular meetings (in London) in 1981. SM Dykes followed sporadically from November 1983. While also in London, a straight SM night club called Skin Two opened in January 1983. It closed after nine months due to media pressure, to be reborn as a magazine of the same name in the summer of 1984, which helped to encourage a whole straight SM culture which is still present today. While in the USA, The (then) lesbian / feminist SM group Samois formed in 1977. By December 1979, Pat Califia’ much quoted and much reprinted article A Secret side of lesbian sexuality was published. The seminal Coming to Power made it’s first appearance in 1981, influencing the groups mentioned above by setting out the SM politics we use to this day.

The bisexual community in the UK only began to take shape in the early part of the 1980’s. Challenging for the right of recognition in the lesbian and gay community, they generally rejected the anti-SM line, but (quite rightly) reduced the level of it’s importance in the bisexual agenda, in favour of establishing their own community and politics first. The first newsletter (Bi-monthly) did not appear until the beginning of 1984, and the first Politics of Bisexuality conference (now called BiCon) in December 1984 only had the attendance of around 40 people. Most of the work at the time concentrated upon drafting manifesto’s on what bisexuality is and the aims that they wished to achieve. (Influenced by the left wing / libertarian / feminism and gay liberation politics of the day.) Despite there being bisexuals into SM, there was no need - and considering how few people their was at that stage - any real hope of building a SM quarter in the bi community. As the bi community was made up from a considerable amount of people dissatisfied with, or alienated by, the lack of freedom in other communities. Bi-phobia and bisexual invisibility meant that lesbian, gay and straight SMers would still look at us with a sceptical eye, sometimes bemused that bisexuals were into SM. After all, we were just a bunch of swingers, geeks and closet cases not prepared to come out as gay. Also, it’s important to realise that the notion of a SM sexual identity - as distinct as a lesbian, bisexual or gay identity - was still an odd concept for all to comprehend at the time, as most people identified themselves though the sex of the person they were attracted to, not their preference of sexual play. Yet for bisexuals, it was not a uncommon experience that when we challenged people on their confession of having SM sex with both male and female partners, they would state that it was because they were sadomasochists who challenged sexual taboos. Bisexuality had nothing to do with it. Thus bisexual SMers often found themselves up against a wall of paradoxical standpoints. However, those standpoints existed in part because there was no positive SM Bisexual identity to relate to. What discussion there was of SM (in the bi community) at this period mostly revolved around the various political conflicts, and the fact that bisexuals sometimes found themselves labelled as much as undesirable as SM was back then. The most well known example was in April 1985 at the London Lesbian and Gay centre where SM groups were temporally banned for six months. Bi groups were also banned, but for five years, on the grounds that bi men would harass lesbians. Thus in the same breath bisexuals were linked with SM groups, despite their separate sexual identities at the time.

Why SM is unacceptable by Liz Verran was one of the few negative articles ever written in a bisexual publication. It followed the standard line of the time, that SMers were "by acting out Nazi / Jew and white owner /black slave scenarios we are desensitising ourselves to the re-emergence of fascism in our country." Pink Dandelion replied to the criticism by pointing out that she "has made blanket generalisations based on nothing but naive bigotry." Emphasising the importance of safe words and the acting out consensual fantasies, Joy Hibbert wrote in to praise his remarks and made the valid point that "part of the problem is that there are as many attitudes to SM as there are practicers and theorisers," which, indirectly, did sum up the problem of finding a SM identity in the bisexual community at the time; ie, our diversity. We came from a wide variation of backgrounds, and thus had difficulties in owning a common cause in SM (which Countdown on Spanner later gave us). Also, pride in our SM desires was something else that eluded us from time to time. With so much prejudice aimed at us, for so many years, from people we were attempting to build support with, it was not surprising that a later issue of Bi-monthly in an anonymous article called Masochism & Childhood fantasy a bisexual women attempted to deal with her own sexual desires in the light of the present political climate. Although Daring to speak (the main title of the piece) was not the sentiment of all bisexual SMers, it did reflect the mood in how SM was received in the Bi community by this time (1988). The need to own our self esteem was becoming more important as the SM world grew and we remained stagnant on the issue.

