Center for Sex Positive Culture
{{Short description|Non-profit}}
{{Infobox Organization
|name = Center for Sex Positive Culture
|image = The CSPC logo
|leader_title =
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|leader_title2 =
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|membership =
|headquarters = Seattle, Washington
|formation = 1999
|type = Non-profit
|predecessor =
|budget =
|purpose= Sex positivism
|region_served = United States
|num_staff =
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|website = [http://thecspc.org/ thecspc.org]
}}
File:Center for Sex Positive Culture.jpg
The Center for Sex Positive Culture (CSPC), formerly known as The Wet Spot,{{cite web|url=https://allenagabosch.wordpress.com/2014/12/08/a-sex-positive-renaissance|title=A Sex Positive Renaissance|first=Allena|last=Gabosch|date=2008-02-26|accessdate=2010-07-09}} is a non-profit, membership-based organization located in Seattle, Washington.{{cite web | title=The Stranger, Hot Town | url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=21046 | accessdate=November 7, 2005 }}{{cite web | title=Sexuality.org | url=http://www.sexuality.org/seattle.html | archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20160310195706/http://www.sexuality.org/seattle.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 10, 2016 | accessdate=November 7, 2005 }}{{cite web | title=The CSPC | url=http://www.sexpositiveculture.org/index_html | accessdate=August 31, 2007 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701231758/http://www.sexpositiveculture.org/index_html | archivedate=July 1, 2007 }} It organizes events and provides space for several sex-positive subcultures, notably BDSM, swinging, and polyamory groups. CSPC welcomes people of all sexual identities and seeks to encompass all consensual sexual practices.{{cite web | title= Mission and Sex Positive Vision | url= http://thecspc.org/about-the-center/ | accessdate= February 20, 2016 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171106223119/http://thecspc.org/about-the-center/ | archive-date= November 6, 2017 | url-status= dead }} The Center is a 501(c)(7) recreational club; its sister organization, the Foundation for Sex Positive Culture (renamed Pan-Eros in 2018{{cite web|url=https://thefspc.org/2018/04/01/big-announcements/|title=Big Announcements|publisher=Pan Eros}}) is a 501(c)(3) charitable/educational organization.{{cite web|url=http://www.sexpositiveculture.org/pages/foundation|title=About the Foundation for Sex Positive Culture|publisher=Center for Sex Positive Culture|accessdate=2008-01-01|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224104836/http://www.sexpositiveculture.org/pages/foundation|archivedate=2007-12-24}}{{cite web|first=Dominic|last=Holden|url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/beat-off/Content?oid=787697|title=Beat Off|work=The Stranger|date=2008-11-25|accessdate=2008-01-01}}
The organization held its first event, a fundraiser, in March 1999.Allena Gabosch, [http://www.sexpositiveculture.org/blog/zblogentry.2007-07-18.1419959973 We've come a long way] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011094732/http://www.sexpositiveculture.org/blog/zblogentry.2007-07-18.1419959973 |date=October 11, 2007 }}, Director's blog on official site, July 19, 2007. Accessed online 15 October 2007.
History
The organization was founded in 1999 as the Seattle Sex Positive Community Center. Socially speaking, it is an outgrowth of Allena Gabosch's Beyond the Edge Cafe, which hosted BDSM related events. Several regulars of the cafe started discussing getting a dedicated space for their activities. One famously quoted "It would be great if we could get 200 members."{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} In fact the idea became more popular than they envisioned; in its first year The Wet Spot registered about 2,000 members. In September 2007, they reached 10,000 registered members, although not all of them are current members. In 2007 the organization also changed its name to the Center for Sex Positive Culture and opened a second, "annex" building.
In November 2008 the Center for Sex Positive Culture was scrutinized in a KOMO-TV report regarding the Center's non-profit status,{{cite web|last=Savage |first=Dan |url=http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2008/11/17/maybe_it_wouldn_t_be_a_proble |title=Maybe It Wouldn't Be a "Problem" If They Called It a Church? | Slog |publisher=Slog.thestranger.com |date=2008-11-17 |accessdate=2012-12-22}} and the sexual activities which occur there. The story was criticized by Dan Savage{{cite web|last=Savage |first=Dan |url=http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2008/11/18/dan_lewis_needs_to_apologize_t |title=Dan Lewis Needs to Apologize Too | Slog |publisher=Slog.thestranger.com |date=2008-11-18 |accessdate=2012-12-22}} and others for inaccuracies, and was later pulled from the station's website.{{cite web|url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=787697 |title=Beat Off by Dominic Holden - Seattle News - The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper |publisher=Thestranger.com |date= |accessdate=2012-12-22}}
= Building problems with new space, shutdown and acquisition of a new space =
In the new space at Gallery Erato, The CSPC regrouped under the leadership of a new board, and started organizing events again, though at a lower frequency than the original location in Interbay. At the start of the COVID-19 global pandemic, both CSPC and Pan-Eros were required to cease in-person operations as of March 2020, which also led to the cancellation of that year's Seattle Erotic Arts Festival. Both organizations pivoted to online events, and in the middle of 2021, resumed some events with limited capacity and protective-measures in place.{{cite web|url=https://thecspc.org/news/2021/12/1/protecting-our-community-covid-policies-and-practices|title=PROTECTING OUR COMMUNITY--COVID POLICIES AND PRACTICES|date=December 2021 |publisher=CSPC}}{{cite web|title=Sex positivity in the Pacific Northwest|first=Bryan|last=Francis|url=https://firsthomewashington.com/sex-positivity-in-the-pacific-northwest.html?amp=1|publisher=First Washington News|date=5 February 2022}}{{cite web|title=Sex positivity in the Pacific Northwest|url=https://firsthomewashington.com/sex-positivity-in-the-pacific-northwes.html|publisher=First Washington News|author=Bryan Francis|date=5 February 2022}}
References
External links
{{Portal|Human sexuality}}
- {{Official website|http://thecspc.org/ }}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20051030041049/http://www.seattleerotic.org/index2.php Seattle Erotic Arts Festival]
{{coord|47.633738|N|122.375803|W|display=t}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Center For Sex Positive Culture}}
Category:1999 establishments in Washington (state)
Category:Human sexuality organizations
Category:LGBTQ organizations based in the United States
Category:Non-profit organizations based in Seattle