From the fifties and before, girls who had premarital sex were considered to be bad girls who would end up unwed mothers or in need of a back alley abortion. The only contraceptive device was a condom, and most of those were made out of sheepskin, which was porous and had the propensity for breaking.
In the early sixties, girls were still though of as sluts if they slept with you, but Playboy was coming out with its first edition, which condoned a free sex lifestyle for men. By the mid-sixties the thinking and times had progressed along with the fashions and the media and marketing guru's began to cater to the free thinking and establishment challenging youth of the day. Women were burning their bras and the use of the pill, which had come on the market in 1960, was in full swing.
Founded in 1966, The National Organization for Women was founded and the fight to bring equalization for women into the workplace, secure reproductive rights including abortion and contraception, fights for women's rights as crime and rape victims, and champions the end of racism. It was the same year that Masters and Johnson made available to the public a study on orgasms. The sexual revolution was in full swing. Today there is still a fair amount against women, and still in all areas, but while the women's sexual revolution was going on, the rest of the country was experiencing a new sexual freedom as well.
Almost a year after the Stonewall Riots the Gay Liberation Front received recognition as a student organization in April of 1970. The Gay Activist alliance was demonstrating against discrimination, and "A Gay Manifesto" is distributed and hailed as the bible of the movement.
In October of 1972 John Lunning wins the first title of Mr. Gold Coast. Leather clubs opened a couple of years previously was popular and crowded, and the leather and bondage communities began to come out of the cellar and play. While the police continue to raid some of the public bars and clubs, private sex positive clubs have begun to spring up. They charge a yearly membership fee and have private parties, available to the public by invitation only. The one in my city is clean, friendly, and very professional. They are concerned with the health and safety of all members and hold weekly workshops to answer any questions newbies might have.So the next time you are tying your partner up or visiting your favorite sex positive club, remember the people who went before you, and continue to become involved with your local chapter of sex positive activists.