The various Workshops held at past BiCon’s should have been safe spaces for people to talk about SM. However, they sometimes proved more destructive than informative. At the 6th National Bisexual Conference (October 1988), for instance, the SM workshop was quickly reduced to a shouting match, due to the facilitator arriving both late and drunk. She then went on to make a spectacle of herself by beating the floor with a studded belt, while making provocative suggestions. She then followed this up by talking for about 15 minutes on her personal experiences of SM, annoying people with her remarks, before a woman in the room intervened to lead a breakaway group in an attempt to bring some order into the proceedings. The SM workshop at the 7th BiCon (September 1989) was held at 10.30am on the Sunday morning after the party. So people arrived late with hangovers, or overslept. No one wanted to run the workshop, so Joy Hibbert stepped in at the last moment. The people running the venue failed to tell the BiCon organisers that the venue was double booked that day with a youth group. So the people in the workshop were forced to barricade the door with chairs, as kids ran up and down the hall outside, trying to force the door open and persistently banging on the walls, as the group of SMers with mixed experience dealt with formidable subjects like the conflict over SM within feminism. The 9th BiCon (September 1991) again held it’s SM workshop on a Sunday morning after the party. They only dealt with the basics of SM like who was the Marquis De Sade, roles and safe words, and are SMers a bunch of Nazis in disguise? I asked the facilitator to speak on the importance of the Endorphin high, only to be told by him that their was no such thing. I later suggested setting up a SM Bisexual network. One person arrogantly replied "We are not interested in creating a dating service." I pointed out that SM Gays, SM Dykes and the straight SM world were well organised and strong as a result. The basic reply I got was they did not want to become "a bunch of cliques like SM Gays."

Attitudes to organising ourselves ranged from the apathetic to the down right bigoted by the 1990’s. Worse still, there was no interest in having workshops for experienced SMers in the bi community. Only the repetitive SM101. True, the above examples were not typical of all the workshops held at BiCons. How ever, the issue of pride in our SM desires was being ignored, and the knowledge and experience of the experts was some times questionable. Which was not surprising, considering how limited a scope bisexuals gave sadomasochism. For example, in the same year (1991), SM Gays had taken over the London Lesbian and Gay centre (a place once known to be a hostile to SM) to do a whole day of workshops and demonstrations on SM, covering a wide range of subjects. Bisexuals into SM came to the event, but were still reluctant in getting together themselves despite this.

In July 1992 an ad was placed in the pages of Bifrost by Joy Hibbert, asking if any one was interested in setting up a SM network. Later that year the first Countdown on Spanner meeting was held (only three bisexuals turned up in a room full of lesbians, gays and straight SMers). The first SM pride march was organised for the 28th of November in London, to mark the appeal of the 16 gay men jailed in 1991 for consensual SM sex. The network made sure that bisexuals were on it. At BiCon the following year, the network organised an SM workshop for beginners, one for experienced SMers, one on Countdown on Spanner and one on building up the network. Several changes of personnel later, the network is still growing, still bringing a sense of fun and, most importantly, pride to SM Bisexuality. The London group began in January 94. The one in Edinburgh in October 95. And we are still thriving. The difference being that a whole new generation of people has become involved in SM Bisexuals, free from the dogma and apathy of the previous years. These days SM Bisexuals marks it’s rightful place in the SM community, under our own banner on the SM pride marches, and running our own workshops at Dungeon in the Sky.

THIS ARTICLE IS DEDICATED TO JOY, CARAMEL AND MARCUS FOR MAKING SMBi HAPPEN.

Any remarks, criticisms or correction of mistakes will be gladly received

A warm summer day in a clearing in the forest.

I’m naked except for a heavy bronze belt riveted around my waist, from which hangs a length of rusty chain. In the middle of the glade is a boulder set with a large iron ring. They use a padlock to tether me to it, then go, leaving me alone in the wood.

The afternoon draws on.

A few travellers pass along a track close by but they avoid coming near the clearing or even looking in this direction.

The sky becomes overcast and it starts to rain. I fell the cold drops running down my skin as it sit in the mud.

It’s dark now. The forest is quiet now but there’s something in the scrub off to the left. I try to hide, crouch behind the rock, but the chain is too short and I have to remain in the open.

The demon that lives in these woods pounces. Its iron claws rake down my back making deep ruts, its tail lashes my legs and its rough fur scratches my skin. Seizing my neck in its wolfish jaws, the beast fucks me - it is ice cold and burning inside me, its weight crushes me so I cannot breathe as it forces its way still deeper in.

The yellow light from the monster’s eyes throws shadows amongst the trees, there are shapes leering from the bushes on all sides. The thing rises and howls at the moon. Swiftly it turns, fangs snap the chain. It drags me away. I am quite willing.

Dear Ungagged,

Strict dress code enforced - why?

To deter tourists who just wish to gawp at the perverts. To create an atmosphere of kinkiness to play in - why not? New people to the scene may be deterred. Clubs may become more grounds for the fashionable than play spaces.

I was most surprised that the Spanner Ball had a dress code. Was this to mean those SM-ers who had marched and participated in workshops earlier in the day but who were into play and not clothes would be excluded?

I like to get dressed up and to see others looking gorgeous. I remain wary of fashion police.

The following are the references for the article Before SM Bisexuals on page *

Slim, young-looking 35-year old muscular bi male, mainly top, with extensive range of equipment, looking for F for interesting times. I'm fairly sensible and safer-sex and feminist aware. London or South East.

High Wycombe SM-bi bloke, new to the area, seeks local friends to chat with

Autonomous male, 34, seeks dominant friend who would like to impose TV servitude / feminisation / sisification for weekend scenes. If humiliation (drives in the countrside / walks in the woods / shopping trips / restaurant, meals / club visits) with your submissive en femme turn you on, you have a strong hand, an interest in the art of restraint, and a delight in assigning domestic chores then I would like to hear from you. London or South East.

Submissive bi male, 29, pierced and inked, into bondage, chastity belts, rubber, looking for Master or Mistress into the same. South East UK area.

Warped, perverted, sick... and that's just what my friends call me. Transgendered switch bi-dyke, queerer than queer, jaded with parties full of boring poseurs, in search of someone to revive my jaded appetites for the darker side of beauty and the exquisite agony of sub/dom. London, elsewhere at a push, all letters answered.

Hello, I'm 29, 6' with short brown hair and a novice sub. I'm seeking a caring, intelligent dom female or male partner (with GSOH) to explore bondage, leather, rubber. I'm looking for friendship and a possible relationship."

Just send us your advert, name and address. Please try to limit your advert to around 40 words. We can’t guarantee to publish every advert we get, so if you’re sending more than one, put them in priority order.

To Reply:

Put your reply in a sealed unaddressed envelope and write the person’s box number in the top right corner (where the stamp should go). Then put this envelope, and a loose stamp into another envelope. Send this to use at the address on the front cover, and we’ll forward your letter.

Be Careful out there!

If you’re meeting up with someone for the first time, make sure you give their details to a friend and tell them when you’ll be back. Tell the person you’re meeting that you have done this. If you’re going home with someone you’ve just met, then try to do the same - ring a friend and tell them where you are or carry an envelope with you and send the person’s details to a friend (or to yourself).

Remember, you can never be too safe - any person worth playing with will respect you for being careful, not be insulted by it. And have fun! J

I sometimes wear tight cycle shorts when I cycle to work. Sometimes the security guards give me a mock wolf whistle, but I can change into my suit when I get into work, so there’s no problem.

Occasionally we have a ‘dress down day’ at work, when we can wear whatever we like. I usually wear jeans and a tee-shirt. Sometimes my girlfriend makes me wear sexy gear like rubber clothes underneath, but nobody knows, so there’s no problem there either.

But today my girlfriend put one and one together! She’s made me come to work wearing a tight Lycra cycle suit - like tee-shirt and shorts in one. This one has some of the padding cut away so it doesn’t hide my cock and balls, and since there’s no baggy tee-shirt involved, I can’t hide the bulge in the tight fabric. And it’s dress down day, so she says there’s no need for me to change. She wouldn’t let me bring any other clothes with me to work, so I have to stay in this tight gear all day.

It wouldn’t be so bad, but I work in an open plan office, and people are working around me and coming to see me all the time - I bet each one is thinking that I’m looking very strange, not wearing anything to hide my body bulges.

And there’s the phone again - it’s an outside line - I bet it’s my girlfriend calling to talk sexy to me again, trying to give me a hard-on for all to see. I hope she succeeds!

PLAYROOM   Fully furnished with exclusive equipment made on-site in our own workshops.   En-suite shower & toilet, TV, VCR plus tea & coffee making facilities. Twin beds.   Studio lighting & accessories optional.   Available for the hour, for the day, overnight or for extended breaks!   Send SAE or phone for full details.   HENDREFORGAN   PO Box 3, LLANDRINDOD Powys, LD1 6WG Tel: 01597 840402 Fax: 01597 840457